After we had talked for a while Severus suggested we go find Albus to continue our previous endevour to this place called Diagon Alley. Severus tells us it's magical and he even though he doesn't particularly enjoy shopping, it is a nice little alley. He said we would also end up going into muggle London.
" Alright, Albus should be in his office." We followed Severus once again up the beautiful spiral staircase. He didn't even bother knocking on the door and barged right in. I heard voices speaking from within the confines of the office.
" Albus! Just let me appoligize to the poor girl! I want to ask her if she is alright! Please-" Severus seemed to fume realizing the woman that had caused me so much anxiety was here.
" Oh Severus…" The lady looked over to me and knelt before me. " Dearie, I am so, so sorry I scared you. I do hope you will accept my appology. It was not in my intentions to harm you, I only wanted to give you a treat, but I still appologize for frightening you, dear." As she spoke I hid in the folds of Severus' robes. Harry was on the other side of him holding his hand.
" That is enough scaring the child for one day, Minerva! Leave her be!" Severus told her sternly and in his tone reminding her, he meant it. She nodded her head in defeat and rose from her knees in an attempt to leave.
" Wait!" I squeaked before I could tell myself to stop. Minerva raised her eyes catiously to mine and gave a worried glance to Severus. " You don't need to appologize ma'am . . . you did nothing wrong. I just overreacted. I'm sorry." My voice was a barely audible whisper. I was afraid she didn't hear me and that I would have to repeat myself, but she surprised me. She smiled at me.
" Well, thank you, dear. Thank you for your grace. You have nothing to be sorry for. I will leave you be now. Thank you for listening to my appology. Good day to you all." She smiled brightly at me and gave a curt nod to Severus. I don't think the other teachers like Severus. He does seem quite stern around them though. Severus' eyes followed the lady, whose name is Minerva, out the door. As soon as she was gone he turned to talk with Albus.
" Now that Minerva's whole kerfuffle is put to rest, how about we pursue our trip to Diagon Alley, children?" Albus asked us this with a childish twinkle in his eyes. Harry and I both nodded hopefully. " Now not to worry you, but Severus and I both have to change our appearances as we are not …. Well ….. Normal looking in the muggle world." I nodded my understanding and assumed Harry did the same. Albus noticed the questioning look in my eyes and answered my unspoken question. " It's called Polyjuice, Anne. It can change us to any person in the world. We do have to transfigure our clothes, though." He smiled at me and I smiled back. He motioned for Severus to come forward, leaving Harry and I behind watching. Harry grabbed my hand and I squeezed his to comfort him. We watched as Severus and Albus both downed a disgusting looking drink. Severus gagged as he swallowed the vile drink. Harry gagged just looking at it. Then, seconds later, their skin started bubbling and they were completely different people. Severus still had jet black hair, but was short, his nose wasn't long and hooked, he had an older looking face now, and his eyes were bright blue instead of black. Albus looked a good 50 years younger. He had bright red hair, just like mine. He looked about 40 years old. He had bright green eyes and could probably pass for my father. Severus looked just like Harry. This was probably intentional that they look like us.
" Alright, that worked. Harry if anyone asks you I am your father and Anne if anyone asks you Albus is your father. Understood?" We both nod our heads obediently and he smiles at us. He offeres his hand to me and guides Harry and I to Albus. " Now Anne, do you remember when we apparated here?" I knew what we were about to do. I already felt sick to my stomach, but I nodded my consent anyway. " Harry, son. You might feel a little sick after this." Harry looked confused, but he grabbed Albus' extended hand. Then Severus and Albus garbbed hands and we were transported away.
When we landed I heard retching, but I was too busy releasing my own small breakfast to the ground. I didn't get this sick before so I wonder, why now? My stomach started to settle and I noticed someone was holding my braid away from my face. I looked back to see Severus. He gently rubbed my back until the sickness came to a stop. I suddenly thought of the other retching and turned to find Harry. He too was on the ground, but in Albus' arms. I crawled over to him and when he noticed me he reached for me. Harry was always like a little brother to me. He's unfortunately what you would call a runt. The poor boy is tiny, I can easily pick him up. Don't get me wrong I'm abnormally small too, but not that small. He always acted like his size, too. He can be very gullible and childish. At the opportunity to play he'll trust anyone. Dudley played so many tricks on him when I wasn't there to stop him. He would give Harry a toy only to go find his father and tell. I wish Harry wasn't so small and childish. He trusts too easily and he's going to get hurt. Yes, I liked Severus and Albus. They seemed kind, but so did the Dursleys when friends came, so did the Dursleys when we went out, so did the Dursleys when they wanted an excuse to beat us because they were angry. Harry is going to get hurt when they find out we are freaks.
Severus and Albus exchanged a glance while I comforted my twin. I hate that they do that when I comfort him. I slowly rose bringing Harry with me. He tightly grasped my hand and nodded his head that he was ready to proceed. Severus raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded. They motioned for us to follow them and I tugged Harry along behind me.
I didn't notice before, but we landed in an alley. It was dark and completely hidden from wandering eyes. We trailed out blending into the crowd. Severus kept a close eye on us to make sure we didn't get lost. I made sure to keep Harry from getting distracted so he wouldn't get lost. We were walking for about 20 minutes before we came upon a little abandoned pub. Why are we here? I looked at them questioningly and they both nodded. Albus smiled at me and waved me to go before them. Harry and I trudged through the door. It wasn't at all like I was expecting. The inside was nothing like the out. Instead of the abandoned apparel of the outside of the train, inside was lively. The little pub was full of life and laughter, families were everywhere. The name of the pub is The Leaky Cauldron, very unusual. We started towards one very large family. They all had bright red hair and looked very rambunctious. I pulled Harry with me and I once again hid in the folds of Severus' robes. The father of the family, I assume is identical to Albus.
" Good day, Arthur and the Weasley clan!" Albus said to the family. They all smiled at him. " Thank you Arthur for the bit of hair. You know I don't look very normal in muggle London and I'm trying to pursue a trip with these two young children."
" No problem, Albus! I'm happy to help. And who might these two children be, if I may ask?" Albus turned to Severus as if asking him to answer and he did, " Their names are Andromeda and Harold Prince. I'm their father Tobias Prince." I looked to Harry in confusion and realized he didn't look like himself. He looked completely different. I looked down at my skin and it appeared paler. I pulled my braid over my shoulder and it was no longer a striking red, it was dark brown, almost black. I looked up at the family and they seemed to accept that answer except for the mother of the group.
" Are you by chance related to Eileen Prince. Her and I were close friends and then one day she fell from the face of the Earth. I haven't heard from her since we left school." The woman asked hopefully. Severus seemed to stand taller and looked rather uncomfortable.
" Yes, I am a distant cousin of Eileen, but unfortunately she passed on a great many years ago. I'm sorry. The reason you probably never heard from her was because she fully emmersed herself into the muggle world, decided to snap her own wand. She was murdered by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's followers. I'm sorry to inform you of this." Severus told her this and he looked very uncomfortable. The woman solemnly nodded and looked deeply hurt. " Well Albus, we best be off … now." Albus nodded seeing his friend's discomfort.
" Well, we must go on, Weasleys enjoy your day and lunch is on me." Albus set a couple of golden coins on the table and pushed us on into the back of the pub. I was confused about why Severus changed his name and ours. Why did they change our appearance? Why didn't they tell us? We kept walking until we were in another alley, but the only way out was the way we came in. I turned to voice my questions to them.
" Why did you lie to them? Why do we and you look different? Who were those people? Why does Albus look like that man?" I was rambling and I knew it, but I didn't care. I needed to know. I hate not knowing things. It's better to understand everything than to be shocked at the worst moment. They both looked shocked, like I should already know. They shook their heads. Severus got down on his knee and held my shoulders.
" Anne I know it's confusing, but until you decide where you want to live we need to keep your identity hidden from everyone except Poppy, Pomona, Albus, and I. You are . . . from a . . . well known family in the wizarding world and we want to make sure you get to a good home if not mine. We lied to them about your name for the reason that your names are well known, so if anyone asks you today what your name is, it's Andromeda Prince and Harry's is Harold. I'm pretending to be your father because it would be odd if you two were walking around with us and one of us wasn't your legal guardian. You look different because you are the spitting image of your mother . . . Lily . . . and Harry is the spitting image of your father. You are too easily recognizable. I mean if I didn't know who you were I would walk up to you and say Lily Potter. Those people are friends of Albus. They are good people. I might see if you can go over to their home to meet their younger children and make some friends. And Albus looks like Arthur because Albus asked him permission to borrow his identity for the day so he could come with us. There was no reason in particular behind it. I know it's confusing . . . and I'm sorry we didn't fully explain earlier . . . we should have." I nodded. I glanced at Harry and was once again startled that it wasn't his face looking at me. I nodded again. " Are you alright?" I nodded once more and Albus proceeded to the brick wall of the alley.
He pulled out his wand and taped the wall thrice. The bricks started to rearrange and formed a doorway to a large alley with stores lined up and down the streets and filled with people in the most strange outfits. It looked like Halloween came early. It was amazing. Harry held Severus' left hand while I held his right and they led us down the street to a tilted, Greek looking building. We walked through the large marble doors into a beautiful room with a crystal chandelier. The only thing wrong with the room was the creatures within it. Scary, wrinkle-faced monsters. I hid myself further into the folds of Severus' billowing robes. He seemed to notice my apprehension and squeezed my hand in response. We walked up to a tall desk with one of the monsters sitting upon it. We stopped before it and Severus spoke.
" Gooding day to you, goblin. I would like to enter the Prince vault." The goblin didn't even look up, " Identification?" The goblin kept scribbling numbers on his sheet. " The password is Eileen and I have the key." At this the goblin looked up and nodded. He motioned for us to follow him. He took us to what looked like a cart. I climbed aboard, but Harry shook his head.
" Harry it's alright, come on." I patted the seat beside mine. He slowly climbed on and tightly grasped my arm. It hurt, but I didn't mind if it made him feel more at ease. Severus sat beside me. Albus and the goblin sat on the opposite side of the cart. All of a sudden it lurched forward at top speed. This was almost as bad as apparation. Harry looked particularly queasy. My braided hair whipped violently. I was worried Harry's glasses would fly off. The cart suddenly lurched to a stop. I think in just the past 5 minutes I've gotten a lifetime's worth of whiplash. Severus patted my shoulder. He stood with the goblin and they walked off into darkness. Albus stayed seated and so did Harry and I.
" I appologize that we didn't warn you of the . . . fastness of the cart. It's particularly unpleasant if I do say so myself." I nodded and proceeded to comfort Harry by rubbing circles on his hand.
" What is this place?" Harry asked curiously. This was the first time he's spoken since we left Hogwarts. I nodded letting Albus know I was curious, too.
" Well, this place is called Gringotts. It's the wizarding bank. Safest place, besides Hogwarts of course. Severus just went to go get some money and some muggle money." He smiled at us. Severus came back not a moment later and sat in the cart beside us holding a little pouch. " Did you get the muggle money Severus?"
" I didn't need to. Apparently there is a new store down in the alley that sells muggle items." Severus informed him.
" Ah, well that's good. Less walking. I am getting old." Harry giggled at that.
" Harry stop! That's rude!" I whispered to him.
" No, it's quite alright Anne. He wasn't intending to be rude and there is no denying that I'm old. It's a very true statement." He laughed as he spoke. I nodded and Harry giggled at how embarrassed I probably looked. Just then the cart lurched to life again.