Zia turned the conversation between her and Tom Riddle Senior over and over in her mind as she sat on the train. She examined it from every angle she could think of in an effort to make sure she hadn't missed something, hadn't overlooked a vital hint that Riddle was lying and planned to do something to harm her family. She could find nothing, no matter how many times she went over it, and decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt. If something went wrong, there was always the memory charm route, and she would have more time to learn how to induce selective memory loss.

The train ride back to London went by seemingly faster than the ride going to Little Hangleton had felt to her. She missed her Tom and the family they had pulled together. The train pulled into the station and she exited it with her luggage, and decided not to go straight back to Nana Mary and Papa Charlie's home. Instead, she took the set of streets that led to the Leaky Cauldron.

Zia pulled her wand out and tapped the brick that would open the way to Diagon Alley, waited as the bricks swirled out of the way, and stepped into the street. She walked down the street to Flourish and Blotts, entered the bookstore, and wandered its now familiar shelves. Zia and Tom visited the bookstores on Diagon Alley more than any other stores there. He loved to learn about the magical world he belonged to, and Zia had to rely heavily on books to help her answer his questions. Tom loved when she would bring a book home to read with him. Smiling to herself, she walked to the section devoted to magical history, and pulled out some of the more interesting titles. She was just settling into a chair by a little table to inspect each one and determine which would be that day's buy when a group of people entered the shop.

"Regulus!" someone called. Zia twitched. It couldn't be Sirius' brother, the time period was completely off, but that didn't stop the name's familiarity from piquing her curiosity. She surreptitiously turned her head in the direction of the new group. They all looked to be around her age, but she didn't know which one was Regulus. She went over the characteristics of the Black family that seemed to run trend in the books. Dark hair and eyes, attractive, somewhat arrogant. "Regulus Black!" One of the men turned in the direction of the shout.

"What?" the man retorted. Zia studied him. He fit the physical descriptions well enough, and the way he carried himself screamed self-importance. She wrinkled her nose and looked back to her pile of books. Another man walked up to the group, and Zia recognized him as one of the store assistants.

"Fancy seeing you all in a book shop. What are you doing here?"

"Obviously to see the places to cross off the list of potential work locations," Regulus replied.

"You've never worked a day in your life, you don't need to," the store assistant said to Regulus.

"True, but that doesn't mean I can't come visit to alleviate your boredom. It must be awful working in this place. What kind of people do you get in here?" Regulus asked. Zia kept her eyes locked on the book she was looking at without seeing any of the words. This Regulus seemed like a completely spoiled brat.

"Usually it will either be students looking for schoolbooks, adults looking for self-help books, or old people looking for books because they are old and it's the only thing left for them to do," the assistant told him. Zia decided that she didn't want to stay for the rest of the conversation and made a quick decision. She walked up to the register and rang the little bell for assistance. The assistant pulled himself away from his friends and walked over to help her.

"Interested in history?" he asked.

"I read to my nephew."

"How old? I'd guess nine or ten?"

"He is four."

"Four? And you read history books to the kid?" the assistant asked, sounding incredulous.

"I read all kinds of books to him."

"Your nephew must have no childhood," came Regulus' voice from behind her. Zia paid for her book and stuck it into her bag.

"And you have no adulthood, from what I've heard. Maybe you should learn to read, it could help you get one," Zia said snappishly. She wasn't in the mood to be patient with comments like that. Her patience had been used up dealing with Tom Riddle Senior. She pushed past the group to the door and walked towards her next destination, the sweets shop.

"You guys have fun without me, I'll meet up with you later," she heard Regulus tell the group. "Where do you think you're going?" Regulus asked, catching up to her.

"To buy some candy. Any other problems with the way I live my life, other than my desire to have an intelligent child, that you'd like to share with me?"

"You're too uptight, especially for your age. I'm 25, you can't be older than me," he said, matching pace beside her. Zia narrowed her eyes, wondering to herself whether or not she had turned into some kind of magnet for annoying arrogant people. "Although it's good that you're going to buy candy."

"Why don't you get back to your friends? You're irritating me." Regulus laughed.

"Irritating you? If I told you that I could pay for every book in that bookstore, along with every piece of candy in the shop and a lot more than that combined, would I still be irritating?"

"Yes." He seemed slightly taken aback by this answer, as if he hadn't been expecting such a quick terse reply, and so was silent for a moment.

"Let me help you carry your things. Looks like you've got short trip's worth of stuff in these bags," he said.

"I do, and no you may not touch my belongings." He fell silent for another brief space.

"Why are you dressed like a muggle? You're not a mudblood are you?" he said the last part with contempt.

"Go clean your filthy mouth." Zia was almost to the door of the sweet shop when Regulus blocked her way.

"You are?" he asked, frowning.

"Does it matter? I have no problems with anybody of muggle descent, and I have friends who are muggles. I find your language offensive, your attitude pathetic, and you as a whole nauseating. Please leave me alone."

"You have friends who are muggles? Seriously?"

"Yes, now get out of my way." He didn't budge.

"What are they like?" his voice was suddenly curious, and low as if to keep other people from hearing him.

"Just like wizards but without the magic. Honestly, it's not like they are a foreign species. They speak the same languages as we do, have the same anatomy. Get over it."

"Can I meet them? Only don't tell anybody. My family would kill me."

"Excuse me?" This was something Zia had not been expecting.

"I've never been allowed to talk with actual muggles, so I was just thinking maybe I could meet the ones you know."

"Why on earth would someone like you want to do that? Pureblood supremacy family, am I right?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I can't do what I want on my own time. They don't have to know. And I'm curious." Zia looked him in the eye firmly, and he looked back unflinchingly. Honest curiosity. She contemplated this.

"I will take you into the muggle world, but I'm not going to let you near my friends and family. I don't trust you with them. But we can start slow. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"If you do something that hurts them in any way, you don't want to know what I will do to you. Is this clear?"

"Yes."

"Then you're going to have to get muggle clothes."