Chapter 2: In Diagon Alley
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters or places. They belong to Scholastic, Warner Bros., and the Great J.K. Rowling.
(A/N: This is the second chapter and for all you chowder-heads that didn't review the first chapter, please review this one. Thank you)
"We'd like to take money out of the Evans, Lupin, Black, Potter and Pettigrew vaults, please," James said to the first goblin they reached.
"Your keys?" inquired the goblin. He sounded very suspicious to Peter. 'But then again,' he said silently, 'it's his job to be suspicious.'
Lily, Peter, Sirius and Remus all dug the keys to there vaults out of their pockets and handed them to James. After adding his own, he handed them to the teller with a flourish and said, "Here you are my good fellow."
Sirius, Remus and Peter snorted with laughter behind their hands. They knew goblins were anything but "good fellows".
Upon a careful inspection, the goblin announced, "All right. Everything seems to be in order. I shall have Griphook take you to your vaults. Griphook!" he called over his shoulder.
A very young goblin ran towards them, and quite nearly tripped over his own feet in the process. "Yes, sir?" he asked nervously. "You called, sir. How can I help you, sir?"
"I want you to take them down to their vaults," the goblin said. "And this time no screw-ups!" he shouted pointing a long spindly finger in his direction. Griphook cringed, as if the finger were a wand.
As Griphook led them to the doorway where one of many mine cart tracks lay, Remus asked the young goblin, "What did he mean 'screw-ups'?"
The goblin waved a long hand at him. "Please, sir, do not worry about it. I've got it under control now. I will not leave another single person in their vault again." The five friends stared at the goblin in shock.
"Right, this way, sirs and ma'am," Griphook said, bowing them into the mine cart. All of them looked apprehensively down at the tracks ahead.
"If this is it," Sirius said, "I just want to say that I have one regret. I regret that I never got to see Snape wash his hair, the greaseball." James and Remus burst out laughing and Peter and Lily giggled. Griphook just smiled politely and said, "Here we go."
Luckily for them, the ride down was quite uneventful. Peter had to stare in shock at the huge supply of gold in James, Sirius, and Remus' vaults. One would think that Remus would buy new clothes with the amount of gold he had. He felt a twinge of jealousy as they reached his family's small vault. He quickly scooped a few handfuls into his bag and then reentered the cart.
On the ride back, he took his first look at his book list. The list went on for quite a while. He was taking two new subjects this year along with his old ones. For Transfiguration, he needed a copy of A Guide to Transfiguration so Advanced it would make your Head Spin by Perfectis Metamorphis. His DATDA (a/n: For those of you who still don't know Defense against the Dark Arts) class required a book called How to Protect yourself from the Darkest of the Dark Arts by Anita Bitaprotection. For his new classes, Magical Economics and Muggle History, he needed three books. Magical Stocks, by Lods O'Cash; British History, and Magical History compared and Contrasted to Muggle History both by R. E. Cognitive. Peter sighed.
'I hate having so many classes and books,' he thought to himself. 'Why can't we just have the classes we need to graduate: DATDA, Potions, Transfiguration, and History of Magic?'
Remus on the other hand was plenty happy about their booklist. He always had been a bit of a bookworm. "First stop, Flourish and Blotts!" he yelled over the whistling of the mine cart.
After regaining their balance and thanking Griphook, all five of them split up into groups. All of their parents were in the Leaky Cauldron having drinks, even Lily's. Sirius and James headed straight for the newly built joke shop (a/n: I know that it has a name but I can't remember it). Lily went with Remus to Flourish and Blotts, muttering something that sounded to Peter like, "Boys." This left Wormtail all alone. With a shrug, he headed for the Apothecary to buy some Potion supplies. And who should he find there but Severus Snape, the greasiest git ever to grace the halls of Hogwarts.
"Well, hello Pettigrew," he said smiling, showing many yellow teeth. "Getting your supplies for Hogwarts. I'm surprised they didn't expel you years ago as bad as your grade are." Wormtail flushed with anger. "Oh, by the way, how are your little friends. I'd have thought they'd want to hang around with a know-nothing loser like you."
Wormtail just stood there shooting daggers at Snape. At least he thought they were daggers. To Snape, they were more like butter knives. "At least I know how to wash my hair, you slimeball," he hissed. Snape's sallow face formed a frown.
"Oh, dear Pettigrew," he said. "Was that a cut? I haven't the slightest clue what you are talking about. But I do know one thing."
"Yeah, and what's that," Peter snapped. "What two plus two is? No, that can't be right," he said with mock worry. "You don't have the brains for such complex equations."
"What I know," Snape continued coolly, "is that if your friends were such great friends, you wouldn't be here all alone. Would you? And now I'm sorry to say," he continued with false emotion, "I must be leaving. I have an important appointment with the manager of the Leaky Cauldron. He needs a potion brewed to rid him of rats. Good-bye, Pettigrew." With that, Snape paid for his items and swished out of the shop.
Peter stood there trembling with fury. 'I can't believe that low-life twit would say something like that to me.' he thought. 'Of course, my friends are great.' But a tiny, nagging voice in the back of his head said, 'He does have a point though. Why wouldn't my friends invite me to come with them.'
Wormtail left the shop without buying anything and trudged towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Shop for a 'Pick-Me-Up Sundae''. They said that Florean put Cheering Charms on them to perk you up. He was a block away from the shop when a thick meaty hand clamped down over his mouth and pulled him down an alley.
The person who owned the hand dragged him until they reached an old run down building. The door opened and the man dragged Pettigrew inside. He was thrown before a great chair and saw a group of wizards wearing masks surrounded it.
"You Peter Pettigrew," a cold voice hissed, "shall be Dumbledore's downfall."
Peter looked up and saw the most terrible face he had ever seen. The eyes were cold and red, the pupils like slits. The head was a waxy white with the skin drawn over it like a skull's. There was no nose on this awful face. Only two slits. Peter knew exactly whose face he was staring into. It was the face of Lord Voldemort.
"Hello, Peter," the cold voice of Lord Voldemort hissed. "I hope you aren't too displeased with the way Mr. Goyle brought you here." He inclined his head slightly towards a mountain of bulk.
Peter gulped. 'In a case like this, there is only one thing to do.' He stood shakily to his feet. 'Run like heck.' He spun and leapt for the door, instantly turning into the rat which was his alter ego. Wormtail made a mad dash for the door. He was a foot away when he heard a deep voice yell the word, "Stupefy". A crimson light hit him, and the last thing he heard before blacking out is a cold, shrill laugh.
A/N: Pretty hot stuff, huh? I like it. You should like it. So will you please review this story! I am down on my knees here! -sigh- Well I have good ideas for Chapter Three so it should be here shortly. Sort of. Well, I have ideas anyway. Review!