Episode Ninety Four

            The fresh, new day brought with it a fresh, new idea. Of course, she still hadn't faced the issue of Snape as father (but it would've explained some of his recently queer behavior towards her). Instead she thought she might find something of the truth in her inheritance. Perhaps her mother had left her some papers to sort through at Gringotts, instead of in her study at the house.

            With that in mind she walked down past the main gates to the school and concentrated just enough to get to Diagon Alley. It wasn't too many months before that Gwen was sitting in the exact same office of Gringotts and looking at her account folder with a detached interest. It didn't seem real to her just then, and the shock of having an inheritance to claim hadn't seemed such a big deal.

            Now that she was claiming it, it was indeed a big deal. She didn't know just what she was claiming and the excitement that her mother had left something for her other than that old house which had fallen into disrepair since her death sent Gwen into absolute shudders of delight.

            Having known her mother as well as she did, she might have expected that there would be a catch. The goblin brought her down into the bowels of Gringotts via an iron cart, which always made her twice as sick as the usual passenger. They arrived at her mother's vault, which would be the second vault Gwen would closed in such a short amount of time. She worked her way out of the cart with shaking knees and managed not to vomit this time. The goblin opened the door with a silver key and showed her into the vast chamber.

            She was surprised to find only a small black box with a silver handle and silver lock sitting in the center of the floor. She had not known what to expect, but she certainly didn't expect this. It wasn't a tremendous disappointment, but she felt odd just then. She didn't feel it was the right place to open the box, so she picked it up, tucking it under her arm and watched as the goblin placed a red marker on the vault door.

            Had they stayed there much longer they would have seen something very interesting, for four gangly looking goblins swooped in upon the door and tore it all to shreds. There was no use for it, not until someone opened a new account. The pieces of the door were set into a large bin and carted down into even deeper depths to be sorted into parts and later used for a new door.

            As it was, Gwen couldn't concentrate. The only thing that kept her from regretting lunch was the thought of her new black box. There was something in it, her mother wouldn't just leave an empty box as inheritance. She was certain that the box contained something important. She just had to find someplace to open it and explore the contents.

            Before she left the goblin handed her the key to the vault. "It's for the box as well." He said, answering her question before she even thought of it. He had her sign yet another form, stamped it and took it away to be processed. Gwen stepped out into the sunlight and was once again blinded after all the doom and gloom of the inner sanctum at Gringotts.

            She took in the sweet smelling air of Diagon Alley with a refreshing sigh. A harassed looking wizard frowned at her and another witch shook her head. How anyone could enjoy themselves under the fairly stressful conditions of the current world was a mystery to them. Gwen had to fight the giggles all the way into the Leaky Cauldron. It just seemed so much like the Gwen she used to be, the one who chastised herself for worrying over boyfriends when war was looming. It was still looming and had she not worried about her boyfriends she would be so thoroughly depressed that it would almost be better to let the dark wizards and witches win without a fight. At least, that's how Gwen felt. She smiled to herself and sat down at the bar.

            She wasn't sure if she should return to Hogwarts or her mother's house to open the safe box. The more she thought about it though the less she liked the idea of Hogwarts. Snape was there. And Corwin would be looming just over her shoulder. No matter how much she wanted to confront Snape and simply just be with Graves, she couldn't do either just now. Her mother's study seemed like the most appropriate place.

            The beauty of being a fully licensed witch was that travel could be a real snap if you knew how to apparate and used it as often as possible. Gwen had almost altogether abandoned conventional transportation. She smiled as she sank into her mother's soft, velveteen chair. If nothing else her mother and she had always lived comfortably.

            She set the box before her and removed the key from her pocket. She set the key into the lock and turned it, excited to hear a tiny click. There her excitement ended. The lock said clearly, in a quiet voice: "password please."

            Her hand automatically went to slap her forehead, her jaw dropped three more inches than she would've believed humanly possible. Of course there would be another failsafe. Her mother was Captain Cautious. She pulled the key from the lock, and carefully set it into the top drawer. Then she picked up the black box and threw it as hard as she could across the room. She immediately regretted it as she imagined Snape standing before her and wagging his finger in a gesture of disapproval. "Temper, temper." He condescended.

            She picked up the box and set it back on the desk. Now, she had no choice but to travel to France.