Chapter Twenty-One
The Abruptly Ending Shopping Trip
There could be little doubt that Hogsmeade was getting more than the usual traffic that year, but the bumping and bustling crowd seemed to add to the holiday spirit rather than take away from it. Alex, Aurelius, Andrew, and Alicia held tightly onto their money pouches excitedly while their parents looked over the crowded streets dubiously.
"This place is an absolute menagerie today!" Jennifer exclaimed.
"Perhaps we should split up," Severus suggested. "You take the girls around and I'll take the boys. We can meet up again at Dragonwing Deli for lunch."
"All right. I suppose you can't get into much trouble here, since there are no jewelry stores to speak of," Jennifer teased her husband, who merely nodded as he led the boys towards to the sports' shop. "And what of us, where would you like to hit first, girls?"
"Honeydukes!" Alex said, and Alicia quickly agreed. Jennifer looked over at the packed candy shop with a wary eye.
"Very well, I suppose we ought to go ahead and get it over with," she sighed, letting the girls lead the way.
The disagreeable crawling bugs had been replaced with brightly colored butterflies, made from panes of transparent rock candies that formed the fluttering wings. They seemed to prefer to land on green taffy leaves, sculpted in the middle of the room for display until a clerk came to pluck them into bags for their delighted customers. Chocolate Frogs, of course, were as popular as ever, and even a bag or two of the black cauldron licorice had been sold other than what Alex carried in her hands.
"Get a bag of sherbet for Essie as well, Alex," Jennifer recommended. "Professor Dumbledore mentioned to me that she liked them."
"I want to get Corey something special this year," Alex decided when she finally found her way back over to her mother. Alicia was still in line, juggling items behind her in an obvious attempt to hide some of her choices from Alex. "It seems like I always get him candy."
"You always get your father candy too," Jennifer said with amusement. "But what did you have in mind?"
"Rose told me about a new gift shop here. Can we go there?" Alex asked brightly.
"You know, I haven't been in there either," Jennifer admitted. "But first let's take a peek at that new bank. I'm kind of curious to see what it looks like."
In fact, they didn't seem to be the only ones curious about the new bank. A large crowd of witches and wizards stood outside the one level brick building, gawking as if it were an Apparation accident.
"Isn't anyone going in?" Jennifer murmured, unaware that she had said it out loud.
"You mean actually trust putting our money in there?" an old witch with a fuzzy purple hat chuckled. "Not likely. Seems like nothing more than a political publicity stunt to me. I haven't seen anyone go in there except Dumbledore and Minister Weasley, cameras following and all."
"But if no one is using the bank, how are folks getting by without access to Gringotts?" Alex asked.
"Makin' do with what they've got saved at home, I suppose. That's what I'm doin'," the woman shrugged.
"Does everyone keep money just lying around?" Alicia asked.
"Not really, Alicia," Jennifer said in a softer voice, pulling them aside. "They're afraid. They're afraid of the bank, afraid of the boycott, afraid of never getting their money back from Gringotts, and frankly," Jennifer added glancing around at the different faces, "they're not too happy about how the Ministry is handling all this."
"Well, it's not like they had any choice in the matter. They're doing the best they can," Alex protested, quickly getting hushed by her mother.
"People don't like others messing with their money, that's just human nature… and goblin nature, for that matter. Come on, let's go set an example," Jennifer said.
"But won't Father be cross?" Alicia asked.
"Let me worry about that," Jennifer said quickly and headed inside, aware of a flurry of movement behind her as people crowded a small barred window in front.
It seemed curiously clean for a bank. A long counter stretched along one side of the room with a curious shimmer in the air that seemed to divide the front counter from the back. Jennifer recognized it at once as the same magic fields used in the new sections of Azkaban. Behind the counter, Ginny Potter and Susan Bones Mitchell were playing with their quills and chatting to pass the time, while over to one side was Harry, leaning back in his chair and playing with his wand with a very bored expression on his face.
"Jennifer!" Harry sat up with a thump as the legs of the chair hit the floor, the two girls looking over with interest. "I wasn't expecting to see you in here. That is to say, Severus said…"
"I know," Jennifer interrupted with a smile. "But we've always had two separate accounts and I might be persuaded to join."
"Would you like a tour?" Harry suggested. "It'd be fairly short, we're not a very big operation."
"I can't say I'm not curious," Jennifer admitted.
"Can we come too?" Alicia asked.
"Sure. Let me get another guard up here… not that anyone even hardly comes in here to actually join, let alone rob," Harry admitted, poking his head in a doorway behind the counter. A moment later, a tall man in a feathered cap and outrageously dated outfit came out, his eyes immediately falling on Jennifer.
"At your service, Madame," Athos announced, making a sweeping movement with his arm.
"So this is where you've been hiding," Jennifer said knowingly. "How are you?"
"Bored out of my skull, Madame," Athos said, plopping down in the chair Harry had just occupied. "I see Mademoiselle Alexandria succeeded in making it out of the house? I hope she has been behaving."
"For the most part," Jennifer chuckled.
"This way, Jennifer," Harry said, lifting a part of the counter for them to pass by, showing them down a small corridor.
"Now why was Athos wondering if he had helped you get of the house, Alexandria?" Jennifer asked the moment they were out of public eye. Alex and Alicia glanced at each other. They had forgotten how easily Jennifer could read their oldest brother.
"Well, he might have helped a little," Alex admitted. Jennifer frowned at her. "All right, he wrote down the page numbers of all the rules we needed to copy, but that's it. We did all the work."
"So that's why Alicia took off in such a hurry before the log lighting," Jennifer said, frowning over at her other daughter who giggled nervously in response.
"Aurelius did his the hard way, though, really! He thought we were cheating," Alex said, rolling her eyes.
"We'll talk about this later," Jennifer said, nudging them both. Harry looked back at them with complete amusement. "So where's the first stop, Harry?"
"Right down here, it's not far," Harry said, taking them down a flight of stairs. It led into another brick-lined corridor with fine ivory carpets and torch sconces. "Right around this corner, for those who know how to get in…" Harry paused a moment and seemed to put his hand through part of the brick wall. A moment later a passage opened up, leading up to a large, polished steel door, "…is our money vault. It's bigger than any Gringotts' vault that I know about, but of course it needs to hold a lot more," Harry explained, opening the steel door so that they could peer in. Alex and Alicia ooo'ed loudly as they peered at the piles of galleons, sickles, and knuts, lined up in neat rows. Several small carts on rollers lined the wall, filled with sacks marked with galleon amounts. "Sirius built it, and I added some security of my own. Dumbledore even came up with a spell that we used, although I'm not sure I want to personally see if it works or not."
"It's an impressive vault," Jennifer said politely. "Whose money is this that we're allowed to see it?"
"Everyone's," Harry said. Jennifer stared at him.
"I'm sorry?"
"Everyone's. The bank's and the account holders," Harry said again. "We take it all from the same pool. It saves time, space, and having to let people come to the vault any time they need money. All you have to do when you want money is ask one of the tellers upstairs, and they'll hand you the money and record what you've taken it out."
"Oh," Jennifer said thoughtfully, glancing at the piles again. "But how can they tell which coins are mine and which ones are someone else's?"
"We record every transaction, of course," Harry said. "The goblins do that part too, after you leave the vault. The only difference really is that now you're getting the money up front. Then we give you a record of how much you took out and how much you have left."
"Yes, but how do you mark the coins so that the tellers know which ones are which?" Jennifer asked. It was Harry's turn to stare.
"Well, you don't get the specific coin back you put in," Harry said carefully. "You get a certain amount back. So if you have fifty galleons in the bank, then all you have to do is let the tellers know you want to take five out, and they'll hand you five from what they have with them upstairs."
"Where did they get the money?"
"From the vault, of course."
"But I thought this was everyone's money."
"Yes, exactly."
"But I don't want anyone else's money. I want my own."
There was a loud chuckle behind them and they looked up to see Sirius standing behind them in the corridor.
"Sirius, could you explain…" Harry began.
"Oh, no. I had to explain it to Molly Weasley. You can handle it this time," Sirius said, waving Harry's plea away.
"I think I understand what you're saying, Harry." Alex said. "But how come there's only money in here? Where are everyone else's things?"
"Yes, Mum has a whole vault with neat things in Gringotts," Alicia agreed. "Although I don't know why we have them if we can't touch them and never use them."
"You'll understand when you're older," Jennifer told her. "But it is a good question. Surely a bank isn't all about money?" Sirius was having a hard time keeping a straight face.
"Come on. I'll show you our safety deposit room," Harry said, leading them out and leaving Sirius to close things up. "It's just down at the opposite end of the hall."
"And what is in this room?" Alex asked curiously.
Along the hall was a single door indented slightly into the brick and made of solid oak. Beside it was a metal box set to lie flush with the brick with a large slot on its side.
"That's the Records Room, where we keep track of transactions," Harry said. "I'm afraid no one's allowed to go in there. Security, you know."
"What's so secret about a room with a bunch of paper in it?" Alex wondered. "And who keeps track of all of it?"
"The Brittles, actually," Harry said. "In fact, Danny was the first person I talked to when Sirius and I talked about the idea. She knows quite a bit about how Muggle banks work and helped us come up with this one."
"Yes, she would know something about that," Jennifer murmured.
"It's mainly Taylor doing most of the work during school days, of course. He was laid off because of the boycott, so we hired him as soon as we heard," Harry explained.
"People are losing jobs because of this?"
"Alex," Jennifer hissed at her.
"Better than losing lives if we had let this situation get any nastier," Harry said, apparently not offended. He was well aware of the trouble his idea had caused.
"Something had to be done, Harry," Jennifer agreed.
"I know," Harry said, putting his hand through another wall to open another corridor. "Although it's hard to fight against them when I think in a lot of ways they're the ones who are right. This way."
The corridor led to another steel door, but when this one opened, it led into a small room with a table and some chairs. Through an open doorway across from them was a large square room lined from top to bottom with numbered squares.
"These are the safety deposit boxes," Harry explained, walking over to one of the numbered squares. He pressed his thumb to a small plate below the number and the box slid out. "This one's mine," Alex careened her head a bit to peek, merely seeing a photo album, a Snitch stamped with the Gryffindor crest, and a small broken rod of gold. For some reason, Jennifer inhaled sharply, giving Harry a stern look.
"Does Dumbledore know you have that?"
"I haven't mentioned it," Harry shrugged, closing the box. "Anyhow, these boxes are completely private. You can keep anything in them that you like. Of course, there is a fee for these, but the regular accounts are free."
"That's all right, I've made up my mind," Jennifer said. "I'll take one of your boxes please."
"All right, let me get the papers and find you a box then," Harry said, heading back into the small room.
"What's wrong with Harry having a bit of gold?" Alex whispered curiously the moment he was out of hearing range. Jennifer pinched her arm.
"You stop being so nosy," Jennifer warned her daughter. "And forget you ever saw it." Alex and Alicia glanced at each other then shrugged. A moment later, Harry came back with a scroll and led her to another box, and after getting Jennifer to place her thumbprint by her name on the scroll, had her do the same to the box, which opened easily at her touch.
"Splendid! How nice, I won't ever have to worry about losing a key!"
"Only you will be able to open it, except for Sirius or I if there's a court order," he added, sounding slightly amused. "And if you need to, you can take your box out and go through it in the next room. We only let one client in at a time, so no one else will be able to look in it either unless they're with you."
"Brilliant!" Jennifer said cheerfully. Opening her money pouch, she took out several galleons, placed them inside, and shut it. Harry knew better than to argue that wasn't exactly what he had in mind. "Now my money's safe and you have a new customer," she said, satisfied now she had contributed. "Thanks, Harry!"
"Um, sure, anytime, thank you," Harry said. "Here, let me show you out, then. Just let the tellers know anytime you need to get in your box."
"Sounds lovely," Jennifer said. Sirius, standing near the bottom of the stair, followed behind them, joining Harry as they left. Sirius couldn't help but grin at the expression on Harry's face.
"Let me guess. She put her money in the deposit box," Sirius said with a smirk.
"Yep," Harry said expressionlessly.
"At this rate we'll have more money stashed in the boxes than we do in the vault," Sirius chuckled, heading back downstairs.
"Nobody said banking would be easy," Harry told himself, going back over to his post.
Jennifer, Alex, and Alicia had quite some trouble finding Toby's Trinkets. In fact, it wasn't until another student who had been there came by and showed them that they finally found it on a side street near the edge of town.
"Odd," Jennifer mused as they went in. "We passed by here twice already and I never noticed it before. Why would a storekeeper make it so you'd have to be shown in to see it?"
But her question died on her lips as she and the girls got caught up in the wonder of all the magnificent things they saw. Everything imaginable lined the shelves; many of them were hand-carved toys that did fabulous things, but also plenty of kitchen gadgets, charmed trinkets, jewelry boxes and even other odd items stuck here and there in no particular order. Behind the counter, a wooden owl with curiously realistic head movements spied upon everyone in the room, hooting every now and then as it tried to keep track of all the customers.
Jennifer's eyes then found themselves looking at the wizened old man sitting behind the counter, absently carving a piece of wood. His own icy blue eyes had been on her since she had entered, and when he saw her looking back he smiled warmly at her and winked so flirtatiously that Jennifer blinked in surprise. Quickly she turned her attention to her daughters who were already trying to grab things off the shelves.
"Look, Mum, oh look at the palette!" Alicia said excitedly. "The sign says it never forgets a color! You can make more of a shade that you're painting with and it'll always be the same! Can I have it?"
"Mum, look at the wooden raven! It'd be nearly like having my own familiar!" Alex pleaded.
"We're here to buy other people presents, not for us," Jennifer reminded them sternly. "Besides, I'd think that raven would be too expensive."
"But Mum, Rose says we can name our price here," Alex said.
"So I've heard," Jennifer said sternly. "But that doesn't mean it's not too expensive."
"I'm sure we can find something for Corey here," Alicia said. "Why, it seems like there's something for everyone here!" she exclaimed, eyeing the palette once more.
"Well, I'm not sure about that yet," Jennifer said with a grin. "But there is one person I find absolutely impossible to buy for, and if I can actually find a present for your father in here, I'll make that admission." Alicia and Alex grinned at each other, turning back to the shelves.
"Alex, perhaps you should find something for Rose," Alicia suggested as they played with some of the toys. "Didn't she get that Tri-wizard chess board for you and Mandria here?"
"I recall that chessboard!" Toby said suddenly, and the girls looked up quite surprised that the old whittler had heard them over the commotion in the room. "A very thoughtful girl bought it. You see, I have a one item per person rule, and she didn't want to choose between her friends. She had no trouble giving up the item she wanted, though. You are very lucky to have a friend like her."
"What was it that she wanted?" Alex asked, stepping up to the counter.
"Merely a flower pot, charmed to sense the needs of the plant. In fact, it's sitting right over there," Toby gestured. Alex looked over to see the pot partially hidden on the bottom row, carved with thornless roses. Three clawed feet raised the pot above the floor, and as Alex peered to look inside, it suddenly moved away from her, walking on its clawed feet. "You blocked its sunlight," Toby chuckled at her. "You'll have to pardon it, miss. It hardly knows what to do with itself without a plant to look after."
"Mum, can I get this?" Alex asked hopefully.
"An awfully expensive gift for a friend, that'd be at least…"
"No worries, Mother, I'm quite sure your daughter has some idea on value," Toby reassured Jennifer with a smile that made her slightly flustered. "It's not the items that matter so much as the friendship behind it."
"There are so many amazing things here! But I've not a clue what to get Corey," Alicia said.
"Did you have anything at all in mind, little miss?" Toby asked with a kind smile.
"Something small but meaningful," Alicia said.
"If you find something nice I can cover for you," Jennifer nudged her daughter.
"I'd rather use my own money, really, just the same," Alicia said.
"Why don't you take another good look around?" Toby suggested with a smile. "Perhaps you missed something that you didn't notice the first time. Just put the coins in the cup, miss," he said, referring to Alex this time. As Alex put her coins in and turned to look for the pot, she found that it had already been minimized for her and set inside a bag for her to pick up. "This one looks a great deal like you, except the eyes," he commented casually, smiling at Jennifer again.
"Those are her father's," Jennifer said with a nod.
"He is a very lucky man if I do say so myself," Toby said, putting down his work. "And considering what he has, I'd say he'd be difficult to shop for. What do you give a man who has everything? Everything that matters, that is," Toby mused, gazing around. "Something from the back room, I think," he decided. "If you'll excuse me a moment."
"Mister Toby looks at you like father does," Alicia commented.
"What was he thinking about, Mum?" Alex asked.
"That'll do from both of you," Jennifer snapped, feeling heat rising to her cheeks. "He's just trying to be polite. What did you find, Alicia?"
"It's a worry stone. You're supposed to rub it to make you feel calmer," Alicia said, showing her a smooth, creamy white stone. "But this one's different!" she explained, taking a small note out of its velvet box, reading it. 'Embedded in this stone is a single chip of diamond. Legend has it that the diamond it came from the Dragonheart diamond, named for its size, had been given to sanction a union between a faerie princess and her human love, destined by the stars to be together. But although the love between them was strong, it could not prevent a war. During the bloodshed, the diamond was shattered into many pieces and scattered throughout the world, but it is said that the pieces have never lost sight of its true purpose of bonding those destined to be together. Take heart then, in this single chip, that one day it may light the way along the path to your true love.' Isn't that the most romantic thing you've ever heard?"
"I lost any sense of romance from the moment you said the word, 'diamond,'" Alex admitted. "I've seen enough diamonds to last a lifetime."
"Mum, isn't your ring made from that too?" Alicia said excitedly.
"Yes," Jennifer said distantly, gazing at the stone for a while before placing it back in the box. "Put it back where you found it."
"But Mum, it's perfect. You know how Corey always says…"
"I know what he always says, but we simply can't afford it," Jennifer insisted.
"What was that?" Toby said, appearing from the back room, blinking between them. "Goodness, I know you haven't been here before, my dear lady, but have you not read my sign? Do you not know what this is all about?"
"No, actually… I mean, yes I've read the sign, but I am not someone who's going to stiff you," Jennifer said, setting the box on the counter.
"Stiffing me would be walking out of here without paying at least one knut, but I'd know if they tried to do that," Toby said as he took his seat. "So this is what you're quarreling over?" he asked, picking up the stone. "The price of a rock?"
"You know perfectly well that it's more than just a rock," Jennifer said impatiently.
"A diamond is just a rock," Toby said, rubbing it a bit, then putting it to his teeth. "You can't eat it. It's too small to be useful unless you like to skip rocks on water. Who knows, perhaps there's nothing about the legend at all, except that people have believed in it for so long they actually think its true… and it is truly their own magic that's doing it," Toby shrugged. "I've had this dusty old box in my shop for longer than these two probably have been alive, and I don't have any use for it myself. No one is destined to be with me, and if is all the same to you, I would like to keep it that way," he added with a sparkle in his eyes. "If you truly believe it can be any use to the lad, I will give it to you for one knut and not another knut more, but on the condition," Toby added looking at Alicia seriously, "that you let me wrap it for you. I wouldn't want the box to get damaged," he said. "I carved it myself."
"Then we should at least pay more for the box," Jennifer insisted. Toby sighed at Jennifer, shaking his head.
"A woman as lovely as you should learn when it is time to be stubborn and when it is time to say, 'thank you,'" Toby chided her. Jennifer blinked with surprise, but couldn't think of a useful argument. "Now I promise you may pay me handsomely for your husband's gift if it suits you. That is, if you think he deserves the price," Toby added mischievously while he wrapped the box, tying it off with ribbon.
"Perhaps if I told you more about what interests him, it might help us come up with something?" Jennifer suggested.
"That won't be necessary," Toby mused, "But I haven't found it yet. Why don't you take another look around?" he suggested to her. "I'm sure it has to be around here somewhere."
"What exactly are we looking for?" Alex asked.
"We'll know when we find it," Toby said, searching behind the counter. "Aha! This must be it," he said at last, pulling out a dusty instrument case and setting it on the counter, opening it gently. Alex and Alicia peered inside, and Jennifer came up behind them with a widening smile.
"It's a violin," Alex said.
"But Father doesn't know how to play it, does he?" Alicia said.
"It's never too late to learn a new skill, no matter how old and cranky one gets," Toby said mischievously. "A lot can be said for music, you know. Not only can it soothe any savage beasts that happen to wander by, but it can act as a means of meditation, to help one think properly."
"Just like Sherlock Holmes!" Alex said brightly, "Father has always liked him."
"I've never met him myself," Toby said solemnly. "I'm afraid, my lady, there are few spells to be had on this instrument, merely charms to protect the strings on the violin and on the instrument so not to be damaged."
"It's perfect, actually," Jennifer admitted. "Although I doubt he'd ever use it, I'm sure he'd love it nonetheless."
"Instruments are not meant to hang on walls," Toby mused. "But perhaps, considering who is buying it for him, he may try it. If we're lucky, he'll prefer it to spending all day brewing up unsavory potions that will probably go bad before they're even used." Alex and Alicia couldn't help but chuckle at that as Toby closed the case and wrapped it to disguise its shape.
It wasn't long before Jennifer tried to dump her entire pouch into his cup, but he protested only lightly this time, handing her one of her coins back.
"Buy your husband a drink for me," Toby insisted. "He really doesn't deserve you, you know," he winked flirtatiously. Slightly flustered once more, Jennifer quickly herded the children out before attempting to rearrange their bags.
"How do you suppose he knew all that? I mean about Father and the potions?" Alex asked at once, making Jennifer pause.
"You know, I have no idea," Jennifer said, suddenly feeling a bit suspicious. "Perhaps when we get home I'll look these over to check for curses, just to be safe."
"Do you suppose Father and the boys have been here yet?" Alicia asked wistfully. "Perhaps I can talk one of them into getting me that palette." Alex grinned at her.
"Well, we'd best be getting to the deli for lunch in any case. I don't know about you but I am getting hungry, and even pumpkin butter sandwiches are starting to sound good at this point," Jennifer admitted.
Even the deli was crowded that day, so much so that despite the cold weather, the three of them gave up waiting and went for one of the tables outside, gathering up chairs from surrounding tables to fit them all and setting out the hot drinks just as Severus, Aurelius, and Andrew walked up.
"Guess who we just saw," Andrew said, gulping his drink down so fast Jennifer felt the heat down her throat just watching him. "Princess Thera!"
"Really? Heather and Bill were taking her shopping too?" Jennifer said with open interest, looking expectantly at Severus.
"So it would seem, although she doesn't seem much inclined to the weather," Severus mused.
"She didn't seem much inclined to anything," Aurelius said, glancing at Alex. "She didn't seem to recognize us, and she wouldn't speak English at all."
"She seems to have had some sort of relapse. She's not wanting to accept what has happened to her," Severus said in a low voice. "It isn't as if we didn't warn them."
"Yes, but I can't help feeling sorry for that girl," Jennifer said, glancing about to see if she could pick them out of the crowd. "Everything she's been through. Do you remember how skittish Anna was when she first came to Hogwarts?"
"The difference being that despite her background, Anna belongs in this time and place, where Thera does not," Severus said.
"I feel sorry for her too," Alex sighed. "Perhaps I can go talk to her?"
"No," Severus and Jennifer said at once.
"How long as she been like this?" Jennifer asked, pausing only momentarily when the sandwiches arrived.
"A few months from the sound of it. Since just before Halloween," Severus replied.
"Oh, no, I hope that incident with the Nearly Headless Nick wasn't to blame!" Alex fretted. Aurelius hissed softly, but it was too late for that now. Jennifer and Severus' eyes were focused on Alex.
"Well that explains why McGonagall was dodging me about the incident," Jennifer said, frowning disapprovingly at her daughter. "You were right, Severus, they were involved. I should have seen it the moment Ick asked if they could go to that party."
"Any other confessions you'd like to make while the iron is hot?" Severus asked. He smiled dangerously as his eyes darted from Alex to Aurelius, who was busy kicking her under the seat.
"Not before Christmas, sir," Alex said. Andrew and Alicia began to giggle but stopped short when their parents looked over at them. "I just hope it wasn't us, that's all. She happened to be visiting Sagittari at the time and I'm afraid the ghost gave her quite a shock."
"I'm sure Sagittari would have mentioned it to someone if he thought that was going to be a problem," Jennifer assured them, glancing over at her husband. It was evident from his face, however, that he had every intention of speaking with the centaur when they returned.
"So have you made it to Toby's Trinkets yet?" Alicia asked after everyone had had a chance to nibble on a sandwich. "I saw the loveliest palette there. But we're only allowed one item, so I got Corey's present there instead."
"Is that the 'name-your-price' gift shop?" Aurelius asked curiously. "I thought that was just some tale to tease the younger students with."
"There's no gift shop that I know of," Severus said.
"It exists, Severus, we were just there," Jennifer said. "You have to be shown the way to find it."
"Are you sure you don't know Mister Toby, father? He seemed to know you," Alex said. Severus looked over at Jennifer, who shrugged.
"He did seem to know you," Jennifer agreed. "And you should see that store. It's as if anyone who walks in there finds the perfect item, whether it's for themselves or for others." Severus squinted.
"How perfect?"
"Perhaps too perfect," Jennifer admitted. "But I've heard that the shop has been here for a couple of years now, so surely if there were anything amiss…"
"All the same we ought to be cautious," Severus said.
"I do agree about that," Jennifer said.
"But he was so nice to us," Alicia protested. "You should see what he sold me to give to Corey. And he really liked Mum."
The sudden blush which rushed to Jennifer's face despite her straight expression was enough to make Severus put down his sandwich.
"Very well, we'll all go. Right now."
"Half a moment! Save the sandwiches, I might get hungry later!" Andrew protested, trying to quickly gather up the food.
"Might?" Aurelius said dryly. "It's amazing we got any shopping done at all as many times you made us stop already!"
"There's no rush, Severus, his shop is hardly going anywhere," Jennifer said, sipping her tea.
"Jennifer! Severus!"
Jennifer looked up to see Harry hurrying towards them, not having even taken a moment to put his coat on. Both of them got up quickly and walked over, alerted by the look on his face.
"What's wrong? Is it the bank?" Jennifer asked anxiously.
"Thera is missing," Harry said. "Bill says that he only turned his back on her a moment and she was gone."
"She can't have gone that far," Jennifer said.
"Assuming of course she wasn't taken," Severus said grimly. "With the goblin's interest in her and everything going on, I can think of several reasons someone might waylay her."
"How long has she been missing?" Jennifer asked.
"I don't know, fifteen minutes, perhaps… half an hour at most. Bill, Heather, and I have been looking through the stores, and if we don't find her soon, Sirius is going to try searching the forest," Harry said.
"Fine, I had better go with him," Severus nodded.
"He'll probably move faster on his own," Harry pointed out.
"We don't know yet if she's alone or if someone else had something to do with it," Severus argued. "The last thing we need is to have two missing persons instead of one."
"And what about me?" Jennifer protested.
"You stay here and make sure they stay out of it," Severus said curtly, nodding back at the children. As Jennifer turned to glance back at them, Severus swiftly hurried off with Harry, well at of range by the time she had turned back around again. She stood there a moment wondering what to do, then suddenly broke into a smile and walked over to the table.
"You know, it's getting a bit chilly out here. Why don't we head over to visit your Aunt Anna for a bit? We'll stop by the Brooms first and get everyone some nice hot butterbeer for a sort of pre-holiday surprise party. What do you think?"
"Sounds smashing!" Andrew said cheerfully. But the other three looked a good deal more suspicious.
