Friends Like These
I decided to stall by going to change my dollars into galleons. The branch of Gringotts was comforting and disturbing in the same way the street was—it was just like the one in Juneau, but magnified to a level that made me want to walk out, collect myself, and try going in again. Instead I stood my ground a moment, gawking until I found the proper desk to approach. On my way out the door I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a small hand tug at my robes.
"Excuse me." The kid peered up at me, his massive blue eyes widened to their fullest extent. "Are you American?"
"Yeah," I said distractedly, looking for a break in the flow of pedestrians.
"What's it like?" The child continued. I looked down at him again more pointedly, and was alarmed to see no one with him.
"It's okay, I guess," I mumbled, casting my gaze around. "Are you lost?"
"No," the kid smiled, "you are."
"What?" I finally said, nonplussed. My head was still fogged with travel, and to be honest I just wanted to leave the kid there on the street alone. I wanted this over with, and little blue-eyes was in the way.
"You're lost." The kid repeated, latching his hand firmly around mine. I glanced around quickly again in consternation.
"No one's here with you?" I tried in a kinder voice, looking at him directly.
"You are." The kid returned. "And now we're going to go see my uncles."
"Where are your uncles?" I asked quickly, seeing an opportunity to latch the kid onto someone else.
"I'll take you." The kid said happily, tugging my arm the wrong direction down the street. His little legs were faster than you'd think, and I hardly had time to mark my position as we moved. In fact I was trying to do that when he stopped suddenly in front of a lurid storefront. "They're here," he said simply, dropping my hand to press his palms against the door. It was too heavy for him. For a moment I watched him straining.
"All right, back up a little." I said finally, shoving at the door. After the kid's display of pushing with all his might I assumed the door would take some force, so I nearly threw it open into the face of an exiting customer. I made my apologies as the kid giggled quietly into his hand. We walked in together and were set upon by a matronly woman in a flamboyant sweater, who scooped up the kid and gave him a hug that looked like it hurt.
"Arthur! Thank goodness!" The woman gushed, quickly collapsing into a worried set of mumbles. Then she set the kid down, and his posture told me he was going to get a scolding. He braced himself. Sure enough, the woman didn't disappoint. The force of her lungs set my ears back against my head. I backed up in spite of myself. Two teenagers nervously edged past her to leave the store.
"There, Mum, I think he understands," a red-headed man with an amused face set a placating hand on the woman's forearm. The kid visibly relaxed.
"Don't you, Artie?" An identical copy of the first man appeared on the other side of the woman and knelt to the kid's level.
"Yes Gred and Forge," the kid parroted. I fought the urge to suck a breath past my molars. Not a good time for parroting, kid, not a good time at all.
"I don't know that he does," the woman began again, building up a head of steam. The identical men took her elbows, gently drawing her closer to the back of the store. In the process, one of them pinned a look on the kid, who dropped his chin and followed. Nobody had said anything about uncles yet, so I followed too.
"Are those your uncles, kid?" I murmured to him, having sidled up as we made our way down a packed aisle. He nodded morosely. "I'm going to go, then." I said, slowing my pace. The kid slowed his too, then latched onto my hand again. I sighed.
"But you're still lost." His voice drew the procession to a halt. The three adults turned to stare at us—or rather, at me.
"Kid, I'm really not," I protested, "and now that you found your uncles I need to go."
"No." The kid said firmly; he grabbed at my wrist with his free hand and dug in his heels. I leaned against the added weight to keep my balance and frowned. I fought the urge to sigh again.
The adults shared a brief conversation in low tones. Then one of the twins turned to me, a polite look on his face. "Can we help you?"
"Not really," I said, still trying to pry my arm away from the kid. The man suppressed a grin, watching.
"You're sure?" The other twin asked, an amused look breaking onto his face. The woman looked harried and confused.
"Well, you could…" I gave up on speaking to the twin—he was laughing instead of helping, anyway—and knelt to look the kid in the eye. "You've got to stay with your family, kid, not me." I told him, trying not to sound irritated. "I know you think I'm lost, but I'll be okay." The kid's face crumpled. "I need you to let go of me, all right?" The kid's hands loosened. He looked crestfallen. I drew my hand away.
As I stood the woman grabbed the kid's shoulder and swept him to her side. He continued to peer up at me with his huge blue eyes. The twin men looked at me keenly. I couldn't think of anything so say, so I just nodded my head at them and turned away. I made my way out of the store thinking Black's errand might be a little harder than I originally thought.
After an accidental detour to the seedy part of town—I swear there were more people looking like they were up to something than there are in your average boys' school—I made it back to the Leaky Cauldron. I reviewed Black's notes again, and decided I had what I needed to get to the house he described. I figured the sooner I made the attempt the sooner I'd be home with the dogs, so I left that afternoon.
Black's directions were annoying but clear. He'd chosen to editorialize about every street on his map. Several of his comments almost made me laugh aloud as I walked, which only enhanced the alarmed stares I was getting for wandering London in a big black cloak. I'm sure I looked like some crazy costume-wearing tourist trying to pretend Victoria still reigned. All the better to keep people away from me, I decided.
And it was with that comforting thought that I allowed my attention to slacken. At least, I think that's what did it. At any rate and for whatever reason, I made it to the massive and depressing house only seconds before I found myself levitated and in a body bind.
"Who are you?" A female voice demanded. I rolled my eyes around, trying to see the person flying my stiff body toward the house. I was inside before I caught a tiny glimpse of pink hair. I strained my eyes toward the flash of color; then I felt the muscles in my face release.
"Tavia Dempsey. Could you let me down?" I said in the most polite tone I could muster.
"No," the woman said quickly. "Why are you here?"
"A friend of mine said I could find some of his friends here," I said vaguely, hoping I hadn't blown the whole thing. I had to get her to let me down, though. I shot an annoyed thought at Black.
"What friend?" The woman said sharply. I sighed. I couldn't just answer that one.
"I can't…" I paused, trying to think of a less incriminating way to say what I needed to say. "I need to know I'm talking to the right people first."
"And who are they?" The woman immediately returned. She's got to be a cop or something, I mused, annoyed with Black all over again.
"He gave me some names. I've never met any of them." I said, figuring that wasn't traceable.
"Tonks? Is that you, dear?" I heard another female voice call in from an adjacent room. I tried desperately to turn my head, but it was no good. Then I processed what the voice had said. Tonks. That was one of Black's names.
"Wait," I said firmly. "You're Tonks?"
"What does it matter?" The woman answered with a suspicious tone in her voice.
"It matters, all right?" I said, starting to get annoyed.
"Fine. Yes." The woman said, probably confident in her bind's ability to keep me incapacitated. Well, she was right about that.
"You know the Black family?" I barely finished saying the family name when she cut me off.
"That's your friend. A Black." She said confidently. I had the distinct feeling I should've been more cagey.
"Yeah. That's my friend. Look, I don't want anything from you. I've got a message." I rambled, hoping to save my hide.
"Tonks, dear?" The other woman's voice called, closer now. I heard a door open. I tried to roll my eyes that direction, but again I couldn't make out much more than the ceiling. "What is going on here?" The woman demanded. I could hear Tonks' voice drop in volume substantially as she said several quick sentences. The woman's footsteps receded.
"You're going to stay here." Tonks said. She lowered me to the floor, still bound. Then she knocked me out.
All right: I'll try threats. Review or I'll set Tonks on you.