Autographs and Obliviations
Harry stared at Snape in surprise. "What? You mean I…"
"Have money. Yes. Quite a lot of it, actually. The Potter family is a very old one; they've accumulated a fortune. And, of course, your mother was anything but unproductive. I'm sure she and your father contributed more than a bit." Severus sounded amused at the boy's obvious astonishment.
Harry's brow furrowed. "But, the Dursleys, they said…oh. They lied. Well, duh. They do that. Okay."
Harry grinned suddenly. "This is so cool! So, I can buy things? Like-books and clothes and pens and things?"
Harry hurriedly took an inventory of all the stuff he had always wanted to get. He frowned. "What happens when the money runs out? It's not like I can support myself now…"
Severus looked like he was on the verge of rolling his eyes. "Harry. You're rich. You could buy all of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and still have enough money to last you five hundred years without ever doing a day of work. Are you starting to understand?"
The boy's eyes were very, very big and very, very round. "Wow," he breathed out quietly. He gestured to the table. "So, these books, I can…?"
There was a quiet cough from behind him.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I believe I can help you there. I'm Zach Trentin, the owner of this fine establishment."
Harry whirled around to face the stranger. He hated it when people snuck up on him.
"Hi. I'm Harry Potter. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Harry. Um, actually," the man stopped for a second, fidgeting, and then started talking more quickly. "Could I have your autograph? It's just that-well, I have a son who's at that age, y'know? He'd love me forever if I gave-"
"Whoa. Stop. Autograph? As in signature? You're joking, right? I mean, why would you want that from me?"
The man looked-Harry narrowed his eyes. He was blushing.
"I-I told you, my son…"
"No, I meant, why would your son want my autograph?"
Trentin looked distinctly relieved. "Oh. Well, you are the savior of the wizarding world. I imagine quite a lot of people will be wanting autographs."
Harry felt trapped.
Honestly. Autographs. From me. This is so stupid.
"O-Okay. I guess that would be okay."
Trentin smiled brightly. "Great! Um, you can sign here, to "Zach," please-"
"Wait, I thought…didn't you say it was for your son?"
The man's smile faltered for a second before returning. "Well, yes, but his name is Zach too."
"Oh. All right." Harry thought the explanation was a little suspicious, but he didn't question it.
He glanced over surreptitiously at Snape and saw the Professor stifling a laugh.
He ground his teeth. Slowly.
This was so not funny.
After he had finished, a thought occurred to him. "Wait, I may have money, but I don't have any here. These books…is there any way I could sort of…borrow them for now and pay you back later?" Harry put on his best wide-eyed-innocent expression.
"That won't be necessary." Interjected the smooth voice of Professor Snape. "I'll buy the books. You can pay me back once we get to Gringotts."
"Gringotts? The bank? That's where the money is?"
"Where else would it be? Of course Gringotts."
"Oh. You don't have to-"
"I want to. I'm not going to go bankrupt from buying a few, "he paused, looking down at the pile, "Or more than a few books."
"Kay. Thanks." Harry smiled shyly.
He started carefully piling the books up in his arms again, jumping slightly when Severus and Trentin came over to help. They moved over to the check out counter by the entrance.
* * * * *
Harry watched as Trentin rang up the books. His look became puzzled as he heard-
"All right, that will be one galleon and three sickles."
There was still a book left.
"Mr. Trentin? You forgot one." He pushed the Diary across the counter.
"What? No, I didn't."
"Yes you did." The boy picked the small book up and waved it in front of the man's face. "It's right here."
"Oh. Yes…I…must have missed that one." Trentin was clearly bewildered.
He added the price to the total and frowned. He glanced at the cover. "What language is this?"
"Um. English. I would think. I mean, I can read it, and it's not Latin or French, so…it has to be English." Harry was unaccountably nervous. He didn't understand it.
"This is definitely not English. It looks-well, I've certainly never seen anything like it."
He handed the book to Severus. "What about you? Recognize it?"
Snape studied the Diary intently. "I believe so, yes. It looks like a very ancient form of Parseltongue." His eyes abruptly moved to focus fiercely on Harry. "And you say you can read this?"
"Well, yeah. And…it's not parseltongue. Is that how you say it? I've never even heard of that language. There's no way I would be able to read it."
Snape ignored him. "How…interesting. You're a Parselmouth."
The Professor's black eyes glittered with something Harry couldn't name. He turned to Trentin. Pulled out a wooden stick.
"Obliviate."
"All right, that will be one galleon and three sickles." Trentin said.
"Thank you, Zach. I'll see you next month?"
"That's right. Oh, and you'll need to resubscribe to Potions Weekly soon."
"All right, I will. If that's all…?"
Trentin smiled warmly. "It is. Goodbye Severus. Hope I see you around here again, Harry!"
The boy cast a sidelong glance at Severus and followed him to the back of the store. He was close to bursting with curiosity. What had Snape done? What was a Parselmouth? What was that stick thing?
He didn't say a word. He had a feeling that wouldn't be a wise move right now.
Snape took the stick out again, muttered a few words, and a book materialized out of thin air. Harry took a step back, startled.
"Severus…what…?"
"It's a portkey. We touch it, it takes us to Hogwarts."
"Oh. Okay." He cast a sidelong glance at the Professor. "You are going to explain what happened a few minutes ago, yes?"
"After we get to the school."
"Alright." Harry took a deep breath. "Let's get on with it, then."
Harry carefully reached out to touch the book-
-and the world dropped out from under his feet.
End Chapter 13
Next, we've got the meeting with Dumbledore! I'm so excited…
Anyway, hope you liked that chapter. And, no, the bookman will not be a recurring character. We might see him again, but it's definitely not likely. He was just there to further some of the plot.
Um, also, I won't be able to update for about two weeks. Sorry, guys. I'll try to write an extra-long chapter after to make up for it?
Thank you reviewers! Just seeing that someone's left me a review gives me this warm, fuzzy feeling. It's great. *g*
To: rayvern-Thanks. It took me a while to think them up. ;)
To: Rachel A. Prongs-Oh, good. Thanks. Glad to know I'm not alone. *g* I was actually gonna make Hermione a Ravenclaw, but I've been wavering lately. Maybe I'll put her in Gryffindor after all. But…if you're hinting towards an H/Hr 'ship…I can't. I'm sorry. It's too much like incest to me. And while I can sometimes read a well written- *coughs and blushes* Um, I think I'm gonna shut up now. :)
To: Avlyn-Sorry, no. Don't think Remus is gonna be in this fic. Mostly 'cause I like Snape better. Don't get me wrong-I love Remus. But…*sighs* I want Snape to be the primary care and affection giver to Harry. Lupin would ruin that. He's too…nice. *smiles*
To: rebma-lol. Yeah, that should be fun, huh? The reading's gonna be there pretty much constantly throughout the fic-so you don't have to worry about that. And…well, I don't want Harry to be too withdrawn. I mean, he's Harry. *g*
To: Mixmaster DJ-I will. I did. Thanks. :)
To: Fage of Hyren-Sorry! *grins* Thanks, I'll try.
To: Angie-Thank you. And, I'm doing the best I can. ;)
To: momma-dar-I'm glad. And…thanks.
To: arcee-Hope this answered your question. And, good. *g*
To: reanne080-Thanks. Yeah, I always liked that too. I saw it in a few other fics and fell in love with the idea.
To: Silver Angel-I'm glad you like it. I'll try to keep up the Snape-ness. *g*
To: Lady Lestrange-Thank you. And, yeah, it did. :)
To: Ian-lol. Ideas are good. However, I think a basilisk might be a little too…exotic for Harry. He likes to keep a low profile. The Dark Arts and Slytherin stuff-well, yeah. That's pretty much gonna happen. *g*
To: Sk8reagle-I know, I know, I'm the most popular author around. *flicks hair behind shoulder extravagantly* And I don't mind, really. Well, not that much. :)
To: candledot-Thanks. Lol about the marriage. It might be cool to see what would happen if either Sev or Harry got mad. Cool in an evil way, but…Hmmm…*taps chin thoughtfully*
To: Skull Bearer-Lol. And…thanks. Cool name, btw. Terry Brooks? Feel free to yell at me if I'm wrong. *g*