A/N: Hi everyone! It's been such a long time since I've updated this story- almost 1 year has passed. I'm going to try to start regularly updating this fanfiction, but I have a lot of work to do recently, so it's really hard to keep writing. Anyways, here's the sixth chapter of Fell For Those Emerald Eyes, and I hope you guys enjoy it. I'm sorry that it's really short, but I promise the next one will be longer. Please R/R, and thanks for getting us to over 2.2K views!
Clive54: Thank you, and you too!
themugglepadme24: Thank you so much! I can't wait to write the part where they go to Hogwarts, and I think that Dudley would definitely be in Hufflepuff! *hugs back*
Petunia, Vernon, Severus, Harry, and Dudley exited Gringotts bank at night. Petunia was holding Harry, Vernon was holding Dudley, and Severus was clutching a briefcase. It wasn't particularly early, and so, after Griphook scavenged as much as he could on Sirius Black, they had decided to leave shopping for tomorrow, since it was past eight already and both Harry and Dudley were fast asleep.
"Where will we go now, Severus?" Vernon asked the Potions Master. "It would truly be an inconvenience to go all the way back to Little Whinging, though I suppose we could."
"We're going to go to the Leaky Cauldron." Severus replied. "Follow me."
"The Leaky Cauldron?" Petunia asked, puzzled, but she and Vernon followed him nevertheless. "Isn't that the pub that we entered Diagon Alley in?"
"Yes," Severus nodded, not looking back. "There are a couple of private bedrooms upstairs that we can rent."
They followed Severus into the dingy but rather welcoming pub. A stooping, hunched figure bearing a lantern walked over to them- Tom, the friendly landlord, innkeeper, and barman of the Leaky Cauldron.
" 'Lo!" he greeted them happily, as one would greet his friends. "Anything I can get 'choo? Dinner? Beer? Brandy? Tea?"
"Hello Tom," Severus said, bowing slightly, Petunia and Vernon mimicking the motion. "Tea and a light dinner will be fine for now."
Petunia surveyed the room. Even at nighttime, the Leaky Cauldron was full of laughter and life, if not even more than the daytime. It was quite cozy and joyful, with candles warmly illuminating the room. The people were quite strange here, though- there was a couple of wild-looking warlocks recounting their adventures while chugging firewhiskey, a bunch of tiny, raucous dwarves drinking butterbeer from small pint glasses, and what looked suspiciously like a hag cross-bred with a troll ordered a hunk of raw liver from behind her woolen balaclava.
"Would a private parlour and two rooms be fine as well?" Petunia asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Tom nodded, setting down the lantern on a table. " 'Ow many days 'n nights?"
"Around a week," Petunia replied.
"That'll be two 'undred galleons," Tom stated.
Severus flicked his wand at Petunia's bag, which contained the money drawn from Gringotts, and levitated the neat stack of coins over to the barman. "Here you go."
Tom pocketed the money, and then rapped on the table. "I'll tidy up the rooms fer 'choo. Jus' a moment, si' down here fer now."
They sat down at the table as Tom hobbled away.
"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Vernon asked.
"Gather as much information as we can on Black and shop for supplies," Severus replied. "We'll have to stay here until the court case is resolved."
"Don't the Potters have any properties?" Petunia asked.
"They do, a lot of them, in fact," Severus nodded. "I do think that it would be better to stay in the Leaky Cauldron for now, though, taking ownership of the Potter assets would take too much time and energy, along with moving into one of them. For now, it would be best to focus on Black's court case."
Tom reappeared and called them, stating that their rooms were ready. The three adults thanked him and they continued up into the private parlour.
The private parlour was a homey, quite modern thing. On the tea table was four cups of tea and a light dinner. With a wave of Severus' wand, two temporary but comfortable cribs materialized. Petunia sent a grateful look at him and gently placed both infants into the cribs, softly pressing her lips to the top of their heads.
Vernon picked up the kettle and served them all tea while Severus unclasped the briefcase. The Potions Master separated the large stack of papers into three piles.
"Petunia, Vernon, would you two mind taking a look at one pile, each?" Severus asked them, waiting after everyone had settled down and taken a sip of tea before speaking. "Speak if you see anything worth noting, and save any documents that may come in use."
"Certainly," Vernon answered. "Should we take notes as well?"
"Yes, it wouldn't hurt," Severus agreed, and with a flourish of his wand, three black, leather bound journals appeared, along with one quill and two gold and black fountain pens. "Take any one."
Severus glanced up and was mildly impressed at the Dursleys' attitudes. Petunia's eyes were burning with a vigour to avenge her younger sister's death, and knew that it was her way of making it up to Lily. Vernon's face was set in determination and displayed extreme loyalty to his wife and his hope to care for his deceased sister-in-law and her husband.
"Where did Griphook even get all of this, Severus?" Petunia asked, practically drinking in the information.
Severus took a sip of his tea. "Griphook has visited the vault that the Potters set up for Black, seeing that his family shut down his vault when he ran away. Black stored his notebooks, money, and prized possessions in his vault. His notebooks are probably what will help us the most."
"We do have permission to see them, don't we?" Vernon asked as his eyes fixated on a letter from Dumbledore to the Order of the Phoenix.
"Oh, yes," Severus nodded. "Black granted Lily, James, and Harry access to his vault."
Petunia's bony hands picked up a photograph of the Order of the Phoenix. "Why in the world is James Potter holding a rat in his hands?"
"That's Peter Pettigrew, he's an Animagus," Severus glanced at the photograph. "Animagi are people who can change into a certain animal, and his is a rat."
Harry, who had been gurgling and playing with some toys in his crib up into then, started whimpering.
Petunia set down the photograph and rushed over to Harry's crib.
"I know, Harry," Petunia whispered as she picked Harry up and cradled him in her arms. "We're going to sort this out."
A great grey owl rapped loudly on the closed window with his beak, a letter tied to his leg.
"It must be the Weasleys," Severus remarked softly as he strode over to the window and opened it. "Their ancient owl, of course⦠Errol, I think."
The owl, Errol, collapsed once Severus untied the letter from its leg.
"Dear Severus," he read aloud, "We've heard about what happened with the Potters- who didn't? Anyways, would you like to come over for tea tomorrow? We'll try our best to help you with anything. Sincerely, Arthur and Molly Weasley."
Petunia shot up from fussing over Harry. "We should definitely go," she announced as Vernon nodded in assent. "Who knows if these Weasley people have anything to contribute."
Severus sighed as he pocketed the letter and picked up Errol from the floor. As he gulped down the last of his tea, he couldn't help regretting that he didn't bring a couple of bottles of Firewhiskey with him. Tea was much too weak to deal with all of the chaos that seemed to be attracted to him.
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