A/N Sorry for the delay, and happy Easter! ;)
I try to slink in to the Leaky Cauldron without having Mrs. Longbottom see me.
"Rose, dear! What are you doing here?"
Damn.
"Oh, I was just, uh, um, stopping by to say hi!" I invent. God, why do I have to be such an idiot sometimes?
But Hannah Longbottom looks as confused as me. "Um, well, that's nice of you, dear. But shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?"
My eyes go wide. But wait... "It's Saturday!" I tell her. "And... I got permission to come and see you!"
She still looks a bit confused, but she just hands me a butterbeer over the bar. "That was really sweet of you, Rosie. But why did you want to come say 'hi' to me today? You know, I already told your brother Hugo I wasn't going to supply him with firewhiskey for some party the other day," she tells me with a hint of a smile. She's always been fond of Hugo, ever since he first threw up crayons in her purse when he was a toddler.
"Oh, Mrs. Longbottom, I was just- well, I-" But I'm at a loss, and for once, I can't come up with a good lie.
She raises her eyebrow at me. "Rosie, be honest with me. Why are you here?"
I blink at her a few times.
"Uh."
"Rosie, you and I both know you're a bright girl. And we both know you're not going to lie to me, right?" she asks, trapping me.
"Er, well, I was actually just checking to see if this... person I know has been here recently," I tell her, being vague but honest nonetheless.
"And why do you want to know that?"
Bloody questions.
"Well, see, the thing is. Well. There's this boy from my school- oh, I'm sure you've heard about it- and he's gone missing and nobody's gone to look for him yet, so I thought that, well, I should because someone had to." The words stream out, and as soon as I say it out loud, I realize how stupid it all sounds.
"Oh, well then, dear, have a look in the guest registry. No need to be secretive about it, love, it's right over there." She motions with a flick of her wand to a thick leather book, sitting by the door to the staircase leading to the inn rooms.
I feel the sudden urge to slap my forehead. Why am I so blind sometimes? Really.
Some of the yellowed pages stick together, but I search fervently, until I start seeing more recent dates beside the inked names.
I drag my finger down the page. Miranda Hawthorne, L. Jones, Jacob Williams, F. Yaxley, G. P. McGregor... the list of names goes on.
"Hey, girlie! What are you lookin' for in there?" says a haggard looking old woman, clutching a grimy teacup. "I'se seen 'em all come an' go, girl. You can tell me."
As creepy as she seems, there's no reason to lie to her. She might even be able to help me... maybe.
"Well, I was looking for Scorpius Malfoy. Have you seen him come by here? He's tall, and-"
"Is 'e the fine lookin' bloke with the blond hair?" she interjects.
"Er, well, he's blond, but not that fine looking, really," I inform her. Why does everybody call him handsome? You'd think his giant ego would block people from seeing his attractive features. That is, if he had any... Which he totally doesn't, by the way.
"Oh, come on, love, I'se seen plen'y of blokes in my life, and 'e's cer'ainly fine, girl," she tells me, waggling her scraggly white eyebrows.
I can't help but smile. This lady seems all sorts of crazy, but still charming in her own weird way.
"So you've seen him here?" I ask eagerly. Maybe he's still here! Maybe I can find him today! Maybe-
"Yes I 'ave, girlie. He come an' gone with some Yaxley feller a day ago. That guy was a nasty, I tells ya. Draggin' the poor bloke around like 'e's some sorta puppet or somethin'. Stayed in room one hundred seventeen if I'se heard correc'ly, an' I know I has," she says before taking a long drag from her teacup. When she sets it back down on the table, there's nothing left but the forest green dregs. She examines them before muttering something that sounded like a book definition: "A cross in your cup predicts trials and suffering," before looking back up at me as though nothing had happened.
Yaxley... Yaxley... Why did that name seem so familiar? The first image in my head is of my Uncle Harry, though I have no clue why.
"So, room one seventeen?" I ask, clarifying. After her deep nod in response, I thank her and get the key to the room from Mrs. Longbottom.
The room is fairly average, though the rooms here always surprise me as to how nice they are, compared to the dingy, smoke filled pub. It's got two beds, a writing desk, a dresser, and a rubbish bin. Standard stuff. Seeing as they checked out yesterday morning, the room's neat and clean and hasn't been rented out since. But I still look in the rubbish bin since I know that Mrs. Longbottom only bothers to empty them out once a week, normally Thursdays, from the family vacations we stayed here in London.
There's a couple candy wrappers (Chocolate Cauldrons), a broken quill, and torn up pieces of parchment. I take out all of the pieces that I can, and try to fit them back together like some sort of puzzle. I get mostly broken sentences, but I still get the information I need:
De r Fathe
Pl se come find me. I at the Leaky ldron, having been kidnapped by ment l Yaxley kid. He's takin e to some sort of deserted Burke Manor, wherever that is. I need help. These kids are insane, not to mention dangerous. I
It seems to me that whoever this Yaxley guy is, he didn't like the letter Malfoy was writing home... and tore it up. I have to admit, I'm a little bit scared now. Who would kidnap Malfoy? And why? It just doesn't make sense. Unless... unless it had something to do with his father, maybe. Which kind of scares me even more.
But there are more important things at hand, such as, where the bloody hell is the Burke Manor? I suppose I could ask around the pub, seeing as there's such a shady mix of people, someone must have some sort of idea. And then I could ask around Diagon Alley too. Now that I mention it, Burke sounds like a kind of familiar name too... but where have I heard it before? Something related to Diagon Alley, I think...
I check my watch. It's 5:39. The shops will probably be closing soon, so I've got to go ask around now, or else I'll have to wait for tomorrow. Who knows? By then, they could have already tortured Malfoy or something. By then, he could already be dead.
It's funny, two weeks ago, I wouldn't think that I would mind.
Diagon Alley is the same as always, though I've never seen it in the evening. It's not quite dark yet, but the sun's down enough that all the shop lights and street-lamps are lit. It's actually quite pretty.
I decide to meander around, hoping by chance just to discover what I'm looking for. But almost an hour later, I give up my search in place of a nice warm meal of bread and the Leaky House Soup, back at the Leaky Cauldron. Despite the good feeling of being full, I fell hopeless. Where am I supposed to go? This was such a stupid idea. How did I think I would even be able to find him? I'm crazy. That's it, I must be insane. That's the only explanation.
And where have I heard the name Burke anyways? How do I even know it's a name. I repeat the name to myself in my head.... Wait, Borgin? Borgin and Burkes! It's a store Uncle Harry accidentally landed himself in. But it's not in Diagon Alley. It's... in that dark place, what's it called?
Curse my rotten memory! Why can't I remember anything?
I take another gulp of butterbeer, thinking.
I could always ask someone. But they'll be suspicious, won't they? Why would I want to go to Borgin and Burkes? I could say I'm... going to meet a friend? No, that's sketchy too... I'm trying to find my aunt? Maybe... still shady... I-
Oh screw it. I'm just going to ask someone.
Back in Diagon Alley, I see a trendy looking girl handing out coupons for Second Time Round, a second-hand robe store. She looks a few years older than me, and gives me a toothy smile when I approach her.
"Forty percent off all dress robes, this weekend only!" she tells me, handing me a neon yellow coupon.
I smile at her. "Actually, I was just looking for a store."
"You name it, I'll tell you wear it is, love," she tells me with a wink.
"Borgin and Burkes?" I say tentatively.
Her eyes widen a bit. "Now why would a girl like you want to go to a place like Borgin and Burkes?"
"To meet a friend," I blurt. This would be another slap-my-forehead moment.
She smiles knowingly. "It's a boy, I bet. I'm just warning you, no decent blokes have girls meet them in Borgin and Burkes." She shakes her head a bit.
"Well, you know what they say, opposites attract," I say, playing along I guess, and give her a shrug.
"You just keep going until you pass Brandy's Half-price Brooms, then go left. Keep going 'til you see the tavern, then go right, and you'll see it," she tells me like a professional tour guide. I guess she's used to it, after handing out coupons on the street for however long.
"Thanks," I tell her sincerely, before taking a coupon. Hey, you never know when you're going to need dress robes, right?
A/N So... what do you think? I actually have a plan now about what's going to happen. And I've got some inside information that Scorpius Malfoy may or may not be in the next chapter... say what? Be sure to review!
Also, thanks so much to those of you who have done anything related to this story (i.e. Favorited, reviewed, read, etc...)! I love you so much!
xx
Ali