Katrina followed Severus into Gringotts. She quietly followed him to his vault and she could easily read his reluctance in letting her see the meager contents. She glanced at him as the cart came to a stop, "I'll wait here, Severus."
He looked surprised as he nodded at her, following the Goblin from the cart to the door of his vault.
Kat pulled her own key from the pocket of her robes. She had given this key to Dumbledore sixteen years ago, and it appeared the old man had made provisions for her return to the wizarding world. Upon arriving at the bank, they had asked to speak to one of the bank's managers regarding Katrina's vault. The matter had been settled rather quickly and they both suspected Dumbledore's hand in it.
She had withdrawn half of her own vault upon her departure from the wizarding world and she had barely made a dent in that. She had asked Albus to see that Severus got the rest of the vault, but, in hindsight, she was glad that hadn't happened. She couldn't believe the Ministry had taken Severus' money from him.
Considering her vault, she realized that the contents of her parent's vault would have been transferred to her own upon her parents' deaths. The idea of that much money was mind-boggling. Then she realized there wouldn't simply be money. There would be books and artifacts. She wasn't even really sure what had been in their vault. Her parents had created her vault when she was born so she'd never had occasion to visit theirs.
Drawn from her thoughts by the return of her husband, she gave him a small smile. He entered the cart and sat next to her and she leaned into him slightly. His presence was comforting to her. She occasionally found her thoughts drifting back to her weeks of confinement but a simple glance at Severus reminded her that she was safe. His arm gently draped around her shoulders and she sighed happily.
The cart took off again and descended a long way before finally coming to a stop. She rose to follow the Goblin and realized Severus intended to remain in the cart. "Come on, Severus. I want, no need, you to come with me. My parents' things are in there and, quite honestly, I wouldn't know a dark artifact if it bit me."
He huffed but followed her to the vault door. Opening it, Katrina slowly stepped inside. It was just as crazy as she had imagined it would be. There were piles of gold, books, ornate-looking weapons, and strange objects that she couldn't identify. "Hell, this is a disaster," she muttered.
"I couldn't agree more," Severus said at her side.
"Help yourself to whatever you want," she said, drifting to a pile of gold and filling a small bag with galleons. "There are probably some old potions texts which you are welcome to."
He turned to face the Goblin standing by the door, "Would it be possible to receive an accounting of this vault?"
The Goblin glared at him, "It is her vault."
Katrina sighed, "Ok, can I get an accounting of this vault? I'd also like to change the name on this vault."
The Goblin silently nodded and she turned her attention back to the contents of the vault. She'd already collected 500 galleons which, if she remembered the conversion correctly, was equivalent to approximately 2,500 British pounds sterling. That would be more than sufficient to purchase the clothes and bedding they badly needed.
Drifting over to the piles of books, she gave a glance at the titles. Some of them appeared to be very old books and it wouldn't surprise her if most were first editions. "Find anything good?"
"Yes," he said, raising a pair of books for her to see, "There are two very old volumes here which are almost impossible to find for sale."
"I'm hungry, Severus. We can always come back here and look some more, though I'm hoping to get that list of the contents of this vault to peruse at our leisure."
"Let's go, then," he said, leading the way from the vault.
Upon returning to the lobby, they retired into a small room where they were presented with a stack of papers two inches thick which detailed the contents of the vault. She had the name of the owner of the vault changed to Severus Snape. As she told him later, "The Dark Lord would expect you to take control of all of my assets." She trusted him not to leave her or their daughter penniless.
Their banking complete, they went to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor for lunch. After lunch, they made quick work of purchasing robes and bed linens from Madam Malkin.
Once their purchases had been shrunk and stored in Severus' pockets, he pulled Katrina to the side of the road and spoke quietly, "We need to go into Knockturn Alley. Remember how I said there might come a time when you would have to act like a pet? Well, this is one of those times. You are to follow me and keep your head down. Don't speak unless I ask you a question. I will try to make our visit there as quick as I can. Hopefully, we won't encounter any of my… associates."
By associates, she knew he meant Death Eaters and she couldn't suppress a shudder. "Ok, Severus."
He nodded approvingly and led the way into the smaller, darker alleyway. She had never been down here before and she hoped she would never have to return there in the future. She stayed close to Severus, silently dogging his steps. She kept her eyes down and focused on the cobblestones under her feet. From the corner of her eye, she could see dodgy-looking people passing them, some of them obviously staring at her. Finally, Severus came to a stop before a scratched-up wooden door. He knocked twice, waited a moment, and then knocked another four times. The door immediately opened and he ushered her inside ahead of him.
She wanted to glance around, but she resisted the urge to do so. Instead, she focused on the conversation going on around her.
"Ah, Severus, I had heard that you'd been gifted a lovely pet and knew it would only be a matter of time before you came to see me." The voice was deep and rough and she risked a quick glance at the man. He was short and extremely thin. He was bald and had sharp brown eyes. His worn brown robes had certainly seen better days.
"As you can see, Radulf, I am here. Now, what do you have in the way of collars? I wish to replace this bland collar our Lord has placed on her."
"Did you have something in mind, Severus?"
"Show me what you have in leather," Severus responded.
"Of course, of course," Radulf said. "If you'll follow me…"
"Come along, Pet," Severus said, following Radulf from the room.
Katrina gave a quick glance around the entry room, finding it to be an empty space with moldering walls. Following the two men, she gave another quick glance around this new room. There were a pair of chairs and a couple trunks lined the walls. Radulf was already in one chair and Severus was settling into the other. She immediately understood what was expected of her and she moved to the side of Severus' chair and knelt beside him.
"She's rather well trained," Radulf remarked offhandedly as he levitated a trunk from the wall to his side.
"Our Lord trained her himself," Severus responded, his hand casually stroking her hair. "Now, as for this collar, I'm looking for your supplest leather, no more than an inch wide."
Radulf opened the trunk and rifled through it, extracting a handful of leather strips. "These are the best of what I have, Severus. These are all full-grain leather, naturally aged and polished to a rich shine."
Katrina couldn't see what the individual strips looked like as she kept her eyes trained on the ground before her, but she could hear Severus examining them.
"This one, the reddish-brown, is perfect. As for alterations, I desire a metallic snake affixed around it, but it must be flexible enough not to interfere with the movement of the leather. I also want a portion in the center removed so that a crystal may be affixed there. The head of the snake will come to rest atop the crystal."
"Ah," Radulf said, "Let me sketch this for you, Severus, to be sure that what I am picturing fits with what you desire." The next couple minutes were filled with the sound of a quill over parchment. "Here you are, Severus."
"Mmm," Severus hummed, "replace the crystal with a rounded gem stone of Tiger's eye. Otherwise, this is precisely what I am looking for."
"I will affix the snake after the collar has been applied to your pet so that it will be a single piece of metal."
"How long will it take for you to make it? I want this as soon as possible."
Katrina thought she couldn't agree more, though she of course maintained her silence.
"Well, I can do it in half an hour but it will cost you a bit more as I will have to put it before my other orders."
"The cost is immaterial," Severus responded. "Do it now."
Radulf stood, "I will be back in a short while." Katrina could see his feet leaving the room and she sighed.
"Sit back on your feet," Severus said from above her. "We will be here awhile."
She glanced up at him and gave him a small, sad smile before turning her eyes back to the floor. His hand returned to her hair and she glanced at him from the corner of her eye – loath to move her head now – and smiled.
"I hope you don't mind the design of the collar. I realize I should have discussed it with you before we came here," he said so softly she almost had to strain to hear him.
"It sounds fine," she replied just as softly. "Did you actually remember that I love Tiger's eye, or was that a coincidence?"
"I remembered," he sighed softly above her.
"Thank you," she said, stroking a gentle hand up the back of his calf.
"I will have to cast the enchantments over the collar here and I will have to cast the one I said I wouldn't, but I promise I will remove it as soon as we arrive home."
"I trust you, Severus," she stated firmly.
"Good, now we should be quiet. I doubt it will take him long to prepare the collar."
They fell into a comfortable silence, both gently stroking the other. It was less than half an hour later that Radulf returned. Katrina risked a glance up at him and she saw a strip of leather draped over one hand, a piece of metal dangling in the other.
Severus rose from his chair, "Stand up, pet."
Doing as he bid, she stood in place next to the chair, her eyes still lowered. Severus moved in front of her and raised his hands to remove the metal collar. She sighed in relief as the collar was removed. His fingers stroked down the side of her bare neck for a moment and she leaned into his touch. Then he was exchanging the metal collar for the leather one.
"Chin up, pet." He gently fastened the collar around her neck, holding it in place and speaking the words to seal it. He stepped back and waved Radulf forward. Radulf made quick work of attaching the snake to the collar.
"Perfect," Severus purred, stepping forward again. "Excellent work, Radulf." He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and transfigured it into a hand mirror. He held it up before her so she could examine the collar. "Isn't that lovely, pet?" he asked her.
She did have to admit that, in a different set of circumstances, it would indeed be considered a lovely piece of work. The leather was an inch wide, a reddish brown color, with a lovely shine to it. In the center of her throat a half-inch, rounded Tiger's eye was magically affixed. A thin silver snake had his head draped on the top of the gem stone, with his body skillfully twining about the entire outer surface of the leather so that his tail ended under the gem stone. The side of the leather touching her neck was as soft as silk.
She glanced up at him through her lashes, hoping she was projecting the proper amount of submission/respect, "Yes, Master, it's beautiful. Thank you."
He returned the mirror to its proper form and held his hand out to her, "My purse, pet."
She withdrew the sack of coins that came from her vault and handed it to him, watching as he and Radulf settled on a sum of 100 galleons. Once the money had been handed over, Severus withdrew his wand and placed the tip on her collar. He then cast a handful of spells on it, including the magic suppression charm. The final charm she recognized as a tracking charm. He tapped his wand first on the gem stone at her neck, and then on the face of his pocket watch. She was going to make a mental note to ask him why he had added that one, when Radulf spoke.
"Ah, very clever adding that one, Severus. In case your pet ever decided to… wander off…"
"Or if someone should think to… borrow… her," Severus added in a slightly threatening tone.
"I'm sure we all know better than to touch a pet the Dark Lord has given you, Severus."
"I would hope so," he responded gravely. "Thank you again for your gifted work." He turned to face her, "Come along, pet. We have a bit more shopping to do before we are done here."
Katrina silently followed him from the building and then from Knockturn Alley. Once back in Diagon Alley proper, she moved so that she was walking by his side.
"Is there anything else you wanted to buy before we return home?" he asked her.
"No, Severus. Actually, I'm kinda tired."
"Ok, let's go home, then," he said, leading the way to The Leaky Cauldron where they flooed back to Spinner's End.
Once home, Severus removed the magic suppression spell from her collar, and Katrina went upstairs to take a nap.