CHRISTMAS SHOPPING.

"An Unbreakable Vow?" I shook my head in disbelief as I sat across from Harry on the Hogwarts Express. "Harry, are you sure that's what Snape said?" Harry nodded. We hadn't talked about Malfoy in a while, but now that he had brought it up again, I couldn't help but think that Malfoy's mission was a bit more serious than I had thought before. The train ride was a bit boring, but being awfully close to Lupin wasn't that bad and having Ron cracking jokes on the other side of me was very entertaining. Tonks had chosen to Apparate out of Hogsmeade and we were going to meet her there at the Burrow.

"Positive," Harry said. "Why?"

"Well," I looked at Lupin, who still looked skeptical. "You can't break an Unbreakable Vow."

"I actually worked that one out for myself, thanks very much," Harry snapped and I looked out the window, crossing my arms.

It was silent except for the flipping of the pages of the Daily Prophet that Lupin was reading to my left. There was a sudden tap at the compartment window and Lavender Brown was staring directly at Ron. She drew on the window a heart and then put her and Ron's initials in the heart. "I miss you," she mouthed. He smiled weakly at her.

Ron nodded and she ran off. Hermione came up to the compartment door and went to come in to sit with us, but when she saw was Lavender had written, she frowned and walked away.

"Ron, what have you done to her?" I looked to him. "She looks miserable."

"I haven't done anything!" Ron protested. "Bloody hell… All she wants to do is snog me. My lips are getting chapped. Look!" He got close to my face and I chuckled as he pointed to his lips.

"I'll take your word for it!" I replied.

Lupin didn't look up from his paper. "Get your lips within a five foot radius of my girlfriend again and I'll kill you." When Ron's eyes widened, Lupin looked up and smiled innocently. Ron moved from beside me to sit next to Harry.

"So," Harry interrupted. "What happens if you do break an Unforgivable Vow?"

Lupin looked up at Harry and raised his eyebrows. I shrugged and answered Harry. "You die."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Where do you think you're going?" Lupin asked as he walked into the kitchen of the
Burrow. I was pulling on my scarf and hat, buttoning up my coat. It was snowing hard outside and I glanced out the window at the white ground.

"I have to finish my Christmas shopping. I'm going to Diagon Alley."

"Oh no," Lupin replied, grabbing his coat and wrapping it around him. "You can't go to Diagon Alley by yourself. It's too dangerous. You're not going anywhere alone."

"Stop," I placed a hand on his chest. He was already pulling a hat on. I smiled at he gave me a stern look. "You can't come. I've still got to get you a present and you're not allowed to see what it is. I'll be fine by myself, alright?"

Lupin hesitated and then sighed, taking his hat off, leaving his hair slightly disheveled. "You have to be careful," he said, touching my cheek with his warm hand. "Don't go wandering around, you hear me? You get your presents and come back. How many gifts do you have to get?"

"I need one for you, Harry, and Tonks."

"Be back soon – be careful!" He gave me a lingering kiss on the lips and I walked out the door, turning quickly on the spot, focusing on Diagon Alley.

As I landed hard on the cobblestone road, I realized that there was next to no one in Diagon Alley. I looked around at all the rundown shops and saw something – or someone – that caught my attention. A certain blonde headed male was walking down into Knockturn Alley, dressed in a black suit and looking around nervously.

Against my better judgment, I followed Malfoy into the dark, depressing Alley. I passed by all the staring witches and wizards, dressed in dirty clothes with holes in them. I felt my pocket, making sure I still had my wand. I traveled deeper into Knockturn Alley until I saw Malfoy turn into Borgin and Burkes.

I looked around quickly and, realizing that no one was around, I grabbed onto a brick that stuck out of the wall. I hoisted myself up the wall and then grabbed onto the window sill and looked down into the store. I wasn't that high up, but I held on tightly, knowing that no one down there was going to catch me if I needed to be caught.

Malfoy walked over to a cabinet and as he opened it, I felt my foot slip from the brick and my grip on the window sill and still holding onto the sill with one hand, I pulled out my wand. As I began to fall, I whispered, "Arresto Momentum!" And I landed gently on the ground.

But when I looked around to get out, I realized I had no idea where I was. People were beginning to fill the streets and I backed away from them all. I put my wand back in my pocket, afraid I was going to get hexed.

I backed right into someone and I turned around, terrified. The man towered over me and his skin was yellow and waxy. It seemed almost fake. He could have possibly been handsome at some point, but his greasy hair was matted to his sweaty, oily face. He smiled at me, revealing rotted, yellow, chipped teeth, some missing, and I backed up again, straight into the wall of a building.

"Lost, love?" he said in a raspy voice.

"I – I – no," I trembled. People all around were staring, dirty people exactly like the man before me. I swallowed. "I'm not lost." I shook my head.

"I can help you find your way back," he whispered in my ear. "Where was it you were going?" People were starting to come closer and they watched me anxiously. I stammered, my eyes darting around to the different shops.

And then, a hand clamped around my wrist and I screamed. I was yanked away from the man. "Get away from her, Gideon," said a deep, recognizable voice and I looked up to see Snape staring down at the man. Gideon sneered at Snape and then bowed quickly. He backed away into the shadows of Knockturn Alley. Snape then turned to me. "What do you think you're doing in here?"

I glanced around at all the people standing in the doorways of their ships. They were reaching for their pockets. In a shaky voice, I looked back up at Snape. "They're getting their wands out."

Snape took one look around at all the people and his voice sounded colder than usual. "Don't think about it." He nodded towards me. "She's with me."

Slowly and surprisingly, the wizards and witches put their hands down, their wands still away. I pulled my hat down and my scarf up, covering up everything on my face except for my eyes.

Snape put a hand on my shoulder and steered me out of Knockturn Alley. I was still trembling violently and when we reached the brightly lit, clean, and now more crowded street, I knew we were back in Diagon Alley. He turned to me again, and feeling much safer, I lowered my scarf from my mouth and adjusted my hat as the cold snow made my cheeks red. Snape was hardly dressed appropriately for such cold weather. Dressed in his usual black robes, he crossed his arms. "Care to explain?"

"I didn't know – I thought I saw something that seemed interesting – I had no idea!" I rambled. As people walked by, mostly students and their parents, they stared at Snape with eyebrows cocked until he sneered at them and they looked away. "I just wanted to finish my Christmas shopping – wait a minute – what were you doing in Knockturn Alley?"

"That's none of your business, Miss Potter," he snapped. Snape and I began to walk down the street. People parted in the middle of the road for us and I assumed that Snape intimidated almost everyone that laid eyes on him. "Knockturn Alley has many disturbing things for sale," he told me grimly, looking straight ahead. I looked around at the shops. I knew what I wanted to get Harry, Tonks, and Lupin. Snape and I headed straight for the twins' joke shop. "Things that have killed people – Muggles and wizards alike. The people in Knockturn Alley don't start out looking like that."

"Why are they allowed to sell that stuff?" I asked and Snape shrugged slightly.

"I don't know, but if I see or hear that you've bought anything from there, I'll make sure you'll never see the light of day again."

I looked at the ground. "Why did he bow to you? Gideon or whatever his name was?"

"I did my fair share of bargaining there during my years at Hogwarts, but I hardly think that's a legitimate reason to be bowing to me."

"Well, even though you've gotten stuff there, you haven't turned out too horrible." I scrunched my nose. "Yet."

Snape didn't laugh. We approached the joke shop and Snape looked up at the tall, colorful building in disgust. "Buy what you need and I'll escort you back to the Burrow. I'll be waiting here." I hesitated and watched him look angrily at everyone staring at him. "Don't be too long."

I nodded and entered the joke shop. I suddenly realized where everyone was – there was nowhere else to be in Diagon Alley so everyone was in the joke shop. I smiled and when the twins heard the doorbell ring, they poked their heads into the main shop room and my eyes lit up as I saw them.

Rushing to meet me, the twins met me by the love potions. "Fancy meeting you here, Darcy," Fred grinned.

"Gotta finish up my Christmas shopping," I replied.

"Who've you got left?" George asked.

"Remus, Tonks, and Harry," I said. "And I think I'm going to get some Peruvian Darkness Powder for Harry. He already used his up from the beginning of the year."

"Take some," Fred grabbed some Peruvian Darkness Powder and thrust it into my hands. "It's on us."

"I couldn't – here, I've got some money for you," I tried to pull out some sickles, but Fred and George wouldn't have it.

"Whatever you want, you take, Darcy," George told me sternly. "You're our favorite customer."

"Please…" I shook my head and began walking around with the Powder, looking for things to get Lupin and Tonks. "I've got to hurry up. Professor Snape is waiting for me outside –"

"Snape? Why is he waiting for you?" Fred asked, sounding more than a bit confused.

"I ended up in Knockturn Alley," I blushed. "And he dragged me out of there without anyone killing me. Here, I think I'll get Remus some chocolate – I've already gotten him new robes –"

"Oh, that's not regular chocolate," George said quickly, grabbing the chocolate bar from my hands. "That'll make him have to go like crazy."

"Go where?" I asked blankly.

George stared at me and I widened my eyes.

"Oh," I said quietly. "Right… none of that. Well, I still don't know what to get Tonks. How about Extendable Ears?"

"I reckon Tonks would love some of those," Fred nodded. "Always trying to listen in on other peoples conversation."

I grabbed some Extendable Ears and my Peruvian Darkness Powder, reached in my coin purse and grabbed four Galleons. I placed them in Fred's hand. "Are you coming to celebrate Christmas at the Burrow? Not here?"

"We'll be there Christmas Eve, sometime in the afternoon," Fred told me, looking at the Galleons with a smile. He pocketed them. "See you then?"

"See you guys then."

"Have fun with Snape," George winked.

I exited the shop and almost immediately, Snape's fingers closed around my wrist again and we were suddenly flying through air. With a loud pop!, we landed in the front yard of the Burrow. Mr. Weasley happened to be in the shed outside and upon hearing the loud noise of Snape and me Apparating, he stuck his head out of the doorway.

"Severus? Darcy?" Mr. Weasley rushed over to us. "What are you doing here, Severus? Is something wrong? Darcy, are you okay?"

"Miss Potter had gotten herself stuck in a sticky situation, but she'll be okay. She's fine, now," Snape said calmly. "If you don't mind, I'll be going now."

Mr. Weasley nodded, still confused, and Snape's black figure spun quickly and with another pop!, he was gone. Mr. Weasley stared at me. "What happened to you?"

I think Mr. Weasley was scared that I had a run in with Death Eaters, but thankfully, that wasn't the case. "I just ended up in Knockturn Alley, but Snape got me out of there –"

"Darcy! We told you that you could go if you were careful!" Mr. Weasley scolded me. "You know better than that! You stay in Diagon Alley and go nowhere else! You look very pale, Darcy. I'm sorry to be yelling, but you're smarter than that, you know! Now let's go inside. I'll get you some tea, love. Knockturn Alley… I don't ever want you to buy anything from there! The Ministry could arrest you for owning some of those dark magic things!"

"I know, I know, I didn't mean to go to Knockturn Alley," I said, cradling my Christmas gifts in my arms.

"Alright, well, I'll put some tea on the stove and you go wrap those, okay?" he said, putting an around my shoulders. "Hurry up now, you don't want everyone seeing their gifts before Christmas day, do you? It was good of Severus to escort you back – you could seriously have been hurt! You don't know what kinds of creeps are lurking in Knockturn Alley."

"I think I know now, actually," I replied.

"Just be careful, Darcy, honestly. You're lucky that Death Eaters didn't get to you. Then you could have been really hurt – possibly killed!"

"I'll be more careful next time."

"Next time I think Remus should just go with you!" Mr. Weasley held the front door open for me and I walked in, rushing up the stairs and dumping my gifts on my bed.