Diagon Alley

We kept walking through dark alleys and down narrow streets. Nobody talked. The cloaked man didn't look back to make sure we were following. Maybe he just knew we had nowhere else to go? Liz and Jake were walking quickly on either side of me. Every time I fell behind, Jake would shove me along to try and get me to speed up. He kept looking behind, probably to see if we were being followed. Nobody we passed on the street looked twice at us.

Finally, we walked out of this dark alleyway into a bright lit street. There were people everywhere, smiling and laughing. Children and adults all walking down the cobblestone streets. Jake looked down at me. "This is called Diagon Alley." We kept walking towards what looked like another pub.

"It's called that was the stupidest thing I've ever seen you do." That was the first time I had heard the cloaked man speak. His voice had a nasally draw to it. I didn't like him. As soon as we walked into the pub, which had a picture of a leaking pot on it, the cloaked man turned towards the bartender and simply said "Private booth." The bartender nodded and lead us towards a booth. We piled inside, me sitting farthest inside next to Jake and Liz next to him. The cloaked man sat opposite us. He waved his wand at the booth's door which instantly shut and locked itself. Then he muttered "Muffliato."

"That should keep us from being overheard."

"Rich, I just got to say, your timing is still amazing." Jake was smiling again.

"You know, right after you left, somebody was telling me 'Richard, you better look out for Jake. He's going to do something stupid like come back here.' You know what I said?"

"Look, Richy-"



"I said 'Nah, Jake has a good head on him. He's not stupid enough to walk back into a town he's wanted in. He's not going to come back looking for trouble, especially when he knows that'll probably get me in trouble. And he's definitely not going to bring a bloody kid with him.'" The man pulled his hood back. He had straight, blonde hair, a long pointed nose, and green eyes. He looked only a few years older than Jake. His face was clean and shaven. "Seriously, Jake, what the hell?"

"Rich, just give me a chance to explain."

"I did a massive favor for you, Jake, even though I knew I shouldn't have."

"I know, and I'm grateful for saving us back there, but-" Rich cut in.

"I'm not talking about a damn bar fight, although I'll have to soothe that over too. I'm talking about getting you a job. I got you a nice, sweet deal with the Malfoys, and that's not an easy job to come by. Good pay, steady work, and what do you do? You get yourself caught by the bloody law! How do you think that makes me look? I knew I shouldn't have done it either, but you were good. Yeah, that's right, I said it, you were pretty good at smuggling and fighting your way out of a tight spot. Well, didn't fight your way out of that one did you? Just left me to burn!" I couldn't understand how nobody could hear the argument outside the booth. Jake didn't seem upset or scared though. He was still smiling.

"Rich, come on, everyone gets caught once. The Malfoys didn't go to jail, did they? Didn't get a fine, did they? Everything worked out in the end, 'cept I had to skip town for a few years. Besides, why do you have to worry about some silly bar fight?"

"Because I work with the Shangleys, you idiot. I have to occasionally deal with those mouth-breathers, and it doesn't help for me to show up and slice Craig up to try and get a wanted man out of trouble, now does it?"

"Fine, don't work with them. Work with me."

Rich looked over at Liz and me then back at Jake. "We're going to need to have a little talk, aren't we?" Jake smiled.

"Liz, would you take Maxy out and show him the town for a bit? Nobody'll be looking for you guys in Diagon Alley. Too many people around. I'll find you guys in a little bit when we're finished here." Jake moved so I could get off the booth. I looked up at him. He seemed so scary all of a sudden. I guess he thought I was scared of being with Liz. Really, I was happy to get away from Jake for a little bit. "Don't worry, Liz won't bite." I hate that joke. "Tell you what, I'll take you for ice cream and buy you anything you want afterwards."

"Jake, I am a little busy. If you'd just hurry it the hell up." Rich sounded annoyed.

Liz took my hand and lead me out of the booth and then out of the pub. She smiled. "Don't worry. We'll have some fun while they have some boring."

Diagon Alley – Sunset

We were sitting on a bench. Everything in this place was so cool. Liz had taken me around to all of these different shops where everything was magical. There were flying brooms, spell books, magic wands, potions, everything. None of it really seemed dangerous like in Knockturn Alley either. I had of course seen magic before, but never so much magic in one place. I guess I'd never realized that there were actually magical cities out there. Liz said Diagon Alley was one of the few, but still, woah. Jake had met up with us and, as he promised, bought me ice cream. After I ate one bowl, he went and got me more. He and Liz were talking.

"Seriously, Liz, he's a good guy, even if he can be a little bit annoying. Besides, he's hooked me up with a job again."

"He's shady. I know what kind of business he does."

"Then you know what kind of business I do too. It's what I'm best at."

"But you got out of it. Look, you've heard the rumors. You know basically who you'll be working for."

"Drop it. I need the money, and I don't care who that means I have to work for."

"I'm sure Dumbledore would be proud." Liz got up and started to walk off. She turned around and looked at us. "Thanks for coming to see me though. Take care of yourself."

"You too." She walked off. Jake looked kind of sad. "Come on, Maxy. Let's get back." I was kind of sad too. The ice cream was gone.