- CHAPTER SIX -

Where the Customer Is King*
*Terms and Conditions apply

Triiiing! Triiiing! Triiiing! Triiiing!

Hermione bolted upright in bed when the mechanical alarm clock went off with an ear-splitting ring at an hour that still felt like the middle of the night. She reached over her stirring boyfriend to the clock on the nightstand and turned off the alarm.

"Huh? Wha-what... oh... hey..." Harry mumbled as his eyes fluttered open

"Morning," Hermione yawned. She disentangled herself from the blankets and sat up at the edge of the bed.

"What time is it?" Harry asked groggily.

"It's... six in the morning," Hermione said with a look at the alarm clock. "Just like we planned. We want to be out of the Alley before people start looking for us, remember?"

Harry sighed. "Right..."

"Oh, stop whining," Hermione chuckled and leaned over towards Harry, giving him a peck on the corner of his mouth. "At least you can lie down for a few more minutes while I get ready for the day."

Leaving a grumbling Harry behind, she stood up, gathered some clothes for the day, and entered the bathroom. After a quick shower, Hermione took care of her disguise. Like the night before, she took some Ageing Potion to make herself look as if she was in her mid-twenties, resized her clothes, and charmed her hair to appear blonde. As she observed herself in the bathroom mirror, Hermione wondered if she had got the shade of blonde exactly right, but she decided it matched the colour of the night before closely enough to not arouse suspicion.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, Harry had also got up and was rummaging around in his backpack.

"I'll fetch us something to eat," Hermione informed him. "I'll be back here soon."

She carefully opened the door and peeked out into the empty hallway before she left the room. Downstairs in the bar room, she ordered a platter of sandwiches from Tom and returned to her and Harry's room a few minutes later.

"Hermione?" came a shout from within the bathroom as she entered the room.

"It's me!" she confirmed.

There was a short pause before the bathroom door suddenly yanked open and Harry jumped into the room half-naked in a fighting stance, training his wand on Hermione.

"Ha-Harry?" Hermione asked, aghast, staring wide-eyed at her boyfriend, who was clad only in his boxer shorts.

"I- oh! Uhh... sorry..." the boy muttered and lowered his wand, his cheeks blushing crimson.

"What are you doing?" Hermione exclaimed. While she might have appreciated the sight under other circumstances, right now she only felt utterly confused by his actions.

"Uhm... it's just... well, your... your voice was wrong... and I thought... sorry," Harry mumbled.

"Oh," Hermione breathed. "Of course. I... I guess it will take a while until we've got used to this disguise."

"Yeah..." Harry agreed with an awkward chuckle. "Let me... let me just..." Without finishing the sentence, he dashed back into the bathroom.

Chuckling quietly, Hermione put the platter on a small table near the window and sat down to wait for her boyfriend. Harry joined her a few minutes later and took a sandwich from the plate.

"Harry, about what we talked about last night..." Hermione began hesitantly while they both nibbled on their sandwiches.

"Your parents?" Harry asked.

"Yes... I..."

"Hermione, please," Harry interrupted her. "I really think we should go and see them. You agreed!"

"No, no, that's not it," she quickly assured him. "It's just... The thing is, I don't think my parents will still be at home by the time we get there. They usually leave for work at eight in the morning."

"Well, it's... six thirty now. We might be able to do that?" Harry asked.

"I don't think so," Hermione replied with a frown. "The bank opens at seven and we'll be there right away. But even if we get everything done quickly, we'll still have to buy the tent. And the shop might not be open that early. Maybe... if we're lucky, the owner or a clerk might be there already and open for us, but we might have to wait a bit..."

"Okay. But if we're lucky, we'll be done in the Alley before eight. Right?" Harry asked.

"But then we still have to get to Sevenoaks," Hermione pointed out. "How long will that take on the broom? Twenty minutes? More?"

"Maybe... I actually don't know where it is, you'll have to guide me... And we'll have to be very careful when we fly over London on a broom during the day. People might see us."

"Oh... but why didn't you say so before?" Hermione asked, becoming more agitated. "If it's too dangerous, we'll have to... I don't know... take the Knight Bus? Or normal public transportation? But... but that-"

"No, don't worry," Harry interrupted her. "It should be all right with the Invisibility Cloak. I'm just saying we won't be able to go very fast when we have to be careful to stay under the cloak..."

Hermione nodded slowly. "Well, fine. We'll see how it goes. But you know what? It might actually be best to not go to my home..."

"Hermione!" Harry protested. "You-"

"We should go to my parents' dental practice instead!" Hermione continued, talking over him. "It will be better, anyway. I don't expect people will notice us missing that soon, but if they do, they might look for us at my home. But I doubt Hogwarts has any records of my parents' work address."

"Huh... Right, let's do that," Harry agreed. "It's in Sevenoaks, too?"

"Yeah, the practice is close to our home," Hermione replied.

"Good." Harry nodded and took another sandwich. They finished their breakfast in nervous silence and got ready to leave the Leaky Cauldron shortly before seven.

"Harry?" Hermione asked when he shouldered his backpack and unfolded his Invisibility Cloak. "Won't you take some Ageing Potion, too?"

"I... well..." Harry shrugged. "I thought it might be better to only use the cloak... I will be under it most of the time, anyway."

"Yes, it'd only be for Gringotts, but better safe than sorry, right?" Hermione argued. "Some customer might recognise you and run to Dumbledore or the Aurors because you're not at school where you're supposed to be."

"Well, I suppose," Harry said slowly. "But Hagrid... during my first trip to Diagon Alley, he warned me about trying to trick the goblins, and... well, they might not like it if they can't identify me."

"Oh..." Hermione muttered. She hadn't considered that.

"Or... maybe they could still identify me, I don't know..." Harry continued. "I don't know how it works. But can we risk running into difficulties with the goblins? I think I'd rather risk being spotted. We'll be gone before the news could get to Dumbledore, anyway."

Hermione nodded reluctantly. "Yes, that might be better. There probably won't be many customers in the bank at this hour. We'll just have to try to be in and out as quickly as possible."

"All right, great, let's go then!" With that, Harry threw the cloak over himself and disappeared from Hermione's sight.

They descended the stairs to the bar room, and Hermione returned her key to Tom before she and Harry left the Leaky Cauldron. When they entered Diagon Alley, Hermione was relieved to see that very few people were already milling about in the street. Quickly, she and Harry walked the short distance to the white marble building of Gringotts and arrived at the bank a few minutes after seven o'clock. The bronze doors of the bank were already open.

When they reached the set of stairs at the entrance of the bank, Harry slid off the Invisibility Cloak. Hermione nervously looked around, but luckily, there were no wizards and witches close-by to take notice of them, and the goblin security guard at the door didn't even flinch when Harry came into view right in front of him.

Hurriedly, Hermione and Harry entered the bank and traversed the large marble hall to the nearest counter. One old wizard was the only other customer in the bank, and he was deeply engrossed in haggling with a goblin on the other side of the hall.

The goblin behind a counter watched with an impassive expression on his face as Hermione and Harry approached him.

"Uhm... Good morning, Sir," Harry greeted the goblin nervously. "I would like to visit my vault, please."

"Name, key, and vault number?" the goblin asked with a bored tone. While he wasn't very friendly, Hermione was just glad that the goblin apparently treated Harry just like any other customer, despite Harry and her being school children who were supposed to be at Hogwarts right now.

"Of course, here," Harry replied and handed his small golden vault key over the counter. "My name is Harry Potter, and the vault number is six-hundred and eighty-seven.

The goblin inspected the key and briefly glanced at Harry before he handed the key back to him. "Very well. That seems to be in order. Someone will escort you to your vault shortly. Anything else?"

"No, thank you," Harry replied.

A few moments later, another goblin arrived to take Harry and Hermione to the vault. The cart ride to the vaults was certainly an experience to Hermione, but one she really could have done without. When the goblin brought the cart to a grinding halt next to Harry's vault, Hermione was feeling very dizzy and slightly sick, and Harry had to help her out of the cart so she wouldn't lose her balance.

The goblin, in the meantime, quickly strode towards a small door in the passage wall.

"Key!" he demanded with an outstretched hand towards Harry, who gave his key to the goblin.

The goblin opened the vault, and Hermione's jaw dropped as she saw the mounds of golden Galleons inside. There were also smaller heaps of silver and bronze coins, but their value was practically negligible compared to the mountains of Galleons.

"Wow... that's... a lot of money..." Hermione breathed. By her quick estimation, there had to be far over ten-thousand Galleons inside the vault. That would be more than a million Pounds in real money.

"I suppose," Harry muttered with a shrug of his shoulders. Hermione wasn't surprised that he appeared slightly embarrassed by his wealth.

"Uhm... How do we know how much gold there is exactly?" Hermione asked. When Harry only shrugged in response, she gave the goblin next to them a questioning look.

The goblin raised his eyebrows at her, and Hermione had the feeling that she had asked a particularly daft question. "By counting it," the goblin stated flatly.

"But that would take forever!" Hermione exclaimed. "Isn't there a spell for that? Or... or could you do it?" she asked the goblin with some exasperation. Why did the goblins have to be so difficult?

"I could. Do you wish me to count your money?" the goblin asked Harry.

"Yes, please," Harry confirmed.

The goblin placed his hand on the vault door and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Your vault contains fifteen-thousand eight-hundred and twenty-seven Galleons, four-thousand three-hundred and two Sickles, and two-thousand two-hundred and eighty-nine Knuts," the goblin informed Harry a moment later.

Even though she had suspected something like this, Hermione's jaw still dropped when she heard the numbers. She could understand now why Harry hadn't been concerned about money before. This would be more than enough for their escape, and it was one huge worry off her chest. In her stupor, Hermione almost didn't hear when the goblin spoke up again.

"That will be five Galleons."

"What?" Harry asked.

"The service fee for counting your gold," the goblin said impatiently.

"Oh, sure," Harry muttered and took five Galleons from his vault, handing the coins to the goblin.

"Harry, those were almost four-hundred Pounds!" Hermione hissed quietly to Harry, though she was sure that the goblin still heard her.

"Huh?" Harry replied eloquently.

"You just paid him almost four-hundred Pounds for performing a small spell!" Hermione exclaimed. "I think the exchange rate when my parents converted money was something like eighty Pounds for a Galleon."

"Eighty Pounds..." Harry repeated and frowned slightly. "Wow! I'm a millionaire!"

"That's not-" she began but decided that Harry indeed didn't need to worry about four-hundred Pounds. "Well, yes, I suppose you are."

"Well... so... how much do we need?" Harry wondered.

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe you could keep a little bit here, in case you need the vault in the future. But... if you're allowed to take as much as you want, I think we should take most of it. We'd be more flexible that way."

"Right..." Harry turned towards the goblin. "I'd like to make a large withdrawal from my vault," he informed the goblin.

"Yes, I assumed as much," the goblin replied flippantly. "That's usually the reason why people visit their vaults."

"So there's no limit to how much I can withdraw?" Harry asked.

The goblin shrugged. "It's your vault."

"Oh, great, all right," Harry said. "So, I'd like to take out... fifteen-thousand Galleons. How would we do that? Uhm... transport that much gold?"

The goblin gave Harry a hard stare. "Surprise me," he drawled.

"Could you help us?" Harry asked, clearly becoming annoyed with the goblin, too.

"I could..." the goblin said slowly.

"Wait!" Hermione interrupted. "For another horrendous fee, you mean?"

"Entirely adequate-" the goblin began.

"No, thank you," Hermione said decisively. "We'll just use the moneybags, Harry."

Harry nodded, and he and Hermione began shovelling coins into their enchanted moneybags that they had bought at Hogsmeade the weekend prior. While she put more and more money in the purse, Hermione shook her head with annoyance and not a little bit of anger. Suddenly, she was feeling much less sympathetic about goblin rights, and the frequent goblin rebellions seemed much less inexplicable to her now. Why were wizards storing their gold at Gringotts again? She really didn't know.

It took Hermione and Harry several minutes until only a small pile of golden, silver, and bronze coins was left in the vault. But even the few hundred Galleons that remained were still a respectable amount of money for anyone, let alone a fourteen-year-old teenager.

Harry and Hermione then stepped back into the cart, and they were once again thrown back and forth during the wild cart ride back to the surface. They were still a bit shaky on their feet when they re-entered the main hall of Gringotts and made their way to another counter.

Just like with the goblins before, the goblin behind the counter looked decidedly uninterested in the two teens. If at all, he appeared slightly annoyed that two customers dared to approach him.

"We... uhm, we'd like to exchange some Galleons into British Pounds," Harry told the goblin.

The goblin only huffed in response.

"We'd also like to exchange some money into French Francs, if possible," Hermione added.

"It is not," the goblin said flatly. "How many Galleons do you want to exchange into Muggle Pounds?"

"One... one-thousand Galleons?" Harry said slowly, giving Hermione a questioning glance, who nodded in response.

"Put your moneybag on the counter," the goblin told Harry, who quickly did as demanded.

The goblin waved his hand over the purse and a huge pile of Galleons poured forth from the bag and formed neat columns on the counter. With another wave from the goblin, the Galleons disappeared and were replaced by a stack of bundled fifty Pound notes, a few smaller notes, and a handful of coins.

"Anything else?" the goblin asked.

"N-no... no... thank you..." Harry muttered while he stared with amazement at the pile of cash in front of him. Hermione, however, furrowed her brows.

"Wait a moment," she muttered while she counted the bundles and did a quick calculation in her head. "There's barely over thirty-thousand Pounds. Where's the rest?"

The goblin gave her a hard stare. "This is thirty-three thousand four-hundred and sixty-four Pounds and five Pence. As per the standard exchange rate for converting Galleons to Pounds."

"But that's- that's-" Hermione sputtered, "that's only something like thirty-three Pounds to the Galleon! It should be more than twice that much!"

The goblin behind the counter gave her a blank look. "Where have you got that idea from?"

"When my parents exchanged money to buy my school supplies two months ago, we paid almost eighty Pounds for one Galleon," Hermione said indignantly. Did the goblin really think he could rip off Harry and her just because they were young?

"Well yes, of course," the goblin replied impatiently. "The exchange rate for converting Pounds into Galleons lies at roughly seventy-eight Pounds to the Galleon."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed disbelievingly.

The goblin shrugged. "The difference is due to the Ministry's twenty-five percent tax on all conversions between Pounds and Galleons and Gringotts' own exchange fee of twenty-five percent.

"Fifty percent! That's- that's robbery!" Hermione shrieked with outrage. "And- and we weren't even told about this! You can't just charge us with such horrendous fees!"

"It is no concern of ours when customers use our services without enquiring about the incurring fees beforehand," the goblin drawled.

"Well, be that as it may, with fees like this, we'll have to conduct our business elsewhere," Hermione replied, her voice trembling with barely contained anger.

The goblin gave her a toothy grin. "The money was exchanged already. But I can exchange it back if you wish. Do you wish me to do this?"

"You mean you'd charge us again?" Hermione asked angrily.

"Naturally. I'd have to charge you the Ministry conversion tax and the Gringotts conversion fee for exchanging these Pounds into Galleons, of course."

"Fine, we'll take the Pounds, then!" Hermione snapped and gathered the money, Harry following suit. Quickly, they filled their moneybags and left the bank without a second glance at any of the goblins.

As soon as they stepped out into the alley, Harry donned the Invisibility Cloak again and disappeared from Hermione's sight.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione muttered while they walked along. She couldn't see him, but she knew that Harry was right beside her. Their hands were frequently bumping against each other as they hurried down the street. "I know we should've planned this better. I should've... I don't know, I..."

"Don't worry, it's all right," Harry's disembodied voice replied from her right. "No harm done. Only... do you think we should've exchanged more money? Now that it's only half of what you thought it would be?"

"No, what we have should still be more than sufficient for a few years," Hermione whispered back, "And we can always exchange more Galleons elsewhere."

"All right," Harry replied, "So where is-" He didn't finish his question when Hermione halted in front of a small store at a corner to a side-alley.

Plunkett's Wizarding Travel Supplies, since 1881 read the sign above the shop.

"Here it is," Hermione whispered and looked through the shop window. The store was still closed, but she could see an old man rummaging about inside the store. Deciding to try her luck, Hermione softly knocked at the door window. The man looked up, and after a short hesitation, he walked over to the door and opened it.

"Good morning, Miss. We are still closed for another hour," the man informed Hermione, but he appeared friendly enough.

"Please, could you maybe make an exception?" Hermione asked. "I'm somewhat in a hurry."

"And..." she added when the man still appeared reluctant. "I think I would spend quite a few Galleons in your shop. You see, I'm looking for a good wizarding tent..."

"Oh, very well, Miss, please step inside," the man replied, suddenly much more amiable.

"Thank you," Hermione said, much relieved, and entered the shop. She could feel Harry bumping into her when he followed her inside.

"So... a wizarding tent, you say?" the clerk asked while Hermione looked around in the store. High shelves covered the walls on both sides of the long, narrow room, and several tents were lined up in the middle of the store.

"Yes..." Hermione confirmed. "It should be comfortable for two people, self-sufficient in all regards and in all environments, and with good obscuring and Muggle repellent charms."

The clerk nodded appreciatively while he walked towards the displayed tents. "I'm sure we'll find something for you... How about this one?"

The man stopped in front of a high tent that looked like a small castle tower made of red and black silk. "It's one of our finest units. Two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a guest bathroom, a large sitting area, a separate kitchen, dining room, lounge, two storage rooms..."

Hermione's eyes widened when she glanced into the tent and saw a stately, space-expanded hall with elegant furniture that wouldn't look out of place even in Buckingham Palace.

"That's- I think I'm looking for something a tad smaller, actually," she muttered. Just because Harry had more money than she had expected didn't mean they should spend all of it on their tent now.

"Of course, Miss," the old man replied politely and stepped towards another tent. "How about this beauty? Tents with this line of equipment are our most popular products among adventurers and travellers."

The small, nondescript tent made from white cotton fabric didn't look like much to Hermione from the outside, but she was pleasantly surprised when she ducked her head through the canvas and looked inside the tent. It, too, was massively space-expanded and contained several large rooms. The living area almost matched the size of the Gryffindor common room. It had an open kitchen with a small table on one side of the room, and a matched set of a sofa and two armchairs made of brown leather stood in front of an open fireplace on the other side.

"Would you like to take a closer look inside, Miss?" the clerk asked, and Hermione only nodded absentmindedly as she wandered into the tent.

On the inside, only the ceiling was made of canvas, while the wood-panelled walls were solid and gave the tent the look of a rather elegant cottage. There were several wooden cupboards and shelves along the walls, and a Wizarding Wireless on one of the cupboards was quietly playing music. All in all, it looked and felt perfect.

"The tent has one bathroom and one bedroom," the clerk explained while he walked towards two doors and opened them.

She heard how Harry, still invisible, gave off a small squeak at the last part of that statement, and she quickly faked a cough to disguise the noise.

"Ahem... yes... that's all right, I suppose," she said slowly while she inspected the other rooms, which were furnished in a style similar to the living area. The bedroom contained a comfy-looking king-size bed and several cupboards. Like in the living area, there were no windows, but Hermione noted that the ceiling of white canvas would provide more than enough light during the day.

"This looks very good," she said to the clerk when she exited the tent after a short while. "What are the enchantments?"

"It's very low-maintenance," the man replied. "The tent has enchantments for never-ending water supply and disposal, the fireplace doesn't require firewood, and there are enchantments in place to keep the temperature in hot and cold environments. Basically, the only thing you'd have to worry about during your travels is food... And the tent won't be noticed by any Muggles wandering by, of course."

"That sounds adequate," Hermione said. It was actually pretty impressive, she thought to herself.

"Of course, the canvas is waterproof and tear-resistant," the man continued. "And the tent can be packed and assembled with a single tap of your wand. Everything will stay in place when the tent is folded for transportation, no matter how much it gets shaken. It's rather exceptional charm work, if I may say so myself."

Hermione nodded slowly. "Very well. How much is it?" she asked.

"It's a real bargain, let me tell you!" the clerk replied enthusiastically. "Only two-thousand and five-hundred Galleons. And we even give you a twenty-year guarantee for all enchantments."

Hermione winced. That was still much more of Harry's gold than what she felt comfortable spending. "How about... an even two-thousand Galleons?" she asked, trying to haggle a bit.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but I really can't lower the price," the clerk replied with an apologetic smile. "Such a tent is still a self-sufficient apartment, fully furnished. That doesn't come cheap. We could look at other tents, but those wouldn't be as well-equipped as this one..."

"No, all right..." Hermione said reluctantly. The clerk was right that she was basically buying a cottage, just without the property area. That had to be rather expensive. And she was hardly in a good position to negotiate. She and Harry needed that tent, and they needed it now. "I suppose... With everything included as it is... I could take this tent as it is right now?"

"We can pack it immediately," the man confirmed.

Hermione sighed. "All right, I suppose that's fair, then..."

"Splendid! You won't regret it, Miss!" the clerk said happily. "Here, let me show you how to fold the tent together... You only have to press your wand against this symbol near the tent entrance here..." He drew his wand and put it against a small red circle that was entwined with several runes, and the tent quickly disassembled itself into a small roll of canvas. The rune circle was visible on one side of it.

"Of course, this won't work while someone's inside, that's a basic safety feature," the old man continued. "To put up the tent, just press your wand against the circle again."

"All right. Thank you," Hermione said, and the man handed her the canvas roll before he walked to the shop counter.

Hermione followed along to pay for the tent, which took several long minutes. While she nervously waited for the clerk to count out the Galleons, Hermione once more wondered about the impracticality of wizarding money. This would have been so much faster and more convenient with a simple credit card!

Finally, the money had been counted, and Hermione put the folded-up tent into her enchanted handbag. She then said her thanks to the clerk and left the store, leaving the door open long enough for Harry to sneak out behind her.

They quickly made their way into a quiet side alley, where Harry stepped out from under the Invisibility Cloak. Out of view of any passers-by in the main alley, Hermione also took the antidote to the Ageing Potion and turned her hair brunette again.

"I'm sorry for spending that much money," Hermione contritely said to Harry when she was done. "I didn't think the tent would be that expensive."

"Don't worry about it," Harry said with a shrug. "The tent is great! Apart from... well..." His cheeks pinked slightly, and Hermione couldn't contain a small smirk.

"Apart from the one bedroom?" she asked innocently, and Harry's blush intensified.

"Well, the tent was expensive enough. I didn't want to spend even more on it," Hermione explained logically and gently embraced her boyfriend. "Besides..." she whispered, "was the last night really that terrible?"

With a shy smile, Harry shook his head.

"I'm sure we'll manage," Hermione continued sweetly and pecked her boyfriend on the lips.

"Yeah... well... should we..." Harry stammered. "Shall we get going? I thought we were on a tight schedule here..."

"Right," Hermione grinned, but her smile fell when Harry pulled the Firebolt out of his space-expanded backpack. She nervously eyes the broomstick as it hovered in the air and Harry mounted it.

"You coming?" Harry asked, and Hermione reluctantly stepped towards the broom and got onto it behind Harry, putting her arms around Harry's waist.

Harry, in the meantime, unfolded his Invisibility Cloak again and then threw it over the both of them. With Hermione and Harry being pressed closely against each other, the cloak easily concealed the two of them, but the broomstick remained uncovered.

"Harry, what about the broom itself?" Hermione asked worriedly. "We can't have people noticing a broomstick flying all over London!"

She was surprised when Harry only chuckled in response. "Really? You haven't read about broomstick enchanting?" he asked. "Almost all brooms are enchanted for Muggles not to notice them, and a top-of-the-line broom like the Firebolt certainly is."

"Oh, all right then," Hermione muttered, and Harry craned his neck towards her.

"You ready?"

"I- yes..." Hermione replied weakly and strengthened her grip on Harry. Oh, what had she been thinking? This was a terrible, terrible plan! Maybe they should just take a train. She-

Her thoughts were interrupted when Harry laughed and pushed them off the ground and the broom quickly ascended into the air. When first the ground and then even the roofs of the houses moved away from her, Hermione closed her eyes and pressed herself even closer against Harry.

"Let's go!" Harry shouted happily and leaned forward, and the Firebolt took up speed.

"Oh goodness!" Hermione muttered, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this eager to arrive at her parents' in Sevenoaks. And the Firebolt was accelerating still. Yes, they really should've taken the train.


A/N: A happy new year to all of you, and a huge thank you to Proton6 and WH Rutledge for alpha and beta reading this story even during the holidays!