Diagon Alley:
On Christmas Eve, Lucy woke up early. She felt the most energized as she ever had on December 24th. Severus had told her they would be travelling. This was the first time she would be somewhere besides her father's house or Hogwarts Castle.
"Have you ever been to Diagon Alley?" He asked her when she went to the living room to grab her coat. Lucy shook her head. He nodded.
"How do we get there?" She put on some mittens as he buttoned up his outer robes.
"Apparition." He said casually, reaching out his arm. She nodded, grabbing him. He turned on his heel and the most unpleasant feeling came over Lucy. Her body was being pushed and squeezed and pulled. It was over almost before it started.
Lucy groaned, holding her hands to her stomach. Severus pointed to a bush and waited for her to be done emptying her stomach. Lucy walked back to him and looked down in embarrassment.
"Don't be embarrassed; most everyone vomits on their first few times apparating."
His fact didn't make her feel any better, but he didn't notice. Lucy had never had a Christmas before. She didn't know how to get presents for others or what to expect for her first time celebrating in the castle.
"We'll head to Gringots first. I need to pick up a Galleon or two."
"What's a Galleon?"
He looked at her, shocked. "A Galleon is one of the three coins used as currency-"
"What's 'currency'?" He didn't look pleased at her interruption.
"Currency is another word for money. It's something a group uses for trading or exchange, which is more of less the same thing. Do you understand?" I nod. "Now, as I was saying. A Galleon is one of the three coins used as currency in the wizarding world. The three coins are Galleons, which are the most valuable; Sickles, which are the next valuable; and Knuts, which are the least valuable. There are 17 Sickles to a Galleon and 29 Knuts to a Sickle. Also, if you want to get technical, there are 493 Knuts to a Galleon."
"How did you do that math?" Lucy asked, amazed.
Severus glanced at her. "We'll add mathematics to your studies."
They walked a little farther, and finally, Lucy saw the big, white building. In front of it seemed to be a little man. She got closer to Severus as they passed the man.
"Goblins," Severus explained.
"I don't like goblins." She muttered.
A goblin gave her a look before leading them to a cart on a track, which took the three of them to Severus' vault. After the goblin opened the vault and Severus went in to collect some money, the goblin turned to look at Lucy some more. Its beady eyes looked as if they were looking through her, and its face crinkled in disgust when the girl squeaked in fear. Severus didn't look back until after he had grabbed some of the golden and silver coins from his mostly full vault.
The goblin shut the door and motioned for them to get back in the cart. Lucy was shaking a little, and all she could think about was the goblin's creepy eyes. Once they stopped, she jumped out of the cart, nearly landing on her face. Once they left the bank, Lucy relaxed considerably.
They went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions to get a set of robes tailored for Lucy. As much as she seemed okay with a regular winter coat, Severus thought she might take to wearing robes if she had access to them. Next, they were headed to Flourish and Blotts to look at books for Lucy to read.
When they arrived, Severus and Lucy looked at children's stories. He seemed to be interested in one the most, though. It didn't have a pretty cover. Lucy saw another copy on the shelf, and read the cover.
"Matilda's Magical Meadow," She picked it up and looked closer, and saw it was written by Annalixe Moorght.
"Are you interested in it?" Lucy looked at him and nodded with a smile on her face. He set the copy he was holding back on the shelf and motioned for her to lead the way to the counter.
After Severus paid for the book, he led the way to Magical Menagerie. Lucy was most excited for this shop once she saw what was inside. At the front door, she saw that there were many different types of pets.
Before they went in, she stopped Severus. "I don't know any of the names of these animals." She confessed.
"Very well," He was starting to not be surprised by what she didn't know. if "Ask, and I will explain to you."
Lucy smiled in thanks.
Inside, she looked at every animal before deciding which one she wanted. Once she had seen every animal, she turned to Severus.
"You decided?" She nodded. He sighed as if a huge weight had been taken off of his shoulders. "Which is it?" She spun on her heel and led the way to a little pen near the back of the store. Inside were cute little furry animals of all different colors.
"A cat?" He asked in a flat voice. Lucy tilted her head to the side, widening her eyes pleadingly. He sighed. "Which one has caught your eye?"
She pointed to the black one with white paws and blue-grey eyes.
"At least it isn't orange." She looked at him, confused as to why orange would be bad. He walked away from the girl and the cats.
A few minutes later, he returned with an old man. He smiled at them and asked which kitten we would like. Severus told the man which one she wanted, and the man gave them permission to see if the kitten liked them.
When Lucy approached it, it rubbed its head against her arm. When Severus approached the cat, it stared at him. The old man was satisfied with that, letting them know they could take him home. As Severus paid for the kitten, supplies, and a book on how to take care of cats at various life stages, Lucy played with her new kitten.
"Ready to leave?" Severus asked. She looked up at him and shook her head. "What's left to do here?"
She looked at her little kitten. "I haven't named him yet."
"What about Maximus?" Severus suggested. She shook her head. That wasn't the one. "Well, then what about Neros?" She scrunched her face up in disgust. "How about Apollos?" She did consider it, but decided against it. "What sort of name works then, Thor?"
She looked down at her kitten, admiring his white paws. She looked at how his paws almost matched the mittens she was wearing.
"I like Mittens." She smiled and looked at Mittens. "How do you like your new name, Mittens?" She asked him, even though he couldn't talk.
Severus rolled his eyes and shook his head. He pulled something small out of his pocket and said, "Engorgio," The item then grew and Lucy saw that it was a cat carrier.
"Does he have to go in there? Can I hold him for just a little bit longer?" Severus sighed and seemed to debate whether or not she could. The girl jutted out her bottom lip and scrunched her eyebrows together.
"No." She frowned. "Calm down, I'll give you money to buy any gifts or treats you want. I'll hold the cat." She hesitated, but agreed in the end. They exchanged a bag of coins for a squirmy kitten. As soon as Lucy skipped off, Severus put the cat in the carrier. He turned and walked into The Leaky Cauldron, where he sat at the bar and ordered a brandy.
xXx
After a while, he realized he never told Lucy where to meet him when she was done. Cursing his utter stupidity, he stomped off to the back of The Leaky Cauldron and tapped the appropriate brick.
As soon as the door opened, he rushed into the streets of Diagon Alley. He entered Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop first, as he knew Lucy probably shopped for Tonks here. Unluckily, she has been shopping for over half an hour, so she could have gone anywhere.
Seeing she wasn't in the shop, he quickly exited and went to Sugarplum's Sweet Shop. There was a woman at the counter, so he rushed to her.
"Hello, sir, is there anything in particular you are looking for?" She said in an overly chirpy voice.
"I'm looking for a young girl. She has dark red hair, brown eyes, is about this tall," He gestured with his hand. "She's wearing a dark purple winter coat." By the end of him describing Lucy, the woman seemed to understand.
"Oh yes, she came in earlier and spent a few Sickles on candy, she even requested for it to all be wrapped. She must have bought it as a present. Quite a bit late for that, though, wouldn't you say?"
Severus didn't laugh, as he was already out the door.
Where else would she go?
xXx
"What would someone who likes potions need?" She asked the man who ran the apothecary.
He looked at the child with disinterest before sighing and putting his feather down. "That depends."
"Oh what?" He didn't answer. "Sir?"
"What's their expertise?" He asked, no more interested than he was before.
"Making potions." Lucy really didn't know that much about Severus' day to day potion-making habits.
The man sighed. "How much do you want to spend?"
Lucy dumped her bag on the counter.
"25 Galleons, 17 Sickles, and 93 Knuts." The man glared at her after having spent so long counting her coins.
"What can I get with that?" Lucy just wanted something for Severus. She didn't know what he needed.
The man sighed and went to the back of the shop. He returned with a dusty box. "This is a unicorn horn. It goes for 21 Galleons. It's used in the antidote to common poisons, so it can be handy to have on stock."
Lucy nodded and collected her coins back into her bag, minus the ones the man took as payment. She thanked the man and went back outside.
It was getting cold, so she decided she wanted to find Severus and go home. She picked up her speed, but she slipped on a patch of ice, knocking the breath out of her. She got back up to her feet and brushed the snow off her coat.
Her stomach growled and she remembered that she threw up all of her stomach contents when they arrived this morning. She turned the corner, finding a much darker looking Alley. She looked at the sign, trying to read it. Knockturn Alley. She continued walking into the dark place, when she heard her name being called.
She spun around and saw an angry Severus gliding toward her. I gulp. "What the devil do you think you're doing? Do you know how dangerous it is here?"
Lucy looked down in shame. "I was looking for you. I'm done shopping. I got something for Tonks and you."
There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "Look at me." She did and saw that he looked relieved. "I was looking for you as well."
"You're not angry?" She asked cautiously, having witnessed a few mood swings after long days of teaching.
"I'm not angry at you." He adjusted his hold on the carrier, looking around for threats. "Are you hungry?"
At her nod, he took her free hand and led to The Leaky Cauldron, trying to ignore the people staring at them.