Shopping in Knockturn Alley: A Deadly Christmas Quest for Harry Potter and Friends
Chapter 25: Shopping at Knockturn Alley
NOTE: Okay, so I don't know about you, but I think the story is going a little slow right now, I'm boring myself, basically, so let's bring back some excitement!
The next day, the boys persuaded Mrs. Weasley to let them go off to Diagon Alley on their own, using Christmas shopping as their excuse. "We can't very well shop for you when you're standing right behind us, mother." George told her. She agreed to send them with ministry guards, which made the boys happy. After all, a ministry worker would be easier to lose than the ever-watchful Molly.
A short while later all the arrangements where taken care of and they all stepped into the fireplace, arriving at the twins' shop covered in a fine coating of soot. Brushing themselves off, the boys greeted Lee and immediately began inspecting the shelves for the ingredients needed to make the counterpotion. George sent the guards to stand outside (so as not to scare away business) while Fred gave Lee some busywork back in the office to keep him out of the way.
"I wish Hermione were here. This would probably go a lot faster if the big brain were helping." Fred grumbled as he began measuring out the proper amounts of the ingredients the others found.
"Yeah, but then we'd have to listen to her tell us we're doing everything wrong." George laughed.
"Guys, it should be obvious that it would be much faster to do everything this way!" Ron imitated Hermione, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms as she does when correcting or scolding them.
"I think it would be less annoying if she weren't always right." Fred joked.
Harry remained quiet on the topic since he actually felt pretty guilty not to have included Hermione. Through planning or accident, she'd always been a part of everything he'd done since they'd met and it felt wrong to try and exclude her now. But at the same time he felt bad including her, Ginny, or Luna in something like this, something Cho had clearly meant for the boys.
By the time half an hour had passed, they had all but three of the required materials and finished measuring out the proper amounts of those they did have. "We still need to find: Nardook root, turnock juice and spectorperspe." Harry read off the list.
"What's spectorperspe?" Ron asked.
"It's more commonly called 'ghost sweat.'" a voice said from behind them. Startled, the four boys turned to see Hermione and Ginny standing by the fireplace. "Why on earth would you need that?" Hermione asked, a smirk on her soot streaked face.
"What are you two doing here?" Ron asked, finding his voice first.
"You didn't think it would be that easy to ditch us did you?" Ginny said with a false sweetness. "The real question is, what are you four trying to hide?"
The boys all looked at each other and reached a silent agreement to let the girls in on what they were doing, though it still made Harry uncomfortable to do so. "Fred and George may have found a potion to get around the Bickeross." He finally answered as he handed over the book and list of ingredients.
(BREAK)
Luna had woken that morning feeling compelled to accompany her father to the Quibbler offices. She did this often, liking the bustling colors, noises and employees, but today had been different. There was some reason she needed to be in the area, she just didn't know why yet. She was certain an answer would be forthcoming though, and so she gladly followed her dad on his rounds to check on the printing presses. As the morning progressed, the uneasy feeling she'd shrugged off earlier steadily built up until she felt like a teapot about to boil over.
After lunch, her dad left her in his office to attend a meeting with one of his most published reporters. No sooner had she gotten up to get a glass of water, wishing something would come to let her know what was going on, than the familiar feeling overtook her and she dropped to the ground unconscious to the world.
(BREAK)
They had almost instantly noticed the boys' absence from the house- the silence gave it away. It had taken a long time to get Mrs. Weasley to tell them where they'd gone, but as soon as she had admitted to letting them leave for Christmas shopping, Hermione and Ginny had known it was a lie. Ginny did most of the talking, getting her mother to finally agree to let the girls follow after the others. "Why do you think they didn't tell us they were going somewhere?" she asked Hermione as they prepared to step into the fireplace.
"I don't know, but it certainly wasn't to go buy presents." Hermione knew that whatever they were doing, it was something dangerous that she wouldn't approve of. Harry hadn't told her for a reason, and usually when he kept things from people it was because he either felt the need to protect them or to protect himself from their disapproval. She had a funny feeling this time the reason would involve a little of both.
They arrived just in time to overhear enough, stepping into the twins' store without bothering to brush the soot from themselves and demanding to know what they were being kept out of. Hermione watched as they all glanced nervously at each other, each one nodding slightly as they decided to tell the truth. "Fred and George may have found a way around the Bickeross." Harry said, handing her a book.
"The Rictheous Potion?" She quickly read the text as Ginny looked over her shoulder.
"Well, do you think it will work?" Fred asked excitedly.
"It should. It does say the potion was created specifically to counteract the effects of Bickeross." She answered honestly though she hated to get their hopes up.
"So if this works, you'll be able to tell us everything that happened with Cho?" Ginny asked.
"You, Dumbledore, the world... Everyone!" Ron exclaimed with a wide smile.
"But where do you expect to find the last three ingredients? Nowhere I know of in Diagon Alley sells spectorperspe or turnock juice." Hermione tried to recall anywhere she'd seen that would sell these sorts of things. "You might find nardook root, I suppose." She added, looking at the boys who were all staring purposely at the ground. She immediately realized where they intended to go. "Oh no you don't Harry James Potter." She scolded as she stalked over to him. "Knockturn Alley is dangerous, especially for you. Do you know how many Death Eaters there could be just slinking around? Only the worst kind of wizards shop there."
"Relax Hermione. George and I go there all the time!" Fred told her.
"Thank you for making my point." She answered crossly, upset they had been planning to take such a risk. "And you've never gone there with Harry. Besides, what if this potion doesn't even work the way we think it will?"
"Well, fine. We'll just go alone then. You guys can wait here and entertain Lee and the guards." George shot back. "Then if it doesn't work out, we're the only ones who risked our necks."
Hermione cringed, knowing he'd just said the exact right thing to ensure Harry would be going with them. Sure enough, he stepped between everyone with his hands out trying to keep the peace. "Alright, that's enough bickering. Look, there's no way you guys are going alone when we wouldn't even be in this mess if Cho hadn't been after me."
"Relax, Harry. We came to terms with the fact that people would be after you long before we decided to be your friend." George grinned.
"Yeah, it was kind of why we decided to be your friend, all the excitement and all." Fred added with an identical grin.
"So we're all going?" Ginny asked.
"Absolutely not. You and Hermione should just go home." Ron said stubbornly.
"Why because we're girls? You and Harry get in way more trouble than we ever have!" Ginny replied heatedly.
"We're all going." Hermione said with authority. She caught the unhappy look on Harry's face and decided he could just deal with it. "If something happens, it'll be better that way, more of us to watch out for each other."
"More people to be targets you mean." Ginny said.
"You don't have to go Baby Sister." Fred reminded her.
"Yeah, you're the one who got all feminist about it. We'd rather you didn't go." George added and once more Hermione knew he'd said the one thing to ensure the opposite of what he'd wanted to achieve. There was no way Ginny wasn't going now.
"Let's just get this over with as quickly as possible before anything can go wrong." She said impatiently.
"Everything will be fine, Mione. You'll see." Ron reassured her.
"That's what we always say right before we end up fighting for our lives." Ginny grumbled.
(BREAK)
Draco absolutely hated Bellatrix Lestrange. But for some unknown reason she was a favorite with Lord Voldemort and therefore the insanity that would have normally made her a liability to them, had to be tolerated. He and his father were walking through Knockturn Alley with the horrid woman, disguised in cloaks just in case an Auror or two decide to take a stroll looking for the escaped Death Eaters. Draco thought it ridiculous that they risk capture at all, but they'd been sent on a mission and he had been told that for some reason he had to go with. He knew the plan they were currently enacting had come from that crazy old man who'd shown up over the summer, somehow quickly gaining a place of power within the Dark Lord's inner circle- he just didn't know how yet. But a few more days in London, left to wander virtually unnoticed, viewed as neither an asset nor a threat, and he'd know all.
"There's the signal! Little Potter and his nasty friends have been found!" Bellatrix said excitedly, turning to Lucius. "See and you didn't trust what old Jasper said."
Jasper. Draco thought to himself. So that was the strange old man's name, though he wasn't sure if it was his first or last. He kept his face blank as his father growled out his answer. "It's not that I didn't trust him, I just didn't believe everything he said. But I guess it really was time for our new recruit to prove himself."
Draco knew they didn't mean him. He was already in the process of having to prove himself in this whole twisted plot with Cho. They meant the other person who'd come with them to Knockturn Alley and had been sent out to search for Potter. To be honest, he didn't believe the person would actually do it, but time would still tell once everyone was face to face against each other. As he followed Lucius and Bellatrix through the dark streets, he knew that whatever was about to happen was going to change everything.
(BREAK)
Luna felt calmly panicked as she picked herself up off the floor. Having been receiving warnings and visions of the future for as long as she could remember, she was used to how fast they overtook her and coming out of it sprawled wherever she'd fallen. Thankfully this time it had taken her over while she was alone and so she wouldn't have to make any explanations, which always proved awkward. But the events she saw that were about to take place had been almost more than she could bear to watch, leaving her feeling desperate and scared. Unable to find her dad, she quickly scrawled a note to him making her excuses for leaving. Then she ran from the building toward Knockturn Alley hoping she wasn't too late to help.
(BREAK)
Harry stood at THE END
NOTE: Okay, so I don't know about you, but I think the story is going a little slow right now, I'm boring myself, basically, so let's bring back some excitement!
The next day, the boys persuaded Mrs. Weasley to let them go off to Diagon Alley on their own, using Christmas shopping as their excuse. "We can't very well shop for you when you're standing right behind us, mother." George told her. She agreed to send them with ministry guards, which made the boys happy. After all, a ministry worker would be easier to lose than the ever-watchful Molly.
A short while later all the arrangements where taken care of and they all stepped into the fireplace, arriving at the twins' shop covered in a fine coating of soot. Brushing themselves off, the boys greeted Lee and immediately began inspecting the shelves for the ingredients needed to make the counterpotion. George sent the guards to stand outside (so as not to scare away business) while Fred gave Lee some busywork back in the office to keep him out of the way.
"I wish Hermione were here. This would probably go a lot faster if the big brain were helping." Fred grumbled as he began measuring out the proper amounts of the ingredients the others found.
"Yeah, but then we'd have to listen to her tell us we're doing everything wrong." George laughed.
"Guys, it should be obvious that it would be much faster to do everything this way!" Ron imitated Hermione, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms as she does when correcting or scolding them.
"I think it would be less annoying if she weren't always right." Fred joked.
Harry remained quiet on the topic since he actually felt pretty guilty not to have included Hermione. Through planning or accident, she'd always been a part of everything he'd done since they'd met and it felt wrong to try and exclude her now. But at the same time he felt bad including her, Ginny, or Luna in something like this, something Cho had clearly meant for the boys.
By the time half an hour had passed, they had all but three of the required materials and finished measuring out the proper amounts of those they did have. "We still need to find: Nardook root, turnock juice and spectorperspe." Harry read off the list.
"What's spectorperspe?" Ron asked.
"It's more commonly called 'ghost sweat.'" a voice said from behind them. Startled, the four boys turned to see Hermione and Ginny standing by the fireplace. "Why on earth would you need that?" Hermione asked, a smirk on her soot streaked face.
"What are you two doing here?" Ron asked, finding his voice first.
"You didn't think it would be that easy to ditch us did you?" Ginny said with a false sweetness. "The real question is, what are you four trying to hide?"
The boys all looked at each other and reached a silent agreement to let the girls in on what they were doing, though it still made Harry uncomfortable to do so. "Fred and George may have found a potion to get around the Bickeross." He finally answered as he handed over the book and list of ingredients.
(BREAK)
Luna had woken that morning feeling compelled to accompany her father to the Quibbler offices. She did this often, liking the bustling colors, noises and employees, but today had been different. There was some reason she needed to be in the area, she just didn't know why yet. She was certain an answer would be forthcoming though, and so she gladly followed her dad on his rounds to check on the printing presses. As the morning progressed, the uneasy feeling she'd shrugged off earlier steadily built up until she felt like a teapot about to boil over.
After lunch, her dad left her in his office to attend a meeting with one of his most published reporters. No sooner had she gotten up to get a glass of water, wishing something would come to let her know what was going on, than the familiar feeling overtook her and she dropped to the ground unconscious to the world.
(BREAK)
They had almost instantly noticed the boys' absence from the house- the silence gave it away. It had taken a long time to get Mrs. Weasley to tell them where they'd gone, but as soon as she had admitted to letting them leave for Christmas shopping, Hermione and Ginny had known it was a lie. Ginny did most of the talking, getting her mother to finally agree to let the girls follow after the others. "Why do you think they didn't tell us they were going somewhere?" she asked Hermione as they prepared to step into the fireplace.
"I don't know, but it certainly wasn't to go buy presents." Hermione knew that whatever they were doing, it was something dangerous that she wouldn't approve of. Harry hadn't told her for a reason, and usually when he kept things from people it was because he either felt the need to protect them or to protect himself from their disapproval. She had a funny feeling this time the reason would involve a little of both.
They arrived just in time to overhear enough, stepping into the twins' store without bothering to brush the soot from themselves and demanding to know what they were being kept out of. Hermione watched as they all glanced nervously at each other, each one nodding slightly as they decided to tell the truth. "Fred and George may have found a way around the Bickeross." Harry said, handing her a book.
"The Rictheous Potion?" She quickly read the text as Ginny looked over her shoulder.
"Well, do you think it will work?" Fred asked excitedly.
"It should. It does say the potion was created specifically to counteract the effects of Bickeross." She answered honestly though she hated to get their hopes up.
"So if this works, you'll be able to tell us everything that happened with Cho?" Ginny asked.
"You, Dumbledore, the world... Everyone!" Ron exclaimed with a wide smile.
"But where do you expect to find the last three ingredients? Nowhere I know of in Diagon Alley sells spectorperspe or turnock juice." Hermione tried to recall anywhere she'd seen that would sell these sorts of things. "You might find nardook root, I suppose." She added, looking at the boys who were all staring purposely at the ground. She immediately realized where they intended to go. "Oh no you don't Harry James Potter." She scolded as she stalked over to him. "Knockturn Alley is dangerous, especially for you. Do you know how many Death Eaters there could be just slinking around? Only the worst kind of wizards shop there."
"Relax Hermione. George and I go there all the time!" Fred told her.
"Thank you for making my point." She answered crossly, upset they had been planning to take such a risk. "And you've never gone there with Harry. Besides, what if this potion doesn't even work the way we think it will?"
"Well, fine. We'll just go alone then. You guys can wait here and entertain Lee and the guards." George shot back. "Then if it doesn't work out, we're the only ones who risked our necks."
Hermione cringed, knowing he'd just said the exact right thing to ensure Harry would be going with them. Sure enough, he stepped between everyone with his hands out trying to keep the peace. "Alright, that's enough bickering. Look, there's no way you guys are going alone when we wouldn't even be in this mess if Cho hadn't been after me."
"Relax, Harry. We came to terms with the fact that people would be after you long before we decided to be your friend." George grinned.
"Yeah, it was kind of why we decided to be your friend, all the excitement and all." Fred added with an identical grin.
"So we're all going?" Ginny asked.
"Absolutely not. You and Hermione should just go home." Ron said stubbornly.
"Why because we're girls? You and Harry get in way more trouble than we ever have!" Ginny replied heatedly.
"We're all going." Hermione said with authority. She caught the unhappy look on Harry's face and decided he could just deal with it. "If something happens, it'll be better that way, more of us to watch out for each other."
"More people to be targets you mean." Ginny said.
"You don't have to go Baby Sister." Fred reminded her.
"Yeah, you're the one who got all feminist about it. We'd rather you didn't go." George added and once more Hermione knew he'd said the one thing to ensure the opposite of what he'd wanted to achieve. There was no way Ginny wasn't going now.
"Let's just get this over with as quickly as possible before anything can go wrong." She said impatiently.
"Everything will be fine, Mione. You'll see." Ron reassured her.
"That's what we always say right before we end up fighting for our lives." Ginny grumbled.
(BREAK)
Draco absolutely hated Bellatrix Lestrange. But for some unknown reason she was a favorite with Lord Voldemort and therefore the insanity that would have normally made her a liability to them, had to be tolerated. He and his father were walking through Knockturn Alley with the horrid woman, disguised in cloaks just in case an Auror or two decide to take a stroll looking for the escaped Death Eaters. Draco thought it ridiculous that they risk capture at all, but they'd been sent on a mission and he had been told that for some reason he had to go with. He knew the plan they were currently enacting had come from that crazy old man who'd shown up over the summer, somehow quickly gaining a place of power within the Dark Lord's inner circle- he just didn't know how yet. But a few more days in London, left to wander virtually unnoticed, viewed as neither an asset nor a threat, and he'd know all.
"There's the signal! Little Potter and his nasty friends have been found!" Bellatrix said excitedly, turning to Lucius. "See and you didn't trust what old Jasper said."
Jasper. Draco thought to himself. So that was the strange old man's name, though he wasn't sure if it was his first or last. He kept his face blank as his father growled out his answer. "It's not that I didn't trust him, I just didn't believe everything he said. But I guess it really was time for our new recruit to prove himself."
Draco knew they didn't mean him. He was already in the process of having to prove himself in this whole twisted plot with Cho. They meant the other person who'd come with them to Knockturn Alley and had been sent out to search for Potter. To be honest, he didn't believe the person would actually do it, but time would still tell once everyone was face to face against each other. As he followed Lucius and Bellatrix through the dark streets, he knew that whatever was about to happen was going to change everything.
(BREAK)
Luna felt calmly panicked as she picked herself up off the floor. Having been receiving warnings and visions of the future for as long as she could remember, she was used to how fast they overtook her and coming out of it sprawled wherever she'd fallen. Thankfully this time it had taken her over while she was alone and so she wouldn't have to make any explanations, which always proved awkward. But the events she saw that were about to take place had been almost more than she could bear to watch, leaving her feeling desperate and scared. Unable to find her dad, she quickly scrawled a note to him making her excuses for leaving. Then she ran from the building toward Knockturn Alley hoping she wasn't too late to help.
(BREAK)
Harry stood at THE END
