I Will Remember You

The Merchant

Harry glanced at the grandfather clock under the stairs. It was 9:30 a.m. He supposed it didn't matter, since he didn't have an appointment to meet the merchant all Tom had said was, "When you've finished your breakfast." That had been an hour ago, and now he was climbing the stairs up to the Leaky Cauldron's rooms.

When he reached the door that sported a golden '5', he heard a male voice from inside. The tone was harsh, and it sounded like it was giving an order. Harry tried to hear what the voice was saying, but it was too soft for him to make out words.

He knocked on the door, and the voice cut off in mid-sentence.

"What do you want?" the voice asked, in a louder tone.

Harry was surprised at the man's curtness; most of the merchants he'd met were always very polite, since they didn't want to lose potential customers.

"I'm staying down the hall from you. Tom said that you wanted to see me," answered Harry.

"Oh, yes," said the merchant in a much friendlier voice. "Just a moment, sir."

Harry heard someone moving around in the room for a minute or two after that. Maybe he was trying to clean up the room before letting Harry in? Eventually the door burst opened, and a short, fat man stood before Harry. His face was crossed with deep wrinkles, his eyes were red and watery, and his shoulder-length hair was dirty and grey.

He smiled, and Harry noticed that he was missing several teeth. His pudgy fingers were covered with big, gold rings, and his robes were the colorful sort that all wizards had worn before the Last Battle.

"Please, please," he said in that same syrupy voice, "come in and make yourself comfortable."

Harry doubted that was possible; he disliked the man already.

When he entered the room, he saw two big trunks sitting open on the floor. There were also other goods spread out on the two beds and on the table.

"Take a look at what I've got for sale, I'm sure I have anything you need," he said, snapping Harry out of his thoughts.

Harry smiled and nodded, but put his hand in his pocket and grasped his wand as he looked over the merchant's goods. It was certainly an eclectic collection. His eyes moved over the array of wands, robes, jewelry and crystal balls, and even some strange-looking plants and roots.

The merchant started to describe the items in turn, touching them as he talked in his sugary voice. Harry ignored him, because he already recognized most of the things the man had for sale, and he didn't want to listen to the man explaining them. Instead, he looked around the room, until his eyes landed on something he hadn't noticed before. A man stood next to the window on the side of the room.

The man was wrapped in a rough maroon cloak, and his face was hidden under a hood, with only a few curls peeking out underneath it. A cord stretched out from underneath the hood, tying him to the headboard of the closest bed. He stood as still as a statue, with his head tilted forward slightly. Besides his hair, only his hands and feet were visible. His hands were tied with the same cord that started from his neck, and he was barefoot. Both hands and feet were covered with bruises and other injuries.

The merchant was still speaking, but Harry could hardly hear him. He was unable to tear his eyes away from the man's injuries. Staring at the man's hands and feet, Harry suddenly realized something. The feet were small, extremely small; the hands were long, but slim. It wasn't a man he was looking at. It was a woman.

Harry took a step towards the bound woman, but the merchant jumped in front of him.

"She is very expensive," he said smiling smarmily. "I doubt if you can afford her."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. The woman was for sale? "I don't think it's legal to sell a human being," he said sharply.

"I don't think there is a law against slavery at this moment, and even if there were, I don't think there's anyone with the power to make me respect it," the merchant replied, losing his sweet tone for a moment.

"Slavery? Is she a slave?" Harry asked. He liked the man less every moment.

The merchant smiled again. He was really getting on Harry's nerves now. "She is a slave. She is my slave. But I'm ready to sell her if you pay well," he said, back to his honeyed voice.

"Are you her owner?" asked Harry even more surprised.

"Yes, I am," answered the merchant slowly.

"Nobody should own another human being," Harry declared, which caused the slimy smile to fade away from the merchant's face.

"I found her, I saved her and she is mine," he said angrily. "I can do whatever I want with her. Her life is mine."

Harry closed his mouth and nodded instead of arguing further. Evidently the man was unscrupulous, dangerous and possibly unbalanced. He didn't want to start a fight with the merchant. The man didn't look all that strong, but he was surely shrewd and not stupid at all. But Harry still felt like he had to help the woman. He wanted to free her even if he had to pay a thousands Galleons for her. "How much does she cost?" he asked curtly.

The merchant smiled again. Harry felt an almost irresistible urge to punch him in the nose.

"You'll have to buy something else too, if you want her," said the merchant.

Harry was getting angry, but he couldn't afford to make an enemy of the merchant if he wanted to free the woman. He let go of his wand and took his hand out of his pocket because he wasn't sure what he would do if he kept holding onto it. He took a deep breath to calm himself down a little.

"What do you suggest?" he asked.

The merchant's smile widened. "I have everything," he replied slimily, "All you have to do is tell me what you need."

Harry thought for a moment. "Do you have a pair of shoes?"

"Hmm," the merchant said, licking his lips. He bent to reach into one of the trunks and pulled out a pair of old and broken shoes.

Harry tried them on. They were four sizes bigger than his own shoes, but he decided to buy them anyway, to convince the merchant to let him buy the woman.

As soon as he took them off, though, the merchant put the shoes away and said, "That was the only pair I had, I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry about? I'll take them," Harry said, glaring at him.

The merchant ignored him. "Is there anything else you need? I've got a very good Invisibility Cloak and-"

"An Invisibility Cloak?" Harry asked, suddenly interested.

"Yes, it's a very good cloak. I found it five months ago and it works perfectly. Maybe it's just a little bit torn, but that's not my fault," the merchant said, digging through the trunk.

"And where did you find it?" Harry asked, trying to sound casual. He had lost his own Invisibility Cloak during the last Battle with Voldemort.

"Up north," the merchant answered vaguely.

"Where exactly?" Harry pressed.

"Why do you want to know?" the merchant asked suspiciously.

Harry shrugged. "I'm just curious," he replied.

"I found it on the ground after that big battle against You-Know-Who. I've got plenty of 'souvenirs' from that place. I found her there as well," said the merchant, still searching through the trunk.

Harry's heart skipped a beat. "What?" he whispered, staring at the girl again.

"Yes," the merchant continued, pulling out the Invisibility Cloak at last and shaking off the dust, "she was crawling over the corpse of a red-haired man. She was calling out a name - now, what was it again?" He screwed up his face, deepening his wrinkles while he was thinking. "It was something short - hmm. She sounded like a banshee, the way she was screaming. You should have heard her. Oh yes, the name was Ron. She was pathetic. It was the third day after the Battle and she was really skinny. You could have counted the ribs under her breasts," he concluded, chuckling.

Harry didn't want to know how the merchant came to see her ribs. He was stunned to hear that she had been calling Ron's name. He shivered.

The merchant's laugh faded away and he started speaking, again, "But she also caused me loads of trouble. She didn't want to leave the corpse. I had to do a Memory Charm in order to carry her away. The only problem is that now she doesn't remember a thing." He sighed, but then gave that slimly little smile again. "But I'm not sure that's a problem after all."

"How much does she cost?" Harry asked again.

"I said that you have to-" the merchant started, but Harry interrupted him.

"I'll buy the Invisibility Cloak. How much does she cost?"

"Three hundred Galleons," said the merchant, smiling.

It was a surprisingly low price. "I'll take her," Harry said, never taking his eyes away from the girl.

The merchant passed one hand through his slimy hair. "Are you sure? You haven't even seen her. Usually the people want to see the girl before buy her. They have always been pleased with her features, of course, but-"

"What do you mean? Have you already sold her to somebody? Then why is she here?" Harry interrupted again.

The merchant became slightly agitated. "No, well I mean - yes, but all the people that bought her brought her back. They thought that she was a little bit strange."

"Strange? How strange?" asked Harry staring at the girl.

"Well, strange - I don't know, just strange." The merchant's tone sharpened. "So do you want her or not?" he asked.

"Yes, I do. Wait here. I'll go and get your money," said Harry. He turned and left, headed for his own room. When he entered room eleven he leaned against the door, trying to will his breathing to slow down. Thousands of thoughts and questions were buzzing through his head. Who was the girl, and why had she been calling Ron's name on the battlefield? What was so strange about her that people kept bringing her back?

He opened the wardrobe and pulled out two loose boards from the bottom. He took out a little strong-box and opened it. It was full of Galleons - all that was left of his fortune.

He took out 300 Galleons, along with some extra for the Invisibility Cloak and returned to merchant's room.

"Here you are. 300 Galleons for the girl and 50 for the Invisibility Cloak. Will that be enough?" Harry asked, shoving the money into the merchant's hand.

"I hadn't planned on asking that much for the cloak, but if you insist," the merchant replied, hastily pouring the Galleons into his pocket. "Take the girl, she's all yours now," he added nodding towards her.

Harry walked over to her and untied the cord, freeing her hands and neck. "Come on," he whispered into the girl's ear. But she only stood motionless, as if she hadn't even heard him.

"Follow him," the merchant ordered sharply. At that, the girl moved to follow Harry, sticking as close to him as his shadow.

"And if she acts strangely, don't tell me that I haven't warned you," the merchant called after them. Harry heard an evil laugh as the door closed behind them.

When they got back to his room Harry locked the door and looked at the girl for a moment. She didn't move. She barely breathed. Harry stepped towards her, his hands coming up to remove her hood.