Harry Potter and the Aurors Club

Chapter 3- Gringotts Carts And Julius Malfoy

Chapter Track: Ponderosa by Tricky

    ‘Harry,’ Rory called through the bustling crowd of shoppers clogging up Diagon Alley's one cobbled street. ‘Wait up!’

    Rory pushed past an old witch carrying an armful of parcels and caught sight of a head of ebony hair before the boy disappeared again into the crush of people.

    ‘Harry!’ Rory yelled again, pulling her cumbersome Quidditch robes out from under the foot of a scary looking wizard with long gray hair. She wished now that she had asked Harry to wait for her to change into something she could actually move around in, but he had seemed a little more than preoccupied with finding his friends at the time.

    ‘Ouch!’ Rory exclaimed as she walked into someone. She caught her balance and saw that the person she had run into was Harry himself.

    ‘There you are,’ Rory said lamely.

    ‘Try to keep up,’ Harry said without emotion. With that he turned around and continued to weave his way through the shoppers with an ease that Rory would never possess.

    She sighed loudly to show the boy her frustration but Harry was already out of sight.

    ‘Hey, watch it!’ shouted a wizard that Rory accidentally clipped.

    ‘Harry, I can't f-’ Rory started, but stopped when she saw him two yards ahead of her.

    ‘I'm starting to think you're trying to lose me,’ she said breathlessly.

    ‘Now why in the world would you think that,’ Harry replied. Rory noticed the insincerity in his tone and didn't like it.

    ‘Look,’ she said hotly. ‘If you don't want me around then you shouldn't have-’

    ‘Oi Harry!’ called a voice from a large set of concrete steps.

    A small group of teens were running toward them with giant smiles on their faces. The first was a very tall orange haired boy, the second a girl with bushy brown hair and farther behind was a slim girl with the same orange hair as the boy.

    ‘Hi Ron,’ Harry said when the three others stopped in front of them. ‘I haven't seen you all summer-’

    ‘Who's that?’ Ron demanded, not even a ghost of a smile on his face now.

    Harry followed his friend's gaze to Rory, standing close behind him and looking very strange in her flouncy Quidditch robes.

    ‘That,’ Harry started uncertainly. ‘Is.. um.. er-’

    Rory stepped forward and took control of the introductions.

    ‘I'm Rory Malfoy,’ she said, and bent down in another clumsy curtsy. They had never been her strong point at school.

    There was a long, uncomfortable silence following this, and Rory couldn't tell if the look on Ron's face was disbelief or disgust. She really wished it was neither.

    Suddenly Ron broke into peals of uncontrollable laughter. Rory glanced at Harry and saw that even he was trying to conceal a grin. The two other girls looked more sympathetic, but still didn't offer her any help. Rory straightened her robes and waited for Ron's laughter to subside.

    When that didn't happen she crossed her arms and raised her chin haughtily.

    ‘Something wrong, Ron?’ she asked politely.

    Ron looked up and bit his lip to keep from letting out another series of laughter.

    ‘Nothing's wrong, Rory,’ Harry said apologetically. ‘Ron's just tired.’

    ‘It's one in the afternoon!’ Ron protested, definitely not laughing now.

    ‘I think we should really be going,’ said the brown haired girl quickly. ‘We've got quite a bit of shopping to do.’

    Rory noted the brown haired girl's dark tan and, being in a questionable mood set off by Ron, felt a streak of jealousy. The brown haired girl must not have picked up on this, however, because she smiled and introduced herself.

    ‘I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister. I suppose we'd better hit the bank first. Will you, er-’

    ‘Harry invited me to shop with you,’ Rory chirped, earning Harry more than one set of raised eyebrows from his friends.

    They walked up the concrete steps, which Rory now saw led to a towering white marble structure, the infamous Gringotts bank. Ron immediately joined up with Harry, no doubt to discuss Rory's invite. As they walked through the bank Hermione stopped at one of the goblin tellers to change her Muggle money.

    Rory hadn't even realized Hermione wasn't pureblood. Being taught at Stovington's Institute Rory was brought up among only the purest of wizarding families, and had always assumed half bloods carried a visible, distinguishable trait. Out of the four, Hermione Granger had been the friendliest to her. Was that the trait of someone without pureblood?

    Rory, Harry, Ron and Ginny were assisted by a short, pudgy goblin named Cripes. He showed them to a cart and told them to pile in.

    ‘I refuse to sit beside her,’ Ron said stubbornly.

    Harry and a delighted Ginny had already settled themselves in the back of the cart, and Rory was sitting behind Cripes. Ron stood with his arms crossed over his chest on the landing, rejecting the only other seat left in the cart.

    ‘Ron,’ Harry implored his friend. ‘Just sit down, please.’

    ‘No.’ Ron snapped. ‘I have vowed to never sit beside someone with their last name beginning with Mal and ending in Foy unless in doing so I am causing them great bodily harm.’

    ‘Please sit down, sir,’ said Cripes the goblin irritably. ‘Or this cart leaves without you.’

    ‘Ron,’ Rory answered, ignoring Cripes. ‘I only just met you! When between laughing like a great stupid twit and now did you manage to make up this ridiculous vow?’

    ‘Ron, sit down,’ Ginny squealed. ‘We're leaving!’

    As the cart started to move Ron jumped in beside Rory with an agonizing sigh.

    They were headed to Harry's vault first. Rory looked back at Harry. The shadows of the deep cave played across his face, making his glasses glow and his green eyes glow even brighter. As if sensing her gaze, Harry looked at Rory, who turned away swiftly and stared at the back of Cripes' goblin head. That focus point didn't amuse her for very long and, even though she promised herself she wouldn't, Rory found herself leaning cautiously over the side of the cart to see the endless bottom.

    ‘Ooh,’ she said, pulling back and shivering. ‘I hate heights.’

    ‘I hate you,’ Ron muttered acidly.

    Rory turned to face Ron, so angry she felt she could explode.

    ‘What is your problem?’ she demanded.

    ‘I don't have a problem,’ Ron said placidly. ‘Oh wait, there might be one.. sitting next to me in bright pink Quidditch robes.’

    ‘I've never done anything to you!’ Rory shouted. ‘And they're not bright pink, they're African Tulip.’

    ‘Quiet down back there,’ Cripes called from the front of the cart.

    ‘Yeah, come on Ron,’ Harry reasoned. ‘She really didn't do anything.’

    ‘Oh, so now you've gone and pulled a Snape on me, have you Harry?’ Ron growled. ‘Siding with Malfoy's sister.’

    ‘Stop you're inane bickering,’ Cripes ordered. ‘Now look what you've made me do, you little shits, I missed a turn!’

    ‘Not that you bothered to ask or anything, Ron,’ Rory said. ‘But if you're thinking about Draco Malfoy, he's not my brother, he's my cousin.’

    ‘As if it made a difference,’ said Ron. ‘You're probably still going to marry each other just to ensure the pure bloodiness of your children.’

    Rory was temporarily speechless for rage. How dare he insult her family!

    ‘I can't believe you just said that!’ Rory screamed.

    ‘Will you all just SHUT UP!’ Cripes screeched.

    ‘Go to hell you little toad,’ Rory snarled at the goblin. She realized what she had said the moment after it was out and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Ron shook his head slowly as if telling her how disgraceful she had been. Rory knew he was right but hated him for rubbing it in.

    ‘Ron,’ she said steadily. ‘Take back what you said about my family.’

    ‘Make me.’ Ron scoffed.

    Infuriated beyond reasonable thought, Rory blindly threw her arms out at the unanticipating Ron, knocking him on the wall of the cart.

    Ron teetered for a terrifying moment, then swung one of his long arms out for balance. He recovered his place in the cart but his arm caught Cripes the goblin across the back and the miserable creature was sent hurtling over the side of the speeding cart.

    ‘AAAHHHhhhh!!’

    Simultaneously the four teens dashed to look over the side. The goblin was gone, swallowed by the endless darkness that coated the depths of the cave.

    Rory looked at Ron, who was wide-eyed and pale.

    ‘Sorry?’ she said meekly.

    ‘No,’ Ron replied with difficulty. ‘I don't think that's going to cover it.’

    After much explaining to the bank manager, a testimony from Cripes- who was found under three feet of dragon dung- and a formal apology from Rory and Ron, the four teens left the bank with Hermione.

    ‘I'm very disappointed with you, Ron,’ Hermione told him as they descended the steps.

    ‘It was Malfoy's fault, too!’ Ron objected.

    ‘I said I was sorry,’ Rory fumed. ‘And that's all I'm going to say. Harry,’ she said, turning to face him. Harry grinned weakly and looked down. ‘Thank you for saving me earlier, I'm sorry but I don't think I'll be joining you today.’

    Rory's voice caught in her throat and Ron rolled his eyes.

    ‘Good-bye, Harry, Hermione, Ginny. Ron.’

    With that Rory turned around, and walked away in the direction of the Quidditch supply shop. She didn't look back, and certainly didn't feel like shopping anymore. She planned to give her list to the house elf as soon as she got home.

    Rory hadn't gotten very far when she saw a familiar figure walk out of a nearby pub.

    It was her father, Julius Malfoy, with a young woman at his side. A young woman that definitely wasn't her mother.

    ‘Rory,’ said a mild voice from behind her. Rory turned around to see Harry standing with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. ‘I just wanted to apologize- er, Rory?’

    Rory was too curious at the moment to answer him. She walked over to her father and his woman friend and stopped in front of them.

    ‘Hullo, Father.’ she said cheerfully.

    Julius' gray eyes widened when he saw Rory and in one quick motion her pushed the young witch off his arm and she flew down a narrow alley between two shops. There was a crashing sound and Julius winced slightly.

    ‘Good afternoon, Aurora.’ Julius said with a bright smile.

    ‘Who's your friend?’ Rory asked sweetly.

    ‘Wha- um,’ Julius failed to look surprised. ‘What friend?’

    There was a series of rustling sounds and the girl, who looked around twenty-two, stumbled out of the alleyway. Rory guessed that she had fallen in a pile of garbage, taking the old banana peel and various stains into account.

    ‘Can I borrow this?’ the girl said to someone behind Rory.

    Rory turned around and was mortified to see Harry and his friends watching the whole scene. The woman had asked Ginny for her milkshake, which a miffed Ginny gave up without question.

    ‘Thanks,’ said the woman. She pulled off the cap and with expert precision, poured it all over the head of the unresisting Julius Malfoy. Rory didn't think the woman cared that her father's robes were wincingly expensive. Or that five kids were witnessing the display.

    She shook the last drops out of the cup before she was satisfied, and then handed it back to Ginny. She sniffed and walked off down the street.

    Julius slowly wiped the ice cream out of his eyes and smiled bitterly.

    ‘I thought you kids all liked chocolate,’ he said.

    ‘Chocolate is for men who cheat on their wives,’ said Rory.

    ‘Oh yeah, I forgot. What are you doing here, anyway?’

    ‘I had my photo shoot today, remember?’

    ‘And how did that go?’ Julius asked, using his handkerchief to remove most of the ice cream from his short brown hair.

    ‘I almost died,’ Rory told him. ‘And then Harry saved me.’

    ‘Wow,’ Julius exclaimed. ‘I'm always amazed at how cold they make this stuff!’

    Rory's information sunk in and he looked up from his ruined suit.

    ‘Harry?’

    ‘Father,’ Rory said unenthusiastically. ‘This is Harry Potter. Harry, meet my father, Julius Malfoy.’

    ‘So please to finally meet you, Harry.’ Julius said, flashing his white, even smile again. ‘Still parentless? Ha.’

    Harry didn't laugh. Rory decided to be formal and introduced Hermione, Ginny and Ron, making sure to add a sharper edge to her tone as she said Ron's name.

    ‘Well,’ Julius said after shaking each of their hands in turn. ‘Aurora and I must be going before somebody else decides they need to settle a score with me. The way this day's going it seems quite possible, too.’ He nodded to the group. ‘And thanks for befriending Aurora, she's has trouble fitting in with other kids and the rest of the human race. It's not a hereditary thing. Maybe I'll see you four again at the train station tomorrow, or something.’

    ‘Yeah,’ Hermione said politely, but Ron and Harry both looked like they'd rather go to a sweat lodge with Cripes.

    ‘Bye,’ Rory said quietly. She turned and followed Julius, who hadn't bothered to wait for her.