Chapter 4 - A Day in Diagon Alley
As Lily proceeded the long, slow march towards her husband-to-be, she recognized some of the faces in the audience. As she glanced at each of them, she ticked them off her mentally-kept list of guests invited, still looking for the one person she had hoped would be there.
Among the guests was the old bartender of the Leaky Cauldron, the place where she first met James Potter. Throughout her seven years at Hogwarts, she always made an effort to visit the old man who seemed very protective of her and took her in as a sort of daughter. As a keeper to Diagon Alley, Tom was a familiar sight for the Hogwarts students visiting Diagon Alley for their school supplies.
Lily always stopped by for some of his delicious butterbeers and, more importantly, for any news she may have missed from her two months absence from the wizarding world. She remembered the very first time she had met Tom, a man she thought of at first as intimidating.
Two days before the term started, the Mr. and Mrs. Evans took their youngest daughter to the Leaky Cauldron. At least, they tried to.
Lily bounced up and down on her seat, in the car, as her parents drove to the same part of town she and Selena had just done their exploring.
“Look, there it is!” Lily exclaimed pointing to a little run-down building, behind a large bookstore.
“Where?” her mum asked, looking around.
“There! Right up front, behind that bookstore!"
Mrs. Evans turned to her husband. “Do you see it?”
Mr. Evans shook his head, confused. “Nope, none of these buildings have signs.”
“It must be a magical charm or something,” Lily said, her excitement building.
“Oh," Mr. Evans looked a little put-down. "Well, I guess we’ll just have to drop you off here. You take care of yourself, okay? Call us, if you need anything or when you’re ready to go home,” Mr. Evans replied.
Her mum shook her head. “No, she needs one of us to go with her.”
Mr. Evans sighed. “You can't go in there if you can't see it. If the wizards don’t want us to see it, then that means they don’t want us to go in either. Honey, Lily will be fine, won’t you?” His brow crinkled with worry as if he was the one who needed the reassurance.
Lily nodded her head vigorously. “Don’t worry, Mum.”
Her mum reluctantly agreed. “I suppose. But remember, no talking to strangers, no inappropriate behavior, no-”
“Mum!”
“Honey, she’ll be fine,” laughed Mr. Evans.
So finally, Lily was able to climb out of the backseat and watch her mum and dad drive off. In that moment, she knew her relationship with her parents will never be the same. She turned back to the shabby building, took a deep shaky breath, and opened the door.
As soon as Lily walked in, she wanted to go back out. The dark and drabby room scared her. There were several old women sitting at the bar, ordering drinks while cackling to each other. Some dark-looking men were playing cards at another table. One of them looked up at her.
“Hey, Tom! Another one!” he yelled in a raspy voice.
Lily froze. Had she walked into a trap? Her mind swirled with gruesome images of murderers and pirates as she felt her eyes well up with tears. Just as she was about to turn and run, an old, smiling man swooped down from seemingly nowhere and greeted her.
“Hello, young miss! Are you here for Hogwarts supplies? Best hurry miss. Term will start soon!” he grinned at her, showing yellowing teeth.
Lily smiled weakly back, not knowing whether to feel relieved or wary. “Um... how do I get to Diagon Alley?” she asked the man whom she presumed was Tom.
“Ah! Follow me, miss.”
Lily walked cautiously behind Tom, trying to ignore the strange-looking people that were staring at her. Tom led her through the bar and into a small courtyard behind the building, where only a few trash cans stood. Tom took out a thin stick and tapped a certain brick three times.
Lily gasped as the entire brick wall parted to make an arch leading onto a cobbled, busy street.
Tom smiled at Lily’s wide-eyed expression. “Must be Muggle-born, eh?” Tom asked. “Well, off you go. You might want to head toward Gringotts, you should.” He winked and left Lily to gaze in awe at the bustling street before her.
Short chapter, sorry about that. Especially after such a long wait, eh? The original chapter four was too long, in my opinion. The next chapter will make up for this one, I promise