It was a gray cold morning. The rain ran down the glass window. Through the glass there was nothing to see but the rain splotched wall across the street



Suddenly the door was opened, so violently that the little silver chimes tinkled wildly. The cause of this, was a girl, about sixteen or seventeen, her cloak was soaked. She was quite pale and out of breath, but despite the hurry she had been in a moment before, she now stood by the doorway as though rooted to the spot.



Before him lay a long, narrow room the back was covered in darkness. The weak light from the lamp outside only served to enhance this shadowy atmosphere. The walls were lined with shelves filled with various items. A cross voice from behind those shelves was heard, “Don’t just stand there like the idiot that you are. Close the door!�



The young girl obeyed and then cautiously approached the voice. There sitting on a worn leather chair was man with a thick crop of graying black hair, of normal height and stern features. He looked at the girl and snorted then placed down a book that he was reading.



The girl did not know what else to do, thus stood there gapping. Finally the man sighed and glared at her. “Listen, I don’t like teenagers. As far as I’m concerned they’re always up to no good, they make lots of noise destroy all in sight, act as if they carry the world in their shoulders. It never occurred to you selfish brats that other people also have their own problems. Anyway I have nothing here that would interest your lot. Do we now understand one another?�



She nodded silently and turned to go, but somehow she felt that she couldn’t take the last remark lying down. She turned around and softly said. “Not all teenagers are like that.�



Slowly the man looked up, “You’re still here? What must I do to rid of you?



She repeated in a much softer voice, “Not all teenagers are like that.�



“Really?� The man raised his eyebrows. “Then you must be the big exception. I presume?�



The girl only mumbled, “My problems are minor compared to some people.�



This perked the man’s interest. “What’s your name?�



“Lavender Brown.�



The man gave a toothy smile, “Well Lavender Brown, people never accidentally come to my store. You obviously want something. How can I help you?�



She was surprised at the sudden change of his mood, this place was creepy and so was the man in front of her. She slowly backed away, “This is a mistake. I’m sorry to have …�



“It was a boy wasn’t it? He broke your heart.�



She stared at him surprised, “How did you…�



The man shrugged. “Why else would a girl like you come here?� He brought out a velvet box and opened it. “If he's still in Hogwarts and in Gryffindor house, I believe this would be appropriate.�



She stared at the tiepin with the Gryffindor symbol. It looked innocent enough, yet for some strange reason she felt hot and cold as she studied the object. She knew not if this should all be a mere figment of her imagination, but that pin reeked with dark magic. “What does it do?�



“This was originally commissioned by Walburga Black, mother of that Azkaban escapee, Sirius Black.



Lavender shuddered at this.



“She wanted her elder son to start acting like a Black, be more like his brother. The Imperius curse would only enable you to control a victim’s action; this beauty however, would allow you to twist the ideas that formed in their heads – mold them to think the way you would want them to think,� he proudly caressed the velvet box.



“But why is it here? Was it stolen?� She barely hid a shiver at the mention of Sirius Black. There were rumours that he was innocent, but she saw the posters and that did not look like an innocent man.



The man snorted. “Mrs Black returned it, stated that it didn’t work. Sirius apparently ran away, after discovering what his parents tried to do. At first I thought it was because the boy’s will was too strong,� he shrugged and closed the box. “But we know what happened, Sirius showed himself to be a true Black in the end. He joined You-Know-Who and was rumoured to be a very trusted lieutenant. Whatever ideas they placed in his head, it apparently lasted even when he no longer wore this pin.�



Lavender stared at the box. It would be easy to just use that to make Ron fall in love with her all over again or she might use it to get even with Hermione for stealing her Won-won, yet she knew this was not how she wished to do things. She shook her head. “Thanks, but no. I think I should leave now.�



The man shook his head and grumbled about teenagers wasting his time.



Lavender pulled the hood of her cloak above her head, took a step outside towards the rain, and closed the door.