❝The war is won❞
Voldemort has been defeated by Harry Potter for good, and the Wizarding World has begun its healing. The paved streets of Diagon Alley are filled with people vanishing broken glass, fixing up robbed shops, and reinstating their bus...
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JULY 31, 1998
OVERWHELMED, he had drawn his arm around Billie's shoulder-just for a moment- as the keys glinted in front of them.
"Thanks," Billie said with a short intake of breath. A gold F was embossed on the keychain.
"I'm sure you'll do great things with it," said Mister Erret, Diagon Alley's manager. "Floo me if you need anything," and Disapparated.
Billie stood there, looking at the battered, gray-looking remains of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Uncle Florean always had the chance to move out and expand, but he never did. Billie couldn't see his logic. Now, the colors looked rather dull, the door had come off half its hinges, and the front window was nothing but a matter of finely broken glass. Billie stepped closer, picking up what looked like an old ice cream cone, part of the window display. It did not let out a single beep.
Fuck, this was gonna be a problem. Billie drew out a long sigh, stepping over a rod of molding inside the shop. Inside was even more miserable. A few weeks after the Death Eater attacks began, Uncle Flo had taken his shop down and sent everything into storage, simply living in the upstairs apartment and not selling any more ice cream. But then he and his store had been attacked, and what used to be a drab but calm place was now filled with broken counters, splintered wood, and shards of glass, everywhere. As in everywhere.
A silver pot stood near the back. Billie made her way towards it, as her throat instinctively closed up.
"I can't wait for when I'll be working here."
Billie swallowed, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, as she whirled around and stepped back outside into the cloudy London weather. Her stomach felt like it was tied in a Gordian Knot, settled deep inside her.
The streets of Diagon Alley were busier now, yet all of the old magic of happiness was still absent. She passed Flourish and Blotts, where Micah the house elf was polishing the sign, the Apothecary, with a wizard hunched over a cart, sorting what seemed to be frog's eyes. Gringotts was still broken. Death Eaters had attacked it after news of Harry Potter's dragon escapades, and such a deep underground vault being broken had caused a major wing of vaults and records rooms to have sustained damages. Thus, the occasional cart rolled by as Billie walked, filled with blocks of pure white limestone stacked twenty meters high. Rosa Lu's, the resident teashop and bakery, looked the second best out of all the shops. Daphne Lu was using magic to levitate a brush and repaint the front of her shop, and she waved to Billie as the latter walked by. Billie gave her a tight smile, as she passed Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, easily the best-looking shop on Diagon Alley. Its shocking purple walls were paired with red and black windows, and an exceedingly beautiful witch with a meter's worth of silver blonde hair was making several boxes float inside.
Billie headed towards Belcher's Bottled Beers, huddling her thin coat around her as she stepped inside. The smell of firewhiskey was overwhelming. She quickly grabbed a bottle and left a few Sickles on the counter without saying a word to the tall, grumpy barman.
Back outside, Billie sniffed at the firewhiskey. Her stomach lurched at the scent, but her mind knew what it was for. She had drank several times since Batty's death, this would be like any other.
"-You should not do zat, you know?" The blonde witch from early sauntered over, her nose in the air and her lips pursed, though her eyes were kind. "Are you even of age?"
"It doesn't matter," Billie mumbled, putting one of her hands in her coat pockets. The witch spoke with a French accent, and she sniffed primly.
"It eez hard, I know," She said, looking around. "But ze consequences-"
"-I'm aware," Billie said sharply, and to prove her point, she flicked the cap off the bottle and took a deep swig.
The witch muttered something in French indignantly, giving her hair a flip. Billie felt a little guilty and shifted on the balls of her feet. "Sorry. It's been rough,"
"Yes, I can understand," the other witch said. She could not be more than five years older than Billie herself. "Eet will take much for Diagon Alley to be restored,"
"Yeah," Billie said. "I'm Billie Holt,"
"Fleur Delacour," responded the witch, and Billie blinked in surprise.
"Wait- you were in the Triwizard Tournament," she said, and Fleur laughed before nodding. "I remember seeing you, I was a third-year back then,"
"Yes, eet was quite the spectacle then," Fleur moved her hair behind one of her ears. "Things are quite different now. Are you still at 'Ogwarts, then?"
"Yeah," Billie smiled. "I'll be a seventh year in September,"
"Enjoy," Fleur smiled back, showing off the whites of her teeth. Billie felt a little self-conscious in front of her, with her acne scars and her not-as-pearlescent teeth. "My 'usband said 'is seventh year was 'is favorite,"
"Yeah, it'll be...interesting," Billie pursed her lips. "So, you work at Wizard Wheezes?"
"Oh, no," Fleur waved her hand flippantly. "My 'usband is the owners' brother, I am just helping out," she then sighed. "We have seen some tough times, too,"
"I'm sorry," Billie grimaced, her belly in anxious knots.
"We will make it through," Fleur flicked her hair out of her face. "Well, I will see you around. Enjoy your drink, I suppose,"
She glided away, locomotoring a few silver boxes inside. Billie headed back to Florean's, swirling the bottle of firewhiskey on the way and watching how the bubbles swirled up and down.
It's my birthday today.
Dad had a cake waiting for her back home. But Billie wondered whether he could recall how she didn't like most frostings and preferred her cake on the not-so-sweet side. The memory charm her mother used was rather strong (Adelia Fortescue was the best charm-casters in the Ministry before she quit her job), and now that she was killed, there was no way to immediately reverse its effects on Dad. Billie has siphoned off most of the charm, but some of it would have to slowly simmer away.
Billie reached Florean Fortescue's again, and she looked up at the peeling sign. The entire Florean had exploded off the sign, and the Ice in ice cream was gone as well. Billie sighed for what was the millionth time that day, and waved her wand at the scraps of gold paint and wood.
And she watched as the gold pieces and wood recombined to form the sign: Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour once again. It was time to start cleaning.
