An Opus Alchymicum Vol 4: The Dæmon's Crucible

A Late Birthday Present

At the bottom portion of Fissick Alley, at the opposite end to where the street met with five others at the plaza of the Central Square to merge with Diagon Alley, and about half way down again from Hooch and Hardbroom's Magical Flight Centre, the street curved in a sweeping arc into a series of quaint avenues and arcades in front of the grand marble façade of the Hippodrome. It was here that Fissick Alley led into the array of restaurants and coffee shops and bistros, that was the bustling social centre of Innphorm Alley, via magical London's French Quarter, which was affectionately known by the locals as the Joan d'Arc on account of its unusual shape.

And it was also here that Harry's favourite place to get breakfast happened to be. It was a little cafe called La Bijou Baguette, and as birthday breakfast location options went, there was simply no other choice in Harry's mind.

The sun was baking down on the bright cobble streets as Harry and his parents dug into an array of crepes with chocolate or sugar and lemon, a selection of French pastries, and jugs of coffee and orange juice. They had been lucky enough to snag prime seats on the cafe's verandah overlooking the Alley, and simply world-watched as they ate their way through their sumptuous breakfast.

Harry spent much of his time looking over at the Hippodrome opposite. They were staging a Summer run of an adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, and Harry thought he wouldn't mind getting a ticket himself. The book was one of his favourites and he'd love to see it play out on the stage. He wondered if Hermione would be willing to add taking in the show to their list of Things to Do on future dates, if it ever ran again.

Not that they would be actual dates or anything, of course ...

It might be quite fitting, Harry thought brightly, for Marici would be the lion and Hermione would be the witch ... though that would leave him as the wardrobe, and he wasn't sure what that said about his role in this dynamic!

Chuckling to himself, Harry reached over for a croissant and looked out towards the Underground Station just beyond the Hippodrome, watching the people coming in and out of the terminus and idly wondering what they all might be doing with their days. This naturally led Harry to think about what Hermione might be doing on this, his birthday, and the unfortunate collision of circumstances that promised to add a tinge of misery to his special day.

But on top of that was knowing the actual reason for Hermione returning to her own world in the first place, and the guilt of his own role in it stirred awkwardly in Harry's gut, and was enough to rob him of his appetite a moment.

Lily noticed Harry's vexation, and turned to him curiously from her place across the table. "What's on your mind, Harry? You're not supposed to look so mopey on your birthday, you know. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Harry frowned back.

"That wasn't actually a question," Lily quirked pointedly. "But maybe I'll answer it for you ... you're worried about Hermione, aren't you?"

Harry nearly spat out his orange juice as he looked over at his mother in surprise. "How do you know?"

"I'm your Mum, it's sort of my job," Lily smiled warmly, feeding Seren a bit of toast as she grumbled from her pushchair. "So I can tell when something's up."

"You're still worried about her going home, aren't you?" James cut in, sagely. "Why? Are you afraid she wont come back?"

"No!" Harry blurted out as his face reddened. He was suddenly very afraid of that possibility, consumed with this horrible thought, one that hadn't crossed his mind until his father had put it there. He was such an annoyance for doing things like that. Harry scowled bitterly at him. "I'm quite sure Hermione will come back. I hope she does, at least."