Seeing Double

An Expedition

Addi hastily made her way down the street, keeping a sleeve of her oversized sweater over her mouth to stifle her sobs. Those on the streets of London ingored her; whether this was a blessing or a curse, Addison couldn't decide. She needed to find Charing Cross Road, but she had only a few euros, let alone means of transportation. She decided to sit and think. As she approched a bench, she stumbled and threw out her right hand to steady herself. As she righted her stance, her eyes fell upon a triple decker, violently purlpe bus, engraved with the words "The Knight Bus" in gold lettering. Too stunned to speak, Addison stared up at the vehicle as a man in an attendant's uniform, probably in his mid twenties, stepped clumsily out of the door. He announced, "Welcome to the Knight Bus, best Wizarding transport around!" Addison gaped, attempting to stutter a response. "What're you, eleven? Hogwarts age? Diagon Alley, then? Hop on, we'll take you there for 12 sickles." Addi stood still as a stone, trying to process the entirety of this, well, magnificent piece of (apparently) magic. "I'm Stan Shunpike, by t' way. Who're you?"

"I-" Addi, still in shock, tried to answer. "I'm Addison, Addison Diana."

"Nice t' met you, Addison. Come on, on the bus, now!" She snapped out of her trance and scuttled onto the bus. The interior looked somehow larger than the outside, but maybe that was just her imagination. The inside of the bus was filled with regular chairs; they didn't seem to be attatched in any way. In the back, there were stairss leading both up and down. The bus was nearly empty, save for a large group of gingers near the front and and an elderly man reading the newspaper.

"12 Sickles, miss, get you right to Diagon Alley!" Addison stared at Stan Shunpike stupidly.

"I'm sorry- Sickles?"

"Yess'm, we'll make change in Galleons and Knuts, if you like." Addi was completely bewildered.

"I- Uh-" As Addison stood in confusion by the clueless Stan, a small, portly woman with blazing red hair stood from the loud group of redheads and scurried over to help her.

"Never worked with Wizarding money, dear? That's all right, it's simple." Adddison pulled out a five euro bill from her pocket and handed it to the woman. "Forgive me, I'm afraid I'm no expert with Muggle- that is, non-Wizarding- money. Let's see... just around four euros, then, here you are, Stan." She handed the bill to him. He brought a few small silver coins from his pocket and dropped them into Addi's hand. "There you are, dear, three sickles, pocket money. If you've got any more, I'd be happy to take you to Gringotts and get it transferred. I'm Molly Weasley, by the way." Molly escorted Ginny to thee mass of seats that created a sea of gingers. "These are my boys, and girl, exuse me," she pointed to each child in turn, "This is Bill, Percy, Charlie, Ron, Ginny, and Fred and George. Bill just graduated, and Charlie and Percy are still in school; Fred and George are just starting at Hogwarts, too!" Molly didn't ask where Addison's parents were, which Addi liked. "Please, dear, sit. We can... Fill you in a bit about our world. I know this must be very disorienting."