Faded Away ↠H. Potter Twin [Dean Thomas]

TWO: Siblings' Reunion

Mary was starting to second guess everything. Did magic really lie beyond this grubby, little pub that appeared to be abandoned? A battered sign bearing the words 'The Leaky Cauldron' creaked ominously above the entrance. She took a step back.

"It's alright, Mary," Professor Dumbledore said gently. "The dishevelled appearance serves only to stop Muggles from taking an interest in the building."

"Yes, but you would say that if you were a kidnapper," she said in a small, terrified voice.

"That's true." He pulled out a strange pocketwatch - golden with twelve hands, no numbers and tiny planets moving around the edge - to check... the time? "Would you prefer to wait somewhere else? An outdoor coffee shop perhaps, in a prettier side of town?"

Mary hesitated. She didn't want to inconvenience Professor Dumbledore. He seemed to be a busy man. And she didn't want him to think of her as a coward. It was easier to be brave in the familiar setting of her little village than out here in a strange city where she didn't know anyone, not even the man she had allowed to sweep her away from her cloistered life.

A cool hand brushed her hair. "It's alright, my darling," her mother said. "We'll be here with you at every step of the way."

"Promise?" mumbled Mary, looking up at the ghosts of her parents, the skin and flesh of her forehead pushed up towards her hairline.

"Promise," her father said with a reassuring squeeze of her shoulder.

"Mary?" Professor Dumbledore said with a small frown.

Mary quickly turned back to him, her face now clear. "No, it's okay. I'm fine. Let's go to this Leaky Cauldron place." He nodded, though his frown did not quite disappear. Mary took no notice of this as she rushed into the pub. Best get it over with, right?

Inside, it was cold, dark and shabby. Lots of greys and whites and chipped, dark wood, and a weak fire in the hearth, burning on its last log. Mary was escorted to a small, private parlour, which was bare save for a warm rug that her feet sank into, a pair of cosy armchairs angled towards the fireplace, and a small round table in between. With a wave of his wand, Tom, the wizened old landlord, lit the the fireplace and the silver candelabras on the mantelpiece. Not exactly inviting but definitely an improvement. He should really invest on interior design.

"Sit down and have some rest, Mary," Professor Dumbledore said. "There may a long wait ahead of you, but don't worry, you are in good hands. Tom, here, will look after your every need." He turned to give the landlord some instructions. Something about sending her off to Diagon Alley with a certain Hagrid.

"Please, don't go," Mary said earnestly, gripping his robes. She had never been alone, not in a big city, and definitely not somewhere she had never been before. And now Professor Dumbledore wanted to leave her behind with a complete stranger?

"You will be safe and taken care of," Professor Dumbledore assured her, patting her back awkwardly. "Your brother will be here soon. Focus on that."

"And you won't be alone, remember?" James Potter said.

Resigned, Mary hung her cloak on a coat rack near the door before settling into one of the armchairs. Tom asked her if she would like something to eat. Still feeling a bit nauseous and remembering Mrs Campbell's rule of not accepting anything from strangers, she declined. So, he left her be. She sat there for what felt like hours, examining her nails and the bleak room to occupy herself. Counting the cracks on the plastered walls and following them with her eyes proved to not be very entertaining. The clock on the mantelpiece ticked sluggishly, and she could not help thinking that she was frozen in time.

The thought gave birth to a cloud of imagination where a rather tall and ghostly pale earl called Lord Voldemort threw her, a young princess, into the Time Vortex. Lost in time, she searched for her parents, the king and queen, until she came to know that they had been ruthlessly killed in a massacre with the rest of the inhabitants of the castle. Only she and her brother, the prince, had survived. But Lord Voldemort, the back-stabbing courtier, had thrown him into a different time. So, the heartbroken princess set out on yet another quest, this time looking for her brother.