Noctem

Diagon Alley 1 (2)

About the above: The Severus Snape in the movies was played by a much older person. The one now is in his early thirties, not fifties or sixties like Alan Rickman. This how I think he should look.

Also, he is not a villain. And I'm 90% sure he won't die. Just saying that for the Robert Downey Jr Sherlock fans here.

"I still think Diagon alleys name is ridiculous." Mycroft told his father. "Did they not have anymore imagination?"

"Think of  Professor Lupin." Severus told him. They were just exiting the Leaky Cauldron and going on to the desolate, cold streets. It was still early morning, and the shops were just opening."Think of how wolf centred his name is. The staff call him Werewolf McWerewolf behind his back. A lot of the world is  like that."

"But why?" Mycroft asked, "Why can't we come up with better names?"

"You would be surprised at how many geniuses are terrible at anything relating to the English language. Remember your first invention." Severus grinned.

"I was three. I had an excuse for calling my potion that killed exclusively wasps Mr. Evil." Mycroft scowled. "They're grown ups."

"I know this may come as a shock to you, but most grownups are incredibly boring." They neared Gringotts, the wizarding bank.

"Well I know that. But why would anyone give an invention they will be known for a such boring name?" Mycroft asked.

"People don't think about psychology of other human beings enough Mycroft. You know that." Severus opened the door to the bank. Mycroft just nodded.

Their shoes echoed on the marble of the Gringotts floor, one of the few sounds out side the scratching of quills and the soft chatter between employees. A few of the seemingly younger goblins glanced at them before going back to their work, quill running faster than seemingly possible across the page. It was still quite early morning and the influx of Saturday morning shoppers had not come in yet.

"The Potter account 3 please." Severus held up a gold key to the goblin at the end of the hallway. He nodded and gusty red for them to follow. Mycroft was getting excited. His father had never opened the Potter bank before. The second his step-father died the account had transferred to Lily Potter, and on her death Mycroft. As Mycroft was still a minor Severus temporarily owned the account. His father had told him it would only be opened when it was under his power to pay for school supplies, and then it wouldn't be much. They already had much of the needed supplies at the school. The Potters had many more vaults, but this was the smallest.

The cart ride was always exciting, no matter how many times you did it. It was like those muggle rollercoaster in America that his father once took him to. They had apperated there for his tenth birthday. Severus Snape had raised his son with many, many muggle objects, trying to get him adapted to both worlds.

The cart hit a sudden stop at the vault and they climbed out. Severus handed the key to the goblin, who placed his hand on the door. Mycroft heard a large clicking sound.  The door swung open revealing several large mounds of gold. "Wow." Mycroft mumbled. It was the largest sum of money he had ever seen. Though he knew there was more, just the sight of this money made him smile. Even if he messed up one of his experiments and was outcast from society, a reoccurring fear of his, he was still set for life.

His father pulled a bag from one of his pockets. Severus and Mycroft typically wore muggle clothing, preferably black and grey. It was easier to blend in at dusk and dawn that way. His father filled it with a couple of handfuls of galleons before closing it and shoving it back in. All of Severus's and Mycroft's pockets had charms placed on them to make them infinitely large. At first it was just Severus who had the charm but Mycroft tried to perfectly imitate his father up till age five, about a year after he had learned the charm. It became habit after that.

They went back onto the cart and as soon as they reached the end of the tracks and had gotten out of Gringotts, Mycroft made a beeline for the Potions store. His father had promised him a very high quality cauldron this year, only to be used for school of course but it was still exciting. He was never allowed to get the good cauldrons because he melted them almost every time he used them. His experiments were quite dangerous, though he would never show those ones to his father.

"We need to get your robes first." Severus told him.

"Fine." Mycroft moaned.

"Don't whine, at least you get new clothes." Severus scolded him, "This year we have a disproportionately high number of poorer students." Severus was always very, very serious about saving money, which Mycroft knew. Severus very rarely scolded Mycroft so he knew this was a serious offence. Severus partially blamed himself for the children's situation. Part of them had lost there parents because of the war and were put into homes, others lost all of there wealth when there parents died as it went to greedy relatives. The worst were the children of Death Eaters who he had snitched on. He knew he was the direct reason why they would never know their parents, for better or for worse.

Mycroft begrudgingly walked over to Madam Malkin's Robes. A bell next to the door jingled as they walked in. "Mycroft Snape! What a pleasure to meet you." Madam Malkin smiled warmly. "My first costumer of the day."

They shook hands, and Mycroft stepped up on to a platform. "I'll be back in ten minutes." Severus said, walking out before he had to make small talk.

Madam Malkin handed a button down shirt to Mycroft.

Severus had changed the uniforms in the second year of his work as headmaster. In place of long robes, the students wore button down shirts in black, white or gray. For pants they were given black or gray pants. Skirts were offered to both genders in the same colours, but no one ever ended up wearing them.

"That should fit." Madam Malkin said. Harry pulled a few coins out of his pocket and handed it to her. He pulled off the school clothes revealing his regular attire underneath.

He left the shop with them in a bag she had given him, and started to look for his father in the shops.