LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 7
“So you're telling me that it's gonna take at least six months before I can access the vaults?!” Eileen exclaimed as she felt frustration and worry seep in after hearing the goblin’s words.
After reaching Diagon alley, she had headed straight for Gringotts. She had it all planned out. She would get her name back and then see how much money was left and then decide according to that whether to start her own business or save it.
But things didn’t go as planned when she reached the imposing building. Like all wizarding buildings, it remained the same.
The Goblins were as she remembered too, short ugly creatures and they were ruder than before. She had thought that being a former Prince, she could easily get access to the vaults but the damned Ministry had made new laws over the decade she was away.
Since she had left her family and married a muggle, she had basically renounced her name. She could reclaim it without much issues before and only had to go to Gringotts and prove that she was really who she claimed she was.
Of course, if she had been kicked out or if the head of family didn’t want her to access the vaults, she would have been helpless but that was not the case for the Prince family which only had her and Severus as the direct members.
Now she had to send in an application to the Ministry and get it approved by the legal department after they looked through the British Ministry of magic Records room . Only then would she be able to reclaim her name back. And the Ministry was as incompetant as ever.
Even six months was considered a quick response from them. This wouldn’t have taken this long if another member of the family had been alive but alas she and Severus were the only ones left.
There was another option which was letting Severus become the heir. All he had to do was pass the blood test which considering he was her son, it wouldn’t be hard to pass.
But there was a small problem...he was too young. According to law, he can’t become an heir or have anything to do with the vaults till he was 11. He could only access it through a guardian but she, his guardian didn’t have access to it too.
“Please, there must be a faster way…” she asked one more time.
The goblin adjusted his spectacles in clear annoyance, “It's not our problem.” he said drawing the word out.
“We don’t deal with this anymore, if you have any issues go talk to your Minister. Don’t waste my time now.”
Seeing that he wouldn’t budge she didn’t have any choice but to leave. Dejected, she walked out of the bank.
‘What am I going to do now?’
‘I didn’t think it would turn out like this….’
She was feeling stressed now that she was pushed into a corner. She had been confident that she would have had to at most wait for a month but it backfired and now she was back where she started.
‘I just need enough money to get by till Severus turns 11…’
Severus was nearing ten now so she needed to last for a year more.
She wanted to sell potions but she didn’t have a permit from the Potions associations, she didn’t have her family name which made things worse if she wanted to apply for one.
She could make potions and sell to the shops dealing with potion trade but all of them had suppliers and besides she couldn’t make enough potions to meet their demands anyway.
Her mind started thinking of other jobs she could do but nothing came to her mind. The problem was not that she was not qualified for the jobs but the fact that she had been away from the magical world for 10 long years.
She went to the apothecary to see if they would hire her but they said they were not hiring. Now if Eileen had been a Potions Master then she wouldn’t have any worries. People would be lining up to buy her potions but she wasn’t a Master.
She had wanted to but she had run off to marry Tobias as soon as she graduated. One wrong decision had screwed up her entire life.
She could take up muggle jobs but since she couldn’t use any magic while working, she would be useless as she never learned to do things.
The Ministry might be incompetent but the ICW wasn’t. So if she got caught using magic in the muggle world, at best her wand would be snapped and at worst, she would end up in Azkaban.
After Tobias started his abuse, she just shut down and didn’t try interacting with anything.
Another issue was that her documents and ids in the muggle world were not proper and if asked about it when applying for a job, she would be stumped.
She could forge them but she didn’t know where she could do that and she was also a bit worried that she would be exposed if things went wrong.
As she walked down the alley with these thoughts, she didn’t notice a figure walking in front of her and bumped into them.
Realising her mistake, Eileen immediately apologized, “I am sorry, Miss. I should have been paying more attention.”
“Well you should have..but I forgive ya” the woman answered. The woman had a round figure, a pretty face and blonde hair. She exuded a mature aura of an experienced woman.
She squinted her eyes as she looked at Eileen, “Have we met before? You...look familiar..”
Eileen too observed the woman in front of her, she too had felt she was familiar. Before she could reply though, the woman’s eyes widened. “Wait...Eileen? Is that you?”
“Y-yes…” Eileen replied and at the same time even she recognized the woman in front of her.
“Rosie…?!” she blurted out. The woman was her Hogwarts junior who she had been friends with. Rosmerta Allen was a halfblood hufflepuff witch who had been good at potions and she had gotten along well with her.
“Oh boy...that's a name I haven’t been called in a long time…” Rosmerta said.
“It really is you…” Eileen couldn’t believe it.
“Yep~ It's me alright but I can’t believe it has been so long since we last met.”
“So what brings you here? How are the husband and kids?” Rosmerta asked.
At the word ‘husband’, a shadow casts over Eileen’s face and she looks down.
“It’s a long story….” she began.
“Well I've time to hear it so let's catch up...so how about we get some ice-cream and you tell me what happened?” Rosmerta suggested, a concerned look in her eyes. She had sensed that something was wrong and she knew a good ice-cream would help.
Before Eileen could protest, Rosmerta dragged her to the Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
……
“So go on then, tell me what happened?” Rosmerta asked once they had settled down. They had ordered their ice creams and were waiting for it to arrive.
“Well…” Eileen took a deep breath and began explaining. She started from how her marriage was not a happy one to how her abuse began after Tobias was fired.
She downplayed it but Rosmerta didn’t buy it as her eyes hardened listening to her. She had clenched her fists and made up her mind to break the man who had made Eileen suffer so much.
Eileen continued and concluded her tale but didn’t tell her that it was her son who killed Tobias but instead changed it to herself.
She looked up to see Rosmerta’s expression but she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her.
Rosmerta hugged her and didn’t say anything. Eileen couldn’t hold back her tears and a few trickled down her cheeks.
Rosmerta comforted her and they talked for a long time about other topics. She was happy that her friend Eileen was free now but felt regretful that it took so long.
“Why didn’t you ever try contacting me? I could have helped….” she asked.
“I..was too afraid and I just didn’t want to trouble you…”
“Bah...you silly girl, why would you ever be a burden to me?!” Rosmerta sighed.
“I..I know but I was not in the right state of mind back then…if it hadn’t been for Severus..”
“Guess I have to thank your son then, he seems like a good kid…” Rosmerta praised Severus, her impression of him was high.
“So why were you here today? Got your family vault back?” she questioned Eileen.
“No…it seems that the Ministry has made new laws since I was gone…” Eileen explained the situation to her.
“That seems troublesome...good luck having those old bastards go through your application and approve it. Maybe if you promised them half the vault…” Rosmerta rolled her eyes. She disdained the Wizengamot. She was a half-blood and had to go through trouble to inherit her three-broomsticks inn.
“You know I can’t...Severus will have to go to Hogwarts soon and since he qualifies as half-blood, he can’t even get the muggleborn fund.”
“I see...then what are your plans now?”
“I am not really sure...I thought of applying at the apothecary but they are not hiring. I tried all the apothecaries in Diagon but the same thing happened. Only place I didn’t check would be Knockturn but I am not going there…” Eileen answered.
“Hmm….you haven’t considered any jobs in the muggle side?”
“Well I did but I don’t have any of the documents and besides I wouldn’t know what to do...I am useless aren’t I?” Eileen sighed.
“Now don’t look so glum...when I am here, I have a job offer for you.” Rosmerta said.
Eileen’s eyes lit up, “Really? What do I have to do? What's the pay? When do I start?”
Rosmerta chuckled, “Merlin’s beard..slow down will you. I will answer your questions one at a time.”
“So the job is just to help me manage the pub and inn. I recently reopened it after finally getting it under my name. I don’t have much savings left after renovating it so I can’t hire many people.”
Pausing to see Eileen’s expression, she continued, “ The pay will be decent. Since you will not be doing one specific job, the pay will be higher. Also you must help me come up with new drinks, you are decent at potions so you can help me with mixing. You can start from tomorrow if you want..”
“There...have I answered everything?”
Eileen immediately nodded, “Of course, I will start from tomorrow. Thank you so much, Rosie. I-I.. don’t know how to thank you..”
“No need to thank me Eileen, this is the least I could do..”
“B-but..” Eileen protested but Rosmerta didn’t let her.
After that they chatted for a while before Rosmerta left after apparating. Eileen wanted to apparate too but she was out of practice and didn’t want to splinch herself.
She bought some ice-cream for Severus and left Diagon alley. She was relieved that she got a job. While things didn’t go as well as she had wanted, at least she was not helpless anymore.
………………
[POV Change]
As I neared Lily, I noticed what she was doing. She was using magic to change the colours of the flowers.
She noticed me approaching and quickly wiped her tears and stopped her magic. Her face still had the telltale signs of crying though. Her eyes were red too.
“Hello there.” I greeted her as I reached the top of the mound.
“H-hello..” she greeted back but her voice cracked. She blushed at this and kept her head down.
I sighed as I knew this was going to be awkward.I had just about gotten used to interacting with Eileen and even then I felt awkward sometimes.
She knew I was mature for my age but I was still a kid in her eyes….
Now in front of me was Lily, a canon character but more importantly was still a kid. Moreover she appeared to have been crying. Comforting others was something I was never good at and I didn’t know how to approach the situation.
Still I knew I had to at least give it a try. Making a good first impression was important and I was sure I would make a better one than canon Severus.
“Right..” I began. “Haven’t seen you around, you new?”
“Y-yes...I just moved in.”
“I see...well then, I am Severus or Severus Prince if you wish to be formal. Welcome to the neighbourhood I guess…”I said, giving her a hand.
“L-lily, Lily Evans.” she greeted me back and shook my hand awkwardly.
“So now that we are acquainted…” I started and sat beside her on the grass. “..What's gotten you down? Is it the dreary town because if it is...I totally agree with you.”
“No...it's just that..” she began but couldn’t finish her sentence.
“You don’t have to tell me since we barely know each other but I heard that confiding in others helps..” I suggested.
I could half guess why she was upset but I wasn’t too sure. My most probable guess was that it had something to do with Petunia, her jealous sister.
“Well its nothing much but I had a row with my sister...Tuney.” She began.
Taking a deep breath, she continued, “You see, we were always close sisters but then something happened and then things changed. I don’t know why but she keeps shunning me and always makes fun of me….I tried to be good to her but she just hates me…”
I calmly listened to her. She paused several times to think and I also noticed how she omitted anything magic related. I guessed she didn’t trust me enough or her parents forbade it.
Or she is worried about my reaction to it. I didn’t want to wait for her to slowly open up so I did the thing I was sure would make trust me. I decided to show her my magic.
Of course not immediately as that would be too shocking and suspicious. I listened to her and tried comforting her.
After a while, her cheery self as portrayed in the book started emerging and she kept on talking while I made small remarks here and there.
Honestly I was glad she was this active as I wouldn’t know what to talk about. I was not only not her age, I was not even of the same era so I would have just made the situation worse.
Besides everybody liked a good listener.
“So how did you do it?” I asked in between.
“Huh? Do what?” confused she asked me.
“Well I noticed you changing the colours of those flowers you know…”
A shocked expression appeared on her face as she quickly denied it, “W-what are you talking about?”
“See those flowers.” I pointed at the colourful flowers a few feet away.
“T-those were always like th-that…” she began but I interrupted her.
“So you are telling me flowers grow like that?”I said. The flowers were in different colours each and it didn’t look natural at all.
“Um...I...that…” she stuttered.
I could see that she was clearly nervous as sweat trickled down her temple and her eyes darted around.
“Well I can only think of one explanation for what I saw Lily.”
She looked up eager to hear what I had to say.
“You are a witch, Lily.” I stated.
“I am a what?” she asked with a confused face.
“A witch.” I repeated. I kept a stoic expression but inwardly I was feeling amused.
“B-but that can’t be true...I am not a bad girl.”
“I never said you were one though?”
“But you said I was a witch..”
“What does that have to do with you being a witch?” I asked, pretending to be clueless.
“I saw on the tele that witches were bad…”
“Oh..I see. You don’t know about the magical world then?”
“Magic?” she asked with confusion in her voice.
“Yes, what you just did is magic and a person who can use it is a witch.” I said.
“Really? How do you know all this then?” she asked not believing it or not wanting to believe it.
“Well I know all this because I can use magic too.” I said and then lifted my hand.
The flowers nearby were uprooted and came floating to my hand. I turned all the flowers to white and presented it to Lily.
“Now do you believe me?”
“Y-yes..” she said, not taking her eyes off the flowers. “You are a witch too then?”
My eyes twitched at that, “ The more accurate term would be wizard.”
“Oh...I see. How do you know all about this?” Excitement shone in her eyes.
“Sit down...this will take a while.” I asked her to sit down again. I knew I had her as her expression gave away her curiosity and eagerness to learn more about her powers and the magical world.
[A/N: A minor change, I made Eileen younger and Rosmerta older than their actual age according to canon to make them friends.]