Shopping Without Money ((India and Brianna))

[sisi]

"AIUTARLO!" The old woman's screams echoed through the house as Sicilia and her mother, Vesta, tried their best to ignore it. Sicilia's grandfather sat at the dinner table, trying to read the Daily Prophet, but not having much luck. Every scream from the bedroom sent chills down his back and he tensed quite noticably. Sicilia was much better at hiding her emotions than the rest of her family and only cried inwardly whenever her grandmother screamed of death in foreign languages. If it had not been for all those years of tutoring, Sicilia might have been more adept at ignoring the words. However, no matter what language the old woman screamed in, Sicilia understood.

The disease that had tore apart her brain made it impossible to recognize anyone but her husband. She couldn't talk very well, always forgetting the right word to describe something and, the usually calm and serene woman, would become angry and try to hurt herself. They had to take away anything sharp or heavy and lock her in her room.

The day the mismatched family heard that Madame Bissell had come down with Alzheimer's Disease was the worst day of Sicilia's life. Although not by blood, Sicilia always thought of the woman as a grandmother. Someone to give her advice, to comfort her, and make her laugh. It was especially hard for Sicilia to hear that the old woman's symptoms were increasing rapidly and that she would die very soon.

Another scream from the bedroom. Sicilia continued to chop the carrots for dinner as if she hadn't heard the horrible words that the woman screamed in French. Vesta sighed, leaning against the counter, where the other ingredients to their dinner, which was much later that day, were waiting to be cooked. She took a moment to regain her composer, the screams obviously taking a large toll on her patience and emotions. Without so much as a glance at her mother, Sicilia stopped chopping the carrots and took hold of her mother's hand. Her tear filled eyes looked into her mothers as Vesta did her best to hide any sadness.

Another sigh and the two went back to cooking.

...

As the stew brewed over the stove, Sicilia sat down at the table, finishing some late homework that she put off over the summer. The screams had long since ended, now that Madame Bissell was asleep, and the silence in the small apartment wasn't even close to serene. There was so much tension in the air that it nearly felt solid. Sicilia tried to ignore the silence pressing on her lungs, but it was rather hard. It being nearly noon, the sky was blue and the sun was high outside the window, but inside it was dark and depressing.

Finishing an essay, Sicilia looked up at her grandfather, who continued to read his paper. She watched him for a few seconds, wondering how to gain his attention. The problem was solved, however, when the man felt her stare and looked up from his paper, peering at her over his reading glasses.

"Yes, my sweet?" He asked, trying his best to be sweet in the depressing gloom. However, it sounded fake and Sicilia felt her heart drop, but she returned it with a smile.

"I need to go to gringotts for more school supplies. School starts here pretty s-"

"Yes, I know... I wondered when you would bring it up." He smiled, reaching over to his coin purse and gently tossing it over to her. Sicilia smiled and took the purse. Nodding once, she grabbed her light cloak and traveled through the fireplace to Diagon Alley.

Walking through the large doors of Gringotts, Sicilia felt an air of relaxation. It was odd, being out of the small flat where screams and cries occupied her time. It was sad, really, how nice and perfect it was before they heard the news. Captain Bissell was always off on trips across the world with his crew of sailors and the small cafe in Hogsmead, which they lived above, where Madame Bissell spent her mornings and afternoons.

These thoughts occupied Sisi as she entered the wizard bank. She paused, however, the moment she could look around. How long had it been since she saw a goblin? She smiled, trully relaxing for the first time in a long while.

((Translation: aiutarlo = help me))

[India Nightingale]

India frowned. Her intent gaze was directed at her purse, greeny-blue orbs boring an invisible hole in the black material as extended seconds ticked by. It was empty. Not even a single bronze Knut lay concealed at the bottom of it. Finally, India breathed a long-suffering sigh as she snapped the offending item shut, and proceeded to stalk to her wardrobe, flinging the double doors open with little mercy. Her eyes quickly roamed her collection of clothing, before extracting a tight leather coat which reached just above her knees, pulling it on with a less than contented expression twitching at her lips. Brushing herself down carelessly, India pushed her purse into a pocket, adding a folded piece of parchment to join it, before exiting the room without sparing it another glance. Locking the door securely, a calm and collected India made her way down the lengthy flight of stairs, her footsteps quiet and soft against the rich rug that rolled from the bottom all the way to the top floor. She didn’t worry about barring Devil from access to her bedroom, because her door had a single cat flap in case she left the house. India passed Skye’s bedroom on the third floor without heed, only a flicker of a scowl that indicated her discomfort and dislike. As usual, the soft harmonious music of violins and flutes was heard seeping out of the badly soundproofed door, and India did her best not to grate her teeth against each other as she swiftly downed the steps to the second story. Finally India reached the ground floor, where she entered the only living room with a Floo network grafted within the fireplace. Steeling her usual mounting nerves, India approached the mantelpiece, grabbed some sparkling green dust and sprinkled it into the hearth. Immediately bright green flames shot up from the once empty area; swallowing hoarsely and pushing down with utmost stubbornness her haunting fears, India stepped forward and was consumed within the emerald fire. Seconds later, the blaze died down, leaving nothing in its wake.

India didn’t enjoy trips to Diagon Alley. She preferred her own companionship, or Devil’s, cooped up in her bedroom in the oversized mansion she called home, left to her own devices and thoughts; or perhaps aimlessly wandering the streets during broad daylight, breathing in fresh air and ignoring strangers that passed her by. India, however, abhorred the busyness and the huge crowds that would inevitably grow as August stemmed to an end, as Hogwarts would soon be opening its doors again, and old and new students alike would be doing last minute shopping supplies. India cursed herself for having left her own tasks till one and a half weeks until the start of September as she rushed down a street in Diagon Alley, sticking to herself warily and trying her absolute hardest to avoid physical contact with anyone, which was rather impossible as masses of people swarmed around her like flies. The afternoon sun blared from above, baring down upon the hoards of wizards unmercilessly, as though threatening the imminence of the autumn to come. Hurriedly India dodged past a loud, chattering family with too many children to count, a scowl set deep in her features. It faded a little somewhat when her gaze finally caught sight of a familiar white building towering overhead, casting long dark shadows against the small shops beside it. Grimly, India pushed ahead, reaching the doors that would lead her into Gringotts Bank.

India relaxed only a little as she entered the all too familiar building. She hadn’t visited this place since the beginning of last year, having taken out a large sum of money then, and she had only just run out since that trip. It had to be said; India was not a money spender, purely because she had nothing to spend it on. She was rather miffed that she had been forced to come here, because India didn’t have much of an inclination towards goblins (it was obviously mutual, India had decided after her third journey to the bank), therefore she preferred to stay away from Gringotts as much as possible. Her eyes scanned the overbearing room nervously, passing over wizards and goblins alike, before hurrying to join the queue to extract money from her account. Half an hour later, India emerged again, her purse much heavier than before, having happily decided that she needn’t have to return to Gringotts for probably a while yet. She lingered around the entrance for a few minutes, her eyes poring over the piece of parchment she had brought along with her. She was planning on taking Arithmancy, Charms, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions and Transfigurations, and after gaining Outstandings in all her OWLs, India knew it wouldn’t be a problem to take her choices for the coming two years, so buying her needed textbooks wouldn’t cause much of a problem.

India looked up, pocketing the book list swiftly and preparing to leave, before a loud bang stopped her in her tracks. The unmistakable sound had emitted from where she had exited of before, after she had retrieved her money, and frowning, India wondered what was going on. She glanced about, a little anxious, and noticed similar alarmed expressions on other wizards sprinkled around her vicinity. Suddenly, everything was thrown into chaos as what seemed to be a powerful spell hit a pillar near the doorway, bringing it crashing down to earth, only narrowly missing India as she quickly jumped to one side. Blinking in confusion and fear, India could only look on in helplessness as many wizards started screaming and trying their best to escape; some others took out their wands in a defence pose. Copying their moves, India’s wand was in her hand moments later as she stared around. There seemed to be an attempted robbery taking place, as a group of masked wizards were doing battle with fellow wizards and goblins that guarded Gringotts. India could see that the latter had the upper hand, and hoped this fiasco would end soon. She had never witnessed an attempted burglary of Gringotts; she didn’t think anyone would be stupid enough to do it, because everyone in the wizarding world knew the bank probably had the most protected security in the world. It was impenetrable. India’s next thought was that she should get out of here as soon as possible, and immediately made a beeline for the clustered entrance, ignoring the loud cries of others, before her eye caught hold of something she simply couldn’t ignore.

There, standing a few feet away from her, were two people India recognised immediately. One was Sicilia Marie, a Ravenclaw in her year; the other girl was a Ravenclaw also, but one in the year above whose name India was sure was Brianna. India wasn’t drawn to them because she knew them from Hogwarts though, because even if they were familiar to her, she wouldn’t have particularly cared. India had barely even talked to Sicilia throughout their last five years of schooling. It was because at that very moment, a spell from the wizards and goblins duelling area a few metres away was unleashed, rebounding off another powerful curse and heading straight for the two oblivious Ravenclaws standing still in their patch of space. The two girls were wide open, and if they didn’t move they’d be hit dead on. Who knows what the spell was, but it looked dangerous. India mentally screamed at Brianna and Sicilia, because they just stood their, completely ignorant of their impending doom and not even bothering to try and escape. In fact, they seemed to be having a good old chinwag. Before she knew what her body was doing, India was running straight at them, having forgotten her means to escape, her voice screaming at the two to get away, or duck, or do something. Brianna and Sicilia obviously couldn’t hear her though through the noisy commotion, and India was the only one who noticed they were in danger, her lightning reflexes causing her to react. However, India wasn’t going to be quick enough, finally reaching the pair as the spell made contact. “You idiots!” India managed to stutter out, knowing it was too late and now she too would be caught up in the aftermath. Suddenly, India’s world turned a bright white, her wand slipped helplessly from her lax fingers, and then she knew no more.

((I’m moving the plot very quick, but I hope you understand why. ))

[sisi]

Taking another deep breath, Sisi smiled, and started for the counter where a goblin waited to help someone. Just as she was about to come to the counter, a scream made her tense. Screams instantly made her think of her grandmother and she closed her eyes, trying to block it all from her mind. However, it wasn't working. More and more screaming took the wizard bank and Sisi turned to see a scene of terror. Men in long, black robes held their wands aloft and started to send spells at one another. Spells that Sisi had never seen before and that scared her. She ducked just in time for one nasty sounding spell to flash past her ear. Her heart started pounding with nerves and she fled toward the door, just as many other wizards and witches had done.

She was nearly at the door when she noticed another Hogwarts student. Brianna stood near the door, her eyes wide. Sisi made her way over to her. Being around a classmate might help her pounding heart, just maybe. Before she had even made it, a spell hit the wall near her and bits of marble flew everywhere. The panic in the room heightened as people tried to get out. Sisi stood up, looking around at the caos. She was in a daze, her eyes wide and her heart pounding so hard she could hear it.

Her hearing started to dull as she stood there, shock over taking her body. She felt tired as if she could simply lay down right there and sleep the terror away. She didn't even hear India's scream to move.

Suddenly pain shot through her body and a scream escaped her lips. Her world spun into nothingness and she knew she had fallen.

[Brianna Bowman R7]

Brianna pulled the thin jacket over her arms and fussed with her hair in the mirror quickly before sighing. She had school shopping to do today. All the supplies for her 7th and final year at Hogwarts. Fingers wrapped tightly around the purse that lay exposed on her dresser and she flipped it open. Frowning she realized that she would have to start out her shopping at Gringotts. What had she spent all her money on? She flipped the purse closed and slung it over her shoulder haphazardly. She was rather annoyed by the fact that she hadn't kept a close watch on her money supply. She hated going into Gringotts, hated the little 'demons' that took her down to her own vault. She hated how they looked at her like she was a freak when in reality they were the ones that were freaky, especially to her. Granted she had no problem with other magical creatures, felt they were warranted equal rights and everything, she just wished they'd stay away from her. She sighed at her own thought before primping one last time.

The next moment Brianna found herself standing at the wall facing Diagon Alley. She smirked to herself as she fixed the few hairs on her head that were out of place. She couldn't help but love the fact that she was finally 17...although of course it had meant something else in her life and that in itself was something Brianna was in no mood to think about. She would find a way out of this arranged marriage if it was the last thing she'd do. It was one thing to be marrying someone you didn't know, it was another thing to be marrying the guy that had probably slept with more women than he had bones. Brianna absentmindedly glared as she pulled out her wand and tapped the bricks in succession. She was finding things in her life a little more annoying than she had originally thought, especially after she found out who her soon to be husband was.

Brianna frowned, stepping through the magical opening deciding to push the thought from her mind. She wasn't about to bring down her day by thinking about him. She couldn't let her mind wander to the few imperfections in her life. Even if she wanted to disappoint her family and kill the family reputation just to avoid marrying the man she was told she was supposed to marry ever since she was a kid. More pressing thoughts pushed her arranged marriage to the back of her mind as she pulled out her list of supplies. Studying over it she sighed before taking off toward the first place on her list. Her steps sounded lightly along the cobblestone as she made her way toward Gringotts. She tried to think of happy thoughts so she wouldn't feel too uncomfortable traveling down into the depths of the world, alone with one of those goblins. Her body shivered lightly at the thought before she shook her head at herself and opened the door to the wizarding bank.

Everything seemed to be perfectly fine when she stepped inside. Perfect in every sense of the word, even normal, well as normal as you could get with a wizarding bank. The queue of wizards and witches lined up behind and before her on their way to their own vaults. She even spotted a few people she knew from Hogwarts, knowing that they were in need of getting their own supplies. The line passed by quickly, which made Brianna mildly happier to be there, the quicker the lines went, the quicker she got out of the bank. So when Brianna stepped up to the desk and presented her key to the goblin she was hoping to go down, collect the money she would need, and then be on her way out of the claustrophobic bank with its abundance of goblin workers.

However fate seemed to have different plans for the 17 year old Ravenclaw. Instead a large bang sounded from the direction of the tunnels. The goblin behind the counter the counter dropped her key back into Brianna's hand and took off quickly in the direction of the sound. She stood perplexed by the sudden change of atmosphere around her and then she watched as the spell exploded from the tunnel. Suddenly all hell broke loose and Brianna found herself trying to get to the door, pushing past the other panicking wizards. She wished nothing more than to apparate, but there were far too may spells up to defend Gringotts, keeping her put in that building. So she pushed with the other witches and wizards, trying to get out, to get as far away as possible from the chaos.

Brianna was bumped hard and she landed flat on her stomach, her feet moved wildly to get her up and out of harms way. Doing so her wand popped from her pocket, but she didn't notice until she was at the door. She turned abruptly looking through the thinning crowd of wizarding folk, spotting the little wooden wand on the ground, eyes traveled upward as a body came to stand near her and she recognized her immediately as Sicilia, a Ravenclaw in the year below her. And it was at this time that she Brianna's life turned upside down. She felt the spell before hands pushing her away, her body erupted into an intense pain and she lost consciousness, her tall frame falling to the ground in a puddle of limbs.