the unhallowed affair - t.m.r

un visiteur du passé

"a visiter from the past"

June Twenty-Sixth, 1947

If there was one thing Juliette didn't miss about London, it was the rain.

In a complete contrast from her hometown of Lyon, London's summers were very rainy. So far, it has been down-pouring everyday for the past week. In all honesty, Juliette loved the rain, but she hated walking in thunderstorms to Diagon Alley.

Juliette insisted on walking every day. She wasn't in London that often, and the short time she was there, she wanted to take everything in. Plus, she hated Apparating, and Floo Powder was too expensive at the moment.

The umbrella she was carrying was doing little to keep her dry, and she shivered in the windy weather. Right now, she was between Janos Galloglass' Enchanted Mirrors and Sugarplum's Sweetshop. Meaning, she still had a ways to go before she even came upon the back entrance to Knockturn Alley. She had to go all the way down to the Southside of the alley, because hidden between Espresso Patronum and Nell's Bells, there was a narrow alleyway that led between The Spiny Serpent and Moribund's, right in the heart of Knockturn Alley.

The walk to Espresso took about another ten minutes, because despite the rain, people like her had to work too, meaning Diagon Alley was still incredibly crowded.

The coffee shop was a breath of fresh air. She quickly cast a drying spell and a warming charm, knowing she was about to step back into the storm anyway.

She had been coming to Espresso for a long enough time to know what she wanted. "Hi," she smiled, placing her order. She paid, and stood off to the side until her name was called to pick up her order.

After receiving her drink, she sighed, bracing herself to step back into the elements. She made the sharp right out of the shop and descended into the alleyway.

When she arrived at Borgin & Burkes, she was surprised to find the front door already propped open.

"Am I late?" she called out to whoever was already here.

"No," a voice responded from the back, making it hard to tell who it was. "I was just early."

Bewilderment was written on her face. "Why?"

"The storm is going to worsen as the day goes on, I wanted to beat the rain," he lied with ease.

"Got it," she replied, once again casting the charms she did earlier. She walked through the curtain and set her stuff down on an empty shelf. "What are you doing?"

Tom's focus was practically glued to the necklace in front of him, the one Matthew and Vivianne were discussing with her yesterday. "I was curious," he shrugged. "I heard Corvina and Matthew discussing it."

"Right, well, please don't pick up an unknown curse from that thing. That would cause a ton of unwanted problems."

She heard footsteps from outside, and she assumed it was her aunts and uncles.

"You two are here early," Corvina commented, smiling.

"We wanted to beat the rain," Tom repeated.

"I see. I expect another slow day today."

Juliette groaned. "It's been like this all week!'

"Stop being so childish," Corvina said shortly.