Customers seldom lit up like this when they found what they were looking for. At most there was a grunt of appreciation, maybe an involuntary twitch of the lips that could be construed as a smile if one was feeling generous enough. Though with the way this girl was staring at them both Emma half-believed they’d just cured world hunger. Caractacus shifted uneasily (kindness had always been too sweet a pill for him to swallow), but her own expression edged the line of bemusement. It’d been a long time since she’d met anyone this… cute. The rest were mostly dead now.
“Helping people’s what we’re all about. We’re big on giving here.” she smiled sweetly. The crow on Caractacus’ wrist let out a high-pitched squawk that might’ve been a laugh, and she shot it a shushing look, turning back to the girl just as she began rifling through a bag that reminded her distinctly of Handsome Jack. A press pass was offered up and the second her eyes caught the name, they went wide. “Mary Moody?” she asked in disbelief. “As in the Head Auror’s daughter?” The press pass was swiped from her hands by Caractacus with a loud wheeze, yet her eyes remained fixed on Mary’s, sparking with interest. Alastor Moody’s daughter, right here in the very heart of Knockturn Alley. Well, I’ll be damned. “Your father doesn’t know you’re here, does he?” It was rather more a statement than a question, lips spread in a crooked grin that suggested she might’ve been enjoying this turn of events a little too much.
“Looks like we have quite the intrepid little reporter on our hands.” Caractacus mused, returning the press pass with a meaningful look in her direction to confirm what they both knew. The identification was real; that didn’t mean her cover story was. “Don’t you worry. Keeping secrets is part of the job.”
The picture they were getting was muddied one. No self-respecting parent would let their kid wander around the Alley on their own, especially if it was their very first venture out into these streets. Granted, Mary wasn’t exactly a kid and she looked to have some nerve to have made it this far to begin with, but the fact of the matter was that the Head of the Auror Department had too many connections to spare to be directly sending his daughter within five feet of this place if she really needed something, not with all the riots and raids. It was a story they could spend the rest of the afternoon poking holes at, but maybe for now it was best to just let sleeping dogs lie. If the girl was looking to cause any real damage with her research, Emma would’ve liked to think she’d have been more discreet, and now that they knew who she was it wouldn’t be too much trouble to track her down should anymore doubts arise. Besides, it was nothing some fact-checking with Narcissa couldn’t fix.
“A rental is the most we can offer, I’m afraid,” Caractacus explained over by the bookcases, aging hands sifting through titles. “we never know when the Ministry might call on us for it again. Two hundred-fifty galleons for two weeks time.”
“It’s as good a deal as you’ll get with him, trust me.” Emma told her with a good-natured roll of her eyes. She gestured at Mary’s messenger bag. “You know, I have a friend that looks just like that. Scary looking bloke, always good for a round or two of exploding snap, though. His name’s Handsome Jack.”
Mary knew that showing them her press pass wasn't a good thing, but she had no other option. Sure she could have lied, giving them one of those fake passes she had, those she hadn't used in such a long time, but that wasn’t the way to do this. They would find out, sooner or later, her real name and things would get messy for her. "Yeah." She nodded, rubbing on her arm in an anxious manner. "Of course not. He would kill me if he knew." Those were different times. There had been a time when her father wouldn't have cared that much, knowing she knew how to take care of herself, but now they had to be more careful.
"Um, thank you." She returned her pass to her bag, hoping his words were true. After all, they didn't have any reason to go and tell people she had been there, right? She wasn't that big of a deal anyway, her father simply wanted her to be safe. For two people who told each other everything, keeping her investigation from him was killed her, yet she didn't have any other choice. He was doing enough to keep both of them safe, he didn't need to worry about whatever she was doing. And if he ever fount out, she would just use the article cover all over again and hope for the best.
"That’s enough!" It was better actually, than keeping the book in their house. She could take picture of the pages and take notes, she could keep them in the basement or in one of the loose floorboards, and she could burn them if she had to, but hiding a books was difficult and she had enough illegal books to add one more. She could even make a copy, they didn’t have to know. "I'll just need it for a while, but I'll bring it back." And it made sense, if the Ministry was using that book, that she didn’t keep it. It would be hard to explain and Narcissa wouldn't help her. It was a lot of money, but thankfully she had been working non-stop since she was around fifteen, had saved most of it, and she shared a Gringotts vault with her father. Not that she would spend their money, but at least she knew it was there in case she needed it. And because she knew it wouldn’t be cheap at all, she had brought money with her.
The woman's words made her smile. It was a good deal, she gave them that. The Ministry used it, which meant it was a very important book and she would have access to it. And it was exactly what she needed to start her investigation. Mary looked down at her bag. "I feel like he is a person I would love to meet." People always said that Knockturn Alley was a dangerous place, yet Mary always thought the people there were just unique and that was always a good thing. "I haven’t played exploding snap in long and I wouldn’t mind a match. This is Chewbacca, from a Muggle movie called Star wars: A New Hope. It's pretty good."
But they weren't there to talk about movies, and she supposed they couldn’t care less about whatever she had to say. "Two hundred-fifty galleons sound good." There was no point in trying to negotiate a better price, they would probably say no and give her no other chance, she had to do it. And she could always come back and rent it again, she supposed. "Just let me know whenever I can take it with me."
