((Cockney Rhyming slang...you replace one word with another that rhymes    ))

It had taken two days for Dilly to stop limping after that cow at the Black Chimaera gave her the works. Yeah, Dilly had whacked her across the knees with a board, but didn’t the wench grab her first? And yeah...Dilly was raiding the till every morning, but wasn’t that the silly slitch’s own fault for not watching?

And besides, it turned out that the hag knew what she'd been doing all along, and had been letting it happen. So then Miss Angel Cakes said some kind of magic word, and after that, at least for a bit, it seemed like Dilly was her slave. Iza could have told her to do anything no matter how ridiculous; and Dilly would not only have done it, but enjoyed it. Though afterwards it would no doubt be humiliating to remember what the witch made her do...

Dilly, who had learned several spells by paying attention when residents of Knockturn Alley used them, was trying to remember what it was Iza said, when she put her hand to that pink ribbon she always wore at the waistband of her skirt.

Dilly was sure it was a spell, but for some reason she couldn’t recall the word. What was it again? Imperfecto? Impervio?

Nibbling on a currant bun, she noticed someone she had never seen before, walking up the alley…

Archer was not particularly happy with the assignment to raid the alley for anything on the down low.  He wasn’t exactly a man who was hard to spot in any respect and most criminals knew him from his obvious connection to Tamis Raynor, as her partner, and well… he was just a big guy.  So, with his black robes done up and a pair of sunglasses on – aviators, whatever they were, he liked them when he saw them in London once, and walked along with his hands in his pockets.
 
He thought that perhaps he might blend in if he wasn’t making a spectacle of himself, so the dark colors and downward seeming gaze were enough.  He could hear voices soften as he got near, however, and though he would have enjoyed pulling the official business card, it rarely got them anywhere, particularly in the alley.  It was low-key and undercover that got things done back here.  The dregs of society didn’t respect authority, even if it was twice its size and could arrest it for obstruction of justice. 

Stopping by the stoop of a small shop, Archer thought he heard whispers.  He pretended to be looking into the window at the display of various occult symbols and relics (he figured this might be a good place to also look for signs of that thing on the blonde’s wrist), but saw nothing in the window – of course it wasn’t going to be that interesting, and turned out the two hags talking were discussing a recipe… one he would likely never try – something about sautéed phalanges. 

Grimacing, he turned and saw some kid hanging out nearby.  Glancing back at the hags, one of them licked her dry, cracked lips.  Archer could see where that was going.  Casually, he continued on his walk, slowing down as he neared the child.  “You might want to get out of here, kid.  Those hags are looking for lunch and they’re not going to ask nicely.”

Nice Raybans, thought Dilly, smirking at the big man in black robes. He had Copper written all over him, might as well have had his badge Spellotaped to his forehead. It wasn’t so much that he was making a spectacle of himself as that...well, for one thing he was too clean. For another...his robes were too new, and not fancy enough for him to be the Other Sort. The ones who came to the Alley from time to time, looking for someone to do their dirty work...
 
Dilly usually made it a point to steer clear of that shop where the two hags hung out on the front stoop. They reminded her too much of that old woman in the story about the gingerbread house. The one who kept kids in a cage to fatten them up...

It was her curiosity about the stranger that lured her in. She knew she shouldn’t get close to a Copper...Auror, she reminded herself. Aurors were like Coppers, but a whole lot smarter...Anyway, she knew she shouldn’t let this one come near her. But ever since Diagon Alley opened up right in front of her, revealing an unknown world on the other side...she was like a moth drawn to a flame. She wanted to learn about everything. And besides...if there was an Auror in the Alley, Mr. Tawse and Iza would want to know what he was up to...  
 
“You might want to get out of here, kid.  Those hags are looking for lunch and they’re not going to ask nicely.”

He’s funny, thought Dilly. And for an old guy, he’s kind of cute. Being a kid, of course she thought anyone over thirty was old...

Dilly gave him a cheeky grin. “You’re the one should be scared. You got more meat on your bones than I do.”

The urchin seemed to have some kind of smile on her face – that was a her right?  He had trouble telling, considering the hair was in a characteristic bowl cut and the clothes were all dirty, indistinguishable to eyes unaccustomed to small children.  Whatever the case, first sights couldn’t accurately determine much of anything and when he was near enough and the thing was prodded to talk, it became clear that the child was a girl – a dirty one – but a girl, nonetheless. 

Raising his eyebrows at her, Archer was surprised.  She had a mouth on her, and the cheekiness in her expression to match.  Immediately interested in what the child was doing on the streets of Knockturn without a parent – or a gang of other disadvantaged following behind, Archer took his time to stop.  Children were some of the best to get information from; after all, they seemed to know everything without having to do much of anything to get it – hard to see and silent (though he had a suspicion this one was only quiet when she wanted to be). 

“Maybe,” he consented, “but I’m also harder to catch.”  A truth he suspected the child had not really considered – even if he couldn’t move as quickly, he was larger and far more trained.  He suspected the kid didn’t have a wand, though one could never be sure – he was fairly sure hitwizards would have seized it if she used it at all.  “How old are you and what are you doing hanging around here?  Shouldn't you be in primary school?"

“Maybe...but I’m also harder to catch.” 

“Yeah,” Dilly allowed. He was a big man...not fat, just big...so while he might be slower than her he also had longer legs to run away, and he probably had a wand tucked someplace too. Aurors always did, and knew how to use them.

Which was more than she did, except a few minor spells. Like making ducks come out of that silly slitch’s’ wand the other day...Course there’d been a lot of people around and Dilly was now aware that in a crowd, no one could trace it to her...

“How old are you and what are you doing hanging around here? 

If she’d been in Muggle London, Dilly might have tried saying she was eleven or twelve, but she knew better than to say that here. After all if it were true she’d have been at Hogwarts...

“Nine,” she said. The Bobbie she’d encountered just after her escape from St. Ursula’s hadn’t believed she was that old, due to her size. But also due to that size, he hadn’t been able to pursue her when she ducked down a drainage pipe and gave him the slip. Luckily it hadn’t led into the sewers, but rather to just outside the Leaky Caudron...

“As for what I’m doing here...did you ever try living in Diagon Alley, without a Gringotts account? It ain’t pretty here, but at least nobody asks questions. Till today,” she added pointedly.

“Shouldn't you be in primary school?"

“I finished reading my way though all the textbooks last spring,” she said truthfully. “It’s boring, going over the same old stuff just so you can take tests.”

The young girl, he figured she was a girl, if not, well, he would have dragon egg on his face, but whatever the case, the young girl seemed like she was at least honest.  Perhaps too honest about some things, as she pointedly indicated that no one had ever asked her questions until him.  Of course, it was his job to ask questions and if a kid was wandering around Knockturn without a guardian or something of the sort, he wanted to make sure it was on the up and up. 

If he couldn’t prove she was adequately taken care of or something of the sort he figured he had a professional responsibility to make sure the kid wasn’t going to go hungry or die of exposure or something – he figured it was in the code somewhere, he just never bothered to brush up on what to do with wayward children, didn’t happen that much from what he gathered.  Maybe she was an orphan or something and the Knockturn orphanage was her place of residence. 

“Well, you must live somewhere,” he reasoned out loud with her, “where, exactly, is your residence?”  he wanted to verify it, of course, and see if she was a truant – appeared so, since she hadn’t been to school since last spring, though he couldn’t argue with the logic – it appeared she at least knew how to read, which was a step above some of the urchins he had come up on in the past.  Smart thing, for the most part it seemed.

Nodding at her analysis, he smirked a bit.  “Understood.  But that doesn’t erase the fact it’s where you are supposed to be.  If you’re not at school, what are you doing?”

“Well, you must live somewhere,” said the big Auror.

“Duh,” thought Dilly.

“Where, exactly, is your residence?”

“Erm...” A few days ago she had found a huge wooden packing crate out back of Borgin and Burke’s. With a bit of help from Iza she moved it behind the Black Chimaera, and was slowly furnishing it...a candle, a box for a table, a few books, a couple of old quilts for a bed. It would do till the weather got cold.

Cinead Tawse probably knew she was there, and that she was using the washroom in the Chimaera. He might even be the one who was leaving her a meal now and then. She did not want to repay his generosity by calling an Auror’s attention to him. But hedging too much might do the same thing...

“I got a room,” she said, gesturing vaguely in that direction.

The Auror smirked at her comments about school.  “Understood.  But that doesn’t erase the fact it’s where you are supposed to be.  If you’re not at school, what are you doing?”

“Talking to you,” she said with a saucy grin. She held up her currant bun. “Having lunch. And,” she added, aiming a thumb towards the old ‘ladies,’ “making sure I’m not lunch.”

"So," she added just to see what he would say. "What are you doing?"

“I got a room,” she indicated with no particular rush to get very detailed about what exactly it was she was dealing with, or where she was staying.  She clearly did not want him to find out and although she looked like a typical urchin, she didn’t look like the variety that was going to starve to death, so he really didn’t want to deal with it if she didn’t want to give it up. 

It was, of course, curious that she wouldn’t want to give it up and maybe another day he would press more – but he had other business he was attending to.  The snarky child was not going to impede his ability to do his job if he didn’t get moving, but then again, children were easily overlooked and could afford some interesting information.  Maybe she knew something… hmm… she seemed clever enough.

He could very well get her to give him some information every now and again if he played his cards right.   She didn’t seem to hate him, so that was good.  He laughed at her little joke and put his hands in his pockets, glancing around.  “You might want to try carrying around some dish soap with you.  Hags hate the smell of pine,” he offered.  It was a weird little trick, he assumed they just hated anything that smelled good and clean, but whatever the case, pine seemed to be the worst. 

When she returned the question, Archer shrugged.  “A patrol – looking for some information.”  He raised his eyebrows at her, feeling a piece of paper in his pocket – the one with the rendering of the brand upon the woman’s skin.  He didn’t want to ask, but at the same time, if she had seen it – if she had any inkling, it could stop an important case from going cold.  Leaning down, he took it out and unfolded it.  “Do you recognize this?” he held it out toward her, but did not relinquish control of it – he didn’t need her running off with it, “Have you seen it anywhere before?  Or know anyone who has something with it on anything?”  He was hoping for tattoos, paintings, letterheads – anything! 

He waited for her answer anxiously.  He'd see where he was going to go after she answered.

“You might want to try carrying around some dish soap with you.  Hags hate the smell of pine.”

“Great," said Dilly. "I'll be sure to drag the mop bucket around from now on. Then if all else fails I can wallop them..."

“A patrol – looking for some information...Do you recognize this?”

Dilly grinned at the way he held on to the scrap of paper, like it was a five-pound note and she was going to run off with it. In the old days, if it was a fiver she might have tried; but no way if it came from a copper.

Her brow furrowed as she looked closer. The symbol did look familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it...

“Have you seen it anywhere before?  Or know anyone who has something with it on anything?”  

“It seems like I might’ve seen it someplace,” she allowed. She hoped she wasn’t getting herself in trouble, answering an Auror’s questions. It was like feeding a dog, once you did it they’d be back...

“I dunno. Maybe it was on something I nicked. But if I did, I’d have sold or traded it by now...”

“It’s always a safe option,” Archer grinned, amused at the girl’s thought process.  He had to  admit she was a clever little thing, had some spirit.  If she actually got to Hogwarts (who knew these days who could afford to go and what was going to come of it), she’d probably be an ace student in some of the more creative classes. 

Whatever the case, he was just concerned with the mission he was  on right now, showing her the picture was risky, but at this point, any indication of a direction to look was going to be better than what they had.  It wasn’t like an auror looking for information relating to a crime in Knockturn was anything new, so he really didn’t have to worry about creating that much of a stir – it was one of the first places an auror looked, generally, especially for crime information. 

He didn’t really  have to worry about raising the red flags and he didn’t want to show it to her long enough that she could memorize every aspect.  When she indicated that she didn’t really know anything specific, he shrugged and put it in his pocket.  She might have stolen it from somewhere, which didn’t exactly make it wonderful – but he‘d leave that to the hitwizards.  He had other things to do.  “Where do you usually sell?” he questioned carefully, “No worries, I won’t name-names or arrest anybody for illegal trading,” he assured her, “I just need to look at the stock.” 

He put his hand on his heart, “You got my word on this one.”  Archer Radley wasn’t the type to lie, though he didn’t suspect the girl knew this – he just hoped it worked. 

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“Where do you usually sell? No worries, I won’t name-names or arrest anybody for illegal trading...I just need to look at the stock.”

Dilly was expecting this, and had already worked out in her mind how she would answer. It required nimble thinking to balance her loyalty to Iza and Cin, who she liked even though they were scary; and to this new friend, who was also scary though for different reasons...

It was odd that she had already decided the Auror was a friend; but that was pretty much a given for anybody Dilly swapped wisecracks with. After all, even though he was a copper he wasn’t saying, “Run along now and don’t bother the respectable folk.” Then again she was as respectable as anyone else in this neighborhood. Except for her parentage, though as Iza had pointed out to her she could be a halfer...

“I sweep floors in a couple of places, in trade for food or a few sickles. The Black Chimaera, Borgin and Burke’s. Sometimes even the Leaky Cauldron. I show stuff to the customers, if they seem like the type. Or...” she grinned, “sometimes somebody will pay me to hit somebody’s pocket, like for a joke. Then I give whatever I find to the...erm...client.”

“You got my word on this one.”

Dilly rolled her eyes. Then she spit in her hand and held it out to him. “Shake on it?”

There were no surprises there, typical places where people would go to get and sell things almost completely anonymously, especially the first two establishments.  He knew Ray was far more acquainted with the Chimera than himself, particularly because of her pet project parolee (Archer conveniently found other things to do when it came time to check on the furry brute), otherwise an uneventful encounter with little information to go off except three possible leads. “Thanks, Kid.  I’ll check it out.” 

He supposed from his frequent trips to the Leaky, he could ask the bar tender, still Tom despite his old age, if he recognized the symbol and if he did, to tip him off.  The squib was going to be more than happy to help him, especially with the sensitivity of the case and its implications for blood purity and relations between all groups (weird to think of people split up like that, Archer never really had), but whatever the case, he would start there, then Bourgin’s, and finally, if he had to, the Chimera – and he would go with Ray. 

He wasn’t going to risk the kid in any of this either, she had potential, after all, and if she was going to be hanging around these parts, then he was fairly certain he was going to need her around and on his good side.  Glancing down as she spit in her hand, Archer was familiar with the practice, having had two brothers of his own and often goading them into doing his bidding with their version of the unbreakable vow – mum would have killed them if they actually did it, so they spit instead, and opened his large palm, glancing down at it and then her. 

“Sure,” he offered before drawing up a nice wad of spit and hawking it into his palm.  If they were going to shake, they were going to do it properly and far be it from Archer Radley to disappoint with his spit.  Crouching down a bit he took her hand and shook, feeling the familiar squish of saliva between their palms.  “A pleasure doing business with you, Kid.”

“Thanks, Kid.  I’ll check it out.”

Dilly didn’t know for sure if she had ever seen that symbol, but something about it did look sort of familiar. And after all, if she ran away without answering one way or the other, that was bound to make the Auror...Archer, wasn’t that his name?...it was bound to make Archer suspicious. So...she didn’t lie to him, she didn’t snitch on anyone...win/win, as far as Dilly was concerned.

“Sure.”  Well. Archer was no piker when it came to spit. He must’ve done this a time or two.  

Dilly grinned. She didn’t meet many people who would shake with her in such circumstances, let alone contribute so...generously.

“A pleasure doing business with you, Kid.”

“Likewise,” said Dilly, shaking his hand enthusiastically. And then she wiped her hand on his robe.