Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Warning: Fem!Harry AU, Tom Riddle AU

A/N: So, finally, after several months of nothing, I have finally bee able to update. I sincerely apologize for the lack of activity, but major writer's block got the better of me for this story and I didn't know whether I would be able to continue. Fortunately, I was. I thank you all for your loving support and apologize again for my long absence.

Please, enjoy!

Chapter 10: Diagon Alley - part 1

The streets were ensconced with hundreds of people, more people than Harry had ever seen her entire life at once. They were all wearing strange clothes which consisted of bizarre robes, pointy hats, and shoes. Some of them had beards that almost touched the ground whereas others did not seem to mind the fact that there were birds sitting on top of their shoulders.

Harry had to bite her bottom lip in order not to gape at the unfathomable sight. As she turned from left to right in an attempt to try and catch a glimpse of everything that could be deemed unordinary from her perspective, Tom had to forcefully pull her to the side to keep her from being bumped into by several of the people that were approaching their way.

"Try to be a little less conspicuous," he commented, rolling his eyes when he noticed that he had failed to gather her attention away from the crowd. "They are going to think that we're at the wrong place."

"Can't you see all of this?" she asked without looking at him, eyes glued to the scenery in front of her; everything from the people to the shops that were located around her. "This is unbelievable."

"So are you if you keep looking like you're a child at the zoo," he retorted dryly and shook his head with a sigh. "We have time to inspect everything later. However, our first priority should be to find this bank the old man was talking about. We can't exactly buy what we need if we don't have any money."

This information seemed to be able to pull the Potter girl out of her head and back into reality. "Yeah, that was the thing." And suddenly, all glimmer of marvel seemed to vanish from her eyes like daylight being ensconced by the night. "It seems that all places depend on the currency in order to function properly."

Tom seemed to take her words into thought. "You expected something else?"

"No, not really," Harry explained, somewhat disappointed. "We just have to figure out where to get the money. Didn't the old man say something about a fund or something?"

"I suppose," Tom nodded. "We'll just have to ask someone if they know where."

"Excuse me, sir," Before he could even do a double-take, Harry had already asked the closest person she could find. An elderly gentleman fancying dark yet exquisite clothing which suited anyone of noble ranks.

The man glanced inquisitively down at the young girl with a bemused smile. "Yes, my dear?"

"Could you tell us the way to Gringotts?"

"Gringotts?" The man seemed puzzled. "You mean, you do not know where it is?"

Harry shook her head. "Unfortunately, this is our first time here."

"Oh, I see." He seemed to ponder for a moment before he gestured down the street. "To get to Gringotts, you walk down the street until you find a building consisting of white columns and marble. You cannot miss it."

Harry followed his gaze and gave him an affirmative nod. "Thanks' very much."

The man gave her a courteous smile. "You are very much welcome, dear." And he walked off to whatever destination he had in mind, leaving the children in the middle of the street.

"Well, I was unaware that you had the capacity for manners," Tom said sardonically with an impressed eyebrow raised, earning him a gentle nudge from the Potter girl.

"Shut up, let's go find this Gringotts."

As they walked down the streets and past the numerous people, they came across a wide variety of shops there which the ones back in London paled to compare with. Shops with floating sweets displayed inside glass, shops with animals and birds on display without any security measures taken to keep them from running away, it seemed like things were floating above them wherever they went.

It did not take them more than a couple of minutes before they reached a building which, much like the elderly gentleman had described, consisted of marble and towered over the other shops. This was undoubtedly the correct the place, but it did not seem like the sort of place that could be easily robbed from external enemies.

"I suppose this is it," Tom commented, taking his time to observe the appearance of the bank.

"Suppose so," Harry added before promptly headed towards the entrance. "Come on, we might as well get rich with whatever this trust fund can provide us with."

Yet as they stepped closer, they noticed something particularly odd. Standing by the entrance, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, stood a noticeably short man… or not a human man, at least. He was about a head shorter than both Harry and Tom, had a very sharp beard and possessed very long fingers and feet.

He bowed courteously as the children passed him by, seemingly not startled by the fact that the two of them were children. In return, the children nodded his way and stepped through a pair of burnished bronze door, but only to find themselves facing yet another pair of silver doors with strange words engraved into them.

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed

For those who take, but do not earn

Must pay most dearly in their turn

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

"Well," Harry sighed. "I suppose that ruins my chances of filling my pockets."

"Try to speak a little less loudly the next time you conspire theft," the Riddle boy gave her a disinterested look. "I doubt the consequences will be trivial, and I won't be there to help you should you decide to do anything rash."

"Yeah, you would," Harry contradicted with a confident smile. "You're always there."

Tom merely shrugged, neither denying nor accepting that statement.

They stepped inside, only to be met with the sight of even more short-haired people. What they had failed to notice with the guard outside was that these people possessed particularly sharp features, as well as ears. Perhaps they weren't entirely human at all.

They were goblins.

A pair of them bowed the children inside and into a vast marble hall, where hundreds of more goblins were seated on a high stool whilst weighing gold, writing down letters and notes of which content they could not tell, and examining jewels and precious gemstones through eyeglasses. There were dozens of doors leading into the hall, exiting from who-knew-where.

This place was like a labyrinth, and they would be in major trouble if they decided to do some questionable acts.

After marveling the view, the children walked towards the counter in the front, where another goblin was seated, wearing glasses and writing down something on a piece of paper. As they reached the counter, Tom coughed as a way to earn the goblin's attention. A pair of glassy eyes darted upwards and at them, and Tom took this as a sign that he had earned his attention.

"My name is Tom Riddle, and this is Harriet Potter," he introduced as gestured to the girl on his left side. "We are here regarding–"

"The trust fund," the goblin interrupted him unexpectedly, silencing the boy.

"Yes, that would be correct." He affirmed.

The goblin placed his feather-pen down. "Albus Dumbledore arrived earlier this week and informed us of your arrival, Mr. Riddle and Ms. Potter. However, I somewhat expected him to accompany you."

"Well," Harry sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "We insisted on going on our own."

"I can tell," said the goblin and proceeded to put a pair of contracts in front of them on the counter, along with a feather-pen which floated up and gracefully landed by the dotted line where they were supposed to sign. The children each took one of the papers and inspected them closely.

"In order to ensure that you won't misuse the trust fund, you are both required to sign a contract," the goblin explained.

"What exactly are we signing for?" Tom inquired skeptically as his eyes scanned across what was written.

"The trust fund is at your disposal as long as you stay in school. Each month, you will obtain a certain amount of gold which you may use for whatever you deem necessary," he continued. "However, should you find yourself expelled for whatever reason or if you break any of the rules which are noted down on the contract, you will instantly be cut off."

Tom squinted his eyes on the paper, reading thoroughly through it before he reached the criteria which were enlisted.

1. If the user is expelled from their elected academy or place of education for whatever purpose, then the trust fund will no longer remain accessible.

2. Should the user find themselves short of money before the monthly obtain, they are required to wait until the next date of provision.

3. If the user is under custody of the Ministry for whatever purpose, the trust fund will be put on temporary hold until the predicament has been managed.

4. The user will not receive the trust fund over the course of the summer holidays.

5. The fund will be sent on the 1st of each month, which begins on 1st of September and ends on 1st of June.

6. Should the fund be used solely on items which are not strictly related to educational use, the amount received each month may become regulated depending on its primary use.

Should any of these rules be transgressed, then it will result in the trust fund being unavailable for further use until a guardian takes up the case or if the circumstances prove to be excusable.

"You are thorough," Tom commented as soon as he finished reading, then reached for the quill and started to write his own name down on the dotted line. Golden ink seeped out of it as he wrote, much to his amusement.

Harry waited for a moment before she turned to the goblin. "Are there any restriction on what we can and cannot purchase with it?"

The goblin looked at her. "Like it says on the contract, you are advised to spend the majority on your money on education, but since they are yours, you may do whatever you please with them as long as you stay in school with at least acceptable marks on your subjects."

"And how will we receive the money?"

"An owl will arrive at the beginning of each month with it."

"But can't it be stolen by someone?"

"No, the money is only accessible to those who have signed the contract. Should anyone else get their hands on it, it will trigger a jinx that will sting the thief and alarm the bank of thievery. However, it will be your primary responsibility to take care of it. Keeping it in an enchanted box or containment is advised."

At the sound of this, the Potter girl simply stared at the goblin with a look of disbelief. "We don't…. really know how to use jinxes or-or enchantments yet."

The goblin waved his hand dismissively. "No need to. You may ask one of your teachers to lend you a hand until you can master the ability yourself."

Harry reluctantly nodded and took the quill as soon as Tom was done with it and wrote down her name as clearly as she was able to. Her name glistened in the light like liquid gold. As soon as both the documents were signed, they suddenly flew out of their grips and into the air, landing in front of the goblin behind the counter. H quickly looked over them before he wrote something else down on both and stamped it.

He then jumped down from the high chair behind the counter, which shocked Harry to a certain degree due to his significantly low height. She ought to have been used to it by now, but this magic never ceased to amaze her.

She looked over to Tom, who in return glanced over at her with the same ambiguous countenance.

Nodding towards each other in mutual agreement, they both followed behind the goblin as if they were a pair of ducklings.

"Ymir!" shouted the goblin suddenly shouted, causing the children to halt as another goblin suddenly arrived upon being summoned. This one differed from the rest with the way his clothes seemed more … shaggier than the rest. He also had this sharp look about him which the Potter girl found particularly uneasy.

"Take these children to the trust fund that will be assigned to them. Understood?"

The other goblin, Ymir, nodded affirmatively. "Understood, sir."

Ymir then turned around and gestured for them to follow behind him through the doors. Although they both expected to see more marble and impressive sculptures like they had earlier, they were surprised upon being met with the sight of a narrow passageway lit up with torches. There were railway tracks on the floors which led further into a path of darkness.

Ymir placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled, and a small cart arrived for them to place themselves in. At first, none of the children moved. In fact, they weren't certain of what it was they were supposed to do. Although Tom had a suspicion, Harry was less than enthusiastic about the prospect of riding some strange ride like that one.

The goblin pointed at the cart. "Well, get in."

Harry blinked. "We're supposed to … ride down there?" she pointed at the path ahead of them which lead downwards into anticipated nothingness.

"Well, how else are you supposed to reach the vault?" Ymir asked rhetorically, evidently annoyed with the delay. "Just get in already."

"Are there any safety-belts?"

"No."

"Won't we most likely fall off?"

"No, you won't."

As she opened her mouth to argue some more, Tom easily stepped into the cart and found himself at ease quite easily. He looked over at his friend and gestured for her to sit down beside him.

After a moment of hesitation, Harry sighed and cautiously stepped into the cart as well, but not before gripping tightly around the railing. She was visibly shaking, but she possessed a stern expression which failed to make her seem afraid. It was the sort of stubbornness the Riddle boy had witnessed on multiple occasions.

"Alright," she sighed. "Let's go."

Those were words she would soon regret.

The cart started to drive and the speed caused tears to gather in the corner of her eyes. It all seemed like a maze – left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left – but it was impossible to keep track of it all. Her hands gripped so tightly around the railings of the cart it felt as though she was on the verge of tearing them off.

Gritting her teeth, she glanced over at Tom in order to check if he was as in much of a fearful state as she was. But much to her surprise (not really), the Riddle boy had as much of a neutral face as he usually did. The only thing which seemed amiss about his features was the fact that his eyes were squinted as to keep too much air from hitting him.

His eyes then trailed over to her, and a smirk fell on top of his lips. "Scared, Potter?" he asked.

His smugness caused her to slightly ease up. "You. Wish."

As they plunged even deeper, they seemed to pass some sort of underground lake, and the Potter girl swore that she saw what seemed like a scaley creature spewing fire in the underground, but the view disappeared in less than a second. All thoughts of allegedly robbing the place soon vanished.

By the time they finally stopped, she didn't hesitate to jump off the cart and lean against the closest wall she could find in an effort to keep herself from vomiting. She placed a hand over her face and released a heavy sigh.

"God – damn – it."

"Language." Tom chastised her apathetically.

"The normal prices for school supplies are about one-thousand galleons," the goblin suddenly spoke, earning himself the appalled stares from both the children.

"How much would that be in pounds, exactly?" Tom asked curiously.

"Right," Ymir scratched the back of his head. "You are not familiar with the wizarding currency, I take it?"

Both of them shook their heads in unison.

"One galleon is approximately…. Five muggle pounds."

"Five pounds?" Harry asked in shock, eyes wide. "And we are expected to pay a thousand per year?"

"Unfortunately, you won't be able to purchase premium supplies," the goblin explained. "Most of it will be second-hand if you wish to be able to buy it all. At the beginning of each year, you will receive a sum of about four-hundred galleons to spend on your supply. For the rest of the year, you will receive a lesser sum."

"So, that means we will receive about … twelve-hundred pounds now?" Tom inquired skeptically. "Is that correct?"

Ymir seemed impressed with his quick mathematic skills. "Quite correct, young man."

The Potter girl only sighed in frustration. "As if math wasn't hurting my head already as it was."