TDU's Big Mistake

[girlyswot]

Happy Birthday tdu000!!! It's been so much fun partying with you over the last year. I thought long and hard about what to get you, and then I remembered this:

What I'm looking for is an extremely intelligent man who is interesting and entertaining to talk to. I also want him to be witty and find humour in the most bizarre and mundane situations. So, I'm booking the Tardis and going back to 1885 to find Albus Dumbledore in his mid forties.

Your wish is my command...

(With thanks to stmargarets and moonette1 who made helpful suggestions for introducing more fluff and flangst into the story.)



‘What I'm looking for is an extremely intelligent man who is interesting and entertaining to talk to. I also want him to be witty and find humour in the most bizarre and mundane situations.’ TDU’s friends nodded in agreement. She wasn’t a woman to be swayed by such fripperies as scars or freckles. Bulging biceps and piercing brown blue eyes wouldn’t win her over. She needed a man who would stand up to her own sparkling wit and acerbic humour. More than anything, she needed a man who could mix a mean cocktail.

TDU beamed at all her friends seated around the table and continued, ‘So, I'm booking the Tardis and going back to 1885 to find Albus Dumbledore in his mid forties.’

‘The Tardis?’ Clearly some of TDU’s friends had never watched Dr. Who, even from the safe spot behind the sofa.

‘You can book the Tardis?’ Girlyswot had never heard of such a scheme. And yet, now that she thought about it, it made sense. The Doctor never seemed to have anything like a regular job or a reliable source of income. Hiring out the Tardis when the universe didn’t need to be saved was a good idea.

‘On the internet,’ TDU explained, taking another swig of her rather nice Cabernet Sauvignon. ‘I’m due to leave tomorrow.’

‘And you know how to control it?’ checked Amamama. ‘You wouldn’t want to end up in 1785 by mistake.’

‘Or 1743,’ St Margarets said dreamily, thinking of Jamie Fraser, The Only One Who Could Ever Tempt Her. Perhaps she should give in and let Girlyswot and Moonette invite him to the Valentine’s Day party after all.

‘Yes, yes, they give you training and a long stripey scarf.’

‘What on earth is the scarf for?’ Moonette was rolling her eyes, just for practice.

‘In case anything goes wrong. Well, it worked for Tom Baker. Most of the time.’

‘How will you find Albus?’ CHK asked. ‘You’re not a witch, you can’t go to Hogwarts or Diagon Alley.’

‘I have a cunning plan.’

‘How cunning?’ asked Peverell, hoping that TDU knew the ending to the joke.

‘So cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.’ She grinned. ‘I’m going to open a robes shop. I’ll call it Purple Robes for Powerful Wizards.’

St Margarets frowned. ‘Isn’t that a bit obvious, even for you?’

TDU shrugged. ‘Does that matter?’

St Margarets raised just one eyebrow. TDU decided to ignore it. Instead, she called the waiter over and ordered another bottle of wine.

###

The Tardis wasn’t quite as big inside as TDU had been expecting and she was somewhat relieved when, with a bump, it landed. Opening the door, TDU found she’d been dumped in the middle of nowhere. She was fairly sure she recognised the Yorkshire moors. In the distance, someone was wailing. Ah yes, she was up near Haworth. Excellent. She gathered up her sewing basket and checked to make sure that the few little modern luxuries she’d decided not to do without had made it safely into the nineteenth century.

Proudly smoothing down the fabric of the wide plaid skirt she’d made from a vintage pattern, TDU stepped smartly along the path, holding onto her bonnet with one hand. The Yorkshire weather clearly hadn’t changed in the 150 years she’d skipped. The grey skies looked ominous and TDU was eager to find some shelter before the inevitable storm soaked her new dress and made the path muddy. She was very glad she’d ignored Moonette’s ridiculous advice about high heels. She wasn’t out to seduce a Spartan warrior or even a professional Quidditch player turned Healer. Sensible shoes in a wide fitting style were what she needed to hike across the moors.

The small village didn’t look like the most promising place to start her adventure. Still, TDU was a sturdy Yorkshire lass, not easily daunted. She bespoke a room at the inn and enquired about local dressmakers. She’d brought plenty of money with her, though she kept the roll of notes cautiously folded into her petticoat lining, with just a few coins clinking in her purse. When she found the right spot, she should be able to rent her shop and get her business established. It wouldn’t matter if it weren’t financially successful, but she needed it to become well known. There would be no point slaving over handsewn robes for years if Albus never heard of her existence.

The landlady had shaken her head and told her there was no one in the village. She’d be best heading for Keighley.

‘Bradford,’ suggested one of the strapping young lads sitting by the bar.

The landlord looked TDU over from head to toe. ‘I daresay,’ he replied cryptically.

‘Is there a stagecoach to Bradford?’

‘Aye, lass. It leaves Keighley at noon each day.’

‘I see. How would I get to Keighley?’

‘Happen young Carter’s lad there,’ he nodded to the far end of the bar, ‘he’ll give ye a ride an you ask him. Hi there, Adam!’ The youth looked up, his blond hair falling over his eyes. ‘Yon lady wants a ride to Keighley on the morrow. Ye’ll take her?’

‘Aye, I’ll take her right enough.’

TDU blushed as yet again she was subjected to a thorough examination, just as if she were a scientific specimen. Or an alien. Which in a way, she supposed, she was. ‘Thank you. And now, landlord, I should like a glass of wine.’

He laughed. ‘Nay, lass. We’ve no wine here. The gentry doesn’t stay at The Fleece. Ale or porter, as you fancy.’

###

Adam Carter set her down in the Market Square at Keighley an hour before noon. TDU gave him one of her coins. Judging by the wide-eyed expression on his young face, she had paid him more than generously. Her Yorkshire genes protested at such wastefulness, but TDU shook them off. She had no reason not to be lavish at the moment.

She purchased her ticket for the stagecoach and waited in the parlour of the Burlington Arms. TDU had chosen a seat near the window so that she could more closely observe the fashions of the day, or at least the Yorkshire versions of them. Her own dress, with its blue plaid that had seemed so dull and old-fashioned now struck her as rather bold and daring. The neckline was somewhat lower cut than most of the women were wearing, though the waist was not as neat, TDU having refused to cut her corset smaller than her natural size.

It was the men’s costumes that were the most interesting, however. Jackets with standing collars and cutaway tails. Closely cut pantaloons that, without the magical powers of Lycra, had to be exceptionally well tailored to allow the full range of movement. Neckties folded into intricate patterns with matching handkerchiefs poking out from pockets. TDU knew that she would have to supply such Muggle clothing in the front of her shop, though she hoped that there was a sufficiently large magical community in Bradford to spread word that in the back she made Wizarding Robes of all sizes and colours, to suit the most discriminating of customers. She wouldn’t be able to do too much detailed work, since she’d be working without the aid of magic, of course, and that kind of thing took time. She’d have to rely on her newly-accredited pattern-drafting skills that could whip up robes to flatter every figure almost as if by magic.

The journey to Bradford was long and uncomfortable. TDU was crammed into the corner of the stagecoach, balancing her basket precariously on her lap. She couldn’t even enjoy looking out of the window, since the familiar Yorkshire countryside was swallowed up in the familiar Yorkshire mist, thick enough to blot out everything but the nearest bushes and the occasional roadside cottage. She felt a sudden and unexpected pang of homesickness for the Sydney heat she’d grown accustomed to over the past few years. TDU drew her woollen shawl tightly around her shoulders and scolded herself firmly. Once she had a nice bottle of wine and Albus to serve it for her, she would be right as rain.

###

It hadn’t been as easy as TDU had expected to set up her shop. Not one, but two potential landlords had refused to deal with a woman.

‘T’ain’t nowt against you, lass,’ one had explained politely. ‘But lasses’ heads ain’t made for business now, are they?’

TDU resisted the temptation to stamp her foot, feeling that this was unlikely to help her cause. ‘But I have the money,’ she insisted.

‘Aye, lass, you do now. But who’s to say in six months what you’ll have? I’ve never trusted womenfolk wi’brass and I won’t begin now.’ He smiled, showing his crooked yellow teeth against his florid skin.

It was hopeless. TDU made her farewells and returned to her lodgings. She’d found a room in a respectable part of town where she could get an edible meal twice a day and hot water brought up to her room. She hoped Albus appreciated the sacrifices she’d made in coming to find him at an appropriate age. Hot running water and flush toilets were hard to live without once you’d grown used to them.

TDU was groping for her key when the door to the boarding house opened. She looked up, noting the wrinkled stockings, to find Mrs Batty standing threateningly in the doorway, wielding a broom.

‘No guests to be in the house before five o’clock,’ Mrs Batty announced firmly.

TDU had seen her type before but she knew that she was a match for any Yorkshire housewife. ‘Nonsense,’ she said briskly and moved forward, only to find herself pushed back by the brush.

‘I’ve told ye.’

‘Now you listen to me,’ TDU’s hands went to her hips. ‘I’ve paid for that room and I intend to use it. And if you won’t let me in, I shall tell your husband about the way you look at Mr Simmonite downstairs.’

Mrs Batty’s mouth opened and her hands fell slack. TDU skipped nimbly past her and went to make her way upstairs, lifting her skirts neatly out of the way. A cough behind her made her pause and turn.

‘Yes, Mrs Batty?’

‘I did hear as you was wanting to set up a shop in town?’

‘Yes?’

‘And you has the money for the rent?’

‘Yes.’

‘Mr Batty’s uncle passed last week.’

TDU couldn’t summon up any actual sympathy, but she thought it prudent to offer her condolences.

‘’E had a drapers shop on t’High Street. I could ask Mr Batty to speak to t’agent for you.’

TDU did a little internal dance, but she replied gravely, ‘That would be very kind of him.’

###

Three days later, the lease had been signed, the deposit and first month’s rent paid and TDU was in possession of a large, heavy brass key. She had examined the stock and made arrangements with the late Mr Batty’s lawyer to purchase it at a significantly reduced rate. She would need to order in her own fabrics from London for the robes, of course, but for the moment she could begin to make up shirts and neckties, coats and pantaloons for her Muggle customers. Bradford would be made to sit up and take notice as TDU’s style began to hit its streets. But first, she must find someone to repaint the sign above the shop. Batty’s Threads wasn’t the name to draw Dumbledore to her shop. She was beginning to have second thoughts about Purple Robes for Powerful Wizards too. Damn. She should have asked St Margarets to come up with something better. Or Gabriella Du Sult. She was in the trade, she’d have known what would work. It needed to be a name that would attract the wizarding clientele without alienating the Muggles. Stiches and Snitches? Should she just use her name: Bel’s Robes? She could make it sound French and glamorous: Belle’s Robes?

She shook her head. None of them sounded like Albus’s type of shop. He liked purple robes to match his silvery hair. Oh. But he wouldn’t have silvery hair yet, would he? Hmm, what would he want with his auburn curls? Nice rich reds and browns, perhaps. He probably already wore those ridiculous boots, though, with buckles up to the knee. TDU wasn’t going to stock those. What else did Albus like? Ah! TDU beamed with pleasure. Warm socks were the way to her man’s heart.

###

Warm socks were, apparently the way to every man’s heart. TDU had barely turned her sign from ‘Closed’ to ‘Open’ before she was beseiged by customers. Several of these were, she observed acutely, unmarried gentlemen of a certain age, flaunting their wealth and inquiring more or less discreetly about TDU’s family. She could only assume that the thought of acquiring a wife with the means to support herself was what appealed to the Yorkshire stock. Unless it was the way her dress flared out over her hips, making them appear a fine breeding quality.

She took their money and sold them their socks, their ties, their waistcoats but coldly refused all their advances. There was one customer, however, whom she encouraged.

Hezekiah Weaselly intrigued TDU. His bright orange hair and liberal sprinkling of freckles had first attracted her attention. When he introduced himself, she couldn’t help but smile broadly. He looked so like his great-great-great-dot-dot-dot-grandson Charlie. Girlyswot would have been entranced. TDU had tried to make subtle hints at his magical status but he had blithely ignored them all. He had, however, invited her to the Temperance Society Annual Picnic.

‘Temperance Society?’ she enquired cautiously.

‘Aye, tha’s right. Ye’ll have taken the pledge?’

‘The pledge?’ TDU repeated, completely lost.

Hezekiah gave her a strange look. ‘The Teetotallers Pledge.’

TDU gulped. He was asking her to a party… without any alcohol! But he was the only possible magical contact she’d made. Taking a deep breath, she nodded. ‘Yes, of course.’

###

It hadn’t been a complete disaster, she supposed. When Hezekiah had called for her at the boarding house, sporting a rather loud pink and green checked waistcoat of which he was evidently enormously proud, TDU hadn’t had the heart to tell him it was hideous. Instead, she’d surreptitiously taken a sustaining sip from her hip flask before slipping it back into her reticule. Then, carefully ignoring the curious gaze of Mrs Batty she had taken his arm and walked away.

He had been courteous to a fault, introducing her to all manner of people, fetching her ice creams and lemonade. They had walked for a while alongside the river. TDU decided that was her best opportunity and, grasping her courage with both hands, asked him straight out.

‘Are you a wizard?’

Hezekiah’s mighty red eyebrows rose a good inch. ‘What sort of a question is that to ask a gentleman?’

‘An honest one.’

‘An ye’ll be expecting a honest answer, will ye?’

‘Yes. Please.’

They walked for a few more yards, then Hezekiah stopped, putting a hand on TDU’s arm. ‘Will ye answer me a question first?’

‘Maybe.’ What if he’d guessed about her hip flask?

‘Would ye do me the honour… that is to say, I was hoping that… I should like to ask ye to be… my wife.’

His cheeks were flushed the colour of tomatoes by the end of this speeck and TDU had to resist the temptation to wipe him down with a damp cloth.

‘Your wife?’ She mustn’t giggle. That wasn’t fair. ‘But we hardly know each other.’

‘Aye, I know. But we’d get to know each other after. I don’t… you see, that is… I don’t commonly get on wi’women at all.’

TDU drew in a deep breath. Not Charlie’s dotted grandfather, after all. A dotted uncle, perhaps.

‘I’m sorry about that, Hezekiah. And I’m flattered, truly I am. But I can’t agree to it. Not just now.’

He nodded. ‘Aye, well, I wasn’t expecting you’d agree first time, like. You’ll have no objection to me calling on you again?’

TDU shook her head. ‘No objection at all.’ Another cunning plan was beginning to form itself. But first she had to make sure, ‘You didn’t answer my question.’

Hezekiah laughed. ‘But surely you’ve worked that out by now?’

###

Her fingers were bleeding, her eyes were weary and her back ached. TDU wondered why on earth she’d ever thought this was a good idea. She longed for a hot bath and a strong drink. She was lonely and miserable and, not for the first time, was wondering if she could find her way back to the Tardis and the twenty-first century.

She’d done everything she could think of to lure Albus to her shop. The windows were stocked with complicated knitting patterns, and piles of woollen socks, knitted by TDU in a rainbow of colours. Many of them sported complicated designs including moons and stars. One pair that featured broomsticks and snitches was prominently displayed on the top of the pile in the hopes that some wizard or witch would notice it and come in to investigate.

Instead, she’d had a growing stream of burly Yorkshiremen demanding her cleverly cut waistcoats to disguise their overhanging stomachs. Aspiring young bucks wanted her dashing coats with their brightly coloured linings. Hezekiah came in faithfully every week and always insisted on purchasing the most expensive item on show. TDU had been forced to hire two young girls to help with the stitching and she was still falling behind on her orders.

Nevertheless, she stayed behind for an extra hour each night, working on one particular set of robes. She’d ordered the lightweight wool in russet red especially for this project. She’d cut the pieces as best she could, without any measurements to go by, only her memory and her best guess. Still it had made up well, and could easily be finally fitted when it was finished. Now she was embroidering her design onto the front panels. A swirling mix of reds and oranges, browns and greens burst into something like a firework display on the cloth. TDU was rather pleased with how it had turned out, and was very glad she’d practiced her skills on Girlyswot’s Pay it Forward gift first. Today she opened the small package that she’d ordered a couple of weeks earlier. Golden thread, literally beaten out of the metal into strands thin enough to work with, poured out of the tissue into a small pool on the counter. TDU threaded her needle and began to set the lustrous highlights into the garment.

The gold was tricky to work with and TDU needed all her concentration. Just as she was at a particularly delicate moment, her candle blew out. Cursing freely, she got up to light it again from the lamp in the front of the shop.

‘No need for that.’ The deep voice startled her. She hadn’t heard the bell over the door ring to signal that someone was coming in. In fact, now that she thought about it, she’d locked the door after Gladys had left an hour ago.

‘Who are you? How did you get in?’ Her words faded as a light fell across the room. A light from his wand. Oh.

‘Nothing to be afraid of.’ TDU looked carefully into the wizard’s face and wasn’t quite so sure.

‘What are you doing barging in like that?’

He laughed. ‘You didn’t expect me to come by in broad daylight among all the Muggles, did you?’

TDU bit her lip. She hadn’t thought of that.

‘What do you want?’

‘I heard you were making robes.’

She nodded cautiously. ‘Perhaps.’

‘Show them to me.’ Certainly not from Yorkshire, TDU was struggling to place the wizard’s strange accent.

‘There’s only one set made. And they’re for… someone else.’

‘No samples?’ He sounded surprised.

‘You’re the first, er, customer for that sort of thing I’ve had.’ He raised an eyebrow and TDU realised her mistake. ‘The others are for, um, a friend.’

Fortunately, the wizard didn’t push it. ‘Not to worry. Show me the robes you’re making and we’ll talk.’

Hastily securing her needle, TDU held up the autumnal robes for inspection. The wizard held out the sleeves, apparently pleased with the bell-shaped curved TDU had used. The deep yoke on the back with the tiny pleats met with his approval too. He studied the embroidery carefully, then nodded.

‘Not bad.’

In Yorkshire-speak, that meant, ‘Very nice indeed.’ TDU smiled, though she suspected that the man had only meant precisely what he had said.

‘You couldn’t wear that colour, though,’ she pointed out, just in case the wizard still had designs on these robes.

‘No. I don’t want these for myself. But Albus will be thrilled.’

TDU gripped the counter hard and took a deep breath. ‘Albus?’

The wizard gave her an odd look. ‘Albus Dumbledore. The man you’ve been making these for.’

‘How did you…’

‘He told me, of course.’

TDU shook her head. ‘He doesn’t know. I mean I haven’t seen him since…’

‘Since last year at the Ministry Ball. I know. He was devastated when you told him you were moving back to Yorkshire to set up your own shop.’

‘I did? I mean, he was?’ This time travel stuff really was confusing. TDU needed a strong cup of tea. Or a strong drink.

‘Of course. He always enjoyed your company and it certainly made life easier for him.’

‘It did?’ This was utterly bewildering. TDU sat down, not really caring if she was being rude.

‘Why yes. He has to have someone to escort to all those official functions and most witches tend to assume things that Albus would rather they didn’t. You were the perfect cover.’

‘Cover?’

‘Now don’t get like that. You know perfectly well that you were one of Albus’s dearest friends. But he’s hardly marriageable material, so naturally he felt safer with you than any of those mindless debutantes with only one thing on their mind.’

‘Oh.’

‘So, anyway, my robes.’ TDU was still trying to place his accent. It was continental, she thought. German, perhaps. ‘I would like something in a grey wool, no frills or…’, he waved a hand at the embroidery on Albus’s robes.

‘Yes, I see.’ TDU’s professional side kicked in and she began to drag out bolts of cloth, fingering each and checking their colours against the wizard’s pale skin. She sketched out a quick design and together they agreed on a pale grey wool in a severe cut, outlined with a dark grey trim.

‘Excellent. When will they be ready?’

TDU calculated. ‘Come for a fitting in two weeks,’ she decided.

‘Very well. I will bring Albus, shall I?’

She nodded weakly and watched him Disapparate with a rather loud bang. It was only after he’d gone that it occurred to her she hadn’t asked his name.

###

For two weeks, TDU laboured long into the night, working on the two sets of wizarding robes. She couldn’t help but contrast them: one so exuberant and lavish, the other so austere and plain. But the nameless wizard had been right. The starkness of his robes would suit him much better than Albus’s colourful ones. Finally, at two o’clock in the morning, she set the last stitch into the grey robes and hung the two sets up to compare. She had done all she could and, to her tired eyes at least, they were complete. One final task remained. TDU found paper and pen and dashed off a short note to Hezekiah Weaselly.

The next day she woke late and dressed all in a hurry. She left the house at a run, ignoring Nora’s cries that she couldn’t go to work wi’out her stomach filled. Perhaps because she’d missed her breakfast, or perhaps because she’d been working too much, TDU couldn’t seem to do anything right. She had to rip out two seams where she’d painstakingly stitched a beautiful brocade inside out. She spilled her tea on her knitting and poked her finger with a needle so that it bled onto a bolt of snowy white linen.

By the time the girls left and she locked up, TDU was thorougly fed up. Past caring what anyone thought of her, she marched around to the inn at the corner of the street and demanded a bottle of gin. The landlord shook his head at her, but the sight of TDU’s money was too much for him to resist.

‘A little tonic water with that, my dear?’

TDU closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. A moment later she opened them again. Albus was still there, twinkling at her with knowing blue eyes. He had a heavy cutglass tumbler in one hand and a soda siphon in the other. A small bowl of neatly sliced lemon sat on the counter behind him. TDU held out the gin and watched him work his magic. He mixed the drink just the way she liked it and handed the glass back to her. TDU drank gratefully, passing the empty glass back for a second. Albus smiled but made no comment.

After her second gin and tonic, Albus shook his head. ‘Enough for now. Sit down, my dear, and tell me about this mess you’ve got yourself into. We have half an hour before Gellert joins us.’

‘Gellert? Oh…’ Grindelwald. TDU felt her legs buckle beneath her. Albus swiftly levitated a handy chair to catch her fall. It was something of a shock to think that she’d been making robes for a Dark wizard.

‘Quite.’

‘Could I have another drink?’ she asked hopefully.

‘Not yet.’ But his eyes were twinkling and TDU knew he wouldn’t make her wait long.

‘Very well. I came to find you.’

‘As I thought,’ he murmured, stroking his luxurious beard. He looked just like Richard Burton in Camelot, TDU noticed with a certain satisfaction.

‘I couldn’t just go into Diagon Alley,’ she explained, ‘so I opened a shop that I thought you’d like.’ Her hand waved towards the socks and the knitting patterns.

Albus smiled gently. ‘Those are things that I am certain I will like.’

‘Oh, I’ve done it again, haven’t I? Confused you now with you in a hundred years time. Socks aren’t your favourite thing, are they?’

He shook his head. ‘I must admit I prefer a well-tied neckcloth.’ He proudly stroked his own. ‘I call mine the Hocus Pocus.’

‘I made you some robes.’

‘Gellert told me they are magnificent. Thank you.’

‘You and Gellert…’

Albus nodded.

‘Damn!’

He looked somewhat taken aback at her expletive. TDU was very pleased to have shocked him at least once.

‘But you already knew that, didn’t you?’

‘I thought if I came back early enough, I could meet you before… and then you wouldn’t end up gay, after all!’

Albus chuckled and began to pour another drink for TDU. ‘No, you didn’t.’

‘I did!’ she retorted, cleverly.

‘You thought you’d come back and engage in some witty repartee with me about knitting.’

TDU slurped some more gin. ‘Maybe. But it’s the same thing. You won’t want to sit around making jokes with me now that you’ve got Gellert. Besides I have a much better idea. Give me another drink.’

Albus shook his head. ‘Have I ever missed an opportunity to make jokes with you?’

‘Well, but it’s not the same! I only ever see you at the parties and we all have to pretend that you’re there because really you’re dead! Girlyswot gets to see Charlie all the time. And Will lives in Moonette’s garage. Whereas you… you live in the past!’

‘We all live in the same place,’ Albus explained in that mysterious way that had always irritated Harry. ‘We live in our writers’ imaginations.’

‘That’s not fair!’ TDU exploded, splashing gin and tonic over a display of knitting needles. ‘I’m not a writer! I don’t have an imagination!’

Albus merely looked at her.

TDU fumed. She didn’t really know how to do that but it sounded good.

‘I think, my dear, that we had better find a Time Turner for you. Your husband will be missing you, not to mention that delightful daughter of yours, Little Tyke. But first,’ he stood up, ‘I should very much like to try on my new robes.’

They fitted perfectly. TDU wondered whether Albus had secretly Charmed them to fit while she wasn’t watching. He twirled happily in them, so that the colours sprang to life in the flickering candlelight. They were the best thing TDU had ever made. She wondered when Hezekiah would arrive. Truly, he would be perfect for Albus.

‘Very nice.’ TDU turned round to see Grindelwald leaning against the counter watching Albus prance. The two wizards exchanged a look that made TDU’s stomach squirm with embarrassment.

‘Try yours on,’ Albus suggested.

TDU handed him the robes and pointed to the curtained area which served as a changing-room.

A few minutes later, Grindelwald emerged. TDU gasped and Albus seemed to be similarly struck. The high, aquiline nose and the sharp cheekbones were exaggerated by the standing collar of the grey robes. The darker outline emphasized the phenomenal physique of the man as well as the cold severity of his features. TDU instinctively stepped back.

They were like hot and cold, fire and ice. All that made Albus the man she fancied admired so much was missing from Gellert. All the humanity, the fun and the compassion, not to mention the phenomenal bartending skills. Yet as they stood together, TDU could see what attracted Albus to him. There was a magnetism in his grey eyes, a power that was obvious in every muscle and sinew. He was a man you couldn’t easily ignore, a man that you could believe would change the world. TDU shivered.

‘What's going on here?’ She turned around thankfully when she heard Hezekiah’s warm tones. Reeling slightly, she lost her balance. Strong Weaselly arms caught her. TDU made sure to breathe her alcoholic fumes right into his face. ‘You’ve been drinking!’

‘He gave it to me!’ TDU pointed to Albus. ‘He needs saving from Grindelwald’s bad influence, Hezekiah. You could do it!’

Hezekiah looked up to where Albus was standing, still wearing TDU’s robes. She noticed with satisfaction the way that his Weasley blue eyes (just like Charlie’s) widened slightly at the beauty of the man before him. Hezekiah’s gaze turned to Gellert and his face hardened.

‘Grindelwald,’ he ground out, reaching for his wand.

Dumbledore stepped forward, as if to protect Gellert. TDU watched in fascination, wondering if there was going to be a duel. If only she had some knitting handy.

‘Veaselly.’ Grindelwald laid a reassuring hand on Albus’s shoulder.

‘It’s all right, Gellert. Weaselly knows that he and I should not suit. The Temperance Movement will do very well without me. You are very kind, my dear,’ he added, speaking to TDU. ‘But I am afraid that your matchmaking skills are not the equal of your dressmaking skills.’

He smiled kindly at her and TDU realised that she had had enough of all of this. She wanted to go home.

Suddenly and urgently, she wanted to be home again. She hated this place with its bad smells and its inefficient lighting. She wanted paved streets and clothes that were easy to walk in. She didn’t want to chew her way through another one of Nora Batty’s awful stews. She wanted to be allowed to be a vegetarian again. She wanted her family around her.

Albus smiled understandingly. ‘Don’t worry, my dear. Gellert knows the Time Travel Charm. He’ll take you whenever you want to be.’

TDU nodded shakily. ‘I’m sorry,’ she muttered, addressing the room in general. ‘This was all a terrible mistake.’

‘You’d never have been happy if I’d turned teetotal, you know,’ Albus pointed out. ‘Who would have mixed your drinks at all those parties? But the robes are fabulous.’

TDU huffed. ‘They should be! Do you know how many hours it takes to do that sort of work without magic?’

‘I know it will last for as many years.’

‘Huh.’

‘Goodbye, my dear.’

TDU pleated the fabric of her skirt beneath her fingers as she wondered. ‘Albus? There’s a party on Valentine’s Day. You will be there, won’t you?’

‘That’s up to you,’ he said. ‘We all live in your imagination, remember.’

‘Oh. Well, in that case…’

‘I’ll be there,’ he promised. ‘Now, you should go.’

‘Yes. Right. Goodbye.’ TDU put her hand into Grindelwald’s outstretched one, wondering just how foolish she was to entrust herself to the second most powerful Dark wizard the world would ever see. Just as he began to speak the Charm, she thought of something else. ‘Albus!’ she called. ‘Don’t forget to take the socks and the knitting patterns!’

###

‘So it didn’t really work out then?’ Grandma Kate was offering tea and cake to everyone while TDU recounted her adventures.

‘Not really,’ she admitted. ‘Still I did find out one important thing.’

‘What’s that?’ asked St Margarets, willing to give her friend the set up she needed for the final punchline.

‘There was a hole in the curtain,’ TDU said smugly. ‘Now I know exactly what Albus Dumbledore wears under his robes.’