Forever Yours

Chapter 7: Mr. Prince Goes to Town

"Well, we should stop at the bank," Katherine said as she lead them towards a gray stone building. "We'll need to withdraw quite a bit in order to get all of your clothes and necessities, plus groceries...well...extra groceries since Septimus will be home Sunday."

Above the large building hung a large wooden sign marked Superior Bank - Amadahy Branch in golden letters. Two wizards, both dressing in burgundy cloaks, stood on either side of the large wooden doors at the building entrance. Neither wizard spoke, but Severus could feel their eyes upon him as he followed Katherine through the doors.

The interior of the bank wasn't much different from Gringotts. The floor was covered with white marble, and at least a dozen goblins worked behind wooden desks, counting golden, silver and bronze coins. But it wasn't the goblins that caught Severus' eye, it was the giant that stood at the withdrawal window where Katherine was heading.

"Katherine," Severus hissed lowly, trying to stop her. But it was too late, just as Katherine came within a few feet of the giant, the massive beast turned and looked down at the blonde witch. Severus' eyes widened as the at the sight of it; the giant had to be at least twenty-two feet in height, his head and neck bent slightly so it could fit inside the building. It looked much like the giants found in Europe, but there was something different about the face.

"Well," the giant's deep voice filled the room, causing Severus to grip his wand tightly in his pocket. "Katherine Prince has returned."

"Hello Hunfrith," Katherine smiled up at the large creature. "How is the family?"

"Very good," the giant replied. "Olwen's growing like a weed." Severus thought he could feel the floor shake when the giant laughed, but his black eyes never left the giant's face. Then suddenly the giant's eyes were upon him.

"What are you looking at?" the giant sneered, eyeing Severus up and down. Katherine turned around to see her husband's eyes narrowed in on Hunfrith and clutching the wand in his pocket.

"Oh for Merlin sakes Sev," Katherine sighed, causing Severus to lose his focus on the overgrown creature. "Take your hand off your wand, our magic doesn't work inside this building for security purposes." Slowly, Severus removed his hand from his wand and looked in confusion towards his wife.

"Hunfrith, this is Severus Prince, my overcautious husband," Katherine said, gesturing to the wizard. "Sev, this is Hunfrith.

"He's not an European giant Sev," Katherine said, as though she had read his mind. "Hunfrith and his family are Rephaites."

"Rephaites?" Severus muttered, looking back and forth between the witch and the giant, or whatever Katherine called it.

"Aye," Hunfrith said. "I'm a Rephaim. We're a rare breed of giant. Our kind was believed to be long destroyed, but that is of course just a rumor. Many of my kind were killed off long ago, so our ancestors fled our homeland and traveled east to the Bering Strait, which we used to cross over into North America. Most of us live in the mountainous regions of the continent, but there are some of us who have moved into areas more like this one. And unlike our distant European giant cousins, we are much more intelligent." Even though Hunfrith had finished, all Severus could do was stare at the Rephaim.

"Right, well," Katherine cleared her throat, and smiled back up at the Rephaim. "Good seeing you again Hunfrith."

"Yes," Hunfrith said, looking back and forth at the witch and wizard. "Good to see you returned home safely Katherine...umm...Severus, pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Severus breathed, as the Rephaim walked past him, heading for the double doors.

"Tell Huffie I said hello," Katherine shouted at Hunfrith retreating form.