And here we are, girls and boys, at marvellous second year and all the scaly fun that's to be had. Sorry for taking quite a bit to get off my arse and write this one out. My sincere apologies, dears, and I thank you for being patient. Just a quick note, removed part of my penname, and it's not very different, I'm just mentioning it to avoid confusion at seeing me in your inbox and all. That said, I won't further delay you, welcome to Elena Sinistra's second year at hogwarts.

Chapter One: Look the Other Way

For a late, end of August day, it was colder than I expected it to be. Thankfully, though, Mum had me bring a warmer robe, so I pulled it tighter, slipping past an old woman with crooked teeth and down the stone steps into Knockturn Alley. I ignored the looks and whispers I received, words trying to tear me from my path, enticing me away from my goal. I hadn't the need or wish to spend longer in this place than I needed to before I got back to Flourish and Blotts, where Mum and the Grangers were waiting.

I just needed to get to Borgin and Burkes for one small thing, and then I could be off.

Because, as usual, the newest telescope I'd hoped to add to my collection had finally arrived in London—and it just had to be in Borgin's care. I loathed the place (except Mum says that's a strong word, so I s'pose dislike will have to do). Not because it was in the shadier offspring of Diagon Alley. Or because of last year's unpleasant encounter with Lucius Malfoy and his son. It was just because the place was creepy. Worse, Borgin was creepy. The whole store just made me involuntarily shiver every time I stepped foot in it.

Today was no different as I pushed the door open carefully, hearing the high-pitched chime somewhere high above my head. Borgin looked up from fiddling with something at the main desk, narrowed his eyes briefly at me, then smiled—crooked and not at all welcoming. "Miss Sinistra. So nice to see you."

"Mr. Borgin," I dipped my head, biting my tongue to refrain from returning a greeting I would not mean. "I heard you acquired the new StarSeer?"

"You've heard right," he grumbled, checking the clipboard lying astray on his counter. He raised a bony finger, pointing towards a towering shelf near the back of the store. "Look around. It should be there somewhere."

"Thanks."

And by 'there somewhere' he means 'somewhere amongst a million other trinkets' because nothing in this place is organized. He honestly must grab something right out of the box it's delivered in, hunt down an empty space, and chuck it there. Not that I can imagine there being empty space anywhere…

I was halfway to a shelf I thought I might've seen the telescope on when a noise caught my attention. It was only rustling at first, but quickly became a cascade of noise and—funny; I could've sworn I saw a wave of dust push past the glass case to my right. I frowned, squinting. Yes, there did seem to be a fair amount of dust settling on the ground. But where had it come from?

I glanced to the front to see that Borgin clearly hadn't noticed (or, in his fashion, didn't care). And so I found myself inching closer to the source of the dust and rustling, a sound which was worsening the closer I stepped. When I came fully around the glass case, my breath hitched in my throat—it was a boy!

There was… there was a ruddy boy standing there, brushing himself off! With about a pound of dust in his hair, making it look grey, and even more on his clothes. How had he…? Where had he…?

Hang on; those were Hogwarts robes he was wearing. Gryffindor ones, to be exact. I think. I was attributing the lightness of the crest to the dust, and not the fact that it could be Hufflepuff, because that was even more ridiculous than a Gryffindor being in here. And then, I realized, those were glasses he was blowing debris off of. Cracked glasses. Familiar glasses.

Bugger.

Bloody buggering hell.

"Harry?" The name sounded strange on my tongue, in this place, but when he looked up at me, I had no doubt. A grin stretched out across my lips, and my feet sprung forward before the rest of me had time to react. I nearly would've smacked into him if my brain hadn't caught up and forced my arms apart to hug him. "Harry, what are you doing here?" As he returned the hug lightly, I stepped back, frowning. "Er, how, actually, is the more appropriate question."

"Floo Powder," he said, turning away to cough. Placing his glasses back on his nose, he squinted at the shop around us. "Where am I?"

"Borgin and Burkes."

He frowned. "I don't remember seeing that in Diagon Alley."

I winced. "Er, it isn't. Knockturn Alley, actually."

He looked at me, briefly, before shrugging. "Never heard of it."

"Then how did you…," I trailed off, pointing to the fireplace in confusion. You had to say where you were going with the Floo Network, and so, if he hadn't a clue what this place was, I was a tad confused as to how he'd… slid into it.

"I s'pose I might've mispronounced Diagon Alley when leaving the Weasleys."

There was only a moment of quiet before we burst into peals of laughter. I shook my head at him, grin splitting my face, and reached into my robes for my wand. "Let me fix those glasses of yours, and then we'll be off. Do you know where the Weasleys were headed?" He shrugged.

"Alright, well," my wand tip touched the crack in his glasses, and I struggled to remember the spell Hermione was always telling him to memorize. Which of course, he didn't. And neither did Ron. And—hang on! "Reparo!"

The crack filled itself in, and pride swelled in my chest. "Thanks."

"Not a problem. Now, let's head to Flourish and Blotts. Mum's there with Hermione and her parents, and with any luck, the Weasleys might be, too. Unless Mrs. Weasley's gone mad worrying about where you've gone, of course."

He grimaced. "Let's hope not." Taking one last swipe at his robes, he made for the door, just barely visible around the nearest glass case. I followed.

I hadn't forgotten the telescope; I merely thought it a better plan to get Harry out of here before Borgin started to ask questions. Or someone came into the store that actually belonged in Knockturn Alley and caused trouble for us.

As the bell above the door dinged, and Harry abruptly stopped, causing me to bump into him, I mentally kicked myself. A lot. For being such a prat. Because I would think of something so stupid and manage to jinx us.

Translation? –Lucius Malfoy had just walked in.

Panic. Panic. Panic. Er, okay, how could we avoid him? Sneak out? Run away from impending doom? That isn't exaggeration, either. Really, it isn't. If I was alone, perhaps. But with Harry? Here?

Bugger.

Bloody buggering hell.

"Elena—"

"I see him. Hide," I hissed, gently pushing him back the way we'd come. "Okay, okay, relax. We need a plan. That's all. A plan. To get out of here. Quickly. Without him seeing us. You, mainly. Thoughts?"

"Um, yes? Are you panicking?"

"Aren't you?"

"Admittedly, a little."

"Right, well, hide. I'll take care of it."

"You'll wha—hey, what are you doing? Elena, I—"

Sorry, Harry, can't hear you from inside that large, person-sized, stand-up metal casket. S'cuse me while I distract the man Mum keeps telling me to stay away from. Huzzah.

"Mr. Malfoy," Borgin's voice floated over as Draco's father reached the counter, a grin set on the shop keep's crooked teeth. "Pleasure to see you again." His wrinkled hand slithered towards the clipboard he'd had in hand earlier. "I must say, you're just in time for—"

"I'm not buying today, Borgin," Lucius snapped, and it was then I noticed the box he was carrying, sheltered under his arm. He hoisted it onto the counter, rattling the items beneath the glass pane of the front display case, and pursed his lips. "I'm selling."

"Oh," Borgin's eyes widened, his hands clasping together. The old man could barely contain his glee, and that was particularly unsettling. I simply wasn't sure why.

"You are aware, no doubt…," Lucius began, and I crept my way around the back set of cases, never keeping my eyes from the two men. I was aware I needed to distract them to get Harry out, I just wasn't sure how. And listening to their conversation was belittling any motivation I had to figure it out. "That the Ministry is conducting more raids on private houses, in agreement with the new Muggle Protection Act." He hissed out the words with disgust.

"Pure wizard blood is counting for less everywhere, I'm afraid."

"Not with me." Gee, Lucius, didn't know you admired that nifty snake-headed cane of yours so terribly you had to emulate it in speech. "Anyway," he went on, opening the box he'd brought with him. I peered around the shelf before me, trying to get a better look at its contents. "I've brought a few items from home that might be a bit, hem, embarrassing, if caught by the Ministry. I'm sure you understand."

"All too well, all too well," Borgin nodded, plucking something from the box and examining it. His eyes widened, and he clutched at the next item, and then the next, fervently, madly almost, greed shinning so suddenly in his beady eyes. I chose that moment to act. "Lucius, these are—"

"Hi, Mr. Borgin," I chimed, stepping out of the back, towards the front, grabbing a trinket off the first shelf I passed. "Done."

Borgin narrowed his eyes at me, and I tried very hard not to look at the man standing off to my right, by his little box of… suspicious items. "I thought you were in here for the new StarSeer, Miss Sinistra."

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. The one time he actually paid attention to something I said…

"Miss Sinistra, so nice to see you," Lucius spoke up, plucking something that looked like a book, or a smaller, thinner box, from the pile of items that Borgin had been reaching for and subtly placed it amongst his robes. I turned, rather reluctantly, to see the smile on his lips. Far too warm to belong there. "Without Aurora this time, I see."

I tried very hard not to open my mouth and reply to the tone with which he'd spoken those words, and it was rather easy to lose motivation once I recalled a conversation Mum and I had had last year, over why he was on a first name basis with her. It still made me cringe. Friends. Psh. "She's holding my place in line at Flourish and Blotts," I told him, straightening my shoulders. "For Gilderoy Lockhart. I just came here to see if Mr. Borgin had something I wanted…" then trailed off, realizing, of course, that I hadn't picked the StarSeer up, but some random item off the nearest shelf.

"Draco was at Flourish and Blotts when I left him," Lucius drawled as Borgin began making a pile of coins in exchange for the items he was taking from Mr. Malfoy. "Interestingly, my son had quite a bit to say about you…your adventures, last year."

I chuckled nervously, thinking of the Midnight Duel, and Norbert, and detention—and because just past him, I could spot the ends of Harry's robes sliding past the metal casket I'd stuck him in and towards the front. Borgin was still enamored with the things Lucius had brought, but it was Mr. Malfoy I had to keep busy. I smiled rather hesitantly. "I'm sure he did."

"I was glad to hear you ended up in the same house," he continued to smirk down at me, while Harry came closer and closer to the door.

"Er, thanks?" Almost there…

"Not that I had any doubts you wouldn't," Lucius continued, "from a pureblood line yourself, and your—"

"Here," Borgin barked suddenly, reaching under the counter and producing the very tiny telescope I'd come here to fetch. He'd… he'd had it all along! The absolute nerve of— "That'll be two galleons, please."

"Two…two galleons?" I spluttered, my eyes widening. "For the… but the listed price was only… I don't…"

Well, I s'pose "distract him so that Harry can sneak out" can surely translate into "be a blubbering idiotic mess" can't it?

"Here," Lucius drawled; grabbing two coins from the pile Borgin had been making for him and sliding them over to me.

"Oh, no, I couldn't," I shook my head, feeling suddenly nervous with Borgin glaring at me the way he was, as if I was intruding. He wanted me to go, leave them to their suspicious business, and as the bell above the door dinged, letting me know Harry had made it out, I was more than happy to oblige. "I—I'm fine. I can come back with Mum."

"Miss Sinistra—"

"Elena—"

"Have a nice day!" I grinned, all fake-cheer and high-pitched voice, side-stepping them both and heading for the door, heart pounding.

I could still hear it in my ears when I met up with Harry three shops away.

I find it a tad weaker than my usual writings, and I'm sorry if that's the case for you lot as well. Anywho, we've found ourselves at Diagon Alley (or Knockturn, anyway) for a second year start in a row, and for anyone who's seen the deleted scenes from Chamber of Secrets will know I borrowed a bit from there.

Hope you enjoyed, and let me know in a review what you thought of it. Because I always enjoy hearing from you guys.