Taylor Daniels cleaned the last table in the Three Broomsticks Tavern, her parent's pub in Hogsmeade. Ever since Taylor was old enough to hold a sponge and swipe it across tables, she had been cleaning the pub. It was tiring and quite lonely sometimes, but at the moment, nothing could ruin Taylor's mood.
She had just received her Hogwarts book list meaning only one thing. There was only one more month until she was going back to school.
Sure, she didn't have many friends (people usually don't respond well when you stand in front of them blubbering like an idiot), but Taylor felt this year was going to be different. She had been working on her social skills all summer with customers that came in and out of the Three Broomsticks – and trust her, not everyone was a great sight.
Hogwarts, even though she lived within a mile or so of it, always felt so different than Hogsmeade. It was…refined. Maybe it was because Taylor had lived in Hogsmeade all her life, but she didn't find it as fun as all the other kids did. She watched as third years came in from their first Hogsmeade trips the previous year (Taylor was only eleven and, therefore, could not attend). Their pockets were full of dung bombs, sugar quills and tales of the Shrieking Shack. They seemed so excited about all of it, while Taylor could trace her earliest memory back to a younger version of herself playing with a myriad of Zonko's products.
"Taylor!" called her mother. Taylor snapped out of her trance to notice that she had been rubbing the sponge in the exact same spot for the past minute.
"Yes?" came Taylor's reply.
Taylor's mother, Dana Weasley (she didn't want to take Taylor's father's last name), burst through the back door. Her red hair was frizzing from the heat, her brown eyes just adjusting to the dark interior of the Three Broomsticks.
"Ah, there you are," Ms. Weasley said. "Your father and I thought that you had left for Diagon Alley without us."
Taylor gave a skeptical look to her hair-brained mother. "Mum, I'm twelve…" she explained.
"Yes, yes you are," Ms. Weasley told her in a reprimanding sort of way. "That's why you can't go to Diagon Alley by yourself."
Sometimes, Taylor wanted to laugh out loud at how forgetful her mother could be.
"Well then, is Dad coming along as well?" Taylor asked, wringing out the dirty sponge in the sink. Ms. Weasley made her way to the fireplace.
"Oh…no, he can't make it. He has to stay behind and hold down the fort," Ms. Weasley joked. Taylor faked a smile and joined her mother at the fireplace.
Ms. Weasley grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fire. "Diagon Alley!" she said clearly. As soon as she stepped into the fire, there was a pop and a sizzle-sound, and she had disappeared.
Taylor followed suit and found herself at Diagon Alley moments later.
"Well come on now," Ms. Weasley said, attempting to smooth down her frizzy curls. "Did you grab your book list?"
"Of course, Mum," Taylor said.
Ms. Weasley, who had given up on her own hair, moved to Taylor's. She flattened the top and Taylor batted her away, afraid that one of the familiar faces floating around Diagon Alley recognized her.
"Right then," Ms. Weasley said indignantly, "Gringotts first."
One not-fun meeting with goblins and a cart ride later, the two women were on the street again.
"What do you need? Read me the first three books," Ms. Weasley said as they stepped into the packed Flourish and Blotts.
"The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk, Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart and Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart. Wait. That's weird. It seems there's only one book on this list that's not by this Lockhart character," Taylor observed. "Have you ever heard of him? Mom?"
Taylor looked up from her booklist to find her mother fawning over a book. On closer inspection, Taylor found that it was actually a picture of a good-looking wizard on a book.
"Oh my," said Ms. Weasley, "Gilderoy is so very good at everything, isn't he?"
Taylor rolled her eyes. The man on the cover – Gilderoy Lockhart, she suspected – was alright-looking, but nothing compared to some other wizards Taylor had seen. She didn't really like this Lockhart person.
"Listen Mum," Taylor said. "All his books will cost about as much as my new robes. This is going to be worth a fortune!"
Ms. Weasley waved her off. "Nonsense. I already have most of these books at home. You just need to get that 'Ghouls' one and the one with the 'Vampires,'" she said. "And maybe Year with the Yeti as well. I'm not sure I have that one."
Taylor looked at her mother surprised. She had never been known to be a fan girl over anything. Surely, she'd come to her senses eventually.
After they paid for all their books (and Taylor had snuck a small book about Quidditch into the pile while her mother wasn't looking), her mother suggested ice cream for lunch.
When Taylor gave her a signature 'really?' look, Ms. Weasley held up her hands in surrender. "It's not every day my daughter has to get her books for her second year at Hogwarts, you know. We rarely come down here, might as well make it a treat," she explained. Taylor, finding no fault in this, indulged in a sundae.
At half-past one, they headed to Madame Malkins for some new robes. It seemed as though Taylor has grown several inches since the previous summer.
After they paid for Taylor's new robes, they set off for Hogsmeade again. Yes, it seemed as though Taylor's second year at Hogwarts would be even more fun than the last.
I think this is a great start to Chamber of Secrets. Let me know what you think!