Chapter One

"Diagon Alley! Diagon Alley!" Ron and Harry chanted as they hopped in circles, hands joined as they danced around the kitchen. "We're going to Diagon Alley! Diagon Alley! Diagon Alley-"

"Sit down and eat your breakfast!" Molly commanded for the third time that morning. She gave her two eleven-year-old sons, one with flaming red hair and blue eyes and the other with black hair and green eyes, a stern look. Ron sat down where Charlie would have usually sat if he had been there, and Harry sat in his chair, pausing only a moment to run his fingers across his name gouged into the backrest. Both looked up at their mother, sheepish smiles gleaming. "Don't you start," Molly ordered firmly as she shoveled food onto their plates. "Eat it all or you won't go at all."

Bill watched- quite amused if you asked him- from Harry's right as the eager eleven-year-old began to devour the food on his plate. Bill remembered a time when Harry had just arrived and he had hardly eaten anything on his plate. That had been, what, four and a half years ago? Bill shook his head, eating his own breakfast at a more sedate pace. Soon, Harry was asking for seconds. Bill just shook his head again at the rather short boy. He teased the boy about getting fat from all the food he ate and Harry just replied with mock horror, stealing a sausage from Bill's plate as retribution with a wide grin. Bill rolled his eyes at his antics, pulling his plate out of the reach of the thieving youth.

Harry pouted. "Mum!" he whined, pointing his fork at Bill. "Bill's being mean!"

"Don't point with your fork."

Ron pointed his own fork at Harry and laughed. "Ha, ha, Harry! You got in trouble-"

"Don't you point with your fork either, Ronald!"

Harry snickered behind his hand. Ron glared at his adoptive brother before turning back to his breakfast with a pout. Bill rolled his eyes, catching sight of Fred and George sneaking out the kitchen door in the ruckus. Percy glared at the two boys to his right and Ginny's shoulders shook in silent mirth. Mrs. Weasley finally sat with her own plate. Arthur rushed by with a "Bye, all!" and a kiss to his wife's cheek as he snatched a piece of toast before leaving for work.

All was well in the Burrow.

An hour later, the eight Weasleys traveled through the Floo and landed inside the Leaky Cauldron. Each smiled and waved at Tom as they made their way through to the entrance to Diagon Alley. Molly tapped the bricks and as she waited for them to move out of the way, she whispered into her eldest son's ear. He merely nodded and took the item she pressed into his hand.

"Alright, troupe! To Gringotts with you!"

Witches and wizards moved out of the way for the large group of redheads with the lone black haired boy as they made their way to the bank. Molly pushed Bill and Harry in front of them once they passed the threshold, confusing her children bar Bill. He simply placed his arm around Harry's shoulder and went to a different line from the long line his mother and five of his seven younger siblings stood in. Harry asked nothing, trusting his brother fully and rather blindly.

As they approached the counter, Harry's attention was drawn elsewhere. Gringotts never failed to amaze him, no matter how many times he had been there. When he had first visited just after his first Christmas with the Weasleys, he had not been much taller than the goblins running the bank. In fact, at that point, he had even been smaller than Ginny. Now, though, he was taller than her, though still inches shorter than Ron. Harry stood in front of the counter, just barely able to look over the top to see the goblin sitting on the other side. Another goblin stepped up to them and led them to a cart.

Harry had never been in a Gringotts cart before, but he had heard horrible stories from the twins about it. They had told him that, because he was so small, he would fly out on the first turn, and he would fall down, down, down until he hit the very bottom in the pitch-black darkness where they would never find his body. The dragon would most likely find him and eat him, first, before they would send a search party for his broken body.

Bill noticed Harry's hesitance when they arrived at the carts. "Come on, Harry. It's not bad."

"But Fred and George-"

The eldest Weasley child sighed. "You should know by now not to trust a word they say. It's not so bad- you like flying, and it's sort of like that."

Harry gave the metal, creaky cart a disapproving look. But Bill never lied... "Fine."

Several minutes later found the two Weasley children and the goblin stopped in front of a vault. The goblin opened the vault with the key Bill gave him and stepped back to allow the door to open. Harry's jaw dropped when he saw the mounds of gold. Bill was just as shocked; he knew the Potters had been rich, but that had most likely been an understatement. Both boys were amazed with the amount of gold in the room before them. Harry had never seen so much gold in his life; he knew his family was not rich at all and hardly had enough to scrape by. He was curious as to why he and Bill were there.

"Why are we here?" Harry asked, turning to his brother.

"Mum... thought it would be best if you used your own money for school supplies," Bill admitted, turning a flushed face away from his curious little adopted brother. "We, er, don't have much money, as you know, and... She didn't think she'd have enough for all of you."

"Wait." Harry stared up at Bill. "This is my vault?"

Bill looked back at his brother, amused. "Yes, Harry. This is your vault." He grabbed the small bag sitting by the opening and held it out to the boy. "Fill this up with some money."

Harry looked between the bag, Bill, the mounds of glittering gold, and the goblin waiting patiently behind them. He turned fully to face the smaller creature. "I can transfer this money to another vault, right?"

"Harry, what-"

"Of course," the goblin interrupted Bill, grinning- though one could hardly call the expression that- at the younger Weasley. "What would you like me to transfer to which vault?" He had a sneaking suspicion he knew exactly what would be moved- and where. His guess was proved true as Harry spoke.

Harry pointed to a large pile of gold. "I want that transferred to the Weasley vault. Er, please."

"Harry-"

With a snap of the goblin's fingers, the pile of coins was gone. "Is there a way to keep that money from being transferred back to my vault?" Bill tried to cut in to no avail. Harry talked right over the top of him. "I mean, I don't want Mum- Mrs. Weasley- to give it back to me. I want her to have it. There is a way, isn't there?"

The creature snapped its fingers again. "It's already done."

Harry grinned up at Bill. "Nothing you can do about it now."

Up in the lobby, Bill sulked behind Harry as they made their way to the rest of the Weasley clan. It was not hard to find them; one, they were the only redheads in the vicinity, and two, Molly was shouting at the goblin behind the desk. Her shrill, angry voice carried over the large, silent room as she continued to argue with the goblin.

"That's impossible!" she shouted as the two neared her. "There's no way we could have that much gold! How- You must have gotten the results from the wrong vault."

"The money was just transferred eight minutes ago," the goblin replied smoothly, clasping his hands under his chin with a malicious-looking grin. "It came from the Potter vault, no less. Ah, here's the 'culprit' now."

Molly whirled to face her adopted son, fury plainly etched into her flushed face. "Harry! What were you thinking! You're only eleven- you can't make decisions like that!" She turned back to the pleased goblin. "He can't make decisions like that!"

Harry tugged her sleeve. She spun back to face him, narrowing her eyes angrily at the black haired boy. "I'm not using that money, mum," he told her shyly, clasping his hands behind his back and hanging his head. "I'm sorry... I didn't know you wouldn't like it..." It was time, Harry decided, to lay all his cards on the table. Throughout their trip back to the lobby Harry had been planning for a situation quite similar to this scene. He widened his eyes- something he learned from Ginny to bring tears to his eyes- and sniffed forlornly. "I thought it would make you happy." He finally looked up, tears silently running down his cheeks.

Molly instantly softened when she saw her adopted child crying. "Oh, Harry." She gathered the faking- but shh! Don't tell her!- boy in her arms. "You didn't have to do that."

"But I wasn't using it," Harry sniffed, milking it for all it was worth. He saw Ginny hiding a proud smirk behind her hand as he used her trick. "I was only thinking of you, mummy..." Harry glared at the twins and Ron for mocking him before pulling out all the stops to his little plan. "I did it because I love you, mummy."

The woman sighed. "I love you, too, Harry. Just..." She pulled away from the boy to give him a stern look. "Don't do that again, you hear me? That's your money, and I don't want you to just go handing it out without considering it first."

"Yes, mum." Harry lowered his head, pretending to be abashed. When Molly walked back to the counter and the other customers returned to their dealings with the bank, Harry looked up with a grin to his other siblings. He high-fived Ron and Ginny then looked properly forlorn when Molly turned to investigate the noise.

"You'll be a right Slytherin, you will," Ron teased in Harry's ear after their mother had turned away.

Molly turned back to her children, moving them out of the way so the next person in line could be helped. "While we are waiting for some money," she shot Harry a look who tried his best to look innocent, "Bill, why don't you take Ron and Harry to get their wands? We'll meet you at Madam Malkin's. Surely you'll be done by then."

Bill saluted his mother and herded his two youngest brothers out the door. With only the three of them, they made it swiftly to Olivander's. It was surprisingly empty, and rather unsurprisingly dusty. Harry and Ron stared around the store in wonder at all the wands lining the several dozen shelves. They'd been there a few times before when their elder siblings needed a wand, but never had they really noticed how magical the shop was. Mr. Ollivander popped out from between two shelves with a manic smile as soon as the door closed behind them. Before, the two thought it was rather funny. Now, though... With that knowing smile turned to them, it was a tad unnerving.

"Hello, boys," Ollivander said lightly, his moon-like eyes glowing eerily in the dark shop. He set his magical measuring tape to fly around the two eleven year olds as he searched the shelves. "Ronald Weasley... I have just the thing for you." He pulled out a box with a soft cry, hurrying over to hand the redhead the long box. "Ash, fourteen inches, with a unicorn tail hair core. Go on! Give it a wave!"

Harry could already see it was a perfect match. Ron had a silly grin as he wriggled his fingers around the handle of the long wand. Red and gold bubbles flew from the tip of his wand as he flicked the wand up and to the right.

"Splendid, splendid!" Ollivander clapped his hands together joyfully! "Now, for Mr. P- Weasley's turn," he amended when Bill sent him a silent glare. "You have your father's unruly hair and your mother's lovely eyes..." Ollivander reminisced and turned back to the shelves, ignoring the boy's befuddled look. "I wonder if your wand would be like your father's or your mother's. Perhaps neither at all..." He trailed off as he headed toward the back of the store.

Bill winced when Harry turned to him. "What's he talking about?"

"Well..." Bill looked around for someone else to explain to his favorite 'brother'. "You know you are adopted, right?" Harry nodded, glancing at Ron to see if he had any idea where this was going. He was just as confused as Harry. "Well, he knew your parents, I suppose. I... I'll explain more at home," he rushed as the shopkeeper returned with several boxes.

"Try this one," Mr. Ollivander commanded, handing Harry a long, light-colored wand. Just as soon as Harry gripped it, the merchant snatched it from his hand. "No, no. That won't do at all. How inane of me! Here-" He handed the bewildered boy another, darker wand before snatching it away just as quickly.

The pile of sticks on the desk grew larger as the pile of boxes grew smaller. Once the pile of boxes had run out, Ollivander chided lightly, "My, my, Mr. Weasley! You are a tricky customer, you are!"

Harry brushed his dark fringe from his eyes, which reminded Bill that both his and Ron's hair were just getting ridiculous. Bill was not trying to be a hypocrite with the thought; Ron and Harry just looked plain strange with long hair. Ollivander gasped, as if he suddenly understood something. He rushed off towards the back of the store, a gleeful smile smugly in place. Ron just shrugged at his brothers, returning to examining his wand shortly thereafter.

"You need a haircut."

Ron looked up from his wand. "Who? Me?"

"Both of you." Bill punctuated this by ran his fingers through their hair.

Harry pouted. Bill thought the boy looked ridiculous, but said or did nothing to betray his glee. "But I want to be like you!"

"You're hair is outlandish enough shorter," replied Bill, trying to smooth the black mess of hair on Harry's head. It was even worse now than the last time he had noticed it a month ago. "Just let mum cut it tonight. You too, Ronald."

"But-"

Ollivander came back, brandishing a wand in hand. "Here we are, Mr. Weasley! This one should be the one."

Harry reverently took the wand from the box, eyeing the strange man carefully. Mr. Ollivander was now solemn, watching Harry carefully as he handled the dark wand. The moment his hand gripped the handle tightly gold sparks flew from the tip. Harry's hand tingled pleasantly and he smiled; he knew this one was it, as none of the others created this kind of effect. Ollivander was watching him in slight awe, nodding and mumbling to himself. Harry paid him no mind, letting Bill talk to the strange man, instead turning his attention to the dark stick in his hand.

Bill had to forcibly drag him from the shop with a roll of his eyes towards the shopkeeper. By now, Diagon Alley was in full swing. The trio of Weasleys had trouble trying to maneuver their way to Madam Malkin's, and Harry, stashing his new wand away, grabbed both his brothers' hands to avoid getting carried away by the crowd. Both redheads tightened their grip on his hands, determined not to let their youngest brother be swept away. It took them several minutes to move against the crowd to get to the robe shop.

"There you three are!" Molly hurried over to her missing children, fretting over their current disheveled state. "We've been waiting for you for ages! What took you so long?"

"Harry." Ron gave his adopted brother a playful glare and nudge. "We went through practically the whole shop trying to find his wand!"

Harry pretended to pout. Bill spoke up before he could say anything. "They need a haircut before they go to school." He placed a strong hand over each of their mouths as the two youngest Weasley boys tried to protest. "They aren't lions yet, and besides," he teased, "they'd only be cubs anyway, and everyone knows cubs don't have manes yet."

Molly looked positively delighted as she led them to the rest of her brood. "And you need a haircut-"

"No." Bill narrowed his muddy brown eyes at his mother. "I'm an adult-"

"Who still lives at home-"

"Stay out of this, Gred."

"Just trying to help." The twins shrugged as one.

Bill turned back to his mother. "I'll explain later," he told her while his younger siblings were preoccupied with Madam Malkin's Measuring Tape of Terror. Cries of "Oi! Watch where you put that!" and "Is that necessary?" came from the dais as the woman teased her favorite costumers. Bill laughed at their antics from the safety beside his mother. To turn the subject away from his current embarrassment, he asked, "How's Charlie? Have his burns healed yet?"

Molly turned sharply to her son. "What burns?" she demanded, eyes narrowed in the way Bill found absolutely terrifying, though he would never admit it aloud.

Bill gulped. Obviously Charlie had only mentioned the burns in his letter to Bill. "Burns? Did I say that? I meant b... bur... Uhm... Buuurrr..."

"Nice try," his mother snorted, patting his arm affectionately as he fumbled for a solution to his slip-up. "Don't worry, dear. He told me. I just wanted to see what you'd say. You're turning into a Hufflepuff," she teased, gaving her son an innocent smile that soon morphed into a worried, knowing look. "So what do you plan to do once Harry goes to Hogwarts?"

He ran a hand through his long hair, pushing it away from his face. He vaguely wondered where his hair tie went and if Harry had hidden it again. The rest of his siblings moved off the platform and headed their way. "I'll tell you later. Once they've gone to school."

The door behind them opened, and the large group moved out of the way to allow the new patrons entrance. Two blonds entered, one a woman and the other an eleven-year-old boy. Molly and Bill instantly narrowed their eyes in hate. The two blonds caught sight of the group of redheads and sneered.

"Well, well, well," said the woman in disdain. "Blood-traitors tainting your store, Madam Malkin? I can contact the proper authorities for you, if you so wish." Harry was confused at her words. What had she meant by blood-traitors? His thoughts were cut off as she pushed the blond boy forward toward the dais. Her eyes finally fell on little Harry, and she wondered how she hadn't noticed him before since a shock of black hair stuck out like a sore thumb in the sea of red around him. Her eyes widened in surprise. "And who is this? A little stray you picked up? Don't you have enough children to worry about?"

Harry frowned at the woman. "I'm a Weasley, too."

"Nonsense," the woman scoffed, eyeing him as if he was dirty or losing his mind. "Weasleys have red hair, and last time I checked, black was not the new red."

"Now see here-"

Molly put a restraining hand on her eldest son's arm. "Don't stoop to her level, Bill," she told him evenly. "She's not worth it." Bill let out a warning growl, but did as his mother asked. He moved back beside Molly, glare still firmly in place.

"Brutes, the lot of them," the blond told her son absently, pushing him again towards the platform.

The Weasley matriarch, silently fuming, marched towards the counter to pay and receive their new robes. Madam Malkin's assistant gave her a sympathetic look, offering a kind smile which in turn led to a smile twitching at the corner of Molly's lips. Once the bags were in her hand, she turned to her children with a bright smile, the confrontation with the Malfoy matriarch far from her mind. "Alright, now for your books. Ginny, take my hand. Bill, make sure Harry and Ron stick with you."

"You heard her, boys," Bill said with gusto, turning to his youngest brothers. "Stick by me and-" He stopped, eyes raking his red haired siblings in search of his darker haired adoptive brother. Harry was nowhere in sight. Bill could have sworn, for the third time since meeting Harry, his heart had stopped. "You have got to be kidding me."

As it were, Little Harry Weasley was weaving his way through the crowd. He was determined to get to his destination. Checking to make sure he had his bag of gold he ducked into a shop lined with chairs and mirrors along opposing walls. Sinks lined the far wall, and products lined the shelves adjacent to the door. The large, open room was empty save for a young, blue-haired witch sitting in a chair, flicking through a Quidditch magazine. She looked up when the door closed, surprise clear on her pale face. She obviously hadn't been expecting a customer.

The witch stood and walked over to Harry. "Hullo, there. Are you lost?"

Harry looked around. "I'm pretty sure this is where I want to be. You can dye hair, right?"

She gave him a suspicious look. "Aren't you a little young to be dying your hair without your mother here? Is she following you in?"

He shook his head, his black hair flying about his face. "No, she doesn't know I'm here." Harry held out a fist full of glittering gold coins. "I want you to dye my hair red. Weasley red, preferably."

The witch gave him a disbelieving look he knew all too well, but she eyed the gold approvingly. "And why would you want to dye your lovely black locks such a color? Well, I would say lovely if they weren't in such disarray... Whatever did you do to your hair?" She switched to her work mode, fingering the black strands of hair, staring at the locks curiously.

Harry fidgeted under her pointed gaze. "I don't like people not knowing I'm a Weasley. I may only be a Weasley through adoption, but I hate it when people say I can't be a Weasley just because I haven't red hair."

The witch sighed, running a hand through her blue spiked hair which just sprang back into place. She eyed the gold with a light brown eye. "You're bribing me?"

"Is it working?"

"Yes," she mumbled, turning away to hide a flush. "Is there a possibility I'll get in trouble with your mother?" Harry quickly shook his head in the negative. "Alright, fine." She took the gold from his outstretched hand and pocketed it. "Follow me."

Harry grinned in triumph and did as instructed. Several minutes later he had bright, flaming red Weasley hair and a giant grin. "Perfect!" he exclaimed, fishing for another galleon as he admired his new coloring in the mirror. He handed the gold piece to her with a 'Thanks!' before rushing out the door. Immediately he saw his group of redheads, Bill in particular, just down the alley a few buildings away. He crept up behind the group, standing just behind Ron, before he made his presence known. "What's going on?"

"Harry!" Bill whirled around to gather the boy in his arms. "Don't you ever do that agai- ...What did you do to your hair?" Bill set him back down, eyeing his new red hair with an expression Harry couldn't identify.

Harry twirled a lock of the red hair around his fingers. "I got it dyed so I'd look like you guys."

Bill sighed, shaking his head with a smile. "You're unbelievable. Mum's angry, just to warn you. Furious, even."

"I knew she'd have stopped me from doing it," Harry replied, standing taller. He looked around, just noticing his mother wasn't there. "By the way... Where is she?"

"Harry James Weasley!" a voice bellowed behind him. His face clearly screamed, "Oh shit!" as he was gathered into Molly's arms. "Don't you ever do that ever again, you hear me? I thought you had been kidnapped, or-" She paused in her tirade, just noticing his hair color. She put him down, placing her hands on his shoulders to keep him in place. "What did you do to your hair?"

"Er..." He looked to Bill for help, who only crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the floundering boy. "Now I look like you guys, and they won't think I'm not a Weasley..." He looked down at his shoes, ashamed he had done something so brashly and worrying both his mother and Bill. Harry was especially angry with himself for causing Bill to fret. "I'm sorry."

Molly sighed and hugged him close to her. "Just don't do it again, you hear me? I think Bill almost had a heart attack."

"Mum!"

She grinned at her indignant oldest son. "Alright, I think we've had enough excitement for one day. Let's just get the rest of your school things and go home."

Harry's little hair coloring stunt, however, was not the end of their excitement for the day. Molly had decided to stop by Eeylops Owl Emporium to buy a new owl for Harry as a gift for his earlier surprise. There was a large female snowy owl that had caught sight of Harry. She would not leave his side, which amused Bill and Molly to no end while Percy huffed in irritation and the last four Weasley giggled at this new development. The owl, however, stuck to Harry like a strange growth and would not leave his arm no matter what the owners of the store tried.

It was only when they returned to the Burrow when Bill let loose a sigh of relief. That trip had just been too stressful, and he could only imagine how stressed and worried he would be once Harry went to Hogwarts. If Bill was honest with himself, he was not looking forward to the new school year. True, Dumbledore would look after the boy, but Bill did not trust the old man to take as good of care of Harry as he did. Bill would admit that he favored his adoptive brother over his biological brothers, but he could not help himself. Every time he looked at the younger boy, he remembered that Christmas four and a half years ago, and his heart broke all over again.

But, then again, Harry did not need him as he once did all those years ago. For that, Bill was both happy and sad. For one thing, it meant Harry had overcome the neglect from his relatives, and on the negative side, it meant Harry did not need to depend on Bill anymore. Bill had found out, through Harry, that he loved taking care of children and having others depend on him. He also found he was bored with the lack of adrenaline rushing through his veins.

But for now, Bill was content with life as he watched a forlorn Harry being sent to his room for his devious stunts that morning. He was just relieved he would not have to explain the situation with Harry's parents, and he hoped and prayed to Merlin he would not have to at all.

That was one of several conversations Bill never wanted to have with the younger boy as Harry grew older. Only time would bring those uncomfortable tête-à-têtes to light, but for now, Bill was just content to live in the moment.

A/N: I really was going to keep Hedwig out of the story, but I just love her too much. And I apologize for this being short (and a little later than I expected...).