Chapter 1
Donations
Harry and Mr. Weasley stepped into the Atrium, Harry's head still spinning after the now blurred events of the hearing. They began to make their way to the exit when Harry remembered the promise he had made to himself the first time he had walked past the golden fountain that stood in the middle of the entrance hall.
"Wait just a moment," he told Mr. Weasley before pausing at the edge of the fountain.
He worked his money bag from his front pocket and opened it with every intention of dumping the entire contents into the clear water, donating every galleon to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Harry began to slowly tip the bag watching a shiny gold coin slide into the pool.
"You're wasting your galleons," a soft voice muttered from behind a copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Er – excuse me?" Harry said, turning to a girl sitting cross-legged on the fountain. A pair of deep blue eyes emerged over the headlines, shining with amusement. She folded her paper so it rested on her knees revealing the rest of her pale, heart shaped face and pushed a lock of her faded brown hair behind one ear. The girl gazed into Harry's eyes. He looked back at her apprehensively before she broke her stare to pull a galleon from the bottom of the shallow water.
"All of these coins aren't donated to St. Mungo's." She took note of the faint look of shock Harry was wearing, "Quite like a slap in the face isn't it? If mum didn't work for The Ministry I probably would have done something about it by now. Yet here I sit and there you stand…staring at me," she rolled her eyes and began to unfold her paper.
"Who are you?" Harry blurted, feeling suddenly embarrassed. He had planned a much smoother introduction in his head. The girl grinned and stood up, extending her hand which still held a wet galleon.
"Sydney Wood."
"I'm Harry Potter." Harry shook her hand and waited for her mouth to fall open or for her to express some form of shock due to the fact that she was shaking the hand of the Harry Potter.
But she simply said, "Nice meeting you, Harry," and pulled her hand from his grip leaving the gold coin in Harry's palm. "Well, I must go. Can't keep mum waiting," she stuffed her Daily Prophet into the brown, leather bag that hung from her shoulder and gave Harry a faint grin before she disappeared within the throng of people that surrounded them.
Harry stared at the crowd, hoping to catch another glimpse of her, but soon gave up when Mr. Weasley's voice erupted in his ears.
"All set there, Harry?"
"Oh...yeah, I'm good," he replied
"Let's get back then. I'm sure everyone is itching to hear what happened!" Mr. Weasley gave a curt nod to whomever he had previously been conversing with and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, steering him to the exit.