Chapter One

Introduction

It was a warm day in the streets of Diagon Alley. The sun shone above the many heads of the people shopping carelessly and taking their time talking and walking in and out of the shops. The summer air filled their lungs as some stopped at the ice cream parlor for a break from the heat. It was a week before the school term so mostly the younger crowd was there shopping for their school needs. Most were taking their time, except for a few.

These few were the people who were attending Hogwarts for the first time. They were excited and anxious at the same time as they zoomed through the streets, finding what they needed as quick as they could.

One of these soon-to-be first-years was Kara. Her long dark brown hair flew behind her as she strut the street with her mom behind her looking as if she was having a tough time keeping up with her daughter.

"Hurry it up, mom," Kara said, as she turned into Madame Malkin's store for her robes.

"That's hard to do with all your bags," her mother replied, struggling to keep all of the bags she was carrying in order. She followed Kara into the store and felt almost relieved to be inside as she set the bags down while letting out a sigh of relief.

"Hello! How may I help you?" Madame Malkin asked from off to the side. She was already working on the fitting of a boy's outfit and looked quite busy.

"I need robes for school. It's my first year going to Hogwarts," Kara said in a proud voice.

At the mention of Hogwarts, the boy that Madame Malkin was working turned his head, looking toward them, interested in what the girl had just said. "You're going to be a first-year?" he asked, his green eyes resting on Kara.

"Yeah. Do you already go there?" she asked, as Madame Malkin left the boy and went to get Kara's measurements.

"Yeah. This is going to be my second year," he replied, turning back to the mirror to see how he looked in his new robes.

"That's cool. Were you this excited to go to Hogwarts?" Kara asked him as she walked over to the mirror and next to the boy to see how she looked in her new school robes.

"Not really. More like nervous," he answered as he looked at her.

The door opened again but this time, a short and rather large lady came striding into the room. "Everything all set, dear?" she asked, the boy while examining him in his new robes.

"Everything's good, mum," he replied.

She brought some money out of her purse and went over to Madame Malkin to pay for the robes.

"Well, it's been a pleasure to talk to you. I'll see you at Hogwarts then," he said, picking up the few bags he had with him.

"I hope so," Kara replied smiling, as she turned to face him. "My name's Kara, by the way."

"I'm Roland. See you around," he said before exiting the shop with his mom.

"I see you made a new friend," Kara's mom, who had been quiet this whole time, said.

Kara shrugged and smiled at her. "He was kind of cute."

"Mmmhmmm," her mother merely replied with a sly grin on her face. She paid for the robes and they both exited the shop together.

They got back outside to the heated street crammed with people.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the street, Tanyon, Kara's brother, was walking along getting his shopping done. He had just moved into the area with his family and was quite upset about having to adapt to a new place. He hated going shopping with his annoying family so decided to go off on his own to get things done. He wasn't much of a family guy anyways.

He went into Flourish and Blotts to get his books for the coming term. Since he was a fifth year now, he had a long list of books becuase the O.W.L.s were nearing. He walked through the crowded bookshop searching for his books and found nearly all of them. Just one more left: Standard Book of Spells Grade 5 by Miranda Goshawk.

He spotted the book on a nearby rack with a lot of people around it since loads of people needed those books. He reached his hand over to grab one but realized that the person next to him had too; their hands met and both immediately pulled away from each other.

Tanyon looked over at the blonde-haired boy. "Sorry," they both quickly said, turning bright shades of red.

"Errr… it's okay," the other boy said. He picked up two books and handed one over to Tanyon.

"So…you're in your fifth year too?" Tanyon asked, attempting to strike up a conversation to make friends before his school year started.

"Yeah," the boy merely answered, obviously not wanting to talk much. "I don't think I've ever seen you around Hogwarts before."

"It's my first year. But not actually my first year, my fifth year. But my first year at Hogwarts," Tanyon sputtered, making a complete fool of himself with his inability to speak in understandable sentences. "Anyways, my name's Tanyon." He held his hand out for the other lad to shake.

The boy laughed at Tanyon before taking his hand and shaking it. "I'm Cameron," he answered, letting go.

"So… err… how's Hogwarts?" he asked.

"It's okay, I guess," Cameron replied. "Where are you from?"

"Eton," Tanyon answered. "Sort of far from here, but not really. Anyways, are you here shopping by yourself too?"

Cameron nodded. "My parents are muggles and had no idea what they were going to do here, so they gave me the list and some money and I came myself. But I should get going soon. I have everything I need and my parents gave me a specific time I have to get back," he answered, glancing at his watch.

Tanyon nodded, but was pretty sad for the most part. He had finally made a friend and now they had to leave. At least it was another week until they would see each other again. "Do you want me to walk you back?"

"To the Leaky Cauldron? Sure," Cameron said, grinning widely.

Tanyon smiled as they both went to go pay for their books. They walked out of the store together and back to the Leaky Cauldron talking and chatting away. As soon as they both got to it, they stopped and faced each other.

"I guess I'll see you on the train or something," Tanyon said to him.

"Yeah. I'll save you a seat," Cameron replied. "Bye."

"Later," Tanyon said before watching Cameron disappear behind the wall leading into and out of Diagon Alley. And with that, he walked off to find his family.