A/N: I'm afraid that I didn't get much response from the first chapter. I decided to press on anyway though. I hope to put another chapter up in a day or so. Hopefully soon I'll be getting into the parts of the book where plot development starts. I hope you enjoy it; please read and review.

The Diary

Chapter 2

"Ginny, dear!" Mum called, shaking me awake early on Wednesday morning. "We're going to Diagon Alley today to buy your school things, remember?"

"I'm up, Mum," I mumbled sleepily as she left the room to go wake up the boys. I climbed out of bed and began dressing. By the time I reached the kitchen, the bacon sandwiches were almost gone, as the boys had gobbled them up. I managed to swipe two for myself, and ate them quietly in a corner of the small kitchen.

Finally, we lined up in front of the large fire and Mum pulled down the flowerpot of Floo powder. She offered it to Harry first, but of course he had never traveled by Floo powder before, as he was raised by Muggles. Fred and George demonstrated for him, and Mum, Dad, and Ron all called out advice. At last, Harry tossed a handful of glittering powder into the fire and vanished.

"Oh I do hope he makes it out alright," Mum said worriedly.

"He'll be fine, Molly," Dad replied calmly, vanishing himself in the green flames. Ron followed, and then Mum and I went last. The warm flames engulfed us, and we emerged in the fireplace of the dingy wizard's tavern, The Leaky Cauldron.

Fred, George, Percy, Dad, and Ron stood in a semicircle around the fire, all with concerned looks on their faces. I searched the room for tousled dark hair, but all the heads I found sported brilliant red hair.

"Where's Harry?" Mum asked the question that was on my mind as well.

"We're not sure," replied Dad. "He hasn't appeared." Mum pushed the twins out of her way, as though hoping they were hiding Harry behind them.

"Maybe he only went one too far," Ron suggested.

"Well let's hope so," Mum cried in exasperation.

Mum led us out of the pub, through the back door, and tapped her wand on a brick above the dustbins. The magical archway to Diagon Alley appeared and Dad hurried us all through it.

Mum clasped my hand tightly as we began wending our way through the crowded main street towards Gringotts Bank. Everyone was searching the passing strangers frantically for Harry.

"Look, there!" George called. "Is that him with Hagrid?"

"I reckon it is!" answered Fred, standing on tiptoe to see over the crowd.

Dad and the boys all began running towards the huge man called Hagrid. I'd heard my brothers talk about him, but I'd never seen him before. They had not exaggerated in their colorful descriptions of his enormous size. Mum wheezed, failing to keep up with the rest of our family, but not letting go of my hand.

At last we caught up with everyone else. I paused for a moment to marvel at Hagrid's massive presence again. Next I saw a girl with bushy brown hair who was giving Ron a hug. She must be Hermione Granger, I reasoned. Finally I found Harry, who stood between Hagrid and Hermione looking utterly disheveled. His clothing was covered in soot and his glasses had snapped at the bridge. Mum was brushing the soot off fussily and Dad mended his glasses as I watched.

At last, Mum finished thanking Hagrid profusely. Apparently Harry had landed in Knockturn Alley; I had never been there before, but I heard it was an awful place, where dreadful dark objects were sold.

As a large group we trudged up the white marble steps of Gringotts Bank. We passed a pair of goblins, who bowed to us as we entered. I heard a snippet of my parents' conversation:

"Oh I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something," Dad said.

"You be careful, Arthur," Mum urged. I had never seen Lucius Malfoy before, but I knew how Dad hated him. When we entered the bank, Dad was distracted by Hermione's parents, who were apparently Muggles.

Finally a goblin drove us down to our vault. Mum emptied its small contents into her bag, and then we continued to Harry's vault. He tried to block it from our view, but I caught sight of a large pile of gold Galleons as he grabbed coins and deposited them in a leather bag.

After we left Gringotts, we split up to begin our shopping. Fred and George had found a friend of theirs and ran off with him; Percy went off alone. Dad had convinced Hermione Granger's parents to have a drink with him at the Leaky Cauldron. Mum said she was taking me to a secondhand robe shop.

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your schoolbooks," Mum called as everyone began walking away. I noticed that Harry headed off with Ron and Hermione. Mum grabbed my hand, pulling me away. We walked for a few minutes through the crowded street, and at last came to the shop Mum was looking for. The wooden sign was dingy and faded; peeling red letters spelled the name of the shop: The Witch in the Wardrobe. Mum dragged me inside, and I coughed, breathing in the dusty air. A friendly but tired looking witch approached us and asked what we were looking for.

"My daughter needs some robes for school. She's starting at Hogwarts this year," Mum replied, beaming at me proudly.

"Hmm, yes. Her size is over this way," the witch called, walking towards the back of the shop and beckoning us to follow.

As I tried on robes and the sales-witch began hemming them, she chatted with Mum. She kept glancing at a pocket watch every few minutes.

"I'm sorry to keep checking the time," she added, when she stuck me with a pin distractedly. "I'm anxious to get down to the bookshop."

"Why?" Mum asked. "What's going on?"

"Haven't you heard?" The sales-witch said. "Gilderoy Lockhart is going to be there for a book signing this afternoon!"

"Really?" Mum gasped. She blushed, and began fanning herself. I heard her mumble something about "Quite an attractive man." I tried to stop myself from laughing.

"I also heard from Florean Fortescue down the road that Harry Potter is in the Alley today as well!" the sales-witch continued excitedly. My laughter ceased immediately; I was the one blushing now. Thankfully no one noticed.

"We knew that. He's here with us!" Mum declared proudly. "He's a good friend of my son Ron's."

"Is he really?" The sales-witch gasped in amazement, dropping the pins in her mouth. I was beginning to fear that I would never find a place where no one was talking about Harry Potter.