The mood in Diagon Alley was unusually somber, for the first time dark wizards walked the streets, brushing shoulders with terrified perspective students and their parents alike. Parcels were kept clutched close and wands were held in white knuckled grips. Gabriel walked as one condemned, drifting from shop to shop, hardly noticing the things around him. He passed empty closed down building where he had occasionally purchased supplies. He passed the hollowed out husk of Olivanders wand shop where he had received his wand. The normally cheery streets still and cold, after he purchased all his supplies, he sank on a bench on an abandoned side street next to his parents.

"I hate this" he sighed

"They leached the life out of this place," muttered his white-faced mother.

"What do you think Hogwarts is going to be like now Mother?"

"I'm not sure, but if Diagon Alley is any indication its probably best to prepare for the worst."

Gabriel nodded and looked down one of the side alleys adjacent to theirs. He thought he caught a glimpse of a strangely gaunt looking blond boy disappearing through the door of an eerie, and mostly untouched, shop.

"What shop is that" he asked

His father stirred from his revere and squinted down the alley.

"That'd be Borgin and Burkes. Nasty place, full of cursed items and Death Eater friendly besides."

" I just saw a blond boy go in there."

"Really? Well they are either insanely curious with no regard for their personal safety, or a bad sort to be avoided."

"What if he was just curious? He could be in danger!"

His mother and father looked uncomfortable.

"Well…in these times…that's just the way it has to be…"

A flurry of emotions flickered across Gabriel's face. He abruptly stood up and rounded on his parents, the entirety of his rather short 5'3 frame shaking with disbelieving rage.

"I can't believe you!" he shouted at his parents. "You cowards! You're as bad as the Death Eaters! You're really going to let someone possibly get hurt or worse because you're afraid! You are no parents of mine!" he spat venomously, before wheeling around and marching quickly toward the shop, leaving his two stunned parents behind him.

Gabriel strode forward, propelled by rage. He crossed the distance to the door quickly and flung his hand towards the door, grasping the doorknob with raged clenched hands. He felt his hand spasm and involuntarily fly off the door handle as the call of "Relashio!" reached his ears. Seconds later he felt a hand grip his arm with almost painful strength. His eyes widened as he found himself being hauled back the way he came, fingers gripping his arm with bruising force. A rather intimidating looking girl was proceeding in berating him and his apparent lack of intelligence as well as his reckless behavior. Halfway down the street he managed to collect himself enough to start protesting.

"Oi! What the bloody hell are you doing! Get off me!"

"You stupid idiot!" she growled, what the hell where you thinking? Going into Borgin and Burkes? You don't look like any death eater I've ever seen, which leads me to conclude that you're just a fucking moron who is incredibly reckless and stupid!"

Gabriel struggled to free his arm, tripping, backwards down the street cursing his slight weight. Once the girl had reached his parents, she threw back her deep hood, revealing a cascading mass of curly blond hair. Her face would be considered quite pretty if it wasn't currently twisted into such a scary expression. She stared at his parents levelly and angrily.

"Is this yours?" She spat.

His parents looked quite cowed and could only nod mutely at her. The girl released her vice like grip on his arm.

"Then I suggest you had keep better track of him!"

Gabriel finally managed to partially find his voice again

""But…I…there was a boy! He was going in there and it's not a good place to go!"

She rounded on him, her green eyes flashing.

"No, no its not! So why the fuck are you going in there after him you infallibly stupid git! Don't risk your ass going in to save people from Death Eater shops, especially when they are Death Eaters themselves!"

She locked eyes with Gabriel.

"Don't waste your time or energy trying to save a Malfoy, heaven knows I've tried."

With that she drew her hood back over her head again, placed her wand in her pocket and walked off elegantly back the way she had come.

Gabriel brushed himself off and gazed down the street after her before turning to his parents.

"What a rude girl." Muttered his father.

"Smart though" remarked his mother, "Shes got good instincts too, I bet you could learn a lot from her if you cared to, though it does sound as though she associates with Death Eaters so perhaps not…"

Gabriel suddenly felt rather foolish.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"No, your right, we are cowards, the things we saw in the last war…we don't ever want to see those things again, we hoped you wouldn't have to see such things in your lifetime."

"Kind of too late for that isn't it?" said Gabriel, gesturing to Borgin and Burkes and the steady stream of black robed figures going in and out of it.

"Cowardly or not, those times have come again."

A few hours and a multitude of supplies later, Gabriel crashed down on gratefully on his bed, thoroughly exhausted. A plethora of new things were stacked precariously around his room. Varying years of spell books littered his floor, purchased in the intention of filling the gaps in his magical education. Quills of varying lengths and hues were scattered about his desk and in his closet hung his crisp new robes. He thought morosely about how much he was going to miss his comfortable Muggle clothes. He rolled over and grabbed a spellbook at random and flipped to a random page.

"Flippendo" he read, " A basic knockback jinx." And with that, Gabriel hunkered down and began to study.

He opened his eyes and blearily looked at the clock at his bedside table. Ten Pm. Four hours later. Gabriel blinked and wiped the drool from his mouth. "Damn must have fallen asleep."

He picked the spell book off and looked in dismay at the pages that had crinkled when he had dropped the book as he fell asleep.

"Lucky thing these books have heavy covers" he mused, straightening out the pages and shutting the book so it would press the pages flat.

He abruptly dropped it again with a loud thud as a face appeared at his window, an all too familiar face.

"Pst!...Gabe! Let me in!"

"Sara! What the hell are you doing here, were on the second floor!"

"Climbed your lattice, duh."

He blinked

"That's actually kind of impressive." He collected himself "But you cant be here!" suddenly panicking again.

"Why the hell not?" she hissed as she pulled herself agilely through his window. "You said you would see me next weekend, its been two and a half weeks. You wont return my calls, you wont answer your door and now apparently I cant see you when all you're doing is sitting in your room playing with all this weird shit!"

Gabriel's mind went into full panic mode when he realized all his wizarding gear was still laying around his room.

"Shit."

He grabbed Sara and sat her down on his bed.

"Right, so this is going to sound absolutely bat shit insane, but the reason I haven't been able to see you is, I'm a wizard and I'm being forced to go to Wizard school and I haven't been able to see you because I'm in danger and I don't want to put you in harms way.

Gabriel spoke quickly an in an almost pleading tone and by the end of it he felt tears of frustration begin to brim in his eyes. He wiped them away angrily, Angry at himself, angry at his parents, angry at that girl in Diagon Alley, angry in general.

Sara too was tearing up. She spoke in a dangerously low tone.

"Gabriel James Cooper! How dare you lie to me!" her voice rising steadily, "What, am I just supposed to be like Oh no problem that makes sense I'm sorry? You're a wizard that makes sense? What a Bullshit excuse! And-"

Gabriels parents burst into the room wands raised. Saras eyes flew wide before she was frozen in place.

Gabriel whirled on his parents wand raised

"What the hell are you doing!"

"Gabriel move." Commanded his father.

"No!"

He turned and moved his wand in an attempt to free Sara

"Finite-"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

He hit the floor as stiff as a board, an expression of helpless desperate anger and betrayal frozen on his face.

"Were so sorry Gabriel, this is the only way."

His parents stepped over him and pointed their wands at Sara's fear filled eyes.

Gabriel screamed silently.

"Obliviate!"

Sara's eyes dulled and recognition fled from them, his mother grabbed her arm and with a loud crack Apparated them both.

His father looked down at him with a mix sadness and pity.

"We've removed all memories of us from her mind and we will do the same to her parents…it'll be like you never met. Its for the best, she will be safer this way."

His father removed the spell from him.

Gabriel's long broken cry was heart breaking.