Chapter Two - Diagon Alley

The last week of the summer holidays proved interesting for Sirius and James. On the day after his arrival, Sirius was greeted by every person in the village as if he was an old friend. He was introduced to each in turn, and more than half of them were surprised to learn he was a Black who had been sorted into Gryffindor. Many of them, however, had heard of his cousin Andromeda who had been sorted into Ravenclaw during her time at Hogwarts.

An old wizard by the name of Defflery Hallibut complimented him on his motorbike, which now sat comfortably in the driveway, an enchantment placed upon it by Mr Potter to stop thieves. Sirius had been more than surprised by the compliment, but James had found it simply hilarious and explained to Sirius that Mr Hallibut had an affection for any device that could fly, and in fact owned a serious of carpets and had a room devoted to broomsticks at the rear of his house. He warned Sirius to keep a good watch on him, in case the man tried to sneak the bike away for his own purposes.

It was two days later, a whole four days before they were to return to Hogwarts, that Mr and Mrs Potter came to the realisation that while James and Sirius had both been given their Hogwarts letters and booklists, they had failed to go to Diagon Alley to buy any of the books.

'Quickly,' Mrs Potter said, pushing another piece of toast onto Sirius' plate. 'Eat up. We must be going soon if we want to catch Gringotts before the rush. We definitely should have been at Diagon Alley earlier, but with your arrival, Sirius, we forgot all about it.'

At this, Sirius felt a little guilty, but James was quick to assuage that. 'Mum, you always forget until the last minute. In my second year you had to send half my books on because you went shopping for me and missed the second page of the booklist!'

The two of them were just finishing their last mouthfuls of breakfast when Mrs Potter brought around a little ceramic pot filled with green powder. 'Floo powder today, boys. Quickest way, I think. Hurry up, must be getting off.' She motioned for Sirius to take a handful of the powder and he did so, careful to keep all of it in his grasp.

'Come on, James. Hurry up.' James took his own handful, fixing his shirt as he did so.

'Might see Lily,' he said in response to Sirius' raised eyebrows and he shook his head, laughing slightly.

'She's not interested, mate.'

James shrugged. 'I have a plan. We'll be going steady by halfway through first term.'

Sirius laughed again. 'You said that last year.' He stepped towards the large fireplace that took up most of the far wall and stepped in. 'See you in a minute,' he said and dropped the powder, calling out, 'Diagon Alley!' as the flames turned green and he was swept away. Grates flashed by him and he could have sworn he saw a couple snogging through one grate, but he was past before he could check. With a thump, he fell to the floor of the large fireplace at the end of Diagon Alley and climbed out, patting his pockets to check that all was there. In front of him he could see the large marble building that was Gringotts Wizarding Bank and on either side of him, an array of smaller shops, each bustling with life.

The whole of the winding cobbled lane was full of witches and wizards in robes of all colours and pointed hats, each buying their requirements. There was also a large number of his schoolmates, ducking between the older wizards in search of their friends or siblings.

With a soft whoosh, he heard James enter the grate behind him and climb out, patting him on the shoulder. 'Come on, Sirius,' he said. 'Let's find the others.'

It took them very little time to find Remus Lupin. He was sitting in a chair in front of Florean Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlour, a large cone in his hand. He was a gaunt boy, looking as if he hadn't been fed in weeks, and his eyes were rimmed with dark shadows.

'Hey, Moony!' James called, reaching out to pat him on the back. 'Good summer? Holding up all right?' He eyed Remus with a raised eyebrow.

'I'm fine, James.'

'Not feeling a little peaky? You look a little peaky?'

'I'm fine, James.'

'Doesn't he look a little peaky, Padfoot? A bit pale around the edges? Maybe he's turning into a ghost!'

'I'm fine James.' Remus stood up, pushing his chair in and grabbed his money bag from the table. 'Come on. Let's just go. I still have to buy my books.'

Sirius took his place on one side of James as Remus took the other side. 'We haven't even been to Gringotts yet. James forgot to remind his mum again.'

'And what are you doing with the Potters, Sirius?' Remus asked.

Sirius bit his lip. 'Ran away,' he mumbled under his breath.

'What was that?' Remus turned his head so he could see his friend better.

'I ran away.'

The look of surprise on Remus' face was obvious. 'Wow, Sirius. Good job.' He gave him a supportive smile and nodded as he slid his money bag into his pocket. 'Have you seen Peter this summer?'

'No,' James said. 'Last I heard was at the station and he was being dragged away by his mother. Maybe he needs to run away. Shame I can't take anyone else. My house is already full of friends.' He laughed, wrapping one arm around Sirius' shoulder and the other around Remus.

Together the three of them stepped up to Gringotts wizarding bank. Mr and Mrs Potter were just stepping out holding out two money bags. 'You left your key behind, Sirius, so we thought we might as well go down. The goblins didn't have a problem. It's such a good thing you have your own vault, dear. It would have been so difficult to access your mother's.'

Sirius didn't doubt that. He himself would probably find it difficult to access his mother's vault now. He took the money bag with a slight smile and stood back, letting James grab his own. With a slight wave, the three of them set off, heading towards their first stop, Florish and Blotts.