Melodie shuffled through the crowded streets, holding her mother's hand. A mass of colors surrounded her as she weaved her way though Diagon Alley, searching for a suitable robes shop. She looked up at her mother, who brushed her auburn locks from her eyes, and pulled her daughter into a nearby shop. Melodie hid behind her mother once more as the shop owner emerged from the shadows.
"Welcome back, Jolanta! Is this your little witch?"
The mother smiled and nodded, gently moving her daughter into view. "This is Melodie. Say hi to Madame Malkin, sweetie."
"Okay...h-hi." The lanky girl even managed a weak smile, although her knees were shaking. Jolanta gave her daughter's shoulders a gentle squeeze.
"She's a little shy."
Jolanta led her daughter up to the stout shop owner, and into the back room. Melodie brushed past seemingly thousands of cloaks; sparkly, dull, short, long...everything. Madame Malkin pulled out her wand.
"Accio."
A yellow serpent of numbers and lines uncoiled itself from a drawer, as Melodie was ushered onto the raised circle in front of her. The measuring tape slithered around her, measuring her shoulders, then snaking down to her hips and legs. After what seemingly felt like half an hour (it was actually just a few seconds), the tape re-coiled itself and flew back into the drawer. Melodie almost ran off the platform, trying to shake off the cold feeling of a snake resting on her neck. Madame Malkin smiled, and made her way over to a shelf of ink-black robes. The stout woman retrieved a rather long one, which looked as though it had been tailored for a twig. Jolanta smiled and nodded, paid up, and walked out of the store with the robes. Melodie stayed glued to her mother.
"So, Momma, who was that?"
"That was Madame Malkin. She makes the robes for Hogwarts. You excited for Hogwarts?"
Melodie felt a wide smile make it's way onto her face as her mother mentioned the name of the school. Both her parents had attended Hogwarts, and they told her all about the workings of the school. "So, what house were you in, Momma?"
Jolanta let a soft laugh escape her at her child's inquisitiveness. "I was in Ravenclaw, darling. Your father was a Gryffindor, the house of the lion."
"So, what house do you think I'm gonna be in?"
"You'd be a great Hufflepuff, sweetie. The Hufflepuffs are the kindest of them all."
Melodie clung to her mother as two large wizards passed by. She accidentally pressed up against one in her attempt to get by, alerting him and his friend. Both wizards turned around, glaring at Melodie and her mother.
"Whadd'ya think you're doing!?"
Jolanta turned around, confused. "Do what, sir?"
"Which one of ya' shoved ya'self into me!?"
Melodie looked up at the wizard, eyes watering. She couldn't say anything - her throat had frozen up. The lanky blonde shakily held up her hand, drawing the attention of the wizard.
"Well, a lil' girly like you betta' know to keep ya' hands to ya'self! Shove me like that again and I'll-"
"Ey, ey! Leave 'em alone, wont'cha?" A looming shadow approached the wizards, startling them and causing Melodie to jerk her head up in fear. The sun hit her eyes all at once, and she could only make out the man's impressive height before she was pulled away by her mother. She saw as the man turned to Melodie and her mother.
"Sorry 'bout that!"
Melodie wanted to thank him and apologize to the wizard she had pushed, but all that came out was a whispered "Thanks..." as she was pulled into another shop.
"Okay sweetie, we already have your uniform, so your books should be here. Do you have the list?"
Melodie fished a list of book titles out of her pocket before nodding slowly. "Yes...i-is this F-Flourish and Blotts?"
Jolanta smiled. "Yes it is. Good guess!" Jolanta took her daughter's hand and weaved her way through the crowded bookstore. They passed a section of shelves, and Melodie saw a familiar shape on the other side. It seemed to be the man who had stopped the wizards from earlier, and he was accompanied by a skinny, raven-haired boy. Something about the boy seemed oddly familiar...
Melodie hid her face as she passed by the boy and the giant man, not wanting to catch anyone's eye. She thought she saw the giant man glance at her for a moment, then continue talking to the boy. She nestled further into her mother's cloak, to which Jolanta ruffled her daughter's hair.
"Now now, darling. No one's going to hurt you. No one's looking at you."
Melodie lifted her head from the safety of her mother's cloak to find a nearly empty store. There were never very many people...oh... Melodie absentmindedly flipped through a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them while her mother went to go pay for the one she had bought. Why does that boy seem familiar...? Speak of the devil! The giant man led the skinny boy down the isle she was standing in, causing her to drop the book and bolt out of the store, catching up to her mother. Dear Lord...he's too tall! W-Way too tall!
Jolanta scanned for any sign of the two earlier wizards, then led her daughter into a store whose sign read Magical Menagerie. The one thing Melodie didn't expect was the noise. Almost immediately, she started to try and run, but her mother placed a hand on her shoulder, freezing her to her spot.
"Don't worry. Animals do that when they meet new people. Dad told you that, remember?"
"I-I wish Dad would go shopping with us..."
Her mother gave a melancholy chuckle. "Well, Dad might not be here in the store, but he's watching over, alright?" Melodie nodded. A rather loud mewl caught her attention, and she laid her eyes on a small calico kitten. The kitten watched her intently with its amber eyes as she shuffled over to the small cage.
"H-Hey cutie...you want out?"
The kitten seemed to smile, chasing her finger as Melodie went to read the name on the cage.
"So your name's Autumn?"
The kitten rolled over at the mention of her name, mewling and stretching. You like me? Aww...
"I think she likes you, sweetie. Do you want to buy her?" Melodie nodded, looking into her mother's eyes. She unlatched the cage, letting Autumn play with her finger. She expected it to hurt, but it was painless, and actually kind of felt nice. She gently lifted the kitten out of it's cage, cuddling it into her sweatshirt. Jolanta paid again for Autumn, and the shopowner chuckled as the kitten climbed onto Melodie's shoulder, mewling and purring.
"Hey, Autumn, sweetie...don't do that." Melodie felt the tiny claws poking the skin on her neck. Oddly enough, Autumn seemed to listen, and made her way back down to the blonde's lack-of-chest. Jolanta beckoned for her daughter to follow, and Melodie placed Autumn in her sweatshirt hood. The kitten snuggled comfortably inside as the bustle of Diagon Alley enveloped her new owner.
Melodie grasped her mother's hand once more, clinging to the auburn-haired woman for security. There was only one more place to go - Ollivander's. Jolanta had shopped for her wand (Twelve inches, beech with phoenix feather. Springy), and Melodie's father had found his (Fourteen inches, avodire with dragon heartstring. Sturdy) as well.
The three females stepped into the dusty shop, floorboards creaking underneath their weight. Jolanta looked around, slightly disconcerted. Wasn't Mr. Ollivander's shop open? Her confusion was sedated, however, when a frail-looking man came out of the back room. His hair was graying and balding, and his dull blue eyes had sunken away from his prominent cheekbones. He slowly turned to the trio, offering a gentle smile to the turquoise-eyed mother. He welcomed them with a soft, raspy greeting.
"Hello, miss. Are you here to buy a wand?"
"Ah, yes, Mr. Ollivander! This is my daughter, Melodie." Jolanta made her way across the wooden floor, stirring up little clouds as she walked. Melodie reluctantly followed behind, trying not to disturb the thick layer of pale dust on the floor. The blonde quietly looked up at Mr. Ollivander, trembling slightly.
"Are you alright, miss? You seem a little scared."
Melodie gulped a bit, her eyes darting around the darkened shop. "Y-Y-Yeah...j-just a little n-nervous...I-ah-I'm sorry..."
"It's her first year at Hogwarts. She's a little nervous." Jolanta piped up, looking at the various wands for sale. Mr. Ollivander smiled once more, and turned to the shelf full of wands.
"So, Miss Melodie...are you looking forward to school?"
"A-A little, I guess...I wanna make friends, b-but..."
Mr. Ollivander continued to scan the shelves. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Ah...so, M-Momma's a healer, I guess I wanna be th-that. I-It seems nice, like helping people and s-saving them."
Mr. Ollivander turned back around, holding a rather elegant wand. It seemed to glow slightly.
"Ten inches. Cherry wood with unicorn hair. Good for healing spells."
Melodie's mouth formed into a small smile, her eyes widening a bit at the mention of healing.
"Do you want to hold it? It might like you."
Melodie nervously stepped forward, stretching her arm out to hold her potential tool. As soon as Mr. Ollivander handed it to her, it began to feel warm. It wasn't like the warm-becoming-hot, but instead the kind of warm you would feel from apple cider in your stomach, or gingerbread in the oven. Jolanta turned to look at her daughter, and she too saw the amber glow of the wand. A comforting smell began to fill the air, reminding Melodie of pumpkin pie.
"I-I think...I think it likes me."
Mr. Ollivander smiled. "Good, good...it usually takes longer than that to find the perfect match, but we seem to have been lucky this time...do you like it?" Melodie nodded, eyes bright. Jolanta laughed a little, paid, and they walked back into the streets.
"Th-thank you Mr. Ollivander!"