A/N: I greatly apologize for my slow updating. I promise that the next chapter will be posted a lot quicker.

Also I would like to apologize if anything seems rushed, it's just my style, and I'm sorry if you don't like it.

This is the one and only time I'm doing the disclaimer, so listen up! I do not own any characters and/or certain situations; those belong rightfully to JK Rowling. All I own are my characters, my keyboard, some pocket lint and my creativity!

Please enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Two

Diagon Alley

The rest of the day went by rather quickly, especially since Annabell had slept for most of it. Before she knew it, night had come, and she was once again lying down.

She tossed and turned trying to get into a comfortable position, hoping that would help her fall asleep. Whether the reason why she couldn't go to sleep was the extra sleep she had gotten, or the anxiety of what was going to happen tomorrow she didn't know.

With a deep sigh, Annabell threw the covers off of her and dragged herself to her brother's room. It wasn't really that hard to miss since Sami had written, "SAMI'S ROOM," in big bold letters on his door. She opened the door without knocking, and immediately regretted it.

"Eek!" She shrieked and ducked as flash of red light whizzed over her head.

"Sorry kiddo!" Sami apologized.

Annabell threw a glare in Sami's direction, "Which spell was that?"

"It was a," He looked down at an open book on his bed, "Bedazzling Hex. It says here that it's supposed to conceal a person or an object." He gestured at the poster of a muggle rock band on his door that he had been trying to 'conceal'.

"Required to know for training?"

"Yep," Sami smiled, "Anyway, what do you want?"

Annabell looked at her brother with a thoughtful expression, trying to remember what she came over for. Her eyes scanned his room, and it came to her when her eyes fell on his bookcase, "Mind if I borrow a book or two?"

Sami followed her gaze to his bookcase, or what he could see of it, since it was covered in a thick layer of dust, "Knock yourself out," He shrugged.

"Thanks…" She muttered. Annabell grabbed Hogwarts: A History, and made a hasty retreat back to her room.

Once the door was closed behind her, Annabell sat cross-legged on her bed and (after dusting it off) cracked open the book.

Even though she had already read the book, thanks to her mother, Annabell always seemed to read it slower than she had the last time. Maybe she was trying to soak in more of the details. Annabell sighed and began reading the book about Hogwarts' history.

About what seemed like thirty minutes later Annabell glanced up at her clock, and was surprised to see that it was midnight, "I thought it was ten…" She muttered closing the book, and placing it on her bedside table.

She curled up under her covers, and finally fell asleep.

The whole morning was like one great blur to Annabell, and suddenly she found herself holding her mother's arm with one hand, while the other clutched her list of required items for Hogwarts, "We'll be back in a hour or two," Her mother told her husband, "See ya!"

Before Annabell could say goodbye to her brother or father she heard a loud crack! Her house disappeared, and was replaced with a tiny, grubby-looking pub called the Leaky Cauldron.

She clumsily stumbled a bit, due to the slight nausea the apparation caused. After her wave of nausea passed, she and her mother walked into the pub. They hurriedly made their way to a small, walled courtyard. Annabell's mother pulled out her wand and tapped the bricks in a certain pattern. A small hole appeared in the middle of the wall, and got bigger and bigger. Seconds later, Annabell was looking at Diagon Alley.

"Well what's first on your list?" Her mother asked as she pocketed her wand.

"Um…" She glanced at the list, "I need my robes." Annabell handed the list to her mother so she could get the details. She nodded and began her brisk walk to Madame Malkin's Robes for all Occasions with Annabell scrambling to keep of with her. Soon they were inside the store.

The moment the two entered the store, a rather small, plump woman, whom Annabell assumed was Madam Malkin, greeted them, "Hogwarts dear?"

"Yes ma'am," Annabell replied with a small smile.

"I figured," The shop owner returned Annabell's smile, "This is about the time everyone does their school shopping. There's actually another young lady being fitted over here." She motioned for Annabell to follow her.

Before Annabell obeyed her mother whispered, "I'll wait for you outside, ok?"

"Ok," Annabell replied before hurrying off after Madam Malkin.

Annabell looked at the girl who was also being fitted for her uniform. She had dirty blonde hair pulled back into a single braid that went a little past her shoulders, while her bangs hung over her eyebrows. She had a childish face with large light brown eyes, and had slightly tanned skin, the opposite of Annabell's pale skin, "Hello," Annabell greeted as she stepped onto the stool, "Going to Hogwarts?"

"Obviously…" The girl muttered not making eye contact with Annabell.

"What's your name?" Annabell asked as a long robe was slipped over her head, and Madame Malkin started pinning it to the correct length.

"Audrey," She said a little louder. Finally Audrey looked Annabell in the eye, "Yours?"

"Annabell," She replied smiling, "Are you excited about going to Hogwarts?" She asked trying to start up a conversation.

"I don't know," Audrey answered bluntly, "I'm not so sure what to expect. I'm kind of new to this…" She added quietly.

She must be muggle-born Annabell thought. With a sympathetic smile she said, "I'm sure you'll love it." The rest of the fitting was rather silent, save for the sound of cloth moving about.

"That's it," The lady who was fitting Audrey's robe said, "You're done." Audrey didn't reply as she hopped off the stool. Audrey nodded in Annabell's direction as a goodbye, and walked off.

Eventually Annabell was done as well, and joined her mother, "How'd it go?" She asked.

"I met someone," Annabell replied simply.

"Lovely. How about we get you your textbooks?"

Annabell rather enjoyed walking into the bookstore, and seeing all the books. There was everything from the autobiography of Merlin to wizarding fairy tales. Unfortunately, and much to Annabell's disappointment, her mother was practically dragging her outside the store no more than five minutes after entering the shop, muttering something along the lines of, "Ravenclaw for sure..."

After buying her textbooks, Annabell's mother bought her telescope and cauldron.

Next stop was the apothecary Annabell was bombarded by many smells, mainly month old eggs. After a moment or two she had gotten used to the smell, and browsed the store, while her mother bought the basic ingredients for potions. Her eyes widened when she saw the unicorn hairs, and how each seemed to sparkle in the dull shop. Then she walked upon organs of some unfortunate animal. She tilted her head to the side slightly, trying to imagine what kind of animal would have organs of that large of a size.

"Annabell!" Her mother called from the front of the store, "Let's go!"

Annabell obliged and followed her mother outside. Once outside, Annabell's mother pulled out her wand, made a swishing motion, and Annabell's supplies disappeared with a cheerful pop.

"What do you say we have some lunch before we finish up?" Her mom offered as she put her wand away. Annabell nodded, and followed her mother back to the Leaky Cauldron. Not exactly the ideal place to take an eleven year old into, but with a mother that was an auror, Annabell wasn't scared in the least.

After a quick lunch, the two made their way to Ollivander's to buy Annabell her wand.

The butterflies in Annabell's stomach fluttered at the thought of getting a wand. The walk to the store seemed to take forever, especially since her mother stopped by the pet store.

"Annabell, would you like a pet?" She asked, looking at the owls through the window.

"No thanks," Annabell replied anxiously.

"Hm…" Her mother had a thoughtful expression, "Sami had a pet at your age."

"Mom, the poor rat ran away in his third year!" Annabell retorted, "Plus, I can barely keep track of my items, let alone a living, breathing being."

She sighed, "If you insist…"

With that, they finally made it to the wand maker, Ollivander's, shop.

"Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.," Annabell read aloud.

The faint sound of a tinkling bell rang as Annabell and her mother stepped into the shop. Instantly, Annabell felt overwhelmed by all the little boxes that surrounded her, which undoubtedly, held wands, waiting patiently for the day when some lucky wizard would buy it. Some where obviously older than others, judging by the thick layers of dust on some of them. As she observed the boxes, her mother sat down calmly in the spindly chair, which seemed to be the only thing in the small shop that didn't hold a wand.

"Good afternoon," a voice said softly. Annabell turned around to see an old man standing before her with pale, glittering eyes that seemed to light up the room.

"Hello," Annabell offered a small smile to Ollivander.

He peered over Annabell's shoulder, and noticed her mother, "Ah, Sarah Orhood, it seems like only yesterday you were in here," with a small sigh the man continued, "If memory serves right, your wand was ten and a quarter inches, quite bendy and made of walnut."

"Actually sir, now it's Mrs. Merle," Annabell's mother pointed out kindly, "And you are correct."

"My apologies," Ollivander replied, "And what's your name dear?" He turned his attention to Annabell.

"Annabell sir," She answered.

"Pleasure. Well now Miss Merle, which is your wand arm?" He asked as he pulled a tape measure out of his pocket.

"My right arm sir," Annabell said.

"Please hold out your arm. There you go." He began to measure Annabell from shoulder to floor, knee to her underarm, and around her head. He suddenly let go of the tape measure and flitted through the shelves full of boxes. Annabell made sure to stand still as the tape measure continued to measure her.

"Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Miss Merle," He began. Annabell couldn't help but hear the tone in his voice that seemed as though he had spoke this speech before, which, now that she thought about it, he must have, what with all the witches and wizards in England.

"That will do," Ollivander said after finishing his speech, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. He walked back over to Annabell.

He gingerly pulled out a wand from its box and handed it to Annabell, "Mahogany and dragon heartstring. Ten and a half inches, Pliable. Excellent for transmutation."

Annabell examined the wand carefully before waving it. She was slightly surprised when nothing happened.

He snatched it from her hand and replaced it with another wand, "Ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy." Annabell once again waved the wand. Still nothing happened, not even a little spark. Ollivander whipped it from her hand and handed her, yet another wand.

"Perhaps something a little more powerful," He muttered, "Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches, quite whippy." She waved again and nothing happened.

Annabell attempted to will her next wands to do something. Levitate one of the empty boxed, create a gust of wind, shoot sparks out of its end, anything! Annabell found herself getting more and more anxious as the pile of rejected wands seemed to grow higher. She bit her bottom lip nervously, wondering if there was a wand for her.

"Don't worry Miss Merle, you're not my first tricky customer, and certainly not my last," Ollivander assured.

After what seemed like the hundredth wand Ollivander stroked his jaw with his fingertips, "Perhaps…" He muttered to himself. He disappeared to the back of his shop, and Annabell bit down on her lip harder.

"Annabell, dear, don't chew on your lip," Her mother scolded, "It's a nasty habit."

"Yes ma'am," Annabell replied releasing her lip.

Finally Ollivander reappeared, holding a box tenderly in his hands. With one swoop of his hand, the large layer of dust flung off of the box, and into the air. He opened it and revealed to Annabell another wand, "Try this," He said as he handed the very light brown wand to her, "Nine and three fourths inches. Holly, inflexible, amazing in defensive spells."

"What's the core?" Annabell asked.

He smiled, "The core to this particular wand is the thing that makes it very unique," He paused for a moment, "It's a chimera scale."

Annabell's and her mother's gasp was clearly audible, "How did you get a hold of that?" Her mother asked sitting bolt upright in her chair, nearly breaking it in the process.

The old man smiled, clearly enjoying himself. He turned his attention back to Annabell, ignoring her mother's question, "What are you waiting for? Give it a wave!"

Annabell hesitated for a slight moment, before she waved the wand. Much to her surprise, multicolored sparks flew out from the tip and happily danced in mid air before quickly dissolving.

Ollivander's smile widened, "Well it looks like we found a wand. Take especially good care of this wand," He said sternly, "A chimera scale, in case you didn't know, is exceptionally powerful and rare object, but the wand chooses the wizard! There is no way around it."

Annabell's mother stood up, "Thank you Mr. Ollivander," She said as she paid for the wand.

"No thank you," He grabbed the money, "Good luck with your schooling Miss Merle," He added.

Annabell nodded enthusiastically, still marveling at her wand as she and her mother walked out of the shop.

"Well, I'm ready to go home," Her mother proclaimed, "You still sure you don't want a pet?" She extended her hand for her daughter.

"Positive," Annabell said, grabbing her mother's hand. She pulled out her wand, and after a loud pop! They disappeared.