Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 2: Diagon Alley
Penny
Diagon Alley looked different. It seemed much more important than it had the other times I'd been. I suspected it was because I was holding a Hogwarts letter in my hand, and that I would be getting my school supplies. We went to Gringotts to get gold; I LOVED the roller-coaster-like mine train, and the goblins were intriguing enough.
We walked, or more technically jogged, to Madame Malkin's to get our robes, and when we were halfway through getting fitted, a boy with hair light enough to rival my blonde locks walked in. Our parents instantly recognized each other, so I knew that they must have known each other from work. We stepped down and were introduced to the Malfoys. Their son, Draco, was entering Hogwarts too. He played seeker in Quidditch, and he was so cute! He knew that he was going to be a Slytherin. Lilac said that's where she thought I was heading, so I elbowed her and basically said the same thing, adding that I didn't really care as long as I wasn't a Hufflepuff, they were a bunch of softies. I told Draco that Lilac was a Ravenclaw shoe-in, and she did to me the same thing I had done to her about a minute ago. He just smirked at us, and I just glowered back at him. He did seem like a Slytherin I knew we would be instant frenemies, or competitive friends...
Lilac
When my older sister had first gone to Diagon Alley about 8 years ago, I hadn't come, so the whole place was a huge surprise. Gringotts was awesome, and in Madam Malkin's, I guess Penny and I both embarrassed each other a little, but I immediately disliked Draco Malfoy. I think he disapproved of my knee-length, silky, dark brown hair and blue-purple, almost lilac eyes,, but he definitely liked Penny's short blond hair, just a little lighter than his, and her electric green eyes.
Next, we went to the apothecary, which was disgusting, bought our potions supplies, and then stopped at Flourish and Blott's for our books. I marveled at the books inside- it was like my heaven. Books were my life. There were mini books barely bigger than my fingernail to some as tall as me. There were books that uttered bloodcurdling screams when opened and some that jinxed you if you tried to close them. We picked up our course books and Penny literally had to drag me out of the shop.
Our next stop was Eeylops Owl Emporium. Inside it was dim, and after I adjusted to the dark I could see about 50 pairs of huge eyes staring at us, all belonging to owls. Penny picked out a pure black one with lime green eyes, and I got a beautiful snowy white one mottled with brown dots on her wings and giant, light blue eyes.
Now it was time for the moment I had been waiting for the most… getting my wand. The others waited outside while I slowly stepped into the small shop. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of boxes piled up to the ceiling. I didn't see any sign of Mr. Ollivander, but then suddenly I could make out two giant orbs staring at me. I stared right back.
"Good afternoon, Lilac Starre," a voice whispered.
"Um, hello," I said back. I sounded unnaturally loud.
Mr. Ollivander stepped out of the shadows, the orbs being his creepy eyes."Now, your wand arm?" he asked. I held out my right hand and a tape measure started to measure every inch of my body. Then he started handing me random wands.
"Beechwood and phoenix feather, 10 inches, flexible. Give it a wave." I twirled it around, feeling quite stupid, but nothing happened. "Maple and dragon heartstring, 11 inches, nice and supple." Still nothing. He snatched it out of my hand. The pile rose higher and higher, but still nothing happened. Finally, "Ebony and unicorn tail hair, 8 and a half inches, springy." The wand was black with a silver tip; short but flexible. As I held it, I knew this was the one. I felt a tingling sensation go up my entire arm and as I swung it over my head and down to my waist, blue sparks flew out of the tip.
"Yes, this is the one," he said softly. I paid 7 Galleons, and Mr. Ollivander bowed me out of the shop.
I blinked in the light outside and showed my wand to Penny. Then, as she went inside, I sat down on a bench, and being the nerd that I am, started reading up on spells and learning all the course books by heart. When she came out, Draco Malfoy was passing by and I thought: Yes! The perfect opportunity to try out the color spell I just learned! I turned his hair from blond to green to black with purple polka-dots, and I probably would kept going all day, but Penny punched me rather hard, so I turned it back to blond. It was funny though, and he didn't even notice.
"What'd you do that for!" she screamed.
"What?" I asked innocently. It was best to play "dumb" in these situations (or at least try to, it is very hard for me to pretend to be dumb), especially when Penny was about to blow up.
"Change his hair color! That is so... so... SLYTHERINY!"
"He's a git, Penny!" I said. It was true. She didn't talk to me after that.
Penny
Mr. Ollivander was kind of creepy, but the wands were SO cool. The first wand I tried was willow and unicorn tail, and nothing happened, just like the 10 others I tried out. I knew that the oak and phoenix feather, 10 ¼ inches, "Nice and supple", was mine as soon as I grabbed it. I'm not kidding, I wanted it so badly, out of Mr. Ollivander's hand. It felt like it was (this is kinda hard to explain) MADE for me. We ran into Draco outside, and Lilac acted like a true Slytherin, not a Ravenclaw, and changed his hair color to green, then black with purple polka-dots. I think she would have kept on going if I hadn't elbowed her as I was leaving the shop. The idiot, arrogant, boy didn't even notice, although some random passerby stared at him as they walked by. And then Lilac called him a git! It's one thing if I call him an idiot, it's another if Lilac insults him. I was mad.
Back at home, I locked myself in my room and began to read my course books. I knew I would love Potions, but I wasn't so sure about History of Magic. From what my bros said, no one could stay awake the whole class. I was willing to bet Lilac would prove those people wrong.
I drifted off into Penny-land. The more I thought about it, the more I saw likable things about Mr. Draco Malfoy. He was rich, had a sense of humor, would most likely be in the same house as me, and most of all, he was SOOO cute!
Lilac
Gosh, what did Penny see in that moron? She's the Slytherin, but she elbowed me when I turned his hair green! Seriously, Malfoy is a idiotic brat.
After we Floo Powder-ed home, I plopped down on the couch and read all of my new books in 30 minutes. I had heard that Professor Snape, who taught Potions, was super evil, but I was sure I would like the subject, if not the teacher. Charms looked fun, and I was really looking forward to Transfiguration.
I walked to Penny's house, Accioed her book (the only way to get something away from her if she's holding on to it), stood in front of her, and recited every single course book by heart. Even the History of Magic one. She just sighed, said, "Typical", grabbed the book and went back to reading. I laughed and walked back home.
At my house, I studied up on spells and I tried out doing a bunch of stuff. I made stuff zoom around my room (Wingardium Leviosa), made the lilacs on the window sing, made my bed with magic (YESSSSS!) and some other cool stuff. I knew I wouldn't be able to do this once school started because they would be tracking me and I would get in trouble if I did magic. I knew that I probably could do magic inside the house, though, because my mom was a witch and it didn't track the individuals, just the house. So in the summer I could make my bed with magic EVERY DAY! (YESSSSS)
I was sooo excited to go to Hogwarts! Only 2 more weeks until we would be on the train!
Penny
The NERVE of that girl! First she's mean to the first boy I've met who I actually LIKE; she changes his hair color and calls him a git! Then she comes over and recites the course books BY HEART when I've barely read them. I was going to get payback by the way of holding a grudge. It was really simple for me; I'd held one on my brothers for a whole month straight. If I couldn't talk to them for a month, and we lived in the same house, I could ignore Lilac, easily. Even though my parents were okay with her (they wouldn't be if she wasn't a pure-blood), she didn't like them much, so she usually only came over when they were away.
Lilac came over, just as I predicted, exactly one hour after my parents had left for work. My brothers and I were in the back playing Quidditch. I was a chaser, Leo was also a chaser, and Raphael was the keeper. It was really nice because Raphael was also a chaser, he just wasn't as good, but we could work on different plays, or just shoot. We heard her knock, and I'm pretty sure she saw us flying, but she didn't come in the back. She had told me a long time ago that she hated Quidditch, and I also knew she would check to see if I was still flying exactly an hour later.
My bros and I went back inside, and when Lilac came, we were all in the kitchen, listening to music, so she would think we couldn't hear her. The kitchen was in the back of the house, so she could see us, but we pretended not to see her. I knew it was kinda mean, but it was revenge. So my brothers and I kept on doing this, when she wasn't coming, doing our own thing, and when she did, pretending we were having a day hanging out as siblings. IN YOUR FACE LILAC!
Lilac
So of course, being an evil git, Penny just hadto start ignoring me like a true Slytherin. Penny's grudges could last a long time, and I speak from experience. Typical Penny. All because I turned her "boyfriend" Malfoy's hair green. What did she see in him?
I jogged to her house the next day, an hour after her parents left (I don't like them much). She and her brothers were playing Quidditch, just as an excuse to ignore me. See, there are some things I don't even tell my best friend, and one of them is that I actually want to play Quidditch for my house. I'd had a lot of practice, and Penny said I sucked, but I knew that was just to be Penny, because her brothers said I was really good.
She does this grudge thing a lot. Usually I just have to let her get all her steam out, and then we'll be friends again. But this one was waylonger than her other ones, and I think it was just because of what I did to "Dear Draco". I think someone was in love... She would probably hit me if I said that in front of her. Not that I could talk to her...
The next day when I came, Penny was pretending to be having some "family time" with her brothers, which would never happen if she wasn't trying to ignore me. They were just lounging in the kitchen, listening to their charmed iPods, pretending not to see me. Every day I came, and every day Penny felt sweet revenge... I guess, if ignoring your BFF is what she calls revenge.
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