Sorry this took so long to update… I kind of lost my interest in Harry Potter, but I will still try to update. I want to finish all my stories.
Disclaimer: The characters I'm using are not mine but J.K. Rowling's. Some of the words in this chapter are used directly from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling, and of which I take NO CREDIT.
Chapter 2: Floo Powder and Diagon Alley
"Diagon Alley, Ginny!" said Mrs. Weasley excitedly, grinning at her daughter as the Weasleys and Harry gathered around the fireplace to Floo. "And Lockhart's signing books today!"
Fred and George, unfortunately, heard her.
"Oh, Fred," said George, "I love Lockhart. He's nearly as pretty as dear Harry…"
Ginny, turning red, fiercely whispered, "Stop it, George! He's here, in this house, that isn't fair!"
"Okay," said Fred, "so, we'll invite Lockhart over, and then it'll be fair. And…"
"Hello, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley greeted heartily, apparently wishing to divert the attention off of herself and Ginny.
"Um… hello," said Harry, somewhat curiously, as he took the chance to look at Ginny, whom had knocked her elbow in the butter dish that previous weekend before, and now, it was Wednesday.
Harry had come from the kitchen, apparently had finished his bacon sandwiches.
"We're running low, Arthur," sighed Molly, and Ginny took the opportunity to look at Harry and study him. Why on earth did he look so confused? Hadn't he heard of…? Uh-oh.
"We'll have to buy more today," continued Molly. "Ah well, guests first! After you, Harry dear!"
She held out the flowerpot full of Floo powder; he looked apprehensively at it, as if unsure what to do. Ginny realized, and she thought rather smartly, Harry had never traveled by Floo powder, because Harry had been raised by Muggles. Yet, she did not say anything; for fear of being teased later, or just in case she stuttered and ending up saying something completely embarrassing by mistake.
"W-what am I supposed to do?" said Harry finally, and Ginny resisted the urge to giggle. He seemed so lost.
"He's never traveled by Floo powder before," said Ron, and Ginny thought, of course he hasn't. But Ron continued apologetically, to Harry, saying, "Sorry, Harry, I forgot."
"Never?" said Arthur; he suddenly looked tons more interested in Harry, and completely less interested in the Floor powder pot. "But how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?"
"I went on the Underground –," began Harry, and Ginny's father looked like he'd just received presents.
Apparently, Ginny had been thinking along the right lines, because Arthur said, "Really? Were there escapators? How exactly –."
"Not now, Arthur," said Molly, to Ginny's immense relief. She really didn't feel like listening to one of her father's many rambles on Muggle things, and it was increasingly frustrating when you had no idea what someone was talking about, and even if they'd gotten the correct terms, and they kept going on about it. "Floo powder's a lot quicker, dear," Molly explained to Harry, "but goodness me, if you've never used it before –."
"He'll be all right, Mum," said Fred, but Molly did not look altogether reassured. She knew Fred could be… restless. "Harry, watch us first."
Harry watched carefully as Fred stepped in the fire, threw down the powder, yelled "Diagon Alley!" and was taken away in a blur of emerald flames.
Molly explained to Harry about how to pronounce the words clearly; Ginny had learned all of this when she was young. It seemed so weird, so foreign… she'd just grown up with magic, just as she'd grown up in a completely dominated red-head family.
Ginny watched nervously as her mother and Ron explained what to do one more time, quickly, for Harry; Ginny's dad was gone; he'd stepped into the emerald flames, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Ginny watched her mother and Ron like a tennis match as they told Harry last minute directions.
Lastly, taking a deep breath, Harry stepped in the fire place, took the Floo, threw it down, and said, "D-Diagon" – and then he choked slightly on the word Alley. But then he disappeared, and Ginny wondered how he was doing.
"Okay, Ginny," said Molly, turning to her daughter, "it's your turn."
Nervously, Ginny took a handful of powder. Although she had done Floo powder so many times before, it still made her nervous every time she used it. It was like opening presents; a sick, nervous excitement; you were excited to get the gift, but sometimes you were extremely nervous because you didn't know what you were going to say if you didn't like the present.
Taking it in her hand, she stepped into the fire, threw down the ashes, and said loudly and clearly before the ash reached her nose, "Diagon Alley!"
She felt the familiar sensation of being sucked into a drain, kind of like a funnel, she thought, spinning around and around the sides. Coughing a bit, she tucked her elbows into her sides tightly, remembering times when she had not done so and she'd needed a bottle of Skele-Gro. When she opened her eyes, she was sitting unpleasantly in the middle of the bustling Diagon Alley, with Fred, George, Percy and Arthur staring down at her.
"Where's Harry?" she asked, her voice miraculously coming back as she realized he wasn't around.
Arthur frowned. "We thought he must be coming after you."
"No," said Ginny slowly, "he left before me."
Ron appeared next from the fire, and noticed Harry was missing as he landed ungracefully on the ground, sputtering ash. "Bloody hell," he muttered, and Arthur shot him a warning glance as Molly appeared.
"All right," she said, brushing ash of her skirts and not realizing everyone was staring at her. "Let's start!" She walked ahead, and then stopped as she realized no one was following her. "Come on, you lot, we don't have all day!"
"Mum," murmured Ron embarrassedly, his ears turning slightly pink, "Harry's not here. He must've gotten off at the wrong grate."
Molly took a moment to look around; there were witches with tall hats emblazoned with stars, in long cloaks that sometimes had flashing numbers, and five red heads, but no black-haired boy with emerald green eyes, round-rimmed glasses, and a scar shaped like a lightning bolt pathetically covered by bangs. "Oh, no! Arthur, what are you going to do?" Her hands flapped dramatically as she just stared at him, her children exclaiming glances.
They split up; Fred, George, Ron, and Percy went with Arthur as Ginny went with Molly. They peeked into different stores, Flourish and Blotts included, where Molly sent a longing glance toward Lockhart, who was saying something in front of large stacks of books, called to Arthur to tell them that she and Ginny would wait inside, and they watched Lockhart speak.
Ginny thought it was rather dull, but she didn't mention it to her mum. It brightened up her day, and her face, when Molly swore she'd heard Hagrid's (Ginny had learned that that was the gamekeeper at Hogwarts) voice and she'd raced out, Ginny nearly becoming lost in the sea of people and clutching to her mother's hand as Harry came into view. She felt a sense of embarrassment at being caught holding her mum's hand but knew she would feel worse if she found herself lost.
"Oh, Harry – oh, my dear – you could have been anywhere –," began Molly, and Ginny couldn't help smiling as Molly let go of Ginny's hand to wipe off Harry.
As Lucius Malfoy came into view and Arthur muttered something angrily, Molly sent him words of warning before pulling off with Ginny, and Ginny sighed deeply, ignoring her mother's words. She was leaving Harry, and she felt it was going to be a very boring afternoon…with only more Lockhart and Harry to look forward to.
