"Smells good, Dad," Alexandra said to her father as she walked into the kitchen, greeted by the wafts of fried eggs and bacon.
"Reckoned it was about time I finally use the stove this year," Dudley smiled. "You ready to get your school things?"
Alexandra nodded. She had received her letter last week with the new list of books she needed.
"We'll head off to Harry's once you've finished your breakfast then."
She sat down at her plate, and began chewing her bacon. Dudley's phone sounded, and he retrieved it from his pocket.
"Hello?"
He was silent for a minute.
"I thought-"
The other person on the line must have interrupted him, for he fell silent again.
"I see that," Dudley said after a moment. "But there's nobody else who can come in?"
He sighed.
"Alright. Give me about an hour."
He hung up the phone. "Bad news, Alexandra. My boss just got word from a client that a big deal is about to go underwater unless we can do some damage control. I'm going to have to go in."
"But we're supposed to go to Diagon Alley!"
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'll call Harry and see if I could just drop you off and pick you up in a few hours."
He gave his daughter a soft smile, and then went in the other room.
Alexandra played around with her breakfast until Dudley came back into the kitchen. "Right, Harry said it's fine if I just drop you off. He said that you should be back by one, so I'll pick you up again when I break for lunch."
"Okay," Alexandra said. "But why do you always have to go into the office? Don't they have anybody else?"
"There've been a lot of lay offs, sweetie. If I start giving them a rough time, I'll be next. Besides, I'm the only one they've got that can handle the computer problems."
"Then they should at least pay you a little more," she muttered.
Dudley smiled weakly.
….
"You've got you're money, right?" Dudley asked as he pulled into the Potter's driveway.
"Yes," Alexandra replied, clutching the bills in her pocket. "I'll exchange them at the bank like last time."
"Good. And I'm really sorry I've got to just drop you off like this; I'll make it up to you tonight. We'll go to your favorite restaurant."
"Sounds good, dad," she smiled. "See you at one."
She unbuckled her seatbelt and walked up to the front door and rang the bell.
Ginny answered. "Hello, dear," she said politely, letting the girl into the house and giving a quick wave to Dudley. "We're just about ready to go."
She led Alexandra into the living room. James was standing by the fireplace with an anxious expression on his face. Albus was watching him enviously from the couch. Harry was helping Lily fasten her cloak.
"Hi, Alexandra!" Lily greeted her happily, grinning,
"Hi, Lily," she replied.
"Are we ready now?" James asked his mother, checking his watch again. "The others were going to be there at eleven."
"James, it's only ten thirty," Ginny told her son.
"Did you remember your booklist?" Harry asked Alexandra.
"Yes. It's in my pocket."
"Okay, after we go to Gringotts, I'm going to take James down to Madam Malkin's to get his robes and then his wand and other supplies. Ginny will take you to refill your potion ingredients and whatever else you need. Then we'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts."
Alexandra nodded in understanding.
"We're going to take the Floo again," Ginny said, taking down a pot from the fireplace mantle. "Alright, who's first?"
"Me!" James exclaimed, sticking his fist right into the pot.
"You wait for everybody before you go anywhere," his mother told him sternly as he stood in the fireplace.
Alexandra wasn't a fan of this method of travel, but she knew it was the fastest way to get everyone to Diagon Alley. After James went, Harry took Lily. Then Albus went.
"Do you remember how it's done?" Ginny asked kindly as Alexandra steeped into the fireplace.
"I think so," Alexandra said. "Diagon Alley!" She was instantly consumed by the green flames, and thrust into the now familiar vortex of fireplaces. When she got to the exit that led to Diagon Alley, she braced herself for the landing, which was, as she remembered, very rough.
"Still not big on it, huh?" Harry asked, helping Alexandra up.
"Not at all," Alexandra answered, dusting herself off. Once Ginny arrived, the party bid a quick hello to Tom, the barman, and then headed to the back of the Leaky Cauldron where, after going through the brick wall barrier, they entered Diagon Alley. Alexandra easily spotted Gringotts bank; it's large, white-marble structure made it stand out among the smaller shops.
"It won't take too long in here, will it?" James asked his dad.
"I don't think so; it doesn't look very crowded."
The six walked into the building, and up to a large counter with a small, irritable-looking goblin behind it.
"Withdraw?" the goblin asked without looking up from the coins he was sorting.
"Yes," Harry said, handing the goblin a large key.
The goblin examined it closely; as if determined to find something wrong with it. As it turned out, though, everything seemed to be in order, so with much distaste etched on his face, he beckoned for another goblin to come over.
"Realian, take this lot down to their vault; surname's Potter."
The goblin called Realian nodded.
"Is there anything else?"
"I-I have to exchange my muggle money," Alexandra spoke up in a nervous voice.
The goblin at the counter glared at her. "Then perhaps you should go to the exchange counter."
"I'll take her," Harry volunteered, handing the key to the vault over to his wife. "We'll wait for you out here. Come on, Alexandra."
He led Alexandra over to another counter. Alexandra noticed the goblin give her one last cool piercing stare as they passed. She recalled the goblin's hostile manner from the last time she visited the bank, but it still made her feel uncomfortable. She also noticed how the goblins seemed to act a bit more aggressive towards her than they did towards the Potter's…
"Excuse me," Harry said to the goblin working the exchange counter. "We need to make an exchange."
This goblin, who had previously been weighing rubies and emeralds, glanced up. "Which one of you would that be?"
"Um, me," Alexandra said shyly, pulling out the bills from her pocket. "I think there's 200 pounds there."
"You think?" the goblin inquired cruelly. He carefully recounted the bills. "Very well." He pulled out a sheet of parchment. "Surname's Dursley isn't it? Remember you from last summer."
"Er, yes, that's right," she nodded, astounded at the fact that this goblin remembered her from a year ago.
He wrote her name and information on the parchment, and then pushed a pouch of Galleons across the counter. "There you are."
"Thank you," Harry said. Before they turned around, Alexandra saw the goblin who had just given her the Galleons lean over to a goblin sitting next to him and whisper something that made them both look up at her.
Ginny and the children seemed to have finished up just as Harry and Alexandra did, for they all met by the main counter at the same time.
"Excellent, can I get my wand now?" James asked hurriedly as Ginny tossed Harry as bag of coins.
"We pass by the robe shop and Apothecary first," Harry replied. "You'll get your wand, James, just be patient."
"But that's where Louis is supposed to meet us!"
"I talked to Bill this morning, and he said, they were going to look at owls first," Ginny told her son.
"Is Fred going to be here?" Alexandra asked.
"Yeah, he's helping his dad out at the shop today," Albus replied.
"He's going to meet us at Ollivander's as well," James said. "Assuming we ever get there, that is."
"You'd better go before that one has a heart attack," Ginny smiled. "We'll see you at the bookshop in a bit."
James grabbed his father's hand and the two rushed out of the bank.
Alexandra didn't only needed a few things besides books; some extra quills and some more parchment, refills on her potion ingredients and new stand for her telescope. They managed to get everything in a reasonable amount of time (though they were slowed down a bit by a nasty spill in the Apothecary) and were able to head to Flourish Blott's in just a little over an hour.
"I wonder if James and dad are here yet," Albus wondered aloud as he scanned the busy bookshop.
"Looks like it," Ginny said, spotting Harry's untidy head of hair sticking out among the crowd of witches and wizards in the shop.
Flourish and Blott's was by far the most crowded shop in Diagon Alley. It was all the party could do to find their way to Harry and James, who were now accompanied by George, Angelina, Fred, Bill, Louis, Dominique and Victoire.
"Mum! Mum! Look at my wand!" James said, proudly showing his mother his brand new wand. "Thirteen inches, mahogany and phoenix feather; that's dad's core!"
"I know," Ginny grinned. "And I'll bet you'll be just as good a wizard as he is."
"Hi, Alexandra," Fred said.
Alexandra was happy to se him; the two had become rather good friends over their last year at Hogwarts.
"Hello," she replied. "Have you gotten your books?"
"Nah, we just got here. My dad and I met James and Louis down at Ollivander's."
"We've got a lot of new books this year," Alexandra commented, looking at her crumpled booklist. "We need copies of The Fundamentals of Potion Brewing, The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Two, Constellations and their Origins…"
"Yup, looks like the teachers are planning on really laying it on us," Fred sighed. He was no fan of schoolwork. "But have I told you I'm going to try out for Quidditch this year?"
"No, do you know what position?"
"Probably Chaser; my only other choice would be Seeker, and I'm not very good at spotting the Snitch."
Alexandra didn't know too much about Quidditch, only the basics. She wasn't very skilled on a broomstick either.
"Any idea if Alanna got her books already?" Fred asked.
Alanna Brooklyn was another friend of Alexandra and Fred. She was Muggle born, and had told Alexandra that her family, being highly religious, did not completely approve of her studying witchcraft.
"I don't know," Alexandra admitted. "I haven't heard from her all summer; neither of us have an owl."
"I meant to write her," Fred said. "But my dad's been using our owl a lot to ship products to customers."
"There you are," James said, running up to Fred, followed by Louis. "Your mum said to tell you that she found all your books. My mum's got yours, Alexandra. They're waiting by the counter."
"We're going back to your dad's shop too," Louis added. "Think he'd let me refill on dungbombs? Victoire caught me trying to sneak some into her room and threw them all off that cliff behind our house."
After everyone paid for his or her books, the large group made their way over to a bustling, colorful store: Weasleys' Wizard Wheeze's.
Angelina went to go help out at the front counter, while George led the others to the back.
The kids immediately scattered. Alexandra, unsure of what to do with herself, stood quietly by a large shelf.
"Look at these beauties," George said to Harry, showing him a cage of large spiders. "Brand new. They shrink down to the size of a pea. You can slip them into someone's shoe, their coffee, whatever."
"Think I'll get one," Harry said, grinning. "Ron ate the last of my Treacle Tart last night…"
When at long last everyone had finished looking around the store, they stopped for a quick bite of ice cream, and then each family went its separate way.
"Wonder how this would do in a duel," James said, examining his wand as the party walked back towards the Leaky Cauldron.
"You won't be finding out for quite some time," Ginny said sternly. "You know Hogwarts has a strict 'no dueling' rule, unless it's in a classroom, of course."
"But dad's told he he's dueled at school before," James complained. "Right dad, you and that Malfoy."
"Yes well, your father did a lot of things at that school that you won't be doing," Ginny said, rolling her eyes at her husband.
"Like fighting dragons and three headed dogs?"
"Exactly."
…..
AN-Sorry for the long wait; but did everyone hear J.K. Rowling announcement? I can't wait, although I do wish she would just write another book.