Hii! Sorry this took so long, but Lily was taking forever to send me her part.

Prologue Part 3

The next day their mother was free was on 31 July. (Coincidence?! ;) ) Lily and Hermione could barely conceal their excitement. In their letter, there had been detailed instructions on how to get to Diagon Alley, where they would get their supplies, and to Platform 9 ¾, where they would catch their train.

They caught a bus to London and ended up in the bustling Charing Cross Road. Lily shaded her eyes against the bright sun and said, "I can't see a pub of any sort here, forget about one called the Leaky Cauldron!" Next to her, Hermione was looking around for a sign. "I found it!" she yelled. "Where?" cried Lily, looking wildly around. "Right there!" exclaimed Hermione, pointing at a small grubby looking pub between a bookshop and a record store. Mrs. Granger shook her head, "I'm afraid you'll have to guide me for I can't see it." "That's okay mum," Said Hermione, "I nearly missed it myself." Lily began jumping, "I can't believe this is actually happening!", she squealed.

They walked towards the pub. Lily pushed the door and it opened with a creak. The three Grangers walked in. They had each been expecting a warm cheery place with plenty of people and smiling waitresses with large trays, well…there were certainly a lot of people…but…. for a famous place it was rather dark, shabby and sort of grubby. The barman was bald and a little old.

Lily walked up to him and said in an odd, trembly voice, "Um…. Excuse me…. Could you…open up the gate to Diagon Alley…please?". The old barman looked at her "Why do I need to do that now? Can't your mother do it?"

"Oh…uh…well…My mother isn't exactly a witch."

"Ah…A muggle born." He remarked "Right this way miss." He added, bowing.

The Grangers followed him out into the little courtyard, feeling confused. It was empty apart from a trash can and a few weeds. He pulled out a wand from his sleeve and tapped a brick above the dustbin. (3 from the top, 2 across) Suddenly, the wall turned into a large archway to reveal a long, twisting cobblestoned road lined with shops.

"Wow!" exclaimed Hermione trying to catch a glimpse of the end of the street. "Wow is right! Who would've thought there was a whole super long and windy street behind a random wall!" said Lily dumbfounded.

The two girls stepped into the street "Come on mother!" they yelled. "Oh, these girls" thought Mrs. Granger to herself shaking her head

"Whoa…" sighed Hermione. "What…." Gasped Lily shocked. Diagon Alley was chock full of witches and wizards going about their daily business and no one seemed in the slightest perturbed by the variety of shops but for 3 people who had lived in the muggle world for their entire lives up till this point, Diagon Alley was a sight to behold.

There were apothecaries, an ice cream shop called Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, shops selling robes, shops with scrolls of parchment and feather quills stacked up in the window, shops selling telescopes and strange spindly instruments, potions bottles stacked up along with large cauldrons made of brass and gold, barrels of bat spleen and newt eyes and strange ingredients, pet shops selling owls, rats, cats, toads, salamanders etc. and, of course, shops selling books- spell and otherwise. A large white and gold building towered over the rest, dwarfing them.

"That must be the bank. We need to go there first so we can exchange our money for some wizard money." Remarked Mrs. Granger.

"Okay!" exclaimed Lily. They set off towards the majestic building.

"Oh wow!" sighed Hermione looking up at Gringotts. The white façade and burnished bronze doors gave it a regal look.

(The events that follow are lengthy and complex so let's skip to the good parts)

"Goblins…Sickles…rubies…diamonds…gold keys…Galleons...Knuts…Vaults in the ground…" sighed Lily, too dazed by the brilliance of Gringotts to notice where she was walking. She nearly walked into a tall man who towered over the rest of the crowd and was carrying a flowery pink umbrella. "Watch out!" cried Hermione, pulling her sister out of the way. The two sisters turned and watched the giant disappear into Gringotts. None of them noticed the smaller, skinnier boy in an extremely large t-shirt by his side. (Get it?)

"Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way, where do you girls want to go?" asked Mrs. Granger. "Um…I guess we should go to the apothecary." said Hermione, looking over at Lily. She nodded vigorously adding in, "It's better to get the more unpleasant stuff out of the way first…" "…and then enjoy the glorious job of getting books completely while taking all the time in the world to do it…" completed Hermione.

"Alright then… Lead the way." Said Mrs. Granger, secretly smiling at the antics of her two daughters.

The apothecary kind of stank of bad eggs… and rotten cabbage. "This place smells…" said Hermione, wrinkling up her nose. Lily rolled her eyes "It's an apothecary…Of course it smells. What did you expect, flowers?". Hermione started to protest but Mrs. Granger cut her off "Now why don't you girls begin getting everything?" Hermione looked at Lily and they exchanged a smirk. They knew their mother was trying to head them off before they started arguing. Hermione and Lily didn't argue often, but when they did, it was pretty hard to get them to stop. " Alright mother." Laughed Lily.

Thirty minutes and some serious potion supply shopping later, the three Grangers emerged from the shop. "Ah…" sighed Lily "Blessed, blessed fresh air!" "Don't be silly!" laughed Hermione. "Let's go to the robes shop next, what was it called? Madam Malkin's?" "Yeah!" yelled Lily "I wanna go get robes!" They set off. When they reached the shop, they were slightly stunned, but not too much, since they were now slightly accustomed to the different ways of the wizarding world.

"Well…This is…different." Commented Hermione. "It's a robe shop. What'd you expect?" said Lily, rolling her eyes.

Madam Malkin's was not bustling with people, nor was it very noisy. A squat, blue-eyed witch was bustling around the shop, measuring a few people, A few assistants hovered nearby, attending to other customers.

They walked out of the shop considerably more laden with bags than they had been before.

Slowly, the three Grangers worked their way through every shop until there were only 2 left. (Three guesses which ones!)

"Hmmm… Tough choice… Wand or books…" muttered Hermione "…okay on the count of three we'll both say one of the options." "Hang on! We forgot about the pet!" cried Lily "Pet?" asked Hermione, confused. "Yeah! A pet!" "Okay…" said Hermione rather uncertainly. "So let's go get a pet!" yelled Lily.

Eeylops Owl Emporium was a dark place glittering with the jewel-like eyes of countless owls, full of the soft rustling of feathers and the occasional hoot from a restless owl. Hermione and Lily walked through the aisles, looking around at the different owls. "Ooh! How 'bout this one?" asked Lily, stopping in front of a purple owl. Hermione rolled her eyes "Owls aren't purple. They've obviously dyed it." "I don't think they've done that." Said Lily stubbornly. "Well, what other explanation do you have?" "They do exist. They're just really, extremely rare." Replied Lily simply. "Why don't we look at some other owls and come back to this one later?" suggested Mrs. Granger "This snowy owl looks quite nice." "It does look nice." Commented Hermione. "This is hard…I like both of them…" pouted Lily "But I think the purple one is prettier. I'll take her!" "Good choice!" smiled the shop assistant "Come over and I'll give you everything you need to take care of her."

They came out of the store holding their brand-new pet owl who occasionally gave a sleepy hoot. "Let's go get our books and then the wand!" decided Hermione. "Okie!" said Lily brightly.

At Flourish and Blotts, Hermione and Lily went on a total crazy book shopping spree. They ended up raking up a bill of 500 Galleons, 20 Sickles and 10 Knuts. "If you buy much more, you'll end up having none for your wand." Warned Mrs. Granger. "Don't worry mother. We're done." Grinned Lily.

"Now you guys go get your wands. I'll wait here." Said Mrs. Granger as they reached near Ollivander's. "Okay…Let's do this..." sighed Hermione. Lily pushed open the door. The twins found themselves in a tiny, dusty, narrow and shabby shop which was empty except for a small chair. Dusty boxes piled up till the ceiling. At first glance, the place appeared to be empty. Suddenly, an old man with silvery orb-like eyes appeared at the back of the shop. "Muggle-borns are you?" he asked in a curiously soft voice that gave Lily the chills. "Yes. Are you Mr. Ollivander?" asked Hermione. "I am. Now, who would like to go first?" He said. "I'll go." Answered Lily. "Remember, the wand chooses the witch." He said, "Which is your wand arm?" "My wand arm?!" asked Lily bewildered, "I suppose it's my right.". She realized that while she was talking, a tape was measuring her right arm. The odd thing was, Mr. Ollivander was taking down various boxes from different shelfs.
"Wha-"started Lily, turning around to look at Hermione and see whether she had noticed. "Try this one. Maple and unicorn tail hair. 9 inches." Lily took the wand. She half expected it to light up but nothing happened. "No, no, not this one." Muttered Mr. Ollivander to himself. After trying on several other wands and feeling rather awkward, Mr. Ollivander pulled out a box thoughtfully. "Maybe… try this one. English oak and Phoenix feather, 10 inches. Slightly springy." As soon as she took it, Lily knew that this was it. The wand that chose her. Her wand. The tingly, warm feeling in her hand was indescribable. A shower of purple, green and blue sparks flew out the end. "I thought so." Said Mr. Ollivander as he turned to Hermione. "Your turn."

After getting Hermione's wand (Vine wood and Dragon Heartstring, 10 ¾ inches) and paying, the two girls walked out. "Did you get your wands?" asked Mrs. Granger. "Yup. I didn't really like Mr. Ollivander." Said Hermione. "He was creepy." Piped up Lily.

"Alright. Let's go home now. You guys must be dying to read those books." Said Mrs. Granger laughing a little bit. "Yes!" exclaimed Hermione. "Finally! Some more books!" interjected Lily. "YAY!" she sang as they walked back to the muggle world.

See you all next time!