On the designated Wednesday, I was rudely awoken by the youngest of the Weasley brood. She had kept me awake for hours the previous night with question after question after bloody question about Hogwarts and classes and teachers and secret passages and the grounds and ghosts. She fell asleep mid-question while asking, again, if it was true that Gryffindor was the third tallest tower in the whole castle. And then she woke me up at eight in the morning, practically squealing, "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, Skylar! It's today!" It was only when she claimed that Molly had sent her to wake me that I restrained myself from throwing a pillow at her.
I suppose I couldn't really blame her for her excitement. She had gone along on every other school shopping trip, tailing her brothers, watching them try out their wands and get measured for their robes and now, it was her turn. She was getting her very own wand and school robes; she was practically vibrating with excitement. I dressed and shuffled down to the breakfast table to find that I was the last one up. Not that any of the rest were actually alert—George looked like he was about to fall asleep in his chair. We each had a few bacon sandwiches (more bacon than sandwich in some cases) and finally, warily approached the fireplace. We would be floo traveling to Diagon Alley. It was one of my least favorite forms of travel because it left you dirty and dizzy. However, it was fast. The first time I used it though, I almost barfed. Broomsticks, fireplaces; wizards traveled weird.
Molly, conducting as usual, took the little floo powder pot off the mantle and sighed as she assessed the powder inside. "We're running low, Arthur. We'll have to buy some more today." Yet another cost on this already expensive day. She brightened immediately though and turned to Harry. "Ah well, guests first! After you, Harry dear!" Harry looked absolutely bewildered when Molly passed him the pot.
"W-what am I supposed to do?" Ron groaned.
"He's never traveled by Floo powder," he said to his mother before turning to his friend. "Sorry, Harry, I forgot."
"Never?" Molly sounded shocked, but then again, she was a pureblood. "But how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?" The same way muggles got there, I imagined, but I was too tired to answer. Besides, the question wasn't directed towards me. Instead, I slumped against Fred's shoulder and wished I could go back to bed. But when there's seven kids to shop for, you had to get an early start.
"I went on the Underground—" he started before Arthur cut him off with his usual excitement about all things muggle.
"Really? Were there escapators?" he asked
"Escalators, Arthur," I corrected wearily.
"Yes, yes, espalators!" I sighed, but didn't try to correct him again. "How exactly—"
"Not now, Arthur," Molly interrupted her husband. "Floo powder's a lot quicker dear, but goodness me, if you've never used it before—" I wondered if she was really considering driving to London, but Fred stopped her before that could happen.
"He'll be all right, Mum," he said quickly. "Harry, watch us first." He stepped forward quickly before his mother could object, took a bit of the glittery, green powder and tossed it into the fire that was lit despite the warm weather. The flames turned the same bright shade as the powder and leapt until they were taller than Fred was. He stepped into the flames (Harry flinched) and yelled, "Diagon Alley!" Without delay, he vanished. If you watched carefully through the smoke, you could see his form twirl into nonexistence. Molly nodded as if this was the usual, which for her, it was, and offered the pot to George as he stepped up.
"You must speak clearly, dear," she informed Harry as George stepped into the fire. "And be sure to get out at the right grate…." George vanished.
"The right what?" Harry asked. He was staring at the spot where George's head had been.
"Don't worry, Harry," I told him as I took my turn. "It's not as hard as she's making it sound." I took some of the thin powder that invaded every crease and line in my hands and felt far too slippery. I wrinkled my nose at the sooty feel.
"Well, there are an awful lot of wizard fires to choose from, you know," she called after me as I threw my powder into the fire and stepped in. "But as long as you've spoken clearly—" Arthur cut his wife off, but I couldn't tell what he was saying because I yelled my own call of "Diagon Alley," and spun away from the inviting Weasley kitchen.
The ride was loud. There was the sound of the air around you as you spun as well as the sounds from the grates as you passed—laughter, yelling, the radio, a fist fight between two young siblings (one of whom had decapitated the other's teddy), and a lot of stuff I couldn't make out as I spun by. The ride was also bumpy, especially if you didn't hold very, very still, something that was difficult when you twirled like a toy top. And then there was nausea. However, people didn't appreciate it when vomit was projected out their fireplaces, so it was best to keep that stuff in. Finally, I began to slow and spun almost to a stop in the dining room of the familiar Leaky Cauldron. I wobbled out of the grate, tripping right into Tom the barman, who was kindly there to assist us. "Miss French," he greeted and bowed. He helpfully handed me a seltzer water, nasty stuff, but affective, and I dropped myself into the chair next to the one George reclined in. He was perfectly at ease, the nutter.
"Alright there?" he mocked. I spit seltzer water at him, missing completely. The twins were still dirty with ash, having not bothered to brush themselves off much except for their faces. I, however, at least tried to brush myself off. Wasn't especially successful though. I was though, pleasantly relieved to find my money back still on my hip, full of sickles and a few galleons.
On our last trip to Diagon Alley, back near the beginning of the holidays, Arthur and Bill had taken me to Gringotts to exchange my American muggle money for wizarding money. The previous summer, when my parents had kicked me out of their home, seemingly without much regret, I had "borrowed" a credit card and withdrawn five hundred dollars from their account. Looking back, it was not the appropriate thing to do, but I also hadn't considered sending them the money back for more than a few seconds. The goblins made a fuss about the American cash, but Bill had helpfully bullied them into being accommodating. I had exchanged three-hundred and fifty of my dollars for seventy four galleons, eighteen sickles and twenty knuts. One hundred dollars for sixty two pounds and kept the last fifty dollars American. I figured there was always the possibility that it could be useful. Molly had insisted that I save most of my money, but she agreed that I could spend a few galleons.
The fire turned green and a moment later, Arthur stepped out of the fireplace, not needing Tom's assistance. "Did you make it alright, Skylar?" he asked me with concern. He knew I hated traveling by fireplace, but didn't understand how it was any stranger than traveling by automobile or airplane ("Imagine, muggles flying comfortably in a metal bird without magic!").
"I'm fine," I nodded. "A bit dizzy is all." He patted my shoulder, but stayed standing while we waited for the rest. After a bit of a wait, Ron came next, stumbling only a little, and looked around with confusion.
"Where's Harry?" he asked. We all froze.
"What do you mean 'Where's Harry?'" Arthur asked trying to remain calm.
"He went right after you, dad." Arthur turned a bit white.
"You don't perhaps have another fireplace, do you?" he asked, looking round at Tom.
Somehow, we had lost The-Boy-Who-Lived.
"You four, go with Tom to his office, see if Harry is there. I'll, er, catch Molly up on everything, shall I?" The fire turned green again and we all ran up the stairs. Molly was going to be mad and that was not something any of us wanted to watch. Tom unlocked his office door and we all burst inside wildly. I suppose we were hoping to see Harry calmly standing in front of the fireplace waiting for us. But The-Boy-Who-Lived never makes it that easy, does he? Ron groaned in worry and the rest of us looked around the room as if Harry was actually hiding in the corner.
"Mum is going to kill us," Ron informed us sadly.
"Not you," I promised him. "You weren't one of the ones who promised her Harry would be just fine." Ron was not comforted.
"We'd best get back," Fred muttered. We turned towards the door, all wincing when Molly's raised voice became clear.
"You first," I muttered, ducking into the back of the group. Being the shortest, I was pretty sure Molly wouldn't be able to see me from that position.
As we descended the stairs, we got a good look at the situation before it got a look at us. Molly's face was a nasty red color and Arthur was practically quaking in front of her. Ginny looked close to tears herself, but Percy only looked mildly worried. He had his usual 'I told you so' look on despite the fact that he had not predicted anything bad would happen. I was tempted to run back upstairs, but then Molly caught sight of us. "All of you down here this moment!" None of us were dumb enough to disobey Molly Weasley. We trooped down the stairs, Tom leaving us to go attend to the bar, and I maintained my position in the back of the group.
"Molly, dear, perhaps we should all sit down?" Arthur offered. Molly shot him a look, but followed his advice with a bit of a huff. We all joined her at the table. "Now what exactly did Harry say?"
"He said 'Diagon Alley'," Molly said.
"Stuttered a bit," Ron added. "I think he inhaled ash." Arthur nodded and looked vastly relieved.
"Well, that's a common beginner's mistake," he assured us, though by the looks the others passed around, none of them had ever done it. "I'm sure Harry's only gone a few grates too far," he added. "I recommend we go into Diagon Alley and check the shops. It's perfectly likely he just came out through there." We all looked to Molly for her agreement. After a reluctant moment, she nodded.
"You had all better stay with one of us though," she added sternly as we all stood. She added a particular look towards the twins. "We don't need to lose more than one of you today."
A chorus of "Yes, Mum,"s later and we all walked through the back alley into Wizard London.
Diagon Alley's charm had not faded for me. In my opinion, it was still the most magical place on Earth, and yes, I included Hogwarts in that assessment. Whereas Hogwarts was full of homework and classes and rules (albeit all far more exciting than their muggle counterparts), nothing in Diagon Alley could be reasonably compared to the muggle world. Even the ice cream shop was infinitely better than anything found in a muggle shop, though admittedly, some of Fortescue's combinations were a bit odd. I knew I should be worried about Harry, the others certainly were, but the shop fronts were much too distracting to be overly concerned.
"Arthur, I'll go check Gringotts. You lot go check the shops. Ginny, you come with me." Arthur nodded at his wife's already retreating form and rounded the rest of us up.
"Alright, you lot, we'll start by making our way down this row. Stay with the group and don't wander off." He sounded unusually stern and we all unconsciously hopped to attention. We searched the shops in a leapfrog-type way. Arthur, Percy and Ron would check one shop while the twins and I checked the next. We'd meet, confirm than neither group had found Harry, and then move on to the next two shops. We had done this eight or nine times and were once again stopping momentarily to check with the other group when Fred asked, "Is that Hagrid?"
"He's got Harry!" Ron called out a second later and we all recognized the messy mop at Hagrid's elbow. "Let's go!" Harry, Hagrid and Hermione were all looking at us when we reached them out of breath, having charged through the crowd to reach them. Harry and Hermione looked a little alarmed, but Hagrid looked amused. Arthur was the first to get his breath back enough to speak.
"Harry! We hoped you'd only gone one grate too far…." He reached up to wipe away sweat, before adding, still out of breath, "Molly's frantic—she's coming now—" I looked around, but couldn't see Molly or Ginny over the crowd.
"Where'd you come out?" Ron asked.
"Knockturn Alley."
"Excellent!" Fred and George grinned.
"Not excellent," I told them sternly with a hand on my hip and a finger pointed at their faces. "Don't even try—"
"We've never been allowed in," Ron explained to Harry.
"I should ruddy well think not," Hagrid said. I nodded emphatically with this comment, then looked at Hagrid curiously, wondering why he had been there.
"Hagrid?" I began, intent on finding out, "what were you doing in Knockturn—"
"Good ter see yeh, Molly," Hagrid cut me off at Molly's approach. I eyed him shrewdly.
Molly and Ginny were gasping for breath, apparently having run all the way here. "Oh, Harry—oh, my dear—you could have been anywhere—" She began dusting him off with the clothes brush she kept in her large handbag while Arthur fixed the glasses Harry had somehow cracked. As soon as it was confirmed that Harry was not truly injured in any way, Molly turned her attentions on Hagrid. "Knockturn Alley! If you hadn't found him Hagrid—" The big man immediately began blushing and decided to make his escape.
"Well, gotta be off," he said, gently pulling his hand from Molly's grasp. "See yer at Hogwarts," he added to us kids and made a hasty retreat.
"Well, then," Molly said, looking immeasurably relieved. She put her brush in her bag and looked around at all us kids, seeming to be setting her mind in order. "Hermione, dear, where are your parents?"
"They're waiting at Gringotts. I saw Hagrid while we were waiting and went to say 'hi' so I sent them ahead."
"To Gringotts then. Let's go, you lot." We all made our way through the crowds, trying to stay together, a difficult feat seeing as there were ten of us. And of course the twins were straining their heads towards the opening of Knockturn Alley. Finally, I just grabbed one of each of their arms and dragged them after me, grumbling the whole while about gingers.
"Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes?" Harry said to Ron and Hermione. That, of course, caught the twins' attention, and Arthur's too. "Malfoy and his father." Everyone knew the Malfoy reputation of being Dark in every sense of the word so it wasn't a surprise that he would be seen down in Knockturn Alley. Draco though, was only twelve. Guess Malfoy Sr. was training the little one early.
"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" Arthur asked in full interrogation mode. I knew he would gladly do almost anything to send the Malfoys to Azkaban. I always figured there was something he knew about Malfoy that the rest of us, even Molly, didn't know because he hated the powerful family. And Arthur didn't hate anybody.
"No," Harry shook his head. "He was selling—"
"So he's worried," Arthur nodded. With all the raids going on lately, it was only a matter of time until he got to raid the Malfoy's manor. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something…."
"You be careful, Arthur," Molly warned him as we passed the bowing goblins and stepped into the bank. I hated those goblins. They were always cranky and they hated wizards, and you could tell by looking at them that they were nasty fighters. Being even the slightest bit rude to them made matters ten times worse so you had to be polite even when they sneered like you were worthless. "That family's trouble," Molly continued. "Don't go biting off more than you can chew—"
"So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?" Arthur sounded offended. Luckily for her, Molly didn't have to answer because Arthur noticed Hermione's parents standing awkwardly, looking out of place near the exchange tables.
I'm sure Molly would have said 'Of course you are, dear,' but the truth was that Malfoy could probably finish Arthur off with ease. Not because he was a better wizard by any means, but because he had money, connections and no morals. If the man wanted the Weasleys to suffer, he could make it happen without getting his hands dirty; in fact, he could probably make himself look like a saint in the process. Arthur, on the other hand, would never stoop so low even if he had the galleons to do so; he'd wait to punish Malfoy through legal paths. Which meant, Malfoy would probably never get the punishment he deserved, once again because he had money, connections and no morals.
"But you're Muggles!" Arthur said happily before Molly had to answer his question. "We must have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing Muggle money. Molly, look!" he said all that on one breath before inspecting the ten pound note Mr. Granger still hand in his hand. The Grangers looked overwhelmed and I certainly didn't blame them. Molly was speaking to a goblin about the Weasley and Potter vaults.
When she waved us all to follow her, Ron said to Hermione, "Meet you back here." I looked back and forth between the already retreating Weasleys and the uncomfortable looking Grangers.
"I'll stay here," I told the twins. I had already had one nauseating ride that day and I wasn't sure I could stand the twisty-turny ride through the dark that the twins had once described to me. I didn't have a vault so I didn't need to go, after all. The twins shrugged and left me with the Grangers, following after their family.
"Thank you," Mrs. Granger said with a tight smile. She was looking at my muggle clothes and obviously recognized that I was more familiar with her world than the rest of my family. I hadn't stayed on their account, but I nodded anyways. "Are you a m-muggleborn too?" The word sounded odd in her mouth and it was obvious that she didn't fully understand its meaning.
"Yup, but I live with the Weasleys now," I nodded at her. "I'm Skylar French."
"It's nice to meet you," Mr. Granger reached out to shake my hand. "I'm Alexander Granger and this is my wife Shelley. And of course you already know Hermione, I expect."
"Yes, I do. It's nice to meet you both," I shook his offered hand feeling awkward again. I never was much of a people person. The twins outgoing personalities covered my very introverted personality well, but now they were being carted around somewhere underground. "Um, did you already get your money all exchanged?"
"Er, no," Mr. Granger looked uncomfortably over at a few of the goblins who were pointedly ignoring us. "I'm afraid we're not entirely sure…you see Ministry of Magic personnel were here last year and escorted us through Diagon Alley." He had slipped into speech that was a bit more formal than it had been and I recognized the trait from Hermione. She always got very stiff and formal when she was uncomfortable too.
"No worries," I smiled, trying to relax the little family. If they insisted on being formal, I had to as well, and I hated formality. "I had to do this earlier in the summer."
"Why did you—?" Hermione started. The story of my family had spread through the school the previous year so she knew perfectly well that I should not have had muggle money to exchange.
"I nicked some from my parents," I muttered at her. "Don't judge me." My tone was mostly teasing, but her parents' eyes widened at my confessions of theft and I winced. Mr. Granger held his money a bit tighter. Hermione on the other hand, while somewhat scandalized, did not seem overly concerned. There was an understanding in her eyes that was similar to the look Molly had had when she found out. "Come on," I motioned to them, guiding them closer to the exchange counter. "We're here to make an exchange," I said to the goblin that had not yet condescended to look at us.
"How much will you be requiring today?" the wrinkled goblin asked. He sounded greedy and I watched him take in mine and the Grangers' clothes. He thought he could cheat us.
I looked up at the little sign Bill had pointed out when he and Arthur had brought me. That sign listed the last seven day's exchange rates, including the current day. While the exchange stayed pretty steady, Bill had told me, there was always slight variation. He was right; I could tell that the Grangers would get a few galleons less for their money than I had gotten for mine. "How much money did you bring to exchange?" I asked Mr. Granger quietly.
"Twenty pounds," he told me. He still looked a mite distrustful so I pointed to the exchange chart.
"The bottom of the chart is the exchange rate from pounds to galleons," I told him. "You've got to calculate it out before you tell him," I nodded towards the goblin behind the desk and added with a whisper, "or he'll cheat you out of some of your money."
The goblin apparently had good ears. "We do not cheat," he hissed at me. I blushed at being heard, but scowled back at him.
"Then you'll charge them for their ignorance," I said grumpily. The goblin shrugged as if this was wholly different from cheating. After preforming the calculations ourselves on a little notepad Mrs. Granger fished out of her purse, we finally managed to exchange the Grangers' twenty pounds for 6 galleons 10 sickles 24 knuts. Taking the leather sack the goblin handed him, Mr. Granger looked over at me.
"Do we need to count this?" he asked quietly. I shook my head. The goblins had a convoluted sense of fair, but if they said they were giving you X amount, they gave you X amount. At least, that was what Bill had said. He nodded and we sat by some potted plants to wait for everyone else. Before the silence got too awkward, Hermione began interrogating me about what to expect in school for the upcoming year. "After all," she said, "you just finished all the classes I'm about to take." I wouldn't say just finished, I thought to myself. It's been a whole two months. That two months felt like forever. I remembered Dumbledore's words at the End of the Year Feast about how we had plenty of time to make out heads "nice and empty" before school started again. I had certainly done that.
Eventually, though, the Weasley rumble interrupted my bumbling and I jumped up. Molly led us all out the front doors and out to the steps. We all had our own adventures planned for the day and we were all ready to get going. "Lee!" Fred called when he saw the familiar dreadlocks bobbing through the crowd. The twins and I hurried towards him while everyone went their own ways.
"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your schoolbooks," Molly called already on her way to help Ginny find some robes. "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" she stopped to shout our way.
"How does she always know?" George asked with exasperation. I certainly didn't mind though. I had no desire to go down the creepy side streets; it looked like night even at high noon down that way. At least now I could blame Molly for my refusal if the twins tried to go anyways. They didn't though, thank goodness. After grabbing Lee and promising his parents we would stay on the main street, we went off.
"What have you three been up to?" Lee asked as he headed into Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop. It wasn't as well stocked as Zonko's, but it did have some good stuff. Even better, most the products were a bit cheaper than Zonko's.
"We taught Skylar to fly," Fred grinned at me. I scowled at him and began making plans for the Hair-Be-Gone shampoo I snagged off the shelf. Checking the price, though, I decided his teasing wasn't worth a whole two galleons and eight sickles and put it back. Instead I grabbed a large bag of Sparkers. They were cheap and happened to be some of my favorite prank products. They were like Poppers, that little muggle thing that was like gravel wrapped in tissue paper, but when you threw these at the ground, the exploded with a larger bang and colorful pyrotechnics. I was thinking about making a few booby traps for my roommates around our bedroom. Perhaps under their pillows? The boys had saved up allowance and money they won through bets, and seemed intent on blowing all of it in one go.
"Any new product ideas?" Lee asked after updating us on his being grounded for letting his giant tarantula out into the garden where it ate five mice and all Mrs. Jordan's flowers. I was relieved when he told us the creepy crawly would not be returning to Hogwarts with us. I did not like vermin. Even Scabbers, Ron's rat, gave me the shivers, especially when I caught him hiding in mine and Ginny's room.
We launched into telling him about the new candy and the issues we were having with it while the boys got several boxes of Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks. Ron, Harry and Hermione walked in then though so we shut up quick. "Don't tell mum," Fred commanded Ron and I wasn't sure if he was talking about the candy or the fireworks. It didn't seem to matter though because Ron just shrugged and the little trio went to investigate the next aisle. "We still need to do some research on that," I reminded them. "Maybe at Flourish and Blotts?"
"We could ask…." Lee had been gesturing towards the cashier, but the teenager was deeply immersed in a romance novel. Her makeup was pristine her nails were immaculate. She looked like she had never pulled a prank in her life, let alone built one from scratch. "Yeah, maybe Flourish and Blotts," Lee agreed swiftly. I wrinkled my nose at the girl as she sighed happily and turned the page of her novel. I was a bookworm myself, but this stuff just looked sappy. Yuck. We wandered around the shop a bit more, until George checked his watch and said informed us that we had fifteen minutes to meet the rest. We took our things to the cash register, annoying our lovely cashier by interrupting her reading ("I was getting to the best part!").
We got to Flourish and Blotts with plenty of time to spare, or at least, we should have, but a huge crowd was blocking the entrance. "What's going on?" I grumbled, eyeing the crowd and trying to spot a weak point that I could push through.
"Gilderoy Lockhart is here today signing books," Lee informed me, pointing to the banners hung on the upper level of the building.
GILDEROY LOCKHART
will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL ME
today 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
"Oh, joy," I said dully. "We're here just in time." I didn't really have anything against the wizard in question, except besides his style maybe, but the crowd he drew was problematic. Crowds made me claustrophobic. Especially when that crowd seemed to be made entirely of loud, high pitched, squealing women.
"Come on," Fred chuckled at my disgruntled expression. "We'll guard you." I rolled my eyes at him, but truly was grateful.
"I've got to go find my parents before I get into this," Lee said. "Otherwise, I'll never find them again. See you on the Hogwarts Express?" After exchanging our goodbyes, Lee left and the twins and I braved the crowd. Fred walked ahead of me and George walked behind, both of them making sure I got shoved around as little as possible.
"Thanks," I told them as soon as we pushed through the front door, much to the annoyance of the two women we had shoved past. "Where's your mum?" After a moment of searching, we found her, Arthur, Ginny, Percy and Mr. and Mrs. Granger standing about halfway up the line. Molly noticed us and whispered something to Ginny before looking nervously up the line to where Gilderoy Lockhart sat signing books.
Ginny ran up to us, her small form able to dodge and weave through the chaos. "Mum said to get your other books and then come get in line with us." Before we could respond, she ran right back to her mother looking towards Lockhart with little starts in her little eyes.
Fred shrugged and we followed him towards the section set aside for Hogwarts's required books. The twins needed only Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 which they could easily share and Molly had suggested I use their Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 from last year so, besides Lockhart's books, all I only needed to get my Transfiguration books. The school had sent a bit of gold for my books. Getting all those, we were once again forced to push through hordes of women to reach the rest of our family, who had moved forward in the line though not by much.
"Do we have everyone?" Molly asked as she looked around. "Where are Ron, Harry and Hermione?" The three in question squeezed through the crowd and joined us only a moment later and Molly smiled. "Oh, there you are," she said. "Good." She sounded rather…school-girlish and she kept playing with her hair. It was the same voice she used when Arthur surprised her with flowers one night about a month back. "We'll be able to see him in a minute." I wasn't sure why we needed to see him. In case we didn't already know what he looked like, posters were set up all over the usually calm store, each of them showing an enlarged, hopefully, picture of his face. In each of them, his blond hair was teased to the maximum volume and his teeth looked bleached. And of course, these weren't just pictures, these were wizard pictures. The faces turned this way and that, smiling winningly and winking every little while, making the nearby witches giggle.
"If I ever act like that," I muttered to George who was the only one close enough to hear me over this din, "I want you to Stupefy me until I agree to act reasonable again." He looked to the quintet of witches I pointed towards, all of which were fawning over one of the portraits while he blew kisses to them. George looked half amused and half sick.
"If you ever act like that," he told me. "I'm dropping you in the Black Lake." I nodded.
"That works too." Finally, after turning the last bend in the line, we were able to see the celebrity in question. He looked exactly like his pictures and was smiling charmingly at a forty-something year old witch whose salt and pepper hair had been pushed into a quick bun. The way he wobbled his head as he winked at her threatened to cause his hat, already perched perilously, to fall. Lockhart threw his arm around the woman's shoulders and they quickly posed for the short photographer who was hopping here and there. I heard the little man tell some witch that a picture with Lockhart cost five galleons and watched her easily pull out the necessary (or completely unnecessary, depending on how you looked at it) gold and pass it to the irritable man. The photographer backed up for the next shot and knocked into Ron.
"Out of the way, there," he commanded. "This is for the Daily Prophet—"
"Big deal," Ron grumbled, hopping as he rubbed his foot.
We were close enough to the front of the line by this point that Gilderoy Lockhart heard Ron's comment. He looked at the disgruntled redhead, I expect to inform him that of course, it's a big deal, but then Lockhart saw Harry. He froze for just a moment before jumping to his feet and yelling, "It can't be Harry Potter?"
"I bet it can be," I muttered to the twins as the crowd divided like the Red Sea. Lockhart pushed past the few women that didn't immediately move and rushed forward to grab Harry before pulling him back by the desk he had recently been signing books at. Harry turned Gryffindor Red with all the attention that was suddenly on him. I thought he should be used to it by now, but he looked completely out of his element. He squinted a bit at the rapid fire flashes from the photographer's camera and I started coughing at all the purple smoke that hovered over our group. Needing some air, I looked around before darting to the edge of the room where less witches were pushing and shoving. After a moment, Ginny joined me, lugging her cauldron behind her and dropping it heavily on the ground. When the pictures began to subside, Harry tried to duck away, but Lockhart just grabbed him back and put an arm around his shoulders, like he had for the witch before. Harry looked towards Ron and the rest of the Weasleys as if pleading for help. The twins both gave him a thumbs up and he looked like he was going to barf.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Lockhart yelled loudly, waving until all the witches calmed down. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!" The women began buzzing again. "When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography—which I shall be happy to present to him now, free of charge—" The crowd applauded, but look Harry gave the man stated very clearly that he did not want the autobiography. Lockhart ignored him. "He had no idea that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me." Oh no. "Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
The entire crowd was clapping and cheering loudly, Molly included, and I slammed my hands over my ears. Did they have to be so loud? I was relatively certain that no one cheered this loudly when Quirrell was given the position. Harry stumbled to the side of the room, ending up by Ginny and me, barely able to see over the large stack of books Lockhart had dropped into his arms. I recognized Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests halfway through the pile. Apparently this really was his entire works. He dropped the entire pile into Ginny's cauldron which sat on the ground next to her. "You have these," he told her. "I'll buy my own—"
"I bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" I turned to see Draco Malfoy only a few steps away. He continued until he stood right in front of Harry. "Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page." I knew that jealous tone. It was the one he used in the common room during the evenings he felt things were getting a bit too quiet. He would complain loudly about this, that, and most of all, Potter. Because of who his daddy was and how much money his family had, no one ever dared tell him to shove it, not even the seventh years. Not even me, I was ashamed to say. Ginny wasn't scared though.
"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" she shouted. I was very proud of my little sister. She hardly ever spoke to Harry (all about him in our room and out of his hearing, sure, but to him, rarely) and here she was yelling at a bully for him. I felt a combination of pride and worry for her. This was a Malfoy after all.
"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" Draco sneered. Ginny turned a bright red and took a few small steps back. Finally, Ron and Hermione, who had apparently seen Draco from their place in line, reached us. They both had stacks of Lockhart's books and Ron looked like he planned on using his stack as a weapon.
"Oh, it's you," Ron said trying to act nonchalant as he wrinkled his nose. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?" It took me only a moment to remember Dobby's warning. I looked at Draco with a measuring stare. The petty hate was obviously visible as he glared at Ron and Harry, but I couldn't tell if it was enough to try and trick Harry into not returning to school. He didn't seem to register or understand Ron's meaning though.
"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," Malfoy smirked. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those." Ron turned red too, but instead of stumbling backwards like Ginny had, he dropped his books and lunged for the blond boy. Only Harry and Hermione grabbing onto his collar kept him from swinging.
"Ron!" Arthur reprimanded as he reached us. Fred and George were on his tail and it was obvious they had all had to fight through the crowd too. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside." Before any of us could obey him, a cold and silky voice spoke up.
"Well, well, well—Arthur Weasley." Lucius Malfoy had slipped up to the group at the same time Arthur had and he now stood at Draco's back, his hands on his sons shoulders as if supremely proud. Draco looked like a younger clone of his father. Arthur instantly stiffened and stood ramrod straight.
"Lucius," Arthur nodded. I could tell he was tempted to follow his son's bad example.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," Malfoy Sr. said blandly. "All those raids…I hope they're paying you overtime?" His words were those of a concerned friend, but his sneer held malice and gloating. He leaned down to reach into Ginny's cauldron. She leaned away as he extracted her secondhand shop publication of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. "Obviously not. Dear me," his smile was twitching on the corners of his lips. "What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?" All the Weasleys around me had turned some shade of red by this point, but Arthur was the darkest. His fists were shaking and his eyes flashed in a frightening way I had never seen from him before.
"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy."
"Clearly. The company you keep, Weasley…." He looked first to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, then to Hermione and then his gaze landed on me. I stiffened under his smirk. "I hear you even allowed this one into your home. And I thought your family could sink no lower—"
The fight that had been threatening since Draco first made his appearance, broke wide open. Arthur flung himself at Lucius Malfoy, all of us kids hurrying out of the way. The two men knocked into a bookshelf, a mess of books tumbling off, but they didn't seem to notice. Molly, having reached us just as it started, was calling for Arthur to stop while Fred, George and I egged the fight on. The crowd shuffled away from the men, creating a nice little fighting ring, but from the sound of crashes, causing more of a mess than before.
It was only when Hagrid appeared for the second time that day that any semblance of order reappeared. Hagrid pulled the two men off one another ("Break it up, there, there, gents, break it up!")
Both men were roughed up, Mr. Malfoy sporting a nice shiner on one eye. "Here, girl," he snarled at Ginny. "Take your book—it's the best your father can give you—" Before any other fights could be started, Lucius and Draco Malfoy swept out, holding their heads high.
"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," Hagrid told him as he patted Arthur off. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that—no Malfoy's worth listening' ter—bad blood, that's what it is—come on now—let's get outta here." The shop assistant almost stopped him, but when he looked all the way up at Hagrid's size, he decided not to press the issue. As we passed, I heard him muttering about ruined merchandise and bad publicity. It wasn't until later that I realized we hadn't paid for any of our books besides the Lockhart ones, the twins had been kind enough to grab mine for me. I rather enjoyed watching Arthur fight Malfoy—Lucius might have the upper hand in almost every other way, but I was pretty sure Arthur would have won if the fight had been allowed to continue—Molly on the other hand, was not amused.
"A fine example to set for your children," she snarled. I noticed the Grangers behind her, terror on their faces, and I wasn't sure if it was from fear of the fight or fear of Molly. In my opinion, the latter was the more fatal one. "Brawling in public," she was still growling. "What Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought—"
"He was pleased," Fred interrupted her tirade. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report—said it was all publicity."
"He's probably going to say that they were fighting over a signed copy of his book, though," I said. Fred shrugged. Molly's fury though, kept us in check. It would be a very bad time to do something stupid; we'd probably be grounded until term started.
"Well, it was very…nice to meet you," Mr. Granger shook Molly and Arthur's hands when we once again reached the Leaky Cauldron. "We'd best be going. Our bus will be here any moment."
"Bus did you say? How do—"
"Arthur!" The Grangers left quickly, Hermione promising to see Ron and Harry on the Hogwarts Express. The rest of us flooed back to the Burrow before quickly scattering, leaving Arthur to deal with Molly.
At least by the time she called us for dinner, his busted lip had been healed, good as new and he was smiling and laughing again. Seeing this as a sign of safety, we all joined him at the dinner table, the familiarity of dinnertime chaos welcome after the haphazard events of the day.
