A few days later found Annabelle walking, once more, through the crowds of Diagon Alley. Most of the store owners knew her by now, and they all called out to her and waved cheerfully as she passed. She smiled and waved back, but didn't stop. Her destination was Gringott's. She'd spent the remainder of her money on books and a new, small pure black kitten, whom she had named, simply, Kitty, and had to refill her purse before Dumbledore came to take her to Hogwarts the next day.
The alley seemed to be even more crowded than usual, and she couldn't figure out why. All she could see was that a good percentage of the people milling in the street were women who were oddly dressed up, and that they were all heading towards Flourish and Blotts. She shook her head and continued on up the street.
With a purse full of money, Annabelle skipped down the marble stairs of Gringotts bank. She had filled up with what she hoped would be more than enough for the entire school year, and there was still plenty to go. She was deciding whether or not she would stop for an ice cream or not when she heard something that made her stop in her tracks, halfway down the steps.
"Harry! Harry! Over here!"
Annabelle was almost knocked down the stairs as a girl with extremely bushy brown hair ran past her, her hair flying out behind her. Annabelle followed the girl with her eyes, and gasped. Standing in front of her, at the bottom of the steps was a giant of a man, with long, curly black hair and beard and dressed in a long overcoat. But as large and out-of-place-looking the man was, it was the young boy standing beside him that had caught Annabelle's attention.
The boy was rather small and scrawny, and absolutely filthy, covered from head to toe with soot, as though he'd just climbed out of a dirty fireplace. He had very untidy black hair, and glasses that had one broken lens, and he also had, on his forehead, a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. But he looked exactly like she remembered her father looking.
Tears welled in Annabelle's eyes, but she brushed them away impatiently. Trying not to be too obvious, she followed the girl down the stairs to where Harry was standing with his over-sized escort. She stopped just within hearing range of them and pretended to look through her bag so she could listen to their conversation.
"What happened to your glasses? Hello Hagrid…Oh, it's wonderful to see you two again…Are you coming into Gringotts, Harry?"
"As soon as I've found the Weasleys," said Harry. Annabelle felt her heart swell at the sound of her brother's voice.
"Yeh won't have long ter wait," said the giant man, grinning behind his beard.
Harry and the girl with the bushy hair turned to see where the man named Hagrid was looking, and Annabelle followed their gaze. Running up the street was a group of red-haired boys and an older, red-haired man who looked like he was their father.
"Harry," panted the older man, coming to a stop in front of him. "We hoped you only went one grate too far…" He wiped his forehead. "Molly's frantic – she's coming now."
"Where did you come out?" asked one of the red-headed boys.
"Knockturn Alley," the man named Hagrid replied, sounding grim.
"Brilliant!" two boys, twins, cried out.
"We've never been allowed in," said the younger-looking ginger, looking enviously at Harry.
"I should ruddy well think not," growled Hagrid.
A short, plump red-headed woman came into view, running quickly and dragging a young, red-headed girl behind her. The woman ran directly to Harry, and stopped in front of him, panting.
"Oh, Harry – oh, my dear – you could have been anywhere -"
Gasping for breath, the woman pulled a large clothes brush out of her bag and began brushing the soot off of Harry's clothing. The red-headed man, presumably the woman's husband, took Harry's glasses and repaired them with a tap of his wand before handing them back, good as new.
"Well, gotta be off," said Hagrid, pulling away from the red-haired woman who was wringing his hand and thanking him profusely. "See yer at Hogwarts!" And he walked away quickly.
Harry, the girl with the busy hair, and the group of red-heads all began to make their way up the stairs to the bank. Annabelle stepped to the side so that she was not in the way. She didn't want to let Harry out of her line of sight, but she knew that she couldn't follow them once they got into the bank. She decided to sit outside one of the shops and wait for them to come back out, and then she would follow them around without drawing attention to herself.
She waited for almost a half of an hour, leaning up against the side of a small restaurant, before she finally saw Harry and his friends coming back out of the bank. Much to her delight, the group broke up, leaving Harry with only one of the red-headed boys and the girl with the bushy brown hair as company. With a smaller group, she had a better chance of getting closer to her brother without being noticed.
Annabelle followed several steps behind the trio as they made their way down the cobbled street; close enough that she wouldn't lose them and to hear what they were saying, but not too close so as they would realize that she was following them. As she walked, she studied, not only Harry, but also his friends. The girl was dressed very primly but simply, in a skirt and blouse, but they looked brand new. The red-headed boy, on the other hand, looked like all of the clothing he wore was handmade, and as though several people had worn them before him. Then she remembered the amount of red-headed children had been with them earlier, and she realized that they probably had been; no one in the family had been wearing anything new. With that many children, the family probably didn't have a whole lot of money to spare. She was, therefore, extremely happy when she saw Harry pay for three very large ice creams for him and his friends.
The three wandered slowly up the street, looking into the store windows. When they stopped outside a shop called Quality Quidditch Supplies, the red-headed boy looked longingly through the window at a set of bright orange quidditch robes. Annabelle stopped too, and peered through the window with interest. She had never played the sport before, as the girls at Beauxbatons were encouraged to find more ladylike pursuits, but she had always found the sport interesting. Now that she was in England, perhaps she would try it out.
The bushy haired girl soon ended the fun, however, when she drug the boys off to the next shop. Annabelle walked on a bit, looking into some other shops while she waited for them to continue on. She gazed through the window of a joke shop, grinning at the joke merchandise that she saw. Annabelle leaned back and turned to see if Harry was anywhere near when someone bumped into her and knocked her into the glass of the window.
"Oh, sorry," said the person who had bumped her. "I didn't see you there."
Annabelle pushed herself off the window sill and turned around to see who had hit her, and found herself face to face with one of the red-headed twins that had been with Harry earlier. His twin was with him, as well as a black boy with dreadlocks. She laughed and waved away his apology.
"That is alright," she said, smiling at him. "I should have been looking where I was going."
The twin gave her an odd look, and then asked, "Where are you from?"
"Oh, I am from France," she replied. "I am transferring to Hogwarts this year."
"Oh, really?" The other twin looked interestedly at her. "I didn't know Hogwarts allowed transfers."
"I'm just that special," Annabelle grinned at him.
"What year are you in?" asked the boy with dreads.
"Fourth," she replied.
"Hey, so are we!" said the twin who had knocked into her. "I'm Fred, by the way. Fred Weasley. And this here is my brother, George, and our friend, Lee Jordan."
"It is lovely to meet you," Annabelle said, smiling at them all. "I am Annabelle Delacour."
"We're going inside," said George Weasley. "Do you want to come with us?"
"No, thank you," Annabelle said quickly. "I have to wait for someone."
"Oh, okay," said George. "Well, we'll see you around."
Annabelle bid the boys farewell, and then continued up the street a bit more, so that she would still be able to see if Harry came out of the store.
When he did emerge from the store, Annabelle groaned when she saw him go into the joke shop that Fred, George and Lee had gone into. She would have to wait again; she couldn't chance meeting Fred and George and Lee again when she had told them that she had been waiting for someone.
She strolled up the street a bit, looking through the windows as she waited for Harry to emerge from the joke shop. She glanced back to the joke shop often, making sure that Harry didn't leave without her noticing.
Finally, the three left the store, and the bushy-haired girl led them up to Flourish and Blotts. Annabelle followed again, but kept back so they wouldn't see her.
When they got to the store, Annabelle was horrified to find that she'd lost her brother. The shop was more crowded than she had ever seen it, and it was nearly impossible to move around. Move she did, though, and watched carefully with every step to see Harry. She had made it to the back of the store and had given up on finding him in the crowd when she heard his name shouted out. She spun on her heel in time to see a man who she hadn't noticed before (she wondered how she had missed him, as he was wearing a very vibrant set of forget-me-not blue robes and matching hat) dive into the crowd and emerge seconds later with a very red-in-the-face Harry tucked under his arm. The man grasped Harry's hand and shook it vigorously, smiling brightly as a small, dour-looking man danced around the front of the crowd, taking pictures.
After a moment, the man in the blue robes let go of her brother. She watched, slightly amused, as he tried to inconspicuously slip back into the crowd, but was pulled back by the man, who clamped his arm around Harry's shoulders.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the man called out loudly, waving his hand for quiet. Annabelle took a quick peek around; the crowd seemed to consist of mostly witches, with the odd man standing around with his wife. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The prefect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time.
"When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography – which I shall be pleased to present him now, free of charge -" Annabelle frowned and rolled her eyes as the crowd of women cheered and clapped "-he had no idea that he would soon be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his school fellows will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that, this September, I will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
The crowd cheered again, and Harry was finally allowed to escape into the crowd, heavily laden with a large stack full of books that he had been presented with. She smiled to herself when she saw him hand them over to the small, red-headed girl that she had seen earlier that day. He said something to her, but Annabelle was too far away to hear him. Wanting to hear her brother's voice again, she hurriedly slipped through the crowd, trying not to knock into anyone.
A tall, thin blonde boy got to her brother and his little red-headed friend, and she stopped, just within hearing distance, to listen to what he was saying. From the hostile look on Harry's face, Annabelle knew that this boy wasn't a friend of his.
"Famous Harry Potter," the boy scoffed. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."
"Leave him alone," the little girl hissed. "He didn't want all that!"
"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend?" the boy drawled lazily.
The girl went red in the face and took a step back, just as Harry's other friends pushed their way through the crowd.
"Oh, it's you." The red-headed boy wrinkled his nose, as though he smelled something unpleasant. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"
Annabelle frowned. Why would he be surprised to see Harry? It was a bookshop; obviously he would need to come here to get his books for school.
"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," the blonde boy shot back. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for that lot."
The red-headed boy went just as red as the girl had, and looked as though he wanted to hit the blonde boy; he probably would have if Harry and the bushy haired girl hadn't grabbed his jacket to hold him back. Annabelle didn't blame him in the least; she was beginning to like this boy less and less with every passing minute. She wished there was something she could do, but she didn't want to reveal herself to her brother yet. She wasn't ready for that conversation.
"Ron!" the older red haired man from earlier hurried past her, closely followed by the twins that she had met earlier. She tried to duck down before they saw her, but she was too slow.
"Hey!" George called, pointing at her.
"Shh!" she held her finger to her lips and ducked behind a shelf, causing both of the twins to look at her funny. "I don't want them to see me," she whispered, pointing to where her brother and his friends were standing.
"Why?" Fred asked.
"Just go along with me, please?" she begged.
Fred and George looked at each other and then shrugged. "Okay," they said in unison, and then they walked away.
Annabelle peeked around the corner of the bookshelf to keep an eye on her brother. She noticed that a new man had joined the group of red-headed people, Harry and his bushy-haired friend. He was tall and had platinum blonde hair. He looked like a more mature version of the rude blonde boy.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said the man in a cold voice. "All those raids…I hope they're paying you overtime?" He leaned down to pluck a book out of a cauldron that the red-haired girl was carrying. He smirked as he turned the very battered volume over in his hands, and then tossed it back into the cauldron. "Obviously not. Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
Annabelle scowled; she immediately disliked the man. She now understood where the blonde boy had acquired his attitude.
The father of the red-haired children turned red in the face, and stated, "We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy."
"Clearly," the man named Malfoy smirked. His eyes roamed to the corner, where a nervous-looking couple that Annabelle hadn't noticed before were standing. "The company you keep, Weasley…and I thought your family could sink no lower-"
The cauldron that had previously been clutched tightly in the red-headed girl's hands went flying through the air as the red-haired man lunged at Mr. Malfoy. The two men fell backwards into a bookshelf and a dozen or so books tumbled down, one very narrowly missing hitting Harry in the head. Annabelle instinctively jumped out of her hiding spot and stepped forward to see if Harry was alright, but the two men had now broken into a full-out brawl. She watched for a moment, but felt as though she was being watched. She glanced up and saw that the bushy-haired girl was staring at her quizzically, as though trying to decide if she knew her or not.
Although the last thing that she wanted to do was leave her brother while he was in the middle of a fight, she knew that it was best if she left now. The girl was staring at her much too intensely. Resigned, she turned on her heel and hurried from the store.
