Disclaimer: The HP world and its' characters are not mine.

New Awakening

Chapter 9 – The Alley

On that miraculously sunny day, the busy streets of Muggle London were packed with people. You could see many executives in their telephones walking fast paced towards the underground and elders taking strolls down the parks.

The three Potters apparated to an alley near Charing Cross Road, James with his son in his arms and Lily popping up to appearance a second after them.

"Are you okay, buddy? The first apparition can be pretty sickening." James said tousling his own hair. Harry nodded.

"You choose what we're going to eat, darling." Lily said as James put the boy down, straightening his clothes. Harry was wearing jeans, a green t-shirt that matched his eyes and small trainers, as well as a light jacket since Lily insisted. All of that belonged to Theo when he was about nine and was shrunk to fit the small boy. To Harry, they were the nicest clothes he'd ever worn.

"I-I've n-never been o-out to e-eat before." Harry mumbled and looked down. Lily in a heartbeat was kneeling down in front of him.

"Well, there must be a place where you always wanted to go." She smiled trying not to let his comment affect her.

Seeing his son hesitate James put an arm around the small boy and applied pressure to his shoulder in reassurance. "There's no wrong answer, little one. Come on, say what you'd love to eat."

Harry analysed his father and unconsciously put his thumb in his mouth.

"Na-ah. Your hands are dirty, Harry." Lily said taking the small hand in hers.

"C-Could w-we e-eat n-normal f-food?" The boy said quietly and cowered into himself, as if he expected to be struck in the head.

"Normal food that is!" James said excitedly ruffling Harry's hair (ignoring the his flinch), deciding not to ask what the boy meant by 'normal food' and settling for a british food restaurant.

They walked side by side (with Harry in the middle, gripping his father's hand tightly) until they found a not so cramped place to eat.

James asked for a table for three in a secluded place and the family followed the waitress to a table on the corner. The same waitress gave them the menu and took her leave.

"Here, sweetheart, you can choose whatever you want." Lily said opening in the page where the kids' menu could be found for her son who was sitting on his legs.

Lily and James quickly choose their dishes and turned to look at Harry. The small boy was looking down and fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

"Hey, buddy, what's the matter? Don't you like anything?" James said sharing a look with his wife.

"N-No, sir! T-The f-food seems great b-but…" The boy said looking up quickly. He didn't want to seem ungrateful.

"But what, Harry?" Lily asked carding her fingers through her son's messy hair.

"E-Everything is just s-so e-expensive! Y-You d-don't have to get me anything, h-honest. I-I'm not e-even hungry." Harry said everything really fast before biting his lip and looking down again.

"Son," James said seriously. "Don't worry about the money, we have plenty. And you have to eat. Your body lacks many of the essential nutrients and we are trying to remedy that, even if you're not very hungry we still expect you to try to eat at least a little bit. Alright? Don't you want to grow strong, like your daddy here?" The father then winked at the boy and Harry nodded blushing at the attention. His parents cared whether he ate or not, or seemed so anyway.

"Now, do you know what you want?" Harry shook his head and looked down, blushing. "Why don't you choose this…"

And so went their lunch, with Lily and James asking their son general questions about him like favourite colour and whether he'd been to London before while prompting him to eat as much as he could.

After leaving the restaurant the family made their way to the Leaky Cauldron where they crossed the place in a fast pace. Not wanting to be stopped.

Once they reached the back of the restaurant, where the entrance to the Diagon Alley was Lily and James both paused to check on Harry.

"Are you alright, buddy?" Harry nodded quickly. "Are you sure?" Harry nodded again.

Lily then taped the necessary bricks to make them move and form an arc.

The look in Harry's face was priceless, even though he'd been there once before in his world he'd never get enough of this feeling. He felt like he could burst of wonderment.

The alley was quiet to James and Lily's relief since they still hadn't come up with a plausible story about Harry.

They made their way to a clothing store that, differently from Madam Malkin's, sold both muggle and wizard attire alike.

The place looked small on the outside, but an expanding spell was obviously cast since inside it was huge. The clothing was exposed in racks and sorted by age and Lily and James walked towards the Children's section, with Harry holding his mother's hand this time.

Lily then started to pick some items (trying to get Harry to choose between them) and threw them on the cart that appeared as soon as she touched the racks.

In the end Harry had a brand new wardrobe composed of t-shirts (some of them with moving cartoons of magical animals), long sleeved shirts, dress shirts, jackets for summer and winter, trousers, shorts, sweaters, socks, underwear, pyjamas (there was one with flying broomsticks and twinkling stars!), swimming clothes, casual robes and dress robes to wear when the occasion demanded it. - even though he insisted he didn't need anything.

They were leaving the shop - after the bags were shrunk - and making their way to the toy store when Harry stopped suddenly.

The couple turned to look at their son who was can't seemed to stand still.

"Is there something wrong, sweetheart?" Lily asked touching the boy's shoulder. He flinched violently and looked down, his cheeks as red as his mother's hair and fidgeting on his feet before crossing his legs.

"Harry" James said kneeling down and grabbing the boy's shoulders. "Do you need the loo?" The boy nodded still not moving his eyes from the floor. James sighed. "You should have told us, buddy."

"I-I d-didn't want to be a bother. Y-You were being s-so nice. And I can hold it." Harry mumbled trying to justify himself, though knowing it was hopeless. Uncle Vernon always hated when Harry tried to explain his reasons, it was always Harry's fault anyway.

"Sweetie, your needs are never a bother. It's not healthy to hold yourself, you can get an infection for doing that. When you need something just tell us, okay?" Lily said kneeling down next to her husband.

"Have your relatives denied your right to use the loo before, buddy?" Harry nodded blushing again. "We would never do that. Things are different now, little one. You are with us now." Harry nodded once more, though inside he was asking himself for how long things would be like this.

James then picked Harry up and walked to Florean Fortescue's heading inside to the bathroom, setting the boy down and waiting for him to finish his business.

Once he was done and his father lifted him so he could reach the sink they met Lily sitting at a table outside. In front of her were three cups of ice cream.

Lily handed one to James and one to Harry. "I bought us a treat." She said smiling.

"It's for me?" Harry asked wide eyed. His parents' hearts clenched at the disbelief in the boy's face.

"All for you, sweetheart. I didn't know which one you liked, so I got a bit of everything." Lily said recovering from the emotional blow.

"I-I've never had ice cream before! Only good boys were allowed ice cream, and Dudley used to eat it all the time. Though I don't think Dudley was a good boy." Harry said the last part quietly but his parents still heard.

"Well, you can have it now. You are a good boy, Harry. A brilliant boy." James said and Harry's eyes shone with happiness at that, though there was still a hint of doubt in them. "And for the record, I don't think Dudley was a good boy either." James whispered loud enough for Harry and Lily to hear and winked at them. Harry giggled.

When Harry got his first taste of ice cream (after his parents reassuring him that it was his and he should eat it before it melted) it was like he was eating bliss. He's smile was so big that it could light up a room. He then proceeded to shove spoonful after spoonful in his mouth, not taking time to breathe, afraid it would be taken from him.

"Whoa, Harry. Slow down, buddy. You're gonna choke." James said with a laugh.

"No one's gonna take it from you, sweetheart." Lily said with a sad smile.

Harry then slowed down though in the end, his face and hands were a mess. With a wet napkin his mother cleaned his face and he couldn't explain the warm feeling he felt inside at the simple action. With a spell, his father cleaned his hands and they were good to continue their shopping spree.

Upon seeing the shop window Harry gasped. It was full of toys! Sure he wouldn't get toys, he didn't deserve them. Maybe they wanted to tease him, making he see something he would never had. God only knows that Uncle Vernon loved that game. In a second, Harry's expression went from glee to blank.

Once inside the shop James frowned at his son, when Theo was that age he would beg to go to that shop. It was a paradise for kids.

"What's wrong, little one?" James said picking the boy up. "Don't you want toys?" The boy shook his head. His father almost seemed genuine.

"Why not, sweetie?" Lily said coming to stand behind James so she could look at her son.

"I will ruin them." The boy said simply.

"I very much doubt that, Harry." James said looking at his son.

"It's true, sir. Uncle Vernon said I didn't deserve toys to play with because I'm a freak and a bad boy and I ruin everything I touch." Harry looked down and put his thumb in his mouth, still not meeting his parents' eyes so he missed the look they shared.

"Vernon lied. You are not a bad boy, or a freak or any name he called you. And you deserve toys to play with like every other child." Lily said lifting Harry's chin and removing his thumb from his mouth. Harry stared at her for a long time before looking down.

James went to set Harry down but the boy didn't loose his grip from his father's neck. "We want you to choose, son." Harry them relented and was put down, but gripped his father's hand.

After much insistence from his parents, Harry finally chose a stuffed dragon and since he wouldn't choose anything else, James and Lily picked a few things age appropriate. Also, they bought a new set of cards magical cards for Theo.

By the cashier Lily noticed Harry rubbing his eyes and yawning and nudged James. The father of two finished paying and picked the boy up for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Not that he minded, mind you, James liked physical contact and was devastated when Theo said he was 'a big-boy and too old to be carried' years ago.

"Sleepy, buddy?" Harry nodded leaning his head on his father's shoulder. "We just have to go to get the furniture and then we will be done, alright?" Harry was already asleep and Lily chuckled at that. James smiled adoringly.

"He looks exactly like you with his eyes closed, it's almost funny." Lily said with a smile. James smiled proudly and kissed the top of his son's head.

They quickly went to the furniture store and chose the items they would buy (it would all be shipped to their home.

They apparated home since they were keyed to the wards that prevented strangers to apparate there and Harry raised his head startled.

"Shh, go back to sleep, little one. We are home." Harry didn't protest and closed his eyes again, not even noticing when he was put on the couch.

Lily and James then went to their son's bedroom and started replace the old furniture with the new (banishing the old one to a small room inside the basement).

In the end, the walls were painted light blue and the single bed was in the corner. There was a blue duvet with flying hippogriffs covering it and two fluffy pillows. A wardrobe was in the opposite side, fully stocked with Harry's new clothes, and a blue toy box with Harry's name in the corner. There was a small shelf with some books for children and a striped fluffy armchair. A fluffy rug was in the centre of the room and a train set over it.

The couple closed the bedroom door behind them and Lily stopped to conjure letters. For the first time, Harry's Room was actually a bedroom.

To be continued…

A/N: A fast update! Thank you so much for all the feedback on the last chapter! All the follows, favourites and especially the reviews mean a lot. They truly brighten my day!

I received a few ideas to explain Harry's appearance but I'm still open for more. I'll give credits, of course, so SEND AWAY :)

Hope you liked this chapter, since I hate describing shopping sprees, bedrooms and such. I think it tiresome to be honest but I did my best.

Thank you so much for all the support and please share this story with your Potterhead friends!

- Next chapter: Theo comes home, Harry meets Sirius and Remus (and their families).

Lots of love,

Maria