Tom had finally said that she could go to Diagon alley. It had been almost a month since the rude old man had barged into their lives, but it felt like years to Hera, who had not been allowed outside of the orphanage. It was Tom's rule. She couldn't go out with him until he knew the Alley well enough.

She put back on the silver dress from her birthday, and let the older girls braid her hair. She refused to let them apply any product to her face this time, no matter how much they begged. Because Tom had pre- approved the outing, the two only had to stop in with Matron for a brief moment before being allowed to go. Hera, almost bouncing, dragged Tom down the street,

"Darling, I have been here before," He laughed at her dismayed expression,

"But Tom," she whined, trying to obtain even the smallest bit of sympathy,

"I've never been, and it is going to be so exciting," Hera let go of his hand for a moment so she could twirl, letting her dress flare out around herself. Tom smiled down at his only friend,

"We will get there in time, don't worry. I am going to get you robes, so you can blend in , then you can wander around. The bookshop will need to be last, as we are getting supplies today, and I want to have enough money," Hera sighed, but quickly perked up,

" I see it Tom, over there," she flung her arm out, ignoring the people who looked at her oddly. Tom put a hand on her shoulder, and immediately, she calmed, all of the excitement previously seen disappearing.

Tom led her into the dingey pub, ignoring everyone inside. He made a beeline to the back, where a door stood propped open. Tom led Hera through the doorway and looked down at the small girl,

"I need you to remember this pattern. It is important as this is the only way you can get into the alley." Hera started resolutely at the bricks and her stare became rather intense as Tom tapped on a series of bricks. Tom spoke quietly,

"It does not matter what brick you start on, but the pattern must always be the same." Tom paused and Hera let out a gasp as the bricks melted away. She had never seen anything like it. It was like a curtain opening, but bricks. They were parting like an ocean before a God, welcoming Hera into a new world.

As she looked beyond the curtain of bricks, her astonishment grew. There were so many odd things in Diagon Alley. There was a woman with a stuffed crow on her head, some half beast creature shouting about mushrooms that fixed eyesight, so many wondrous things. It was all Hera could do to not run from store to store, geeking out about all the amazing things in this colorful world.

A new world. A world that would be hers.

Hera turned to Tom,

"This will be ours. All of it." She looked around covertly, her voice cold with the absolute certainty that she felt, "Tom. It is beautiful, but I have been here for mere moments and there is dicrimination everywhere," Tom let the corners of his mouth fall,

"I have not seen anything too obvious, but it is ingrained in the culture." Hera opened her mouth, about to start speaking, but Tom shook his head. He grabbed Hera's arm and began leading her down the alley. Every time Hera tried to pull off of his arm to go look at a store front, Tom would grunt, and pull her closer to his body. It felt really nice. His body was warm and the muscle Tom had developed on his stomach felt sturdy, secure.

When Tom stopped the gentle presses leading Hera, she looked around. There was a store with "Madame Malkins" embossed on the sign. Outside of the shop there were many different styles of clothing. Hera walked into the shop, head held high. One thing that every orphan knew was that if you looked like you belonged, no one would question why you were there.

A short woman with light blonde hair walked over to Hera. The woman quickly pulled Hera to a back room and pushed her onto a pedestal,

"Hello, Darling," The woman began, " What are you looking for today?" Hera's eyebrows shot up, and she looked around, for the first time realizing that Tom was not with her,

"Um, I-"

"She'll have two sets of everyday,a set of formal, and a winter cloak," Hera let out a sigh of relief as Tom interrupted her.

The woman sighed, and pushed Tom out of the room,

"Boys like you shouldn't be in a girl's changing room," she scolded, voice pitched high, " Shameful, I will be having a conversation with your mother about this young man!" her voice was rising in volume, and Hera covered her ears as the woman finished. Blonde hair whipped around as the woman turned,

"So. You never got to tell me what you wanted before that dreadful boy interrupted. What's the selection?" Hera shook her head, Tom knew better than to barge into somewhere where any amount of skin might be showing with adults,

"I will have what he said. Mother gave him the list.

The woman scoffed, obviously seeing through Hera's lie, but nodded, collecting the items. Hera's head turned, looking around the back of the shop. There were so many different color options. it was a little overwhelming to Hera, who had only been in the little fabric shop in town. The shop had a range of colors, but none so exciting as Madame Malkins. There were bright colors everywhere.

Hera's eyes widened as she looked at a piece of fabric draped over a lamp. It was sky blue with little golden balls flying all around it. They were moving. On fabric. Hera's mouth dropped open a little bit, her lips parting.

The woman came back, various fabrics in a neatly folded pile in her pale arms. She put the pile of cloth on the chair, and Hera's eyes darted back to the blue and gold moving fabric. There was a slight knock on the wall separating Hera off from the main store, and Tom poked his head in. The woman turned, her face stony as she went to confront Tom. Hera snapped her head to the commotion, having been distracted watching the hypnotising blue fabric,

"Oh, Tom," she began, her voice pleading, "Please help me. You know all I wear at home is grey," Her voice shook with amusement at the fake fear she was putting into her voice. Hera was a little by the pile of fabric she would soon have on her body, but nothing so dramatic as needing Tom's help. Tom's lips turned up, recalling the many times Hera had complained about shopping for cloth and clothing with the matron,

"She will have all the robes in black or dark brown, dark green or cream, respectively," Tom was in his element, and Hera admired her friend as he deftly got the sales woman to obey his every command. Even with the really mean and uncooperative salespeople, Tom always got them to love him. This time was no different.

There was a slight jangaling sound and faint strains of a pompous conversation into the back room,

"Mother… needen't… mudbloods," Hera turned to Tom, the corners of her lips turning down,

"Go charm him. I want him to suffer when he realizes that the two most powerful people in his year are," she paused, her voice turning dark. She sneered, "filthy little mudbloods," The woman fitting her choked, holding back laughter.

Tom's head snapped around to look at the woman,

"You may doubt it, but I am going to be stronger than anyone else," the woman smiled as though she was looking at a very young child,

"Darling, I have no doubt that you will be the strongest, your little angel is getting very aggravated, and you should probably go 'charm him'. It will be amusing to all-" She cut off, and Hera's magic, already flared and hot, got hotter, and began swirling,

"Tom," Hera's voice was cold, "please go introduce yourself. I'm sure we will be the best," her voice was thick with sarcasm, "of friends. We would not want to miss out on opportunities of friendship, would we?" Hera's voice pitched upwards, and it sounded as though she were speaking to a dog.

Tom looked at Hera, then looked at the wall next to her as though he was going to refuse; he quickly left the changing room when the temperature rose a few degrees.

Hera walked into the waiting room and almost had to walk out again when she saw the boy who had been speaking with Tom. He had the lightest hair she had ever seen. It was brighter than the moon on a dark night.

The moment Hera was seen by the light haired boy, he was standing, aggravation and hatred rolling off of him in waves,

"Filth!" Hera looked at him, her arms crossed; she turned to Tom,

"Why would ya' let 'im say that? I thought you said you were goin' ta make a good impression," Hera purposefully relaxed her speech, hoping it would make the shiny boy like her more. It did not,

"Merlin, you can't even talk right," Tom shot the boy a glare,

"I will have you know that Hera was only found to be magical a few months ago yet she is almost as bright as you are; she is also a full three years younger." Hera's eyes bunched, but she let Tom lie. The taller boy sneered, his mind obviously going to the fact that Hera was muggleborn.

"You are both so far below me, I would not even let you polish my shoe-" Tom cut shiney boy off, and Hera sighed. She would have liked to hear his whole rant about shoe polish and servitude,

"Actually, Malfoy, you are below Hera; she was cast out of the Potter family for being a squib, but recently showed signs of strong magic," Malfoy looked about ready to open his mouth when Tom spoke again, "As you know, even the lowest of the Potter family are above you. The," Tom's voice dropped to a whisper, and he leant close to the Malfoy heir, "Deathly hallows business and all that," Hera almost laughed, Malfoy turned a delightful shade of red and paled at the same time, it was amusing to watch as his face rapidly changed colors,

"If she was declared a squib," The boy scrunched his nose as he spat out the word, "Then she has no magic. That's how it goes, mudblood," The moment Malfoy turned on Tom, Hera's simmering anger turned to a boil. Her magic flared and the Malfoy heir was soon pinned to the window of the shop by bands of flame. It did not yet burn, but as the boy panicked and shouted more slurs, the bands became hotter and hotter,

"Take. That. Back." Hera was growling, stalking closer to the boy who looked ready to piss his pants. There was a noise from behind her, and Hera whipped around only to scoff when she saw Tom chuckling at the other boy's misfortune. At the same time, she let her power relax a little more, letting the bands turn just to the point of burning, instead of the slightly uncomfortable heat that had previously been emitting from the cuffs.

Malfoy screeched before conceding,

"Ak! Okay, okay, I'm sorry for calling you a mudblood!" Hera released the bonds, pulling her magic back in a swoosh of heat. Malfoy let out a sigh,

"I'm sorry for calling you a mudblood, you obviously have more power then a mudblood could ever have an-" Tom scoffed as the blond spoke, "What? Do you have a problem with the fact that older families are more powerful?" Tom sneered at the taller boy,

"I do not necessarily agree with the statement but you can believe whatever you want." Malfoy began, once again, that he was preparing for a fight, so Tom turned to Hera, "It is time for us to go, your clothing has arrived,"

Hera looked down and was greeted by a large pile of boxes. The finished clothing ad bee placed at her feet at some point.

Magic could do that?

Cool.

Hi...
I'm back! I am in a better place, but updates still might be a little slow. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It is extra long as an apology. I do like how long the chapter was, although it took longer to write. Would you guys prefer that I continue with longer, more spaced out chapters, or go back to around 1,000 word chapters? If you want I can try and make the chapters longer then this one.

If you guys have any questions, feel free to message me or comment, I should answer within the day. I hope you enjoyed it, please comment any suggestions or thoughts you had about this chapter.

I love you guys (male, female, other, and spoons)

BookFairy