"Oh, come on," James told him sharply. True, James didn't like this place, but he wasn't going to let it show as much as Doug did. After all, his dad had defeated the most powerful warlock ever, surely James could take on something like that. And this place was just that- a place. And places can't hurt you. Plus, he had Poison with him.
Poison, James said to his shirt. You might want to wake up.
He heard an ugly hiss from around his stomach and knew that this was simply a snake's yawn. Night already?
No. We might need help.
Doug was looking at him oddly. "What was that?" he asked, staring hard at James with wide, fearful eyes.
James looked up at him, suddenly remembering that there was someone else here with him besides Poison. "Uh, Ron and Hermione said it was something called Parseltongue. They said it was the language of the snakes."
"You can talk to snakes?"
James nodded, smiling. "Isn't it neat?"
"Weird is more like it. Creepy, even. I'm leaving."
James grabbed his shirt sleeve. "No. We aren't leaving yet. We have to finish looking around here."
"Do you know who comes here? The Dark Lord himself, Voldemort. Just rumors, really," he added hastily as he saw an odd gleam come into James's eyes. "He probably won't be here today."
"Come on." James started pulling him away.
For a while, Doug struggled to get away from here and make a wild dash for the sunlight- even if some hag did happen to turn him into a toad or dust. "But you don't understand," he continued to argue with James. "This is Knockturn Alley. All the evil witches and wizards come here. It's dangerous. Especially if we see Voldemort."
James pulled him down another street, and Doug lost sight of the sunlight. He stopped struggling, convinced now that all hope had vanished along with those beautiful golden rays.
James turned to him and said simply, "Cool." He looked behind them to where the barrier of light and dark, Diagon and Knockturn Alley, had been. "As long as we keep track of where we're going this time, and don't get lost, we should be fine."
"Yeah, right," Doug muttered. "About as 'fine' as my mum's cooking, that is."
He followed James slowly and silently. Once, he saw a small, short woman walk towards them. She had a stooped back, and you could tell her gray body was wrinkled, even under the dark clothes she wore. Her face was a mask of gray skin, bloodshot, beady eyes, scraggly gray hair, and small, tightly pursed, dried-out gray lips. He quickly pulled James and himself into a doorway.
"Hey!" James hissed at him. "What's up with you?"
"I told you before. This is Knockturn Alley. It's dangerous. You don't want to be seen. Unless, that is, you're looking for trouble," he added slowly. He already had a really bad feeling about this kid. He was just hoping that it wasn't about to get worse.
"Fine. We won't be seen if you're such a coward."
"I'm not a coward," Doug retorted, "I just want to live long enough to go to Hogwarts and turn twelve. I want to see the sunrise tomorrow, as a matter of fact. But I can't do that if I'm dead."
James shrugged and waited for the hag to pass. When she had, he left the safety of the doorway and went out back out with Doug following him closely.
They started going into places that were more crowded. Doug, lost in his world of thought, hadn't noticed this until it was too late. He looked to James with a glare that could have made something burst into flames. Then he noticed what James was doing.
He was walking with a long, leisurely stride, as if he came here all the time. He held his back straight, head up, and he wasn't afraid to look at anyone in the eye. He looked as if he belonged here. Doug could hardly see any trace of the James he'd met in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions Shop.
Immediately, Doug lifted his own head and straightened his back. He forced his breath to flow in and out evenly and tried hard not to walk too fast or walk too slowly. Act like you belong, he ordered himself.
Doug didn't see the table until it was too late. He was so concerned with making himself seem as if he belonged here that he walked straight into a table full of gruesome looking bat-raising kits and instruction manuals on torture. A few of the cages fell off the table. One or two broke and the bats flew out, squeaking joyfully at their freedom. The books and instruction manuals clamored to the ground. A few kits for experiments fell to the stone walkway, and Doug heard the high-pitched sound of glass breaking.
"Oops."
"'Oops!' That's all you have to say for yourself! You'd better pay for that, young man. Do you know how much this stuff costs?" the vendor shouted at him.
Doug stood there, shaking. He felt something pull his sleeve so hard that the force of it almost made him fall over. Instead, he landed on his left foot, and with the force still pushing him along, he landed on the right. Then the left again. Before he knew it, he was full-out running with James leading the way. They started to laugh.
The laughter didn't last that long, though.
"Come back here, you two!" the vendor shouted. "You'd better pay for all of this!"
Behind him, Doug heard a sizzling sound and then a loud BOOM! The trash can five feet away from him blew into the air, soaring as high as forty feet before it started to fall to the earth again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the trash can land with the loud sound of metal scraping against metal like a car crashing into another, It landed black with holes all over, bent and dented in several places.
He heard another soft sizzle, heard it grow louder.
He stopped laughing. Then he said it quietly, just loud enough for James to hear, "Run." He heard something whiz right past his ear. Doug began sprinting harder than he ever had before. When he began to pass James, James realized that he needed to go faster too.
Together, they ran through the streets, zigzagging every chance they got. They could still hear the vendors behind them. "Come back here! Or I'll blow you to smithereens!"
They kept running without pausing until their sides hurt. Only then did they begin to slow down. After a while, they were walking wearily along eerily silent streets.
Doug waved to James to signal that they needed to stop. He wasn't as used to running as James was. James had gotten plenty of exercise trying to evade Shelton and his gang. "Do you- think it's- safe- now?" he panted, bending over so he could support himself by putting his hands on his knees.
"I'm pretty sure- it is," James answered, tired, but not so tired that he had to lean over or pause that long.
"Think we- can go- now?"
"I'd think so. I didn't- know they'd- do that. Good thing- we ran. I can't believe- you knocked over- that table."
Doug tried to shrug, and he whimpered when he realized how much his shoulders and arms hurt from pumping so much. "Let's just- get out- of here."
James nodded.
Doug's eyes widened as he saw something poke out of James's shirt. A green snake slithered out and dropped down to the ground. "Is that your- What is-"
James grinned tiredly and wondered if he'd have to explain this all the time to everyone at school. "This is my pet snake. His name is Poison."
"Poison? Poison? You named your snake Poison? Is it poisonous?"
"No."
"Oh." Now that he knew that, Doug didn't really mind. After all, It wasn't that big. What was the snake going to do? Drool on him till he died?
Behind them, a long way in the distance, they heard, "Come back here and pay me and I might think twice before I blow you two kids up!"
James and Doug looked at each other. Suddenly, James grinned. "He can't possibly find us. We're too far away."
Doug shook his head slowly. "They have special detectors that hunt down wrongdoers. They aren't always right, though. There are so many people doing bad things that sometimes the trail gets messed up."
"So we're left with two choices. Either we can risk it, and simply hope that he got a messed up trail so we can keep on exploring, or we can get out of here."
"I say we get out of here."
"Agreed." Suddenly, what he was saying changed into an odd hissing. Doug looked at him oddly. What was he telling that snake of his? He watched as the snake muttered something in return and crawled towards James. When the snake, Poison, was safely tucked away again under James's shirt, he looked back up to Doug. "Ready?" he asked.
Doug nodded, doubtful whether to be thankful for the small chance he'd gotten to catch his breath, or to try to make it last as long as he could.
The two got ready to run and turned. Without thinking twice, they ran straight forward, looking behind them and listening hard.
WHAM!
James bounced off of something hard. Impossible! There hadn't been a wall there! He was sure of it! Yet, his glasses fell off, and he heard them hit the ground with a heart-stopping thud. He heard the glass break. He looked in front of him, where he could see the blurry image of a huge man. It looked like he was wearing something dark. He started feeling around for his glasses, turning away from the figure. Watch him, he muttered to Poison. He felt Poison obediently turn around and poke out of one of James's sleeves, watching the stranger. James saw a smaller shape, obviously Doug, stoop down and pick up something. Next thing he knew, he felt something being pressed into his palms. He heard Doug tell him, "They're broken in two and one lens is broken. They won't be much good at Hogwarts."
The figure behind them roared. "Hogwarts students!"
Poison started filling in for James. The man looksss mad. He'sss coming. I think you might want to get up now.
I don't think I could see enough to tell how, James muttered in reply.
Suddenly, he felt himself being lifted by his shirt. "Hey!" he shouted. Beside him, he heard Doug yell the same thing, except James added, "Put me down, you big brute."
"You two shouldn't be in Knockturn Alley," the figure snapped. "I'd've thought that kids these days had better sense."
"It was my fault," James told him. "I dragged him here. He didn't want to come." He pointed to where he hoped Doug was. Or at least where a small blur moved every once in a while. "You can let him go."
"A little to the right," Doug supplied.
James moved his finger obediently.
The figure didn't say anything. Instead, he simply started walking. The breeze his long stride created pushed aside some of James's bangs out of his eyes. "I'll say!" the figure exclaimed. "A Potter! I would'n 'ave thought that a Potter 'd be comin' down here! An' draggin' others into it, too!" The person shook the arm that was carrying the dangling James.
He looksss mad, Poison told him.
You don't say, James muttered dryly.
They walked for what seemed like a short distance. Then, just as suddenly as he'd felt the coldness and emptiness of Knockturn Alley, he felt the heat and fullness of Diagon Alley.
"Hermione! Ron!" the figure bellowed. "Look who I found in Knockturn Alley!"
He dropped James and Doug. By now, James could make out the blurry image of his sister. He ran to her, stumbling at times without his glasses. When he finally did reach her, he threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
He heard his sister gasp for air, but she returned the hug. "Don't you ever, ever, run off like that again," she snapped angrily at him.
"Don't worry. I won't," James assured her.
"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted in delight. Then she froze. "Where did you say you found them?"
"Knockturn Alley," the figure, Hagrid, said gravely. "They looked like they was runnin' from something, too."
Hermione put her hands on her hips. "Explain." She used the same tone she used when she told Ron to do something. James, still hugging Lily, helped Doug to explain what had happened, and he said that he was at fault completely.
In the end, Hermione sighed. "Let me see your glasses," she ordered wearily. He handed the pieces to her, or what she thought was her, even though he noticed that she moved her hands farther to take them. "You and your father. Always breaking your glasses..." she muttered. She tapped the glasses with her wand and said a word. James then felt something pressed into his hands again and realized that they were actually his glasses. He put them on quickly and breathed a sigh a relief when he saw things he could identify again. "Of course, we'll have to speak to the Headmaster about this, and you may be punished, but you did tell the truth, at least."
James nodded, still hugging Lily tightly. He was just glad to be back. Imagine! Here, wizards threw some sort of bombs at shoplifters! He didn't want to admit it, but that experience had actually shaken him up quite a bit.
"You know," Ron said, "you might want to let go of each other soon. You two are turning blue."
"Ron!" Hermione laughed. It seemed like everyone was back to themselves. "Oh!" she cried suddenly. "I almost forgot! Your birthday presents!"
Lily and James let go at the same time. "Birthday presents? Is it our birthday?" James asked as he looked at her.
"You don't know when your birthday is?" Becky practically shouted at him. "How can you not know-" Lily slapped her hand over her new friend's mouth until Becky calmed down. When she did, Lily removed her hand. "How could you not know when your birthday is?"
"The Dursleys never told us."
"My word," Hermione breathed. "They were worse than we thought."
Ron tightened his grip on his wand. "Dudley," he said violently.
Neville looked slightly confused. "But muggles don't do that. Muggles- muggles-"
"You should have taken muggle studies, Neville," Hermione sighed. She crossed her arms, as if she were in deep thought.
"You don't know these muggles, Neville," Ron explained. "They're the worst you've ever seen. Worse than the worst muggles you've ever seen. Much worse."
Hermione nodded in silent agreement. "We'll see what we can do later." She rubbed her chin with her wand again and then looked at her wand oddly. "Goodness!" she exclaimed. "We forgot the wands!"
Ron raised his eyebrows. "Now how could that have happened?" he asked her.
She shrugged. "Let's go get wands, your cauldron, phials, telescope, brass scales, and your pet for messages and such, and then we'll make some arrangements so the two of you can catch the Hogwarts Express tomorrow."
"They can stay with us," Becky offered. "We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the night."
Neville blushed and nodded.
Hermione nodded gratefully. "I'd appreciate it," she told them. "Just to keep an eye on them. I'm sure they'll have enough money left for a room of their own. And they can pay for themselves, too," she added quickly. Neville nodded, trying to make sure he'd remember, while Becky nodded enthusiastically. "Now for the wands."
The renewed group and their new member set off.
"This," Ron explained, "is Mr. Ollivander's shop. It's the best place to buy wands. That's where I got this one." He stuck out his wand to show to them. "A fourteen-inch long Yew with a unicorn's hair. And it's worked perfectly since I bought it in my third year!"
"I brought yer dad 'ere too," Hagrid beamed at them. Hermione cast him a warning look and he looked away quickly.
Hermione jumped in to change the subject. "Ollivander's has been here since 832 B.C."
The two Potters gaped. "That's an awfully long time," James said slowly. "That's... 2,168 years." He looked at a single wand on a faded purple cushion.
Hermione beamed at him. "Exactly. Well?" she asked, holding the door open for them. "What are you guys waiting for?"
They stepped through the door and heard the distant sound of a bell from somewhere inside the shop. The store was narrow, with the walls covered from floor to ceiling with crevices. Lily looked inside one of them and found many sticks like Hermione and Ron's wands. All of the crevices must be full of wands! Hagrid stepped into the store before Hermione and fell into the single, moth-eaten chair with a slight crash.
A short old man came running up instantly but stopped when he saw them. "Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Hagrid. Hello. And who might the rest of these people be?"
Hermione instantly jumped up to take charge. Ron, looking thoughtful, let her and went on reading his paper. Hagrid looked at her, sighed contentedly, and sank deeper into the chair.
"Mr. Ollivander, this young woman is Hannah, a, uh, friend of Neville's. This is his daughter, Becky. Hannah's son, Doug. And these two-"
"-Are the Potters," Mr. Ollivander said simply. "They have all the marks. The hair, the eyes, and the," he swept Lily's bangs off of her forehead for a second before dropping them back into place, "scar. I've waited many years for another of them to walk into this place."
He began walking along the wall, looking into the crevices from time to time. "Now, when your father came in, we wasted plenty of time. Too much, in my opinion, especially since four of you now need wands. So-" He stuck his hand into a crevice and pulled out two wands. "Try these. Wave them around with your wand hand."
"Wand hand?"
"Yes, you know, you're- Hmm. Your father asked the same thing. What hand do you write with?"
"Uh, right."
Mr. Ollivander shoved a wand into her right hand. "Try that one. Holly and phoenix feather. Eleven inches. Nice and supple."
She waved it, almost feeling as if the wand were moving on its own. She looked to Mr. Ollivander, who was looking at Hermione. He looked back at her and nodded thoughtfully.
He held the other one out to James. He took it and waved it around, feeling like an idiot.
Mr. Ollivander nodded again and then turned to Becky and Doug.
Within a few moments, after trying out a few wands each, Becky and Doug found their own wands. Becky's was a twelve inch maple with a unicorn hair, and Doug got a thirteen inch oak with a dragon's heart string.
After they left Ollivander's, James fell into step with Doug. He was still sorry for the Knockturn Alley incident, but not half as sorry as he had been before Mr. Ollivander had recognized him. "Did you see the guys eyes?" he asked.
Doug scowled and waved his wand a bit. "I wasn't really concentrating on the guy's eyes," he said stiffly.
James ignored his tone. "There were silver- like moons, only creepier."
"So?"
James shrugged. "Just thought that I'd mention it."
"Why don't you go talk to your sister?" Doug asked rudely.
James looked ahead to where Lily and Becky were talking and waving their wands about happily. He didn't understand why, but he didn't want to talk to his sister anymore.
During the next hour, they finished up their shopping, and the adults and Becky led the way to the Leaky Cauldron. He kissed Hannah goodnight, and during this sickening moment, Becky tried not to blanche and throw up all over the ground. Then, to her relief, Hannah and Doug walked off. She breathed a sigh of relief when she could no longer see either of them. Hagrid thundered off a few minutes after that, and Hermione and Ron disappeared in a cloud of smoke after waving good-bye to them.
They got two rooms at the Leaky Cauldron. Becky and Lily shared a room, while Neville and James shared the other.
Becky went to bed directly after dinner. Lily, however, was too excited to sleep. Instead, she sat in a large chair near the fire and read through her books. During breaks to rest her eyes and drink a butter beer, which Tom, the landlord, provided for her, she noticed that she could remember most of what she read. By morning, she'd read her books for Transfiguration, Potions, and A History of Magic. For her trip to Hogwarts, she set aside her books for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms.
"And they're at the Leaky Cauldron right now?" Harry stood looking out the window, staring at the Forbidden Forest. His scar was beginning to sting, not too badly, but just enough to let him know that trouble was coming.
"Yes," Ron said stiffly. He briefly remembered what Harry had used to be like. But now, Harry had grown up, and he was always worrying about Voldemort and Hogwarts, and what had happened to everyone around him. When Neville had hurt himself, Ron had nearly imagined that Harry might put up charms all over the school, and there were enough as it was.
"What?" Harry asked sharply. He knew what Ron was thinking of. He knew how much they all missed the days when they were simply students, and life could be simply an adventure. But now they were grown up, and they all had responsibilities, and Voldemort was their worst threat right then, and all Harry really cared about were James and Lily. Was it such a sin to want his own children to be safe?
Hermione jumped up. "Harry, we know it's hard on you, but why must you keep them in the dark? They're bound to find out you're their father eventually. Not knowing could be a weakness, Harry. Are you really-"
"Hermione," he answered quietly, "all I care about right now is that they get here safely. We can deal with the rest later."
"Right."