Author's Note: Finally! So much homework (I'm a bit of a procrastinator
^_^*)! But Chapter 2 is here, in which Rainy goes shopping and meets some
people. or a person. just read it dammit! Please review, you know you want
to! I'm so happy, there was 1 whole review on the first chapter when I
started writing this one. Thank you 'just a reader'! Here is your more.
* * * * * *
Rainy Taylor nearly passed up the entrance to the place of which she had been instructed by Albus Dumbledore to begin her shopping adventure. It was a run-down place with a rickety looking sign that read "The Leaky Cauldron" on it in fading letters. Suddenly she felt very small and incapable. 'Just open the door,' she thought, determined, 'just open the door.'
Putting her hands on the door, Rainy pushed and soon found herself inside a dimly lit room of what appeared to be something of a bar. A bell rang softly as the door shut behind her, drawing attention from nobody. She wasn't sure if she was glad or not.
Rainy was supposed to show her letter from Dumbledore to the man behind the counter. He was rather tall and scruffy looking with his unshaven face and dirtied clothes. She approached him quickly, trying to give herself a sort of determined air.
"Excuse me, sir?" she asked, gripping the envelope in her left pants pocket.
The bartender turned from his routine of cleaning glasses and pitchers to see a semi-tall girl that looked to be about 11 or 12. She had dark brown hair that was pulled into a messy bun that made it look as though she had been in a hurry. Her eyes were blue-grey and seemed to be a reflection of ice, and they were hiding behind a pair of black, plastic glasses with rhinestones on the edges. The look on her face he read as "I'm trying to look confident but I actually feel extremely nervous."
"Yes?" he answered kindly.
Rainy took the letter from her pocket and handed it to the man. "This is from Professor Dumbledore, he told me to give this to you."
The man's dark brown eyes lit up immediately. "Oh! You must be Rainy Taylor!" To this, Rainy nodded. The bartender left his perch from behind the countertop and led her through a door into a small, walled courtyard. The only things there besides the two of them were a trashcan and a large asorssment of weeds.
"Um, sir?" Rainy asked, taking in her surroundings, "if you don't mind me asking."
"Don't worry, see, there's a certain way to get into Diagon Alley that is inside this courtyard. Here, at this brick wall, see?" He took his wand out of his pocket and counted three bricks up from the trashcan and two bricks across. Then he tapped it three times, causing the particular brick to wriggle and squirm until a small hole appeared in it. The hole expanded until it was an archway; an archway leading onto a cobblestone street that was lined with little shops that seemed to go on forever.
"Here you are, Diagon Alley!" he announced. Rainy's icy eyes gave into a stare.
"Impressed, are you? Wait until you get into some of them shops, you'll be in shock for days, I imagine. My name's Eric, by the way, if you ever need a hand."
"Thanks," muttered Rainy, stepping onto the street without as much as a backward glance. Eric smiled at her retreating back and started back to reassume his post at the Leaky Cauldron.
"Wow," murmured Rainy, finally blinking as she began walking towards the end of the street where Gringotts stood. This would be her next destination. But oh, the things to see on the way there! So many things she had never seen before or even thought existed! There was a shop especially for spell books and textbooks, an owl emporium, a "Quidditch" shop (whatever that was), a shop for robes, an astronomy shop sporting all sorts of certain telescopes in it's window, and variety shops with varieties of items displayed in their windows; goblets, potion bottles, parchment, quills, small toys, wand-tuning supplies. so much to see!
Finally, she came to a halt in front of an extremely large building, something of a skyscraper in comparison to the tiny shops she had passed on her way there.
"Gringotts," she decided, heading for the bronze doors in front of her. Putting a hand on the doorknob, she twisted it open and found herself in a small room with another pair of doors in front of her, this time silver. There were words engraved on them, but she was too impatient to get shopping to read them. Standing by the doors were two creatures that Rainy guessed to be goblins, and they bowed her inside.
If it had appeared huge from the outside, that was nothing compared to the inside of Gringotts. There were goblins everywhere; behind counters, standing by doors, walking around, talking to other goblins, talking to witches and wizards. Something about this place made Rainy confident, and so she approached counter four with much more laidback ease, ready to begin the adventure.
* * * * * *
"Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions," Rainy read out loud, much money weighing down her pockets and in a small brown drawstring bag that was tied onto one of her belt loops. She shrugged, did it really matter where she went to first? With that thought in her mind, she pushed open the doors and strolled inside, trying her best to act as though this were something she did every day.
A rather short, black haired witch dressed in all mauve came walking up to her. "Hogwarts, dear?" She asked Rainy. When Rainy nodded, the witch (whom Rainy guessed to be Madam Malkin herself, judging by the way the other attendants were dressed all in black) led her over to a stool.
"You can wait here by this young man whilst I go find what appears to perhaps be your size."
Rainy's eyes of ice searched her small area for that "young man," but she found no one. She sighed. It would have been nice to make a friend before setting of to Hogwarts on the first day, but if she never saw anyone, she didn't see it as possible.
An unsteady BAM hit her on the side and Rainy went flying headfirst to the ground, tangled with another human being, it seemed. The human being's face was buried in its robes. Awkward position the two of them were in, Rainy tugged the neck of the robes hard and it came down over the person's neck, taking something down with it.
"Glasses," the person mumbled, feeling around blindly, hands wandering into even more awkward places.
"Hey!" Rainy exclaimed, "watch where you put your hands!" Having gotten a closer look, she determined that the person was a boy, about her age. He had unruly jet black hair and watery blue eyes that reminded her of the Caribbean.
The boy stopped moving instantly and slowly picked up his hands from where they had wandered.. nearly down Rainy's thin white shirt. He gulped, "Hello."
"Yeah, hello," said Rainy sarcastically, rather irritated.
"I, um, do you see any glasses?"
Rainy rolled her eyes. The boy had just nearly committed what could technically be called sexual harassment, and all he could think about was his glasses.
"No. I have not. They probably fell down your shirt."
"Good idea," said the boy, putting hand down his robes and bringing a pair of black- rimmed glasses back up with it.
He put them over his eyes and adjusted them accordingly. Then he seemed to remember that Rainy was there and that he had knocked her over and obviously touched her in what his mother called a 'no-no place'.
"I'm James Potter," he offered her these words, along with his hand. Rainy shook James Potter's hand civilly.
"I'm Rainy Taylor. You a first year Hogwarts person?" she asked him, scanning him over with her ice-resembling eyes.
"Um, yeah, I am. Listen, I'm sorry about, er, running into you and, um, stuff." he trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"Oh, that. That's okay, it's not as if you could see through your robes or anything."
"Oh, okay, great! So are you a first year, too?" Now that the awkward subject had been dismissed, James seemed quite a talkative person; and quite eager to get to know the person sprawled out on the floor in front of him.
"Yes, I am. I'm not from a wizard family or anything though, so I'm kind of confused about stuff." She admitted.
"What kind of stuff?"
"Well, what is Quidditch?"
"Blimey! You don't know about Quidditch?! Holy cricket, I've got to tell you."
Rainy smiled; it seemed she had already accomplished her goal. She had a friend.
* * * * * *
"Do you have your spell books yet?" Rainy questioned; the two of them had nearly passed up 'Flourish and Blotts'.
James stopped talking for a second to answer her: "Oh, no, not yet." Then he started talking again, "My family's been in Gryffindor for awhile, so I hope I'll get in there as well. Slytherin's the worst though; my mum and dad said that mostly bad wizards are taught in there. Then there's Hufflepuff, and I've heard they're, how should I say, dense? And then Ravenclaw."
Rainy interrupted her new friend yet again. "Then don't you think we should go in?"
James paused for a moment. "Oh. Sure."
They pushed open the doors and entered a brilliantly colored room full of bookshelves. There were stacks upon stacks of books in corners and on top of already filled shelves.
"Wow," muttered Rainy, grabbing James' hand and dragging him around the room through aisles and aisles of bookshelves.
" 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1'," James said loudly into her ear.
Rainy jumped, head buried on a shelf and browsing through a dark green book that was titled in gold: 'No Foolish Wand Waving'. "What?" she asked him.
"I said, 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1'. As in, one of the books we have to buy for school. Remember? Hogwarts?"
"Oh, sorry." She continued to read.
Unsatisfied, James peered over her shoulder and read out loud: "So many wizards do not really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind and ensnaring the senses. This book will teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death- if you so wish to continue reading it." He raised an eyebrow at her, though her back was turned and she couldn't see him.
"I'm buying this," Rainy announced and James sighed with relief.
"Does this mean we get to look at other books now?"
* * * * * *
"I guess this means there's only one thing left to buy," announced Rainy, having just checked off '1 telescope' on her Hogwarts list.
James nodded happily. "Our wands."
James, being from a wizard family as old as time itself (though this may be an exaggeration), knew there was only one place to get a wand; Ollivander's.
"Ollivander's is over by the Quiddtich shop, I think," he told Rainy, pointing in the general direction of straight ahead.
"Great James, that should be such a huge help, considering I know nothing about my surroundings and I have no idea where anything is."
He grinned. "That's why I'm here, Rainy dearest, do not worry."
She shoved him playfully. "As if you know this place any better than I do!"
"Of course I do! I am from a wizard family after all." He stuck out his chest and pretended to look proud.
"This is why you only point in obvious general directions when pinpointing locations."
"Obviously."
They laughed at each other as they approached the last shop on the street. Rainy looked at the shop on its right side. "Doesn't look like a Quidditch shop to me."
"Shurrup," muttered James, still smiling.
There in front of them, was an extremely narrow shop that didn't appear to be nearly as high quality as the others they had been in. The name was barely readable. Located over the door, it read "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C." In the window that in other shops had displayed such fine, bright items, there was a lone wand lying on a faded purple cushion.
"Quaint," commented Rainy before she and James opened the door and walked in. James gave her a questioning look before fixing his attention on the pale little man behind the counter.
"Mr. James Potter!" the man exclaimed, "Here to buy your wand for Hogwarts? Yes, your father mentioned I might be seeing you soon!"
James made a sort of grunting noise. He didn't seem to like the man very much.
"And who is this? A little young for a girlfriend, aren't you Mr. Potter?" He seemed to have noticed Rainy and was eyeing her with beady, silvery eyes.
She stepped forward, hand outstretched. "I'm actually not his girlfriend, we just sorta, um, ran into each other at the robes shop. I'm Rainy Taylor."
"Ah, I see. Well, everyone calls me 'Mr. Ollivander', though my first name is Tom. Nice to meet you. are you from a muggle family?"
Rainy nodded.
"This must be why I've never seen you before. Well then, I'm sure the two of you are here for wands."
"Yes," James put in.
"You'll need to be measured then. Ladies first; Miss Taylor, if you'll just step up here please." He motioned to the area near the entrance to the counter, where a tape measure was waiting for her in the still air of the shop.
As the tape measure began measuring her in places she thought would have no relevance (between nostrils?!), Mr. Ollivander retreated to the back of his shop to search for the perfect wand. James smiled at the puzzled look on his friend's face and laughed when the tape measure tried to go over the top portion of her chest.
Mr. Ollivander returned with three boxes and pulled out one wand from each of them. He handed her the one from the first box. "Wave this around a bit, eh? Maple, 11 inches, unicorn hair, excellent for charm work."
Rainy took the wand in her hand and waved it around, feeling as if she were conducting an orchestra. Bitter black sparks shot out of it and Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hands and quickly threw it back in the box. "Charms most certainly must not be your cup of tea, Miss Taylor."
He handed her another wand, out of the second box this time. "Holly, 13 inches, dragon heartstring, pliable."
Rainy took it in her hand and swished it from side to side. Nothing happened. Mr. Ollivander handed her the third wand out of the third box. "12 inches,
willow, phoenix feather, interesting enough, try it."
Giving James a sort of exasperated look, she took the wand and waved it around.
Green sparks shot out of it and showered over them somewhat like a rainstorm. "Excellent!" Mr. Ollivander exclaimed, "Excellent!"
Rainy grinned. So, now she had a magic wand. 'I'm really a wizard,' she thought to herself, 'unless this is some crazy, messed up dream. Which I don't want it to be.'
"Mr. Potter, measurements?"
Too busy thinking about how this made her a wizard for sure, Rainy hadn't noticed her friend being measured by the peculiar measuring tape.
"I'm left-handed, sir."
Mr. Ollivander once again disappeared into the back of the shop to find a wand and reappeared with several boxes.
"Here's one; oak, 13 inches, unicorn hair."
James took the wand in his hand and waved it around, obviously exaggerating. Instantly, Mr. Ollivander took it back.
"No, no, try this one. Mahogany, 11 inches, dragon heartstring."
James took the wand from Mr. Ollivander and brought it up over his head and the down towards the floor. Red sparks shot out at them all and caused Mr. Ollivander to clap. "Bravo, bravo!"
As they paid for their wands, Rainy commented on the simple structure of the shop and the display window.
"Like it, do you?" Mr. Ollivander asked.
Rainy nodded and James pulled her out, literally dragging her so that her feet were scraping the floor. Once the door was shut behind them, James muttered, "I really don't like that man."
"Why?"
"Just the way he always looks at people like he knows something they don't know; like there's some incredible secret he's keeping from them. I can't stand it. My dad seeks the phoenixes, unicorns, and dragons that give their certain parts. He works pretty closely with Mr. Ollivander."
"Oh, so that's how he knew you. I thought that was kinda weird," admitted Rainy, running her hands over the wooden stick that was her wand.
"Not really. Take Dumbledore, he knows you. I mean, with that letter and all," James pointed out. This seemed to remind him of something, because he thought for a moment before bursting out, "Where are you going to stay until September 1st?"
"Oh," said Rainy, surprised at the sudden change of subject, "the Leaky Cauldron."
Almost immediately, James protested. "No! Don't stay there! You can come stay with me."
Rainy looked at him. "Are you sure?"
James wasn't sure if she meant 'are you sure you want that?' or 'are you sure that's okay?' He didn't answer her, thinking she might explain her inquiry a little more.
Apparently she correctly interpreted his silence and added, "Like, with your parents? Would your mum approve of having a girl living with you?"
He laughed. "Not if you're only my friend!"
Rainy looked somewhat confused. "But how will she know that?"
"I would tell her." James said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh, she trusts you. I see."
"Is that another part of being in the politically perfect family?"
"Of course. 'No boys allowed. Imagine, what would happen if reporters came in and saw a male in your bedroom?'"
"They would laugh."
"No, they would automatically think 'scandal' and decide I was sleeping with him."
"And then spread the word that you were pregnant."
"You're a sharp one, James."
"Yes, yes, I know." He smiled at her. "So.?"
Rainy decided to give in. It looked as though she had found a best friend. "Okay James, I will come and be your honorary sister."
* * * * * *
End Chapter Two. I know that there probably aren't any governors or states in England, but just pretend that there are so that Rainy's father can be the jerk politician that he is. So, about James' father's job, what do you think? I've always wondered who gets the parts of the magical creatures, so why not James' dad? It works well for future plot stuff, and this was we are such good friends with Mr. Ollivander; the freakiest vendor in the world. Once again, please review! That way I know people are actually reading this, and besides, reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :p
* * * * * *
Rainy Taylor nearly passed up the entrance to the place of which she had been instructed by Albus Dumbledore to begin her shopping adventure. It was a run-down place with a rickety looking sign that read "The Leaky Cauldron" on it in fading letters. Suddenly she felt very small and incapable. 'Just open the door,' she thought, determined, 'just open the door.'
Putting her hands on the door, Rainy pushed and soon found herself inside a dimly lit room of what appeared to be something of a bar. A bell rang softly as the door shut behind her, drawing attention from nobody. She wasn't sure if she was glad or not.
Rainy was supposed to show her letter from Dumbledore to the man behind the counter. He was rather tall and scruffy looking with his unshaven face and dirtied clothes. She approached him quickly, trying to give herself a sort of determined air.
"Excuse me, sir?" she asked, gripping the envelope in her left pants pocket.
The bartender turned from his routine of cleaning glasses and pitchers to see a semi-tall girl that looked to be about 11 or 12. She had dark brown hair that was pulled into a messy bun that made it look as though she had been in a hurry. Her eyes were blue-grey and seemed to be a reflection of ice, and they were hiding behind a pair of black, plastic glasses with rhinestones on the edges. The look on her face he read as "I'm trying to look confident but I actually feel extremely nervous."
"Yes?" he answered kindly.
Rainy took the letter from her pocket and handed it to the man. "This is from Professor Dumbledore, he told me to give this to you."
The man's dark brown eyes lit up immediately. "Oh! You must be Rainy Taylor!" To this, Rainy nodded. The bartender left his perch from behind the countertop and led her through a door into a small, walled courtyard. The only things there besides the two of them were a trashcan and a large asorssment of weeds.
"Um, sir?" Rainy asked, taking in her surroundings, "if you don't mind me asking."
"Don't worry, see, there's a certain way to get into Diagon Alley that is inside this courtyard. Here, at this brick wall, see?" He took his wand out of his pocket and counted three bricks up from the trashcan and two bricks across. Then he tapped it three times, causing the particular brick to wriggle and squirm until a small hole appeared in it. The hole expanded until it was an archway; an archway leading onto a cobblestone street that was lined with little shops that seemed to go on forever.
"Here you are, Diagon Alley!" he announced. Rainy's icy eyes gave into a stare.
"Impressed, are you? Wait until you get into some of them shops, you'll be in shock for days, I imagine. My name's Eric, by the way, if you ever need a hand."
"Thanks," muttered Rainy, stepping onto the street without as much as a backward glance. Eric smiled at her retreating back and started back to reassume his post at the Leaky Cauldron.
"Wow," murmured Rainy, finally blinking as she began walking towards the end of the street where Gringotts stood. This would be her next destination. But oh, the things to see on the way there! So many things she had never seen before or even thought existed! There was a shop especially for spell books and textbooks, an owl emporium, a "Quidditch" shop (whatever that was), a shop for robes, an astronomy shop sporting all sorts of certain telescopes in it's window, and variety shops with varieties of items displayed in their windows; goblets, potion bottles, parchment, quills, small toys, wand-tuning supplies. so much to see!
Finally, she came to a halt in front of an extremely large building, something of a skyscraper in comparison to the tiny shops she had passed on her way there.
"Gringotts," she decided, heading for the bronze doors in front of her. Putting a hand on the doorknob, she twisted it open and found herself in a small room with another pair of doors in front of her, this time silver. There were words engraved on them, but she was too impatient to get shopping to read them. Standing by the doors were two creatures that Rainy guessed to be goblins, and they bowed her inside.
If it had appeared huge from the outside, that was nothing compared to the inside of Gringotts. There were goblins everywhere; behind counters, standing by doors, walking around, talking to other goblins, talking to witches and wizards. Something about this place made Rainy confident, and so she approached counter four with much more laidback ease, ready to begin the adventure.
* * * * * *
"Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions," Rainy read out loud, much money weighing down her pockets and in a small brown drawstring bag that was tied onto one of her belt loops. She shrugged, did it really matter where she went to first? With that thought in her mind, she pushed open the doors and strolled inside, trying her best to act as though this were something she did every day.
A rather short, black haired witch dressed in all mauve came walking up to her. "Hogwarts, dear?" She asked Rainy. When Rainy nodded, the witch (whom Rainy guessed to be Madam Malkin herself, judging by the way the other attendants were dressed all in black) led her over to a stool.
"You can wait here by this young man whilst I go find what appears to perhaps be your size."
Rainy's eyes of ice searched her small area for that "young man," but she found no one. She sighed. It would have been nice to make a friend before setting of to Hogwarts on the first day, but if she never saw anyone, she didn't see it as possible.
An unsteady BAM hit her on the side and Rainy went flying headfirst to the ground, tangled with another human being, it seemed. The human being's face was buried in its robes. Awkward position the two of them were in, Rainy tugged the neck of the robes hard and it came down over the person's neck, taking something down with it.
"Glasses," the person mumbled, feeling around blindly, hands wandering into even more awkward places.
"Hey!" Rainy exclaimed, "watch where you put your hands!" Having gotten a closer look, she determined that the person was a boy, about her age. He had unruly jet black hair and watery blue eyes that reminded her of the Caribbean.
The boy stopped moving instantly and slowly picked up his hands from where they had wandered.. nearly down Rainy's thin white shirt. He gulped, "Hello."
"Yeah, hello," said Rainy sarcastically, rather irritated.
"I, um, do you see any glasses?"
Rainy rolled her eyes. The boy had just nearly committed what could technically be called sexual harassment, and all he could think about was his glasses.
"No. I have not. They probably fell down your shirt."
"Good idea," said the boy, putting hand down his robes and bringing a pair of black- rimmed glasses back up with it.
He put them over his eyes and adjusted them accordingly. Then he seemed to remember that Rainy was there and that he had knocked her over and obviously touched her in what his mother called a 'no-no place'.
"I'm James Potter," he offered her these words, along with his hand. Rainy shook James Potter's hand civilly.
"I'm Rainy Taylor. You a first year Hogwarts person?" she asked him, scanning him over with her ice-resembling eyes.
"Um, yeah, I am. Listen, I'm sorry about, er, running into you and, um, stuff." he trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"Oh, that. That's okay, it's not as if you could see through your robes or anything."
"Oh, okay, great! So are you a first year, too?" Now that the awkward subject had been dismissed, James seemed quite a talkative person; and quite eager to get to know the person sprawled out on the floor in front of him.
"Yes, I am. I'm not from a wizard family or anything though, so I'm kind of confused about stuff." She admitted.
"What kind of stuff?"
"Well, what is Quidditch?"
"Blimey! You don't know about Quidditch?! Holy cricket, I've got to tell you."
Rainy smiled; it seemed she had already accomplished her goal. She had a friend.
* * * * * *
"Do you have your spell books yet?" Rainy questioned; the two of them had nearly passed up 'Flourish and Blotts'.
James stopped talking for a second to answer her: "Oh, no, not yet." Then he started talking again, "My family's been in Gryffindor for awhile, so I hope I'll get in there as well. Slytherin's the worst though; my mum and dad said that mostly bad wizards are taught in there. Then there's Hufflepuff, and I've heard they're, how should I say, dense? And then Ravenclaw."
Rainy interrupted her new friend yet again. "Then don't you think we should go in?"
James paused for a moment. "Oh. Sure."
They pushed open the doors and entered a brilliantly colored room full of bookshelves. There were stacks upon stacks of books in corners and on top of already filled shelves.
"Wow," muttered Rainy, grabbing James' hand and dragging him around the room through aisles and aisles of bookshelves.
" 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1'," James said loudly into her ear.
Rainy jumped, head buried on a shelf and browsing through a dark green book that was titled in gold: 'No Foolish Wand Waving'. "What?" she asked him.
"I said, 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1'. As in, one of the books we have to buy for school. Remember? Hogwarts?"
"Oh, sorry." She continued to read.
Unsatisfied, James peered over her shoulder and read out loud: "So many wizards do not really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind and ensnaring the senses. This book will teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death- if you so wish to continue reading it." He raised an eyebrow at her, though her back was turned and she couldn't see him.
"I'm buying this," Rainy announced and James sighed with relief.
"Does this mean we get to look at other books now?"
* * * * * *
"I guess this means there's only one thing left to buy," announced Rainy, having just checked off '1 telescope' on her Hogwarts list.
James nodded happily. "Our wands."
James, being from a wizard family as old as time itself (though this may be an exaggeration), knew there was only one place to get a wand; Ollivander's.
"Ollivander's is over by the Quiddtich shop, I think," he told Rainy, pointing in the general direction of straight ahead.
"Great James, that should be such a huge help, considering I know nothing about my surroundings and I have no idea where anything is."
He grinned. "That's why I'm here, Rainy dearest, do not worry."
She shoved him playfully. "As if you know this place any better than I do!"
"Of course I do! I am from a wizard family after all." He stuck out his chest and pretended to look proud.
"This is why you only point in obvious general directions when pinpointing locations."
"Obviously."
They laughed at each other as they approached the last shop on the street. Rainy looked at the shop on its right side. "Doesn't look like a Quidditch shop to me."
"Shurrup," muttered James, still smiling.
There in front of them, was an extremely narrow shop that didn't appear to be nearly as high quality as the others they had been in. The name was barely readable. Located over the door, it read "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C." In the window that in other shops had displayed such fine, bright items, there was a lone wand lying on a faded purple cushion.
"Quaint," commented Rainy before she and James opened the door and walked in. James gave her a questioning look before fixing his attention on the pale little man behind the counter.
"Mr. James Potter!" the man exclaimed, "Here to buy your wand for Hogwarts? Yes, your father mentioned I might be seeing you soon!"
James made a sort of grunting noise. He didn't seem to like the man very much.
"And who is this? A little young for a girlfriend, aren't you Mr. Potter?" He seemed to have noticed Rainy and was eyeing her with beady, silvery eyes.
She stepped forward, hand outstretched. "I'm actually not his girlfriend, we just sorta, um, ran into each other at the robes shop. I'm Rainy Taylor."
"Ah, I see. Well, everyone calls me 'Mr. Ollivander', though my first name is Tom. Nice to meet you. are you from a muggle family?"
Rainy nodded.
"This must be why I've never seen you before. Well then, I'm sure the two of you are here for wands."
"Yes," James put in.
"You'll need to be measured then. Ladies first; Miss Taylor, if you'll just step up here please." He motioned to the area near the entrance to the counter, where a tape measure was waiting for her in the still air of the shop.
As the tape measure began measuring her in places she thought would have no relevance (between nostrils?!), Mr. Ollivander retreated to the back of his shop to search for the perfect wand. James smiled at the puzzled look on his friend's face and laughed when the tape measure tried to go over the top portion of her chest.
Mr. Ollivander returned with three boxes and pulled out one wand from each of them. He handed her the one from the first box. "Wave this around a bit, eh? Maple, 11 inches, unicorn hair, excellent for charm work."
Rainy took the wand in her hand and waved it around, feeling as if she were conducting an orchestra. Bitter black sparks shot out of it and Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hands and quickly threw it back in the box. "Charms most certainly must not be your cup of tea, Miss Taylor."
He handed her another wand, out of the second box this time. "Holly, 13 inches, dragon heartstring, pliable."
Rainy took it in her hand and swished it from side to side. Nothing happened. Mr. Ollivander handed her the third wand out of the third box. "12 inches,
willow, phoenix feather, interesting enough, try it."
Giving James a sort of exasperated look, she took the wand and waved it around.
Green sparks shot out of it and showered over them somewhat like a rainstorm. "Excellent!" Mr. Ollivander exclaimed, "Excellent!"
Rainy grinned. So, now she had a magic wand. 'I'm really a wizard,' she thought to herself, 'unless this is some crazy, messed up dream. Which I don't want it to be.'
"Mr. Potter, measurements?"
Too busy thinking about how this made her a wizard for sure, Rainy hadn't noticed her friend being measured by the peculiar measuring tape.
"I'm left-handed, sir."
Mr. Ollivander once again disappeared into the back of the shop to find a wand and reappeared with several boxes.
"Here's one; oak, 13 inches, unicorn hair."
James took the wand in his hand and waved it around, obviously exaggerating. Instantly, Mr. Ollivander took it back.
"No, no, try this one. Mahogany, 11 inches, dragon heartstring."
James took the wand from Mr. Ollivander and brought it up over his head and the down towards the floor. Red sparks shot out at them all and caused Mr. Ollivander to clap. "Bravo, bravo!"
As they paid for their wands, Rainy commented on the simple structure of the shop and the display window.
"Like it, do you?" Mr. Ollivander asked.
Rainy nodded and James pulled her out, literally dragging her so that her feet were scraping the floor. Once the door was shut behind them, James muttered, "I really don't like that man."
"Why?"
"Just the way he always looks at people like he knows something they don't know; like there's some incredible secret he's keeping from them. I can't stand it. My dad seeks the phoenixes, unicorns, and dragons that give their certain parts. He works pretty closely with Mr. Ollivander."
"Oh, so that's how he knew you. I thought that was kinda weird," admitted Rainy, running her hands over the wooden stick that was her wand.
"Not really. Take Dumbledore, he knows you. I mean, with that letter and all," James pointed out. This seemed to remind him of something, because he thought for a moment before bursting out, "Where are you going to stay until September 1st?"
"Oh," said Rainy, surprised at the sudden change of subject, "the Leaky Cauldron."
Almost immediately, James protested. "No! Don't stay there! You can come stay with me."
Rainy looked at him. "Are you sure?"
James wasn't sure if she meant 'are you sure you want that?' or 'are you sure that's okay?' He didn't answer her, thinking she might explain her inquiry a little more.
Apparently she correctly interpreted his silence and added, "Like, with your parents? Would your mum approve of having a girl living with you?"
He laughed. "Not if you're only my friend!"
Rainy looked somewhat confused. "But how will she know that?"
"I would tell her." James said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh, she trusts you. I see."
"Is that another part of being in the politically perfect family?"
"Of course. 'No boys allowed. Imagine, what would happen if reporters came in and saw a male in your bedroom?'"
"They would laugh."
"No, they would automatically think 'scandal' and decide I was sleeping with him."
"And then spread the word that you were pregnant."
"You're a sharp one, James."
"Yes, yes, I know." He smiled at her. "So.?"
Rainy decided to give in. It looked as though she had found a best friend. "Okay James, I will come and be your honorary sister."
* * * * * *
End Chapter Two. I know that there probably aren't any governors or states in England, but just pretend that there are so that Rainy's father can be the jerk politician that he is. So, about James' father's job, what do you think? I've always wondered who gets the parts of the magical creatures, so why not James' dad? It works well for future plot stuff, and this was we are such good friends with Mr. Ollivander; the freakiest vendor in the world. Once again, please review! That way I know people are actually reading this, and besides, reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :p
