*Okay, last time I forgot the disclaimer, so: I claim no ownership of any characters you recognize, Harry Potter is copy-right JK, etc. And sorry for taking so long! Here it is:*



Harry stared at the digital clock.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31

It rang in his head over and over. How could he be here a day early? Mrs. Figg couldn't have messed up that badly. He himself had seen the calendar before they left.

The calendar…

Harry remembered the conversation he'd had with Mrs. Figg two days ago, when he had began to sort-of get along with her…

"Oh, gracious me!" said Mrs. Figg. "I thought it was Thursday! But it's Friday!"

Harry frowned. "That's impossible." He said. "You were going to go to the store Wednesday, and you went to the store yesterday, which means today must be Thursday."

"That cannot be correct! I have very good calendar keeping skills! If my calendar says it's Friday, then it's Friday!" Mrs. Figg, looking more menacing than ever, tried to tower over him, but was too short and fell onto the couch when she rose onto her toes. Harry struggled not to laugh, but he never had been a very good actor.

"Are you laughing at me?" cried Mrs. Figg imperiously…



He had been right! Her calendar must be a page ahead!

But that wasn't the problem. He was stranded here for a day, with only three or four pounds in muggle money. If only some of his wizarding money was muggle money. The only place he could think of that would exchange the money would be Gringotts. But he had no idea how to get from Kings Cross to the Leaky Cauldron. There must be another place that exchanged money…oh, yes, now he remembered! There was a booth in Platform 9 ¾.

Platform 9 ¾! Of course! How could he have not thought of it before now? He'd just go to Platform 9 ¾. He could reach the wizarding world, just like that. He'd better go now, before he attracted too much attention because of Hedwig.

Harry wheeled his dolly over to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. He stepped through, relieved, and looked up.

There was no one there but a janitor, scrubbing some graffiti off the wall. He was a little disappointed, but at least there was somebody there.

"Um, excuse me sir." The janitor looked up.

"What're you doing here? No one's supposed to be here! Out!" cried the janitor, brandishing a scrubber at Harry.

"But you see, I accidentally ended up here early, and-"

"So? That's none of my business. No one should be at this isolated little station here today." He began to mutter under his breath, "and a strange station it is, too. What a peculiar name!"

" But- I have my owl with me, and there are loads of muggles out there. I can't go back."

The janitor turned and peered at him." You have a what with you? Muggles? Huh? Can't go back where?"

" To Kin-" It occurred to Harry that this man was probably a muggle, and stopped. " Never mind. I'll go."

The janitor humped. "Good. Get out of here."

Harry wheeled his dolly around, and waited till the man was looking away. Then he passed through the barrier and looked around the station. Now what was he going to do?

He went into the waiting room. Maybe he could stay here through the night. It probably wouldn't close. After all, trains came and went at all hours. But what would he do until night, when he could sleep? He opened his trunk. Harry supposed he could study, but that sounded very unappealing at the moment. Instead, he took out the quidditch book Ron had given him for Christmas a year or two ago.

Harry must have fallen asleep, because next thing he knew, a young employee in a red uniform was shaking him awake.

"Excuse me, sir," said the girl, snapping her gum loudly. She spoke with an accent like that that he had heard once in a movie set in New York. She pointed at a sign. " You'll have to leave."

Harry groaned when he read the sign:

|Open weekdays: | | | |All hours | | | |Open Weekends: | | | |4 AM – 6 PM | | | | |













"Sorry." Harry muttered. He put his trunk and Hedwig in her cage on the dolly and rolled it out of the waiting room. Outside, there were still plenty of people around. Harry's stomach growled. Hedwig cooed plaintively.

" I know, Hedwig." Said Harry, petting her beak. "Let's try and find some cheap food."

He looked around. All the food shops seemed to be classy restaurants or expensive coffee cafes.

Maybe there was a fast food place or something further down. Harry turned and wheeled down the tunnel. He passed platform 8, 7, and 6 without any success. He almost passed the little diner-type restaurant in front of platform 5. It was hidden, small amongst the huge stores trying to lure in tourists.

Harry went over to the counter and sat on a stool. A girl was standing there, drying a glass. She wore a blue, button-up dress uniform with a little apron over top of it. She was on the short side. Her long, honey-brown hair covered her face as she bent over to get the inside edges of the glass dry.

Harry didn't want to disturb her yet, but looked up at the menu. He figured he'd get two burgers to share with Hedwig. They'd be cheap and fairly filling. He cleared his throat.

"Um, excuse me…" ventured Harry.

The girl looked up. Harry blinked. The girl couldn't be older than him. (Was 15 a usual age to begin working?) Her creamy skin set nicely with her hair. Her light blue eyes looked abnormally large amidst her petite features.

"Oh, I'm sorry, may I help you?" the girl asked politely, smiling.

" Um, could I have two hamburgers please?"

" Sure, of course. " she said. She began to grill two patties, and while she worked attentively, Harry felt something was odd about her; maybe it was her eyes. Something about her seemed to be drifting.

"Here you go, " she said kindly, sliding a platter towards him. " That's 1 pound."

" Is that it?" Harry said, faintly surprised. Burgers were usually closer to 1.2 or 1.3 pounds.

"Well…technically no. Just don't tell Mr. Boorgish."

Harry was confused. "Why would you lower the price?" Surely she wasn't flirting with him.

She seemed to read his mind. " I'm not hitting on you. I just thought it better that you saved your money."

"Why?" Harry looked down at his clothes. They were a bit rumpled, but surely he didn't look like a tramp or anything.

The girl shrugged. "Dunno. I just got a feeling you were worried about it. Listen, I didn't mean to insult you. If you want, you can pay full price…" she smiled, but looked a bit anxious.

" No, don't worry about it." Harry said and handed over a pound. She smiled, relieved.

This is ridiculous, Harry thought. I'm forgiving her for giving me a deal??

The girl sighed." I'm so hungry." She looked at the food around her. Biting her lip, she seemed to give in to temptation. " Won't tell Mr. Boorgish if I have some ice cream?"

" Of course not, " said Harry, though he had no idea who this Mr. Boorgish was.

The girl sighed. She pulled a stool out from her side of the counter and sat down opposite him. She pulled out a bowl and some ice cream.

"My names Leia, by the way."

" I'm Harry."

The girl- Leia- scooped out some ice cream, and looked at the container hard, smoothing it over. " There. Mr. Boorgish'll never see the difference."

"Who's Mr. Boorgish?" asked Harry before he could stop himself.

"He owns this place. Lets me work here," Leia said lightly.

"Why do you work here? No offence or anything, but the few people our age who actually have jobs don't work on Saturdays."

"Oh, well, if I didn't work here, I'd have nowhere else to sleep," she seemed unperturbed. " I get hardly any money, I work for food and rent."

Harry blinked. "Oh. Um. I'm sorry."

"Why? I don't mind. I've been homeless for as long as I can remember. I get along however I can." Said Leia.

"What about your parents?"

" I don't know. I have no memory of them. I just kinda make my way throughout the world."

Harry couldn't imagine how it affected her so little.

Leia finished her ice cream, " Yum, that was good."

It suddenly struck Harry how strange it was to be having this conversation with a complete stranger.

" Why are you telling me all this?"

She shrugged. "I trust you."

"But…why?"

Leia lowered her voice- just a little. "You are …the white wizard."

Wizard. How did she know?