Disclaimer: Any possibility of me owning Harry Potter is completely bogus.
Please do not think that I really own him. Everything you recognize is
owned by the great talented JKR. Again, that's not me.
Summary: Sequel to Living At Hogwarts. Harry, Draco and Jem are starting their first year as students at Hogwarts. Who will they meet? Friends? Enemies? And sometimes, they feel they are living only to die. READ!
AN This is the sequel to Living At Hogwarts. If you haven't read that, please do so, as it will make much more sense if you do. This story will not be slash in any kind, though it will have loads of characters OOC. Please do not flame, as I have many not so nice ways of dealing with them. Enjoy!
"^^blah-blah^^" = Elfish
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Chapter 1
Jemera Grazer, or Jem for short, bounced into her best friends, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy's bedrooms and leap on each of their beds in turn.
"Wake up lazy butts!" She hollered, "Today's Harry's birthday and Grandpapa said that he was going to take us somewhere really special today!"
Two well aimed pillows made their way towards the ten year old girl and she ducked, grinning madly.
"Go 'way, Jem," came a voice from the bed near the wall, "it's six thirty in the morning."
"Exactly!" Jem cried, jumping out of the way of another pillow. "Besides, Severus said that if you two weren't up by the time he came to wake you up, that he wasn't going to let you go at all!"
That got them up.
At nearly the same time, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy jumped out of their dungeon room beds and flew towards their respective wardrobe and began throwing on shorts and tee shirts. Then they dove under their beds, searching for socks and shoes.
Actually, Draco had a little tougher time, as his full grown cat, Peaches, tripped him up. The blond half-elf hit the ground hard and started swearing in Elfish.
Jem watched, looking amused, and suddenly Harry sat up and turned around.
"He didn't really say that, did he?" Harry accused, shaking one semi-clean sock at the girl.
Jem giggled, "Maybe. Maybe not." She skipped out of their room and right into Severus. "Morning Severus," she chirped before skipping around him and out into the hall and up to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Severus smiled and walked into the boys' room. "Good morning boys, and happy birthday, Harry," he smiled at the boy. "Eleven years old, best wishes for you this year."
Harry beamed and pulled on his shoe. "Thank you Severus," he grinned.
Severus pulled out a large package from behind his back. "I believe that this if for you, the best present you'll receive on this fine day."
Harry took the gift and proceeded to open it. It was a cage with a large snowy owl in it.
"Her name is Hedwig," Severus told the ecstatic boy. "She can deliver all your mail and things for you."
"Thank you Severus!" Harry cried out, carefully placing the cage down and jumping into the mans arms. "It's the best present ever!"
"That's what you say now!" Draco exclaimed, digging under his bed, "but look at this, its loads better!"
Hedwig hooted in an insulted sort of way.
Draco ignored the owl and handed his best friend a small square book shaped package. Harry eagerly tore it open and was amazed to find that it contained pictures of him and his best friends.
"Grandmamma helped me make it," Draco explained. "She said that no matter what happens in life, that you'll always remember your first friends. And that this is a way to help."
Harry smiled at Draco. "I think that they're both equally great presents," he said, causing both Severus and Draco to pout somewhat.
Harry ignored them and let Hedwig out of her cage and smiled as she came to a rest on his shoulder and nipped him gently on the ear before flying over to his and Draco's shared desk and perching there.
A sudden interruption stopped any more conversation from carrying on. Albus Dumbledore popped his head into the room and smiled.
"If you two boys don't mind, I think we have somewhere to be today. And standing in your bedroom exchanging gifts isn't exactly helping us get to where we need to be." He smiled, "happy birthday, Harry," he said, "by the way."
Harry smiled.
"Severus," Albus said sharply, causing the other occupants of the room to jump. "Please bring Harry and Draco's breakfasts' up to my office. I need to explain to them and Jem where we're going to day, and how they need to behave."
Severus nodded.
"Come along, boys," Albus then smiled at them, "we have a big day ahead of us. And we don't want to be wasting it here inside a stuffy old castle."
--oo00oo--
"We're going to the zoo; we're going to the zoo!" Jem sang, skipping around her surrogate family. "This is going to be so much fun!"
Harry and Draco laughed and started skipping with her, nearly tripping up Albus. The old man smiled at the three children and stepped in line behind a small family. Suddenly, Harry accidentally knocked into one of the boy's standing in front of him and they both fell to the ground.
"Watch it!" The boy spat, pushing Harry off of him and standing up.
"Sorry," Harry said, getting up himself. "I didn't mean to-"
The other boy didn't answer, he just glared and turned around again.
"Didn't you hear me?" Harry asked, "I said-"
Finally the boy turned around. He was blond, pink and porky, not to mention slightly scraped up from his fall. "Yes I heard you," he snapped, "I just chose not to answer. Can you get that through you mind, four- eyes?"
Albus frowned at the boy and went to say something to the parents, but they were ignoring the children, stepping up to the cashier and paying admission.
Harry frowned; a single tear leaking down his cheek, but only after the chubby child had turned away and followed his parents into the park.
"^^Don't listen to him, Harry,^^" Jem said softly, "^^he's one of those spoiled kids that Grandmamma always tells us about.^^"
Harry nodded but didn't say anything.
"^^Jem's right,^^" Draco said, equally softly, "^^I wouldn't waste my time with him if I were you. Today's your birthday, Harry! You should be happy!^^"
Harry nodded again, a small smiled drifting onto his face. "^^Thanks you guys,^^" he whispered, taking each of their hands and walking with them into the park.
The three children managed to forget all about the hateful boy as they wandered around the park, pausing to look at all of the animals. Their face muscles were slightly sore from smiling and laughing so much as Albus took pictures, but they didn't mind. For lunch, they went to the zoo restaurant for lunch, where they again saw the boy, (currently yelling to his parents that his desert didn't have enough ice-cream on top).
Harry snickered lightly and while Albus wasn't looking, sent a single strand of magic at the boy, causing his 'non-existent' ice-cream to splatter on top of his head. Draco laughed loudly when he saw what Harry had done, and Jem just giggled. Albus shook his head and sighed, finished his meal and asked for a special treat for the birthday boy, before paying the bill and herding them towards the Reptile House.
Once again they saw the two boys, this time pressed up against a snake glass, ogling over the giant Boa-Constrictor in the tank. Harry gave them a dirty look and quickly went towards another window and stared at a small Gartner snake that was snoozing, coiled around a broken tree branch.
"That must be uncomfortable," Harry muttered.
He certainly wasn't expecting it when the snake raised its head and nodded before rolling its eyes and slowly moving away from its branch.
Harry's mouth fell open. "Can you--" he gulped, "can you *hear* me?"
The snake nodded calmly, looking slightly amused.
"It's just," Harry paused again, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. "I've never talked to a snake before. . . do you, no wait, do you talk to people often?"
The snake shook its head, it looked somewhat sad.
"Why not?" Harry asked, but he didn't get an answer, because at that moment, the rude boy suddenly ran smack into Harry. Harry fell with a thud, and without meaning to, he let a bit of magic go, it flew straight into the snake glass he had just been looking into.
The snake rapidly uncoiled itself and flopped its way onto the ground, hissing at the boy that tried to stomp on it.
"Hey!" Harry cried, knocking the boy over again and scooping up the small snake. "What were you doing that for? He didn't go anything to you!"
The snake curled around Harry's left arm, lifting its head and hissing wildly at the fat boy.
"Stupid boy!" it hissed, "I'll teach him to try and stomp me!" It then turned its head up towards Harry, "let me go! Let me bite him! I'm not poisonous, it won't really hurt him!"
But Harry had a better idea. With a careful flick of his right wrist, the glass keeping the boa from the rest of the world quickly disappeared, and the large snake quickly moved from its imprisonment, slithering towards Harry and hissing a quiet, "Brazil, here I come- thankssss amigo."
The snake then nipped the boy's ankles and quickly slithered away into screams and cries of fear and shouting that a snake was loose.
"I like your way better," the smaller snake declared, readjusting itself on Harry's arm and watching as the stunned boy tripped into the now empty Boa constrictor tank and the glass pop back into place. The boy, who remained somewhat calm until he made to get out of the tank, quickly began banging on it, screaming out for his mother.
A woman pressed herself against the tank and started screaming out "DUDLEY, HOW IN THE DEVILS NAME DID YOU GET IN THERE!" but she didn't stop there, she continued screaming with "DURLSEY! DURSLEY! YOUR SON IS TRAPPED, WHAT IF HE CAN'T BREATH! DON'T WORRY DUDDY-KINS, I'LL GET YOU OUT OF THERE!"
There was a gentle tug on Harry's sleeve and the black haired boy turned to see both Jem and Draco frowning at him, although mirth was dancing in their eyes.
"^^What did you do?^^" Jem demanded, trying desperately to keep the giggles out of her voice.
"^^It's not like I meant to,^^" Harry pouted, discreetly pulling down the sleeve of his sweat-shirt to cover the green snake. "^^He was trying to stomp a snake and I got mad. So, I err, accidentally let another snake out at him.^^"
"^^'Accidentally', sure, I believe that,^^" Draco snorted, "^come on Harry, you can do better then that!^^"
Harry noticed a shadow fall over them and spun around to give Albus an award winning innocent smile.
"Hello Grandpapa," he chirped, "are we going soon?"
Albus chucked at the child and nodded. "If you're all ready to go, we have a bit of time left before we have to be back up at school. I was thinking maybe seeing a Muggle movie."
Harry nodded eagerly, smiling as he felt smooth scales move against his arm. This was most obviously the best birthday ever.
--oo00oo--
The next day, Severus took Harry, Draco and Jem to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies. He led the three children into a large white stoned building and handed each of them a key.
"These are keys to your vaults," Severus explained. "You'll need to show them to one of those Goblins up there and he'll take you down you your vaults. I want the three of you to stick together, and no wandering outside of the alley. And do *not* use any magic, Harry, because you Albus told you not to, especially after the snake episode yesterday." Severus smiled. "I'll meet you back at the Leaky Cauldron at five o'clock for dinner. No later." With that he turned and with a swish of his long black robe he disappeared into the crowd.
Harry Draco and Jem looked at each other before cautiously approaching one of the open stations.
"Excuse me," Jem said, standing on tip-toe to see the goblin. "We would like to go down to our vaults please."
The goblin nodded. "I expect you have your keys?"
The three held up their nearly identical keys.
"All seems to be in order, Griphook, please escort these three down to their respective vaults."
"^^Look,^^" Harry said, before they disappeared underground. "^^It's Hagrid!^^"
But the other two didn't see him before the packed themselves into the cart and were wisked off.
"Vault 687," Griphook said, stepping out of the cart and opening the door. "Your vault, I believe, young sir," he added to Harry.
Harry's mouth dropped open. This was his vault? But there was so much in there! He hastily shoved some galleons, sickles and knutes into a sack before jumping back into the cart and they were wisked down to Draco's vault, which had just as much money in it as Harry's did.
"Wow," Draco whispered, before shoving money into a bag and joining his friends back in the cart.
All that was left now was Jem's vault and boy, did it have a lot in there! Finally they made their way back up into the daylight, where they all saw Hagrid tucking something into a pocket and hurrying away.
"^^Where should we go to first?^^" Harry asked his friends, looking around the crowded street.
"^^Robes,^^" Draco said, while Jem countered him with; "^^books.^^"
"^^How about we get our robes first and then we can go and get our books. After that we can get all of our other supplies.^^"
His two friends nodded and they carefully made their way towards Madam Malkins Robes for Every Occasion.
"Hogwarts?" A nice lad asked when they entered her shop. "Got the lot here, another boy's just getting fixed up as well."
She led Harry down to an empty stood and slipped a long robe over his head. This is why he didn't notice the red haired boy who was standing next to him until he spoke.
"Hello," he boy said, "Hogwarts too?"
"Yes," Harry said, sounding a little muffled because of the robe.
"My father's next door buying my books, and my mothers getting my other supplies. Then I'm probably going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't think it's fair that first years can't have them. What about you, do you fly?"
"A bit," Harry muttered, looking longingly at his two friends, Jem was now getting fitted, though Draco was still waiting patiently.
"Do you play Quidditch at all?" The boy asked next.
"A bit."
"What kind of broom do you have?" It was asked in such a way that Harry felt the boy didn't really care about the answer.
"A Nimbus 2000," Harry smiled, thinking of the gift the teachers had chipped together to get. "It was a birthday present."
The boy didn't reply to that, or say anything else about brooms. He started going on about Quidditch. "I think it's a shame if I don't get on a house team," he said suddenly, "dad says that since nearly all of our family has been on it, there's no doubt that I will be too."
Harry was starting to like this boy less and less, and he just muttered a passable, "Mmm."
"What house do you think you'll be in?" The red head asked finally. "All our family's been in Gryffindor, don't know what they'd say if I wasn't."
"^^They'd probably be relieved,^^" Harry muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, I just had something in my throat."
The boy regarded him suspiciously, but before he could say anything he was set to go and Draco was called up. The half elf accidentally knocked into the red head, causing him to trip and fall.
"Watch it!" The boy snapped, heaving himself up.
Draco frowned. "^^Well excuse me for not seeing you from behind your inflated ego!^^" He spat, causing Harry to giggle. "^^Next time maybe you could try looking, it's not so hard you stupid Weasley! Good thing your brothers aren't like that, or else I'd probably kill myself!^^"
--oo00oo--
They made it to the bookshop without any other incidents.
Harry held the door open for his friends, and smiled as they ran into the shop. Draco went right to the potions section, and Jem to transfiguration, Harry went his own way and quickly pulled down a book on advanced hexes.
"Can I help you, young sir?" A tall, elder man said sharply, nearly causing Harry to drop the book.
"I need the books on this list," Harry said, handing the man his book list for Hogwarts, "three sets, actually, for my friends as well. And then I was going to look some of these books. Thank you." He added when the man took his list.
The man nodded, looking suspiciously at him, but hurried off to get the books Harry wanted. He returned a moment later, holding the three sets and placed them on the ground by Harry's feet. He then looked curiously at Harry, who was now muttering to himself in Elvish. The man shook his head and wandered away. While the man wasn't looking, Harry banished Draco's and Jem's books to them, and placed the one he was holding on top of his pile. Then he grabbed a new one and started thumbing though it.
Meanwhile, Jem was standing on tip-toe, trying to reach a book on the highest shelf. Finally, she frowned and went to find Harry.
"^^Harry!^^" She whined, "^^come and help me get a book. I can't reach it!^^"
"^^I already got our school books,^^"
"^^I see that,^^" Jem snapped, "^^but I want another book. But it's up really high, and I can't reach it!^^"
"Fine," Harry snapped, closing his book and placing it on top of the stack he had hovering behind him. He followed Jem to where the book was, except that now another girl was standing there, her nose buried in a book.
"Excuse me," Harry said, after Jem pointed to the book she wanted.
The girl moved and Harry reached up. The book flew into his hand and he handed it to Jem before wandering off to find Draco.
"What book is that?" Jem asked the other girl, looking through her new one.
"First year transfiguration," the other girl said, pushing some hair away from her face.
Jem giggled. "Oh, so you must be Muggle born then, Grandmamma said that most of the Muggle-born's don't know much magic."
The other girl frowned.
"Nothing personal," Jem added hastily, "it's just, I'm going into first year too, but I'm reading advanced books. But that's probably because I've been living at Hogwarts most of my life." She smiled when the other girl's mouth fell open. "My name's Jemera, but Jem for short. And the grumpy boy's over there are Harry and Draco. They're my best friends."
"Hermione," the girl said. "And if you're so good at magic, then I bet you can teach me loads."
"Maybe," Jem said, "but everybody starts somewhere at Hogwarts Usually at the beginning."
"I've got to go," Hermione smiled, "but I hope I see you soon. Bye!" She waved, picked up her books and hurried over to a tall man that Jem presumed was her father. They paid for her books and left the store, disappearing into the crowd instantaneously.
"^^Are you two ready to go yet?^^" She hollered suddenly, causing everybody else in the shop to drop their books and glare at her.
"^^Keep your bloody ears on, Jem, we're almost done!^^" Came an answering yell.
--oo00oo--
"Wands," Harry muttered much later that day. "That's all we need now."
"Like you need it," Draco teased, shoving Harry lightly.
Harry grinned and led his two friends into an old building with peeling letters that spelled out "Olivanders. Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 BC."
They all sat down, arranging their packages against the wall and waited, the dusty air in the shop nearly making them sneeze.
"Good afternoon," said a dusty voice, causing the three of them to jump. "Ahh. . . Misters Malfoy and Potter," I wondered when I'd be seeing you. And Miss Grazer as well. I think we'll start with you, dear," he added, leading the girl over to the counter and pulling a wand off the shelf.
"Try this, Ebony and Unicorn hair, 8 inches."
Jem took the wand, but before she could do anything it was snatched back. "No, no, maybe this, Ash and Dragon Heartstring, 9 ¾ inches." But this wand was taken back rather quickly as well. Finally, Mr. Ollivander rushed deep into the shop and came back holding a dusty looking box.
"I had nearly forgotten about this wand," he confessed, slowly taking it out of the box. "Ash, and Elven hair, 10 inches."
Jem slowly reached out to take the wand, but hesitated before taking a firm hold on it. A strange look filtered across her face and the wand emitted a blaze red and gold sparks.
Next was Draco's turn, but it didn't take nearly as long as Jem. On Draco's second wand, Ebony and Dragon Heartstring, 8 ½ inches, it too, emitted a blaze of red and gold sparks, and Mr. Ollivander looked incredibly pleased.
"No, Mr. Potter," he said finally. "I hear that you are well gifted in wandless magic, so finding you a wand might be a little more difficult, no matter. . ." Ollivander disappeared in the back of the shop and quickly reappeared holding a stack of wands.
"Try this one," he said, pushing a wand into Harry's and. "Beachwood and Unicorn Hair, 13 inches- no, not this one." He shoved another wand into Harry's hand, and then another. A large pile of wands littered the ground before the wand Harry was holding emitted its red and gold sparks.
"Oh excellent, very good Holly and Phoenix feather, 11 inches- yet, how very curious. . ."
Harry looked up, his face puzzled. "Sorry," he said, "but what's curious?"
Ollivander looked very serious. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. It so happens that the phoenix, who's tail feather resides in you wand. Gave another feather. Just one, other." He paused, creeping closer and thoroughly creeping Harry out. "It is curious, that you should be destined for this wand, when its brother. . . why its brother- gave you that scar." He lightly traced the lightning bolt on Harry's forehead. "Thirteen and a half inches, yew. . . if I had known what that wand was going out into the world to do-" he stopped talking and shook his head.
"The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter," he said finally, "it's not always clear why. But, I think it *is* clear, that we can expect great things from you."
Harry took his wand, paid the man and quickly followed his friends out of the store and down the street. He wasn't too sure that he liked Mr. Ollivander too much."
AN So? Should I continue it? I know that a lot was out of place, such as Dudley at the zoo, but I wanted the snake thing to happen, and who better to torture then Dudley? And sorry about all the characters being so OOC. And really, I have nothing against Ron. He's one of my favorite characters, I just needed someone to be a bastard, and there he was. . . don't hurt me, please?
REVIEW!!
Summary: Sequel to Living At Hogwarts. Harry, Draco and Jem are starting their first year as students at Hogwarts. Who will they meet? Friends? Enemies? And sometimes, they feel they are living only to die. READ!
AN This is the sequel to Living At Hogwarts. If you haven't read that, please do so, as it will make much more sense if you do. This story will not be slash in any kind, though it will have loads of characters OOC. Please do not flame, as I have many not so nice ways of dealing with them. Enjoy!
"^^blah-blah^^" = Elfish
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Chapter 1
Jemera Grazer, or Jem for short, bounced into her best friends, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy's bedrooms and leap on each of their beds in turn.
"Wake up lazy butts!" She hollered, "Today's Harry's birthday and Grandpapa said that he was going to take us somewhere really special today!"
Two well aimed pillows made their way towards the ten year old girl and she ducked, grinning madly.
"Go 'way, Jem," came a voice from the bed near the wall, "it's six thirty in the morning."
"Exactly!" Jem cried, jumping out of the way of another pillow. "Besides, Severus said that if you two weren't up by the time he came to wake you up, that he wasn't going to let you go at all!"
That got them up.
At nearly the same time, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy jumped out of their dungeon room beds and flew towards their respective wardrobe and began throwing on shorts and tee shirts. Then they dove under their beds, searching for socks and shoes.
Actually, Draco had a little tougher time, as his full grown cat, Peaches, tripped him up. The blond half-elf hit the ground hard and started swearing in Elfish.
Jem watched, looking amused, and suddenly Harry sat up and turned around.
"He didn't really say that, did he?" Harry accused, shaking one semi-clean sock at the girl.
Jem giggled, "Maybe. Maybe not." She skipped out of their room and right into Severus. "Morning Severus," she chirped before skipping around him and out into the hall and up to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Severus smiled and walked into the boys' room. "Good morning boys, and happy birthday, Harry," he smiled at the boy. "Eleven years old, best wishes for you this year."
Harry beamed and pulled on his shoe. "Thank you Severus," he grinned.
Severus pulled out a large package from behind his back. "I believe that this if for you, the best present you'll receive on this fine day."
Harry took the gift and proceeded to open it. It was a cage with a large snowy owl in it.
"Her name is Hedwig," Severus told the ecstatic boy. "She can deliver all your mail and things for you."
"Thank you Severus!" Harry cried out, carefully placing the cage down and jumping into the mans arms. "It's the best present ever!"
"That's what you say now!" Draco exclaimed, digging under his bed, "but look at this, its loads better!"
Hedwig hooted in an insulted sort of way.
Draco ignored the owl and handed his best friend a small square book shaped package. Harry eagerly tore it open and was amazed to find that it contained pictures of him and his best friends.
"Grandmamma helped me make it," Draco explained. "She said that no matter what happens in life, that you'll always remember your first friends. And that this is a way to help."
Harry smiled at Draco. "I think that they're both equally great presents," he said, causing both Severus and Draco to pout somewhat.
Harry ignored them and let Hedwig out of her cage and smiled as she came to a rest on his shoulder and nipped him gently on the ear before flying over to his and Draco's shared desk and perching there.
A sudden interruption stopped any more conversation from carrying on. Albus Dumbledore popped his head into the room and smiled.
"If you two boys don't mind, I think we have somewhere to be today. And standing in your bedroom exchanging gifts isn't exactly helping us get to where we need to be." He smiled, "happy birthday, Harry," he said, "by the way."
Harry smiled.
"Severus," Albus said sharply, causing the other occupants of the room to jump. "Please bring Harry and Draco's breakfasts' up to my office. I need to explain to them and Jem where we're going to day, and how they need to behave."
Severus nodded.
"Come along, boys," Albus then smiled at them, "we have a big day ahead of us. And we don't want to be wasting it here inside a stuffy old castle."
--oo00oo--
"We're going to the zoo; we're going to the zoo!" Jem sang, skipping around her surrogate family. "This is going to be so much fun!"
Harry and Draco laughed and started skipping with her, nearly tripping up Albus. The old man smiled at the three children and stepped in line behind a small family. Suddenly, Harry accidentally knocked into one of the boy's standing in front of him and they both fell to the ground.
"Watch it!" The boy spat, pushing Harry off of him and standing up.
"Sorry," Harry said, getting up himself. "I didn't mean to-"
The other boy didn't answer, he just glared and turned around again.
"Didn't you hear me?" Harry asked, "I said-"
Finally the boy turned around. He was blond, pink and porky, not to mention slightly scraped up from his fall. "Yes I heard you," he snapped, "I just chose not to answer. Can you get that through you mind, four- eyes?"
Albus frowned at the boy and went to say something to the parents, but they were ignoring the children, stepping up to the cashier and paying admission.
Harry frowned; a single tear leaking down his cheek, but only after the chubby child had turned away and followed his parents into the park.
"^^Don't listen to him, Harry,^^" Jem said softly, "^^he's one of those spoiled kids that Grandmamma always tells us about.^^"
Harry nodded but didn't say anything.
"^^Jem's right,^^" Draco said, equally softly, "^^I wouldn't waste my time with him if I were you. Today's your birthday, Harry! You should be happy!^^"
Harry nodded again, a small smiled drifting onto his face. "^^Thanks you guys,^^" he whispered, taking each of their hands and walking with them into the park.
The three children managed to forget all about the hateful boy as they wandered around the park, pausing to look at all of the animals. Their face muscles were slightly sore from smiling and laughing so much as Albus took pictures, but they didn't mind. For lunch, they went to the zoo restaurant for lunch, where they again saw the boy, (currently yelling to his parents that his desert didn't have enough ice-cream on top).
Harry snickered lightly and while Albus wasn't looking, sent a single strand of magic at the boy, causing his 'non-existent' ice-cream to splatter on top of his head. Draco laughed loudly when he saw what Harry had done, and Jem just giggled. Albus shook his head and sighed, finished his meal and asked for a special treat for the birthday boy, before paying the bill and herding them towards the Reptile House.
Once again they saw the two boys, this time pressed up against a snake glass, ogling over the giant Boa-Constrictor in the tank. Harry gave them a dirty look and quickly went towards another window and stared at a small Gartner snake that was snoozing, coiled around a broken tree branch.
"That must be uncomfortable," Harry muttered.
He certainly wasn't expecting it when the snake raised its head and nodded before rolling its eyes and slowly moving away from its branch.
Harry's mouth fell open. "Can you--" he gulped, "can you *hear* me?"
The snake nodded calmly, looking slightly amused.
"It's just," Harry paused again, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. "I've never talked to a snake before. . . do you, no wait, do you talk to people often?"
The snake shook its head, it looked somewhat sad.
"Why not?" Harry asked, but he didn't get an answer, because at that moment, the rude boy suddenly ran smack into Harry. Harry fell with a thud, and without meaning to, he let a bit of magic go, it flew straight into the snake glass he had just been looking into.
The snake rapidly uncoiled itself and flopped its way onto the ground, hissing at the boy that tried to stomp on it.
"Hey!" Harry cried, knocking the boy over again and scooping up the small snake. "What were you doing that for? He didn't go anything to you!"
The snake curled around Harry's left arm, lifting its head and hissing wildly at the fat boy.
"Stupid boy!" it hissed, "I'll teach him to try and stomp me!" It then turned its head up towards Harry, "let me go! Let me bite him! I'm not poisonous, it won't really hurt him!"
But Harry had a better idea. With a careful flick of his right wrist, the glass keeping the boa from the rest of the world quickly disappeared, and the large snake quickly moved from its imprisonment, slithering towards Harry and hissing a quiet, "Brazil, here I come- thankssss amigo."
The snake then nipped the boy's ankles and quickly slithered away into screams and cries of fear and shouting that a snake was loose.
"I like your way better," the smaller snake declared, readjusting itself on Harry's arm and watching as the stunned boy tripped into the now empty Boa constrictor tank and the glass pop back into place. The boy, who remained somewhat calm until he made to get out of the tank, quickly began banging on it, screaming out for his mother.
A woman pressed herself against the tank and started screaming out "DUDLEY, HOW IN THE DEVILS NAME DID YOU GET IN THERE!" but she didn't stop there, she continued screaming with "DURLSEY! DURSLEY! YOUR SON IS TRAPPED, WHAT IF HE CAN'T BREATH! DON'T WORRY DUDDY-KINS, I'LL GET YOU OUT OF THERE!"
There was a gentle tug on Harry's sleeve and the black haired boy turned to see both Jem and Draco frowning at him, although mirth was dancing in their eyes.
"^^What did you do?^^" Jem demanded, trying desperately to keep the giggles out of her voice.
"^^It's not like I meant to,^^" Harry pouted, discreetly pulling down the sleeve of his sweat-shirt to cover the green snake. "^^He was trying to stomp a snake and I got mad. So, I err, accidentally let another snake out at him.^^"
"^^'Accidentally', sure, I believe that,^^" Draco snorted, "^come on Harry, you can do better then that!^^"
Harry noticed a shadow fall over them and spun around to give Albus an award winning innocent smile.
"Hello Grandpapa," he chirped, "are we going soon?"
Albus chucked at the child and nodded. "If you're all ready to go, we have a bit of time left before we have to be back up at school. I was thinking maybe seeing a Muggle movie."
Harry nodded eagerly, smiling as he felt smooth scales move against his arm. This was most obviously the best birthday ever.
--oo00oo--
The next day, Severus took Harry, Draco and Jem to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies. He led the three children into a large white stoned building and handed each of them a key.
"These are keys to your vaults," Severus explained. "You'll need to show them to one of those Goblins up there and he'll take you down you your vaults. I want the three of you to stick together, and no wandering outside of the alley. And do *not* use any magic, Harry, because you Albus told you not to, especially after the snake episode yesterday." Severus smiled. "I'll meet you back at the Leaky Cauldron at five o'clock for dinner. No later." With that he turned and with a swish of his long black robe he disappeared into the crowd.
Harry Draco and Jem looked at each other before cautiously approaching one of the open stations.
"Excuse me," Jem said, standing on tip-toe to see the goblin. "We would like to go down to our vaults please."
The goblin nodded. "I expect you have your keys?"
The three held up their nearly identical keys.
"All seems to be in order, Griphook, please escort these three down to their respective vaults."
"^^Look,^^" Harry said, before they disappeared underground. "^^It's Hagrid!^^"
But the other two didn't see him before the packed themselves into the cart and were wisked off.
"Vault 687," Griphook said, stepping out of the cart and opening the door. "Your vault, I believe, young sir," he added to Harry.
Harry's mouth dropped open. This was his vault? But there was so much in there! He hastily shoved some galleons, sickles and knutes into a sack before jumping back into the cart and they were wisked down to Draco's vault, which had just as much money in it as Harry's did.
"Wow," Draco whispered, before shoving money into a bag and joining his friends back in the cart.
All that was left now was Jem's vault and boy, did it have a lot in there! Finally they made their way back up into the daylight, where they all saw Hagrid tucking something into a pocket and hurrying away.
"^^Where should we go to first?^^" Harry asked his friends, looking around the crowded street.
"^^Robes,^^" Draco said, while Jem countered him with; "^^books.^^"
"^^How about we get our robes first and then we can go and get our books. After that we can get all of our other supplies.^^"
His two friends nodded and they carefully made their way towards Madam Malkins Robes for Every Occasion.
"Hogwarts?" A nice lad asked when they entered her shop. "Got the lot here, another boy's just getting fixed up as well."
She led Harry down to an empty stood and slipped a long robe over his head. This is why he didn't notice the red haired boy who was standing next to him until he spoke.
"Hello," he boy said, "Hogwarts too?"
"Yes," Harry said, sounding a little muffled because of the robe.
"My father's next door buying my books, and my mothers getting my other supplies. Then I'm probably going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't think it's fair that first years can't have them. What about you, do you fly?"
"A bit," Harry muttered, looking longingly at his two friends, Jem was now getting fitted, though Draco was still waiting patiently.
"Do you play Quidditch at all?" The boy asked next.
"A bit."
"What kind of broom do you have?" It was asked in such a way that Harry felt the boy didn't really care about the answer.
"A Nimbus 2000," Harry smiled, thinking of the gift the teachers had chipped together to get. "It was a birthday present."
The boy didn't reply to that, or say anything else about brooms. He started going on about Quidditch. "I think it's a shame if I don't get on a house team," he said suddenly, "dad says that since nearly all of our family has been on it, there's no doubt that I will be too."
Harry was starting to like this boy less and less, and he just muttered a passable, "Mmm."
"What house do you think you'll be in?" The red head asked finally. "All our family's been in Gryffindor, don't know what they'd say if I wasn't."
"^^They'd probably be relieved,^^" Harry muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, I just had something in my throat."
The boy regarded him suspiciously, but before he could say anything he was set to go and Draco was called up. The half elf accidentally knocked into the red head, causing him to trip and fall.
"Watch it!" The boy snapped, heaving himself up.
Draco frowned. "^^Well excuse me for not seeing you from behind your inflated ego!^^" He spat, causing Harry to giggle. "^^Next time maybe you could try looking, it's not so hard you stupid Weasley! Good thing your brothers aren't like that, or else I'd probably kill myself!^^"
--oo00oo--
They made it to the bookshop without any other incidents.
Harry held the door open for his friends, and smiled as they ran into the shop. Draco went right to the potions section, and Jem to transfiguration, Harry went his own way and quickly pulled down a book on advanced hexes.
"Can I help you, young sir?" A tall, elder man said sharply, nearly causing Harry to drop the book.
"I need the books on this list," Harry said, handing the man his book list for Hogwarts, "three sets, actually, for my friends as well. And then I was going to look some of these books. Thank you." He added when the man took his list.
The man nodded, looking suspiciously at him, but hurried off to get the books Harry wanted. He returned a moment later, holding the three sets and placed them on the ground by Harry's feet. He then looked curiously at Harry, who was now muttering to himself in Elvish. The man shook his head and wandered away. While the man wasn't looking, Harry banished Draco's and Jem's books to them, and placed the one he was holding on top of his pile. Then he grabbed a new one and started thumbing though it.
Meanwhile, Jem was standing on tip-toe, trying to reach a book on the highest shelf. Finally, she frowned and went to find Harry.
"^^Harry!^^" She whined, "^^come and help me get a book. I can't reach it!^^"
"^^I already got our school books,^^"
"^^I see that,^^" Jem snapped, "^^but I want another book. But it's up really high, and I can't reach it!^^"
"Fine," Harry snapped, closing his book and placing it on top of the stack he had hovering behind him. He followed Jem to where the book was, except that now another girl was standing there, her nose buried in a book.
"Excuse me," Harry said, after Jem pointed to the book she wanted.
The girl moved and Harry reached up. The book flew into his hand and he handed it to Jem before wandering off to find Draco.
"What book is that?" Jem asked the other girl, looking through her new one.
"First year transfiguration," the other girl said, pushing some hair away from her face.
Jem giggled. "Oh, so you must be Muggle born then, Grandmamma said that most of the Muggle-born's don't know much magic."
The other girl frowned.
"Nothing personal," Jem added hastily, "it's just, I'm going into first year too, but I'm reading advanced books. But that's probably because I've been living at Hogwarts most of my life." She smiled when the other girl's mouth fell open. "My name's Jemera, but Jem for short. And the grumpy boy's over there are Harry and Draco. They're my best friends."
"Hermione," the girl said. "And if you're so good at magic, then I bet you can teach me loads."
"Maybe," Jem said, "but everybody starts somewhere at Hogwarts Usually at the beginning."
"I've got to go," Hermione smiled, "but I hope I see you soon. Bye!" She waved, picked up her books and hurried over to a tall man that Jem presumed was her father. They paid for her books and left the store, disappearing into the crowd instantaneously.
"^^Are you two ready to go yet?^^" She hollered suddenly, causing everybody else in the shop to drop their books and glare at her.
"^^Keep your bloody ears on, Jem, we're almost done!^^" Came an answering yell.
--oo00oo--
"Wands," Harry muttered much later that day. "That's all we need now."
"Like you need it," Draco teased, shoving Harry lightly.
Harry grinned and led his two friends into an old building with peeling letters that spelled out "Olivanders. Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 BC."
They all sat down, arranging their packages against the wall and waited, the dusty air in the shop nearly making them sneeze.
"Good afternoon," said a dusty voice, causing the three of them to jump. "Ahh. . . Misters Malfoy and Potter," I wondered when I'd be seeing you. And Miss Grazer as well. I think we'll start with you, dear," he added, leading the girl over to the counter and pulling a wand off the shelf.
"Try this, Ebony and Unicorn hair, 8 inches."
Jem took the wand, but before she could do anything it was snatched back. "No, no, maybe this, Ash and Dragon Heartstring, 9 ¾ inches." But this wand was taken back rather quickly as well. Finally, Mr. Ollivander rushed deep into the shop and came back holding a dusty looking box.
"I had nearly forgotten about this wand," he confessed, slowly taking it out of the box. "Ash, and Elven hair, 10 inches."
Jem slowly reached out to take the wand, but hesitated before taking a firm hold on it. A strange look filtered across her face and the wand emitted a blaze red and gold sparks.
Next was Draco's turn, but it didn't take nearly as long as Jem. On Draco's second wand, Ebony and Dragon Heartstring, 8 ½ inches, it too, emitted a blaze of red and gold sparks, and Mr. Ollivander looked incredibly pleased.
"No, Mr. Potter," he said finally. "I hear that you are well gifted in wandless magic, so finding you a wand might be a little more difficult, no matter. . ." Ollivander disappeared in the back of the shop and quickly reappeared holding a stack of wands.
"Try this one," he said, pushing a wand into Harry's and. "Beachwood and Unicorn Hair, 13 inches- no, not this one." He shoved another wand into Harry's hand, and then another. A large pile of wands littered the ground before the wand Harry was holding emitted its red and gold sparks.
"Oh excellent, very good Holly and Phoenix feather, 11 inches- yet, how very curious. . ."
Harry looked up, his face puzzled. "Sorry," he said, "but what's curious?"
Ollivander looked very serious. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. It so happens that the phoenix, who's tail feather resides in you wand. Gave another feather. Just one, other." He paused, creeping closer and thoroughly creeping Harry out. "It is curious, that you should be destined for this wand, when its brother. . . why its brother- gave you that scar." He lightly traced the lightning bolt on Harry's forehead. "Thirteen and a half inches, yew. . . if I had known what that wand was going out into the world to do-" he stopped talking and shook his head.
"The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter," he said finally, "it's not always clear why. But, I think it *is* clear, that we can expect great things from you."
Harry took his wand, paid the man and quickly followed his friends out of the store and down the street. He wasn't too sure that he liked Mr. Ollivander too much."
AN So? Should I continue it? I know that a lot was out of place, such as Dudley at the zoo, but I wanted the snake thing to happen, and who better to torture then Dudley? And sorry about all the characters being so OOC. And really, I have nothing against Ron. He's one of my favorite characters, I just needed someone to be a bastard, and there he was. . . don't hurt me, please?
REVIEW!!