SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Chapter 9: Attack on Diagon Alley

After getting back to the lobby of Gringotts ("Oh Harry! We were so worried!"), Harry and his friends plus Mrs. Weasley made their way to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Harry had needed all new sets of robes seeing as he had grown a lot since last year. He had even bought new dress robes upon Mrs. Weasley's insistence since his old ones were way too small by now. They had all bought their new books as well although it was hard to get Hermione to leave Flourish and Blotts. Next they had gone to get their Potions kits refilled while spending as little time as possible at the smelly Apothecary.

Currently they were walking leisurely down bright and colorful Diagon Alley that was bustling with people as usual. It seemed that over the summer, Harry's image had changed dramatically. In the Daily Prophet, he was no longer portrayed as an aggressive, insane, attention seeking delinquent, but rather a misunderstood, brave and tragic hero. He didn't especially like all of the new attention he was getting, but if it meant that the wizarding world finally recognized Lord Voldemort's return, he was willing to ignore the press' worshiping antics.

Harry's friends were all talking jovially while Harry walked a half-step behind them staying out of the conversation. He was still mad at them. By this time he had forgotten why, but to him it didn't matter why anymore. He was still overly annoyed at being back at Grimmauld Place. He just didn't understand why they couldn't let him be. He didn't want anyone to get hurt because of him, and he could just sense something was going to happen.

Harry stopped walking when he felt a tugging on his robes. He looked around confused but he didn't see anything so he started walking again. He didn't get further than five steps when he felt the tugging again. Harry looked around again and finally looked down. Standing there was a little girl no more than six years old with long blond hair put up in high pigtails on either side of her face. She was wearing light purple robes with flowers and butterflies on the front of them and looking up at Harry uncertainly. Harry looked down at her questioningly. "Excuse me, but are you Harry Potter?" the girl asked timidly in a little voice slightly mispronouncing the R's.

He was still confused but nodded while casting a glance at his friends standing in front of him. They just gave him a shrug in return. "I was wondering," she asked holding up a quill and a piece of parchment, "can I have your autograph?"

At this Harry flushed red and glared at Ron who was doubled over howling with laughter. Ginny was laughing also, albeit in a more controlled manner. Hermione was unsuccessfully trying to stop a smile from appearing on her face, and Mrs. Weasley squealed, 'Aww! How cute!'. Harry was about to refuse—something just screamed 'Lockhart!' in his mind—but he caught sight of the girl's trembling lower lip and her puppy dog eyes. Harry sighed and signed his name as quickly as he could. When he bent over to give the girl back her parchment, she hugged him fiercely around the neck earning another 'Aww!' from Mrs. Weasley.

"Thank you Harry! My brother told me all about you. I wanna be just like you when I grow up and I'm practicing really hard to be seeker," the little girl said sweetly staring up at Harry admiringly before running off to find her brother and parents.

Harry smiled a rather forced smile at her retreating back, while still blushing, and looked around himself to see if anyone besides his friends saw that little exchange. Some old ladies were looking at him adoringly and he ran before anyone else asked him for his autograph. When Harry passed Ron, (who was by now full out rolling on the floor with laughter), he glared at him and barely resisted the urge to kick him.

~*~*~*~

"Okay kids, I want you to meet me by the statue in front of Ollivander's in exactly one hour," Mrs. Weasley told the group sternly. They had all just enjoyed a lunch at the Leaky Cauldron that despite being dark and shabby, did have excellent food. Harry was sure that if he had to endure one more joke from Ron about the little girl, he was going to punch him. Hard.

"Okay guys, where do you wanna go? Fancy going to the Quidditch shop with me, Harry?" Ron asked. Harry was still glaring daggers at him.

"Actually I wanted to go Flourish and Blotts," Harry replied. At this, everyone gaped at him. Ron was the first to snap out of it.

"Blimey Harry! Are you sure you're feeling alright?" he asked while feeling Harry's forehead for a fever. Harry brushed his hand away annoyed, and started walking towards the book shop. After less than a minute, Harry heard running footsteps behind him.

"Wait up Harry!" Hermione's voice called. He didn't even slow down but Hermione caught up to him. She was panting heavily but still managed to ask Harry, "What are you going to do at Flourish and Blotts?"

Harry gave her an annoyed glance and answered sarcastically, "What do people usually do at a book shop?" Hermione looked frustrated at that answer and Harry could even see hurt in her deep brown eyes. He sighed,"I wanted to find a book on...," Harry faltered, "umm...what are they called again? Eve...Evano...," he was cut off by Hermione.

"Evanidus Anguis'?" she asked.

"Yeah, those!" Harry said gratefully. Hermione just smiled in return.

~*~*~*~

It was five minutes later that Hermione was absorbed in heavy tomes she considered 'light reading', and Harry was asking the shop clerk for the book on Evanidus Anguis'.

"Excuse me. Do you have any books on Evanidus Anguis'?"

"Sorry kid," the shop clerk answered with a dry laugh. "Those are dark creatures," Harry frowned at this. "Only place you're going to find a book on those is Knockturn Alley."

Harry mumbled his thanks and made his way back to where Hermione was sitting engrossed in her books. He bit his lip in thought. He really wanted a book so he could find out more about Sal but like the shop clerk said the only place they sell them is Knockturn Alley. He was sure Mrs. Weasley wouldn't appreciate him going down there. 'But Mrs. Weasley isn't here,' his mischievous inner voice said. Harry smirked and cleared his throat. Hermione didn't even look up from her book.

"Hmm?"

"Hermione, I'm going to go find Ron, okay?"

"Uh-huh," she mumbled distractedly. He doubted she even payed attention to what she said, and he was pretty sure he could have just told her he was going to Knockturn Alley and she wouldn't notice.

Harry internally cackled and made his way outside. He squinted against the bright sun and made his way down the alley to where he remembered Knockturn Alley being.

~*~*~*~

Five minutes later, Harry was walking around the dingy alleyway that was Knockturn Alley. The sunlight was almost completely blocked out so the alley was as dark as night. There were lights on inside of the many shops; some of which had the most disgusting things inside of them. Some of these things included shrunken heads, human body parts, gigantic spiders like Aragog's children in cages, and many other things, some of which Harry had no idea what they were used for, much less what they were.

He wasn't sure where he was going since he didn't exactly come to Knockturn Alley all the time. Harry was just walking around staying in the shadows—which probably wasn't very smart. The hood of his cloak was covering the upper part of his face, and he kept his head down so he couldn't be recognized. He doubted it'd be very wise for the Boy Who Lived to be seen in Knockturn Alley, especially at a time like this. They probably had ransoms posted in Knockturn Alley for him. Who knows, after the Dark Lord finishes with him, his body parts could end up in those nasty display windows. Harry shuddered at that thought and tried to ignore the windows and looked at all of the different signs in front of each shop instead—which was sort of hard since most didn't have signs. He was getting nervous though, he was pretty deep into Knockturn Alley and he still hadn't found the book shop. Shady looking people were looking at him strangely muttering things to each other, and Harry unconsciously flattened his bangs over his scar. He saw a rotted away wooden sign a few stores over that simply said 'Books' on it in a slanted cursive. Relief flooded through him, but before he could walk towards the shop, he heard something that made his stomach plummet.

"Yes. Master should be very happy."

Harry froze and his eyes widened. The voice had come from the abandoned shop he was walking past. The display window to the shop was broken so everything could be heard inside. Making sure his hood was covering his face, Harry ducked and looked inside the shop. It was dark, but he could make out two cloaked figures that were definitely Death Eaters although their faces were turned away from him so he couldn't recognize them.

"Don't forget! You should start attacking in exactly ten minutes and do as much damage as possible. And don't forget about the little brat's friends," one of the voices said importantly.

"Yes I know that," the voice responded annoyed.

The first voice chuckled evilly, "Potter won't know what hit him."

Harry's eyes widened and he stumbled backwards. He fell onto a barrel of dragon liver from the shop next door and both the barrel and himself fell onto the pavement with a loud *crash*. The Death Eaters had heard him and turned around quickly brandishing their wands. Harry got up as quickly as possible dodging the Death Eater's curses and ignoring the shop keepers yells, and ran as fast as his legs would let him through the narrow and curvy alley dodging various curses from behind him and various objects and people in his way. He was a fast runner (from years of practice running away from Dudley and his gang) so he got to Diagon Alley, which was filled with people, quickly. 'Damn,' Harry thought with some amount of panic, 'now how am I supposed to find everyone.' Harry checked his watch quickly and noticed one hour had almost passed since he left the Leaky Cauldron so he ran towards their assigned meeting spot in the middle of the alley.

Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Ginny were there already and Harry assumed Hermione was still at Flourish and Blotts. When Mrs. Weasley saw Harry running towards them, she got a concerned expression on her face. Harry was panting but talked in between breaths. "Mrs. Weasley...Death Eaters...are going...to attack!" Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened but she didn't move. "NOW!!" Harry yelled out, and to prove his point they heard a loud bang behind them. That set everyone into motion. Harry, Ron, and Ginny quickly brandished their wands from their pockets and turned around, eyes widening simultaneously.

There were some twenty Death Eaters attacking random people and there were at least another twenty behind those. Diagon Alley was in total and utter chaos; people were running around screaming and the Death Eaters were shooting curses at them and doing as much damage as possible to Diagon Alley by numerous ways like setting buildings on fire. People were lying on the ground and Harry didn't even want to think about if they were simply stunned or if they were indeed dead. Flashes of every color were flying all over the place, but the black cloaked figures used a disturbing number of green flashes.

Harry had just stunned a Death Eater and dodged a green curse directed at him, when he stumbled and fell. Turning around to see what he tripped over, Harry saw a little girl lying limply on the ground. It was the same little girl that had asked him for his autograph earlier. Her purple robes were torn and bloody and her beautiful blond hair was messed up and thrown all over. Her still form was lying on the ground with her eyes open staring straight ahead. Harry barely even her, but he was consumed by grief and guilt. She would never get a chance to grow up. She'd never come to this very same place to buy her first wand, she'd never ride the boats across the lake to go Hogwarts, she would never get sorted into her house, and she'd never be seeker, and her brother would be an only child. Harry was interrupted from his oppressing thoughts by a scream of pain he recognized immediately.

Hermione.

Harry turned around and saw her under a Death Eater's wand. The Death Eater was laughing while Hermione was writhing on the ground in pain. Harry was so mad all he saw was red. With a yell, Harry ran towards them and stunned the Death Eater from behind with a little more force than necessary. The Death Eater flew backwards and crashed against the window of a shop, breaking the glass.

Hermione was lying on the ground panting, her brown curls scattered all around her head. Her eyes were closed and tears were leaking out of them. Harry ran towards her and kneeled behind her ignoring the raging battle all around them. He lifted her head onto his lap and wiped at the tears streaming down her face unaware that he had tears of his own falling down his face. Hermione's eyes opened and she cracked a little smile. "Thank you," was all she whispered and she promptly passed out.

Harry still sat there and was only dimly aware of someone roughly thrusting something in his and Hermione's hands before he was lost in a whirlwind of colors and he was gone from the horrible battle being fought in Diagon Alley.

A/N's: *winces* I know, I know. I killed the little girl. Poor thing. I'm so evil. Not only do I kill our beloved Butch, but then I have to kill the adorable little girl too.

Review Responses:

~Okay, these are for two chapters, so your chapter 7 review will be labeled 7) and the response to your chapter 8 review will be labeled 8). Easy enough, right?~

Facade1 - 7) hehe, of course I missed your divine presence. You're one of my most loyal reviewers and your reviews always manage to make me smile. Ah yes, Sal. He seems to have that effect on people—infatuation. ;-) As for Butch, I believe Celtic55 is working on a story about him...lol. I can't wait to read it. And death threats? Wow...well I did update pretty quickly so I won't have to worry too much, right?  8) *bows*...J/K...lol. So you liked Mother-hen!Ron? lol...yeah I've never seen it either but there's always a first time for everything. When I was writing, it just came out that way. It does suit him in that situation though, no? Thanks again for your awesome reviews!!

HavenKane - 7) Don't worry I won't cut the review responses. I love writing them. I'm sorry about your brother and I hope he gets better soon! lol...yes, I feel very loved b/c you reviewed! 8) I'm glad you enjoyed your Thanksgiving. Sorry, you won't be finding out what's in the box for a while, but I'm sure you'll like it a lot! I bet that didn't help at all—you're probably more curious now...lol. Thanks again for your great reviews!!

Newen Faelvirin - Thanks! Keep reading and reviewing!

Alan - 7) Arghh, I'm so sorry I didn't e-mail the floor plan to you! I tried, I really, really did! I can't do it on hotmail b/c it's over however many megabytes they let you use for attachments, and on yahoo it always freezes on me mid-process and I tried it like 3 times. I'm so sorry! When I find the time, I'm going to post it on either a yahoo!groups or maybe a geocities site. 8) You wanted a trip to Knockturn Alley? You got a trip to Knockturn Alley! Lol...I hope you liked it. Has anyone ever told you you're very perceptive? Good job for that and you'll just have to wait and see! Thanks again for your reviews, I'm always looking forward to them.

Lolly Phoenix - 7) Thanks! Yeah, everyone seems to like Sal a lot. He's a cool guy. 8) lol...Voldemort might have had something to do with the dream—you'll just have to see. Thanks for your reviews. I love 'em; keep 'em up!

pablo5280 - *salutes* Aye, Aye Captain! Lol...J/K. Hope you liked this chapter, make sure to let me know!

Celtic55 - 7) Thanks for all of your encouraging comments! I basically feed on them! So you have to keep them up, cuz you wouldn't want to see me starve, would you? I'd never get the story finished then! Lol...J/K. 8) I'm very glad you liked the dream. lol...it's a dream, hence it's supposed to bring a dream-like quality...lol...J/K. No but seriously, I'm glad it did. I'm also glad you like the Harry/Ron thing. Yeah, Ron's response was pretty surprising, but I think much needed. It made Ron realize just how much he needs his best friend. Maybe it'll diminish the jealousy factor he seems to have. :-) lol. Yeah, Mother-hen!Ron...lol. Ron was pretty funny. Sorry—no Sal again this chapter. :-( I'll try to make him come out next chapter. Everyone seems to love Sal, and that's great! There's tons of fics where Harry gets a snake, but I think I've set Sal's personality apart enough so it's not so cliche. I've never seen a sarcastic snake b4 so that's good I think. He's so cool. Thanks again for your awesome reviews, I'm always looking forward to them!


szely - lol...I'm sorry but I'm not sure Harry will take up smoking. An illegal wand? Hmm...sounds interesting. I did put in Knockturn Alley. I hope you liked that. Thanks and don't stop reading and keep up the reviews!

Chibi-Bex - Sorry but unfortunately you won't be finding out what's in the box very soon. But I'm sure you'll like it! Yeah, I'd scream if I walked in to find my best friend dead too. Good thing Ron did scream, or Harry may have been permanently dead—oops! I think I've said too much! ;-) Thanks again and keep reading and keep up the good reviews!! They're awesome!

maria - Talented writer? Wow thanks! I've never been called a writer before, much less talented. Mr. Froggy, huh? Sorry, it's a little too late for a name change, but I hope 'Sal' is okay with you. I hope you review the rest of my chapters still; I'd like to hear more from you! Thanks again, and keep reading!

charlie26 - Thanks! I'll definitely keep writing. I hope you'll keep reviewing!

Peak of Truimph - Thanks! I'm sorry about this cliffy! Keep reading and reviewing!

Thanks again everyone for reviewing. Maybe we'll get past 100 with this chapter? That would be wicked cool!!

Let me know what you thought of this chapter. Did you like it? Was there anything that would have been better if it were different? Any suggestions for something you want to happen in future chapters? (like resurrect Butch and the little girl) (hehe...just kidding about that btw)