Ch3- The Diagon Alley Incident
Hermione obviously meant it when she said that she wouldn't be talking to Ron for the rest of the week, because she upheld her promise marvelously for the next three days.
"Hermione, can you please pass the milk?" asked Ron, at breakfast on Harry's third day at the Burrow. "Harry, will you please tell Ron that I won't pass him the milk because his a Blithering Git." "Uh, Ron, Hermione says that she..." "I heard Harry," said Ron, temper rising. "George, will you please pass the milk?" "Sorry Blithering Git, but I can't as I am getting up from this seat and going to work with my brother. Ta ta!" said George, as he and Fred made their way outside. "What has a bloke got to do to get milk around here?" asked Ron, his ears going red. At that moment, an owl swooped through the Weasley's kitchen window and landed in the milk jug, splattering milk over everyone. "Errol! Now we don't have any milk for anyone to pass me! You stupid owl!" with this, Ron stormed out of the room. "I'll go and try to talk some sense into him," said Hermione, "I think I've been to hard on him." "But I thought you weren't talking to him." said Harry. "I might have to lift his punishment," she said sheepishly. "Right, I'll be up in a sec."
When Harry arrived up at Ron's room ten minutes later, he was expecting to find Ron and Hermione talking out their problems. Instead he found them in a rather uncomfortable (for Harry) position on Ron's bed. However, once he had made himself known, by coughing loudly a few times, not unlike their previous Defence against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Umbridge, they stopped what they were doing immediately, and started looking a bit embarrassed.
"Ah... sorry about that Harry..." started Hermione, sitting up and straightening her skirt, "We, ah, got a bit carried away. One thing lead to another..." "It's fine Hermione. Ron told me the other night. I don't mind one bit." "Oh good! Ah, Harry?" asked Hermione cautiously, glancing at Ron who was absent-mindedly staring at his frog tank. "I think that you should do something about a girlfriend. I mean, you had Cho, but that wasn't really a real relationship or anything. So, Ron and I think you should do something about that."
"What!? I never said anything about that Hermione! And Harry still likes Cho." said Ron, outraged. "Well..." said Harry," I don't really like her all that much anymore Ron." "What?" "Duh Ron. Harry lost interest in Cho after she started going out with Roger Davies." said Hermione, matter of factly. "Oh." "Well Harry, that's what I think." Hermione continued. "Maybe having someone will take your mind off other... things." As she said this, she looked disapprovingly at Ron. "Yes. I agree with Hermione."
The next two weeks passed by without incident, unless you count Fred and George's new invention- "Temporary Cloning. A kit where you get everything you need for a twenty- four hour clone. Limited usage- two clones in every box," said Fred, practicing for his and George's interview with the Department of Magical Regulations at the Ministry of Magic that day. "Perfectly safe and now you really can be in two places at once! Only 20 Galleons a kit!" continued George. "What if the Department of Magical Regulations doesn't let you sell it?" asked Ginny, who was one of the audience of the practicing twins. "We'll just sell it anyway, won't we Fred?" "We certainly will, o brother of mine." "But under the guise of 'A Simple Joke Starters Kit'." "Yes Ginny, no need to worry, we will be able to sell this product, no matter what." "Hey George," asked Harry, who was also listening to the twins practice, "why do you need an interview anyway?" "Ah. You see Harry our last invention- ", George started "Shrink Jewels," continued Fred "Proved to be a bit dangerous." finished George. "In what way?" asked Harry "Well, the invention in question," said Fred cautiously, " which was a piece of jewelry of you choice, was meant to shrink people when they wore it. And UN- shrink them when they took it off. Except the shrinking charm lingered, and people were lost for days on end." said Fred. "Ah." said Harry, unsure of what else to say. "You can have a bit cheap if you like." said George, who had dropped his voice as Mrs. Weasley walked in. "No thanks," said Harry hastily, not wanting to be shrunk for days. "Right! Fred, George, come along, we have to get going." said Mrs. Weasley. "Okay Mum. Let's go then. Bye everyone! We'll be selling you a Temporary Cloning Kit as soon as we get back. Everyone gets discounts if we loose the trial!" shouted George, as his mother kicked him out the door.
On his Birthday, Harry awoke to much commotion coming from the kitchen. Ron was still snoring in his bed, so Harry prodded him in the small of the back and told him to get up. "A'righ' Harry, what's the matter? I was having a fantastic dream about-" he cut off, hearing the unusual sounds coming from his kitchen below. "What's going on down there?" Ron jerked as a particularly loud BANG erupted from the kitchen. "Have no idea. Now get up you lazy slob, so we can see what's going on."
Five minutes later, the pair of them were down in the kitchen, and in the middle of the confusion. Fred and George, it seemed, were celebrating the loss of their trial by using their whole stock of temporary clones, apart from the ones they had sold to Harry, Ron, and Ginny the day before. Harry could see why they had lost. The forty-nine clones of Fred and George had many injuries. Some were smoking from the ears and nose, some of them were missing limbs, and some were even cut in half. The loud BANG Harry and Ron had heard earlier seemed to be one of the clones exploding, as there was a small, black stain on the kitchen tiles, and quite a lot of smoke. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" roared Fred and George in union, as Mrs. Weasley dragged them out the door by their hair. "We organised a little party, and we needed help, so we enlisted the help of our cloney friends here!" yelled Fred, from behind the door. "But as you can see, they aren't all that good at planning a party!" added George. "WE GOT YOU SOMETHING! ITS ON THE TABLE!" they both yelled as their mother started her lecture. Harry looked to the table, and saw the package which Fred and George were referring. Harry looked at Ron, whose eyes widened, and he raced upstairs, calling behind him something about getting Hermione and Ginny. Left alone in the kitchen, apart from the smoking clones that went about their cooking quite happily, Harry wondered why his birthday was going so strangely. He pinched himself, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming, and when he was sure he wasn't, he sat down at the table, opposite his gift from Fred and George. He was reluctant to open it, because of what Ron had said about their gift giving. According to Ron, he should be very cautious. It wasn't long before he heard the thudding of many feet on the staircase. "Harry! Happy birthday!" said Hermione, as she entered the kitchen, followed by Ron and Ginny. Hermione handed Harry a blue-wrapped parcel, with green ribbon tied around it, which was about the size of a shoebox. "Here, this is from Ron, Ginny and I. You haven't opened this one yet! Who is it from?" "Fred and George. I'm not sure I want to open it." "Ah. Well, open ours now!" said Hermione excitedly. Harry ripped off the wrapping and found a large wooden box. He looked questioningly at Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, before sliding the lid off. Inside was the most beautiful book Harry had ever seen. It fit snuggly into the box, as if they had been made for each other. Well, thought Harry, they probably were. Harry lifted the book out of its box, and read the front cover. "Harry Potter, Your Life is Our Life, By Hermione Granger; and Ron and Ginny Weasley," read Harry. He started to leaf through the beautiful book as his friends stood breathlessly waiting to see what he thought. Ginny finally broke the silence. "We compiled everything all of us has been through with you into one book," she said. "Our memories, our thanks, and our love." said Hermione. "We wanted you to know how much we care about you mate, and we want to help you, whenever we can," finished Ron. Harry didn't know what to say. "This is the best and most wonderful thing any one has ever done for me," Harry said after a few minutes of thought. "Thank you all so much." "Any time mate, any time at all," said Ron, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Now, lets have a look at what Fred and George gave you, shall we?"
As the others played with his recently acquired Shrink Jewels, Harry couldn't help thinking of what Sirius would have put in his book.
After breakfast, Mrs. Weasley announced it was time for them all to go to Diagon Alley, as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had all received their school letters already. So on that Friday, they all took a pinch of Floo Powder, threw it in the fireplace, and said "Diagon Alley!" and they were whisked off to get their schoolbooks.
When Harry arrived at the Flourish and Blots fireplace, he made sure that his glasses weren't broken, and made his way to the counter to buy his new spell books. "Okay. I need Standard Book of Spells Grade Six; The Dark Arts- A Full Guide to Protecting Yourself, a new copy of 101 Magical Herbs and..." Harry stopped short. Over the sales clerk's shoulder, and out the window, Harry saw Sirius. Not in human form, in dog form. Harry dropped everything and ran outside. "Hey! Come back!" yelled the clerk after him.
"Sirius? What the...? What are you doing here? Come with me!" Harry said, angrily. Before he had thought twice, Harry led the huge black dog into a small alleyway behind Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and said "Sirius! Show yourself!" As it turns out, Harry didn't need to think at all because as soon as he said this, the dog gave and almighty heave and turned into a man. A man that looked very much like Sirius. "Who are you?" asked Harry, bewildered. This could not be true. "Harry, its Me." said the Sirius look-a-like. "Sirius?" "Yes." At that moment Ron and Hermione came bursting into the alleyway and Sirius turned back into a dog with a pop. "Harry! What are you doing here? Why did you run out of Flourish and Blots?" asked Ron. "What's...?" Hermione stopped as she spotted the large, black dog. "Guys, I've found Sirius." "Harry, that may be a very large, black dog, but that isn't Sirius, because he's-"Hermione was cut off as the Sirius look-a-like popped back into man form. "Hi Hermione, I was dead, well, not really, It's a bit complicated, well, you're talking to me now-" Sirius look-a-like stopped short- Hermione had fainted into Ron's arms.
Hermione obviously meant it when she said that she wouldn't be talking to Ron for the rest of the week, because she upheld her promise marvelously for the next three days.
"Hermione, can you please pass the milk?" asked Ron, at breakfast on Harry's third day at the Burrow. "Harry, will you please tell Ron that I won't pass him the milk because his a Blithering Git." "Uh, Ron, Hermione says that she..." "I heard Harry," said Ron, temper rising. "George, will you please pass the milk?" "Sorry Blithering Git, but I can't as I am getting up from this seat and going to work with my brother. Ta ta!" said George, as he and Fred made their way outside. "What has a bloke got to do to get milk around here?" asked Ron, his ears going red. At that moment, an owl swooped through the Weasley's kitchen window and landed in the milk jug, splattering milk over everyone. "Errol! Now we don't have any milk for anyone to pass me! You stupid owl!" with this, Ron stormed out of the room. "I'll go and try to talk some sense into him," said Hermione, "I think I've been to hard on him." "But I thought you weren't talking to him." said Harry. "I might have to lift his punishment," she said sheepishly. "Right, I'll be up in a sec."
When Harry arrived up at Ron's room ten minutes later, he was expecting to find Ron and Hermione talking out their problems. Instead he found them in a rather uncomfortable (for Harry) position on Ron's bed. However, once he had made himself known, by coughing loudly a few times, not unlike their previous Defence against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Umbridge, they stopped what they were doing immediately, and started looking a bit embarrassed.
"Ah... sorry about that Harry..." started Hermione, sitting up and straightening her skirt, "We, ah, got a bit carried away. One thing lead to another..." "It's fine Hermione. Ron told me the other night. I don't mind one bit." "Oh good! Ah, Harry?" asked Hermione cautiously, glancing at Ron who was absent-mindedly staring at his frog tank. "I think that you should do something about a girlfriend. I mean, you had Cho, but that wasn't really a real relationship or anything. So, Ron and I think you should do something about that."
"What!? I never said anything about that Hermione! And Harry still likes Cho." said Ron, outraged. "Well..." said Harry," I don't really like her all that much anymore Ron." "What?" "Duh Ron. Harry lost interest in Cho after she started going out with Roger Davies." said Hermione, matter of factly. "Oh." "Well Harry, that's what I think." Hermione continued. "Maybe having someone will take your mind off other... things." As she said this, she looked disapprovingly at Ron. "Yes. I agree with Hermione."
The next two weeks passed by without incident, unless you count Fred and George's new invention- "Temporary Cloning. A kit where you get everything you need for a twenty- four hour clone. Limited usage- two clones in every box," said Fred, practicing for his and George's interview with the Department of Magical Regulations at the Ministry of Magic that day. "Perfectly safe and now you really can be in two places at once! Only 20 Galleons a kit!" continued George. "What if the Department of Magical Regulations doesn't let you sell it?" asked Ginny, who was one of the audience of the practicing twins. "We'll just sell it anyway, won't we Fred?" "We certainly will, o brother of mine." "But under the guise of 'A Simple Joke Starters Kit'." "Yes Ginny, no need to worry, we will be able to sell this product, no matter what." "Hey George," asked Harry, who was also listening to the twins practice, "why do you need an interview anyway?" "Ah. You see Harry our last invention- ", George started "Shrink Jewels," continued Fred "Proved to be a bit dangerous." finished George. "In what way?" asked Harry "Well, the invention in question," said Fred cautiously, " which was a piece of jewelry of you choice, was meant to shrink people when they wore it. And UN- shrink them when they took it off. Except the shrinking charm lingered, and people were lost for days on end." said Fred. "Ah." said Harry, unsure of what else to say. "You can have a bit cheap if you like." said George, who had dropped his voice as Mrs. Weasley walked in. "No thanks," said Harry hastily, not wanting to be shrunk for days. "Right! Fred, George, come along, we have to get going." said Mrs. Weasley. "Okay Mum. Let's go then. Bye everyone! We'll be selling you a Temporary Cloning Kit as soon as we get back. Everyone gets discounts if we loose the trial!" shouted George, as his mother kicked him out the door.
On his Birthday, Harry awoke to much commotion coming from the kitchen. Ron was still snoring in his bed, so Harry prodded him in the small of the back and told him to get up. "A'righ' Harry, what's the matter? I was having a fantastic dream about-" he cut off, hearing the unusual sounds coming from his kitchen below. "What's going on down there?" Ron jerked as a particularly loud BANG erupted from the kitchen. "Have no idea. Now get up you lazy slob, so we can see what's going on."
Five minutes later, the pair of them were down in the kitchen, and in the middle of the confusion. Fred and George, it seemed, were celebrating the loss of their trial by using their whole stock of temporary clones, apart from the ones they had sold to Harry, Ron, and Ginny the day before. Harry could see why they had lost. The forty-nine clones of Fred and George had many injuries. Some were smoking from the ears and nose, some of them were missing limbs, and some were even cut in half. The loud BANG Harry and Ron had heard earlier seemed to be one of the clones exploding, as there was a small, black stain on the kitchen tiles, and quite a lot of smoke. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" roared Fred and George in union, as Mrs. Weasley dragged them out the door by their hair. "We organised a little party, and we needed help, so we enlisted the help of our cloney friends here!" yelled Fred, from behind the door. "But as you can see, they aren't all that good at planning a party!" added George. "WE GOT YOU SOMETHING! ITS ON THE TABLE!" they both yelled as their mother started her lecture. Harry looked to the table, and saw the package which Fred and George were referring. Harry looked at Ron, whose eyes widened, and he raced upstairs, calling behind him something about getting Hermione and Ginny. Left alone in the kitchen, apart from the smoking clones that went about their cooking quite happily, Harry wondered why his birthday was going so strangely. He pinched himself, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming, and when he was sure he wasn't, he sat down at the table, opposite his gift from Fred and George. He was reluctant to open it, because of what Ron had said about their gift giving. According to Ron, he should be very cautious. It wasn't long before he heard the thudding of many feet on the staircase. "Harry! Happy birthday!" said Hermione, as she entered the kitchen, followed by Ron and Ginny. Hermione handed Harry a blue-wrapped parcel, with green ribbon tied around it, which was about the size of a shoebox. "Here, this is from Ron, Ginny and I. You haven't opened this one yet! Who is it from?" "Fred and George. I'm not sure I want to open it." "Ah. Well, open ours now!" said Hermione excitedly. Harry ripped off the wrapping and found a large wooden box. He looked questioningly at Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, before sliding the lid off. Inside was the most beautiful book Harry had ever seen. It fit snuggly into the box, as if they had been made for each other. Well, thought Harry, they probably were. Harry lifted the book out of its box, and read the front cover. "Harry Potter, Your Life is Our Life, By Hermione Granger; and Ron and Ginny Weasley," read Harry. He started to leaf through the beautiful book as his friends stood breathlessly waiting to see what he thought. Ginny finally broke the silence. "We compiled everything all of us has been through with you into one book," she said. "Our memories, our thanks, and our love." said Hermione. "We wanted you to know how much we care about you mate, and we want to help you, whenever we can," finished Ron. Harry didn't know what to say. "This is the best and most wonderful thing any one has ever done for me," Harry said after a few minutes of thought. "Thank you all so much." "Any time mate, any time at all," said Ron, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Now, lets have a look at what Fred and George gave you, shall we?"
As the others played with his recently acquired Shrink Jewels, Harry couldn't help thinking of what Sirius would have put in his book.
After breakfast, Mrs. Weasley announced it was time for them all to go to Diagon Alley, as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had all received their school letters already. So on that Friday, they all took a pinch of Floo Powder, threw it in the fireplace, and said "Diagon Alley!" and they were whisked off to get their schoolbooks.
When Harry arrived at the Flourish and Blots fireplace, he made sure that his glasses weren't broken, and made his way to the counter to buy his new spell books. "Okay. I need Standard Book of Spells Grade Six; The Dark Arts- A Full Guide to Protecting Yourself, a new copy of 101 Magical Herbs and..." Harry stopped short. Over the sales clerk's shoulder, and out the window, Harry saw Sirius. Not in human form, in dog form. Harry dropped everything and ran outside. "Hey! Come back!" yelled the clerk after him.
"Sirius? What the...? What are you doing here? Come with me!" Harry said, angrily. Before he had thought twice, Harry led the huge black dog into a small alleyway behind Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and said "Sirius! Show yourself!" As it turns out, Harry didn't need to think at all because as soon as he said this, the dog gave and almighty heave and turned into a man. A man that looked very much like Sirius. "Who are you?" asked Harry, bewildered. This could not be true. "Harry, its Me." said the Sirius look-a-like. "Sirius?" "Yes." At that moment Ron and Hermione came bursting into the alleyway and Sirius turned back into a dog with a pop. "Harry! What are you doing here? Why did you run out of Flourish and Blots?" asked Ron. "What's...?" Hermione stopped as she spotted the large, black dog. "Guys, I've found Sirius." "Harry, that may be a very large, black dog, but that isn't Sirius, because he's-"Hermione was cut off as the Sirius look-a-like popped back into man form. "Hi Hermione, I was dead, well, not really, It's a bit complicated, well, you're talking to me now-" Sirius look-a-like stopped short- Hermione had fainted into Ron's arms.