Disclaimer: Everything that you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling or somebody else. Anything that you don't recognize belongs to ME!
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A/N: Thanks to my lone reviewer...
bpadfoot-crazy: you are my favorite person in the whole world at the moment! You actually reviewed!/b
Chapter Two: Diagon Alley
James finds himself among the bustling crowds of Diagon Alley.
Lily stepped out of the grate and she saw James follow her. "Where are we going now?" Lily asked Mrs. Potter.
"To Gringotts," Mrs. Potter replied.
"What's Gringotts?" Lily asked.
"It's a wizarding bank," James answered. "Wizards only have one bank and it's here, in Diagon Alley."
Lily nodded. "But wait!" she suddenly remembered something. "I...I don't have any money!"
"Dumbledore already thought about that," Mrs. Potter said. "He knew the Muggle-borns wouldn't have any money to buy their school stuff with, so he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set up an account just for Muggle- borns."
"What're Muggle-borns?" Lily questioned.
James groaned. "Ugh, new people. You have to explain everything."
"Be quiet James," Mrs. Potter scolded. "Why don't you tell her what they are?"
"Fine. Muggle-borns are witches or wizards born from Muggle families. You ought to be careful. You're a Muggle-born. Some wizarding families don't like Muggle-borns and call them filth. Don't give anyone reason to call you filth."
"Can wizarding families have babies that are not witches or wizards?" Lily asked curiously. "Like, you know, the opposite of Muggle-borns."
"Yeah, they're called Squibs," James explained. "Mum says Apollyon Pringle, the caretaker at Hogwarts, is a Squib."
"Oh I do not!" said Mrs. Potter, blushing red. James smirked.
Soon, Lily, James, and Mrs. Potter collected all their school supplies, except their wands. "Come on, Lily!" called James. "The best place to get wands is over there: Ollivanders!"
Lily and James walked inside. The place was full of little boxes and seemed to be deserted. "Hello?" called Lily. "Hello!"
Suddenly a sliding ladder slid out of nowhere. An elderly man was riding it. "Ah."
"Come to get your wands, I see?" the man said. "I shall take the little lady first..."
Lily stepped forward hesitantly.
Mr. Ollivander picked out a box and opened it. Inside was a shiny new wand. "Try this." He handed the wand to her. "Give it a wave..."
Lily waved it. Nothing happened. Mr. Ollivander gave her another one. "How about this?"
Lily waved it. Nothing happened. This continued on for about ten or eleven or even twelve different wands. Each time Lily tried, nothing happened and Lily began to doubt her magical abilities. Perhaps Dumbledore had gotten the wrong girl. Perhaps it was Petunia who was actually the witch...
And then, it happened. The perfect wand. Mr. Ollivander called it "Swishy, good for Charm work." This wand was the one. When Lily touched it, she felt the magic.
"That'll be seven galleons," Mr. Ollivander announced. Lily paid and James stepped up. It only took about two or three wands to find the right one for James. James too paid and left with Lily.
"Now that we're done, where do we go?" James asked.
"Are there any bookstores around?" Lily bit her lip. She just adored books.
"Yeah, there's one nearby, Flourish and Blotts, look!" James pointed to a street corner where there was a brightly-lit shop that was really big. "Let's go!"
James and Lily went into the huge shop full to the brim with books. James immediately went for the joke and prank books. Lily just followed him. James touched a book called "Pranks for all occasions" exactly at the same time a boy with straight black hair and blue eyes and a cheeky grin touched it.
"Hi!" greeted the boy. "I'm Sirius Black. You like pranks too? I guess we're going to be great friends!"
"Hi!" James replied. "I'm James Potter. I'm going into Hogwarts this year!"
"Me too!" said Sirius. Lily watched them with amusement until she spotted a large purple book that said "Hogwarts, A History."
Well, I'd better read that, thought Lily, I'm just going into Hogwarts and I know nothing about it. This book will definitely help, won't it?
So Lily picked it off the shelf and sat down on a bench right next to James and Sirius and started reading, ignoring the two boys that were right in front of her.
James and Sirius talked a lot about themselves first. James found out that Sirius came from a family of all witches and wizards, purebloods, and how his whole family hated Muggle-borns, but Sirius wasn't like that. Sirius and his cousin Andromeda, were the only two people in their whole family that supported Dumbledore.
Then they went on to talking about pranks that they pulled. It was rather pointless really, but fun for them.
Then it was time for James to leave. "Sirius, have you seen Lily anywhere?"
"Lost her have you?" Sirius asked playfully.
"No, I just...oh there she is!" James found her sitting on the bench, reading Hogwarts, A History.
"I'm DONE!" Lily announced, startling James out of his wits.
"Oh, jeez, Lily do you HAVE to do that?" James muttered. "Anyway, Sirius wants to see you. He wants to introduce himself properly." James dragged Lily over to Sirius.
"Lily, this is Sirius, Sirius this is Lily," James introduced.
"Nice to meet you mademoiselle," Sirius pecked Lily's hand.
"Oh I like your friend, he's cute," said Lily, giggling. James rolled his eyes.
"Hey, Sirius," said James. "How about you come to my place until school? Lily's my neighbor and we can play Quidditch and...all sorts of stuff?"
"I'll go and ask Andromeda..." Sirius was off in a second. Barely two minutes later, he was back. "She—said—yes." Sirius clutched a stitch in his side. "I—can come."
James led Lily and Sirius around Diagon Alley looking for his mother. "There she is!" he said, spotting coming out of Quality Quidditch Supplies.
"Hi you all!" greeted Mrs. Potter. "Who's this stranger?" she asked, pointing to Sirius.
"I'm Sirius Black," said Sirius. "Pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure's all mine!" Mrs. Potter laughed.
"I'm staying over the summer," announced Sirius.
"Okay!" Mrs. Potter said. "Well, anyway, it's time we get back. So who's going to take Lily through the grate this time?"
"I don't need—" Lily began.
"Ooh, me! Me! Me!" Sirius bounced up and down.
Sirius stepped into the grate followed by Lily. He threw some Floo Powder in and yelled, "The Potters' house!"
Lily felt that familiar swirl and she traveled through a whirlwind of colors again.
James was being transported into another memory.
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A/N: Ok, here's ch. 2. Sry, it's so short and not so interesting, but they'll get better, I promise. Oh yeah, read if you want and review if you want. (Just you watch, in later chapters I'll ask you to READ AND REVIEW! You just watch...)
-Lost my Marbles