"You've been awfully quiet, Harry. Are you sure you're alright?"

Harry let out a sigh. Ever since they had left Gringotts, both Tonks women had been pestering him to see if he was, in fact, NOT going to have a nervous breakdown. Every ten seconds.

Harry forced a smile and nodded. "I'm fine. Really... look, let's get shopping, shall we? It'll help take my mind off of remembering... remembering things I'd rather not."

Andromeda and Tonks exchanged a glance, but the former nodded.

"Well, the first place we're going to go is Ollivander's." Andromeda said, pointing the kids in the right direction. "We'll pick up your wands there!"

Harry shook his head and grinned, despite himself. It was still strange to him to think that witches and wizards really DID carry magic wands about.

Ollivander's, as it turned out, was an odd place, indeed. It appeared, when they had entered the building, that no one was there. Harry saw shelves upon shelves of small boxes kept behind the register, but didn't see anyone around to man the thing. That is, until Andromeda hit the service bell on the counter. Seemingly out of thin air, an old man with grayed hair appeared. He looked first to Andromeda, then to Tonks, then to Harry, where his gaze lingered momentarily.

"Andromeda Tonks? Oak, ten and one-quarter inches, strangely flexible, with a single unicorn hair." He said, his attention back on Andromeda. She grinned and nodded at him.

"I'll never understand how you remember things so well." Andromeda said to him, causing him to smile faintly.

"I remember EVERY wand I sell, Ms. Tonks. Now, what may I do for you today?" Ollivander asked.

"We're here to pick up wands for Nymmy and Harry." She replied.

"Don't call me 'Nymmy.'" Tonks muttered darkly.

Without another word, Mr. Ollivander vanished into the rows of boxes behind the register. The trio waited for at least a minute before he returned with a box in tow. He opened it up and took out the wand, smiling as he held it towards Tonks. "Willow, nine and a half inches, rigid, with a dragon's heartstring."

"Go on, Nymmy." Andromeda coaxed, smiling at her daughter. "Give it a try."

"Yes, just give it a swish and let's see what happens." Ollivander said.

With a slightly-nervous look to Harry, Tonks took the wand from Mr. Ollivander. She gave it a good flick. Nothing happened. Ollivander quickly snatched the wand away from her, placed it back within its box, and scampered off to search for another one. Tonks and Harry raised eyebrows at this rather strange behavior.

"He's always been like that." Andromeda explained in a hushed voice. "The longer it takes to find an owner a wand, the happier he is."

And he was pleased indeed when it took over 12 wands and 20 minutes before Tonks finally found the one meant to be hers.

"Mahogany, 12 inches, springy. It also has a unicorn's tail hair inside of it." Ollivander said with an outright grin. The past few wands had had unicorn tail hairs for their cores. The man seemed to think that they were getting closer and closer.

When Tonks flicked this wand, it caused a whole row of wand boxes to collapse in upon itself. Tonks and Harry gasped audibly, Mr. Ollivander clapped his hands together, and Andromeda rolled her eyes at the scene before her.

"Excellent, excellent! Now then..." The old man turned towards Harry, getting an unreadable gleam in his eyes. "You... you shall be a challenge, I think..."

If Mr. Ollivander had been pleased at the length of time it took to get Tonks' wand, he was certifiably giddy with the ridiculous amount of time it took to get Harry matched up.

Harry's wrist was getting sore. He had flicked and swished upwards of 45 wands before Mr. Ollivander tilted his head and surveyed the boy once more. "I wonder..." He began slowly. "...Yes, yes, it just might be..."

Before anyone could ask what 'might be,' the man was off, searching through his shelves of wands. When he came back, he did so carrying a box that looked positively ancient.

"Holly... Eleven inches... Supple... With a phoenix feather core. Try this one, Mr. Potter." Ollivander said, removing the lid and handing the wand to Harry.

Harry felt something almost at once. With the other wands, he had simply felt as if he were holding an ordinary piece of wood. But this... this felt as if something had been jumpstarted inside of his body. When he gave it a flick, a burst of blue light shot from the tip. It flew up, ricocheted off of the ceiling, and proceeded to fly back into the wand shelves, bouncing all over the place and knocking box after box off and to the floor.

Tonks cracked up. "You win, Harry! You did more damage than I did!"

"Very interesting..." Ollivander said, staring Harry down and ignoring the carnage raging on behind him. "Very interesting, indeed... yes..."

"Um... what's interesting...?" Harry asked after a moment under the wand supplier's stare.

"...It is very interesting, Mr. Potter... that you should become the owner of that particular wand. The phoenix that supplied the core of your wand gave only one other feather... yes, it is very interesting indeed...that you should own that wand... when its brother is the one that gave you that scar." Ollivander said darkly, his eyes flitting to Harry's forehead.

Harry heard both women gasp at this information, but it seemed to do little more than numb Harry all over. When he finally found his voice again, he managed to ask, "Y...you mean... that... that You-Know-Who..." Harry had learned over the course of his stay with the Tonks' to never said the dark wizard's name outright. "...That his wand..."

"Yes, Mr. Potter. It is, for all intents and purposes, the brother to the wand that has chosen you."

After Tonks had managed to snap Harry out of an internal discussion he was having with himself, he handed Mr. Ollivander seven galleons for his wand. Andromeda did the same for Tonks' wand. The three turned to leave the shop, Harry looking over his shoulder as they did so. Mr. Ollivander had a strange, unreadable expression on his face and, as soon as the door was closed behind them, Harry saw the man grab a quill from near the register.

"Well, now that THAT is over with..." Andromeda said in a slightly annoyed voice, "Why don't we find a place that isn't going to be full of people spoiling Harry's big day."

"What? Oh, oh, no... I'm fine... Really, I am. It's just... well, it's a lot to take in all at once, that's all." Harry said, his money bag pocketed safely inside of his robes. He had started twirling his wand around his fingers, being rather good at not letting it drop to the ground.

"If you say so, dear..." Andromeda said, not quite convinced at Harry's explanation. "Off to Madam Malkin's, then! Next thing we need are school robes!"

Or rather, Harry and Tonks did. Andromeda mentioned something about grabbing their schoolbooks while they were getting fitted. She then dropped them off and ran back up the street. Tonks rolled her eyes at this and claimed her mother just wanted to be back at home before noon rolled around.

Harry, who had never been formally fitted for his clothing, felt a bit nervous as the duo entered Madam Malkin's. Before he could look around very much, however, a voice called out, "Hogwarts, dears?"

Harry turned to see a squat little witch smiling at himself and Tonks. He nodded in reply and she walked over to them. "Right this way, then. There's another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

And indeed there was. Madam Malkin led the two over near a young man with startlingly blonde hair. He turned his head upon hearing their footsteps. His eyes were slate gray, but seemed to have a flicker of silver that came and went. The silver in them came out as his eyes moved from Harry to Tonks and then back again. Madam Malkin lined Harry up next to the youth, with Tonks on his right. "Now then, this'll take just a minute!" She said.

"Hogwarts, too?" The blonde asked after a moment. He was still being fitted, as well, and looked rather bored with it. Once again, Harry nodded.

The blonde's eyes wandered to the ceiling. He let out an irritated sigh, then spoke again. "My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands..." His voice seemed to drawl when he spoke, as if he would rather be anywhere but where he actually was. "If I ever get out of this place, I think I'll drag them off to look at racing brooms...Personally, I don't see why first years can't have their own. Perhaps I could bully father into getting me one... Might be able to smuggle it in somehow."

Harry exchanged a glance with Tonks, who rolled her eyes and mouthed 'rich ponce' at him. Harry tried hard not to grin.

"Have YOU got your own broom?" The blonde suddenly asked, forcing Harry's attention back to the present.

"Um... n...no." Harry said, annoyed at his stutter's return.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No..." Harry replied, shooting Tonks a questioning look. Her eyes lit up, but she shook her head. He gave her a slight nod.

"Well, I do...father says it would be a crime if I didn't play for my house, and I agree... Do either of you know what house you'll be in?" The boy said, though his tone seemed to indicate that he couldn't care less.

"No." Harry and Tonks replied in unison.

"Well," the blonde replied, raising an eyebrow at the two. "No one really knows until they get there, do they? But I know I'll be in Slytherin. Everyone in my family has been, after all. Can't imagine being in Hufflepuff. I'd leave if I were placed there, wouldn't you?"

"You sure do talk a lot." Tonks said, her tone dry. "Like hearin' your own voice, do ya?"

The blonde narrowed his eyes at her, giving her a once-over. "And who, precisely, are you?"

"Tonks." Said Tonks.

"What kind of a name is 'Tonks'?" Replied the blonde, making a face.

"Well what's your name, then, it's so special?" Tonks asked with a huff.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." Replied the blonde, tilting his chin up as he said it.

Tonks snorted.

"Think it's funny, do you?" Draco Malfoy asked, a sneer on his face.

"Too right, I do!" Tonks said, not bothering to hide her grin. "I've heard about your family. Izzit true your mother and father are really sister and brother? Hate t'be in your shoes, then. Gettin' stuck with all those bad genes an' all." Tonks said, making a vague gesture with one hand. "But I s'pose we all can't be royalty, eh?"

Draco looked livid. But it passed in a moment and he quickly composed himself, looking down his nose at the girl. "I'll have you know that my family is one of the wealthiest pureblooded Wizarding families in all of Britain." He said, cockily.

"Oh, yeah, it shows." Tonks said, rolling her eyes. "And I bet you've been pampered all your life, right? How're you ever gonna get on at Hogwarts? Gonna get other people t'do your homework?"

The air of importance vanished in an instant and Draco sneered at Tonks. "I'll have you know that my father could probably buy and sell you, your friend, and whatever parents you have in an instant! He's very powerful and not one to be trifled with! OWW!" The blonde looked down to where he had been stuck with a floating safety pin. From across the room, Madam Malkin looked up and called over, "Be still, dear!"

Draco still glared at Tonks, however, and finally hissed, "You wait and see. Once I tell him what happened, you'll be out on the streets! My father always gets what he wants - ALWAYS! You'll pay for insulting me! We'll see how you act when you've only got the rats in the alleys as company! Not that you don't already look like that's where you came from. I've never seen someone with such hideous hair! Your family not have the skill to fix it, you ugly little girl?!"

At that moment, Harry couldn't quite place what was happening inside of him. He had been the target of numerous arguments, but rarely had he sat and watched from the outside of one. And now that his first and only real friend was being insulted and outright threatened, something had changed. He had never struck back when Dudley and his gang had beaten him up - he had been outnumbered and would suffer later, even if he got a punch in. It wasn't that he didn't know HOW to fight back - he did. He had been on the receiving end of more attack maneuvers than he cared to recall. His body had learned to heal itself quickly after being injured - something, he now thought, must have had to do with his magical nature.

Harry didn't feel his hand bunching up into a fist. He didn't feel his arm pull back. And he didn't feel it flying forward. All he felt was the satisfying CRACK it made when it connected to the blonde's jaw, followed by the THUD made by Draco Malfoy hitting the ground.

For a moment, silence rang deafeningly inside of Madam Malkin's. Draco looked stunned, as if he had never quite seen - or felt - anything so strange in his life. He brought a hand up to his jaw and looked up at Harry. For a moment, their eyes locked, then Draco's moved up. He saw the scar. His eyes widened, then narrowed down to slits.

Harry wasn't quite sure how Dudley's gang did it. His knuckles were hurting something fierce, and his whole hand felt numb. It was slowly wearing off, giving way to a tingling sort of ache. But he glared down at the blonde and, through clenched teeth, growled, "Don't you DARE threaten her."

"Good heavens, what are you two doing?!" Madam Malkin exclaimed, rushing over and kneeling to examine Draco. "Fighting in my shop! Children these days have no respect! Are you alright, dear?"

"Fine." Draco Malfoy hissed. Harry noticed his mouth didn't open very far, and he had winced when it had. The blonde quickly got to his feet and stared at Harry for a moment longer before turning as gracefully as someone who just got clobbered possibly could, heading straight out of the robe shop.

"And you! What could have pos-- ...good lord." Madam Malkin began, turning on Harry. But her eyes also flitted to his forehead. His bangs had been moved to one side as he had thrown the punch, leaving his scar perfectly exposed. "...Are you...?"

Harry blinked. He wondered if ALL of the people he would meet in the Wizarding world would react as strangely as the people he had met so far. "Um... I... I'm Harry Potter, if...if that's what you meant. I'm...I'm really sorry, ma'am... But...But he was... he threatened my friend and... and..." Harry trailed off, idly rubbing his sore hand.

Madam Malkin just seemed to nod blankly, then smiled and waved a hand. Almost at once, her cheerful expression reappeared. "Quite alright, dear. I'm sure he'll return later. He DOES need to finish being fitted, after all. Shouldn't be much longer for the two of you, though!"

And with that, the owner went back to where she had been – sitting behind the register and reading what appeared to be a newspaper... one with a moving picture on the front page.

"Damn," Harry swore under his breath as he looked down at his hand for the first time. His knuckles, along with the parts of his fingers that had connected to Malfoy's face, were red. They were also throbbing rather well at this point. "Not gonna do that again..."

When, at last, he looked over to Tonks, he found her gaping at him. Frowning, he asked, "...What?"

"..."

"Oi, Tonks... you alright?"

"...Did you just punch Draco Malfoy in the jaw?!" Tonks asked slowly.

"...Well yeah! He...he was insulting you and... and stuff."

"You just punched Draco Malfoy in the jaw... for me?" Tonks asked again.

"Um...yeah, I guess I did..."

Tonks stared for a moment longer before letting out a laugh and shaking her head. "Never knew ya had it in ya! That was a right sight t'see, Harry. The look on his face after he hit the floor was priceless!"

"Not sure what came over me..." Harry said, feeling slightly embarrassed now that the whole thing had ended. "I just... I just couldn't listen to him talk like that anymore."

"Aww, my hero!" Tonks said, changing her eyelashes to a ridiculous length before batting them at Harry.

Harry laughed, though he couldn't fight the faint blush that had crept onto his cheeks. Tonks must have seen it, as she proceeded to shorten her eyelashes back to normal length and ask in a sweet voice, "So...does that mean you don't think I'm ugly, then?"

"What?" Harry asked, blinking at her, his blush creeping up. Her hair, as it so often did, had changed at some point when Harry hadn't been looking. It was curly, light green, and hung down to her shoulders. Her eyes were a sky blue color that seemed to almost glow when the light hit them just right.

"Um...no, I guess not... ...I'm sure you could be if you TRIED, but I don't think I want my best friend to look like one of those... what did you call them? Hags?" Harry asked, brow creasing as he tried to remember.

Tonks blinked at him, then doubled over in giggles. It took her a minute to compose herself again, but when she did, she grinned evilly at him and said, "I'll have to try that sometime. Maybe right before I wake you up, eh? That oughta getcha outta bed pretty fast."

"Don't you dare." Harry replied.

"Done!"

Harry and Tonks both turned to look at Madam Malkin, who was walking towards them and holding a piece of parchment. "Now then, how would you like to be paying?"

"My mum should be back soon." Tonks said, looking back towards the door. "Dunno what's takin' her so long."

Right on cue, Andromeda showed up, though she looked somewhat baffled. Walking over to where Harry, Tonks, and Madam Malkin were standing, she asked, "Did something just happen in here? I passed by Narcissa Malfoy on my way back here, and she looked close to having kittens."

Tonks cracked up.

Harry lowered his gaze and blushed.

The trio left Madam Malkin's after paying and, with bags full of books and other school supplies, headed back up the Alley and towards the brick wall that lead into The Leaky Cauldron. As they did, Harry was forced to listen to Tonks replay the events that had occurred inside of Madam Malkin's. It was thoroughly embarrassing.

"And after he said THAT, Harry got this faraway look in his eyes for a second, then WHAM! Malfoy was on his rear end, lookin' down an' out shocked. Harry really laid him out good, he did!" Tonks gushed, grinned and throwing an imitation punch.

Andromeda was shaking her head. "Honestly. What am I going to do with you two? Though a part of me does think he deserved what he got, if what you said is true, Nymmy. As rich as their family is, you'd think they could teach the boy some manners." There was a pause, then Andromeda grinned. "And I believe I just thought of what I had forgot!"

She got them back to the brick wall, set their bags of supplies on the ground, then turned to run off again. "I'll be right back! You two stay there!"

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked to Tonks, who just shrugged.

When Andromeda returned minutes later, it was to Tonks trying to teach Harry about Quidditch.

"...So then the...Chasers? They take the Quaffle...and try and get it past the Keeper?" Harry asked, trying to keep track of players and balls.

"Yup!" Tonks replied, smiling.

"Okay... And then the Beaters whack about the bludgers and try and screw everybody up. And the Seeker tries finding...what was it, again?"

"The golden snitch."

"Right, the golden snitch...which nets their team one hundred and fifty points and ends the game?"

"Exactly!"

"...Seems kind of unbalanced to me." Harry said with a frown. "I mean, if the Seeker found the snitch right away, it'd be an instant win. It must be really hard to see and catch..."

"Oh, yeah, it... oh, wow! Harry, look at that!" Tonks said, her attention moving from Harry to something else. Harry followed her gaze to see Andromeda watching them with an amused look on her face. Under one arm, she was toting a cage with a beautiful, snow white owl.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" She said, holding the cage out to him.

Harry knew, after the time he had been spending at the Tonks' house, that wizards used owls to receive and deliver letters to one another, but he had never seen one as beautiful as this one. Taking the cage from her, his mouth open in surprise, he gazed at the owl, who looked back at him curiously.

"It's a girl." Andromeda added before Harry could think up a name either way. "And don't try and say you can't accept it." She said, catching that look in Harry's eyes that meant he was about to try and decline something. She had learned well of it when she had started conjuring robes for him.

"Come on, you two. Harry, you can think of a name on the way. I want to get home and get some lunch into me. Running up and down Diagon Alley all morning's made me a bit hungry." Andromeda said, picking up a couple of bags again after tapping the right bricks in the wall to cause it to open.

"Whatcha gonna call her?" Tonks asked quietly as the two trailed after the older woman.

"I...I dunno. Sorry, girl... can you let me sleep on it?" Harry asked the owl, who offered a soft hoot in response. Harry hoped this meant that she would.

"Snow White?" Tonks offered as they re-entered The Leaky Cauldron. "Snowy? No, wait, that's more a dog's name, isn't it? Umm...Flaky? Crystal? Icicle? Corn Flakes!"

"Corn Flakes?" Harry and Andromeda asked at the same time, casting strange looks at Tonks, who blushed and looked off, muttering something quietly.

"My daughter, the nutter." Andromeda said, letting out a melodramatic sigh. "Tom!" She then called out to the bartender, who turned her way. "We'll be Flooing home. I'll leave the money on the table nearest the fireplace, if that's alright."

Tom, the bartender, grinned (if you could call it that) and nodded at Andromeda, then went back to serving the customers. All of whom kept sneaking glances at Harry. He was, therefore, grateful that Andromeda decided to let him go first.

"I'll go let your owl out before I go. Can't Floo with animals, I'm afraid. She'll be able to find you, though." Andromeda had explained as he grabbed a handful of Powder and stepped into the fireplace. As he looked from Andromeda to Tonks to his first ever real birthday present, he couldn't help but grin. Despite the run-ins with Hagrid and Malfoy, it was turning out to be Harry's best birthday ever. Something, he hoped as he found himself whizzing past the fireplaces of other Wizarding families and businesses, that would continue until he closed his eyes and fell asleep that night.