The Years Beyond

by Shada Nada

Did you ever wonder how Harry grew up? If he had children? What life was like for his children? If so, then voila, here's the story for you. It's a story about Harry's daughter, although The-Man-Who-Lived himself will make frequent appearances.

2. Letters Lead to Shopping

Chapter One – Letters Lead to Shopping

There was something interesting about that house. No matter what way someone was to look at it, it was just unusual. The neighbors were often caught debating on whether or not that was a bad thing; some thought a little diversity could never hurt. Others, however, were more suspicious. Those such people were prone to ask questions such as, "Haven't you seen the walls of their living room? Red. Bright red.With a huge lion on the far wall. It's a disgrace for them to open their curtains!" Some argued that this added individuality, and that lions weren't particularly dislikeable creatures. There were other things that were strange about the house, too, though. There was no mailbox, for instance. And the lawn was intentionally mowed only once in a very long while. Not to mention the visitors – such visitors one never did see! But nobody would dare say a word to the house's occupants. Lovelier people one never did meet, said talk around the neighborhood. Especially the man of the house. Nobody ever criticized Harry Potter and his family directly, oh no. To do so would be cause for the rest of the neighborhood to turn on you. For Harry Potter and his family were one of the finest that lived on Crescent Drive, and nobody was keen on losing them anytime soon.

The man himself, they said, was one of the most intriguing people one could ever meet. Sure, he was polite and charming, but it was so much more than that that drew them in. Most people couldn't put a finger on it, and some went so far as to say that his eyes alone were enough to draw a person in. Such eyes one never did see; eyes that told a story as if through a movie strangely muted. Details of his past were unknown; the child had never been anything spectacular, they said, and some even mentioned hearing rumors that he had been a criminal! But nobody could ever imagine Harry Potter doing such a thing. He was just too...likeable. His wife, Ginny, was just as pleasing. She was something of a socialite, and although there were rumors that she had once been confused on how to work an oven, these were soon cleared up and disregarded. No, Ginny Potter was just as charming and lovely as her husband, and everyone loved them both. And then there was the child. Nobody was sure quite how to describe Kayla Potter, but they were all somehow sure of one thing. She was her father's daughter.

Kayla Potter herself was oblivious to these rumors, as was her entire family. Truth be told, they didn't pay much attention to their neighbors, except for the ones directly on their left. Their interesting choice of decoration, however, wasn't the only thing that set them apart. They operated much differently from regular families. For one thing, they never used their telephone. Instead, their most common method of communication was their fireplace. They were no ordinary family – on the contrary, they were a wizarding family. Kayla had long been a part of the wonderful world of wizardry, and loved every minute of it. The reason why, of course, was because of how exciting it all was. She thrived on tales of adventure and action, longing to have a few of her own one day. True, many children would consider growing up in a family where magic was used left and right an adventure, but Kayla was sure there was more to it.

Now, as she lay peacefully under her covers, the rays of the morning sun threatened to awaken her as they scattered themselves across her bed. She looked to be nothing more than a small lump in the bedding, excepting her hair. It was easily notable in contrast to the white sheets; jet black and curled into small, springy ringlets and spread across the pillow as if it had simply exploded. Her face was partially obscured by this, but underneath it lay a small face, eyes closed peacefully and a smattering of freckles running across her nose. Her mouth was partially open as she slept, and one hand lay on the pillow before her. She had no way of seeing the two figures standing in the doorway, their arms around one another as they surveyed her and spoke softly to each other. But the sun persisted in its quest to wake her, and soon she found snatches of her parent's conversation reaching her ears.

"Naw, Gin, don't wake her up," she heard her father protesting, "She's so...peaceful."

"Are you saying that for her sake or yours?" was her mother's teasing reply.

She heard her father chuckle as he replied, "I say it for all of our sanity, darling."

"I heard that," Kayla informed him groggily, eyes fluttering open to meet her father's gaze with something akin to accusation.

Immediately he put on his most innocent face, giving her a disarming grin. "Morning, sweetheart," he said cheerily. She closed her eyes once more in response, ready for some more sleep before she spoke any further.

"No you don't," came her father's voice, "Up!"

"Why?" she mumbled incoherently into her pillow, very surprised when her mother seemed to have understood it anyway.

"Because we're meeting up with the gang today," she replied, and then, in response to Kayla's groan, "You'll have lots of fun, sweetie, promise. We're meeting in Diagon Alley."

For a moment, Kayla considered getting out of bed. Almost immediately afterwards she decided against it. She gave a groan and put her pillow over her head, and heard her mother and father laugh simultaneously. It was a bit unnerving how they tended to do that so often.

"Up, sleepyhead, unless you want to set out without breakfast," her father instructed.

The next thing she heard was the gentle click of her door being closed as her parents exited. She rolled over onto her back, putting a hand up in protest to the bright sun. She wasn't sure if she was in the mood to meet up with the 'gang' or not, but she figured that she may as well get out of bed if she wanted to grab breakfast before doing so. The 'gang' referred to many people, including the members of the former Order of the Phoenix, a few of her parent's old school friends, and usually, it included the whole of the Weasley clan. As she stumbled out of bed and began to rummage through her closet for clothes, she knew that she probably would end up having fun, no matter how much it pained her to get out of bed. After tugging on a pair of jeans and a pink tank top, she paused for a visit in front of the mirror. As she had suspected (and dreaded) her hair was sticking up in every which way, the stubborn flyaway curls giving her a look as if she had just stuck her finger into an electrical socket. She gave a burdened sigh before picking up her brush and wetting it, preparing for the daily fight she waged with her hair. In a few minutes, her hair had been tamed to a still unruly-looking bundle of curls that fell down to just past her shoulders. She didn't think it looked particularly wonderful, but her hair never had, really, so she gave up at that. Being eleven years old, her hair wasn't exactly at the top of her priority list, either. She took one last glance in the mirror, frowned at her freckles, and tugged on her trainers as she hopped down the stairs.

The smell of her mother's cooking was making her mouth water long before she reached the bottom, and once her shoes were firmly onto her feet, she broke into a trot the rest of the way down and into the kitchen. As usual, her mother was standing at the stove, tending to the eggs. She liked the fact that her mother cooked the 'muggle' (non-magical) way for the simple reason that it made breakfast seem all the more worthwhile. The curtains were open in order to give the neighbors a clear view of her mother acting 'normal', and every so often somebody walking by would wave, and her mother would pause and return the gesture, beaming. What the neighbors couldn't see, however, was the fireplace in the corner, where her father was currently engaging in a conversation with one of his friends – or rather, one of his friend's heads. She stood on her tiptoes to get a better look at whoever was in the fire, and caught sight of her favorite uncle – or one of them, at least. He caught sight of her, as well, and his face broke into an even wider grin.

"Ho, ho!" he exclaimed, "What's my Kay doing up so early?"

She placed the voice easily as she jumped towards the fireplace at her father's invitational gesture. "Mum and Dad woke me up," she pretended to complain, "You've gotta get 'em back for it, Uncle George!"

"Will do!" her uncle replied cheerfully, winking at her, "I'm sure Fred and I got a few things that'll work quite nicely."

Kayla gave a giggle, and both she and her father looked ready to reply when they were interrupted by a tap at the window – the very same whose curtains were open in order for a 'normal' view. In fact, the scene would be rather abnormal for anyone watching. A tawny brown owl was tapping on their window with it's beak, a letter tied around it's leg. Her mother only had to lean forward a bit in order to open it, but a most peculiar thing happened when she reached out her hand to accept the letter. It flew past her and headed not for Kayla's father, but for her. It hovered in front of her importantly, holding out its leg in a dignified manner. Kayla didn't touch it, but rather leaned forward and read out the words: "Miss Kayla Potter, Kitchen, Number 12 Crescent Drive." She then looked up at her father and mother questioningly, but their voices weren't the ones that answered.

"Well, go on then," her uncle prompted impatiently.

A slight smile on her face, she took the letter, ignoring whatever the seal in the upper right hand corner had been a picture of, and opened it. She withdrew a letter and unfolded it rather timidly. She wasn't accustomed to getting letters, really, and she couldn't see who could have sent her one. As she read, her eyes began to widen as she realized who had.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmistress: Audra Moore

Dear Miss Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no longer than July 31.

Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

Kayla's eyes scanned and re-scanned the paper, whilst her heart felt about to burst. It was often that her father and mother told her tales of their days at Hogwarts – tales of wondrous things, tales of things that excited her so much she could simply throw her head back and laugh with delight at the thought. Evading teachers when they snuck out after hours, getting into trouble and making a narrow and impressive escape, not to mention the stories her father had. Oh, the stories! She knew that she would never be able to do anything as impressive as to take on someone like Voldemort, but all the same, she thought her father had experienced much more of a good life than he gave it credit for. She couldn't understand why he flatly refused to tell her some of the stories, saying that she wouldn't be able to handle it until she was older, but the look on his face when he said so had always made her obey. But now, she could make her own adventures. All the stories of adventure and wonder that she had heard from her parents – all that was to be hers! She didn't realize that she was jumping up and down on the spot until the smell of burnt eggs that meant her mother had neglected to her cooking reached her nose, and her father interrupted her reverie.

"Well?" he demanded.

"I'm going," she whispered reverently in reply, holding the letter out towards him but dancing away before he could grab a hold of it. Already dreams and schemes of the exciting life she was going to have danced before her eyes, making her feel both terribly excited and terribly nervous.

"Going where?" her mother asked curiously, watching her daughter with barely concealed amusement.

"Where do you think?" George roared suddenly from the fireplace, beaming from ear-to-ear, "She's gotten her Hogwarts letter!"

Kayla had expected the effect to be her mother breaking into delighted squeals and her father lifting her up and swinging her about his head like he always did when he was happy. She didn't get what she expected. Her father and her mother slowly turned to look at each other, and then, as if they were each thinking exactly the same thing at the same moment, their eyes traveled in unison to Kayla's discarded envelope. Her father slowly reached out and picked it up, her mother scurrying to see over his shoulder, and Kayla watched with a mixture of fascination and curiosity as he examined the seal at some length. Neither of her parents said a word until George cleared his throat, looking just as puzzled as Kayla.

"That was her Hogwarts letter, wasn't it?" he asked pointedly.

"Yes," the three Potters replied in unison.

What followed was an awkward silence during which Kayla exchanged a questioning glance with her uncle, broken finally by her father's voice. "Merlin be damned."

"Harry!" her mother hissed disapprovingly, glaring at him as she began to magically restore the eggs to an edible position.

While neither of her parents seemed worried, and her uncle merely shocked, Kayla was purely fretful. Why weren't her parents happy? They were going to let her go, weren't they? There was no way they couldn't. They knew how much she wanted to go, how much she had always wanted to go – but why weren't they doing something other than looking as if the world had ended? Her father rose and walked up to her, looking as serious as she had ever seen him. He removed the letter from her hands and tossed it carelessly onto the table. Her gaze followed it, but he lifted her chin so that she was looking him in the face and placed his hands on her shoulders. He looked at her for a long time, and she looked back. She witnessed, out of the corner of her eye, both her mother and uncle watching interestedly. When she focused on her father again, he was looking at her with the same serious expression, unwavering and with an emotion she couldn't read. When he spoke, it was quietly, but his voice seemed to boom across the room as if he were speaking into a microphone.

"Don't look at me like that, Kayla," he said gently, "You know I'll let you go."

Actually, she hadn't known. Relief coursed through her like a river, quickly to be replaced by worry. What was he looking at her like that for, then? He looked as if he were having a very difficult time forming words, something she rarely saw in him. Her Uncle Ron had once informed her that it used to be a very common occurrence, but she had never been able to picture it as such.

"You're so...I didn't realize...Kayla," he said helplessly, looking to her mother as if for support.

"I've told you," was all her mother said, glancing back at her father before beginning to dish out their breakfasts.

"What is it, Dad?" Kayla prodded, looking up at him imploringly.

He gave her an oddly helpless kind of look before speaking in almost a whisper. "You're so old."

For a moment, she wasn't quite sure how to respond. He was going crazy because she was old? That made no sense whatsoever. For starters, she was only eleven. She began to think of the other reasons, as well, but her father suddenly drew her into a hug. After a moment's thought, she returned it. He held her tightly, as if unwilling to let go, and after a few moments of hesitation during which she noticed that George had disappeared from the fireplace, she returned it with equal fierceness, squeezing her eyes shut as she did so. When she drew away, she was beyond relieved to see a smile on her father's face.

"Kayla," he said suddenly, "Kayla, do you realize what this means? You're going to Hogwarts!"

With that he let out a whoop of joy and lifted her up into the air, spinning her around as she had been hoping she would. When he set her down, there was an absurdly mischievous gleam in his eye as he did the same for her mother, causing her to shriek with laughter and threaten not to serve breakfast if he didn't put her down. With a kiss, he obliged, taking a seat and beginning to talk from the moment he did so.

"We'll get your school things today while we're in Diagon. Ginny!"

"Yes, darling?" her mother said serenely from across the table, winking at her daughter.

"She'll need robes, books, a cauldron, a wand, an owl-"

"I think everything she needs is on her list, dear."

"Oh. Right," her father agreed, sounding highly disappointed as he took a bite of scrambled egg.

Kayla was too deep in thought to take part in the conversation her parents then began on their own experiences shopping for school supplies. There seemed to be something secretive in their eyes in the way they spoke of some books in her mother's cauldron, but she paid it little notice. She was in euphoria. She didn't know why her father had temporarily gone insane, but she decided not to dwell on it. All she knew was that she was going to Hogwarts – it was a dream come true. Abandoning her breakfast completely, her emerald green eyes took on a dreamy, glazed expression as she stared off into space, a thousand questions already pouring through her mind. It came as a bit of a shock to her when her mother's voice penetrated her daydreams and brought her crashing to reality.

"Kayla, it's time to leave," she sang out.

Kayla's eyes widened as she looked around, regaining her bearings with effort. "Already?" she exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing a piece of her uneaten toast.

"Yes, already. Come now, your father's summoning the bus," her mother replied, smiling.

Kayla traveled outside with her mother, still too excited to do much. Upon exiting the house, she spotted her father, her aunt and uncle, and her cousin at the corner. Her relatives lived only next door, and she knew them nearly as well as her own family. Whilst her own family would have quite a job disguising the various signs that they were a wizarding family if muggles were to enter their house, the Weasleys, who lived next door, blended into the neighborhood perfectly. Each of their walls was a lovely pleasant shade of tan, and their furniture nothing out of the ordinary. Kayla's aunt had raised both her own daughter and Kayla to know the ways of the muggle world as well as the wizarding world, whilst her own parents didn't seem to think the former very important. Still, she was very happy that there were not going to be any muggle neighbors around to overhear their conversation whilst on the Knight Bus, since she very much wanted to explode with excitement. She bounded up the steps of the bus after her father, calling her cousin's name frantically but unable to see the other girl due to her father's figure directly in her way.

"Sonia! Sonia, get over here!" she called over her father's shoulder.

"I can't, my mum won't let me!" her cousin complained.

Next came a variety of yelling back and forth, Kayla frantically trying to get the news that she had gotten her Hogwarts letter to her cousin while her Aunt Hermione said something remotely like 'You two will see each other when we sit down'. The only drawback was that it was very hard to hear over her cousin's protests, her Uncle Ron's attempts to mediate the affair, and her own parent's laughs. Finally her father turned, lifted her up, and swung her into a seat directly next to her cousin, who was making a face at her mother.

"Sonia," Kayla said again, poking her cousin in the arm, "Guess what?"

Her cousin turned to her, eyes growing wider when she saw the look on Kayla's face. Kayla had known Sonia for as long as she could remember, and vice versa. The two girls were often described as being like sisters, but the two knew that it could never be so. They looked to be complete opposites, for one. Sonia was tall and lanky, with light brown, slightly bushy hair and wide, light blue eyes that always seemed to hold a smile. Her skin was unblemished, a light porcelain shade that, whilst she complained of being too sensitive to the sun, seemed to make her face have a kind of glow. Now, at eleven years of age, Sonia looked as if she would be 'all elbows and knees', as her mother called it, but Kayla knew different. Even with her height advantage and skinniness, Sonia moved as gracefully as a ballerina, something Kayla envied. Kayla, on the other hand, was petite and unruly-looking, with flyaway black spirals that moved in every which direction whenever she so much as moved her head and bright emerald eyes that had the uncanny ability to portray her emotions. With her rambunctious personality, her looks only seemed to add to the conception that chaos followed her wherever she went. In all reality, they did; only they were self-caused chaos. She had a knack for knocking things over in excitement, which often either led to tripping or were caused by first doing so. The fact that she was nearly always excited over something didn't help much, either.

"What is it Kay?" her cousin was asking.

Kayla grinned widely, only spurred on by the fact that her aunt and uncle looked very curious, as well. "I got my Hogwarts letter!" she declared.

The sound of the two girls squealing may or may not have led to the way the bus jerked unsteadily as it rounded a corner, but it definitely had to do with the whoops of joy coming from the two girl's fathers. After they had finished being overly excited, they drew back and as Kayla began to babble excitedly, Sonia listened with an expression of interest on her face. Another thing that the girls lacked in common was their personalities. Sonia was always well-mannered and polite, with a refined, knowledgeable sense about her, whereas Kayla, while polite, somehow didn't seem to match up to her cousin. When Sonia said 'thank you', something about it just seemed right, and oftentimes Kayla's own manners made her feel clumsy when compared to her cousin's. Nevertheless, Sonia was oftentimes the only one Kayla could talk to, and therefore, she did so.

"...and today we're going to get my school supplies and since you got your letter last week we can get yours at the same time and we can both have them and it's going to be so fun!" Kayla finished enthusiastically, her run-on sentence having gone on for quite some time.

"Yes, it will," Sonia agreed, a cheerful lilt to her voice.

Kayla nearly jumped in again, but paused at the sound of both sets of parents discussing Hogwarts.

"-this Moore gal, what have you heard about her?" her father was asking. Kayla realized that he was holding her letter in his hands, referring to the headmistress.

"Oh, she's absolutely delightful," Hermione volunteered, grabbing the attention of the other three adults and the two children.

"What do you know about her?" Ron demanded. His tone suggested feeling that he had been left out, and Kayla and Sonia didn't hesitate to giggle at it.

"Oh, relax," Hermione said, smiling at her husband reassuringly, "I've only heard things about her while at work. You see, we had a lady come in the other day who had a son at Hogwarts, a first year Hufflepuff, and he was getting bullied by some of the other children, you know. She called the boy and the bullies into her office and had a talk with them, and then excused the boy and worked out a kind of community service for the bully."

Kayla looked to her father for a reaction, to see that he looked slightly disgruntled. "Community service," he scoffed, "That wouldnt've stopped anyone in our day."

Hermione looked scandalized by the comment, whereas Ron and Kayla's mother seemed to agree with her father. "It's a perfectly wonderful alternative to signing Professor Lockhart's fan mail," she retorted, a hint of scathing in her voice.

This only brought on laughs from everyone, making her look even more outraged.

"Oh come off it, 'Mione," Ron said finally, putting an arm around her waist, "Community service's nothing – shoulda put him in a detention with Snape!"

"I better not hear of Kayla getting a detention with the old git," Harry growled, narrowing his eyes.

"I'd better not hear of Kayla getting a detention at all," her mother corrected, giving Kayla a warning look.

Kayla, on the other hand, paid her no attention but jumped in to her father's comment. "If he does, Daddy, can I tell him that you'll come and hex him?" she asked eagerly, bouncing in her seat as the bus lurched around another corner.

"You sure can," her father replied, "You can tell him that if he lays one greasy finger on you, I'll-"

"Harry!" her mother interrupted warningly.

Her father stopped, looking nearly as disappointed as Kayla and Sonia, who dearly wanted to know what he would do to Snape if he should give Kayla a detention.

"Don't go getting in any detentions," her father said resignedly, although Kayla thought that he sounded rather as if he hoped she would.

"Isn't this our stop?" Sonia asked suddenly.

The adults all turned to look out the window and Ron gave a yelp, jumping up and yanking his family with him as he yelled up to the front not to start the bus. Laughing, Kayla and her parents followed. The bus disappeared as soon as they stepped out in front of the Leaky Cauldron, and Kayla's father had to physically restrain her to keep her from running into the pub. Only when they entered did she become still, her eyes searching intently. Yes, there were the Weasleys – and her father's friends – but where was he? Her father nudged her and pointed a finger slightly to the right of where she was looking. She followed it and a smile crossed her face. An old, tired-looking wizard with graying hair was sitting at a table with a witch who sported a nosering and bubblegum pink hair. The witch caught sight of Kayla and said something that made the old wizard look up; a smile spreading across his face when he saw her. Kayla was no longer able to contain herself. She set off towards the table at a run, narrowly avoiding collisions with the others bustling about the pub.

"Grandpa Remus!" she squealed, launching herself into his arms and nearly knocking him out of his chair.

The witch across the table gave a snort of amusement, muttering 'grandpa' under her breath. Kayla peered backwards in order to give her a wave, but then hugged Remus again.

"Kayla, you're going to kill him," her father said amusedly from behind her.

"No I won't!" she exclaimed, being joined at the same time by Remus with a "No she won't!"

Her father chuckled and pulled up a chair, allowing her mother to seat herself in his lap as Kayla adjusted herself in her "grandpa's". Kayla beamed at the werewolf as she pulled back, watching as his face went from looking like 'grandpa' material to becoming years younger. True, Remus wasn't her grandpa, but she had dubbed him as such from the time she was very little, and nobody had ever objected to the habit. In fact, Remus seemed to be quite pleased whenever he heard the word exit her mouth. Besides that, she knew that her own father thought of him as such, and that would definitely make him her grandfather. She had been aware that he was a werewolf since she was eight, and had never experienced a moment of doubt about it. He was kind, gentle, and sweet – why on earth would it bother her that he was also a werewolf? Now, as she sat in his lap, she didn't see how anyone could be prejudiced against him in the least.

"Guess what, Grandpa?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"What?" he replied, sounding almost as eager to hear the information as she was to give it.

"I got my letter from Hogwarts today!" she said excitedly.

"Ah," he replied wisely, "Yes, I was expecting you would since your birthday passed."

"Harry wasn't," her mother volunteered, giving her father as lightly teasing look.

"I hadn't thought of it," her father defended himself, a sheepish grin on his face, "I mean, I had but...I hadn't thought of her leaving home..."

He paused, looking at Kayla almost wistfully. Her mother joined in, and Kayla felt very much on the spotlight. She turned to Remus only to see that he was looking at her in the same way, and, across the table, Tonks mirrored the other three.

"What is it?" she demanded, directing the question at Remus.

He gave a sigh and straightened, fingering one of her curls. "It's just that I won't be able to see my little girl as much," he told her, making her smile.

"You?" her father demanded, "What am I going to do?"

"I'm the one who gave birth to her!" her mother protested.

"But it's me who changes my appearance for her!" Tonks chimed in.

Soon, the adults were waging a full-fledged war about who would miss Kayla the most, although she knew that it was mostly for her benefit that they were doing so. Truthfully, she thought that she would miss home, but not enough to want to miss out on Hogwarts in the least. On the contrary, she thought that leaving home would be a welcome change. She would get to be independent; free-willed – at least, that was what she thought. Directing her attention back to the adults, she got her grandpa's attention by waving a hand in front of his face, drawing the entire argument to a halt.

"Come and get my school supplies with me?" she asked hopefully.

"Wouldn't miss it," he replied with a grin.

Kayla would have been content to sit in his lap with her parents and Tonks, waiting until they could go shopping, but her mother soon put a halt to that daydream.

"Now Kayla, you need to go say hello to the rest of the family," she chided.

Kayla threw a look over where there was a sea of bright red heads bobbing jovially about, and a slight smile crossed her face. The Weasleys were fun, even if she would rather have stayed with her grandpa. She turned and gave him an apologetic look as she bent to kiss his cheek and then hopped off towards the sea of red. She knew that she stood out like a sore thumb in the crowd with her head of black hair and bright green eyes, but somehow, it never felt that way when she was in the midst of them. It was a strangely comforting feeling to know that even though she stood out to strangers, she couldn't tell when she was surrounded by the warm, accepting family.

After a very long time trying to say hello and hold polite conversation with everyone in the family, which she had been told multiplied greatly since her father was a child, she felt very ready to leave. It wasn't that she didn't like them, it was just that she felt that she would much rather be getting her wand than hearing about the latest article in the daily prophet that had absolutely nothing to do with her. Her Grandpa Arthur entertained her for a bit by telling her stories of his first wand, but that only made her more eager to go and get on with it. She was very happy when her father slipped in among the crowd and put his hands on her shoulders as she spoke with her Uncle Bill, informing him that they had to leave or Ginny would personally slay him for not allowing enough time for Kayla's shopping. After waving many, many goodbyes that seemed to take an alarming amount of time for a task so simple, they were walking towards the wall that would open to lead them into Diagon Alley. Her grandpa, mother, Sonia, and her parents were all waiting when they arrived, knowing smiles on their faces as her father muttered about never able to get away. Kayla bounced on her heels as he tapped the bricks and they separated, leading them into a place that she had only seen twice before in her life, and only when she had gone with her father to withdraw money from their account followed by some ice cream.

"Some robes first, I think," her mother instructed, pointing them towards Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

Kayla chatted with Sonia as they neared the store, the both of them walking fast in order to reach their destination quicker. They were well ahead of the adults, and lengthening their lead quite nicely with every step. Kayla had to half jog in order to keep up with Sonia's long strides, chatting to the other girl the entire way. Unfortunately, that meant that she wasn't looking where she was going when she pushed open the door to the shop and walked in. Sonia's gaze averted suddenly, and her quiet 'Watch out!' was too late. Kayla ran smack into somebody, giving an ungraceful 'Oomph!' as she stumbled backwards. A strong hand reached out and grabbed a hold of her arm, steadying her, but when she looked up to see who it was, they let go as if she had electrocuted them. A tall, blonde man with silver-gray eyes drew in a sharp breath as he looked at her, his expression going from apologetic to shocked in a moment. In a sharp motion, he reached out and yanked her chin upwards so that he could better study her features, a smirk forming on his face. At his side, what looked like a mini-replica of him stood watching, looking as if he didn't understand any better than Kayla. Kayla tried to take a step backwards, but his other arm reached out and held her in place, and she felt a jolt of panic.

"Well, well, well," the man said finally, "What have we here?"

His grip on her arm tightened until it hurt, and Kayla shot a glance over at Sonia, who was looking utterly terrified was she watched. She looked back up at the man, something inside of her depriving her of words.

"Potter," the man spat suddenly, "You're Potter's girl. Aren't you?"

His grip tightened and he drew her closer, malice in his eyes. Kayla heard Sonia give a whimper, and very nearly told her not to be such a baby and go for help like any sane person was. Instead, she made her gaze towards the man as cold as she could and replied in what she thought was a sensible manner.

"Maybe."

He gave a laugh, and his hand yanked her chin further upwards. "Aren't you?" he repeated venomously.

It happened in an instant. Kayla narrowed her eyes and, without thinking, kicked him in the shin as hard as she possibly could. He gave a roar of rage and rose one hand up in order to hit her, but something crashed into him with the force of a small rocket, sending them both crashing to the ground. Kayla stood for a moment, as if petrified, before she realized that it had been her father who had flown through the air and launched onto the man, who was now attempting to punch him. She screamed, and was echoed by her mother, as a blow landed neatly on her father's cheek. Sonia's father, on the other hand, gave a yell of fury and jumped into the pile, landing a hard blow to the other man's face.

"Ronald Weasley!" Sonia's mother screeched, "You get up right now! And take Harry with you, for Merlin's sake!"

She didn't have to add that last bit, however, for Kayla's own mother joined in, her voice just as furious. "Harry James Potter, get off of the floor this instant! You're making a scene! Look what you're teaching your daughter!"

The two men backed off of the blonde one reluctantly, panting hard and shooting looks of pure hatred towards him. Sonia's father, now sporting the makings of a black eye, turned towards his wife with anger evident as he gestured to the other man, who was sweeping himself off in what he seemed to think was a dignified manner. In truth, he held promise of two black eyes, a nasty cut on his lip and forehead, and bruises all over his face. He also seemed to be favoring the right side of his abdomen, where her father had thrown herself at him.

"Did you see what he was going to do to Kayla, Hermione?" he demanded, "The little cockroach was going to hit her! The filthy, low down, b-"

"Ron!" Hermione cut off, looking furious.

Kayla vaguely heard the argument as she watched her father, who was shaking with fury as he looked at the blonde man; who, in truth, was doing much the same.

"Potter," he spat.

"Malfoy," her father returned, glaring.

Immediately Kayla realized who the man was, and her eyes flickered to the boy who had been at his side. He was staring at her, as well. For a moment, they looked at each other blankly as the adults all fought. Remus had now joined her mother in chiding her father for his temper, but her father was throwing insults at Draco, who returned them with pleasure. Sonia was attempting to get her mother and father to calm down, and being wholly unsuccessful. The owner of a store was questioning the family, trying to find out what had happened while she had been gathering fabric in the back room. Meanwhile, Kayla and the strange boy surveyed each other quietly. Finally, she spoke.

"Is this going to be your first year at Hogwarts?" she asked. Her voice was cautious, quiet even.

"Yes," he replied shortly, "You?"

She nodded in reply, and an awkward silence ensued as they still stared, summing each other up. "I'm Kayla Potter," she volunteered finally.

"Kabir Malfoy," he replied.

Kayla tilted her head at him for a moment before asking a question she very well knew the answer to. "What house do you think you'll be in?"

"Slytherin," he answered automatically, "My whole family has been. And you...you'll be a Gryffindor, right?"

"Yeah, prolly," Kayla answered conversationally, about to question him more when she realized that the store had suddenly grown silent.

All eyes were now focused on the two, every breath baited. Everyone had stopped their fighting, arguing, and insulting when they realized that the two were speaking. Kayla and Kabir had noticed that much without taking their eyes off of each other, and in a matter of seconds. Kabir's lips suddenly formed into a smirk.

"Well, I'm sorry in advance," he said in a much colder voice, "It must be awful to be doomed to be a Gryffingit."

The entire room seemed to let out a breath of relief.

"Look who's talking!" Kayla retorted sharply, "You're just jealous because Slytherins are cowards."

She knew that this was ridiculous; neither her nor Kabir had been sorted yet, and for all they knew, she would end up in Slytherin and he in Gryffindor. Yet, everyone seemed to feel much better now that the two were throwing insults at one another.

"Now Kabir," Draco drawled suddenly, "We really must be going. You and the lovely Miss Potter will have plenty of time together at Hogwarts, will you not?"

Kabir's smirk widened as he looked contemptuously at Kayla. "Sure will," he confirmed.

Kayla made a face at him as he turned to go, and he sneered back at her all the way out of the store. Silence settled upon the group, broken only by the sound of her mother kissing her father's newly bruised cheek. "Poor baby," she cooed. Sonia's mother gave a derisive snort, obviously not thinking that Kayla's father was a 'poor baby' for jumping on Draco Malfoy and engaging in a fistfight. Kayla, on the other hand, now saw why her father had declared the Malfoys in a league of gits completely their own. Sure, he had been fine in the beginning, but that horrible smirk! It was enough to make her want to slap it right off. And with that thought in mind, she allowed herself to be measured, letting her dislike of Kabir Malfoy sink in to it's fullest extent.

The rest of shopping passed in a blur. To her disappointment, not even getting her wand had been as exciting as watching her father punch the living daylights out of an old school enemy. It had been wonderful, though. She had ended up with a fourteen inch willow, with a core of unicorn hair. She had also gotten some pocket money from her father, cauldron load full of new books, a nifty little gadget for Astronomy, and, to her utter delight, an owl. She had wanted one for as long as she could remember, and taken a good long while to find one. When the group exited, she sported a cage holding a pure black screech owl, while Sonia held a cage with a large, tawny brown. When they passed the Quidditch shop, she had begged her father for a new broom, but he held firm in his declaration not to get her one until her second year, when she could try out for the team.

"But dad, you've only got the old Firebolt," she complained, "They were outstripped ages ago! How am I supposed to practice?"

"First years aren't allowed a broom anyway," he replied, "And don't worry, I'm sure my Firebolt will do you justice for practicing. It's only down by two models!"

"That's still a lot," she grumbled under her breath, glaring at him but finding she had to return the grin he was giving her.

All in all, it was a very tiring day, for something as simple as shopping. They stayed at Sonia's house for dinner, but Kayla was overcome with fatigue the entire time; something very rare for her. Her father teased her about her curls drooping when she was tired, but she simply retorted by telling him that it was the excitement of seeing him in a muggle fight that drained all her energy. Everything in her struggled to stay awake long enough to make it home, but after that she could hardly remember trudging up the stairs and taking the time to put on her pajamas before collapsing into bed, asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. That night, her dreams took her on a different adventure than they ever had before. They took her to Hogwarts, to the crimson-colored steam engine that her father had told her of time and time again. She had a smile on her face as she slept.