Ah, no time for long notes now. I have to be ready to go in about 15 minutes, so I'm really pushing it at the moment. This chapter will be edited a bit also, later on, but there's no time for that now. I'll post the next chapter when I get back!

Chapter 7: A Trip to Diagon Alley

"Mrs. Weasley, I can't- Really."

"Come now, dear, I insist."

Hermione heaved a sigh. "Fine." She took the currency from Mrs. Weasley and put it into her purse. Molly had insisted on giving Hermione money for her damaged bra, and suggested that she and Ron go to Diagon Alley to buy a new one, or whatever else she wished to do with the money. "Ron," Hermione yelled up the stairs, "get down here!"

A few moments later, Ron trudged down the stairs rubbing his eyes. "What's up?" he questioned sleepily. It was clear that he had just woken up.

"You and Hermione will be going to Diagon Alley today," Mrs. Weasley informed him. "I thought that the two of you should get out of the house for a day; you're probably sick of being cooped up in this old house." It wasn't true; they weren't tired of the house and they were constantly outside. But they figured that it would be fun to get out of the house for the first time that summer. "I think that the two of you should wait to buy your school things, we'll go shopping later with Harry and Ginny. So get ready and you two go and have fun."

"Sounds like f-fu-fun," said Ron, his mouth stretching wide into a yawn. He and Hermione went up to their rooms to change. Fifteen minutes later they both stood in the kitchen, ready to go. Ron wore his usual jeans and a green t-shirt. Hermione wore a pair of jean shorts with a purple shirt.

"So, will we be getting there by floo?" Ron asked Hermione.

"No, genius, we're going to... fly... there," she spoke the last two words slowly. In the muggle world, it would've been a great retort, but it wasn't so smart in the wizarding world. "Umm, yeah, we're going by floo," Hermione said, trying to shake off her stupid comment.

"Right." Ron smiled and grabbed a fistful of floo powder. He threw it into the hearth and shouted the words, "DIAGON ALLEY," very clearly. He then stepped into the flames and disappeared. Hermione did the same and stepped cautiously into the swirling emerald green flames.

Hermione knew to close her eyes and keep her limbs tucked tightly to her body while traveling via the floo network. If ones arm were sticking out, there would be a great chance that by the time that you got to your destination, it wouldn't be there. Ever since her first time using the floo, she had kept her eyes closed. On that first ride to Diagon Alley with the Weasleys, she had had her eyes open, and regretted it immediately. Once the ride started, it was beyond her power to close them, and by the time the ride was over, she was about to vomit. Luckily she didn't, but the rest of the day was spent with a tremendous headache. Needless to say, Hermione's eyes were closed on the ride back.

Suddenly, Hermione's feet hit solid ground and she began to tumble forward. She prepared herself for cold stone to make contact with her face, but the brick floor never came. Slowly, Hermione opened one eye, then the other. Holding her in his arms was Ron. He had caught her before she could fall to the ground and was grinning at her.

Hermione slowly balanced herself, getting used to the uneven walkway. Bit by bit the spinning in her head was lessening and Hermione was able to stand on her own without Ron's arm for support. "Thanks," she expressed her gratitude.

"No problem. I knew that you'd end up face first into the pavement if I didn't catch you," Ron joked.

"Ha ha," Hermione said sarcastically. She looked at Ron. "Oh, you've got a bit of ash on your face there." She pointed at a large spot of soot on his cheek. "I'll get it for you." Hermione raised her hand and began to rub at the black spot vigorously. "There, now that's better." They shared an uncomfortable smile before turning to walk down the crowded street.

"So where should we go first?"

"How about Flourish and Blotts?"

"Why?" Ron whined.

"Because I would like to see if they have any new books in stock. Now stop complaining or else we won't go to Quality Quidditch Supplies."

Ron stopped his whining immediately. "You're a very persuasive person, did you know that?" Hermione just smiled and kept walking.

After they had visited the bookshop (where Hermione had bought a copy of Charms for Every Occasion: What Spells Can You Use For That Special Event?), they moved on to go to the Quidditch supply store. It took them half an hour before Hermione could finally pull Ron out of the shop, empty-handed and sullen.

"You have money, don't you? Hermione asked Ron.

"Yes."

"Well why didn't you buy anything, then?"

"I didn't buy anything because," Ron paused to think of the right words, "Because I'm saving up for something."

"What are you saving up for?"

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Come on, you can tell me."

"I know I can, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to."

"Please Ron? Please, please, please?"

"NO! Just give it up, will you?"

"I wouldn't have to give it up if you'd just-"

"Hermione!" Ron and Hermione both turned around when a female's voice had called out her name. Hermione smiled when she recognized whom it was, but Ron stood looking about stupidly, wondering who had yelled at Hermione. Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and led him over to a girl standing outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. She was a fairly tall girl, somewhere at about five and a half feet tall, perhaps a few inches more. She had hazel-green eyes and thick strawberry blonde hair that fell halfway down her back in curls and waves. Her age appeared to be around seventeen, at least judging by her height.

"Hey, Jessica," Hermione greeted the girl.

"Hello Hermione, Ron," Ron was startled when he heard the girl say his name. She did look quite familiar, but as far as Ron could remember, he had never met her. "How are you two doing today?"

"Quite good. And yourself?" Hermione answered.

"Pretty well. What brings you to Diagon Alley on such a wondrous day?"

"Well, Ron's mum wanted the two of us to get out of the house and come here. So we've just been hanging out and browsing through the shops. Why are you here?"

"To be truthful, I don't know," Jessica replied. "I got a letter from Professor McGonagall saying to be here at three o'clock this afternoon. She said that either she or Professor Dumbledore would meet me at the Leaky Cauldron, but didn't say why. She also told me to bring my parents-they're both waiting at the Leaky Cauldron. I'm a little nervous actually. But I think she might be meeting me to tell me that I've made Head Girl!"

"Oh, Jessica, that's wonderful!" Hermione shouted in glee.

"Yeah, but I'm just hoping that it's nothing bad. Anyways, I've got some money to burn. Would either of you like an ice cream?" she offered them.

"Yeah," Ron spoke for the first time in the past few minutes. Jessica laughed at Ron's behavior- Boys.

"Okay then, what do you want?"

A few minutes later, the three of them were sitting happily on a bench outside of the parlor, eating their frozen treats.

"Thank you," Hermione thanked Jessica. When Ron only nodded, Hermione elbowed him hard in the side.

"Owe! What?" Ron looked at Hermione with an angry and questioning look. "Oh, yeah-Thanks!"

Jessica just laughed again. "It was nothing. I babysat last night and I just wanted something to burn my money on. Oh crap!" She was looking at her watch. "It's almost three! I've got to go, I'll see you two at Hogwarts," she called to them as she jumped off the bench and ran down the packed street.

Ron was still staring at the spot where they had lost sight of her when he said, "Who exactly was that?"

"Jessica Firehart."

"Oh. Okay. So... Who is she?"

"She's a seventh year Gryffindor, very advanced."

"Does that mean she's seventeen? What makes her so advanced?"

"What's with all the questions?" Hermione asked exasperatedly. "Does Ronald have a crush?" she teased.

Ron's cheeks were tinted pink. "No, I'm only curious. She looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out who exactly she was. You still didn't answer my last question though."

"No, she's not seventeen." Hermione paused. "She just turned sixteen at the beginning of this month."

"What?" Ron nearly choked on his ice cream.

"She should be in our year, but she started a year early because she was so advanced. Don't ask me how, because I don't know. But I do know that there are only a few other witches and wizards that have made it into Hogwarts earlier than their supposed to. She's a prefect too; you probably recognize her from some of the meetings." Ron's mouth was gaping. "I just wonder what Dumbledore wants to talk to her about," Hermione said inquisitively. "I mean, I do think that she's going to get Head Girl, but it's really strange for Dumbledore to tell them that in person, isn't it?"

"Well," said Ron, "Maybe because she's advanced, there are special circumstances or something."

"I don't know. It's just a bit peculiar."

Ron just shrugged his shoulders as he finished his ice cream.