A/N: I know, I know – this is a TERRIBLE story. The first chapters, they suck. But I PROMISE that by chapter 7 or 8, they'll get better. Note that I wrote the earlier chapters in like 2003!

Chapter 4 - Diagon Alley (original huh?)

"Hey, Mum?" Harry asked a few days later. He had gotten used to calling Lily and James "Mum" and "Dad."

"Mmm?" Was Lily's answer.

"I just got my Hogwarts letter, and I was wondering if I could invite Ron and Hermione to come to Diagon Alley, so we can get our new supplies?"

"Ya sure." James answered, "Oh, by the way, I got a letter from Hogwarts also, they want me to be the Quidditch Captain for Gryfindor. So, Harry, how would you like to be back on the team? I heard what happened with that Umbridge Lady."

"I'd Love to! But what about Mum? And Sirius? And Lupin? And Kaylia? And Camellia?" Harry asked

"Well, Kaylia is going to help in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Sirius didn't want to stay here, while she was way over at Hogwarts. And Remus has to go because Sirius and me are going. And Camellia wants to stay with Remus, and your Mum is going because I'm going. Simple enough" Harry was still trying to figure out how that worked when Lily said, "Well, you should probably invite your friends soon to see if they can come."

"Ok." Harry answered as he went upstairs to write the letters to Ron and Hermione. He figured he'd write Ron's first.

Hey Ron,

What's up? Did you get your Hogwarts list? I did, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to Diagon Alley this week. I was planning on inviting Hermione, too. If you do come, I've got a few surprises that I want to show you guys. Reply right away, and this time, please don't suggest that I'm crazy.

See you at Diagon Alley hopefully

Harry

He re-read the letter and sent it off with Hedwig. He figured that he'd write Hermione's while his Owl was gone.

Dear Hermione,

Hey, how are things going? I was wondering if you wanted to go to Diagon Alley with Ron and me sometime this week. I haven't heard from you all summer. Where have you been? I really hope that you can come. Reply Soon!

Love,

Harry

As he re-read this letter, though, he realized he shouldn't have written Love at the bottom of the letter. So, he crossed it out and wrote from. As he looked at it then, it looked terrible, so he re-wrote the whole letter, excluding the "Love" part. Then he laid on his bed, waiting for his, once only, companion to come back with a reply from Ron. After a few minutes, Hedwig came back with a response.

Hey Harry,

I'd love to go with you! Can't wait to see you! My mum said that I could go on Friday.

From,

Ron

Harry thought Friday was fine, so he changed Hermione's letter so it said that they were going to go on Friday.

Dear Hermione,

Hey, how are things going? I was wondering if you wanted to go to Diagon Alley with Ron and me on Friday. I haven't heard from you all summer. Where have you been? I really hope that you can come. Reply Soon!

See ya,

Harry

Re-reading the letter for the last time, He sent his faithful Owl on yet another journey. As Harry watched Hedwig leave his bedroom again, he laid on his bed again waiting for another reply. She came back a few minutes later with a letter much longer than Ron's had been.

Hey Harry,

Sorry I haven't been keeping in touch, I've been very busy lately. I'd love to go to Diagon Alley with you on Friday. I heard that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is only about 19 years old. I got a picture of her; I sent it in this letter. I am so terribly sorry I've missed your birthday, but I promise that I'll buy you something extra special at the Alley. I was just so busy that I lost track of time Well, I've got to go, see ya Harry.

Love,

Hermione.

P.S. Rett opyr rahu oye kili. It's an ancient language, but it means Harry Birthday.

As Harry read the letter, he noticed two things. The first was that Hermione had written, "Love" and the second was that the so-called ancient language looked more like Gibberish.

'Oh well' Harry thought, 'it's probably not important.' Harry was about to go downstairs before he noticed the picture that Hermione had enclosed in her letter. What he saw was breath-taking. The picture was of a beautiful woman, like Hermione said, about 19 years old. She had butt-length, natural black colored hair. Her eyes were a fiery red and orange with long eyelashes. She looked about 5'11" with a thin body. The picture was waving and smiling at Harry, and at the bottom, it said Adriatic Celestia. Harry stared at the picture dumbfounded until he heard Lily calling to him.

"Harry, darling" She called, "Have you found out when your friends can come?"

"Ya," Harry answered "On Friday!"

"Great" Lily said "We'll meet them at the Alley then."

Friday came soon enough and Harry was so excited that Ron and Hermione were going to finally see his parents that he almost forgot to ask Sirius if he could come, also. That ended up not being a problem for Harry, because James had invited Sirius, who invited Kaylia, who invited Camellia, who invited Remus, so in the end everyone was coming.

"Mum." Harry asked. "How exactly are we getting to Diagon Alley?"

"Floo Powder, of course!" Lily said.

"But, there's no fireplace!" Harry observed

"I can fix that," James chimed in. With a wave of his wand, a fireplace appeared out of nowhere.

"I'll go first." He grabbed a handful of Floo Power, threw it into the fire, and walked into it yelling "Diagon Alley" Lily went next, followed by Harry. Remembering past experiences with Floo Power, he took his glasses off, and stepped into the fire yelling "Diagon Alley" The strange sensation was nothing new to Harry, as he closed his eyes, waiting to hit bottom. Once he did, he put his glasses back on, and went to find Lily and James. He found them in the entrance of Diagon Alley, they had already opened it up, and they walked right in where they met Sirius, Kaylia, Camellia, and Remus.

"Well I'm going to look for Hermione and Ron" Harry said, slipping away from the crowd. Harry didn't want to face Hermione, because he had finally decoded the message at the end of her letter. He didn't want Hermione to know that he didn't feel the same way she did. Also, he didn't want to say that and be totally wrong.

'Maybe' he thought 'Rett opyr rahu oye kili doesn't mean I like you Harry Potter. After all, I'd doubt Hermione would want to go out with me. I like our friendship just fine.' As he was pondering what to do, he walked right into Ron and Hermione.

"Oh sorry," He said absent-mindedly. Then he realized who he had bumped into "OH hey!" He exclaimed. "Err, you guys?" He also had to tell them that he was in the N.E.W.T. potions.

"Ya?" Ron asked.

"Err" Harry started "I'm in N.E.W.T classes for potions." He said in a rush.

"WHAT?" Ron yelled "You're taking N.E.W.T?"

"Well, I want to be an Arorur, and Professor McGonagall said that I had to be in N.E.W.T classes for potions."

"But!" Ron stammered.

"Hey, Ron." Hermione interrupted "Why don't you meet us over there" She pointed at Flourish and Bolt's.

"Err, ok," Ron answered as he went over to the bookshop.

"Um Harry?"

"Ya Hermione?"

"Did you figure out the message on the letter I sent you?" Harry was relieved that he didn't have to bring it up.

"Ya… about that. Well Hermione, I don't really like you that way. I like our friendship just fine." Hermione's face dropped.

"Oh, ya, that's fine Harry." She didn't sound very ok with it though.

"Oh, after we get our new books, I've got to show you guys something." So, they went off to get their new books. After they got all of them, Harry said

"C'mon, you guys, over here!" He pointed towards where Lily and James were standing. Hermione and Ron stopped abruptly when Harry ran into their arms.

"Ron, Hermione," Harry started. "I'd like you to meet my parents. Mum, Dad, these are my friends, Hermione and Ron. And Ron, Guess what? My Dad's going to be the coach for the Quidditch team, and he's letting me back on, and, maybe he could help you. Ron? What's wrong?" Harry noticed that Ron was gaping at his parents.

"I'm so sorry for doubting you!" Ron stammered, noticing Sirius. "Hey, Snuffles" Ron said, making James laugh. "I mean Sirius, aren't you supposed to be hiding?"

"Nope! I was cleared!" Sirius jumped up and down as if he just found out he was to be crowned King.

"Who are these other people?" Ron asked.

"Well this is Kaylia, Camellia, and of course you know Lupin." Harry pointed to everyone as he said his or her names. As Ron looked around, he saw Camellia holding hands with Remus and Kaylia leaning on Sirius's shoulder.

"Err, ya." Ron said. "Um, I think I need some more quills." He used that as an excuse to leave the "happy couples" alone.

A/N: Again, I know it's horrible. Terribly Horrible. But I want to post chapter eight! And I'm too lazy to better-ize the first chapters. Reviews are cherished like my little Remmy-puss kittycat (His name's really Remmy :evil grin:)

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