Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the Harry Potter characters or the Harry Potter World. I do, however, own this version of the Harry Potter adventures. Roman still doesn't belong to me. Enjoy!

Chapter Two

Hagrid walked quietly into Harry's bedroom. It was still dark outside and the birds hadn't even started singing yet. "'arry," he whispered, sounding more like someone who was talking normally, "'arry. It's time ter get up."
Harry stirred silently and then just rolled over and fell back to sleep.
Hagrid reached out to Harry and shook him slightly, "'arry. Time ter get up," he said.
Finally, Harry rolled over and asked sleepily, "What's wrong Hagrid?"
The larger man chortled and said, "Yeh 'ave ter get up, 'arry. I 'ave summin' for yeh." Harry sighed and got up out of bed. Without giving Harry the chance to get dressed, Hagrid pulled him out into the kitchen.
"Well," he said, like a giant kid, "Wha' do yeh think?"
Harry just stopped in the doorway, dumbfounded. There was a large cake sitting in the middle of the table, along with numerous presents of all sizes. "All this…" Harry said, "For me?"
Hagrid nodded with delight, like an oversized child at Christmas-time. "There's another little surprise, 'arry," he said, and walked over to the front door, pulling it open as he got there. Standing at the door, was an immense creature, part horse, part eagle. Harry's eyes widened even further, until it appeared that his eyes were going to fall out.
"What on earth…?" he said, cautiously walking up to Hagrid.
"This, 'arry," Hagrid said, "Is a 'ippogriff. 'is name is Buckbeak. 'e's yers ter grow up with an' train." He walked towards the creature, performing a curious dance, consisting of bowing and staring directly into the creature's eyes. Finally, he was right next to the creature, and he stretched out a hand to pat it.

Harry watched, amazed, as the creature bowed its head down for Hagrid to pat it. "Yeh 'ave ter pay respect ter 'im, 'arry," Hagrid said, "Or 'e migh' just attack yeh. Come o'ver 'ere an' 'ave a go." Harry just stared back at Hagrid.
He really wants me to go over there and pat that…that…thing? he thought.
Tentatively, Harry bowed towards the creature from where he was standing. The creature looked back at him with beady eyes and then acknowledged Harry by inclining its head back to him.
"Good, 'arry," Hagrid said, encouragingly, "Now, just take a few steps forward, keepin' yer eyes directly into 'is and bow again." Harry followed Hagrid's instructions carefully – the talons on the creature looked rather dangerous. The creature again returned Harry's bow with an inclination of its head. Taking the initiative, Harry repeated the process until he was right next to the creature.
Hagrid looked obviously delighted, "Great, 'arry. Now, reach yer 'and out an' let 'im come ter yeh. If 'e wants ter be patted, 'e'll come down ter yeh." Following Hagrid's directions, Harry stretched out a shaking hand. Buckbeak bowed his head down towards Harry's hand and, almost cat-like, brushed against Harry's palm. "'e likes yeh!" Hagrid exclaimed.
Harry patted the creature nervously, but with increasing confidence as the Hippogriff made what was almost a purring sound in the back of its throat.

Finally, Harry stopped stroking the Hippogriff and bowed once again. This time Buckbeak, inclined his head lower than before. Harry smiled and walked back into the hut, followed closely by Hagrid. "Well, 'arry," Hagrid said, "Do yeh like yer present?"
"Well it's certainly different," Harry replied, slowly. Seeing Hagrid's expression fall slightly, Harry hastily added, "But I definitely do like it!"
Hagrid's eyes lit up like a child in Honeyduke's Sweet-Shop. "C'mon then 'arry, open yeh presents," Hagrid urged.
Harry grinned and walked back over to the table, pulling one of the smaller and flatter presents towards him, and ripping the paper off of it. As he opened it, something shimmery and silvery fell out of it. He reached down and picked it up where it had fallen onto the floor and almost dropped it again. "What is this, Hagrid?" he asked, "It almost feels like water, but it can't be because it's a cloth!" He unfolded it and looked closely at it.
Hagrid smiled and said, "That, 'arry, is very rare an' special. It's an Invisibility Cloak. In fact, it belonged ter yer Papa, an' now it belongs to yeh."
Harry's eyes widened in surprise, "This…belonged…to my father?" he whispered, incredulously. This is something I'll treasure forever, he thought.
"Well," said Hagrid, "'ad ter give yeh somethin' special on yeh tenth birthday. After all, only one more year til yeh start at Hogwarts."
Harry nodded, placing the Cloak carefully beside him on the table and continued opening all his other presents.

#-#-#-

Harry looked at Hagrid and asked, "Hagrid, do you mind if I head into Diagon Alley for a while? I'd like to look around at my school supplies and maybe do some shopping."
Hagrid almost glowed with delight, "O' course ye can, 'arry! Ye are more than old enough ter go out on yer own! Afor ye go, yer'll need ter know yer vault number at Gringott's. It's Vault 217. Jus' go up ter the goblins and ask ter make a withdrawal," Hagrid said, handing Harry an old key.
Harry nodded and smiled his thanks at Hagrid. He walked into his bedroom and carefully selected some clothes. He hadn't forgotten the last time he was at Diagon Alley and the chance meeting with the red-headed Roman. Just before leaving his room, Harry slipped the key that Hagrid had given him into his own pocket.

Finally, he returned to the kitchen, wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a collared shirt, teaming them with his best pair of casual shoes. Pushing his glasses back up on his nose, Harry said, "Well, Haggie, I'm ready to go now. I'll be back in a few hours. Don't worry about me!"
He grinned and, without waiting for a reply, he walked to the fireplace. Picking up the pot of Floo Powder, he took a small pinch, and placed the pot back onto the mantle. Tossing the Powder into the fire, Harry paused for a moment until the green flames had steadied, before stepping in and yelling, "Diagon Alley!"

Hagrid watched as the boy vanished into the green flames. He continued to watch as the flames slowly changed back to the gold and red colours of a normal fire. Reaching into one of his many pockets, Hagrid pulled out a rather dirty looking handkerchief and blew his nose loudly.
"Who woulda thought," Hagrid said to himself, "he would grow up so quickly?"

#-#-#-

Harry appeared in the fire at the Leaky Cauldron and quickly stepped out. He gave a jaunty wave to the innkeeper and walked out into the sunlight.

Looking around, Harry wondered where to begin. He decided that the best action was to visit Gringott's Bank and get some money, so that he could afford to buy whatever his heart desired. Walking quickly towards the bank, Harry began to whistle a tune, so familiar to him. (Cue Harry Potter movie theme music hehe – Mere.)

He opened the glass doors of Gringott's Bank and strode in confidently. Harry walked up to the counter and rang the bell a couple of times. A rather odd-looking head poked over the counter, looking down at Harry with a frosty stare.
"Yes?" said the head, rather irritably. Not expecting such a sullen response, Harry took a surprised step backwards.
"I…err…would like to withdraw some money," he said, hesitantly.

The head disappeared suddenly and a short, fat and rather ugly creature appeared from behind the counter. Harry took another step back as the creature came and stopped just a few steps away. "And does Mr Potter have his key?" the goblin said, disdainfully. Harry pulled the key out from his pocket, his hands trembling slightly as he held it out towards the goblin. The creature looked at the key and virtually turned up its nose. It turned and walked down a corridor that Harry hadn't even noticed. Before Harry knew it, the goblin was halfway down it and he had to run to catch up to it, sliding his key back into his pocket.

Within moments, they were at a dead-end with no obvious exit. Harry looked curiously at the creature beside him. It had a rather odd expression on its face, a mixture of distain and annoyance. As Harry watched, the goblin reached up and touched a series of six bricks. The wall in front of them disappeared, revealing a track, disappearing into the darkness. The goblin let out a high-pitched whistle and a cart cam clanking through the darkness. It stopped in front of them and Harry raised a dubious eyebrow as the goblin climbed into the cart and grasped a lever.
As Harry stood there hesitantly, the goblin called out, impatiently, "Come on! I don't have all day you know!"
Harry took a deep breath and climbed into the cart.

As soon as Harry was in the cart, the goblin pushed the lever and, for a moment, nothing happened. Suddenly, the cart gave a jolt and it started down the track, gaining speed as it went along. Harry gasped and grabbed onto the sides of the cart.. It seemed to go faster and faster, and Harry began to shake with fear. Was it ever going to stop before him and the goblin died?
A few moments later, the goblin pulled the lever again and the cart came to a sudden and complete stop. After picking himself up off the cart-floor, Harry breathed a small sigh of relief.
Thank goodness I was holding on! Harry thought to himself. I could have been thrown right out of the cart then!

The goblin climbed out of the cart and walked over to the vault they had stopped in front of. It held out its hand, waiting, tapping its foot. Harry carefully climbed out and, after a few seconds, realised what the goblin was waiting for. Pulling his key out of his pocket, Harry handed it to the goblin. It placed the key into a lock, that wasn't there until just that moment, Harry was sure of it. Green smoke billowed out of the door, and, when it cleared, Harry's eyes widened in shock. There were glittering piles of gold and silver, shimmering stacks of bronze and gold; the vault was almost completely full. Harry turned back towards the goblin and said, "Err…are you sure you've brought me to the correct vault? This is 217 isn't it?"
The goblin made a strange noise, somewhat like a sigh, and replied, "Yes, of course this is the correct vault, Mr Potter. It is Vault 217 and it is yours."

Harry just nodded in disbelief and gathered up a few of the gold coins, some of the silver and plenty of the bronze coins. "Um…," he said, hesitantly, "Could you go over what these coins are please? I've never shopped on my own before."
The goblin basically rolled its eyes at Harry, "Gold ones are Galleons, seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle. Now, I have work to do." With those words, it handed Harry back his key and climbed into the cart, drumming its fingers impatiently.

Harry looked nervously at the cart, not certain he was prepared for another dangerous cart ride like the last one. Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Can we go a little slower this time?"
The goblin curtly replied with, "One speed only."
Harry sighed, and climbed back in, making sure he had a firm grasp on the sides of the cart.

Moments later, Harry was walking out of Gringott's, his legs slightly trembling. He leant against the walls of the Bank for a couple of minutes, trying to slow his heart rate down. He closed his eyes, and took a few deep, calming breaths.
"Well, I see you have experienced the Gringott's cart," an amused voice said, out of nowhere. Harry's eyes flew open in surprise. When he saw who it was, he smiled.
"Hello Roman," he said, cheerfully.
"Hi there Harry," the red-head replied, smiling, "Where have you been all this time?"
"Oh, here and there," Harry said.
Roman applauded. "Nice side-step Harry," she grinned.
Harry grinned back, without saying a word. The silence stretched between the two of them, long enough that Harry began to struggle to find something to say. Roman was just standing there, looking faintly amused.

"You…er…Look lovely today, Roman," Harry finally managed to blurt out, blushing slightly. The thought crossed his mind that he really didn't know why he had given her that compliment. If her outfit had been worn by anyone else, it would just look ridiculous. However, on Roman, it somehow worked.
The standard top hat was now teamed with an outfit of black and red, with a little white thrown in for good measure. She had on a black torn-off shirt with no sleeves, under a shirt that appeared to be tie-dyed with black, red and white. Her black jeans were torn-off at the knee with mismatched knee-high socks showing, one red, one black and white striped. Her sneakers were also mismatched, one white, one black, with red curly laces holding them on her feet.
Roman must have been reading Harry's mind, for she let out a peal of laughter, before saying, "Well thank you, Harry! It's certainly not too often I get compliments looking like this. But you have to agree, I'm unique. And by the way, Harry, you are looking lovely today also."
Harry's blush deepened as Roman complimented him. "Thanks," he managed to stutter. Clearing his throat, determined not to let her see the effect she was having on him, Harry asked, "What have you been doing since the last time we saw each other?"
Roman grinned, "Do you really want to know?"
After getting a nod from Harry, Roman took a deep breath and said, "Well, I was expelled from the Little Wizards Preschool. I've been attending the Young Magic Elementary school, however I seem to spend more time in the Headmaster's office than I do in classes. I've developed this strange fascination with skirts and my smirk has come miles since the last time we met." Roman stopped and grinned at Harry, waiting for his reaction.

Harry didn't disappoint Roman with his reaction. "You've done what since the last time you saw me?" he practically bellowed in shock.
Roman's grin grew wider and prouder.
"How on earth do you get expelled from Little Wizards?" Harry exclaimed, incredulously.
The red-head shrugged, "I guess you just have to be me," she said, with another grin.

Harry just shook his head in disbelief, not just at Roman's behaviour, but also at himself. Had he really wanted to bump into her again and help the friendship evolve? He sighed lightly and gave in. He somehow knew that there was no way to stop Roman from forming a friendship if she wanted to.
Once again, the silence began to stretch and finally Harry said, "Do you want to go to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour?"
Roman raised an amused eyebrow, "Now that invitation came rather easily, Harry," she said, grinning, "And I would enjoy that."
Harry blushed furiously again, before starting in the direction of Fortescue's.

Moments later, they were at the door to the Ice Cream Parlour. Harry opened the door and held it there for Roman. She grinned and swept off her top hat in a bow of thanks. Walking in behind Roman, Harry was uncomfortably aware of the stares she was getting. Although, he thought, I'm getting just as many stares since I'm with her!
Roman marched confidently to a table, knowing she was being looked at and enjoying the extra attention.

She grinned at Harry as he sat down and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Bit nervous about all the attention, hey Harry?" she asked, "Don't worry about it – I'm used to it. People always seem to have something against those who don't follow the normal ways. I never have and never will." She smirked and tilted her top hat to an even jauntier angle.
Harry shook his head in mute disbelief and pulled a menu over to him. Opening it, Harry's eyes widened. Roman was amused by his reaction and sat back in her seat to watch. As she watched, Harry pulled a myriad of faces, ranging from disgust to interest to plain disbelief.
"How on earth could anyone eat Gherkin and Onion icecream!" Harry exclaimed at one point.
Before he could go any further, a voice from behind him drawled, "Don't you know that's a delicacy, Potter? I would have thought your giant savage would have been feeding it to you for years now."

Harry slowly turned around, spinning faster as the voice called Hagrid a savage. However, Roman was quicker. "Now Draco, do you really think you can afford to call people names, especially when you look at your own family?" she said, drawling just the way the newcomer had.
Now that Harry was completely turned around, he could see that the newcomer was a boy, with perfect white-blonde hair and a condescending smile. As Harry glared at him, the smile slipped down to a sneer and the tips of his ears turned pink at Roman's comment.
"You don't have room to say anything like that," he retorted, "Since your poor mother couldn't keep her husband." The condescending smirk was working its way back into place, when suddenly Draco was lying on the floor.
He looked up, shocked, only to see the hard menu flying towards his face again. This time, however, Draco managed to duck.

"Never say things like that to anyone ever again," Harry growled, still standing over the other boy. "I believe you were leaving," Harry continued, raising the menu threateningly. Draco hurriedly pulled himself up off the floor, and exited the Ice Cream Parlour rather quickly.
Harry pushed his glasses back up, swept the piece of hair off his face that had fallen down, and returned to his seat. As he sat down, he was startled by the sound of one person clapping, slowly. Looking for the source, he discovered it was none other than Roman. He blushed.
"Nicely done, Harry," he said, "Although a well-placed curse would have been much better." She smirked, just as Draco had.
Harry flinched slightly at the mention of a curse, but managed to hide it from Roman. "Thanks," was all he said.

"Now then," Roman said, "I believe that we were about to order our desserts."
Harry just looked at her in disbelief. How on earth can she be thinking normally? he wondered, There's just been a tussle right in front of her and yet, she hasn't even blinked!
Roman laughed heartily, as if she could read Harry's mind, and said, "Come now! You don't really think that a little incident like that is going to take my mind off the reason we came in here, do you? We came here to spend some time together and to order a dessert, so let's do what we came here to do!"
By the end of her statement, Roman's voice had turned a little tetchy, so Harry quickly pulled the menu towards him and began looking through it once again. This time, however, he avoided making any comments on the combinations, just in case.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant bell began ringing. Roman clapped her hands in delight, none of the tetchiness showing from moments ago. "Excellent, Harry," she said, beaming, "That bell is the signal for free sundaes. Your little trouble with the ferret delayed us just long enough. Quick, put your hand in the air."
Harry blinked uselessly, before doing as Roman said, and put his hand in the air.
Within moments, a waitress had come over to them, quill and parchment in hand, to take their order. Harry ordered the most normal-sounding sundae on the menu – chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts – while Roman ordered strawberry and peanut butter.
Roman grinned at the expression of disgust on Harry's face and said, "You'd be surprised, Harry. Some of the oddest sounding combinations here are often the best."
Harry raised an eyebrow and nodded silently.

Roman sighed, saying, "You're not worried about that ferret are you? Seriously, the less we think about him, the better off everyone will be."
Harry replied with, "Well, I don't even know him, and I hit him with a menu! Talk about a lack of self-control!"
Taking a deep breath, Roman decided that she had better let Harry in on the Malfoy story. "Harry," she said, "That was Draco Malfoy, conceited and self-important child of one of the –important- families." That was said with heavy sarcasm. Roman continued with, "He seems to think that if you are not of pure blood, then you aren't worthy to be taught at Hogwarts. However, he does seem to be a bit of a Mummy's boy, since she was the one that prevented him from being sent to Durmstrang. Or so I've heard." Roman's voice had lowered to a conspiratorial whisper by the end of it. "So," she said, "What do you think of the ferret now?"
Harry shrugged, "I really should have got to know him first," he mused, "But then again, he did insult Haggie. We'll have to see what happens when we actually start school."
Roman beamed, saying, "That's a bit better, Harry. A well-placed curse or two certainly wouldn't go astray on him."
Harry was about to reply to Roman, when their desserts arrived. He used that arrival as an excuse not to speak about Draco anymore.

#-#-#-

A great deal of time later, they were standing outside Fortescue's. Harry looked rather uncomfortably at his feet, as he tried to think of something to say. Roman smirked at him, realising he was uncomfortable, and enjoying that effect she seemed to have on him.
"Um, er," Harry said, none too intelligently, "I guess I should be heading home now. It's getting rather late."
Roman burst into laughter, "And you didn't even get chance to do your shopping!"
Harry shrugged, and said, "I guess I'll just have to come in here again tomorrow. Did you want to meet up again?"
Roman raised an eyebrow and said, dryly, "Are you sure you want to risk it? After all, this meeting was rather eventful."
Harry nodded, replying with, "At least when I start at Hogwarts, I'll know someone."
Roman agreed to meet up again, saying, "This time, we'll meet up towards the end of the day, so that we can both get everything done. Meet you back here, just before 4pm?"

Smiling, Harry agreed and waved goodbye, as he headed back towards the Leaky Cauldron.
As he stepped in through the door, the innkeeper gave him a wave followed by a hearty, "Hello, young Harry," stopping the boy in his tracks.
"How did you know my name?" he asked.
The innkeeper chortled, and said, "Well we all know your name here, Harry. You're a celebrity in your own right! Besides, how could we mistake the famous scar on your forehead?"
Unconsciously, Harry's hand reached up and rubbed the scar. He shook his head slightly, and asked, "How is it that my story is so famous?"
"Well it's not too often that a babe would survive such a spell," the innkeeper replied, "Every wizard in the world has heard of the Boy-Who-Lived."
Harry shivered slightly, not knowing that he was so famous. "Anyway," he said, lightly, "I'd better be getting home."
The innkeeper nodded and waved goodbye, as the Boy-Who-Lived picked up the Floo Powder and used it to get back to Hagrid's Hut.