Ok well, this chapter is kind of weird in my opinion but it concludes Harry's trip to Diagon Alley. Thank you to Poohdog, smidge, FishOfTime, MelanieB, and japanese-jew for reviewing! Anyways, please read and tell me what you think so far!
Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. They are all owned by J. K. Rowling but I do own those characters, which you don't recognize.
As soon as Harry stepped out of Ollivanders, he had a feeling that something was going to happen. He had these feelings a lot and they were always true. He was never sure if it was something bad or something good but something always happened.
He looked around Diagon Alley and his thoughts all faded away. The whole place looked to perfect for anything to happen. He couldn't believe that there was a whole world here that no one had ever discovered.
Harry smiled as he walked back to the café. Hermione was talking to a skinny girl with bright red hair. She had brown eyes that might have looked nicer had she not been scowling.
"…and you know what he said?"
"What?" asked Hermione, who was frowning slightly.
"He said 'I wouldn't be surprised if she killed us all one day.' How can he say that? I'm his own sister."
The girl's scowl deepened as Hermione patted her arm. "Just ignore him Ginny." Hermione looked up and saw Harry walking towards them. "Hello Harry, that took an awful long time."
"Tell me about it." Harry pulled out a chair and sat in it. "I must have tried at least two hundred wands before I found the right one."
"Two hundred?" asked the red haired girl with curiosity.
Harry looked at her for a second and said, "Yeah, two hundred. So what were you doing, Hermione?"
"I was talking to Ginny…oh sorry. Harry, this is Ginny Weasley. Ginny, Harry Potter."
"We've met," replied Ginny taking hands.
"Have you now?" asked Hermione with a smirk on her face.
"At that Dumbledore's funeral, I told you about that, right?" Harry let go of Ginny's hand and smiled at her. A faint spot of pink appeared on Ginny's cheeks.
"Oh, right," mumbled Hermione.
"So what house are you in?" asked Harry.
"Slytherin…I'm the first Weasley in centuries to be in Slytherin actually." Ginny smiled at Harry before turning back to Hermione. "Anyways, I hope he doesn't bother me today because I have loads of things to buy."
"Where are you going?" asked Hermione.
"Flourish and Blotts." Ginny bit her bottom lip and said, "I have a few books to buy that I don't want Mum to see."
"About what?" asked Harry.
Ginny stared at him then turned to Hermione. "Will he…"
"He won't say a word, trust me."
Ginny turned back to Harry and said, "Being a Slytherin, requires that you know your fair share of Dark Arts to survive. I was brought up in a pure light family so naturally I had no idea on the matter when I first came to Hogwarts. Don't worry; I won't actually use them unless I have to."
"Oh," replied Harry running a hand through his black Harry causing Ginny to blush again. Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry and said, "Come on, let's go with Ginny to Flourish and Blotts."
Harry reluctantly got up and took a few bags from Hermione. "How many books do we need to buy?"
Hermione got a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I need to buy three. You on the other hand have a lot more to buy." Hermione and Ginny exchanged glances as they walked towards the bookstore.
Once inside, Ginny said, "I'll be at the back. If any of my brothers asks if I'm here, say that you haven't seen me all day." Ginny winked at Harry and carefully made her way towards the back of the bookstore.
Harry smiled as Hermione once again rolled her eyes. "Here," she said. Hermione thrust a piece of paper at Harry that had about ten book titles on them. "Find these books." When Harry's face dropped she said, "You should be happy that at least they're not making you start in first year with a bunch of eleven year olds."
Harry snatched the piece of paper as Hermione turned and began walking towards the middle of the store. As he was walking, his eyes caught some of the titles of the books. They were the weirdest titles Harry had ever seen in his life. One title in particular What Are Wendigos? made Harry want to laugh. He'd never heard of a wendigo in his life. He caught up to Hermione and asked, "What's a wendigo?"
She raised an eyebrow and said, "They are a type of creature sort of like werewolves but all they have to do is scratch you and you turn into one. They only way to kill one is to destroy its heart. Luckily you only find them in America." Harry looked at her stunned before resuming his search for his books.
About twenty minutes later, Harry had found all the books Hermione asked to find and was reading a book called Quidditch Through the Ages. It was about some sort of magical sport that reminded Harry of basketball. There were seven players and three different balls. The object of the game was basically to score as many goals as you could against the opposing team and for the seeker, each team had one, to catch a tiny golden ball called the snitch. Whichever team caught it would be awarded with 150 points.
Hermione on the other hand was reading a very thick book which Harry couldn't see the title of. She had her wand out and was staring at the book while moving her wand. She was so engrossed in what she was reading that she almost dropped the book when she heard someone say her name.
"Granger," drawled a voice.
She jumped and looked at the source of the voice. It was a boy a little taller than Harry with white blond hair and grey eyes. She rolled her eyes and said, "Malfoy."
"Fancy seeing you here. I thought you already got your things." Malfoy walked up to her and smirked at her.
Hermione didn't look up from her book but nodded towards Harry and said, "I'm here with Harry."
Malfoy looked up and his eyes widened immediately. He looked back at her and said, "Merlin, Granger. Is that…"
She looked up at him and smiled, "Yes, that is Harry Potter."
He touched her arm softly and smirked. "And we all thought he was dead." He walked towards Harry who was still reading a book and coughed. Harry looked up. "So you're Harry Potter." He held out his hand.
Harry shook it and said, "Yeah…seems like everyone around here knows who I am." Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry. This was certainly not what he had been expecting. He had been expecting some sort of a stuck up, spoilt, brat, who turned his nose down at everything.
"Who doesn't?" asked Draco with a smirk.
Harry closed the book and said, "I didn't know that I was famous till about two weeks ago, actually. Err…who are you by the way?"
"Draco Malfoy."
"Are you a friend of Hermione's?"
Draco turned to Hermione, who was still waving her wand and said, "You could say that."
"Oh…so you go to Hogwarts also, right?"
"Well, it is the only wizarding school around here," replied Draco with a sigh.
Harry nodded and said, "So what house are you in?"
"Slytherin."
Harry frowned and said, "I don't know a lot about the wizarding world but Hermione was telling me something about Slytherins and Gryffindors hating each other, yet two of her friends are Slytherin…"
"She's an exception," replied Draco promptly. "She helps us, we help her."
"Oh," replied Harry as Hermione came walking towards them.
"I think this should be useful." She smiled at the two of them cheerfully.
"I have to read that?" asked Harry with a look of disgust on his face.
"No, I was talking to Malfoy."
"Granger, are you serious? I refuse to read that."
"Who said you had to read this? Look through it if you want but you don't have to read it."
Draco frowned as he pulled the book from her hands. "What is this book anyways?" Harry peered at the cover as Draco turned it over. "A Guide to Ancient Magic? Didn't Pansy give you a book like this for Christmas?"
"She did," replied Hermione, "but that had more to do with wand magic."
"And this is…"
"Wandless magic," whispered Hermione her eyes shining.
Draco looked back in surprise and said, "But Granger, that's not what we had planned…" She glared at him then looked towards Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes and said, "I'll pretend I didn't hear a thing. You lovebirds can go back to what you were talking about." Harry grabbed a stack of books that was by his feet and said, "In fact, I'll go find Ginny." As Harry turned to go, he saw Hermione blush and Draco scowl at his back. As he walked away. He felt someone grab his arm. He turned and saw Ginny who was grinning at him.
"I heard the whole thing, Potter." Ginny looked at him with shining eyes. "I've been trying to tell Hermione that for days."
"Tell them what?" asked Harry confused.
She rolled her eyes at him and said, "They like each other. Everyone in our house knows that."
"Slytherin?" asked Harry.
"Yeah." Ginny twirled her waist length hair between her fingers and said, "No one really cares anymore about all the pureblood junk. It's all about survival now. Not that anyone else realizes that though…"
"Survival?" asked Harry.
"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" asked Ginny with a smirk on her face.
Harry frowned and said, "Am I supposed to?" He stopped when he noticed a look of panic cross her face. "What?"
"Damn…don't look now. My brother's found me." Harry turned around and saw a boy with hair as bright as Ginny and blue eyes storming towards her. He was followed by three other boys who looked a bit angry as well.
Ginny's brother walked up to her and said, "Where have you been? Mum's been looking all over for you."
"I've been here the whole time," she replied simply.
"Doing what?" he hissed. He saw Harry and said, "You were here with him?" When Ginny didn't reply, he looked at Harry and said, "You keep your hands off my sister!"
"I didn't do anything," said Harry looking the boy straight in the eye, "unless talking to her is considered a crime."
The boy's face grew red. "Why you-
Ginny stepped in front of her brother and said, "Ron! I was only talking to Harry!" Then turning to Harry, she said, "Don't mind Ron. He's an idiot and can't keep his nose out of other peoples' business."
"Why should I believe you? You're like the rest of them. Lying and cheating to get your own way." Ron glared at his sister who stepped back with a hurt look in her eyes.
"Ronald Weasley!" came a voice. Ron turned to see a fuming Hermione Granger march out from behind a shelf followed by Draco Malfoy. She walked up to Ron and slapped his square on his face. "I am ashamed of you for talking like that to your sister!"
"Do I care?" he asked rubbing his cheek where she had slapped him. His blue eyes flashed at her.
"You should," she hissed. "She was not lying to you either."
"Oh," said Ron looking at his friends who were laughing silently. "She wasn't?" He looked Hermione up and down and said, "That's a bit much coming from you, don't you think? After all, you're always so chummy with Ginny. I wouldn't be surprised is she's rubbed off on you."
Hermione's face grew white with rage as she stepped up to Ron. She would have punched him but Malfoy put a hand on her shoulder and glared at her.
"Malfoy! Don't you dare touch her!" yelled Ron.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Weasley," muttered Draco swiftly removing his hand. He looked at Hermione who nodded at him and said, "Well, I have better things to do that stay in the company of a bunch of pathetic Gryffindors." He looked at Ginny who was looking at him crossly and said, "Not you Weasley, not you." He smirked at Ron whose face had turned red once again. Then he turned to Harry who was looking at Ron with mild disgust and said, "See you around, Potter."
Harry nodded to Draco as he left. Ron's face suddenly turned chalk white as he looked at Harry. "Did he just say…Potter?"
Ginny laughed at her brother and said, "Yes he did, Ronniekins." She grabbed Harry's arm and pushed him forward. "This is Harry Potter."
Ron mumbled something to his friends who were looking at Harry in disbelief. Then he forced a smile on his face and said, "Ron Weasley, pleased to meet you."
Harry eyes Ron's hand with distaste and said, "Harry Potter, though I can't say that I'm pleased to meet you." Ginny snorted and Hermione grinned as she stood next to Harry. Ron's face turned a little red as he said, "Err- I guess I'll see you at school then."
As Ron and two of his friends turned to go, Ginny, and Hermione burst into laughter.
"That was priceless, Harry," said Hermione smiling at him.
"You're alright, Harry," said Ginny looking up at him with bright eyes. Harry couldn't help but smile back at her. A small cough interrupted them.
"Yes, Neville?" asked Hermione.
The boy in front of them was shorter than Harry and looked kind of like a mouse. He had plain brown hair and seemed a little shy. "I just want to say that I'm sorry about Ron. I-I don't know what got into him."
"Don't worry about it, Neville," replied Hermione softly.
He nodded to himself and looked up at Harry with awe in his eyes. "So, you're Harry Potter. I just have to say that I'm honored to meet you. Oh, I'm Neville Longbottom by the way." Harry smiled at Neville who said weakly, "I hope we can be friends even if you don't want to be friends with Ron."
Harry looked at the boy and said, "Sounds good to me." Neville smiled weakly at Harry and left muttering a weak goodbye. "He's kind of…"
"Odd? Cowardly? An idiot?" asked Ginny who was looking at another book.
"Ginny!" Hermione looked at Neville's retreating back. "Neville's been through a lot. He lives with his grandmother."
"What happened to his parents?"
Hermione looked at Ginny and said to Harry, "You know, he never actually told me what happened to them."
Ginny looked up form her book and said, "That means that he doesn't want you to know." She snapped the book shut and said, "Honestly, you Gryffindors are so thick sometimes." Ginny started walking towards the front of the store.
"Are you buying that book?" called out Harry picking up his books.
"No, I'm stealing it. My Slytherin side has finally taken control of my mind and is possessing me to steal in," she muttered. "Of course I'm buying this book!" she said tossing her hair.
"Ginny, don't talk about things like that in a bookstore. People might not think that you're joking," said Hermione falling in step with Harry.
"Oh, Hermione, lighten up," replied Ginny smirking at her friend. She looked at Harry and raising her eyebrow, said, "Are you really buying all of those?"
"Hermione wanted me to…"
"And you're going to listen to her?" Harry shrugged. "She's a mad woman, Harry. She'll keep you up all night with those lecturing you on the proper way to take good notes in potions class when Professor Snape is fixing you with a death glare and the thirteen different ways to identify a manticore's footprint." Hermione blushed. Ginny looked sternly at her and said, "Don't bother denying it either. If I see Harry looking overly tired, I'll know exactly who to blame."
"It might not be me, you know. Harry might want to play Quidditch and we all know how much that can tire a person out."
"There's Quidditch at Hogwarts?" asked Harry, his green eyes lighting up at once.
"Of course!" replied both girls, one looking a bit cross and the other one looking positively delighted.
Ginny stared at Harry for a second and said, "Hermione, I think you should lend Harry your copy of Hogwarts: A History."
"I think that book's in this pile," replied Harry.
"Good, read it then," replied Ginny giving the clerk at the counter her book. The clerk merely held the book in her hand and began staring at Harry. Ginny noticed this and snapped, "I haven't got all day here."
The clerk glared at Ginny and told her the price of the book. As soon as Ginny had finished paying, she said, "Well, Mum's probably looking for me so I'll see you both on train." She waved goodbye to Hermione, who waved back and also to Harry and blushed as he waved back to her.
Hermione snorted as she helped Harry give his books to the clerk.
"What?" asked Harry.
"Nothing."
"No really, what?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking about something. Nothing that concerns you." Harry regarded her suspiciously as he paid for his books.
It was a little after four by the time Harry and Hermione left Diagon Alley. Hermione was carrying two small bags while Harry was carrying about six. Along with the six bags, Harry was also carrying a pure black cat with green eyes eerily similar to Harry's. He hadn't thought of a name yet. He had bought her at the same shop that Hermione had bought her cat, Crookshanks at. From what he was told, Crookshanks was a cat with frizzy ginger colored hair and was very dear to Hermione.
The Grangers dropped Harry off at Privet Drive and told him to call them if he ever needed anything. Once Harry thanked them for taking him, he walked into the house evicting a shriek from Aunt Petunia who had seen Harry's cat.
"You bought a…cat?"
"Yeah," replied Harry dumping his bags on the ground to pet the cat which was pawing at the lacing on a couch. "I couldn't resist." Harry smiled at the cat oblivious to the fact that his aunt clearly did not want to hear him talk about his cat.
"That thing will stay outside at all times and you will feed it."
"She's not a thing," shot Harry glaring at his aunt. "She's cat and I won't keep her outside. She'll stay in my room."
Aunt Petunia let out a cry of frustration as Harry picked up his bags and began walking up the stairs. She plopped down on the couch and clutched her head and she heard Harry yell, "By the way, I need a ride to King's Cross next Monday!" The last thing she heard was a muffled laugh and the slamming of a door.