Disclaimer: I still don't own the Harry Potter world and I'm not planning to sell this or any of that other stuff I'm not supposed to do.
Reviewer Response:
axw: …yes dear pats on the head and mutters about patronizers
tvnerdgirl: thank you dear beta! (and this is what you call patience ;-)
Linwe: look, update! Thanks for the review
Sarah: thanks, glad you like it, always nice to hear from other writers I like
Reedy: I have a reason for Lily living next to her sister that will come out later and I too am tired of authors who don't finish what they start, but if I don't tell them I'm interested, why should I expect them to continue telling me?
Harry Potter raced down the stairs two weeks before his eleventh birthday and skidded to a stop by the table. His mother looked up from the Daily Prophet with an amused look. "It's not here yet Harry," she told him. Harry sighed and dropped into his chair.
Lily smiled and levitated a plate of toast from the counter. "Maybe it will get here by the time you finish breakfast," she suggested. Harry sighed again and picked up a piece of toast. He was on his third slice when his godfather finally appeared.
Sirius, who had only gotten up because the smell of coffee had reached his bedroom stopped in the doorway and shook his head at his godson. "It's summer vacation Harry," he pointed out as he sank into a chair. "You are not supposed to be out of bed before noon."
"I just want my letter," Harry explained around a mouthful of toast. He swallowed hastily when his mother frowned at him. "Sorry," he said quickly.
"That letter had better come today; I'm tired of this kid beating me to breakfast," Sirius informed Lily as he scraped crumbs from the butter. Lily smiled as she turned a page of the paper.
When breakfast was finished, Harry went to sit in front of the window to watch for the owl he was sure would come today. He watched Dudley and his gang as they played with Piers' new bike. He bit back a laugh as Dudley crashed into a curb and settled himself into the big, fluffy cushions that buried the couch. A few seconds later he glanced at the cuckoo clock to check the time.
"It's only 9:30," one of the cuckoos told him, peering out from its door. Harry sighed as the wooden bird disappeared again. Ten minutes later the bird was telling him off for waking it up again when there was a tapping at the window. Ignoring the cuckoo's muttering, Harry flung open the window, quickly ADVERB took the official looking letter which was addressed in shining emerald ink and ran out into the back yard where Lily and Sirius were inspecting Lily's garden.
"It's here!" Harry shouted as he burst out the backdoor.
"Thank goodness," Sirius exclaimed as Harry dropped to sit on the steps as he tore open the letter. A few minutes later he cheerfully handed to letter to his mother who skimmed it, familiar with what it said, and turned to the list of school supplies.
"We'll go to Diagon Alley after lunch," she told her son, ruffling his messy hair.
"You mean you're going to take me with you?" Harry asked , scrambling up.
"Can't very well buy you a wand if you're not there, can we?" Sirius answered, grinning.
"Yes!" Harry cheered before racing inside. Lily and Sirius exchanged amused looks and went back to trying to decide whether Lily's muggle garden really had a gnome problem. Ten minutes later they were interrupted as the back door flew open again and Harry informed them that lunch was ready before disappearing again. Lily stared at the door in surprise and Sirius burst out laughing.
"It's only ten o'clock in the morning!" Lily objected, glancing at her watch. She shook her head in motherly exasperation and followed Sirius inside. Harry had made some hasty sandwiches and was cramming one into his mouth.
Sirius picked two up and handed one to Lily. "The boy has spoken," he told her, still grinning. Harry nodded as he swallowed an over large bite of sandwich. Lily shook her head again but obediently bit into the ham sandwich Sirius had handed her, deciding they'd get something a little more substantial at the Leaky Cauldron later.
When all three sandwiches were gone, Harry led the way to the fireplace and picked up the floo powder pot and handed it to his mother. He'd watched both his mother and godfather do this many times, but he'd never done it himself and though he would never admit it, he was a little nervous.
Lily took some powder as Sirius magically lit the fire. "The two most important things to remember," she told Harry, "are to speak clearly and to keep your arms tucked in until you start to slow down." Harry nodded his understanding and watched as his mother stepped into the flames. When she was gone he glanced at Sirius who grinned. "Go on, you next!" Harry took a deep, steadying breath and grabbed some powder. A moment later he was spinning around very fast, holding tight to his own elbows. He felt himself slow and threw out his arms and found himself tumbling into a dim room, which may have been because his glasses had flown off and broken. His glasses flew off and his mother repaired them as she helped him up.
"I'm not sure I liked that," Harry commented as Lily moved him away from the emerald flames that were about to spit out his godfather.
"A lot of people don't" Lily agreed.
"Smart," a voice said from their left and Sirius unfolded himself from the large fireplace.
"Hagrid!" Lily exclaimed, turning to greet the man who had spoken. Harry turned too and felt his jaw drop. Lily and Sirius often talked about their friend Hagrid. They had mentioned that he was large, but Harry had not expected anything like this.
Lily stepped away from Hagrid and pulled Harry forward. "Harry, this is Hagrid," she told him, smiling. Harry shut his mouth and extended a hand which disappeared into Hagrid's huge paw.
"Good ter see you agin Harry, I haven't seen you since you was a baby!" Hagrid said.
"It's nice to meet you too," Harry replied. "Mom and Sirius have told me lots about you. And I liked all the presents you sent me." Hagrid beamed He had sent Harry a present every birthday and gotten thank you notes as soon as Harry was old enough to write.
"So what brings you to London Hagrid?" Sirius asked, shaking Hagrid's hand in greeting.
"Hogwart's business," Hagrid replied, puffing out his chest, then he smiled again. "Knew you'd be here too since the letters went out and thought I'd meet ya.'
"That's a wonderful idea!" Lily agreed. "Gringott's first?" Hagrid nodded agreement and the four of them set off. Hagrid pulled out a pink umbrella and started muttering numbers under his breath, moving his umbrella slightly as he did so. After a moment he nodded to himself and tapped a brick smartly. Harry watched as the bricks began to fold themselves into a doorway leading to Diagon Alley.
Lily and Sirius followed Hagrid through the doorway then turned to wait for Harry. He stopped as the bricks reformed the wall behind him and stared around excitedly. He had been dying to come here ever since he could remember, and now he was finally here.
"Come on, Pronglet," Sirius called as the adults began to move away. Harry followed, looking around as much as he could without losing sight of his mother. Far too soon they reached a large building with goblins standing at the doors, bowing in customers. Harry recognized them from the books his mother and Sirius kept in Sirius' study.
"There's a free goblin," Sirius announced, leading the way. "We need to go to the Potter vault, and the Black vault," Sirius informed the goblin when they reached him.
"Do you have your keys?" the goblin asked while Harry watched the one at the next station weighing rubies bigger than Harry had thought possible. Sirius and Lily both displayed small gold keys and the goblin at the counter called for another one. "Griphook!"
"We'll meet you back up here," Lily told Hagrid when Griphook arrived a moment later. Hagrid was still waiting for Sharpclaw to take him to vault 713. Hagrid nodded and the Potters and Sirius followed Griphook out of the marble lobby into a stone corridor lit by flickering torches. Harry settled into a rickety cart beside his mother and looked about as it zoomed off. A burst of fire at the end of one tunnel as they flashed by reminded him of Sirius once telling him that dragons guarded some of the vaults. He had thought Sirius was kidding at the time because dragons were violent creatures impossible to tame, but now he wondered.
When they reached Siriu's vault, Harry watched from the cart as Sirius and the goblin climbed out and Griphook opened the door. Harry was surprised at the amount of money he saw inside. He had never really thought about how much money they had, they just always seemed to have what they needed, but there was a small fortune in that vault.
Lily must have seen his surprise. "The Blacks and the Potters are both old families, and yes, they're both rich families. That's why neither Sirius nor I have out of home jobs."
"Oh," Harry answered. He'd never really thought about that either. Sirius climbed back into the cart and they were off again until they reached the Potter's vault. Harry climbed out with his mother and was only slight less surprised to see how much gold, silver, and bronze was piled in their vault. Lily filled a small pouch with coins and handed Harry three galleons. Harry tucked them into his pocket and followed his mother back into the cart.
When they reached the lobby again, Hagrid was already waiting and he looked rather green.
"Come on," Sirius said, clapping Hagrid's huge shoulder. "I'll buy you a drink at the Leaky Cauldron." Hagrid nodded gratefully and the two men left after promising to meet Harry and Lily at the book store in half an hour.
"Might as well get your robes first," Lily told her son, leading him through the busy streets to Madam Maulkin's Robes For All Occasions. "You go on in, Harry, I just have to pick something up at the gift shop. A friend's birthday is coming up."
"All right," Harry agreed. He went into the store as Lily headed across the street. Madam Maulkin greeted him. "Hogwart's dear? Right this way, there's another boy being fitted too."
Harry was told to stand on a stool while Madam Maulkin pinned up a set of black robes. Harry glanced over a saw a boy with white blond hair watching him.
"Hello," Harry said, although the boy didn't look very pleasant.
"Hello," the boy answered. "Where're you're parents?"
"Mom's picking up something across the street and my dad's dead," Harry answered, startled by the question.
"He was our kind wasn't he?"
"He was a wizard, yeah," Harry answered, liking the boy less and less.
"I don't think they should let the other kind in."
"My mom was muggle born," Harry replied coolly. Sirius had told him about wizards who were obsessed with pure blood. Voldemort had been obsessed with pure blood too, Harry remembered.
A distinct sneer crossed the boy's face but was prevented form replying by Madam Maulkin cheerfully informing Harry that he was done. Harry hopped down and followed her to the front of the shop where his mother was just entering with a small bag in her hands. She paid for Harry's robes and they hurried to the apothecary to get his basic potion supplies before they had to meet Sirius and Hagrid. They finished and reached the Flourish and Blott's only a few minutes after Sirius and Hagrid had.
In the store, Lily was explaining to Harry why it would be a very bad idea to buy a book of curses to get back at Dudley when a voice called Lily's name from the other end of the aisle.
"Lily! Getting Harry's things?" a red haired man asked as he approached.
"Yes. How are you Arthur?" she said as the man reached them.
"I'm good, I'm good," he answered. "So, this is Harry is it? Wonderful to meet you!" The man shook his hand enthusiastically as Lily introduced him to Mr. Weasley.
"Getting Ron's books?" Sirius asked, appearing from the next aisle.
"Just a few, for most of them he can use Fred and George's old ones."
"And how are the troublemakers?" Sirius asked, grinning.
"Almost as bad as you and James were," Mr. Weasley laughed. Harry grinned too, hoping this would lead to more stories of his father and Sirius' school antics. But they were interrupted by the arrival of a gangly red headed boy.
"There you are Ron," Mr Weasley said as the boy approached, holding a book of magical animals. "Ron, this is Sirius Black, and Lily and Harry Potter. This is my youngest son Ron." He clapped his hand on the boy's shoulder, beaming proudly. For his part, Ron's jaw dropped and he stared at Harry.
"Er, hi," Harry said.
"Hi!" Ron answered, closing his mouth hastily. He extended his hand and Harry shook it, noticing that Ron's eyes seemed focused on Harry's scar.
"Why don't you two go get some Ice Cream and we'll meet up with you when we've got the rest of your school supplies?" Lily suggested.
Ron glanced at Harry who shrugged. "Sure." The two boys left and went to Flortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and Harry paid for two large sundaes with which the owner, upon recognizing Harry's scar, included a chocolate frog. Harry got a Dumbledore, of which he had three, and Ron got a Morgana, of which he had 2. Ron soon seemed to get over his awe of meeting the-boy-who-lived and the two boys were talking like they'd known each other for years. However, their conversation kept getting interrupted by people who noticed his scar, which always attracted the attention of anyone nearby who hadn't noticed on their own. A woman named Doris Crockford kept coming back to shake his hand until Sirius appeared and rescued them. Ron and Mr. Weasley declined a dinner invitation, insisting that they needed to get home but promising the meet them at King's Cross on the first of September.
"So what do we still need to get?" Harry asked as they moved through the crowds of witches and wizards.
"Just your wand," Lily answered. "Hagrid's meeting us at Ollivander's."
"Let's go!" Harry urged. He'd been looking forward to a wand since the first time he'd seen Sirius levitate a toy across the room.
Ollivander was an old, white-haired man who made Harry rather nervous as he darted around the shop. He barely let Harry touch a wand before declaring it the wrong one, chattering all the while about the Lily, Sirius, and James' wands. Hagrid appeared after the twelfth wand and Ollivander added the details of Hagrid's wand to his monolugue. Harry noticed that Hagrid shifted his grip on his pink umbrella nervously when Ollivander suspiciously asked him whether he still used the broken pieces of his wand. Sirius noticed too and winked at his godson. Harry grinned then turned as Ollivander returned with a box and a peculiar look on his face.
Harry tried the wand and a warm golden glow and a trail of red sparkles seemed to satisfy Mr. Ollivander that this was the right wand, but he was still looking at Harry with that peculiar expression.
"Odd that you should be destined for this wand," he commented, staring at Harry with disquieting eyes.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"The phoenix that provided the tail feather for your wand provided just one other. That other feather is in the wand that, I am sorry to say, I sold to you-know-who."
Harry was so surprised by the information that he didn't hear his mother's sharp gasp behind him. "I think it's clear that we can expect great things from you, Mister Potter," Ollivander continued softly, an odd light in his eyes. "Afterall, he-who-must-not-be-named did great things…terrible...but great."
Lily paid for Harry's wand and the four of them left the shop and went back to the Leaky Cauldron where Lily and Sirius had rented two rooms for the night. Hagrid joined them for dinner and gave Harry the snowy owl he had bought as an early birthday present while Harry tried out the first few wands.
That night, Harry lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He felt very satisfied; he had his school supplies, he had finally been allowed to visit Diagon Alley, and he had made a new friend.