A/N: Since I put on all three of these chapters in quick succession there are no reviewer thanks or other comments to make, at least not really. On the off chance that this actually gets read this time around I hope those of you who read it are enjoying it.
Disclaimer: I doubt whether this is actually necessary but oh well right? Not mine. Jessica is though. MINE! (Yes I am odd, hope it doesn't scare you too much.)
Chapter Three: Diagon Alley
On Saturday, which happened to be July 31st, Eliza woke Jessica up at ten-thirty and told her to get ready. They ate breakfast and then Eliza went up to the attic to look for something. She came back with a small golden key, a wand, both of which she stuck in her pocket, and a flowerpot filled with sparkling powder.
"Now this," Eliza said, indicating the pot's contents, "is Floo powder. What you do is step into the fireplace, say where you want to go and then you throw it down. Now we are going to The Leaky Cauldron. Repeat it!"
"The Leaky Cauldron," Jessica repeated in monotone.
"Good, now, I'll go first," Eliza reached into the pot and pulled out a handful. She stepped into the fireplace and spoke the words, "The Leaky Cauldron!" as she threw down the Floo powder. Emerald green flames engulfed her and she disappeared. Jessica stared in shock. Still, she had to follow her grandma. Her hands shaking, she reached into the pot and withdrew a handful of the Floo powder. She stepped into the fireplace and said, "The Leaky Cauldron!" She threw down the powder.
Jessica felt as though she was spinning very fast. She saw fireplace after fireplace. She began to feel sick as the spinning continued until she stumbled out of a large fireplace. Hands caught her and held her up. Eliza was supporting her, studying her face intently.
"Jessica, are you all right?" Eliza asked.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Jessica mumbled, not wanting to open her mouth too wide. She glanced around and saw that they were in a dark, shabby pub.
"Here," Eliza sat Jessica down in a chair near the fireplace she had come out of. She turned and called, "Hey Tom!"
The old bartender peered at her and said, "Eliza? Eliza Thompson? Is that you?" A few people turned to look at her when he said her name. He smiled at her. "Well what do you know? I haven't seen you since your daughter Grace was in Hogwarts. Who have you got there with you?" He squinted at Jessica.
"Tell you in a minute, Tom," Eliza said. "Could you bring us some tea? She's never traveled by Floo powder before."
"Sure," Tom said. In a few moments he brought over a tray of tea. Eliza poured Jessica a cup and handed it to her.
"Drink it, Jessica, it'll calm down your stomach." She turned to Tom as Jessica sipped at the tea, which, amazingly, did make her stomach feel a little bit better. "Tom, this is my granddaughter Jessica. Jessica, this is Tom. He's the innkeeper here at the Leaky Cauldron."
"So this is your granddaughter," Tom said. "Where's her mother?"
Eliza's eyes misted over and she simply said, "You-Know-Who."
"Oh, Eliza, I'm sorry." Tom looked very uncomfortable all of a sudden.
"It's all right," Eliza said. She forced a smile. "Jessica's going to Hogwarts this year. We're here for her school supplies."
"Ah," Tom said, nodding. "Well, it was good seeing you again, Eliza." He walked back behind the bar. Eliza watched him go. Then she turned to Jessica, who was just finishing her tea. "Feeling better now?"
"Yeah," Jessica said. Eliza nodded.
"Come on then." Eliza walked though the pub to a small courtyard in the back. She pulled out her wand. Tapping a brick three times she stood back. A small hole appeared in the wall. It grew larger and larger and moments later they were facing a huge archway that led to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.
"This is Diagon Alley," Eliza said, and she smiled at Jessica. They walked together down the street. Jessica wished she could look in all directions at once. Everything, the people, the shops, the things outside them, was so interesting. There were shops with robes, shops with strange silver instruments. There were shops selling quills, rolls of parchment, books of all kinds; shops selling potion bottles, and all sorts of odd things Jessica didn't even want to know the names of. They passed a store selling broomsticks and she saw several boys with their noses pressed against the window. Then she felt herself walking into a shadow. She looked up. Towering above all the little shops was a big snowy building. Jessica followed Eliza up the stone steps to the doors of the building where, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, stood...
"That's a goblin," Eliza said to her. The goblin, who had a swarthy face and very long fingers and feet, bowed to them as Eliza pulled open the door and they walked inside. They were facing another set of doors; this one had an inscription on it that read:
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
Jessica felt shivers run down her spine as she read those words. A pair of goblins bowed them through the doors. As she looked around Jessica saw goblins everywhere. Almost all of the goblins at the counter were busy. One was weighing bars of gold, another examining diamonds only slightly larger than her fist and countless others were scribbling in ledgers and counting coins. Even more were showing people through the doors leading off the lobby. Eliza and Jessica found a free goblin and walked over to him.
"I'd like to make a withdraw," Eliza said.
The goblin looked up from the book of numbers he had been consulting. "Do you have your key ma'am?" He asked, looking from her, to Jessica and then back to Eliza again.
Eliza nodded and pulled the small golden key out of her pocket. She handed it to the goblin that examined it for a moment before handing it back to her. "I'll have someone take you down to the vault. Gobnold!"
As Jessica expected Gobnold was another goblin. He led Eliza and Jessica out a small door. She was surprised to see, instead of marble like the lobby, a long stone tunnel that sloped steeply downward with tracks running along it. Jessica was strongly reminded of the old mines she had visited during a field trip in her fifth grade class. Gobnold whistled and a cart came hurtling up the tracks towards them. They climbed into the cart and they were off.
Jessica tried at first to remember the way but she quickly forgot about it. The way the cart hurtled down the tracks was much like a roller coaster at an amusement park. She grinned all the way down, enjoying the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair. She was almost disappointed when the cart stopped at "Vault four hundred and twenty-eight!".
Gobnold took the key from Eliza and he unlocked the door. It swung open slowly and some greenish-yellow smoke came drifting out. Jessica gasped as it cleared. The vault held large piles of gold, silver and bronze coins. Eliza stepped inside and started putting some into a bag.
"The money system's different for wizards," Eliza said. "The little bronze ones are Knuts, the silver ones are Sickles and the gold ones are Galleons. There are twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle and seventeen Sickles to a Galleon." Eliza finished placing coins in the sack and pulled it closed. "It's not too hard to remember once you get used to it. Here." She handed the sack to Jessica. "That should last you the school year if you don't spend it all too fast. You can always write to me for more money if you run out though." They left the vault, climbed back into the cart and made their way back to the surface.
As they emerged into the sunlight, Eliza consulted Jessica's list of school supplies.
"Jessica, why don't you go and get your uniform," Eliza said. "I'll go and buy you some of your school supplies to save time." When Jessica started to protest she held up her hand. "It'll be easier if we can split up the shopping. I want you to meet me outside of Flourish and Blotts when you're done. If you can't find it, just ask one of the people around, they should all be pretty helpful."
After giving Eliza some of the money, Jessica found her way into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. She explained what she needed and soon found herself in possession of three sets of regular black robes and a set of lilac colored dress robes. In a nearby store she bought herself a plain wizard's hat, a black winter cloak and a pair of dragon hide gloves. Holding all her purchases, she went back out onto the street.
It was then that Jessica realized that she didn't know which direction Flourish and Blotts lay in. She got a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had a hard time talking to people she didn't know. Still, so far everyone she had talked to had been extremely helpful. Glancing around, she saw a boy, with a pale face and blonde hair, standing all by himself. He looked like he was close to her age so Jessica approached him.
"Excuse me," she asked timidly. The boy turned and looked down at her over his pointed nose. The way he was looking at her made her feel like a bug.
"What do you want?" The boy's voice was cold and drawling and it held a note of scorn.
"I-I was wondering if you could tell me which way Flourish and Blotts is," Jessica said, hating the boy for the way he was speaking to her. She hadn't done anything to him; what was his problem?
The boy studied her. "Are you a Muggle-born?" he asked finally.
Jessica thought about that for a split second. Muggles were people with no magic. Eliza had told her that her parents had attended Hogwarts so that meant they had been a witch and a wizard. So there was no way she could be a Muggle-born.
"No," she said.
The boy raised his eyebrows with a look of disbelief on his face. "Really?" His voice told her that he thought she was lying. "Because you look like one of them. Why haven't I seen you at Hogwarts?"
"I've been living like a Muggle since I was young," Jessica said. She didn't feel like explaining why to this boy. He struck her as insensitive.
"Bet you're a Muggle lover then," he said with a hint of a sneer. "How would you react if your next-door Muggle neighbors were killed?"
"That's a horrible thing to say!" Jessica exclaimed. She couldn't believe the nerve of this boy. "They're really nice!"
"Muggle lover," the boy said with a definite sneer. "People like you are an embarrassment to the wizarding world."
Jessica wanted to smack him. "Shutup! You have no right to talk to me like that!"
"Jessica?" a familiar voice asked. She turned to see Harry coming towards her, wearing black robes. "What are you doing, Malfoy? Harassing somebody decent again?"
"So, befriended another Muggle lover have you, Potter?" Malfoy said. "Just goes to show the kind of scum you like to hang out with."
Anger shot through Jessica as Malfoy said that. "You take that back!" She was shouting now.
"Shove off," Harry said angrily. "Come on, Jessica." He took her arm and led her away.
"Who was that?" Jessica asked, blood still pounding in her ears. She glanced over her shoulder and the boy smirked at her.
"Draco Malfoy," Harry answered. "He's a jerk, just ignore him. He doesn't know anything."
Trying to change the subject, Jessica said, "I didn't know you were a wizard, Harry."
"Yeah, I am," Harry said. "What about you? I could've sworn you were a Muggle."
"I got a letter telling me I'd been accepted into Hogwarts on Tuesday," Jessica said. "For some odd reason I was overlooked during my first four years. I'm probably going to be really far behind. My grandma said she could tutor me in some of it though. Speaking of my grandma, do you know where Flourish and Blotts is? I don't know my way around this place."
"It's this way," Harry said. He led her to a bookshop. Eliza was waiting outside it.
"Jessica, what took so long?" Eliza asked. Jessica told her what had happened when she had asked for directions.
"What was this boy's name again?" Eliza asked.
"Draco Malfoy," Harry put in when Jessica had trouble remembering.
"Malfoy? Are you sure that was his name?" Eliza's face was halfway between anger and shock. "He wouldn't happen to be the son of Lucuis Malfoy would he?"
"One and the same," Harry said.
"Jessica, stay away from that boy," Eliza said. There was now a stern frown on her face. "Wizards like him are nothing but trouble."
"Yes, Eliza," Jessica said. As if I'd want to have anything to do with him anyway, Jessica thought.
"Oh," Eliza said, looking at Harry as if seeing him for the first time. "Who are you?"
"I'm Harry, ma'am, Harry Potter," Harry said. Jessica watched as her grandma's eyes flicked upward to his forehead and for the first time Jessica noticed a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Eliza stuck out her hand.
"Eliza Thompson, Harry, I'm Jessica's grandmother," she said shaking hands with him. "So, are you the Harry that Jessica met in the bookstore the other day?"
"Yes, Ms. Thompson," Harry answered.
"Call me Eliza," she said smiling. She turned to Jessica. "I've gotten almost all of your supplies. You're allowed to have a pet too." She studied Jessica's face. "Would you like to get an owl? They carry your mail and it's quite useful to have one."
"Sure," Jessica said. They made their way to Eeylops Owl Emporium. Ten minutes later the three of them emerged. Jessica was holding a wire cage with her new owl inside it. She was almost all black except for the tips of her wings, which were white. Jessica named her Fallen Angel.
"The only thing left to get is your wand," Eliza said. "Would you like to go in alone? If you would I'll send off Fallen Angel to let the school know that you're coming this year." Jessica nodded slowly. For some reason she didn't want her grandmother there when she got her first wand.
"That's fine dear. I'll go write that letter. Harry, would you please show her where the shop is?" Harry nodded and Eliza walked off with Fallen Angel.
"Come on, the shop is this way," Harry said, leading her off down Diagon Alley. They soon arrived at a small dusty looking shop with a sigh that read, Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC. Jessica felt her throat turn dry. Suddenly she didn't want to enter the shop. What if there wasn't a wand for her? What if she tried out every wand in the shop and found out that she wasn't magical after all?
"Harry, would you like to come into the shop with me?" She hoped he would say yes. She didn't want to buy her wand alone.
"Sure," Harry answered in what seemed like surprise. "No problem." Together the two of them walked into the shop.
It was dusty and Jessica had to fight the urge to sneeze. A bell rang somewhere in the shop as the door closed behind them. It was a tiny shop with boxes all along the walls. As she looked around, Jessica felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Jessica looked around. Standing before them, as though he'd appeared out of nowhere, was an old man with gray hair and silvery eyes. Those eyes focused on her and she shivered involuntarily.
"Ah, so you've finally come," Mr. Ollivander said. "I was wondering if you would ever be coming Miss Banks. You look like your grandmother. I can clearly remember her first wand. Beechwood, ten inches. Rather good wand for Charm work."
"What about my grandfather's wand?" Jessica asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. Eliza never spoke about her grandfather.
"Your grandfather," Mr. Ollivander said sadly, "had a yew wand. Thirteen and a half inches. Very powerful." Jessica suddenly felt like she'd asked a forbidden question. She swallowed all of her other questions.
Mr. Ollivander seemed to shake off the sadness. "Well, you're here for your wand. Which is your wand arm?"
Confused, Jessica glanced at Harry. "Are you right-handed or left-handed?" Harry asked her.
"Oh, um, my right arm," Jessica said to Mr. Ollivander.
"Hold out you're arm. Excellent." He pulled out a tape measure and began to take her measurements. He walked over to one of the shelves and pulled out a box. Jessica realized that the tape measure was measuring on its own. "That's enough. Here, try this. Holly and phoenix feather, ten inches." He handed Jessica a wand. She had no sooner taken it then he snatched it back from her.
"Willow and unicorn hair, nine inches, try it," Mr. Ollivander. Jessica tried it. And tried more and more wands.
"Ash and dragon heartstring. Seven inches."
"Mahogany and unicorn hair. Eight inches."
Mr. Ollivander pulled out box after box. "Here. A rare combination, redwood and phoenix feather. Eight and three-quarter inches. Give it a wave."
Jessica took the wand from him. It felt warm in her fingers. She twirled the wand in circles and violet and silver sparks shot out from the tip. Mr. Ollivander and Harry applauded.
She smiled with relief. Mr. Ollivander took the wand and placed it in its box.
"That will be six Galleons and nine Sickles," he said. Jessica paid him the money and she left the shop with Harry.
As they stepped outside Jessica heard voices calling, "Harry! Harry!" A girl with bushy brown hair that looked in need of brushing and a tall boy with flaming red hair approached them.
"Hello, Ron, Hermione," Harry said. "How are you?"
"Good," said the boy with red hair. "Mum's here too. We can go back to the Burrow as soon as you're ready." Then he noticed Jessica for the first time. "Oh, hello," he said. "I'm Ron Weasley. Who're you?"
"I'm Jessica Banks," she said.
"Oh, so you're the Jessica Harry's been talking about all summer," Ron said with a grin. Jessica shot a look at Harry who, to her surprise, was blushing.
"Oh, Ron, give Harry a break, he only told us about how he'd met her," the girl with bushy hair said quickly.
"He said a lot more when you weren't there, Hermione," Ron said. He seemed to be enjoying the uncomfortable look on Harry's face. Despite herself, Jessica smiled.
"Er, Ron," Harry said. "Shut up okay?"
"I aim to please," Ron said, with a grin and a slightly mocking half bow.
"So, why haven't we seen you at Hogwarts if you're a witch?" Hermione asked. She seemed to be trying to change the subject but Jessica didn't mind.
"Well, for some reason I was overlooked during my first four years," Jessica said. "So I've got to catch up on four years worth of school. I don't know how I'm going to manage."
"That's odd," Hermione said. "But I could probably help you to catch up."
"You could?" Jessica asked. "That'd be great."
"Yeah, Hermione's only been top of her class for four years in a row," Ron said, rolling his eyes.
"You'd have to come over to Ron's house for the rest of the summer since I'm staying there, though," Hermione said thoughtfully, ignoring Ron. "And you'll probably need some extra books for background reading, seeing as you don't know much about the magical world."
"My grandmother's already got a lot of books, I can bring them." Jessica was glad she'd found someone to help her with catching up. She'd been very worried that she wouldn't be able to catch up in time for school.
"I'd have to make sure it was okay with my grandmother though," Jessica said.
"What about your parents?" Ron asked.
"They died when I was very little," Jessica said. "At a party with some of their Muggle friends. My grandmother never told me exactly what happened, just that everyone who was there died. I was with my grandmother when it happened, because I was sick."
"Oh," Ron said. There was silence for a moment. "Sorry if I upset you or anything."
"It's all right," Jessica said. "You had no idea." She was actually a bit scared. She had just talked of her parents' death for the first time in years and she felt, well, nothing. When she had been a little girl it had been impossible for her to talk of her parents without crying. And now... Now it seemed as though she didn't care.
The uncomfortable silence stretched on. It was broken by Eliza approaching them with Jessica's owl.
"I've sent off the letter Jessica," Eliza said. "Are you ready to go?"
"Well, Eliza, I was wondering if I could spend the rest of the summer with Hermione," Jessica asked nervously. "She goes to Hogwarts and she said she could help me catch up on what I've missed. She's staying at Ron Weasley's house."
"If you're sure you want to, Jessica," Eliza said with a small smile. "I'll send Fallen Angel with some clothes, once you get there of course. And I'll bring you your luggage of course."
"Thanks, Eliza," Jessica said, giving her grandmother a hug. Eliza walked off with Fallen Angel.
"You named your owl Fallen Angel?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, so?" Jessica asked protectively. She liked that name.
"It's just kind of-" Ron started.
"Ron, considering your owl's name I really don't think you have the right to be criticizing anyone else's owl's names," Hermione said.
"Why?" Jessica asked. "What's your owl's name, Ron?"
"It's Pig," Harry interrupted with a smile before Ron could answer.
"Pig?" Jessica asked, laughing. She shook her head. "Do I even want to know the story behind this?"
"My sister Ginny named him Pigwidgeon," Ron said, shooting a glare at Harry. "I tried to change it but he refused to answer to anything else. So, he's Pig."
"Ah, I see," Jessica said, still shaking her head and grinning.
"Are you ready to leave yet Harry?" Ron asked, looking just a bit embarrassed.
"Naw, let's go get some ice cream," Harry said. "I'll pay for it okay?"
"Fine," Ron said. The three of them walked to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor where Harry bought them all sundaes.
"Thanks for buying, Harry," Jessica said as they sat down to eat their sundaes.
"No problem," Harry said with a smile. Jessica really liked that smile. It made her feel liked, a feeling Jessica had never gotten from the boys at her old school. Her old school... She was already accepting Hogwarts and the magical world as her true home and she hadn't even been to Hogwarts yet.
"Aren't you going to eat you sundae?" Hermione asked her.
"Yeah," Jessica said. "I was just thinking."
"That's dangerous you know," Ron said. "I wouldn't try it if I were you."
Jessica smiled as she took a bit of her sundae. The taste of ice cream reminded her of something...
"Oh!" Jessica said as she remembered. "It's your birthday, isn't it, Harry?"
"Hey, you remembered," Harry said. "Yes, today is my birthday."
"I don't have a present for you," Jessica said. "But Happy Birthday!"
"That's good enough," Harry said with a smile.
They finished their ice cream and headed back towards the Leaky Cauldron.
"There you are Ron!" A voice rang out. Two people with red hair were approaching them. They could only be twins, just as they had to be related to Ron. One wore a sweater with a big letter F on it and the other wore one with a G.
"Mum's been looking for you guys," G said.
"Hey, who are you?" asked F, staring at Jessica.
"Oh, I'm Jessica Banks," Jessica said.
"Wait," G said with a mischievous grin. "I remember Harry talking about you."
"Oh, yes, that's right," F said. "You'd be the one who's beautiful-"
"And nice-"
"And sweet-"
"And smart."
Jessica glanced at Harry, who had turned scarlet. Her attention, however, was quickly focused onto herself.
"My, my, Jessica," F said. "You're as red as Harry! You two make quite a pair."
"Jessica, this is Fred and this is George," Ron said. "They're my two of my older brothers."
"Hello," Jessica said with a weak smile. She hadn't realized that she was blushing too. She wanted to cover her face in her hands but she wasn't the kind of person who ran and hid just because she was blushing. Regaining some of her confidence she tried another smile. This one felt much better than the other one and Jessica let out a mental sigh of relief.
"So, Jessica," George said with a teasing grin, putting his arm around her shoulder as the group continued towards the Leaky Cauldron. "Just how much do you like Harry?"
"That's for me to know, George, and for you to not find out," Jessica said, returning his grin.
"Oooh, she's good," Fred commented. "Better watch yourself, George. She just might outsmart you."
"Naw, that won't happen," George said after thinking about it for a moment. He took his arm off Jessica's shoulder.
Jessica grinned. Their teasing wasn't actually that bad if you didn't let it get to you. In, fact, Jessica found them rather funny.
As the six of them left Diagon Allay and entered the Three Broomsticks Jessica saw a group of more red heads and thought to herself, Just how big is Ron's family?
A red-headed woman who was obviously Ron's mother called to them as they entered the tiny pub, "Ron, Hermione, Harry dear, there you all are! Are you ready to go? Oh, hello," she said, upon spotting Jessica. "What's your name m'dear?"
"Jessica Banks," Harry said, before she could. Jessica was somewhat grateful for this because she was growing tired of having to introduce herself again and again.
"Well, Jessica, I'm Molly Weasley, Ron's mother," she said.
"It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Weasley," Jessica said. She was looking forward to seeing how a wizarding family lived. And, she thought to herself, I'll get to spend some more time with Harry.