Chapter 15

"All right you lot," said Mrs. Weasley as they walked down a street in Diagon Alley. "We need to go Gringotts bank and pick up some money before we start. Can you four take care of your things?"

"Us?" said Ron.

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley said. "And take Blythe with you too."

"I don't want him to watch me," Blythe said pointing at Ron. "I want Harry to watch me."

"That's fine, dear," said Mrs. Weasley as they entered Gringotts bank. "Harry, you go first."

"Okay," Harry said stepping up to a teller. "Hello, I'd like to make a withdrawal."

"Name please," asked the Goblin behind the desk.

"Harry Potter," said Harry.

"Key?" asked the Goblin.

"Yes," Harry said.

"Follow him," said the Goblin pointing to another Goblin waiting at a door. "Name?"

"Hermione Granger," said Hermione.

Harry walked over to the Goblin beside the door with Blythe in tow and Hermione close behind. The Goblin led them to a waiting cart and they all piled in. Once the Goblin was seated, the cart suddenly began to speed down the track going further and further underground. Finally, the cart came to halt at Harry's vault. They all climbed out of the cart and walked over to the vault.

"Key please," said the Goblin.

Harry handed the key to him and stood back holding Blythe close to him. The Goblin quickly opened the vault and Harry stepped inside grabbing several handfuls of each coin. Once he had emerged, the vault door closed and the key was returned. This process continued at Hermione's vault before they returned to the main floor where the Weasley's were waiting for them.

"You five have fun now," Mrs. Weasley said as they stepped outside. "Well meet up at the Leaky Cauldron tonight at six."

"Okay," Ron and Harry said.

"See ya," said Fred as he and his twin disappeared into the mass of people.

Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, Bill, and Ivy disappeared into the crowd of people hurrying up and down Diagon Alley. Harry took Blythe's hand and they were off, heading for the nearest shop, which just happened to be the bookstore.

"Didn't mommy give you two every book you would ever need for school?" Blythe asked directly to Ron and Ginny.

"Oh yeah," said Ginny, "she did. That means we can spend more money on things like robes and that kind of thing."

"Thank goodness," Ron said. "Mine are still too small for me."

"How about you two go get robes while we get our books?" suggested Hermione.

"Good idea," said Ron. "Come on, Ginny. Before mum finds us and takes some of our money away."

"See you later," Ginny said kissing Harry's cheek.

"Bye," Blythe said. "Icky."

"What's icky, Blythe?" asked Harry as they walked further into the bookstore.

"Kissing," said Blythe making a funny face.

"Lots of people kiss, Blythe," Hermione pointed out. "Even your mum and dad."

"I don't have a dad though," Blythe said looking at them. "I miss my daddy."

Blythe suddenly spun around and wrapped her arms around Harry's legs. Harry looked at Hermione and then at the little girl.

"Blythe," Harry said removing the little girl from his legs, "it's okay. Hermione didn't mean to make you feel sad."

"I know," Blythe said holding her arms up. "But still."

Harry bent down and picked up the little girl. She laid her head on his shoulder as they found the books they needed. As they looked for the last book on their list, a familiar voice rang through the air.

"Babysitting, Potter," said a hissing voice.

Hermione and Harry spun around and saw Draco Malfoy standing there, with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him. Draco's white hair fell around his thin pale face while his dark blue eyes burned bright.

"A cousin or something, Potter," hissed Malfoy glaring at Hermione. "Or maybe another mudblood? I wouldn't be surprised."

"Get lost, Malfoy," Harry said calmly.

"Found them, Harry," Hermione said grabbing two books off the shelf. "Let's go before something happens."

But without warning, Draco's head was suddenly replaced with that of a frog. The frog's head still had the white hair and the dark blue eyes. As it opened its mouth to speak, instead of words coming out everyone heard crocks. A tall, thin woman with long flowing black hair suddenly came into the bookstore and dragged the frog headed Malfoy away with Crabbe and Goyle hot on their heals.

"What happened?" asked Seamus, a fellow Gryffindor, as he hurried over to Harry and Hermione. "Did you do that, Harry?"

"Wasn't me," Harry said. "But that was cool."

"Yeah it was," Blythe said quietly.

"Who's this, Harry?" asked Parvati Patil, also a Gryffindor, from behind Seamus. "She's so cute."

"She's just a friend," said Harry, feeling his face growing redder by the minute.

"What's her name?" Parvati asked.

"Blythe," Harry said. "Come on, Hermione. We've got lost of stuff to buy."

"See you guys on the train," said Hermione as they made their way to the clerk.

Once they had paid for their books, they made their way back into the street where they found Ron and Ginny waiting with two packages each in their arms.

"I see you two bought new robes," Hermione said.

"Yeah," Ron said. "Where should we go next?"

"Quill store," Harry said. "Mine are starting to die."

"So are mine," Ginny said. "The quill store's right there too."

It took them only about an hour and a half to find everything they needed for school. Once they had bought everything, they found a nice little café to eat lunch. As they ate their sandwiches, they talked about the upcoming year.

"So what are you going to do this year, Blythe?" asked Ginny.

"Practice my wizarding skills," Blythe said drinking her pumpkin juice. "Mommy says that if I keep practicing then I'll be at the top of my class and they might move me up a grade."

"You can actually be moved up a grade in American Wizarding schools?" said Hermione. "Wow."

"If you lived in America, Hermione, you would already be out of school," said Harry. "So, Blythe, can you do transfiguration yet?"

"Oh yes," said Blythe. "That's my favorite area of study."

"What can you turn yourself into?" asked Ron.

"An Antipodean Opaleye, a Fairy, a Phoenix, a Unicorn, the Aethonan winged horse, and a wolf," Blythe said.

"Wow and your only six," said Hermione. "None of us can do any of that."

But what Hermione was saying was only half-right. What she and the others did not know, was that Harry had been practicing to become an Animagus. Ever since the summer after their fifth year, Harry had been working on transfiguring himself into an animal. Actually to be more precise, a dog just like, his godfather, Sirius Black.

"Hey, Harry," said a familiar voice.

Harry and the others looked up and saw Angelina walking towards them with two other young ladies. "Angelina, hey," he said.

"Hi, guys," Angelina said. "How are you?"

"Fine," Ginny said. "What are you up too?"

"Shopping," said Angelina.

"Harry," said Blythe. "Can I have a Butterbeer, please?"

"Sure," Harry said. "Anyone else want a Butterbeer?"

"Sure," everyone said.

"Eight then," Harry said standing up. "I'll be right back."

"I'm coming," Blythe said following Harry.

"She's so cute," said one of Angelina's friends.

"Eight Butterbeers please," said Harry.

"Good day, Mr. Potter," said a feminine voice to his left.

Harry slowly turned his head to see who was talking to him and there stood Mrs. Longbottom, Neville's grandmother. She was a tall slender elderly woman with silvery hair and deep brown eyes.

"Hello, Mrs. Longbottom," Harry said as Blythe watched the elderly woman from under the counter.

Mrs. Longbottom's hand slipped into her purse and pulled out a piece of candy. "Would you like a piece of candy?" she asked Blythe. "I don't bite, I promise."

"Go ahead," Harry said giving her a little nudge. "Mrs. Longbottom's a nice woman."

Blythe slipped out from under the counter and walked over to Mrs. Longbottom. "So how are you doing?" she asked Harry.

"Fine," said Harry. "Where's Neville?"

"He's shopping with one of his uncles," Mrs. Longbottom said handing Blythe the piece of candy. "There you go, dear."

"Thank you, Mrs. Longbottom," Blythe said with a big smile as she ate the candy.

"Are you ready for your last year at Hogwarts?" asked Mrs. Longbottom.

"Yes," Harry said as the bartender handed him eight Butterbeers. "It was nice talking to you, Mrs. Longbottom. Have a nice day."

"I want to take some," Blythe said.

Harry handed her three of the Butterbeers and took the other five in his arms. "Here we go," he said as he and Blythe passed the bottles out.

"Thanks, Harry," said Angelina. "So who's the cutie?"

"A friend's daughter," said Harry. "This is Blythe."

"Hi," Blythe said with a big smile.

"Hey," said Angelina and her two friends.

"So are you guys done shopping already?" asked one of Angelina's friends as they pulled up chairs.

"Yeah," said Ron. "We've got until six before we have to meet up with mum."

"Wow you guys have three hours to waist," said Angelina's second friend. "Did you guys see Malfoy earlier? That was wicked."

"Yeah we saw him," said Hermione with a smile. "Did you two see him, Ginny?"

"Yeah we were just coming out of the robe shop when his mother dragged him out of the bookstore," Ginny said. "It was so delightful. Ron didn't think it was him, until he saw the hair."