I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I had just stumbled out of a fireplace in a little pub. All around me were signs of magic. The old barman was waving his wand at a couple of glasses which were cleaning themselves, a young woman was chatting with her friend, while her baby's carrier rocked itself back and forth, and a very pale man with rather long, pointed teeth was sucking on something red and sticky in a glass bottle. I suspected this was a vampire. Harry had told me about them that morning when we were brushing our teeth. Above me, a crooked wooden sign read "The Leaky Cauldron". I was so in shock that I forgot to move away from the fireplace and Fred came tumbling through, knocking me to the ground. After Fred followed George, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Harry. Thankfully we managed to push each other off and scramble out of the way before anyone else fell on top of us. Everyone in the pub was staring at us now, so we decided to brush the soot off ourselves and go outside.
Harry took out his wand and tapped the brick wall behind the pub a few times and a huge archway appeared in front of us, leading to what must have been Diagon Alley. I won't get into how flabberghasted I was to see all the strange shops that sold strange items. There were only a few people in the street and they all looked very nervous and worried as they went about their shopping. There were posters everywhere about Voldemort and wanted Death Eaters. It was quite spooky.
"All right, everyone." Mrs. Weasley announced. "We are going to be splitting up in groups. DO NOT leave your groups for any reason! ANY REASON!" she barked. Everyone nodded. "Good. Now Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ashleigh will be going with Tonks. Myself, Arthur and Ginny will be going with Mad-Eye. Bill, Fleur, Fred and George will go with Shacklebolt and Charlie can go with whomever."
"I guess I'll go with Harry and Ashleigh, then." he said, shrugging.
"Right, well, that's settled." Mrs. Weasley said.
"Where is Tonks, Mad-Eye and Shacklebolt?" Harry asked.
"They said they'd meet us here, I expect they'll be here shortly." Mr. Weasley replied. As soon as he said this, three people popped out of nowhere in front of us. I stumbled backwards. Harry grabbed my shoulders to keep me steady.
"Hello, there. Terribly sorry we're late, but Mad-Eye insisted we go investigate a reported sighting of Inferi near Godric's Hollow." Tonks said, rolling her eyes. "Turned out to be some kid trying to scare his little sister."
"Better safe than sorry." the man called Mad-Eye growled. I didn't know what Inferi were and I didn't ask.
The very tall, handsome black man who had arrived with them nodded and said "You're Ashleigh Lily Potter?" Technically, I wasn't. I was Ashleigh Lily Smith, but I'm guessing that had never been my real name, so I nodded.
After we explained the groups to Shacklebolt, Tonks and Mad-Eye, we were off shopping.
"Ashleigh needs a wand, cauldron, gloves, school robes, and class books and supplies, is that right?" Tonks said cheerfully. I nodded and we went and bought all of my things. My wand was awesome! Mahogany, 60 and 1/2 centimetres, bendy, unicorn tail core. By now, I was beaming. I had never had so much fun in all my life. We were walking by the Magical Menagerie when my brother suddenly stopped.
"Hey, Ashleigh, would you like a pet?" he asked.
"Sure, but I'm out of money." I replied simply.
"Don't be stupid, I'm buying it for you." Harry replied.
"Oh, are you sure?" I asked skeptically. Harry just grabbed my wrist and led me into the shop.
"We're allowed to bring an owl, a cat, or a toad to school with us. Which one would you like?"
"Um... well, I've always liked cats." I said. Harry let me pick out which cat I wanted. I found a lot of really pretty ones, but one of them caught my eye at once. It was a small, ragged thing, with one eye missing and only three legs. I was in love at once. I picked her up and cuddled her in my arms. "I want this one." I told Harry, smiling. He raised his eyebrows but said nothing and paid for the tiny little ragged feline. I decided to call her Sorcha, after my mother which is Celtic for "bright, radiant light". After we left the shop, with Sorcha hobbling behind us, we ran into a blonde, snobby-looking guy.
"Well, well, well." he sneered. "It's Potty and the Weasel... oh, and let's not forget Miss Mudblood Granger." At once, both Ron and Tonks whipped out their wands threateningly. Uh oh, I thought. This could get ugly.