Chapter seven: shopping for mayhem

James had to catch his son as he literally fell out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, covered in soot and scowling mightily. James laughed and hit him with a cleaning spell while Harry fished his glasses out and put them on, sighing in relief when his vision cleared.

"I hate fire travel," Harry muttered, "Thanks."

"You'll be learning to Apparate next year, young Potter," Tom called from where he was polishing glasses, "There'll be no holding you back after that!"

James noticed that Harry was instantly the centre of attention, as the patrons turned around to stare at him and whisper comments. He watched as Harry straightened a little and smiled at the bar tender, ignoring the avid looks and not so subtle comments.

"There will be drinks all round on that day, Tom," Harry laughed and Ron stepped out of the fireplace gracefully, followed very quickly by Beth, Ginny and then Molly. Ron squirmed under his mothers cleaning spell while Ginny moved up to shield Harry from some of the whisperers. Molly shooed them all out into the back courtyard and Beth tapped on the bricks, remembering the pattern easily from her own trips to the alley.

"This never gets old," Harry grinned as the bricks shuffled themselves about to form the archway that admitted magic folk to their major London shopping outlet.

"Gringotts first," Molly decreed, and Ron and Harry fell into step behind her and Ginny, happily listing where they wanted to go during the day, and no doubt plotting how to get there. Lily leaned in close to James and asked in a whisper what had been happening at the pub.

"The moment Tom said his name everyone started staring and whispering. Harry just ignored it, as if it were normal," James shook his head, "If it had been me, I'd have told them all to sod off."

"Harry doesn't react to things the same way we would," Lily sighed unhappily and straightened up again. In their talks at bedtime, Lily had revealed how unhappy she was with the way their son had grown up and grown apart from them. James had to agree with his wife. The jolly little chap that they had raised for such a short time was gone, replaced with a stranger who was wise beyond his years one minute, and a normal teen the second after that.

They had heard of the things that Harry had done and had learned to do from Dumbledore, and to some degree from the Marauders, but seeing was believing, and right now Harry seemed to be a bit of an odd duck. James was also fairly sure his son was seriously attracted to his best friend, and that the feeling was mutual. He rather cynically suspected that Molly Weasley had also seen the attachment forming, and was encouraging such a prestigious link. The Weasley's were old Blood, though they had fallen on hard times, and by attaching one of their children to Harry they could reap some of the benefits of his inheritance.

At Gringotts, James insisted they separate, and Harry accompanied his parents to the vault that had been set up as a trust for him without a murmur. James was curious to see how much Harry had spent, and knew that Lily had also wondered about it. He knew that when he had been given access to his schooling vault he'd been a little wild with his spending at first. His father had pulled him aside and pointed out that wild spending today would mean a lack tomorrow, and helped him devise a generous budget.

"Griphook, did the bank re-imburse the Weasley's for my school things last year?" Harry asked as the cart came to a stop.

"It did, Mr Potter, as your letter instructed," the Goblin confirmed and Harry hopped out of the cart nimbly, James following close behind. He offered Lily a gallant hand and watched as the door swung open. The pile in the middle of the vault appeared virtually untouched, despite the fact that Harry had been buying his school supplies from it.

"How often do you withdraw from this account?" Lily asked in astonishment, and Harry shrugged. He grabbed a few handfuls of coins, stuffing them into the worn moneybag that the bank provided to all children when they first came to access a trust account, and headed for the door, not lingering.

"Harry, son, you can take more than that," James caught his arm and whispered, "The trust account receives a deposit semi-annually from our main account. You won't run out."

"I don't need more," Harry shrugged, "This will do me for the year, it always has. I don't need luxuries."

"Define luxuries," Lily spluttered, and Harry struggled to come up with an explanation. Evidently this was another area where Harry's values were skewed from the values that Lily and James took for granted. Part of the problem was that Harry had never seen the need to have more 'things' than others - his childhood had taught him to make do, as well as exercising his inventive side to make up any short falls. Dudley was the one who wanted more all the time, and Harry had hated the greedy light in his cousin's eyes. Once he'd realised that he had some money in the Wizarding world he'd initially been very keen to splurge and treat himself. Second thoughts had suggested that he'd need to save up his money in case of magical emergencies and he'd come up with a budget of sorts that let him have a bit of fun, but not beggar himself.

"Malfoy has fancy robes… Parkinson writes on monogrammed parchment… there's a Ravenclaw that has a gold quill set," he grinned, "I've got all I need and a bit of spending money besides."

He pulled his arm out of James' grasp and climbed back into the cart, thanking Griphook for his patience when the Goblin joined them. James sat in the back again for the trip to their vault, his mind whirling. What about the luxury of casual clothes, books beyond what the school recommended, Quidditch gear and hobbies? His son was old enough to travel to Hogsmede now, didn't he browse the stores there, pick up the usual odds and ends that caught the eye of a wandering teen? Harry's school trunk held everything he owned, and that realisation made James feel a little ill. Beyond his owl and his broom, all of Harry's worldly possessions fit in that trunk. Sure, it had an expansion charm on it, but James had always managed to overload his trunk by the end of the year. Harry's held every schoolbook he'd ever bought and the few clothes he owned and still had room to spare.

Lily made their withdrawal, seeing that James was too stunned to catalogue their vaults contents and remove the appropriate amount. Their vault had of course continued to receive the deposits of his trust account, so there had been a steady increase in their balance over the last fifteen years, despite the trust payments for Harry.

"You alright?" Harry asked as they got out of the cart at the end, looking at him with worried eyes. James nodded stiffly and watched his son withdraw before his eyes, hurrying ahead to his adopted family. His best friend greeted him with a cheerful thump to the arm, and Molly straightened the cloak Harry wore absently. James sighed and followed his stiff backed wife over to the group, wondering how things had gotten so far out of his control. Lily was upset because Molly was the 'mother' that Harry turned to, he was upset because his son didn't seem to think there was anything strange about all the things he lacked, and Harry was upset because … well he couldn't figure his son out, but either way things were not looking up.

This time it was Lily that insisted they split up, and Harry followed them obediently, without so much as a look to say he was disappointed by being split from his friends. He purchased a new set of school robes and the Apothecary kit that was required for potions quickly, before heading to Flourish and Blotts. The bookstore was fairly busy, but James noticed at once that people stopped their own browsing to stare at Harry. One or two even made a point of bumping into him so they could exchange the usual words of apology. Harry pretended once again not to notice the stares or whispers as he and Beth gathered his schoolbooks together. James made a point to pull Harry aside and ask if there were any books that he wanted that weren't on his list, and Harry looked around thoughtfully before picking up one on defence and one on transfiguration.

A quick stop took care of his ink and parchment supplies, as well as a separate detour for treats and food for his owl. James replaced the family owl as well, a fine looking bird with soft grey feathers. Lily was trying to get Harry's opinion on a name for it when the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies blew out, showering the shoppers with glass. People cried out in pain and confusion as Death Eaters appeared all over the alley, sending stunning spells and other more deadly hexes into the crowds.

James and Lily had Harry between them and their wands out before the teen could blink. James hustled the family into the shelter of a doorway while the parents around the alley ferried their children back towards the Leaky Cauldron. If they could get the kids into the well-warded pub they could defend them better. A series of spells hit the walls, roofs and chimneys of the alley shops, apparently designed to reduce the buildings to rubble. Debris were flying everywhere and the shouts and confusion was terrible.

"Harry, head for the pub…" James began when a mother screamed in horror. Her three-year-old child was wandering amongst the chaos, dazed by the noise. The chimney of Eyelops Emporium was toppling slowly, and the little girl was right in its path. Before anyone could react, Harry's wand was pointing out at the street.

"Accio broom," his son's voice was urgent and seconds later a broom was arrowing past the doorway. Harry leapt on as it passed, not even waiting for the broom to hover at his side, as James would have done, flying straight into the path of the falling bricks, the dust and noise obscuring them for a horrible moment. There was a shout and James looked up, spotting his son arrowing away into the sky, the bright blue frock of the girl visible under his arm. As James watched, Harry turned and headed for the pub, as his father had ordered.

He was distracted by Lily shouting stunning spells and joined his efforts to the fray, targeting the cowards who wore masks and attacked people going about their daily lives for a cause that was based on prejudice. Ten minutes into the prolonged attack he realised that there must be a couple of off duty Aurors in the crowd of defenders. There was a definite fighting team in the midst of the battle as perfectly cast and counter pointed spells erupted from first one location and then another. There was a definite rhythm and planning to the casting, as well as a cunning and degree of experience that only a seasoned fighter would have.

"They're making a move," Lily panted and James noted that the Death Eaters that were still upright and capable were definitely gathering into a particular formation despite the best efforts of the remaining defenders of the Alley. Aurors were beginning to arrive, but their presence was too late as the Death Eaters simultaneously cast a final spell before disapparating away.

The Leaky Cauldron crumbled into dust, leaving only the façade that faced Muggle London intact. There was a moment's shocked silence as people struggled to comprehend the damage that spell had caused and then a mother screamed.

"My children!"

James felt sick as he realised that the children they had been trying to defend so ardently had been in the pub. Cries and screams echoed all over the alley, and when Lily moaned their son's name in horror James groaned in echo. He'd sent Harry there, insisted that their son get to safety instead of staying where James could watch over him. He and Lily had been in the thick of the fighting, their past experience too valuable to withhold. Together they'd accounted for quite a few of the Death Eaters that even now were bound on the ground.

Before the grief of the alley could escalate Dumbledore appeared in their midst, carried there by Fawkes. The headmaster shot a plume of smoke into the air, which rapidly formed into a list of names. Pointing his wand at his own throat, Dumbledore spoke the Sonorous charm, and broadcast a message.

"The children are safely at Hogwarts. They arrived on the Knight Bus."

Cheers erupted and James scanned the list anxiously for Harry's name. Ginny Weasley's name was there, and it seemed that everyone else had located their children safe and sound, but Harry and Ron's name was not among those floating in the air and Lily clutched James arm in a painful grip.

There was a shout and two Death Eaters broke from cover, firing spell after spell into the unprepared crowd as they struggled to reach a clear space and apparate to safety. Twin stunning spells shot from a ruined shop front and took them down, James absently recognising the spell work as that of the off duty Aurors that had performed with such stunning accuracy all the way through the fight. There was a shocked silence while people came to terms with this last awful surprise, which was broken by Molly Weasley's command.

"Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley!"

There was a stir, and then the two boys in question emerged from the shop front, stepping over the rubble carefully, the broom he'd used to snatch the girl still in Harry's hand. The red head moved to intercept his mother, while Harry looked around. James stepped forward to get his attention and Harry nodded to him in relief before spotting who he was looking for. James watched in astonishment as Harry approached the owner of the Quidditch shop and offered to pay for the broom he'd appropriated. He was rebuffed firmly, the shop keeper insisting that he keep it and then Molly had him in her arms, with Ron smirking behind his mother and Harry hugging her back enthusiastically.

"They were the Aurors," Lily muttered suddenly, "James, it was Harry and Ron who worked that flawless partnership!"

James gaped at her in astonishment before following her to his son's side. One thing was certain, they'd need to get the full story of Harry's life, and soon. Though Moony and Padfoot were trying to spare their feelings, James could no longer tolerate not knowing everything there was to know about his son. The second thing they'd need to do was to decide on how to keep Harry and Ron from being expelled by the Ministry for all the under-age casting they'd just done.

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