Diagon Alley part two! We are so close to the start of term, and I am so excited for you guys to read it!

Please let me know what you think, or if you have any questions.

Happy Reading!

The first stop was the clothing store for her school uniform. She stared helplessly at the store names before flagging down a startled witch in navy blue robes and wearing a strange hat with roses of the same color and silver feathers adorning it and asked her where the robe shop was. The woman kindly explained to her how to get to a store called Madame Malkin's. Willow thanked the witch and turned in the general direction of the store, stepping directly into the throng of people milling around Diagon Alley. She dutifully followed the witch's directions and eventually ended up at the entrance Madame Malkins.

The exterior looked slightly worn as well, but then again, so did the rest of the building in Diagon Alley. The purple paint on the door was chipping away and it only made the beautiful robes in the shop window stand out more. Willow realized that it didn't mean that it was necessarily a bad thing. It's just how it was. She walked in and was immediately greeted by a witch behind a marble counter who introduced herself as Madame Malkin.

"Welcome to Madame Malkin's! Are you getting robes for Hogwarts dear?" Willow nodded her head.

Madame Malkin grabbed a few things and moved out from behind the counter. She straightened out her mauve robes and motioned for Willow for her to follow her as she began to speak again.

"Oh good! We have another student getting fitted for his robes as well, so we'll take you back there."

Willow continued to follow Madame Malkin, weaving in and out of the racks of dress robes and uniforms. Which reminded Willow that she needed to ask about casual back of the store was set up like a tailor's shop. There were two stands with dressing mirror that encompassed both and a couple of changing areas as well. One of the other employees handed Willow a uniform set and told her to change into it and was further instructed to stand on the second platform next to a platinum-haired boy. The boy looked at her with stormy grey eyes as if he was checking to see if she was worthy of his attention. She refused to talk to him first or even acknowledge his presence if he was going to act that way. Her attitude seemed to work, at some point, he finally deemed her worthy and spoke to her.

"Are you going to be a first year at Hogwarts?" He had a drawling sort of voice, and Willow didn't know what to make of it.

"Yeah, I am."

"Me too, I'm Draco Malfoy. My father is out looking at wands and after this I'll drag them to look at racing brooms. Do you own one?"

Willow was too caught up in relishing the fact that she was about to get clothes that actually fit that she only caught the tail end of what this pointy-faced boy said.

"No, I don't." Willow hoped he wouldn't notice how absent minded she was being in the conversation, she was just too focused on the feel of the robes against her ankles, and the way that the shirt and skirt felt. Who knew wearing clothes that fit could feel so comfortable.

"Do you know what house you'll be in?"

"Oh, um…" she shrugged as the seamstresses continued to work on the pair of them. Willow hadn't really been paying enough attention to the conversation to know what was going on, and even if she did, she didn't know what he was talking about. It was making her uncomfortable. Thankfully though, he didn't need an answer and he continued as of she hadn't spoken at all.

"Well, know one really knows what house they're going to be in until they get there. I bet I'll be in Slytherin though, my entire family belonged to that house. Imagine being a Hufflepuff!" He laughed and the most Willow could do was smile awkwardly.

Slytherin? Hufflepuff?

"Well, looks like I'm done. I'll see you on the train." He turned and began to head for the door before pausing.

"Say what was your name?"

"Willow Potter." His mouth dropped open and she could tell that the boy wanted to say something but the woman fitting Willow for robes patted her leg, telling her to go and take them off, effectively ending their conversation.

Once she came back from the dressing room, with the robes folded, the seamstress explained that they'd still be too big due to how small Willow really was. She didn't really mind, the robes were still the best fitting thing that she had ever owned. Madame Malkin returned to wrap up her school robes and Willow took the chance to ask about casual wear.

"Well, we mainly sell dress robes and uniforms, but I'll see if we have anything in stock" Madame Malkin hurried back further into the store, the sight of her white hair getting lost in the maze of clothes. She empty handed, blue eyes regretful, saying that she didn't have anything for her.

"That's fine, Madame. Thank you anyway." Willow smiled at the shop owner as they walked back up to the register. She paid for her clothes and headed outside, looking at the list of stuff that she needed. She deliberated for a moment or two before deciding to go to the bookstore. Wherever that was.

Willow wandered around Diagon Alley trying to find where she needed to go get her textbooks. They should've put store names on this list too, at least she would've had an idea of what to look for. She halfway cursed herself as she passed store after store for deciding to split off from Harry. At least they would've been lost together. She was too busy trapped in her thoughts and looking at the shop names to notice that the person in front of her had stopped. She was looking up at the sign for Twilfitt and Tatting's and accidentally ran into them and fell.

"I'm sorry mister…" They turned around and Willow realized who exactly she had run into.

"Professor Quirrell?" She hastily stood and brushed herself off, apologizing to him once more.

"I-it's quite alr-right Miss P-Potter. Are you g-getting your s-supplies?"

"Yes sir, though I can't seem to find the bookshop," she rubbed the back of her neck embarrassed and looked down at her list.

"Ah yes, you m-must be l-looking for F-flourish and Bl-blotts. I was j-just Heading there m-myself. If you-you're not opposed w-we could accompany each other."

This professor was my savior. Who knows how long I would've been wandering around here trying to look for that blasted bookshop.

On the way there they held light conversation, Willow asked him about Romania and he told her all about it, though he didn't mention any vampires. His stuttering made the conversation very difficult to understand, but it was nice enough.

The passed Madame Malkin's and Willow was embarrassed to realize that she had been going the wrong way. About halfway down the street and on the left hand side they came across Flourish and Blotts. It was by far Willow's favorite store. She noticed gold embossed spell books the size of paving slabs in the window. They walked in and she stopped to take in the sight of the book store. The store was filled to the brim with books. Shelves upon shelves lined the walls of the shop. Books from floor to ceiling surrounded Willow.

She was in heaven.

As she looked around, a book about ancient magic caught her eye. She picked it up and admired the embellishments on the cover.

"Professor, What's the difference between ancient magic and regular magic?"

"W-well it D-d-depends."

"Depends on what?" she tore her eyes from the book and looked at him paying close attention. She wanted to hear and understand every word of what he had to say. If she hadn't, she would've missed the straightening of his posture, the gleam of something foreign in his eyes giving them a reddish glow, nor would she have noticed the disappearance of his infamous stutter. It was like he was a different person.

"It depends, Miss Potter, on the type of Ancient magic."

"The type?"

"Yes. There are many different kinds, you have nature magic, soul magic, blood magic, song magic, which is not as ridiculous as the name makes it seem. There's also magic of the creature, which is helpful when dealing with dragons, basilisks, hippogriffs and other magical creatures. If you're interested in learning more about it, I'll show you a few of my favorites on the topic."

He looked at the book Willow was holding with mild contempt.

"I don't, however, suggest the one that you're looking at though, most authors are biased towards light magic. Most, if not all types of Ancient magic are grey magic."

Willow met the professor's now fully red eyes, amused. She held her hands up in mock surrender.

"Well if the great Professor Quirrell says not to read this one, then I shall put it back." she joked. However, she didn't miss the fact that he twitched in annoyance at his name. She ignored it in favor of putting the book back where she found it. She followed him as he picked books about ancient magic, and some support material to go along with some of the other books, off of the shelves absolutely fascinated. The way he talked about ancient magic was hypnotic, not to mention the vast amount of knowledge that he had on the topic was amazing.

"Was there anyone who mastered all of them?"

"When ancient magic was more in vogue, there were a few. But it takes a very powerful witch or wizard to accomplish it. There's very little frivolous wand waving, in fact ancient magic is a very subtle form of magic, much like potions or occlumency."

"Occlumency?" They had moved away from the ancient magic books and were getting her actual textbooks, which were far less exciting.

"Ah, I forget, you're still young. Occlumency is the art of protecting one's mind from people who want to get into your mind. Those people are legilimens, they practice the art of legilimency. Occlumency is the defensive version of that. Our own headmaster is a legilimens."

"Is there a way to protect your mind if you're not skilled?" The professor had taken her supply list from her and continued to pile textbooks onto the stack that she was carrying. Her arms were beginning to tremble under the weight of them all.

"Good question, and the answer is one that many people tend to forget. Eye contact. Normally, for a legilimens to enter your mind, they need eye contact." He pulled out a pocket watch and looked at the time. "I must run, however once class starts, come visit my office after you read those books and we'll talk about what you've read."

"I'd like that professor, thank you." They paid for their books and went their separate ways. She spotted an ice cream parlor close by and decided to wait for Hagrid and her twin there, not wanting to take the chance of getting lost again.

While Willow was waiting, she looked at the books for school, and the ones that professor Quirrell picked out for her. Certain books seemed way more interesting than others.

Magical Drafts and Potions, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them and The dark forces: A guide to self-protection seemed promising. And the extra books that she had gotten, one on each form of ancient magic, Properties of Wizarding Blood and their Application: a Look into Blood Magic, The Ties That Bind: a study of the Soul, Songs of Llano, and Magical Ties to the Earth, were equally, if not more, promising.

Willow glanced up from her stack of books to see Harry and Hagrid walking in her direction. She waved at them and Hagrid smiled at she and held up a bird cage, though she was too far away to see what kind of bird was inside. Curious, she gathered up her things and walked in their direction, meeting them halfway.

"Happy Birthday Willow! I figured that I'd get you and harry something for yer birthday. So, I got you both owls. Dead useful, wizards use them to deliver mail. What do you think?" Willow looked at over at Harry to see if this was some sort of joke, but there he was, holding a birdcage with a snowy white owl inside of it.

She thanked him profusely, tears in her eyes and took the cage with her new owl.

I own an owl.

Her thoughts were racing as she looked from her owl to Hagrid, he was so kind to her. It was foreign. She tried to say something else to him, to truly express her gratitude, but all she could get out was a mere 'thank you'.

Hagrid waved it away, "It's a birthday gift, now, what are you going to name her?"

Willow examined the gorgeous bird so that she could find a suitable name. Owl eyes stared at her, not at all afraid. Black eyes seemed to look into Willow's soul. Pale and dark grey feathers only made the eyes stand out more. The pale grey feathers on her face, soft and light, were a stark contrast to her dark, cold eyes.

Stark

"I'll name you Arya," Willow told her. Arya Stark. It was a good fit for her. Willow asked Harry what he was going to name his owl; he wasn't sure yet.

They continued to shop, getting supplies for potions, plus parchment, quills, ink and the like. Hagrid looked at their school list.

"All that's left now is the wand, c'mon to Ollivander's we go." Willow could barely contain her joy at the news. This was what she was waiting for.

It was time to get their wands.

The shop, called Ollivander's, did not look very impressive, in fact, the Leaky Cauldron looked better. At least the name wasn't fading.

Harry rushed inside and Hagrid followed not long after. Willow hesitated, she was excited, but there was a nagging voice in the back of her mind telling her that this might all be taken away. She shook her head to clear the negative thoughts and walked in the door. There was one wand sitting out, on a dusty purple cushion, in the window, but all of the other wands seemed to be in boxes that were stacked everywhere. Out from behind the corner came a little old man with white skin, who introduced himself as Ollivander.

"I made all of these wands and remember every wand I've ever sold. I sold your parents their wands, and I'm sorry to say that I sold the wand that did it," He looked pointedly at Harry's forehead, where his scar was.

"It was yew and phoenix feather. He did great things with it, terrible, but great." Harry shifted, uncomfortable. Ollivander seemed to realize what he had said and changed the subject. He, instead, got to work measuring Harry with a magical tape measure as he asked him a series of questions. After the questions, he picked a wand from a shelf in the back and told Harry to give it a wave.

Harry barely picked it up before Ollivander immediately took it away, saying that it wasn't the right one and went to get another one. They continued that line for more than 15 wands before Ollivander paused and muttered something while going to the back. He brought back another one and when Harry picked it up, Willow could tell there was something different. Harry could tell too.

"Ah yes, I thought that one might work. Holly, 11 inches with a phoenix feather core." Ollivander looked at Harry with a gleam in his pale silvery eyes. "This wand has a brother wand you know. The phoenix I got the feather from only gave one other, and it's in the wand that gave you that scar."

His eyes moved to Willow, and he came around and began the same measuring process that he did with Harry. He proceeded to pull wands from in the back having her try each and every one. They neared 50 wands and she still hadn't found at match; it was getting irritating. She looked back at her two companions who were getting noticeably antsy.

"You guys can go and get something to eat while you wait, I feel like this is going to take a while." They agreed, grateful at her suggestion and, after making sure she would be okay, they left. Once they did, Ollivander, continued with the trying of the wands. As they approached wand number 100 the wand maker stopped and looked at her.

Willow looked back, completely exhausted, who knew waving a wand could take so much out of you.

"I find it strange Miss Potter that your brother has a scar, but yet you are uninjured."

"According to the people that I've talked to, he chose not to kill me. No one knows why." Willow shrugged, she wasn't in the mood to talk about Lord Voldemort today

"He chose not to kill you? Hmmm, actually Miss Potter, if you would give me a moment." He went to the back, it was completely silent save for the rummaging of boxes that she heard occasionally. She waited for a couple minutes, before he came back holding an extremely dusty box. He apologized for taking so long and asked her to try this wand. She looked at it warily, but when he opened the box the wand seemed to shine. She was enchanted as soon as she laid her eyes on it, and hardly registered the fact that Ollivander had leaned in closer as well.

Willow cautiously picked the wand up out of the box. It felt different than any of the other wands. The wand seemed warmed in her hands and she felt something similar to pulses of what could only be described as magic that travelled up and warmed her body. Willow felt complete, holding the wand. It was a beautiful wand too, light brown wood with vines all along the handle. When she took a closer look she realize that the vines had actual thorns on them, but her hand and fingers fit perfectly between them without injuring her. She finally tore her eyes away and looked at Ollivander.

"This is the wand."

"I see that, Miss Potter. That wand has a very interesting history you know. Acacia wood and Basilisk horn. It's a very temperamental and picky wand, good for subtle magic. 14 inches and very supple. Made by my ancestors."

He got a far away look in his eyes as he continued to speak.

"The horn only made one other wand, and it belonged Salazar Slytherin. This happens to be the only acacia wand that I have. I've only brought it out for one other person, Tom Riddle was his name. He wanted this wand, you know. Tried to convince himself, and me, that it belonged to him. But alas, the wand chooses the wizard, and it did not choose him. But he never forgot about it you know, always came back and asked if it was sold. You'll do well with it."

She glowed at that, thanking him. She paid for the wand and left. She wandered around Diagon Alley not quite wanting to go back to Hagrid and her brother. She was passing a shop called Magical Menagerie when she heard a shriek coming from inside. Concerned, she debated whether or not it was her problem before hurrying inside. The scene before her was chaos, customers were on chairs or stools and the employees held brooms in their hands and had their wands raised and were trying to get close to some creature.

Willow cautiously moved closer and saw that they were trying to get a snake back into its enclosure. That snake was definitely not happy at all.

"I will not! That cage is too small, I want to roam." He kept hissing. He bared his fangs, and Willow knew instantly that he was venomous.

Even so, she felt bad for him, he looked really scared. Most snakes were not the bravest of creatures, and this was definitely not the most ideal situation. She, not so nicely, pushed a couple of the employees away and got into the circle of workers with the snake.

"Great," The snake hissed, and it looked like he rolled his eyes, "another rude ass human."

She was taken aback at his cursing.

"It's not nice to make assumptions," she hissed back, crouching down to make herself seem less frightening.

"Hey, you speak snake! Do you think you could get me out of here, they always put me in a tiny cage right next to jabber mouth over there." he pointed to a cage that held a pretty ugly green toad that was croaking its heart out. Willow chuckled.

"How about you live with me, I promise that I'm not a "Jabber mouth" as you put it," she winked at him and held out her arm for him to crawl up. He seemed to hesitate, almost like he was debate with himself, before he slithering up her arm and draping himself around her neck and shoulders. She straightened out of her crouch and asked to see a saleswoman. A witch with startling red hair stepped forward and led her around the store pointing to the things that would need to take care of the snake.

"I'm glad you're buying him; he's been here a while. He tends to cause a lot of trouble for us, keeps escaping from his cage and scaring off the customers."

"If you would provide a larger enclosure for a 4-foot snake, maybe you wouldn't have as much trouble"

The woman didn't have anything to say to that.

As they walked to the register, she learned that he was a pretty young Viper, with a lot of growing left to do. Willow thought back to the Viper at the zoo, and hoped it was okay. She paid for everything and left the store and started actually making an effort to find her brother and Hagrid, especially now that it was reaching dinner time.

"Do you have a name?" the snake lifted its head from her shoulder and looked at her. His green and blue scales gleamed in the sunlight.

"We didn't really do that there."

"Would you mind if I gave you one?"

"Hmmm, I've never really had a name, but I guess it could be fun. Just don't name me something dumb. Like Spot, or Kevin." she laughed at that. She sorted through a couple of names before tentatively coming up with one. Another Game of Thrones name, she had been reading too much of the series lately, but it seemed to fit him.

"What about Sandor?"

"Sandor… Sandor… I like it! You're a real princess, you know that? That's going to be my name for you!" She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smirked. The name was definitely fitting.