Chapter 4 – Diagon Alley and the Scorpion

Two weeks after Hugo's arrival, I finally received the letter I had been waiting for:

Dear Miss Davis,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted as an exchange student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. The Hogwarts Express leaves Platform 9 and 3/4 at 11am sharp. Your ticket and instructions on how to get to the platform are also enclosed.

We look forward to welcoming you to Hogwarts.

Yours sincerely,

Filius Flitwick

Deputy Headmaster

I couldn't believe my luck – I was going to Hogwarts! Only two weeks to wait; only two weeks to get every book and supply that was on the list!

"Rose! There's another letter here for you!" I ran into the kitchen, grabbed the letter and went straight back into my room; I always read my letters in private, and my mom knew that.

Rose,

Did you get your letter? I hope you did, because if I have to go to Hogwarts without my new best friend, I will die! I hope you're ready for your first trip to Diagon Alley, because we fourth years need a lot of books! Mum is hoping to go on Saturday and she was wondering if you wanted to join us? We could meet up with the gang as planned at lunch time after all the shopping. Call up to the manor later and we can have a game of Quidditch! You're going to need more practice if you're going to play at Hogwarts!

See you later.

James

"Mom!" I ran into the sitting room where my mom was sitting with Hugo watching television. "When are we going to Diagon Alley?"

"I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it."

"Can we go on Saturday with the Potters?"

"I'll have to talk to Ginny about it, but I think we could."

"Great! Thanks Mom! I'm heading up to the Manor to practice Quidditch!"

"What is your obsession with the Potters?" She looked at me with a small smile on her face.

"I'm really good friends with James!"

"Just friends?"

"Of course we are! Can I please just go now?"

"Yes, on one condition: you be back here my dinner time."

"Thank you so much Mom!" I gave her a big hug and ran to my room to get ready. I picked out my skinny jeans, a plain white tshirt and a sweater for when it got cold. I let my hair fall loosely below my shoulders and popped on a pair of trainers. "What is your obsession with the Potters?" My mom's comment kept coming into my head as I took one step closer in getting ready. "Just friends?" "Of course we are!" Was I lying to Mom? Was I lying to myself?

"Don't be silly. We're just friends," I said to myself as I grabbed my bag and my broom and headed out the back door and up to the Manor. "Best friends even."

"Hermione, it's so nice to see you again!"

"It's great to see you as well Hannah. Rose, Hugo this is Hannah Abbot, an old friend from school."

I couldn't say anything; I was too mesmerised by the little pub we had stumbled into.

"Hello! My name's Hugo, I'm seven," Hugo said with a toothy grin.

"It's very nice to meet you Hugo." Mom looked at me, telling me to be polite through her eyes.

"Hello Hannah. I'm Rose Davis. Sorry, I'm just in awe of this place!" I shook the woman's hand and smiled at her.

"Nearly everyone is the first time they enter the Leaky Caldron! Are you just passing through or would you like a drink?" Hannah asked Mom.

"I'll have two butter beers for the kids and one small firewhiskey please Hannah. We're waiting for the Potters; Hogwarts shopping trip today!" Hannah gave a nod of understanding and went off to get our order.

"A firewhiskey Mom? Really?" I said smirking at her as we took our place at a booth near the door.

"Yes Rose, really. I'm going to need all the energy I can get today if you're leaving me at lunchtime to go off with James and Sam." I was about to answer her back when Hannah arrived down with the drinks.

"Two butterbeers and one fire whiskey."

"Thanks Hannah. How much do I owe you?" Mom was reaching into her bag for her purse.

"No, Hermione. Treat on me, seeing as I couldn't make it to your welcome home party back in June." She walked back to the bar and left us to talk amongst ourselves.

"I'm not leaving you as you so put it. I'm helping you until I get hungry and go off with my friends for some food!" Just as Mom was ready to fight back, the Potter family walked into the small pub.

"Lily!" Hugo shouted to get their attention.

"Hi Hugo! What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you!" I listened to my younger brother talk to Lily, and didn't even notice that James had sat down beside me.

"Boo!" He placed both hands on my shoulders and I jumped.

"Blimey James! Don't do that!"

"Sorry, couldn't resist!" He smiled at me and I knew I couldn't stay mad at him. "By the way, blimey? I knew we'd convert you to our British ways soon enough, but I didn't think it would be this soon!" He winked at me and I gave him a playful shove.

"Come on kids! Let's get going! The mothers are going to stay here and relax while Ron and I take you into the village," Harry proclaimed. I hadn't noticed it when the Weasleys arrived. I looked around the table at the gang that had gathered: Albus was standing beside Anna, eagerly waiting for the shopping trip, Sierra was sitting beside Ginny, still trying her best to ignore me, Jason and Sam were near me and James, and Hugo was still chatting animatedly to Lily.

"Let's get moving troops! Jason, you can take the three younger ones to Sugarplums for a while. Sierra and Sam, you go to Flourish and Blotts and order all the books. Harry will meet you there after we visit Gringott's. James, you take Rose for a tour around Diagon Alley and she can collect all the small supplies such as her cauldron and you can visit the apothecary. Everybody, to your stations!" Ron gave the orders and we were ready to go. Jason took Anna by the hand and called Lily and Hugo over to him.

"Rose, do you have your money?" Mom said to me.

"Yes Mom. Love you!" I said quickly, as I was being pulled by the hand (Hugo?) into the alley behind the pub. I looked at the person holding my hand; it wasn't Hugo, it was James! My hand felt empty when he let go.

"Three up ... Two across ..." Ron muttered to himself. He tapped the brick three times (the third up and second across) and the brick disappeared to reveal an archway large enough to fit all nine of us, an archway on to a cobbled street which was filled with shops and stalls. As I looked around the village in awe, I felt a hand slip into my own. I knew it was James, because a warm and safe feeling swept through my body.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley," he whispered in my ear. I looked directly into his green eyes and smiled. He smiled back at me, but this smile was different, because now it meant something to me. We all went our different directions: Jason, Anna, Lily and Hugo went to the bottom of the street and turned left and out of sight; Sierra and Sam gathered all our book lists and walked into the fifth shop on the right hand side of the street; Ron and Harry walked towards a snowy white building that towered over the neighbouring shops; James dragged me through the crowd of people until we were facing a shop that had a sign above that read "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions".

"You're going to need a uniform when you get to Hogwarts, and there's no better place than Madam Malkin's. Come on, I need a new pair of robes too!"

We walked into the small shop, where there was a pale faced boy standing on the podium that was situated in the centre of the room. The seamstress was fixing the hem on his robes.

"Got yourself a girlfriend, Potter?"

"Come on Rose. We'll come back later," James was muttering into my ear.

"Is the son of the Chosen One afraid?"

"Shut up, Malfoy."

"Malfoy? Is this the Scorpius Malfoy? That boy you and Sam were telling me about, the one with the snake of a father?" I blurted out, forgetting Scorpius was there.

"Don't you dare talk about my father like that!" He looked at me and took in my appearance. "You must be the Granger girl, daughter of a filthy Mudblood!"

"My mother never tolerated that language in her shop, so neither will I! If you can't be civil, then leave!" the seamstress shouted. We stayed quiet after that, but inside I was cursing the foul evil cockroach. When he was leaving, he glared at me and James.

"See you at Hogwarts then," he said before he walked out the door. I wished that I would never see him at Hogwarts, but of course wishes never come true.

After we got fitted for our school robes, James showed me around all of the other shops. We collected some small supplies, like quills and extra ink, a cauldron and some potion ingredients. A crowd had gathered around the Quidditch shop, and I had to drag James away from joining them. We treated ourselves to an ice-cream from Fortescue's and sat on a bench outside the small ice-cream parlour.

"So, what does that Malfoy kid have against you anyways? Apart from the fact your fathers were on opposite sides of the war of course," I asked James.

"He's just a git really, one of the Slytherin Chasers. It's all Quidditch rivalry as well as the family stuff."

"Tell me more about the Hogwarts Houses," I said, knowing when James had enough of talking about Scorpius, and also eagerly wanting to know more about Hogwarts.

"Well there's Gryffindor, the best House in the place," James replied with pride and enthusiasm. "Then there's Ravenclaw – you could end up there, you're smart enough," he continued, with a teasing glint in his eyes. "Hufflepuffs are cool, they keep to themselves mostly, but are very loyal. Hannah from the pub was a Hufflepuff. And then, there's Slytherin." He took a dramatic pause, shuddering at the words. "The most evil witches and wizards came from there, including Lord Voldemort himself. Dad says we should never judge people by their House, that one of the 'bravest men' he ever knew came from Slytherin, but judging by Malfoy and his cronies, it's very difficult to think of them as anything other than evil."

I nodded, taking his word for it.

"I think I'm more excited for Hogwarts now," I said, smiling at my best friend. "I really hope I'm in Gryffindor with you."