Chapter 14 - Diagon Alley with Cedric Diggory
"Thank you, sir." I said to the Goblin after I climbed out of the cart in Gringotts.
"You're welcome, miss." The goblin replied. I walked out of Gringotts and headed straight to Flourish and Blott's and looked through the Quidditch section. I picked up Quidditch Through the Ages and Famous Hogwarts Quidditch Players. I flicked through it quickly and decided to buy them. I had a look at the Animagus section and there was a book on famous animagus wizards that I picked and also found a book on famous wizards in the muggle world that looked like it could be interesting. I also bought The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 2) by Miranda Goshawk in case I needed it for next year and an The intermidiate's guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch. Just before I was about to pay I saw a book on Lord Voldemort in the history of dark wizards section called The Rise and Fall of You-Know-Who. I figured I could brush up on Voldemort seems as he's after me. I walked over to the checkout and paid for them. The guy on the checkout raised his eye on the book about Voldemort but didn't say anything. I was just about to leave when I saw a sign on the window.
On August 19th Gilderoy Lockhart will be at Flourish and Blotts for a book-signing of his most recent books. Come down and meet the legend and five time winner of Teen Witch Winning Smile of the Year for five years running. It's only for one day!
I looked at it before scoffing. Gilderoy Lockhart may be good looking but he is a complete buffoon. I put the books in my bag that was jinxed to be bigger on the inside than on the outside, they all fit in easily. I then decided to pop into Quality Quidditch Supplies to get some broomstick polish to make sure my new broom shine and I had also ran out. I bought them quickly and left, throwing it into my bag. I can't actually believe that when I passed Madame Janey's Jewellers something caught my eye. There was a huge display of charms for charm bracelets and I still had my charm bracelet I received for Christmas from Uncle Moony so I decided to buy some more charms to join my panther. There was a deal to get six charms for four galleons, considering they were pure silver and bewitched to never get dirty, it was a good deal. In the end I bought Star, Crescent Moon, Gryffindor badge, quaffel, witch hat and sword and wand crossed. On the Hyde family crest there is a sword and a wand crossed so I decided to get that. Next door, I saw that Ollivander's was open and seems as he was a family friend I decided to say hello. The front was empty, as usual.
"Mr Olivander?" I called. He appeared seconds later on his ladders just like the first day I met him.
"Aurora-Shaw Hyde! Oak with a core of Phoenix feather, nine inches. A powerful wand especially good for spells and charms. How is your wand, my dear?" Mr Olivander asked me.
"It's brilliant. You were right, my best subject is Charms at Hogwarts. I popped in to see how you are so how are you?" I asked smiling.
"I'm fabulous, Aurora. The rush for new wands for the first years will start soon. How are you?"
"I'm good, sir. I can't wait for the new term to start, I made a lot of friends at Hogwarts last year." I replied.
"Would one of those friends be a Mr. Harry Potter?" He asked.
"Yeah, he's my best friend. Him, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. How did you know?" I wondered curiously.
"You and Harry were splashed all over the Daily Prophet after becoming the youngest Seeker and Chaser in over a century. From what I hear, you are an excellent Chaser, not lost a single game since you both joined the team." Mr Olivander complimented.
"I'll admit to scoring a fair few goals in the games and we won the cup but Harry is by far the best flyer I have ever seen." I grinned. "I need to go buy some owl treats for my owl so I'll see you soon, Mr Olivander. And if you are ever of need of someone to work in the summer, let me know. The summer has been pretty boring."
"Good bye, Aurora and I will definitely let you know." He chuckled as I left the shop waving at him. I went to Eeylops Owl Emporium and bought Dion some treats before heading to the apothecary to get some Floo Powder for Uncle Moony, I noticed he was running low. I decided my final stop would be Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour so I could treat myself. I got a simple Raspberry Ripple from Florean before I heard someone shout my name.
"Ash!" I turned around to see Cedric Diggory with his sister Cho waving me over. I quickly paid Florean and made my way over to them.
"Hey Ced, Cho." I greeted.
"Hey Ash, do you want to join us?" Ced asked.
"Sure." I smiled before sitting in the empty chair, putting my ice cream on the table. I noticed Ced had the same Ice Cream as me but Cho didn't have anything.
"Where is Abe? I feel like I haven't seen him in ages." Ced said after I got settled.
"I have no idea. I've been staying with my uncle, he had to work late last night and he's still in bed so I decided to go out shopping. What are you guys doing here?" I asked.
"My mum asked me to bring Cho here so she could meet up with a friend. They're going to a muggle cinema then she's stopping at her house for the night. She's a muggle-born." Ced explained just before Cho shot up and ran to Marrieta Edgecombe.
"Marrieta!" She called as she approached her and hugged her. "See you later, Ced. It was nice to see you, Ash." She smiled as she turned around to us.
"You too, Cho." I replied before both girls left.
"So, what are you doing now?" Ced asked.
"Eating Ice Cream." I replied grinning.
"Obviously." He grinned at me. I seemed to lose myself in his smile and the memory of what I saw in the Mirror if Erised flashed into my head.
"I don't know. I have nothing to do." I said sighing. "I told Olivander if he needed someone for work next year to tell me, this has to be the most boring summer I've had. Me and Addy have been at each other's throats since we got home. He doesn't like having a little sister in his opposing house. I gave him a black eye the day before my birthday for riling me up, Abe had to literally hold me back while Dad did the same to Addy before we went at it."
"Little Ash, violent?" Ced asked grinning.
"Hey! I am not little. So what are you doing after?"
"Nothing. My dad told me to drop Cho off then I have the day off. So, how about we stick together and figure out what to do with the day?"
"Sounds like a plan but I can't be bothered to go home." I replied finishing off my ice cream.
"Well how about we go to Gambol & Japes because I want to see what's in there then we can head to the Leaky Cauldron and get a butterbeer?" Ced had a pleading look in his eyes when I nodded and grinned at him, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the shop barely giving me time to grab my bag. "You don't look like a girl in their second year and you don't act it either."
"How old do you reckon I look and act, then?" I asked curiously.
"Your brother's age really. If I had never met you and Abe before, I'd swear you were twins." Ced finished.
"Really?" I asked.
"Really." Ced confirmed.
"Wow." I muttered.
"I have to admit, I'm jealous of one thing." Cedric said randomly.
"Jealous of what?" I asked.
"Your Nimbus 2001. Gryffindor are going to trounce us again with that thing. You and Harry really are amazing. I'll be the Seeker seems as I was the reserve last year." Ced finished his speech.
"Aww. We'd beat you guys even if I didn't have my nimbus." I said cockily.
"I dunno, I'm sure we'll give Gryffindor a good game when we get back to school." Ced replied.
"I'm sure you will." I said as me and Ced entered Gambol & Japes, we both immediately saw Fred and George Weasley. "Hey guys." The twins took one look at me and Ced then cocked up their eyebrow together. Me and Ced followed the twin's line of sight and saw our hands. Together. We were holding hands and I didn't realise. I looked up at Cedric and he had the same expression I probably had on my face so I guessed he hadn't realised either. We quickly pulled our hands away from each other and focused on the twins. They still did say anything or move their eyebrows. Then they ooo'ed together which, I'm sure, made me blush like mad.
"Shut up." Ced growled.
"Where's Ron?" I asked trying to move the subject to another topic.
"At home." Fred said at once.
"Now, stop trying to change the subject." George continued.
"What's going on with you two?" Fred finished.
"Nothing." Me and Cedric replied together. This would have amused me if we weren't getting interrogated by the Weasley twins.
"Come on?" They asked together.
"He's my big brother's best friend." I said to them like they were stupid.
"And she's my best friend's little sister." Cedric finished in the exact same tone I had used.
"Whatever." They said together.
"Idiots." I muttered.
"But you'd best remember, Cedric." Fred started.
"Ash is like our second little sister." George continued.
"We'll kill you if you hurt her." Fred said.
"We have to go now." George said while probably grinning at the expressions on our faces.
"We'll tell Ron we saw you." Fred joined in on the grinning.
"Remember our warning." They finished together then walked out of the shop. I was frozen to the spot in shock.
"Did they just give you the boyfriend speech?" I finally asked.
"Yes they did." Cedric said slowly.
"And they're going to tell Ron who will tell Hermione so two out of three of my best friends will think you are boyfriend." I continued.
"Probably." Cedric guessed. "I don't feel much like being in a joke shop, let's go to the Leaky Cauldron."
"I could use a butterbeer." I agreed.
"I'll buy." Cedric smiled lightly. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and we walked to the Leaky Cauldron. "Get some seats, I'll get the butterbeers." I nodded then walked to an empty table. Cedric followed me a few minutes later and sat across from me.
"I'm gonna kill Fred and George." I said.
"Why?" Ced asked.
"Two reasons. One, they took a big brother role with a boyfriend when I have to perfectly adequate big brothers at home, even though you're not my boyfriend and two, because they made it awkward when we were having a pretty fun day." I listed.
"Well, let's forget about it. Pretend it didn't happen." Cedric suggested.
"Let's do that." I agreed.
"I like your charm bracelet." Cedric commented. That's when I noticed I'd been fiddling with the panther on my bracelet.
"Thanks. My uncle gave me it for Christmas last year with only the panther on it and today I found the rest of the charms today at Madame Janey's." I smiled at it fondly.
"The uncle who you're staying at?" Ced asked and I nodded. "Tell me what each charm means."
"Well, the panther is my favourite animal. Gryffindor because, well, I'm in Gryffindor. The Quaffel is because I'm a Chaser. The star and the crescent moon is because I like astrology. The witch's hat is because I thought it was corny seems as I am a witch. And the sword and wand crossed is the symbol for the family crest of Hyde, they had it so I got it." I explained.
"Wow." Cedric smiled. The next four hours went similar to this, me and Ced asking eachother question which usually ended in us laughing. He did ask about what happened with the Philosopher's Stone so I told him everything. He seemed more shocked at the fact the stories at school were true rather than when I actually said Voldemort's name. It was so weird. I could talk to Ced so freely, more than I could to any of my brother's or even Uncle Moony sometimes. We just kept buying butterbeer and talking and laughing.
"What time is it?" I asked not expecting it to have been that long.
"Half three." He replied looking at his watch.
"I should get home." I sighed.
"Yeah, I should too." Cedric replied
"It was fun." I smiled standing up and walking to the fire place after draining the last of my butterbeer.
"Yeah. We should do it again." Ced agreed while following me.
"You can go first." I said nicely.
"Okay." He said looking at me. He pushed some of my hair behind my ear. "Good bye, Ash." He then kissed my cheek.
"Bye, Ced." I replied a little breathlessly then he was gone. I grabbed some floo powder then walked into the fireplace. "Remus Lupin's house. Godric's Hollow." I threw the powder down then appeared in the living room. Uncle Moony was sat on the sofa in front of me.
"Where've you been?" He asked.
"Diagon Alley. I went to Flourish and Blotts, Madame Janey's Jewellers, I saw Mr Olivander then I popped into Quality Quidditch Supplies, Eeylops Owl Emporium and the apothecary because you needed some floo powder. Then I got an ice cream and saw Cedric and Cho Diggory then Cho went off with a friend so Cedric asked if I wanted a butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron and we did then I came home and told you everywhere I've been and here we are." I finished grinning.
"Very funny. What did you buy at the jewellers?" Uncle Moony asked looking sceptical because I really hate jewellery.
"Some more charms for the charm bracelet you bought me last Christmas." I said while putting up my arm to show him the bracelet.
"Okay. There's some food in the kitchen for you. One last question, was it a date with Cedric Diggory?"
"I don't know, Uncle Moony. I don't think so." I flashed a grin at him then hugged him before walking out of the room to the kitchen.