Harry's meeting with Draco Malfoy in the robing shop was one of fateful timing. If he had visited the Dursley's before heading to London then the delay would have meant that they didn't meet.

I'm not going to go into all the minute details of their time in Diagon Alley because it's boring and pointless for me to go over it all again. I'm also cutting down on the time spent in Gringotts as there's very little that would be changed by my story except for Harry's reaction at his sudden wealth.

I also found it strange how no one remarked upon Harry being dressed like a down-and-out and thought that he would realistically want to tidy himself up a little, especially when confronted with so many well dressed people.

All of the characters except for my own handful of originals, as well as locations, names, titles etc are and remain the property of JKR and I hope you like it. Review please, this might well be a LONG work in progress.

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Chapter 7: Goblins, galleons and green shirts.

Harry's breath caught in his throat as he entered the grand bank. It was nothing like any building he'd ever seen. He emerged into a massive room that gleamed with white marble and gold. Dividing the room down in two were twin lines of huge wooden counters that gleamed heavily with varnish. Each counter was occupied by twenty goblins, which, at a distance looked like humans with overlong noses, ears and chins.

The bank was full of milling customers queuing at the counters. The majority were obviously witches and wizards, but Harry could make out a number of people who were obviously muggles from their dress and the way they were walking around gape-mouthed.

These must be the parents of muggleborns, Harry assumed as a tall, thin man took out a wallet and handed a stack of muggle money to a small, bushy-haired girl about Harry's own age who handed it over to the goblin behind the counter.

'You'd be outta your mind to try'n rob this place,' Hagrid muttered as they walked, 'best magical security imagineable.'

Harry followed Hagrid deeper into the bank and stopped at the furthest end against the back wall where an elderly goblin sat with two youngsters either side. Closer, the differences were much more clear: They were very small, looking to be less than four feet tall and were oddly proportioned, having huge heads and hands with extremely long fingers in relation to their small bodies and short limbs. Their eyes were small and beady, having black corneas and the elderly one stared at Hagrid unblinking as they approached the counter.

'G'mornin,' Hagrid said, 'we're here to take some money out of Mr Potter's vault.'

The young goblins gasped at simultaneously and the elderly one raised his large eyebrows.

He leaned forward. 'Mr Harry Potter?' he growled, looking down and scrutinising Harry.

'Yessir.'

'Well my word...' The old goblin said, curling his long fingers around his pointed beard. 'Does Mr Potter have his key?'

'Got it here somewhere,' said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of mouldy dog biscuits over the goblins book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right scribbling a note furiously. After a few moments, he pulled a small golden key.

The goblin scrutinised the key for a few moments before nodding.

'I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. 'It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen.'

The goblin read the letter carefully. 'Very well,' he said, handing it back to Hagrid, He gestured over to the goblin on his right, 'Griphook here will escort you down to the relevant vaults.

The goblin Griphook's eyes went wider than Harry thought possible before he jumped down and walked around to face Harry and Hagrid.

'Follow me please.' the goblin said and led Harry and Hagrid to another gate-fronted elevator.

'What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?' Harry asked.

'Can't tell y'that,' said Hagrid mysteriously. 'Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth t'tell you.'

More things he won't tell me. Harry thought, becoming increasingly suspicious as the elevator rattled along.

When the elevator stopped, Griphook held the door open for them.

Harry, who had expectedmore marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty — and were off.

They travelled down winding corridors and vast yawning spaces, cold wind stung Harry's face as they descended into the earth. Hagrid started to turn an odd shade of green.

They screeched to a halt a few minutes later in the middle of a long row of doors set into stone. Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts. The idea that all of this was his made him feel like someone had poured sunshine into his mind. For a moment he had a vision of himself surrounded by presents, toys and games piled high while Dudley looked on, crying and tugging at Petunia's skirts. A small gasping laugh escaped his lips at the image.

'All yours,' smiled Hagrid.

All mine... it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.

'How much can I have?' Harry asked, looking at Hagrid then Griphook.

'Are you here for funds for first year at Hogwarts?' the goblin asked tersely.

Harry nodded.

'This year's estimated cost for supplying a new starter at Hogwarts is between fifty and one hundred and fifty galleons. If you require spending money for the year, as a minor you're entitled to take up to two hundred and fifty galleons at any single withdrawal.'

'Done!' Harry shouted excitedly.

Griphook handed him a small leather bag and Harry half-jumped half-skipped into the room and started grabbing handfuls of golden coins, throwing them into the bag. Hagrid laughed and helped Harry pile some of them in.

'The gold ones are Galleons,' he explained. 'Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough.'

'How much are... these,' Harry said, gesturing to the multi-coloured coins, 'worth?'

'In muggle money?' Griphook asked.

Harry nodded, pulling the drawstring of the bag closed.

'At present, the exchange rate for British Galleons to British Pounds is one to five pounds and ten pence.'

Harry laughed out loud. He'd never had a tenth of the money that was currently in the little bag in all his life. He slung the bag over his shoulder and chuckled as Nidhogg wound his way around his waist and settled on top of the waistband of his absurdly baggy trousers.

'Right, that should be enough for a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh.' Hagrid said. He turned to Griphook. 'Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?'

'One speed only,' said Griphook.

They descended even deeper on the cart and Harry was vaguely aware of the door disappearing and Hagrid retuning holding a paper-wrapped bundle.

'What's that?' He asked the giant.

'I've told you already, Harry. I can't tell you.'

Harry shrugged and occupied himself with inspecting the designs on his coins while the cart returned to the surface. They exited the bank with the thanks of Griphook.

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They spent the next hour going between shops, buying everything from ink and quills to weird, furry books and a cauldron apparently made of pewter, which Harry had previously only seen in the form of cheap novelty jewellery.

'What's left then Harry?' Hagrid asked, adjusting his hands on the dozen or more shopping bags he was carrying.

'Just... a wand and what must be the uniform? Does it literally mean a magic wand?' Harry asked, consulting the shopping list.

Hagrid nodded, 'You'll be wanting Madame Malkins Robes for All Occasions then, Ollivander's wand shop'll be heaving at the moment n choosing a wand isn't something y'should rush. D'you mind if I go to the pub for a quick pick-me-up? Those Gringotts cars make me feel a bit... y'know?'

Harry nodded eagerly. He was feeling tired after so long in pleasant company, it was something he'd rarely encountered and after so little sleep. His stomach growled painfully, but he was used to that.

He set off down the street, meandering around groups of excited shrieking people. The sign for Madame Malkin's was huge and as he approached, the door disgorged a tall, strikingly beautiful woman with gleaming platinum blonde hair and a sharp faced boy who could only be her son of about the same age as Harry. They were followed by a tiny creature about the size of a goblin but with sad, elongated features and wearing a toga that looked like a knotted pillow case, carrying more bags than Harry thought possible. The pair stepped out, the woman smiling at the boy as they walked off down the street.

Harry frowned, mystified and stepped into the shop which was blessedly empty.

'Hogwarts dear?' a woman's deep, resonant voice asked.

Harry spun round to see a squat, smiling witch who was smoking a pipe staring at him. He nodded quickly and ran his hand nervously through his hair, trying to smooth it down.

The woman's eyes popped wide and her pipe fell to the floor. 'Merlin's beard, Harry Potter?' She asked astonished.

Harry frowned and nodded again. 'H-how do you know my name?'

The woman held out a finger and pointed at Harry's head. 'The scar... from you-know-who.'

'I know who what?' He asked, more confused than ever.

'Oh my dear,' the old witch said, 'I heard you'd been raised among muggles, but has no one ever told you anything about what happened?'

'My parents died when I was a baby, I was raised by my aunt and uncle.' He said, 'What else is there to know?'

Tears pricked the corners of the old ladies eyes. 'Oh my dear...' she said, pulling him into a hug which made Harry go rigid. He couldn't remember ever being hugged without being crushed by Dudley.

Madame Malkin let go of him after a moment and flipped the sign on the door so that inside it read "open" and took Harry by the hand. 'Come this way dear, let's get you fitted for school, you must have a million questions.'

She bade Harry stand on a small box and started measuring him. While he told her what had happened so far that day which amounted to the sum total of his knowledge of the magical world that he was apparently a part of.

'So, what really happened to my parents?' He asked as tried on various pointed black hats.

'Well, in the years when your parents, Lily Evans and James Potter were at school, there was a dark wizard going around trying to convince everyone that magical folk should rule muggles. That muggles were inferior somehow.'

That seemed fairly obvious to Harry at that point. The Dursley's were muggles and evil bigoted idiots where as every magical person that he had met so far had been friendly and helpful.

The old witch carried on. 'And as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named grew more popular, more and more people started joining him and eventually his followers became violent against anyone who stood up to them.'

Harry swallowed hard, imagining what was coming next.

'People fought back, though. Some brave souls like your parents and Dumbledore, God bless that man! The longer the war- and it was a war – went on though, the more powerful He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named became and people, ordinary witches and wizards everywhere started to lose hope. When your parents found out that you were on the way, they went into hiding so that they could protect you. Your parents were killed by you-know-who because they, along with many of their friends, believed that He was wrong, that the muggles deserved to be free and live in peace.'

Live in peace? Harry thought. Have they never seen how muggles behave? They fought, made war, starved and killed one another constantly while killing the world around them. Images of dead snakes in the dustbins flashed through his mind.

'No one really knows what happened that night.' Malkin continued, 'everyone was scared and confused, but I hear a lot of chatter, being the most popular rober in Diagon Alley and I've heard that You-Know-Who found out decided that you and your parents were next. He somehow found out where you were and went to... kill you all. Nothing, not Dumbledore's protective magic, not all of their training and power, nor your family fortune could protect them from The Dark Lord's power and they both fell against him. But when he turned his wand on you, Harry, something happened. Something that as far as we know has never happened before or since.'

Harry saw the weird bright flash of green again.

'The spell with which he tried to kill you, the spell that had killed your parents and dozens, maybe hundreds of others: Failed.'

Harry realised he wasn't breathing and gasped. The old woman met his eyes, clearly mistaking it for fear because she put a steadying hand on his shoulder.

'The spell failed except for giving you that scar,' she pointed to the lightning bolt on his forehead,' and somehow by some miracle, You-Know-Who's power was broken. He disappeared that very night and has never been heard of since.'

Harry felt Nidhogg crawl up the back of his shirt and under his arm. 'What happened to him?'

'No one knows, some believe that he was killed, others that trying to kill a baby was so monstrous that it drove him mad enough and destroyed him. Some people actually believe that you are blessed, that you were born destined to destroy him.'

Harry shivered as Madame Malkin lifted him down from the box.

'All done, dear. Would you like a cup of tea?'

Harry shook his head. 'How much do I owe you?'

The elderly witch dismissed him with a wave of her hand. 'Don't you worry about that, Mr Potter. You just do me one favour in return.'

Harry frowned, people asking him things without a threat of violence or privation behind the words were unusual to him.

'You go to Hogwarts and do your parents proud, okay?' The old woman said, her eyes tearing up again.

Harry smiled, amazed at the kindness of people.

'Where are you heading next?' Malkin asked as she bustled around packing up Harry's purchases.

'Hollyvanders the wand shop.' Harry said.

'Olli-vanders.'

'Olivanders, that's it.' Harry grinned as the old witch handed him six bags.

'Right, you won't find a better wand than one from Olivander. Is there anything else I can do for you?'

Harry looked down at his muggle hand-me-down clothes. 'Do you have anything I could get for today? I feel a bit... out of place wearing this.' He said, hiking up his trousers. He set the bags down and unslung his bag of Gringott's gold and took out a fist full of galleons.

Malkin's eyes went wide and she walked around the store taking down robes, trousers, shirts two hats, one pointed and one somewhere between a cowboy hat and fedora. She dropped them on the counter and sorted through them, handing him a pair of black trousers and a shirt the same green as his eyes.

'Try those on.' She pointed to a changing room.

The shirt was a perfect fit, resting neatly on his shoulders and fitted around his chest and waist. The trousers didn't even need a belt but fit cleanly around his waist. He emerged from the changing room fidgeting and looking at how his big toe was sticking though his sock.

'Very nice. Do you like the colour?' Malkin asked.

Harry nodded grinning and the old witch threw him a paper packet.

'Socks,' She said, 'and some pants too. Should get you through your first few weeks at Hogwarts.'

'How much are all these?' Harry asked, looking over the piles of clothes.

The old witch shrugged, 'cheap enough that you won't have to worry about damaging your family fortune and expensive enough that you'll look good at Hogwarts. I'll make an account for you if you'd like. You can start it off with however much you want now.'

Harry grinned so widely that it used muscles he wasn't aware he had. He handed her sixty galleons which she dropped behind the till and scribbled his name into a dusty old ledger then offered him a quill pen with a tiny drop of ink quivering at the end. 'Sign here.'

He took the quill and scratched his name onto the parchment. The name above his read "Malfoy". 'Is that the boy and his mother that left before I came in?' He asked.

She nodded. 'It is. A family as old as yours and the one of the first ones to come back from the dark side when You-Know-Who disappeared.'

'Really?'

'Really.'

Malkin smiled, 'These bags are all too big for you to carry right now. You take this one for tomorrow and I'll make sure the rest get to you, okay?'

Harry nodded, grinning again. 'Thank you Madame Malkin, thank you so much.' He darted forward and caught the old woman around the waist in a great hug. No one in his entire life had been so helpful and honest with him as she had.

The old woman hugged him back, wiped tears from his cheeks and escorted him to the door. 'You're most welcome, Harry Potter.' She said, 'Now go, don't worry about the clothes, I'll be in touch.'

Harry Potter stepped out onto the street looking and feeling like a new boy. Hagrid was nowhere to be seen but there was a fiery-headed teenager walking around with the same look of self-importance that Uncle Vernon wore to work walking by and Harry tapped him on the shoulder.

He jumped like Harry had dealt him an electric shock and turned. 'Yes, what is it, what do you want?'

'Excuse me, I was just wondering if you could direct me to Olivanders, the wand shop?'

'As opposed to what, Olivanders the quaffle repair store?'

Harry just stared at the boy, gritting his teeth.

'Yes, yes, it's up that way,' the boy's bravado faded quickly and he pointed up past the apothecary, 'go past the quidditch supply shop and it's second on the left.'

'Thanks.' Harry forced a quick, tight smile and strolled off, hefting up his bags.

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Read and review please, don't pull any punches.

CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK IS ALWAYS WELCOME.