Notice: I've updated the previous page to take account of the fact that Harry is returning to Diagon Alley two and a bit weeks after his first visit. Unaccompanied this time.

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.

TTTTTTTTTTT

Chapter 10: A Moment to Breathe

Harry was dropped outside the wizard car park just after half past nine on the following morning, his leather money bag hanging from his belt and the bright summer sunlight shimmering on his scarlet shirt. The Dursleys drove off without a second look at him, Uncle Vernon's car rumbling loudly along the busy street. Nidhogg had declined to accompany him, sliding out the bedroom windows when Harry had woke up.

At the golden elevator, the gate was held open for him by a tall and balding red-headed man with a broad smile. 'Good morning,' he said jovially.

'Good morning.' Harry replied tentatively as the gate clanged shut and the car plummeted down into darkness.

'So,' said the man, a disembodied voice in the pitch dark, 'getting your Hogwarts supplies?'

'Umm, no I bought them a few days with Hagrid.' Harry answered.

'Rubeus Hagrid?' The man asked in surprise.

'Yes, he's the Hogwarts gamekeeper.'

'I know, I know him quite well.'

'Really?' Harry asked, turning around in the darkness and losing his balance.

He reached out his hands for the elevator walls but, finding only empty space around him, pitched forward until his forehead connected with a hard metal surface which rang with a dull note. He cried out and fell to the ground as his glasses which had shattered on his face fell all around him.

'Lumos.'The man said and the elevator filled with a soft silvery light. 'Are you alright?'

Harry groaned and rubbed his face, reaching for the broken halves of his spectacles.

The man reached down and picked up the pieces, laying them out in his hand. 'Occulus repairo.' He muttererd and an instant later, the fragments had jumped back together, complete and in better condition than they had been in when Harry had woke up that morning.

'Wow, thank you.' He said, accepting the man's proffered hand, taking the glasses back and pushing them onto his face.

'Merlin's Beard!' The man exclaimed, 'You're Harry Potter!'

'Why yes,' Harry said, surprised, 'but how do you know?'

The man smiled like Harry had said something absurd. 'How do I know? Why you're The-Boy-Who-Lived. Everyone in our world knows your name, Harry.' He extended a hand again, 'I'm Arthur Weasley.'

Harry initially flinched from the hand moving toward him, but recovered quickly and shook it. 'Nice to meet you.'

'My son starts Hogwarts this year too, his name's Ron.'

The elevator stopped, disgorging them out into Diagon Alley and Harry absorbed the incredible array of sights, sounds and smells at hand. The wizard was wearing a bright purple trilby, matching three-piece woollen suit and galoshes and was smiling down at him.

'Where are you heading first, Harry?' Arthur asked.

'To Flourish and Blott's I think, I bought A History of Magic a few days ago and I wanted to pick up a few more on the history of Britain. It seems that everything I've ever been told is a lie.' The last sentence came out sounding quite bitter.

Arthur nodded, 'I know what you mean, The Statute of Secrecy does keep muggles in the dark to what I believe is an unacceptable degree. There are many of our kind that believe the time for secrecy has passed, that we should emerge and mingle in the open once more.'

'Why don't we?'

'There are many reasons, most of them quite weak, but one of the main ones is that the International Confederation of Wizards is reluctant to allow magic,' he accented the word with the twitching fingers of air-quotes, 'to become widespread because of religious violence that would most likely be directed against wizarding kind. The last thing we need is a magic vs. muggle intra-species war.'

'I'd never considered that.' Harry said, thinking of the Dursley's hatred for magic.

'It's a very tricky business, I'm afraid.' Arthur said. 'Although you have been raised these last ten years with muggles if I'm not mistaken?'

Harry gritted his teeth and nodded. That was one of his biggest questions when he arrived at school. 'It would have been better that I'd been raised by werewolves, though.' He said bitterly.

Arthur recoiled as if struck. 'But Harry, they're your family!'

Harry wheeled on the man as his heart quickened and mouth turned dry with anger. 'They're no family of mine. They've been more like prison guards since before I can remember, always supporting their fat lump of a son who would beat me up every chance he got. And he got a lot, mainly because they encouraged it!'

Arthur took a step back under the ferocity of Harry's glare, raising his hands as if to ward off an incoming blow. 'I'm so sorry Harry, I had no idea.'

'That's fine, you weren't to know,' Harry said, rolling his shoulders and forcing his fists to unclench.

Arthur relaxed and lifted the sleeve of his jacket revealing an battered golden watch with nine hands and exclaimed aloud. 'I'm very sorry Harry, but I really must be going. I work at the ministry, you see and I really must be getting to a meeting with a shopkeeper over in Knockturn Alley.'

'What's that?'

'Knockturn Alley? Never mind, it's a very bad place, especially for a young wizard like you: full of dark magic. You must not go there, you understand?'

Harry nodded vaguely as Arthur started walking briskly away before turning back, 'I'll tell Ron to keep an eye peeled for you at King's Cross!' He shouted over the noise of the crowd before mingling into the press of bodies.

Harry, his head aching from the impact with the wall wandered into the street and found the same café where he'd eaten on his first visit to Diagon Alley. Inside, a hugely fat witch was dictating orders to a pigeon feather quill that was writing them on a floating notepad. When complete the orders detached from the pad, folded themselves into paper aeroplanes and hurtled through a serving hatch into the kitchen. The witch seemed to recognise Harry immediately. 'Gmornin' darlin,' she cried aloud in a thick Essex accent, 'same seat as last time?'

Harry nodded.

'I'll be out in a minute, love. Strawberry milkshake like last time?'

'Yes please.' Harry said and retreated to the same umbrella shaded table that he'd occupied while waiting for Hagrid.

He pulled out his current book, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch. He had been engrossed by transfiguration or the ability to change an object, creature or person into something else and was into the final chapter titled, The Perils of Over-Excitement. The ideas presented in the guide seemed to make a great deal of sense to him and it had only been with the greatest application of willpower had he resisted trying to turn uncle Vernon's moustache into a weasel.

The witch arrived with her floating quill in hot pursuit. He ordered baked beans, sausages, bacon and eggs and paid with a silver sickle.

The reaction everyone had demonstrated whenever they discovered his identity still mystified him and while the witch talked about a break in that had happened at Gringott's Bank a few days earlier. He thought to test her reaction to his name and stretched, running fingers through his hair and subtly exposing his scar.

The woman's eyes moved and she immediately fell silent.

Bingo. Harry thought.

A wild mix of emotions rippled over the witch's features. 'Bless my soul. Harry Potter!' she almost shouted the last two words, which instantly drew the attention of the three black shrouded witches who were sat on the table behind Harry.

They turned round in their seats and stared at him with mouths agape.

'Is it true?' The waitress asked, staring at his forehead.

'Yes.' Harry said.

All four witches burst into sudden excited laughter and the crones started chattering between themselves.

'Barry!' The waitress shouted, 'Come out here, quick, Harry Potter's sat at one of our tables!'

Harry swallowed nervously as the waitress' words turned the heads of every witch and wizard in their half of Diagon Alley.

In the time it occurred to Harry that he would probably be mobbed by well-wishers, idolaters and the inquisitive and he'd decided to make a hasty exit over the picket fence, he was surrounded by people. They were all clamouring to either take photos with absurdly large cameras, wring his hand or hear of how he defeated You-Know-Who. One even asked if he had enjoyed his time living with King Arthur in Lyonesse before winking and pressing a weird hand-beaten coin of a weird silvery gold metal into his palm.

Over the next whirling minutes his wrist became sore from shaking, his face smeared with lipstick in a million wild colours and his back ached from being slapped endlessly by enthusiastic well-wishers.

Gold was pushed into his hands. Random witches and wizards cast charms of protection on him some of which were so wildly complicated that Harry couldn't even pick out snatches of the incantations. Others handed him scraps of parchment with hastily written notes inviting him to everything from lunch to free lifetime membership of exclusive duelling clubs and some only bore strange symbols including one which was a large bold 'X' with flanged arms.

Such a large amount of attention which while friendly was still aggressive terrified Harry. He started pushing through the growing crowd, elbowing and shoving when people refused to move. Breaking free from the press of people he sprinted up the road hearing people shout his name behind him.

He darted down a side street and into the nearest shop which happened to be Flourish and Blott's.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Harry sat down on a small stool just inside the doorway, took his glasses off and rested his head in his hands, breathing hard.

'Y'aright there kiddo?' A voice asked nearby in a thick northern accent a few minutes later.

Harry's throat was tight and he just shook his head.

'You got anything to do with that noise out there?' The voice asked.

It was a pleasant voice, that of a woman and bright. It made Harry think of good days when he managed to get away from the Dursleys and would spend time in the fields and playgrounds nearby – usually talking to the snakes.

Harry looked up to see a tall, pale witch with bubblegum-pink hair and a cute button nose. She was wearing a canary yellow t-shirt with bright orange dungarees and was smiling down on him. 'The name's Tonks.'

'H-Harry,' Harry replied, taking the hand she offered him and standing up.

'Well blow me down, they were telling the truth. Harry Potter.' The girl said.

Harry nodded, lifting his hair from his face.

'Well, nice t'meet you Harry.' Tonks said, picking up a stack of six thick books and proceeding to drop five of them, one of which landed corner-first on Harry's big toe.

Harry cursed and grabbed his foot, sitting back on the stool.

'Sorry Harry,' Tonks said, scooping the books back up, 'books for auror training y'know?'

'Auror?'

'Yep. Just starting my last year, NEWTS and all that, y'know?'

Harry shook his head.

'You don't really know much do you?'

'Not really. Sorry.'

'Don't feel sorry about it.' Tonks said, pulling a confused face. 'Everyone's talking about the fact you're due to start school this year.'

'You've been living with muggles since you took out You-Know-Who, right?'

Harry nodded again, trying unsuccessfully to read the spines of Tonk's books.

'We met a few times y'know?' Tonks said, dropping the books on the counter and rattling the glass, making the assistant wince.

'What?'

'Yeah, I was about… seven I guess and your folks had a party to welcome you to the world.'

Harry felt tears prick his eyes. 'Really, you're not mocking me are you?'

Tonks turned to him and smiled sadly. 'Course not! Who'd joke about something like that.' She handed the assistant a pile of galleons, dropped half of them and slipped all of them into a single pocket on the front of her dungarees then laughed at Harry's stunned expression. 'Just an extension charm, I turned seventeen a couple of months ago.'

'Cool, you'll have to show me that one.'

'No worries. So you really know anything about our world?' Tonks asked, taking a seat on a heavily padded armchair and patting the one next to it.

Harry take a seat. 'Not a clue really, other than what I've read in Hogwarts: A History, A History of Magic and a couple of the textbooks for the year. That's one reason I've come here today; to get more books.'

'You're a quick reader. 'History of Magic's a long book.'

Harry laughed, 'Well I have a lot of free time, my family don't talk to me, you see.'

Tonks laughed now. 'That's a good one.'

'No, I mean it, they hate me and treated me like a slave until a couple of weeks ago when a teacher, MacGonagall visited and threatened to turn them into toads unless they started looking after me.'

Tonk's laughed again and her hair flushed to a golden yellow. 'MacGonagall is brilliant, she's always good in a pinch. She's the deputy head, you know?'

Harry nodded, staring at her head. 'Your hair… it…'

'Changed colour?'

'Yeah.'

Tonks smiled and her teeth turned into razor sharp points in her mouth before turning back and her ears elongated to become absurdly long before she returned to her violet-topped normality. 'I'm what they call a metamorphmagus.'

'Metamama-what?'

'Meta-morph-magus.' Tonks repeated, emphasising each syllable. 'It means I can change my appearance at will. I can't be do anything like change into an animal or anything, that takes years and you have to get registered with the ministry and stuff.'

'That's amazing!' Harry exclaimed.

'It has its uses,' Tonk's replied, 'It really comes in handy sneaking around the school after lights out dressed as the Slytherins. So, you've got your wand now then?'

The change of subject took Harry off guard, 'Yes,' he reached into a pocket in his trousers that was oddly the perfect length and pulled out the wand, 'holly and phoenix feather.'

'Nice,' said Tonks, doing the same from the front of her dungarees, 'mine's beech and dragon heartstring. Third wand I've had; I broke the last one at my seventeenth birthday party.'

Harry grimaced. 'So you said you knew my parents?'

Tonks nodded, 'A bit: I was pretty young but I know my dad was pretty good friends with your Grandad on your dad's side. Well after him and your gran died my mom and dad kinda kept an eye out for your dad, y'know?'

'I think so,' Harry said, untangling it all, 'What was my dad like?'

'You look just like him, actually. A bit skinnier, but he was quite thin himself. Wait till you start getting those Hogwarts meals, you'll soon fill out. You've got your mom's eyes though: there's no mistakin' who your folks were, with or without the scar.'

Harry rubbed the scar unconsciously.

'Your mom was gorgeous: tall and not too thin with lovely red hair. She was amazing with potions and charms and was a brilliant cook. I remember she made a massive cake shaped like Hogwarts castle for your first birthday, they sent me a piece of the astronomy tower by owl.'

Harry laughed, 'Really?'

'Absolutely, your dad was pretty amazing with transfiguration; apparently he transfigured your secret house in one day when they had to go into hiding.

'Hiding?'

'Yeah, from You-Know-Who; they were some of his biggest opponents and had to go into hiding when He was getting really powerful. He really had it in for your dad especially, considering he was a pure-blood who married a muggleborn.'

'Why?'

'Well You-Know-Who was all about the supremacy of pure-blood and how they were innately superior to any other source of magic. Imagine the look on his stupid face when you, a half-blood ruined him!' Tonks clapped her hands with glee. 'I'm half-blood too, y'see, my dad's muggleborn like your mom was.'

Harry leaned back in his chair, breathing deeply. His mind was so full again! Every time he had processed things about the world, new things turned up and completely rewrote every belief he had.

He decided to move onto something he could handle quickly. 'What are NEWTs and Aurors?'

Tonks smiled. 'An Auror is a Dark Wizard catcher, kinda like muggle police only really well trained and powerful. They only take in a few trainees every couple of years and I'm determined to make a go of it. It takes years to get trained up but after all the friends my folks lost to the You-Know-Who's forces, I thought it was the right thing to do.'

'That's brilliant, what do you need?'

'That's where the NEWTs come in. NEWTs are the exams you take in seventh year at school. That year's optional, but almost everyone at least gives it a try. NEWT stands for Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test and they're needed for almost all major ministry posts. The best thing about it is that British NEWTs are the most highly regarded magical qualifications in the world.'

'Cool. So you've got a tough year ahead.'

Tonks nodded severely. 'I'm bloody terrified to be quite frank.'

'Well I can help if you like? I want to fight the darkness too!'

Tonks smiled and nodded. 'Sounds like a plan!'

As she stood, a group of children about Harry's age came bustling excitedly into the store.

'How about we get you those books and shoot off?'

Harry nodded excitedly and followed Tonks into the book stacks.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTT

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

CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK IS ALWAYS WELCOME.