A/N: Part IV and the final part of Severus, Harry and Lily's summer. Dumbledore returns from his trip to Belgium and takes them on their trip to Diagon Alley for their school supplies.
Chapter 22 1992 Summer Part IV
All good things always come to an end, and it was no different when it came Harry and Lily's two week stay with the Weasleys. Albus arrived back from Belgium and first stopped in Spinner's End to pick up Severus and return him to Hogwarts. He then apparated to the Burrow, whereupon he learned that Harry was having trouble packing his luggage. Whenever he tried to put his clothes away, his trunk would magically unravel and spit everything out. Frowning in confusion, Albus was quickly able to remedy the problem by magicking all of Harry's items into his trunk in an instant, and sealing it shut before it could spit them back out. Harry and Lily thanked the Weasleys graciously for their hospitality and Albus gave his own bow of thanks to both Weasley parents. He then apparated himself and his wards back to Hogwarts, while unbeknownst to them, an invisible Dobby whacked his head against a tree in frustration. Thanks to Albus being the Headmaster, he was able to apparate himself, Lily and Harry directly into their quarters, where Severus and McGonagall were waiting for them.
Hugs and greetings were exchanged all around between the three friends, Lily eagerly hugging Severus and almost tackling him to the floor in her over exuberance. Harry's greeting was a lot less violent than Lily's, but no less genuine, all the while Albus and Minerva watching on fondly from the sidelines. After their greetings were out of the way, Albus instructed his wards to go pack away their things, an instruction they diligently abided by. Harry and Lily hadn't yet had the time to tell Severus about all they'd learned in their time apart, but they knew that sooner or later they'd have to bring him into the loop about Dobby's warning, and that together they could tell Albus about it. Severus released Merlin out of his carrier so he could roam around a bit, and then headed back out into the living area. Albus and Minerva were both gone, and judging by the sounds coming from the rooms adjacent, Harry and Lily were still in their bedrooms unpacking their stuff. Merlin was meowing by the front door, so Severus let his familiar out to go explore the castle. He found a note on the kitchen table written in Albus' neat and tidy scrawl, saying that he and Minerva were in his office and that they'd be back just before lunch at noon.
Severus put the note down and wandered over to the sitting area, claiming a seat on the couch just in time to hear the doors to both Harry and Lily's rooms open. As Lily exited her room, her eyes made a brief once-over of the rest of the room before finding Severus on the couch.
"Where's Albus and McGonagall?" she asked aloud.
Severus just nodded at the door. "They've gone back to Albus' office and won't be back until lunch, why?"
Harry and Lily shared a grave look then, perplexing Severus. Without a word, they both came closer and sat down beside and across him, their grave expressions not lessening in the least.
"There's um—we've got something to tell you and Albus, Severus…and we'd rather we told you first before telling Albus," Harry said nervously.
Severus frowned in confusion at Harry and Lily. "It's…not something bad, is it?" he asked nervously.
Lily and Harry again shared a glance, but to Severus' dismay they both shrugged their shoulders. "It—erm, might be," Lily said awkwardly. "But I'll tell you what happened, and you can make your own verdict on it, this happened to Harry during our second week with the Weasleys."
Severus fixed his attention on the girl beside him and gave her an encouraging nod.
What followed was a five-minute-long recounting of the weird sequence of events Harry went through whilst at the Weasleys. Lily kicked off her retelling with Dobby's initial encounter during their second week, and his warning about danger at Hogwarts. Harry then took over proceedings by telling Severus about his weird experience packing his bags. His clothes just seemed to fly out of his trunk whenever he tried to put them in, and he was only able to finish his packing when Albus arrived and did it for him with magic. Not to mention the Weasley's floo being blocked for some reason which meant that they had to side-along apparate with Albus instead. Harry presumed that it was the doing of that whacky house-elf Dobby trying to prevent him from leaving the Burrow, and Lily agreed with Harry's deduction. Severus didn't need his friends to put two and two together that what Harry described with Dobby, and what he'd heard Malfoy speaking about might not be entirely unlinked. Then again, he was perhaps the foremost detective of the trio and quickly deduced that Dobby's warning was inextricably linked with Malfoy speaking to Parkinson and Zabini. When he voiced said deduction, Lily beamed at him and said that was the same conclusion she and Harry had arrived at.
They all agreed that Albus should be informed, since while Malfoy's words sounded more amused than anything, Dobby was under the impression that a real threat would be coming to Hogwarts this year. The three friends' collective mood soured at the mention of Dobby's warning and Malfoy, but Harry thankfully had the presence of mind to shift conversation away from that and asked how Severus' two weeks had gone.
"Staying with Minerva was alright," Severus said with a smile, pointedly ignoring the aghast looks on his two friends' faces. "I managed to finish most of—"
"Wait, just a minute now," Lily said, astounded. "You mean to tell me that Professor McGonagall let you call her Minerva?"
"You bet your arse she did," Severus said proudly, unable to resist widening his smile into a smirk. "We got along quite well, I like to think. I finished all my summer assignments by then and I even had a chance to go fishing again."
Harry wore a confused expression as Lily's eyes seemed to light up like stars. "Really?" she asked eagerly, recounting the horrid experience Severus had had with her father when he attempted to bring him fishing. Judging by his little smile, she assumed this experience fishing with Minerva went a lot better. "Did you catch anything? How was it? Why didn't you mention it in your letters?" she rattled off.
"I didn't catch anything, no, but it was relaxing, so I quite liked that. Oh, and I wanted it to be a surprise, so naturally I didn't tell you or Harry about it."
"Well as long as you had fun, that's what matters," Harry said knowingly, Severus smiling in agreement.
"It was certainly relaxing," Severus said.
"Was your week with Snape relaxing?" Harry asked, a somewhat grim look on his face.
Severus shrugged his shoulders. "It could've been better," he answered truthfully. "But all in all, I think it went well, I managed to—oh!" he leapt up, smacking a hand on his forehead. He turned his gaze to Lily, his eyes wide and eager. "Wait right here! I've got something pretty cool I want to show you two!"
Lily's and Harry's eyes widened in surprise as Severus bolted away back to his room. He came back a few minutes later clutching a record to his chest, but Lily couldn't help but stare at his coal-black eyes dancing with excitement. Severus sat down across from Harry and beside Lily, setting the record down on the coffee table. Lily's eyes widened and a little gasp rang past her lips as she glimpsed the cover.
"No way," she whispered. "Are you serious? How—Where did you get it?"
"It's yours," Severus grinned. "Apparently the older Snape was given it by the de—I mean, the other you—"
"My mum?" Harry asked.
Severus nodded. "Yeah. Apparently she gave it to Snape when they were kids when IV was released."
"That's incredible," Lily whispered, her eyes still wide with awe. "And now he's given it to you?"
Severus bit his lip and nodded, still wearing a broad grin. "Yeah. I've saved up enough of my potion brewing earnings from last year to buy a record player, so I'll ask Albus if I can buy one at one of the Muggle shops near Diagon Alley."
"I can chip in too," said Harry. "If we're all gonna use the record player, then I say we each pay for a third of it, right?"
"Right," Lily agreed, nodding fervently at Harry. She turned back to Severus. "Yeah Sev, let's all pay for a third each and then we can buy more records and play our music together."
Not one to turn down spending less money, Severus nodded in eager agreement. "Alright then, I'll ask Albus about it before we go."
"We can all ask, that we it'll be more likely he says yes," Lily replied, earning nods from both boys.
"So…how else was your stay with McGonagall and Snape?" Harry asked, leaning forward in his seat slightly.
Severus gave his friend a faint smile. "It was alright. With Minerva I kinda just focused on getting my work done. With my older self though…I brewed a lot, and I got some reading done too. He's got a huge collection of books and since he was out most of the time, I read a lot of—"
"—He was out?" Harry asked sharply, his green eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Where? With who?"
Severus turned to face Harry and shrugged his shoulders, wearing a well-crafted poker face. "I don't know, he just went out a bunch and left me to my own devices, we did listen to music together a couple times. Oh, and Tracey came by once as well…but yeah, I've got no clue where he went."
Severus wasn't exactly lying when he said that. It's true, he suspected his older self was meeting the Malfoy woman on the side, based on the way he smelt when he came back home, but he had no idea where he was meeting her. And he knew from what he saw through the keyhole that Snape and Missus Malfoy definitely had something going on between them.
"B-but you enjoyed yourself, right? Professor Severus gave you some free-reign and allowed you to do your own thing?" Lily asked quickly.
"He had a list of rules almost a mile long, but so long as I didn't break a single one, he had no issues with what I did," Severus answered. "I did use his lab some, but as long as I wrote down the ingredients I used, how much of each ingredient, and tidied up all of the things I used when I was done, then I wouldn't get in trouble."
"Merlin, that sounds like a lot. But then again, considering it's Snape I'm not surprised he didn't give you more rules than that," Harry said witheringly.
Severus gave him a weak smile. "It was manageable, and definitely could've been worse. At least he trusted me to brew although he did say I was to follow the standard instructions precisely and I wasn't allowed experimentation of any kind."
"Well, he wouldn't want you burning down his home, now would he? Your success rate on your experiments after all hovers right around ten percent, doesn't it Sev?" Lily teased, hoping to lend their conversation some levity.
Severus shot his old friend a glower, one Lily only laughed at in turn, unable to help herself.
"Disregarding that," Severus said tersely. "I only met with Tracey once, but we did get some brewing done together which was nice…and as I mentioned earlier, the fact that my older self was out quite a lot meant I had could catch up on much needed peace and quiet." His eyes glinted in amusement, Lily and Harry both noticed. "Something I don't get much of considering I'm often accompanied by dunderheads."
"Oh, you berk!" Lily yelled in mock-anger, throwing Severus a glare that lacked any real heat.
Harry only rolled his eyes and huffed a little laugh, not even willing to deign Severus' jab with a verbal response.
"But in any case, I found it alright…though what you've told me about this house-elf Dobby and the Malfoys is a little bit alarming," Severus said, shuddering slightly. Even more so since I know that my older self and Missus Malfoy are somewhat…entangled.
"I mean…our stay wasn't only doom and gloom," Lily said with a small chuckle. "I actually had quite a good time there, I got to meet Ginny and—erm, I also chatted with Percy a bit…" Severus swore a slight tinge of red rose on her cheeks then, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "And yeah…I thought it was fun. Living in a magical household is loads more fun than it is living in a muggle one," she said conclusively.
"Yeah, you were spending quite a bit of time with Percy, weren't you?" Harry joked, grinning at Lily, who flushed red a little more than before.
"N-no…I just had some questions for him…you know, err—stuff about second year, and what that's like," Lily stammered.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure the only reason you followed him around whenever you weren't with Ginny was because you had loads of questions for him," Harry said sarcastically.
Lily shot Harry a heated glare, and Harry wisely sealed his lips shut lest his continued jesting at Lily's expense blow the lid off her loosely-sealed jar of anger and annoyance.
"Ignoring what Harry just said—" Lily brushed a few locks of hair behind her ear then folded her palms in her lap. She calmed her breathing in hopes that her blush would recede too, "—I enjoyed staying at the Weasleys…though probably not quite as much as Harry did."
When Severus' curiosity shifted from Lily to Harry, Harry explained how his two weeks away had gone, and Severus found himself feeling little twinges of jealousy each time his friend described how much fun he was having with Ron and the twins. Ron was alright in Severus' books, he was generally a good bloke though he could be a little hot-tempered and lack emotional tact at times. At the very least, Severus was happy that his friend enjoyed their two weeks apart, though he couldn't help but feel that subtle, almost nonexistent twinge of jealousy that it was Ron, Harry was speaking so fondly of spending time with instead of he. Severus actively had to force a smile on his face to show that he was happy for his friend, but deep down, that little, niggling feeling of jealousy was always present. A little while later, McGonagall and Albus returned from the latter's office, intruding on the trio's private discussion. They'd hardly kept track of time so they were quite surprised to see the two Professors back already, though when they glanced at the wall they could see that it was already noon.
They waited until they finished their meal and McGonagall had taken her leave before deciding to inform Albus about what Dobby's warning. Once she was gone, Lily didn't want to waste a moment longer before telling Albus of what her concerns.
"Albus? Can we talk to you for a moment please?" Lily asked softly, just as the flickering emerald flames in the hearth petered out.
Albus turned away from the fireplace and fixed Lily with a curious look. "What's the matter?"
"There's…something we have to tell you," Lily said fretfully, her hands clasped together in front of her. "And it's…a bit concerning, to be honest."
Albus' expression stiffened slightly, his curiosity now being masked by concern. "Perhaps we'd better sit down then," he suggested.
Lily, Harry and Severus all nodded in agreement and sat down beside one another on the couch while Albus sat facing them in one of the armchairs. He gave his wards a silent not to encourage them to begin.
"To cut a long story short, Harry met a strange house elf when we were staying at the Burrow," said Lily quickly. "He—erm, he had a warning for us, a warning that terrible things were due to occur at Hogwarts, and that Harry mustn't return in order to be safe."
"I asked him what the danger was, but he didn't say, only that Hogwarts would be at great risk and that is was unsafe for me to go back."
"Harry," Albus said soothingly. "Hogwarts is the safest place in Magical Britain, out of all the—"
"—I know that," Harry interjected, with a hint of impatience. "I'm just telling you what this house-elf, Dobby, told me. He said Hogwarts was in terrible danger and that I shouldn't return. I…I think he was the one behind the floo shutting down and my luggage magically unpacking itself."
"And did he give any hints as to what this danger was? When it might present itself, or better yet, who might be responsible for it?" Albus pressed.
Harry shook his head firmly. "No he didn't. He…seemed bound to not speak ill of his owners, and I never learned who his owners were. All that I was able to get from it was that Hogwarts will be in grave danger sometime this year—don't know when, and that it supposedly isn't coming from You-Know-Who."
"But that's where Sev and I come in, and we think we have an idea as to who might be responsible for this , or at the very least could be aware of what might be happening," said Lily, unable to hide her excitement in her voice.
Albus shifted his gaze from Harry to Lily and gave her a silent nod.
"We—that is, Sev and I…we overheard something on the last week of term, just before the end of term feast actually. I was going to the owlery with Sev to send Tuney a letter…and when we were climbing up the steps towards the top, we overheard Malfoy speaking to Parkinson and Zabini about something that'll be happening next year. He described it as 'fun for us purebloods', and to me that sounds as if he's implying—"
"—that whatever event that might occur, would not be good for halfbloods or Muggleborns. And evidently, Mister Malfoy knows something might be amiss" Albus finished for her, his tone grave.
Lily nodded. "That's…that's what Sev, Harry and I think as well, sir," she murmured.
Albus pursed his lips together, a deep frown forming on his face as he stewed in silence for a long minute. "Hmm…from what you've told me, the Malfoys are at the very least, Dobby's owners, if not closely linked with the family that does own him. And if what you've told me is true…I shall keep an eye and an ear out for any murmurings about any potential happenings this coming year." Albus' eyes focused intently on his wards, flickering with surprising intensity and assuredness, instilling a sense of calm in the subjects of his gaze.
Lily couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, as did Harry and Severus too.
Lily also took the time to inform Albus that Petunia had written her back and that she said she was free to meet on the sixth of August. A quick calendar check later and Albus replied that he'd have a clear schedule and would be free to bring her.
On the sixth of August, Albus side-along apparated Lily to Privet Drive from the castle gates at ten o'clock, leaving Harry and Severus behind at the castle. Harry was in a foul mood over Lily deciding to visit Petunia, and Severus wasn't faring much better. Severus didn't like Petunia all that much, she was a nosy, annoying, bint at times; but his opinion of Petunia paled in comparison to Harry's. While Lily and Albus were off in Little Whinging, Harry and Severus to no great surprise chose to steer clear of the Dursleys and remained at Hogwarts. The two boys had just seen Albus and Lily off from their quarters and settled into a game of chess when a sharp, tapping noise at the window could be heard. Black and green eyes trained themselves on the window, and through it, Lily's owl Alain could be seen.
"Looks like Alain's got Hermione's reply," said Severus.
Harry's eyes darted to the stained glass window and grunted, but otherwise gave no other form of acknowledgement. Evidently, he was still miffed about Lily choosing to go visit his aunt, and Albus indulging her request.
Severus made to stand and headed over to the window while Harry remained seated in his chair, simply stewing away in silence. Severus walked over and undid the latch, opening the window and allowing Lily's dark-brown-colored eagle owl into the room. Alain hooted his appreciation and hopped over onto a table, holding his letter-holding talon out expectantly.
"Hello boy," said Severus, petting the bird's plumage. "Hermione's written back?"
Alain hooted in agreement and thrust out his talon. Severus chuckled and undid the mechanism on his leg and retrieved the letter. Alain hooted once more in thanks and then flew across the room to the water bowl set up by another window. After drinking some water, Alain hooted again and soared past Harry and Severus out of the room and towards the owlery.
"What's the letter say?" Harry muttered quietly, as Severus moved to shut the window.
Severus shrugged but then sliced open the envelope with a letter opener. He sat back down opposite to Harry and opened it.
Dear Lily,
I've been very well thank you, I'm planning on going to Diagon Alley with my parents on the twelfth. I hope my reply isn't too late and that we can make plans to meet there? I'm writing this on the fifth, so if you're free to meet in Diagon Alley with the boys in a week's time, that would be splendid. Of course, that's assuming you haven't gone already. I've already written to Ronald about meeting on the twelfth and I hope you, Harry and Severus will be able to join us. I've also compiled a list of books that I think you should purchase in addition to the standardized texts the school has mentioned. Also, I find there's a lot of Lockhart books on the list this year, but from what I've read about him and his exploits, I think he's a talented wizard and we have a lot to learn from him.
In answer to your question, my summer has been rather boring to be honest. More or less the same thing each day, although my parents mentioned that we'll be going overseas for the Winter break which should be nice. As far as my thoughts on what to expect for next year, I hope we have a Defense teacher better than Quirrell, someone with experience and who isn't afraid of his own shadow, preferentially! I have high hopes that the rest of the curriculum will remain interesting as well. I look forward to hearing your reply, and hopefully we'll see each other soon in a week's time. Pass my greetings onto the boys for me please, and I hope you've had a pleasant summer as well.
Hermione.
Severus finished reading the letter and set it down, then slid it across the table to Harry, who then read it himself. Harry had his turn perusing the letter, then when he was done, he tucked it back into the envelope and set it down.
"Seems like we've got a date for Hogsmeade then," Harry said without care, as he tucked the letter back into the envelope.
"D'you think Albus will be free to bring us?"
Harry frowned and shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose we should ask when they get back. But then again, Hermione mentioned that she's going with her parents and with the Weasleys as well, so it's not like we'd be alone."
"True," Severus agreed, a thoughtful look flittering across his features. "And I haven't met Mister and Missus Weasley yet, so that ought to be fun if we decide to go on the twelfth."
Harry grinned broadly in agreement. "They're great people, Severus, I'm sure you'll like them as much as I do," Harry said assuredly, Severus only nodding in response.
"Now come on, let's say we get our game underway, Merlin knows I've got a lot of catching up to do if I want to challenge Ron this year."
To their delight, Albus agreed to accompany them to Diagon Alley on the twelfth; and after Alain had gotten some rest, Lily wrote back to Hermione later in the day saying that she and the boys would be able to come and that they looked forward to seeing her then. They received a reply a day later from their Gryffindor friend that she couldn't wait. The next few days passed relatively swiftly for Harry, Lily and Severus. Severus' birthday gift for Harry, which had been running late by quite some time, finally arrived at last and Harry was gifted with a practice snitch that he could use to train in his free time. Compared to Lily's gift, which was a tome on potions ingredients and how to properly prepare them, Harry could readily admit he hoped to make much better use of Severus' thoughtful present. The days rolled by quickly, and on the morning of the twelfth, they all awoke bright and early for a hearty breakfast with Albus before they'd set off for Diagon Alley. Unfortunately for them, Mandy wrote back to Severus saying that she'd already gone to buy her things and that she was busy on the twelfth with family members in any case. With Anthony still overseas in Hungary as well, that meant it'd just be The Weasleys, Grangers, Albus and his brood that'd be making the trip. One by one, they set off through their sitting room fireplace to the Leaky Cauldron and sat in waiting for the Weasleys and Grangers.
Given the early hour of the day, the pub was still fairly quiet by its usual standards, only a handful of other witches and wizards sitting by the bar ordering their breakfast from Tom. Albus hummed quietly to himself, perusing a pocket-book as he waited for the first sign of the Grangers or the Weasleys. Lily, Severus and Harry all chatted away about the new books they were supposed to purchase for the coming year, along with the odd inclusion of numerous Gilderoy Lockhart books. The Grangers arrived first through the front door to the pub, sticking out like a sore thumb in their muggle clothing and curious glances.
"Oh, it's Hermione!" Lily said brightly, standing to her feet.
"Let's go greet them," Harry said decisively. Severus and Lily nodded in agreement, and the trio wandered over to the family of Grangers. They couldn't help but smile as they witnessed their Gryffindor, Muggleborn friend explaining various things to her parents from afar.
Hermione hardly noticed the approaching trio of young wizards until they were nearly upon her, her brown eyes widening in delight. "Lily!" she said excitedly, dashing towards the girl and hugging her tightly.
Lily grinned in response and hugged her back. "It's wonderful to see you too Hermione, can you let me go now?"
Hermione grinned sheepishly and drew back, turning her attention to the two boys standing a foot behind her fellow Muggleborn. "Hello boys," she said, waving at them.
Harry and Severus were happy to settle their greetings with waves as well.
"Hello Hermione," said Severus.
"How was your summer?" Harry added.
"Oh, it was not too exciting, but I did have loads of time to catch up on my reading, and I think I'm much more prepared for this year than I was the last."
"Well, I'm sure you'll excel just as you did last year, Miss Granger," said Albus, as he sauntered on over to the group.
"P-professor Dumbledore," Hermione stuttered, more than a little bit surprised by his sudden appearance.
"Hello Miss Granger," said Albus, smiling fondly down at the girl. "I trust you received your end of year results already and that your summer holiday has been restful?"
"Yes, on both accounts," Hermione said quickly smiling back at the man.
"Excellent," said Albus, his eyes twinkling from behind his half-moon spectacles. "I'm sure all four of you will continue to do well come next year as well."
Hermione smiled at the Headmaster and turned back to her three friends. "I assume you three all received your results as well?" she asked hopefully.
"Oh, we sure did," Lily said with a wide, toothy grin. "I, for one got Os in five subjects, Potions, Charms, Astronomy—"
"—okay I think that's enough," said Severus, cutting Lily off half-way. "I don't think we need to hear you bragging Lily, it's really unbecoming."
Lily rolled her eyes and shot Severus a snooty look, one that earned chuckles from Harry and Hermione. "In any case," she went on, turning her focus back to Hermione. "I did pretty well, and I'm happy with how I scored."
Hermione beamed back at Lily, then turned to face Harry and Severus expectantly. "How did you two score?" she asked eagerly.
Severus gave a smirk. "I'm not quite as braggadocios as my friend here—" he nodded at Lily, "—but I too, scored very well, better than her, even." Lily scowled at Severus, but he pointedly refused to acknowledge her.
"I'm pretty happy too," said Harry, smiling. "Apparently I got amongst the best DADA marks in my year, so I've got that for bragging rights."
Hermione smiled, happy for all three of them. Before she could say anything however, Hermione's parents, Mister and Missus Granger arrived, the pair of them wearing nervous but excited smiles. Albus gave both Muggles a kind smile in hopes of making them feel more welcome.
"Good day Mister and Missus Granger," Albus greeted, nodding at both of Hermione's parents.
"Mummy, daddy, this is Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster," said Hermione to both of her parents.
Mister Granger, smiled and stretched out a hand towards the elderly wizard. "It's a pleasure to meet you at last, Headmaster. Hermione's told us so much about you and your school."
"All good things I hope," Albus replied, wearing a wrinkled smile.
The two men's hands met in a firm clasp, genuine smiles on both of their faces. "Of course, Headmaster, only the good stuff."
"Headmaster," Missus. Granger said, smiling. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well."
"Likewise, Missus Granger," Albus said, now shaking her hand. "Please come sit with us, the Weasleys should be along shortly and then we can get our shopping underway."
"Actually, sir. I think I need to visit the bank first," said Hermione. She turned to look at her parents, then back at her three friends. "Can we meet outside Gringotts?"
Lily glanced back at Albus, who gave a subtle nod to the redhead. Harry and Severus both wore expressions of agreement to Hermione's suggestion as well. "Sure thing Hermione," Lily agreed. "We'll—um, we'll see you there?"
Hermione smiled and nodded. Hermione and her parents wandered to the back of the tavern, accompanied by Albus so he could let them through the red-bricked wall. As the Grangers left with Albus, Lily, Severus and Harry sat back down in their seats. They idly kept an eye out for signs of a redheaded brood making their way through the floo, but alas, there were no sign of the Weasleys just yet. More and more people filtered into the Leaky Cauldron, some of whom cast the group, Harry in particular, odd stares. When Albus' returned his mere presence was enough to ward off any such stares, though.
"Albus? Can I ask you something?"
"Hmm?" Albus turned to Harry, a quizzical look on his face. "What is it, Harry?"
"Is Gilderoy Lockhart going to be our new Defense Professor this year?"
An amused twinkle shone in Albus' eye, his lips curling upwards in a smile. "Now, why would you think that?"
"Well, for starters, half of our list of new books are authored by him," Severus pointed out.
Harry nodded in agreement. "That, and I read in the Prophet that he's gonna be making a big announcement today at Flourish and Blotts, I'm pretty sure that he'll be announcing he'll be the next Defense Professor."
"That is true, and if that is your reasoning for why Lockhart will be your Defense Professor next year then you'd be absolutely correct," Albus replied to both boys, his eyes twinkling.
"So he was the only applicant then?" Lily pondered aloud, recalling her guardian's words from his brief conversation with Mister Malfoy.
"That is correct," said Albus, nodding.
"I thought Snape applied for the Defense post as well, didn't he?"
"He does, and has applied every year for the past twelve years," Albus said with an amused chuckle. "Naturally, I don't consider Severus as an applicant, for I find his talents are well-suited where they are as our resident Potions Professor. He can apply until the cow's come home, but I'm quite content to keep him where he is for the foreseeable future."
Severus and Lily nodded in ready agreement, for all his vices and his strict teaching, he was a good teacher and they were thriving under his tutelage. Harry, on the other hand, held a less than stellar opinion of Slytherin's Head of House.
"Regardless of the lack of the lack of applicants, I have high hopes that Professor Lockhart will live up to expectations," said Albus.
"As long as he's better than Quirrell, that's all I can hope for," Harry muttered under his breath, but not quiet enough to prevent his friends from hearing. They both nodded in agreement.
"I must confess that I am in agreement with you there, Harry," said Albus, wearing a smile. "But time will tell if Professor Lockhart can live up to expectations."
"I'm sure he will. From the sounds of things, he's incredibly experienced and I'm sure he'll be a great teacher," Lily said confidently, sounding so self-assured that both boys found themselves nodding, albeit a little unsurely.
"I hope so too," Albus replied. matching Lily's enthusiasm with his own.
They weren't kept waiting long for the arrival of the Weasleys after that. One after another, the redheaded family stepped out of one of the nearby fireplaces, entering the pub. Albus waved them over to their table and they exchanged a round of greetings before setting off for the back of the pub, where Diagon Alley awaited them.
Diagon Alley was as crowded as was, but it didn't take long for the eagle-eyed Severus to spot Hermione and her parents just exiting Gringotts at the other end of the Alley. Hermione, flanked by her mum and dad, had just been stepping down the white-marbled steps from Gringotts when she spotted a crowd of redheads on the other side of the alley. Included in said crowd, were a pair of black-haired boys and a weirdly-dressed Headmaster, the former two of whom were waving her offer. The two groups then started walking towards one another through the crowd, knifing through the sea of shoppers with well-practiced ease until they finally crossed paths just outside Eeylops' Owl Emporium.
Hugs, handshakes, and plenty of well-wishes were exchanged en masse between the two parties. The Grangers looked more than a little out of sorts to be surrounded by a sea of witches and wizards, but Arthur's constant flow of questions and Molly's general warmth helped ease their apprehensiveness a little bit.
"Ah, so you must be Mr and Mrs. Granger," Arthur said conversationally.
"Just Bernard and Jean are fine, please. And you must be Mr Weasley," said Jean Granger, smiling nervously.
"Hermione's told us a lot about you and your family," said Bernard Granger.
"Can I treat you two to a drink once we're all done here?" Arthur offered earnestly.
Mr and Mrs Granger shared a brief look and then nodded. "We'd love to," said Jean.
"At the leaky cauldron, might I presume?" asked Bernard.
"Excellent," Arthur said, rubbing his clasped hands together in eager anticipation. "I've always been fascinated by Muggles, you lot are—"
"—excuse my husband dears," said Molly, shooting a stern look at Arthur then turning back to the Grangers. "I'm sorry about that, he's just always been fascinated with all areas of Muggle culture," she said apologetically.
"Oh, that's quite alright," said Bernard. "We're equally fascinated with this…fantastic world we've been introduced to. It's really been quite a shock to my wife and I, coming here despite having no awareness of it before—"
"—Mum, dad, can I go with Harry, Lily, Ron and Severus?" Hermione interrupted, staring up at her parents with big, brown eyes. Hermione jerked her head towards one of the nearby shops, which sold quills, parchment and in.
"We'll accompany you," said Jean, "but if your friends are ready, we can set off now."
"Erm—we need to make a quick stop at Gringotts first," said Percy, indicating his barren pouch of money.
Arthur peeked into Percy's pouch of coins, noting the distinct lack of gold and silver. "Right," he said quickly. "Off to Gringotts it is. Perhaps you'd like to accompany me Percy?"
Percy nodded swiftly. "Certainly father," he said.
Severus could've sworn he saw a hint of blush on Lily's cheeks, but he wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light or not.
"I'll take Ginny shopping for a wand and some robes," Molly said, gripping her only daughter's hand tightly and drawing her closer.
"Ron, perhaps you want to accompany your friends?"
"I'll take them," said Albus, volunteering his services with a smile. "Fred, George, I think I see your good friend Mister Jordan in the crowd opposite Fortescue's Ice Cream parlor."
"Ah, thanks for that Professor," said George, wearing a not-so-subtle grin.
"We'll be off then," added Fred. The two boys pulled away from the group into the crowd. "Later m—"
"Meet us outside Flourish and Blotts in an hour!" Molly hollered after them, George acknowledging that he heard her with a wave of his hand, before disappearing into the ever-growing sea of shoppers.
From there, the group dispersed to go about their errands. Ron, Hermione, Jean and Bernard followed Albus, Harry, Lily and Severus around; while Molly and Ginny headed for Madam Malkin's, and Arthur and Percy for Gringotts. They went about their business fairly efficiently and within an hour, all their necessary school items for the next year had been purchased save for their books which they'd saved for last. They would indeed reconvene at Flourish and Blotts, Harry and his friends getting their first taste of who their next Defense Against the Dark Arts was when they spotted him inside the book store surrounded by a veritable swarm of swooning witches and awestruck wizards, not to mention a whole cadre of press as well. Harry, alas, would be spotted in the crowd, and at Lockhart's insistence, he was beckoned to the front of the crowd whereupon he'd have his photo taken next to the best-selling author. Many photos were snapped of Lockhart standing next to the increasingly uncomfortable-looking Harry, all the while Severus and Ron shot identical, heated glares at the man, and Lily and Hermione couldn't help but swoon. Albus eventually had enough of it all and barged his way to the front of the crowd and brought Harry away from Lockhart so they could start their search for their books.
Searching for their books didn't take long at all, and within half an hour, they were ready to leave the crowded confines of Flourish and Blotts with their purchases in hand. Molly, Arthur and Albus were all on the other side of the bookstore, paying for their children's new books; while the Weasley children, Harry, Lily, Severus and Hermione prepared to leave the shop. As they neared the exit of the bookstore, they chanced upon the last person they expected, or were hoping to see.
"Potter," a derisive voice drawled.
Harry whirled around to see Malfoy at the entrance to the shop, wearing an ugly sneer and a stupid-looking grin.
"Malfoy," Harry replied, sounding equally contemptuous to his rival.
"Famous Harry Potter," Malfoy drawled. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."
"Leave him alone, he didn't want any of that," said Ginny, stepping away from her mother to Harry's side. Ginny rarely spoke to him at all during their two weeks together, so hearing her jump to his defense now came as quite a shock to Harry.
Malfoy's gaze shifted from Harry to Ginny. "Oh, would you look at that, looks like you've got yourself a girlfriend Potter."
Ginny flushed a dull shade of red, but her embarrassment didn't lessen her stiff glare in the least.
"Oh, buzz off Malfoy. Stop being such a stupid, annoying gnat and leave us alone, we're just leaving," Lily spat, now coming to stand at Harry's other side.
Malfoy shot Lily a heated glare, but before he could say anything, Ron appeared as well.
"Oh, it's you," said Ron, appearing next to Harry and Lily. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"
"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," Malfoy retorted, his ugly sneer growing. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all of those."
Ron flushed an angry shade of red similar to Ginny. He started for Malfoy but was quickly restrained by Harry and Severus. Hermione shot Malfoy an angry glare and assisted the boys in pulling Ron back.
"Leave it," said Lily, her voice ice-cold and brimming with contempt. "He's hardly worth our time or effort."
Malfoy's eye twitched, his sneer morphing into a veritable scowl. "Now, listen here you stupid, little—"
"Ron!" said Arthur, bringing along Percy and a struggling Fred, George in tow. "It's packed in here, let's head outside while Professor Dumbledore and your mother pay for—"
"Well—well—well, Arthur Weasley," came an oily voice from the doorway.
It was Mister Malfoy. he stood just behind Malfoy Jr. with his hand on his son's shoulder and wearing a cocky smirk.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mister Malfoy. "All those raids…I hope they're paying you overtime?"
He reached into Ginny's cauldron, and extracted a tattered and worn copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, amidst a set of glossy, new Lockhart books.
"Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy said. Ron and Ginny tensed, as did the twins too. Only Arthur and Percy seemed to take it in stride, lifting their chins higher in defiance. "Dear me, what's the use to being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
That set him off, Arthur flushing an even deeper shade of scarlet than any of his children. Lily side-eyed Arthur warily, gulping in nervousness. She'd never seen the kind, lovable Arthur get so angry in the two weeks she and Harry were hosted by him.
"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard," said Arthur, just about maintaining his composure, though Lily and Severus noted the clenched fists at the wizard's sides.
"Clearly," said Mister Malfoy, sounding just as oily as ever. His pale eyes strayed over to Bernard and Jean Granger, who were just making their way through the crowd of shoppers towards them. He shot Hermione's parents a malicious sneer, causing both Muggles to stop in their tracks. "Muggles, Arthur? Really? And I thought you and your family could sink no lower than the pond scum you immerse yourselves—"
Mister Malfoy never got to finish his sentence, for Arthur flung himself at him and knocked him to the ground. Ginny, Lily and Severus' recently-purchased cauldrons went crashing to the floor, their books and other purchases within spilling out of them. Arthur had struck Malfoy with such force both men went crashing through the sea of shoppers into a book stand, sending it toppling to the ground. Fred and George cheered for their father, whooping with joy as he socked Mister Malfoy across the jaw with a straight right, but then winced in pain when Malfoy got him back with a left cross to the cheek. Lily, Severus and Ginny all tried to bend down to collect their spilled items, but were unable to do so thanks to the massive crowd that'd formed around them.
"Gentlemen!" Albus shouted, sounding every bit the part of an irate Headmaster breaking apart a schoolyard brawl. Flourish and Blotts' walls reverberating with the sheer voice of his voice. "What is the meaning of this? Are you two a pair of ruffians? Unhand each other at once!"
Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy both paled in terror. Both men scrambled off one another looking like a couple of grade-school boys who'd just been caught with their pants down, as the crowd of shoppers parted like to reveal an angry-looking Albus Dumbledore.
He didn't say a word to both men, merely clucking his tongue and shaking his head in shame.
"Come, Severus, Harry, Lily, we'll be taking our leave now," he said in a calm tone of voice, though it only served as a parchment-thin veneer for his anger bubbling underneath.
Severus and Lily gulped, and quickly picked up their spilled books into their cauldrons, helped by Harry. With their books and other purchases put away, they hurried out of the shop after their guardian, all the while murmuring their goodbyes to the Weasley and Granger families as they went.
None of them saw Malfoy's eyes glittering with malice as he handed one of Ginny's battered transfiguration books back to her and thrust it into her cauldron. As the Weasleys and Grangers sorted themselves out, a mutinous Albus stalked back to the Leaky Cauldron with his charges trailing behind, and they flooed back to Hogwarts without a word. Needless to say, neither Albus, Harry, Severus or Lily saw the small, black diary Malfoy slipped into little Ginny Weasley's cauldron. Her family didn't see it either, nor did the Grangers. They all left Diagon Alley that day entirely oblivious to the danger sat in Ginny's cauldron.
A/N2: Despite Dumbledore's presence and the changes to the timeline so far, Lucius has still slipped Ginny the diary undetected. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!