Disclaimer: I don't own Cedric, or his father, or any of these locations, especially not Diagon Alley. No sir, no way. But! I own Promise and Sam and all the events that occur here. They're mine. Mine I tell you! Mine!

Chapter 5
Shopping

The uneventful trip back to Cedric's house took the better part of the next morning. Ministry officials forced Cedric and his father to wait in a long line to grab a portkey, but when they finally got one, it took them all the way back to field that was just a ten minute walk from their house.

He walked in the front door just ahead of his father. "Mom! We're home!"

Cedric only caught the glimpse of a blur whizzing past them from the kitchen as his mother ran forward and pulled them both into a tight embrace. "Thank goodness you two are ok! I was worried sick after the headline from this morning!"

"What'd it say?" Cedric asked intrigued.

"Nothing important," His mother smiled at him before pulling him close, overjoyed at having him in front of her. "It described the events of last night," She pulled back her hair, frazzled. "But I'm glad you two are back and safe."

"Thanks mom," Cedric hugged her. "But right now I think I just need to get to bed. I'm really tired after being up for nearly two days straight, and it's not like I just sat around all day yesterday."

His parents smiled at him. "Of course dear," His father's eyes twinkled. "I have to go into the office."

His mother whirled on him. "Why?"

"With this whole Dark Mark fiasco," His father rubbed his eyes. "The Ministry's going to need all the help it can get to qualm the general public. But I know that I'm not the only one. Arthur Weasley's going in too. His department shouldn't even be involved, and he's still going in. My goodness do I admire that man. He works so hard. Must be one of the most under appreciated men at the ministry."

"So noble, my husband," Cedric's mother placed her hand on her husband's cheek. She kissed him gingerly, romantically. Cedric sighed inside. His parents loved each other so much. "Go, honey. I'll manage here. Stay safe."

"Always do," Cedric's father smiled at his wife. "You get some sleep, Ced," His father winked at him before disappearing with a small pop.

"Your father never really manages to get much rest, does he?" Cedric's mother sighed at him.

"You should have seen him yesterday," Cedric shrugged. "We got to our tent and he slept until the match, and even afterwards he went back to sleep until the Death Eaters showed up."

Cedric's mother raised her eyebrows. "That's so unlike your father."

Cedric shrugged. "Guess he just needed it. As for me, though," he yawned widely for several seconds. "I'll take a leaf out of the book he should follow and get some sleep."

"Alright," His mother smiled at him. "I'm going to go into work for a few hours, but I'll be back before dark," she kissed him on the forehead. "Sweet dreams sweetie. If you need anything there's stuff in the kitchen."

Cedric nodded and turned to go upstairs. He opened the door to his room and collapsed on the bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Only the chill in his room woke him up. He looked up at the darkness in the sky outside as he rubbed his shoulder blade vigorously to release the kink that had formed while he slept. Rolling his slightly sore neck, he kicked off his shoes, socks, pants, and shirt, yawned again as he slipped on his pajama bottoms, and wiggled under the covers. Fidgeting slightly to complete the process of nestling into his bed, he placed his hands underneath his pillow and slipped back to sleep.

The warmth of the covers woke him up as he opened his eyes again. Light perforated through the blinds of his room. He stood up and lifted one of them, flooding his eyes with light. Reflexively, he dropped the curtain and squinted his eyes. Yep, he definitely managed to sleep through a whole day.

He grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt before he went into the bathroom. He yawned as he sipped off his clothes and dunked himself into the hot water filling his bathtub. His muscles untensed and he drifted into a type of alert dreamy state. After several minutes, as the water grew cold, he stepped out, dried himself off and reclothed.

He stepped to his desk, where his tawny owl, Dani, sat perched, clicking her beak. He smiled at her. "Good Morning, Dani. Care to run some errands for me?"

She hooted in approval.

"Good," Cedric smiled. "There's some letters I need you to send, one to Promise and another to a girl named Sam Bennet. I think I pointed her one time at the Hufflepuff table. You know who I'm talking about, right?"

Dani hooted again.

"Ok. Let me just write them really quickly."

He pulled out a quill and two small pieces of parchment and quickly scribbled two identical notes, asking Promise if they could do their annual End-of-Summer-Holiday and Going-Back-To-Hogwarts Shopping Spree in Diagon Alley sometime within the next week and asking Sam if she would care to join the two of them.

After some quick twine and fancy tying, he whisked Dani off into the air and off to her destinations. He walked downstairs into the kitchen to see his father finishing up on his last bite of toast, ready to head into the office for another day of work.

"Morning, Dad."

"Morning, Ced," His father's eyes twinkled back at him as he put down his copy of The Daily Prophet. "Have a good sleep?"

"Yeah," Cedric nodded. "Better than the ones I have at school, that's for sure."

"Good," His father continued smiling. "What's on the agenda for today?"

"Not sure yet," Cedric replied. He pulled a plate out of a cabinet and scraped the leftover eggs from the pan left on the stove onto his plate. "I'll probably just finish up some Arithmancy homework I have left." He paused, taking a bite of eggs. "Hey, dad? Later this week I wanna to go to Diagon Alley for my annual trip with Promise. Is that ok?"

Cedric's father nodded. "After this debacle at the World Cup, I'd probably say no. But as long as you promise to stay with Promise, I guess it's alright."

Cedric beamed at him as he placed the last two pieces of toast onto his plate next to his eggs.

"Until tonight then, Ced," His father smiled. "Loads of stuff at the Ministry, so I probably won't be home until late. Your mother's at work, and she'll be home for dinner later tonight."

Cedric nodded. "Until then."

Cedric sat down as his father dissapparated with a small pop. Cedric sighed and wolfed down his toast and eggs. He washed his plate, went back upstairs, pulled out his Arithmancy textbook, and stared blankly at it for several minutes before opening it. After a few minutes, he stretched his arms in front of him and pushed them back and forth across his chest. At least he saved Arithmancy for last. He'd have fun doing Arithmancy, he always did, but that didn't mean he always wanted to do it. Yes, he loved Professor Vector, but the amount of homework she gave always invariably made Cedric gag, especially when she gave more than any other teacher Cedric had, and more than ever when it came to summers, when she piled on the homework to keep the student's "lively minds constantly riveted and never unfocused." With a final, furtive sigh Cedric set to work, performing the numerous calculations diligently and reading the final passages and pages in his textbook multiple times, careful to understand the concepts totally and completely. Every so often, he managed to catch his mistakes early enough to not have them affect the final results of his problems. Thank goodness he double-checked each step twice! To make a mistake and not catch it almost always guaranteed the complete restarting of a section.

"Cedric!" His mother called out, making Cedric jump. "Cedric! Dinner time!"

Cedric looked out the window, giving his mind the usual sort of relaxed burning it felt after his token study sessions. The village near his house twinkled dimly in the dwindling twilight. Cedric leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"How long was I out?" Cedric asked his mother as he walked into the kitchen several seconds later.

"I haven't seen you since yesterday," His mother kissed his forehead. "Diagon Alley is still as dead today as it was yesterday, and those who were actually there to shop were in no mood for the usual chatter during their checkout. Even Flourish was rather sad. Just goes to show you that fear is bad for business."

"If you say so, mom," Cedric pulled out two plates and set them on the table. "I talked to dad before he left this morning. He said he probably won't be home until late."

"Ok," His mother smiled as she gracefully ladled stew from the pot onto the plates with her wand. "You hungry at all?"

"You have no idea," Cedric's stomach growled. "I've been working on Arithmancy all day and got caught up in it. I didn't even get the chance to eat lunch."

"Hard worker Cedric," Her mother chuckled. "Don't work so much or you'll end up like your father. Remember sleep?"

They laughed. The meal, like every other of his mother's, tasted spectacular. They spent the meal discussing the Quidditch World Cup. Cedric's mother wanted ever detail, bringing up her inability to get time off of work, and thusly being unable to go. His mother loved Quidditch and even visited Hogwarts on some occasions to watch him play.

Cedric offered to clean up, but his mother ordered him to go back upstairs to finish his Arithmancy. When he begged her to let him help, she gave him a lecture on the finer points of "the importunacy of school work over menial tasks."

"Cedric, I'm giving you a free pass. Would you like to throw aside my generous offer?"

Cedric walked back upstairs and found Dani perched on his desk, just an inch away from his homework. Cedric hastily untied the two notes on Dani's leg and unrolled the first.

Dear Cedric,
I would love to join you and Promise in Diagon Alley. I'm free anytime this week, and my parents thought it would be a good idea, considering all the dreadful amount of fear throughout the country after the World Cup. Just send me back a day and a time to meet and I'm set.
Always
Sam

Cedric smiled and opened up the second scroll of parchment.

Dearest Pretty Boy,
You asked Sam? Why am I not surprised? You never cease to amuse me. She even got her parents permission. She must really be falling for you Ced. I mean it.
Anyways, of course I would love to have our annual Shopping Spree. I mean, it's a tradition. Did you even have to ask? Like Sam, though, I'll leave it up to you when and where we meet, so just tell me that, and I'll beat you there.
And, while we're on the subject of Sam, you should really date her. I mean it. You two are like, perfect for each other. Goodness knows that she likes you well enough, and to tell yourself you don't like her as well is just ridiculous. I know you better than that, Ced.
So, in summary: She's falling for you. I'm in. Time? Date Sam.
Always (Like Sam)
Promise
PS Yes. In case you didn't get it, I did open that letter that Sam wrote and I did read it.

"You know," Cedric looked up from the letter at Dani. "You're not supposed to let other people read my post. Not even Promise."

Dani tilted her head at Cedric.

"Dani," He sighed at her and scribbled a quick note asking if they could go following morning. They'd meet in the Leaky Cauldron at noon and spend the afternoon together and be home by five that evening. He tied the notes to Dani and whisked her off, tossing her into the darkness before starting his last two sections of Arithmancy homework.

He worked for several more minutes on finishing his Arithmancy homework. He took his time, as usual, careful to not make mistakes, or if he did, to catch them early. As Dani rapped her nose on his window again, he polished off his last problem and brought her inside, untying the two pieces of parchment tied to each of her legs.

Dear Cedric,
I'm in. See you there tomorrow.
Always
Sam

He smiled as he read the other piece of parchment.

You hear that? She's in! Don't you feel happy I put her next to you at the World Cup? Isn't it exciting?
See you tomorrow
Promise

Cedric sighed and looked at the eight large rolls of parchment containing the last of his homework and the four scraps he had from Sam and Promise's letters. He smiled and went downstairs to discuss matters with his mother.

"Going to bed, Cedric?" She asked over the top of her copy of Witch Weekly.

"In a minute," Cedric smiled. "But I just came to tell you that I'm going with Promise and Sam to Diagon Alley for Promise and my annual end-of-summer shopping spree."

"That's fine with me, but who's Sam?" Cedric's mother inquired.

"Oh!" Cedric exclaimed, hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Sam's a friend who I got to know really well at the Quidditch World Cup."

"Oh," Cedric's mother smiled with comprehension. "I think your father mentioned her. Alright, well I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Night," Cedric smiled.

"Night Ced," His mother smiled back at him as he headed back upstairs.

Cedric went to his closet and pulled out his automatically magically sealing bag of owl treats and fed Dani several handfuls. She cooed happily.

"You know," he told her. "I really shouldn't be feeding you treats after you let Promise open my post."

Dani looked up at him when she finished her third handful of owl bites.

"Seriously," Cedric smiled. "That girl will be the death of me. I swear it. You know she went around the Quidditch World Cup flinging magic everywhere because she knew she wouldn't get caught. Who knew what else she did, or what else she does for that matter."

Dani paid him no heed, but instead fell back into eating more of the owl treats Cedric supplied her.

"That's ok though," Cedric stroked her head lovingly with his free hand. "You're still a terribly kind and friendly owl."

Dani cooed as she finished the last of the treats.

"Time for your nightly patrol," Cedric chuckled. "I really shouldn't have fed you dessert before you went out on your dinner hour, but you deserved it, moving that fast."

Dani looked up at him confused.

"Never mind," Cedric laughed as he pushed her out the window.

She hooted before hopping out the window in a nosedive for the ground, which she pulled out of at the last second. Cedric's stomach twisted. How he wished he could fly like that. Dani didn't need a broom. Lucky bird.

Cedric waved off the thought. He cleared off his desk, leaving it nice and tidy,exactly how he found it. He capped his bottle of deep blue ink that he used for his Arithmancy homework and set his quill down neatly beside it. He frowned as he realized that his quill's feathers were very frayed and tip was going dull. He uncapped his bottle of ink and pulled out the letter he received from Hogwarts from several weeks before. He wrote at the bottom of the book list the simple words. "New Quills" and "More Ink".

He yawned, fatigue sweeping over him. Lying down on the bed, he stared straight up at the ceiling as his eyelids began to drip heavily over his eyes.

Before he knew it, he awoke to the sun glowing in his eyes through a small slit in the blinds. He blinked several times before whisking the covers over his head and attempting to fall back to sleep. Slowly, he played through his day's plans through his head as he drifted back to the level of true consciousness.

Twelve.

Something about a twelve. He checked his watch. Eleven thirty five. What happened at twelve o'clock? It was twelve o'clock, wasn't it? Not eleven or one?

Promise and Sam! Shopping!

He kicked off the covers of his bed, pulled some clothes frantically out of his closet and turned on the water in his shower. Within fifteen minutes he found himself completely ready to go. He moved quickly downstairs. His mother had left him a note explaining the long-cold toast she had left and how she hoped to see him later at Flourish and Blott's.

He quickly gobbled down his toast as he opened the bag of floo powder his mother kept in the always-empty cookie jar. Checking his watch as he ran up the stairs and back to his room, he grabbed the booklist he had left on top of the stack of textbooks on the corner of his desk. Eleven fifty five.

He skidded to a halt in front of the fireplace and threw the powder into the fire his mother had left going for him so that he didn't have to start it with his own magic. The flames turned green as he pocketed his book list. Carefully, he set the pouch on the mantle next to the fire before stepping into the hearth.

"The Leaky Cauldron!" He shouted.

He whirled quickly around and around and around, spinning quickly as fireplaces whirled around him until he felt himself slowing and braced himself for the imminent fall.

The fireplace tilted slightly, and he stumbled into the dining area of the Leaky Cauldron.

"It's about time you got here," Promise muttered from over the top of her Arithmancy Textbook. "Sam's been waiting for you. Me? Not so much."

Cedric looked at the table in front of him. Sam sat patiently, twiddling her thumbs, whereas Promise had kicked her feet onto the table, giving herself a comfortable position to read her Arithmancy textbook.

"Hello to you too," Cedric waved at the two of them.

"Sweet," Promise cooed, slamming her book shut and kicking her feet off the table.

Sam rolled her eyes and flicked Promise a silver sickle. "So maybe you do know him too well," she sighed.

"Am I missing something?" Cedric raised his eyes, pretty sure he knew exactly what had just happened.

"It's nothing," Sam looked away, embarrassed.

"I just bet her that you would say exactly those words when you stepped out of the fire. Just proves that I hang out with you a little bit too much."

Cedric narrowed his eyes. "Did you hear something, Sam?" He asked, eyes still riveted on Promise, who had stuck her tongue out at Cedric.

Sam smiled at him. "Just the sound of a sickle being thrown down the drain."

Cedric laughed. "You two ready?"

Promise sneered at him. "Yeah."

They walked out to the back of the Leaky Cauldron. Cedric bowed low and allowed Promise to tap the proper brick, turning the brick wall in front of them into a large archway.

"It's my year to do it," Promise grinned as she stepped through.

They wandered slowly down the street for several minutes, looking through every shop window they passed. Cedric made sure to walk behind Sam and Promise, longingly staring at the beautiful hair that gracefully dripped off Sam's shoulders. At the end of the street, they passed through the doors to Gringotts.

"I don't know why," Sam shivered slightly. "But those warning signs always make me really nervous."

"Why?" Promise held back a laugh. "Planning on robbing the place?"

"Only in my spare time," Sam quipped defensively. "It's a work in progress."

"I don't think this is the best place to discuss robbery," Cedric looked around at the numerous goblins walking around the main hall of the bank.

"Why not?" Sam looked at him, feigning confusion.

"Because they might be forced to think that you're serious."

"That's ridiculous," Promise said loudly. "No one would ever dream of robbing this place." Every goblin in the bank stopped and looked at Promise, turning the room from a dull murmuring to dead silence. "I'm kidding?" Promise asked them sarcastically. Without another word, each and every goblin went back to what they were doing before Promise had said she wanted to rob the place. She turned back to Cedric and Sam. "See? They don't take those threats seriously."

They walked up to the line, which, unsurprisingly to Cedric, was devoid of people. Cedric walked to the first available window, girls following closely behind him.

"Keys please," the goblin grunted.

Cedric, Promise, and Sam, each held up theirs. The goblin took them out of their hands quickly.

"Right," the goblin murmured, looking at each of the keys in turn. "Twelve ninety two, fourteen twenty seven, and eleven nineteen. I'm Metalnail. Right this way."

He walked around the counter and opened the door to the familiar long passageway that led to the lower vaults. Metalnail held up his hand, pulling up a four-seat cart, candle light ablaze in the front.

"I think," Promise made quick eye contact with Cedric. "That I'll join our guide in the front seat. You two take the back?"

Cedric turned slightly pale. Couldn't Promise ever slow down?

"Sounds delightful!" Sam exclaimed.

She stepped in as Cedric continued making eye contact with Promise.

"What are you doing?" He mouthed to her.

She merely smiled back. "I'll tell you later," she mouthed back.

Cedric rolled his eyes and stepped into the back seat. The door shut and the cart sped instantly down the track. Cedric smiled as the wind whipped the hair around his head. It felt like flying.

He looked forward at Promise, who leaned over and whispered something into Metalnail's ear. They both turned around and gave very sinister grins to Cedric and Sam just before Cedric found himself pushed even harder into the seat of the cart. It sped up faster and faster, twisting and turning down the numerous miles of track between the top of the bank and their vaults. Their goblin took each turn at such speed now that Cedric managed to fall onto Sam's shoulder with each right turn as Sam fell onto Cedric's at each left.

Why did Promise have to play such cruel games?

The cart screeched to a halt, nearly flipping Cedric out the top of the cart and over Promise's head.

"Vault number Twelve Ninety Two," Metalnail called out as they all stepped out of the car.

"This one's mine," Sam said brightly.

She followed the goblin to the vault door. Cedric and Promise stayed near the cart, not wanting to intrude on Sam's finances. As the goblin opened the door, Cedric whirled on Promise.

"Why'd you go and do that?" He demanded.

"Do what?" Promise asked innocently.

"You told that goblin to go faster!" Cedric exclaimed in his hushed voice.

"Oh, that?" Promise looked as though this were not the prank she expected Cedric to call her on. "I thought it was cute. You should have seen the look on your face."

"What were you just thinking of?" Cedric opened his eyes wider.

"Oh," She gazed at the ground and moved her shoulders slowly. "Nothing."

"Promise?" Cedric gulped. "Anything you want to share?"

"Not in front of," her tone changed again. "Sam!"

Sam looked taken aback as she walked up. "What'd I do? I was only gone for a few minutes."

"We were just waiting for you so we can get moving again," Promise looked at Cedric. "Weren't we Cedric?"

"Yeah," Cedric glared at Promise.

Metalnail looked at them apprehensively before jumping into the cart. Promise smirked at Cedric as Sam stepped into the back of the cart, winking before she stepped into the cart next to Metalnail. Cedric sat down next to Sam and shut the door, sending the cart rocketing towards their next vault. Metalnail looked back and flashed Sam and Cedric a very unpleasant, snaggle-tooth filled grin before making the cart speed up. Cedric forced himself to focus on the wind rustling through his hair and not so much on Sam and how she swayed with the cart and how she, every so often, fell onto Cedric's chest.

The cart screeched to a halt.

"Vault number Fourteen twenty-seven," Metalnail called out.

"This one's mine," Promise smiled at the two of them. "Now, behave you two."

"Goodness, I love that girl," Sam sighed as Promise disappeared into her vault. "I'm just… so lucky to be a part of your group now."

Cedric turned to her. "Group?"

"Yeah," Sam stared at him through glazed eyes. "I always got the feeling like I could never be in this group here. You know?"

"I really don't," Cedric looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Sam smiled in awe. "You're Cedric Diggory. Prefect. House Quidditch Captain. She's Promise Ledger. Prefect. Super intelligent. Practical joker. You two are just so… wow."

"You really thought we would just turn you away?" Cedric raised his eyebrows.

"Well," Sam faltered. "No. But I didn't think you'd welcome me with open arms."

"Sam," Cedric laid his hands on her shoulders. "I'll always be here for you. No matter what. Promise too. She's a practical joker. Probably the biggest one I know, but when she needs to, she knows exactly how to get serious."

"Ahem," Promise coughed from the front seat of the cart.

"Yeah," Metalnail looked at the two. "If you two are going to be longer I could just come by later. I mean, I have things to do."

Sam blushed as she quickly took her seat in the back of the cart. Cedric shut the cart door as it took off for Cedric's final vault. This second to last trip passed quickly as they traveled towards the surface. Before he realized it, Cedric jerked forward and nearly broke his nose on the seat in front of him.

"Vault number eleven nineteen! Last stop!"

Cedric stepped out of the car and followed Metalnail to the vault door leaving Sam alone with Promise. He looked back, unsure if he really wanted o trust them alone.

"Here you are, sir," Metalnail grunted politely.

Cedric looked in on the glinting precious metals in the vault twinkling back at him. His parents set aside every month's pocket money for him while he was at school, making the mass of gold, silver, and bronze in front of him larger each progressive year. Cedric forced out a smile, grateful for the money in front of him that was all his.

He took about twenty-five galleons, sickles, and knuts from the piles and placed them in his pocket. He turned around and walked out of the vault, nodding to Metalnail, who nodded back and shut the vault door. He turned around and looked at Promise and Sam, who appeared deep in conversation. As he approached them, Promise quickened her conversation as she nodded to Sam. They turned quickly, attempting to look innocent.

"Nothing," Promise muttered before Cedric could say anything.

"I'm just not going to ask," Cedric looked at both of them in turn.

Promise scowled, fished into her pocket, and flipped a silver sickle at Sam. She caught it deftly, stared at it fondly for a second, and then placed it in her small coin purse smiling.

"You ready to go?" Sam smiled brightly at Cedric from behind shiny white teeth.

"Cedric," Promise frowned and furrowed her brow. "You were supposed to say, 'Promise, what are you doing?'"

"You're welcome, Sam" Cedric kept his eye contact with Sam as he motioned for Promise to sit down in the car. Promise merely glared at him and sat with her arms crossed for the return journey to the surface.

They stepped out of the car, thanked Metalnail, and walked back out to Diagon Alley.

"Where do you want to go first?" Cedric asked.

"Let's just…" Sam sidled slightly closer to him. "Wander?"

"I'm good with that," Cedric grinned as he looked towards Sam.

Promise rolled her eyes at Cedric from behind Sam. "Let's just go."

They wandered down each side of the street, taking good long looks at each shop. It didn't take much to coax them into entering a shop. They stopped in Florean Fortiscue's Ice Cream Parlor first, agreeing, before they entered, to try a daring flavor. Sam picked out a double scoop of a blue colored frozen ice cream, took her first bite, closed her eyes, and melted.

"Cielo," Sam said dreamily. "I knew this would be a good flavor."

"What does it mean?" Cedric asked before he took a nice, long, wraparound lick of the interesting green flavor he chose, which actually turned out to be a lemon lime sherbert.

"It means sky," Sam explained, melting after her second bite. "Or heaven. Depends on the translation you want. I'm going to go with Heaven. This is," she moaned past the flavor. "Amazing."

"I don't know if it can top this cherry experience I chose," Promise smiled as she licked another bite of hers.

"Cedric," Sam said, inviting him, almost challenging Promise. "Tell me what you think."

Cedric licked a long strip up from the bottom of the cone to the top. He couldn't really describe the flavor, but Sam did have a good point. No words existed that could describe the magical flavor this ice cream conjured in his mouth. Heaven came close. It tasted just so… wow.

Promise rolled her eyes. "Try mine," she offered him, pushing the deep red ice cream into his face.

"Actually," Cedric looked apprehensively at Promise's ice cream. "I don't think I want to. I prefer to turn away from anything that looks like frozen blood."

Sam snorted into her ice cream. Promise glared at him.

"It's good," She looked at him through her deep, puppy dog eyes. "I Promise. No pun intended."

Cedric smiled at her. "Fine." He licked hers in the same manner he licked Sam's. This one did taste like the insane cherry experience Promise advertised so effectively, but it still had nothing on Cielo, which made the cherry taste even blander than he knew it should have tasted.

"Well?" Promise asked him. "What do you think?"

"Cielo was better," Cedric thought out loud.

Promise, humbled, retreated back into her ice cream as they continued their walk down the street. They couldn't enter any shops while they ate, so they took careful notes of where to stop. As they finished their ice cream when they reached the end of the street, they entered the shops they approached.

They walked into the Quidditch store, the first one they came to. They parted ways once inside, agreeing to show the others if they found anything special or exciting. Cedric looked around the aisles. One aisle specialized in selling little brooms for children. Another contained boxes of sets of Quidditch balls. The next one over, invariably, sold the balls in individual boxes. Cedric picked up a box containing a golden snitch, opened it, and pulled out the snitch, holding the tiny, feather light ball in the palm of his hand for a minute before putting back into the box. The heavy bludger boxes, he found, were incredibly heavy for being no larger than the size of a large stone.

The one that intrigued him most, however, was the box containing the Quaffle balls. The bright red balls in their boxes were covered with pictures of flying wizards and witches, all playing a nice game of family Quidditch in the back yard. One box even said "The official practice Quaffle of the Irish National Team: Play like the World Cup champions!" Another one boasted a new, improved magic on it, so that instead of the ball falling straight down as in through water, it would slow down in the air in any direction as though thrown along the ground.

Promise bounded up to him, holding something behind her back. "Guess what I found!" She exclaimed, barely able to contain her joy.

"Ummm," Cedric shifted his eyes. "I give up. What did you find?"

She pulled a book out from behind her back. "It's the end all be all for Quidditch strategy! Every play and tactic ever used in Quidditch. It even has that Wronski Feint Viktor Krum pulled off. See?" She opened the book to the Table of Contents. "It breaks the moves off by position. Then it breaks them into difficulty level and shows exactly how to execute the move. And then it shows you how to counter that move if you need to."

"Wow," Cedric looked at the book with hungry eyes.

"I know!" Promise smiled, shaking with giddiness. "So, are you going to get it?"

"Huh? Nah. I don't need it. It'd be neat to have, but I don't think I need it now."

Promise face dropped slightly, brightened back to life again, and then drooped. "Oh, that's too bad. It's cool though, no?"

"Oh yeah," Cedric smiled. "I love it. It's way cool."

Sam walked up to them. "I was just looking at the brooms. Firebolts are all the rage, and the price isn't going down! In fact, it's gone up! Good thing I still have the Nimbus 2000 my parents bought me in my third year. It's a good broom."

"I'm thinking Cleansweep 7, myself," Promise chimed in. "It's coming out next summer. I think I should have enough saved up to treat myself to one for my final year at Hogwarts."

"Cleansweep 7?" Cedric smiled dreamily. "That'll be a nice broom. I know it. Can't wait to try it out."

"You can have a go on mine, next summer," Promise teased.

They left the Quidditch shop and headed down the alley a little further before they reached Flourish and Blott's.

"What do you need?" Cedric asked them as they walked inside.

"So much," Promise mentioned, looking down her list.

The shopkeeper, whom Cedric recognized as Mr. Blott, walked up.

"You three from Hogwarts?" he asked them. "Oh, Hi Cedric."

"Hello Mr. Blott," Cedric shook his hand happily.

"Anything I can help you with?" Mr. Blott offered.

"Not that I know of. That is to say, I don't need help," Cedric looked at Sam and Promise. "What about you two?"

"I think we're good," Promise looked at Sam who nodded in concurrence.

"Good, good," Mr. Blott turned to Cedric. "You know, Ced, you can just give your book list to your mother and I can get you the books personally."

"That's really ok," Cedric grinned. "Besides, if I did it that way then I wouldn't be here with these two right now."

"Good point," Mr. Blott chuckled and walked towards the main checkout counter. "I'll send your mother out so she can say hello."

"So what do you two need?" Cedric asked them.

"Well," Promise checked her list. "There's the Standard Book of Spells: Grade Six (Grade five for Sam) as they always have. I have Advanced Arithmancy, Advanced Potion Making, Advanced Herbology, Advanced Transfiguration, and The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. Did anyone else notice the pattern that our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher broke?"

"Figures," Cedric shrugged. "What about you Sam?"

"Just the Standard Book of Spells," Sam shrugged.

"I have the same list as Promise," Cedric said. "It's a byproduct of having every single class with her. How wonderful."

They smiled at each other and laughed.

Cedric, Sam, and Promise all picked their books off the shelves and (in several trips) and placed them on the checkout counter where Cedric's mom stood.

"Good morning you three," Cedric's mother smiled at the three of them.

"Morning mom," Cedric smiled back. "Mom, this is my friend Samantha Bennett from Hogwarts, she's a fifth year Hufflepuff and a Prefect this upcoming year. Sam, my mom."

"Nice to meet you," Sam shook Cedric's mother's hand very professionally.

"Likewise," Cedric's mother shook Sam's hand back. "So what can I do for you three?"

"We're just going to browse for now, mom," Cedric said. "But it'd be a pain for us to hold onto all of these books. Could you just set them behind the counter while we browse for a few minutes?"

"Of course," Cedric's mother began to put them beneath the counter. "Just come find me when you're done."

"Okay mom," Cedric grinned.

"I like your parents," Sam commented as she walked off with Cedric. After several seconds, Cedric turned around to see Promise talking with his mother. He made a motion to talk to her, but Promise merely motioned him off.

"What are they talking about do you think?" Sam asked him.

"I'm not quite sure," Cedric shrugged. "But let's go. I'll probably find out soon enough."

They began to walk through the numerous stacks of books throughout the store. Every so often, one of them would find a book and pick it off the shelf and read the back page summary, or an excerpt of smaller books, each time in a different funny accent to accentuate the ridiculousness of how some writers wrote.

After several minutes, Promise walked up to Cedric, looking very frazzled, but very content, as though a great weight had been lifted from her chest.

"That was fun," Promise muttered sarcastically.

"What did you talk to my mom about?" Cedric asked, intrigued.

"Just something I wanted settled. Not a big deal."

Cedric eyed her, as though probing into the inner depths of her thoughts. "If you say so," he responded. "It's fine with me."

They continued probing the many columns of books. After several minutes, they found themselves in front of the dark omen section. Unable to resist, all three of them pulled out a book and began to read excerpts from each one between their roars of quieted laughter.

About an hour later, they left Flourish and Blott's, books in the heavy duty bags Mrs. Diggory placed them in.

"I still can't get over the fact that your mother works at Flourish and Blott's," Sam sighed. "That'd be such a neat job."

"You meet a lot of funny people in book stores apparently," Cedric laughed. He checked his watch. They were actually almost out of time. "How did that happen?" He asked, making a reference to the time as he showed Promise his watch.

"I guess that's just how it goes," Promise shrugged. "But we'll always have Hogsmeade weekends."

They all sighed.

"I love Hogsmeade," Sam sighed again.

"Who doesn't?" Cedric inquired dreamily.

"I don- wait. Yes I do," Promise giggled.

"We have enough time for one more drink at the Leaky Cauldron," Cedric noted as they turned and headed back to the bar.

They all sat at the tables and ordered three butterbeers. They conversed about the finer points of the teachers at Hogwarts and poked fun at all of the quirky things the teachers did, especially when it came to Professor Binns. Cedric patted Sam on the shoulder when they remembered Sam still had to take the class for her fifth year before she could test out of the N.E.W.T. level.

Before they knew it, they all needed to be home. Sam hugged Promise and Cedric before she took some floo powder from the pouch in her coin purse and tossed it into the fire. She shouted her address and disappeared in a flash of green.

"I'll see you soon," Promise said, smiling, hugging him tightly.

"Yeah, one week," Cedric smiled.

"Yeah," Promise looked at him as though she knew she wouldn't, nodding unsurely. "Something like that."

She pulled out the bag of floo powder she had and tossed some of the contents into the fire.

"Oh!" Cedric called out before she stepped into the fire. "I need some myself!"

Promise walked over and sprinkled some in his hand. "I'll see you in a week… or something." With another flash of green she disappeared.

Cedric sighed and walked to the fireplace, tossed in the fire, and stepped into the flames. "The Diggory house," he shouted.

With a whirl of colors, the Leaky Cauldron disappeared just as it had appeared all those hours ago.