AN/ Here we are, finally. Apologies for the wait, I'm still having huge trouble with my internet provider. Hopefully it will give me enough time to post this without kicking me off this time. Anyway, glad to see people are enjoying this, and I really appreciate all the reviews, thank you. Oh, anyone reading Full Metal Magic, don't worry, next chapter will be up soon, I just have to iron out a few more details. Ok, enough of my chatter, on with chapter 5.

Disclaimer: Harry is not mine, and there are points of this story used by many other fanfic writers, I am just putting my spin on things.

Chapter 5:

Return to Diagon Alley

Both Harry and the spirit glanced up in surprise as there came a knock at the bedroom door and the spirit faded out as Harry went to open it. His Aunt stood on the other side, her determined gaze wavering slightly as she caught sight of the new decorations. She flinched as she noticed the moving posters then flinched again as she met Harry's gaze, her face going blank as she gathered herself. "Dinners ready." She ground out harshly and Harry raised an eyebrow, wondering what she had originally been meaning to say, considering they normally just shouted at him when meals were ready.

Nodding sharply, she turned and headed back down the stairs, carefully not looking through his door again and Harry snickered, closing the door behind him as he followed her;

"Why do I think that I am not going to have to worry about her cleaning in there any time soon?" he asked rhetorically and the spirit snorted in agreement.

As he entered the kitchen he noted the glare he received from his Uncle and the uncertain look from his cousin and mentally shook his head. They obviously didn't know how to react to him after his outburst earlier, not that he could really blame them, considering how many years he had taken their abuse without more than a token complaint.

He took his seat at the table and nodded absently in thanks as his Aunt handed him his plate, completely ignoring the rather strained conversation going on around him he turned has attention to other matters;

"So what are your plans next?" he asked, putting his body on autopilot.

"First things first we are going to have to gain access to the family vault. We need the deed to the house as well as some of the other paperwork that Dad had stored there."

Harry frowned in thought, earning a sharp question from his Uncle, which he ignored, "So how are we going to do that? If the vault is only accessible once I reach seventeen, there is no chance they will allow me to get my hands on that paperwork."

The spirit snorted, "There are a few loopholes around that. When I worked with the Goblins I picked up on a few things of how matters are handled within the bank. True, by wizarding law you have to be seventeen before you are declared legally independent enough to handle your own assets, but in the case of the family vault, things are a little different. Normally a parent would be the one to decide when a child is ready to be trusted with access to the full vault, hence the smaller ones set up for student access. Mum and Dad had ours set up just after we were born, but the thing is, they never stipulated how old we would have to be before we gained access to the rest. Normally it would be up to our guardian to decide, considering the money is supposed to be kept in trust but seeing as the Goblins do not have a high opinion of Muggles it will make things easier."

"I hope you are planning on taking control this time. There is no way I would be able to keep up with all of the information I can see running through your mind."

The spirit chuckled, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it once it becomes necessary. Now finish eating, then we can get moving."

Harry turned his attention back to his meal and once he had finished, he left the table without asking, put his plate in the sink then headed up to his room, snickering to himself at the stunned silence in his wake.

"You know, you are going to get us in trouble doing things like that." The spirit commented mildly, Harry just snorted;

"I don't see you complaining."

"No, I suppose not. We might want to wait a bit before heading out though. We don't really need to stir things too much by heading out of the house after dark without permission. Gringotts is open all hours and the other places we need to visit normally don't open until sunset anyway so we can wait until the muggles are asleep."

Taking up one of the books he had brought that morning, Harry lounged back on his bed and started reading through it, figuring that seeing as they had the time he may as well get some study in. Interestingly enough, the spirit merged his mind with his as well as he read, both of them studying the material and he could read the reason in their combined thoughts. It had been a long time since the spirit had studied the theory behind most of the spells he knew and it would be beneficial to both of them to have a fresh knowledge of everything they were likely to need.

They also worked out another useful point; with both minds working together they managed to review the background theory but in the back of their mind was the spirit's experience, resulting in a deeper understanding of the subject matter. A situation that was rather a delight to the younger Harry.

"This is certainly a better way to study." He mused, putting the book to one side after they had been studying for around an hour and the silence out in the hall proved that the muggles had gone to bed, "It is like I have a tutor in the back of my head.

The spirit chuckled in amusement and sent his projection to sit on the bed beside him. Leaning back against the wall, he looked down at the cover of the book then blinked as a thought came to him, "You know, I think I just managed to come up with an idea to get around the underage magic restriction." He mused.

Harry turned to him in excitement, "How? If we could manage that, it would mean we could get in some proper practice. After all, you did mention that there might be some interesting side effects to our merger. I would think it would be rather important to have at least an idea of what has changed."

"I know, that was why I was trying to think of a way around it." the spirit mused thoughtfully, staring down at the book as if the transfiguration text held all the answers, "Somehow I think that if we managed to blow up the classroom in the process of a minor spell, the headmaster might become a little suspicious. My magical levels at age eleven were nothing real spectacular to begin with. That all came later."

Harry skidded off the edge of the bed and slipped over to the door to peak out into the hall. The house beyond was dark, confirming that they were the only ones awake, the snores of his Uncle and Cousin the only sounds in the hall. Turning back, he sat at his desk and turned his attention to the transparent figure sitting on his bed, "So what is your idea then?" he asked.

Looking up at him, a mischievous grin spread across the spirit's face, "Tell me Harry, have you ever had a tutor before?" Harry blinked at the question, not sure where it had come from; but before he could answer the spirit continued, "The only exception to the underage magic laws is if the student is under the supervision of a magic tutor. Many of the pureblood families, the rich ones anyway, hire tutors for their children for before they head off to school and to keep their education up over the holidays when they are at home. If the student is under the hand of a registered tutor, then the law no longer applies."

He raised an eyebrow and Harry gave an incredulous laugh, "You mean that you are going to register as my tutor? How in the world are you going to pull that off?"

The grin on the other's face grew to the point were it could almost be called evil, "Simple." He answered, "The registration forms and testing for a tutor does not have to be filled out at the ministry, you have them sent to you. The papers are charmed to read your magical signature then you take the tests, designed to ascertain your level of knowledge. Once you register, your magical signature is recorded as well as that of your student, that way the tracking charms that are used to keep an eye on students are bypassed; as long as your magical signal corresponds with mine, meaning we are in close proximity."

Harry blinked at him for a moment, then frowned slightly, "Hang on, that wouldn't work. I mean,isn't your magical signal the same as mine? After all you are me, and besides, you reside within my body so we will be using the same source."

The spirit laughed outright and sat forward, leaning his elbows on his knees, "That is a very good observation." He chuckled, "But there is a way around that as well." He grinned again, a twinkle coming to his eye that looked positively devilish, "I know how to alter my magical signature. I learnt years ago how to do it in order to avoid magical detection during the war. I wouldn't even have to change it that much but I should be able to shift things enough that we will read as having two separate signatures with just enough difference between us that any similarities will be passed off as your tutor's influence on you. And seeing as though there is no way to separate us," He raised an eyebrow suggestively and Harry laughed, seeing what he was getting at;

"In other words, I'll always be tracked as being with my tutor."

The spirit nodded, a look of great satisfaction of his face, "Which means, as far as the monitoring charms are concerned, we will be invisible. Not only that, but once we are on the train to school I can shift things back again so Dumbledore doesn't pick up of the double signature. That way we can use magic outside of school and no one will even notice."

Looking over at the clock on their nightstand, the spirit sighed and slipped off the bed;

"I suppose we had better get going if we are to get back before midnight." He mused. His form shimmered slightly and faded and once again his voice came from the back of Harry's mind, "Dress in one of the school robes but reverse it to hide the crest." He advised.

Harry did as instructed, pulling the black robe over his head and pulling up the hood before tying on his shoes. Once he slipped his wand into his sleeve, he released Hedwig out the window then crept to the door of his room. The sounds of three different sets of snores reassured him that the muggles were asleep so he crept down the stairs, being careful not to let any of them creak.

Once he slipped out the front door and closed it softly behind him, he took a deep breath of the clear night air and grinned;

"So, where to now?"

The spirit chuckled, "Simple my friend. We are going to catch the Knight Bus. But I think we should head a few streets over first. There are a few people around here who can actually see the thing, Mrs Figg being one of them and I would rather no one picked up on us travelling at this time of night, using a mode of transportation we shouldn't know exists."

Harry readily agreed and set off at a fast walk, feeling the excitement build in his stomach. Thanks to the spirits memories, he knew what he was getting himself into, but for some reason it didn't concern him as much as he thought it should. The constant presence in the back of his mind let him set his fears to one side. He knew that some of the things they would be getting into would be dangerous but he also knew that he wouldn't be going through any of it alone.

Once he reached a fair distance from his house, the spirit instructed him to hold out his wand and then stand back as a loud crack echoed up and down the street and the violently purple three-decker bus swerved up onto the sidewalk where he had been standing.

As the door opened, Harry pulled the hood of his robes further down to shadow his face and nodded politely as the conductor introduced himself and gestured for him to climb aboard.

"Stan must be still in school." The spirit mused as Harry chose one of the bedsteads and sat down on the edge of it. Looking over at the young conductor he snorted, "Not that it really matters. This kid is exactly the same." Harry could see in the others mind a picture of another young man in the same conductors uniform and he had to smile in agreement, the two of them were definitely cut from the same cloth.

"Where to, sir?" the conductor asked in his slightly nasal voice. Harry kept his head lowered slightly to keep his face covered and he answered in a slightly rough whisper at the spirit's suggestion, "Diagon Alley."

The conductor nodded and gave up trying to see his face, instead turning back to the paper he had been reading before Harry had flagged the bus down.

"First place we need to head to is Gringotts." The spirit mused thoughtfully, "We are going to need to get that paperwork, the sooner the better. Then we'll need to head over to Knockturn Alley. Some of the potion ingredients we're going to need to put into stock are ones that aren't sold at the regular apothecary."

"I thought you hated potions," Harry observed, absently gripping the bedpost as the Knight Bus made one of it's trademark lurching turns, "Why all this insistence on setting in an ingredients store?"

The spirit chuckled ruefully and sighed, "Truth of the matter is," he answered, "The reason I dislike potions so much was because of that overgrown bat. Having him standing over your shoulder is a guaranteed recipe for failure. After he killed the headmaster," he choked a little over the words and Harry felt the surge of his anger and grief, still so fresh even after all the years since the incident, "Hermione suggested we should raid the dungeons before we set out on our own." His voice was slightly rough as he pulled himself together, "She always was the one to think ahead. Anyway, in Snape's office we came across not only a large store of some very useful potions but a bunch of books the man had written." The spirit snorted and Harry bit back a chuckle at the rueful feeling he was getting from his other soul, "No matter what else the Git was, he was certainly a Master when it came to Potions. The books he wrote were brilliant and some of those recipes saved my life more then once. Not only that, but without Professor Sinister breathing down my neck, I turned out pretty good at Potion making after all."

The bus lurched again and screeched to a stop, the conductor called out, not even looking up form his paper, "Diagon Alley, London."

Scrambling to his feet, Harry hurriedly paid the young man then slipped off the bus, the doors almost closing on the hem of his robs before it disappeared again with a loud bang.

Looking up at the faded sign of The Leaky Cauldron, Harry took a deep breath and tugged at his hood, making sure his face stayed shadowed;

"Well, here we go then." He muttered. He felt a faint nudge at his mind and he relinquished control to the spirit was a sigh of relief. In this situation it was better to use the other's experience.

Pushing open the door, Harry entered the dim pub and looked around. This late a night, the pub was all but deserted. Tom still stood in his customary place behind the bar, but no one gave him more then a brief glance before going back to their own business. After all, wrapped in black robes as he was, coupled with his slight size, he could be mistaken for a goblin and you had to be stupid to mess with a goblin.

Passing silently through the pub, he slipped out into the back courtyard and tapped out the sequence on the bricks that would allow him access to Diagon Alley.

The street beyond was quiet and most of the shops had awnings drawn down over their fronts for the night. Slipping quietly along the street, Harry kept a sharp watch around him as he kept his robes pulled close to his body, his hand clutching his wand in his sleeve. Diagon Alley may be a fairly safe place during the day, owing to the number of wizards and witches frequenting the place, but Harry was well aware that no where was truly safe. He knew that at this point in time, with Voldemort still a fragile wraith, the threat was nearly non existent but with Knockturn Alley so close there was always the chance of running into some of the less then savoury characters that haunted the area. He was also well aware what sort of prize his life would represent to Voldemorts followers if they were to get their hands on him.

The few other figures he encountered were as shrouded as he was and all of them studiously ignored all others they passed, walking swiftly, their heads bowed keeping their faces in shadow.

Reaching the huge white building at the end of the long, twisted street, Harry bowed politely to the guards then slipped through the doors, blinking in the bright light of the interior.

"So where do we go now?" the younger soul asked from the back of his mind and Harry nodded in the direction of a gilded door off to one side of the main counter;

"Through there. The vault manager we need to talk to is called Grapel, he's one of the higher ranking goblins here. I am going to have to work this carefully to get his co-operation, otherwise we are going to have trouble."

Heading over to the door he had indicated, Harry squared his shoulders then pushed through, firming his stride, as if he had every right to be there.

The goblin sitting at the desk in the small room raised his ugly face as he entered and scowled at him but before he could speak, Harry swept off his hood then bent at the waist into a low bow, almost touching his nose to his knees. "Honourable Grapel. Forgive this interruption, but I have come to request a moment of your valuable time to discuss matters concerning my family's wealth placed under your capable care." There was moment of shocked silence and Harry almost grinned to himself, he had not only given the Goblin an official greeting but had given him the proper title for his position and had also shown he knew how Goblin courtesy worked. He glanced up and caught the faintly curious look that had replaced the scowl on the Goblin's face.

"If you could inform me of your name, esteemed client, then perhaps we could discuss what has brought you here."

At that sentence, Harry felt some of his tension drain out. He had earned at least a small amount of respect from the Goblin, meaning that perhaps this wasn't going to be as difficult as he had feared. Straightening up from his bow, Harry nodded politely, "My name is Harry James Potter, Honourable keeper of my vault. It has come to my attention recently some interesting facts about my inheritance were kept from me and I wanted to go over a few things with you to remedy this over sight."

Thee Goblin's face became even more intrigued and he waved Harry into the seat facing his desk. "What, pray tell, can I help you with in this endeavour Mr Potter?" he asked gravely.

Harry sat forward on his chair, giving the Goblin the gift of his full attention, something the creatures were very serious about, especially if it was a business meeting.

"It has recently been revealed to me that in addition to the private vault I have been given access to in order to cover my school expenses, the Potter family vault is being held in trust until I reach age of majority."

Grapel tapped the large ledger on the corner of his desk and the book shuffled open on its own the reveal a page of details, the name Potter emblazoned across the top. "That is correct, Mr Potter. It is written here that on the advice of the minister of magic and the headmaster of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry that the vault and all its contents remain in secret trust until you reach the age of seventeen."

Harry felt a surge of irritation even though he knew that it had been done. As much as he loved the old headmaster, his manipulations had become a great source of tension between them, even after the old man's death. Pushing the annoyance aside, Harry nodded once, gravely, "I had found out as much. What I wanted to discuss with you was turning control of the vault over to me. As I understand it, as the soul living heir of the Potter estate, that vault is mine and unless my parents stipulated in their will that it was to be held until I reach a certain age, of which I doubt, then the minister and the headmaster do not have the right to deny me access to the assets of my family."

Grapel looked faintly impressed that he knew as much as he did on how the bank worked, "That is also correct, Mr Potter, and as you surmised, your parents did not leave instructions of placing their assets in trust. Usually, in situations like this, the legal guardian of the child holds control over the vault until such time as the child is considered mature enough to take over."

Harry gave a half smile, "But my legal guardian is in prison. And the people whose care I am under are muggles whom have nothing to do with the Potter family except through the blood tie to my mother. I have studied a few points of wizard law recently in an effort to understand a few things and as far as I can see, as there is no other instructions to the contrary from my parents, whom after all had full control over all distribution of their estates, then I am entitled to full control of my own assets."

Harry could see the respect in the Goblins eyes as he spoke and he almost sighed in relief. He had spoken to the creature in his own timeline after he had turned seventeen and found out about the rest of his inheritance. The Goblin had been more then annoyed with the manipulations of interfering wizards and Harry had been placing his ope on the fact that the Goblin would be glad to assist him, if only to straighten out a situation that his mind told him was wrong. The Goblins were fiercely protective of the wealth placed into their care and the fact that two of the most influential wizards had sealed one of the vaults from its rightful owner had rankled him for a long time.

Grapel nodded gravely, "Very well, Mr Potter. I can see that you are more then knowledgeable enough to handle your own affairs. If you would wait for a moment, I will have the necessary arrangements taken care of to turn full control of the Potter estates over into your hands."

Harry rose and bowed low to the Goblin, Grapel echoing the gesture before rushing from the room;

"That certainly seemed to go well." His younger self commented from the back of his mind, "I didn't know that the creatures were so formal. Do you think that he will inform the Headmaster about all this? I mean, he did say Dumbledore was one of the ones to place the restriction on the vault to begin with."

"There is no reason to be concerned about that." He reassured him, "After the vault is turned over to our control, all matters pertaining to it is strictly confidential. The Headmaster and the Minister will only know if we tell them."

A moment later Grapel re-entered the office a serious look on his face. Placing what looked like a gold tablet on his desk his pulled himself up and announced gravely, "Mr Harry James Potter, soul heir of the Potter estates and assets, please place your right hand on the tablet to transfer control of said assets over to you as rightful holder."

Harry did as instructed and blinked at the blinding flash of light the tablet gave off as he placed his palm on the faintly warm surface. As the spots cleared from his eyes he found himself holding a large gold key, "Congratulations Mr Potter." Grapel told him softly, a faint glow of satisfaction in his eyes, "You now have soul control over all Potter estates."

This time the Goblin bowed to him and Harry bowed only his head in response, the change in their demeanour indicating that Grapel was now officially working for Harry and Mr Potter was now one of the Goblins honoured clients.

Leading him from the office, Grapel waved over another Goblin and nodded gravely to Harry before disappearing back into his office and Harry turned to his guide. The small creature didn't speak to him, just bowed low in respect and indicted for him to follow;

"Is this how they treat all customers? The Goblins we spoke to when Hagrid brought us here weren't nearly so polite."

Harry chuckled silently, "No, this is how honoured clients are treated. There are not many wizards that are considered as such. After all they treat the Goblins as rather touchy servants. By treating Grapel with respect, we have earned his in return. If we need anything that is within his power to provide, he will not hesitate to aid us from here on out."

The small goblin led them, not to the carts that led to the regular vaults, but to a huge elevator off to one side. Running his hand down the door, the Goblin motioned politely for Harry to proceed him as the door slid smoothly open. There were a number of buttons in the lift, each one labelled in the goblin language and as soon as the doors slid shut the guide pressed one of the buttons and Harry felt his stomach drop into his feet as they plummeted down into the deeper depths of Gringotts. He was well aware of the fact that the family vaults of the pureblood wizard families were stored deep beneath the main bank in the section guarded by dragons along with other even nastier surprises for anyone who managed to get that for that had no reason to be there.

His younger spirit exclaimed in shock as that thought flitted through his mind, "There are actually dragons here? Real ones?"

Harry was hard pressed not to laugh aloud, "Yes there are dragons here. And before you ask, yes you will get to see one eventually, but not today. The ones they have here on guard duty are not the most tolerant of their kind and battling with a dragon is not my idea of a good way to spend our time at the moment."

His younger self sighed in agreement but regret was plain and Harry had to suppress another chuckle as the life came to an abrupt halt. Again, the goblin didn't speak just motioned for him to follow and let the way down a well lit corridor that held the huge doors of the vaults that contained the wealth of some of the oldest and most powerful pureblood wizarding families.

Eventually they stopped in front of a door about half way down. Instead of the numbers that labelled the upper vaults, these were emblazoned with the name of the family that owned them and Harry gazed up at the gold lettering of his surname etched deeply into the door. Stepping forward, he slipped his key into the lock then placed his hand on the identification plate beside it. Whispering his name, he watched as the plate shimmered then the door swung silently inwards. The Goblin did not follow him in. After all, it was their job to protect the treasure in their care but not from the rightful owner.

Harry stepped into the huge vault and glanced around, shocked all over again at the sheer amount of gold in there. There were also a few numerous personal objects like a box of old toys someone had rescued from the ruin of Godrics Hollow, a few trophies from his parents time at school but what he was looking for was contained in a small, polished chest right up against the back wall. As he walked through the piles of coins he could feel the shock coming from his younger self;

"I have never seen so much money in my entire life." He whispered, then sorrow came from him and Harry bit his lip, well acquainted with the emotion, "I wish they were here."

Harry didn't answer, knowing his other self would feel his complete agreement to his faint wish. He made his way over to where the chest rested against the wall and silently picked it up. All of his parents papers were contained within and he knew for a fact that there was nothing in here that had been tampered with. The wards on the chest had been put into place before his parents had died and their death had triggered them. Once the wards were tripped, no one but Harry would be able to touch the chest. The repelling charms on it made it impossible to handle and the locking charms could not be opened by anyone but him.

Taking the chest with him, he left the vault, nodding for the goblin to close it behind him and without a word they headed back up into the main foyer. Grapel met them at the door as soon as the lift opened and he bowed low once again, "If there is anything else you need Mr Potter let me know. Gringotts is at your disposal."

Harry nodded gravely, "Thank you Grapel, you have been of great assistance. Once I have had a chance to go over my parents papers, I assure you I will be seeking your expertise once again." They exchanged bows once again and went about their respective business, Grapel to his office, Harry back out into Diagon Alley, pulling his hood down low over his face once again.

The journey to Knockturn Alley was a tense one, Harry having to fight with his highly nervous reactions, constantly reminding himself that he wasn't in the middle of a war. The likelihood of someone jumping out of the shadows to kill him was remote, even here in the middle of the night. As it was he remained on high alert, his wand clutched in his hand and hidden within the folds of his sleeve.

The store he was looking for was in an out of the way corner, dark and dry with the horrid mix of smells that only an apothecary can produce. Slipping silently into the dim little shop, Harry nodded gravely to the wrinkled little wizard behind the counter who stared at him suspiciously with watery eyes.

"What the hell do you want?" the man all but barked at him and Harry ignored the man's tone, the little wizard had always been a sour old thing.

"I am after some supplies. Ones the regular apothecary will not provide." He answered, deepening his voice and adding a harsh rasp. It was surprisingly easy really, his rather high, eleven year old voice was dynamic enough for him to alter it without even having to resort to magic.

In the end, he came out of the shop in possession of a fully stocked potions chest. The brilliant storage chest was no bigger then a child's jewellery box but the inside was spelled with hundreds of compartments that snugly held the bottles and jars full of ingredients as well as a whole section devoted to completed potions.

The more perishable items, such as dragons hearts and other organs were contained in specially spelled jars that prevented decay and he even had a store of phoenix feathers, unicorn blood and hair and even a jar of thestral claws, all of which the apothecary swore had been taken with the consent of the creatures. After all, if they were stolen they would be useless.

After they left the Apothecary, Harry headed further in to a bookstore he had found many years ago. Flourish and Blotts had a marvellous collection of books, even a few bordering on illegal, but some of the reading material Harry was after went well beyond illegal.

Rummaging through the shelves, completely ignoring the sour witch that kept a suspicious eye on him the entire time, he managed to come up with a collection of books that had been banned from public sale, many of which had been ordered burned and with good reason. He had a few books on the dark arts, not from a defensive point of view either, but they would give him a good insight into some of the spells and curses he had faced over the years. He also found a few potion books that might be of use as well as about a half a dozen books relating to past dark lords and the history of black magic in general.

After paying for them, he slipped the books into the text book section of his potion chest. It was as good a place as any to keep them as the chest was spell locked so only he could open it, that was he prevented anyone from accidentally harming themselves with some of the more dangerous substances contained within that collection;

"So, what else do we have to get?" the younger spirit asked and Harry felt himself relax slightly. The other hadn't spoken throughout his search, leaving him to concentrate on what they might need but he was grateful that he was there. As his younger spirit had thought earlier, neither one of them would go through any of this alone.

"I think we are pretty much done for tonight." He said in answer to the other's question, "But I was considering getting a pet snake as well. If there was one thing I learnt from old Snake Head it was the value of a spy. A snake would be perfect."

The younger Harry actually laughed in delight, "Why not," he chuckled, "Although that minor fact is going to convince people we are a Slytherin I hope you realise."

Harry smirked as he made his way back out of Knockturn Alley, keeping half his mind on keeping a look out, "Not if no one sees it. Besides, being a Slytherin mightn't be so bad. I mean it will give us more of a chance to torment Snape and that Git Malfoy."

"I thought you were going to try to save the two of them this time round."

Harry snorted, loudly, "That doesn't mean I have to like them."

Coming out into Diagon Alley, he slipped into the Owl Emporium, one of the few shops that remained open, no matter what the hour and made his way to the back of the shop where the snake tanks were. He was admiring the bright creatures when the shop keeper came up behind him, "Can I help you with anything sir?" she asked cheerfully.

Harry glanced up and smiled at her knowing that all she could see of his face was from the bottom of his nose down, "Yes, I was wondering if I could purchase one of these beauties." He gestured to the tank behind him.

The saleswoman smiled at him and walked up to lift the top of the tank, "Was there any particular one you were looking at?" she asked.

Harry peered through the glass and smiled as one particular one caught his eyes, "That one I think." he pointed, "The pretty green one with the gold diamond on her head."

The saleswoman reached in to lift the creature out and held her out to Harry. The bright green snake was around the length of his arm and she regarded him with an intelligent and interested gaze.

Reaching out Harry took her from the saleslady's hands and smiled as the creature immediately wrapped herself around his arm, her head resting on the back of his wrist. "How much?" he asked.

"So, what do you think?" he asked his younger self as he left the emporium. The snake had shifted her position so she was under the sleeve of his robe but was still wrapped around his arm. It seemed to be her favourite position.

"She is lovely, what is her name?"

"How about we find out?" lifting his sleeve slightly, he held his arm up to look his new pet in the eye, being careful not to drop the potions chest, So, pretty one, he hissed at her, What are we to call you? The snake blinked at him in surprise, her tongue flickering nervously as she raised her body up to get a better look at her new master.

You speak? She hissed at him, she nodded in satisfaction, This is good. You may call this one Tabitha.

Harry smiled and stroked the top of her head, much to the snake's obvious delight, Tabitha it is then.

Tucking his new possessions under his robe and making sure his new pat was well hidden, Harry made his way back through the Leaky Cauldron then out into London to summon the Knight Bus to take him back to Privet Drive.

……………………

AN/ Thank you all for your patience, I'll get to work on the next one to post as soon as I can.

See Ya.