Chapter Three: Diagon Alley
"Aria!"Ginny screamed, flinging the door open so hard that it smashed into the wall, leaving a small indent. Aria opened her eyes sleepily and watched the small girl wave around some papers while jumping excitedly on her own bed.
"What's up Ginny?" Aria asked closing her eyes again, still snuggled comfortable under her blankets. Judging by the sun it was only around six in the morning, and Aria was not used to waking up so early. She was, however, used to Ginny's early morning energy after the last three and a half weeks.
"You've got post!" Ginny said, making the wide leap from her bed against the wall, to Aria's bed against the other wall, and just barely making it. She landed on the far side of Aria's legs and promptly fell on top of the other girl, startling her into a sitting position. Aria took one look at Ginny's surprised face from where she had landed against the wall, and burst into laughter.
In the last nearly four weeks, Aria had spent most of her time with Ginny and they had become quite close, Aria treating her like a sister and friend, rather than a little girl like everyone else in the house saw her. Yes, Ginny was easily excited and sometimes acted childishly, but she reminded Aria of her own sister, and how close they used to be when they were younger. Being around Ginny made Aria feel younger, and lighter, and happier than she had in many years. Around Ginny, she didn't feel the constant pressure to be self conscious, or watch what she said, or act her own age, she felt free, and that wasn't something she was going to give up. So she spent nearly all of her time with Ginny, which sometimes, unfortunately, included morning times.
"Here," Ginny said, straightening and crossing her legs to sit across from Aria on the bed. She held out a large cream colored envelope, addressed in sparkling green ink. Aria reached out slowly to grab it, her hand shaking slightly. Her own Hogwarts letter? It was something she had dreamed about since she had fist heard the stories of Harry Potter, and now it was actually happening. She stared at her name written in elegant script on the front, then flipped it over to take in the Hogwarts crest, stamped into the sealing wax holding it shut.
"Aren't you going to open it?" Ginny asked, her eyes wide with excitement. "It's from Hogwarts you know, It's going to have all the book lists and welcome letters!"
Aria popped a finger under the wax seal, breaking it in half to get to the letters inside, which she unfolded and read through quickly. One was indeed a welcome letter, and the two pages behind it were lists of things she would need to buy for school. Behind those was a ticket to the Hogwarts Express. Aria handed Ginny the welcome letter to read, then folded up the lists and ticket, setting them on her bedside table under her Kindle.
"This is so exciting! I can't wait until next year when I'm old enough to go too," Ginny said, hopping down from Aria's eyes flashed blue and she frowned for a moment, watching Ginny walk across the room to her dresser. Next year Ginny would be taken into the Chamber of Secrets, but Aria couldn't stop that, it was important for Harry to discover that Basilisk fangs could kill Horcrux's, and that the sword of Gryffindor existed… but the thought of Ginny going through that alone made Aria extremely sad.
"Come on, get dressed, I think Mom will let us all go to Diagon Alley today to get your things before it gets crowded," Ginny said.
Aria grabbed a pair of jeans and a t shirt, wishing she had nice clothes that actually fit her to wear to Diagon Alley. She wasn't used to wearing casual clothes in public, not since high school anyway. She almost always wore slacks or at least black pants when she went out. Aria couldn't quite remember where the habit had begun, but it definitely felt uncomfortable to know people would meet her and have a first impression of her in jeans.
"Aria?" a knock came from the door, and she looked up. Sometime during her thinking, Ginny had left the room, and now Mrs. Weasley was standing in the doorway. "We are going to leave for Diagon Alley after breakfast to get everyones school things, would you like to come with?"
"Yes please," Aria said, then looked down at the bag containing her old clothes with an idea. "Um, Mrs. Weasley, could I ask a favor?"
"Sure dear, what is it?" The older woman said, walking farther into the room.
"Well, I ended up with some of my mothers clothes, and since I don't have very many clothes with me, I was wondering if you could shrink them so they will fit me?" Aria asked, making her eyes wide and childlike.
"Sure dear, I can do that, where are they?" Mrs. Weasley asked, smiling down at the girl.
Aria quickly pulled out all of the clothes in her duffle bag and layed them out on the bed, then stood back from them. Mrs. Weasley waved her wand over them, muttering a word Aria didn't hear, and then suddenly, all her clothes glowed for a moment, then shrank.
"There you go, if they are still too big let me know and I can try again," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling.
"Thank you Mrs. Weasley," Aria said, giving the woman a wide smile.
"No problem dear, now why don't you run along and take a shower before the boys get up," she said, then bustled from the room.
Aria picked up her clothes, shoving most of them back into the bag, then carried her comfortable black slacks to the bathroom, along with a camisole, which would now fit her correctly. After she was showered and dressed, she went back to Ginny's room to find a nice shirt, and settled on a white button up blouse. Noting from the relative silence of the house that the boys were probably still abed, She went back into the bathroom across the landing and shut the door, then turned to stare into her reflected eyes. Over the last four weeks she had spent quite a bit of time in front of the mirror, trying to make her eyes change color as the others said they did, but she had yet to succeed.
Her own hazel eyes stared at her in frustration as a headache began to bloom in her mind. She had decided that her eye color change couldn't have anything to do with her emotions as Dumbledore had guessed before. She was frequently upset when her eyes didn't change, but no particular emotion seemed to make a difference. She sighed, leaning on the counter, face still leveled at the mirror. Maybe she was a metamorphmagus, like Tonks, though she had never changed anything besides her eyes. She frowned at the thought, thinking that it would be very useful for her to be a metamorphmagus. She could appear to be older and get her own place and a job over the summer… but no, she couldn't be one. The books had said it started with hair change anyway, at least in the 7th one.
She gasped, finally taking notice of the face in the mirror. Her eyes changed from a startling blue, nearly white color, back to normal as she stared. No wonder the twins had said the color was unsettling, it was almost as though she could see through things, with the almost white eyes. They'd had a slightly carney outer rim, but she was still startled by the lightness of them.
What had prompted that change? She frowned in thought, trying to pick out what had been different at that moment. The air in the room was the same, her emotions hadn't been anything new, just curios. She had been thinking about the future she knew…
Her eyes flashed again as she pictured the books in her minds eye. She gasped in surprise, watching them shift back to green, then to blue again as she remembered the things that were to come this year. It was as though she was a fortune teller in a movie, seeing a vision of the future.
She heard the pounding of feet on the stairs above her and drew back from the mirror. So her eyes changed when she thought of the future? Or was it only the future that she had read about? She continued puzzling over the theory as she followed the others down to breakfast.
She was careful throughout the meal, making sure that none of the usual mess caused by the boys ended up on her clothes, and then finally, they were standing around the fireplace, getting ready to Floo. Aria was a bit nervous, since she had never done this before and it honestly seemed like such a ridiculous thing.
"Alright, Aria, you're next. Just throw down the powder like the others did and speak clearly," Mrs. Weasley said when her and Ginny were the only ones left in the room. Aria took a handful of powder and hesitantly walked toward the flames that seemed very real to her. When she had thrown the powder in and said 'Diagon Alley' loudly, she stepped forward and immediately began to spin in tight circles. She could barely see what was happening, but as she spun she caught glimpses of random living rooms and shops, then finally she stumbled out into the nearly empty room of Flourish and Blotts. At least, that's where she assumed they were, judging by the rows of books. She stepped aside as Ginny came out behind her, then Mrs. Weasley.
"All right, Bill, keep an eye on the twins please, they know what they need and I've already given them the coins for it," Mrs. Weasley said, giving the twins a look. "Behave you two," she said, then turned back to Ron, Aria, and Ginny. "You three will stay with me. We may as well start here and get your books."
Aria had a lot of fun trying to figure out what the various magical contraptions in the store windows were for, and finally, after the group had met up for a small lunch, they headed toward Ollivander's, which was what Aria was most excited for. She had been getting increasingly nervous as the day wore on, wondering when they would be going here.
"Alright dear, do you have enough money for your wand?" Mrs. Weasley asked as they stood outside the door. "Ron, you will be using Charlie's old wand for now, so we don't need to go in." Aria could hear Ron huffing disappointedly as she counted through the coins she had gotten at Gringott's in exchange for whatever American cash she had on her, and the coins that Dumbledore had given her.
"I think I have enough," Aria said, looking up. "I might even have a little bit extra afterwords. I'm lucky I had that American cash on me when I came here I guess," she said, then looked up. "Are you all going to wait out here?"
"Yes, we don't want to crowd the place dear," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling down at Aria.
"Mum! I want to go in, please can I?" Ginny whined, pulling on her mothers arm.
"No, we are waiting out here, it doesn't take that long," Mrs. Weasley said, frowning at her daughter.
"I'll be right back then," Aria said, then turned to walk into the building while the Weasley's walked across the street to look in one of the shop windows.
"Hello?" Aria called through the empty room. There were shelves all the way up to the ceiling, all filled with long thin boxes that she knew contained wands.
"Ah, hello," she heard an airy voice from behind the counter. Mr. Ollivander stood from where he had been hunched over doing something. He wore a frown on his wrinkled face and Aria tilted her head to the side.
"I don't know who you are," he said, walking forward. "Curious… are you foreign?"
"Yes, I just came here this year," Aria said, smiling politely. "My name is Aria Gray."
"Well Ms. Gray, it isn't often I get someone in here that I don't know," he said, smiling now. "I'm not sure I knew your parents either, they didn't shop here?"
"No sir," she replied, as he began to measure her height and the length of her arms. He wandered to the shelves while his tape measure continued measuring, and she smiled, thinking of the familiar scene.
"Try this one first," he said, offering her a long box. He snapped his fingers and the measuring tape returned to his pocket. Aria picked up the wand, but he snatched it from her moments later and returned to the shelves. They repeated this process two more times, but on the third, Aria felt as though a wind had blown through her, warming her from head to toe. She grinned up at Ollivander, who was smiling back.
"That's the one, 9 and 1/2 inches, Willow and Unicorn hair, and the handle is Cedar, very nice, very sturdy, good for Charms, very good for healing spells," the old man said, nearly talking to himself as his wide eyes took in every inch of the wand.
"Mr. Ollivander," Aria began, dropping her wand to her side. "May I ask you a question? I've always been curious…"
"Yes?" The man said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, what makes the wand choose which person it wants to be with? How does it know?" Aria asked, lifting her wand to analyze it closely.
"Well, my dear, who really knows how magic works," the man said, a twinkle in his eye. "If I did know something of that manner, it would, of course, be a trade secret," he said, a sly smile on his face.
"Of course," Aria said, nodding, with a small smile of her own. "May I ask another?"
"Of course you may," he said, nodding again.
"Could you explain to me the qualities of the materials of my wand? I want to understand why it chose me," she said, looking down at it again.
"Not many youngsters are interested in that, they are more excited to be able to blow things up," he said with a wry smile. "First, understand that just because a wand has a certain quality doesn't mean you will succeed at that subject. Now, lets start with the core, Unicorn hair is often best for Charms and Transfiguration, meaning that when you study those subjects, you will find your wand more willing to respond than, say, a wand with Phoenix Feather, which is more likely to fight you at times. Unicorn hair usually chooses those who are mainly calm and slow to anger. Now, your wand is made of Willow, which is also good for Charms. Willow trees are known for their flexibility, meaning that this wand is more likely to do your will then, say, Yew, which much more hard willed. The handle of your wand is made of Cedar, which is an interesting combination with Willow. Cedar is strongest when used for protective spells, and many of those who yield a Cedar wand become quite good at Occlumency as well. Many people say that the handle conveys what is inside while the wand conveys what is outside, but I find that to almost always be a myth. Your wand is longer than average, likely this is because you have a strong personality, or possible you will do something of great merit in the future, and it is sturdy, meaning you will have to work hard to master it, but when you do, it will act strongly for you," Mr. Ollivander said, his voice soft as he turned the wand over in his grip, looking at it from various angles. "Overall, I would have to say that this wand will be very good for Healing magics, and Charms," he said, handing it back to her.
Aria frowned in consideration, thinking about his descriptions. She had once had an interest in become a doctor, but University was far too expensive, so she had traded that dream for art and writing classes at a community college. Then she remembered the time in the last book when Ron splinched himself apparating, and Hermione said she was useless at healing and she should have studded more. Maybe, just maybe, if she could manage to become friends with the group, and she could learn Healing spells and charms, maybe she could be useful to them after all?
"Peculiar eyes…" Ollivander muttered to himself. "I can see that I have given you quite a bit to think about," he said a bit louder than his previous muttering, which drew her from her speculation. "Perhaps you should be on your way now, unless you have other questions?"
"No I don't. Thank you Mr. Ollivander," Aria said, tucking her new wand into her pocket and pulling out her coin bag to give him the required 10 Galleons and 4 Sickles. She turned to leave the shop just as someone else entered, nearly running into them.
"Oh, sorry," she said, catching her balance and turning to face the person. She let out a tiny gasp, recognizing the boy.
"It's alright," he said, straightening his shirt and running a hand over his hair. She took him in, her eyes glancing over his hair and scar quickly, then his glasses, and his eyes, which he was just turning toward her.
"I'm Aria," she said, holding a hand out to him. "I'm starting at Hogwarts this year too," she said, then frowned as he took a half step back from her.
"How did you know I'm starting at Hogwarts?" He asked, looking at her suspiciously.
"Why else would you be here?" She asked, waving a hand at the walls around them. Harry smiled and shrugged apologetically.
"Sorry," he said, then held out his hand. "I'm Harry Potter," he said, then watched her for a reaction.
"Well, it was very nice to meet you Harry. I'll see you on the train I suppose," she said, turning toward the door. She couldn't resist looking back at him one more time and grinning. "Oh, and happy birthday," she said, eyes flashing blue, then disappeared before he could say anything. She had forgotten that their letters came at the end of July, which meant that Harry would be here too today. Then she frowned and looked around her. If Harry was here, that meant Malfoy would be too. She had always liked him in the books, even though he was a prat. He was a well rounded character, and he had grown up in the end. And she had always had a soft spot for blonds.
"Aria!" She heard someone call from behind her. She turned to see Ginny running toward her, and grinned. "Did you get it? You were in there so long we went to find Bill and the twins. Mum took them and Ron home, and Bill is here with us," she pointed back to where Aria could see the tall red head coming toward them. "Can I see?"
"Sure," Aria said, pulling the wand from her pocket and handing it over. Ginny looked it over as Bill came up behind her.
"Looks nice," he said, glancing over Ginny's shoulder.
"Thanks," Aria said, grinning. "Uh, would it be possible to stop at the pet place before we go home? I have some extra coin, and I want to look at the cats."
"Sure," Bill said, shrugging. "I'm not in a hurry, Mum's going crazy with cleaning this week, and I leave in a few days and she will be all upset that I'm not packed yet." Aria and Ginny laughed, then followed him to the Magical Menagerie shop down the street.
"I'm going to wait out here you two," Bill said, settling onto the bench in front of the shop and stretching his long legs out in front of him.
"Okay," Ginny said, then pulled Aria into the shop, excited to see the animals. The two girls wandered through the shelves full of tanks holding snakes and frogs and lizards, to the back shelves, which held large cages full of cats and large exotic birds.
"Mother, I don't want any of these ugly creatures, I want an owl," a whiny voice said from the next isle over, coming closer to them. Aria glanced at Ginny who raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and turned to a cage full of little kittens.
"Oh, get one of these Aria, they are adorable," Ginny said, poking a finger through the bars to rub one of the tiny kittens on its little head.
"No way, I want an adult cat, then I don't have to train it to go to the bathroom outside, it will already know. Kittens need too much attention," Aria said, running her fingers over the bars of a nearby cage. It's occupant hissed and swiped a paw at her so she pulled away and wandered farther down the isle. She came to a stop at the end of the row in front of two large cages. One held the large ginger cat that Hermione would adopt in later years. Aria grinned and lifted a hand towards the cat who had pushed his ugly face against the bars.
"Hello Crookshanks," Aria said as the cat sniffed her fingers. "A nice witch will come and adopt you in a few years, so I will see you then," she said to the cat, then grinned and looked down at the cat in the lower cage. He was mostly a light gray color, with large dark splotches across his back, colored black with dark grey and almost red looking stripes within them.
"Hello," she said, kneeling down. The cat sat at the back of his cage, watching her. "You are an interesting cat, I've never seen one with your colors before," she said, then glanced around and opened the cage door. "Do you mind if I pet you?" The cat watched her with wide pale green eyes, then took a step forward. Aria took that as assent and reached in toward him to rub his ears. The cat let his eyes shut as she stroked his head, and he began to purr lightly.
"Well done," a voice behind her said and Aria jumped slightly. "He doesn't take to many people. I think you are a good fit for him, if you like him." One of the workers had come up behind her silently.
"I do like him," Aria said, reaching back in to pick up the cat and hold him close to her. He was about the size of an average house cat, but he looked young. "What is his name?"
"We call him Jupiter, but you can call him something else if you want," the girl said, shrugging. "He's a bengal cat. He's not done growing yet, he will probably be about twice the size of a normal cat."
"That's alright. And Jupiter is a good name for him," Aria grinned. She was named after a constellation, he was named after a planet. They went well together. "How much is he?"
"3 Galleons and a Sickle, and that'll get you a bag of food too," the attendant said, smiling. Aria held the cat with one arm and fished through her bag with the other, pulling out the money as Jupiter turned in her arms and climbed onto her shoulder, touching there to counterbalance from her movements. She grinned at his actions and handed the coins over to the witch. This left her with one Galleon and a handful of Sickles for the rest of the year. She wasn't worried, she would find some way this year to make money or get it somewhere else. The woman took the coins and disappeared for a moment, coming back with a small bag of cat food for Aria. Aria thanked her, then went to find Ginny, who was still occupied with the baby kittens. Jupiter curled over the back of her neck as she walked, head and front paws over one shoulder, and back paws and tail over the other, like a warm fur scarf.
"Ginny, I'm ready to go," Aria said, and Ginny looked up and grinned.
"Oh, she's pretty," Ginny said, lifting a hand to pet Jupiter's ears.
"It's a he," Aria grinned. "His name is Jupiter," she continued as they walked to the front of the store again. As they turned the corner, the two girls came face to face with Draco Malfoy, making Aria gasp again as they all came to a halt. Jupiter had dug his claws into her shirt at the jerking movement, but though she could feel the points of the claws, they were not accompanied by the prick of pain that cat claws usually drew. They stared at each other for a moment, then Draco smirked at her.
"Well?" He began, raising one eyebrow. "Aren't you going to apologize?"
"What?" Ginny asked quietly, but Aria spoke over her.
"There's nothing to apologize for," she said, smiling in an over polite way. Draco frowned at her and ran a had over his hair, smoothing it down.
"How about the fact that you two idiots nearly ran me over," Draco sneered.
"Well we didn't, so apologizing would be a waste of time wouldn't it?" Aria asked, giving him an innocent smile. He frowned at her and narrowed his eyes.
"You'd better watch what you say," he said, leaning toward them. "Or I'll-"
"Or you will what?" Aria said, smiling nicely as her eyes turned blue. "You will run to daddy and tell him two girls were being a little bit mean to you?"
"Look," he said menacingly. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I'm-"
"Draco Malfoy. Pureblood son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. The one who thinks he is better than everyone else because he has wizarding parents. Well, just so you know, your blood is exactly the same as mine, or hers, or anyone else's, and it doesn't make you better than any of us, so cut out your stupid act," Aria said, repressing a grin. Her eyes faded back to green as she watched his face. She had already decided during one of her long nights sitting up reading, that she shouldn't try to befriend Malfoy. Harry needed Malfoy to be an enemy to him for a while, to get used to the way people would treat him, and learn that not everyone thought he was the best person alive. She didn't want him to become to self proud later on. Now she had just guaranteed that Draco would dislike her, and probably anyone else she befriended.
"Who the hell are you," Draco asked, frowning at her. She frowned too, she had expected him to get even angrier, but he seemed more confused than anything.
"My name is Aria Gray," she said, holding a hand out to him. To her surprise he shook it. "We need to go," she said when he let go of her hand. He moved aside for them, and Aria led Ginny to the door, frowning in confusion. That had not gone the way she had expected.
"Do you now him?" Ginny asked as they neared the door.
"No," Aria said distractedly. She kept a grip on the cat food in her arms, then glanced to her shoulder to see if Jupiter was still alright. He was watching the things around him with interest but showed no signs of wanting to chase anything.
"Well, how did you know his name then?" Ginny asked.
"Oh, um," Aria said, racking her brain for a good excuse. "I read over a book of Wizarding Geneology, and it had pictures. I recognized him from it. You're in it too you know," Aria said, trying to distract her.
"Really? That is so cool!" Ginny said, pushing the door open for both of them. "I can't believe I'm in a book! You will have to show me it when we get home," Ginny said, and Aria smiled at her and nodded, sure that she would be able to distract the girl again before they got home.
Luckily as the three of them returned home through the fireplace in Flourish and Blotts, Mrs. Weasley had just put dinner on the table, which gave Aria plenty of things to distract Ginny with.
"Oh, you got a cat?" Mrs. Weasley asked, spotting the creature as he jumped down from Aria's grip as they came out of the fireplace. It seemed that he did not like Floo travel. "He's a pretty one, those makings are unusual," the woman said. "Come to the table, dinner is ready."
Throughout the meal, Aria slipped pieces of food into her lap where her new friend rested calmly, and afterwords, she helped carry the empty plates back to the kitchen in silence, then fled upstairs to change for bed. By the time Ginny came in nearly half an hour later, Aria was pretending sleep, huddled under her blankets with Jupiter curled up beside her.
