A/N: Still looking for an artist who's willing to create a custom cover art for this piece! I'm hoping for Harry and Kellen together, but I'm flexible - if you're taking the time to design, then whatever your creative juices come up with would most certainly be appreciated! If you are depicting Harry + Kellen, their Ilvermorny uniforms are "golf shirts" (teal and gold striped shirts with collars, and a couple of buttons at the neck... not true "dress shirts" per se, but "business casual". Kellen has dark blonde hair and greenish-blue eyes... I'd imagine him to look a bit like a young Macaulay Culkin, or possibly a young Glen Powell (he did get his start in Spy Kids).

If you want to throw in Nova and Ana... I guess you could use Penny from the Inspector Gadget film as a model (Ana looks almost exactly like her). Anything goes with Nova, she's just a blondie with a ponytail. Anyway, just surprise me haha

Wyatt Grimseth's jaw dropped. He knew that Kellen and Harry were wizards, but he thought that all magical practitioners were called wizards regardless of gender. He had always thought that witches were mean-spirited, green-complected hags that rode broomsticks and concocted all sorts of vile substances in their cauldrons. When he met Hermione and Anastasia for the first time... well, he was completely awestruck. Not only were they both youthful and pretty, but they were also both very sweet-natured. Much to Kellen's frustration, Wyatt couldn't help but ask the girls all sorts of questions. Many of the answers he got were just giggles, but whenever Kellen tried to intervene on his witch friends' behalf, they would assure him that it's quite alright, and that Wyatt was simply curious.

Wyatt then noticed an older blonde girl behind Ana. She looked to be about fifteen - and looked very little like her little sister Ana. She had gorgeous golden blonde hair that cascaded in gentle waves past her shoulders, and had sparkling light blue eyes that reminded both Harry and Kellen of Nova.

"Are you magical too?" Wyatt asked the older girl, point-blank.

The other girl just opened her mouth, shocked that this boy would ask such a question, but she then smirked. "Do I look magical, kid?" she giggled. "No, Ana's the only one with gifts in the family. Honestly... I am a little jealous, but I'm also very proud of her." She winked at Ana. "By the way, I'm Penelope, but most people just call me Nell."

"Hi, Nell," the rest of the children said.

At ten o'clock, the mall opened up for the very first time. The five children made sure to stay close together because it was easy to get lost in the throngs of visitors. The mall was nothing short of enormous - several floors with all sorts of shops and kiosks - about five hundred vendors in all! On the main level was a theme park, complete with a steel roller coaster... Kellen and Harry made sure to try try it at least once.

Hermione, Ana and her sister Nell all dragged the boys to a couple of department stores where they looked at handbags, and pants and sweatshirts for the fall. After an hour, the boys were about to collapse from sheer boredom, but thankfully by that point the girls were wrapping up. They each purchased a new handbag and a new sweatshirt to wear on the weekends, and then they followed the boys to the theme park in the middle of the store. Hermione, Nell and Ana simply waited as neither one of them had a particularly strong stomach for thrilling rides such as a roller coaster, so the three boys got in line - it was quite lengthy at nearly forty five minutes - but it was worth it.

The boys got in one of the roller coaster cars, strapped themselves in, and felt their stomachs go up and down and from side to side with all the peaks and valleys and twisty bends. Harry was laughing when he got off the roller coaster. "This is a lot like quidditch," he said to Kellen and Wyatt. "Except there's no snitch to chase!"

Ana shook her head at the boys when they got off. "Just watching you on that contraption practically made me want to vomit," Ana groaned. She then smirked. "I may be handy with a broom, but my stomach isn't exactly made of iron."

The children met up with their families at the enormous food court, where there were dozens of fast-food options to choose from. The children all shared a large pepperoni pizza with lemon-lime sodas. They then spent another hour exploring the mall, and after deciding they've had enough for one day, Mister and Mrs. Grimseth offered to watch Ana, Nell and Hermione for the remainder of the afternoon before dropping them off at their respective hotels. Mrs. Grimseth suggested going to the Walker Art Center and Sculpture Garden as it would be a lot quieter than the brand-new shopping mall, and a lot more intellectually stimulating. She also told both girls' parents that they would be treated to dinner, then returned to their respective hotels after dinner.

The children all got in the Grimseths' large sport utility vehicle, which had enough room to accommodate all five children. Wyatt, Harry, and Ana sat together in the middle, while Hermione, Nell and Kellen sat behind them in the rear. "You silly Americans and your wonky driving habits," giggled Hermione. "I could never get used to driving on the right hand-side of the road."

"I adjusted to it just fine," Harry replied casually. "Then again, I never got in the car very much until I came to the States..."

About a half hour later, the crew arrived at the Walker Art Center and sculpture garden. There were many famous paintings, portraits, and sculptures inside the museum. They even came across the famous Grant Wood painting, American Gothic. Hermione gasped when it caught her eye. "That one's famous back in Great Britain too," she said to her friends. "I never thought I'd see the original!" She looked at Kellen and snickered at the austere expression of the elderly farmer with his pitchfork. "If you weren't magical, that could be you one day." Kellen threw her the biggest eye roll he could muster.

After wandering the inside of the museum for an hour and a half, they headed to the Sculpture Garden, which was next to the art center, and strolled leisurely around the premises. There were many unique exhibits outside, including the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry, a fifty-foot long spoon acting as a bridge across a small pond, with a single red cherry balanced on the end of the spoon. Mrs. Grimseth smiled at Hermione. "I know this isn't quite on par with the museums back in London, but for a city only a quarter the size of London, it's still plenty nice!" Hermione smiled and nodded in agreement.

At about four thirty, they decided to go grab some dinner at a Japanese hibachi grill. Ana and Nell in particular were quite excited as they were both quite fond of the famous Japanese delicacy. Neither Hermione nor any of the boys had tried it before. She couldn't get Wyatt to try it - the very thought of raw fish was just too much for him to take - but Hermione, Harry, and Kellen were all adventurous enough to try a piece of her volcano roll, which was spicy tuna wrapped in rice and seaweed. All three of the children were pleasantly surprised at how tasty it was, so they ordered several more tuna, snapper, and crab rolls which the children (except for Wyatt) happily wolfed down. Mister and Mrs. Grimseth both had rice, noodles, and veggie hibachi plates, while Wyatt had a rice and chicken hibachi plate.

After they had finished their dinners, the Grimseths dropped off Ana, Nell and Hermione off at their respective hotels, where their grateful parents most happily received their children. Mrs. Grimseth told both the Grangers and the Harrisons that the boys would be going to the wizarding district in Minneapolis for back-to-school supplies the next day, and that they were welcome to join them if they were interested. She gave both the Grangers and the Harrisons the directions to find Fowler and Murphy's, the store that served as the gateway between the magical and non-magical worlds, and told them that they would be there around nine thirty in the morning.


The next morning, Harry and the Grimseths arrived at Murphy and Fowler's on Hennepin Avenue at half past nine. Both Ana and Hermione were already waiting in the parking lot for the Grimseths. As the girls had already gotten their school supplies in their own respective wizarding districts, both the Grangers and Harrisons simply dropped their girls off so they can tag along with Harry and the Grimseths. All the families agreed to meet in the parking lot after lunch at one o'clock, so they had three and a half hours to get all their supplies.

Just like last time, Mrs. Grimseth went to the customer service area to speak with Mister Kincaid, who greeted the crew quite boisterously. "Good morning, good morning! I seem to remember you from last year... it looks like you've added to your group," he greeted while eyeballing Ana and Hermione. "You do have your shopping lists, I presume?"

Mrs. Grimseth replied in the affirmative.

"Very good," trilled the flamboyantly-dressed Kincaid. "Right this way, if you don't mind." He led them to the back of the store, behind an "Employees Only" sign and down the same corridor that they traversed the year prior. When they reached a seeming dead-end, he removed then placed his pinky ring in a notch in the wall, which revealed an opening that led to the Minneapolis wizarding district.

"Once again, our Gringott's branch is just down the street," Kincaid explained. "I think the exchange rate is slightly more favorable this time, so you might get a few extra dragots this time. Happy shopping!"

Mister and Mrs. Grimseth and the children headed straight for Gringotts to get their money exchanged. When it was their turn to be helped, the goblin seemed to recognize the family. "Ahh, the Grimseths again, and Mister Potter. Before we exchange currency, will you be covering Mister Potter's expenses this time, or shall we use the money stored in his vault in London?"

"I'll cover Harry's books and tuition," Mister Grimseth replied. "Five thousand dollars, like last time."

"Very good," the goblin replied. "In exchange, you shall receive three thousand, five hundred twenty five dragots." He gestured to Harry and Kellen. "Good luck to the both of you on your upcoming terms."

Harry and Kellen looked at their supply lists. In addition to new robes, cauldrons, quill and ink sets, and the like, they needed to purchase new books:

"The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk

Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart

Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart

Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart

Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart

Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart"

They went to the bookstore last as they knew Kellen could get lost in the bookstore (but didn't know that Hermione was just as prone to losing herself in a book was Kellen was). After the boys got fitted for new robes at Madam Daltrey's, they headed next door to Cheddarworth's Books. Mister Grimseth gave Kellen a look. "Forty five minutes, Kellen," he reminded his son. "We need to return your friends to their parents immediately after lunch."

Kellen reviewed his list of books, and shook his head. "This Lockhart character seems to have a lot of time on his hands if he wrote this many books," he muttered.

"Oh, he's our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year," Hermione replied dreamily. "He's going to be wonderful... I just know it. Oh, and you should have seen all the witches hounding him for autographs when I was in Diagon Alley earlier this summer!"

Harry and Kellen shot each other dubious glances. "He can't be half as good as Professor Tyndall Madigan," Harry declared. They had a plenty respectable DADA professor in Madigan, who had been the DADA instructor at Ilvermorny for nearly thirty years. He wasn't flashy, but he was effective and taught the students precisely what they needed to know." Hermione blew Harry a bit of a raspberry before turning to Kellen and grinned slyly at him. "Come on, Kellen, let's get a quick milkshake." She winked at him. "Your treat."

After the boys had gotten all their books, robes, and other necessary materials to start the new term, Hermione grabbed Kellen by the wrist and dragged him to Regis Raphael's Ice Cream and Soda Shoppe, which was right across the street from Cheddarworth's. Kellen gave the soda jerk at the counter a couple of dragots in exchange for a couple of frosty chocolate milkshakes. Kellen and Hermione sat at a small circular table against the wall of the shop, and enjoyed the few precious minutes they had together - just the two of them. She winked at Kellen as she smiled coyly. "You know, Kellen... you have a little something on your shirt..." As he looked down, she grabbed him by his shirt's collar and pressed her cold, chocolate-flavored lips against his.

"You naughty thing," chuckled Kellen.

"Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that," giggled Hermione.

"Probably a bit too much," Kellen replied. "Merlin knows when my next kiss is going to be..." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I don't want it to be by anybody else but you."

"Well, I suppose there's the next spring dance to look forward to," Hermione suggested. "I'd love another chance to visit Ilvermorny... I had a really good time the last time I was there."

"If there is any way to bring you back next spring, I'll do what I can to help make it happen... so I'll just get this out of the way now... will you go to the spring dance with me?"

Hermione threw Kellen a bit of a look. "Did you really have to ask?" Both children then burst into laughter.