A/N: I don't own Harry Potter, anything you recognize- not mine.
Chapter 6: Almost There
"You must be Willow," said a Raven-haired boy with bright, apologetic green eyes. He reached out a hand to help her up.
"Yep, that's me! Nice to meet you Harry," she said and extended her hand for him to shake.
"Nice to meet you too," he said as he shook her hand. "Oh! And I'm sorry about the whole making you fall down the stairs thing!" he finished apologetically.
"Oh yeah, don't worry about that. I fall down the stairs all the time anyway, sadly." She and Harry laughed.
"Oi! Harry, dinner!" Ron called up to them. The two went downstairs together. As they reached the table, Ginny saw Harry. She made a high-pitched noise, dropped the plates she was carrying, and raced upstairs. Willow, after overcoming her moment of confusion, excused herself to confront Ginny.
She walked up to the door and knocked. "Come in." Ginny said quietly.
"You okay? That was a bit odd. Harry thinks it was his fault and if it is he says sorry," she told Ginny. She was hoping that would cheer her up. She sat next to her.
"I'm such an idiot!" Ginny yelled suddenly. She frightened Willow with her spontaneity. Willow, and her clumsy ways, tumbled backwards, off the bed. Ginny couldn't help but laugh.
"Okay now, are you going to tell me what happened?"
"I have a c-crush on Harry."
"Well, duh," Willow said. "But why did you have that small episode."
"Oh, I didn't know he was here. I got surprised and well, yeah." Ginny said sheepishly.
"Well let's go down. He was quite frightened it was his fault." As they rejoined everyone downstairs, Harry looked thoroughly relieved. While they ate, an owl came launching through the window, crash landing on the table. Ron said something about Hermione. He and Harry read the letter, MrsWeasley confirming that tomorrow would be an excellent day to go to Diagon Alley. She then whispered something to MrWeasley, who nodded and disappeared into the next room with Errol in hand.
"So Harry, can you finish the story?" Willow asked as they finished dinner.
"When I woke up, Dumbledore told me about the reason I survived Voldemort. He said it was my mum's sacrifice, that it was her love." Harry finished with a smile, one full of thoughts of his loving mum.
"I can't believe you did that in your first year. Trouble just seems to follow you around." Willow said with a mix of awe and humor.
"Well come on all of you! Time for bed, big day tomorrow!" Mrs Weasley called from the kitchen.
She was sitting in her bedroom, reading a Charms book. Her panic stricken father rushed into her room. "Come on honey, they're coming." He tossed her jacket and shoes to her and left to warn her mother. They had been warned this might happen. It was the information they knew that made them desirable.
She awoke with a start, eyes stinging. Her nightmare had been different this time. She now knew the reason behind their deaths: they had information. She decided not to dwell on it and instead got ready to go to Diagon Alley. She dressed and went down to breakfast. Everyone was there except for Harry and Ron. They all quickly ate breakfast and got ready to leave, the two missing participants arriving only minutes before their departure.
"Now Harry and Willow we're going to be using Floo Powder. Neither of you have done it before so watch Fred and George," Mrs Weasley told them. One at a time, the twins took a pinch of powder, threw into the fire, stepped in, and then shouted, "Diagon Alley." Mrs Weasley reminded them to speak clearly and then Willow went. She felt a bit nauseous from all of the spinning, but eventually came out to Fred and George. Percy came next followed by Ginny and the parents.
"Wait! Where's Harry?" Willow asked. They were all shocked, and Mrs Weasley began to worry. She and Mr Weasley decided it would be best to just walk around and see if they could find him. They headed towards Gringotts.
Fred saw him first. "Look! That's him. He's with Hagrid." Everyone sprinted up to the steps as Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid came into view. They learned he had come out in Knockturn Alley as Mrs Weasley and Ginny caught up. Two seconds later she started fussing over him.
"So you mus' be Miss Willow," Hagrid said to her, shaking her hand, "Rubeus Hagrid, games keeper of Hogwarts. Well, gotta be off. See yer at Hogwarts."
They journeyed into Gringotts, and before she could say something they were at the "Bryden Family Vault". She looked in and was speechless; her parents had left her enough to live her life in a comfortable manner. She filled up her wallet and they continued to the rest of the vaults.
There was so many of them, they decided to split up. Mr Weasley, Ginny, the twins, and Willow went to get robes and the first years' wands. Ron, Hermione, Harry, Percy, and Mrs Weasley went to Flourish and Blotts for their books.
The group stepped into Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. Fred and George shared a few more of their stories while Willow and Ginny were fitted for their robes. Willow was only half listening, choosing instead to daydream about Hogwarts. She and Ginny finished and bought their robes. Then they headed for Ollivander's.
The atmosphere of the wand shop irked Willow. It was dim and oddly quite. She was about to ring the bell when an old man appeared from the back suddenly. Willow, being oh so Willow, screamed and fell backwards. A giggling George gave her a hand, seeing as Ginny and Fred were incapacitated by their fit of laughter at Willow's expense. Even Mr Ollivander had a chuckle before turning to business, starting with Ginny.
"Ah a Miss Weasley," he said as a tape measure began to measure her. As it did so, he began to pull boxes off the over-crowded shelves. "Let's try this one, Holly Phoenix Tail Feather, eleven inches nice and sturdy." Ginny gave it a wave, but nothing happened, "Nope, how a bout this one. Dragon Heartstring, beech wood, nine and a quarter inches, very flexible." She barely grasped it before it was taken away again. They were on their eleventh wand when they found the winner; " Here you go, Ebony, Unicorn Hair core, eight and a half inches, quite springy." She gave it a wave and red and gold sparks were emitted, causing in applause from everyone, Willow was a bit delayed though.
"Now Miss Willow Noxa Bryden," he turned to her, surprising her with her full name, "I knew your mother, she was somewhat of a prodigy of mine," he told her, tears in his eyes. "But on to your wand!" The tape measure did its job as he pulled down boxes. "Okay, Unicorn hair, rosewood, twelve inches, a bit thicker than usual." At her wave, it flew from her hands. "Nope not that one! How about Dragon Heartstring Elm rigid nine inches?" This merely blew a bubble. " Here try this one! Phoenix tail feather, Ash, eleven and three quarters inches, very supple." She gave the wand a flick and immediately felt a warmth wash through her hand, the wand gave a gold glow, and everyone cheered.
They went to meet the rest of the family before heading back to the Burrow. As they walked in, Gilderoy Lockhart, author of almost the entire book list, was pulling Harry to the front. He looked thoroughly unhappy, but then Lockhart announced his exception of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor position at Hogwarts, Harry looked ecstatic at this, sarcasm. When he could finally crawl away from the Vulture with way too clean teeth, he ran into Malfoy. Ginny started to defend him before thoroughly blushing at the word girlfriend. Willow was about to say something when Mr Weasley shuffled over. He began a very cool conversation with Malfoy senior. Willow was shocked when Mr Weasley attacked Malfoy elder. Books were crashing down until Hagrid was able to pull them off of each other. Before they could get into any more trouble, Mrs Weasley hurried them back to the Burrow.
After a quick supper the exhausted kids trudged up to their rooms. Willow slept contently, thinking about her mother. She had been a student of Wand Lore. Ollivander himself had taught her! She imagined her mother, making the best wands in the world. Her last thought, however, before she drifted into a dreamless sleep was of September 1st only three days away.
A/N: Hullo Readers! Next chapter is when the fun begins, I promise! I want to give a special thanks to Silver Aurora, an amazing author who responded to my request, Thanks! So keep reading and please review, because they keep me writing more!!! ~Dino Flavored Ramen