Hermione walked nervously down Diagon Alley, which was full of parents and students getting ready for the coming school year. Severus had parted from his wife and daughter, saying that he would go and purchase the potion supplies for the coming year, since he had to purchase a few things for his private stocks anyway.

As she walked, she scanned the crowd, looking for people she knew. Until now, she had been fortunate enough to avoid her friends on prior trips to Diagon Alley, but she had a feeling that her luck was going to run out today.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize that Nicoletta had spoken to her until she heard an impatient, "Mum?"

Snapping out of her painful thoughts, she looked down at her daughter and smiled. "Yes, Nicoletta, what is it?"

"Can I get a cat to take with me to Hogwarts? You know, like Crookshanks?" Nicoletta's dark eyes twinkled and a smile went over her lips.

"Yes, if you want. But we have to get your other things first, like your robes and your wand. Why don't you go over to Madam Malkins and get fitted for your school robes, and I'll go and buy your books. Here," she said, handing her daughter some money, "this should be enough to buy your robes. I'll meet you at Florean's in an hour."

"OK, Mum," Nicoletta said, then went off in the direction of the robe shop.

Hermione watched her daughter until she disappeared into the shop and then headed off in the direction of Flourish and Blotts. No matter how badly she was feeling a visit to her favourite shop always cheered her up.

***

Nicoletta felt a jolt of excitement as she entered the robe shop. It was true that she had been in Diagon Alley before, but this was different, as she had told her dad. After all, one only goes shopping for one's first year at Hogwarts once.

She was happy that her mum had given her an hour; there were quite a few children already in there, some being measured, some waiting in line. The one thing that was surprising was how many children with red hair there were.

One of the girls came over to her and smiled. "Hi, my name is Emily. What's yours?" The girl had long, red hair and blue eyes.

"I'm Nicoletta," she sad, returning her smile.

"Pretty name," Emily said brightly.

"Thanks. I like yours too."

"Thanks. It looks like we have a bit of a wait. Want to go sit down?" Emily offered.

"Yeah, let's," Nicoletta replied, then followed Emily over to a window seat. "It's really busy in here today," she said, looking around at the gathered students.

"Yeah, I know. We all decided to come today. You see, most of the kids in here are my cousins." Pointing to a boy with darker skin, she said, 'That's Fred," and then she pointed out each child in turn. "That's James, Molly, and Louis. We're all children of Gryffindors, so we will probably all be in the same house together. What house do you think you'll be in?"

"Well, I don't know," Nicoletta said, not sure whether she wanted to say that her dad had been a Slytherin.

"Are you a Muggle-born?"

"Oh, no. Well, my mum was a Gryffindor, and both my parents say that I am brave, and smart too, so maybe I'll be in Gryffindor or in Ravenclaw. My mum was almost in Ravenclaw when she was sorted, but the hat put her in Gryffindor."

"What about your dad?" Emily asked, looking at her.

"Emily Weasley?" Madam Malkin called. "I'm ready for you."

"Oops, gotta go. We're all going to Florean's afterwards. If you want to come, you can," Emily said as she walked away.

"OK."

It wasn't long before Nicoletta was called as well to be measured, and she stood there thinking over her talk with Emily. The other girl seemed nice, and Nicoletta had really wanted to have a friend. That was one reason why she was so anxious to go to Hogwarts. Her parents were great, but they had been overprotective of her for as long as she could remember. She hoped that she would make some friends when she went Hogwarts.

***

It wasn't too much longer before the six of them were sitting in Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream parlor, enjoying different types of ice cream. Fred, she discovered, enjoyed playing practical jokes on everyone. She was really surprised when he offered an older girl a piece of candy and it turned her into a giant canary.

"Whoa! That was cool!" she exclaimed, smiling at Fred.

"You never saw a Canary Cream before? My dad and my uncle invented them back when they were in Hogwarts. Ever been in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?"

Nicoletta shook her head. "Nope. I think I've seen it, though."

"Yeah. My dad and my uncle Fred, who I'm named for, started it."

"With help from my dad," James pointed out.

The two boys started bantering back and forth in a good natured way, and the girl named Molly turned to her.

"Just so you don't think we're all that strange, my name is Molly."

"I'm Nicoletta," Nicoletta said with a smile.

Emily smiled at her cousin and at Nicoletta. "I hope we're all in the same house together. That would be a lot of fun!"

"I think so too," Molly said with a grin.

"We could be like the three Musketeers!" Nicoletta chimed in, holding up her spoon. "One for all and all for one!"

The time passed so quickly that Nicoletta didn't realize that her time was up until she heard her name.

"Come, Nicoletta, it's time to go." Her father's voice intoned from the doorway to the shop.

"Alright, Dad," Nicoletta said, standing up. "See you all on the Hogwarts Express!"

As she walked out of the shop with her father into the bright sunshine, she turned to him. "I thought Mum was coming to get me."

"She found it necessary to go home early. You and I will finish shopping."

Nicoletta didn't mind that her mother had to go home early because she enjoyed spending time with her father. He took her to get her wand and finally to get a cat. When they finally got home, she ran to her mother.

"Mum? What's wrong?"

Hermione looked at her husband, who nodded. "Nicoletta, it's time to tell you the truth."