Author's Note: I own very little. J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and other characters.

Chapter Four: Off to Diagon Alley

The start of the term was September 1st and Benjamin and I couldn't have been counting the days more quickly. It seemed as though the days moved even more slowly and we had even less to do, when in reality, we probably should have had more to do, but we put off any work necessary prior to school starting until the very last minute. There was all of the anticipation of finally enrolling minus the work ethic. Well, perhaps, Benjamin was, but I on the other hand, was definitely not.

I remember laying on the floor boards of my room, as Clover, the house cat walked over my stomach and perched herself directly on my chest. I let out a groan before reaching up and petting her ear. The ginger cat, with bright green eyes, hardly enjoyed being a pet, but there were moments where she could pretend as best she could. She would handle some love, but after a certain point, she would turn and throw out a hiss, returning to her normal self. Sure, my theory may have been a bit harsh, but it was the only one that made sense in my head. Mum told me that she was only old and deserved a chance, but I thought otherwise.

Benjamin was sitting with his back against my door, stroking his new pet toad, that would accompany him to school. I couldn't have despised that creature more, it was fat and slimey, I'd never wanted to have owned a toad, but I would never dare say this to Benjamin, who found the creature to be fascinating. He took advantage of nearly every opportunity to shove the toad in my face.

"Do you suppose our parents are going to take us to get our school supplies soon?" Benjamin asked nonchalantly, as he continued to stroke the toad's slimy skin. I stared at the white ceiling, daydreaming about Hogwarts.

"Mum said we'd go in Mid-August," I said, still not paying much attention.

"I haven't been to Diagon Alley in ages!" He said with excitement in his voice.

"Nor have I. I still can't believe we're to be students there," I answered before adjusting myself, picking Clover up, and sitting upright to look at my friend, still sitting against the door.

"It's more like a dream, isn't it?" He asked, a smile on his face as Clover settled herself into my lap.

Benjamin really had changed drastically since we were children, both physically and emotionally. As a child, he was always a little larger with warm brown eyes, light brown hair, and a little on the plump side. At eleven years old, he was much slimmer, with only some of the baby weight remaining and his hair was much shorter. He claimed he couldn't stand having long hair, passed his ears, anymore. Benjamin was also not nearly as adventurous as he once was. It was quite a shame to me that as he grew older and started to meet new people he became much more interested in learning and books and such. There were times, with Benjamin, that I hardly even knew what he was talking about because he was speaking of some advanced topic that I had never even heard of. Trying to be supportive, I would smile and nod along, pretending as if I knew entirely what he was speaking of, when in reality, I hadn't the slightest.

Though Benjamin changed a bit, I had also changed. My hair was much longer than it ever had been before, nearly past my shoulders with more of a brown tint than red, but still auburn nonetheless. My body shape was nearly exactly the same as my father, who was always teased for being very bony and scrawny. It was quite annoying actually because I still looked like a small child, when in reality I wasn't that puny. Or at least…I didn't feel that puny.

Despite our natural differences as the years progressed, we were still the best of friends.

"It is like a dream," I said, moving Clover's collar, absentmindedly. She seemingly glared at me.

There was then a silence that hung over the room for several minutes before Benjamin spoke once again.

"Did you ever hear about Harry Potter?" He asked, rather out-of-the blue. This was not unlike Benjamin, however, because he always enjoyed informing me of new tidbits of information.

"Oh, please," I stated before falling to my back once again. "I've heard it plenty of times and it is quite obnoxious!"

It was as if I had said magic wasn't real.

"Obnoxious?" Benjamin exclaimed, as his toad let out a croak. "What makes you say that?"

"I mean," I started, not meaning to sound as cruel as I had. "It's basically the story everyone's heard for years now. The boy's never going to have a normal life. He can't."

Benjamin shrugged his shoulders," They say he's living with Muggles and has been since the incident. He's nearly seven years old now. I'm sure that will be the easiest letter of acceptance Hogwarts will ever send out."

Clover made her way up to my chest again, let out a meow before sitting back down. I chuckled as I lifted her off and replied," I guess its only for his own good."

"It's only to protect him from You-Know-Who. I'm sure anyone in the Wizarding community would have offered him a home otherwise," He said as I, with a bored expression on my face looked up at the ceiling.

"My parents say all that is nonsense, to be frank. They think that You-Know-Who is dead and has been ever since the incident with the Potters. It's just something for people, like you, to talk about," I answered, scratching Clover, who was purring very content-like in my lap.

What I told Benjamin honestly was what my parents told me and believed. Harry Potter was an incredible story, but I pitied him slightly because I couldn't imagine all of the pests he would run into. Not only that, but ever since Potter there was a huge ordeal about the Dark Lord, many thought him to be dead, like my parents, while others believed him to still be on the run somewhere. To keep matters much more chipper, I liked to believe he was destroyed when the infant boy lived. At the time, my eleven-year old brain could not exactly capture the severity of this issue and therefore expressed very little interest in it.

"That's what a lot of people think," Benjamin said, as-matter-of-factly. "I like to think it else wise."

Just before I could answer, mother knocked at the door and peered inside," Tea's ready, darlings."

To prevent myself from getting into any longer of a conversation about history, I jumped up to my feet, nearly trampling over Benjamin before entering back into the kitchen where a hot tea kettle was stirring itself and sugar cubes were dancing out of the cupboard.

"Lana! Hurry up! We're meeting the Flocktons at ten just outside of town and at this rate, we're going to be late!" Mother cried as I brushed my hair reverently, while in the back of my head still debating over what to wear.

The day had finally arrived! The day when we would go to Diagon Alley and gather up all of my school supplies I would need. This was just one step closer to finally being at Hogwarts. I could hardly wait to go and meet up with the Flocktons. This was a day that we had waited for for so long and it had finally come.

I scurried my closet, after seemingly the thousandth time before picking out a pair of brown trousers and a red top. I threw on my clothes as quickly as possible before glancing in the mirror one last time.

"Lana!" Mother cried, nearly five minutes had passed and I still was not out the door.

"Coming mum!" I answered, reassuring her as I ran out of my room, nearly running over Clover, who let out an annoyed meow before curling back into a ball. Not paying near enough attention, I continued sprinting until I was at the front door, with mother, who was tying her cloak around her neck.

"Come, come!" She said as she fixed my hair with one hand as I ran through the front door.

She was quick to follow me and just as we came to the front porch, she looked both ways, making sure no Muggles happened to be passing by, and after she was certain, she grabbed my hand tightly. I was sure that it was already getting close to ten o' clock and the Flocktons would be expecting us at any minute. Suddenly, I saw the colors shifting in front of my eyes and the ground seemed to disappear. The feeling of confusion lingered for several moments before reality suddenly shifted back to normal and we seemed to standing in front of the Flockton's fireplace.

Mrs. Flockton flew like a blur passed us as she rushed into the kitchen, obviously frazzled for time just as we had been. Benjamin was nowhere to be seen as I looked up at my mother and let go of her hand. Mother looked down at me and just as I was going to question her about their whereabouts, Mrs. Flockon came into the room, breathless as Benjamin came in right behind her.

"Someone slept in a little late," Mrs. Flockton said, grabbing a small vase off of the mantel of their fireplace. She shot a look at her son, who merely stretched and let out a yawn before running his fingers through his messy hair.

The Flockton's home was very unique. In many ways, Mrs. Flockton took care of her home like my mother took care of ours. There were several portraits on the walls of their family members and many brooms floating by for their normal routine, but one thing that set their home apart was all of the trinkets they had lying about. Much like my grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Flockton seemed to have a collection of magical objects that could turn any limb a different color simply by looking at it. I found myself very cautious even though nearly everything in the living room seemed to be put away in a glass cabinet.

The room was actually very small in size and the walls were a dark, maroon color with matching area rugs covering the hardwood floors underneath.

Before I could spend much more time observing my surroundings, Mrs. Flockton was already speaking at rapid speeds once more," Alrighty now, the both of you know to speak very clearly, correct? If not, who knows where you will end up."

"Yes, mum," Benjamin answered, with a very bored tone to his voice, as he stepped forward and shoved his hand into the vase.

His mother looked at him, as if disapproving of his appearance, before allowing him to step forward into the fireplace. He had to stoop down, ever so slightly. The Floo network always blew my mind at how efficiently and quickly it seemed to work. Only once before had I used it. Technologies of the magical world hardly ever ceased to amaze me. Sometimes, I had a hard time thinking Muggles could ever go without these luxuries.

"Alright, darling, on the count of three," Mrs. Flockton started, looking at him with concern-filled eyes as she started counting. "One, two…"

Before she could reach three, Benjamin had already dropped the powder into the fireplace and exclaimed," DIAGON ALLEY!"

She sighed before looking to mother and I. We all knew exactly what he had said, which was a good sign, but it was not an unknown fact among the three of us that Benjamin was growing into quite the attitude. Despite this, Mrs. Flockton then handed the vase to my mother, who stepped forward and followed in Benjamin's fashion. I then followed her, careful to enunciate very clearly before throwing down the powder.

All at once, it seemed that the ground beneath my feet was moving and I was sliding through the air to Diagon Alley.

Everything joyful in the Wizarding World existed in Diagon Alley. I couldn't help but smile as we walked down the cobblestone street, passing witches and wizards of all different types as we did. Some of the wizards were old and wearing robes that showed many years of wear, while other young witches were huddled together in front of stores such as Flourish and Blotts, gossiping among other things, I'm sure. Magic seemed to sit in the air around and if there was ever a time that I was happy to have magical blood, it was when my feet were standing on the cobblestone of Diagon Alley.

En route to Gringotts, the Wizarding Bank, we passed a store with many owls in front of it, as well as cats, toads, and rats. Plenty of, what I assumed to be future students, were gathered in front of the owls, trying with all their might to get some sort of a reaction from them. The poise of the owls never ceased to amaze me and though I may have owned a cat, an owl was what nearly every student would have ideally had, or in my opinion, at least.

Mother told me, as we made our way through the narrow road, that we would need to make a withdrawal before we could do any shopping. That was a very painful trip to the bank because in order to get to Gringotts, one must pass nearly every shop that sat on Diagon Alley from Zonkos to Olivander's Wand Shop. How badly I wanted with every pass of the tall, excitement-filled shop to just drop in and browse for hours! I knew, however, that this was not an option.

When we finally arrived at Gringotts, Benjamin and I waited outside as our mothers ventured into the bank. It was an adventure in itself simply watching the patrons of Diagon Alley from the front of Gringotts's tall white marble columns supporting its front. There were plenty of wizards and witches, probably close to Benjamin and I's age who were pushing their way through the thick sea of people crowding the street. I assumed that in a mere matter of weeks, they, like us, would be boarding the Hogwarts Express. For a brief moment, I wondered if they could possibly be feeling the excitement I was feeling, but from the looks of pure joy on their faces; I could see that I was in good company.

"This place is a madhouse!" Benjamin exclaimed, as a teenage boy, just a few years older than us ran by with a fat, croaking toad in his hands.

"Isn't it amazing?" I asked, still taking in the sight of the tall shops, that seemed to stretch forever into the sky from where I stood.

I could have stood there for eternity, gazing into the alley. Benjamin continued speaking and I would give him input every now and again, just to make sure that I wasn't being completely rude to him. It wasn't that I ever intended to be this way with him, but the atmosphere of the alley had me literally blinded. All too soon, our mothers came out of Gringotts and I felt my mother place a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you ready, darling?" She asked me, as I felt the whole Diagon Alley open before me.

"Absolutely," I answered, still in a daze as we entered into the hustle and bustle of the streets.

"Lana, I think those are a little too big don't you think?" Mother questioned as the witch working in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions flicked her wand once more in front of me, causing the black fabric to drag nearly two feet longer than where they should have been.

I, however, could have cared less how long the robes were. They were robes! They were real, live Hogwarts robes that I was actually wearing! I stared in the mirror, in total awe of the outfit as the wizard went to work, trying to fix the length of the robes. My problems were very minimal compared to Benjamin's.

"Ahh!" I heard him exclaim once and looked over to the stool where he was standing to see the robes hiked up nearly to his mid-calf. The robes continued growing shorter and shorter and I couldn't help but giggle at the sight of this.

"Oh, hush," The middle aged witch said to him as she hastily flicked her wand in front of him and the material began growing once again.

"You gave me quite a scare there for a moment," Benjamin muttered under his breath before looking to me and smiling. I couldn't help but laugh again before looking over to mother.

Several moments later, after both Benjamin and I had gotten our three sets of robes, hat, winter cloak, and protective gloves from Madam Malkin's, we proceeded to enter back into the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. All around, I saw many students around Benjamin and I's age tagging along at their parents coattails.

Mother decided that the next best place to go would be the bookstore that seemed to be the least crowded of the stores. After moments of passing through the busy street, we arrived to the store. Immediately, the smell of musty books entered my nose as I took a deep breath in. Reading was something that I did not particularly enjoy. The only type of books I liked were the childhood ones that father used to read to me. Never, did I have any interest in reading for leisure.

Benjamin seemed to disappear from our side as he went exploring through the shelves. I wasn't even able to let out a word to him, all I simply did was turn to find him gone.

"Where'd Benjamin-?" I started to ask, but his mother quickly interrupted.

"He nearly always does this. I'm sure he'll find you soon as he finds something interesting. Knowing Benjamin, that could be any moment now," She smiled down at me as she and my mother went off in search of the text books needed.

"Sounds good," I said, as they disappeared and I was suddenly all alone.

I walked through the aisles of books, feeling the looks of many curious wizards coming my way as I strolled along alone. Periodically, I would pick up a book and flip through it, but section after section found nothing that really fancied my interest. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what any of those books were about, but I was more or less just trying to fit in with the others who were strolling the aisles as if they had all the time in the world just to look for books. It blew my mind that folks actually read for fun.

Just as I was beginning to grow impatient with the bookstore, I turned another corner and continued wandering. I looked at all the books of different shapes and sizes, still trying only to fit in with the older witches and wizards browsing. Finding it be time to stop and look at another book, I picked up a blue book that seemed to be falling apart nearly as soon as I touched it. Not even looking at the cover, I delicately flipped through the pages.

"You know, if you want a book on elves, I find Flemming's Handbook on Elves to be much more useful," A toadher high-pitched voice said, nearly causing me to jump out of my skin, to the moon and back.

I instinctively slammed the book shut, feeling incredibly embarrassed for being caught. Colour immediately rushed to my face as I spluttered, trying to think of a logical response to this boy," Uh-um, well-"

"BUT-" The boy added intelligently, snatching the book from my hands. " I do find the lifestyle and personality traits section of Edwin's to be toadher useful…"

The thin, tall boy with fire, red hair continued to spout off all this information and talking about the downfalls of "Edwin's", which was apparently the book I had, by chance, picked up, and how it "clearly" was not written by scholars as "Flemming's" had been. "Any ol' bloke" could figure that one out, according to this, very studious and toadher imposing boy, whose intelligence was impressive, but slightly obnoxious, as well.

I felt as though any intelligence I had developed over the eleven years of my life was not nearly as expansive in comparison to his. All I could do was watch, with my jaw on the verge of dropping, as he listed off all of this information that was easily over my head. All I had intended on doing was wandering the aisles of the bookstore, trying to fit in with the Wizarding community and here was this…boy, not much older than me, who obviously thought I was actually interested in this stuff. How in the world was I going to break it to him that I wasn't?

Luckily, he didn't leave many time spaces for breaks in speech…nor breaths for that matter. I only found it necessary for me to nod my head and pretend as though I was following.

"If you've got any more questions-" He said to me, but before he could finish the phrase, a fiery woman's voice, could be heard echoing down the aisle of books.

"Percy Weasley! We have been looking ALL over this store for you! Now hurry on up, we're about to go! Your brothers have probably already torn up the house by now…" She spouted off at the boy in the most angry whisper I had ever heard.

This was easily the boy's, or Percy toadher, mother. Her bright red, voluminous hair was the exact replica of Percy's. The boy shut the book, I watched colour run to his face as he shoved the book back in the self and started walking toward his mother. She was a toadher plump woman and simply by looking at her and hearing her voice, I would have been just as scared of her. It amazed me at how quickly he had shut up, simply from hearing her.

"Only helping out a first year, mother," He said, with a toadher professional tone to his voice as if she was overreacting entirely.

The mother's eyes turned to me as an immediately wave of empathy seemed to pass over her face," Oh darling, is that true?"

I swallowed hard, finding this to be my first opportunity to speak in a while," Yes, ma'am it is-"

"Where's your mother at? Why are you wandering around here all alone?-" I cut her off before she could get too far off on a tangent.

"She's just around the corner," I reassured her with a smile, even though I, in fact, hadn't a clue where she was.

She returned the smile before placing a hand on her son's shoulder to hurry him along, her concern for my well-being seemed to be secured," Oh good, well, sweetheart-what is your name?"

"I'm Lana," I said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, finding this woman far too friendly.

"Lana, I hope you have a wonderful first year at Hogwarts," She said, rushing through her words as they started to back away. "We really must be going…perhaps we will run into you again sometime. Goodbye!"

Percy also bid his farewell, but much less boisterously than his mother had. One question came to my head and just after I said goodbye to the Weasley mother and her son, I called after them.

"Hey, how did you know I was a first year?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at the red-headed boy.

"Oh," Percy said, matter-of-factly. "Simply an assumption."

His mother chuckled slightly at this," It wasn't but a year ago, you were a first year, as well. Now, come along Percy."

And with that, they exited the bookstore.

Author's Note: I wanted to add so much more to this chapter, but this will have to do for now. Let me know what you think! Reviews are greatly appreciated :D