A/N: So, I won't be in town on the weekend since I have a wedding to go to. I've decided to post this up quick. It's short but I wanted to do the trip to Diagon Alley all together.

Ten years had passed since that fateful Halloween night. Dahlia Potter, now nearly eleven years old, stood in front of the stove. Her dark red hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she held a spatula in her right hand. She was watching all of the food on the stove, making sure that it didn't burn. Her aunt, Petunia, was the first of her relatives to enter the kitchen. She studied the nearly made breakfast with a tight smile. Dahlia smiled at her aunt, speaking quietly, "Good morning, Aunt Petunia. I've gotten nearly everything ready, like you asked me to. I hope everything tastes all right."

The tall blonde was about to say something when her husband came into the room. He glared at the young girl, "Isn't breakfast ready yet? It's Dudley's birthday and everything must be perfect!"

Dahlia brought all of the food that was ready to the kitchen table, setting it in the middle, along with some utensils to grab the food. She barely glanced at the large group of presents that she knew to be her cousin's before turning her attention back to the food on the stove. Vernon was glaring at her as she hummed to herself, though she was ignoring him as usual.

She knew that he hated her, though she didn't really care why. The preteen was used to his moods around her, so she understood that trying to get on his good side would be futile. He grunted as he looked down at the food, speaking angrily, "Is this all that you've made? Are you trying to starve my son?"

Refraining from rolling her eyes, the curly-haired girl shook her head. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, answering calmly, "No, Uncle Vernon. I followed the directions Aunt Petunia gave me last night. I'm sorry if you don't like it."

She was saved from having to hear his reply as they heard footsteps on the stairs. Seconds later, Dudley came rushing into the kitchen. He was a good five or six inches taller than his cousin and was slightly pudgy. Dahlia gave her cousin a small smile as she put out some plates for the family. "Happy birthday, Dudley. What would you like to drink?"

Though Dudley was pudgy, Dahlia figured that he would end up playing football when he got older. It was something that she thought would do him good and which he would enjoy, which could be used to rid him of some of his aggression. He grinned as he looked at all of the presents in the corner. "Just milk. When do I get to open all of my presents?"

Vernon turned to his son, smacking him on the back, chuckling, "Right after breakfast you can open your presents. When is your little friend going to get here?"

Dudley thought for a moment before shrugging, "Piers said he was going to be here in a couple of hours."

The young girl wrinkled her nose up in distaste, having a deep seated dislike for Dudley's best friend. Her cousin wouldn't let anyone talk bad about her while he was around, but his best friend liked to taunt her whenever Dudley wasn't in the room. He also managed to get Dudley's other friends to gang up on her when the blonde was sick and not in school. For this reason, she let out a sigh of relief once her aunt started to speak, "That reminds me. Dahlia, your Aunt Minerva is going to be coming today and take you to get your things for that school."

Vernon didn't say anything, but the redhead could tell that he was unhappy with the change of topic. Nobody was allowed to mention Hogwarts or anything to do with it in his presence. He barely tolerated the woman that she called Aunt Minnie, even though she wasn't an aunt. In fact, Dahlia was quite sure that if he could, he would have banned the woman from his house. Nodding, the young girl barely managed to conceal her excitement. She looked confused as she spoke questioningly, though, "Isn't she supposed to become in a couple of days on my birthday? I thought she was planning on staying for the week so she could let me know what to expect on the train ride…"

Her aunt shrugged as she picked at her food, "She sent a letter saying that she was terribly sorry but something had come up. She is going to bring you to Diagon Alley so that you can get your stuff, but there will also be someone else meeting you there as she must leave on some important duty."

Vernon let out a bark of laughter that caused the preteen to look at him. He muttered just loud enough for her to hear, "Probably would just rather spend the day doing paperwork than having to deal with the little brat. Can't say that I blame her. Nothing but a bloody nuisance."

Dudley was frowning as he looked at one family member after another. He addressed his question to his mother, clearly upset about something. "So, Dolly won't be coming with us? But I was looking forward to showing her the penguins at the zoo! I know you're always going on about how cute penguins are…"

Smiling at her cousin, the young witch ignored her uncle's warning glance. "Don't worry, Duds. Just take lots of pictures for me. Maybe I can get you something awesome while I'm shopping with Aunt Minnie."

This caused Dudley smile slightly as he looked over at his younger cousin. "You promise? It better not be a book or anything. You know how I hate reading."

Unable to keep herself from laughing a little, Dahlia nodded to the boy sitting next to her. "I promise! And it definitely won't be a book. I know you're allergic to books."

Vernon cleared his throat to get his son's attention. Dahlia quietly picked up the dishes as Dudley turned his attention to the packages in the corner. It was a tradition for him to open some of the more embarrassing presents before his guest arrived. As he was on his seventh present of who knew how many, a knock came at the door. Without being told, the girl moved out of the kitchen and to the front door. Opening it up, she saw Minerva McGonagall standing in the doorway.

Minerva eyed the girl up and down, checking her for any signs of neglect. The young girl had told to be dressed in some of her better clothes and now she knew why. She was wearing a black skirt that went to her knees as well as a white button up shirt. Dahlia smiled at the older woman, speaking excitedly "Aunt Minnie! I just found out that you were coming today. Can we see Dudley open a few more presents before we go? He's kind of upset that I can't go with them to the zoo."

Minerva nodded as she looked around the hallway, noticing it looked a lot like it had when she had been there years before. She was a bit distracted as she answered, "Of course we can stay for a little while. You have all day to shop for your school supplies. I've got your letter and your list of what you need to buy. Just remember that you are to call me Professor McGonagall when we are at Hogwarts."

As they went back into the kitchen, Dahlia saw that her cousin had waited for her to get back into the room before he continued to open his presents. She made the appropriate oohing and aahing noises to show her appreciation for his new gifts. After about a half hour, Minerva finally ushered Dahlia out of the house so they could get a taxi to take them to the Leaky Cauldron.

A/N: I had an idea for another story as well. I don't know how many people watch it, but I wanted to do a Harry Potter-style Big Brother. I know what characters I would put in it and I was thinking of doing it sort of interactively using polls. Review or send me an instant message telling me if you think this is a good idea. The first poll up will be with what twists people would like to see happen during the story. Some twists I already have planned.