Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Title: The Poem

Author: ReadingRed

Beta: DukeBrymin

Chapter Seven: The Alley

It didn't take long for the Knight Bus to get them to Diagon Alley and soon the family was standing outside the Leaky Cauldron. Teddy and Little Harry had just woken up and Harry and Ginny were trying to think of a way to explain to Little Harry about his name being changed.

"Just do it, Potter. Tell him the truth," Ginny coaxed.

"If you think it's so easy you do it," he told her.

"Fine, I will. Harry come over here for a bit." Ginny motioned for the six-year-old to come to her and he hurried over. She knelt so she was at eye level with the young boy.

"Okay, little man, you know how you used to live with the Dursleys?" Little Harry nodded. "Well, that's because after your first mommy and daddy died it was the only safe place for you to be, so a man named Dumbledore did what he thought was best and left you there." Little Harry seemed to take that all in so Ginny continued.

"He thought they'd be good to you, but they weren't, so now we're here and you'll be in our family. Now the problem is that Dumbledore is going to be very worried when he finds out that you aren't with the Dursleys, and lots of people will be looking all over for you, so we're going to have to do a bit of hiding for now. One of the things we have to do is give you another name. Teddy got a new name when we adopted him and so will you. Is that okay?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded eagerly.

"I wanna new name. What's it gonna be?" he asked, grinning up at her.

"Well, we talked about it a lot and we were thinking that you could be called Finley Harrison James Potter. The name you were given at birth is very important. Your middle name, James, was your father's name, and Harry was his father's name. So we want to keep those, but we need to change your name a little too, that's why we added Finley, and changed Harry to Harrison. Finley was the name of a man who saved my life. I know it's a lot to take in, and if you're not okay with any of the changes, we can talk about it and change it to be whatever you like. What do you think?"

"I love it!" Finley said, throwing his arms around Ginny's neck. Ginny grinned up at Harry.

"See? It's that easy," she said to Harry as she picked up the newly renamed boy. "Fin, we're about to go through this pub to Diagon Alley, it's a magical shopping center." She told him, trying to put it in a way he would understand.

"We just need to disguise ourselves a bit. Teddy and Harry are really good at this; you'll be good too once you get a little bit of practice. Harry, how about brown hair and blue eyes? You look at little too much like your father. Teddy you can stay pretty much the same, just change your eyes to green and add a few more freckles. Just watch this, Fin." Before their eyes Teddy and Harry changed their appearances to match the descriptions Ginny had given them.

"Wow!" Finley shouted. "That's so cool! Can I try? How do you do that?"

"Finley, do you remember when Petunia cut your hair really short?" Harry asked. Finley nodded. "And you remember how it grew back overnight?" Finley nodded again.

"Okay, just try to remember how you felt when you were making your hair grow back; think really hard about changing how you look. Try to imagine yourself with red hair like Ginny and brown eyes that look just like hers."

Finley nodded and closed his eyes. His face scrunched up in concentration. Slowly his dark hair changed to red and his face became spotted with freckles. He opened his eyes, they were like melted chocolate, nearly exact replicas of Ginny's own.

"Great job, Finley, you too, Teddy," Harry cheered. He looked the boys over; they could now pass as twins. Even with the two year age difference between the boys they were about the same size due to the Dursleys' mistreatment of Finley. The little boy was much too short for his age, but it worked in their favor now. After all who would think that the family in line next to them at Gringotts with the twin red heads was really Harry Potter and his new family? Teddy now had messy red hair and bright green eyes, and Finley was sporting red hair and brown eyes. Harry's grin grew a little larger when he looked over his family.

"You both did awesome," Ginny congratulated. "Now, are we ready to go into Diagon Alley?" she asked. The boys shouted their agreement. She set Finley down on his feet and took his hand. Harry grabbed Teddy's hand and they entered the pub. Harry, Ginny, and Teddy were shocked by the difference in the appearance of the pub. It was crowded with people, all bustling about, some eating, some drinking, most making their way to the back of the pub, where the entrance to Diagon Alley was hidden.

In their time, the Leaky Cauldron had been all but demolished, as had the rest of Diagon Alley. The war had not been kind to the Wizarding world and Diagon Alley had not been an exception. It had become a dangerous place to go. Most people only ventured in when absolutely necessary. Death Eaters liked big targets, they loved to make a scene and Diagon Alley was one of the Dark Lord's favorite places to cause mayhem.

Teddy had only been once; Harry had had to get money from Gringotts and Ginny wasn't home to watch him so Harry took the three year old with him. Even in its dilapidated state, Diagon Alley had amazed Teddy. The few shops that were still open seven years after the war started were all in shambles but the shop owners tried to make the best of what they had to deal with.

Harry had withdrawn the money he needed and then decided to take Teddy to Quality Quidditch Supplies. Teddy loved the sport almost as much as his parents, which meant he was only one step down from being a fanatic.

There wasn't much free time in war, but when Harry and Ginny were not out fighting Voldemort and his forces they tried to make life as normal for Teddy as possible and to them that included lots of Quidditch.

Harry took Teddy flying for the first time when Teddy was just nine months old and the little boy had loved it. After Teddy turned two, Harry charmed his broom to stay about three feet off the ground and let Teddy fly by himself. The boy was a natural; he took to flying almost as well as Harry had. There was no doubt in Harry's mind that Teddy would one day be a better flyer than Harry himself was.

Harry had bought the boy his own child sized broom, a Thunder Clap, and two Lightning Strikes, one for him and one for Ginny. The Thunder Clap was an exact replica of the Lightning Strike, the only differences being that the Thunder Clap was about two and a half feet long and charmed to allow the parents to set the top speed and height that the broom could reach.

When Harry and Teddy had returned home, they spent the rest of the evening outside playing Quidditch, although, Quidditch with a three-and-a-half-year-old was very different than one would expect. They put buckets on the ground for the goals and they only played with a Quaffle.

Harry really had wanted to introduce a snitch into the game but he had forgotten to get a child-charmed snitch at Quality Quidditch Supplies, and the ones they had at home would all fly too high for Teddy to catch.

Playing Quidditch with Teddy and Ginny that night was one of the best memories Harry had of his life after Hogwarts. He hoped now that they would be able to make plenty more memories just as good. He was determined to give his children a better life than he had.

The family made their way to the back of the pub and exited into the courtyard.

"Teddy, do you remember which brick we have to tap?" Harry asked the boy.

"Yep!" Teddy shouted jumping up and down pointing to the correct brick. "Tree up, two 'cross."

"And how many times do we tap it?" Harry asked.

"Dis many," Teddy said holding up three fingers.

"Correct," Harry confirmed before rapping on the brick with the backs of his knuckles, sending a jolt of magic into the wall and opening the gateway into Diagon Alley.

Behind him he heard three gasps. He felt like doing the same, but his breath had caught in his chest. It was beautiful; he could remember it looking like this as a child, but it was so different seeing it again.

The Alley was packed with people milling about, all content in their little lives. Mothers holding their children's hands, future Hogwarts students filling their cauldrons with all their school supplies, and boys (and the occasional girl) pressed up against the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies drooling over the newest broom. There was more life in the Alley than Harry had seen in years. No screams could be heard except those of a child who was denied ice cream from Florean Fortescue's. It was amazing, and it was at that moment that it truly hit Harry how much they could change.