William folded it over and over again in his hands that morning. A few weeks before the start of the new school year and William had finally received his letter with his new book list. For some reason a reminder of the new school year didn't fill William with the dread it had when he went to elementary school but a quiet cheer. The new book list reminded him that the past year had not all been in his head, that he had really gone to the Salem Institute for Magical Study and more importantly he would be returning. That day he told his parents about it and they had both smiled and said that since summer courses were wrapping up they'd once more make a family trip to Dragon's Plaza for his school supplies.

Even though they set out early on a Friday morning William didn't catch any extra sleep as they drove to Dragon's Plaza in the heart of Manhattan. Nothing could ever be as exciting as returning to the wizarding world. They pulled through the tight little streets that looked from a century past that lead to the small parking garage with the wide variety of magical automobiles in it. As soon as his father put the car in park William nearly burst out running for the entrance to Dragon's Plaza.

He took in every single facet of the strange vehicles as he tried not to dash through the parking structure toward the entrance to Dragon's Plaza. As he came up the ramp he burst into a run, blinking quickly as his eyes adjusted to the light of the late summer morning. William breathed in deep the smells of cooking dragon meat and potions brewing across the large square. He craned his head up immediately as post owls took flight bearing all manner of letters and packages through the air, a few people whizzed by on broomsticks, light summer cloaks and robes fluttering in the air behind them.

His eyes roamed across the crowds as he watched all the people pass by, students in a variety of robes and muggle clothing juggling books and school supplies as they went. For the first time in months William felt comfortable, in a way that he could never fully express to his family.

William's fingers trailed down to his belt and he gently removed his wand holster from the inner waistband of his muggle shorts, letting it hang on the outside proudly. He smiled, even though he wasn't wearing robes the ability to have his wand out made William feel like a wizard again. As he stood at the mouth of the parking garage, hands on his hips, his family finally caught up with him. His parents had clearly hung back for a moment to let him soak it all in again, coming up at their own speed.

With his shortened shopping list, William didn't have to make a full circuit of the stores this year. The Fraser family slowly meandered their way to the tightly packed book store they had gone to the previous summer. Elizabeth once again chose to wait outside, and as she did William noticed that she seemed to be looking around the Plaza like she was looking for someone. William shook his head and walked into the store.

The store was dark and smelled of book leather. His mother made her way through the aisles, and his father turned off down a different one while William decided to search for his textbooks on his own. With list in hand he walked through the tall stacks of shelves. Slowly he found himself with a load of books under one arm as he walked through the store to the far end in a shadowy corner. Here, much like last year he found his mother perusing through several darkly bound volumes.

"Mom?" William asked as he walked forward. She was deep in thought, her eyes scanning over the pages as her hands flipped through them. "Mom?" He asked again as he stepped closer.

She jumped a little bit as she turned, "Oh William, you scared me." She snapped the volume shut with a snap. "Have all your school books?"

"Yes," He said, she set the fine looking book down and William read the title in red letters along the dark spine, A Brief History of the Dark Arts.

She placed her hand on his shoulder and said in a somewhat shaken voice, "Come on William, let's go pay for your textbooks."

William nodded, wondering why his mother had been reading about the dark arts. He hoped that she didn't think he was involved in anything bad. As they walked to the front he felt a tingle in his leg and he bit back a sigh, realizing that ever since that had happened last year his mother had most likely been preoccupied with dark magic whenever she thought of the wizarding world. They quickly paid for the books, and headed back out into the ever brightening sky. William noticed an increasing amount of people flying around on broomsticks as the day progressed. The whole square was filled with people laughing and joking and enjoying the day.

As they started moving toward the clothing store William had bought his robes at last year his father said, "Hey, why don't you kids go on ahead, your mother and I will meet you at the ice cream store a few doors down."

William felt like a weight was lifted off his chest that he hadn't even realized was there. He turned to see his mother slightly confused, but his father gave her a look as they broke off from their children and toward a store a few doors away. As soon as they were out of ear shot, Elizabeth said, "Thank god, that could've been really embarrassing for you."

William found himself nodding along with his sister's statement, "Yeah, I guess so." They entered into the store, and William was measured quickly and quietly. He could hear other parents who were in the store, saying awkward things to their kids and to the store clerks about how the robes looked or hung on their children. William found himself very thankful of the fact that his father had sought to spare him from this kind of social torture as he saw a few Salem students he recognized by looks only staring down toward the students shopping with their parents. The social judgment of those students was palpable as he moved to pay for his robes.
As William and his sister made their way out of the store, they bumped directly into a gangly youth with slicked back dark hair. William stepped back as he suddenly realized who he had bumped into. Theodore Stinson had also taken a step from William and his hand was already deep in the pocket of his robes as he glowered at William. William's hand rested on his wand as well, carefully watching Theodore for any sudden moves as the taller boy watched him very carefully.

"Fraser," Theodore said calmly.

"No Henry?" William asked.

"Where're your pathetic little friends?" Theodore sneered.

William noticed his sister had backed off a little unsure of what to do. William scowled back at Theodore and gripped his wand even tighter, noticing that Theodore was slowly moving his hand within his robes, getting ready to quickly remove his wand.

All of a sudden there was a low whistle and a voice said, "My my, Mr. Stinson, how does dueling in the streets of New York City really reflect on your family?"

Theodore tensed up immediately and turned his head. William looked up, trying to keep an eye on Theodore as he spotted the new arrival, the captain of the Salem Quidditch team Franklin Perry. William's sister suddenly moved forward when Franklin had arrived.

"Perry," Theodore sneered, as he straightened himself and took his hand from his pocket.

"Really Mr. Stinson, I always thought that your family was in some thing of good standing. I never thought they would produce a son who would just start fights in the street," Franklin casually moved around Theodore and then bowed with a flourish to Elizabeth, "M'Lady, I'm sorry that you had to witness your brother and this young cur nearly come to blows."

William's sister giggled ferociously as Franklin took her hand and kissed it gently.

Theodore then let out a huff, "At least dueling with a wizard is more respectable than porking a mudblood's simple sibling." Theodore then spit on the ground in front of Franklin and William before turning around.

William's wand was out faster than he realized he could move, but Franklin's seeker reflexes caught him and then he said, "It's illegal and against the Code of Conduct for Underclassmen to cast spells on breaks William."

William turned to Franklin, and said, "But!"

"Stinson's an idiot from a useless family, besides," He then looked out at the retreating seventh grader, "In a few weeks you'll be able to get your revenge without being expelled."

William's sister then looked at the two of them in turn, "What exactly just happened?"

Franklin smirked and then said, "Oh nothing in particular, just some narrow-minded prejudice that has no place in civilized circles."

Elizabeth shook her head and looked at her younger brother, "William?"

"Yeah," William answered, "What he said."

Franklin offered to take Elizabeth on a walk around the square that she graciously accepted, and he promised that she would not be gone for too long when William stated that they needed to meet their parents soon. Elizabeth had only giggled and told William not to worry about anything as the pair of them walked off.

William then turned in the opposite direction making his way toward parts of Dragon's Plaza he had only visited in passing. He jostled through the crowd of robed figures, trying not to gawk at every store front he passed by. It was as William came to one of the corners of Dragon's Plaza that the crowd seemed to stop moving but was packed around a particular store front. As he stepped forward he suddenly realized that they weren't quite packed as they were gathered around several outdoor tables.

Everyone was crammed against them listening to something on the wizard wireless. Suddenly there was a loud cheer when something was announced over the wireless. William looked around and suddenly saw a sign floating in the air above him, Quods and Quaffles was the name of the place and he suddenly realized it was a big restaurant. As he continued to make his way through the tables he suddenly recognized one cheering voice toward the edge of the tables. As he approached the table he caught sight of Sarah Klein, the school's biggest Quidditch fan listening intently to the wizarding wireless, sitting next to her was a boy perhaps a year or two younger than her.

As he approached her, William waved his hand and called out, "Sarah?"

"William!" She smiled broadly as he approached, and then she said, "You'll never believe this Forgie just pulled off a Wrongski Feint!"

"A uh...what?" William replied.

Sarah groaned before saying, "You really need to get on the ball with Quidditch William, it's the sport that the rest of the world plays, not that stupid Quodpot." There was a round of 'hear hears' from a few neighboring tables. The young boy next to Sarah tugged on her sleeve, and Sarah groaned, "What Adam?"

"Dad and Grandpa said they wanted to meet us at the book store by noon Sarah," the younger boy, presumably Adam said.

"So?" Sarah replied as she turned to once more listen to the announcer for the Quidditch match.

"That was ten minutes ago!" Adam replied.

"Whatever," Sarah answered she then turned toward William and said, "I was coming back from getting some new robes when I ran into this place on accident, isn't it the coolest place ever?"

William shrugged, "I don't know, I guess."

Sarah just shook her head, "Come on, it's a place where you can just sit and listen to Quidditch games and stuff." Adam tugged at her and she suddenly said, "Fine, alright we'll go." She hopped down from the table and then smiled, "I'll see you back at school William, hope your summer's going good!" She and her younger brother then moved out across the square leaving William to only shake his head as the crowd gathered at all the tables suddenly cheered again.

William made his way down past the rest of the shops and by the time he got to the ice cream shop he spotted his sister coming from the opposite direction. She was smiling broadly and he noticed that she did not have Franklin Perry with her, "Hey there squirt."

"Hey, where's Franklin?" William asked.

"Oh he had to go somewhere or something," Elizabeth shrugged and then stretched a little, "Anyway, I won't tell Mom and Dad about whatever happened in front of the robe store if you don't tell them I left you alone to go on a walk with Franklin."

"Alright, I guess," William responded unsure exactly why all of the secrecy was important but the one thing he did know was that he didn't want his mother worrying about the fact that he almost got into a fight in broad day light.

They then joined their parents in the ice cream shop, his parents had apparently only also just sat down, and they smiled when their children arrived. The family talked about how nice the day was, and how the robe shopping had gone, and after that they ate their fill of ice cream they turned to head out. As he descended into the parking garage William tucked his wand holster back into the waistband of his pants, happy that he did not use it against Theodore earlier. As the rest of the family made their way to the car he turned his head to gaze back at Dragon's Plaza and smiled, taking in every bit of it so that he could hold on to the memory as clearly as possible for the last few weeks of summer vacation.