A little something for when you've finished DH : )

Chapter seven.

Three up, two across, Ayla thought as she took a deep breath. This was it. Her son's first trip to Diagon alley. Her little boy was growing up. The bricks slowly moved, creating a gap in the once solid wall. She smiled in spite of herself at the twins awestruck gasps as the street opened up in front of them.

"Ok now I believe." whispered Edie.

"Took you long enough." Marcus said, patting his daughter's shoulder. "Now listen, don't even think about racing off and getting yourselves lost, stick with me and your mother."

"And don't touch anything. Especially if you don't know what it is and looks breakable or strange." added Ayla.

"Where're we going first?" Rae asked excitedly, pulling at her mother's sleeve.

The two adults glanced at each other. They had decided to bring the twins along despite the nagging feeling they both had that it would be an extremely bad idea. Both knew they were in for a day of "Look mum!" and "Dad can I have?". Looking down at Rae's wide eyes told Ayla that it was going to be a very long day, and this was only the beginning.

"Gringotts." she said decisively. She was the adult. She'd take control. She'd be in charge.

"Boring." muttered Edie.

"Well if you don't want money for an ice cream that's fine." Marcus sang.

Ayla immediately shot him a look, silently asking "Do you think seven years olds with a sugar rush and magic should mix?". He shrugged equally silently, his gesture saying "If it keeps them quiet, besides I didn't say when they'd get the ice cream." he added a grin.

"Sneaky." Ayla said.

"I know."

Ayla smiled. She and Marcus had become pros at speaking without words when little ears were around. With one look she knew exactly what he was thinking. The added bonus that came was that their children often had no idea what was going on.

"Who's sneaky?" Rae asked.

"Doesn't matter." Ayla answered, taking hold of her hand, as Marcus did the same with Edie.

"How come Jake doesn't have to hold hands?" Edie protested, trying to free herself from her father's grasp.

"Because Jake has to keep hold of his school supply list and get us to the right shops." Ayla said, ruffling her boy's hair.

"And he's older than you." Marcus added. "Head for the big white building mate. We'll be right behind you."

They set off down the street, Jake in front, his parents following, each keeping a hold of his sisters' who kept turning every which way, trying to take in every sight and sound. The crowd bustled around them, blocking glimpses of strange shop windows, before parting and revealing even stranger sights. Before long all five were mounting the steps to Gringotts. Marcus used his spare hand to fish the key to the family vault from his pocket.

Ayla threw him another look. She wasn't too keen on taking the girls down to the vault, more for her own well being than theirs. Marcus had been adamant that they all go.

"Come on." he had cajoled. "Don't you want to see their faces when we're in the cart? You can't miss that!"

Ayla had pointed out that her eyes would be shut tight anyway, so it didn't really matter if she was there or not.

They walked through the double doors and headed for the nearest available goblin.

"Vault two thousand seven hundred and ten please. We need to make a withdrawal." Marcus said grinning at Ayla. "You'll be fine." he whispered.

"We'd also like to set up another account, for our son." Ayla said, forcing calmness to wash over her.

"Very well, Haworth! Vault two, seven, one, zero please. And make it a family sized cart." the goblin called to a colleague.

"Where are we going?" Jake asked as they followed Haworth as he hobbled through another set of doors.

"You'll see." Marcus replied.

Ayla's eyes were closed before she had even sat down. Marcus put an arm around her and placed a kiss on her temple.

"I'll keep you safe." he whispered.

The cart whizzed off, pulling shrieks of fear and delight from the girls.

"Holy sh-" Jake exclaimed.

"Watch it!" his father interrupted.

When the cart pulled to a stop Ayla didn't trust her legs to get out. She sighed in relief and opened her eyes. Her girls were giggling and gasping for breath. Marcus and Jake were inside the vault.

"That was amazing mum!"

"Just like a rollercoaster."

"Yeah." Ayla agreed weakly.

"And we'd like to put uh, fifty Galleons into a separate account for our son." she heard Marcus say as he came out of the vault.

"When do we get our account mum?" Edie asked, jumping onto her mother's lap.

"When you go to Hogwarts."

"That's ages away!"

Ayla watched as the goblin tapped a stretch of wall next to their vault.

"Vault two, seven, one, zero b for Mister Jake Flint's use." he said.

"Thank you." Jake said nervously.

"My pleasure sir. If you'll board the cart I'll take you back up."

"Dad I want to go to Hogwarts!" Rae cried as her father got back into the cart.

"You'll be there soon enough. Don't worry." he replied.

"But we want to go now!" Edie whined.

"But you're not old enough!" Marcus said, mimicking his daughter's tone.

Ayla closed her eyes once more. She ignored the protests of her girls, the whirring of the cart wheels, and the sound of the wind whipping round her head, and concentrated on the fact that she'd soon be back on solid ground.

The fresh air of Diagon alley wrapped itself around Ayla and she felt the giddiness leave her head and legs.

"Robes first." she declared, stepping out into the sunlight.

Ayla realised that, in fairness to her girls, that day wasn't entirely as stimulating as it had promised to be. They sat quietly and watched as their brother was fitted for his school robes. They hung close and stuck to a silence they only reserved for the library in Flourish and Blotts. When it came to getting potion supplies they flat out refused to enter the apothecary, preferring to wait outside with their dad. The Magical Menagerie brought them out of themselves a little as they stared in open mouthed wonder at all the animals. Some of which were clearly baffling to them.

"It's a ball of fur!" Rae hissed about a pygmy puff. And even tried to convince their brother to get a cat. "To keep you company at school." Edie had said practically.

In Eeylops Owl Emporium they shuffled their feet and scrunched their noses. They were, at first, reluctant to let their brother get an owl, that was until the shop owner pointed out their various uses. "Get the brown one!" Edie had suggested helpfully, staring at a row of five owls of varying shades of the same colour.

At the door of Ollivander's the girls once more insisted that they wanted to stay outside.

"You won't want to miss your brother getting his wand." Marcus encouraged.

They sat, once more in hushed silence, as their brother waved wand after wand. Far from being bored by the continuous attempts the two sat side by side, both tensed for something incredible.

"This is the one." Ollivander said, coming once more from the back of the shop. "Try it. Birch, eleven inches, unicorn hair."

True to his word the wand shot out sparks of red and blue.

"Perfect." Ollivander said, smiling.

"Well that's you done young man." Marcus said as they left the shop.

"Can't I have a broom dad?"

"First years aren't allowed darling." Ayla said, before her husband could form a reply.

"Maybe for Christmas." Marcus whispered.

I know, I missed my Thursday. I'm sorry. I got caught up in holiday excitement and DH coming out. For those of you who have read it already ( I managed it in 12 hours flat anyone beat me?) do you think things in this chapter are still relavent? Not that I'll really change it but there we go haha.

Anyway a week Monday I'm off to Southsea for the week, so I'll post two chapters this Thursday coming (hopefully) and then you won't have any 'til I get back.

Also is anyone appreciating the song title/lines Titles? Because they bloody hard to come up with!