Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.
~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Walking through Diagon Alley Harry had to force himself not to cast cleaning charms on his clothing. Everyone bustled about, smashing into everyone else creating a chain reaction that resulted in you being shoved even further from your destination. It was infuriating. These people had absolutely no sense of decency, if they knew who he was they would think twice about walking into him. With that in mind he glared at the podgy witch in frilly pink robes, the reason he was now rubbing his shoulder, trying to control the urge to curse her. However she merely rushed along, unaware of the wrath she had just escaped from. Narrowly.

"Harry are you okay?" asked Lily, her green eyes flashing with concern.

"Yes, I'm just not used to so many people" replied Harry quietly, pretending to be a little frightened.

"Oh shoot we never thought of that," said James, "Here" Harry felt a shield charm envelop him, the thin layer of magic repelling those cretins from coming closer to him than an inch. It still made him uncomfortable but a part, a very small part he amended, was thankful that they had taken the trouble. He would have done it himself but then that would have raised questions, perhaps even offending them and him losing the trust he had built up over his incredibly short stay. It was amazing how gullible they were. Really.

"We just need to go in here to get your school books" said Lily, gently ushering him into, Harry glanced up at the name, Flourish and Blotts.

To say the shop was packed would be an understatement. Everywhere there were people, some reading avidly whilst others just simply stood looking bored. To one side were the parents, laden down with the rest of their children's shopping and looking like the day couldn't end quick enough. A snatch of blonde hair caught his attention and he focused on it. Lucius was standing to one side with Draco, Draco was probably fawning over yet another Dark Arts book. As if sensing he was watching, Draco turned and his eyes widened when he took in Harry's form. Lucius, seeing this, grabbed his son's arm and whispered to him urgently and the young man's eyes dawned with understanding, not making eye contact with Harry again. He knew this was part of his mission but Harry still couldn't help but feel a little sad that his childhood friend could ignore him so easily. Some of the Death Eaters joked that he had no emotion, but if they had ever seen him cast an Unforgivable they would know that that wasn't the case. No, he only reserved his emotions for those close to him and so it was like a slap in the face that one of those rare few would turn their back on him so easily. Another part of him however congratulated the young Malfoy. It couldn't have been easy to only hear about this now and yet he managed it excellently. Focusing on this, Harry caught up with his parents, they were of the minority that actually looked delighted at helping their child shop. Mentally rolling his eyes, Harry stood to one side, trying not to smirk at the apparent role reversal. Draco caught sight of this too because he smirked slightly at Harry when he left the shop, also, in some respect apologising for his earlier conduct no matter how necessary it was.

Mercifully they left soon and easily, thanks to the shield charm, carved their way through the crowd. Their last stop was the apothecary and Harry tried not to sigh in relief. He did however want to hex someone when he saw a gaggle of gingers exiting it and his parents walking towards them.

"Molly, Arthur" greet James, smiling at the two adults.

"Lily, James… Harry" replied Arthur, steeling himself before looking at Harry.

Ignoring this, Lily pressed on, "We're almost done, do you want to go to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink?"

"Of course that will be lovely, how about in twenty minutes? We still have to go to the Owl Emporium" said Molly, beaming at James and Lily, the smile faltering a little when it met Harry.

"Right come along children," said Arthur wearily. Turning away, the herd continued up the street, Harry could hear Molly screeching something to... Fred he thought it was.

"We just thought it would be nice if you got to know some people your own age now and not on the Hogwarts Express" explained Lily as they walked into the shop.

"Thanks mum, I appreciate it" said Harry, looking at his feet in what he hoped was a bashful way. Inside he was seething. It was obvious his parents wanted him to spend time with these... people at school. He had been told about the Weasley's, the notoriety for being blood traitors was well known amongst his father's followers.

Looking at some of the pickled horn toads he ran his finger along the dusty containers. He wondered if he would finally meet Severus Snape. His father had often talked of him, about the reports he compiled for him amongst other matters. Of course Severus wouldn't know who he was but it would be intriguing watching the man at work, to see how good a spy he really was. Inwardly smirking he could picture the shock on the man's face if he found out his true identity. Perhaps he would reveal himself, if it aided him in his mission. It would be useful having someone with whom he could confide in. Of course Severus would have to earn his trust and that in itself was highly unlikely. Then again he did have Draco, he was sure the Malfoy heir would understand his frustration with the façade, perhaps more than the Potions Master. Yes, Draco was a safer outlet.

"Harry we're ready to go" came Lily's voice, pulling his mind back from the Dark precipice. He would have time to muse later, for now, he had a part to play.

Harry decided that he would burn his clothing after setting foot inside the famous pub. The floor was paved in dark grey tiles, coated in the grime that the various 'customers' left behind. The walls were coated with panels documenting the establishment's - if you could even call it that - history. On one side there was a menu and one wall was devoted to a bar stand, a few midday drinkers already dipping their beaks into the stronger stuff. The air was heavy with the scent of alcohol and burnt cooking, one witch sat in the corner with a pipe clenched between her teeth, the smoke billowing out of it giving Harry the urge to curse his own nose off, or preferably her face. Schooling his features he headed over to the table of red heads, obvious even in the dark lighting.

It was then he saw her.

Her red hair shimmered in the light the candle on the table emitted and her cinnamon eyes sparkled with laughter at something one of her brothers had said. Her laugh itself was music to his ears as clichéd as it sounded. It seemed to draw him in, share it's joy with him, lifting his mood about the whole situation considerably. Shaking his head he regained his senses, pulling his mind back to the present.

"Hello Harry," said Molly, her face kindly as it surveyed him, "These are my children, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. Fred and George own one of the joke shops here wanted to come round with us-"

"More like forced us to" grumbled Fred, the only difference from his brother was the name badge on his jacket lapel.

Ignoring them Molly continued. "Ron will be in your year and Ginny the year below."

Harry barely looked at Ron, his eyes trained on Ginny who was looking back at him, both in their own little world.

"You were the one that helped me" said Harry quietly, "I just want to say thank you."

"You're welcome" said Ginny, casting her eyes down to her hands which she had knotted together on her lap. His words however seemed to have started a thaw, the tension decreasing with each second. Lily and James smiled happily and began talking with Molly and Arthur at the head of the table, not leaving him but giving him some space nonetheless.

"So Harry, have you ever played Quidditch?" asked Ron, breaking the silence.

"No, I... wasn't allowed however I know the theory" said Harry, keeping his voice low and injecting some sorrow into it.

"When we get to Hogwarts I can teach you if you want?" suggested Ron, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

"I would appreciate that" said Harry, smiling gratefully.

"Just watch out for McGonagall-" started Fred, Harry was thankful they had name badges on.

"She's a dragon-" continued George.

"Literally" finished Fred in all seriousness.

"She was only like that with you because you set a dungbomb off in her office" said Ginny, smirking slightly.

"She had it coming-"

"Said we weren't creative enough in transfiguration" finished Fred.

"Because setting off a dungbomb is creative" Harry couldn't help but add sarcastically.

"Well what would you have done?" asked Fred.

"Hmm perhaps transfigure her robes into something a little more colourful" mused Harry.

"I told them something similar but to be fair they are rather special in the class work department" said Ginny, smiling evilly.

"For that-" started George.

"Baby sister-" continued Fred.

"You will-"

"Pay."

"I'd like to see you try" challenged Ginny, her eyes narrowing.

"Harry, sorry but we have to leave now" said Lily apologetically, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"It was nice meeting you" said Harry, standing up.

"You too Harry" said Fred and George in unison.

"I'll see you on the train" said Ron, his grin setting Harry at ease. Normally he was used to having to keep his wits about him, constantly on guard against double meanings but with these people he never had to be so tense. It only reminded him more how naïve these people were, there was always people out to get you and being as relaxed as them would get you killed.

"Bye Harry" said Ginny, sipping her lemonade.

Walking away Harry felt... strange, it was almost as if her was intoxicated. Angry at himself he forced the feeling down. Now was not the time to let his guard down, no matter how unthreatening they appeared to be. He thoughts instead went to Ginny. This was the second time his guard had went down around her. He was curious, what was it about her that made this happen? Why did she elicit this response from him? If there was one thing Harry never liked it was mysteries. He was almost glad he was going to Hogwarts, there he could explore it further without the watchful eyes of his parents. Ron seemed like a nice person, normally he mistrusted kindness but he could see that the red head would be no trouble. He was pretty simple minded therefore he wouldn't be much of a threat. No, it was Ginny he was intrigued by. She had displayed wit, intelligence, kindness, ruthlessness and a whole other myriad of emotions. Out of the two she would be the most problematic, the hardest to convince and this 'problem' just made it worse. Frowning slightly he wondered for the second time just what he had gotten himself into.

A/N: Thank you for the feedback! I was hesitant in posting this as I'm having a bit of a confidence meltdown at the moment and nothing I do seems to be good enough! I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless :/

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.

I apologise for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes contained within this chapter.

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