It was amazing the sorts of things that you could get used to, Chloe pondered as she trailed after her Aunt and cousin. They had passed through a door that Aunt Petunia had made appear in a solid wall with her wand. Now the three of them were walking down a cobbled street past the strangest shops Chloe had ever seen, as well as some of the strangest people. The street, Diagon Alley she thought Aunt Petunia had called it, was a sea of pointed hats and long robes. Here and there was a person wearing muggle clothing, perhaps having come from the outside world just like Chloe and her family members. Chloe wondered aloud if many witches and wizards lived their lives around muggles.

Aunt Petunia guided her young charges into a book store, swatting at some small winged paperbacks that began to flutter around her head. "Well, I suppose the most of us here in England do try to blend in as best we can, though there is a village close to Hogwarts, the only place in the country where only witches and wizards live. I've never been quite sure how it all works, to be perfectly honest. My parents, your grandparents, weren't magical in the slightest. Then my letter came from Hogwarts, and your mother's. Muggles can have wizard children and wizards can have non-magical children." She was fishing in her purse for one of the Hogwarts supply lists. "We're all connected, somehow."

"I suppose we'll be getting two of everything, more or less. Goodness, I should have taken us to the bank before we stopped in here. I guess I got a little overwhelmed, if you'll forgive me. I didn't think it would be quite so jarring to jump back into things." Aunt Petunia gave a small grin at her son and niece. "I think I'm having more trouble with things than the pair of you. The unflappability of youth..."

She hustled them out the door again after having barely taken two steps into the shop, bashfully telling the curious shopkeeper that they'd be back shortly. Just as they neared the building that Aunt Petunia pointed out as the wizarding bank, Gringotts, they had to stop in the path of the largest man that Chloe had ever seen. The man passed them and then backed up a step, turning to look at the three of them. Chloe looked up at Aunt Petunia and Aunt Petunia was aided in looking up at the man by her rather long neck.

"Petunia Evans, as I live an' breathe. If yer not abou' the last person I'd 'spect ter see, yeh come awful close."

Aunt Petunia smiled. "Hello, Hagrid."

Hagrid peered down at Chloe and Dudley, who for his part was shyly half hidden behind Aunt Petunia. She tugged him out in front of herself to introduce the children.

"Hagrid, this is my son, Dudley, and my niece Chloe. Children, this is Hagrid. You'll be seeing much of him in the future, I imagine, as he works as the groundskeeper at Hogwarts."

Hagrid gave first Dudley and then Chloe a hearty handshake. Chloe was sure her feet almost lifted off the ground at the strength of it. As the large man released her hand, his eyes widened. "That'd make you James an' Lily's daughter! I never knew a finer wizard or witch... Er, sorry Petunia."

"I know what you meant, Hagrid."

"Haven' seen ya since ya was a baby, Chloe, before tha' night with your parents and you-know-"

Aunt Petunia cleared her throat and Chloe thought she saw her Aunt give a little shake of her head. Hagrid stammered for a moment, looking unsure as to how he should continue.

Aunt Petunia picked up the conversation. "What brings you to Diagon Alley today, Hagrid?"

Hagrid's cheeks had gone ruddy. "Oh, importan' work fer Professor Dumbledore. Official Hogwarts business, the kinda thing I get trusted with a lot as groundskeeper." Hagrid gave a big smile. "I best be gettin' back, he'll be expectin' me with this delivery." He gave a lump in his coat pocket a light pat. Nice ter see ye again, Petunia. Chloe, Dudley, I'll keep an eye out for ye in September."

With that he was off, and they were free to enter Gringotts. In comparison to Hagrid's giant form, the goblins that ran the bank seemed tiny. Hardly any of them were taller than Chloe herself. After a ride through the vaults of the bank that Chloe found both exciting and terrifying, they were back out in the alley again, Chloe feeling just a little bit dizzy. Dudley seemed to notice and took her by the arm, staying by her side for a little while until she felt steadiness return to her legs.

It was back to the bookstore then, as Aunt Petunia had said they would be right back and so they were. They were quick about getting books both for Chloe and for Dudley, though Chloe picked up the wrong book at one point and it gave a scream that made everyone in the shop turn to look at her. She pushed it quickly back onto the shelf, cheeks blazing. The incident was soon forgotten when another odd book almost bit Dudley's hand. Aunt Petunia made quick work after that of paying for everything so they could leave.

After that it was time to get fitted for robes. Chloe wasn't quite sure how she felt about them, but Uncle Vernon had never allowed Aunt Petunia to get her a lot of new clothes so she was still rather excited about this part of their shopping adventure.

In a much less polite version of their encounter with Hagrid, they met someone as they were coming out the door. A boy knocked into Chloe and almost sent her to the ground. She would have fallen if Dudley hadn't grabbed for her. The boy looked at them with a bit of a sneer, glaring at them from silver eyes beneath slicked back hair that was so blonde it was almost white. Dudley found this slip of a boy much less intimidating than he had Hagrid.

"You ought to watch where you're going!"

"You ought to respect your betters." The boy spared them a final glance before departing. Chloe giggled when Dudley stuck his tongue out at the back of the boy's head. Aunt Petunia had been a few steps away from them during this encounter, checking one of their lists, and had quite missed the whole thing.

Chloe and Dudley were taken into the back of the clothing shop to be fitted for their school robes. Aunt Petunia told them she would amuse herself looking around out front. The woman working with them took Dudley to one side of a screen and then Chloe to the other, where she was told to stand up on a school next to a girl that was also being fitted. Chloe decided she would try to make conversation, having never met another witch besides Aunt Petunia.

"Getting fitted for school robes?" Chloe gave a smile she felt was probably more of a nervous grimace.

The girl narrowed brown eyes at her, "Obviously."

What a wonderful start, Chloe thought. She wondered if all wizarding children were as absolutely charming as this girl and the boy that had run into her outside.

Having fallen into silence, Chloe was surprised when the girl spoke to her again as a smiling women took their measurements with the help a tape measure that moved around Chloe's body of its own accord.

"What house do you think you'll be in? They say it runs in families. If that's true, my father was in Ravenclaw but my mother and both my grandparents on her side were in Slytherin. That's where I think I'll go, as well as Draco. He was just here getting fitted as well, our families have been friends for years."

It would seem that once this girl got started, she had a lot to say. Chloe was rather amazed that the boy from before, Draco, had anyone who would call him a friend if that was the way he acted.

Hadn't Aunt Petunia said something about where she and Chloe's mother had been in school? Gryffin-something? Gryffinbell... Gryffinknob...

"Gryffindor!" Chloe finally remembered, and said it rather louder than she had meant to. "That's where my mum was, and my aunt... My dad too, I think."

The girl took a moment to think about it. "I guess Gryffindor would be okay, or Ravenclaw like my father. I don't think I'd want to be in Hufflepuff, would you? My mother says none of them are good for anything."

Chloe nodded along, not wanting to tell the girl that she didn't know what a Hufflepuff was. She wondered if it was like a whiffenpoof, which was a word she had heard once and always remembered because she thought it sounded silly. She didn't know what those were, either.

The girl next to her continued on, "I bet they have a lot of muggle-borns in Hufflepuff, I hope I won't have to dorm with many of them."

Chloe didn't like the girl's tone. "My grandparents were muggles."

The girl's eyes widened and Chloe could see colour coming to her cheeks. "Oh... Sorry." Chloe didn't feel like asking if she was sorry for what she had said or if she was sorry that Chloe's grandparents were muggles. She was saved from further conversation when they were finished with the other girl and she hopped down off her stool.

"I expect we'll see each other on the train come September. I'm Pansy Parkinson, by the way."

"Chloe Potter." Chloe introduced herself shortly.

Pansy's eyes widened at that and her mouth fell open as she looked up at Chloe. She was about to say something when a woman Chloe presumed to be her mother came to fetch her. "Pansy, what are you standing around with your mouth open for, I've taught you how to be more ladylike than that." They were gone without Pansy saying another word, and the other girl's mother hadn't so much as looked at Chloe. She pondered for a little while about the strange look Pansy had gotten on her face, but as her fitting was finishing up it slipped from her mind.

Diagon Alley had been busy before they had entered the robe shop, but when they left it seemed much more hectic. Chloe had the strangest idea that everyone was looking at her. A couple people tried to approach them but something about Aunt Petunia seemed to warn them off. Chloe could swear, as they entered another shop, that she could hear people whispering none too quietly behind them. They were whispering her name.

Aunt Petunia had seemed to be in much more of a hurry after that, though they did stop for ice cream at one point before they got the last of their shopping. Chloe's favourite part of the trip had been getting her wand. It was made of holly and phoenix feather, and Chloe didn't really know if that was good, but it had sparked brilliantly as soon as the wand-maker, Ollivander, had put it in her hand. It was a relief after the man had placed wand after wand in her hand only to take each one back almost instantly. Dudley hadn't taken quite so long to find a wand, cherry and unicorn hair. Dudley was almost as amazed by his wand as he was by the tiny tabby kitten Aunt Petunia had bought for him. The feline trumped the wand, as he had never been allowed a pet before. He was playing with the kitten now on the floor of Chloe's room, under the watchful eyes of Chloe's owl who was perched in her cage looking very dignified. Chloe had no idea what one should name an owl, so she was trying to get some inspiration from some of the odd wizard names in her new text books.

"Musidora? Mirabella? Wendelin?" The snowy owl gave a screech that Chloe took to mean she would not have any of those names, thank you very much.

Aunt Petunia came to the open door of Chloe's room. "I see we're all getting along in here. I just wanted to apologize for rushing you two through the rest of the day, I feel like I should have been more prepared. I hadn't realized people would be so... Interested in you, Chloe, after all these years. I should have thought better, after people were celebrating you in the streets when you were only a year old. Of course they wouldn't forget you. I'm afraid, my dear, that you're still a bit of a celebrity. I've been in the muggle world too long to have known. I hadn't talked to a witch or wizard before today in many years."

"I've been wondering about that, Aunt Petunia. You said you created the Dursleys and your new identity when I came to live with you, but Dudley and I... Well, we're the same age, aren't we?"

"Well yes, I suppose you are. It happened just as I told you it happened with Aunt Marge, except Vernon decided he wanted a child when I didn't. Then one day I woke in the middle of the night and heard crying, and there where Dudley's room is now was a nursery, and there he was in the crib. I picked him up to comfort him and knew he was mine, just like that. I think it's safe to say I was messing with magic beyond my control. People who aren't real have imaginations that are much too strong." Aunt Petunia pulled a face, as if even she wasn't sure what she had just said. Chloe feared she would get a headache if she tried to think about it for too long.

"Anyway, I'd like you both to get ready for bed in a few minutes." Aunt Petunia gave them a final smile before heading down the hall.

Chloe didn't realize right away that Dudley had gone silent. When she looked over at him, he sat with his kitten in his lap, petting her head with a far off look in his eyes.

"Dudley? Are you alright?"

Chloe's cousin looked very much like he was trying not to cry. "It's just not very nice to think about, knowing that you're not actually a real person and all."

Chloe got down beside him and hugged him close, something she had never had cause to do before. The task was made easier now that she could fit her arms around him.

"Listen, Aunt Petunia bent every magical rule she could so that you could stay here with us. She loves you, you're real to her. You're real to me."

Dudley gave her a tearful smile. "Thanks. Mind if I look in those books with you? Miss kitty here needs a name, too."

They kept at it until it was almost time for bed. Dudley had pointed out the name Hedwig to Chloe, and it became the owl's name when she didn't screech her refusal. Even though Hedwig had balked at Chloe's other name suggestions, Chloe and Dudley decided that his kitten very much looked like a Mirabella. Dudley thought it was funny to name his cat after a woman who had turned herself into a fish.