A.N. (I hope you all enjoyed the other two chapters! In this one, there will be quite a few passages taken out of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but I will mark them and give them credit, so don't worry!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter Three: Diagon Alley and Severus Snape

Harry fell flat on his face on the floor of the Leaky Cauldron, while Dudley landed gracefully on his two feet. Turning a smirking face towards his cousin, he remarked, "You'll never get used to floo powder, will you?"

"Shut up," Harry muttered, pretending to glare at Dudley. After the rest of the family had arrived in the Leaky Cauldron, the large group greeted Tom the Bartender and a few others sitting at some tables they knew.

Then James and Sirius, muttering between themselves about work in the Auror Office, led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a dustbin and a few weeds. Dudley, who had never in his two years with the Potters gone to Diagon Alley before, was confused for awhile, but then he told himself that there was probably a secret passageway or something, since Diagon Alley was a wizarding town.

"Uncle Moony?" called Harry.

"Yes, Prongslet?" Remus answered.

"How's Hogwarts like?"

"Well," said Remus with a smile, "It's a wonderful place where you meet life-long friends, learn brilliant classes taught by…interesting teachers, and even meet your soul mate one day."

"Why didn't you meet yours yet?" Dudley asked bluntly. Remus laughed.

"Well, let's just say I haven't found her yet," Remus answered, looking towards Lily and James. Both he and Sirius, still unmarried singles, had long ago decided that unless they found love equal to the one Lily and James had for each other, they would not get married.

James, meanwhile, was tapping some bricks on the wall above the dustbin.
"Three up... two across..." he said cheerfully, looking at Dudley and Harry. "Right, stand back, everyone."

The bricks he had touched quivered, wriggled, and in the middle, a small hole appeared. It grew wider and wider, until a second later they were facing a large archway, which showed them to a path that led them on to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley!" Lily said with a smile. "Oh, I remember the time I had gotten my Hogwarts letter! Professor McGonagall was the one who brought my family and me to Diagon Alley. It was a wonderful experience!" She stared dreamily off into space.

Dudley, who had been staring at everything in front of him with amazement and wonder, asked, "How was it like, Aunt Lily?"

While Lily regaled the kids with stories about her day in Diagon Alley years ago, James, Sirius, and Remus were leading the group to Gringotts Bank, reminiscing about their First Year at Hogwarts.

"Good days, those were," said Sirius reflectively.

"Yes, they were," said Remus.

"We were the best of friends weren't we? You two, me, and…" James left off abruptly, not wanting to say the traitor's name.

"And Frank Longbottom," finished Remus helpfully, referring to the fifth boy who had been in their dorm and who was also a great friend of theirs.

"Neville is starting Hogwarts this year too, isn't he?" asked Sirius, after looking gratefully at Remus.

"Yup," said James, "He was born only a day earlier than Harry. I remember Alice and Lily were overjoyed that their kids were born so soon after each other." The three became silent, thinking of the terrible fate that had gone to the kind Longbottom family. Frank and Alice Longbottom had always been great friends of the Potters, as Alice had been one of Lily's five best friends at Hogwarts, and as said before, Frank had shared a dorm with the Marauders back in the old Hogwarts days. Frank and Alice had gotten married only two months before Lily and James did, and both of their first children had been born only a day apart. But after Voldemort had been vanquished by baby Harry on that fateful Halloween night, Frank and Alice had been attacked only a few weeks later. Thankfully, Baby Neville had been staying at his Grandmother Longbottom's house that night, and had therefore not suffered the same fate as his parents.

Frank and Alice had been tortured with the Cruciatus Curse many times by the Lestranges, who had demanded the whereabouts of the Dark Lord since they couldn't believe he had been 'killed' by a mere baby. After figuring out that Frank and Alice didn't know about the Dark Lord's whereabouts, the Lestranges had left, leaving behind the couple who had become permanently insane due to the effects of the curse. A beginning Auror at the time, James had been present when his boss and his team had gone to investigate the crime. He had broken down in front of everyone after glancing at the insane Frank, and was inconsolable for a long time. Lily too wasn't an exception, once she found out about her best friend's terrible fate. She, Harriet Potter (James's twin sister who currently lived in Wales with her husband and two children), Nan Vance, Serena Takahashi, and another girl, Mary McDonald, who was their best friend a year younger, had tried to revive Alice, but it was to no avail. The Longbottoms had been admitted to the insanity ward in St. Mungo's, and to this day, they were still there. Poor Neville had been living with his grandmother ever since, and they had rarely heard about him, because the poor woman wanted to keep her grandson secluded from society in general, which she deemed dangerous.

"Are we almost there?" asked Will impatiently.

"Yes, look there," Lily answered, pointing towards Gringotts.

They had reached a snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was -
"Yeah, that's a goblin," said James quietly as they walked up the white stone steps towards him.

The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Dudley noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins on brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. The group made for a counter.

(The underlined part is a passage from Chapter Five, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. However, I replaced a few words (like Hagrid) with characters from my story, as it wouldn't' make sense if I had kept them.)

"Excuse me, we would like to open a vault for this boy," said James, pointing at Dudley, "and we would also like to withdraw from vaults 686 and 687 please." Vault # 686 was the Potter family vault, and the size of three large rooms, it was filled with galleons, sickles, knuts, and even rare precious gems and family heirlooms which were too priceless to be placed in the house. #687 was Harry's vault, and started at the age of five, it held his monthly allowance. All four of the Potter children had vaults started at the age of five, and all the allowance given to them was kept there, inaccessible until they reached eleven and would be going to Hogwarts. As the heir to the Potter family fortune, Harry, whose vault would contain all his money until the age of 21 (when he would inherit the Potter estate), would inherit the Potter vault 686 and the money he had in 687 would automatically be transferred in it. The rest of the Potter children would inherit 15 of the wealth each when they too turned 21. As for Lily and James's future retirement, they had a separate vault for that (#685), which contained a very substantial amount of money. Since Dudley had only arrived at the Potter Manor two years ago, his vault would be opened now.

"Right away, sir," said a goblin, and then called, "Griphook!" Griphook was another Goblin who led the large family to one of the doors leading off the hall. Just before they left the lobby of the bank, a familiar face caught the eyes of the Potter family.

"Hagrid!!" Harry and Dudley yelled out excitedly, as the warm and kindly groundkeeper of Hogwarts made his way towards them. Hagrid gave all of the children a bone-crushing hug, and said in a gruff but kind voice, "Off ter shop for Hogwarts supplies, eh?"

"Yes," said Dudley and Harry, who loved the company of Hagrid. "Why don't you come with us, Hagrid?"

"Can't," said Hagrid with a regretful look. "Dumbledore sent me ter do some important Hogwarts business." Then, in a low voice to Sirius and James, he said, "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen." Sirius and James nodded understandingly, while the kids, especially Harry and Dudley, looked on in curiosity. Lily gave James a questioning look, and he whispered to her, "I'll explain when we get home. The kids aren't to know." She nodded understandingly.

"Well, why don't you come with us anyhow, Hagrid?" asked James. Hagrid readily agreed and set of with the family.

Griphook held open the door for them. Harry (who had never been to Gringotts before) and Dudley, who had expected to see more marble, were surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downwards and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and two small carts came hurtling up the tracks towards them. They climbed in - Hagrid with some difficulty - and were off.

At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry and Dudley tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible.

Their eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but Harry and Dudley kept them wide open. Once, they thought they saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but was too late.

(From now on, if there are underlined passages, it means that they are from the book, alright? However, there will be slight changes to them for the most part so that the story makes more sense with my characters in it.)

Finally, they stopped in front of vaults 686 and 687 and got out, with Hagrid still in one of the carts waiting for them. Dudley couldn't keep his mouth shut at his aunt and uncle's wealth. Never had he seen so much money in one place.

"You've got to be the richest family on Earth!" he exclaimed. Lily and James laughed, and James said, "I don't know about the Earth, but in the wizarding world, we are tied with the Malfoys and Malcolms."

James scooped some money from Harry's vault (which was filled with heaps of galleons, sickles, and knuts) into a small pouch and gathered a larger amount from the family vault to put into Dudley's new one. Dudley's vault was #684, and after James left a substantial amount in it and a smaller amount in another pouch, the family got back into the carts. Harry and Dudley waited in excitement to find out what was in vault 713.

"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.

"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."

They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine and Dudley leant over the side to try and see what was down at the dark bottom but Lily pulled him back. "Be careful!" she said.

Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.

"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.

"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.

"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Dudley asked.

"About once every ten years," said Griphook, with a rather nasty grin.

Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top-security vault, Harry and Dudley were sure, and they leant forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least - but at first they thought it was empty.

Then they noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry and Dudley longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.

"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.

Soon, the group was out in the bright sunlight, and Hagrid bid his goodbye. "I have to get this to Dumbledore!" he said, feeling very important. They all waved goodbye to him rather regretfully. Hagrid was great company, and to see him go was rather depressing.

"Where do we go first, Mum?" Harry asked excitedly. Now that he had a pouch full of money, he longed to go everywhere (especially Quality Quidditch Supplies).

"Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions," replied Lily promptly. They all groaned. Trust a woman to decide to go to the clothing store first!

It was Dudley who first noticed people gawking at them as they (4 adults and 6 children) walked down the street.

"Uncle James," he asked, "Why are people staring at us?"

"Because I'm so famous!" replied Sirius with a proud smile. Everyone laughed, but Harry began to look a little uneasy, along with James and Lily.

"Dudley, we told you about what happened 10 years ago that Halloween night, remember?" asked James. Dudley nodded, and a look of understanding crossed his face.

"Oh, so everyone's gawking at Harry, because he killed Voldemort?" asked Dudley rather loudly. Several people who were close to them shrieked and some of them even ran away.

"What did I do?" asked Dudley, rather panicked.

"Absolutely nothing," said James, glaring at everyone who was staring at them and muttering, "Some people are still cowards when it comes to his name, although he's been gone for ten years now."

"So I shouldn't say Vol...Voldemort's name anymore?" asked Dudley in a quieter tone.

"You definitely should, Dudley," said Lily firmly, "Professor Dumbledore often said fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Also," put in Remus, "If people get into the habit of saying Voldemort's name, he wouldn't be so feared even today, and (god forbid) if another dark lord ever comes in the future, people would get into the habit of saying his/her name."

"Right," agreed Sirius.By that time, they had reached Madam Malkin's and went inside. There was a small que, so James said, "Lily, why don't you and Remus stay here with Harry and Dudley? Sirius and I will take Anne, Diana, Will, and Emma and get the books and Potions ingredients."

"Alright," said Lily, looking at James gratefully. It would be awhile before their turn came, and if they got the other supplies, it would save a lot of time.

The line began to move quickly, and soon, Harry and Dudley, along with a pale faced boy, hoped onto stools to be measured.

"Hullo," said the boy in a bored drawling voice, "You two go to Hogwarts too?"

"Yes," said Dudley, while Harry said, "Nice to meet you." The boy, after a moments thinking, took their outstretched hands and shook them rather quickly.

"My father's next door buying my books and my mother's up the street, looking at wands," said the boy. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Harry and Dudley really did not like the boy, but they kept pleasant countenances, after exchaning a glance.

"Have you two got your own brooms?" asked the boy. Harry's face brightened. Finally, a subject he liked!

"Yes," said Harry, "I've got a Nimbus 2000!" The boy's eyes opened wide, and he looked a little envious.

"A Nimbus 2000? How'd you get that? You're not even in Hogwarts yet!"

"My mum and dad got it for me for my birthday, which is today," said Harry rather proudly. The boy looked at him for a second before turning to Dudley. "Do you have a broom?" he asked.

"Yes," said Dudley, "a Nimbus 1000." The boy looked at him enviously too before saying, "I only have an Accelerator 2000, but father will probably get me a Nimbus 2000 if I threaten not to do any school work at Hogwarts!" Harry and Dudley exchanged another look. They disliked this boy more and more. "So what house do you think you'll be in at Hogwarts?" asked the boy.

"Gryffindor for sure," said Harry confidently, "Where dwell the brave at heart." The boy narrowed his eyes, while Dudley said, "I don't know. Anything would be fine, I guess."

"Who are you, anyway?" asked the boy, looking more towards Harry, "I've seen you somewhere."

Harry nervously flattened his hair. "I don't know what you mean."

"You're Harry Potter!" the boy exclaimed, staring at Harry in surprise. "I know where I've seen you before, in the news paper!"

Just then, Madam Malkin came over to the trio and handed each of them their uniform parcels. Harry and Dudley, who were happy for an excuse to leave the pale faced boy, went in search of Lily and Remus, finally finding them talking near the busy door.

"All done?" asked Lily, smiling at her son and nephew affectionately. She walked over to the counter and paid Madam Malkin before the four of them left the store.

On the way to Flourish and Blotts, they encountered James, Sirius, and the rest of the kids, all with parcels in their hands. "We got the books and Potion ingredients!" said James cheerfully. "Why don't I quickly apparate home and leave the parcels there so that the rest of our shopping can be easy?"

"Thanks a lot dear," said Lily, giving him a kiss on the cheek, "Meanwhile, I'm going to Flourish and Blotts to quickly get a cookbook Isabella (their house elf) really wants but is too modest to ask."

"We'll take the kids to Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor," suggested Remus. "Ice Cream!" shouted Emma happily, and Will started chanting, "Ice Cream! Ice Cream! Ice Cream!"

"How about you, Anne, Diana?" asked Sirius, smiling at the two girls who were holding hands. Anne and Diana had formed a deep sisterly bond the past two years, and were inseparable.

"Yes please," they chanted.

Severus Snape looked out the window of the Apothecary, and started when he saw that the annoying family with too many children were the Potters. And there was Lily, beautiful as ever, laughing at something Potter was saying. Severus narrowed his eyes at the sight of his loathsome school rival, and turned them away to glance at the children. He could clearly discern the eldest Potter, proud as his father, with that confident smirk on his face. Next to him was a red headed girl who…looked just like Lily! But…she was missing Lily's eyes! Why must that Potter boy be the one to inherit Lily's beautiful eyes? It made it harder, much harder, for Severus to loath that boy. How would he be able to make his life miserable if he had Lily's eyes?

Severus saw James Potter apparate away, and Lily walk away from the group. This was his chance. Walking quickly and hiding his face to make sure no one saw him, Severus followed Lily until he saw that she had gone into Flourish and Blotts. With a determined step, he followed suit and saw her walk into the cookbook section. Standing in front of her, he said, "Ms. Evans, we need to talk." He addressed her as he often had when she had worked at Hogwarts.

Lily looked up from the book she was glancing at and looked surprised, but quickly said, "I am Mrs. Potter now, Mr. Snape, and have been for 12 years."

Snape ignored her and repeated, "We need to talk…Lily."

"I don't see what there is to talk about," said Lily frowning, "You know everything ended the day you called me Mudblood in fifth year."

"Lily, give me a chance to explain myself, at least now," said Severus.

"Explain what? You clearly chose the Dark Arts over our friendship. You needed the Death Eaters more than me. You proved it, Snape," said Lily.

"Lily please, I was young, and didn't know what I was doing. Don't you…" Severus was about to say, "…love me," but he knew this wouldn't be the correct time to say that. Instead he finished, "…miss our friendship?"

A flicker of regret crossed Lily's face. Yes, she did miss Severus's friendship, more than anything, but she was not going to admit it. That Gryffindor pride which had often been hidden all those years ago rose up now. Severus had called her a Mudblood. That hurt, that betrayal of his friendship (which she had thought to be real), was still there. He had been the bestest friend of all her friends…but had ended their friendship himself by calling her Mudblood. No, Lily Potter hadn't been a Gryffindor for nothing. That stubbornness, which she had often complained was a characteristic of James which Harry inherited, kicked in. She was not going to forgive Severus Snape, not ever…but in her heart of hearts, Lily knew that she longed for Snape's friendship again, his kindly company which has always delighted her when she was young.

A.N. (To all of those who think Lily secretly loves Snape, she does not. She's only craving his friendship, and innocent as she is, she doesn't know the deep love Snape still has for her. Lily loves James, her soul mate, but she longs for the friendly company of Snape, who to her was the dearest of all her friends.)