Hello Readers! A massive thanks to all reviewers and followers!

I do not own Harry Potter

The next morning I trudged down the hallway and knocked gently on Remus' door. There was no answer, so I swung it open. Moony was half dressed and he yelped, diving behind his bed. My hand few to my mouth and I galloped out of the room, suddenly wide awake. I crossed the hall to knock on Sirius' door VERY loudly. He moaned something about going away and I slowly pulled the door open. I peered around the door and sighed. The lazy mongrel was still asleep.

"SIRIUS BLACK! WAKE UP NOW!" I roared into his ear, laughing as he turned in his sleep.

"By the way, I saw Cleo making pancakes", I added slyly. Sirius sprung out of bed, taking the duvet with him. Much to my surprise, he proceeded to grab my wrist and drag both me and the duvet down the grand staircase. We were on the last few steps when he slipped on the duvet and tumbled down, landing on the ground in an undignified heap. He groaned whilst I laughed.

"Right, I'll go and wake up James", I snorted, barely maintaining my straight face. I skipped back up the stairs and rapped on James' door.

"Come on in!" James called.

"Thank Godric that one of us is a morning person!" I laughed before telling him about Sirius falling down the stairs.

"That sounds like Sirius all right!" James guffawed, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "Is Cleo really making pancakes?" He asked, suddenly serious.

"No, that was just to get Sirius up," I confessed. James' face fell and a moment later there was an angry yell from downstairs, Sirius had obviously just found out that there wasn't any pancakes.

Together, James and I managed to haul Peter down the stairs. The atmosphere in the dining room was grim. Mr Potter had The Daily Prophet opened and as soon as I entered the room a large headline hit me:

MINISTRY OFFICIAL FOUND DEAD IN HOME, HUSBAND MISSING

James' parents were whispering to each other in hushed tones. Mrs Potter looked worried and she gave her husband a big hug and kiss on the cheek before he went to work. Anxiety was etched into her features.

The boys and I exchanged glances and James hugged his mother. He was already taller than her.

"Don't leave the grounds", she instructed us, "we have extremely strong safety enchantments but they only protect our house and grounds, you don't need to go anywhere else until we take you to Diagon Alley".

We nodded and promised to do as she said, meaning it for one of the first times in our lives.

Over the next few days, we kept our promise to Mrs Potter and on the last day of August, James' parents brought us to Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley was usually a hive of activity. It was supposed to be a place of unity and happiness where friends and family would meet each other and enjoy each other's company.

That had changed.

It was bitterly cold for August, a harsh unforgiving wind smacked our faces, turning our noses red. The usual bustling crowd had diminished, replaced by tightly knitted families rushing to get their supplies and leave. Law enforcers patrolled the streets- it was too minor a job for the elite Aurors.

There was no sound of laughter from the eleven year olds buying school supplies. There was no crowd outside Madame Malkin's. Quality Quidditch Supplies was eerily empty.

"What happened here?" James croaked, surveying the Alley with sadness in his eyes.

"Everyone's worried, son", Mr Potter answered truthfully. "There's been several more disappearances. The Aurors are on the case but to be honest, nobody has a clue as to who is behind them".

We didn't know what to say to that. We had known about one or two disappearances but we hadn't realised it was this serious. On that sombre note, we began with our shopping.

Our first stop was to Flourish and Blott's. We bought all of our required books as quickly as possible, all of us itching to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies. Remus had been the only one reluctant to leave the shop. He decided on two books but when he turned them over and saw the prices, his face fell and he placed one back on the shelves. Mr Potter saw this and quickly handed the boy five galleons. Remus protested, but eventually gave in and bought the two books with a radiant smile on his face, thanking Mr Potter repeatedly.

Next, we stocked up on potion ingredients in the Apothecary. We left with several bags of jars containing eel's eyes, rat's tails, porcupine quills and other peculiar potion ingredients. It was a relief to step outside the shop. It always smelled disgusting like rotten eggs had met Peter's socks and decided to multiply!

We all bought some robes in Madam Malkin's, along with some cloaks and Gryffindor scarves. I purchased a new cauldron in Potage's Cauldron Shop to replace the last one I had blown up. (I was almost as good at exploding cauldrons as Michael Finnegan in 4th Year whom had quite a reputation for pyrotechnics!)

After that, we entered Eeylop's Owl Emporium for some owl food and treats. Peter decided that it was time for him to buy himself a pet. He had never liked owls (he was actually almost afraid of them! Honestly it was as if he were a mouse that the owl would swoop down on and eat!). Therefore, we went to Magical Menagerie so he could buy one. There was any amount of sleek magical animals. There were intelligent black cats, luminous yellow toads that could tell if something were poisonous and even adorable puffskeins. Of course, Peter didn't decide on something ultra cool, he chose a rat. A smelly, dirty-not even magical-grey common rat. He named it a name that suited him perfectly, Dustin. Sirius and I already called it Dustbin.

We quickly nipped into Ollivander's to buy some wand-cleaning supplies before eventually galloping through the doors of Quality Quidditch Supplies. It was an average sized shop, but they used the space that they had well. Models of broomsticks were displayed in glass cases. The new Moontrimmer took pride of place despite the fact that my Nimbus was still the best on Market. The first broomstick, the Shooting Star was displayed behind the counter, although they are now impossible to buy. We all swooned over the brooms before diverting our attention to the Quidditch jerseys. Mr Potter bought a new quaffle and some keepers gloves made out of Acramantula web threaded with gold.

James bought a book on Quidditch and Sirius and I each bought a jersey.

Despite the odds, it was a great day out. Roll on Hogwarts!