Chapter 6

I noticed that I mentioned before that Jessamine would be starting at Hogwarts when Lily was in second year and I'm going to change that. I'm sorry for not noticing the mistake earlier. I want it so that she goes into Hogwarts at the same time as Lily and the easiest way to do that is to make them twins. I'm sorry for changing that on you, and for the late update. Hopefully you can forgive me though.

The house is a flurry of movement when Jessamine gets back from the Park with Ren. Petunia, back for the spring break, is fixing her hair in the main hall and she can hear Lily rushing about upstairs. Her dad is pulling his socks up and her mom is just finishing breakfast. It seems the whole house is abuzz and everyone is nervous for the family's first look of Diagon Alley.

It's early March now, and Jessamine and Lily have turned 11 only two months ago in January. The bitingly cold climates of winter are beginning to settle into the cool spring weather. Summer is fast approaching and with it brings just a matter of time before Lily and she are both gone to Hogwarts, and Petunia's already started at the prestigious school, Charletine she learns it's called, leaving only their parents at home. The small facts had not gone unnoticed by any of the sisters and it is clear that each are trying to make more time with each other.

Soon the Evans family is waiting outside chatting as they wait for the rest of the party.

"You don't suppose they have any different plants there we could see do you?"

"Oh I hope so, don't you think it'd be really cool. You know- to see magical plants?"

"Yes I'd think so."

The three girls looked up at their father as he interjected in the conversation, wicked grin eating his face.

"See it go chop. Chop. Chop. As it gobbles you up whole, never to be found again!"

"Dad!"

"Dear lord Marcus, give them night terrors will you!"

"Dad!" Jessaminejust about squealed, wiggling in the mans arms when his fingers attack her stomach. There is laughter in the air and her face contorts with the effort as she holds herself. Dimly she registers the approaching figures but she can barely concentrate on removing his fingers as they dance over her stomach and forces laughs out of her much less the group of people now looking at them.

But then he releases her and had it not been for the arms gripping her still laughing arms she would have fallen from the sudden loss of balance. It's only when she fully reigns in the laughter that she notices the arrivals and the fond smiles thrown her way and she blushes, the red creeping from her cheeks and onto her neck and ears. She finds herself looking at Ren when he waves at her, and she waves back.

Then the stillness of the moment is shattered when her mother clears her throat pointedly introduces herself to who can only be Severus' mother.

"Eileen Prince." She says almost snobbishly but not quite, and Jessamine can see the relation almost immediately. The mother son duo share the same hooked nose and sickly skin. Her hair is as dark as Severus' own, if a bit curlier and they both had the same certain air of pride in their voice that seemed to just be apart of them. The same air of almost balant dismissal of those around them however is more noticeable in the elder of the two. Non-the less her mother smiles at the woman politely and raises her hand in greeting. But she does not receive a handshake as expected but instead a cold stare. Her smile tightens and she turns to the duo standing behind Ren after introducing herself and releasing a small "Pleased to meet you."

Jessamine watches the exchange with a small amount of sorrow building up. She'd been young when she'd died, too young, but she was old enough to understand the position Eileen and Severus had been in, the one they were in now, old enough to understand it as much as she could as someone who had never been in this position. And now, seeing this woman next to her son it was so obvious to her, and she felt terrible for even daring to forget that this had been happening. That it was still happening. She also knew that they were a proud duo. It was very possible that either of the two would deny any help if she offered, if she could even do anything, their pride would simply not allow it and they would be determined to deal with it themselves. She was not, after all, incredibly friendly with Severus. They were close enough sure, and Jessamine didn't mind him around too much but all the same he was much closer to Lily than she, and spent more time with her too. Still it would not sit right with her but she could not think of anything to do right now that would be actually be effective so she settled with smiling warmly at the two as her mother turned from them and her father towards, deciding that if anything else she'd try to make them feel welcomed.

Then her mom turns and her smile relaxes as she makes to hug the duo as her father then introduces himself and Petunia to Eileen.

"Lorna, Sam, good to see you!"

Only weeks after they'd meet Ren and Jessamine had been drawing on the sidewalk with chalks when the serious looking woman with the almost ridiculously tight bun perched almost like a bird atop her head had arrived at his home. While Ren had been confused when he'd seen her make her way to his house Jessamine had recognized her almost immediately.

"Professor McGonagall!" She said, running to catch up to the older woman.

"What are you doing here?"

For about a second she had appeared almost as surprised as Ren was but she quickly smoothed her face over into an almost unimpressed expression.

"Miss Evans." She had said almost immediately.

"I do hope I won't catch you running like this once the school year starts."

The bright smile the girl gave in return did nothing to reassure the professor. So she simply sighed and made her way once more to the door.

"What are you doing here professor?"

McGonagall found herself unable to answer the girl's question, no matter what she had been about to say anyways, as that was when the door to the house had opened and the professor found herself looking into the face of a smiling yet confused dark haired woman.

"Mrs. Conners?"

That was how 20 minuets later found the Evans family watching fondly as the youngest member of the family ran excitedly through the kitchen.

That leads to where they were now, three families greeting each other before leaving off to an apparent nearby magical alley together.

There would be two cars driving. In one would be the Evans family along with Severus and his mother, and although there would have been enough room for Jessamine in the car she chooses not to ride with them as she want to ride with Ren. On the way there the four of them, Jessamine, Ren, and his parents are laughing as they talk and she takes the opportunity to tell them of all she'd at this point been able to find of this strange new community they would soon be apart of. She was in the middle of talking about some of the charms she'd learned about from Severus when the car stops on the side of the street. Immediately she is straining to find it, the rickety old sign the meant the first entrance to the wizarding world. Then, as she grips Lily's hand, she sees it and her eyes widen.

"Lily look!"

Eileen is only just climbing out of the car when Jessamine points the pub out and catches the attention of the others. Their eyes had swept over it at first, unnoticeable on the busy street when they hadn't quite known what they were looking for. But now it had been pointed it out, and the small building perched itself in between two other buildings looking for all the world as it had been there the whole time. As if it hadn't just been an ignored and rundown shack abandoned to the mercy of London weathering. As if it hadn't just not been a pub called the Leaky Cauldron

And Jessamine's heart swells. It swells and swells, and she can understand why. Because she's had years to adjust, years and years of doubt and wonder and thoughts because she should be dead not here, not here in a fictional universe. But she is. She is and it makes her swell because before all this seeing something so plainly magical and not from her world, so great and iconic because how many times had she seen a scene play out like this but with a dark haired boy with green eyes, it makes her happy. It's a great feeling she decides. She loves it. And she can't help it if she's smiling wide and is giddy at the sight of the shack of a pub because now she can't wait to become a part of the wizarding world.

"Stay together." Her mother says and Jessamine takes a moment to look at her in confusion.

Of course, she had missed the beginning of what had been said but understood what her mother was getting at. They'd need to stay together of course, this was a new, unknown place and who knew what would happen if one of them got lost? Not them. They'd take precautions in case obviously, set up a meeting place for a certain time, but even so it was better to be with somebody else at the very least than alone in a new place without knowing where you were. She felt Lily tighten her grip on her hand and took the chance to grin at her, excited. She grins back, just as excited.

They cross the street and head inside then. Jessamine continues forward after a pause to admire the room and drags Lily towards the bar with her who in turn drags their mother with them. She doesn't pay mind when the others, bar Severus and his mother who had opted to meet with them at the bank, follow her to the bar.

"Um.. excuse me sir?"

She's barely tall enough to see over the counter and has to stand on her toes and practically hoist herself up to make herself visible, and her voice is so small she's afraid she's not been heard for about five seconds but then the bartender, Tom she thinks, looks down at her from where he stands and gives her a grin. His teeth are crooked and yellow and his hair is thin and grey and the way he's looking at her makes it seem as if he's squinting at her but when he speaks he sounds kind with that smile of his so Jessamine smiles back at him, if a bit shyly.

" 'ello there little miss. What brings you here?"

That's when her dad takes over.

"Uh, Hello. I'm Marcus, and this little lady is my daughter, Jessamine. We're here actually because we were wondering if you could help us? We were hoping to visit that ally before the summer and learn more about magic."

"Ah, I see." His eyes looked over the group in understanding now. " Yer muggleborns aren't ya? Yes, well then, feel free to follow me then. I'll show you right through."

The group responded by muttering their thanks as the barman made his way around his bar and followed him to what seemed to be a dead-end ally with trash cans leaning against a vacant brick wall.

" Names Tom." He said.

"I'm the owner of the Leaky. Yer all welcome anytime o'course, feel free to ask for help. I'm sure that they'll be someone or someth'n in the ally somewhere that could help too."

The group gathered around him when he stopped in front of the wall and he continued talking.

"I recommend going to Gringotts first. It's the bank see, an' you'll have to exchange some money as nobody accept that muggle money ya got.

" Here it is, the entrance that is. Now pay attention 'ere. You have to tap certain brick to get in with yer wand. It's three up and two across, and you'll have to do it three times."

He did the motions he spoke of as he spoke to the group, making sure they could see what he did as he did just that. They watched with no small amount of wonder and awe along with excitement as the brick began to move when he'd finished. The deep red and worn things seemed to crawl over one another as they moved to the side and created an arch. Looking inside the now visible ally it was clear that it certainly was not something normal, definitely of the magical variety.

It was a bustle of movement inside, yet despite that the streets were open. There weren't too many people, it was only April after all but even the the very air seems to be vibrating with energy. There are children running and skipping along the cobbled path, not one seemed to be older than 12, and there was the sound of laughter. Chatter flowed through the streets, and displays were put up it seemed at every store. There were even some animal flying about or skimming past ankles and brushing against feet. There were sounds of parents dragging their children into some stores, they children doing the same in other. Some people seemed to linger in certain areas, pausing to chat with someone they new while others walked along briskly, barely making eye contact.

It was all very breathtaking to Jessamine, and she was certain it was also so for the others around her.

Tom grinned and motioned them through the arch.

" Go on then, don't wanna stand there imitating guppies too long do you."

With the incentive Camella took the first step forward, bringing her daughters along with her. Jessamine vaguely recognizes Lily's grip on her hand tightening as they're dragged along and she takes a moment to look back to grin at Ren just as the entrance closing in on itself.

Then she's being tugged along to the side of the street and there are people behind her and she can't quite make out where they're going but it's somewhere and that makes it great already and she's smiling widely by the time the stop and she sees where they'd been going. Now they're with Eileen and Severus and Severus' eyes are wide with wonder and she thinks that's the most expression she's seen from him yet. Eileen looks happier some how, or rather more in her element than actual happiness but she seems more comfortable in her own skin now and Jessamine thinks that the look fits her rather well.

Soon they're being lead towards the looming granite looking building at the end at the ally that looks ever so impressive as it glitters in the daylight and Jessamine knows that this is Gringotts. She being tugged and in turn she's tugging as they walk down the long street and she can't help but try to look around as they move along. She catches glimpses of colourful shops in between the hoards of people and sees a shop full of trinkets and children. Another seems to have shelves of books going on and on and on, going impossibly far and way too tall to fit in the little shop and there are building that look like colourful blocks stacked on haphazardly and Jessamine thinks it's a wonder it hasn't tipped over yet and decides the only possible explanation is it's held together by magic.

Then there is a bright looking shop with people gathered around a display of what must be a broom and there are a few books on shelves inside but there are also brooms on the walls, and on tables, and dimly Jessamine thinks it rather looks like how a music store is organized, or perhaps more accurately a sports one. But they keep moving and Jessamine sees glimpses of what seems like a normal pet store with only a few abnormal pets, and there is a hair salon, and a clothing store and soon they're running out of cobblestone path and walking onto the glittering polished steps of Gringotts.

Words, she think as she gazes around the bank, cannot describe this building, not accurately. No, it's so wide, and so incredibly big, so, so much more then she had ever imagined yet it feels right, like yes, this is Gringotts, this is what it should be and Jesaamine never really thought and expanse so unbelievably wide could ever seem so full but it does. There seems to be just as many people in the bank as there was outside it and even then she knows that there are more down in their vaults and having meetings with the head goblin of their vaults and that makes her realize that the bank is even bigger than meets her eye. She thinks her heart might implode because, Just how deep does this bank go? Because she knows for certain that it goes so very, very deep underground, and that it has too and that there are whole dragons (Dragons!) underneath they're feet what could very well be kilometres underground. The thought in itself makes her heart constrict until it feels it might actually implode and do a little jiggly dance, be it out of happiness at the thought of dragons or awe at the size of the bank or what ever else she does not know but her heart does it anyway.

It's her dad that ends up going on to exchange the money. Eileen takes Sev with her and they see the two stet into the cart with another two people, a mother and her son it looks like, and for a second the four stand there together somewhat uncomfortably before they're whisked off leaving Jessamine with her sisters and Ren with her mother and his Father.

Soon Marcus and Lorna, Ren's mother, are back and all that's left to do is wait for Eileen and Severus before they can move along so they do just that and begin chatting aimlessly.

It's not to long later that the two appear in the same cart again with the same two people but now looking rather frazzled and furious and, in the case of the other woman, apologetic and scolding of her son.

Jessamine and Ren had been talking when they appeared. Speaking of books and stories and lakes and castles, magic in essence, and somehow they'd ended up musing the Arthurian Legends. Jessamine wasn't quite sure how they'd gotten on that topic in actuality, but they had so she went with it and discussed the stories and retold them with the boy. As they were talking then his gaze had wandered off somewhere behind her and at first she thought it was just that, gazing, but then his eyes had focused and widened and he was staring at something behind her with disbelieving eyes and a hand on his mouth to smother the chuckles.

Frowning she'd turned, taking in the scene he seemed to reacting to and for a moment she paused before repeating his actions. Really, it probably shouldn't have been so funny, and she new this but she couldn't help the few chuckles that strained her body as she struggled not to laugh.

But then they other boy from the cart, now being scolded by his mother caught her eye through the crowd and he must have seen the mirth flowing in her eyes for at that moment he winked at her and she slipped over her tipping point it seemed as she whipped around quickly and burrowed her face into Ren's shoulder as she shook with quite laughter and he did the same.

Around them the rest of the group had quieted with surprise at the sight and a harried looking Eileen whisked past them without more than a glance and quite yet angry mutter. Severus on the other hand seemed to be sporting a bloody nose and what was surely the beginnings of a black eye. He was glaring at a whole lot of nothing and his already sickly skin seemed to be pale with quiet fury. However the two did stop long enough for Eileen to tell them she'd meet them at the Leaky Cauldron in about two and a half hours. During the time it took her to say that Severus had begun ranting to Lily,and subsequently Jessamine and Ren, about what had happened.

"We were minding our own business when that Potter brat tried to start a fight." He'd said, still seething.

" He was mocking us," he'd said.

"And saying the stupidest things I've ever heard come from anyone's mouth when he just comes at me. He's hitting me and spouting out a load of bullocks. I didn't do anything to deserve that so I tried to hit him back but then he begins wailing about how I started a fight how he was defending his honour..."

By the end of his rant he's still seething and so is Lily but Jessamine and Ren are already

sharing doubtful looks. The whole thing just seemed very unlikely, and the way Severus was telling it didn't sit right with either of them. And Severus had mentioned Potter, and already Jessamine knew who this was, it'd been James Potter. But still they stayed quiet anyway as there was no point in pointing out how the story seemed just that, a story. The two had left leaving the group in disbelief.

Then the other two people from the cart were walking up to them, the woman dragging the boy who was presumably James up to them by his upper arm and she seemed very apologetic.

The adults have adopted worried frowns by the time the two caught up to them and Jessamine could see Lily looking from James and the door Severus and Eileen had disappeared through, seeming shocked and enraged at the same time.

"Sorry. Would you happen to know those people who just passed?"

The woman spoke with a kindly tone in her voice and smiled slightly at the group when she arrived.

"Yes, we do actually. What happened?"

It was Ren's mother, Lorna, who spoke up first to answer the question. The question caused the older woman to grimace slightly.

"Ah, I'm not completely sure honestly. We'd gone down to the vaults and went to my families first. I'd gone in quickly and when I'd come back out my son and the other boy were fighting."

The boy she had by his ear, James, grumbled quietly. She tugged at his ear scowling.

"I don't care what it was that set you off James, that was uncalled for and unbecoming."

"But mom-!"

"Quiet James! We will be speaking about this later."

When she turned back to the group Jessamine saw the woman's face morph from a scowl to a slightly tired smile.

"Anyways, I was wondering if you wouldn't terribly mind telling them that I'm sorry? I tried to but they don't seem to want to talk to us, and I can't blame them."

They continued talking to the woman and Jessamine shared a look with Ren. The woman had released James from her grasp and he made his was towards them and Lily. When he got there he waved at them.

"Hey. I have to ask, what are nice looking people like you doing with a slimy git like that guy"

It was clear that he meant Severus when he said that, and Jessamine had to bite her lips to keep herself from smiling. While Severus had come off worse for wear James had come out of it sporting a bloody lip. Yet he smiled at them and waved, a smirk forming on his lips when he spoke to them. The smirk was quickly wiped off his face when Lily glared for him for a solid 5 second before holding her head up high and whipping around with a huff. Looking confused and dejected James brought his hands down from where it had waved in greeting.

"What's her problem?"

"Don't worry." Jessamine spoke up, bringing the attention to herself.

" She's just angry at you."

"Angry?" His brows furrowed together for a moment as he turned back to look at her.

"Why would she be angry?"

Rolling her eyes Jessamine placed her hand on her hip, because really now, wasn't it clear?

"Ah, gee, I don't know." She said as she fixed him with a look and her voice sounding amused.

" Maybe it's because you punched her best friend."

James grins at her and shakes his head as he reaches out to take her hand.

"Can't imagine why. I'm James by the way, James Potter. That cranky woman with me was my mum, Euphemia, but don't tell her I called her cranky. Who might you two be?"

"I'm Jessamine Evans and it's nice to meet you. That girl you made angry is my sister Lily, and don't tell her I said this but seeing you four come out of that cart was rather amusing, although it was mean of you to punch him."

"And I'm Ren. Ren Conners. I must say, I do agree with Jessa, however rude it was. Why did you guys end up fighting?"

James scowled then, running his hand through his already messy hair.

"He insulted my family." He said simply.

While Jessamine raised an eyebrow at the lack of detail she did nothing to further investigate and instead gestured towards his mother.

"Hmm. I'm sorry for him. But it seems out meeting's being cut short, James was it?"

Behind them Euphemia is saying good bye to the two pairs of parents and James turns to look just as she calls for him. He turns back quickly to address them.

" Will you two be going to Hogwarts in September?"

At their affirmative nods he grins.

Walking towards his mother he turns quickly, waving.

He calls back.

"I'll try to write one of you then!"

For the rest of the trip Jessamine and Ren try not to smile when they catch Lily grumbling to her self about 'that terrible boy from the bank.'