Chapter Five

A/N: Thanks to my first reviewer for this chapter, TvGeek98, that's my favourite part as well! Also thank you to other reviewers, ClaireBear1982, Ofred and my bff, headinclouds123.

A few years had gone by and Lily had gone from being a tiny giggling baby to an intelligent, inquisitive five-year-old girl. She had also matured as a person, no longer playing pranks that she had learnt from her Uncle George and his children, much to her parents' relief.

Lily had also established strong relationships with her cousins, especially Rose, Roxanne, Dominique and Victoire, three of whom were already attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, making their relationships mainly long distance. In fact, Rose and Lily were now the only female Weasleys who were not at the school yet, which would change when Rose went up in two years.

Much to Lily's dismay, James would also be leaving for Hogwarts with them, which was why Lily and her family were standing in front of the enchanted brick wall in the Leaky Cauldron, preparing to enter Diagon Alley for the first time.

An audible gasp escaped Lily's lips as she took in the hustle and bustle of the Wizarding street. Growing up in a large house in the countryside, the closest Lily had ever been to urban life was staying at her Aunt Hermione's house for the weekend.

"It's amazing, isn't it, Lily?" smiled Ginny, taking in her daughter's expression.

"It's magical." Lily breathed in response, clutching onto her mother's hand as the group began to move forwards towards the first stop on their journey, her aunt's favourite of the Diagon Alley emporiums, Flourish and Blotts.

The store itself was amazingly bright, wooden bookshelves crammed with novels and spellbooks. James and Harry made their way straight over to the first-year spellbooks, Albus trailing along behind them, while Lily made her way over to the childrens books, pearing at the titles with great interest. When the boys returned, Harry was staggering behind them with James' spellbooks, including a great few about Quidditch and a few stargazing books that must have belonged to Albus. Lily looked up at her mother expectantly, who nodded her back over to the books. Lily flashed a beaming smile back at the woman, then ran towards a particular shelf and plucked a book bound in red leather from the shelf, returning to her mother almost immediately. Ginny took the book from her young daughter's hands, reading the golden title out loud.

"The Golden Book of Fairytales, Lily? What is that? I've never heard of it before."

"It's a collection of Muggle stories, Mummy. They're called fairytales because they're about dragons and knights and enchanted castles where the fairy princess lives happily ever after with her very own Prince Charming. I love them, they're so pretty, and each and every one of them ends happily. Well, almost each. Auntie Hermione told me about them when I went to stay." explained Lily, making no effort to hide the amazement in her voice as she described the tales of her aunt's childhood.

"Right, of course she did." laughed Ginny, thinking of all the times that Harry had read the tales to her father, who looked upon Snow White as a potential ally of the Department for the Protection and Conservation of Endangered Dwarves and Cinderella's glass slipper as a possible faulty Portkey!

The rest of their shopping was done in almost an instant, James' owl being not so affectionately named Feather Brain, because it tried to fly towards James out of the cage, while the cage door was shut. There was only one place left on their list; Ollivander's.

After the events of the Second Wizarding War, the Ministry had funded Ollivander's rebuilding of his emporium, which was going as strongly as ever. However, as the man was becoming old, Ginny and Harry had agreed to purchase all three of their children's wands at the same time and store Albus and Lily's away until they attended Hogwarts themselves.

The bell above the door rang as the family entered the candlelit store. There were shelves all along the back walls, each one packed full of oblong black boxes. Suddenly, a noise came from one of the furthest shelves and a man with straggly grey-white hair appeared on a sliding ladder.

"Ah. I knew this day would come. The children of Mr. Harry Potter, how interesting an experience this shall be." stated the man, his reverant voice close to a whisper.

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander." greeted Harry, a smile lighting up his face.

"Now, what may I do for you today?" asked the man, his facial expression clearly showing that he knew the answer.

"James is about to start Hogwarts in September and he needs to purchase his wand. However, Harry and I thought that the day would be altogether more memorable if Albus and Lily selected their wands on the same day." explained Ginny, stepping forward a little, Lily clinging onto her jacket.

"Ah, Mrs. Potter!" smiled Mr. Ollivander, evidently just noticing Ginny's presence in the dimly lit room.

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander." she replied, smiling just as much as her husband.

"Now, we should get down to business!" exclaimed the man, beckoning towards James. "Come along, young man, let us see about this."

The wandmaker plucked one of the boxes from the nearest shelf and removed the light brown wood from the velvet interior. James waved it around a little, before red sparks came out of the end, the room being lit a little more by the golden glow surrounding them.

"Ah!" cried the man, taking the wand from James and twirling it around in his fingers. "That may have been the quickest I ever matched a wand to its owner. Yes, most appropriate. Dogwood and phoenix feather, eleven inches, slightly springy. Most suited to a prankster."

"That'll be why it lept for James, then." laughed Albus, setting off the rest of the room's occupants into a fit of laughter. When they had quietened down, Albus walked over to the man, taking the first strip of bright yellow-brown wood from Ollivander's hands. He gave it a wave as well and the golden glow filled the room once more, sparks surrounding them again.

"Amazing! Another perfect match! Yew and dragon heartstring, a novel combination, nine and a half inches, surprisingly swishy as well! This would be highly suited to a fierce protector of others." explained Ollivander, placing the wand down into its box, laying it down beside James'.

Finally, it was Lily's turn to step forward, still clinging onto her mother's hand. Ollivander came out from behind the counter and bent down in front of the five-year-old, so as to seem less intimidating.

"Hello, young lady. Would you like to choose your wand as well?"

"Yes please, Mr. Ollivander." came the timid response. Ollivander nodded, walking back to one of the furthest shelves in the shop, reaching right up and lifting the topmost box down. He then took a spiralling, golden brown wand, engraved with little flowers and stars.

"I've always found that this wand was so specific in its selections that this combination hasn't left the shelves of Ollivander's since the 15th century! I wonder..." He seemed to pause for a moment, then held the wand out to Lily. She took it from him, then gave it a wave. The room lit up brighter than ever, tiny purple fireworks coming from the tip.

"My goodness!" Ollivander cried out, his face almost lighting up with delight. "It seems that this wand has finally met its owner in you, Miss Potter. Larch and unicorn hair, thirteen and three-quarter inches, an unyielding wand. This wand has never been sold because it has never found anyone as purely brave and good as the combination demands. Until now, that is."

All three children were soon walking away from the shop, each holding their wand box and books in their arms, while Ginny and Harry lumped the rest between them.

Once they got home, they each sat in their respective bedrooms, all thinking the same thought, Lily most intensely of all.

'I can't wait to go to Hogwarts!'

A/N: Please review to tell me how I've done. As always, I found the wand cores and woods meanings on Pottermore.