It was the day that the group of seven friends had all planned to go to Diagon Alley together. Alas, only half of them actually went. Apparently, Letha and Kaylee had already done their school shopping together earlier that week, and Chuck never bought his own supplies. Therefore, it was just Alex, Briana, Blaise and Draco shopping together. The four of them set out to the Leaky Cauldron at noon, the weather improving greatly by that time. It was rather warm again, making Briana a bit more relaxed than she'd been lately.

They entered Diagon Alley through the back wall, and the sight of it was nothing like Briana had imagined it. From what her friends had been telling her, she was expecting a colorful, bright, loud and busy atmosphere with several witches and wizards picking up their school supplies. The Diagon Alley before them was dark, quiet, mysterious, rather empty and quite eerie. The boys themselves were quite shocked at what they saw, what with half the shops in the alley being empty and boarded up.

There didn't seem to be hardly anyone else shopping, other than occasional grown witches and wizards doing the shopping for their children on their own, or the huge groups of families and friends who thought it wise to stick together. More than anything else, the experience was depressing. The place everyone had grown to love and know as their go-to supplier for all their study needs was completely different and almost unrecognizable.

"I wish we didn't have to come here today," Blaise said sourly.

"Why is that?", Draco asked him.

"Because now whenever I think of this place, I'll only be able to see it in this way."

Draco nodded, feeling the same way as he looked around at all the broken down shops with nothing in their windows but dust and spiderwebs. He turned to his friends, "Well, should we just buy our text books? That's all we really need, other than personal things."

"Flourish and Blotts, then?", Blaise asked, agreeing with him.

"If it's still open," Alex muttered darkly before they began walking.

Luckily, the book store wasn't shut down, and they were all able to purchase their text books with ease. Briana also bought herself extra novels to read for fun, even picking one up for Chuck. They asked the witch at the counter of Flourish and Blotts to please send all of their books to Brightsman Manor, so they wouldn't have to heave them around all afternoon. Next, Blaise remembered he needed a set of new quills, so the four of them made their way to Amanuensis Quills for such things. Blaise, Alex and Draco all begged Briana to accompany them to Quality Quidditch Supplies where they could marvel over Quidditch-related objects that they didn't really need.

While the boys admired the various brooms, uniforms, posters and quaffles, Alex informed Briana that all three of them were on the Slytherin Quidditch team, plus Chuck. Draco was the Seeker, Chuck was a beater, and Blaise and Alex were both Chasers. They left the store empty handed except for Blaise, who seemed rather happy about a purchase he made on a pair of new dragonhide Quidditch gloves. Draco suddenly mentioned that he was due to meet Narcissa at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. On the side, he noted to Briana and Blaise that afterward, he and his mother would make a trip to Borgin and Burke's to find some device called a vanishing cabinet that he was meant to mend as part of his mission.

After Draco had slipped away, Briana forced Alex and Blaise to come into Twilfitt and Tatting's with her so she could look at clothes. When they protested against the idea, she mentioned the fact that they'd dragged her into the Quidditch shop, which made them agree to go inside. The pair of them sat on some benches as she looked around at several dresses. She took three of them off the racks and headed to the dressing room. Trying all three of them on, she made Blaise and Alex tell her which one looked best.

Thirty minutes later, the two of them agreed that she looked ravishing in a very light pink ruffled dress with a black bow. After arguing with them that it was barely pink, she purchased the garment for 145 galleons. Walking out of the store, Blaise was apparently still confused.

"I still don't quite understand," he pressed. "Why would you spend that much money on a dress? Do you have any idea how many entire outfits I could buy myself with that much?"

"I suppose it's a girl thing!", Briana truthfully couldn't think of any reason herself.

"I'm really hungry. Food now please?", Alex whined.

"Come then, Booboo. Let's go to the Leaky Cauldron," she linked her arm with his and began walking to said pub.

"Did she seriously just call you 'Booboo'?"

Inside the Leaky Cauldron, Alex had ordered a large serving of Shepherd's pie while Blaise and Briana shared an order of Fish and Chips. They all sipped on Italian sodas as Blaise thought it an appropriate time to strike up a particular conversation.

"So, Briana," he began. "I've been dying to ask you... How are your feelings towards Malfoy?"

"What in Merlin's name do you mean by that?"

"What I mean to say is, do you ever think you like him as more than just a friend?"

"And why, may I ask, is this any of your business?", she watched him carefully.

"I'm just a curious friend looking for some answers. Come now, it's not like I'm going to go off and tell him."

Alex stared at Briana as if he was expecting her to answer as well.

"Well I'll admit that I've thought about such things before, but... I'm not exactly sure how I feel about him right now. He's my best friend, you know."

"I see, I see. But you admit that there's a possibility of you liking him as something more than a best friend?", Blaise looked hopeful.

"Sure," she answered shyly.

"Aw, for once, you're being the timid one," Alex nudged her causing her to laugh and roll her eyes.

"Well what about you, Blaise?", Briana asked him. "You have your eye on anyone?"

"Not really," he answered quickly before taking a long sip on his mint-colored Italian soda.

"Oh, that's rubbish! There has to be someone!"

"We all saw you making googly eyes at Letha at the Malfoy's party, mate," Alex pointed out.

Blaise threw him a look, "I wasn't making googly eyes at anyone. Sure, I find her extremely attractive, but I don't think I'm exactly ready to be tied down yet."

She shook her head, "Looks like you've still got some growing up to do, Sweet Cheeks."

"Okay, Draco is Dray, Alex is Booboo and now I'm Sweet Cheeks? What's with all these pet names?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I suppose I just like making nicknames for people."

"Right. So why am I Sweet Cheeks again?"

"It just came to me. Probably has to do with your glorious cheek bones," she poked them as he playfully swatted her hand away.

"And why is Alex Booboo?"

"Because he's such a baby. All adorable and innocent and whatnot."

Blaise broke out in uncontrollable laughter as Alex face palmed and sighed deeply. Briana gave him a side hug, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to embarrass you!"

"No, it's alright..."

All at once, the door to the Leaky Cauldron swung open and their good friend Draco Malfoy re-joined them, sitting down next to Alex and across from Blaise. He looked somewhat despondent again as he reached across the table and drank the rest of Briana's beverage. She and Alex sent him concerned looks as Blaise asked him if he was alright. He told them he was just tired, which the three of them only pretended to believe. Suddenly, Briana noticed a collection of extremely vibrant colors out of the corner of her eye. She looked out of the window facing Diagon Alley and saw that the colors were a building; a shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The brightly colored and notably busy store stuck out in the area like a sore thumb, making Briana wonder why she didn't notice it before.

"We need to go into that purple and orange shop there!", she demanded.

"What, the Weasley's shop?", Blaise asked her curiously.

"Yes! It looks brilliant!"

"No. We're not going into any store run by any of the Weasley's," Draco stated bitterly.

"Oh, why not?!", she begged him.

"I despise every single one of the Weasley's. Not to mention, they've probably got a restraining order against me framed on the wall of that bloody shop of theirs."

"I won't go either. They're blood traitors, first of all. Second of all, I've never been on good terms with any the Weasley's either," Blaise added.

"Fine! I'll just go with Alex then! You will come, won't you?"

"Of course! Looks pretty wicked to me," Alex half smiled at the eager girl.

"Smashing! Let's go then! We'll meet you two back here later," with that, the two of them set off to the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Approaching the brilliantly colorful shop, Briana and Alex could hear several loud noises coming from inside. It looked like great fun and neither of them could wait to get inside. Before they did so, the pair of them stopped outside to read a poster hanging in the window.

"WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO? YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO : THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!"

Both of them laughed loudly before running into the store. It was packed with people! Looking at the shelves, Briana saw that there wasn't all that much left on them, and that several were currently being magically refilled every minute. It was noisy and colorful inside, filling both of them up with a good vibe and straight happiness.

The two friends weaved through the large amount of people, straining to get a look at whatever they could. In one area of the lively store, there were muggle magic tricks, in another there were shelves and shelves of Skiving Snackboxes. Another part of the store held products from a line the Weasley's called WonderWitch Products, selling things such as Pygmy Puffs, Love Potions and Ten-Second Pimple Vanishers. There were also fireworks, defensive artifacts, practical joke toys and more.

Briana and Alex looked around wondrously at everything, taking it all in. They instantly began to pick things up that they thought were worth buying, soon having a bit of a pile in their arms. Briana had several Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder coals, Nosebleed Nougats, Fainting Fancies and some Glow-In-The-Dark Bubblegum. Alex picked up a Spell-Checking Quill (because he has dreadful spelling, as he told Briana), some Patented Daydream Charms that he got for Blaise and himself, and a light pink Pygmy Puff that he was intending on giving to Chuck's little sister, Catherine.

The pair of them looked around for the Weasley twins. They figured they would be easy to recognize, seeing as their faces were on the packaging of more than half of their products. Finally, halfway up some stairs, Alex spotted the twins talking to the Golden Trio. In this group of people, Ron Weasley pointed out Briana and Alex walking towards them.

"There's that friend of Malfoy's from the other night," he said.

"With Alex Whittaker," Harry added, looking where Ron was.

"Is she the girl you two were telling me about?", Hermione asked her friends, who nodded in response.

"She some kind of transfer student?", Fred asked, not knowing anything they were talking about.

"In a way. She's good friends with Malfoy apparently and is coming to Hogwarts this year," Ron explained, watching her and Alex get closer.

"But the thing is, she wasn't rude to us at all in anyway. She was actually really nice," Harry said.

"Alex is relatively nice as well, actually," Hermione stated.

"So Malfoy has nice friends, yeah?", George asked them.

"For now. I suspect it's all an act," Ron gave his opinion.

"Rubbish, Ron. Just because they hang out with Malfoy does not mean they have to be pricks. I bet they're genuinely nice people," Hermione concluded as Alex and Briana approached them.

"Hi," Briana smiled at them. "Um... Are we supposed to give you the money for all this?"

Fred looked at his brother,"Technically, not directly, but the lines are really long-"

"-so we'll make an exception," George finished, inspecting what the two of them had in their hands before telling them the total.

Briana insisted that she pay for it all as a way to show her appreciation of Alex's company, which Alex told her was ridiculous and he ought to pay for his own things. They went back and forth like this for a little while, as the others watched them. Hermione raised her eyebrows at Ron as if to show off that she was right in saying the two of them were good people, which Ron was still skeptical about and crossed his arms.

Alex finally gave in to his friend as she victoriously dropped a handful of Galleons, Knuts and Sickles into Fred Weasley's hand.

"Keep the change," she told them as the twins quickly counted it out.

"We're not allowed to do that, pretty," George told her.

"Sure you can! Just think of it as a donation to your business so you may continue to make these brilliantly outstanding products."

"In that case, consider yourself an investor," Fred smiled happily, handing them medium-sized boxes to put their purchased items in. "Our good friend Harry here was our first investor."

Harry awkwardly gave her a wave as she smiled at him too, "Smashing. Well you be sure to let me know when you make any major developments, yeah?"

"Will do," Fred saluted Briana, as she and Alex sent the group one last smile and exited the store which was still awash with delighted shoppers.

The two of them walked back to the Leaky Cauldron to find Blaise and Draco sharing a nearly empty box of Sugared Butterfly Wings. They seemed to be indulged in an important and rather serious conversation, peeking both Alex and Briana's interests. The pair had hoped to hear part of the discussion, but once Blaise had seen them enter the restaurant, he threw Draco a look and smiled widely at his two friends.

"Oh, hi Briana! Hi Alex! We were just beginning to wonder where you two were!", Blaise spoke rather oddly.

He and Draco both stood up as their friends stopped in front of them. "It was really busy in there, sorry," Briana told them before eyeing them suspiciously, "What were you two talking about while we were away?"

"Nothing, just Quidditch of course," Draco said.

Briana nodded, buying the story, but Alex shot a look at the two of them.

Ignoring the sort of glare he was receiving from Alex, Blaise spoke loudly, "SO! Shall we go to Briana's house now?"

"Yes, of course!", she said happily, eager to show him and Alex her home for the first time.

The four of them began to walk to the fire place in the Leaky Cauldron as Draco stared at Briana, then took some of her shopping bags, "Here, let me help you."

"Oh, thank you, Dray!", she gave him a side hug as Draco smirked at Blaise, the two of them receiving another dirty look of suspicion, courtesy of Alex.

Using the floo network, all four of them appeared in the fireplace located in the large living room of Brightsman Manor. Stepping out, the three boys looked around curiously. It was Blaise and Alex's first time in the mansion, and Draco hadn't been inside of it in years. Looking curiously at all the furniture, pictures and whatnot in the elegant room, Blaise couldn't help but ask about the large glass case filled with numerous, shiny awards.

"What's all this?", he asked Briana.

"Oh. That's my trophy case. My parents like to show off everything I win," she explained.

"Wait, seriously? In 16 years, you've won all this?", Blaise asked incredulously as he admired the various trophies, tiaras, sashes and medals that were on display in the case.

"See, I told you she always wins. Those are all from dance competitions," Draco seemed to be proud of his friend's accomplishments.

"Alright, I do not always win," Briana tried to remain humble.

"From the looks of it, you actually do," said Alex, surely.

Briana gave him a look as Blaise spoke again, "So when do I get to see you dance? You must be brilliant! There must be at least a hundred awards in here."

"Well whenever I feel like having a visitor, I'll let you sit in on one of my lessons or something," she smiled at him.

"Me too!", Draco chimed in, sounding much like his younger self. "It's been a while since I've seen your moves."

Briana laughed, "In that case, perhaps I will conduct a special performance for all of you."

"Brilliant!", the three of them said in unison.

Suddenly, Briana's father, Perseus, entered the room with the Daily Prophet in his hand as always.

"Oh, hello," he said, surprised to see them. "Nice to see you again, Blaise, Draco." He nodded at them.

Perseus turned to Alex, eyeing him carefully, "You wouldn't happen to be Chuck, would you?"

"No! Father, this is my good friend Alex. He was at the party the other day."

"Right. Very good. Well it's nice to meet you, Alex. So I see you've gotten the supplies you needed and then some," he said, glancing at the bags that sat on the couch.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist going into Twilfitt and Tattings," she told her father sheepishly.

"Just as long as you don't spend my money on useless or illegal items," he patted his daughter's shoulder before smiling around the room again, then went to exit the room.

"Oh! I almost forgot!", he said, stopping abruptly in the doorway. "A parcel came for you in the post today. I believe it may be from Justin." He left the room.

Draco made a rather disgusted face at his best friend, "Justin? As in your ex-boyfriend? What's he got to send you?"

"Now, now, Malfoy, don't lose yourself over a silly package," Blaise scolded him mockingly.

Briana left the living room laughing at her friends, and went into the entry hall. There on the front table was a medium sized, light brown paper parcel with blue ribbon around it. The tag placed on its front read "To Briana, From JJ." She laughed, reading the nickname he signed it with.

Bringing the parcel with her back to her friends in the living room, Briana sat down and began to delicately rip the paper. Inside, there was something that felt like cloth wrapped in more paper with a small note on top.

"What does that say?", Blaise asked curiously.

"It says... 'I was looking for a sweater to wear to a dinner party and was so desperate for something nice to put on that I looked in my special drawer. I came across many things, one of them being this. I thought I should give it back to you, seeing as I probably shouldn't be wearing it, although I might feel the need to. Love, Justin.' Oh goody, what is it?!", Briana was excited.

"LOVE Justin? What on earth?", Draco looked annoyed.

"Come off it, Dray. We're just good friends," she reprimanded her friend as she now viciously shredded off the paper. She gasped then giggled happily, seeing what had been sent to her.

"What is it?", Alex asked her.

"It's a sweatshirt of mine!", she held up a light blue crewneck sweater that had the words "Never stop dreaming" written on it in black along with a mickey mouse head.

"Why did he have it in a 'special drawer' of his?", Blaise wanted to know.

"He came to me one day and was feeling down and discouraged, career-wise, so I told him I had a special sweater to lend him for good luck and encouragement. I gave him this one, he put it on and kept it until now," Briana gave them the back story.

"How adorable," Draco said slightly sarcastically.

"Oh shush, you know you're just jealous," she teased him.

"Maybe so," he stated as he raised her eyebrows at her, making her laugh and blush lightly at the same time.

"Well this was a pleasant surprise," she said, throwing the packaging away, but putting the note in her pocket and the sweater on the arm of the couch.

"Speaking of surprises, I need to give Catherine her present," Alex said, standing up. "Somebody come with?"

"Me!", Briana raised her hand. "I owe Cat some piano lessons."

"I think we'll hang about here for a while," Draco said casually.

"Oh, alright. Well it's just you and I again, dear Alex. Let's go!", Briana and Alex went into the fireplace and appeared in Chuck's.

They found Catherine and Chuck sitting at the coffee table in their living room playing an intense game of Go Fish. Hearing them pop up in the fireplace, the Solomon's looked over, delighted to see Alex and Briana. Cat looked especially happy to see both of them, running up to Alex and hugging his legs, yelling, "Uncle Alex!"

She in turn gave Briana a hug as well, before she noticed Alex hiding something behind his back. She jumped up and down, demanding to know what it was. After making little Cat promise to take good care of what he was about to present to her, he gave her the fluffy pink pygmy puff. The little girl squealed and gasped, taking the creature in her hands. She excitedly gave Alex another hug, then sat down with her new pet, stroking it lovingly.

"You got her a present but not me?", Chuck half-joked, pouting his lip.

"I like her better than you, obviously," Alex teased. Briana noticed that whenever Chuck was around, Alex spoke quite a bit more than he would otherwise.

"Oh, I got you a book! But I accidentally left it at home. I'll give it to you when school begins," Briana told him.

"Glad to know someone cares about me," he gave Briana a hug glaring at Alex in a joking manner, causing the both of them to laugh.

"I'm gonna name her Alana!", Cat suddenly shouted. "I chose her name! Alana! I'm so smart! Wanna know why that's her name?"

"Do tell," said Briana.

"Alana is spelled like A-l-a-n-a, you know. So the A-l part is from Alex's name, and the a-n-a part is from Briana's name! She has part of both of your names now. Because you two are my favorites," the six-year-old explained proudly.

"Aw! That's so cute!", Briana gushed. "You're so creative!"

"Wait, what about me?! Aren't I your favorite?!", Chuck stared at his younger sister.

"I mean they are my favorite people besides you, silly goose. And I already named my new teddy bear after you so that you're always with me. Even when you go to school," she told him.

"AW!", Briana outburst, smiling brightly at Cat. Alex smiled too as Chuck gave her a big hug.

"You mean the teddy bear that mum gave you yesterday? You named it after me?"

"Yes! Because then if Chuck my brother isn't here to be my friend, then Chuck my bear is here to be my friend until you get back for Christmas."

Chuck smiled at her, "Promise you'll be good when I'm away?"

"Do you promise to visit as soon as you can?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Then I do too!"

The brother and sister then pinky-promised before hugging again. Chuck patted Catherine on the head as she passed him to get to Briana, "Can you teach me some piano now?"

"Of course, love," she took her hand as Cat took her to what she referred to as the party room, where a large white piano stood waiting for them.

During the hour she spent with the six-year-old, Briana learned Cat already knew the keys and even a few basic songs, such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The little girl was also an exceptionally quick learner, and Briana was pleasantly surprised. A bit more than an hour later, the two girls went back downstairs to hear that Alex was staying at the Solomon's. Chuck invited Briana to stay as well, but she said that she ought to get back home.

Climbing out of her fireplace, Briana saw that all her shopping bags and even the sweater from Justin had been taken to her bedroom, probably by one of the house elves. Hearing voices from another room, the 16-year-old followed the noise to the kitchen, where she found Blaise and Draco indulging in large servings of chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

"You're still here?", she asked them, surprised.

"Yeah, thought we'd stick around to annoy you some more," Draco ate a large spoonful of his vanilla treat.

"You guys should just stay the night! Pleaaassseee? My parents won't mind, if they even come back home," she pleaded them.

"I'm in then," Blaise nodded, putting more chocolate sauce on his frozen delectable.

"Alright then, Dray you're obligated to stay now as well, so that's that."

He nodded at her words as she helped herself to some vanilla ice cream of her own. The boys stared at her as if she was mental, however, when she began to put pretzels in it.

"What is the matter with you?!", Blaise asked her, bewildered.

"Oh, shut up! It's delicious!"

"Let me try some of that," Draco snatched the bag of pretzels, putting a couple in his ice cream as well. He ate the combination as Blaise watched distastefully and Briana looked hopeful for a positive reaction.

He nodded and had a look of approval painted on his face, "Not bad, actually. You should try it, Blaise!"

"I told you!", Briana exclaimed.

"Absolutely not! I refuse to try such a ridiculous invention!", he sent Briana's bowl of ice cream and pretzels a look of discontent.

Briana picked up her bowl and got a spoonful of the concoction piled up on her spoon, "We'll see about that. Come here!" She leaned toward him, pushing the spoon towards his mouth.

"No! Stop!", he backed away quickly.

"Come on, just one bite!"

"Leave me alone!", he stood up as she copied him and began to slowly follow him around the kitchen.

"Dray, help me!", she called to her best friend.

He stood behind Briana now, "Zabini, come on, just a taste."

"Not in this life, you fools!"

Briana laughed, "Don't make me force feed you!"

"You wouldn't dare," Blaise challenged her.

"But I would," she eyed him dangerously.

She continued to chase him around the kitchen several times, both of them laughing, though Briana seemed to be enjoying the occasion a bit more than he was. Draco laughed as well, finding the scene entirely entertaining. As Blaise passed him a fourth time, Draco stuck his foot out to trip him. He fell to the floor with a thud. Briana pounced on top of him and tried to force the ice cream on him again.

"Eat it!", she yelled, the ice cream now starting to melt.

"Get off of me!", he squirmed around underneath her. It was exceedingly easy to get free from such a small girl, but just when Blaise was getting up, Draco sat on him as well.

"You guys are suffocating me!", he claimed, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Eat it, then we will get off!", Draco negotiated.

"Are you serious?"

"EAT IT!", Briana shoved the spoon towards him again.

Blaise glared at the food, then ate the portion. Chewing the combination of slightly melted vanilla ice cream and now somewhat soggy pretzels, Blaise's face twisted with disgust.

"Gross! It's all drippy and soggy!", he complained.

"Well," Draco began getting off of his friend. "If you had eaten it when we initially told you to, it would have been delicious."

"You stubborn baby," Briana reprimanded him, putting the spoon on the table.

"Did she seriously just call me that?", he asked Draco, who smirked, nodding.

They all laughed as they finished the remnants of their frozen treats, happily spending the last full day of Summer in content, drunk off of friendship and slightly melted ice cream.