Diagon Alley was buzzing with the sound of people talking, animals squawking and shopkeepers trying to entice customers into their stores. Mrs Weasley was trying her best to coral the family around the various different outlets without losing any of them, having to pay particular attention to the twins who had a habit of getting distracted by something in a window and remaining there without telling her.

As the twins' youngest brother Ron was starting at Hogwarts this year, the majority of the items they were in London for were for him. Mrs Weasley had taken Ron into Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions along with the youngest and only female amongst the Weasley children Ginny, to arrange to have him fitted for his school robes. As the Weasley family didn't really have much money to spare, rather then getting new robes, Ron was getting hand-me-downs from one of his older brothers and Madam Malkin was making the necessary adjustments to them. Since this would take a while Percy had been left in charge of the twins, under strict instructions to try and keep them out of trouble. He'd managed it for about twenty seconds which, in fairness to Percy, was twenty seconds longer than the twins had expected it.

"How would you like me to punch your lights out?" asked Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain, sixth year and all round knuckle dragging bully. A few seconds previously Fred had accidentally bumped into him, thus starting the initial altercation, although the twins were doing there part to fan the flames of confrontation.

"Are you expecting me to answer that?" replied Fred frowning, "because I think I'll have to go with no."

"Are you sure there Fred?" asked George, "there is a lot to be said for a good old punch in the face."

"I'm sure there is," admitted Fred shrugging, "but I'm not really in the mood today. Maybe next time though."

"You two think you are so smart don't you?" growled Flint glowering at the pair.

"Who us?" asked George pointing a thumb at his own chest, and shaking his head, "we don't think we are smarter than the average student at Hogwarts."

"Although compared to you we are geniuses," admitted Fred smiling.

"Anyone compared to him would be a genius," argued George pointing at himself, "me, you, Percy, a brick, we could all outsmart him."

"Right that's it," snapped Flint grabbing hold of George's shirt and pulling his fist back.

"Stop that right now," ordered Percy marching forward and forcing himself between the pair. Flint in his surprise let go of George. Percy pulled aside his coat to reveal his prefect's badge pinned to his shirt. It had been polished that much that it simply gleamed in the sunlight. "I'm a prefect now so you have to do what I say."

"No I don't," Flint disagreed shaking his head.

"Yes, you do," countered Percy holding firm.

"Why?" asked Flint.

"Because…" Percy started, before realising he couldn't actually come up with a reasonable argument, "because I'm a prefect, that's why."

"We're not in school," said Flint, motioning with his hands at the area around them to emphasise the point, "and you know what? Even if we were, I still wouldn't listen to you."

"Well if we were in school, I'd have put you in detention by now."

"And I'd have put you in the Hospital Wing by now," muttered Flint, "in fact; there is nothing from stopping me doing that now."

"Now see here…" Percy started as Flint grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled his fist back.

Flint's look of glee changed to one of surprise and finally annoyance as his cocked fist was grabbed from behind and wrenched up behind his back. Flint struggled as hard as he could but his assailant had him held tight.

"Still not picking on people your own size I see Flint," said Miro Franca, the best friend of the twins' brother Charlie, holding onto the struggling Slytherin student.

"You're about my size," replied Flint still trying to break free, "why don't you let me go and we can settle this properly?"

"Fair enough," shrugged Miro, pushing Flint away from him.

"Big mistake," muttered Flint, rubbing his now sore arm before raising both fists.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," admitted Miro pulling out his wand.

"Hey, that's not fair, you can't use magic," complained Flint suddenly unsure of what to do.

"Actually," smiled Miro twirling his wand in a circle, "I turned seventeen just after Christmas so yes, I'm allowed to use magic."

"So you'll use a wand against someone who is unarmed?" sneered Flint.

"Where you are concerned, I'll take any advantage I can get," replied Miro coolly, "it's the first thing you learn at Auror training."

"Really?" asked Fred completely ignoring the tension of the confrontation.

"Actually no," admitted Miro shaking his head, "the first thing they teach you is where the toilets and kitchen are, then they'll introduce in the instructors, go over the course aims, basic skills that kind of thing. I'd say it's probably about the eighteenth thing you learn…"

"Oi," snapped Flint, annoyed at Miro's distracted conversation, "are you forgetting I'm here?"

"Sadly no," admitted Miro, "I doubt anyone with even the weakest sense of smell would be able to forget about you."

"Why you…"

"Marcus Reginald Flint where are you?" barked a shrill voice, causing a startled Flint to spin around with a panicked look on his face.

"Mum," replied Flint looking annoyed.

"Don't you 'mum' me," snapped the woman as she walked over to Flint and the Gryffinor boys from one of the many nearby shops. She was dressed in a dark pink outfit with her hair pulled up in a tight bun. She looked at her son and then at the other boys over her horned rimmed glasses. "Well Marcus? Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"

"They aren't my friends," mumbled Flint rolling his eyes.

"Honestly what have I said about you speaking up? How is anyone suppose to be able to hear you properly when you mumble like that?" asked Mrs Flint, her voice quick and sharp, "now what did you say?"

"They aren't my friends," Flint reiterated this time making sure he pronounced the words clearly.

"Nonsense," replied Mrs Flint dismissively, "of course you are friends, you're the same age aren't you?" She stopped addressing her son and turned to the twins, Percy and Miro, and broke out in a wide smile and addressed them in a much friendlier tone, "Serendipity Flint, although my friends call me Bunty, not entirely sure why, but I'm very please to finally meet some of Marcus's friends, never talks about any of you of course. I'm hard pressed to even get a 'hello' out of him most days."

"Really?" asked Miro smiling as he shook Mrs Flint's offered hand, "that is a surprise because at school he is always talking about you."

"He is?" beamed a surprised Mrs Flint looking thoroughly pleased, "well he always was a bit of a mummy's boy, weren't you?" she looked over at her son and ruffled his hair, "don't slouch dear, you weren't raised by goblins." She turned back to Miro, "I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."

"Miro Franca."

"Miro… Miro…," Mrs Flint said to herself thoughtfully, "no relation to Mercia Franca are you?"

"That's my aunt," admitted Miro nodding.

"Ah yes I know her well," Mrs Flint smiled, "she's always talking about you, said you were training to be an Auror, is that right?"

"Yes that's right, I left Hogwarts just last year."

"Well bully for you, that's a fantastic career choice," Mrs Flint congratulated him with a friendly punch on the shoulder before pointing a thumb over her shoulder at her son, "I don't suppose you could have a word with him could you? Appalling results last year, I'm surprised they let him back in."

"Mum!" complained Flint, as the twins sniggered.

"In a minute dear," replied Mrs Flint dismissively, "of course I doubt he'd survive long as an Auror. They have nerves of steal and that silly thing was afraid of the dark until he was about twelve, almost missed catching his first Hogwarts Express because he couldn't leave home without his little teddy-bear…"

"Mum!"

"Oh that's right; it wasn't a teddy-bear was it? It was a toy rabbit; Flopsy I seem to recall," she corrected herself misunderstanding her son's complaint. She turned to look at Percy and the twins, her eyes flickering over their red hair, "don't tell me, you'll have to be some of Molly Weasley's lot aren't you?"

"That's right," said Percy stepping forward, he shook Mrs Flint's hand and gave a brief pompous bow, "I'm Percy and they are Fred and George."

"Very nice to meet you," she said shaking the twins' hands as well. She looked at Percy and noticed his prefect's badge poking out from behind his coat, "my word, a prefect are you? Very impressive, I had hoped Marcus would have followed in my footsteps and been made one but there's a little too much of his father in him I think. How is your dear mother these days? I use to go to school with her, different Houses of course but we always got on well."

"She's actually over in Madam Malkin's at the moment," explained Percy pointing towards the shop, "our younger brother is starting this year so she's just getting his robes adjusted."

"Excellent," smiled Mrs Flint looking at the shop, "I think I'll go and catch up with her." She turned to look at her son, "you should come too, I can't carry all these bags on my own, plus we can pick you up some new underwear while we are there." She rolled her eyes up at Miro, "honestly don't know how he manages to go through them so quickly when he's at school. Very nice to meet you boys, come along Marcus."

"See you Marcus," Miro waved bye.

"Bye Marcus," chorused the twins "say 'hello' to Flopsy for us." Flint shot them a look of pure hatred as he passed by.

Mrs Flint pushed open the door to Madam Malkin's and stepped inside along with her son, before it swung shut they just about managed to hear her exclaim in her high-pitched voice, "Molly, my dear how are you?"

"That was just about perfect," George stated firmly with a smile on his face.

"Just about?" asked Fred frowning, "what were we missing?"

"Ice-cream," replied George, "there is always room for ice-cream to make things even better."

"Come on then," sighed Miro pointing towards Florean Forescue's Ice Cream Parlour where there was a line of children waiting to buy some delicious ice-cream, "my treat."

"Nice one Miro," said Fred slapping their ex-team-mate on the back.

"Well I'm getting paid now," shrugged Miro, "but don't get anything too fancy, I'm not made of money you know."

The four boys sat down at one of the tables outside of the shop while they tried to work out which delectable flavour to try. Eventually they settled on a choice and Miro headed up to order it.

"How's Charlie getting on in Romania?" asked Miro when he returned to his seat.

"He's loving it," admitted Percy, "sent a letter home last week, the edges were a bit singed, but he said he was having a blast."

"I'm not surprised," smiled Miro, "that boy was obsessed with dragons. You should have seen all the posters he put up in our dormitory, it was like living in a reptile house. So you made prefect then Percy?"

"Oh God," said Fred slapping a hand to his forehead, "don't get him started."

"Yes I did," said Percy, flashing a look of annoyance at his brother, "although to be honest it was hardly surprising."

"I'll say," agreed Miro, "you certainly do epitomise everything that it means to be a prefect."

"That's a bit mean to the prefects isn't it?" asked George.

"So what's it like training to be an Auror?" asked Percy quickly, choosing to ignore his brother.

"It's great;" smiled Miro, "but it is hard work, and I don't just mean having to learn all the different skills you need. They are constantly testing you."

"What you mean like exams and stuff?" enquired George looking unimpressed, "I thought you'd have had enough of that at school."

"No, although there are plenty of theory and practical exams," agreed Miro, "I mean they keep doing weird tests to see if you are ready to be Auror material. I have one instructor who keeps jumping out from nowhere and attacking me to see if I'm prepared to defend myself."

"That seems a little extreme," remarked Percy looking rather shocked.

"That seems brilliant," exclaimed Fred.

"That's what I thought at first," admitted Miro nodding in agreement, "but when you suddenly get attacked in the middle of the night by a man who has been hiding under your bed for the last four hours before jumping out at you, it tends to get a little annoying."

"Yeah, actually that doesn't sound the best," George concurred.

Soon the waitress brought over their orders and they were just pushing back their bowls as Mrs Weasley, spotting them from across the road, met up with them, with Ron and Ginny in tow.

"Mummy," said Ginny pulling on her mother's sleeve, "can I have an ice-cream?"

"Yeah me too," added Ron looking longingly at the counter where all the various flavours were displayed and licking his lips.

"Ah okay why not? Here," Mrs Weasley fished out a few coins from her purse and handed them to Ron, "thanks ever so much for keeping an eye on them Miro."

"They were no trouble," Miro responded despite Percy flashing a look at the twins.

"Mum," said Percy, "can I go to Flourish and Blotts? I want to see if they have any books on being a prefect."

"Of course dear," Mrs Weasley replied, "we'll meet you over there when Ron and Ginny have finished their ice-creams."

"How come he gets to go off on his own?" complained Fred.

"Because I can be trusted," replied Percy before heading off down the street.

"We can be trusted," sulked George, looking at his mother.

"If you want Mrs Weasley," said Miro, "I can keep an eye on them; let you get on with shopping for their school stuff."

"Oh Miro, you really are a Godsend," Mrs Weasley slumped down into the chair recently vacated by Percy, "you'd think I'd have got use to shopping for stuff for school by now. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Of course not, I've got the morning off," shrugged Miro, "I'll take them down to Quality Quidditch Supplies that'll keep them busy for a while."

"Excellent," smiled Fred suddenly jumping up, "come on lets go."

"No Knockturn Alley," Mrs Weasley ordered as George and Miro joined Fred.

"Mum," complained George, pointing at Miro, "we're going with an Auror, how much safer could we be?"

"No." She stated firmly.

"Understood Mrs Weasley," said Miro giving her a thumbs-up, "see you later."

Miro and the twins turned and left the others at the table and headed down the street. Diagon Alley was full of students from Hogwarts, their families also having decided to shop there for school supplies. They bumped into a number of Gryffindor students along the way as well the school's groundkeeper Hagrid, who was carrying a beautiful white snowy owl in a cage through the crowd.

Despite their best attempts to persuade Miro to lead them through the infamous Knockturn Alley rather then the Quidditch shop, he bluntly refused based on his promise to their mother. However he did eventually, after much beseeching from both of the Weasley boys to show them something interesting, agreed to take them to a shop hidden away through the back alleys and laneways that branched off from the main street.

This particular shop was a museum of Dark Arts; it charted the history of black magic along with some details of some of the most dangerous wizards that the world had ever seen. Statues and portraits showed the depiction of the various effects of perilous and, in most cases, illegal curses that could be performed.

"Pfft, he weren't so tough," said George as they walked out of an exhibit devoted to Shadeesh Kai.

"This from the man who is scared of bats," muttered Fred rolling his eyes.

"I'm not scared of them," countered George, "I'm just saying we should keep our eye on them, I don't trust them."

"Are you two ever serious?" asked Miro shaking his head.

"I tried it once a few years ago," admitted Fred shuddering, "decided it just wasn't for me."

The three boys wandered through the different rooms, occasionally calling each other over to a particular portrait that showed some disgustingly deformed victim. Eventually they managed to wander through each of the rooms, and had a quick stop in the gift shop before leaving. Miro decided to buy each of the twins a key ring with a small shrunken head attached to it, whose eyes swivelled back and forth when you swung it. They stepped back out into the street, not before George had informed the short squat women behind the counter of the gift shop that their statue of Shadeesh Kai looked nothing like him, and headed back towards the main part of Diagon Alley.

"Cheers for this Miro," said Fred holding up his key ring, "he actually looks a bit like Percy."

"That's a bit unfair," said George taking a closer look, "he's nowhere near as ugly as Percy."

"Of course there is one slight problem with it," Fred said apologetically as the three boys walked into a small empty courtyard.

"Oh yeah?" said Miro absentmindedly looking around the quad with a frown on his face, "what's that?"

"The thing is I don't actually own any keys."

"Well you are going to own some keys at some point aren't you?" Miro was now looking at the rooftops of the buildings surrounding the square.

"I suppose," thought Fred much happier. They'd almost reached the far side of the courtyard and were about to enter another alleyway, "is everything okay?"

"Yeah," said Miro shaking his head, "I just thought… you know what? It doesn't matter, probably nothing anyway. It's all this Auror training. It's starting to make me paranoid."

"Don't worry Miro," said George slapping him on the back, "you've got me and Fred here to protect you."

There was a slight scraping sound from above them. A couple of roof tiles came loose and smashed onto the ground below. Then the attack started.