"So kids," began Ginny as they bustled down snowy Diagon Alley. "What do you want to get for the gift exchange?"

"A doll." said Lily instantly. She was just barely five.

"A doll, huh?" repeated Ginny. "Well I guess that would be alright, but do you think all of your cousins and aunts and uncles would like a doll?"

"Grandma has a doll." replied Lily.

"That's true, Grandma does have a doll. But that's a fancy doll, not the kind you play with."

"A doll." said Lily adamantly.

"Okay." Ginny gave up. "We'll see what we can find. How about you boys?"

"Something cool." said James.

"Like what?" asked Ginny.

James shrugged. "I'll know it when I see it."

"Yeah." agreed Albus. "Me too."

Ginny rolled her eyes. They sure weren't making it easy on her. At least Harry seemed to have an idea, though he wouldn't tell her what it was.

"Alright." said Ginny. "We're almost finished here. How about we head into Muggle London and see what we can find?"

"That's good." agreed Albus.

"Yes, good." added Lily.

They hit a few more shops and then Ginny led them out onto Charing Cross Road.

"Let's look in here." said Ginny, coming to a stop as they walked along. She had seen a few dolls through the window.

Lily spotted them immediately as they entered, and ran over. "Don't run Lily." called Ginny. "And don't touch the dolls." She turned to Al and James. "Alright, look around, but don't touch anything. And no running." Ginny instructed before going over to Lily.

Ginny checked the price tags on the dolls, and decided that they were reasonable. Before she could ask Lily said "This one, mommy!"

"Okay, but I'm not carrying it around." Ginny took the doll over to the counter and asked if they could watch it while she browsed. She was glad to see that Albus and James hadn't gotten into any trouble, although it didn't look like they had found anything either.

Ginny picked out a woolen blanket and collected the boys. As she was about to pay, Albus cried "Wait!"

"Yes, Al?" asked Ginny.

"Can I see up there please, Mum?" he asked politely.

Ginny lifted him up so he could see over the counter. He plucked a notebook and feather pen off of the little display. "I found it!" said Albus proudly.

"Good job Al." said Ginny as she set him down.

After they had paid for their items, only James was left. "Okay James, we can go into any store you want, but we're only going into one. This can't take all day." said Ginny.

James led them several blocks, peering into all of the windows. Just when Ginny thought he was never going to stop, he darted into a hardware store. Ginny didn't know what he could have seen that made him run in there, and he turned out that he hadn't seen anything, because he spent just as much time going up and down the aisles as he had outside.

"What are you looking for?" asked Albus curiously as James peered at the merchandise.

"I dunno." replied James.

Ginny and the other kids were sitting on a little bench at the front of the store when James finally ran up to them. "Okay, I got it!"

Ginny took the package from him. "Do you know what these are?"

"Yeah!" retorted James. "They're locks."

"Right." said Ginny. "And what do you suppose your relatives are going to do with them?"

"I dunno, lock stuff? They're cool, Mum." explained James.

Ginny sighed. "Fine." she said, thinking that her father might like them, if nothing else. It had been a long day.