Diagon Alley

In the morning, Siria woke to find a plate of bacon, eggs, and chopped kale on her bedside table. Her tired eyes blinked at the plate. She sat up and picked a piece of kale off. "What is this?" she asked the empty room. All the same, Siria ate what she thought to be some sort of bitter lettuce. Kreacher appeared shortly after she had finished her plate and had gotten dressed. "Look at you!" Siria smiled at him. He had cleaned himself off and even washed his loincloth.

"Kreacher must be presentable to be with Mistress."

"You're always presentable." She told him and patted Kreacher's head.

After spending yesterday fleeing the Dursleys' and walking around Diagon Alley with Sirius, Siria felt tired. She kicked her feet up onto the coffee table and spent the day indoors, reading, trying to solve the same puzzle of Love and Logic: Logic Grids for the Heart she had gotten stuck on before, and listening to the radio. There was something nice about the quiet day in.

By the time Friday had rolled around Siria had received replies from Professor McGonagall and Hagrid. Professor McGonagall's reply made Siria feel silly for asking; it could be summed up in "Of course, Potter!" Hagrid's letter told Siria he was a little disappointed she had not figured it out herself. She wrestled the Monster Book of Monsters out and stroked its spine. The book purred and dropped, limp. "Good book" Siria told it, but kept the belt on.

Kreacher had managed to talk her into visiting Gringotts and getting her school supplies. The two left in the early afternoon. Siria kept a firm hold on Kreacher's hand. Whenever someone stared at them, Siria raised her head higher. Kreacher was her friend and she loved him. She wasn't about to be embarrassed by old ideals like "a good house elf is never seen or heard."

They entered Flourish and Blotts. It wasn't quite how it usually was. Where, for at least the last two years, there had been a lovely display of books, there was a cage full of about a hundred copies of the Monster Book of Monsters. It was comforting to see the shop was having even more trouble than Siria with them. She smiled at the books. One of them growled at her.

"Hogwarts?" the harassed looking shopkeeper asked.

"Yes," She nodded. He pushed her aside and Siria had to step in front of the cage to stop him from grabbing one for her. "I've already got my copy!" She wanted to take the pole from him and snap it in two. The shopkeeper looked so relieved, she thought he might cry. He helped her collect the rest of her school books. Then led her to the Transfiguration section.

Flourish and Blotts didn't have much that Sirius didn't own. There was one book on the Uagadou School of Magic, In the Mountains of the Moon, which she added to the pile. Siria wandered to the Defense Against the Dark Arts section, where she found Hilarious Hexes: Become the Life of the Party. It was new enough Sirius didn't have a copy. She picked up a few other books that she was sure Hermione didn't have and one on Quidditch that had a large section on the Chudley Cannons, for Ron.

"Siria Potter!" The shopkeeper announced when she was finally ready.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I hadn't even noticed." He confessed.

"Oh, well, you know. I'm just a girl." She told him, taking the books and declining the bag. Kreacher took In the Mountains of the Moon and Hilarious Hexes, but Siria insisted on carrying the others. Though she wouldn't admit it, she soon came to regret it.

As they were leaving the shop, she bumped a display and one of her books fell off the top of her stack. Before she could even reach for it, someone swept it off the floor. Siria shifted the books to cover the top of her head, which involved holding them unreasonably high and ducking her head low, and extended a hand for the book. The person who had picked up her book chuckled. He didn't know it was her.

"You're only going to drop them again, if you carry them like that," the boy smirked at her. "No 'thank you'?" He asked.

"Thanks." Siria murmured into her stack of books.

"You." The pale hand of Draco Malfoy placed itself on the top of her stack of books and pushed them down until he could see her face. He tsked and dropped the book he had picked up for her. Kreacher grabbed it before it hit the ground again.

"Don't you know house elves—" He started. Siria's face contorted into a glare

"Are great friends? Deserve every bit of kindness a witch or wizard does? Yes. Yes, I do." she asserted. Malfoy's cold grey eyes surveyed her face, which made her compose herself. Siria wanted to throw her books at him, but didn't want to damage them.

"My, my" a cold voice smirked. Siria thought to herself "Of course!" because Draco Malfoy was never alone. "Siria Potter." Mr. Malfoy looked down at her. "Out with her house elf. In this distressing time? What would your parents say?" He asked in such a cold voice it made the hair on the back of her neck stand. Siria held her head up and straightened up.

"That if I've beat Voldemort—" she emphasized the name as much as she could "three times, Peter Pettigrew is a joke."

"Perhaps." Mr. Malfoy's smirk widened. Siria forced her strongest smile. She told herself not to be intimidated.

"Now, it was so nice to see you, but we have other errands to run." Siria's green eyes closed to give her smile a cat like air of mischievousness. "Good day, Mr. Malfoy, young Mr. Malfoy."

"Good day, Ms. Potter." Mr. Malfoy gave her a short, curt nod.

"Potter," Malfoy neither nodded nor smiled. Siria shifted her books to be able to carry them and hold Kreacher's hand.

As they returned to the inn, she mentally composed a calendar to keep her out and about. If Lucius Malfoy thought Siria shouldn't be out right now, she was going to spend part of every single day, for the rest of summer, in the public, with Kreacher.

Days rolled into weeks as September approached. Diagon Alley was full of shops Siria had only seen in passing. Her time and freedom let her finally visit some of them, like Amanuensis Quills, which, as its name implied, sold a variety of quills; Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, where Siria was able to purchase some of Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start No-Heart Fireworks; a junk shop that sold things Siria couldn't understand anyone buying, like books missing pages, cracked ink bottles, and broken wands; and Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions, which was more pink than Siria had ever seen.

Since her first year, she had grow quite a bit and needed her robes let down. Madam Malkin's Robes of All Occasions was a short stop. She smiled when Siria entered and welcomed her back. Madam Malkin laughed and told her she had missed Draco Malfoy by a few days. Siria didn't tell Madam Malkin that she was glad to have missed him.

Quality Quidditch Supplies may have been Siria's favorite place, as she went to at least four times a week. She never bought anything, but she couldn't help staring in the window and looking at the newly erected display: the Firebolt.

(Book: B3, 51 description of the Firebolt)

It was beautifully crafted and it took her telling Kreacher every time they got near the shop "Do not let me ask about it and don't tell Sirius!" to stop her asking for the price. Siria worried that, no matter how much it was, she might buy it. She reminded herself every time she saw that: 1) she had a perfectly good Nimbus Two-Thousand, 2) the money in her vault had to last this year and four more, 3) if the broom really was being used by professionals, at next year's Quidditch World Cup, it was probably much more than she needed and more than she could afford.

Almost every day, Siria visited Magical Menagerie, a pet shop. More than anything in Diagon Alley, even more than the Firebolt, Siria wanted a snake. They were so drawn to her and wouldn't disappear like the ones she summoned with Serpensortia. The shopkeep tried to get her to buy one or anything, but Siria couldn't. She already had Hedwig and snakes weren't an allowed animal. It didn't stop her from visiting again though.

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour was another of her favorite places. She had been talking with Kreacher about her History of Magic essay and Florean Fortescue himself told her to bring it in. He was an expert on witch burnings, along with History of Magic in general. Fortescue was kind enough to lend her some of his old books and brought her a new sundae every hour while she worked there. She sat at one of the tables just outside the shop, which worked out nicely.

When Colin Creevey visited about a week and a half after Siria arrived, she was sitting outside with Kreacher, reading Gnawing Down Goblin Rebellions: A Guide to Getting the Gruesome Facts. He was elated to see her and ran right toward her. Kreacher froze Colin in midair, just a few steps before the table.

"Kreacher, it's fine!" Siria closed her book and patted Kreacher on the shoulder. Colin had the widest smile on his face, as if being stopped by a house elf was the coolest thing he had done this summer. "This is Colin, Colin Creevey" Siria told him. Kreacher stopped and Colin, not prepared to start moving again, nearly ran into the table.

"You're here!" Colin exclaimed at Siria. "I didn't think I'd get to see you until September!"

"Yup. Here I am." She smiled, a little awkwardly. For some reason, Colin shook her hand and continued to shake her hand with a huge smile on his face.

"So, um, Professor McGonagall has given me permission to use her classroom on Sunday mornings. Hermione, Ron and I are going to be studying with some other people, did you want to join?"

"Can I really?" Colin turned to his parents. "Mum, dad, did you hear?" He shouted across the street. Siria waved at them with her free hand and they came over. "Can I?" Colin asked Siria again.

"Yeah." Siria told him as she shook Mr. Creevey's hand and then Mrs. Creevey. His younger brother, Dennis., started up at Siria like she was a giant. He was even smaller than Ginny.

"This is Dennis— he can do stuff too! Do you think he'll get to go to Hogwarts?" Colin asked.

"Probably." Siria wasn't sure if that was the only qualification for getting into Hogwarts. Dennis, who had the same hair and eyes of his brother exchanged the same look of excitement.

"Do you all have some time?" Siria asked.

"We do!" Colin shouted, but looked to his parents.

"We do," Mrs. Creevey nodded.

"Would you like to join me? My treat." Though they protested a few times, Siria ultimately managed to pay. The Creeveys, Siria and Kreacher sat outside, enjoying the afternoon until the Creeveys had to get the rest of Colin's school supplies.

Justin Finch-Fletchley arrived at Diagon Alley the next day. He seemed to look forward to studying on Sundays. "With Hermione Granger and you?" He asked her twice. Siria supposed studying with the smartest person in their year would help him, but didn't really feel studying with her would help more than Hermione. The only person left she would have to ask was Ginny. It wouldn't make sense for Penelope Clearwater to study with people younger than her.

Until her last week at Diagon Alley, Siria avoided Ollivanders. On their first and only encounter, he crept her out with the way his silver eyes watched her with curiosity. Now that she knew more about Tom Riddle, the man who went on to do "terrible, but great things," she hoped it wouldn't be so uncomfortable. The bell of the shop door ringed as she and Kreacher entered.

"Ah, Ms. Potter." Mr. Ollivander's smile made her stomach flip. She pulled her wand from her pocket.

"Hi. I, um." She placed it on the counter. "I don't know if wands are like cars, so I figured I would bring it in and make sure it was okay." She didn't want to tell him that watching someone use a broken wand made her panic hers might need repairs. Ron's wand had broken in a fight with the Slytherin Quidditch team and Hermione had done her best to repair it, but the repairs were temporary.

Ollivander held her wand. He examined it right at the end of his glasses. With a flick, Siria's wand became a bouquet of flowers and another flick turned it back into a wand. "Still in fine condition, though you ought to treat it some time." Ollivander told her.

"Treat it?" She asked. "With…?" What do you even treat a wand with? Aunt Petunia had a can of spray she used on the kitchen table, but that hardly seemed proper and Aunt Petunia would never let Siria use the spray on anything magic.

"Standard wand polish should do, nothing fancy needed. Even if you just treat it once a year, the wand will shine and grow to trust you more." said Ollivander

Siria didn't need more convincing than that. The fact she had gone without treating it for so long actually worried her. She left the shop with her wand, a can of polish, and a cloth. If it was one thing that even Aunt Petunia didn't complain about, it was Siria's ability to polish. Her wand almost seemed to glow when she was finally done. Had she been polishing a spoon, she would have been able to see her face in it, but she also would have been less willing to polishing it.

Although she had finished her homework, the new books she bought, Love and Logic: Logic Grids for the Heart, and moved onto 1001 Word Problems!, Siria spent at least part of each day at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. It was the final week of summer and she still had not seen Ron or Hermione, even though she had seen what felt like the rest of the school. Florean Fortescue was happy to have her and brought out new sundaes throughout the day. When the shop was slow, he would come out and lookover whatever she was reading at the time.

Finally, on Friday, she knew she would have to see them today, tomorrow, or at least on the train on Sunday. She sat down with Kreacher, on a bench near the Leaky Cauldron. Kreacher wouldn't let her eat ice cream this early and Siria really hoped that Ron and Hermione would pass by, especially because 1001 Word Problems! was notably more difficult and less fun than Love and Logic: Logic Grids for the Heart.

"Siria! SIRIA!"

Siria nearly dropped her book in excitement when she ran to hug and greet Hermione and Ron. Both of them had just stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron.

(Book: B3, 55 Hermione is very tan, Ron covered in freckles)

"It's so good to see you!" Siria confessed as she hugged Hermione for a second time.

"Did you really shatter a house?" Ron asked.

"What? No!" Siria let go of Hermione, who looked she didn't believe Siria. "I didn't shatter the whole house, I only broke a room— and Sirius said the Ministry fixed it."

"You aren't supposed to do magic—" Hermione started,

"I didn't try to do it!" Siria interrupted. The girls stared at each other for a moment. Though Hermione didn't approve, she seemed to understand Siria really didn't mean to.

"You could have been expelled," Hermione muttered softly. Siria smiled at her. If Siria were being honest, she felt she could have been sent to jail, but, for one reason or another, the Ministry let her off. Siria turned to see Kreacher, standing behind the bench, as if trying to hide.

"Come on," Siria waved to him, "you know Ron and Hermione— there's no reason to be shy." The old, hunched over house elf dragged himself forward. It seemed his love for Siria had not extended to care for her friends yet. "When did you guys arrive?"

"Just today!" Ron told her. "We're all staying at the Leaky Cauldron, so we can go to King's Cross together on Sunday."

"Brillant!" She smiled. "School shopping, then?" They agreed.

As Siria had already gotten her things, she was able to help Ron and Hermione collect theirs much quicker than usual. Though, Hermione got almost twice as many books as Ron, and insisted she needed them all. Around one o'clock, they met Mr. Weasley at Ollivander's. Hermione and Siria waited outside, while Ron got chosen by a new wand. Siria felt she had seen enough of Ollivander for the summer, if not the year. Despite all their shopping, their hands were kept rather empty because Kreacher insisted on taking their bags back to the inn after each shop.

They settled at Florean Fortescue's with Ron's new wand: unicorn hair, fourteen inches, willow. Hermione and Siria were surprised he hadn't insisted on going there first. The three ordered a sundae to split, while Hermione talked about her trip to France and Ron about his to Egypt. Hermione had rewritten her History of Magic essay to incorporate all she'd learned.

"If you two don't mind, I'd like to get an owl," Hermione told them.

"Why would we mind?" Siria asked.

"I just mean that we've finished our shopping and it would be another shop."

"Oh, no!" Ron rolled his eyes, "Hermione, if you want an owl, let's go."

"Besides," Siria pointed down the way, "there's a magical creature shop over there (B3, 57)."

(Book: B3, 58 the Magical Menagerie is small and filled with a variety of animals)

"You know, Hermione, you could always borrow Hedwig or a school owl." Siria suggested.

"Yes, but not during the summer. Owls are so useful, and—" Hermione paused to pet a rather large, ginger cat. "Oh, but a cat would be nice too." She scratched behind the ear of the very fluffy, bowlegged cat.

"Snakes are nice too" Siria suggest and pointed to the glass tank of snakes, all of which had slithered toward her.

"No!" Ron exclaimed and shook his head. "You cannot have a snake!"

"Not me, Hermione" Siria told him.

"Siria," Hermione tsked as she picked up the cat, "any snake I got would love you a hundred times more than me." The cat broke into a soft pur while Hermione scratched under its chin.

Ron exchanged a look with Siria that told her they agreed. Hermione may find the cat to be cute, but cute was a matter of opinion. The cat was rather large for a cat and seemed to take up all of Hermione's torso. Its face was squashed in and it looked grumpy (B3, 60). None of these things seemed to sway Hermione in the least and, a few minutes later, the trio walked out with the cat, Crookshanks.

(Book: B3, 61 Peter Pettigrew is still loose, Percy is the new Head Boy & is acting like the mayor, Fred & George are rather over Percy and tried to stuff him into a pyramid. Tom, the innkeeper put three tables together for them in the parlor.)

Just as their third course was being served, Siria's fork clattered to her plate. "Sirius!" She exclaimed and fought to not rise to her feet. Her seat was on the opposite side of the parlor entrance, but he made his way over to her, stopping to hug Molly and shake Arthur's hand. The entire time, he had a large grin on his face.

"I almost didn't make it," Sirius kissed the top of Siria's head. Ron moved his chair closer to George, who moved closer to Fred, who moved closer to Ginny, to make room for Sirius. Sirius flicked his wand and summoned a chair that looked exactly like one from his dining room, and Siria felt it would be safe to say it was one. He pulled up a plate and beamed at Siria.

"I thought I wouldn't see you until summer," Siria confessed.

"I worried the same thing, so I told Fudge I was going home for the night to have dinner with my goddaughter. If we're lucky, I'll be back tomorrow or at least to see you to the station on the first." He told her.

"Siria said you're helping look for Pettigrew," Hermione jumped in. At the sound of the name, the other chatter died away from the table.

"Yes." Sirius said, his smile still in place.

"Everyone is," Mr. Weasley told them. "Fudge pulled everyone from their usual duties to help (B3, 61).

"It's really rather silly," Sirius told them as he pulled some brisket onto his plate. "That rat's foolish enough to get himself caught."

"It isn't silly at all!" Mrs. Weasley snapped from down the table. "He murdered twelve people Sirius and almost got away with it."

"How could he get away with that?" Fred asked in disbelief.

"He tried to frame me," said Sirius, in the same calm voice he used to tell them "it's really rather silly." If anyone else had something to say or ask on the subject of Peter Pettigrew, they did not. Steadily, they followed Sirius's lead of continuing to eat.

On their fifth and final course, Siria took a large spoonful and, loudly as she could, told Sirius "Prepare for the plane!" He gasped in fake terror, as he had done before.

"Not again! You blasted thing!" Sirius grinned ear to ear and took the bite.

"Another flawless landing," she laughed. Fred and George applauded. Though Mrs. Weasley tsked them quietly, her smile had returned. Chatter returned evenly throughout the room and they went to bed in good spirits.