Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!

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As that pleasant summer gradually came to a close, Harriet lamented the short life of the season.

Two weeks before Hogwarts' new term began, Severus and Lily stood together with their children as they all waited in line at Flourish and Blotts Bookseller.

Shopping would have been much quicker that day if Diagon Alley's most popular bookstore hadn't had a special celebrity guest present for a signing.

"Dad?" Harriet whispered as she turned to look up at Severus while Ellery tried to peer through the crowd and see the person whom the many flashing cameras sought to photograph, "Can't we just leave and buy Magical Me some other place?"

"No…." Severus drawled, "As Professor Dumbledore informed me, Gilderoy Lockhart has an exclusive contract for the sale of his latest autobiography with Flourish and Blotts…….There's nowhere else we'll be able to purchase your new textbook until October…..at the earliest."

Harriet huffed irritably as she turned around without another word and scowled ahead.

"I share similar feelings about this entire situation………in case that notion comforts you at all." Severus whispered in his low drawl.

Harriet didn't turn back around, but she did smirk when she heard her father's quiet confession.

"Sev!" Lily scowled as she elbowed her husband's ribs.

Severus looked over at his darling flower with an incredulous scowl.

"My love," He began, "I beg you not to tell me that you've fallen under that great moron's spell like so many other women?"

"Of course not!" Lily replied in an offended gasp, "Gilderoy Lockhart was in our year, don't you remember? If I didn't fawn over him then, why should I now?"

Severus shrugged slightly as he contemplated Lily's reasonable statement before she went on, "Still, complaining about the wait won't do us any good."

"It's making me feel better, Mum!" Harriet laughed as she glanced over her shoulder at Lily.

Ellery blinked as his father and sister shared silent smirks but Lily tried to smooth over the frustrated anxiousness of the situation, "Look, when we're finished here, why don't we all go across the street and have a bit of ice cream?"

Severus grabbed Lily's hand and gave it a squeeze as Harriet and Ellery eagerly expressed their delight with happy gasps.

The bookshop was crowded, noisy, and all around unpleasant to stand in, but as Severus gazed at Lily, those aggravations melted away.

It didn't matter where he was in the world, as long as he had his darling wife next to him, Severus Snape could find respite.

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Gilderoy Lockhart had relied on his good looks and tales of supposed great deeds to skyrocket himself to an almost legendary level of fame.

Men envied him.

Women longed to be with him, although Severus and Lily remained the exception to that common truth.

Severus had no desire whatsoever to be as flashy or as flamboyant as the pompous wizard that he watched.

A frown of disgust formed on his face as he saw Gilderoy throw smile after fake smile at the plethora of flashing cameras, all greedily capturing his image for news articles.

Lily felt no longing for anyone besides her dear Severus, but Gilderoy didn't seem to care.

The charming grin he gave the couple as they stepped forward and gently pushed Harriet towards him to collect one of his books expressed his ignorance of Lily's devotion.

"Ah, Professor Snape……and Mrs. Snape! Good afternoon! Good afternoon!" Gilderoy politely greeted the adults before he glanced down at Harriet and Ellery.

His smile was far too wide as he gazed at Harriet and announced, "What an honor it will be to have my esteemed colleague's daughter in my classes this year! You must be Harriet Snape! I'm Gilderoy Lockhart, author of Magical Me, accomplished Dark Wizard hunter, and soon to be your new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor! How do you do?!"

Harriet didn't quite know how to respond to such a lavish introduction, but as Gilderoy stuck his hand towards her, she gave it a polite shake and nodded, "Um….fine, thanks. Nice to meet you, sir."

"It is a true pleasure to meet you!" Gilderoy nodded, before he glanced over at her brother and replied, "And that must be Ellery! I've heard all about you two!"

"From whom?" Severus asked as he narrowed his eyes at the wizard he already greatly disdained.

"None of that now!" Gilderoy cried dismissively as he scribbled his name on the inside of one of his books, shoved it into Harriet's arms, and pulled her close.

Harriet blinked in bewilderment as Gilderoy turned them both towards a large camera just before it flashed as he patted her head and said, "Lovely photograph for The Daily Prophet, eh? Run along now, Harriet! I'll have you in class soon enough!...Nice to meet you all!...Mrs. Snape!...And young Ellery! It's been grand to see you again, Severus!"

Severus nodded curtly at his new coworker before he placed an arm around Lily to usher his wife and children towards the door of the bookshop.

Much to his dismay, Lily stopped when they were halfway to the exit and glanced at a new release that sat on a wide shelf.

Harriet blinked at her mother's smile and her father's frown while the Snapes awkwardly stood in the middle of Flourish and Blotts as the line of Gilderoy's eager readers crowded them to the sides of the wall.

"Dad, can El and I go look up there?" Harriet pointed towards the front of the store and asked as Lily continued to take her time.

"Up where?" Severus frowned.

"Up there!" Harriet pointed, "Please? We'll stay where you can see us."

"See that you do……" Severus scowled as he gave Harriet the slightest of nods.

"Right! Thanks, Dad!" Harriet cried as she grabbed Ellery's arm and pulled her silent brother towards the front of the store.

Ellery followed alongside his sister as they moved under the staircase that wrapped around the shop.

They had nearly made it to the storefront when a voice called out, "Bet you loved that, didn't you, Snape?!"

Ellery jerked to a stop as Harriet halted and turned around with her emerald eyes narrowed in the direction of that familiar sound.

She scoffed as she watched Draco slowly descend the nearby staircase, with his pale, blonde hair slicked back, and his black cloak billowing at his sides.

"Loved what, Malfoy?" Harriet snapped, "What are you doing here? Don't your parents order your books to be shipped to your house or something?"

"My father came to meet Professor Lockhart, Snape, if you must know." Draco snapped haughtily before he sneered at Ellery.

Ellery cowered at Harriet's side as she shrugged and retorted, "My father works with Professor Lockhart so it's really nothing to him at all."

A tense silence fell between the three children before another voice called out, "...Alright there, Harriet?"

Harriet, Ellery, and Draco both looked over at Ron, who frowned at them nervously.

"Ron!" Harriet cried.

The happiness in her voice as her eyes fell on her best friend caused a visible veil of jealousy to cloud Draco's handsome features.

Ron came closer as Ellery blinked while Harriet introduced him, "Ron, this is my brother, Ellery. Ellery, this is Ron Weasley, my friend."

"How do you do?" Ron asked Ellery, who nodded politely, but shyly remained quiet.

Draco grit his teeth as Ron turned his head and called across the shop, "Ginny! Ginny, come over here!"

The children watched as a small, red-headed girl came to stand beside Ron before he introduced her to Harriet and Ellery, "This is my little sister, Ginny." He nodded proudly, "Ginny, this is my friend, Harriet Snape, and her brother, Ellery."

While the Snapes and Weasleys exchanged introductions, Draco stood on the steps with a frown.

Despite his wealth and noble status, he realized that he had become a pitiful outsider in the current social situation.

He had no siblings to introduce and only his history of Harriet's dislike to keep him disappearing from the scene altogether, but cold, grey eyes carefully watched them all as the footsteps of heavy, black boots approached.

Severus knew of the mission that Voldemort had recently assigned to Lucius Malfoy, though he did not know where, why, or how his friend would carry out the order he had been given.

With a small, black book hidden between his belt and his glove, Lucius approached the children as he slapped a polite smile of deception on his face.

"Well, well, Harriet, how good to see you again…….Ellery." He nodded at Severus's son and daughter.

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy." Harriet said politely as Ellery nodded in response.

"Let's see….." Lucius stared at Ron and Ginny, "Red hair, vacant expressions….." He frowned as he lifted a book from Ginny's cauldron, "And second-hand texts, you must be a few of the Weasley children."

"...They are indeed, Lucius." Arthur Weasely said with a firm frown as he stepped from the crowd of shoppers to face his colleague.

"Ah, Arthur….We missed you at the office on Friday." Lucius said as he slyly slipped that small black book from under his glove to hide behind Ginny's thrifted volume without anyone noticing.

"Did you?" Arthur asked, "I entered my holiday time a month ago, perhaps you missed the memo, along with the rest of your department?"

As the two fathers verbally sparred, Draco took advantage of the attention being focused on them to glance Harriet up and down.

He was ashamed of his own musings as he contemplated how sweet and soft her pink lips looked.

If he had been alone with Harriet, he could have leaned forward and pressed his mouth against hers…..

While Draco drooled over his fiancé, Lucius let a cocky, feigned chuckle escape his lips as he shrugged and said, "Perhaps so, Arthur. Unlike your department, mine is so very busy we have little time for such menial tasks. I'll speak to our secretary about it on Monday."

Severus and Lily soon walked up to join the conversation as Lucius greeted them and introduced Arthur Weasley.

Lily's kind smile helped to dispel the tension while she chatted with Arthur, Severus, and Lucius, but that did not erase Lucius's inherent mistake.

Before he had approached, Harriet and Ginny had swapped cauldrons to compare the weight difference between the two models.

The second-hand book Lucius had removed belonged to Harriet, not Ron's sister.

As the adults ended their chat several moments later, Lucius placed the tattered book back into Ginny's cauldron.

Without anyone noticing, he deftly slipped the small, black book he had kept hidden between his glove and belt along with it.

"Come along, Draco. We should be on our way." Lucius commanded. Draco obediently walked over to join his father while Lucius nodded at everyone, "It's been a pleasure speaking with you all today…..Arthur, I'll see you at the Ministry."

Arthur nodded and protectively put his hands on his children's shoulders as Lucius glanced over at the Snapes, nodded, and smiled, "Laima, a delight as usual….Severus, you'll have to tell Narcissa and I all about what it's like to work with Mr. Lockhart."

"Of course." Severus nodded as Lily smiled.

"Let's go, son." Lucius snapped at Draco as he roughly prodded him with his cane.

Both Malfoys took their leave of Flourish and Blotts while Lily continued to politely chat with Arthur.

Before the adults noticed, Harriet and Ginny quietly switched their cauldrons back.

The two girls exchanged knowing smiles of mischief as their two families bid each other goodbye a short while later and parted.

"Mr. Weasley was quite nice….So was your friend, sweetheart….Ron." Lily smiled at Harriet while the Snapes walked down Diagon Alley, "I'd like to meet Mrs. Weasley very much."

"Perhaps one day, my love." Severus whispered as they walked along.

Lily frowned as she thought about the confines of their situation, but Harriet walked behind her parents while she and Ellery discussed their interaction with Ron and Draco.

That day, the Snape family managed to purchase all of the items on the shopping list for Harriet's needed school supplies.

Her parents had purchased her nice, new quills, a new scarf, several Gryffindor sweaters, and all of the potions equipment her second year of magical learning required, including a new cauldron.

Severus and Lily had only bought Harriet a second-hand textbook because that had been the only volume of that particular title left in the store.

As Gilderoy mugged on the cover of Magical Me in Harriet's cauldron, no one realized that she had acquired an extra title that day.

Underneath her books sat the small, black diary that Lucius Malfoy had secretly given to her, thinking it would have gone to Ginny.

The cover bore no title, but on the back, the letters were written plainly in gold:

Tom Marvolo Riddle