(A/N): Hey Guys! So, this is the second chapter of my story Into the Fire! Now, if Leo sounds like a bit of a Gary-stue, he really, really isn't, so please don't tell me he is. I can take criticism, but not if it's not true.
I started this story in 2012. I was fourteen. Its been almost ten years. If you don't like something in the early chapters, it's not going to suddenly change ten years after I wrote it. If you're going to review this story with criticisms, please log in so I can actually reply to you and not have to leave messages like this in chapters so you might actually see it. And if you're just going to bash the story for being inaccurate, again, please remember that I was fourteen, I wasn't born in the 1960's, and I have never been outside of Australia. And some things are inaccurate because that's what people in that time period thought- not necessarily what I think, or know today.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Leo, Nicholai and Quidditch Today.
Leo
Eleven days before September first, and we were off to Diagon Alley today. Severus, Lily and her family (excluding Petunia who was still at odds with her), Dumbledore, my father and I were all crammed into the kitchen of my house, probably because it was the largest of Lily's and mine. Lily's parents were trying to strike up a conversation with my father but weren't having much luck, for it was one of his off days, where he would only talk to me. Then again, that's pretty much all of the time considering we lived in the middle of nowhere for nearly three years. I shook my head with a quiet chuckle as I watch Lily's father finally give up on trying to coax my father into talking to him, and Lily half-glared at me, a small yet amused smile on her lips. From across the table, Dumbledore caught my eye, he had just finished explaining what was going to happen today to the Evans family, and was now trying to watch me without my noticing. Yeah right Dumbledore, I'm a freaking half vampire, not much gets past me!
"Dumbledore, I trust you're well?" I asked quietly, the first thing I had said other than hello since everyone had arrived almost and hour earlier. Lily and Severus glanced between me and Dumbledore, surprised and confused. This was the first time either of them had met Dumbledore, and I guess they thought it was mine too.
"As well as can be expected, young Leo." Now everyone except Dumbledore, my father and I seemed confused.
"You two have met?" Lily's mother asked curiously, one eyebrow raised, though her face still looked kindly.
"We met many times a month or two ago, to make sure Leo was allowed into the school." Everyone except for Dumbledore, my father and I now looked confused, suspicious, and a little worried.
"How so?" Lily's father asked, his tone tinted with suspicion and curiosity.
"My mother had a uh...rather rough background. Her family weren't exactly very nice people to grow up around, and so I had to have a series of meetings with Dumbledore to make sure I wasn't of the same...roughness." Of course, I was lying, but my mother and her family did have a rather dark background, and I wasn't about to just blurt out the fact that the reason was that I was half-vampire and Dumbledore had to make sure I wasn't going to kill anyone at Hogwarts, now could I?
"Oh. How...exciting." Severus muttered darkly, his eyes fixed in a glare at some point on my legs. Clearly, he had been expecting something more...dangerous? Suspicious? You never really knew where you stood with Severus, but with Lily, she always made it rather obvious whether you had made it onto her good side or not, and if you weren't, she truly could make your life a living hell. Dumbledore glanced over at him, his blue eyes scanning him from over his half-moon glasses, and I could tell he already wasn't quite fond of Snape as he would make it seem.
"Yes, well, we should get going if we want to finish this before tea time, shouldn't we?" Dumbledore suggested, standing from the dining room chair he had been sitting in. The Evans' were taking us to Diagon Alley in their car, so we all exited my house before crossing to theirs and all climbed into their mini-van, which, coincidentally, had the seven seats required to carry us all.
It was an odd sight, Mr Evans driving and Mrs Evans in the passenger seat, considering it was their car and I assumed they were the only ones who actually knew how to drive, Dumbledore and my father in the two middle seats, and in the back row Severus was on the passenger side, Lily was in the middle, and I was on the drivers side, behind my father.
In front of us I saw Dumbledore pull something from his robes and offer it to my father. Bertie Botts flavor beans, that's what he had offered him. My father shook his head politely, and upon hearing me chuckle, Dumbledore turned and offered the small box of beans to us three children. Severus and Lily looked at the bag nervously as if it was going to burst into flames or something, but I instantly plucked one of the beans from the mix. I popped the bean in my mouth and felt Lily and Severus watching me intently, to see if it was safe.
"Hmm. Coffee Bean!" I murmured quietly, a small grin on my face, my eyes locking with Lily's. I knew that Coffee beans were one of her favorite smells, so I winked at her and she shook her head, giggling quietly before gingerly plucking a bean from the mix.
"Don't take that one, it's bile!" I exclaimed, and she moved the bean away from her mouth, very, very quickly.
"I doubt that! It's probably lemon." Severus said, taking the bean from Lily and popping in his his mouth before he retched and spat it back out into a tissue Dumbledore handed him.
"I told you so." I muttered, shaking my head. I picked another bean from the mix, inspecting it quickly before handing to Lily. "Cookies and cream ice cream." I explained when she looked at the bean suspiciously. She placed it in her mouth carefully before started to chew.
"Mmm! He's right!" I grinned, a full-blown one now, before looking back into the bag and plucking one out before handing it to Severus.
"Lime." I told him, and he slowly popped it into his mouth, not all that trustingly. Lily glanced at him and he nodded, showing that I was right.
"Well then, from now on, young Leo, you can safe check all my beans! I don't want a repeat of the vomit flavored one I ate last week, after all." Dumbledore informed me, and I smiled politely in response.
"Of course professor. I'm sure Sev will take up the same service after that bile flavored bean from earlier." Sev half-glared at me, he was obviously embarrassed at that experience.
Finally, we had parked the car outside somewhere call The Leaky Cauldron. Of course, from my meetings with Dumbledore and from what my 'parents' had told me, this was where you could enter Diagon Alley. We all exited the vehicle as quickly as possible for it was very cramped and smelt of ash, and rushed towards The Leaky Cauldron, which, apparently, muggles couldn't see, considering Dumbledore had to lead Lily's parents into the establishment.
Once inside I moved closer to my father, just like he always told me to whenever we left the house, for our safety. As we entered, Dumbledore led us towards the back door of the establishment, and I noticed the dirty looks some people were giving my father. Glancing up at him, he seemed a little bit peeved, but that was only because I knew him so well. Anyone else would just think he was thinking about something intently.
Dumbledore ushered us into a small area out the back of the Leaky Cauldron, and moved over to the brick wall across from us before tapping the bricks in a particular order. I memorized it, for later visits, as he did so, and marveled as the walls started to roll back in on itself.
"Wow..." I heard Lily whisper breathlessly from behind me and I turned my head to grin at her.
"It is pretty great." I admitted, looking at Diagon Alley. I wasn't as impressed with it as she was, probably because I had been here once or twice with my mother before she found out, and because I was more used to the wonderful world of magic that now surrounded her. Perhaps it didn't surround her, perhaps it poured from her? Exuded from her skin? The magic was her very aura?
...eh.
"First, we will be heading to Madam Malkin's to get you fitted for your robes, it should take until we're finished for them to be ready, so it's best to get it over with." Dumbledore announced before starting in what was, apparently, the direction of Madam Malkin's. Less than a minute later, we entered an average-sized tailors shop, and a young witch bustled over to us.
"Three more Hogwarts students? Leaving it a bit late aren't you?" She asked rhetorically before pushing us towards an open space on the floor. We stood like starfish, arms and legs spread so the tape measures that were floating around taking measurements wouldn't hit us in the face like they had done at first before we relented to standing here like idiots. We were able to leave less than ten minutes later, having to wait until later for the uniforms to actually be made.
In the meantime, we went shopping for everything else we would need for the school year. While Lily, Severus, Dumbledore and Lily's parents were in Flourish and Blotts looking for extra reading material, my father handed me some galleons and told me we were going to the Quidditch store next door while the others were browsing the books we already had in our rather large library back home.
After we crept out of Flourish and Blotts, we rushed to the next store and went inside, glancing back to check if the others had followed us. Lily didn't know, and Severus didn't like Quidditch, but my father and I were rather severe quidditch fanatics. In fact, just after I had moved in with him, he bought me a broomstick, and taught me how to ride it, and then to play quidditch, something my mother frowned upon.
"I here they got the new Quidditch Today edition today!" My father exclaimed enthusiastically, a small grin on his face, almost hidden as it was by his slight stubble of a mustache/beard. I grinned back at him before glancing behind me to make sure Lily and Severus hadn't come looking for us yet, and slammed into a boy my age, since apparently my father had rushed off to look for the new book and left me to avoid running into people by myself. Of course, since I had the balance of a twenty-five year old and the strength of one, I remained on my feet while the boy toppled over, his books scattering. I hurriedly dropped to my knees and scrambled to put all his books into a pile, gushing apologies the whole time.
"Don't worry about it." He said with a chuckle, joining me in piling the books. Hogwarts a History was there, so he was definitely going to Hogwarts too. With this in mind, I quickly scanned him, not really having been paying attention before now. He had long (well, long for a boy of our age, but not compared to Severus), black hair that hung in his deep, stormy grey eyes, swimming as they were in his lightly tanned skin. He was handsome, for a guy, especially of our age, but I was sure I had him beat in that department, however modest I may seem. I slid the pile of books towards him before rising to my feet, watching carefully as he did the same, the stack of books wobbling in his arms.
"Sorry about that. I'm Leo by the way." I apologised again before introducing myself out of pure politeness. After all, I did just knock him on his arse. Of course, I didn't hold out a hand for him to shake, seeing as that would be rude and seem like I was mocking him seeing as he had a rather large stack of book balancing in his arms.
"Sirius Black." He, however, didn't have the same concerns, seeing as in the next second, he shifted the weight of the books onto his other arm and raised his knee, resting the books on it while he extended his hand for me to shake. And shake it I did. That is, before dad came racing back with two copies of the newest Quidditch Today book in his arms, beaming brightly.
"Right son, ready to go? Oh, who's this?" He asked, finally noticing Sirius. Sirius Black, of the ancient family Black? This won't go over well, for either of us.
"Sirius Black, sir." Sirius said politely, something I knew, from just a minute of talking to him, was hard for him to do. Of course, the blood, if there was any left, drained from dads face and he forced a smile before moving to my side.
"Well then, Mr. Black, we must be going." He said, sounding stressed but still polite, grabbing my arm and starting to try and drag me away, which didn't really work seeing as I was willing to go. We reached Flourish and Blotts at the same time Lily, Severus, Dumbledore and Lily's parents exited, and they seemed annoyed that we had just rushed off without them, but quickly forgot it when they saw the look on my fathers face. Dumbledore shared a look with him pointedly before leading us to our next venue, Ollivander's wand shop.
Lily went first, receiving her wand after two or three tries, Willow, 10 1/4 in length, and Ollivander described it as 'swishy' and 'good for charms'. Severus was next, but I was distracted as he got his wand, seeing Sirius Black walking this way, a woman, presumably his mother, in tow. I turned my head back to the front as Severus moved so I could approach the counter, and just as I did so, I heard the bell above the door ring.
"I'll be with you in a moment." Ollivander said, looking up with a kind smile at Sirius and his mother before finally looking down at me, and then at my father, and back at me. "Ah, I wondered when I would see the heir of the Joannis family in here for his first wand!" I could feel Sirius' mothers eyes drill into the back of my head, the cogs working it over in her mind. I could also feel Sirius' eyes, for it was not doubt he knew who the Joannis' were. And Lily, I could see she was staring. She hadn't known I was the heir of anything, let alone anything anyone would know about.
"Well I guess we've kept you waiting far to long Ollivander." My father replied quietly, causing Sirius' mothers eyes to switch to him for a moment. Ollivander turned his head slightly to inspect him before smiling slightly.
"Nicholai Ellwood, black walnut wood, dragon heartstring, 13 inches, surprisingly springy, am I correct?" My father smile widened, and I knew that Ollivander was most certainly correct. It couldn't possibly have been my fathers' original wand- no way was Ollivander that old, but judging by my fathers' reaction it had been at least a few decades.
"Correct as always, Ollivander. I guess you spoke the truth when you said you never forgot a wand you'd made." Ollivander smiled tiredly at him before setting his eyes on me.
"And what's your name young man? Your full name, and that includes middle name, I'm curious to see if the line of odd middle names continued in your family." I blinked, wondering briefly how he knew that I was simply going to say 'Leo' and be done with it.
"Leonides Judas Joannis." I said quietly, though still plenty loud enough for him to hear, seeing as I didn't particularly feel in the need to repeat myself. He smiled at my grimace and reached behind him to grab a wand, pulling it closer to his face to inspect it.
"There, that wasn't so bad was it? Now, try this one." I gingerly accepted the light coloured wand from him and before he could say anything, I gave it a small wave, and the flowerpot behind them set on fire.
"Well then, that's not it." Ollivander said while trying to put out the flames, which apparently, were water proof.
"You may want to take a step back." I cautioned him, causing him to glance down at me form over the counter before taking a step back, just as the flower pot exploded. Ollivander blinked and shared a look with my father while everyone else was having a collective panic attack. Ollivander held up a finger before disappearing towards the back, accompanied only by the achoo's of shuffling before he reappeared, carrying a small bow with the most beautiful wand I have ever seen sat in the middle.
It was made of light red-brown wood, which contrasted beautifully with the designs carved into it's surface. As I marveled at it's beauty, I could see Lily looking at it over my shoulder, her eyes wide and her mouth agape, and Severus, looking a little put out as he stood behind Lily's parents, his now dull looking wand hidden in his pocket.
"This, this is a cherry wood wand, twelve and a half inches in length, Phoenix feather core, slightly springy. Now, any wand with both the cherry wood and Phoenix feather core would be unnaturally powerful, but this wand, you see these carvings?" I nodded quickly as Sirius's mother was starting to tap her foot impatiently.
"Between them and the core runs channels of crystals, which hold a slight bit of power from each of your spells, which will make them less effective, which might be useful in this situation, and when you need it most, they will release the power they have collected along with the spell you're performing at the time. The reason I picked this particular wand was because of your display earlier," Cue the slight brush spreading over my cheeks. "and the fact that a weaker wand wood and core would only break under the pressure of your spells, which are quite powerful, I must say, for a wizard of your age." He shared a look with my father and I suddenly realised why it was so powerful. Why I needed this wand, and it was because of my vampire heritage. He offered the wand to me and watched hopefully as I flicked it - and nothing bad happened! In fact, my scalp seems to be tingling...
"Ah! We've found the right wand!" Ollivander exclaimed, beaming brightly before my father handed him the coins needed for the transaction.
We exited the shop as Sirius headed to the counter and he nodded to me, to which I replied in kind before we headed back to Madam Malkin's to pick up our school uniforms, having finished the rest of our shopping before going to Flourish and Blotts earlier. We hurried back through the leaky Cauldron and out onto the busy streets of London before piling into the slightly foul smelling minivan in the same order we had been in before, heading back home for the day.
(A/N): Please review and/or check out my other stories!
I started this story in 2012. I was fourteen. Its been almost ten years. If you don't like something in the early chapters, it's not going to suddenly change ten years after I wrote it. If you're going to review this story with criticisms, please log in so I can actually reply to you and not have to leave messages like this in chapters so you might actually see it. And if you're just going to bash the story for being inaccurate, again, please remember that I was fourteen, I wasn't born in the 1960's, and I have never been outside of Australia. And some things are inaccurate because that's what people in that time period thought- not necessarily what I think, or know today.
This chapter has had minor edits made to it on 25/12/22