Author's Note (8/28/2024): I have been redoing the early chapters, up through Chapter 14: Rogue Bludger. There has been new scenes, expanded scenes and redone chapters. A couple chapters are below 10k but the rest so far have been at or above 10k words now. Also a couple chapters have been merged together. Such as The End is Near and The End are both now combined into Voldemort and Glorificus or Lockhart and Hush is now combined into Lockhart. Which means the chapter numbers are messed up and will be fixed as I work on the remaining chapters.

Chapter 27: Return to Diagon Alley

August 31, 1993

On the last day of the holidays Joyce found out that the Weasleys and Hermione were going to Diagon Alley and as she had some things she needed to get for the house. She it would be a nice to take her children and let them spend time with their friends.

"Harry! Buffy! Dawn!"

Buffy, Dawn and Harry saw that Ron, Willow and Hermione were sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor waving at them.

"Did you really blow up your aunt, Buffy?" said Hermione in a very serious voice.

"Her glass," said Buffy. "And I didn't mean to, I just—lost control."

"I'm amazed you weren't expelled!" said Hermione.

"Mum talked to the U.S. Aurors and explained," said Harry

"Explained what?" wondered Ron.

"That my emotions were out of control," said Buffy with a sigh. "You see about four years ago I watched as our cousin, Celia died, right in front of me. Aunt Marge was Celia's mother. It just brought all the memories coming back."

"Oh, Buffy," said Willow as she reached over and hugged Buffy.

"Are you guys staying tonight," asked Ron. "We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight."

"Yeah we're staying, mom had us bring our trunks," said Dawn.

"Then you can come to King's Cross with us tomorrow!" said Ron. "Hermione's there as well!"

Hermione nodded, beaming. "Mum and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things."

"Excellent!" said Harry happily. "So, have you got all your new books and stuff?"

"What about those Monster Books, eh?" asked Willow. "The assistant nearly cried when we said we wanted three."

"What's all that, Hermione?" Harry asked, pointing at not one but three bulging bags in the chair next to her.

"Well, I'm taking more new subjects than you, aren't I?" said Hermione. "Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies—"

"What are you doing Muggle Studies for?" said Ron. "You're Muggle-born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"

"The same reason I am," admitted Dawn. "It's going to be interesting to see what they think of us." While Dawn knew she like Harry and Buffy was a half-blood. She like them considered themselves Muggle as well. Their home had all the modern conveniences such as electricity and plumbing. Joyce had been insistent when she had bought the house that it be hooked as she herself had gotten used to all the modern conveniences. In fact, Joyce tended to use magic only when needed when at home.

"Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" asked Harry.

Hermione ignored the question. "I've still have ten Galleons," she said, checking her purse. "It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present."

"How about a nice book?" said Ron innocently.

"No, I don't think so," said Hermione composedly. "I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig, Buffy's got Cin and you've got Errol—"

"I haven't," said Ron. "Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers." He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. "And I want to get him checked over," he added, placing Scabbers on the table in front of them. "I don't think Egypt agreed with him."

Scabbers was looking thinner than usual, and there was a definite droop to his whiskers.

"There's a magical creature shop just over there," said Dawn. "You could see if they've got anything for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl."

So, they paid for their ice cream and crossed the street to the Magical Menagerie.

There wasn't much room inside. Every inch of wall was hidden by cages.

Ron approached the counter. "It's my rat," he told the witch. "He been a bit off-color ever since I brought him back from Egypt."

"Bang him on the counter," said the witch, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket.

Ron lifted Scabbers out of his inside pocket and placed him on the counter.

"Hm," said the witch, picking up Scabbers. "How old is this rat?"

"Dunno," said Ron. "Quite old. He used to belong to my brother."

"What powers does he have?" said the witch, examining Scabbers closely.

"Er—" The truth was that Scabbers had never shown the faintest trace of interesting powers. The witch's eyes moved from Scabbers's tattered left ear to his front paw, which had a toe missing, and tutted loudly.

"He's been through the mill, this one," she said.

"He was like that when Percy gave him to me," said Ron defensively.

"An ordinary common or garden rat like this can't be expected to live longer than three years or so," said the witch. "Now, if you were looking for something a bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these—"

She indicated the black rats in a nearby cage, who promptly started skipping. Ron muttered, "Show-offs."

"Well, if you don't want a replacement, you can try this rat tonic," said the witch, reaching under the counter and bringing out a small red bottle.

"Okay," said Ron. "How much—OUCH!"

Ron buckled as something huge and orange came soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on his head, and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at Scabbers.

"NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" cried the witch, but Scabbers shot from between her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor, and then scampered for the door.

"Scabbers!" Ron shouted, racing out of the shop after him; The Potter siblings followed.

It took them nearly ten minutes to catch Scabbers, who had taken refuge under a wastepaper bin outside Quality Quidditch Supplies.

Ron stuffed the trembling rat back into his pocket and straightened up, massaging his head. "What was that?"

"It was either a very big cat or quite a small tiger," said Harry.

"Where's Hermione?" Buffy wondered.

"Probably getting her owl—" Willow started.

They made their way back up the crowded street to the Magical Menagerie. As they reached it, Hermione came out, but she wasn't carrying an owl. Her arms were clamped tightly around the enormous ginger cat.

"You bought that monster?" said Ron, his mouth hanging open.

"He's gorgeous, isn't he?" said Hermione, glowing.

"Oh, he is," Willow, Dawn and Buffy all agreed.

Harry looked at his sisters and rolled his eyes.

"Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!" said Ron.

"He didn't mean to, did you, Crookshanks?" said Hermione.

"And what about Scabbers?" said Ron, pointing at the lump in his chest pocket. "He needs rest and relaxation! How's he going to get it with that thing around?"

"That reminds me, you forgot your rat tonic," said Hermione, slapping the small red bottle into Ron's hand. "And stop worrying, Crookshanks will be sleeping in my dormitory and Scabbers in yours, what's the problem? Poor Crookshanks, that witch said he'd been in there for ages; no one wanted him."

"I wonder why," said Ron sarcastically as they set off toward the Leaky Cauldron.

"I just hope he and Joy get along," Dawn said thinking of her own cat.

"I'm sure they will, Dawn," Hermione told her friend.

They found Joyce and Mr. Weasley sitting at a table talking, copy of the Daily Prophet laying between them.

"Harry! Isabella! Dawn!" Mr. Wesley said, smiling as he looked at the Potter children. "How are you three?"

"Fine, thanks," said Buffy, Dawn and Harry in unison. They, Ron, Willow, and Hermione joined Mr. Weasley and Joyce with all their shopping.

Buffy glanced at the paper and saw the now familiar picture of Sirius Black staring up at her. "They still haven't caught him, then?" she asked.

"No," Joyce answered with a sharp look at Mr. Weasley. As if she was daring him to say anymore on the subject.

"Would we get a reward if we caught him?" asked Ron. "It'd be good to get some more money—"

"Don't be ridiculous, Ron," said Mr. Weasley. "Black's not going to be caught by a thirteen-year-old witch or wizard. It's the Azkaban guards who'll get him back, you mark my words."

At that moment Mrs. Weasley entered the bar, laden with shopping bags and followed by Fred and George, Percy and Ginny.

"Hello," Ginny muttered seemingly embarrassed upon seeing Dawn.

Percy held out his hand solemnly and said, "Harry. Dawn. Buffy. How nice to see you three."

"Hello, Percy," the Potter siblings, trying not to laugh.

"I hope you three are well?" said Percy pompously, shaking hands.

"Very well, thanks—" they said as Buffy, Dawn and Harry all looked at each other.

"Harry! Buffy! Dawn!" said Fred, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply. "Simply splendid to see you three—"

"Marvelous," said George, pushing Fred aside and seizing each of the Potter siblings hands in turn. "Absolutely spiffing."

Percy scowled.

"That's enough, now," said Mrs. Weasley as she sat next to Joyce.

"You do have to admit Fred and George are quite funny," Joyce said as she let a chuckle slip out.

"Mum!" said Fred as he winked at Joyce. As though he'd only just spotted his mother, he seized her hand. "How really corking to see you—"

"I said, that's enough," said Mrs. Weasley, depositing her shopping in an empty chair. "Hello, Joyce."

"Molly," Joyce said as she stood up and pulled her friend in for a hug.

Molly smiled. "Joyce, I suppose you've heard our exciting news?" She pointed to the brand-new silver badge on Percy's chest. "Second Head Boy in the family!" she said, swelling with pride.

"Congratulations," Joyce said looking at Percy. "I can't wait till Harry gets that honor and Buffy or Dawn get the honor of being Head Girl."

"And last," Fred muttered under his breath.

"I don't doubt that," said Mrs. Weasley, frowning suddenly. "I notice they haven't made you two prefects."

"What do we want to be prefects for?" said George, looking revolted at the very idea. "It'd take all the fun out of life."

Ginny giggled.

"You want to set a better example for your sisters!" snapped Mrs. Weasley.

"Ginny and Willow have got other brothers to set them an example, Mother," said Percy loftily. "I'm going up to change for dinner…" He disappeared.

George heaved a sigh. "We tried to shut him in a pyramid," he told Harry, Buffy and Dawn. "But Mum spotted us."

Dinner that night was a very enjoyable affair.

"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" asked Fred as they dug into a sumptuous chocolate pudding.

"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," said Mr. Weasley.

"Really," Joyce said in surprise. "That's unexpected isn't it?"

"Well, Joyce, as I work there, they're doing me a favor—" Mr. Weasley answered.

"Good thing, too," said Mrs. Weasley briskly. "Do you realize how much luggage you've all got between you? A nice sight you'd be on the Muggle Underground… You are all packed, aren't you?"

"Which is why I bought a car when I moved back to England," Joyce said. "It's easier to transport Buffy, Dawn and Harry's things to King's Cross that way. What happened to yours?"

"Someone drove it into a tree," Mr. Weasley said.

"Ron hasn't put all his new things in his trunk yet," said Percy, in a long-suffering voice. "He's dumped them on my bed."

"You'd better go and pack properly, Ron, because we won't have much time in the morning," Mrs. Weasley called down the table. Ron scowled at Percy.

After dinner everyone felt very full and sleepy. One by one they made their way upstairs to their rooms to check their things for the next day.

Joyce was heading down the hall toward her room when she heard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing.

"…makes no sense not to tell them," Mr. Weasley was saying heatedly. "Harry and Isabella's got a right to know…"

Joyce knocked on the door and the arguing instantly came to a stop and a second later Mrs. Weasley opened it. "Molly, may I?" She waved to indicate that she would like to join their conversation.

Mrs. Weasley nodded as she let Joyce inside before closing the door behind her friend.

"This is a carefully guarded secret. Only people that know are my family, some of your children, Hermione, a few of the professors at Hogwarts and Rupert Giles," Joyce told them. "Buffy a little over a year ago was called as a Slayer."

Molly's hand went to her mouth in shock. "She's a little young, isn't she?" she asked.

"From what Rupert said," Joyce told the Weasley matriarch. "Slayers can be called as early as when they first get their menses. So, Buffy falls into that range, since she started her cycle a while back. There are multiple reasons I have not told Harry or Buffy, but that one tops the list. Can you imagine what would happen if Buffy found out that Sirius was hers and Harry's godfather and that he had betrayed James and Lily?"

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked at each other. If Buffy was truly a Slayer, they knew instantly what Buffy would do with that information.

"As a Slayer she would feel it within her rights to seek him out and take care of him as he is not only a threat potentially to her or Harry or even Dawn," Joyce continued. "But to the rest of the world as well. On top of that it would be a case of revenge. She could very well not care that she took a human life. Rupert has told me what would happen if a Slayer takes a human life. I might lose my daughter if that happened."

"They should at least be on their guard though," Mr. Weasley told the Potter matriarch.

"What good would that do?" Joyce asked. "Even if Buffy wasn't a Slayer, I would still be hesitant to even mention it as long as he's free. I would be afraid they would still go after him if they knew the truth, and I don't want to lose any of my children. I have talked to Rupert and Dumbledore about this. Rupert was wanting to have Buffy start patrolling the castle this year. I persuaded them both to wait till next year. I want my children safe and if they know, they won't be."

"Joyce, I'm afraid they might not be as it is," Mr. Weasley told her sadly. This was reported in the Daily Prophet because Fudge wanted it kept quiet, but Fudge went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards told Fudge that Black's been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words: 'He's at Hogwarts… he's at Hogwarts.'"

"He?" Joyce said. "If he was after Buffy and Dawn wouldn't that be 'they'?"

"Black is deranged, Joyce, and he wants Isabella and Harry dead. If you ask me, he thinks murdering them will bring You-Know-Who back to power," Mr. Weasley explained. "Black lost everything the night they stopped You-Know-Who, and he's had twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that…"

"Dumbledore and Rupert will keep an eye on them," Joyce told the Weasleys. "I feel their safe at Hogwarts. If I didn't, I wouldn't let them go back this year."

September 1, 1993

Joyce woke her children the next morning. Harry, Buffy and Dawn got dressed and were just persuading a disgruntled Hedwig and Cin to get back into their cages when Ron and Willow banged into the room.

"The sooner we get on the train, the better," Ron said. "At least I can get away from Percy at Hogwarts. Now he's accusing me of dripping tea on his photo of Penelope Clearwater. You know," Ron grimaced, "his girlfriend. She's hidden her face under the frame because her nose has gone all blotchy…"

"I've got something to tell you," Harry began, but they were interrupted by Fred and George, who had looked in to congratulate Ron on infuriating Percy again.

They headed down to breakfast, where Mr. Weasley was reading the front page of the Daily Prophet with a furrowed brow and Joyce and Mrs. Weasley was telling Hermione, Willow and Ginny about a love potion Mrs. Weasley had made as a young girl. All five of them were rather giggly.

"What were you saying?" Ron asked Harry as they sat down.

"Later," Harry muttered as Percy stormed in.

Harry had no chance before they left for King's Cross to tell Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Ron or Hermione what he had overheard the night before.

Mr. Weasley, who had been outside waiting for the Ministry cars, stuck his head inside. "They're here," he said. "Harry, come on."

Joyce took her children to her car. They saw that the Ministry cars were old-fashioned dark green cars, each of which was driven by a furtive-looking wizard wearing a suit of emerald velvet.

"I'm glad you are driving us, Mom," Dawn said.

Joyce chuckled. "Yeah, that's one thing about living in the Muggle world for as long as I did. I know how to blend in."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The journey to King's Cross was very uneventful compared. They reached King's Cross with twenty minutes to spare.

Joyce led Buffy, Dawn and Harry toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. "Okay, Buffy, Dawn you two first."

Buffy and Dawn walked up to the barrier with their trolley and leaned casually against the barrier. In a moment, they had fallen sideways through the solid metal onto platform nine and three-quarters and looked up to see the Hogwarts Express.

Joyce and Harry suddenly appeared behind them.

They moved out of the way and waited off to the side for the Weasleys and Hermione to arrive. They didn't wait to long as Percy and Ginny suddenly appeared a couple moments later. They were panting and had apparently taken the barrier at a run.

"Ah, there's Penelope!" said Percy, smoothing his hair. Ginny caught Dawn's eye, and they both turned away to hide their laughter as Percy strode over to a girl with long, curly hair, walking with his chest thrown out so that she couldn't miss his shiny badge.

Once the remaining Weasleys and Hermione had joined them, Harry and Buffy led the way to the end of the train, past packed compartments, to a carriage that looked quite empty. They loaded the trunks onto it, stowed Hedwig, Cin, Joy and Crookshanks in the luggage rack, then went back outside to say good-bye to Joyce and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Joyce and Mrs. Weasley kissed all of their children first then followed by repeating with Hermione and the other family's children.

"Do take care, won't you, Harry…Isabella?" Mrs. Weasley said as she straightened up, her eyes oddly bright. Then she opened her enormous handbag and said, "I've made you all sandwiches… Here you are, Ron… no, they're not corned beef… Fred? Where's Fred? Here you are, dear…"

"Harry…Isabella," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "come over here a moment."

He jerked his head toward a pillar.

"Arthur?" Joyce said as she noticed her elder children move to follow Mr. Weasley. She quickly and quietly followed the trio. "What are you doing, Arthur?"

"I…" Mr. Weasley started as he stared at the woman who was the adopted mother of the children, he had called over to talk to in private. "I was…"

"I'm pretty sure I know what you were going to do," Joyce said as she shook her head. "And I told you my objections to that."

"I know, Joyce," Mr. Weasley said as he looked at the Potter matriarch.

"Mom?" Buffy said as she looked back and forth between the bickering adults.

Joyce sighed. "If you are insistent on them knowing. Then let me. As their mother, it should be I."

Mr. Weasley nodded. "Alright," he said as he walked from the trio.

"Dawn," Joyce called out. "Can you come over here."

Dawn came running over to her siblings and mother. "What is it, mom?"

"I think I know," Harry said as he looked at Joyce who turned and looked at him with a creased brow. "Mom, I overheard you and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley talking last night. I couldn't help hearing," he added quickly. "Sorry—"

Joyce let out a sigh. "Harry, that's not how I would have wanted you to find out."

"Mom?" Dawn and Buffy said looking back and forth between their brother and mother.

Joyce sighed as she looked at her daughters. "Buffy…Dawn, you both know the man that escaped from Alcatraz?" Her daughters nodded. "He is yours, Buffy, and Harry's godfather. He also is the one who told Voldemort where Lily and James was. He's responsible for their deaths."

"I understand why you didn't tell me," Buffy said with a sigh. "You were afraid that since I'm the Slayer…"

"That is a worry, yes," Joyce said.

"You don't have to worry, mom," Buffy said as she hugged Joyce. "I'm not going to try and be a hero."

"Thank you," Joyce said as she smiled at her children. She looked at Harry and Dawn. "I need you two to promise me the same."

"I promise," Harry and Dawn said.

"Joyce!" called Mrs. Weasley, who was now shepherding the rest onto the train. "Joyce, what are you doing? It's about to go!"

"We're coming, Molly!" said Joyce as she led her children back toward the train. "Just last minute goodbyes."

Buffy, Dawn and Harry all hugged Joyce before they ran to the compartment door and Ron threw it open and stood back to let him on.

As the train began to pull out of the station they leaned out of the window and waved at Joyce, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley until the train turned a corner and blocked them from view.