Diagon Alley
"James, dear! You and Peter get down here! Now! We need to pick up Remus and go!" Aurelia Potter yelled up the stairs.
Boom. boom, boom. Thud. Thud, thud......she waited....Boom! Thud! Boom! Thud BOOM!
"STOP JUMPING ON THE STAIRS!" she was highly annoyed now... Thud...
"One more week, Aurelia, one more week and he'll be gone," she assured herself.
Two rambunctious boys fumbled into the lounge with guilty grins. They always had guilty grins, come to think of it... One, a plump boy with blonde hair that needed to be cut and small round eyes, the other a skinny kid with jet black hair and round framed glasses. James Potter and his friend Peter Pettigrew were anxious to get out of the house and start their first year at Hogwarts. Today they had planned on going to Diagon Alley and James' mum insisted that they invite Remus Lupin, as she always did. He was a nice kid, but shy. James and Peter didn't really know him that well. The two boys had been close friends since primary school.
"We're here and ready, mum!" said James.
"Well alert the Ministry..." replied Rebecca, the youngest Potter. She arrived in the lounge from the kitchen at the same time as James and Peter.
James mimicked his sister and scrunched up his nose. She was only eight years old and would bicker with a fence post if she could. But she was his sister and he did love her, even though she was somewhat of a twit.
"Now Rebecca, mind your tongue and stay here with Nan," said their mother. Nan, their house elf, has been around since Aurelia was a small child, devoted to her work with the Jamesons, Aurelia's family. They gave her equal respect just as any other creature in their house. Nan was very happy. "Alright, fine. Better than having to follow behind Jim, here."
"Ugh...Becca, I told you not to call me that." James said as he pursed his lips and scrunched his nose again. She always called him Jim. Rebecca left, laughing.
"Alright, we're going to floo to the Lupins and then the Leaky Cauldron," Mrs. Potter said.
"Aw, mum. Floo stinks," James complained.
"Yeah, Mrs. Potter, we get all dirty," Peter said, wincing at the thought of his newly pressed robes getting filthy before school. James nodded in agreement.
"Well...deal with it, kids!" she sang with a smile. "In you two go, to the Lupins, got it?"
"Yes, mam," they both muttered and stepped into the fireplace. "Lupin Manor!"
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Eleven year old Lily Evans sat straight up in bed. Exactly one week ago she had received an acceptance letter, delivered by a massive barn owl, for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Of course she didn't know she was a witch until her letter came, but her mother had a sneaking suspicion. Turns out, Lily's grandfather, Aticus McDonnell, was a great wizard, only he had two non-magical daughters, Lily's mum and her Aunt Arabella. Grace Evans, Lily's mum, was so proud to have another witch in the family.
This was the morning that Grace and Lily were going to Diagon Alley to get Lily's school supplies. She quickly dressed in her favorite super-flare jeans and lime-green striped shirt, pulled her long red hair up into a ponytail, and checked herself in her dresser mirror. She stared into the green eyes she had inherited from her father and smiled to herself. I can't believe this is really happening.
Lily bolted down the stairs, past her sister's bedroom, and found her mother cooking a splendid breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast in the kitchen. They owned a small house in Surrey, just south of London. The family just moved here two months ago when her father, Gregory Evans, got a position as the local news producer. He was, as usual, reading the newspaper and drinking his coffee at the table.
"Hi mum!" Lily startled Grace Evans, who in turn dropped a slice of toast.
"Oh good grief! Lily Elizabeth, don't come up behind me like that!" said Grace. Her mum had a scolding frown on her face but quickly replaced it with a smile. "Good morning, anyhow. Here, sit down and eat some breakfast. We're leaving for Diagon Alley by way of the Leaky Cauldron just as soon as I get this kitchen cleaned up."
Lily ate heartily and quietly hummed to herself, engrossed in her excitement about Diagon Alley. Gregory Evans peered over his newspaper, "Good morning to you too." He chuckled slightly to himself.
"Oh Dad, I just can't contain myself. Will you please come with us today?" She gave him her puppy dog eyes...it always worked before.
"Now don't look at me like that, Lily," he began. The telephone rang and he stood to answer it. "You know I have to work. Hello?"
"Alright Lily, go get your -"
"Grace, love, there's an emergency at the hospital," her dad interrupted," they need you fast."
Grace Evans was the Head Nurse at the towns pediatric hospital. She was often called in to work at a moments notice. Lily's face fell- she knew there was no way out of this.
"Oh dear. Go get you sister down here. No yelling." With that, Grace was up the stairs to quickly change.
"PETUNIA LYNN EVANS!" Lily screamed, her voice echoing through the kitchen. Her dad glared dangerously at her and she just smile sheepishly.
"I'm leaving. Have fun, love. Stay out of trouble and away from nasty boys," he said as he walked out the door.
"PE-TU-NIA!" Lily yelled even louder.
Lily and her sister were the best of friends, even though Petunia was five years older.
With the new move, the two sisters had needed each other more now than ever before. However, the recent development in Lily's life had caused somewhat of a rift between the two. Petunia still seemed unsure about her sister and how this was going to affect the family. Lily knew that Petunia was jealous of her new found talents and didn't want her to leave for school, but they would survive this. Lily knows that their bond is too strong. She huffed and opened her mouth to scream again when she heard Petunia coming.
"What!? God, do you have to be so obnoxious?" Petunia rounded the corner, her blonde hair framing her smirking face. Lily knew she was only just kidding.
"Hey, can you take me to Diagon Alley? Mum was just called in to the hospital," she asked nicely.
"Er..." Petunia hesitated, "Yeah Lily, I can take you, but I don't think I can go in with you. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I understand, Petunia. Just drop me off and-" but Lily never finished. Her mother came thundering down the stairs.
"Lily, darling, I am so sorry," she kissed her daughter's forehead.
"It's okay, mum."
"Petunia, you're-"
"Yes, I'm taking her for you. Don't worry, I'll just pop by the shopping center for those new trainers I wanted while she's there. You need to go." Petunia began to shoved her mother out the door.
"Bless you, Petunia. Here's some money, Lily," and she was gone.
Lily went to get her shoes on and they climbed into the car, headed for London. She took out a piece of parchment and opened it. It was her list of school supplies sent with the acceptance letter. She scanned the list and saw that she needed to get robes, books, a wand, potions ingredients, and a cauldron. She could bring an owl, but there wasn't enough money for that.
Her mind wandered about the adventures and friends she would have by this time next year. Would they really teach us to ride on brooms? Will the wizard kids like me? She was Muggle-born and knew next to nothing about magic. Muggle. That was the strangest word she had ever heard. She smiled to herself. Before she knew it, Petunia had pulled up along side a dusty door with a drab sign above saying The Leaky Cauldron.
"Well, Lily. Have fun. I'll be back in three hours." Lily just smiled at her sister. She was nervous and Petunia could tell.
"You'll be okay," Petunia gave her little sister a dazzling, yet reassuring smile.
Lily nodded, stepped out of the car, up to the door and walked in. She gasped and looked around at the men and women dressed in an odd assortment of robes, huddled around the bar and several tables. It was dark and shabby with a buzz of chatter as witches and wizards drank butterbeer and discussed the upcoming Quidditch Tournament.
"Excuse me, sir, but could you please direct me to Diagon Alley?" Lily questioned the man behind the bar innocently.
"Muggle-born, are yeh?" The man barked. He had thick, unkempt hair that curled skittishly in every direction.
:...er- yeah. I mean, yes sir I am," she answered.
He just turned and began walking towards a small corridor in the back. "Follow me, kid."
Through the corridor was a tiny courtyard with a brick wall and a single trashcan. He walked straight up to the wall and pulled out a wooden stick. His wand, Lily thought. He had her attention and she grinned with excitement.
"Watch carefully, now...er- what's yer name?"
"Oh, Lily Evans," she held out her hand, inviting a polite handshake. He just glanced at it and continued.
"Lily, from this trash barrel you go three up and two across." He placed his wand on the designated brick and tapped three times. The bricks wiggled and shifted to magically reveal an open archway that lead to a street full of shops, witches, and wizards.
"Brilliant," Lily could only mutter, her mouth gaping open.
Wide eyed and grinning, Lily stepped through the newly shaped arch and out into Diagon Alley. All around her, men and women, and children mingled along the street, visiting shops and stores, going in restaurants and cafes. In her rush to take in her surroundings she barely heard a voice calling her name behind her.
"Miss! Miss Lily!"
Lily turned around and once again faced the man from the pub, his dark hair seemingly more unruly.
"Miss, I suggest you going straight down this street here to Gringotts Bank and exchange yer Muggle money for wizard currency. It'll be on yer right. Can't miss it, here?" he instructed her.
"Thank you so much, sir."
"You can call me Doc. I'm sure I will be seeing you around Miss Lily," he answered.
Maybe he doesn't seem so mean after all, just different. "Thank you, sir. I mean- Doc," she smiled and headed toward the bustling street.
As she passed the many shops on the cobblestone path, she mentally checked off which ones she needed to go back to. Apothecary, potions supplies, Cauldron Shoppe, cauldron. She passed one window that had so many boys peering inside that she could hardly read the sign, Quidditch Quality Supplies. Hmm. Flourish & Blotts, school books. It wasn't until she passed Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions that she realized she stuck out like a tart at the Vatican in her Muggle clothing. She'd have to buy some extra clothes.
Lily continued on to a massive building, Gringotts Wizarding Bank. She pushed through two heavy bronze doors and into a crowded room. The ceilings were high and the decoration was exquisite. The only fixtures not beautiful in this bank were the little ugly men running around everywhere. Then she saw the warning sign.
"Oh," she said to herself. Goblins. That explains loads.
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"Whoa, James! Check out the new Nimbus 1000!" Peter breathed. "It's the most beautiful broomstick I've ever seen." The three boys pressed their noses against the glass if Quidditch Quality Supplies, getting their fist glimpse of the latest racing broom, along with several other boys.
"I know Pete, and I'm gonna get it," James said, puffed his chest out and walked in to find out how much it cost. Peter and Remus followed him in, both shaking their heads. James always did this- he sees something he wants and stops at nothing to get it. And now, he wanted that broomstick.
The front counter was covered with kids of all sizes trying to purchase their things. Remus suggested that they just look through the store and wait for the crowd to die down. The boys waltzed up and down the isles looking at books, posters, mascots, balls, and broomsticks.
"Hey, Peter, when are you meeting your dad? " James asked.
"In about fifteen minutes. `Sposed to meet him at the Rotten Apple," Peter answered. James winced. The Rotten Apple was a dodgy pub in Knockturn Alley. The kids rarely went into that section on Diagon Alley.
"You think he knows when the new Cleansweep is coming out, working for Universal Brooms and all?" Remus asked. James and Peter were a bit taken back by the comment. Remus usually never had an opinion on anything. At least he never said anything if he did.
"Don't know. I suppose you could ask him, Remus," Peter said. Remus just nodded.
"After we leave here, I still need to get my wand," James continued while inspecting a broom cleaning kit, "and I definitely want some ice cream."
"Me too!" Remus replied. He was full of surprises today.
"Good then, after we go to Ollivander's, Remus, you and I can go to Florean's," James said.
"Un-unh. I'm not going back to Ollivander's. That guy gives me the creeps. I'll just meet you at Florean's," Remus said wide eyed.
James shrugged, "Sure…Hey! Let's go check out the new Wasp gear!" James all but shouted, remembering they had new stinger shirts on sale. As he rounded the corner he ran face to face with Rabastan Lestrange and Sirius Black. Both boys were members of two of the most prominent wizarding families in England, known for their narrow minded prejudice towards any one not of pure wizard blood and, of course, their malicious attitudes.
"Move, Potter, you're blocking the isle," Rabastan said. He was a shorter than the other boys and stocky, with shoulder length brown hair, usually pulled back into a low ponytail. Rabastan was the younger brother of bad boy Rodolphus Lestrange, who was soon to be in his sixth year at Hogwarts. It was widely known that Rodolphus and Bellatrix Black, another member of the respected pureblooded families, were arranged to be married as soon as she left Hogwarts. Bellatrix was only two years older than her cousin, Sirius, who was often seen hanging around in the shadows of Lestrange and his cronies. Luckily today, James, Remus, and Peter were only met with the two of them.
"Relax, Rabastan, we'll move. We understand that you take up the whole isle and don't want to get stuck," Peter commented. "Don't want to start a scene here," putting his hands up in mock surrender. James smirked and noticed Sirius smiling, but Remus gave a full chuckle.
"You think that's funny, do you? You don't have any room to laugh, you're nothing but a measly half-blood, not worth my time," he sneered.
Before James or Peter could even react in defense, Sirius had his wand out and pointed at the back of Rabastan's head. The boys stared at Sirius, shocked.
"Watch your filthy mouth, Lestrange," said Sirius dangerously. Rabastan slowly turned around and glared at Sirius' stone face.
"How dare you draw your wand on me, Black. You don't even know how to use that thing. What would your dear mummy say?" he said with a smirk, knowing he had hit a nerve. James, Peter, and Remus watched as Sirius pocketed his wand and began to turn around and leave, defeated.
"Disgrace..." Rabastan muttered.
But Sirius heard.
He whipped back around and forcefully shoved Rabastan into the shelving behind him. The shelf teetered and a long box fell to the ground, opening and releasing a new shipment of top notch bludgers from Romania.
"Run for it! Every man for himself!" Remus shouted and ran away, Peter not far behind.
Rabastan jumped back to retaliate, but Sirius was gone. The coward ran towards the door, making his escape.
The bludgers began destroying the Quidditch store, smashing displays and barreling through shelves. James fell to the ground just as a bludger flew over his head. Kids were screaming and running for the exit. It was then that James saw Davy Gudgeons, another first year get pummeled by the rogue bludger.
"DAVY!" James called. He frantically looked around the shop and caught a glimpse of the angry shopkeeper stomping his way towards him. "Time to go!" James stood and made a run for the exit.
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