A/N: Hello everyone, and thanks to all of you who reviewed. And I'm very sorry for the delayed update. I know that I told many of you in review reply's that I would update within the next week, but with school and everything, it got kind of busy. Take that, and the fact that our computer decided to start acting up; I didn't have any time for writing anything except for school papers. As I replied to those of you who pointed it out, I didn't realize the thing about Wood until too late. I actually did go back and change that, although I didn't think I would. The chapter is re-uploaded with that change, as well as a few other things that I thought could be better. Also, thank you once again to JayaMioneDurron for pointing out that Fred and George already said that they had a shop in OotP; I changed that as well, and made it so that they will be opening it after they have finished with repeating their seventh year. But enough of my babbling, here's chapter 4 (this chapter is somewhat violent towards the end):
A Simple Trip To Diagon Alley
Harry woke up late the next morning. It was strange, he hadn't woken up late for a while, and he had come to call himself an early riser. Maybe it was because of how early he had gotten up the previous day, or maybe it was because he hadn't had any dreams that he could remember, although there was something about a girl, but he couldn't figure out who she was. He shrugged it off, figuring it was nothing.
He got out of bed, and headed off towards the bathroom. He took a quick shower, loving how the hot water fully woke him up. After getting dressed he headed downstairs. Harry was surprised not to here the sounds that could usually be heard at this hour; the sizzling of whatever Molly was cooking for breakfast, the clatter of chairs, and people walking, and the usual hum of voices, as everyone ate.
Walking in, he saw that only Hermione and Molly were there. They were talking about something. They looked up, and immediately stopped seeing that Harry had walked in.
"Good morning Harry." Molly said cheerfully, heading into the kitchen, more than likely to begin preparing breakfast.
"Good morning Harry." Hermione said, looking at him.
Harry suddenly began to feel nervous. The way she was looking at him, it just made him feel weird.
"Err, good morning." He said rather nervously, as she continued to look at him in that strange way.
She looked away, as if realizing she had been staring at him, and blushed. Then, after getting herself back together, turned back to him. "I thought you would be up earlier, you're usually the first one, unless Dumbledore's here of course."
"Oh, yeah, me too. I guess with how early I got up yesterday, I just slept in. I'm surprised that no one else is up besides you two."
"Well, we all did stay up pretty late; I guess they all overslept too."
"Yeah, I guess." Harry replied, that awkward feeling leaving him as he began talking with Hermione.
Soon after Harry had come down, the others had begun following suit. Ron came down first, followed quickly Luna, then Ginny, and then the twins.
Molly soon brought out breakfast, and they all began eating. After serving them, she sat down and began eating her own. They didn't talk much; everyone seemed a little tired, which was weird since they had slept later than usual.
Once they were all finished, Molly looked at them all, "Okay now, today we are going to go into Diagon Alley for your supplies."
They all cheered; glad to be able to get out of the house for the first time since they had gotten there.
"Now, don't get yourselves too excited, we are going to be escorted by Remus and Tonks, so don't you think you can just do whatever you want. This is a dangerous time you know. Who knows what could happen."
Fred looked up at her, "Mum, it's not like You-Know-Who's going to attack us every time we leave the house."
She gave him a stern look, "So, you can never be too cautious." She replied, sounding somewhat offended, something that wasn't unusual when Fred or George had something to say.
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Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Luna went up to the library after breakfast. Hermione was reading a book, like usual, Luna was reading the newest edition of The Quibbler, and Harry, Ron, and Ginny were playing a game of Exploding Snap.
They were told that Remus and Tonks would be arriving later that afternoon. That is why they were surprised to here the door opening downstairs long before anyone was supposed to be coming. They all got up and headed down. After walking into the foyer, they saw none other than Professor Dumbledore, accompanied by Remus. Dumbledore's face wasn't displaying any emotion, although the usual twinkle in his eye was not there, and Lupin looked downcast. Dumbledore looked to Harry, and motioned for him to follow he and Lupin. The three of them walked into another guest bedroom near the foyer. Dumbledore conjured three chairs with a wave of his hand and motioned for him to sit down. He did, and Dumbledore and Lupin did too.
Dumbledore turned to Harry, "Harry, I'm sorry to inform you that there is some business you, Remus, and I must take care of before you and your friends go to Diagon Alley today."
Harry could tell from the way that Dumbledore said it, that this was business that he wasn't going to like. "What is it?"
"We have to go to the reading of Sirius' will." Lupin answered.
Harry's heart sank. Sirius' will? How could he have forgotten about something like that? And right when I was beginning to get over it… so that was why Lupin was looking so bad. He looked up at Dumbledore, noticing the look of concern on his face. Then to Lupin, also looking at him with sadness, and concern. It made Harry feel a bit better to know that he wasn't the only one who mourned the death of Sirius. Dumbledore did, Lupin did, and even Hermione and Ron did. After all, they had known him just as long as Harry had. Sirius wouldn't have wanted him to mope around about his death, but to continue on even stronger. He looked up at Dumbledore, "When are we leaving?"
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After their talk in the guest room, the three of them had immediately headed off. Dumbledore took a book from a table that was in the room, and with a portus and a wave of his hand, the book was activated as a portkey. They all touched a part of it and felt the tug on there navel, and then the strange spinning sensation as they were transported to wherever they were going.
Now they were sitting in a room at the Ministry. It was small, and Harry definitely didn't recognize it. There was a small table in the middle, with one chair on one side, and two on the other. Dumbledore motioned for Harry and Lupin to sit down on the side with two chairs, while he sat down on the other. Harry glanced down at the table, noticing that there were a few papers in a neat pile close to Dumbledore.
"Professor, will you be reading it?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Yes, I will be." Dumbledore answered.
"Good, I'd rather it be you than someone else, since you're one of the only people who really knew him." Harry replied, saying the last part quietly.
The ends of Dumbledore's mouth rose slightly, but quickly went back down again, as he remembered what they were doing. "Okay, now, let's begin."
And with that, Dumbledore began reading off Sirius' will. Harry was surprised to learn just how much money he had had. He had never really thought about how much money Sirius had before, but he never thought it would be this much. Lupin was given 75,000 galleons, and Harry 100,000. Hermione and Ron each were given 20,000, and Molly and Arthur were given some too. The list went on and on, almost everyone on it Harry had never even heard of. But it was the last part that shocked Harry.
"To my godson Harry James Potter, I give the ownership of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place for he, and anyone else he allows to live after he has finished with his schooling, as long as the Order of the Phoenix is allowed to continue meeting there."
Dumbledore put the will down, having finally finished reading it. He looked up at Harry, almost as if to see how he would react. To his surprise, Harry didn't look upset. He wasn't really showing any emotion, but at least he wasn't angry, or sad. Remus hadn't said a word through the entire reading, although he had given a small grunt of disapproval when he heard how much Sirius had left him.
Dumbledore reactivated the portkey, and the three of them were transported back to Grimmauld Place, which, to Harry's disbelief, now belonged to him. They walked back into the foyer, noticing that no one was there, except they heard some soft talking from the kitchen. They headed in, and found Tonks and Molly talking animatedly. They stopped when Harry, Lupin, and Dumbledore walked in. Molly marched up to Dumbledore.
"And where may I ask did you three go of to?" She said angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Dumbledore.
"We had to go to the reading of Sirius' will." Harry said softly. The reality of Sirius being gone hadn't completely sunk in, though he was making progress.
Molly's face softened, "I'm sorry dear." She said soothingly, and pulled him in for a hug.
"It's okay." He said, pulling away from her. "Aren't we supposed to be going to Diagon Alley?" He asked, initially to Dumbledore, but when he turned around he realized that Dumbledore wasn't there. There were only Remus and Tonks.
"Where's Dumbledore?" He asked Lupin, who was stealing glances at Tonks.
"He left as soon as Molly was finished yelling at him. I guess he wanted to escape as fast as possible." Molly glared at him, and Harry and Tonks laughed.
"Actually, he had something with the Order to deal with, nothing unusual. Right now we're trying to recruit as many new members as we can." Tonks said nonchalantly. "And as for when we are leaving, that would be now. Why don't you go up and get everyone?"
"Sure." Harry answered, and began heading for the stairs, but Molly called him back.
"No need Harry." She said, walking over to the base of the stairs. She then began yelling to them to come down.
Ron and Hermione immediately walked over to Harry. They were about to start asking him questions, no doubt about where he had been, but were silenced by a look from Molly.
"Okay, we're going to be flooing there, so, if you'll follow me." Remus told them, and they followed him into the living room, where a fireplace was. He grabbed a jar of floo powder off the mantle, and gave some to each of them. One by one they each stepped into the fireplace, disappearing in a whirl of green flames.
Harry was the first to go, and the first to step out into the Leaky Cauldron. He waited patiently for the others to come. Once they were there, they headed out the back way. Surprisingly, there weren't many people in the pub. Harry asked Lupin about this, and he just told him that now that everyone knew that Voldemort was truly back, many people were afraid to leave their homes. Tonks tapped the appropriate brick, and the archway to Diagon Alley opened up.
"Okay, first we'll go to Gringotts, and then we can split up into two groups to get your supplies." Tonks told them.
As they walked down the road towards Gringotts, Harry couldn't believe how many stores were closed, and the lack of people. It seemed that it was becoming like it was sixteen years ago. People were really starting to get scared.
They arrived at the tall, stunningly white building that was Gringotts. Hermione, Ginny, and Luna went with Tonks and the goblin that was escorting them. Harry and Ron went with Remus (the twins had been allowed to go off on there own, since they were of age).
They made quick stops at there vaults. When they got to Harry's, his jaw dropped. He thought he had had a lot before, but with the added amount from Sirius, his vault would soon need to be expanded. He grabbed enough for the school year, and then they left towards Ron's. He seemed embarrassed as the goblin opened his vault because of how much Harry had. The embarrassed look turned to one of happiness as he looked inside. Harry had never seen inside Ron's vault before, but he knew from knowing the Weasley's a long time, that there was more than double the amount that had been there before. Ron grabbed some, and they headed off to do there shopping.
They stopped at Flourish and Blot's for there 6th year books, and then headed off to Madime Malkin's for some new robes, since theirs were beginning to get to short. Afterwards they went to replenish their potions supplies, and then to Quality Quidditch Supplies, the store they had been waiting to go to. Harry wanted to get a new broom. His Firebolt was still perfectly fine, but it had been two years since Sirius had given it to him, and there were some better brooms coming out. He walked in, and immediately saw the one he wanted, a Phoenix. It was a top of the line broom, brand new. It made the Firebolt look like nothing. It was expensive, 500 galleons, but he decided to get it anyway. He asked Ron if he wanted to have his old Firebolt, but Ron said no.
"I think I'd rather get myself a new broom, not that your Firebolt's not good or anything, I just want to finally be able to get a good broom myself."
After about twenty minutes of looking at different brooms, he decided on a Starflare. It was a very good broom, in between the Firebolt and Phoenix. It was also specially designed for Keeper's. They left with much lighter pockets, but were very happy with their purchases.
They all met up at Gringotts, and started back towards the Leaky Cauldron. A few minutes afterwards, they heard the screaming. They spun around, and immediately found the source. Three masked figures were heading towards them from another street near the bank. Even with the lack of shoppers, there were still a lot of people there, many of them shopping for school supplies with there kids. They watched in horror as one of the Death Eater's began torturing a woman with the Cruciatis Curse and another successfully used the killing curse on a man on the other side. The third one used a Reductor Curse on one of the walls of Gringotts, by far the tallest building in Diagon Alley. The force of the blow knocked a huge section of the wall out. The huge chunks of rock killing a few of the people near it, and crushing some other nearby shops.
Anger coursed through Harry. He pulled out his wand and began running towards the three Death Eaters. He heard footsteps behind him and realized that the others were following him.
As soon as they were in range, they began fighting back.
"Stupefy!" Harry yelled, successfully stunning the Death Eater who had almost finished the woman off with the Cruciatis Curse. Her mask fell off, revealing the face of Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry's temper flared up. She was the one who pushed Sirius through the veil. He started towards her, but was held back by Lupin until he came to his senses.
Tonks was dueling with another one of the Death Eater's, who Harry recognized as Lucius Malfoy, from his cold voice as he taunted her. Lupin had successfully stunned the other, who was revealed to be Dolohov, the one who had hurt Hermione. That feeling of anger coursed through him, but he came to his senses. Tonks, with a little help from Lupin, stunned Lucius. The others had been trying to keep everyone in order, and Hermione and Luna had also been helping the wounded.
Dumbledore appartated in shortly afterward, followed by a few aurors. He glanced around, immediately taking in all that had happened. It wasn't hard to figure out; there were three stunned Death Eater's, a huge hole in the side of Gringotts, and the once white stones that had fallen, were now speckled with red.
He called Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Ginny over to him, and appartated to the living room of Grimmauld Place, bringing them with him.
He turned to Harry, "Wait here Harry, I will be back shortly." The usually wise and strong Dumbledore was not the one Harry saw just then. He looked old, and tired.
Harry nodded, and Dumbledore vanished without a sound.
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