𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝; 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡.𝐩

𝓨𝓮𝓪𝓻 1, 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 3: 𝓓𝓲𝓪𝓰𝓸𝓷 𝓐𝓵𝓵𝓮𝔂

~ chapter three: diagon alley ~

Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut.

"It was a dream," he told himself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be in my cupboard."

There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.

And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door, Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream. That's when an alarming thought occurred to him; was Y/N a dream as well? He hoped not, but he didn't exactly doubt it; it had seemed too good to be true. A girl as perfect as her was too perfect to exist, so he wouldn't be surprised if she did turn out to be just a figment of his imagination.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"All right," Harry mumbled. "I'm getting up."

He sat up and Hagrid's coat fell off him. He looked beside him, and to his delight, Y/N was still there. Another realization came to him, making him grin even wider and blush. Y/N and I shared Hagrid's coat!

The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl tapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.

Y/N got up at that moment, and to her major delight, it hadn't been a dream at all. She scrambled to her feet with Harry as they went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.

"Don't do that."

Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.

"Hagrid!" said Y/N loudly. "There's an owl-"

"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.

"What?"

"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."

Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets - bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags... finally, Y/N pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.

"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.

"Knuts?"

"The little bronze ones."

Y/N counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so she could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window.

Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.

"Best be off, Harry, Y/N, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."

Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.

"Um - Hagrid?"

"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.

"We haven't got any money - and you heard Uncle Vernon last night... he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."