The Prisoner Of Azkaban (A Harry Potter Rewrite)

AN OLD BIT OF PARCHMENT

A week later, Ria and Harry left for Diagon Alley.

"I don't know about you, but I'm tired of doing my homework by nights.", Ria had declared.

The kids all hugged Ria goodbye. Then they even hugged Harry. Ben had hugged him last.

"We should always find the truth.", he'd whispered in his ears, leaving him more than a little uncomfortable and bewildered.

He'd also told Ria to get a pet for herself. "The cat looked good with you.", he'd said with a smile.

"What cat?", Harry asked, once they were on the train to London.

So, Ria told him the story of how McGonagall was an Animagus. She could turn into cat form and had watched over Ria for quite a while before telling her about her heritage.

When the pair reached The Leakey Cauldron, they were greeted enthusiastically by the bartender Tom, who showed them to their rooms.

Inside his, Harry found a very comfortable-looking bed and some highly polished oak furnitures. He deposited his trunk and Hedwig's cage in place before letting her out. She stretched her wings, cooed at him and flew out the window, happy to stretch her wings after the travel.

It took Harry several days to get used to his strange new freedom. Never
before had he been able to get up whenever he wanted or eat whatever he fancied. He could even go wherever he pleased, exploring the numerous fascinating Wizard Shops.

Ria didn't try to stop him in the least. They would roam around together laughing and chatting and doing their homework essays under an umbrella at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, with occasional help from Florean Fortescue himself, who, apart from knowing a great deal about medieval witch burnings, gave Harry free sundaes every half an hour.

Ria didn't seem to mind this either, smirking at him every time it happened, then grabbing a spoon from a nearby table just to let him know sharing was caring. Like Harry would ever not share with her!

She introduced him to Madame Maalkin properly. The lady had apparently taken a liking to Ria when she had stayed for a month in Diagon Alley during their first year.

She also dragged him off to visit Ollivander's again. Harry was a bit apprehensive about this visit. His first time in the shop had been somewhat stressful. But he gave in without too much fuss and while the old man was still as eerie as ever, Harry started to enjoy his stories of wandlore after a while.

He found it really amazing how Ria just seemed to befriend everyone around her with apparent ease. She was friends with almost half the Hogwarts population although Harry could never explicitly remember her talking to most of them. She was always with him, Ron and Hermione after all! But, even then, she somehow managed to have a bunch of people who'd readily call her their friend.

Harry had always known she was special. She'd told them about her powers on the very first day after all. But, Harry had only just started to realise, it wasn't her powers that made her special. It was a contributing factor but it wasn't the major one. Ria was special because she was just Ria. Harry could never find a word suitable enough to describe her.

It was a bit strange, being together day in day out without Ron and Hermione to dilute things. There wasn't any awkwardness at all but Harry couldn't really shake the feeling that it should have been at least a little awkward. Which, in turn, actually made him act nervous at time. Ria never seemed to notice these moments, too busy chatting with every shopkeeper she ment. So, Harry mostly just ignored it and enjoyed himself to the fullest.

A week into their stay, the two friends visited Gringotts to refill their money bags. Back in Leakey Cauldron, Ria opened the booklist and Harry poured over her shoulder to read.