Rescued

Diagon Alley: Remus

Harry's hogwarts letter had arrived. It was sitting on the counter, and I realized it had been delivered long ago. "Harry! Padfoot!" I called. It was quite late already. Ron had been sent home, and Harry and Padfoot were in the living room teaching Lily basic training. All three came running. Lily a little later than the first two; her roly poly figure waddling as fast as it could. I held up the letter, and Harry smiled in delight. He grabbed it from my hands, not after attempting to smooth down his hair--and stopped. He looked over at Lily, who was sitting prettily on the floor.

"But-I won't be able to bring Lily!" He dropped down and picked up the puppy. Lily made a strange noise, almost a purr, and nuzzled Harry. He scratched her ears.

"Don't worry, Harry," Sirius and I said at the exact same time. "We'll find a way."

"We were the marauders, you know," Sirius said and winked.

It made me so happy to see Harry and Lily so happy together. Lily barked and bounced and was full of energy. Harry resolved to train her himself, but Padfoot snuck out at night and helped him along a bit. Which didn't really need to happen, since Lily learned so fast anyways.

Lily loved Harry. She followed him everywhere. Soon she began to race around the house whenever he came in from outside. She was slowly getting bigger in the week that went by. Her legs weren't so short and stubby. Her stomach wasn't dragging on the floor when she ran.

"Harry, today we're all going to get your supplies for Hogwarts. I'm afraid we'll have to bring Lily with." Harry nodded happily.

"I don't think I'll get a cat,"he mused. "Not that I think Lily would fight with her, it's just that cats are--well, you know," he added.

And so we reached Diagon Alley. Harry was loving all of it. He took Lily by the leash and dragged Padfoot to the Ollivander's. "C'mon, M-Remus!" I smiled. We had all agreed not to use our marauder names in public. It was especially hard for Sirius, as he was used to calling Harry 'Prongslet'.

"You want to get your wand first, Harry?" I called. We stopped in front of the shop and looked at the sign on the window. Ollivander's Wand Shop.
"Yeah," he breathed. We walked inside to greet the silence.

"Hello, Harry Potter," a quiet voice exclaimed. "And Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin too! My, what a pleasant surprise.." He quickly turned to Sirius. "Hawthorn, thirteen and a quarter inches, unicorn tail core?"

"Yessir." Sirius saluted.

"Keeping it well?" Ollivander mused, reaching for a few slender boxes.

"Yessir."

"Good. Mr. Potter, if you please..." Harry grasped the wand and waved it.

"No,no, no!" He handed Harry another one, and the same happened. This process continued for a long time. Sirius had taken Lily by the leash, and she was sitting patiently. The more the wands refused Harry, the more excited Mr. Ollivander became. Finally- "holly, Phoenix feather core, precisely eleven inches. " Harry waved, looking exhausted, and fireworks flew out of the wand and around the room. I looked around. Boxes upon boxes were strewn around the room. It seemed the entire room was filled!

"Thank you, Mr. Ollivander," I say, relieved, handing him seven galleons. We walked wearily out of the shop.

The rest was robes at Madam Malkins, ingredients and cauldrons from the apothecary and other stores, Flourish and Blott's for books, quills and parchment, and a quick trip to Gringott's to get money for Harry. Harry loved Diagon alley. Many people came up to him and shook his hand, and all the shop keepers tried to insist on letting us go, no payment needed. Sirius took care of them, and Harry and I marched on, leaving Sirius with all the shopkeepers rushing to give our money back.

We were all enjoying ice cream at Florean Fortescue's, when I spotted a young man with dark hair and steely grey eyes. He rushed over when he spotted us, my too-late attempt to hide Harry failing spectacularly.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Potter!" The man was surprisingly capable for his age, running over on youthful legs. Harry looked over, and Lily began to growl and bare her teeth. It wasn't necessarily a fearful scene, but at least she tried.

"Who're you?" Harry said curiously. "How do you know me?" Sirius stood up quickly, but I shot him a warning glance. Let's just see what he does.

"My dear Harry, I have been waiting to meet you," he said, shaking Harry's hand. "I'm afraid you don't know who I am, though," he said, gray eyes softening and tearing up a little.

"Unfortunately, we do. It'd be better for you if you leave now," Sirius snapped, pulling out his wand. "Harry, this is Voldemort. The one who killed your parents and half the people in the wizarding world."