Daisies • HP Next Generation

Ton Tongue Toffee

"This is where we're going to meet mum and Poppy, right?" Daisy asked Harry.

"Yes, we should see them somewhere in front of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. That's where I asked Teddy to take them."

"Teddy?" Dudley asked. "Your godson, right?"

Daisy had heard a lot about the various relatives of the Potters over Christmases, but she had never met any of them besides the immediate family. The only thing she distinctly remembered about Uncle Harry's godson was that he could change his appearance at will. How unfortunate it was she couldn't Daisy thought. She had to wait for her hair to grow out in order to dye it a new color.

"And there it is. The best store in Diagon alley," James said. Daisy could just see the outline of a very colourful shop in the distance with someone with blue hair standing underneath.

Daisy was surprised by the shop's appearance, and didn't really hear anything from the adult's conversation once she had hugged her mum and introduced herself to Teddy. It had been a bit awkward when Daisy realized that Teddy knew she had been staring at his hair.

"It's amazing here isn't it Daisy?" Poppy asked, not needing an answer. Turning away from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, she demanded, "Show me everything you've bought so far."

Daisy handed over her bags, keeping only her wand in her pocket. She would show that for Poppy last.

"I wish I was eleven," Poppy murmured. Her eyes gleamed at so many interesting things, although she laughed when she found quills and parchment. "Why would you use these when you can have pens, pencils, and lined notebooks?" was her unanswerable question.

Daisy was happy to let her sister look through her new school supplies while she waited for her parents, Harry, and Teddy to stop talking and get on with the tour. She couldn't help thinking about the future though. Was there any guarantee that Poppy was magical? Harry hadn't mentioned it when he talked about seeing Daisy's signs. And what would she buy on her non-magical shopping trip with Emma? She supposed, that she would prefer notebooks to parchment, and it couldn't hurt to bring a few and use them if she was allowed.

"Dad, can we go inside? We don't need a tour," Albus asked, James behind him already going inside.

"Go ahead, we'll be inside in a moment."

Surprisingly, they actually did follow shortly. Daisy was instantly attracted to the pygmy puffs over any other magical thing there. Poppy followed, but was more interested in their skiving snackboxes.

"If I took this to my school, no one would know it was magic, and I'd get the whole day off!" She said gleefully.

"Which is why," their dad added, pulling the package out of her hand, "I'm not buying any." Dudley had been wandering the store with them, always close the whole time even though Harry had said that nothing would go wrong as long as they didn't open anything. Anna, meanwhile, had stayed in the muggle tricks section, a fearful look across her face. She had only briefly come across to see the pygmy puff, which Dudley had finally agreed to buy Poppy as long as she never showed any of her muggle friends.

"Going to buy any of our treats? I can show you some customer favorites if you like." The voice came from behind Daisy, but she could see her father's mixed expression of fear and outrage as soon as she heard it. She turned around.

-oo000oo-

It took Dudley a moment to recognize the freckled face in front of him, and when he did, memories of his stretched out tongue came back to him. It had been his worst experience with wizards at the time, and didn't help him stop being afraid of them at all. He had only eaten one of their candies and a minute later his mouth felt full, and then his tongue was a foot long! Except at the time, he hadn't fully understood that it was his tongue.

Because of this, Dudley thought, it was completely understandable to be angry - angry and slightly afraid - of the man standing in front of him. It was also completely understandable that the smile on George's face did not help in the slightest.

It seemed to take George a bit longer to recognize Dudley. He had of course, lost weight, and looked quite a bit older. When George finally did so, a look of understanding and humor flitted across his face.

"Ah, suppose not then, am I right?"

"You are most certainly correct!" Dudley said, and for a moment he reminded himself of his father.

Fortunately George, and his son Fred who had briefly spoken to the kids, had other things to attend to, and the Potters and Weasleys left the shop. School supplies, pets, and items from the joke shop filled everyone's hands. Poppy kept turning her head to look at the light green pygmy puff on her shoulder with amazement. Lily was clutching her wand in her hand like it was the most precious thing she had. And Daisy? She was looking everywhere thoughtfully at her owl, her cousins, sister, parents, and back at the alley they were leaving behind.

Someday, this will be her "normal." Dudley realized, and hoped it could be his too.

I'm pretty sure this was the beginning of my better chapters. It's around this point I got a beta, started writing longer chapters, and now (I'm up to chapter 14 now) my chapters are much longer (1,000-2,500 words) and more descriptive, but you're still welcome to help me improve. 

~Eruditeowl~