Nose to the Wind // tomarry

Chapter 23: Done Pleading Ignorance

With the booklists out, everyone in the magical United Kingdom was, of course, in Diagon Alley the following weekend, collecting new books or ingredients and buying new school robes for students who had, once again, outgrown their last set.

The Potter family was no different, though they were a bit more inclined to reuse books and robes from years previous than certain other well-monied magical families. (Though Harry had it on relatively good authority that Cassiopeia Malfoy, who was in Will's year, had started using her brother's old books during the past year, so perhaps the Malfoys were coming around to the idea of sharing materials, rather than buying a whole new set.)

Lily had made it a rule, after the trip to get Hermione's supplies for her second year, that the only people allowed to go to Diagon on the busiest shopping day of the year were those who would either be paying or getting things while there. Which meant Sirius, Remus, and Peter were never invited – James and Sirius had actually just started signing themselves up to be on call at the auror's office that weekend, so they would be in the best position to respond if something happened, without being underfoot in the alley – and Harry usually stayed home with Chris, who had been using books and robes he'd inherited from Hermione or Will.

That year, though, Lily had brought both Harry and Chris along – Remus had to work, and Peter was doing some spying for Voldemort – insisting they would be in charge of collecting the potions ingredients everyone needed. "And come straight to Madam Malkin's when you're done," she added as Harry accepted the shopping list and coin purse. "Don't get distracted by quidditch supplies or ice cream or something."

"Trust me, Mum," Harry had replied drily, resisting the urge to scowl at Will, who was snickering, "this is the one day a year I have no interest in getting side-tracked." Next to him, Chris nodded.

"Fair enough," Lily decided, then caught both Will and Hermione's shoulders and pushed them through the opening into the alley.

Harry rolled his eyes, then took a breath, caught Chris' hand in his, and stepped past the opened entrance to the alley, turning into the apothecary as soon as they could.

With other families getting in the way, it took Harry longer than he'd really have liked to collect the necessary ingredients, even with him and Chris splitting the list, but he'd sort of expected that; there was a reason he usually preferred to stay at home during the yearly shopping trip.

Sighing a bit, Harry paid for their purchases, then caught Chris' hand again so they wouldn't get separated and made their way back out into the crowds, both of them dodging clusters of people and careless elbows as best they could, then squeezed past a family that had stopped right outside Madam Malkin's and slipped into the shop.

Hermione looked to be done when they got there, with Will finishing up, and Harry stopped next to his mum with a tired, "You know, we could just not come on the busiest weekend."

Lily turned towards him and made a show of rolling her eyes, probably because James often said the same thing. "We wouldn't want to break with tradition, would we?"

"Witches and wizards put way too much stock in tradition," Harry muttered, and Hermione and Chris both let out quiet giggles.

Nearby, an older witch let out an unhappy sniff and informed him, "Traditions are important, boy. As anyone of proper breeding would know."

Lily cleared her throat and, when Harry glanced over at her, shook her head.

Huffing a bit, Harry resisted the urge to respond to the woman. Instead, he asked his mum, "Did you lot stop past Flourish and Blott's on the way down?"

"It was full," Hermione said with a shrug.

"It looks like some foreign writer scheduled a book signing for today," Lily explained, and Harry realised that, yeah, the worst of the crowd had seemed to be around the book shop. "Probably didn't think about how much of a mess the place would be. We did promise Hermione she could look at pets, though, so I thought we might head down to Magical Menagerie, then see how the crowds are."