Emma Potter

55: Reunited

It  took Harry and me several days to get used to our strange new freedom.Never before had we been able to get up whenever we wantedor eat whatever we fancied. We could even go wherever he pleased,as long as it was in Diagon Alley, and as this long cobbled street waspacked with the most fascinating wizarding shops in the world,Harry nor I felt no desire to break our word to Fudge and stray back intothe Muggle world. 

Harry and I ate breakfast each morning in the Leaky Cauldron, where I liked watching the other guests: funny little witches from thecountry, up for a day's shopping; venerable-looking wizards arguing over the latest article in Transfiguration Today; wild-lookingwarlocks; raucous dwarfs; and once, what looked suspiciously likea hag, who ordered a plate of raw liver from behind a thick woollenbalaclava.

 After breakfast Harry and I would go out into the backyard, take out our wands  tap the third brick from the left above the trash bin,and stand back as the archway into Diagon Alley opened in thewall.

Then we went our seperate ways. 

I spent the long sunny days exploring the shops and eatingunder the brightly colored umbrellas outside cafes, where his fellowdiners were showing one another their purchases ("it's a lunascope,old boy — no more messing around with moon charts, see?") orelse discussing the case of Sirius Black ("personally, I won't let anyof the children out alone until he's back in Azkaban"). Harry or I didn'thave to do our homework under the blankets by flashlight anymore; now we could sit in the bright sunshine outside FloreanFortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, finishing all his essays with occasionalhelp from Florean Fortescue himself, who, apart from knowing agreat deal about medieval witch burnings, gave me free sundaesevery half an hour. I had done my homework in 2 days, and spent the rest debating with Florean, and every time I won I had a free ice cream sundae of my choice! (Well, I got one even if i lost)

Once Harry and I had refilled our money bag with gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts from our vault at Gringotts, harry had toexercise a lot of self-control not to spend the whole lot at once. Not me, The assistant manager of Flourish and Blotts, whose name I learned was Richard allowed me to pick up books and read them in the shop it's self. It was like a library of course I couldn't take them out, though. 

There were, however, things that I needed to buy. I wentto the Apothecary to replenish my store of potions ingredients,and as my school robes were now 4 inches too short in thearm and leg, I visited Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions andbought new ones. Most important of all, i had to buy his newschoolbooks, which would include those for his two new subjects,Care of Magical Creatures, Athrimancy and Ancient Runes. Which I had gotten on the first day, the manager was really glad to hear I didn't need a copy of monster books of monsters

 On day, Harry entered Flourish and Blotts, I was busy reading a book, Richard came hurrying toward him. 

"Hogwarts?" he said abruptly. "Come to get your new books?"

 "Yes," said Harry, "I need —" 

"Get out of the way," said Richard impatiently, brushingHarry aside. He drew on a pair of very thick gloves, picked up alarge, knobbly walking stick, and proceeded toward the door of theMonster Books' cage.

 "Hang on," I called quickly, "He's my brother. He's already got one of those."

 "Have you?" A look of enormous relief spread over the Richard'sface. "Thank heavens for that. I've been bitten five times alreadythis morning —"

 A loud ripping noise rent the air; two of the Monster Books hadseized a third and were pulling it apart."Stop it! Stop it!" Richard, poking the walking stickthrough the bars and knocking the books apart. "I'm never stockingthem again, never! It's been bedlam! I thought we'd seen the worstwhen we bought two hundred copies of the Invisible Book of Invisibility — cost a fortune, and we never found them. . . . Well . . . isthere anything else I can help you with?"

 "Yes," said Harry, looking down his booklist, "I need Unfoggingthe Future by Cassandra Vablatsky." 

"Ah, starting Divination, are you?" said Richard "Not intrested in Athrimancy like Emma?", strippingoff his gloves he lead Harry into the back of the shop, wherethere was a corner devoted to fortune-telling. I gave him the book I was reading with a smile. And my eyes looked over the titles.

 A small table wasstacked with volumes such as Predicting the Unpredictable: InsulateYourself Against Shocks and Broken Balls: When Fortunes TurnFoul.

 "Here you are," said Richard, who had climbed a set of stepsto take down a thick, black-bound book. "Unfogging the Future.Very good guide to all your basic fortune-telling methods — palmistry, crystal balls, bird entrails —" 

But Harry nor I were listening. Our eyes had fallen on another book, which was among a display on a small table: Death Omens: What toDo When You Know the Worst Is Coming. 

"Oh, I wouldn't read that if I were you," said Richard lightly, looking to see what Harry and I was staring at. "You'll start seeing death omens everywhere. It's enough to frighten anyone todeath."But Harry and I continued to stare at the front cover of the book; itshowed a black dog large as a bear, with gleaming eyes. It lookedoddly familiar. . . .The manager pressed Unfogging the Future into Harry's hands."Anything else?" he said. 

"Yes," said Harry, tearing his eyes away from the dog's anddazedly consulting his booklist. "Er — I need Intermediate Transfiguration and The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Three.

30 minutes later, I bid Richard goodbye and stepped out. I had hoped to meet my friends, but no adue. Plenty of Hogwarts students were arriving in Diagon Alley now, with the start of term so near. I met Astoria Karlov and Pansy Prankinson, my fellow Slytherins, in Madame Malkin's ; I also ran into the Adrian Pucey, the Slytherin Prefect, outside Flourish and Blotts. I didn't stop tochat; He was talking to his very dreary looking father.

I woke on the last day of the holidays, thinking that I would at least meet Zoe, Draco and Nicholas tomorrow, on the Hogwarts Express. I got up, dressed, went for a last look around Flourish and Blotts, and was just wondering where I'd have lunch, whensomeone's wrapped around my waist, and their head was buried in my shoulder. The scent of mint overcame me. I was spun around, I was pushed into none other than Draco Malfoy. "Ems!" he said, laughing "I missed you!"

"I missed you too Dray!"

"Stop it!"

"No."

" I tried so hard to get a--a--communication---trinket?"

"Telephone" I corrected, wrapping my arms around him.

"Yeah, that. A feletone--"

"Telephone."

"Whatever. But I couldn't! You did get my gift though, right?"

"I did" I said, blushing slightly as I pulled away, he had grown over the summer and his plantinum blonde hair was stylishly messy "It was beautiful. You didn't have to--"

"I wanted to" he corrected, flashing me a real smile.

"Ok, move over love-birds." Called someone, And Draco was unceremoniously pushed aside, and Nicholas Tallow came to give me a hug. "Nicholas!" I laughed "I never knew wizards wrote poetry!"

"Poetry?" scoffed Draco "That's what you two talk about? Poetry?"

"Shut it Malfoy"