Love Never Dies. (Draco Malfoy Fan Fiction) (Watty Awards 2013 Winner)

Chapter 2: Diagon Alley.

"Rachel, Hermione, we're going to shop for your school supplies. Come now darlings," I heard my mother call after us.

"Coming, mum!" I called after her and asked Hermione to get changed and to take her letter with her. I put on a red scarf and I wore a jacket.

I stepped out of my room with Hermione and I saw my mother filling her purse with Galleons, Knuts and Sickles. We would be travelling by Floo Powder to Diagon Alley, something Hermione never did. So I walked up to the fireplace and went in. I grabbed a handful of the greenish Floo Powder, took Hermione's hand, and shouted, 'Diagon Alley!' before green flames the engulfed both of us. My mother and father came after us and we shot out of a dusty fireplace right in the middle of Diagon Alley.

"What was that?!" Hermione exclaimed, brushing off the dust from her clothes.

"We just travelled by Floo Powder, it's a form of transport for people like us. Muggles can't do it, though. They'd probably get their heads stuck in their own fireplace!" I break out in laughter at my last statement and so did Hermione.

Soon, both my parents shot out of the same fireplace, their clothes covered in muck and dust and dirt. My mother brushed the dirt away and told us to follow her. I peeked out of the window and I saw Diagon Alley. It was full of life and it was certainly spilling of soon-to-be first years of Hogwarts.

"I'll take the girls, darling. You go look for that book you wanted to get, alright?" my mother told my father.

"Bye, sweet heart," my dad said to me and kissed me on my forehead. "You too, Herms. I'll see you back home." With that, my father apparated out of the ruddy building and into a bookstore in Diagon Alley.

"So... Flourish and Blotts first?" my mother took my hand and I took Hermione's. We walked into Diagon Alley, packed with witches and wizards alike. I craned my neck to look into the glass windows of various shops to see the newest Nimbus 2000 - the fastest racing broom, newest edition of books by famous writers and the various weeds and herbs displayed neatly in cauldrons. My mother took Herms and I to Flourish and Blotts to get our textbooks. She buys each of us The Standard Book of Spells, A History of Magic, Magical Theory, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Magical Drafts and Potions, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. She asked for two of these books each and the shop owner readily plucked these books off the ceiling high shelves and wrapped them up with a thick sheet of paper. After she paid the money, my mother places the two large parcels into her tiny handbag. She must've added the undetectable extention charm to her bag. It was really handy.

"Now let's go get your caudrons from Potage's Caudron Shop," my mother led us out into the street and back into a shop where it was empty besides the countless cauldrons stacked up on top of each other along the walls.

"How can I help you, miss?" the petite shop lady asked my mother.

"Two size two pewter caudrons, please," my mother kindly replied. The shop lady used her wands and summoned two cauldrons from her walls, wrapped themselves up in paper and were ready to be thrown into my mother's purse.

"Keep the change," my mother smiles and the shop lady and thanked her before we left the shop.

We stopped by the apothecary shop and got some tools we needed. Finally, we went to Ollivanders' to get our wands. Mr Ollivander let both Hermione and I try wands after wands but after nearly six tries, he hands me one that seemed to choose me. I felt a warm sensation all around my body before I said, "This is the one, Mr Ollivander". It had a phoenix feather core, made of Aspen, thirteen and three-quarter inches and it was reasonably supple. I loved my wand as much as it loved me. Hermione got her wand as well, it had a dragon heartstring core, made of vine wood, ten and three-quarter inches. She felt the exact same sensation as I did after a good eleven wands. Mr Ollivander handled the wands gently and wrapped the boxes up in purple parchment before my mother paid him.

After we got all of our Hogwarts uniforms, robes and school supplies, books and quills, we headed back to the fireplace where a small pot of Floo powder sat. Father must've left it there for us to head back home. Once again, I took Hermione's hand and we travelled back into our home. We shot through the fireplace in our living room to be greeted by father sitting on the couch, reading his new book he recently bought from Diagon Alley.

"Hello, girls. Got your books and school supplies?" he asked as we cleaned our clothes using our hands.

"Yes, they have," my mother, who just arrived, told my father affirmingly before she kissed him.

"Had a lot of fun, I presume?" my father asked Hermione and I, smirking like he always did.

"Yes, Uncle. It was so wonderful shopping with Aunt Amber and Rachel," Hermione nudged me, laughing about the day we had shopping for school supplies at Diagon Alley.