Another Granger (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter 3- Diagon Alley

Melissa woke up on Saturday morning with a jolt. Her and her sister were going to buy their school supplies today! The girls still hadn't fully got over the shock of finding out they were witches but couldn't wait to experience what it was like!
"Melissa, wake up!" Hermione shook her twin awake. Melissa's eyes snapped open.
"We're buying our school supplies!" She gasped. Hermione nodded and crawled away from Melissa to allow her up. The girls quickly got dressed and raced downstairs to eat breakfast.
"Looking forward to today?" their Dad asked.
"Yes!" Hermione grinned.
"Sort of..." Melissa mumbled.
"Oh, you'll be fine Mel." her Mum said, ruffling her hair.
"Yes, but don't have too much fun without us!" her dad laughed. Melissa gulped, remembering that they were going alone.
Before long, Professor McGonagoll had arrived and the five of them had hopped in the car to the station.
"Goodbye girls, behave yourself!" their Mum said.
"We will Mum!" the girls promised as they all set off into the station. Once aboard the train, McGonagoll asked,
"Do you both have your equipment lists?"
"It's in here somewhere," Melissa said, rummaging through her bag. "Aha!" she pulled out the piece of parchment and Hermione read it over her shoulder.
"First-year students will require:

UniformThree Sets of Plain Work Robes (Black)One Plain Pointed Hat (Black) for day wearOne Pair of Protective Gloves (dragon hide or similar)One Winter Cloak (Black, silver fastenings)Please note that all student's clothes should carry name-tags at all times.BooksThe Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda GoshawkA History of Magic by Bathilda BagshotMagical Theory by Adalbert WafflingA Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric SwitchOne Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida SporeMagical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius JiggerFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt ScamanderThe Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin TrimbleOther Equipment1 Wand1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)1 set of glass or crystal phials1 telescope1 set of brass scalesStudents may also bring an Owl OR a Cat OR a Toad.PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS"

"Can we get all that in London?" Melissa asked.
"Yes, if you know where to look." Professor McGonagoll winked at them. The girls shared a confused look before going back to reading their supply list. A cat, toad or owl. Melissa would love one of those but wasn't sure Muffin or her parents would be too keen on the idea.
"How will we pay for all this?" Hermione asked.
"Your parents have given me some money to exchange so our first stop is Gringotts, the wizarding bank." Professor McGonagoll explained. When they all arrived in London, that's exactly where they went.
"Wow!" Melissa gasped as she walked inside. Gringotts was a large marble building and inside there were many small human like creatures scurrying around. Melissa thought they looked like what she'd pictured goblins as. Noticing a large sign on the door, she stopped and read,
'Enter stranger but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take but do not earn
Must pay most dearly in their turn
If you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours
Thief you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.'
Melissa gulped.
"They don't mean dragons do they?" she asked the first thing that came into her head.
"I am not a thief or a Gringotts employee so I don't know for sure but yes, I think." McGonagoll said. Melissa's eyes widened as she shuffled into the building, standing close to her sister. The girls were taken to their vault in a very fast cart that twisted and turned all the way down. Once they reached an empty vault, Hermione looked ready to throw up. Melissa, however, had loved the experience and could not wait to get in the cart again. The girls walked into their vault and a goblin changed the money their parents had given them into a large pile of gold, silver and bronze.
"This should last you a couple of school years." McGonagoll noted, "Take a bag from me and fill the pouches with twenty galleons, twelve nuts and ten sickles only."
"What, exactly, are those?" Hermione asked what Melissa had been thinking.
"Oh, of course! Galleons are the gold ones, sickles are the silver ones and knuts are the bronze ones." Professor McGonagoll explained and the girls started counting out the money.
"Done!" Melissa exclaimed as her and Hermione went back to McGonagoll.
"Right, let's go shopping!" she exclaimed and the three headed back into the street they were on, Diagon Alley.
Melissa could hardly believe the range of shops. There were pet shops full of hooting owls and croaking toads, apothecary's with newt eyeballs and porcupine quills, shops that sold broomsticks and strange red, black and gold balls and book shops with the strangest titled books ever.
"What's left now?" McGonagoll asked the girls.
"Books, wands and animals." Hermione stated.
"Mum and Dad won't let us get a pet Hermione." Melissa told her.
"Oh, ok." Hermione said, crestfallen.
"How about you get something else. Flourish and Blotts has loads of good books and Dervish and Bangs is full of.....interesting stuff." McGonagoll said. "You two go and get your books and meet me back here." McGonagoll indicated Florean Fortesque's ice cream parlour. The twins nodded and raced into Flourish and Blotts.
"I think I'll get some extra books." Melissa contemplated out loud.
"No Melissa, reading's my thing. I'm getting extra books. You get something else." Hermione ordered. Melissa nodded sadly. "Besides, I want to impress all my teachers." Hermione puffed her chest out.
"Even the male ones?" Melissa smirked.
"Melissa, that's disgusting!" Hermione exclaimed.
"I know, I know," she said, buying her books and leaving the shop as Hermione bought the rest of it. Instead of going straight to McGonagoll though, Melissa felt the impulse to go into Dervish and Bang's. This was very unlike Melissa who had always stuck to instructions completely but the shop seemed very intruiging. With a funny little jerk, Melissa ran inside it, carelessly bumping into a round faced boy clutching a toad which he abruptly dropped.
"I'm sorry!" Melissa gasped, picking up the toad and handing it to him.
"It's ok. I'm Neville Longbottom, who are you?" the boy said.
"Melissa Granger. Are you starting Hogwarts this year?" Melissa asked.
"Yes, I am. My family didn't think I was going at first though. They thought I was a squib." Neville admitted.
"A squib?" Melissa questioned.
"Yeah, are you muggleborn?" Neville asked her.
"You mean my parents aren't wizards? Yes." Melissa said.
"Oh, well a squib is kind of the opposite. It's someone born to magical parents who isn't magical." Neville said.
"Oh. So your parents are wizards?" Melissa asked.
"Yes, they are." Neville said with a faraway look in his eyes.
"Well, see you at Hogwarts!" Melissa waved.
"Yes, see you Melissa!" Neville waved as he left the shop. Melissa looked around the shop. It was full of Magical products, all of which looked like fun games and pranks.
"Wow!" Melissa murmered under her breath before going to buy some products.
A little while later, Melissa had rejoined Hermione and Professor McGonagoll with a bag full of dungbombs, sugar quills, wizard chess, gobstones and exploding snap. Hermione had acquired a nice bulging bag of books and Professor McGonagoll had treated them both to an ice cream.
"Now, let's get your wands." Professor McGonagoll led them to a shop called Ollivander's and an old man appeared.
"Come to get your wands? Who wants to go first?" Hermione stepped forwards eagerly which Melissa was glad about. A magical measuring tape measured Hermione's right arm and the old man went to get a few boxes. Hermione tried four wands until finally, she found one.
"Vine wood, Dragon heart string, 10 3/4 inches, flexible and good for charm work." Ollivander said. Hermione gave the wand a wave and gold sparks flew out.
"Perfect! Now you young lady, which is your wand arm?" Ollivander asked Melissa.
"Err, I'm left handed." Melissa said awkwardly. The tape measured her arm and Ollivander whisked off to find more wands.
"Holly, phoenix feather, 11 1/2 inches." he said. Melissa waved it and nothing happened.
"How about this. We rarely use this wood. Hawthorn, phoenix feather, 13 inches, quite whippy, good for defensive spells." Melissa waved the wand and purple sparks flew out the end.
"Brilliant!" Ollivander exclaimed. The girls paid for their wands and then left the shop.
"Right, let's get you back home." Professor McGonagoll said.
"Awwww" both the girls complained but still followed McGonagoll out of Diagon Alley.