The thirty first came by like a blink of an eye. Before she can react, Xing was already dressing up to go to Diagon Alley.
" Yue, you know that I can not take you there."
The cat whined at her words, still nudging its head against her ankle.
Xing sighed, " The last time I let you, you flew off to chase after Weasley's rat. Do not remind me the trouble to get that rat from under the shelves. At the Apothecary, no less!"
The cat continued to whine at her statement before stopping knowing that it can no longer persuade the girl.
" Good, now off I go then. Better not be late or else the young Malfoy will be complaining until the Hogwarts train leave."
Walking towards the fireplace, Xing grabbed a handful of floo powder on the way. Now standing in the fireplace, she throw the powder on to the group, " Diagon Alley!"
The green flame quickly spread through the fireplace and covered Xing's whole body. And after it has disperse, Xing was no longer standing there.
Once Xing has arrived, she immediately took off to Ollivanders while complaining about the Flow system.
Upon entering, she was met with a chaotic and messy interior of the shop. And of course, it was Draco Malfoy's doing.
As she entered, the bell rang to notify the others of her presence.
" Taking a long time aren't you, Draco."
At her comment, Draco scrunched his face, becoming more frustrated. " Hush, Forest. The least you can do after not responding is stay quiet!"
Xing chuckled, " Are you sad, Draco?"
Draco abruptly turned around, faced covered in a pink hue. " Sad? Sad at what?"
" Of me not writing back to you," Xing answered.
" You wish," Draco muttered turning back in focusing on testing out the wands.
" Good morning, Ollivander. How are you lately?"
Hearing his name, Ollivander looked up from the selection of wands on the wooden desk. " Xing Forest, 12 inches, Blackthorn wood, Thunderbird tail feather core, unyielding. A very interesting wand indeed. Now boy, try this 13 inches, willow, pheonix feather core, flexible."
Draco tiredly took it and gave it a wave. Immediately, a pile of wands could be heard tumbling in the back.
" Why is it taking so long?"
Xing later a hand on his shoulder for comfort, " Now, Draco, be patient. The harder it is for you to find a wand, the better it shall suit you."
" You're just saying that because you got yours much faster."
" Boy, the wand chooses the wizard and not the other way around. Forest is lucky to have find hers so soon," Ollivander stated, looking at Xing knowingly.
Xing look back nonchalantly, " ... Exactly."
Ollivander goes back to opening a wooden box, handing it to Draco. " 10 inches, hawthorn, unicorn hair, reasonably springy."
Once again, Draco gave the wand a wave but unlike the others, a golden light followed through with his wave.
Xing smiled, looks like this is the one. " What have I tell you? Hawthorn wood only chooses one with proven talent."
Draco grin as he take a closer look at the wand. " How much is the wand?"
" Seven galleons."
Draco places seven galleons on the wooden table, without bidding bye, he grabbed Xing's hand pulling her out of the shop.
Xing taken by surprised, stumbled to follow Draco's pace. As they walk through the streets, Draco informed Xing that they were going to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasion to get his robes.
Xing silently agrees, she needed to get new robes too. She was quickly growing out of her old ones. " Have you gone to get the rest of the supplies then?"
" Mother has gone to collect the rest, I just have to get measurements for the robes. Why? Are you in a hurry?"
Xing chuckled at his childishness, shaking her head to deny it. " Whenever I'm with you, I'm free the entire day."
Hearing those words, Draco face flushes. Meanwhile, Xing continues to look around, not a bit bothered with Draco's strange reaction. To her, whenever she decided to spend time with someone, she would not have any activities scheduled that would interrupt their time. To put it simply, it's respectful to both her time and theirs.
" Right, I need to go get some supplies. Mind waiting for me at Madam Malkins?" Xing suddenly halted her footsteps.
Following Xing, Draco also stopped. He hesitantly nodded before taking off. Soon, Xing quickly went her way around Diagon Alley, stopping at stores such as Slug and Jigger's Apothecary to pick out some supplies and items she wanted.
Even if the Forest's family was not part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, it still has enough power and wealth in Britain and overseas so Xing did not have to worry about how much she was spending.
After a while Xing finally came to her last stop, Flourish and Blotts.
Taking a step in, she was immediately met with the smell of ancient books. A bit musty yet comforting smell. Walking towards the shelves, Xing was quick to find the books needed for third year.
When finished, she placed them on the counter before taking another walk to the potion section, she stopped at a particular book.
Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage.
Wasn't that a favourite of hers back in the day?
" Xing!"
Hearing her name, Xing instinctively looked at the direction her name was coming from. The sight brought a smile to her face, " Hagrid, you look a bit unwell, are you fine?"
"Just went to Gringotts. They needa do some'ing about those carts...how was yeh vacation to China?"
Xing's faced scrunched pup at the thoughts of the carts underneath Gringotts. " One of the reason why I dislike using transportation. Anyways, the trip was truly amazing, so much different from Britain."
" Sure is different from little ole-London."
" What are are you doing here?"
Answering her question, Hagrid smiles as he shoves Harry from behind him, " I'm escorting young Harry here to get his supplies."
Processing Hagrid's words, Xing stares at the shorter boy for a second. This was not what she had expected James Potter and Lily Potter's child to be. How was this boy eleven years old? By the looks of it, this boy was all skin and bones.
Under Xing's stare, Harry could not help but be embarrass at his appearance, unknowingly cowering into himself.
Noticing his discomfort, Xing immediately change her line of view, " Pardon me for my staring. How rude of me. I was caught surprise of seeing Harry Potter in person. Where are my manners? I'm Xing Forest, a third year at Hogwarts." Xing then initiate a handshake.
Looking down at her hand, Harry shakily reciprocated. " H--Harry, Harry Potter."
" Aren't you a shy one, Harry," Xing teased, making him flush red.
" Why are you guys here now? Isn't it a bit rushed, we're already leaving tomorrow," Xing asked Hagrid as she ruffles Harry's hair, making the boy even redder. " Oh my apologies, consider it a habit." Xing apologizes, awkwardly pulling her hand away from his hair. Strangely, Harry find a part of himself missing the warmth of Xing's hand.
" Some miscommunication occurred so Harry's acceptance letter arrived late," Hagrid summarized.
" Ah, must have been a rough process. Where are you heading next then?"
" Madam Malkin's. to pick up some robes for young Harry."
Xing smiles, " Perfect, I'm heading there after this too. Let's head there together, Harry." She then walks up to the counter and payed for her books before casting a Reducio spell, carrying them all out of the store.
Harry was quick to match his speed with hers as they walk through the streets of Diagon Alley with Hagrid trailing behind. Along the way, they occasionally make conversations with each other, getting to know the other better. They soon stopped as they arrived in front of Madam Malkin's store.
Hagrid turned to Harry, " Listen, Harry, would yeh mind going with Xing while I slipped off for a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringott Carts."
Harry looked over at Xing who did not look displease at Hagrid's words, " Yeah I'll be fine."
" Don't worry, Hagrid, Harry will be safe with me."
With that reassurance, Hagrid happily took off to the Leaky Cauldron. Xing then laid her hands on Harry's shoulders, " Now, let's go get you some new robes."
Walking in, Madam Malkin, dressed in all mauve greeted them. " Hogwarts, dear?"
Harry nodded, not able to speak before getting cut off. " Got the lot here--another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."
The both of them looked up at the direction Malkin pointed at. Xing, who knew the person immediately walks over, while Harry just followed behind her.
On the footstool stood Draco getting pinned up in a black robe by a witch. " Took you long enough," Draco commented as he saw Xing.
" Apologies, young Malfoy. I was a bit caught up with the latest season of broomsticks."
Immediately, Draco's eyes shine brightly at the mentioned of broomsticks. " The Nimbus Two Thousand? Will you use it during Quidditch this year?"
Xing shrugged, " Not sure. Maybe, but my position does not require such a broom." Xing looked over at Harry seated in the footstool beside it.
" Do you know what Quidditch is?" Xing asked, resulting in Harry shaking his head.
" How do you not know what quidditch is? Are you our kind?" Draco spatted from the his spot.
Harry looked obviously taken aback by Draco's outburst which was quickly handled by Xing. " No need to yell at someone else, Draco. The young lad might not be interested in quidditch. Either way, it seems as you are done here, shall we go?"
Knowing the hint of warning in her voice, Draco nodded. " Don't you need to get measurements?"
" No need, I already gave them the measurements, no need to get fitted," Xing nonchalantly commented, " Hope to see you tomorrow, Harry. Let's seat together on the train."
Before Harry could react, Xing quickly dragged Draco out of the store. After dropping off Draco and having short conversations with the elder Malfoy, Xing was finally free to go home. She dragged herself to the spot she enter this morning and like this morning, flooed home.
She plopped herself on the bed, " What a messy day."