Song for this chapter ~ This Side of Paradise by Coyote Theory
My last week of summer holiday spent in Diagon Alley had come and gone so fast that I had completely lost track of time.
I had managed to collect all my school books from Flourish and Blotts, as well as the rest of what remained on the school's list.
For the most part, my week couldn't have been any better. The only thing that could possibly make it worse was, well, Harry Potter. Although I had managed to steer clear of him the entire first day, it wasn't until day two of my stay that he began to take regular trips to the one place where I was able to study without being bothered—Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
This small shop, which had an infinite amount of colourful ice cream on display, had been my go-to spot in Diagon Alley ever since I first stumbled upon it two years ago as I was strolling the cobblestone streets.
Now, however, Potter had decided to make it his own.
On top of spending most of his afternoons here, every half hour, Mr. Fortescue would serve him a sundae—on the house of course.
Must be nice getting special treatment.
Although the kid's presence annoyed me most times, I couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of pity for him—his parents had been killed at such a young age, and when not around his two closest friends, he seemed rather lonely.
Nonetheless, I carried out the rest of my week as planned, with the rest of my days being spent mostly at The Leaky Cauldron with a book in hand. Not to mention, I had not seen the frightening dog once this week, coming to the conclusion that it probably had just been my imagination.
As I hopped out of bed on my last morning at The Leaky Cauldron, I quickly got changed and headed downstairs for my morning coffee.
As I approached the bottom of the stairs, two figures stood out to me—a bushy-haired girl holding an orange cat, and a messy haired red-head, who I remembered to be the youngest Weasley boy.
Potter's friends arrived—finally. Maybe now he'd stop lingering around me.
Walking past them, I headed to sit at one of the individual tables in the tavern; however, they were all taken. The only table left was the large one situated in the middle of the room, which sat probably around ten people. I settled on this one, seeing as most people only sat here in small groups.
As I took my seat at the head of the table, I could overhear the argument Potter's friends were having amongst each other. Something about her cat not leaving his pet rat alone.
The two bickering friends quickly noticed Potter standing atop the staircase, grinning at them.
"Harry!" His red-headed friend shouted with excitement in his voice.
He rushed down to meet his two friends, with speed, nearly tripping on a step on his way down.
He embraced his friends, a huge grin on his face, quite a change in expression from the rest of his week.
"Harry, please tell me you didn't actually blow up your aunt?" His bushy haired friend asked him, looking like she already knew the answer.
As they took their places at the same large table I sat at, the three began to discuss how their summers went, with the Weasley boy going on about his time spent in Egypt with his family.
I quickly zoned out of their conversation, tuning into the barmaid who had begun speaking to me.
"Just the regular black coffee then?" She said to me with a small grin.
"Uh, ya thanks." The witch pointed her wand at a large black kettle that floated throughout the dining area, slowly making its way towards a cup placed directly in front of me, pouring its contents into it.
As I began listening in on the three's conversation again, I took a large sip of my beverage, nearly choking on it, as a very familiar face walked in my direction.
"Not flashing that clipping again, are you, Ron?"
George Weasley
Although only two months had passed since the school year ended, I couldn't help but notice how both him and his twin had grown in height significantly. I already remembered them as being quite tall , but this year—
"I haven't shown anyone!" The youngest Weasley boy replied, George snatching the newspaper from him.
"No, not a soul! Unless you count Tom." Fred declared.
"The day maid."
"The night maid."
"The cook."
"That bloke who came to fix the toilet."
"And that wizard from Belgium!"
"Shove off." Ron said with a threatening glare.
"Never." George said with a cocky smile.
The twins both chuckled and proceeded to take a seat across from their younger brother and his friends, George now sitting only two seats away from me.
I must have been staring, because George now noticed who he sat near. He peered up at me, almost surprised to see me.
I immediately broke eye contact, blushing from the embarrassment of having just been caught staring, while looking back down at the newspaper I now held.
He probably recognizes me from Quidditch.
Although I'll admit for a short moment I felt something the first time I spoke with George during the Sorting Ceremony, it was also the only time I ever did. Four years had passed, and I'd completely changed since then. I was no longer the innocent, wide-eyed little girl who fawned over every boy that spoke kind words to me.
Over the years, I had become more familiar with the Slytherin disposition, no longer letting my emotions get in the way of me succeeding. I had become accustomed to being closed off—not even having a real circle of friends I could trust and share my secrets with. I used to see this new change in myself as a downfall; however, it had only made me resilient and less naive.
Either way, George and his twin had seemed to become nothing but nuisances over the years, getting into trouble and pulling pranks on a daily basis. I couldn't be bothered by that nonsense.
The rowdy group continued to chat amongst each other, with every now and then, spotting George from the corner of my eye, sneaking a quick glance at me.
As more and more of the Weasleys began to appear at the table, I soon realized with myself sitting here, there would probably be no room left for the others.
Just at the perfect moment, the barmaid walked up to me.
"More coffee for you dear?" Harry had gotten up at this point, following Mr. Weasley off to the side.
"No thanks, I'm just about finished and ready to leave." I said, giving myself the perfect excuse to leave the table without it being awkward.
Only, I had just made it even more awkward, because Fred and George—who sat nearest to me, looked down at my nearly untouched drink.
Mortified, I quickly sat up—too quickly unfortunately, because my coffee had now spilt all onto the floor.
I sighed, frustrated with my sudden clumsiness.
"Off to a shaky start this Quidditch season, are you Warrington?" A thick Scottish accent appeared from behind the twins.
Oliver Wood—Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, good friend of and same year as the twins, never seemed to get tired of provoking the members of the Slytherin team.
"Wood, I don't suppose there'll be any rogue bludgers knocking you off your broom this year?" I smirked, knowing this would only annoy him.
Wood mumbled under his breath—something about how he would have seen it coming if Harry hadn't distracted him. Fred mocked him by giving him a reassuring pat on the back.
Having had enough of Gryffindor banter in one day, I quickly began to head to my room in order to start packing—after all, I would be getting on the Hogwarts Express in less than twenty-four hours and I still wanted to pick some things up in Diagon Alley before heading off tomorrow.
As I passed Potter and Mr. Weasley talking, I couldn't help but overhear their conversation.
"What do you know about Sirius Black, Harry?" Mr. Weasley said with concern in his voice.
"Only that he's escaped from Azkaban." Harry replied.
"Do you know why? Thirteen years ago, when you stopped—"
"Voldemort."
"Don't say his name." Mr. Weasley looked stern.
"Sorry."
"When you stopped You-Know-Who, Black lost everything. But to this day, he still remains a faithful servant. In his mind, you are the only thing that stands in the way of You-Know-Who returning to power. And that is why he has escaped from Azkaban. To find you..." Mr. Weasley didn't seem keen on finishing his sentence.
"And kill me." He didn't seem frightened at all.
"Harry, I want you to swear to me that whatever you might hear, you won't go looking for Black."
"Mr. Weasley, why would I go looking for someone who wants to kill me?" And with that, the two of them were being called over by Mrs. Weasley.
I probably shouldn't have eavesdropped on that
Either way, I didn't really care, as none of this concerned me. Although the idea of a mass murderer on the loose wasn't exactly comforting, I knew once I would arrive at Hogwarts, I'd feel perfectly safe.
* * *
The rest of my afternoon had been quite boring and uneventful, having spent its entirety in my room at the tavern.
Although I did have to pack up my things—and now find room to fit in everything I had purchased over the course of this week, I was now purposefully avoiding the common area, and anywhere with people I could embarrass myself in front of again.
Not completely understanding how I had become so flustered myself, I remained frustrated with the idea that it had been on account of some Gryffindor who I barely knew.
I had always been a composed person, occasionally known to bad mouth my Quidditch competitors—not turn scarlet over silly things.
Either way, my plan to avoid George Weasley had worked, because by the time I left my room late that evening, the only ones left in the dining area were Potter and his two friends, playing a game of Wizard's Chess.
As I walked past them to leave, their focus on the game seemed of most importance, because they didn't even notice me walk by, and exit the pub.
I now made my way down the streets of Diagon Alley, the crowds now having seemed to die down quite a bit, and the sun becoming more dull with time. It wasn't dark just yet, but I thought I'd better not take too long here, now having overheard Potter and Mr. Weasley's conversation about a supporter of Lord Voldemort's being on the loose.
After about fifteen minutes of walking down the cobblestone street, I had finally arrived at my destination—Eeylops Owl Emporium.
With everything that went on this week, I had almost forgotten about my owl, Athena, who would be awaiting my arrival tomorrow at Hogwarts. Even though I'm sure she enjoyed the freedom of flying around the Highlands, along with her other winged friends, I felt guilty about not getting her anything, which is why I had come to the Emporium—to get her some treats.
The shop, which was relatively small in size, held various owl species from Snowy, to Tawny—of which my own was. Although it remained dark inside due to the creatures being nocturnal, passersby could still see the creatures hanging up in cages in the display window.
As I quickly entered the empty shop, I was greeted by the owner of the store, Edith Stagheart, a lovely old lady who didn't have much company apart from her owls. She was another person who I'd come to know over the past couple years during my stays in Diagon Alley.
As soon as she recognized me, she greeted me cheerfully saying, "Ah Calista, It's lovely to see you dear. Look at you, only a year gone by and you've grown so much."
I gave her a friendly smile. "Yes, It's been so long, sometimes it feels weird not being here for such a long period of time."
"Oh, that reminds me! I have to tell you all about my bird-watching trip in Wales this past summer!" The old lady seemed very excited to share this news, beginning to pull up a chair for me, as well as start the kettle for tea. Although she was a kind lady, I couldn't help but notice the sun beginning to set. I looked back over to Edith, who had already begun to tell me all about her trip.
Maybe I'll stay just for a bit.
I wasn't too far from The Leaky Cauldron, and I knew my way around Diagon Alley pretty well—although I had never ventured out during the dark.
What seemed like hours gone by, had only turned out to be about thirty minutes. The sweet lady had managed to list all forty-seven different birds she had seen during her trip, not holding back on any of the boring details. Although I did appreciate the company, I told her I must be on the way back to the tavern, seeing as it was now completely dark out. She kindly gave me a small box of bird seed for Athena on my way out, thanking her while waving goodbye.
As I now stood outside the shop, peering down the completely dark and empty street, I couldn't help but shiver as I felt a cold breeze glide down my back, as I thought back to a few days ago when I had seen the vicious looking animal.
Trying to put those thoughts at the back of my mind, I began to walk down the dark street of Diagon Alley, hoping not to have any scary run-ins tonight.
George's POV
After spending most of the day picking up our books and other school supplies in Diagon Alley with mum—Fred, Oliver, Lee and I, planned on venturing back out on our own for a bit, with plans of meeting up with Angelina and Andy later on.
"Now I don't want you out for too long, you hear me? It'll be dark in an hour, and I want you all back here before then." Mum said, pointing a finger at all four of us.
"Yes ma'am." Lee said in a sarcastic tone.
She was about to further lecture us, until Ron, Harry and Hermione began to head towards the exit of The Leaky Cauldron.
"And where do you three think you're going?" Mum said, looking at Ron with a quizzical look.
"Well seeing as Fred and George get to go out, we thought we could maybe go too?" Ron said, in an unconvincing tone of voice.
"No, absolutely not. The three of you are staying here. I'm sure the Grangers wouldn't appreciate your father and I allowing Hermione out so late at night, especially under these circumstances." Mum said with a concerning voice.
"That's fine Ron, we can just play Wizard's Chess." Harry said, not wanting to be unappreciative of her concern for him.
"Anyways, I've been practicing over the summer. I reckon I can beat you now Ron." Hermione said, looking at Ron with a rather satisfied look on her face.
"Fine." Ron said, giving Fred and I glaring looks before running up the stairs with his two friends to get his Wizard's Chess set.
Mum turned back to the four of us to give us the rest of her speech.
"Don't you dare land yourselves in Knockturn Alley."
"We can't make any promises, can we George?" Fred said, turning to me with a wide smirk on his face.
"No, sorry mum. No promises there." I replied with a sarcastic tone.
And before she could begin to yell at Fred and I, the four of us were headed down Diagon Alley.
"So are the girls meeting up with us then?" Oliver asked, as we walked past different wizarding shops.
"You mean Angelina and Andy? Or were you just referring to Andy?" I asked him in a teasing way.
"Shut it. Or I'll make Quidditch practice five times a week instead of four this year."
"Oh, you'd really be doing us a favour there Oli. Thanks for the slack." My brother remarked sarcastically.
If Oliver had it his way—and the Slytherins didn't keep stealing the pitch from us, we'd be practicing seven days a week at sunrise.
"It's a good day to be a commentator and not a player. Oh look, there's Angelina and Andy" Lee said, waving at the two girls who stood in front of Sugarplums Sweets Shop.
Oliver pushed his hair back with his fingers at the sight of Andromeda.
"You're so dreamy Oliver. The way you push your hair back like that really has me feeling all sorts of things." I said in a mocking tone, teasing him.
He elbowed me hard in my ribs, as he made his way over to the girls.
"Hello boys." Angelina said to all of them, her gaze, however, solely on Fred.
"So, ready for a new Quidditch season, team? Any new plans or strategies this year Oliver?" Andy piped in, serving a bright smile at him.
"Well I was actually just telling the boys about moving practice to five days instead of four."
We all groaned in unison.
"You guys feel like heading to Quality Quidditch Supplies? I've been wanting to check out the Firebolt for a while now." Oli said, almost too excitedly.
"Do we have a say in this?" Lee asked, already knowing the answer.
"No." Oliver replied.
As we headed towards the shop, my eyes caught the attention of the Slytherin girl— Warrington, who now entered Eeylops Owl Emporium.
I remembered speaking to her during our Sorting four years ago. I was quite shocked to see her put into Slytherin, she had seemed to be a very shy girl. Now, however, I kind of understood. From the people she hung around, to the things she said out on the Quidditch pitch, it was enough to assume her loyalties.
However, something about her intrigued me. Before today, I wouldn't have taken her to be the clumsy type. Spilling her drink all over the floor, and blushing on top of everything, seemed so unlike the image she tried to portray. Quite honestly, I couldn't help but hold back a cheeky smirk when I saw her blush—it was quite satisfying seeing someone like her become embarrassed over something so dumb.
"That was weird earlier before, don't you think?" I asked, coming out of my thoughts.
"What?" Fred replied.
"That Slytherin girl—Warrington." I said.
"What's so unusual about some Slytherin who can't keep their mouth shut." Oliver piped in, clearly still irritated about her earlier comment.
"Woah, looks like Oli here can't handle some chick's joke." Lee replied in a teasing way.
"I mean, you've got to admit Oliver, she's probably just as good a Seeker as Harry." Andy teased him, playfully tugging at his sleeve.
Oliver, in one quick move, looked her up and down.
Cheeky
"Yeah, well we'll see who wins the Quidditch Cup this year." Oliver scoffed, quite bothered.
"Is it true she was dating one of the Slytherin Chasers...Pucey I think?" Andy asked innocently.
"More like messing around from what I've heard." Angelina abruptly chimed in.
"Don't go spreading lies about people now." I said, glaring at Angelina.
"Georgie, it sounds like you've got the hots for her." Fred teased, while messing up my hair.
Everyone laughed at his innocent joke, not questioning it any further.
"We should hurry to see that Firebolt, it'll be dark soon and mum will kill us if we're late." I said, attempting to serve as a distraction to Fred's statement.
"Well, let's get a move on then. Otherwise I really will move Quidditch practice to five days a week this year."
Knowing Oliver, none of us would dare take that chance, so we all moved quickly in the direction of the shop.
* * *
After having been at Quality Quidditch Supplies for nearly an hour, the six of us eventually had to drag Oliver out, much to his annoyance.
"Come on, if Fred and I aren't back before dark, my mum will have us off the team faster than you can say Quidditch." I told Oliver as we grabbed him by his arms, leading him out of the shop.
One thing to know about Oliver, was that his greatest fear was not winning the Quidditch Cup, and Fred and I just happened to be irreplaceable to him. After hearing what I had just told him, he quickly shook me off.
"Fine, let's go then." He said miserably, Andy rushing to his side.
It was completely dark out at this point, but being so close to The Leaky Cauldron, mum wouldn't notice us being a few minutes late.
"Ouch!" I heard Oli shout, backing himself into me and nearly falling over.
"Hey! Watch where you're walking, you wanker." I exclaimed
"What's going on boys?" Angelina said, as she turned to us.
"One of you's stepped on my foot, is what." Oliver said angrily.
"Sorry mate, I can't see bloody anything in the dark. Don't know why the streetlights are so dim." Lee retorted back.
"Lumos." Andy replied, smartly.
A bright light instantly appeared a few feet from me.
"How come no one else thought of that?" Oliver questioned all of our idiocy, while looking at Andy with admiration.
The rest of the gang then began to take out their wands, replicating Andy.
As I reached for my wand in my back pocket to cast the spell, I suddenly realized it was no longer there.
I sighed loudly, my brother hearing this, turned to me.
"What now?"
"My wand, it's missing. I must've dropped it somewhere near the shop."
"Yeah, probably when you threatened to hex me before." Oli said, giving me a dirty look.
"So who's coming back with me then?" I turned to look at all five of my friends.
"Sorry mate, you're all on your own." Lee said, patting me on the back.
"Well don't look at me, one of us has to distract mum. Otherwise she'll kill the both of us." My twin said, looking at me.
"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't rush me out of the shop." Oliver said, now with a smug grin appearing on his face.
The girls both gave a look to George that said, "Absolutely not."
"Bunch of twats." I said, now separating from the group as I began to retrace my steps.
As I began to approach Quality Quidditch Supplies—barely being able to see it as all the lights were now closed, I kept my gaze closely to the ground in the hopes of finding my wand. After a few minutes of crouching and squinting in the dark, I saw a large stick laying right next to the entrance of the store.
Finally
With a sense of relief, I picked up my broom-shaped wand, and began to head on back to The Leaky Cauldron before mum discovered my absence.
As I walked through the dark, and empty street, confidently, the sound of my mother's voice shouting began to play through my head. I took a big gulp, wondering if Fred had still managed to keep her suspicions under control. Seeing that there was a good chance of me being scolded, I began to walk in a pace faster than normal, my long legs giving me the advantage.
Fred better have come up with a bloody good diversion, otherw—
Before I could finish my thought, I had turned around a corner at full speed, crashing into a figure much smaller in height and size than me, nearly knocking them over.
Calista's POV
Although it had only been about ten minutes since leaving the Owl Emporium, it felt as if I had been trudging through the dark and vacant road of Diagon Alley for what felt like nearly an hour. Not only had I not seen a single person walking since I left the shop, I kept hearing what sounded like small footsteps coming from a distance. However, every time I mustered the courage to turn around and have a look, nothing appeared to be there.
Gripping my wand, panic soon arose throughout my whole body, as I began to realize I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way. Not only did I no longer know where I was, but I had an unnerving feeling that someone had been following me this whole time.
As I quickened my pace as fast as my short legs could take, my brain began to recall the picture of the man in the newspaper clippings.
There was a murderer on the loose—and I was walking alone, in a dark alley, with odd noises following my every move.
My heart pounded faster than ever, my whole body and mind now in survival mode. At this point, I no longer could see straight—both from my speed and rushing anxiety. I felt like I could pass out any moment now.
As I looked straight ahead of me, to the best of my abilities, it seemed as though there was only one way to go–left.
I doubt I'm even going the right way anymore. I don't care.
As I began to turn the corner with every bit of strength I had left in me, I suddenly crashed into something so hard, I nearly fell over. Only, I had just now realized that something was actually someone.
As I peered up at the tall figure, out of breath, all I could see at first was the person's flame-like, red hair. Not only did I suddenly become aware of my hands placed on this person's chest, but I also knew exactly whose chest this was.
George Weasley
As if earlier hadn't been enough of an embarrassment, I now stood in front of him, short of breath, with fright still in my eyes—I looked weak.
"What that bloody hell—" Peering down at me, he soon realized who he stood in front of. I quickly remembered my hands still remained on his chest, removing them as fast as I could. As I backed away from him, my breathing beginning to ease, I got a strong whiff of what smelt like firewood mixed with cinnamon.
"What the hell, you scared me. What are you running from?" He finally said. I realized, up until now, I had not even mouthed a single word.
"I wasn't running from anything." I lied. "And I wouldn't have crashed into you if it weren't for you not watching where you were going." I said, irritated, even though I knew it was just as equally my fault.
I could hear thunder from a distance.
He looked as though he was about to further his case, but instead he combed his long, rough fingers through his long, red hair, and sighed out of frustration.
"Are you currently aware there's a madman potentially wandering these very streets?" He asked in a condescending tone.
The thunder could now be heard right above from where we stood.
"Of course I know, I'm not daft. Anyways, it's none of your bloody business is it?"
He reached down to grab something that now lay on the ground between us—my wand.
My normal sized wand, now looked so little in his large, veiny hands. He reached out to hand it back over to me—his facial expressions now having softened. I reached out my hand to grab it, but before I could, he nudged his hand slightly backwards.
"Please." He said, with a cocky smirk on his face. I was baffled by his audacity, so I quickly grabbed it from his hands before he would have me beg for my own wand back.
Before the silence was able to make this situation even more uncomfortable, it began to downpour.
Used to my own luck by now, I began to run down the corner I had just turned before I bumped into George—but before I could even make it a few inches, I felt my arm being roughly tugged by a strong set of hands. I turned to face him.
"Where do you think you're going? The Leaky Cauldron's this way. Isn't that where you're staying?" He exclaimed, over the loud noises of rain hitting against the cobblestones.
Normally, I would have cursed if someone grabbed me like that; however, his strong, yet comforting grip on my arm, and my wish to be back inside somewhere safe and warm, were all reasons to just listen to him—so I did.
It was only maybe two minutes into running through the rain that we had finally arrived at the pub, already feeling the warmth coming from inside. George proceeded to open the door, waiting for me to walk in first, as his arm hovered well over my head. As the two of us were finally inside, drenched, neither of us had time to say a word, as his mother stood facing the two of us, a look of extreme anger on her face.
"GEORGE WEASLEY!" She shouted, looking back between the both of us. "You swore you'd be back before dark! Your brother got here more than half an hour ago, and yet here you stand!"
"I can explain." George said, sighing.
I began to slowly walk towards the stairs of the tavern, as this was really none of my business.
"Young lady!" She shouted, instantly noticing my movement. I froze on the spot. "Don't you think you ought to not be out so late at night, with a boy on top of that? Your parents must be worried sick!"
"Um... no ma'am, I'm uh...here by myself. I, uh got lost, and then it started to rain an—" I felt like I was about to cry, which I believe Mrs. Weasley began to catch onto, because her tone and features began to soften immediately.
"It's no worry dear. It's just, we all need to be more cautious under these conditions, hmm?" She said in a comforting tone. "Well I guess you should be off then. I'm assuming you've got the Hogwarts Express to catch tomorrow morning too?"
"Uh yes, thank you." I nodded. "Goodnight then."
I quickly made my way towards the stairs, looking back at the boy who had just helped me—looking at him the same way I did when meeting him for the very first time years ago.