diagon alley

August 19th, 1992

DAISY ANNOUNCED THAT she wanted to stay with the Grangers and get to know them better as the Gringotts goblin gestured for the Weasley clan towards the vault.

"In that case, I'll stay with her. Shouldn't we, George?" Fred began to walk away from his family, but Daisy pushed him back and said, "Go with your family, Fred. George."

"Why? They don't need that much people in the vault anyway!" Fred exclaimed in protest. Nonetheless, Daisy still forced them to go.

When the coast was finally clear, she turned her head to look at Hermione, "I'm their neighbour, in case you're wondering. And, yes, I am really a Muggle."

"Oh!" Hermione blushed, "Do I look that curious? I'm sorry! It's just— Ron never said anything about you before, but you seem like an important part of the family."

"We are like family. Harry was very... intrigued, too, when we first met," Daisy chuckled, "I suppose you're a Gryffindor, too?"

"Yes, I am!"

"Do you live here, around London?"

"Yes! In Hampstead Garden Suburb, around half an hour drive from here. What about you —does your house stand right beside the Weasleys'?"

"No, actually. Our houses are half a mile apart."

"Ah, I see. Do you go to school, then? Are you in year nine?"

"I'm homeschooled, but yes, I'm equivalent to that this upcoming semester."

"Homeschooled? How does that feel like?"

"Boring, especially now that Ginny is going off to Hogwarts as well," Daisy admitted truthfully, "I'm jealous! I heard your school year is always festive. Oh, how are you? After the incident last June?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise, "What? How do you know about that?"

"Please, Ron couldn't stop talking about it."

"Ah..." Hermione nodded, "I can totally picture that. I am great, thank you for asking, and I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are grateful to have you around all year long."

"Thank you," Daisy dipped slightly in a playful but still courteous bow, "Oh, Hermione, may I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure!"

"Do you know how much Gilderoy Lockhart's books might cost?"

"Oh, uh..." Hermione paused to ponder for a moment, "Five galleons each. And since there are seven in our lists this year, a set would be thirty-five. Why?"

"Nothing."

Daisy's mind whirred as she began counting: thirty five galleons, for Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy. A hundred and seventy-five galleons. That would be... eight hundred and seventy-five pounds. Whoa.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger rejoined the two girls after they had finished exchanging currency. They asked a question about Devon and the four people were engaged in different sorts of Muggle conversation (like work, school, parents, holiday, food, Christmas) for a while, until Mrs. Weasley appeared, leading her mob of family out of the vault.

Back outside the marble steps, they all separated. Percy muttered vaguely about needing a new quill; Mr. Weasley insisted on taking the Grangers off to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink; The Golden Trio said they wanted to spend the next hour roaming around.

"Oi, Freddie! George!"

All heads turned to see a young boy with shoulder-length curls, waving energetically from the other side of the road.

"Lee!" Fred exclaimed. He ran over, followed by George.

Something tickled within Daisy's chest, a panging sensation, as she watched the twins conversing with their friend, seemingly too busy to remember her presence, moreover their promise to buy an ice cream now.

"Dee." Daisy jolted in surprise when she felt a tug on her dress. It was Ginny, looking up at her expectantly, "Are you waiting for Fred and George? It's okay, you should come with me and Mum instead!"

"Yes!" Mrs. Weasley added as she secured a hand around Ginny's shoulders, pulling the girl into a hug, "We're going to buy Ginny's robes."

Ah... I really wanted ice cream with the twins.

Daisy glanced at Fred and George once more, still busy with their Hogwarts friend.

It's alright. Maybe next time.

Then she linked her arm with Molly's free one, "Okay."

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your schoolbooks!" Mrs. Weasley announced for everyone to hear.

"Are we going to buy Ginny's wand, too?" Daisy asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Of course, of course."

Daisy could sense the change of pitch in Mrs. Weasley's tone and she looked at Ginny, who merely stuttered, "I— If we don't have enough, it's okay, Mum."

"What do you mean we don't have enough? We have more than enough!"

Mrs. Weasley sent Daisy a coded glance and the latter, who got the message immediately, interjected, "Yes, Ginny, I'm sure we'll manage."

Perks of being one of the older siblings.

"Okay..." Ginny said, still unconvinced.

"If you could choose, what would your wand core be?" Daisy asked to divert the little girl's attention away.

"You know it doesn't work like that! The wand chooses the witch, not the other way around!"

"I know," Daisy chuckled, "Which is why I said 'if you could—"

Suddenly, she felt a sharp tug on the back of her collar and she was peeled off Mrs. Weasley's hold. She glanced over her shoulder to see Fred, grinning from ear to ear, "And where do you think you're going?"

"Uh... Robe shop...?"

George poked his head into the scene, "Mum, we're taking her back."

Daisy raised an eyebrow, "Wait. What about your friend, Lee? I can go with your Mum and Ginny first, if you want—"

"We're gonna see him everyday in Hogwarts, not you. Come on, let's get that ice cream you've been craving so much."

"But," Daisy tried, yet Fred and George still overpowered her futile attempt to hold her ground, "Mrs. Weasley—"

"It's okay, dear, go along," Mrs. Weasley cut in, "Keep them in line while you're at it. Remember, not one step down Knockturn Alley!"

✿ ❀ ✿ ❀ ✿

August 19th, 1992

DIAGON ALLEY WAS full of roaming visitors. Some were Hogwarts students and their parents, some were lunching adults, some just wanted to take a break that Wednesday noon —but there were a tad bit more crowd than expected.

When they reached Flourish and Blotts, though, the reason was finally revealed.

GILDEROY LOCKHART
will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL ME
today 12:30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.

"Huh," George muttered, "It's like... a horde of Mums in here."

Daisy watched the aggressive ladies squishing the poor, old guard with big, doe eyes, licking her vanilla ice cream in silence.

Fred stood on his tippy toes to get a better look. Over the different shades of hair, he could see some distinctive flaming red ones. "Oh, I think everyone's already in there."

"Percy, too?" Daisy asked.

He tiptoed again and saw Percy, who thankfully was taller than most of the people there.

"Yep." Fred looked at her, still halfway through her dessert, even though the Weasley twins had finished theirs minutes ago. He was usually an impatient boy, but there was something... Something about Daisy that made him tolerate everything. He could never get mad at her, even if her elegance was often mistaken as sluggishness.

The boy chuckled at her cuteness, "Take your time, Dee."

They weren't eager to join the suffocating mob anyway. The three sat down on the sidewalk across Flourish and Blotts, pointing towards and commenting on random things until Ron and his cronies arrived.

"Ron!" Fred called out, grabbing the three's attention. George waved them over.

"Did you see the sign?" Hermione said excitedly.

"Yeah," George remarked, "What are the odds Gilderoy Lockhart holds a fan signing event on the day we decided to visit?"

"Slim to none," Ron grumbled, "Reckon we can coax Mum to return tomorrow when it's not this cramped?"

"I can only say, good luck with that."

"Okay, I'm done!" Daisy stood up and brushed the invisible dusts off her dress, "Let's go in."

"You know what, Dee, I know you hate crowded places," Ron announced, "Why don't we stay out here? I'll keep you company."

"Nope, come on, Ron." Daisy forcefully made Ron turn around and pushed him through the door. She took a deep breath —Ron was right, she really didn't like crowded places— and squeezed her way towards the back of the shop where the rest of the Weasleys were standing in line with Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs. Weasley, "Where are the boys? Have you seen Harry and Hermione?"

As if on cue, the other five arrived, each bearing their own copy of The Standard Book of Spells.

Gilderoy Lockhart slowly came into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing a blue robe that exactly matched his eyes and a pointed wizard's hat set at a jaunty angle on his curly hair.

"This is ridiculous," Fred muttered. He positioned himself behind Daisy and tried to hold his ground against the push and pull of ecstatic fangirls, but he was still a fourteen year-old boy.

"He has a nice smile, I give you that," Daisy muttered back.

"Please don't."

Daisy suppressed a smile, "I'm just saying."

"It can't be Harry Potter?"

Both Daisy and Fred looked up and saw Lockhart dove forward, seizing Harry's arm and pulling him forcefully into the limelight. The crowd burst into applause and Harry, looking terribly abashed, had his hand shook by the man of the hour, all for the sake of good publicity.

Daisy flapped her hand in front of her face as another thick, purple smoke was puffed in her direction with every click of the journalist's camera.

"I didn't know Harry's that famous," she said in between coughs.

"Told you," Fred replied, "He's like... a celebrity."

George interjected, "More like a historical figure."

"I should take another look at your history book," Daisy remarked, "He looks very uncomfortable."

"Who wouldn't? It's Gilderoy Lockhart."

She peered over her shoulders to see their genuinely disgusted look, "You two are just jealous of his popularity."

The twins scoffed and chorused, "We are NOT!"