Chapter 3
As soon as Hermione arrived, Harrison took them all to the Weasley twins' rooms. Harley and the twins got onto the bed, while Hermione took an armchair. The rest of them sat on the floor, while Harrison leaned against the closed door.
Blaise already knew what was going on, because Harrison had continued his tradition of telling him everything before he told everyone else. He had an inkling that Harrison was going to choose him as his second-in-command....
"What's up?" the twins chorused.
"It's clearly serious," Hermione said slowly, seeing the annoyed and worried expression on Harrison's face.
Harley opened his mouth, grinning, and Draco groaned, "No more Sirius jokes, please! I've had enough of that from Cousin Sirius!"
The three Weasleys snickered.
"Enough," Harrison said firmly. "Hermione's right, this is important." He glared at Harley, who smiled innocently. "I wanted to explain this as few times as possible, which is why I waited until Hermione got here. I'll explain to Neville when we see him on the train."
Draco's reaction to Dobby's actions was amusing. He groaned again in both exasperation and resignation. "This isn't new," he grumbled to the Potter-Black twins. "Don't ask, I'd rather not remember." He made a face, causing the Weasleys and Harley to laugh and Hermione to look both amused and concerned.
"Dobby has promised to let Harley and I take care of ourselves," Harrison promised sleekly.
"He probably sensed that you're a Dark Lord," Draco explained. "Non-human beings can do that if they have magic of their own. I don't think Dobby will tell my parents unless they specifically ask if you're a Dark Lord," he added when Harrison's expression darkened and Harley looked alarmed. "Father is the only one that's met you, and he follows a Dark Lord, so he's not stupid enough to pry into your business."
"Good," Harrison said stiffly. "I trust you, Draco, but your parents..."
Draco nodded sympathetically.
"What are we going to do about the diary?" Hermione asked, gently steering the topic back to the missing Horcrux.
"I'm not sure how accurate Dobby is at guessing a child's age," Harrison said, glancing gratefully at the girl. When Draco didn't say anything, he continued, "So, we'll be gathering a list of blond girls from Hufflepuff, second and third year. We'll narrow it down based on whether they went shopping for books in the beginning of July and if they're not too careful about books hidden in that way. We can't ask for a more specific date, we don't want to be too suspicious."
"I can do that," Hermione blushed. "I really wanted to go shopping for more books at the beginning of summer, too, but my parents were too busy to take me. I love books, and clearly so does this girl, so I can make it seem as if I'm trying to make more friends."
"Thank you," Harrison hummed. "Once we've narrowed it down, we might need a distraction to steal it back." He raised a brow at Fred and George.
They grinned maniacally. "Yes, my Lord!"
"Not yet," Harrison said in exasperation. "Idiots," he muttered under his breath, causing laughter. "In the meantime, Harley and I will go talk to the Basilisk."
Draco, Ron, and Hermione shuddered.
"Yes! Harrison I want-"
"Absolutely not."
"Aw."
SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart
"Who's Gilded Locket?" Harley asked, earning a scowl from Blaise's step-father.
"Mr. Lockhart," said Lorelei Zabini disapprovingly, "is considered to be a powerful wixen who has conquered nearly every being in existence. I have read every single one of his books, and he claims to be in different places at the same time, uses spells that don't exist, and many other inaccuracies that would take too long to explain. There is also something... off about the man, I can't quite put a finger on it." She huffed. "I don't know how the Board expects every child to be able to afford these books, just one is incredibly expensive!"
"If they're inaccurate," Harrison said slowly, "why are they being recommended in the first place?"
"Either the new Defense professor is a fan," she growled, "or it's Lockhart himself."
"Will we get in trouble if we don't buy his books?" Harley asked as the other children in the room frowned.
"No, dear, you won't," Lorelei promised.
"I think it would be better to get the books and write notes about the inaccuracies," Harrison suggested. Hermione lit up immediately, earning snickers from half the room. "And we should spread this to the other children at Hogwarts; it wouldn't do for them to fail this year."
"What will we do about the fraud?" Draco asked, eyes on Harrison.
Harrison pursed his lips. After a pause, he said, "I think it would be best to let the adults deal with this. However, it wouldn't hurt to... nudge things along."
"Tell everyone about the inaccuracies, and act uncomfortable and wary around Lockhart," Blaise guessed. Harrison nodded.
"We-"
"-can-"
"-do-"
"-that!"
"It might help if you two and Harley... have fun with the man," Harrison added quietly to the three mischievous idiots, so Blaise's step-father wouldn't hear them.
"We're leaving after breakfast for Diagon," Lorelei said patiently. "We're meeting Hermione's parents-" she ignored her husband's sneer "-Draco's mother, Remus, Sirius, Arthur, and Neville there as well. Arthur asked if he could take Neville shopping, as his grandmother was busy," she added when everyone except Harrison looked delighted but confused.
"How are we getting there?" Draco asked.
"Floo."
"What's flu?" Harley chirped, bouncing in his seat.
"We can travel by fireplace," Blaise explained patiently.
"Cool!"
"You've never traveled by Floo powder?" Lorelei said with interest. "I suppose you used cars and bikes?"
Harrison nodded once. "How does one travel by Floo?"
"It's better to show you."
Once everyone finished eating, Lorelei took the group -- minus Blaise's step-father -- into the lounge and over to the fireplace. She took a silver pot off the fireplace and held it out to Blaise. He took a pinch of the glittering powder and threw it into the fire. Once the flames had turned emerald green, he stepped inside and called clearly, "Diagon Alley!"
Since it was Hermione's, Harrison's and Harley's first time with the Floo, Lorelei suggested having Draco, Fred and George travel with them. Ron watched Fred and Harrison, then Harley and George disappear from the fireplace. Draco and Hermione went next, Hermione looking both excited and nervous.
Ron hadn't actually traveled by Floo, either; the previous year, they'd taken his dad's Anglia to Diagon and gone through the Leaky Cauldron. So, he would be going with Lorelei.
A moment later, Ron stepped into the Leaky Cauldron and was immediately pulled into a hug by his father. He heard Lorelei's ringing, warm laugh behind him as he squeezed him back.
"Hello, Ron," came Percy's polite tone. Ron glanced around his dad's arm and saw his older brother standing next to Oliver, face pink and ears red. Ginny was standing behind them, expression blank.
The pub was a lot more crowded than usual. Remus, Sirius, Snape and the Potter-Black twins were the closest, Harrison getting squeezed by his over-enthusiastic godfather; Draco and his mother were beside them, also hugging; Hermione was introducing her parents to Blaise and Lorelei; Fred and George were sneaking up behind Percy, grins on their faces; and Neville was standing a few paces away from them with an unfamiliar man, looking nervous and shy.
Arthur straightened up. "Ron," he said quietly, taking him over to Neville and the man. "This is Rye."
Rye Greengrass had short, curly, yellow-blond hair covering one eye and an undercut. His eyes were sky blue, and like the Weasleys, he was covered in freckles. He was still pale, skinny and gaunt from his time in Azkaban, but he still looked a lot healthier than he should have been.
Rye smiled shyly at Ron, fingering his midnight-blue robes. "Well met."
"Well met," Ron returned, smiling back. Rye relaxed a little.
The next second, Percy yelped in outrage and surprise, causing half the group to jump and the other half to roar with laughter.
"Idiots! What did you do to my hair?!"
"Made it-"
"-better, obviously!"
Since it was far too chaotic for them to travel together, the group decided to split up and meet at Flourish and Blott's once they'd gotten everything else. As the adults had already gone to Gringotts before the others had arrived, Blaise and Lorelei went there first, then joined Draco and Lady Malfoy at Quidditch Quality Supplies, as Blaise and Draco wanted to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team; Neville, Oliver, Rye, and the Weasleys went to Madam Malkin's; Harrison, Harley, Sirius, Remus, and Severus went to several different potion stores; Hermione and her parents went to buy an owl.
Previously, Ron's family had only been able to buy things second-hand. Now that his dad and grandfather were back on better terms, Arthur was able to buy better-quality things for them, and even a few presents: Fred and George got Cleansweep sixes, which weren't the newest Cleansweeps, but were still pretty good; Ginny got a special diary that would allow her to communicate with her father if she got homesick; Ron was given a kitten with bright yellow fur that he named Suli; and Percy and Oliver were given miniature queer flags, which could be flown on either a broomstick or the end of a wand. They also all got dress robes and suits, although Arthur was silent about why.
They met up with the rest of the group outside Flourish and Blotts, where Ron was surprised to see a line that went out the door and down the block.
"What's going on?" Percy asked Sirius.
"Lockhart," he said sourly. Remus looked resigned.
"Have you met him already?" Harrison asked curiously. "What's he like?"
Remus and Sirius exchanged wary glances. "There's something off about him," Sirius said carefully. "He's also incredibly full of himself, takes far too much care about his appearance -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing," he added quickly when Remus raised a brow at him, then dipped his head in the direction of Lorelei, who was looking both amused and mock offended.
"His books are almost completely false," Snape said. "And I agree with Black; there is something off about the man."
"So, just in case, only be in the same room with him if we have to be," Harrison said sleekly. Snape nodded. "Well, then, maybe half the adults can buy the books we need, and the other half can take us back to the pub for lunch."
"Good idea, Heir Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Prince-Black," Narcissa said warmly.
"You may call me Harrison, Lady Malfoy," the boy responded calmly. Narcissa nodded. "Mr. Weasley, I think it would be better to only buy one set for Fred, George, and Mr. Percy, and one set each for Miss Ginevra and Ron."
"You can call me Arthur," Ron's dad said. "That's probably for the best."
"Percy's fine," said Percy stiffly.
"You can call me Ginny," Ron's sister said quietly, making a face at her full name.
"Arthur, Remus, Narcissa, and I can get the books," Lorelei suggested, "while Sirius, Severus, Rye, and Mr. and Mrs. Granger take the children back to the Leaky."
The group split up again, and Ron followed most of the group back to the Leaky Cauldron.