What Might Have Been: Part One

Aimee Myers was a rather small girl, who at first glance appeared as normal as normal could be.

She had reddish gold hair that hung in waves down her back, bright blue eyes that matched the sea on a calm summer's day, she spoke with a light Irish accent, and by all outward appearances she was completely normal. But she wasn't normal by any measure; she was, as it happens, a witch.

How this came to be neither her nor her parents could figure out. Her father was an innkeeper, as normal as could be and her mother was, well, the wife of an innkeeper, and she claimed no abnormality. Her parents were very protective of her, and saw to it that only the family's closest, most trusted friends knew what Aimee was, for they feared that harm might fall upon her.

They feared that their daughter would be rejected by society, as most of the community regarded witches as evil doers. Sure, they believed that fairies would help them, and leprechauns would give them great pots of gold, but witches were bad, and they would resort to violence to destroy all those accused of witchcraft.

They need not have feared though, Aimee proved capable of taking care of herself in many circumstances. The schoolyard bullies had learned not to mess with her after an incident in which they found themselves hanging from the flagpole and the other children rather admired her for standing up to these bullies.

Aimee appeared happy on the outside, your typical bubbly eleven year old, but inside was another story. She knew what she was, and she wanted to know about her gift. How to control it so that when she was angered she wouldn't cause harm to anything, or anyone for that matter. It was hard to conceal that you had powers when you were at the scene of every odd occurrence.

The answer to her prayers came in the summer after her final year of primary school.

It was a beautiful July morning, and Aimee had just come downstairs for breakfast. She and her friend Patty were planning on spending the day riding through the fields and looking at the farm hands- Patty's idea, and since she was leaving for London in a week's time Aimee agreed to this as a sort of going away celebration.

"Aimee, would you please get the letters for the inn while you are in town?" her mother asked her, flipping hotcakes, "Mr. O'Daniel is expecting a package and the lady who came in last night said she needed this sent off." Her mother handed her an envelope.

"Yes, mother. Patty and I want to ride this morning though, will it be alright if I wait till afternoon?"

"Aimee, you know that our guests expect their mail with their breakfast, it won't take you half the hour the ride to town and bring the mail back."

"Yes, Mother." Aimee never pushed her luck with her mother, she was always obedient. She grabbed a piece of toast and swallowed it quickly on her way out to get her horse. Outside she saw her father already at work fixing the paddock fence.

"Morning Father."

"G'mornin' Aimee. Off to town?"

"Yes, Mum wants me to get the mail and bring it back."

"I figured that. I saddled up a horse for you, your favorite," he winked at her and then went back to his work. Aimee turned and went into the barn and saw the horse her father had saddled, Andromeda.

She considered the saddled horse to be her own, however she didn't belong to the Myers'. They were too poor to own a riding horse, they had a plow horse but that was all. Not long ago a couple in the village had come to the inn, asking if the Myers' would mind boarding a horse. Mr. Myers had been unsure of boarding the horse of a city-dweller, but the sum of cash the couple offered in exchange for boarding more than made up his mind.

Aimee adored the sandy colored horse and spent hours grooming her. For now though she climbed on the horses back and set off for the village. It wasn't a long ride to the village. It wasn't much, just a small village that consisted of two narrow roads, a post office, a pub, and a church. She hopped off of Andromeda and led her into a wide alley, where the few passing cars wouldn't hit her and hurried into the post office.

Inside she stood in line to get the letters.

"Next!" called an older man behind the desk. "Ah, Aimee, how are you this morning?"

"Fine, Mr. Keife, thank you. Mother sent me for the letters for the inn."

"Ah yes, we have quite a few. Let's see," Mr. Keife looked into the baskets behind the counter. "Here's a package for a Mr. O'Daniel, a few letters, and this. Funny letter, and addressed to you Aimee."

Aimee took the package, the letters, and then the odd one that was hers.

"Oh, I need to mail this too," she held out the envelope her mother had given her while examining her letter. "My, I never have seen anything like this. Well, thank you Mr. Keife."

"No problem," the old man waved her off, "See you tomorrow then."

Once outside in the alley Aimee sat the package down with the letters on top of it, taking her letter from the pile and opening it. Her face lit up as she read it, then she looked around to see if anyone had been watching her- her mother always encouraged her to keep a low profile. Seeing no one she folded the letter and stuffed it into her pocket, gathered up the package and letters and pulled herself onto the back of the horse.

She pushed the horse, breaking the horse out in a wild gallop. In no time she had rode back to her house, leaving Andromeda still saddled and running into the kitchen where her mother was washing the morning's dishes.

"Mother! You won't believe this!"

"Aimee, you know better to wear your boots in the house! Now, give me the letters and go take those boots outside."

"But Mother! The most amazing thing! I've got to tell you!"

This must have startled her mother as much as it startled Aimee- never had she talked back to her mother. But this, it was too good, she had to tell her or she would burst.

"Mother," she continued breathlessly, saying what she needed to all in a rush before her mother started in on her. "I received a letter, from a magic school!"

"What?" her mother threw the dishtowel on the counter and turned to her, "I have never heard of a magic school dear."

"But," Aimee reached into her pocket and drew out the letter, "here, read this Mum."

Slowly her mother took the letter and sat at the table. She unfolded it and began to read, then read it again. Aimee watched as different expressions passed over her mother's face, confusion at first, then it slid to apprehension, then finally she looked back up, and her face was glowing.

"Aimee, I think this is your answer. We'll talk to your father tonight and figure out what we should do. 'Send your owl...' Well, I guess we'll have to catch one, though I don't know what good that will do."

That night, after the guests had retired, Aimee and her parents sat around the fire in the sitting room. Her father was ecstatic about his daughter going to this Hogwarts School, but her mother was worried. By the end of the evening her parents were in agreement however, going to this school was the best thing for Aimee. It would help take the suspicion of the villagers off Aimee; they would stick with the story that they had sent their daughter to stay with family in Waterford, to attend a school there.

"But what about the owl?" her mother asked worriedly as the conversation began to wrap up. Aimee was sitting on the floor, a smile pasted on her face.

"I guess we'll just have to catch one," she said.

The last week before she left for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a blur. Her mother had managed to catch an owl, and amazingly it allowed them to tie a letter to its leg before it flew off.

"I only hope it's going to that school," her mother had commented.

Aimee and her father took the train to Dublin two days before the term was to start, leaving her mother to run the inn while they were gone.

"I'll be back tomorrow night," her father had said, kissing her mother goodbye. Aimee had gagged at this display of affection, earning a smart rap on the top of her head from her mother.

"You take care of yourself Aimee," her mother whispered as she hugged her only child goodbye. "Write to me, I want to hear all about this school of yours, and about all the friends you're going to make."

They had taken a ferry across to England, and from there traveled by train to London. They followed the directions the owl had returned to them- for it had flown to Hogwarts- and soon found themselves in a small pub called the Leaky Cauldron.

The first impression Aimee had of this place was that it was dark and dank, much like the pub her father frequented in the village back home.

"Hullo, haven't seen you around these parts before. Off to Hogwarts?" a man behind the counter asked, obviously the barkeeper.

"Hello," Aimee smiled shyly, approaching the bar and taking the letter from her pocket. Her father was still standing in the doorway, looking around with wide eyes at the inside of the pub.

"My name is Aimee, this is my father," she motioned towards the door, "We were told we could get into," she looked down at the paper in her hands, "Diagon Alley from here."

"Call me Tom," the man gave her an almost toothless grin, his eyes twinkling. "I run this place. If you'll follow me I'll show you into the Alley."

"Thank you," Aimee replied, motioning for her father to follow them. "Is it far?"

"No, just in the back here," Tom replied, still grinning at her. "Where do you come from? I know the accent, of course, but don't think I've seen many Irishmen around here."

"Oh, well, we live on the west coast, near Galway. My father runs an inn, my mother and I help."

By this time they had walked into a courtyard in the back of the pub. Aimee and her father watched in amazement as Tom pulled a wand from his waistband and started tapping at the bricks that made up the back wall of the tiny space. On the spot where he had finished the wall seemed to be disappearing, and within seconds an archway was before them.

"Thank you," Aimee said, staring at the arch and beyond that into the Alley, unable to hide the amusement in her eyes. "Would you happen to know where the robe shop would be?"

"Yes, you'll want to go down a ways, it's on the left, Madame Malkin's," Tom grinned, shaking his head at the looks of amazement on their faces. "If you wish you can stay at my pub the night, I have two spare rooms."

"Thank you again sir, if you would save us a couple of rooms I would be grateful," her father responded, pulling out another paper and locating the name of the wizard's bank. "Come Aimee, we need to visit this Gringotts and get some money for your things."

While Tom was showing Aimee and her father into Diagon Alley, other witches and wizards were bustling about their business. Groups of elder wizards sat around talking of weather, witches sat gossiping, and the younger children were everywhere. It seemed that the later group was causing much mayhem, though none so much as two boys of about eleven.

These two boys were at the moment being relatively good, eating ice creams at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and comparing notes on what Hogwarts would be like.

"I heard there was a dragon hidden in the castle," one of the boys said, he had short black hair, which was rather messy looking, and wore a pair of glasses.

"I don't know, a dragon would be hard to hide, but I heard of giant spiders in the forest," said the other, who too had black hair, but it was neater.

"Oh well," said the first, finishing his ice cream, "ready to get our books? Maybe we'll run into some of the others that're beginning this year too."

"Sure, James, that would be lovely," said the second boy in a high falsetto, "then we can visit Ollivanders and get wands."

The first boy laughed at this. "You'll never be able to mimic her, Sirius," James said, "Madame Beele was much more proper. Come on then, let's get this over with so we can look at the brooms."

The two boys stood and left the Ice Cream Parlor, heading for Flourish and Blott's. The store wasn't far from the Florean's and they didn't have any trouble crossing to it. The only trouble that could be said they had was identifying likely first years.

"What about that boy? He looks about our age."

"No, he looks a bit too young James."

"What about her?"

"She looks about the right age, you want to ask her?"

"What, afraid of her Sirius?"

"No, it's just... this was your idea, wasn't it? Why don't you ask her?"

"Well, erm, hey, here's Flourish and Blott's."

"How convenient."

They walked into the bookshop and found themselves at the back of a very long line. It seemed that every wizard and witch in England- and possibly those of at least five other countries- was packed into the bookshop.

"Wow, you ever seen so many people James?"

"Not ever. There must be a million people in here."

They fought their way through the crowd, fighting even harder to get at the required textbooks. When they had found all the books on their list they turned to the check out line, Sirius sighing deeply.

"I think we may perish before we make it through that line," he commented, only receiving a heavy sigh from his friend in return.

Surprisingly the line moved quickly and before they knew it they had bought and paid for their schoolbooks. They stayed a little longer after that because they had met a boy in the line that was new to Hogwarts this year too. Well, actually, he had found them.

"Excuse me?"

"Hello, need some help?" James asked the boy, turning to give the boy a cheerful grin.

"Yes, I need to get books for school- it's my first year at Hogwarts and I can't find my book list. I saw you had a book list and wondered if you were first years too."

"We are. Here, you can have my list, I've got my books already," said James, shifting the stack of books in his arms and extending a hand to the boy. "My name's James Potter, this is my best friend, Sirius Black."

"Oh, I'm Peter. Peter Pettigrew," said the boy, shaking James' hand and taking the list. "Thanks for the list, I thought my mother was going to kill me."

He smiled sheepishly then headed back through the crowd to find his mother.

"Nice to meet you!" Sirius called after him. "You know James, he doesn't seem to be attached to any group, perhaps we should recruit him. Maybe find him on the train to Hogwarts and ask him if he'd like to join our little mischief making band of..."

"I get it," James said, cutting Sirius off and paying for his books. "We'll see if we can find him, seems like a nice sort."

"Absolutely," Sirius grinned, shouldering his bag of books.

"Well, I suppose its wands now. Ready?"

"Oh yes!" Sirius said, rubbing his hands together and grinning mischievously. "Look out Ollivanders, here we come!"

It took a little more time to get to Ollivanders for their wands, and all they way the two dared each other to approach a likely looking first year girl. Most of the girls gave them funny looks, and one older girl even asked what they were looking at, at which they ran off, laughing.

"Hey, James! What about her?" Sirius asked, catching his breath.

"Oh, her?" James said, grinning, "You know, I think I'll talk to her."

"Then go for it, I dare you!"

"Fine," said James, then shouted, "Hey! Lily!"

"You know her?" Sirius asked, his mouth dropping in disbelief.

"Course I do," James said, waving the redheaded girl towards them, "her dad knows mine."

"Hello, James," she said, smiling, "I didn't know you were going to be here today."

"Lily, this is Sirius, my best friend."

"Hello," Lily said, turning to look at Sirius.

"Hi, you, um, know James?"

"Well, yes, he was with his dad at a conference and I was there with my dad," Lily said, smiling the more, "We were introduced, and they brought me to the Alley last week."

"We're heading to Ollivanders to get wands, want to come?" James asked.

"I've already been there. I am heading to Flourish and Blott's now to get books."

"Well, maybe we'll see each other on the train then."

"Yes, well, see you later James. Sirius."

Lily walked away, back towards Flourish and Blott's, and James watched her until the crowd had swallowed her up. The remainder of the trip to Ollivanders was strangely quiet, and when they had reached the front of the shop James could stand no more.

"Something wrong?"

"No," Sirius replied, grinning wickedly, "I just didn't know..."

"Didn't know what?" James asked cautiously, he knew that look.

"That you had a girlfriend!"

"She isn't my girlfriend, our dad's just work together," James sighed. "She's Muggle born and had just gotten the Hogwarts letter. Didn't know magic existed before that."

"Sure, say what you want my friend," Sirius replied.

The inside of the shop was, by all standards, creepy. It wasn't what you would say dark, but it wasn't well lit either. Both boys stood in the doorway, looking around the tiny shop for any sign of life.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black," a voice said from behind them, causing both to jump, "I've been expecting you."

The two turned to face the wand-maker, who was smiling toothily at them.

"Who will be first then?" he asked. "Mr. Black?"

James took a seat on a rickety old chair as Sirius stood on a podium to be fitted for his wand. James stifled his laughter, knowing full well that he would soon be the one looking foolish.

It seemed to take forever for Sirius to find his wand, but at last Mr. Ollivander handed him a wand that, when Sirius swished it, shot out a brief storm of stars.

Mr. Ollivander plucked the wand back from the boy, smiling satisfactorily as he wrapped it carefully before turning to James.

"Mr. Potter?"

Apprehensively James stepped onto the platform, trying to ignore the tape measure that buzzed around him like an angry wasp. Mr. Ollivander was saying something, but James tuned him out, choosing instead to watch his friend, who was poking around the shop.

"You're going to mess something up Sirius," James hissed, "and it's not a good idea to cause mayhem in a wand shop."

"I'm not going to bother anything," Sirius replied, disappearing around a stack of wand boxes.

James shook his head, focusing on Mr. Ollivander, who was approaching him with dozens of boxes.

And so began the process of finding the right wand. James was handed wand after wand, none of them reacting in the way that they should. James was becoming discouraged, Mr. Ollivander on the other hand seemed ecstatic.

"What about that wand?" James asked, spying a dark wooden wand lying in an open box across from him.

Mr. Ollivander gave him a funny look, "It's the wand that chooses the wizard Mr. Potter, never the wizard choosing the wand- unheard of!"

James sighed, taking the willow wand he was handed, swishing it to no affect. He looked around the shop, hoping to figure out what his friend was up to. Sirius though, was sitting in the spindly chair looking the picture of innocence- James immediately knew something was up.

"What about that wand?" James asked again, nodding towards the wand he'd mentioned earlier.

Mr. Ollivander sighed heavily, "Alright then Mr. Potter, but you'll see, it is not the wand that is meant for you."

James took the wand, a feeling of utter peace settling over him, and waved it once, sending silvery sparks shooting into the air.

Mr. Ollivander stared in disbelief, "But the wand always chooses the wizard."

"I guess the wand spoke to James then," Sirius grinned from his seat.

"Yes, I suppose," Mr. Ollivander muttered, taking the wand from James and wrapping it up. James paid for the wand and he and Sirius hurried out of the shop.

"He's completely mad," James commented, scowling at the bag that held his wand. "The wand chooses the wizard, honestly."

"Well," Sirius said, "If he's been there since 382 BC I expect he'd be a bit off."

James shook his head, pushing his glasses back up his nose, "What were you up to in there?"

"Me?" Sirius asked, pointing at himself.

"Yes, you," James replied. "What did you do?"

"Nothing much," Sirius grinned. "Just strategically placed a few dungbombs."

James shook his head, grinning, "He'll know it was you."

"Yes," Sirius grinned, "I only hope I never have to go in there again."

"Well," James said, turning to his friend, "let's go look at the brooms."

"Want to race?" Sirius asked, smirking. "If you don't want to I understand, you know you can't beat me."

"You? Beat me? I don't think so, you're on!"

And the two boys took off towards Quality Quidditch Supplies. James accidentally ran into an old witch carrying a large bag of potion ingredients, muttering apologies he helped her pick her things up and raced after Sirius. There was no way he was going to beat him now, stopping to help that lady had given Sirius a generous head start, but then something happened that stopped Sirius in his tracks.

"Sirius? You ok?" James panted as he reached the spot that his friend was rooted to. "Sirius?"

"Huh?" his friend replied, apparently he had lost the use of understandable vocalization.

"Are you alright?" James looked around to see what Sirius was staring at, and found it almost immediately.

Standing in front of Apothecary was a small girl with reddish hair. She was a midget compared to Sirius' height, but the way she held herself seemed to make up for her size. To James she looked like she could have been a dancer, and if judged from his actions Sirius seemed baffled by her. He was looking at her as if he had never seen a girl before, and when the girl turned and looked their way Sirius looked down at the ground and hurried on to the Quidditch shop.

"What was that all about?" James asked when he had caught up.

"Oh, nothing. Just enjoying the scenery."

"That must be it," James nodded. "The standing or the walking variety?"

Sirius looked over at his friend as he said this.

"Well, you've got to admit, she is pretty," Sirius sighed. "I've never seen her before, wonder where she's from."

"Well, there is the obvious, you could go ask her."

"Sure," Sirius replied sarcastically. "You know I can't do that James. Besides, you're the one who has the girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend, I told you that."

"Yes, I heard you," Sirius grinned. "Come on, let's go look at the racing brooms, I wonder if they have the new Stardust model in."

Aimee was standing in front of a shop that looked as if it would be able to supply her with the beginning potion ingredients her list said she needed. She stood not far from the door, jingling the change in her pocket and waiting her turn, far enough so that she didn't smell the awful stench that was coming from the shop. She stood gazing in the windows at barrels of bat spleens and jars of tiny eyes. Her father had decided to wait at an ice cream parlor they had come across after leaving Gringotts, the wizarding bank.

Aimee had assured him that she would be able to get around Diagon Alley and then had set off, glancing into the many shop windows and wondering at the things inside.

She had collected her robes, parchment, quills and ink, and wand first, then hurried away from the tiny shop and its odd shopkeeper to a shop that sold cauldrons, now all she needed were her potions ingredients and her books. Her father promised to take her to the animal menagerie to pick out an owl or something, that way she could write home while she was at school.

While standing outside the Apothecary she heard a disturbance behind her, she turned and saw a young boy helping a witch pick up some things. It looked as if he had run into her, for the witch was letting the boy have it. She heard a bell ring and turned back to see if the shop was empty, but no, another customer had gone inside. She sighed and leaned against the shop window. It seemed that it would be awhile before the shop cleared, so she turned to leave and collect her schoolbooks, but when she turned she noticed two dark haired boys staring at her.

One was the boy who had run into the witch; he was looking from his friend to her, with a look of comprehension on his face. The other boy was staring fixedly at Aimee, until she met his face, at which he looked to his feet and hurried away, his friend following.

Frowning a bit Aimee walked on to the bookstore and it wasn't long before she came upon the shop, a rather large store called Flourish and Blott's. Inside were a lot of young people, waiting to get their books or searching for them themselves, Aimee went to join them. It seemed standing in lines was what this place was all about, she hadn't yet been somewhere today that she hadn't had to stand in a line for awhile. Though, during her wait this time, she met her first friend.

Standing in line ahead of her was a girl who appeared to be doing her shopping alone too. She looked friendly enough and Aimee finally worked up the nerve to speak to her.

This other girl looked as if she had had enough, she got out of line and started wandering around the shop, every now and then picking up a book or two. Aimee walked over to her.

"Hello? I was wondering if you could help me find my books," Aimee said, then added, "I noticed that you had found some on your own."

"Oh!" said the girl, looking up startled, she had bright green eyes. "Sure, are you a first year?"

"Yes, what year are you?"

"This is my first year too. My name's Lily, what's yours?"

"I'm Aimee, and I've been more than a little lost today."

"If you want, I'll help you with the rest of your shopping, I've only got to visit the Apothecary for potion ingredients," said Lily, smiling.

"That's all I have left, after this," Aimee told her, "then I am meeting my father at the ice cream parlor. Would you like to have an ice cream with us?"

"That sounds great, let's get your books," Lily said handing her a large book. "That's for Transfiguration, I think that sounds like the best class."

"Yes, I can't wait to see what Charms is like," Aimee took another book that Lily handed her, "I think that sounds rather fun."

"Have you met any other first years today?" Lily asked her. "I know a few I can introduce you to, if you like."

"Thanks, I would like that, I haven't really meet too many people," Aimee grinned. "Are you from a magical family?"

"Oh, no," Lily grinned. "Both my parents are completely normal, the arrival of the Hogwarts letter came as a shock to us."

Aimee grinned, "I know what you mean. My parents are normal as well."

The two finished collecting their books and made for the counter to pay for them, afterwards hurrying to the Apothecary.

Aimee did not fancy going into the shop, but knew that if she didn't they would never get their ingredients. Lily, on the other hand, had no qualms about going into the shop.

"We'll be quick," she said, staring resolutely through the glass. "In and out, just hold your breath."

Inside the Apothecary it smelled horrible, like rotten egg salad on a hot summer's day. Both girls coughed slightly as they entered.

"May I help you?" asked the old man behind the counter in a shaky voice.

"We need beginning potion ingredients, we are starting Hogwarts this year," Lily told the man, her eyes watering and her face slightly red.

Aimee found that she was short of breath, she nodded to show consent, then coughed into her hand.

The man set to putting together the potion kits, very slowly. First he took out several jars, checking each one to make sure it was clean, then he took out a scale and some thin paper.

Aimee watched as he took out a jar labeled Lionfish Spine and measured some out on the scale, he took this and used a paper to transfer it to one of the small, empty jars. As Lily and Aimee watched the man measured out pufferfish eyes, bat spleens, beetle eyes, and other rather disgusting looking items. At last he finished measuring everything and divided the newly filled bottles into two different bags before coming to the counter and looking at the girls.

"Ready to pay?"

The girls handed over their money and quickly left the Apothecary, walking back towards Florean's Ice Cream Parlor, where Aimee's father was waiting.

Aimee felt very much at peace, she had her shopping done- except for her owl- and she had a new friend. As they approached the ice cream parlor Aimee saw her father coming towards them.

"Father, this is Lily," Aimee gushed, running towards her father. "I met her at the bookshop; she's helped me with some of my shopping. Could we have an ice cream before we get the owl?"

"Nice to meet you Lily, I'm Mr. Myers, Aimee's father," Mr. Myers smiled, reaching out to shake Lily's hand. "Come, I think we can take a small break for a treat. What kind of ice cream do you girls want?"

"I would like raspberry," Aimee told her father. "What would you like Lily?"

"I'd like vanilla, and thank you Mr. Myers."

"You're welcome," he replied, and went to stand in line.

"Thank you for helping me today Lily, I really appreciate it," Aimee said, turning to the table and setting down her bags. "I didn't think I would ever get through."

"It's not too hard after you get used to it, today is just a busy day," Lily said. "Term starts day after tomorrow."

"Do you know how to get to the station? I've never been in London before and this is all rather new to me. Besides, I don't think I have ever heard of a platform nine and three-quarters."

"Oh, that's the only tricky part, if you like you can come to King's Cross with my mother and I. I'll show you how to get on the train there."

"That would be nice. My father and I are staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight, where should I meet you?"

"You are? That's where my mother and I are staying too, this is wonderful! We can eat dinner together, your father, my mother, and the two of us," Lily exclaimed. "This will be great, I can't believe I've found a friend that has as little experience with magic as I do, we can learn together!"

Aimee grinned, "So, I'm guessing you come to the Alley a lot?"

"Not really," Lily grinned, "but I do know a wizard and his father, they brought me to visit here a couple of weeks ago and taught me quite a bit about the wizarding world."

"You do?" Aimee asked.

Lily proceeded to tell Aimee about James and the other boy she'd met, Sirius. Mr. Myers returned with the ice creams, and after they finished their ice creams the group headed across the way to the animal menagerie.

Aimee and Lily wandered around the shop looking at the different owls. There were eagle owls, snow owls, horned owls, just about every kind of owl imaginable. As Aimee looked around she decided she would rather have a cat, unfortunately, this would be a problem.

"Aimee, your mother is allergic to cats, I don't think we should get one."

"I didn't know that," Aimee mused, "but what can I have then?"

"Dearie?" an old woman at the front of the store called. "How about one of these?"

Aimee went to look in the cage the old woman was pointing too, and was delighted with what she saw. Minutes later Aimee, Lily, and Mr. Myers left the store, accompanied by the snow-white ferret Aimee had picked out.

"He's adorable!" Lily commented. "What are you going to name him?"

"I think I will call him Prism, after an old horse we have at home."

They started back for the Leaky Cauldron, carrying bags full of robes, books, and ingredients. A woman met them at the door; she had golden hair and green eyes. Aimee thought that this had to be Lily's mother.

"Lily, do you need some help?" asked the woman.

"No, Mum, I've got it," Lily replied. "This is Aimee Myers and her father, they are staying here tonight also. I thought we might have dinner together?"

"Hello," Lily's mother greeted warmly, "I'm Clerice, pleased to meet you."

"Pleasure," replied Mr. Myers, shaking her hand. "Here alone?"

"Yes," Clerice replied, "my husband stayed at home with our oldest daughter. She was not feeling too well."

"Being a prick is more like it," Lily muttered under her breath. Her mother gave her an exasperated look.

"Lily, dear, you know how your sister feels," she turned to Mr. Myers and Aimee. "Here, I'll help you with those. As soon as you are rested we can go to dinner. Lily, you need to wash up before we go."

Dinner that night was splendid. Lily's mother took them to a small pub in the normal part of London. Lily and Aimee met another girl named Marianne there, she too was headed for Hogwarts. When the small pub band played all three girls abandoned their meals in favor of the dance floor.

They returned, tired but excited, to the Leaky Cauldron, where they began to pack their things into their trunks.

"Have you seen my Transfiguration book?" Lily asked, coming into Aimee's room. "I think it might have found it's way into one of your bags."

Aimee dumped her books out on the bed, quickly noticing two Transfiguration books. She picked one up and turned it over to its owner.

"Don't know how that got there," Aimee grinned. "Have you seen the mirrors?"

Lily nodded, "Mine keeps telling me that my head is on fire, I think it thinks it's being funny."

Aimee and Lily climbed up on her bed, flipping through the various schoolbooks and talking far into the night. It was very late when Lily noticed the time.

"Goodness," she said, looking up from her watch, "it's getting very late, I'd better get back to my room."

"See you in the morning," Aimee said, yawning. "My, I guess I am tired!"

Lily laughed gently, standing in the door, "Goodnight Aimee."

Aimee lay in bed that thinking she would never be able to sleep but within minutes she was dreaming.