To Diagon Alley.

"I'm staying at the leaky cauldron for the rest of the holidays," I said to my foster family, "to take in a bit more of the wizarding world outside of school." 

"you sure you'll be okay?" asked Mrs. Malhook.

"yeah, I'll be fine", I smiled. "I won't be alone; my friends are going to come too."

"yeah, that's okay," Mr Malhook said. He came up and shook my hand and whispered, "Now, you're thirteen and think you're a man, but don't do things you will regret" I looked at him quizzically. "Don't be a fool; wrap your tool."

That broke me into roaring laughter. "It's not like that." 

"Good, and keep it like that, young man", he said, laughing along.

with that, I headed out into the summer night and summoned the Knight Bus

*Bang*

"heya, Eddie", Stan said as the bus rolled to a stop. Stan was sporting a pair of headphones. I had kept my promise to get him a Walkman and a couple of mix tapes.

"stan, the man", I gave him a high five ", going to be staying at the leaky cauldron for the rest of the summer." 

"Oh yeah, that makes two of you, Neville hers heading the same way," stan said as I climbed on board. Who I saw was not Neville but Harry, and I gave him a confused look.

"hey Neville, how's your grandmother," I said to him.

"Good, um, yeah, good", Harry said, staring at me with shock.

"quite tonight, stan?" I asked

"yeah, only two others; you guys will be the next stop," he said.

"what are you doing here," said Harry in a whisper.

"taking the bus to the leaky cauldron; what are you doing here, Neville," I said, emphasizing his fake name.

"I blew up my aunt. I had to run away," he whispered. "I'm going to be expelled, aren't I?"

"for accidental magic? nah" I said, "most likely, you'll have a stern talking too." 

"see about that escaped con," stan said.

"yeah, Sirius black must have been pretty determined to get out, I say," I said with a shake of my head. "Imagine diving off the island and swimming back to England; if he had any sense, he should have swum the other way to France" I made chatted with stan about everything from the weather and to music, stan no surprise, had become a fan of rock even got tickets to a concert. 

"here we are, guys," stan said as they pulled up to the leaky cauldron. "wait, isn't that" he pointed out a man standing in front of the leaky cauldron; it was the minster of magic Cornelius Fudge.

"the minster," I said with confusion. I deboarded first. "evening, minster," I said, but he didn't pay attention to me as he saw Harry depart next.

"There you are, Harry," Fudge said as he grabbed Harry's shoulder. Tom, the innkeeper, came out of the cauldron.

"ah, Eddie, come on in" he saw me and let me in. "You got him, minster," he said to Fudge and Harry.

I brought my things to the bar, took a stool, and waited for Tom to be done with Fudge and Harry. one of toms bar keeps came and asked if I wanted anything "cup of tea will be good hank" I said.

I was just enjoying the tea when Tom came bustling back behind the bar "Mister Carter, your room is number 12", he said, handing me a key. "Lucky you booked beforehand. It's gonna get busier soon."

"thanks tom, is harry staying for the rest of the summer?" I asked

"Yeah, how'd you know that?" Tom asked.

"just assumed with black out and about, the ministry would wanna keep him safe," I said.

"yeah, that's about the gist of it, don't tell him, though. It's very hush-hush", Tom said.

I took my things up to my room and crashed on the bed. 

--

In the morning, I went down for breakfast and coffee. I was just about to start eating when I saw Harry come down. "over here, Harry," I said, waving him over to my table.

Harry walked over and sat down with me; soon, Tom appeared and asked him if he wanted breakfast.

"so how's your holiday been?" I said, cutting into a sausage.

"been worse, been better", Harry said, "what are you even doing here?"

"staying til school starts, wanted to see how wizards lived," I said

"Okay?" Harry sighed as his meal was brought to him. "so, how were your holidays?"

"I've been training pretty much nonstop", I flexed a muscle. "My bodyguard is scary when it comes to training", I said.

"bodyguard?" Harry said in confusion.

"Mike O'kieth, ex-American hit wizard who works for my grandmother, was sent over to protect me," I said. "got your homework done?" I asked 

"nope, the Dursley lock up my stuff when I get back from school," he said angrily.

"Yeah, Mrs Malhook said Petunia was a piece of work when she was young", I smiled, "but you can't pick your family, Harry", I said, "Anyway, I lend you mine, but don't copy, just use it as an example." 

"Thanks, I still can't believe that I wasn't expelled," Harry said.

"Well, I doubt you would have if it went to trial unless you maliciously attacked your aunt. Accidental magic happens all the time." I stated, "I got a warning too when I showed my magic off to my foster sister" I said, "That was a little scary because it's a grey line that she can know or not." 

"you have a sister?" Harry asked.

"I have a lot of foster siblings, tho Jane is the only one I've ever lived with," I said, eating my breakfast. "We're not related or anything; the Malhooks have taken in a lot of kids over the years; I'm the first wizard they ever had, too." 

"so why was it a grey line?" Harry asked.

"Technically, she is not my family or my foster parents' family," I said, "and she doesn't live with us, but I still showed her and still got a warning, and they approved of her to be on my can tell list." I finished breakfast and looked up at him. "Going to do my workout? Wanna join? Should be good for your quidditch games," I said.

"yeah, okay but I have to get school supplies" he said.

"don't worry, we can do that after lunch," I said "Still got get mine too."