13

Chapter 13: Oh Look, Girls!

Just a forewarning, there is no romance in this story as of yet. The boys are eleven. They are just now noticing that girls are different than boys. Puppy love is cute, but it doesn't mean they will get married.

Thanks for all the reviews. They brighten my day.

Hphphp

They made it home and discussed the prophecy. In the end the adults and children alike thought it was a bunch of hooey. The line that one must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives, just didn't pan out to anyone. So, they shelved it for now to be gone over later if it became an issue. Divination was always a wooly subject to Lily and Sirius anyway. Remus had never decided one way or the other on it. He knew some seers were true, while others were charlatans.

The adults knew it would come back to them because Dumbledore believed in it. And it was still in play, because the orb was white, which meant that Voldemort was still alive somewhere. And he too believed in it enough to try and kill Harry over it. However, they didn't have enough information. They needed to train the boys as well as they could so they could survive.

They needed to train themselves too. There was no way they were going to lay the weight of a war, let alone the wizarding world, on the shoulders of two ten-year-old boys. Or one, according to the prophecy.

As it was the magicals were seeing Harry as some hero. He couldn't go to Diagon Alley without being mobbed unless he wasn't recognized. Which sometimes was easy, other times not so much. Reporters were the bane of his existence in the magical world. If someone ratted him out, they were right there. It was like they lay in wait just for him to show.

Sirius and Remus decided to up their game by taking up some muggle fighting to incorporate with their magic. They weren't giving up magic, just adding to it. They didn't choose martial arts; those took too long to master. They found some people who would tutor them in street fighting and dirty fighting with knives and such. They were taught to use their environment to their advantage. If there was something laying around it could be used as a weapon.

They decided to make a game of it for the boys. Every weekend, they would have a war-game. Where it would be Harry and Sirius against Neville and Remus. And the two men would teach the boy that was their partner what they knew. They even taught them to prank their 'enemy'. It was great fun for everyone, bar Lily, who thought it was too much pressure on the boys. She conceded only because the boys begged her to let them continue after the first day.

"Let's get the boys wands early," Sirius suggested, looking to Lily once they decided that the prophecy wasn't going to give them any hints. "We can start teaching them spell work," he added, knowing both boys were tired of theory work.

"Will Ollivander sell to them this young? And what about the underage laws?" she asked, floating towards the boys who were looking excited about getting the wands they had been begging for, for years.

The war-games were fun but would be more fun if they could use magic too. As it was, they were stuck with their limited wandless magic, which worked to levitate things towards their 'enemy', but it was slow and would work better with a wand.

"I can get them permits, which will allow them to use them here in the house," Sirius said, nodding to the boys who were looking back and forth between the two adults with anticipation.

"Okay then, if you think they are ready," she said, making the boys cheer.

"I'll call Alex and he'll draw up the appropriate papers," Sirius said, going to the phone to call the lawyer.

That's what they did, and soon enough they were in Diagon Alley shopping for supplies for homeschooling. They already had most of the books and potions equipment. They needed nothing for Herbology, Runes or Arithmancy. Those were subjects that the boys thrived in. however, they did need a few for DADA, and Charms.

They were in Flourish and Blotts grabbing what few books they didn't have, when they ran into a bushy-haired, slightly bucktooth witch who looked to be about their age. She was looking at the Harry Potter adventure books. She was thumbing through one as they came up to her.

"Those things are garbage," Harry said, with a wrinkle of his nose. Sure, he got a profit from the sales, but he didn't like the hype surrounding him by them. They had tried to get them off the shelf, but the judges said as long as they were marked fiction, they were harmless. The one she was holding showed a picture of him with glasses, riding on the back of a dragon, flying over a castle.

"I know they are fiction, but they are based on a real boy," she said a bit snooty. She turned and looked at who she was talking to and noted his resemblance to the boy on the cover. Her mouth dropped open and she stared.

"Yeah," Harry said, looking at her with some embarrassment, "but I never did any of that stuff." He had never had to explain that to anyone before. Usually, it was Padfoot or his mum. Who was laughing in his head right now. 'It's not funny, Mum,' he said to her.

'Sorry, baby, but she's so cute,' Lily said, peering at the girl through his eyes. She was adorable in Lily's eyes. Though that hair was worse than Harry's.

"You're Harry Potter?" the girl asked with a raised voice and Harry could hear the heads turn his way.

"Shhh, dammit, you'll get the whole store over here," Harry said, bowing his head and grabbing her arm and ducking to the next aisle. "I get mobbed every time someone recognizes me," he added, dragging her further away from the adventure books. "It's not as fun as you think it is," he said, looking between the books to see if it was clear. He could see the crowd coming and went further down the aisle.

Neville was causing the crowd to go elsewhere, by saying he saw Harry leave the store. He then went to look for his foster brother. He found him near the Runes' text. "I got rid of them," he said, then looked at the harried girl. "Who's this?" he asked.

"I didn't catch your name," Harry said, finally dropping her arm and rubbing his neck in embarrassment. His mum was still giggling in his head, and he didn't understand why. Was it a girl thing?

"Hermione Granger," she said stiffly, not sure if they were having her on or not. "If you are Harry Potter, why are you here by yourself?" she asked. In her experience, or what she knew of movie stars, they always had bodyguards.

"What do you call Neville? Chopped slug guts?" Harry said affronted for his friend. "He did just chase off the crowd," he added, nodding his thanks to his foster brother.

Neville had had to do it before when they were in the wizarding world, which wasn't often. Usually, they could sneak by the masses but sometimes, like today, someone would recognize him, and damage control needed doing.

"No, I meant an adult," she said, making Lily laugh more in Harry's head.

'Don't tell her I'm here,' Lily said between giggles, not sure how the obvious muggleborn would react to a ghost appearing out of nowhere. 'I don't want to scare her,' she stated to the boy. She still thought the whole thing was adorable.

'Okay, Mum, I get it,' he said in his head. "My Uncles are around the store somewhere, probably warding off the crowd that you got started," Harry said out loud, his tone pouting. He knew that Padfoot was going to shorten his trip because now everyone knew that he was in the Alley. It never failed, once he was noticed, the whole trip was hounded by people and soon the reporters would descend.

"Come off it, Harry. I'm sure she didn't mean it," Neville said, feeling bad for Harry, but also for the girl. She just hadn't known better.

"Sorry," both children said to one another.

"Are you going to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, excited to be going to school with a celebrity. It was great enough that she was going to where Albus Dumbledore was the headmaster, but if Harry Potter was going there as well. Well, that would be the topping on the cake.

"No, we're being homeschooled," Harry said, looking to Neville who nodded his confirmation.

"What? Why?" the girl asked, not sure why anyone would turn down going to school where a person like the headmaster went. Didn't they know that it was the best magical school in the world? Perhaps she should tell them.

'Don't tell her,' Lily said, not wanting it to get out quite yet. This girl had no one to tell, but she really didn't need to know the boys' business. She recognized the type of girl she was. Lily herself had been a little bit like this girl. She wanted to know everything; personal space be damned.

"Personal reasons," Harry said, shaking his head towards Neville and pointing to his head to indicate his mother.

"You need an education," Hermione stated, flabbergasted that they were going to stay home and not go to school.

"We're going to be tutored," Neville stated, jerking his head to where he could see Sirius and Remus looking for them.

"Look, it was great to meet you, but we've got to go," Harry said, holding out his hand for a handshake. He would buss her knuckles, but she was muggleborn and they shook hands.

They shook and Neville did the same. The boys walked away, and she stopped Harry by grabbing his elbow.

"Have you got a number? Maybe we can talk more," Hermione said, not wanting to alienate the only people who had been nice to her in ages. They hadn't made fun of her hair or her teeth. They were not the politest boys, but what boys were?

"Look me up under Dursley, Vernon," Harry said, knowing that was what the home phone was listed under. It was thought that it was the last name anyone would look for Harry for. "He's my uncle," he added, which was completely true.

They had never changed the number, just continued to pay the bill, and used it for their convenience. It had taken a while for people to stop calling for Vernon, but they got the message after a few months. Even that hag Marge stopped, after she got out of jail, when Sirius blasted a noise from his wand into the phone. They had had to replace the phone, but the woman stopped calling.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were both out of prison, but they were not faring well.

Aunt Petunia had not had a good time locked up. It seemed the women there didn't like that she called her nephew a freak and thought that she was crazy with her talk of magic and ghosts. She was picked on and beat up quite a few times, until she was taken out of the general population for her own safety. She was let out early due to good behavior but was remanded to a psych ward for evaluation.

Vernon didn't fare much better because he was a bully and a child abuser. He lost a ton of weight and was meeker than when he went in. He too was taken out of the general population for his protection and was also remanded to the same hospital as his wife.

If these two were smart and quit talking about freaky boys and vengeful spirits, they would get out much sooner, but as it was, they were still there.

Dudley was doing well with his foster family and was now in school that was firm on discipline. There was no bullying and Dudley learned that lesson on the first week. He too lost a lot of weight, but in a healthy way.

"Alright, you can find me under Granger, Dan," Hermione said, watching them walk away. She was still confused as to why they weren't going to go to Hogwarts, but she couldn't wait to get there. She still had months to go. She had gotten her letter on her eleventh birthday, which was in September, so she had almost a full year to wait.

"Who's the girl?" Sirius said, teasing the boys when they came up to the two men. It was about time he got to tease them about the female population. He tried in the past, but they thought girls were yucky. Now, it looked like they finally saw them as something different. "She's cute," he added, getting elbowed by Remus for his trouble.

"Just someone we met," Neville said, looking back at Hermione who seemed to be heading towards a couple that looked vaguely like her. She was cute enough, but there was something different about her. Like she was smarter than most of the girls he had met. He looked at his foster brother and saw the boy blushing. Ah, that was it.

"I gave her our listing," Harry said, hoping it was alright. She was the only magical they knew their age. That and she was cute. Why were his cheeks hot? His mum was still giggling in his head. She'd better quit that.

"That's fine," Remus said, seeing that the girl was a muggleborn judging from her clothes and attitude. "It's nice to see you make more friends. Is she going to Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, it's her first year," Harry answered, sneaking a peek at the girl again and then looking at his godfather, completely ready to leave. "I think she got her letter early. Does that mean her birthday is around now?" he asked, since it was October.

"Either now or in September," Remus answered, thinking the same thing.

"Well, let's go get those wands," Sirius said, herding the boys out of the shop after paying for the few books they purchased. He didn't want to get caught in the crowd again.

Going to Ollivanders was a simple task made harder by everyone wanting to meet the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry put on his public face and let Sirius and Remus handle the mob.

"Look, they just want to go and get their wands," Sirius said, shoving people away from the boys. He had cast a shield around them, but it only kept them off the boys. If someone bumped into it, it shoved them around by moving the shield with them.

"Why are they getting their wands early?" a reporter asked, quill in hand.

"I got a permit, just like any parent can do," Sirius answered, almost snapping at the woman.

"Are you looking forward to going to Hogwarts?" the same reporter asked, this time to Harry.

Harry glared at her. "No comment," he answered.

"Harry doesn't answer reporters," Sirius said, pulling a card from his pocket. "Not since you all misquoted him more than once. Here's our lawyer, you can get your answers from him," he said, shoving the reporter away.

There had been two times that Harry had given a quote to the Daily Prophet and both times it had been twisted beyond recognition. He sued them and won, but he refused to talk to them again. Any questions they had were handled by his lawyer. Well, the Public Relations office that Alex had hired for the boy, but they worked through the law office.

"Here we go," Remus said as they finally got to the shop.

"Thank Merlin," Harry said, all but running into the store. It was a vast store that had a counter off to one side, with hundreds of shelves lined with boxes behind said counter. There was an open space in front of the counter that had a few chairs and a table with a vase.

"Hello," he called out when he didn't see anyone.

Sirius and Remus just chuckled quietly as Neville joined Harry in looking around for the proprietor. Suddenly Mr. Ollivander popped up behind the boys as if by magic.

"Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter. You boys are early," he said in a soft voice, which still scared the bejesus out of the children.

"Whoa," Harry said as he whirled around ready to punch the person who snuck up behind him.

"Shi-," Neville said, curbing his cuss when he saw it was an old man behind him.

"Mr. Ollivander." Lily said, coming out of Harry's head, making the wand maker start.

"Ah, Mrs. Potter. I had heard rumor that you were still around, but I had never put much stock into rumor. I see they were well founded in this case. It is good to see you again. Willow wand, dragon heartstring, 10 ¼" long, swishy," Garrick said, smiling at the woman.

"That's right, it was good for Charms, just like you said," Lily said, giving him a beautiful smile. "Now it's time for Harry to get his wand. We're homeschooling, so we got a permit for early purchase," she said, waving for Sirius to bring the permits.

"Here you go, Garrick," Sirius said, handing the parchments over so the old man could peruse them. They would stay with Sirius as the boys' guardian. If any legal trouble came up, then it would be up to him to see that it was handled. "I trust you'll keep this to yourself?" he added, a bit of bite to his voice.

"This seems to be in order," Ollivander said, handing them back and going to Harry first. He noted in passing that the curse scar was not predominant like it was supposed to be and wondered if that was going to affect what wand chose the boy. No matter, the proper wand would choose him. "No one will learn it from me," he stated absentmindedly.

It took over fifty wands before the eleven-inch, phoenix and holly wand chose the boy and it still wasn't a perfect match.

"Come, it's missing something," Ollivander said, waving to the back of the store where there was a door. They went through the door and there was a workshop. It was filled with bottles and vials. "Picture your magic flowing out of you and touching each of these vials and bottles. Then tell me which one feels the best," the old man ordered, while the rest stood in the doorway and watched.

Harry did as bid and let his magic flow and it finally came to rest on a bottle with a different phoenix feather in it. "That one," he said, pointing to the white feather.

"Ah a snow phoenix," Garrick said, picking up the vial. "That's going to be tricky. Snow and fire don't mix well," he said, taking the wand and putting it on his bench. He shooed everyone out of the workroom. "No one sees me work," he explained, "It'll only be a minute," he added, closing the door in their faces.

"Well, you just had to be different, didn't you, Harry?" Sirius said, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Leave off, will ya?" Harry said, like he's said so many times before. It never worked, they always messed with his already messy hair.

"I hope my wand choosing is easier," Neville said, thinking that he was getting hungry. That and there was still a crowd of people milling around outside. They couldn't see inside due to the dirty windows, but they were still there.

"I hope so too," Harry said, he too was hungry and wanting to get home.

"Here we are," Garrick said, coming out of the workshop and handing Harry his wand. It sparked with green, red, and gold sparks that showered everyone standing near him.

"Whoa," Harry said, feeling the magic flow through his hand like a garden hose. He had felt his magic before, but it was just a trickle compared to this.

"Now, Mr. Longbottom," Ollivander said, guiding them back to the practice area. He started on some of the wands he had pulled for Harry and then went back into the stacks and got a few more. Soon enough, Neville had a unicorn and willow wand that was 10 ½ inches long. There was something missing from his too, but it was wood this time.

They went through the same process and Neville found some elm that called to his magic. Garrick soon had the wand together and they paid ten galleons each wand. Lily moved back into Harry's head, and they left the shop. The crowd was calling out and asking what wands chose the boys. Everyone declined to answer as they hurried out to the muggle world where they could call the Knight Bus.

Stan was quite used to them by now, hurried them on the bus and yelled, "Take off, Ern, there's a crowd again."

The bus tore away from the curb faster than normal, leaving the crowd windblown.

"Thanks, Stan, Ern," Sirius said, sitting next to the boys on the first bed they found empty, which as luck would have it, was the front one.

"No problem, Mr. Black," the skinny teen said, making a waving gesture.

"There's a tip in it for you," Sirius said as he always did.

"Thanks, sir," Stan said, then he went back to talking to Ern, and the ride was uneventful from there. The boys spent most of the time admiring their wands. They were finally going to be able to do bigger magics than levitation. And they couldn't wait.

Harry and Neville continued to go to school in Little Whinging and they thrived. They did their magical studies at night after they finished their homework, like always. Since they didn't have homework or theory work with their magic studies, it was much easier to get through the spells. They were already through what was taught through second years and halfway through Arithmancy and Runes since they started learning those before wanded magic.

The weekend war-games continued too, but the boys got to use what they learned during the week in the game. Sirius and Remus continued to teach them tactics disguised as pranks and traps. It was good fun had by all, bar Lily, who couldn't really play with them, except to warn Harry about traps, but they found that to be cheating and so she couldn't participate.

They kept in touch with Hermione but only on weekends since she was not allowed to use the phone during the week when she was at her parents practice. They got to talk to their friend on Saturday about the magic they were learning, and she was quite jealous. She asked if she could get tutored too, but that was nixed by her parents. They were satisfied with her going to Hogwarts and didn't want her to miss any more time with them than necessary. As it was, they took her to work with them so that one of them was with her at all times. They wanted her to know that they were there for her.

"Why are they doing that?" Harry asked Lily one day.

"Hogwarts is a boarding school," she said, trying to find the words to explain the separation anxiety the parents were going through. "They want to get all the time they can with her, before she's not there anymore," she said, running a hand through his hair. "My parents did the same thing. It's one of the reasons Petunia hated me. They were spending all this time with me because I was leaving. So, they spent less time with her because she was going to stay there. She's still bitter about that to this day."

"I think I get it," Harry said, understanding a bit of what she was trying to say. It made him glad for Hermione that she was an only child.

"Do you want to invite them over?" Lily asked, thinking maybe her boy had a crush. "We can do it on a Saturday."

"Merlin, no," Harry said, waving his hands wildly in the air. "I like Hermione, I really do, and I wouldn't mind seeing her at the party. But if you invite her here, she'll bug Sirius and Remus to teach her magic," he explained. "Then she'll get mad when they have to tell her no," he said, going over what he had learned of the girl's personality.

"Oh, she's one of those," Lily said knowingly. She was the same way at that age.

"I guess, if you mean one of those that need to learn everything right now," Harry said. "I still think she's a nice girl and we have great conversations, but she's really caught up on learning," he added.

"She'll grow out of it," his mum promised. "I did," she added with a smirk.

"You were like Hermione?" Harry asked, gobsmacked. He never would have pegged his mum for a know-it-all.

"Yup," she said, still smirking. "I was Head Girl for a reason, you know," she said, lifting an eyebrow.

"Wow. Were you really smart like Hermione?" he asked, thinking about all the times his mum helped him on his homework or theory work. "Never mind, you still are," he said, giving her a brilliant smile.

"Thank you, baby," she said, kissing his forehead. He was such a good kid.