⁙Gilderoy⁙

12th August 1992

Sierra tilted her body to the left to avoid the little kids running excitedly, though she too wanted to run around like that. It was almost three weeks before the new session started, and today they had come to finish their school shopping.

Finally, Sia was starting her journey. She was going to Hogwarts.

After Al, Sten, and Kar returned in May, they spent all their time on family trips, dinners, get-togethers, etc. They have a big family, so it took almost all of their June.

After that, they started working on finishing their first summer project of this year. A way to communicate.

Sierra looked at the plain, matt black ring on her ring finger. It was very inconspicuous. At the same time, it had a different and mysterious charm.

After a month of hard work, the five found a balance between the protean charm and legilimency. Using these two fields of magic, they created a way to convey their thoughts to each other. And the medium used for this was jewelry.

Sia and Kar decided to wear theirs' as rings, Sam went for a stud in one ear, Sten decided on a bracelet type commonly worn in India, and finally, Al decided on a thin chain. Everyone used different styles, but one common thing was the color. All accessories were matt black.

Michael looked at his watch, "We have two hours before I have to report back to my post. So let's get the shopping done quickly."

[PS. Those who forgot, Michael and Valerie are the two sisters' parents.]

The family of four had come together to buy the youngest's first Hogwarts supplies. Just like they had done for the eldest.

"The list isn't small for us to have time to go everywhere together. Let's separate," Valerie said as she scanned the two lists.

"Sia and I can finish the book's shopping," Kar suggested.

The couple stared at their daughters, who were looking at them eagerly. After a while, they nodded while sighing.

The four separated from there and went to finish their part of shopping and decided that the parents would pick the girls up after they got their part done.

Soon Sia and Kar were standing outside Flourish Aand Blotts with looks of great disappointment. The rarely visited shop was overflowing with ladies today. All dressed to impress. And large banners covered the windows with 'GILDEROY LOCKHART will be signing copies of his autobiography,' written in elaborate golden letters.

'ಥ_ಥ'

Karalyn spun on her heels and started walking away as soon as her brain registered the information. But Sia held her collar and pulled her back towards the shop.

"We should finish this as fast as possible," she spoke, and the two sisters started making their way, pushing through the crowd.

"Calmly, please, ladies. Don't push there, and mind the books now," a harassed-looking wizard stood at the door saying.

Sia sighed as she observed the poor guy struggling in vain, "Poor guy."

Kar, who stood beside her, nodded wisely.

The girls somehow managed to squeeze themselves through the crowd and reach the relatively free area. It was only because this side housed the school textbooks. Therefore parents and students were the only ones there. But god, it was still crowded.

Kar and Sia started scanning through the bookshelves and picking copies on their lists. It was almost another thirty minutes later, and the sisters now had their hands occupied with heavy leather-bound books.

They again started pushing through the crowd as the counter was on the other side. The two wanted to get the hell out of there as fast as possible. After crossing, the two just stood lightly huffing at the corner of the shop, trying to catch their breath.

"It can't be Harry Potter?"

The sisters jumped at the sudden shout from the center of the crowd.

They looked towards the source to find a wizard wearing forget-me-not blue robes that matched his eyes. A wizard's hat sat at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair. He was seated on a raised table, which made him visible from afar, surrounded by large pictures of his face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd.

Kar gaged at the scene. It was too hard to digest, especially when they knew who he was.

A short, irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.

Sia turned to Kar, "I don't want to miss this scene."

"Same here, but let's stay away from the crowd," Kar shrugged.

They looked back at the center where Harry now stood awkwardly, with Lockhart smiling blindingly beside him. After a while, he let go of Harry's hand, only to throw an arm around his shoulders and clamp him tightly beside him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Lockhart said aloud while waving for quiet.

"What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time.

"When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography- which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge-" the crowd applauded loudly. "He had no idea," Lockhart continued, giving Harry a little shake that made his glasses slip to the end of his nose, "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, 'Magical Me.' He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

"Man's got some super communication skills there," Karalyn murmured.

Harry finally managed to free himself from Lockhart and staggered towards a corner where they were standing. Sia raised her eyebrows and looked around her. A few feet beside them, she found a girl around her age, with red hair and brown eyes.

"You can have these," they heard Harry mumble as he dropped the books Lockhart had given him into the cauldron beside the little girl.

"I'll buy my own-"

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" Kar and Sia heard a voice from behind Harry.

Harry straightened up and turned to find himself face to face with Draco Malfoy, who had a sneer on his face.

"Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page," Draco continued.

Sia sighed, "Should we stop them?"

But before Kar could answer, the conversation before them continued as the girl spoke up.

"Leave him alone. He didn't want all that!" the redhead glared at Draco.

Malfoy raised his brows and drawled, "Potter. You've got yourself a girlfriend!"

The girl blushed darkly at that.

At that moment, Ron and Hermione made their way through the crowd with stacks of Lockhart's books in their hands.

"Oh, it's you," Ron looked at Malfoy as if he was something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe.

"Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?" he continued taunting.

Draco retorted, "Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley. I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

Ron blushed in embarrassment. He dropped his books and charged toward Draco, but Harry and Hermione stopped him.

Sia sighed in defeat. Now it will be almost impossible to stop what was coming.

"It's necessary that the book goes to Ginny. Remember that, Sia. We cannot intervene today," Kar pursued her lips.

"Ron!" Mr. Weasely struggled over with Fred and George.

"What are you doing? It's too crowded in here. Let's go outside," he suggested after seeing the situation.

"Well, well, well- Arthur Weasley."

It was Mr. Malfoy. He stood behind Draco, his hand on Draco's shoulder, sneering.

"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear. All those raids. I hope they are paying you overtime?" said Mr. Malfoy.

He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted an old, battered copy of 'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration' from amid the glossy Lockhart books.

"Not obviously," Mr. Malfoy said, "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," he said.

"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who watched apprehensively.

"The company you keep, Weasley. And I thought your family could sink no lower-"

There was a 'thud' as Ginny's cauldron went flying; Mr. Weasley had thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him backward into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spellbooks came thundering on their heads; there was a yell of 'Get him, Dad!' from Fred or George; Sia and Kar winced; Mrs. Weasley was shrieking, 'No, Arthur, no!'; the crowd stampeded backward, knocking more shelves over; 'Gentlemen, please- please!' cried the assistant and then, louder than all, 'Break it up, there, gents, break it up-'

Hagrid was wading towards them through the sea of books. Behind him stood Mr. White, a little out of breath. In an instant, he had pulled Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy apart. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip, and Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an 'Encyclopedia of toadstools.' He was still holding Ginny's old transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with malice.

"Here, girl- take your book- it's the best your father can give you-"

"Lucius, enough," Michael sharply said as he glared at Mr. Malfoy.

Mr. Malfoy pulled himself out of Hagrid's grip. He beckoned to Draco and swept him from the shop.

"You should have ignored him, Arthur. It's good that Hagrid was nearby," Michael approached Mr. Weasley, "He knows the thin ice he is walking on with the ongoing raids. He only wants to aggravate you, and you know that."

"Rotton to the core, the whole family, everyone knows that- no Malfoy's worth listening to, bad blood, that's what it is. Sorry, Michael, but that's how they act. Come on now, Let's get out of here," Hagrid said.

"Yes, let me pay for the books first. Michael, how about you guys join us?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Mr. White looked at his daughters, "Alright. But I have to go back to my post soon."

The adults got busy in their talks while the sisters approached the group.

"Calm down," Kar said as she patted the heads of the twins, who still stood, flushed with anger. Though they were considerably taller than her, they still looked like kids beside her.

Fred and George growled at her, to which she just smirked.

Sia went to help Ginny collect her books in her cauldron and started helping her.

"Hello. I'm Sierra White, but you can call me Sia. Nice to meet you."

Ginny turned towards Sia and stared for a few seconds before smiling, "Ginerva Weasley, but call me Ginny."

"Are you a first-year, Ginny?" Sia asked as the girls continued collecting the books.

"Yes, you too?" Ginny asked as she took the last book from Sia's hand, "Thanks."

"Yeah, I'm so excited," Sia grinned at her.

The girls innocently smiled as they walked back to the group, unaware of the beautiful friendship that started there that day.