Chapter 5

The next morning James awoke Harry at 7:30 for an early breakfast before shopping.

Harry quickly pulled on some muggle styled clothing that was a bit big, owing to they were James, and then headed down to the dining room trying not to get lost in the process.

Harold seemed to have either left early, or be sleeping in since his seat remained empty throughout the entire meal. Mary fussed over him; refilling his plate multiple times, messing with his untamable hair, and straightening his jumper, all the while muttering about how thin he was.

Harry found the obvious affection reminiscent of the affection Molly Weasley poured onto him, and tried not to blush every time Mary patted his head, or groan when she added yet more food to his plate.

James found this highly amusing of course, and every time his mother looked away he would shoot Harry a very pronounced smirk, which earned him a scowl in return.

By the time the Potters were ready to leave for their shopping trip Harry thought he was going to burst from all the food forced down his throat.

Considering he had eaten very little in almost a month, he was amazed that he could keep anything down at all; with the floo travel they were about to use he would be surprised if he managed to keep it that way.

At a little past 8:30 the group stumbled out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron, both of the boys landed in a heap, while Mary Potter walked out gracefully behind them, wiping off the soot that vacated her shoulders.

"Why the hell can't I ever land on my feet…" James grumbled angrily as he climbed to his feet brushing off the soot on his trousers. Harry followed suit in amusement, it would seem that his lack at landing was inherited from his father. Once on their feet the three made their way over to bar to say their greetings to the friendly bartender.

"Well hello there Mary! Shopping for Hogwarts already? Isn't it a bit early?" The middle-aged man asked leaning forward to get a good look at James and Harry. Once his eyes landed on Harry he asked in puzzlement, "And who's this little guy?"

The Potter's matriarchy gave the man a small smile back.

"This Roger, is my cousin Harry Potter, and we are picking up some of his supplies for Hogwarts before Diagon Alley is swamped."

Roger nodded his head at the small boy in greeting, but otherwise did not say anything about the unusual situation, for there were no other known Potters except for Harold, Mary, and James.

The first stop they made was Madam Malkins Robes for All Occasions. As soon as he heard the tinkle of the shop bell Harry cringed and started to sulk at all the different fabrics. He absolutely hated shopping. Most likely a side effect from not having been bought proper clothes as a child, and never having the social experience of doing so. Of course he had been fitted for his Hogwarts robes, but they were required, he hadn't had to pick anything out. Colors, fabrics, styles were totally beyond him, and as he suspected most guys. So when the smiling Madam Malkin came gliding over to them Harry couldn't help but to shrink back in dread…this was going to be awhile.

As Harry was being fitted James decided he would head over to the Quidditch shop to see if they had stocked anything new or interesting since the last time he had been there.

Browsing the shelf he came across a new and improved practice snitch, and was just about to pick it up when a hand roughly grabbed his shoulder and swung him around.

James jumped in shock at the person in front of him, for it was no other than….

Harry grimaced as yet another pin poked him in the side. They had already been here for half an hour being measured and prodded. After his measurements were taken they still had to pick out the fabrics and colors, and Harry couldn't help but to let out a long suffering sigh.

"Would you like to go to the quidditch store after you are finished being measured?" Mary asked with a touch of amusement at her new charge.

Immediately the young boy's face perked up.

"Would I ever, of course if it is ok with you." Harry said trailing off at the end, hoping that it was indeed ok.

"Of course it is fine. I'll walk you over when you are done being measured, James should still be there, and you two should be fine by yourselves."

Harry held extremely still hoping that way Madam Malkin could measure more quickly, and in what seemed an eternity she finally exclaimed that she was finished.

He thanked her politely before following his grandmother out of the store and in the direction of the quidditch supply shop.

Mary snuck a quick glance at the newest member of her family who was practically leading the way to the store. He wasn't staring around in wonder like most did when they first saw the alley before, and she decided to call him on it.

"Have you ever been to Diagon Alley before?"

Harry paused for a slight second before answering the question.

"My dad brought me shopping here once before when I was younger, it hasn't changed all that much."

"No it hasn't." Mary agreed with the ten-year-old.

"Sirius!" James yelled out in surprise at the sudden appearance of his best friend.

The tall good looking boy grinned at the shorter one.

"Well hello to you too Jamesie. Fancy seeing you here."

"What are you doing here? I thought your parents were forcing you to Russia to visit those nasty relatives of yours?"

"They did," Sirius said with a smirk, "but my cousins sent me back after I set their dinning hall on fire. Of course we had a slight disagreement first."

"What sort of disagreement?" James asked in a concerned voice. He knew that the Blacks disapproved of their oldest son and considered him a blood traitor.

"The usual…you know, what is proper behavior for a pureblood and on such." Sirius replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"And what about Regulus?" Regulus was Sirius' younger brother. James had only met him once before, and the boy seemed ok, but he followed his parents to the t.

"Still there since he has been the perfect pureblood." Sirius looked a bit bitter at this.

"Well you never said what you were doing here exactly." James said with a smile trying to get his best mate's thoughts away from his family.

Sirius immediately changed his expression in to an eager grin.

"Ice cream of course, but I decided to check in with the latest racing brooms first. Guess this is our luck day, I never thought I would find you here."

Sirius smacked a hand on James shoulder grinning like the cat that ate the cannery.

"Yeah talking about lucky, you won't guess who showed up the other day…"

As they entered the shop Mary spotted two familiar black heads bent together whispering urgently. Plotting no doubt to cause havoc once they return to Hogwarts.

Leading Harry over to the other boys she noticed that he suddenly stiffened and openly stared at the taller of the two boys. As soon as she noticed his discomfort it disappeared completely.

Frowning slightly she coughed gaining her son's attention.

James quickly spun around and with a look of pure surprise on his features.

Sirius however was openly gawking at the boy to Mary's right.

"Well hello Sirius, I didn't realize you were in the country this summer, or we would have loved to have you over." Mary said with a smile, for she was quite fond of the little prankster.

Sirius shot her a charming smile in return, "I had a change in living arrangements for the summer. My relatives in Russia decided that it would not be in their best interests to educate me."

Mary frowned at the 'educate' bit, but otherwise smiled at the young teenager.

"Well I need to get back to shopping at Madam Malkins' to pick out Harry's fabric and colors. You three be dears and keep out of trouble for thirty minutes please."

"Mum can we have some money to get some ice cream?" James said opening his big brown eyes to the fullest in an attempt to look innocent. Something Harry thought he pulled off quite well.

Mary handed them enough money for all of the boys to buy some ice cream…extra if they wanted.

"Now I'll meet you at the ice cream shop in thirty minutes. Oh and Sirius you are welcomed over any time." Mary said and patted the boy fondly on the shoulder before turning and heading back to the robes shop.

Once she was gone Sirius turned to stare at Harry, and Harry stared right back.

"So…"

The three boys actually had a good time eating ice cream and talking about miscellaneous things. At first the conversation was forced and tense, until they all found a common ground; quidditch.

Soon after all three were speaking as if they were old time pals, which in a sense they were. Both James and Sirius forgot that Harry was over two years their junior and started to talk to him as if he was a peer. By the time Mary came to pick up Harry for his wand the three were already plotting pranks and all sorts of mischief.

Mary led the young boy into the dusty old wand shop. As they pushed the door open the bell tinkled over head, announcing their presences. The shop was a creepy as ever, as the shadows rose and seemed to move away from the corners and towards the customers.

"Ah Mrs. Potter, 12 inches oak, with a unicorn's hair, very good for healing. I hope that it is still serving you well." Came a soft voice from behind the counter in the shadows.

Both Harry and Mary turned towards the voice as Ollivander was stepping out of the shadows.

Silently Harry was shocked at the man's appearance. If he didn't know for a fact that he was in the 70s he would think that this was his Ollivander. The man hadn't aged/de-aged a day.

The man's creepy eyes locked with Harry's, then slowly traveled up his forehead and rested on his scar.

"Yes it is still in excellent condition, and getting plenty of use healing…with James home for the holidays." Mary nodded her head in acknowledgement of Mr. Ollivander's question, but before she could introduce Harry Ollivander began to talk again.

"Very good, and how are you Mr. Potter? A bit far from home, aren't you?"

The man kept his eyes locked on the lightning shaped scar. Harry's eyes narrowed a bit and he moved his black locks over the scar, and in the process snapping the older man out of his daze.

"That I am Mr. Ollivander."

Mary looked curiously between the two in slight surprise.

"You know each other?"

Ollivander pulled his eyes away from Harry, and back onto Mrs. Potter.

"I knew his guardians briefly. They were a very nice couple…"

Ollivander said nothing more than that. Turning he picked up a tape measure and dropped it beside of Harry. Immediately the tape measure jumped into the air taking the boy's measurements.

Not for the first time Harry wondered about Mr. Ollivander's abilities. When Ollivander looked at him he saw recognition and amusement in his pale eyes.

"Enough."

With the spoken command the tape measurer ceased to work, and dropped to the floor in a heap.

"Now Mr. Potter if you'd follow me I think I have something that will interest you."

Harry followed the wand maker while Mary took a seat looking puzzled.

Ollivander led the boy down the hallway towards a back room that he had never seen before.

"So Mr. Potter what do you plan on doing while you are here?"

The small boy glared threateningly up at the old man.

"Who are you, or better yet, what are you?"

At the asked question Harry brought his hand up in a protective position. He had only been practicing wandless magic for a year now, and was making excellent process, but it required his full attention, therefore it was almost impossible for him to use in a duel.

Ollivander stared at the boy intently, his eyes glazing over even more until they reached a pure white state.

"It is irrelevant to your current situation. Now I have something for you."

He pulled out a small case for the drawer of his desk.

The case was made from what appeared to be an extremely dark wood, achieving an almost black color.

Harry took the case slowly and pulled back it's lid to reveal a simple silver ring, with a small snake pattern engraved on the band.

"What's this?" He asked curiously, but not with out a bit of caution.

"This is your new ring Mr. Potter, it is a heirloom from your…let's say 'grandfather'."

"My grandfather? Grandfather as in Cassandra's lover?" Harry enquired studying the ring more closely.

"Yes, Cassandra Potter's lover…"

"Does if have any special abilities?" He asked fearing enchantments or possibly injury. He still remembered the blackened hand of Albus Dumbledore after his encounter with Voldemort's ring.

"Well as you are somewhat proficient in wandless magic," Harry shot Ollivander a surprised look, "it won't be as effective for you. The ring can be used as a wand, so it will boost your 'wandless' abilities, however I suggest that you wear it on your left hand. Being able to cast spells with both hands will benefit you greatly in the future."

Harry slowly placed the ring on his finger having an odd since of deje vu. Once the ring was fully on a sudden surge of power ran through his body, and for a moment the metal glowed a brilliant gold.

"Ok Ollivander what was that?" He demanded nervously from the smiling wand maker.

"Curious, most curious indeed…" Ollivander's eyes sparkled with amusement, "it would appear that the ring has accepted you as its' new master, a most unlikely event."

Harry groaned and rubbed his brow.

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning you should be able to use your ring almost as well as your wand."

"And why is that curious?" The dark haired boy asked a bit warily, for he hadn't liked the last 'curious' thing to happen to him.

Ollivander simply grinned mysteriously.

"I think we should be heading back, your cousin will be worrying about you."

The man quickly exited the room before Harry could question him further.

"Sorry for taking so long Mrs. Potter, I was gong to custom fit young Mr. Potter here, but I think I already have the perfect wand."

Mary Potter looked up and nodded politely at the excuse.

"No problem Mr. Ollivander, as long as he gets a close match it should be fine."

Ollivander went to a shelf and pulled off a box that was coated in a thick layer of dust. He quickly opened it and pulled out a very familiar holly wand.

Taking the wand Harry let out a sigh of contentment. For the first time in over a month he felt truly complete, as the wand seemed to feel a piece of his empty soul.

As soon as he raised the wand, red and gold sparks shot out the end and showered down around the three occupants in the room.

"Yes a very good match indeed." Ollivander muttered his eyes traveling to Harry's scar once more, making the boy extremely uncomfortable. After paying for the wand Mary led the boy from the shop, but on the way out they both heard the old wand maker mutter, "Enjoy your family Harry."