Diagon Alley

Eric couldn't help but smirk when Aiden mimicked Mercy and Cailan snorted. John rolled his eyes when his sister stormed away and Jared was eagerly awaiting another egg. "Sweetheart, you have to stop eating so fast. It's no good for your digestive system. If you're not careful, you'll be fat as a house in a few years," Sophia said to Jared, though she gave him another egg anyway. While Jared was biologically her brother, she and James had adopted him after their parents' death when Jared was just an infant. Jared hadn't learned the truth until his parents thought he was old enough to understand, but it didn't really change much. Sure it bothered him that his biological parents were dead, but Sophia and James were his parents now and they didn't love him any less than they loved their biological children.

"What are you talking about? He's already fat as a house," Ethel stated, squirting ketchup onto her waffles. "He is not fat. You're not fat, honey..." Sophia insisted. While Jared, who was anything but fat, gave Ethel a look, John continued eating only to look over at Ethel's plate, a look of horror crossing his face. Nudging Cailan, his cousin looked over as well, his expression going from happy to completely disgusted. "Grandma... what are you doing?" Eric looked, noticing this as well. Cailan actually looked like he was going to throw up.

"Haven't you ever seen a person eat before, you little shit?" Ethel snapped at Eric, shaking sugar over her ketchup covered waffles. John gagged. James stood by the counter, pouring himself another cup of coffee when he turned around and saw exactly what his grandmother was doing. "Gran, that's not how you eat waffles..." he said to her, looking at her plate with a great deal of distaste.

"Not you too young man!" Ethel said, pointing her fork at James. "You look here, I'll eat this weird muggle food you bring home any way I want to and you'll like it. I don't need to answer to you. Have you forgotten who raised you? Have you forgotten who changed your diapers and stayed up with you when you were sick? You should be grateful that I didn't sell you to the circus."

"You tried to once," James said, taking the sugar from her and pouring some into his coffee. "And I would have been successful too if you'd just shut your mouth." James rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure they could clearly see that I was just a little kid dressed as a lion, even before I opened my mouth." Ethel grumbled a little, cutting up her rather disgusting waffles.

"Why did you try to sell dad to the circus?" John asked his great grandmother, curious. "I caught him being a little peeping tom and spying on the neighbor's daughter-"

"I was five and I was shutting the curtains!" James insisted as Eric and Cailan busted out laughing and Sophia shot him a look. John and Jared both smirked at this. "He wanted to be an animal, so he was going to be treated like an animal," Ethel said. "Besides, I wouldn't have actually left you there. Your grandfather never would have let me hear the end of it. I just wanted to try to teach you a lesson." Taking a bite of her waffle, Ethel immediately spit the sugar and ketchup covered monstrosity out. "This muggle food tastes like shit!"

James closed his eyes for a moment. He loved his grandmother a great deal and insisted that she wasn't always so batty, but sometimes she really tried his patience. "I'll be in the living room, watching the telemachine," the old lady said, getting up and throwing her entire plate, utensils and all, into the trash can. Sophia's body tensed a little at this and she opened her mouth to tell the old woman for the twentieth time that dirty dishes belonged in the sink, but shut it once more when James shook his head at her.

When Ethel finally left the kitchen, Sophia turned back to the boys. "Aiden, would you go and tell the girls to hurry up? The food is going to be cold by the time they get down here, or there isn't going to be anything left. I don't feel like hearing any of them complain about being hungry as soon as we get to Diagon Alley."

"We won't be going anywhere unless those letters get here soon," James pointed out. "They'll be here shortly, I guarantee it," Sophia said to her husband.

Up in the girls' room, Mercy shrugged shook her head at Kat's suggestion. "Are you kidding me? With my luck, one of the boys would see me and go running straight to dad," she said, rolling her eyes. Looking at her new top, she was satisfied enough with it. Lydia came out of the bathroom and started poking through Mercy's perfumes, trying to find one that she liked... and one that Aiden might like. When Kat mentioned Justin, her eyes flashed to Mercy, who gave her a look as well, and then to Lizzie and Emily.

"Kat... you know we love you, but-" Lydia started to say. "Your boyfriend is sort of a creepy jerk. Why are you still dating him?" Mercy finished for her when Lydia hesitated. Chewing on her bottom lip a little, Lydia nodded in agreement. She wouldn't have put it quite like that, but that was pretty much what she was thinking as well. "I mean... we just think you can do better than Justin... what about John? Everybody knows the two of you have the hots for each other."

Mercy shot Lydia a sharp glare. "No, not John. Have you met my brother? He's a swine." Lydia rolled her eyes. "I think he really likes Kat though..." she insisted. "John has his eyes on one thing and one thing only. BOOBS."

"Speaking of boobs, you can't see my bra through this shirt, can you?" Lydia asked, looking down at her chest after finally finding a perfume that she really liked and spraying it on herself.

John nodded in agreement when Killian mouthed this to him. It seemed as though the woman was getting worse in her old age. "She belongs in the looney bin," John agreed quietly. "JOHN!" A swift smack on the back of his head from his mother made him wince. "That's your great grandmother you're talking about!" Sophia scolded. "But I heard you say the exact same thing to Aunt Elyse the other day!" he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

At this, James shot Sophia a look, even as she feigned innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about young man," she insisted, avoiding her husband's gaze as she fished Ethel's plate out of the trash. "Grandma Ethel is a valued member of our family, even if she's a little on the... quirky side."

"Oh enough with the ruse, Soph. Quirky my ass, that woman is insane," James finally said, leaning against the counter and drinking his coffee. John smirked and this time it was Sophia's turn to give her husband a look. "Just finish your breakfast," Sophia said to the boys. John, Jared, Cailan, and Eric were happy to do just that.

"Okay, okay, you don't have the hots for John... even though I saw you oggling him by the pool the other day. And I'm not trying to get Ai-" Lydia started to insist, just as the door swung open and Killian barged in, followed by Aiden. Mercy gave Killian a look that could kill and Lydia's face reddened as she prayed that Aiden hadn't heard anything that was just said. "Don't you know how to knock?" she complained as she got hit with a pillow. Picking it up off of the floor, she threw it back at him, aiming for his face.

Lydia couldn't help but glance at Aiden once or twice and, for a moment, she was sure that he had been looking at her... or rather, her slightly visible bra. The heat just wouldn't leave her face and she wanted to kick herself. She'd been into Aiden for ages now, but there was no way he could possibly share in her affections. Was there? No, no... there most certainly wasn't. "I'm surprised there's even anything left to eat considering the way you guys eat..." Lydia said, trying to pull herself back to reality, to think about something other than Aiden.

"I'll be down in a second, maybe I should change-" Lydia started to say as everyone was heading out of the room. Mercy wouldn't hear it though and grabbed her arm, dragging her out. "No, you're not changing your clothes again. You look great. Doesn't she look great Aiden? Tell her she looks great." Lydia shot Mercy a dark look, green eyes blazing, but her friend only smiled brightly as she dragged her down the hallway.

Once in the kitchen, the girls climbed into their seats and, after a wave of Sophia's wand, the spatula and plate of food on the table started to dish out the food to the girls on its own while the pitcher started pouring each of them some orange juice. Sophia, who seemed to know every allergy and every dislike among the children that weren't even hers, was already pouring grapefruit juice for Lydia. As always, Lydia felt a pang in her heart. Her own mother didn't even know that she didn't like orange juice that much. Though it made her feel guilty, she often wished that Sophia was her mother instead. "Don't look so down, sweetheart," Sophia said to Lydia, catching her in the midst of these thoughts as she set Lydia's glass down in front of her. "Thanks, mom," Lydia said, pushing back thoughts of her own mother.

The dishes in the sink were washing themselves and John, who was putting his plate into the sink, looked out the window. "They're here..." he said with some amount of dread. He'd been dreading the results of his O.W.L.s all morning long. As he opened the window behind the sink, most of the owls fluttered in and landed rather smoothly... except for the one that couldn't stop and barreled right into John, knocking him to the ground as it caught him by surprise. Eric and Cailan laughed at him while Sophia just shook her head. "What are you doing? Get up off of the floor," she said, as James gave John a hand. Another owl landed right on Kat's plate, knocking over her glass of juice as well. With a sigh, Sophia waved her wand, the glass picking itself back up and the spilled juice disappearing entirely.

For a moment, there was a lot of "Is this one mine?"s and "No that's mine, here's yours"s going around. Luce and Ethan ran in out of excitement, giving each owl a treat before they took off out the window again while everyone opened their letters. While James consoled a crying Lucinda, who had been nipped on the finger by one of the owls by accident, Sophia stood behind John, Jared, and Killian expectantly. "WELL?" she demanded, tapping her foot expectantly. You could see the relief wash over her when the boys handed over their O.W.L. results and she got a good look at them. James came over as well as Luce and Ethan ran back to the living room, taking the results from Sophia as she handed them to him.  "A troll?  Really?" she asked Jared, arching a brow.  "It's just in Divination, Soph.  Nobody actually cares about that stuff," James said in his defense.



Everybody else was busy looking at their own letter and, when something fell out of Eric's envelope, Sophia's attention darted to him. Before he could even reach for the badge, his mother snatched it right up. "OH MY GOD! JAMES! LOOK! OUR BABY IS HEAD BOY!" Sophia squealed, practically suffocating Eric with her hug. John and Jared both gave their brother a look. "Loser..." John mumbled. "Soph, he's not going to be head boy much longer if you smother him to death," James pointed out, prompting her to finally release Eric who had been turning a little blue. He sucked in a lungful of air and his color started to return, though he looked pleased with himself.

Sophia had never been quite so delighted. Not only had Jared, John , and Killian all passed their O.W.L.s, but Eric was Head Boy, Aiden was quidditch captain, and Katerina was now a prefect... the day just couldn't get any better. "Oh, I'm so proud of each of you," she said, squeezing Aiden in a tight hug before giving one to Kat as well. "We need to celebrate..." she insisted. "I'm going to make something special for dinner tomorrow night. Maybe even a cake for desert." Kissing Kat on top of the head, she tucked her hair behind her ear. "Don't forget to let your parents know," She said to Aiden and Kat, walking over and taking the boys' O.W.L. results and sticking them on the fridge.

"Mom, you don't have to-" John started to say, feeling like a child whose art work was being hung on up. She stopped him right there though. "Sweetheart, I'm just so relieved that you boys passed." Jared just looked at her. "Did you expect us to get trolls in everything?" he asked. Eric, who caught the badge Aiden tossed to him, leaned forward to look down at his brothers. "Yes, that's what everyone expected," he said.

"Shut up. What does "HB" stand for? Hairy Butthole?" John asked Eric. "Haha, very funny," Eric said, observing Aiden's captain badge. "Where'd you get that insult, from grandma?" Sophia sighed. "Boys, enough."

"He started it," both Eric and John said at the same time. "If the two of you don't shut up, I'm going to finish it," James remarked, observing Eric's Head Boy badge with a sense of pride. Lydia and Mercy were both most interested in Aiden's new title. After showing Kat their excitement for her and observing her badge, they both got out of their chairs to go and hound Aiden.

"Listen, Mr. Quidditch Captain," Lydia said, poking him in his side while Mercy snatched the badge from Eric to take a look at it. "Get up," she said to Jared, practically pushing him out of the chair so that she could sit next to Aiden. "Mercy and I have a lot of ideas for the team this year. We have some plays in mind." John rolled his eyes. "What are the two of you, quidditch experts now?" he asked Mercy and Lydia, both of whom shot him an icy glare, responding with a "Yes," in unison. "Let me see that," Lydia said, reaching across Aiden to take the badge from Mercy. Both girls had been on the team since their third year. "The cup is definitely ours this year. Slytherin doesn't stand a chance... Two galleons says that Roland Slater is the new captain. Aiden beats him by a long shot," Lydia said, handing the badge back to Aiden and smiling. Quidditch had always been her passion and she had a great deal of skill. "But it also helps that you have some of the best chasers ever on the team."

"I don't know, I think it might be time to replace the chasers," John said. "They outnumber you. If you're not careful, they might convince Aiden to get a new seeker this year," Cailan said to John, reading over his book list. "I think that sounds like a great idea," Lydia said. "Me too," Mercy responded. Jared, having been pushed out of his chair, went and stood behind Kat, a devilish smile on his face. "So, Kat... a prefect, ehh?" he asked her as Sophia left the room to make sure she had everything they needed to go shopping. "Congrats.... Can I see your badge?" He glanced over at Killian, but then swiftly shifted his gaze back to Kat.

Of course Lydia didn't even notice where Aiden's eyes were, but she was usually pretty oblivious when it came to that sort of thing anyway. When Aiden suggested waiting for this conversation, Mercy, Lydia, John, Cailan, and Eric all followed his gaze to Lizzie. Mercy loved her little sister and was incredibly close to her... but when it came to quidditch, they were ruthless. "Right..." Mercy said, narrowing her eyes on Lizzie. "You stay away from, Aiden, you two... if he has any 'accidents,' before school even starts, we'll know it was one of you," Mercy warned Lizzie and Emily. "Don't walk down the stairs with either of them behind you, Aiden," Lydia warned.

"Don't eat or drink anything they give you... maybe we should have somebody taste all of your food before you eat it from now on..." John added in. "I volunteer Killian," Mercy said as Lydia nodded. "The fate of Gryffindor depends on you," said Cailan, whose attention was then drawn to Kat when she asked him this question. "Kat, that's a stupid question. OF COURSE I'm going to make fun of you," he said, shaking his head. "You've practically joined the loser club."

Eric's brows knitted together and he looked at Cailan. "What about Aiden and I?" he asked. Cailan gave him a tight lipped smile. "Like I said, you guys are in the loser club, and you're now their king."

"All hail Hairy Butt," John said, only to get pelted in the head by the wadded up envelope that Eric threw at him. "Aww, Kat... you're not in the loser club. I've always held the prefects in high esteem," Jared said, sucking up. This couldn't have been further from the truth. Jared, Killian, and John weren't just the biggest troublemakers in Gryffindor. They were the biggest troublemakers in the school. Jared himself took delight in pranking the prefects. "That badge looks so nice on you... but I think I see a spot on it. Here, let me polish it off for you."

"Yeah, following mom and dad's footsteps straight to Loserville," Cailan said to Kat, rolling his eyes at her and Killian. As for Jared, he just backed away with his hands innocently in the air. "Fine, fine, I won't touch it," he insisted, though something in his blue eyes just screamed that he wasn't being too truthful right there. "I just wanted to admire it. Can't I be proud of my dear friend?"

"I'll gladly be his taste tester," John volunteered, just as Sophia came back into the kitchen. "Hurry up you lot, we have a lot of shopping to do." James was right behind her, carrying a measuring tape. "Line up girls, and pray that your shorts and skirts are long enough," he proclaimed. "MOM!" Mercy complained, eyes wide. "James... don't," Sophia sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

---

It wasn't much longer before they were all standing in front of the fire place inside of the Leaky Cauldron, James being the last of them to come out of the fire. "Right," he said, urging his brood away from the hearth so that others could get through the floo network. Sophia was already making sure that everyone had their money. "We can meet back here by... six o'clock? Have a nice dinner and be on our way. How does that sound?"

"Don't go spending any of your money on junk until each of you has bought your school supplies, got it?" Sophia said, her eyes sweeping over all of them. "And don't any of you get yourselves into any trouble. I don't want a repeat of last year..." As she said this last bit, she looked pointedly at John, Jared, and Killian. "Now go, but don't go spoiling your dinner," Sophia pleaded, watching all eleven teenagers scatter to the wind.

"Hold up," James said before Mercy could go anywhere, grabbing hold of her arm. "I didn't do anything," Mercy said, narrowing her eyes at her father. "I'm serious, Mercy. If those Slaters are here today, you stay clear. I don't want to see you hanging around any of them." Mercy pressed her lips together in a firm line. She loved her father, but his issue with the Slaters was totally unfounded. Keiran and Athena were nothing like their parents and she wished that her father would just learn to accept that. She'd been best friends with both of them for a while now, despite their parents' protests, and was especially close with Keiran. It was safe to say that the feelings she harbored for him ran deeper than friendship. It wasn't like they could be in an exclusive relationship though.

"Dad-" Mercy started to say, but he cut her off before she could get another word in. "I mean it. I especially don't want to see you running around with that boy. He's no good for you. Promise me."

"I promise," she said, pulling away from him and walking away out of frustration. Catching up to Kat and Lydia, she looped her arms with each of them. "Where to first?" Lydia asked, looking at their shopping list. "First... we're going to go meet up with Keiran and Athena," she said, a wicked smile forming on her face, despite the promise she had just made her father.

Mercy had always loved Diagon Alley. The stores had always amazed her as a child and now, at fifteen years old, it wasn't any different. Together, the three girls headed toward Madam Malkin's, Mercy's stomach doing somersaults the entire time. She hadn't seen Keiran since they had taken the train home from Hogwarts and... well, a lot had happened during that train ride. It was during that train ride that they'd finally decided that just being friends wasn't enough for them.

Of course, Mercy wasn't sure if what they had arranged was enough for her either though. An open relationship... of course they couldn't be exclusive, not with her father breathing down her back. She was sure that his mother would be equally unhappy considering Mercy was the daughter of the man who put her husband in Azkaban. Still, Mercy wanted more than an open relationship. She hadn't told Keiran that though, just like she hadn't told him that she didn't want to see other people and she sure as hell didn't want him seeing other people. Just the mere thought tore at her heart.

"Jeez, Merc, wait up," Lydia complained, trying to keep up with Mercy who didn't even realize that she was walking so fast. "Lover boy isn't going anywhere..." Lydia looked over at Kat, trying to hold back a giggle. "Oh, shut it... I'm just in a hurry to get our shopping done..."

"Sure," Lydia said, rolling her eyes. "I bet you a galleon that these two will breakdown in a month and admit that an open relationship isn't enough." She looked over at Kat, arching a brow. Of course she knew her friend was under a lot of pressure from her father, but all of them could see that Keiran and Mercy were practically made for each other. As close as Lydia, Kat, and Athena were with Mercy... Keiran was on an entirely different level. He was a best friend, soulmate, and life partner all rolled into one tall dark and handsome package. A small part of Lydia was actually a little envious as her mind wandered briefly to Aiden.

Mercy only shot her friends a look right before pushing open the door to Madam Malkin's. The bell above the door rang and Madam Malkin herself looked up from assisting two very familiar looking customers. When she finally laid eyes on him for the first time that summer, there was no stopping the breathtaking smile that crossed her face or the glimmer in her blue eyes. It was safe to say that Mercy was head over heels... okay, she'd been head over heels for a while now, but it only seemed to be getting worse.

"OWW! Lydia!" Mercy said, jumping when her friend pinched her. "What was that for?!" She rubbed the spot on her arm where she'd been pinched, shooting daggers at her friend. "You were staring," Lydia said wickedly, a devilish smile crossing her face as she approached Keiran and Athena by the counter. While Madam Malkin went to fetch whatever it was she needed to get their measurements and everything, the front of the shop filled with girly squeals of excitement as Lydia practically threw her arms around Athena. "I missed you! You don't write enough! You need to be writing every day!" Lydia said to Athena, squeezing her tightly. She was going to say that she was holed up with these two nutcases (Mercy and Kat) all summer, but refrained from doing so. She knew that Athena wanted to be with them for the summer just as badly as they wanted her there, especially considering how badly her mother treated her.

Following suit, Mercy approached their friends as well. "You're smothering her," she said to Lydia, trying to focus on anything but the idea of kissing Keiran. Color rose in her cheeks as she bit her lip. She couldn't deny just how nice it had been to kiss him on the train. Would it be too much if she were to pull him into a side alley at some point just to steal another while they were shopping? "Have a good summer?" she asked him, feeling rather stupid and rooted to the spot. What she'd really wanted to do the moment she walked through the door was pounce on him... unfortunately, they were in the middle of a shop.