Chapter 3: Diagon Alley

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"Come on, Gwen! Hurry up!" The shouting was coming from Sebastian Hamilton, a handsome twenty-one-year-old with fawn hair and beautiful green eyes.

Gwen was trying her best to keep up with her older brother but with all the people and Sebastian's very long strides, it was kind of impossible. There was no way Gwen could free herself from the crowd without stepping on someone's foot or accidentally elbowing them. It was even more difficult since Gwen was holding her pet owl's cage in her hands.

"Gwendolyn!" Sebastian yelled once again, this time more frustrated and annoyed. He impatiently stood at the side waiting for his sister, tapping his finger furiously on the handle of her school trunk.

"Shut up, would you?! I heard you the first time!" Gwen finally snapped. "Then hurry up!" He snapped back.

Gwen finally pushed herself out of the crowd of muggles. She blew a strand of her long dark brown hair that had escaped of its usual plait.

"Come on now. I was supposed to get you to the Leaky Cauldron twenty minutes ago." Sebastian replied as he ran a hand through his hair. Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Oh don't worry. Everyone has gotten used to the fact that I'm almost always late." The young girl admitted what no one could deny.

It was a fact that Gwendolyn Magnolia Hamilton, age fifteen, was always late.

"I'm sure they are," Sebastian replied as he continued to walk towards their destination. Gwen didn't even have to look at him to tell that there was a smirk on his thin lips.

After ten minutes the brother and sister finally arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. Before Sebastian entered the old building, he abruptly stopped, causing his sister to collide into his back.

Sebastian didn't say anything, he was used to Gwen bumping into stuff, falling or accidentally hurting herself and others. Gwen had her fair share of accidents.

Her other brother Laurence used to say that she was focusing on something so much more important, that she would ignore something else. It just so happened that something else was usually a wall.

"Do you have everything with you? Owl, wand, band-aids for when you'll inevitably hurt yourself..." Sebastian rolled his eyes at the last part.

"Check, check and double-check," Gwen replied as she single-handedly checked her pockets for her wand and the packet of band-aids that she carried around with her.

"Good, good, good," Sebastian said as he clapped his hands together. "One more thing. I want you to be careful. Sirius Black could be anywhere and he wouldn't have any problem trying to kill you." Sebastian warned as he started whispering to Gwen.

The two were around muggles so they had to be extra careful. During that Summer, a murderer by the name of Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban. The act of escaping was quite impossible and he was the first to do so.

"Still have no idea where he is?" Gwen couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"No, not at all. Everyone has been worried, the Auror department has never been so busy." Sebastian replied. Sebastian had been working as an Auror for the past year, something that Gwen often envied.

"Well, I'm sure you'll catch him in no time. Now, can we go in because we're already late as it is." Gwen claimed to look at the time on her watch. Sebastian nodded. "Yes, yes. No need to get worried and by the way, it is not my fault. You're the one who walks as if your legs are made of jelly."

"Very funny," Gwen said dryly while playfully glaring at him. Sebastian loved to tease her at any given moment, Gwen didn't mind it since she made it a mission to make fun of him at any given opportunity.

Sebastian opened the door and went into the building with Gwen's trunk trailing behind. The pub was barely filled at all, only a few people here and there.

Gwen stood there, scanning the few people and saw two familiar redheads, Molly and Arthur Weasley. The two were quarrelling with each other but they stopped once they felt a stare on them.

Molly was the first to rush up to Gwen. "Gwendolyn sweetie, how are you?" Gwen smiled at the woman giving her a tight, motherly hug. "I'm great Ms Weasley. How was your trip?" She asked.

"It was great, thank you. I think you better go and put your trunk in your room. The kids left five minutes ago but I'm sure you'll see them somewhere around. I already got you a room."

Mrs Weasley placed a key in the palm of Gwen's hand. "Thank you. Good morning Mr Weasley!" She called out to Mr Weasley who was chatting up with her brother as she started dragging her heavy trunk (which Sebastian left unattended so he could talk to Mr Weasley) and her owl, Athena up the stairs.

It was difficult and Gwen almost tripped multiple times but she finally made it up the stairs. She let go of the trunk and took out the rusty key from the back pocket when she found room number fifteen.

The room wasn't very big but it wasn't too small either. There was a double bed in the middle of the room with a burning fireplace. A desk was on the left side of the room with a window that allowed rays of sunlight to hit the desk and the black chair.

Next to both sides of the bed were cramped mismatching nightstands. A small door leading to the bathroom was adjacent to one of the nightstands.

Gwen placed the trunk on the old bed and immediately went to open the cage for her owl to fly free. Athena the owl quickly flew out, wanting to stretch her wings. Gwen didn't mind her flying around the room since she trusted her.

Gwen took out her Hogwarts envelope from the trunk. That year's letter was different from the previous ones. The letter seemed heavier and it didn't take a genius to know exactly why.

When Gwen received the letter she opened it with her eyes closed as she silently prayed that her hypothesis was wrong. But Gwen was right. In the letter, there was a red badge with a large P printed on it.

It was made official, Gwen Hamilton was a Prefect.

Gwen took out her book list and whatnot and shoved her badge in the bottom of the trunk. Gwen by no means had ever wanted to become a Prefect.

Fifth-year is O.W.L year and with the prefect duties added to her schedule, it would make the difficult year even harder. Gwen also didn't know how her two best friends, Fred and George Weasley, would react.

Gwen placed the list in her back pocket along with the room key and left the room without putting Athena back in her cage.

"Let's go, Gwen!" Sebastian yelled once his younger sister emerged from the staircase. Gwen sighed as everyone started to stare at him. Sebastian was a real loudmouth.

The teenage girl followed her brother as he went out a door in the back of the pub and faced a brick wall. Sebastian took out his wand and tapped a series of bricks. Immediately the bricks moved out of the way and formed an arch.

Gwen smiled as the scene unfolded in front of her. Diagon Alley never seemed to stop surprising her with its greatness.

"Come on. Where do you have to go first?" Sebastian asked he swung on the soles of his shoes impatiently.

"Maybe we could go and buy me some new robes since they don't fit me anymore. And then we could pick them up at the end." Gwen suggested as she pointed towards Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

Sebastian clapped his hands. "Right! Okay." He grabbed Gwen's hand and dragged her along with him to the shop.

When the two entered the shop only a few people were there either getting fitted or buying some robes.

A young woman came up to the brother and sister and smiled as soon as she saw them. The woman had medium length blonde hair and sparkling hazel eyes.

"Good morning. I'm guessing Hogwarts right?" The woman greeted with a smile on her face. "Yeah. Gryffindor." Gwen added.

Gwen looked at Sebastian and saw him staring at the woman, a smirk played on her lips as she knew exactly what that meant.

"Sebastian Reginald Hamilton but you can call me Seb." He said as he took out his hand for the woman to shake which she shyly accepted.

Gwen silently groaned. Did he seriously introduce himself while also using his middle name? He was obviously trying to impress her.

"Elizabeth Quinn Beverly but you could call Eliza or Beth." She said as her face went slightly red. Gwen cleared her throat.

"And I'm Gwendolyn Magnolia Hamilton but you can call me the girl who is politely waiting to be fitted into her new robes so she could leave and meet her friends," Gwen said with the smirk still on her face.

Sebastian turned around and glared at Gwen but Eliza didn't seem to mind, if anything she was laughing. "Well then we better get going, shouldn't we?" She said and Gwen nodded her head in agreement.

Gwen followed behind along with Sebastian. "I like her. I approve." Gwen stated while wiggling her eyebrows, Sebastian gave Gwen another glare. "Gwen, just shut up." He whispered with his teeth clenched together.

"Stand up here," Eliza said as she helped the girl on the small round platform. "And open your arms." Gwen did what she was told and Eliza started to take her measurements. Gwen instantly started giggling due to being extremely ticklish.

"So Gwen, what year are you in?" Eliza said as she decided to start some small talk. "My fifth," Gwen replied. "Ooh, O.W.L year. I'm glad I'm done with all of my exams. I just graduated two years ago from there." She replied.

Gwen raised her eyebrows. "Really? I don't remember you. What house were you in?"

"Hufflepuff. I remember you. You're the Gryffindor Chaser and friends with the red-haired twins, right?" She asked as she took out her wand and summoned a sewing kit into her hands. "That's about right," Gwen replied, smiling at the mention of her best friends.

"I also remember you," Eliza said now referring to Sebastian. "Really?" He said as a smile started forming his lips at the fact that the pretty girl remembered him.

"Yes, actually. You once dated my friend Isabel but then she said that you left her. Not many details were said from there." The older sibling's smile faded away and Gwen couldn't help but snort.

"Well in my defence, I couldn't go out with her. I wasn't her type." Seb replied defending himself.

"What's her type?" Gwen mouthed to her brother in curiosity. "Women." He mouthed back and Gwen nodded her head in understanding.

"Okay, you're done. They should be ready to pick up in an hour." Eliza said as she placed her wand back into her pocket. Gwen climbed down from the platform and in the process got her foot got stuck on something.

Sebastian saw that his sister was about to fall so he quickly grabbed her by her arms.

"Thanks," Gwen said as heat started rising to her cheeks. "No problem," Sebastian replied nicely which greatly surprised her. She knew that he was only nice because they were in front of Eliza.

"Okay, then I'll... I mean.. we'll pick them up later." Sebastian said. "See you, bye!" Eliza replied as they left the shop.

"Let's go and get your books," Sebastian said, the smile on his face wider than it was before they entered the shop.

"Hamilton!" The girl spun quickly around when she heard two familiar voices calling out to her. Gwen instantly smiled when she saw her best friends, Fred and George.

Gwen ran up to them and noticed that they both have grown a few more inches making them taller than they already were. Their hair too has grown a bit.

"Hey, guys. How are you?" Gwen asked them as she gave them both a hug. "We're great." They replied together in perfect sync.

"Guess what?" George asked. "What?" Gwen asked confusingly. When it came to the twins, you never know what to expect.

"He told you to guess," Fred added. "And I'm not going to do this, just tell me," Gwen said as she rolled her eyes.

"Ughh. You're no fun. We ran into Lee and he was made the new prefect." George said with a disgusted look. Gwen inwardly sighed.

"What no comment? Did you hear what I said? I mean, who in the right mind would choose Lee as a prefect?" Fred said.

"Well... Dumbledore is full of surprises." The girl replied not knowing how to answer.

"Who do you think is the female prefect? I bet it's Angelina." George stated while scrunching his eyebrows together in thought. "Or Alicia." Fred continued.

"Well, I'm sure that neither of them is prefects," Gwen advised, bracing herself to what will happen once they find out.

"Wait, how can you be so sure-" Fred said and then stopped. The twins looked at each other as it clicked in their minds. "YOU!!" They said together as they pointed at the girl.

"Yeah me. Come on! Is it so hard to believe that I was chosen to help lead the school towards greatness?" She replied and snorted.

"Yes." They replied together again. Gwen gave both her friends a death glare. "Okay sorry! Just stop looking at us like that." Fred continued.

A bright smile crossed George's face. It's the grin that always spelt out trouble. "Wait, you know what that means? It's going to be much easier to prank with Gwen being a prefect. She can help us sneak into Filch's office and everything!"

"No, no. You will not do any of that." Sebastian said, butting in as he was listening in on the three teens' conservation.

"Of course not Seb," Gwen assured her brother but at the same time, she gave the twins a wink to tell them that it was so on. The chance to prank Filch or Snape was an offer that no one could refuse.

"Alright Gwen, take some money for the rest of your stuff and keep or spend the extra the remaining. Take it as a gift for becoming a prefect." Sebastian said as he handed Gwen some galleons.

"Oh, thanks. Where are you going?" She asked her brother as she pocketed the money. "I'll go look around and then grab your robes from the shop," Sebastian replied as a smirk appeared on his face.

"I'll meet you back-" Gwen began to say but the older boy had already leapt away excitedly. "What's wrong with your brother?" George asked as the three of them stared at where Sebastian had just disappeared from.

"He has fallen in love," Gwen replied jokingly as she shook her head. "Oooohhhh."

Gwen turned around and took a step back to get a good look at the twins. "Well come on. We have to get our supplies." She said as she stepped in between them and linked both her arms with theirs. The three of them walked together towards Flourish and Blotts.

The fifth years didn't have to buy many books. They only had a few new books since they were mostly using last year's.

They had to get the Standard Book Of Spells by Miranda Goshawk and the Monstrous Book of Monsters for Care of Magical Creatures.

When they entered, Gwen noticed that it was almost empty, contrary to the year before where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books.

"You guys go and fetch the monster book while I get the book of spells," Gwen said as she looked around the shop at the multitudes of books.

"Sure," Fred muttered as they left to the other side.

It didn't take long for her to find them, the difficult part of it was that she needed to get them from the top shelf. Gwen tried standing on her tiptoes and even hopping but it was no use.

"Damn it!" The girl exclaimed to herself as she hit the bookcase in anger. She barely had time to react when a book plummeted at her head. And mind you it wasn't the book that she wanted.

"Are you alright?" A masculine voice asked. Gwen looked to her left as she rubbed her head that already started throbbing in pain.

"Well apart from being hit by a book on the head, yes, everything is good." The boy chuckled and Gwen finally recognised him as Cedric Diggory. He was a Hufflepuff from her year who she saw around the castle. She never spoke to him except for that one time where she accidentally elbowed him.

"Here let me help. Which book do you need?" He asked as he looked at the shelves.

"Standard Book of Spells Grade 5 and I need three of them." "Got it..." Cedric grabbed the books with ease. He handed them to Gwen one by one.

"Here you go. Cedric Diggory, by the way." Cedric said as he took out his hand for the girl to shake. Gwen shifted the books on her left arm.

"I know. I mean, I've watched you. Wait, that doesn't sound any better, what I mean is.. we've had classes together. Gwendolyn Hamilton and thanks. I have to go but see you at school." Gwen said with an awkward smile and a mental facepalm.

"Yeah, see you. Lyn." Cedric said as he waved back.

Gwen walked up to the counter where Fred and George were waiting impatiently. She placed the spell books on the counter next to three hairy books that seemed to be pretty much alive. The girl scooted as far away from them as possible.

"That would be two galleons and four sickles." A wizard behind the counter said with a hand covered in bandages, he too was scooting away from the monster books.

Before the twins even tried to get some money, Gwen took hers out and paid for all of the books. The Weasleys' weren't the richest of families and Gwen tried to help the twins a bit at any opportunity.

She had more than enough money as she and her brother had inherited money from their parents, aunt and brother after their deaths. Sad story, if you think about it.

"You didn't have to, you know that right?" George said as the three friends left the store. Gwen smiled at them. "I didn't have to but I wanted to. It's really no problem at all."

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Fred said as he wrapped his arms around his friend and hugged her tight. "Fred... need.. to inhale," Gwen replied and Fred immediately loosened his grip on her.

"Sorry... Anyway, where should we go? How about Gambol and Japes?" Fred continued, his eyes had a certain shine in them. "We should absolutely go! Please, Gwen? We love you."

George continued to beg her, giving her his best puppy dog eyes.

"Well, I really don't mind where we go next." Gwen barely said that when George grabbed her hand and dragged her away with them.

George let Gwen go only when they were exactly in front of the joke shop which was packed with people. "You guys go in without me," Gwen said, not keen on being squashed in such a small shop.

The twins turned to look at her, giving her sad frowns. "Are you sure?" Fred asked. Gwen waved them off. "Yeah sure. No problem at all. Take your time, I'll be waiting out here."

She didn't have to tell them twice as they both sprinted into the shop. Gwen gave out a sigh and sat down on the pavement. The girl sat there waiting quietly until she heard someone shouting.

"GWENNIE! LOOK AT WHAT I HAVE!!" Gwen looked up and saw Sebastian running towards her with a box in his hands and shopping bags dangling from both arms.

Gwen stood up and groaned at her brother's horrible behaviour. "First you need to learn to be quiet, and second what do you have?" Gwen asked as the smile on Sebastian's face grew wider.

"Well, first of all. I've got your uniform and by the way, I've got a date!" He started shimmying so weirdly that she had to stop him from further embarrassing her. "Really? You asked Eliza. That poor thing."

"Shut up!" Sebastian snapped as his smile vanished for a second and reappeared again.

"Anndd. I got you this. Consider it a present for becoming a prefect. Here take it, TAKE IT!" Sebastian pushed the box into Gwen's hands and looked at it in suspicion.

"JUST OPEN IT!" He shouted again. Gwen groaned and silently accepted the fact that he would never change. Gwen immediately gasped when she saw a small tabby cat.

"Merlin's beard! She's adorable!!" Gwen exclaimed as she used her forefinger box to pet the kitten gently.

"Actually that over there is a guy. Isn't that right little fella? You're so adorable. Yes, you are, yes you are." Sebastian said as he also started petting the kitten.

"So, whatcha gonna call it?" Seb asked as he finally tore his eyes away from the kitten.

"I don't know... maybe Atlas?" Gwen asked her brother. The older boy shrugged. "Sure, why not? But I don't get you and your obsession with Greek gods."

Gwen rolled her eyes and ignored him as she grabbed Atlas from his box and placed him gently in her arms. "He was a Titan, he's the one who has to carry the heavens on his shoulders."

Sebastian shrugged, clearly not interested in the new information.

"I got him everything he needs. Cat food, cage, bowls, tiny kitten bed, tiny kitten sheets with a cute paw pattern." Sebastian stated as he pointed to his bags which must have been filled with the cat's items.

"Thank you, Seb," Gwen told her brother. "There's no need to thank me. Hamilton family hug! And don't you worry little Atlas! You are part of this family too."

Gwen laughed and went in for the hug. The brother wrapped his arms around his sister tightly but was also very careful not to squish Atlas.

Sebastian finally let go. "So, where are the twins? We have to go. You have to make sure that you packed everything, and we're having dinner a little early so you kids can have some time for yourselves to catch up."

Gwen looked back at the joke shop. "I guess they're still in Gambol and Japes." Sebastian nodded his head. "Of course, where else would they be?"

As if on queue the twins got out of the shop each with a bag filled with products.

"Aw, look at that cute thing," Fred stated as he got his first glimpse of Atlas, who was currently up on Gwen's shoulder and licking her ear.

Sebastian did a dramatic hair flip. "Why, thank you. At least there's someone who acknowledges my beauty." Gwen pushed her brother playfully and he let out a laugh.

"What's his name?" George said as he bent down and petted Atlas on his little head and the kitten started licking George's nose which made him giggle. "Atlas and let's go."

Fred rolled his eyes as they started making their way past the crowd of people in the Alley.

"What is your obsession with naming things after Greek gods? I mean there's Athena, Atlas, that rock that you named Hercules when you were five. What's next? You're going to name your child Zeus?"

Gwen sighed, clearly exasperated. "Very funny," Gwen replied with no emotion in her voice. "Trust me, love, I already know," Fred replied as he winked at Gwen.

"Besides, Atlas wasn't a God. He was a Titan who-"

"We don't care!"

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Hello, author here.

If there are any that are confused, I've started editing the chapters from the beginning.

This is the first chapter that I've done and I'll fix them all gradually.

Most of the changes are grammatical but there are some few things added or removed here and there. Plus some very minor changes.

So, for example, I changed the cat's name. So in this chapter, he's called Atlas but the others are yet to be changed.

Thank you, I hope that you'll enjoy the rest of the book xx.

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