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chapter fifteen | matching wrist wear
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Diagon Alley was a sight. There were papers thrown everywhere from all of the different stores that were ransacked by Death Eaters, store clerks missing, windows broken, and the occasional shriek of someone unknown. However, there was one place in the Alley that seemed to thrive through the chaos—Weasley Wizard Wheezes. The shop was located at Number Ninety Three in Diagon Alley with a stunning image of one of the twins tipping a hat at the entrance. Stella looked at the place in awe. She couldn't help but feel immensely proud of the twins. It really showed her that if she put her mind to something, like the twins did, she could achieve it.
As soon as the four friends entered, they were bombarded with all kinds of people, mostly kids, of course. Stella found it difficult to even move from her spot at the door to look around. There were bins filled to the brim with trick wands, boxes of quills and many, many rubber chickens, which Stella found odd, but didn't question it.
Finally, a path cleared for her and her friends to move around, the boys separating from the girls. The two friends could see a cluster of their classmates eye boggling a pink display and were stopped by the twins, who saw their wary, yet curious expressions.
"Hello, ladies," the twins greeted together.
"Love potions, eh?"
"Yeah, they really do work," Fred boasted after his brother, "then again, the way we hear it, sis, you're doing just fine on your own."
Stella raised her brow as Ginny Weasley retorted, "meaning?"
"Are you not currently dating Dean Thomas?"
The youngest sibling faltered at her brothers' question before regaining composure, "that's none of your business."
As she walked away, the twins turned their attention to Stella Mason, who was still looking at the display with furrowed brows, "what about you, Stella Mason?"
The girl in question snapped her head to the brothers, not feeling green eyes who started to stare at her, "pardon?"
"Anyone who's caught your eye," George teased.
"Makes you go all mushy inside?"
The Mason girl made a scrunched face at Fred's words, "first of all, never use that word again. Second of all, if it's any of your business, no one makes me feel 'mushy' inside. I would hope not, at least," she mumbled the last part.
The topic ended there as she held hands with Hermione and began to walk around again.
After reuniting with Harry, who looked put off about something, and found Ron being ripped off by his brothers, they decided to leave the shop. As they left, they could see even more clearly the difference between the twins' shop and the rest of the alley.
"How are Fred and George doing it," Hermione asked incredulously, "half the alley's closed down."
"Fred reckons people need a laugh these days."
Stella nodded at Ron, "I'd say he's right."
As they walked further, they noticed a particular shop that caused their stomachs to drop.
"Oh no," Hermione frowned. In front of them was Ollivander's wand shop. It was dark and dusty with windows smashed in, leaving traces of glass on the floor, "everyone got their wands from Ollivander's."
They entered the shop, mindful of the glass on the floor to see the damage more clearly. Stella clenched her jaw as she saw boxes of wands scattered everywhere.
"Harry," Ron called as he set his eyes on something, "is it just me, or do Draco and mummy look like two people who don't want to be followed?"
Stella furrowed her brows as she watched the Malfoy's, the man of the house now in Azkaban, turn the corner into Knockturn Alley. After an exchanged look of agreement, the four friends started to follow the pair. They passed all kinds of people on the street on their pursuit. As they passed more shops, they noticed how vacant they were, the workers not even present. They had stopped when they realized they followed the Malfoy's all the way to the last shop on the block, Borgin and Burkes. The store that was dedicated to selling all kinds of dark artifacts. Without thinking, the friends started to climb the roof to get a better look inside. Stella, where she was in between Hermione and Harry, could see the back of Draco in front of a black cabinet. She could also see the store owner, Mr. Borgin, looking quite frightened with whatever Draco was telling him. Or, maybe, the man was frightened that Death Eaters were in his shop. Greyback, a Werewolf Death Eater, who was the one who bit Remus Lupin all those years ago, was one Death Eater in particular that Stella noticed. It wasn't until Greyback turned around toward where the four were did they duck their heads. A moment later, they looked back to see the curtains of the shop drop to shut.
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The time had come for the four friends to start their sixth year at Hogwarts. Everyone in the Burrow was getting ready for the departure to Kings Cross Station. However, there was one thing Stella Mason wanted to do before she left.
She was nervous. Her hands fiddled with the wrist wear as she walked towards Ron's bedroom, where she knew Harry was packing. With the bit of courage she had, she knocked. Not waiting for a response, she opened the door to see the Potter packing his suitcase. Green met blue as he turned to see who was at the door. Her nerves got to her as they stared at each other for a few moments before she mentally kicked herself and uttered one word, "hi."
"Erm, hi, Stella," clearly seeing she was nervous about something, he smiled lightly. He had grown to learn her tells pretty quickly. The wringing of the hands, the biting of her cheek, her downcast eyes.
Snapping out of her nervousness, though she didn't know how, she walked forward and got to the point, "I wanted to give you something."
Outstretched toward him was a bracelet. It was a simple black bracelet made out of waxed nylon with a gold ring around it with one simple word, 'Stella'. When seeing his confused, but grateful features, she explained.
"I remember saying on the last day of term that you can come to me whenever you need me for anything. With this you can tap it three times and I'll know you need me," she spoke, not making eye contact as she was afraid of rejection, "I have one as well," she held up her own bracelet that read, 'Harry' on it, "I worked on them over the Summer a lot. Mrs. Weasley helped me since I can't use magic out of school yet. When you tap it, it sends a frequency to mine to let me know you need me and where you are. Don't ask how it knows where we are because I couldn't tell you."
Harry didn't speak for a moment as she chuckled softly, and that made Stella quite nervous. Did he like it? Did he think it was weird of her to give him this? They had only been friends for a year, so maybe Stella over stepped.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she was suddenly pulled into a hug. She made a sound of surprise and she wrapped her arms around the boys' neck while her arms were around her waist. They stood there a few moments before Harry pulled away, his hands in hers, as he spoke, "no one has ever done anything like this for me. Thank you, Stella, really."
The Mason could feel her cheeks flamed with heat as she looked in his eyes. Still caught off guard by the sudden affection, she stuttered, "erm, n-no problem, Harry."
She smiled again before letting their hands drop from one another as she left the room, her wrist sporting a new piece of jewelry, matching with his.
