(1) The Other Potter (D. Malfoy)

Chapter Six

The Leaky Cauldron is a very traditional-looking British pub. The wooden beams and the dark atmosphere. It isn't full of patrons but it is not empty either. Just enough people are gathered that it feels homely and comfortable. Daisy likes it. Feels comforted by it all. Like a warm blanket in the fall, a hot chocolate, a plate of cookies and a movie. That's the same feeling she gets from this place. But more. The way the magic feels against her. She can feel it everywhere and it has never felt that powerful anywhere other than Mystic Falls. The town almost feels like it matches up with Diagon Alley. She itches with it. Because she wants to reach out and touch something. To soak up some magic. Though she keeps her manners. Magnolia has raised her to not just snatch up magic. She has to wait for permission. She understands why. Stealing someone else's magic is a rude thing to do. Elena and Jeremy are racing around the tables of the pub, chasing an enchanted paper plane that flies around above them. Keeping them entertained whilst Grayson and Magnolia talk about their plan for the rest of the week. With three kids under ten, they have to make sure they have everything down whilst they can. Daisy is just enjoying being with them in this situation. This is her world and she is enjoying it with her family. They have never been exposed to magic at the same time, but this time they are fully emerged in it. It's nice.

"We'll go and get your wand in the morning" Magnolia assures Daisy from where she sits across from the young girl. "And there is something we need to do after that, I want to introduce you to someone important...." Daisy frowns a little and turns to her.

"Harry?" She asks, Magnolia looks at her softly, but tinges with sadness which tells Daisy the answer to that question.

"No, someone else...Soon, you'll see Harry soon, I promise" Daisy wrinkles her nose. She was hoping for something before school started. So they weren't reuniting in front of strangers and classmates and teachers. It should be done with family around them.

.......

The pub bedroom is silent in the dark. The Gilbert family are sharing one family room. Almost everyone is asleep. The flight over had taken a lot out of Jeremy and Elena, who fell asleep almost as soon as they came up to their room after dinner. Daisy is awake though. sitting on the dresser in front of the window so she can look out at the darkened street below. A few people are going about their evening business. Pub patrons heading home at closing. The last of the store owners closing up. Bank workers going home. She lets out a breath and turns her eyes downward to the photo frame in her hand. It's a photo of her and Harry with Lily and James. It's one of the only whole family photos that she has. There are some of her and Harry together, some of her with Lily, with James, some of Harry with Lily, with James. But the whole family together, there aren't many of them. She watches as the photo version of her family moves. A moment captured forever. Like a gif. She was hoping that being here for these few days meant that she was going to get to see Harry. It was the only thing that made sense to her with them coming so early. They could have arrived the day before she is set to leave and come to the street for her wand, but they choose a couple of days. She's spent most of her life without her twin brother at her side, and she hates that she feels it. Like there is a void inside of her. She knows it's him not being in her life. She can't understand why she was given to Magnolia and Harry wasn't. She can't understand why they were separated the way that they were. To her, it would have made more sense to keep them together. Who willingly thinks it is a good idea to take twins and have them grow up as far apart as they were? She lets out a breath and sets the photo frame next to her. She has a lot of questions that Magnolia can't answer, or won't answer. She is hoping that Hogwarts will at least give her some.

.......

It's just Daisy and Magnolia who head along Diagon Alley the following day, which disappoints Daisy a little. She only has a couple of days left and she was wanting to spend as much of it with all of her family as she could, as much as she is excited to get her wand. It's going to be some time before she gets to see them all again, of course she is going to want to savour each and every moment she can with them. She is going to miss them. She knows she is going to be lonely. They have been a part of her life for every single day, to be without them is going to be a shock to her system. Magnolia squeezes Daisy's hand, watching her as she looks around the street, taking in each storefront that they pass. Whilst Leviathan has all the same stores, and more, there is something more idyllic and quaint about the British street. Americans are louder and prouder and they can come across as more in the face with things, especially with the wizarding community, Magnolia took some time to get used to it when she first went to the states, but she loves them for it now. Leviathan is a grand spectacle compared to Diagon Alley. The store that Magnolia stops them at is narrow and shabby, it actually looks a lot older than any of the other stores on the street. There are peeling gold letters over the door that read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC, which really does imply that the store has been here far longer than any of the others. Daisy lets out a breath and tugs on her sleeves to pull them down her hands. She is nervous now. She knows that there isn't a wrong answer with the wand, but she is sure there are better wands than others, just like with everything else. Magnolia brushes Daisy's hair flat so she can kiss her head.

"Stop worrying" She coos as she pulls back. "You'll do fine" She assures the young girl who nods before she moves forward. She pushes open the door to the shop and heads inside. Magnolia turns to look back over her shoulder and along the cobbled street. A sadness washes over her. The last time she had been here was with Lily, just before their final year of Hogwarts. They had no reason to come back here after school. Magnolia closes her eyes and then follows Daisy inside.