Primrose

Chapter Four - Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley was busy with bustling shoppers; Severus typically hated shopping here during this time of year because it was always full of parents shopping for their child's new term at school but he knew that he'd have to just grin and bear it for Prim's sake.

"Where first?" Prim asked excitedly. Unlike her father, she loved Diagon Alley all year round and was happy to be spending her birthday here. "Gringotts?"

"No, I cannot stomach those carts today" came his reply "I will charge the items to my account. Where would you like to go first?" Severus asked even though he knew the answer.

"Wand!"

Nodding, Severus smiled and set off toward Ollivander's wand shop. "What'll happen if none of the wands choose me?" Prim asked just as they reached the door.

"I wouldn't worry about that" she was assured "you've been using magic since you were two years old- accidentally of course."

Prim thought back to the times where she'd made the impossible happen; like causing every single lightbulb in the school to explode all at the same time when Eve had made her laugh so hard that she'd had trouble containing her humour. "But still..." she worried.

"There's only one way to find out" Severus told her, pushing open the door and holding it open for Prim before following through himself.

"Why, hello!" An old man, behind the counter, greeted them. This, Prim assumed, was Ollivander "Harry was in here not a moment ago buying his wand!" Ollivander announced but stopped when Severus flashed him a warning look. He busies himself with taking Prim's measurements for a moment before he says, "let's see" and runs his finger down a row of wands and pulls one out "11 inches, mahogany and dragon heartstring." He hands it over but then snatches it back.

They go through wand after wand for a long time; Prim feeling more anxious by the minute, still worrying that none of the wands will be right for her, began to get a little despondent. Until the wandmaker stops and stares at one of the shelves.

"Ah" he says to himself as he runs a finger over a box "maybe--" Ollivander looks over at Primrose and then at Severus before setting his gaze on Prim again. "I wonder-" he pulls the box off the shelf and opens it "this is a wand that I've had for a very long time" he tells her, carefully taking the wand out of the box; it was a beautiful wand, elegantly designed and Prim felt her heart flutter as she stared at it. The handle was intricately carved as though thin vines of ivy was growing up it and the colour of the wand seemed a little lighter than maroon. "This wand was made from two woods, mahogany and willow-notice the irregular shade and sheen of the wood?" Prim nodded, her eyes still fixed on the beautiful wand "the core, however, is a core that I have only used once but I have heard good things."

"What is it?" Prim asked quietly

"The tail feather from a Thunderbird" Ollivander replies "I have heard that it is a difficult core to master but that it's powerful. I have heard tell that it can sense danger and can cast magic on its own. This wand, because of the core, will be excellent for transfiguration but, because of the wood, it will also be good for charms and defensive magic."

When Ollivander finally hands the wand over, Prim can sense the wand even before her fingers have closed around the handle but, as soon as they had, the wand began to glow as it spread a warm sensation up her arm and down through her body. It left her breathless but excited; she knew that this was her wand, that it had spent all those years in this shop just waiting for her.

The very second Prim had touched the wand she felt a warm sensation spread up her arm and down through her body. The glowing intensified to the point where it was almost blinding before it shot up her arm and disappeared into her chest. "Whoa" she breathed, looking up at her father whose eyes were wide in amazement. The wand didn't feel like just a wand to her, it almost felt like an extra-limb, something that she wasn't sure how she'd lived without for so long. "I sense that you are going to do great things with this wand, Miss Snape;" Mr Ollivander told her, looking a little awed at the display "your mother was a great witch," he continues "you look remarkably like her, don't you know?"