Peppermint and Cinnamon

03 || A Trip to Diagon Alley

London, August 19th, 1995

"Pumpkin pie, time to wake up. We have a whole day of shopping ahead of us for all your new school supplies you need." Alice said as she walked into her daughter's room waking her up.

"Ughhhh, five more minutes." Ivy groaned as she pulled her covers over her head and wrapped herself up into a little ball. Alice pulled her wand out of her back pocket and with a flick of it the covers were pulled straight off Ivy's body as she screamed in surprise.

"AHHHH, it's cold I'm going to freeze to death on the spot!" Ivy yelped as she fell to the floor. She sat up her brown hair covering her face as she growled at Alice who just laughed at her.

"Oh stop being so over dramatic you're fine, now get up and get dressed. Come down when you're ready and breakfast will be waiting." she said to her daughter who was slowly pulling herself up from the floor. Ivy stretched her arms out wide as she yawned. As she walked into her bathroom she looked over at the calendar suddenly realizing that her birthday was coming up. Ivy would be 15 in four days, on the 23rd. As Ivy quickly showered and threw on a white jumper over a pair of jeans she pulled on her shoes and combed her hair letting it fall at her sides today. She grabbed her wand from her desk and left her room heading downstairs.

The smell of freshly cooked biscuits filled Ivy's senses as she walked into the kitchen greeting her parents. As Ivy sat down at the kitchen counter she gulped down a glass of orange juice while stuffing her face full with biscuits and jam.

"Oi, Ivy stop eating so fast you're going to choke on your biscuits." her father laughed. Alice just rolled her eyes looking away from her family bringing her attention back down to the Daily Prophet.

"Alice! We should get going before it gets so busy, I mean there is only about a week till term starts, everyone will be going." Robert exclaimed looking down at his watch. He used his wand to transport Ivy's dishes and glass to the sink where they started to magically clean themselves.

"Where EXACTLY are we going?" Ivy questioned her parents.

"Diagon Alley of course, only the best place in London to buy everything you need for school." Her father exclaimed excitedly, looking like a kid in a candy store. Ivy could tell her father was looking forward to going to this Diagon Alley, probably reminded of him when he went in his teenage years.

The family of three walked over to the fireplace in their living room, as they were traveling by floo powder. Ivy has traveled by floo powder many times before and she was very used to it at this point. Her mother went first and then Ivy walked up to her father and grabbed some powder out of the bag he was holding. Then clutching the powder in her hand she walked over to the fireplace and stepped into it. Throwing the powder at her feet yelling loudly "Diagon Alley!" she was enveloped into a cluster of bright green flames as her living room disappeared from her view.

As she coughed out some smoke she stood up from the fireplace that she had landed in and wiped herself off. She looked around at a dark sort of homey place that looked to be a pub when she saw her mother a couple feet to the side of her. A few moments passed and then her father appeared in the fireplace coughing and dusting himself off. The three walked out of the pub and into a crowded long cobblestone alley.

Ivy stared around in awe at the lively scene, she saw lots of bright welcoming store fronts and heard so many different sounds. Adults were conversing with each other while kids ran in and out of shops laughing and carrying arms filled with a variety of things.

"Ok Ivy let's get started, we have a lot of things to get." Robert said turning to his daughter and wife. Ivy pulled out her long list of things she was required to get and read off the first item.

"I need ALL of these books and textbooks!" Ivy yelled looking at the long, long list. Her parents rolled their eyes and beckoned their daughter to follow them. As they all entered Flourish and Blotts where she would purchase all her books and textbooks Ivy began to pull the right books off the shelves. When she had all of the right books Ivy walked over the line by the counter waiting to pay.

"Alice this line looks pretty long, how about you and Ivy go buy some more things you need off your list and we will all meet up back here in a couple of hours." Robert said grabbing the heavy textbooks out of Ivy's hands. Her and her mother waved bye to her father and they walked out of the shop.

As the two of them walked in and out of shops purchasing items Ivy would need for her first school year at Hogwarts the list of things they still needed was getting shorter and shorter. After they exited Slug and Jigger's Apothecary shop they only had two more things on their list, an owl and some dresses for nice occasions. Ivy and Alice walked towards Eyelop's Owl Emporium, Ivy was getting excited that she was going to get her own owl. At Ilvermorny Ivy used the Cornell's family owl Bruce, but he was getting too old to make the journey from Hogwarts to Ivy's house, so her mom agreed to get Ivy her very own. Ivy looked around at the dozens of owls flying around all hooting and looking down at the families.

Reaching the back of the store Ivy saw a light grew owl that caught her eye. Slowly walking up to the creature she inspected it closer and noticed that the owl's head was outlined with a beautiful icy blue color. Realizing the owl was a girl she stroked the owl's head lightly. Her eyes were also an icy blue that resembled the color of her head. The owl nuzzled into Ivy's hand and she knew this was her owl. Leaving the shop with her new owl in its cage Ivy was smiling brightly, already loving her new companion.

"She is beautiful! What are you going to name her?" Alice asked Ivy.

"Gardenia, it is a lovely name and it was also Penelope's favorite type of flower." Ivy said sighing at the mention of her best friend's name, but she wanted to honor her in a nice way and feel like a part of Penelope was always going to be with her, even at Hogwarts.

"It is lovely dear. Now, let us go grab you some nice dresses for you and go meet up with your father." Alice said giving her daughter a side hug as the two walked through Diagon Alley smiling and laughing.

When the two finally met up again with Robert they decided to stop at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour to get a sweet treat after a long day of shopping. Ivy enjoyed every bite of her tasty ice cream. Her and her parents sat at one of the small tables in a corner and all silently ate their ice cream, too indulged in it to even speak to one another. After they finished they made their way back up to the pub known as The Leaky Cauldron talking and enjoying each other's company the entire time. Ivy told her parents that going to Diagon Alley for the first time would definitely be something she would remember for the rest of her life as her mom wrapped her arms around Ivy pulling her in tightly, the mom and daughter laughing the rest of the way back.