3

"The boy who lived?" I asked in disbelief. A nickname too? Everyone bloody lives, what was special about him?

"That's right. His name is Harry Potter," Mum said, smiling at the expression on my face. "Don't judge him until you know the full story."

I sighed, turning to Dad, who was silently staring at the wall.

"What do you think?" I asked him. He jumped, as though he had been thinking deeply. Mum placed a hand on his arm, as he said, "I think he should be in your year at Hogwarts!"

Wow brilliant. As if on cue, Harry Potter and the large man walked into the small space. Hastily, I rushed to hide behind my parents. My parents rushed forward to greet them, but not before my Mum raised her eyebrows at me, as I'm normally quite a confident person. I just shrugged and followed after them.

HARRYS POV

As people rushed towards me, clapping and seizing my hand, I just stood there, allowing myself to be pushed around. Why was everyone doing this? I didn't know what to say or do! Glancing around, I noticed every eye was on me. Every eye except one. A pretty girl was staring at Hagrid, from one of the back exits. She was the only one that looked about my age. Maybe she was going to Hogwarts too! Thanking everyone, I tried to pull myself away from everyone, but quickly got pulled back, losing sight of the girl. I looked up again, scanning the crowd for her face. My emerald eyes met her hazel ones, gaining her attention. I smiled as I noticed her mouth hanging slightly open, staring straight at me. Blushing, she quickly snapped out of her trance when she saw me looking. I smirked, causing her to send me a dirty look, whipping her small body round and disappearing quickly out the door. I looked away just in time to see Hagrid announce that we had to go.

"Where do we go now Hagrid?" I asked, walking next to him as everyone settled back down, most eyes following me still as we walked towards the same door the girl had just gone through.

"Follow me," Hagrid said, smiling down at me. Following him, he led us out to a small courtyard, with nothing but a few bins and a brick wall.

"Hagrid!" I heard a voice say. Turning around, I saw a couple walking towards us.

"Jake! Ruby! Didn't see yeh there! How are yeh both?" Hagrid said happily, shaking the mans hand. The man winced slightly as Hagrid shook it, as he was obviously a lot bigger.

"Really good, thank you," said Jake, his wife smiling warmly at Hagrid, then to me.

"You must be Harry," she said kindly.

I nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"Don't be silly, dear, call me Ruby. And this is Jake." I smiled at them both gratefully. Jake stayed silent, watching me closely.

"S'pose yer here fer Millie?" Hagrid questioned. "There yeh are! Hello, Millie!"

Looking past Jake, I saw the same girl I had seen in the leaky cauldron standing behind her parents.

"Hi! So, you're Hagrid. Dad's told me all about you!" Millie smiled, stepping out from behind her parents.

"All good things I hope," Hagrid chuckled. Millie nodded, grinning. "And this is Harry, yeh two will be in the same year at Hogwarts."

Her eyes darted to me. She lifted her hand slowly and waved, her eyes not leaving mine. I waved back, raising my eyebrows. Ruby and Jake were now deep in conversation with Hagrid, so I took this opportunity to step forward and talk some more with the girl.

MILLIES POV

I watched as Harry took a step closer to me.

"Yes?" I said, fake yawning to show he was boring me. Harry just continued staring at me.

"You do talk right?" I said sarcastically.

"I only talk to people who are nice to me," Harry said slowly. I glared at him.

"Well, I'm afraid I'm only nice to people who I like," I snapped.

"And why don't you like me?"

"Because I don't want to be friends with someone who thinks they are better than everyone else," I said, this time I stepped towards him, crossing my arms.

"And why would you think that," Harry said. It was his turn to glare. We were now inches apart, glaring at each other. My eyes darted up to his forehead, where I could now make out a deep scar, in the shape of a lightening bolt. Harry must have noticed because he quickly flattened his hair over it, blushing.

"What?" Harry growled. Clearly, he was insecure about this.

"Nothing.! I shrugged, softening my gaze. Although this boy was annoying me, I remembered what my parents had said, about him having been through a lot. Maybe this was linked to the scar. "It's cool." I finally turned away from him and back to Hagrid and my parents. Harry was obviously surprised about my words, as his fists unclenched and his gaze softened.

"Oh," he breathed softly, turning his head away from me.

Leaning back towards him, I whispered out of the corner of my mouth, "Doesn't mean we are friends."

Harry smirked and whispered back, "Fine by me."

HARRYS POV

I was embarrassed when she saw my scar. I thought she would make fun of it, laugh at me, but instead she said it was cool. My cheeks reddened thinking about it. I've never had someone compliment my scar. Never. And I wasn't exactly proud of it. I didn't even know what it's from! Ruby's voice snapped me out of my thoughts as she said my name.

"Harry, Millie, we were wondering if you two would like to go around Diagon alley together, you know, toget your school things."

A quick glance at Millie confirmed my decision.

"Yes! We would love to. We were actually just talking about how great friends we are going to be!" I said, smiling innocently at the small group. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Millie glaring at me.

"Perfect!" Hagrid said happily. "We'll quickly go and grab Harrys money from gringotts, and then we'll meet yer at Ollivanders in half an hour? I've got a few things to do anyway, Hogwarts business," Hagrid added, winking at me.

"Great! We've already got Millies money, so we'll walk around for a bit." Jake said, nodding.

"Okay - now, where's me umbrella?" Hagrid said, clearly talking to himself. "Everyone stand back."

We all took a step back, except Hagrid, who began tapping the wall with his umbrella.

"I thought I told you we aren't friends," Millie whispered quietly to me.

"Well, you said my scar is cool," I whispered back.

"Yeah, and that's just about the only thing about you that is," she hissed, lowering her voice even more.

"Wow thanks." I said, rolling my eyes. She grinned.

"Did you just smile?" I said, covering my mouth, pretending to be in shock.

"Shut it, Potter," She turned away.

"Potter? Well I guess your Donovan then."

"I guess I am."

Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the dustbin. I heard something like,"Three up... two across...", and then "ready Harry? Millie?"

We both nodded anxiously. Staring at the wall in front of us, I watched as the brick he had touched quivered, until a small hole appeared in the middle, growing wider and wider. A second later, I was facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway on to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight...

"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon alley".