"Do we have a chance at choosing wands today?"

"Should I answer that with good or bad percentages?"

"Forget I ever asked."
───⚬⚬⚬⚬⚬⚬⚬───

Diagon Alley brought back nostalgic memories for all the people who walked through the streets. It brought back the memories of Harry learning he was a wizard, of Ginny getting her first wand, of Albus meeting Scorpius, of James, getting a new textbook that he cherished as if it was his life. It held memories of Cedric driving his father nuts while trying to make sure he had the most 'fantastic' pet in the whole school, memories of Milo getting his very own wand and now it was making new memories for the new generation who were going into Hogwarts.

The first shop that the Potter slash Diggory Family went to was the wands, courtesy of Remus pleading that he wanted to see if he was going to actually get into Hogwarts and Amos being almost certain that he was going to be the fastest one to choose a wand for than anyone else. Lily and Hugo didn't mind much, talking amongst themselves about something involving books and fairy tales.

The moment the shop doors opened, Amos dragged in his younger cousin by the collar when he noticed Remus trying to inch away, face set in an annoyed expression, he kept the grip and continued to drag the horrified redhead towards the counter as the owner laid out multiple wands for the four kids to choose from. Amos barely paid attention to Lily and Hugo, eager to get his own wand and show off how brilliant he was with it, of course, he would include his fellow cousin, Remus in it too, that is if the trembling boy would stop biting his shirt and dampening it with anxiety drool.

Shoving the boy away with one hand, Amos pouted sullenly at the large dark spot that showed on his shirt and fixed his cousin with an annoyed glare. Remus could only sniff, wiping away the drool that was dripping from his lips only for saliva to fill his mouth once more. Blue eyes narrowed before Amos swirled around and waved his hand towards his aunt, walking over with a pout still on his face as his cheeks reddened in annoyance.

"Aunt Ginny."

The woman looked down, lips twitching a bit as she noticed the dark wet spot on the boy's shirt, no doubt made by her young son and his excessive anxiety drooling. Ginny never quite understood something like that, how Remus would just start drooling whenever he was anxious or nervous though she supposed it was simply a little quirk of his just like it was a little quirk for Amos to puff out his red cheeks and put his hands on his hips when upset.

Of course, Amos forgot about his annoyance when a wand was presented to him, jumping over with the eagerness of a cat getting food, the boy snatched the wand up like it was essential for his life and flicked it upwards. Sparks shot out like wildfire, curling around each other and forming a multitude of shapes. The trio of redheads had gone silent as if they were in awe and as much as Amos wanted to seem as confident as ever while holding the wand, he gave a sideways glance towards Remus who was peeking out from Albus's side like a toddler who was meeting strangers.

He sniffed, waving a hand over and watching as Remus stiffened like some statue. The two cousins stared each other down before Remus decided that it was best to simply follow as he inched ever so close to the counter. With his patience wearing thin and wanting to cause some sort of trouble within their little shopping spree, Amos grabbed his collar and yanked him over just as the owner gave him a wand to test out.

It had been nearly one hour yet no matter how many wands he went through, None of them suited him. Breathing heavily, Amos blew a strand of brown hair from his eyes as he played with his own wand in annoyance. How long did it take to find a wand? More so, how long did it take to find a one for the son of the boy who lived? Eventually, as Remus was handed one of the wands that were in the back, a spark was seen and that was all Amos needed to push himself off of the wall and try pushing his uncle, aunt, parents, and cousins through the door. Once everyone was out and Amos had closed the door right behind him, he walked up to his older cousin with an innocent grin,

"What's the charm to unlock things?"

Albus furrowed his eyebrows, mulling over his studies before tilting his head to the side. Part of him wanted to ask why Amos wanted the charm when they weren't even in Hogwarts yet but he shrugged it off and pulled a hand away from his jacket to demonstrate.

"It's Alohomora and the wand movement is a backward S, kinda like a snake."

With a satisfied nod, Amos reached forward to grasp Remus's wrist just as they entered the robe shop and Lily and Hugo were told to stand on the podium to get fitted for robes. Amos brought his lower lip into his teeth as he teetered back and forth on the heels of his feet, the robe fitting was boring already and not knowing when it would be finished only bored him further. Not wanting to wait any longer, the moment Lily hopped off the podium, Amos was quick to hop on as his uncle ushered Remus along.

The boy had to keep from snapping with each poke and prod at his sides and stomach as if he was some experiment. When it was finally over, Amos dove forward and seized Remus's hand once more, a grin forming on his face as he pulled him towards the door and called out.

"I'm going to the pet shop!"

─⚬─

People ignored the duo who walked along the streets with Amos leading the way and Remus simply being dragged along like a doll on the floor. It was obvious to tell that the boy was excited about something, whatever that something is, Remus couldn't tell as they twisted and turned and he was pulled to and fro by a jubilant cousin. Suddenly, a sudden shriek from Amos had him leaning back as far as he could with his wrist still in the boy's grip but Amos didn't seem to mind, in fact, he had let go entirely causing Remus to fall on his back with a thud and his glasses to bounce off of his face.

"Why did you-"

Remus was quickly interrupted by his cousin's squeals of pure excitement, over what? He had no clue. Amos bounced up and down squealing like some pig as he chanted underneath his breath about whatever had gotten him so worked up. Whirling around to face the dumbfounded boy on the floor, Amos kept his grin in place as he watched Remus stand to his feet. Reaching forward, He pulled him along as he began explaining.

"Animagus! We could become animals, like Dad and your grandfather and uncle! I don't think there's any worry of finding ingredients, I could just go to the potions shop but we have mandrakes in the greenhouse... along with bowtruckles and other plants that are too boring, I think there's a book on it! Grandma won't dare to tell us about it but she can't stop us from reading about it. Of course, it takes only one month but the ingredients are such a hassle to find... we should start searching now... after I open the cages!"

"But doesn't it- wait after you do what?"

Amos let go of his cousin's wrist with a raised eyebrow. They had stopped in front of the pet shop but it seemed like Remus didn't hear him or was still confused, either way, he shrugged it off and gestured in front of them.

"Open the cages. What, did you think I was gonna spend the day acting like a goody two shoes? That's boring! Releasing animals from their cages... now that's fun."

Remus blinked softly but before he could object to such an idea, Amos was already pulling them along, opening the shop door with a giant grin. Multiple animals shifted in their cages but Amos was more focused on the cats and owls as he pulled out his wand and pouted just a bit.

"Which should I release first? I would do the owls so they could fly around and cause havoc but there's also the cats but they're smarter than you think so they'll probably stay inside their cages, what about the toads? Those could jump around! Wait, are there any other animals here? Like rats? Wait, what about a Jarvey? I could name it something cool, it would be an awesome pet too... how come they don't allow it in here... it's a talking ferret for Merlin's sake, they allow kneazles here! Toads aren't anything special anyways and neither are owls! All they do is deliver letters and mail! Wait, can't a jarvey do that? I should reread that book on them but it's at home and I haven't seen one...."

Remus shook his head to and fro, puffing out his cheeks as Amos continued on with his rant that went from releasing animals to talking about a beast to birthday presents? He blinked, rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses as Amos tugged on his wrist every time he paused to make sure Remus wasn't ignoring him.

"I want a jarvey... a plain ferret won't do! Doesn't Albus have a ferret? So it is a pet, how come a jarvey isn't one, I guess having a ferret throw insults at you won't be very good but who cares? I could sick it on my Enemies! Or well...something along those lines, is there a shop for beasts? Do you think we can find it here? Remus, can you at least pay attention, I look like I'm talking to plain air."

"Don't you have something to do?" The Boy grumbled as he wiped the drool that started pooling at his mouth, he scrunched up his nose as he spat in a garbage can, cheeks going red when Amos stepped back and mumbled a 'gross' underneath his breath before going back to the task at hand but it seemed as if the boy could only unlock one cage with his hands as Amos had completely forgotten about using his wand, that or the first year didn't want to embarrass himself by failing to use a spell.

The owl hooted thankfully as it flew out the cage and Amos was quickly at the next despite the footsteps of the shop owner behind them. A hand gripped his collar and hoisted him up. Of course, Amos, being a boy who used his voice to tell his emotions simply shrieked like a banshee that was probably deafening to whoever was close enough to hear it. The owner walked towards the door before throwing them out, slamming it in the process.

Amos pouted before noticing that the owl he had let out was still flying above them. Fixing his gaze on the shop, he also noticed the cage he was working on unlocking was busted open by whatever animal was inside and now there was a ferret on the ground, preferably happy that it had gotten out before the door closed. Amos leaped to his feet, bouncing up and down on his toes at the sight of the animals that he had nearly forgotten about Remus nursing his bruised arms and throbbing head.

"I should have known that leaving you two together would end in something like this."

Amos paused, turning around and completely ignoring the way his father had his eyebrows furrowed and simply kept jumping as he pointed to the flying owl and then back at the ground where the ferret was walking across as if he had never seen them before.

"Dad!"

Albus rubbed his eyes heavily, feeling a bit guilty that he had given the boy the charm to do such a thing, then again he was also curious as he tilted his head to the side, a grin already forming on his face.

"So that's why you needed the charm for unlocking things?"

Cedric rubbed his eyes, Amos was more mischievous than his cousins. Shaking his head Back and forth, he let out a sigh and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Why did you even want to let out the animals?"

"Oh... I wanted to pet them!"

──⚬⚬⚬──

The crowd was heavy as the family maneuvered their way towards the exit but as Remus lagged behind, his eyes on his shoes, he could hardly see who was in front or the back of him. A sharp sting entered his left arm and let out a weak whimper, Remus rolled up his sleeves to notice thick red lines of scratches across it. Glancing behind him at the woman that passed by, he noticed that she was flicking away something on her hands.

"Hurry up!"

Remus snapped his head up when Amos shrieked that he should walk faster and simply did as told, squealing when the boy swung an arm around his shoulders and started to walk with him once more.

"Ready for Hogwarts?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Me too."

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