After eating, Minny leads us out of the dark restaurant called "The Leaky Cauldron" and back onto the colorful alleyway. 

She guides us past a few stores and into a store with faded purple paint and a sign that reads"Madam Malkins Robes for All Occasions" in gold cursive. 

"Hello, Minerva," greets the older lady behind the counter. "What can I do for you today?"

"This is Miss Noir. She will be staring at Hogwarts this year. We are here to get her fitted for some robes," she explains.

The older lady with graying hair pulled into a bun comes around from the chipped black wood counter and leads me to a black pedestal in front of a gold ornate, floor-length mirror. She wears robes similar to the ones Minny wears, but hers are a bright turquoise with a gold ivy pattern, making her stand out against the darkly colored store. She motions for me to step up onto the pedestal and pulls the white measuring tape off her neck. She takes my measurements, then writes them down on her small notepad that she had pulled from her pocket. She then goes to a rack filled with black robes of many sizes.

"This should be the correct size," she says as she hands me the robe.

I slip it on over my clothes and turn around till I'm looking in the gold mirror. There isn't anything special about the large piece of black fabric, especially when you compare it to the colorful clothes I have seen Minny wear, but it feels spectacular to me. It is something new. It is something different. I have always feared different. The unknown. This "different" doesn't feel the same. It feels like the adrenaline rush that I got when my foster parents took me on a roller coaster. You reach the top of the up climb and while it can be scary as you start to fall, the excitement and unknown of what will happen next easily masks the fear.

"Does it seem to fit well?" the store owner asks.

I nod my head quickly. She grabs a few white shirts, sweaters, and gray skirts for me to try on, then sends me to a dressing room covered by silky purple fabric hanging off a black rod.

I put on the shirts and skirts and look in the mirror. The clothes are the same as the robes, there isn't anything super exciting about them, but they make me feel giddy. The idea of receiving new clothes that haven't already been worn or were donated by a random person isn't expected. The idea that these clothes are specifically meant for me. The only clothes that were specifically bought for me were by my last foster parents.

The feeling of excitement slowly fades as the suppressed memories of my last foster family try to escape their enclosed box in my head, interrupting the happiness I was feeling. No longer interested in the clothes, I quickly finish trying on the clothes and fold them into a pile. I look over myself before I exit the room. My face doesn't seem as overjoyed as I looked and felt a few minutes ago. I try to force a smile, but it just looks unnatural and painful. I let the smile fall and pick up the clothes from the wooden bench. I push open the purple velvet curtain and see McGonagall and the store owner whispering. When they look up to see me they seem guilty.

The professor pays for the robes and we exit the shop.

We down the alley in a deafening silence that was not there before we entered the clothing store.

"Miss Noir, would you like to go get some ice cream, before we continue our shopping?" Minny asks to break the silence.

"Ok," I reply.

She guides us till we are standing in the line outside a shop called "Florean Fortecues". On the front, it has a sign with an ice cream cone and the ice cream was spinning in circles. The spinning sign has me staring in a trance until high-pitched arguing snaps me out of it coming from a few steps away.

"No, you do not need ice cream right now. We need to go buy your stuff for school, that is why we are here!" instructs a woman with bright red hair.

Surrounding the woman with red hair, is an army of high-pitched whining red-headed children, pulling her towards the ice cream shop.

The whining must have caught Minny's attention too because she says, "Hello Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasleys," making sure to squint her eyes as she greets the children. "Oh, and Miss Weasley, you too. I believe you are to start your first year next year?"

The small girl nods shyly while trying to get away from her loud brothers.

"Hello Minerva, it is good to see you," the woman greets. "And who is this?" she asks looking at me. 

"This is-" McGonagall starts.

"I'm Syria Noir," I answer confidently.

"Are you starting school this year Miss Noir?" the woman asks while trying to push the children off of her.

"Yes," I respond, my attention caught on the two boys who were wrestling each other.

"That's lovely, so is my son Ron. You will be in the same year," she explains as she indicates to the youngest boy of the group. 

The boy's cheeks heat with color and he gives a small wave. The two identical boys stop fighting and follow the direction of their brother's sight to me. One of the identical brothers stops looking after a few seconds, his attention turns to trying to tackle one of his older brothers, but the other continues to stare. 

"Well Molly, I would love to buy them ice cream if they promise to not cause me any trouble for at least the first month of the term," she says.

The two boys that had been fighting immediately stop and both give an innocent grin in Minny's direction.

"Oh that would be lovely Minerva," the woman replies while giving her sons a warning glare as they walk in our direction.

The army of redheads joins us in line, and the boy who had been staring stands next to me. Even though he must not be older than me by a lot, he was easily a foot and a half taller than me.

"I'm Fred," he says randomly.

"Hi Fred," I answer uninterested while giving him my back.

"So you will be in Ron's year I heard," he continues.

I don't give him a response.

"Who are your parents? Or are you a muggle-born, though most of their parents get to come with them," he rambles, not noticing how I flench at his words.

The red-headed woman and Minny both suddenly stop talking, waiting to hear my response.

"I don't see how that information pertains to you," I answer. People always get anxious when this topic gets brought up, but it stops bothering you after you have many responses prepared that don't really answer their question. Well, at least you pretend like it stops bothering you, it will never fully lose its sting.

"That's fair," he replies.

The sadness I had thought I did a good job at covering, makes itself known in my hair. My once light brown hair changes to such a dark blue it is almost black.

"Wow," he whispers. "That's cool, I wish I could do that."

I glance out of the corner of my eye, seeing the sadden looks on the two older women, who understand the changing of my hair color. I quickly look down at the ground, not wanting to see their pitying looks.

After a minute or two of me trying to desperately change my hair back to its original color, it causes Fred to break out of his amassment. 

"Where are you from?" he probes.

"France," I answer.

"Wow, that must be cool. I have never been to France, but I would like to go. It must be beautiful. Isn't Beuxbatons the French Wizarding School? Why aren't you going there, instead of Hogwarts?" he asks.

"Has your mother not taught you any manners? I thought England was known for being prim and proper," I retort.

"She has taught me manners, a lot of them actually, but I just don't listen to them," he explains, not bothered by my snarky comment in the slightest.

"Oh my gosh Minerva, I love her," the red-headed woman whispers.

"Thanks, I know I'm a delight," I answer as I turn around to look at her with a sarcastic smile.

We get to the counter to order and I go first, "I would like vanilla," I tell the man in the pink apron.

"No, that is way too boring. You should go for something more interesting. I would go for the butterbeer or a good toffee apple," he interrupts.

"If I get something different will you shut up?" I ask while snapping my neck over to look at the irritating boy behind me.

"Sure," he says happily.

"I will get the butter beer instead," I change my answer.

"Don't forget the caramel syrup," Fred comments.

The guy in the pink apron adds the caramel syrup before handing the ice cream cone to me. I exit the small shop to sit at a table under a pink umbrella outside. The two identical boys walk out the door each holding two cones piled with multiple types of ice cream and toppings. They sit down with the younger brother following behind them.

"Sorry about my brothers, they can be a lot sometimes," he apologizes as he looks over at the twin brothers who were currently stuffing as much ice cream into their faces as they could.

"It's ok," I reply.

"I'm Ron," he says as he holds out his hand covered in chocolate ice cream to shake.

"I'm Syria," I answer, looking at his sticky hand in disgust before turning back to my ice cream.

"I'm Ginny," the littlest redhead announces as she sits by me.

"Hello Ginny," I greet with a small smile.

"You'll have to forgive my brothers. They don't have etiquette, unlike me. I am as proper as can be," Ginny says while sticking out her pink on the hand that is holding her ice cream cone.

"I can tell," I respond.

I wanted to get an extra chapter out for the twin's birthdays! "Redamancy" just hit #2 in Fredrick, I'm so excited! If you didn't see my announcement earlier, the reason the chapters were re-published was that I didn't see that auto-correct decided to change my character's name from Syria to Seria, so nothing important changed that you need to go back and re-read. I plan for the next chapter to be out this weekend. Don't forget to comment, vote, and check out the Redamancy TikTok for updates! I also wanted to ask how you are liking the chapter lengths, too long, too short, or a good length? I would love to hear your theories of what you think will happen next!