Reality struck me as Ms. Potter led me out into the night. How on earth were we going to get there? And I didn't have any money! How would I pay for any of this?

Ms. Potter seemed to sense my worry. "If you're wondering how we're traveling, I hope you don't object to the bus. Not the muggle one, of course! You're not old enough to Apparate, obviously, and the Lewis's chimney isn't connected to the Floo network, so we'll have to take the Knight Bus."

I understood exactly none of that. I had so many questions, but decided on the easiest. "What's 'Muggle'?"

Ms. Potter, thank goodness, didn't seem fazed by that at all. "Muggles are the non-magical population. I believe you are the child of two muggles, but we can't be sure, since the Lewises aren't your birth family, are they?"

I just nodded. All right, so we would be taking the bus. I could do that. My other original question bobbed to the surface. "What about money? I don't have any...it's got to be really expensive, right?"

"Don't worry about that. Hogwarts has a fund for students who might need help purchasing robes or books. Everything is taken care of," Ms. Potter said firmly.

At the curb, Ginny suddenly stopped. She held her arm up. For a second, I stared at her in confusion. What was she doing?

Suddenly, there was a loud pop, and a purple triple-decker bus appeared in front of us.

I stumbled backwards in amazement. "What the..."

A middle-aged man in a conduct it's uniform stepped down the stairs. "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening."

Ginny said a quick thanks, and led me up the stairs. I stared at the interior of the bus in amazement. Instead of rows of seats, there were rows of beds. I was about to ask Stan Shunpike why, when Ginny grabbed my arm and pulled me down onto the bed next to her.

A second later, I knew why. The bus took off with a lurch, and I almost fell backwards, off the bed. When I finally managed to sit up again, I noticed we were in a completely different part of London. "What..."

"'Choo been on the Knight Bus 'efore?" Stan Shunpike asked me, chuckling at my bewilderment.

"No..." I glanced around. On the floor a few paces away was a newspaper. That wouldn't have been that extraordinary if the pictures on the front page hasn't appeared to be moving. I blinked, and shook my head. I needed sleep.

Ginny and Stan were talking about something I'd never heard of, "Quidditch," and Stan seemed to be a little in awe of her, and kept mentioning how he'd had her husband on this very bus, twice. Ginny did not seem all that impressed.

I don't know when or how I fell asleep, between the sudden stops that threw everyone forward, and the lurching starts that made us in danger rolling down the length of the bus, but I did. All that cleaning earlier had worn me out. Soon, Ms. Potter was shaking me awake. We alighted from the bus in front of a tiny, dirty pub. The swinging sign over the door said "The Leaky Cauldron." I stood staring stupidly at it as Ms. Potter retrieved my suitcase, then led me through the doors.

I was too tired to listen as she talked to the nice-looking lady at the bar, or notice what were apparently her children watching me from behind her. Ms. Potter beckoned me to a door off the side, and led me to a small bedroom, where I promptly fell into bed and slept like a baby.

~~~~

I woke up to see sunlight drifting through a window. At first, I couldn't remember where I was. The room was small, with the one bed I was in, and a mirror across the room, sitting over a dresser.

"Was that...was that all real?" I whispered, as the events of last night slowly came back to me.

To my great surprise, my reflection answered, a bit snarkily, "I expect so. I mean, you're sitting here."

A little bit freaked out, I tiptoed out of my room and down the hall. I peeked out into the main room of the pub, which was already busy and bustling. I spied Ms. Potter talking to a group of people, a lot of whom seemed to have flaming red hair like hers. When she saw me, though, she waved me over.

"Have a good rest?" she asked amiably.

I nodded. "Where are we?" I asked as she led me to a secluded table near the back. Most of the group she had been talking to left, but a man, probably her husband Stan had mentioned earlier, and three children stayed behind, sitting a few tables away, obviously waiting for us. I think they were trying to make this all less confusing, but I can't see how it helped.

"This is the Leaky Cauldron."

A waitress brought by a plate with bacon and eggs on it and placed it in front of me. I quickly started eating. I was starving.

"Very famous place," Ms, well, Mrs. Potter continued. "And the entrance to Diagon Alley."

"Diagon Alley?"

"Oh, you'll see in a few minutes. After breakfast, we need to go find your supplies for school. Need to get Albus's too..."

"So...there are wizards everywhere?" I asked after a pause.

Mrs. Potter nodded. "Everywhere there are muggles, anyway. And Hogwarts is one of the finest schools for training young wizards and witches."

"Why haven't I seen any before?"

"I expect you have, only you didn't know it."

While I was eating, I remembered the bag that Mum—Mrs. Lewis—thrust at me. I felt around my pockets, and saw that it was still there. Quickly, I brought it up to the table and emptied it next to my plate.

There was one certificate that seemed to have something to do with my being a foster child, and my strange birth certificate. It only had my first name, and the time and date of my birth. No last name, or parents' names, or even just a middle name. Mrs. Potter didn't know what to think about that either. Along with the papers, there was only a tiny gold key.

"What could this be for?" I wondered out loud.

Mrs. Potter looked incredibly interested. "Astra, I believe that that is a key to a vault in Gringott's... May I see?" I quickly handed it over. What the heck was Gringott's?

She turned it over a few times, then look at a little number engraved on it. "1612," she muttered. A second later, she said, "Perhaps you won't need to use the school fund after all. This was your parents?" I nodded, then shrugged. I guess it was... "Maybe they've left you something. In any case, we'll check it out before we buy your supplies."

I was too excited to eat anything else, so after a few minutes, Mrs. Potter led me out to the back yard. All the plants looked dead, and I didn't see an alley anywhere. "Where are—"

I got my answer before I'd finished the question. Mrs. Potter tapped a brick, and suddenly a small hole appeared in the wall. It grew wider and wider until we were facing a large archway, which Mrs. Potter promptly stepped through.

I followed her, and turned around to see the man and three children walking through the arch as well. After the little girl stepped through, it closed up so it looked like a normal brick wall.

The family smiled at me as Mrs. Potter said, "Astra, this is my husband. He'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year."

"Hello," I said quietly, shaking his outstretched hand.

"-and these are our children, James, Albus, and Lily." She indicated each child as she said their name.

Albus smiled shyly at me. "We'll both be first years this year, right?" I nodded.

"So... Where to first?" Professor Potter asked Mrs. Potter.

"Gringott's. Astra has a key to a vault, and I thought we should check that out first."

James gaped at me. "You have a vault in Gringott's?" He turned to his dad. "Can I come see? Please!"

Mrs. Potter shook her head. "You, Albus, and Lily can wait with your dad here, or go see Uncle Ron at the shop."

Whatever "the shop" was, it was apparently much better than waiting in the street. James and Albus took off down the road, followed by their sister and dad. Mrs. Potter led me down Diagon Alley, and I got a good look at it for the first time.

We were on a twisting cobbled street that was lined with the strangest shops I'd ever seen. One advertised cauldrons, and another owls, and another robes. There were barrels of all sorts of things outside the shops, like rat spleens and Lithuanian Mimballs, whatever those were. It was too much to take in at one time, and Mrs. Potter didn't give me time to gawk. We hurried down the street to a large marble building that towered over the surrounding shops.

At the door, we were greeted by...

"Goblins?"

Mrs. Potter nodded. "Gringott's is run by goblins." She must have noticed my worried face, because she added, "Don't worry, they won't hurt you." I'm afraid Lord of the Rings had ruined any warm and fuzzy feelings I would ever have for goblins, though.

I stared around at everything as Mrs. Potter spoke to a goblin at a desk that I couldn't see over. The entrance hall was massive and grand, with towering ceilings and a giant glass dome overhead. Soon, we were led out of the grandness and into a comparatively dark stone passage, to a large cart, and Mrs. Potter helped me clamber in.

I wasn't expecting the cart to go quite so fast. It zoomed away down into the earth, and I felt like I was going to throw up, but it was amazing, and then it was over.

"Let's do that again!"

Mrs. Potter looked a little green as she negated that suggestion.

The goblin led us to a large gold door. I could see three or four other doors in a semicircle, all identical.

Mrs. Potter handed me my key. I inserted it in the tiny keyhole as the goblin placed his hand on the door. It slid up, revealing a huge vault. I stared in awe, something that was becoming increasingly normal over the past twenty-four hours. There was quite a bit of stuff in there, including large piles of golden coins that I didn't recognize. There were also a other odds and ends. I saw a few golden cups, a silver sword, and an old wand right in front of me. I'd definitely have to come back here and explore at some point.

"Galleons," explained Mrs. Potter, holding up a few of the gold coins. "And these," she said, indicating several silver coins, "are Sickles. Those are Knuts. 29 Knuts in a Sickle, and 17 Sickles in a Galleon." I nodded, but I had no idea what she was talking about. Wizards had their own money?

The little goblin handed Mrs. Potter a small drawstring bag, and she filled it with Galleons, then handed it to me. "Don't lose that, or we'll have to come get more, and I don't think I want to ride that cart again today."

A few minutes later, we were standing inside the door of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, a magical joke shop that was full of people. I caught sight of Lily running by, carrying a wand which turned into a rubber chicken as she shook it. James was gazing in awe at a display entitled, "Hogwarts HiJINXes," and Albus was in the back of the store with his dad, talking to two red-headed men who looked a lot like Mrs. Potter.

"Ginny!" the younger one called, and Mrs. Potter led me towards the back, maneuvering around laughing children and adults alike.

During the round of greetings, I slipped back a bit to stand next to Albus, who grinned at me. "Hello," he said.

"Hi," I said, returning his smile. "This is amazing."

"What, Uncle George and Uncle Ron's store?"

"Everything," I said simply, and he nodded wisely.

"Yep. Everything is pretty amazing. Except spiders. They're not amazing."

~~~~

Twenty minutes later, Albus and I followed Mrs. Potter into Ollivander's, a wand shop. A middle-aged man met us, smiling at everyone. A very old man sat on a chair behind a desk that was piled high with boxes.

"Welcome, welcome. Albus Potter? Look just like your dad." Albus beamed. "Excited to get a wand?" Albus nodded enthusiastically.

"Hello, Garrick," Mrs. Potter called to the old man. He feebly raised a hand in acknowledgment. "Nice to see you, too, Jared," she said to the younger man. She lowered her voice. "How's your grandfather doing?" Mrs. Potter inclined her head towards the old man.

"Not too bad. Well enough to sit and watch the wand proceedings. Occasionally makes comments about the wands, but I'm afraid he's on his way out, if you know what I mean." The younger Mr. Ollivander sighed. "I suppose it's about time, though. He's over a hundred now, and, well, ever since what happened to him during the Second Wizarding War, he hasn't been quite right." He said all of this in a confidential whisper, though the older Mr. Ollivander looked too deaf to be able to hear us muttering about him.

Albus found a wand pretty quickly, though, as Mr. Ollivander said, "The wand chooses the wizard." I was not so lucky.

After the fiftieth wand and half an hour, I was beginning to lose hope. Albus looked bored, and though his mom was watching interestedly, it seemed like she was acting. I was about to just tell everyone to give up when Mr. Ollivander handed me one last wand.

This wand was made from a darker, rich wood, and had intricate designs covering the handle. It mainly looked like swirls and flowers. It was beautiful.

"Alder, phoenix feather core, 11 inches. Try this one, Astra." I took the wand, and immediately something different happened. The end lit up, and I was left feeling elated. The younger Mr. Ollivander smiled. "I think we have a match.

Albus whooped with joy and jumped up, almost knocking over a pile of precariously stacked wand boxes. After Mrs. Potter helped me pay for my wand, we walked out of the stuffy shop and into the bright sunlight.

"Let's go get robes now!" Albus suggested. Mrs. Potter let Albus lead the way to a shop bearing the name "Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions."

Soon, Albus and I were both being fitting for school robes. A few feet away, two blonde children who looked like they were our age were also being fitted. They would have been identical if they hadn't been of opposite genders.

The girl rolled her eyes haughtily at Albus, but smiled brightly at me. "Starting at Hogwarts?"

I frowned. "Yeah..."

"What house are you going to be in?" the boy asked.

Albus rolled his eyes. "You don't choose your house! You get sorted in!"

"Fine," the girl said, glaring at Albus. "What house do you want to be in?"

I glanced helplessly at Albus, who was locked in a stare down with the blond boy. I decided on shrugging.

"I'm going to be in Slytherin," the girl said. "And Scorpius will, too."

The boy, Scorpius, nodded. What terrible parents cursed him with that name? What was his sister's name, Arachnia?

"I wouldn't want to be in Slytherin," Albus said hotly. "That's where all Death Eaters came from."

I had no idea what that meant, but Scorpius grew very pale, and the girl gasped and looked like she was about to run Albus through with a knife. "How dare you say that!"

"It's true!" Albus retorted.

The girl was about to say more, but Scorpius grabbed her shoulder. "Come on, Ciara, let's go."

I watched them go, confusion flooding my brain. "What was that about?"

"Could you...um...not mention this to my mum...?"

"As long as you answer my question."

Albus sighed. "Well, they're Malfoys."

Apparently he thought that was enough of an answer, but after a few moments of me staring at him expectantly, Albus seemed to realize that I had no idea what that meant.

"Well, it's a long story, but basically, our dads never got along, and James and I have decided to carry on the legacy."

"Why? Isn't this how stupid feuds start? Like Romeo and Juliet?"

"Like what?" Now it was Albus's turn to be confused.

"You've never heard of Romeo and Juliet?" I gaped at him.

"It's a muggle thing, isn't it?"

"Um...I guess it is..."

"I bet Aunt Hermione's heard of it..." Albus trailed off. Suddenly, he groaned. "Uh-oh..."

"What?"

"We have to see Rose today."

"Who's Rose?"

Albus sighed. "My cousin. She's a bratty know-it-all."

"Sounds annoying."

Albus smiled at me. "Yeah. She's starting Hogwarts this year, too. Hope she's not in Gryffindor."

We spent the next few hours having the most fun I've ever had in my life. We found Mr. Potter, James, and Lily in Flourish and Blotts, a bookstore, where we got all of our school books. Then, Mr. Potter took Albus, Lily, and me to a store called Eeylops Owl Emporium.

Albus was incredibly excited about getting his own owl. After hearing that my birthday had went by unnoticed yesterday, he had his more-than-obliging dad buy me one as well, as a late birthday present.

I let Lily help pick it out, much to her delight, and she took almost twenty minutes in careful deliberation over almost every owl in the store. Finally, she chose a beautiful snowy white one. When Mr. Potter saw it, he seemed a bit upset, but quickly covered it with a smile, so I pretended I didn't notice.

Lily named mine Anastasia, and named Albus's (much to his dismay) Dumbleton. He kept grumbling about how "that's not Dumbledore's name" and how Lily was "the stupidest sister ever," which she happily ignored because I let her carry Anastasia.

Back in the Leaky Cauldron, James, Albus and I helped push most of the tables together into one long row. James kept going on and on about how he couldn't wait to see his cousins Fred and Louis, and Albus kept going on and on about how he'd do anything to not see his cousin Rose. I spent most of the time talking to Lily, who I found out was nine, wanted to start Hogwarts early, and loved Quidditch, whatever that was.

Soon, the pub filled with gingers. There were a few blondes and brunettes sprinkled throughout, and older one boy with jarringly turquoise hair who was holding one of the blonde girls' hands. Albus had a huge family.

I sat down next to Albus and Lily, and managed to not say a word the entire time. Apparently the insufferable Rose was sitting at the other end of the long table because Lily and I were the only girls at this end. I listened to Albus and his cousins talking, though most of what they said (more about Quidditch?) went over my head.

I went to bed that night exhausted but happy. The term at Hogwarts started the next day, and the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron and her family would be taking me to the train station early in the morning. I barely slept that night.

~~~~

A lot of the kids in this chapter are canon. All of the relationships are. I don't ship Neville and Hannah Abbott, but that's canon so guess who got married? After the Sorting, I'll have an author's note explaining who belongs to who if you'd like, though it'll only increase as time goes by.

This is a fanfic, and I am allowed to change things. I am perfectly aware that in the book, Draco Malfoy only had one son. However, for the purposes of this fanfiction, he had twins, a daughter and a son. I might have a few changes like that, though I'll try to keep them few and far between because I know from experience, some of the best fanfics are the ones that keep as much as possible canon.

One thing I have that is completely uncanon is this: I made Teddy Lupin a seventh year in this book. I realize he was 19 in the epilogue, but I thought him and Victoire at school together was sweet...

Vote, comment, and fan!

~Ellie