That first glimpse of the Alley...

21st July 1991

"-and the teacher scolded Dudley so bad."

"Oh."

"She even complained to uncle and aunt, and as usual, it fell on deaf ears,"

"Hm.

"But at least he got a week's suspension."

"Yeah."

"Are you listening to me?"

"Oh."

"Yor are not."

"Hm."

"Sia~," Harry lightly poked her cheek.

"What?" Sierra jumped slightly and looked at him.

Harry sighed and said, "You are troubled about something. What happened?"

Sia threw her head back and sighed.

The two were lying next to each other in the shade of a tree. It had been about a year since Sia and Harry got acquainted. The two had become very close friends, almost like siblings.

And now Sia was tasked to introduce Harry to magic.

It would hurt him, and she knew that. He would even feel betrayed.

But she had to.

In a few months, Harry would turn eleven. And Hagrid would visit him. Sia has to inform him now, or it will turn even more complicated.

'Broken beyond repair.'

"I have a task to do. But it's very hard. It will hurt a friend," Sia said.

Harry stared at her.

"I'm not an expert at philosophical talks and emotions. But I'd say there are very few things that will hurt a friend to the extent that you can never heal it," Harry said after a while.

Sia smiled at him bitterly, "Mine might just be one of them."

Harry stayed quiet for a bit before replying, "Speak up. Get the job done if it's bothering you so much."

Sierra stared at him thoughtfully and sighed.

"You sure?"

Harry nodded.

"Pay attention."

Sia picked up a pebble from the ground and held it at arm's length above her. She slowly brought her hand back, but the stone remained to hover. She then picked up a fallen flower and carried it near the rock. The petals separated and attached themselves to the stone.

It formed a flower.

Sierra turned her head to the side.

Harry was staring at the hovering flower with wide eyes. He extended his hand and touched the flower.

"It's magic," Sia commented.

Harry turned and looked at her.

"There are some people in this world who can perform magic. They are called witches and wizards. Those who are unable to do that are known as muggles,"

"You are a witch?" Harry asked after a pause.

"Yes. And you are a wizard."

Harry looked at her, shocked.

"Sorry. I wanted to be the first one to inform you. I didn't want you to think that I cheated on you. Soon you will get to know the details," Sia said as she got up.

Harry continued staring at her.

"Harry, I want you to know that I honestly consider you as my friend. And that's not just because you are Harry Potter."

Harry continued staring after her as Sia turned around and left the park.

___

31st July 1991

It was around eight in the morning.

The five siblings sat in a lounge. Everyone looked as if they were seated relaxedly, but the atmosphere seemed tense and severe.

"I did the job. Harry was shocked, and I was scared. So I did not wait to see his reaction," Sia said from the couch.

"Don't worry. Everything will turn out fine," Samuel said with a small smile.

"Hope so," Sia mumbled.

Karalyn sighed.

Sierra was very friendly and social, but she rarely made close friends. And when she did, she was very genuine.

"What is our next course of action? Are we going to the alley today?" Kar asked.

" "I want to see Hagrid." "

Sierra and Samuel said at once.

The other three laughed lightly.

"Should we try stopping the bad blood?" Stensen asked.

"Truthfully speaking, I consider it important. But we should try reducing it," Alpheus said.

"If we don't do anything about it, Draco would be in danger. I don't want that," Sia said.

"Alright then. Let's go and see the situation. We will act if needed," Kar finalized.

___

The five flooed to Diagon alley at around nine in the morning.

They checked at Malkin's to see if their target was there yet. But seeing that Harry was not there yet, they decided to go to Gringotts first.

As a precaution to not miss the timing, Sierra and Samuel decided to stay back and start shopping.

It was almost an hour before the two ended up finding Harry and Hagrid in front of MADAM MALKIN'S ROBES FOR ALL OCCASIONS.

Sia immediately sent a small wave of magic through a muggle coin in her jean pocket. Karalyn had used a Protean Charm to allow Sia to contact them. The five were working on a more efficient way of conveying messages, but the item was still in progress.

Sam and Sia followed behind Harry after Hagrid left.

They started doing some light shopping so as not to seem suspicious.

"Hello, Hogwarts, too?" they heard Draco say from behind the racks.

"Yes," Harry replied.

"My father's next door buying my books, and mother's up the street looking at wands," Draco continued.

He had his usual bored, drawling voice.

"Then I'm going to drag them off to took at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one, and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Sia could not stop snorting at Draco's spoiled tone and Harry's unenthusiastic replies.

The two jumped on hearing the sudden noise.

"Who's there?" Draco called.

Sierra winced at that. She cannot stay hidden anymore.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I swear. It's just that I found the voice familiar," Sia said, coming out from behind the racks.

" "Sia?" "

Both the boys said, surprised.

" "You know her?" "

They looked at each other.

Sia giggled at their coordination.

Draco looked back at Sia and asked, "You came for shopping?"

"Um. Ya," Sia said.

Sia glanced at Harry. It was apparent that he felt awkward.

"Harry, this is Draco Malfoy," Sia said, pointing at Draco.

"Nice to meet you," Draco said, extending his hand.

Harry looked at it for a while before accepting it.

"Harry Potter."

Sia winced as she saw Draco's eyes widen for a while before going up to Harry's forehead.

"Draco," Sia said, glaring at him a little.

"What?" Draco asked, startled.

"That's disrespectful," Sia said shortly.

Draco finally seemed to understand that he was staring, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare."

"It's okay," Harry replied shortly.

"I say, look at that man!" just then, Draco pointed out towards the street.

Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.

"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't.

"He works at Hogwarts."

"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

Harry's face darkened.

"He's the gamekeeper," Sia said, glaring at Draco hardly.

Draco shut his mouth up.

"That's you done, my dear," just then Madam Malkin spoke up.

"I'll get going now. Nice meeting you," Harry said insincerely. He then turned around and went to the counter to pay.

Sia turned to Draco, "You know, acting spoiled is not the solution when making friends. It makes you look arrogant instead of cool."

"I wasn't trying to be cool, neither I was trying to make friends with him," Draco protested.

"Ya. You can try lying to me. You know I know you, Draco. I'll meet you at the station," Sia said.

Sierra then turned around and walked out of the shop behind Harry.

Outside the shop, Alpheus, Karalyn, and Stensen were standing. They were in a friendly conversation with Hagrid.

"You're done with the robes shopping?" Al asked as they all turned to the door.

Sia walked to the group with a smile, Sam following behind her.

"Yup. All done except the bookstore and the owlery," Sia informed with a smile.

She then turned to Hagrid, "You must be Hagrid. I've heard a lot about you from Kar."

"Me too, kid. She speaks for hours when talking about you," Hagrid replied.

[PS. I won't be able to write Hagrid's dialect. In the app that I write, the spellings get corrected. It annoys me a lot.]

Sia smiled at him.

"I guess that is a first-year you are guiding," Al said, looking at Harry.

"Ya. Here this is Harry Potter," Hagrid enthusiastically said as he patted Harry on the back 'lightly.'

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter. I've heard a lot about you," Alpheus said.

"I'm Alpheus Knight, and these here are Stensen White, Karalyn White, Samuel White, and Sierra White," Al introduced, pointing at everyone.

Harry gave them a small smile.

"Have you bought books yet, Hagrid?" Sten asked.

"Na. Was just about to go that way," Hagrid said.

"How about we go together then? We haven't met you in months," Al asked casually.

"No problem with me. You any problem, Harry?" Hagrid asked.

Harry hesitated for a bit as he sneaked a peek at Sia. She was also looking at him.

"No problem," Harry replied, sighing lightly.

The group set off to Flourish and Blotts, with Hagrid walking at the front. Al and Kar were engaging him in continuous conversation and keeping him busy.

Sia walked at the back of the group with Harry.

"How are you?" Sia asked after a while.

Harry looked at her, "Shocked. My whole life is changing so fast. I'm not sure if I can keep up."

Sia smiled bitterly, "I'm sorry. I really could not have informed you. If I had, you would have just spent the rest of your days waiting for today."

Harry gave her a sarcastic smile, "As if I spent them in something useful."

Sierra shook her head lightly.

"You were able to handle everything well because you accepted it as reality. If I had told you back then, it would have become a dream that you cannot walk towards anyhow. You would know that it will be yours someday, but you will have to wait. And waiting without knowing is always less painful than waiting while knowing the result."

Harry fell silent for a while.

"I can understand you a bit. But I still feel sad. What else are you hiding, Sia?" Harry asked, looking at her intently.

It was Sia's turn to stay silent.

"There are things which I cannot tell you. But believe me, I'll tell them as soon as I can. I'm sorry," Sia finally spoke up after a while.

"Hm. I always considered you my friend, and I feel you too did. I don't want to lose the only person that knows me. But please, tell me things when you are ready," Harry said, sighing.

Sia stopped in her tracks, and Harry turned back on noticing this.

"What happened?" He asked, frowning.

"Did you just forgive me?" Sia asked.

"I think I did," Harry replied with a small smile.

Sia hugged him tightly.

"Thanks."

"You know I was so scared when Hagrid came to that broken house," Harry started blabbering and telling Sia all the things that had happened in the last ten days.