Diagon Alley

Sirius POV

I had just finished talking with Arthur after securing a time where we could meet to have a discussion as one head of house to another before we were ambushed by a hoard of excited children. Cinthy having heard everything I said to Arthur was finally losing her patience and wanted to finally start shopping pulled on my hand getting my attention. While Arthur was ambushed by his twin sons and his daughter. He had a smile on his face but I could see the stress hidden behind his eyes. I remembered the long list of books for the DADA class this year and it clicked why he might be stressed today. I pushed the kids off to the other adults before I pulled Arthur to the side and handed him 20 gallons. He looked at me shocked but stubbornly said, "I can't take this Sirius." I shook my head at him and placed the money into his palm before I said, "I am only making up for lost birthday and Christmas gifts for the kids from their Uncle Sirius." I gave him my trademark marauders grin and winked.

He took a moment to compose himself before he said, "I still don't feel comfortable with this Sirius." I looked at him for a moment and said, "Look I respect you Arthur so I am going to help you. I was being serious when I said I had holiday gifts to make up for. Take this as a down payment and I get more than just being the favorite Uncle out of it anyway." Arthur looked at me with a questioning gaze before I chuckled and said, "Just think what my dead blood supremist family would say if they knew I gave money to a publicly acknowledged blood traitor and his family." I almost cackled when I saw the look on his face it was pure gold. Arthur finally let out a chuckle as he pocketed the money to hand over to Molly when he had the chance. 

Hyacinth POV

Dad finished talking with Mr. Weasley and walked over to me with a devious grin on his face all I could do was chuckle at him. I am pretty sure he just tricked Mr. Weasley into taking money from him to help out with their expenses. We were on our way back to the Leaky Cauldron to find Hermione and her parents before we start our shopping trip. We made it back through the crowds just in time to see her walk into the pub with her parents right behind her. "Hermione" I shouted, she looked up and saw me instantly and ran towards us with her parents following right behind her. She hugged me as tight as she could and I relaxed into her arms, she may not be blood but she is my best friend and sister of my heart. Dad knows this so he has been excited to meet my James, he started calling her that after I told him about her. Dad walked up to us and I saw Mr. Granger tense up then relax when Dad said, "Hello, you must be Hermione's parents I am Hyacinth's father Sirius Black. It is nice to finally put a face to the name, Cinthy here won't stop talking about your daughter." He held his hand out to shake hands with the Grangers which did a lot to ease the tension. I was so happy to have my best friend back that I tuned out the rest of their conversation for the most part. I tuned back in to hear Mr. Weasley ask Mr. Granger what the purpose of a rubber duck was and spit my butter beer all over Ron's face in shock. He was not amused to say the least the twins however were greatly amused by the episode. 

We finished our lunch and headed back into the throngs of people gathered around for the book signing. Mrs. Weasley wanted to stand in line so that we could all have signed copies of Mr. Lockhart's books but none of us wanted to stay with her. Dad needed to go into Knockturn Alley to pick up a rare plant sapling and some seeds to add to the collection for the exodus of Earth, so he and Uncle Remus broke off from the group. I stayed with the Granger's who led us back to the bank so that they could exchange some money for Hermione's school supplies. The trip to Gringotts was a quick one since I didn't have to go down to my vault today and the Granger's only needed to exchange currency. Hermione and I led the way to Slug & Giggers for our potion supplies. I needed to restock all my potion ingredients because Grandpa Nicolas has had me brewing all the potions from last year and this coming year over and over again until he was satisfied with the outcome. I also need a new cauldron my pewter one is almost falling apart. I think I will get a new one as well as a copper and brass one as well. Hermione is going to drool when she sees all the supplies I am getting I should get more so we can share, she is a bit of a potion junkie. I love her but she is obsessed with making sure she has all the steps just right, I can't wait until she meet Grandpa Nicolas. 

After Slug & Giggers we made it to Madam Malkin's Robes simply because I have outgrown all of my robes from last year. It's amazing what fixing years of malnutrition will do for a girl. Dad and Uncle Remus actually cried when they noticed I needed all new robes because I was actually healthy now and starting to grow. Although the healers said I will probably never grow to tall due to the malnutrition there is only so much we can fix even with magic. We managed to finish all the shopping and had everything placed into my expandable pouch that Dad had given m this morning when Uncle Remus and Dad finally met back up with us in front of Flourish & Blotts. We walked into the store only to be shoved around by a group of middle aged witch's with a death wish, if the look on Dad's face is any indicator on how he feels about me being swept away with the crowd. Hermione was luckily able to grab hold of my had so we managed to stay together, unluckily she was swept away with me into the foray of rabid fans.