Melody hurried upstairs into the hotel room. Anna was in the room Melody would sleep in, unpacking Melody’s clothes for the next day.
“There you are. You were down there a long time,” she said as she placed Melody’s cashmere sweater with her favorite jeans.
“Oh, I know, sorry,” Melody fiddled with her hands before asking, “Can I please go with Hermione to meet her friends?”
“Is Hermione the girl from downstairs?”
“Yeah, she is really nice.”
“Well, I suppose, but you have to bring you cell phone and you can take the car. I don’t want you riding the Underground without me there.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!!” Melody said as she tackled Anna with a hug.
Melody hurried into the bathroom. She showered and changed in time to get her purse and hurry downstairs to meet Hermione.
When she reached the lobby, she saw Hermione sitting in the same chair reading the same book. Hermione looked up and rose to meet her.
“Ready to go?” Hermione asked as she fiddled with her purse.
“Sure, but you don’t mind if we take my car, do you? Anna doesn’t want me going on the Underground.”
Hermione hesitated before saying, “I suppose. I’ll give you directions.”
“Oh I won’t need them. You can give them to the driver,” Melody said as they walked out the front door.
Hermione paused in her steps before noticing the limousine that had just pulled up. The driver hurried around to open the door, and as Melody got in she called to Hermione.
“Are you coming or what?”
Hermione nodded her head and then climbed in. The driver paused at the door to find out where to go. Unfortunately, Hermione was still in shock.
“Hermione? Are you going to tell him where to go?” Melody asked.
“Oh, sorry. Can you take us to Thylerson’s Books?”
The driver nodded and then closed the door on a very overwhelmed Hermione.
“You drive around in a limousine?” Hermione asked, finally coming out of her daze.
“Well, at home -- in California -- I drive my car.”
“You’re sixteen then?”
“Yeah, I got the car for my birthday.”
Hermione looked around the car, and then her eyes fell on the diamond watch Melody was wearing.
“It’s lucky I met you, Hermione. Otherwise, I would be totally lost when it came time to find my way around the castle. Well, I understand that it’s a castle,” Melody said as she slipped her watch into her purse.
“Yes, Hogwarts Castle is easy to get lost in. You don’t have to worry about that, though. I’ll help you around.”
“Thanks.”
They continued to chat until they reached the bookstore.
“Why are we here?” Melody asked after telling the driver to wait till she called him to return. “Are we meeting your friends in this bookstore?”
“No, we’re meeting them in here.” Hermione said pointing to a particularly grungy looking building that sat next to the bookstore. “Haven’t you ever been to Diagon Alley?”
“No, is it in there?” Melody asked nervously.
“You’ll see,” Hermione said as she opened the door and entered.
The inside wasn’t much better. It was dark and smelled of smoke, causing Melody to cough as she followed Hermione to the back. From there, they went out the back door and were standing in a small, enclosed area.
“What are we doing here?” Melody asked, confused.
Hermione laughed as she pulled out her wand. Melody took a step back and reached for her own wand in her purse.
Hermione tapped on a series of bricks and suddenly all the bricks reformed into an archway that revealed what looked like a small village of shops.
“Here we are. This is Diagon Alley,” Hermione said, stepping under the archway.
Melody followed closely behind so that she wouldn’t lose Hermione, who was traveling quickly through the swarms of people. She soon led Melody to what looked like an ice cream shop. As soon as they entered, Melody heard a boy call Hermione’s name.
She scanned the room and saw two boys waving to Hermione to join them. One had jet-black hair and seemed terribly familiar. The other had vibrant red hair and was very tall. Hermione hurried over to their table and sat after pulling up another chair for Melody.
The two boys glanced nervously from Melody to Hermione, obviously confused, but pleased with the presence of such a pretty girl.
“Harry, Ron -- this is Melody Chancelle. She went to Beauxbaton, but now she is going to be at Hogwarts,” Hermione said introducing Melody to the boys.
“Hello,” Melody said kindly.
The boy with black hair spoke up.
“Hi, I’m Harry Potter,” he said as he held out his hand.
Melody suddenly noticed the lightening bolt scar and became as nervous as the boy with red hair, Ron. She was sitting at a table in an ice cream parlor with the famous Harry Potter. All her life she had heard things about him. Saving the Sorceror’s Stone, winning the Tri-Wizarding Tournament when he was only fourteen and -- more importantly -- proving Lord Voldemort had returned were just some of the things he had done.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Melody said as smoothly as possible.
“This is Ron Weasley. He’s a little shy around new people, let alone girls,” Harry said.
Ron’s face turned bright red from his ears to his chin, and he looked down at his menu. A waitress soon came to take their orders. Ron barely choked his out, and was again silent when she left.
“So, you went to Beauxbaton?” Harry asked after giving Ron a peculiar look.
Melody nodded, “I assume you know Fluer.”
“Oh, yeah,” Harry said as the waitress placed their treats in front of them.
“She was in the same house as me,” Melody said before taking a bite of ice cream.
They finished their ice cream. Melody pulled out her French wizarding money. Harry must have noticed because he paid for everyone’s, and they left.
Hermione walked ahead with Ron who was still acting a little odd, while Harry hung back with Melody.
“That was really nice of you, but I can pay you back after I go to the bank,” Melody said as they walked.
“Don’t worry about it. Call it a welcoming gift,” Harry said as he paused at a window displaying the Asteroid 5000.
Hermione glanced back and caught Ron before he walked too far.
“Ron, look at this thing. It’s brilliant,” Harry said as Ron reached the window.
“It’s OK, but on mine the footrests are far too large,” Melody said without thinking.
“Well, I read that those are adjus-- wait!” Harry said, realizing what she had just said.
“You have an Asteroid 5000?” Ron said as Harry continued to stare.
“My dad bought it for me, he knows the owner of Broomstix Inc.”
“You have an Asteroid 5000?” Ron repeated, totally ignoring Melody’s statement.
Melody laughed, “Yes, if you come back to my hotel I can show it to you if you need that much proof.”
“OK,” both boys said in unison.
Before Melody knew it, she was on the phone calling the driver to come get them. She hurried to Gringotts to exchange her money, and they headed back through the Leaky Cauldron and were again standing outside the bookstore. Ron and Harry hurried back inside quickly to tell Mrs. Weasley where they were going.
“Do you think I should have told them about the car?” Melody asked Hermione as they waited for the boys after the car had pulled up.
“It can be a surprise,” Hermione laughed as the door opened and the boys piled out.
They had a similar reaction to the one Hermione had, but snapped out of it quickly when Melody reminded them about the Asteroid.
Once in the car, Melody called Anna to tell her she was bringing the boys and Hermione back. When she told Anna about Harry, Anna nearly dropped the phone. Melody hung up just as Harry and Ron were playing with the TV in the car.
“Do you always drive around like this?” Harry asked, still taking in the sight of the limousine.
“Only when I’m away from home,” Melody replied as Ron discovered the mini fridge.
He looked from Harry, to the fridge, to Melody, and back to the fridge before Melody answered his obvious question.
“You can eat whatever you want,” she said nonchalantly.
They talked and Ron ate until they pulled up at the hotel. The boys followed Hermione and Melody in as they walked across the lobby to the elevator. Some of the bellboys threw Ron and Harry nasty looks as the door closed behind them.
They rode the elevator to the top floor, and everyone followed Melody to the suite. She opened the door and put her purse down on the side table. Ron and Harry looked around in amazement as Anna walked into the living room.
“Anna, will you please get my Asteroid. These boys don’t believe that I have one,” Melody said as Ron stared at the fish tank built into the wall.
Anna quickly returned holding the case the housed the broom. Melody thanked her and opened the case immediately.
“Here, boys. Knock yourselves out,” Melody said as she motioned for Hermione to come into her room. Once inside she said, “I thought this would interest you more than the Asteroid,” Melody said, pulling out Beauxbaton: The Book.
Hermione squealed with delight at the site of the book and rushed into the living room to begin reading it. When Melody entered the room, the boys were still examining the Asteroid. She laughed and they looked up.
“How does it handle?” Harry asked looking up.
“Why don’t you take it for a little spin around the room?” Melody said causing Harry to drop the broom.
“Be careful!” Ron exclaimed before once again looking over the broom with great care.
Harry pushed him aside and mounted the broom. He slowly flew it around the couch where Hermione was enthusiastically devouring the book. Harry landed the broom a few feet in front of Melody and got off.
“It’s bloody brilliant, Ron!” Harry said as he caught Melody’s eye.
He smiled, and Melody turned away as she felt her face growing hot.
The boys continued to examine the broom while Hermione bombarded Melody with questions about Beauxbaton. She was just asking about Defense Against the Dark Arts, or Defensive Magic, at Beauxbaton, when Anna reminded them of the big day ahead. Harry and Ron, finally looking up from the broom, glanced at the clock. It was well into evening.
“We promised Mum we’d be back by supper,” Ron said taking one last look at the broom.
Harry nodded, “He’s right. We better be going back.”
“I’ll call down to the driver to tell him you are coming down,” Anna said before going into the other room to use the phone.
The three teenagers stood looking at each other for a moment until Harry broke the silence.
“It was nice meeting you, Melody.”
“You too, Harry, and you as well Ron,” Melody said.
Anna returned and announced that the car was waiting outside the lobby. Hermione volunteered to walk the boys down and gathered her things. She began to hand Melody Beauxbaton: The Book, but Melody told her to finish it first. The trio was soon gone.
Melody hugged herself, thinking about the day, and her new friends.