A/N: Sorry, this actually took again a bit longer than I thought… But here it is now! Have fun with this chapter!

Chapter 12: Diagon Alley

He was standing in front of a house, five black robed and white masked Death Eaters at each side of him. Suddenly, from one second to another, the building went up in green flames and the Dark Mark appeared floating above it. At the sight of this, a shrill and cruel laugh went over his lips and a feeling of true delight welled up in his chest. The Muggles living in this house were still inside with no way to escape and he could hear their screams, as they tried to open the doors and windows that his faithful Death Eaters had locked with charms. He could see them, standing in front of the window of the front door, a married couple and a teenage boy, staring at him and his servants in horror, as they were engulfed in bright green flames and died, slowly and painfully.

Harry woke up with a start, his heart pounding hard against his chest and his scar burning like fire. Sweat was pouring down his face, as the picture of he three Muggles flashed in front of his eyes and Voldemort's piercing laughter penetrated his ears. He lay still for a couple of minutes, trying to catch his breath. He had not been prepared for this, had not been prepared to once again see the terror of Voldemort's reign so soon. He had not been prepared to see innocent Muggles die.

It was still dark in the room, meaning that it was sometime in the middle of the night. Harry rolled over in his bed, trying to block out the memories of his vision and to ignore the throbbing pain in his scar. He did not want to think about what he had witnessed just minutes ago – the Muggles were dead and there was nothing he could do to change that. He needed to go back to sleep, to rest a bit, because he and the other time travellers wanted to go to Diagon Alley that day.

It was Wednesday, August 6, 1980, they had been in the past for almost a week and in that week they had adjusted quite well. Hermione had immediately found a good colleague in Christophe Hayden, the Muggle Studies teacher and spent a lot of time with or without him in the library. As usual, she wanted her lessons to be perfect and so she put a lot of work into the lesson plans.

The dinner with Ron's parents had gone quite well, regarding the circumstances that no one except for the Potters and the Weasleys knew the truth about the four time travellers. Molly Weasley had almost crushed the cousin of her husband in a hug, as she had first seen him. Later, after dinner, the three of them had spent some quality time alone and talked about random things. Molly and Arthur had left late that night, promising to be back sometime soon, and Ron had stepped into the common room with a grin on his face. From the following day on, he had started to spend much time either planning his lessons as well or trying out and replenishing the school brooms with much care. He did not want his students to learn how to fly under adverse circumstances, nor did he want to encourage accidents during Quidditch matches, when the students were using school brooms that had been neglected.

In the last week, Harry had used his parents' presence at Hogwarts to its fullest and spent many hours with them, either just talking or sitting in silence and watching little Harry. He and his father had yet to mount their brooms to test the other's skills at Quidditch. The rest of the time, he prepared a rough outline for his lessons plan, first being able to note down the finer points when he had found the books he wanted to use in his classes. Sometimes Harry joined Ron on the Quidditch field, testing out the brooms and getting into improvised Quidditch matches, at which even Draco had participated once or twice.

Most of the other times Draco was either locked up in this office in the dungeons or had his nose buried in yet another book about potions, be it in the common room or in the library. He did not talk much or interacted with the others. He was not in the mood for yet another row with Weasley or being constantly bugged by Granger or Potter. It made him sick to hear Weasley talk about his parents and how happy he was that they knew the truth, to see Potter return from every meeting with his parents with a happy grin on his face, nor to see Granger walking through the corridors talking and laughing with this Hayden. He could not stand it, so he rather kept to himself.

~*~

Harry did not know when, but he had somehow managed to fall asleep again after his vision. However, Hermione pounding on his door and yelling at him to get up now roughly woke him up. Luckily, his scar did not hurt anymore and yet he was as tired as if he had not slept at all that night. The last few hours had been dreamless, but now that he was awake, he could again envision the Muggles, how they were dying a gruesome death. Shaking his head, Harry groggily sat up and yelled, "I'm awake!" He would rather slip back under the covers and sleep a few more hours, but a quick glance at his watch on the nightstand told him that it was already eight forty – their portkey to Diagon Alley was to be activated at nine o'clock.

Cursing, he nearly jumped out of the bed, grabbed his in the meantime cleaned Muggle clothes and disappeared in the bathroom. It was ten to nine, when Harry finally stepped into the common room, with his robe quickly thrown over his shoulders and muttered a small 'Sorry' and 'We can go' to his friends, who were already waiting for him, with half-amused and half-annoyed looks on their faces. They followed Harry out of the common room and headed to Dumbledore's office, from where they would travel to London.

As soon as they stopped in front of the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the office, Harry panted, "Chocolate Chip Cookies," and the gargoyle sprang aside, revealing the spiral staircase.

Dumbledore was already waiting for them with a mischievous smile on his face and gave them the portkey, an old and obviously well loved teddy bear. "Please, don't forget to bring him back to me. I'm rather fond of him," he said. "Oh, and before I forget – I was so free to open an account at Gringotts for each of you and to transfer your first salary for this month into your vaults. The keys to them are deposited at Gringotts and you just need to sign some forms to get them. Have a nice day!"

Just as Dumbledore had finished the sentence, the four of them felt the familiar tug behind their navels and arrived at the portkey station at Diagon Alley. Harry gave the teddy bear to one of the clerks for safekeeping until it activated again at five o’clock in the afternoon for their return to Hogwarts.

Harry had to blink a few times for his eyes to adjust to the glaring sunlight, as they stepped out of the station. His heart immediately soared a bit, as he took in the familiar sights of Diagon Alley, but also noticed some stores that did not exist in his time. Even though it was still quite early, busy witches and wizard and also people in Muggle clothes were roaming the street. Smiling, he watched children pulling their parents into Gambol & Japes or demanding to go to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and the awed looks of Muggles, as they took in the scenery of Diagon Alley. They must be here to get a first impression of the wizarding world, Harry thought, because since neither he nor his friends had decided on a book for the students yet, the Hogwarts letters could not have gone out yet.

At first, they decided to go to Gringotts Wizarding Bank, because even though each of them had had some money on him or her during their unintended trip to the past, it would never be enough to purchase everything they needed. Once there, they had to wait a few minutes in a long line and then sign some forms, as Dumbledore had already told them, before the goblin at the counter gave them their keys and called another goblin (Grashnak) to bring them to their vaults. Fortunately, the four vaults were all next to each other (762-765), so they quickly gathered as many Galleons, Sickles and Knuts as they needed and then went back to the surface. Harry thought that though the amount of money in that vault was absolutely nothing compared to the amount of money in his vault in their time, Dumbledore had been quite generous with their first salary and silently wondered, if the other teachers all earned that much. Before they left Gringotts, Harry told his friends to wait for him, as he went to a free counter to exchange some of his wizarding money into pounds.

Their next destination was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, as they could not walk around in borrowed and transfigured robes all the time at school. The moment they stepped inside, Madam Malkin, the squat, smiling owner of the store, came up to them. "Can I help you, dears?"

"Yes, I think you can. We're looking for different sets of robes," Hermione told her.

"Of course. Melanie, can you please help me here?" Madam Malkin asked her assistant and whisked Ron and Harry to a few racks, while her colleague went up to Hermione and Draco. They all chose robes for teaching and for casual wear and also a set of dress robes. One time, Harry and Draco, who had two cabins facing each other, stepped out at the same time, wearing exactly the same dark green robes. They both stared at each other and immediately turned around, trying on the next robe. In the end, the four of them were sporting bags filled to the brim with robes and left the shop.

Since none of them had had any breakfast, they decided to go to the Leaky Cauldron, to get some late breakfast or early lunch, but on the way there, Draco announced that he wanted to go to the Apothecary first to stock up his potion supplies.

While, Harry, Ron and Hermione were waiting outside, Harry suddenly noticed a petite, ashblond and obviously pregnant woman that seemed somehow familiar to him, holding a small, black-haired girl at her hand. Harry could swear that he had seen her before, but could not say when or where. His eyes followed her, until she disappeared in the crowd and an exasperated sigh coming from Hermione pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Oh honestly…"

"What is it?" Ron asked surprised.

"We're being followed." Hermione motioned with her head to a small dark alley between two stores, where a large, black dog disappeared in. Harry and Ron just saw how the dog became one with the darkness and Harry sighed as well.

"Sirius…"

"What are you looking at?" Draco wanted to know, as he came out of the Apothecary.

While they were walking towards the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione filled Draco in about them being followed by Sirius in his Animagus form. At the inn, they sat down at a free table and Harry looked around for Tom, the innkeeper, until his gaze landed on the front page of the Daily Prophet that one of the other customers was reading. The headline read Another Attack of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on Muggles and Muggleborns and next to the article was a picture of an all-too-familiar house engulfed in green flames and the Dark Mark. Harry's stomach churned – this was the house from his dream.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked concerned, when she saw the pale look on his face and then turned around to see what he was looking at. "Oh…"

At that moment, Tom appeared at their table, ready to take their orders. While the others ordered some lunch to satisfy their growling stomachs, Harry only ordered a glass of water, not feeling hungry anymore after seeing the picture and remembering again his vision from last night. The others still did not know that his connection to Voldemort was still there, only that this time he was connected to the Voldemort of this time.

When their meals and Harry's water were served, he only sipped at his drink, ignoring the concerned looks of Hermione and Ron. They ate mostly in silence and after about five minutes, Harry suddenly got up. "Sorry guys, don't let yourself be bothered. But I wanted to take a small trip to Muggle London to buy some Muggle clothes. I won't be long…" Without waiting for an answer, he left the suffocating air of the Leaky Cauldron and stepped into the fresh summer's air of London. Looking around, he spotted a sign of an H&M store at the corner and went to it without a second thought. He silently wondered, what kind of clothes he would encounter there, since he did not really know what people in this time wore.

Inside, he was immediately taken aback by loud punk music and the fashion. Pastel-coloured sweatshirts, gigantic shoulder pads and glittery tops were practically all he could see. Browsing through the racks, he finally stumbled over jeans and rather normal looking shirts and T-shirts. He also found some black slacks and a denim jacket. After having tried on and decided for some of the clothes, he wanted to pay, when he suddenly spotted a long black leather duster hanging in a corner. Harry went over to it, shrugged it on and felt the soft and resistant leather. Ever since he had first seen one of those, he had wanted one and now was his chance, no matter what his friends would say, when they saw him wearing this. He looked at the price tag and sighed with relief, when he saw that it was on sale. Taking it off, he put it over his arm and went to the front to pay for his purchases. The Muggle at the cash register looked at him a bit strangely and he realized that he was still wearing his robes. Ignoring the look, he paid, took the bag with the clothes, happy that he would be able to shrink them as soon as he was back in the magical world, and left the store, heading back to the Leaky Cauldron. Just as he wanted to open the door to the inn, he again saw the black dog, this time standing openly on the other side of the street and could only shake his head. Why couldn't Sirius just let it go? Wasn't his father's word enough to prove that they weren't a threat?

Back at the inn, he saw that his friends had just finished their lunch and sat down on his chair. No one said anything and they called for Tom to pay. Only a few minutes later they were back at Diagon Alley and Hermione parted ways with the three young men. They wanted to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies to get new brooms and Hermione wanted to buy something else. "Something that might be of use for all of us," she had said and left, muttering about boys and their obsessions with Quidditch.

Harry, Ron and Draco went to the Quidditch store, where, as usual, a bunch of children was standing in front of the shop window, admiring the newest broom on the market. Even the three young men could not resist taking a look at it and saw that it was the Thunderbolt that Ron had already talked about. Harry thought that it looked a bit like his trusty old Firebolt and wondered, if it would also be similar in the handling.

They entered the shop and immediately started to browse, testing some promising looking brooms, but Harry's mind always wandered back to the displayed broom in the front. It was pretty expensive and he asked himself, if he should already spend so much money on a broom, when they still had to purchase so many other things. But it would be good to have something that reminded him from where he came from and besides, they were all used to much better and more developed brooms and they might need the best, if they were somehow becoming involved in the war.

Ron and Draco seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because they only exchanged a quick look with Harry and then went to one of the clerks, asking to test the Thunderbolt. One hour later, the three of them emerged each with a wrapped Thunderbolt, leaving behind a very happy storeowner counting his money. Ron had also bought a complete Quidditch gear, which he needed as his position as referee during the matches at school, and a book about the Chudley Cannons. "It's a rarity! You have no idea how long I've been looking for this one at home!"

Just at the moment that they wanted to go looking for her, Hermione came running towards them, carrying an empty cage. "I bought an owl," she told them. "I already sent him to Hogwarts, so that he won't get in the way, while we're at Flourish and Blott's."

So that was their next destination and immediately each of them went to the area where they found the books they needed, agreeing to meet outside, when they're finished. The store was filled with all kinds of people and Harry was somehow glad that the Hogwarts letters had not gone out yet, since it would then be full of students getting their schoolbooks.

While he was looking through various Defence Against the Dark Arts books, he suddenly saw the mysterious woman and the girl on the other side of the shelves. He watched through a gap between the books how she was talking to a brunette woman – a friend of hers he supposed. Harry did not want to eavesdrop, but he could not help himself, so, pretending to read the book he was currently holding, he listened to the words the two women exchanged.

Now and then he looked up and noticed that the woman was probably only one or two years older than him, whereas the girl looked to be about three years old. The woman's ashblond hair was going down to her shoulder blades in a thick braid and she had laughing blue eyes. She was about 5'5" of height, not outstanding gorgeous, but pretty in her own, somehow shy and well… pregnant way. He guessed that she was in her sixth or seventh month. The girl had straight, jet black hair that went down to her shoulders and the blue eyes of her mother.

"Say Clara, where's your husband?" he heard the brunette asking.

"We came to Diagon Alley together," the woman, Clara, answered. "But he had to attend some business, so he left me and Jocelyn to do some shopping."

Neither the names nor the fact that she was married meant anything to Harry and yet he could not shake off this feeling that he knew this woman. The two friends said goodbye and while the brown-haired woman left the store, Clara went to the back with her daughter to the children section.

Shaking his head, Harry turned his attention back to the book in his hands. He was probably mistaking her for someone else he had seen in his time. Slowly, after having taken a look at probably every single book on the shelves, he gathered the chosen schoolbooks as well as some books for his private collection and went to the back of the line leading up to the cash desk. There he saw her again at the desk, talking to the clerk and once again he strained his ears to catch bits and pieces of the conversation. Harry wished he had one of Fred and George's Extendable Ears, because it was hard to understand anything at all above the noise in the store.

"The books your husband ordered should arrive next week," Harry heard him say. He concentrated closer, but what he said next left Harry stunned and he doubted if he had heard right or just imagined it. According to what he had heard, the clerk had said, "Have a nice day, Mrs. Snape."

Harry watched her passing him with a dazed look on his face, until the customer behind him told him to move along.

Harry was the first one to leave the shop and his watch told him that he had spent about two and a half hours in there. He sat down on a bench and leaned back, enjoying the sun on his face. When he had already needed that long, he did not want to know how long Hermione would need. He was only surprised that Ron was not finished already, since he was usually the first one who would willingly leave a bookstore.

However, this was not what bothered him most. The only thing bothering him at that moment was actually what he had just heard inside. Mrs. Snape? This could not be right. He had never heard Snape talking about any relatives before – well, he had never heard Snape talking about his personal life before, so no surprise here. She did not look like him at all, so it was highly improbable that she was his sister. The only one looking even remotely like him was the girl… Bloody hell! Harry thought as he realized what this might mean. That girl could be his daughter, but that meant that this woman must be his wife!

"Hey mate, what are you thinking about?" Ron asked, as he came up to him and saw the utterly shocked look on his friend's face.

"Nothing." Harry shook his head. "Nothing… Just wondered what you were doing so long inside a bookshop," he said grinning, trying to change the subject. He did not need to tell him about his suspicions, at least not until he found some proof.

"Buying books?" Ron showed him the heavy bag he was carrying and sat down next to him on the bench.

The two friends talked for about fifteen minutes, when Draco joined them. He also told them that he had seen Hermione, still completely enrapt by a couple of books and that it would take some more time until she would come out. So they sat there and waited. Another half an hour later, Harry treated them to a large sundae and when they had eaten the ice cream, Hermione had still not come out of the bookshop. It was already past half past four, not even half an hour before their portkey would be activated, when she finally emerged from the store, carrying two bottomless bags that seemed to brim over in each hand.

"Sorry guys, but I couldn't resist. We should hurry now…" She looked at them with an apologetic look on her face and Harry and Ron sighed, while Draco only looked annoyed. Hermione would probably never change.

Due to the number of people roaming the street, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco arrived at the station with only five minutes to spare. They hurried to the clerk they had given their portkey and at five o'clock they were whisked away back to Dumbledore's office and landed, thanks to Hermione's bags, which she unfortunately had not shrunken, in a tumbled heap. The old wizard was once again waiting for them and a small grin appeared on his face, when he saw their dishevelled forms and red faces.

"How was your day? Did you get everything you needed?" he asked them, as they scrambled to get back up.

"Yeah," Ron grunted and handed Dumbledore the teddy bear, while Draco and Hermione glared at each other. "We got everything…"

"That's good. I also hope you're hungry, because dinner will be served in half an hour."

"Thank you Professor," Harry said. "We'll be there, but I think it will be better if we first bring our purchases to our rooms."

"Well then, I'll see you at dinner."

Nodding, the four of them left the office and walked back to the common room, Draco and Hermione still glaring.

"Next time Granger, shrink your bloody books! Have you any idea how much it hurts when a whole bag hits against your shinbone?" Draco growled.

"Get a grip, Mal- Draco! It can't have hurt that much!" she only replied and stalked off, being the first at the portrait to their entrance. "Future's past." The portrait swung open and Hermione went inside, dropping her bags on the floor and sitting down at the table before taking the Daily Prophet out of one of the bags. At the same moment that she had put the newspaper on the table, the three young men entered, all of them dropping their bags as well and sitting down in the armchairs or on the couch.

"You're going to tell us what it's saying?" Draco asked, still sounding annoyed.

Hermione sighed and started to read.

Another Attack of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on Muggles and Muggleborns

You-know-who and several of his Death Eaters burning down a Muggle house in Cardiff, Wales

At about three o'clock in the morning, You-know-who and his Death Eater appeared in the city Cardiff, Wales and set the house of the Muggle family Prescott aflame. Before the attack the Death Eaters performed locking charms on every door and window of the house, making it impossible for the family to flee. Mr. and Mrs. Prescott had just returned from a vacation in Prague, a neighbour told an Auror, before he placed a memory charm on her. Their son, Tony Prescott, was about to start his seventh year at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, this September. It is a terrible tragedy that again Muggles and Muggleborns had to suffer the reign of terror of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the Prophet wonders, if this attack is somehow connected to the appearance of the four strangers at the home of Ministry worker Arthur Weasley one week ago and their sudden employment by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore as teachers for the subjects Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Potions and Flying. The Prophet will keep you informed about further attacks and the further happenings at Hogwarts.

Other attacks on Muggles – p. 2, 5 and 9

Hogwarts – is it still safe? - p. 3 and 7

This article was written by: R. Montgomery

"This is terrible," Ron said, as he leaned back on the couch.

"It is, but it's war," Hermione agreed, casting a quick look at Harry, who looked incredibly pale. "We should probably head to dinner," she added, after they had sat in silence for a couple of minutes. The others agreed and together they left their common room.

The house-elves had once again outdone themselves, Harry thought, as he looked at the food, but once again he could not bring himself to eat anything. He looked to his left and right and saw the amounts of food Ron was piling on his plate and that Hermione and Draco also ate normally. Well, they had not seen what he had seen. They had not been there, as the Prescotts had died in the flames. They had not felt the happiness surging through their bodies. They just thought that the Prescotts and their son Tony were other casualties of the war. This was true, but every person that died was one person too many. Harry had already too much blood on his hands and he did not want to add more.

Claiming that he was tired, Harry left the Great Hall before anyone else did and went to his room. But instead of going straight to bed, he took out his new books and started to read, until sleep finally claimed him. This night, he did not visit Voldemort's mind.