"How much more Summer is left?" Alice asked, falling back onto my bed. "I can't take it anymore!"
"What are you talking about?" I said. "The whole last month of school you were practically begging for Summer."
"Well yes, but..." she pushed a lock of blonde hair from her face. "It's incredibly boring after a while. By the middle of it, in fact. The very middle of it."
"Which is why I much prefer Winter."
She scoffed. "Yes, it has nothing to do with the fact that your animagus is a snow leopard."
I rolled my eyes and stepped into the fireplace. "Well you have only a few days left, so stop whining. In fact, I'm going to Diagon Alley for my supplies. Tell Maman I'll be back for dinner." I grabbed the floo powder from a table and dropped some beside me. "Diagon Alley!" I said loudly. Just like that, I was gone.
"Well hello there, Clarissa!" I heard. The floo network must have changed things, because while I should have been in Flourish and Blotts, I had ended up in Twilfitt and Tatting's. "You're a long way from home." I turned to see Derek Grimm, a 5th year I had met at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament.
"Hello, Derek," I said.
Derek was a snob. He had a few friends, but not many. He thought for sure that he belonged at Beauxbatons, not Hogwarts. The truth of the matter is, Beauxbatons students are not snobby. We truly are better than everyone else, and it's not only us that think so. We are la crème de la crème, the best of the best, in magic, academics, etiquette, charm, and looks. We are, simply put, polished to a shine. And that is why I exchanged pleasantries with Derek before making a beeline for the door.
The streets were calmer than usual, but still quite loud. Witches and wizards walked frantically to and from Gringotts and shops and everywhere else. Much like everything else in the wizarding world, the end of Diagon Alley was never quite visible. If there was ever an entrance or exit that you could just walk through, nobody ever saw it. People were constantly popping in and out of fireplaces or apparating here and there. I was utterly lost in the chaos of it all, when a boy bumped me from behind.
"Excusez-moi!" I said. Although Madame Marcoux was always reminding her students to practice their English, I couldn't help but revert to French when caught by surprise.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" the boy said. He was attractive, with dark brown hair and amber eyes. "Did your hair get messed up?" Attractive but sarcastic. Obviously full of himself. I decided he wasn't worth my time and stepped into the middle of the street, headed for Flourish and Blott's. My guess was that he attended Hogwarts. Slytherin, no doubt. I thought about it while I walked. I suppose the subject consumed my mind so much that I forgot where I was going, because I ended up in Knockturn Alley.