Note to my lovely readers: I can't believe how many reviews and followers I got on the first chapter! I'm so glad I shared it; you've all made me want to keep going! Most of you just said you liked it and you were looking forward to the next chapter, and that's great, I wasn't even expecting that much! A couple people left much longer reviews and I loved them, they were very well thought out and asked lots of questions and one had some very constructive criticism which I enjoyed reading. It was mostly irrelevant because the issues she had are part of my story and will play out later, but I really loved reading it anyway. There was one however… It said: "What a train wreck of naïve characterization and crappy clichés". It was a guest review. All I can say to this person is I'm sorry you didn't like it, go find another story to read. This was my first truly negative review and the only reason it upsets me is that they didn't bother with signing it. I'm sorry, but most of the stories I've read are seriously clichéd, have overdone themes, and you know what? I like them anyways. Nearly all of them need someone to proof read for spelling and grammar errors, but who cares? This is fanfiction! I'm not trying to make money off of this; I'm entertaining myself, my boyfriend, and hopefully a few of you as well. Anyone who has a problem with that needs to look elsewhere for entertainment. Thank you and happy reading!

PS: I am American; I will mess up on British terms and slang. I do apologize, but my characters will probably seem American often. I will try to keep them as they should be, so please don't flame me too badly when I slip up. I look things up as often as I can, but I can't catch everything, especially if I don't know it's wrong to begin with. Also, it has been a while since high school English class and I've been around military people a lot since then. Anyone who wants to help me take the grammar errors and Americanisms out of my writing please feel free to message me with anything you catch. Grammar errors in dialogue are mostly intentional.

Chapter 2

Brand New Wizard

Harry woke early the next morning and looked at his watch. He sighed deeply. Hermione wouldn't be there for at least another hour yet as her parents wouldn't leave for work until then. He decided to take his time getting ready, no need to rush after all. Harry smiled as he thought, this would be the second summer in a row that he didn't have to cook for his ungrateful family or do any of the other chores. Hell, now that he was emancipated he would never have to do those things for his hateful family ever again! Grinning like a fool, Harry got out of bed and headed to the shower to begin getting ready for his day.

Harry finished his shower and stepped into his room with a towel wrapped around his waist and dug through his trunk for another school uniform to wear. He couldn't wait to get new clothes so he quit looking like a wanker walking around in Dudley's cast offs or his school uniform. As he got dressed he began considering some of the styles he had seen on some of his peers. What did he like though?

Thirty minutes later he was still considering the different fashions and such as he slowly walked down the stairs. He sat at his regular table and Tom brought him a cup of tea. Such was his distraction that he didn't even notice when Hermione sat across from him and ordered breakfast for the both of them. When Tom left their plates and Harry still hadn't spoken, Hermione finally spoke up.

"Knut for your thoughts Harry?"

Harry had just reached for his tea on auto pilot and started when Hermione spoke, causing his now cold tea to slosh all over him. Luckily, Tom was just bringing over fresh cups for the both of them and he flicked his wand at Harry causing all the tea he was wearing to return to the cup before handing him the new cup and taking the cold one to the kitchen.

"I didn't mean to startle you Harry. What's go you so distracted this morning?" Hermione asked as she added a bit of honey to her tea.

"Hermione… What do I like? I got to thinking this morning about the shopping and realized, I've never had anything bought just for me so I dinno what I like. I've never had to worry about it before." Harry told her shyly.

Hermione blinked back tears at the life her friend had led until now, and then she reached across the table and took his hand. "Well Harry, I guess we'll just have you try on a few different things until you decide what you like best." She told him with a smile. "Now eat your breakfast, we've got a lot of work to do if we're going to find what you like and get you all kitted out. Also, I was wondering, how do you feel about a haircut?"

Harry shifted nervously, he had had a bad experience with a haircut before and wasn't too keen on the idea. "Err… Why d'you ask?"

"Oh honestly Harry, I'm not talking about shaving your head, just try a new style and see how you like it. You are a lord now after all; you'll want to present the right image." Hermione told him, privately thinking that it might help his confidence to look a bit better (and maybe even get her father to quit nagging her about her ragamuffin friend) if he cleaned up a bit.

"Alright Hermione, we can look at some styles, but if I don't see anything I like I'm not doing it." Harry told her firmly before biting into a sausage rather aggressively. Hermione just nodded and went back to her own breakfast. As she ate she discreetly pulled out her wand and transfigured a napkin into a piece of paper and a knife into a fountain pen.

"Hermione! What are you doing? You're going to get in trouble!" Harry hissed at his friend, glancing around nervously.

"No I'm not. Didn't you hear Ragnok yesterday? We are emancipated in the wizarding world. Most people won't know it yet so we could keep it quiet for now, but the records are updated automatically, I won't be getting an owl for underage magic." Hermione told him quietly as she wrote. She passed the paper to Harry and asked him what he thought.

Harry took the paper and found a list written in Hermione's tidy writing.

Muggle wardrobe

Wizard wardrobe

Optometrist

Find a suitable hairstyle for Harry

Bookstore

Harry held out his hand and Hermione handed him the pen. Writing quickly at the bottom of Hermione's list, he passed it back to her. Glancing at the page, she now found:

Find a hairstyle for Hermione too.

"You don't like my hair, Harry?" Hermione asked quietly.

"I don't have a problem with your hair Hermione, you do. I know you hate your hair and your front teeth, I can't really do anything about your teeth, but we can find you a new hairstyle that you're happy with. Besides, the Lady Ravenclaw should be proud and confident in herself." Harry answered honestly.

"Ok Harry, you're right. We'll look for a hairstyle for me too… And maybe see if there's anything that can keep it from looking so dratted bushy too. Now finish your breakfast so we can get started. This is going to be a long day."

"I would like to suggest we do hair and optometrist first. They seem like they might be quicker than picking out two whole wardrobes." Harry suggested.

"Actually, the wizarding wardrobe would be quicker. All we have to do is have you measured and pick a few styles and fabrics, Madame Malkin will see to the rest. After that, I quite agree; optometrist, hairstyles, and then muggle wardrobe."

"Alright, I'm ready when you are." Harry told her.

"On to Madame Malkin's then!" Hermione giggled. Harry nodded and threw a few coins on the table for Tom as he stood. They left the pub out the back door and entered Diagon Alley. As they walked Harry looked around at the other shops. How had he spent an entire summer here and never noticed some of these shops? Harry made a mental note to check out a couple of the shops when they left Madame Malkin's, Madame Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions might have what Hermione needed after all.

They entered Madame Malkin's and began looking around. It didn't take long for Madame Malkin herself to spot who had entered her shop and come over to help. "Bit early for school robes isn't it dears? How can I help you today?" She asked.

"Actually Madame, I need an entire wardrobe. All I really have for wizarding clothes is my school uniforms." Harry told her quietly.

"Madame Malkin, we don't want this to get out just yet, but we need a wizarding wardrobe suitable for the Lord Potter with some casual wear thrown in for comfort." Hermione told her in a whisper.

"Oh dear... Well I can help you with casual and school uniforms, I even have a few nice dress robes, but if you're looking for a Lord's wardrobe you need Twilfitt and Tattings…" Madame Malkin told them sadly.

"We're really trying to keep our statuses quiet Madame Malkin. Hermione and I did an inheritance test at the bank yesterday and she'll need a wardrobe for a Lady as well." Harry told her quietly.

"Harry dear, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Maddy?" Madame Malkin asked with a smile. "Come with me, I have something in the back that may help."

As Harry and Hermione followed her to the back room of her shop, Hermione whispered out of the corner of her mouth "Maddy?"

"Yes. Her name is Madeline. I used to stop in and talk to her last summer when I was wandering around the Alley. She's really nice." Harry told her.

"Here we are dears, come have a seat and let us discuss what you need." Maddy gestured to a couple of chairs as she sat at a small round table. "Now, may I ask what House you became Lady of miss?" She asked Hermione as they sat down.

"Hermione is Lady Ravenclaw, Maddy." Harry answered when it looked like Hermione wasn't going to. When Hermione shot him a look he put his hands up in defense and told her "You can trust her. I was in here most of last summer and you didn't see anything in the Prophet then did you?"

"Don't worry; your secret is safe with me." Maddy told her as she pulled a large book out of a drawer next to her. "Now then, what most people don't know is that Twilfitt's and I share business quite often. You are not the first two to come in here needing a new wardrobe like this, although it has been a while since the school quit advertising the inheritance tests to Muggle-borns."

"Why did they do that? With all the families that got wiped out in the war you would think that maybe they would want to find lesser branches at least." Hermione asked.

"Well, I'm not sure why actually. They haven't advertised the tests since Albus Dumbledore became Headmaster." Maddy told her. "Anyway, Twilfitt's thinks casual clothes are beneath them so anytime someone asks them for casual clothes they send me the order for a commission and I do the same when people ask me for something fancier than my usual dress robes. I want you both to look through this catalogue and tell me what you like; I'll measure you and send the order along and they'll never even know who the order was for."

"That's great! And you don't lose any money that way right?" Harry asked.

"No I don't. They give me a nice commission check for orders like this. Go ahead and give it a look through, the section for young Ladies and Lords is in the back and that catalogue hasn't even been owled out yet so you'll be slightly ahead this season." Maddy told them with a wink and left them to look through the book.

Hermione immediately flipped to the back and began skimming through the age appropriate styles for the both of them. Harry looked over her shoulder and pointed out a few things he thought he might like. By the time Maddy had returned with her measuring tape, Hermione had a list of the styles, colors, and fabrics they each liked ready for her. Maddy conjured a screen and had them take turns stepping behind the screen and stripping to their undergarments for the best measurements. Once they were done she led them out front again where they thanked her profusely and left.

Hermione began leading the way back to the pub but Harry steered her away from it saying "There's somewhere I thought we should look first before we head out to the muggle world." Hermione looked at him curiously but nodded and followed him. As they stopped outside Madame Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions Hermione looked down sadly.

"Come on, they might have something that will help my hair!" Harry told her pretending to not notice the sad look she had. "You know it looks like I never comb it, but I really do, and you're right, I should try to look the part of a lord… Or maybe I'll go nuts and spike my hair instead" Harry said laughing as he opened the door for her.

"Spike your hair? And here I thought you hated attention. You would definitely get some looks in the wizarding world with spiked hair." Hermione told him smirking.

"Well, let's go look around and see what they have then." Harry said.

"Hello, can I help you find anything?" A girl of about twenty asked as she came in from the back room with a stack of boxes.

"We're just looking around. I'm thinking I could maybe use something to help my hair behave a little better." Harry told her.

"Well, you've come to the right place. We have potions to tame your hair, like Sleekeazy's; we have Wizard's Sculpting Gel, we have another potion that turns unmanageable manes into soft silky curls. What did you have in mind?" The clerk informed him.

"Well I think sculpting gel sounds good for me…" Harry told her. She led him to a stand with gels of different levels and in many different scents.

"Now, if you just want your hair to lie down and behave, I'd recommend only going to about a level two. If you want to imitate some of the muggle styles, levels three to five will hold it depending on your hair." She told him.

"Well I think I'd just like it to lie down neatly instead of always looking like I just got off my broom." Harry told her uncertainly.

"Well your hair is pretty thick, so I would recommend a level two. Got any preference on scent? We have Vanilla, Summer Day, Midnight Flight, Sandalwood, Pumpkin, and a few others."

"Err… could I smell them and decide?" Harry asked.

"Of course, we have a few testers here. What would you like to try?" The girl asked pulling out a tray of testers from a drawer under the shelf.

"How about Summer Day and Midnight Flight?" Harry asked. She popped the lid off of Summer Day first and let him smell it. Taking a deep breath in, Harry smelled fresh cut grass, warm breezes off the lake, wildflowers, and sunshine. He handed it to Hermione who was holding her hand out before taking the Midnight Flight. Hermione passed Summer Day back to the clerk as Harry smelled Midnight Flight. It smelled like a midnight chill, fresh air, mysterious woods, dew on the grass, with just a hint of danger. Harry passed this one to Hermione with a grin and as she smelled it she knew why, this one was just so Harry. She nodded and Harry smiled even more.

"I'll take this one please." Harry told the girl.

"Great. Now all you gotta do is rub a bit between your hands till it warms up a bit, then work it through your hair. Give it a minute or two and then comb your hair the way you want it to go. So how about your girlfriend here, anything you'd like today?" She asked looking at Hermione's bushy hair.

"What's that Sleekeazy's potion you were talking about earlier?" Hermione asked trying hard to not be offended by the girl's tone.

"Sleekeazy's will make your hair straight, sleek, shiny and easy to manage. It comes in different levels also, for you I'd suggest a five; otherwise you'll need a whole bottle of the stuff for one evening. However, looking at you I'd recommend Carrie's Curl Potion. It'll take the frizz out of your hair and leave soft, shiny curls like mine." She flipped her hair around and Hermione saw that she had some perfectly gorgeous ringlets.

"Do use the potion then?" Hermione asked her.

"Well of course, I invented it. I'm Carrie, Ravenclaw class of '91. Spent most of my last year at Hogwart's trying to get it right, and still had to tweak it some before my aunt would consider putting it on the shelf. It's not a big seller yet because I'm a nobody as far as most people are concerned, never mind that my aunt has been the best beauty specialist in wizarding Britain for decades. I guarantee it works though."

"Ok. Well then, I'll take a bottle of your Curl Potion and a bottle of Sleekeazy's. I'll try them both over the summer and if I like them I'll get more before heading back to school." Hermione promised.

"Great! Sleekeazy's is unscented, and like I said before, you need a level five, so no real need to choose their. Now let me see your hair…" Carrie turned Hermione around and began inspecting her hair. "Hmm… lots of natural curl here, and I'll bet the more humid it is the bushier this gets… I have just the thing for you!" Carrie ran off and came back with a large spray bottle. "Anti-humidity, frizz control and curl booster for thick, unmanageable locks! Just spray it in slightly damp or dry hair from roots to ends, comb through with a wide tooth comb and let it sit a minute."

"Thank you." Hermione said as she took the bottle and a bottle of Sleekeazy's.

"No problem, anything else for you two?" Carrie asked as she rang them up.

"No thanks. But if we change our minds we'll let you know." Harry said taking his bag. Harry led a smiling Hermione through the Leaky Cauldron and out into the muggle world where she quickly flagged down a taxi and directed the driver to go to the nearest Optometrist. As it turned out, the nearest one was also conveniently owned by a family friend. He got his dental work from her parents and they saw him for their annual eye checkups.

"Dr. Sampson, this is my friend Harry. He is in dire need of an eye exam and new glasses." Hermione introduced Harry to the doctor.

"Now Hermione, you know I can't do eye exams on children without parental consent." Dr. Sampson told her sternly.

"Oh right, of course. You see, Harry was recently emancipated due to his guardian's treatment of him, I have the paperwork here somewhere" Hermione said and she turned her back and made a show of rummaging in her purse. She pulled out her wand and transfigured a Kleenex into a sheet of paper before casting a light Confundus charm on it and handed it to Dr. Sampson.

He took the paper and studied it for a moment before frowning, he nodded and handed Hermione the paper back. "Very well, follow me. I've already eaten so I can squeeze you in on my lunch break." He led them into an exam room and handed Harry a clip board. "Just fill these out and we'll get started."

Harry looked over the clipboard and began filling in what he knew, which unfortunately wasn't much. He handed it back to the doctor and looked away from the scrutinizing look he was being given at having filled in the information so quickly.

"Dr. Sampson, Harry is an orphan; he doesn't know much of his family's medical history. He hasn't been to an optometrist since he got those glasses, which he only got because the school noticed he was having trouble and he is long overdue." Hermione said gently when she saw Harry's discomfort.

Dr. Sampson nodded and began his examination of Harry's eyes. After several minutes of reading charts, looking through lenses to see which was better, and depth perception tests, Dr. Sampson asked them to wait a moment. He began filling in charts on his computer screen and, once done, printed off Harry's new prescription. Take this up front and pick out a new pair of glasses, and before you leave please make an appointment to see us again in about six months. I want to make sure your eyesight isn't damaged too badly by wearing those old glasses for so long. We'll do about three or four appointments at six month intervals to make sure your eyes are healthy and then you can go to annual checks like most patients.

Harry thanked the doctor and walked out with Hermione. He browsed the displays of glasses, trying on different styles to see how he liked them. About ten minutes later, he settled on a pair that was a thin black plastic with rectangular shaped lenses. After being promised that his new glasses would be ready in an hour, Harry took Hermione to lunch at a small café around the corner. It was small and nondescript, but the food was good and the company better so they decided it was rather nice all around.

When they finished eating they stopped to get Harry's new glasses and then flagged down a cab to begin their shopping. What had started as a pleasant day for Harry soon became torture only second to double potions as Hermione dragged him around for hours. Measurements, dressing rooms, constant decisions, and then suit fittings on top of everything else, Harry just couldn't understand why girls thought shopping was fun.

Hermione had insisted on teaching Harry the shrinking and unshrinking charms before they started really shopping so they could shrink all of their purchases to make carrying them easier. When Harry finally arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron he asked Tom to send dinner to his room, Tom arrived to see Harry trying to rub his sore feet and conjured him a hot foot bath. "Thanks Tom" Harry said with a sigh as the bartender closed the door. He barely had energy for a few bites before crawling into bed and passing out.