Maisie watched as the raindrops collected on Rachel's car windows and stared at the high-rise buildings of London which seemed to be moving at an extremely quick pace around her.

The song 'Like a prayer' which had come out that March by Madonna was blasting at full volume inside the vehicle. Rachel was tapping along with the beat on the steering wheel, swaying her head and singing every lyric perfectly.

"You should pay me for this, y'know", spoke Rachel as she bopped her head to the music, "It's like your own private show. If you ignored my atrocious singing voice, I reckon I'd make a pretty good popstar". Maisie smiled and nodded her head. In reality, Rachel had quite a nice singing voice, but Maisie wasn't going to boost her ego any further.

The song suddenly cut off as the car pulled to a stop outside a rather old-looking pub called 'The Leaky Cauldron', leaving the two in silence. Maisie was just about to get out when she felt Rachel's hand gently place itself on her arm.

"Don't go out that way" she said to her as she unlocked the door on the driver's side. Maisie looked at her, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "It's the main road, I don't trust you to look both ways before you step out, you'd end up getting yourself ran over". Rachel climbed out of the car and onto the pavement, gesturing for a hesitant Maisie to follow suit.

"My boots" Maisie commented, lifting her right foot to show Rachel the mud underneath her shoes.

"Oh don't be silly, a little mud isn't going to hurt. I can always clean the seats later".

Maisie crawled over to the driver's side of the car and hopped out, both feet landing firmly on the concrete. She grabbed Rachel's hand tightly as she was led into the pub's front door. The two girls walked into a stone room, filled with people chatting amongst themselves. Rachel quickly ushered her way through the crowd of mostly rowdy males to the backdoor of the building where they ended up in a small patio-like area with brick walls surrounding them.

"Now, watch this" Rachel commented with a smile, her fingers fiddling as she placed her hands into the right pocket of her coat.

Maisie watched Rachel intently as she drew out her wand and placed it on specific bricks in the wall in a sort of pattern. After a couple of minutes, nothing happened and the smug smile Rachel held on her face faltered slightly. Maisie sniggered at her, finding it amusing that she was embarrassed.

Pulling them back into the original focus, the bricks in the wall miraculously started moving by themselves. As they twisted and turned in all possible directions, a large gap that was big enough for the two of them to walk through had been created. As the gap got bigger, Maisie's eyes widened in awe at the sight that was in front of her. The sight that greeted her was a narrow path, filled with shops in every possible space. There were lots of people there, most of them being families with children of all ages who were darting in and out of several shops as their parents slowly followed them from behind. The sound of laughter overflowed Maisie's ears as she saw friends chatting about excitedly, either peering into the different shop windows or catching up over a hot drink.

"Right", commented Rachel, "let us get going, shall we?" she asked, turning to face the young brunette at her side who was still fixated on the scene in front of her. Maisie quickly faced her and nodded eagerly.

"I'll let you take the lead" she spoke and Maisie soon after began to drag her along, not being able to wait to explore any longer.

Maisie bounded eagerly down the small road, gazing with an animated expression at the shops in which they passed. Suddenly, she felt a weight on her shoulders and was steered by Rachel into a shop named 'Ollivander's'.

"What's the matter?" asked Rachel, stepping to Maisie's side who had all of a sudden stood still in the doorway, allowing the door to shut abruptly from behind her. She followed her line of sight and it landed on a family of a Mum and a Dad with their daughter, comfortingly stroking her hair as she played around with the delicate stick of wood in her hands. A pang of guilt was felt in Rachel's chest and she plastered on a smile, getting down on the same level as Maisie.

It was the first time Maisie would start a new academic year without her parents. Rachel sympathised with the young girl, having been put through the same situation as her when she had been younger. She would forever be grateful that the Heart family treated her as their own, making her feel as comfortable as possible in their home which soon after became hers too.

"Hey", Rachel spoke to Maisie in a hushed tone, "they're still with you, Mais" she finished as she brushed away a strand of hair that was beginning to stick to the single tear which was now slowly rolling down her face.

Maisie shook her head as she wiped her nose.

"Us" she replied.

Rachel cocked her head to the side in confusion, trying her best to understand what Maisie had meant.

"Us", she repeated, "they were your parents as much as they were mine".

A sad smile made its way to Rachels's face as she fought back the urge to join Maisie with the tears. It constantly amazed her how strong she was, despite the fact she was only eleven years of age. Rachel pulled Maisie into a hug, noticing Maisie's breathing return back to normal as she calmed down. Rachel pulled back as she faced Maisie once again.

"Alright now, go and get your wand," Rachel said, noticing her face light up at the mention of a wand.

Maisie hurriedly made her way up to the wooden table where the previous family were just finishing up, paying the man behind the counter. As the previous people left the shop, the man looked up from where he had been writing something down in a notebook.

"Ah", he said with a smile, looking behind Maisie towards Rachel, "I wasn't expecting to see you here again miss..." Ollivander said, trailing off as though he was asking Rachel for some sort of confirmation.

"Thorn" Rachel quickly responded, resulting in him humming in agreement, repeating what she had said.

"Miss.. Thorn. Nonetheless, it's a pleasure to see you again", he concluded with a warm smile "and who do we have here?" he asked, refocusing his attention on Maisie who was waiting patiently in front of him.

"Maisie" she spoke, fidgeting in her spot, unable to remain still.

"I'm assuming you're here to find your perfect wand, yes?" he asked, earning a nod from Maisie who had a broad smile on her face. The white-haired man smiled once more and moved to a wall filled with different boxes of wands, each in its separate compartment. He carefully scanned each label on the side of the boxes and finally stopped his finger on one.

After carefully examining the box, he walked over to the till and gently placed it in front of the young girl. He slid off the lid and presented her with the wand.

Hesitantly, Maisie extended her hands in front of her and allowed the man to place the object into her palms.

And just stood there, still. Having not a single clue what to do with it.

"Mais", spoke Rachel, "it's not going to bloody bite you". Maisie huffed under her breath and turned her head to face her.

"I don't know that!" she hissed.

"It's quite alright, don't feel rushed. It will feel like second nature when you find the correct one." Ollivander reassured her, "this was nothing but a push in the right direction, hm?" he concluded and swiftly picked up the wand from her awkward grasp, placing it back into the designated box.

He repeated the same actions as before and once again came to the front of the till presenting another hand-picked wand in front of her.

Maisie took the wand from him and held it in her hands.

She looked at it in closer detail as she admired the carving of delicate vines which started at the end of the handle, snaking around itself and travelling upwards until they faded out at the very top.

"Give it a go" instructed the elderly man and Maisie dubiously lifted it in the air slightly, flicking it in a forward motion with the faintest of movements. To everyone's surprise, loose pieces of paper that had fallen out of a pile on the till quickly rearranged themselves, slotting into different areas of it until not a single sheet was out of place. Ollivander looked at her with a pleased smile.

"Well, would you look at that! You found your wand and I have one less job to do!"

Maisie smiled, fiddling around with the piece of wood in her hand.

"Earth to Maisie!" said Rachel with a grin on her face as she slipped her purse back into the pocket of her jeans, "come on, you'll have plenty of time to use that later".

Maisie nodded and carefully placed the wand into the pocket of her jacket, making sure she zipped it up fully. She didn't want to take any chances. The two girls walked out of the shop door, and back into the bustling atmosphere of Diagon alley. Maisie was soon pulled to the left as Rachel made her way over to another shop called 'Flourish and Blotts'.

As they walked into the painted green shop, the soft chime of bells was heard from above their heads, signalling whenever someone new walked in or out of the shop. Rachel sighed as she pulled out the list of books required for Maisie's first year.

"I didn't realise how many there were" she spoke, her finger sliding down the page as she read each item, "if we don't get a move on, we'll be here all day" she joked. "If you get all of these bought within an hour, I'll let you get any pet you like. Within reason obviously" she suggested to Maisie.

"Deal" the young brunette replied, snatching the piece of crumpled paper in her hands as she started to run down the aisle of books which was named 'back to school'.

Maisie looked down at the list in search of the first book written down. Merlin, there was quite a lot to look for.

As she briefly looked over the shelf of books in front of her, she silently cheered as she set her eyes on the first book called 'the standard book of spells. As she reached out and pulled the book from its place, a small red horn with the word 'zonko's' on the handle of it suddenly came into view and sounded right in front of her face from the other side of the aisle. Maisie yelped and stepped back in shock, followed by two sets of giggles from the opposite side. She crouched down slightly and looked in the gap where the book once was and was met with two ginger-haired boys who were doubling over with laughter.

Just when she was about to turn back to look for the next textbook required, she noticed the red instrument placed in the gap on the shelf. Seizing the opportunity, she quickly took hold of it and took advantage of their unaware state. Maisie sounded the horn, resulting in them having the same reaction as her and cried out, stepping backwards and bumping into the books behind them.

"Boys!" she heard a shout from somewhere inside the shop, "clean up that mess, now!". She watched as a ginger woman who she presumed to be their mum started to scold them about how to be respectful in public. As she was saying this, the two boys turned to look at Maisie, who merely smiled at them and walked away.

"Mais!" Rachel called out from the front of the shop, proudly holding up a stack of books. "They did a deal and got every book on the list for us!". Maisie's smile dropped as she looked down at the textbook in her hands.

"Does this mean I don't get the pet I want?" she asked her, disappointment washing over her features.

"I was only kidding, of course, you do Mais" she replied, watching the relief wash over her face.