Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter One

"Glimpse"

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. All characters are creations of Joanne K. Rowling, © 2007, to whom I am deeply indebted. I make no money from any of this. I'm just taking her world and tweaking it a bit.

Note One: A big thanks to the_scribbler for being my awesomesauce beta/editor!

Note Two: Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews! I love them all!

Note Three: I am so, so, so sorry this took so long to write! It just wasn't coming to me as easily as I'd hoped AND school and real life have been kicking my butt. There will be more of my current situation (and that means updates) at the end of the chapter so right now, enjoy!

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19 August, 1992

Hermione could barely contain her excitement the morning of the Diagon Alley trip. She had woken up at the crack of dawn, showered, dressed and was ready to go by the time her parents managed to drag themselves out of bed. Viola flittered anxiously around them, offering to help get coffee and breakfast ready in hopes of changing Mr. and Mrs. Granger's minds. They had sat Viola down and told her she wasn't going to be going to Diagon Alley with them a week previously. Instead, she would be spending the day with her grandparents. Hermione, who was preparing for one of Viola's tantrums, was surprised when her little sister merely just nodded and walked away. But it soon became obvious that Viola was determined to work her way into going to Diagon Alley.

Hermione sighed, feeling sorry for her sister. She sometimes wondered if they should just let Viola go with them to Diagon Alley. But then she knew that would only fuel Viola's obsession with the magical world. Hermione sighed again, biting into her toast and observing Viola's hopeful glances towards their parents. She did not envy them at all.

The doorbell rang and Mr. Granger glanced up from his newspaper. "That must be Sally-Anne," he commented, checking his watch. "Could you get the door, Hermione?"

Hermione brushed the crumbs off of her hands and got up, hurrying down the hall and to the door. Sally-Anne was bouncing excitedly when Hermione let her in, her brown eyes twinkling with excitement. "Good morning, Hermione!" she grinned.

Hermione grinned back and shut the door behind her, leading her friend into the kitchen. She had invited Sally-Anne to Diagon Alley with her shortly after planning the event with Harry and Ron. During the past year at Hogwarts, Sally-Anne had admitted to Hermione she felt left out. Hermione had become such good friends with her Gryffindor class and with the drama that followed the Philosopher's Stone; she didn't have much time to spend with her friend. Hermione remembered how awful it felt to feel alone - after all she had been bullied and isolated in elementary school - and so she was determined to involve Sally-Anne as much as she could.

"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Granger," Sally-Anne announced, smiling at them as she skipped into the kitchen. "Good morning, Vi."

Mrs. Granger looked amused at the dark haired girl's excitement and got up, pouring Sally-Anne a glass of orange juice. She placed it down in front of her and went to go gather her things up for the day.

"Thanks for letting me go with you today," Sally-Anne said, sipping her juice. She made a small face and set the glass down. "My parents weren't going to go to Diagon Alley until next week."

"You're quite welcome," Mr. Granger said, setting the newspaper down. "We figured it'd be nice to have an outing with friends before school started up."

Sally-Anne's excitement began to rub off on Hermione and soon the two girls were fidgeting anxiously as Mr. and Mrs. Granger slowly got ready for the trip into London. Viola's mood worsened as she slowly realized she still wasn't going to Diagon Alley with the girls. A scowl appeared on her face and she sat back in the kitchen chair, arms crossed and glaring at the table.

"If you keep you keep glaring like that your face will freeze that way," Mrs. Granger chided lightly, coming back into the kitchen. She gently grabbed Viola's chin and squeezed it playfully. Viola protested and ducked out of her mother's grasp.

"Viola, don't be like that," Mr. Granger warned. "Your grandparents are excited to spend the day with you. It'll hurt their feelings if you act like this."

Viola's face softened and she got up, excusing herself to go grab books and her crayons. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Sally-Anne. The girl looked slightly uncomfortable and was very interested in her glass of orange juice. "Sorry about that," she murmured.

"It's okay," Sally-Anne smiled. She finished her orange juice and got up, rinsing her glass in the sink.

Twenty minutes later, Hermione, Sally-Anne, and Viola piled into the back seat of the Granger's car and were off towards Hermione's grandparents. Hermione could tell Viola was fighting off tears when she was dropped off. As Mr. and Mrs. Granger left the car, Sally-Anne turned to Hermione.

"I didn't realize Viola was like that," she said quietly.

"She was being good today," Hermione sighed, leaning back against her seat. "She usually starts crying and throws a huge tantrum."

"What?" Sally-Anne gasped. Hermione could understand her shock, before they knew Hogwarts existed, Viola wasn't usually one to throw tantrums. She would have the odd one because she was so young, but Viola was usually a well-mannered child.

"She has this idea that she'll be going to Hogwarts when she turns eleven," Hermione said quietly. "No matter what we do or say, she's convinced she's a witch. If we try and tell her the chance is very small, she throws tantrums."

"Wow," Sally-Anne breathed. "Maybe you should talk to Professor McGonagall about it? She's been going around talking to muggle families for… well, forever I'm guessing. She might have an idea on how to deal with that."

"Yes," Hermione said slowly, nodding. "I think I'll do that when we go back to school."

Mr. and Mrs. Granger returned soon after and they were on their way to London. Hermione and Sally-Anne spent the entire trip talking about their upcoming year at Hogwarts, excited to learn what the older students had shown off in between lessons.

"I wonder who Gilderoy Lockhart is," Hermione commented, pulling her book list out and examining it. "I've never heard of him."

"Ernie said his mum is obsessed over him," Sally-Anne said, rolling her eyes. "He says all of her friends get all giddy and giggly whenever they talk about him. Apparently he's done a bunch of stuff and faced vampires, werewolves - that sort of thing."

"This new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor must be a fan then," Hermione surmised.

"You're getting a new professor?" Mrs. Granger asked from the passenger seat. "I thought Professor Quirrell was that dark arts professor."

Hermione and Sally-Anne stilled, looking at each other. They had agreed at the beginning of summer not to tell either of their parents about what happened during the school year. "He, uh… said he needed a break from teaching," Hermione said quickly.

"Yeah, teaching was getting too stressful for him," Sally-Anne added quickly. "He was always stuttering and jumping at everything."

"That poor man," Mrs. Granger frowned. "Well it's good he's taking a leave of absence, that sort of stress could be bad for his health."

Hermione and Sally-Anne glanced awkwardly at each other. It was a good thing they had just entered London because their conversation effectively died with Mrs. Granger's comment. Guilt tore at Hermione and she bit her lip, wishing she didn't have to lie to her parents. Hermione and Sally-Anne scrambled out of the car as her father parked and waited excitedly on the sidewalk as Mr. and Mrs. Granger got out and locked up.

"Do you have enough money, Sally-Anne?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Yes, Mrs. Granger," Sally-Anne responded, holding up her small pink purse, "thank you!"

Mr. Granger grasped his wife's hand as the two younger girls hurried towards the Leaky Cauldron. "We should stop by Gringotts first," Hermione said, smiling widely. "Exchanging the money shouldn't take too long, and then we can meet up with the others."

She was excited to see Harry and Ron again, although nerves were starting to kick in with seeing Harry. Did he end up reading her mail (Ron never explained what happened in his letters)? If he did, how would he react? Would she have to bring it up? And if she did, should Hermione do it when it was just the two of them together? Hermione sighed and pushed those thoughts from her mind. She'd figure out what to do when she saw her Harry. Today was supposed to be a day with friends.

Hermione grasped the handle to the Leaky Cauldron and pulled open the door. She was instantly hit with the heat from the fires and inhaled the slightly musky scent of the inn as she entered. She could see the innkeeper Tom serving a group of young looking witches by the bar. He looked up as they passed by and gave a merry wave.

"Hermione," Sally-Anne said suddenly, grabbing her arm to stop her. "I forgot my wand."

"Oh, me too." Hermione said, biting her lip. Usually, witches and wizards under the age of seventeen were prohibited from using magic outside of school. But a wand was needed to get through the brick wall to Diagon Alley. "We can just ask Tom to let us through."

A loud commotion came from the staircase in the corner, causing everyone in the pub area to stop what they were doing. Hermione looked towards the staircase to see an extremely handsome man with golden wavy hair descending the stairs, his blue robes flapping dramatically behind him. As soon as he was seen, all the witches in the pub (which, Hermione noticed, was a lot more than usual) began to titter excitedly. A middle-aged woman near Mr. Granger began to pat down her greying hair and smooth her frayed robes frantically. The witches Tom had been serving squealed and abandoned him, rushing over to the banister.

"Ladies, ladies!" the man exclaimed, giving a chuckle. "Please, you don't need to make such a commotion for little old me."

Tom made a disgruntled sound from behind the bar and began wiping the counters down, glaring at the wizard.

"Is he some sort of celebrity?" Mr. Granger asked.

Hermione could only shake her head, watching with wide eyes as more witches swarmed him. He stood on the first step so he was still able to look over the heads of the women. A timid looking witch pushed her way through the crowd and shakily held out a napkin. "May - may I have your autograph?" she stammered.

"Of course!" the man exclaimed. He reached into his robes and pulled out a very elaborate looking quill. Taking the napkin from the witch, he winked to the crowd. "I always come prepared. Now, what's your name, love?"

"L-Laura," she squeaked.

"Well, Laura you caught me at an extremely good time," he said, scribbling on the napkin. He handed it back to Laura who grasped it tightly to her chest, looking as if she were about to faint. "Because, unfortunately, I just don't have time to stay here with you lovely ladies. I do have to get to Flourish and Blotts for my book signing of my autobiography Magical Me. I'll be there all afternoon -"

"I know who that is!" Sally-Anne squealed suddenly, shaking Hermione's arm. "I know who that is! That's Gilderoy Lockhart!"

"Gilderoy Lockhart?" Hermione gasped, tearing her eyes away from him as he began to slowly wade through the crowd. "How do you know?"

"When Ernie and I were talking about Lockhart he said his mum had been quoting from his new book ever since our booklist arrived."

"Wow," Hermione breathed, feeling her heart rate begin to speed up as Lockhart strode towards them. "He's written almost all of the books we need!"

Sally-Anne nodded. "He must know what he's talking about."

"Good morning, ladies," Lockhart flashed them a pearly white smile as he passed. Hermione felt butterflies erupt in her stomach when she and Lockhart made eye contact. "Ah, Hogwarts students. So fresh and bright-eyed and full of youth." He patted Sally-Anne on the shoulder and left through the exit to Diagon Alley. Sally-Anne's eyes widened dramatically and she went bright red, giggling. Hermione couldn't help but start giggling too as the group of witches slowly went back to what they were doing.

"Really, girls?" Mr. Granger asked disdainfully. "There's no need to get all worked up over some pretty boy who - Jane!"

Mrs. Granger, who had been giggling with the girls and telling them they'd go to the book signing, flushed and quickly tried to compose herself. She looked guiltily at her husband and Hermione took that time to rush to Tom and ask him to open the way to Diagon Alley.

Hermione and Sally-Anne hurried down the winding street towards Gringotts, both of them still feeling giggly. When they finally reached the enormous white building, Mrs. Granger took Sally-Anne to the exchange desk while Mr. Granger went with Hermione to put more money into the fault he had opened for her last year. The lunch rush was beginning to draw in a large crowd by the time Mr. Granger and Hermione were finished. Mr. Granger motioned to Mrs. Granger from across the large room that they'd be waiting outside and pulled Hermione out of the bank.

"It sure is a lot busier than it was last year," Mr. Granger commented, looking out at the crowded street.

"Last year we went in July, it's closer to start of term now," Hermione replied, also looking at the different people. She saw Flourish and Blotts was a lot more crowded than the rest of the street and smiled. "Plus it's Gilderoy Lockhart's book signing today."

"I don't see why you went so gaga over him," Mr. Granger rolled his eyes. "Just an hour ago you and Sally-Anne were saying you had no idea who he was."

"Dad, he pretty much wrote our booklist for this year," Hermione sighed.

Mr. Granger said something that sounded suspiciously like 'I highly doubt that' and turned away from his daughter. She glared at him but didn't say anything, feeling slightly embarrassed once she realized he was right. Mr. Granger was the first to speak after that, giving a low whistle. "Look at that bloke - he's giant!"

Hermione looked to where her father indicated, her heart soaring when she recognized the scruffy black beard instantly. "That's Hagrid!" she said. "He's the groundskeeper at Hogwarts, dad. Remember? I told you about him in letters."

Hagrid stood well above people's heads as he marched down the street towards them. Hermione could tell he was with someone by the way Hagrid kept ducking his head down to talk to whoever it was. As he got closer, Hermione could make out the mass of unruly raven hair and bright green eyes behind cracked glasses.

"He's with Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. She rushed down the steps, calling out both Harry and Hagrid's names. She noticed soot and dirt on Harry's oversized clothes as she stopped in front of him. He was wearing his glasses, like always, but they were cracked and the frame was bent horribly. Worry crept up on her and before Hermione knew it, she was firing off questions. "What happened to your glasses? Are you alright? Where are the Weasleys?"

"I fell," Harry said sheepishly, glancing around the crowded street. "And I'm not too sure, actually. They should be around somewhere."

"Hey Harry!"

Hermione, Harry, and Hagrid turned to look as Sally-Anne came bouncing down the steps. Mr. and Mrs. Granger stood by one of the pillars, allowing them some time to get caught up.

"Hello Sally-Anne," Harry smiled politely.

"I hope you don't mind that I invited Sally-Anne with us," Hermione said, biting her lip.

"Not at all," Harry shook his head. "It's good to see you."

"You too," Sally-Anne replied, smiling. "Although, what happened to you? You're all dirty."

Harry was just about to respond when they heard his name being called repeatedly. They turned to see a colony of red hair rushing towards them. Ron, Fred, George, and Percy all ran up to Harry, relief evident on all their faces. Behind them, a tall, balding man with flaming red hair came running up, panting and sweating. Hermione grinned; she could tell right away that he was Ron's father.

"We hoped you had only missed a gate or two," he panted, wiping his balding head with a handkerchief. Hermione frowned in confusion. "Molly's frantic, she's been searching all over for you. Where did you end up?"

"I found him in Knockturn Alley," Hagrid said, a frown forming.

Hermione had no idea what Knockturn Alley was, but she could tell by the way Mr. Weasley's expression darkened that it wasn't a good place. The rest of the Weasley's (except for Percy) all looked at Harry in awe.

"That's brilliant," the twins moaned.

"We've always wanted to get into Knockturn Alley," George said. "But mum and dad never let us get close to it."

"I should think not," Hagrid growled, shooting glares at the twins. "Knockturn Alley ain't no place fer kids."

"Arthur! Oh, thank goodness you've found Harry!"

Hermione recognized the plump red headed woman rushing towards them as Mrs. Weasley instantly. The same little red headed girl Hermione saw at King's Cross Station was being dragged unceremoniously behind her mother. Hermione quickly stepped out of the way as Mrs. Weasley placed herself in front of Harry, her eyes roaming his body. She dropped the girl's hand and began to root furiously in her handbag as Mr. Weasley took Harry's glasses. He flicked his wand and returned them to Harry, repaired and good as new. Mrs. Weasley produced a brush and began brushing the soot and dust off of Harry, tutting to herself as Hagrid explained where he found Harry.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked Ron. "Why was Harry missing?"

"It was his first time using Floo Powder and Harry ended up getting off at the wrong gate," Ron explained. At Hermione and Sally-Anne's blank expressions, he sighed. "It's a way of traveling through fireplaces. I'll show it to you sometime - it's hard to explain."

Hagrid managed to excuse himself after Mrs. Weasley thanked him profusely. She turned around and gathered up her children, ushering them up the steps to Gringotts. "Hello Hermione, dear," she smiled at her. "I hope your holidays have been treating you well?"

"They have, thank you," Hermione smiled. She turned and gestured to Sally-Anne, introducing her.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, too," Mrs. Weasley gave Sally-Anne a quick hug and brought the tiny little girl in front of her. "This is our youngest, Ginny. She'll be starting Hogwarts this year."

"That's exciting," Hermione grinned. "It's nice to meet you."

Ginny squeaked a hello, glancing at Harry quickly. She turned bright red and ducked her head. Ron snickered from behind her.

"Guess who we saw in Knockturn Alley," Harry changed the topic quickly, looking uncomfortable. Hermione grinned slyly at him. "Malfoy and his dad."

Mr. Weasley's head whipped around so fast that it made Hermione jump. "Where did he go?" he demanded. "Did he buy anything?"

"He went into Borgin and Burkes," Harry said. "Malfoy was just selling a bunch of things from his house."

"That's good, it means he's getting nervous with the raids," Mr. Weasley said darkly. "Oh how I wish I could be the one to catch him."

"Arthur," Mrs. Weasley hissed. She grabbed Ginny's hand and hurried into Gringotts. Hermione and Sally-Anne told Harry and Ron they had already gone in and would wait for them to return.

"So what was that all about?" Mrs. Granger asked as the two girls returned.

"I'm not too sure," Hermione said slowly, glancing at Sally-Anne, who shrugged. "From what Ron told us, they used a magical way to travel and Harry ended up getting lost."

"Poor guy," Mr. Granger said. "He looked a little worse for wear."

Mrs. Granger pursed her lips and frowned. "It seems like we always see him like that."

Harry and the Weasleys returned shortly after. Mr. Weasley's eyes went wide after Hermione introduced her parents. "You're muggles!" he exclaimed excitedly. Hermione winced at his bluntness. "We must go have a drink while the children are shopping!"

"Oh Arthur," Mrs. Weasley sighed rolling her eyes. Hermione could see her parents looked a little weary of him but nodded slowly. Everyone split up with plans to meet up at Flourish and Blotts in a couple hours. Hermione felt a jolt of excitement go through her as she grinned at Sally-Anne - she wanted to see Gilderoy Lockhart again.

Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Sally-Anne made their way down the street, their first stop being for ice cream before they began shopping. They nibbled on their ice cream as Harry explained how a house elf (which was like a magical servant, Hermione learned) was keeping Harry from receiving any letters he had gotten throughout the summer. Hermione felt relief spread through her as she got confirmation that Harry hadn't been avoiding her. She wasn't even sure why she thought he would try to avoid her or why she thought she had offended him somehow. Hermione decided as Harry continued on with his story that she'd bring up her recognizing him whenever there was time, it wasn't like it was an extremely important thing to do.

"...and I ended up getting a letter from the Ministry of Magic saying I had a warning," Harry was saying. "Then Uncle Vernon locked me in my room. If it weren't for Ron, Fred, and George I'd still be locked in there."

"Wow," Sally-Anne said. "That... sucks."

"How can your family do that?" Hermione asked. "That's just horrible. You should tell someone at school, like Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall."

Harry gave a non-committal shrug and hurried with Ron to the window display of Quality Quidditch Supplies. Hermione rolled her eyes, feeling a stab of annoyance at Harry's refusal to get help. Getting him and Ron to ask for any help was like pulling teeth. Hermione and Sally-Anne trailed after them, both girls sighing in exasperation as Harry and Ron ogled the display case. After about twenty minutes, the girls dragged the boys away and went to go refill their supplies.

"So," Hermione began, grinning at Harry, "looks like someone has a crush."

Harry groaned as Ron burst out laughing. "You should see how Ginny's been acting at home," he chuckled. "Usually we can't get Ginny to shut up but with Harry there she's hardly said two words. And she's always knocking things over whenever Harry tries talking to her. He gets her all flustered."

"Sod off, Ron," Harry mumbled, blushing bright red.

The four students ended up finishing their shopping with a little time to spare. Hermione and Sally-Anne immediately told Harry and Ron they were going to Flourish and Blotts, much to the amusement of Harry and the annoyance of Ron.

"What's the rush?" Ron grumbled, trailing along after Hermione, Harry, and Sally-Anne. "I know you like books but you do know they'll still be there in a half hour, right?"

"That's not the reason," Sally-Anne snapped, glaring at Ron from over her shoulder. "Gilderoy Lockhart is having a book signing there today."

"You're joking," Ron groaned.

"No we aren't," Hermione said, smiling. "We got to see him earlier in the Leaky Cauldron."

"Mum's gonna go spare," Ron groaned to Harry, who laughed.

The large crowd Hermione had seen from Gringotts had grown tremendously by the time they arrive at Flourish and Blotts. Hermione spotted her parents with the rest of the Weasleys in a jumbled line inside the shop. They pushed their way through the crowd (which was mostly women) and to where their group was.

"Oh there you are," Mrs. Weasley said, patting her hair anxiously. "We'll be able to see him any minute."

Hermione made her way over to her parents, Mr. Granger taking the bags she had been carrying. "Did you have a good time?" he asked.

"Yeah," Hermione smiled. "You?"

"It was... enlightening," Mrs. Granger said slowly.

Hermione couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing, but before she could ask, the crowd started to cheer and applaud. Hermione and Sally-Anne grinned at each other as Gilderoy Lockhart made his appearance. A man with a camera was dancing around, taking multiple pictures of Lockhart. Hermione winced when she saw him step on Ron's foot. She couldn't hear what was exchanged between the two, but Lockhart did. His head shot up and his eyes widened. "It can't be Harry Potter!"

The crowd parted as Lockhart got up and went towards them. Hermione watched as Harry was pulled up to the front, his face flaming. Reporters swooped in as Lockhart put his arm around Harry's shoulder and posed.

"Harry is so lucky!" Sally-Anne whispered enviously.

Hermione wasn't so sure Harry considered himself lucky. Harry looked like he'd rather be in a one-on-one Potions lesson with Professor Snape than up there with Lockhart.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Lockhart called, waving his arm around. The room grew quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!"

Hermione and Sally-Anne glanced at each other as curious whispers flowed through the room. Mrs. Weasley stood up straight and patted her hair, her eyes not leaving Lockhart. Behind her, Ron scrunched his nose up in disgust.

"When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography - which I shall be happy to present to him, free of charge - he had no idea that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his school fellows will, in fact be getting the real, magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September; I will be taking up the position of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Hermione's eyes widened as the crowd began to cheer and applaud. Lockhart snapped his fingers and a wizard appeared, shoving what looked like all of Lockhart's works into Harry's arms. With that, Lockhart went back behind his desk and called upon the first witch in line. Harry stumbled back to the Weasleys as Mrs. Granger shoved the booklist into Hermione's hands.

"Hurry and get your books," she instructed, "before it gets too crowded. And see if you can get a copy of Magical Me."

"Jane," Mr. Granger said, exasperated.

Hermione and Sally-Anne pushed their way over to where Lockhart's books were. There was a mad dash to grab their books and Hermione was nearly trampled by a severely overweight witch trying to grab the same book as her. She grabbed the other two books that were on the list and hurried over to where Ron was pushing his way through the crowd.

"It's mad in here," he said, glancing at the two girls. "Where's Harry?"

"I thought he was with you," Sally-Anne replied.

Hermione looked around and instantly caught sight of their friend. Her stomach dropped when she saw Draco Malfoy talking to him and Ginny. The blonde Slytherin boy was nothing but trouble, and loved getting a rise out of Harry and Ron. She pointed him out to Ron and Sally-Anne.

"Let's go," Ron said, hurrying towards them. Hermione and Sally-Anne struggled to keep up with Ron's lanky frame.

"What are you doing here?" Ron sneered, stepping in front of Ginny protectively.

"This is a public place, Weasley," Malfoy drawled, looking at Ron as if he were an insect. "I know you wouldn't be familiar with how shops work because of how poor you are, but you should at least be dumb enough to know that anyone is allowed in a public place."

"What did you say?" Ron snarled. He dropped his books into Ginny's cauldron and started towards Malfoy. Hermione and Harry quickly grabbed the back of Ron's shirt, Hermione struggling with balancing the weight of her books on one arm.

"Ignore him, Ron," Sally-Anne said, glaring at Malfoy.

"There you are," Mr. Weasley said, struggling over to where they were with Fred, George, and Hermione's parents. "Let's pay for these and get out of here, it's completely mad."

Hermione gave Ron's shirt a yank as she looked back to her parents. Mr. Granger's eyes were on her grasp of Ron and he frowned.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Arthur Weasley."

Hermione felt a chill go through her as the cold voice came from in front of her. She looked back and saw an older version of Draco Malfoy standing behind him, a sneer on his face as he took in Mr. Weasley.

"That's Malfoy's dad," Harry whispered unnecessarily to Hermione.

"Lucius," Mr. Weasley responded just as coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," Mr. Malfoy said. "All those raids... I do hope they're paying you over time."

Hermione watched as he reached into Ginny's cauldron and pulled out a ratty copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, a sickly feeling of dread beginning to form in her stomach. She watched warily as he examined it.

"Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy said finally. "What's the point of being a disgrace to the name wizard if they can't even pay you well for it?"

Everyone bristled at his comment. Hermione felt her eyes narrow into slits as she glared at Mr. Malfoy. Malfoy was watching the exchange with a smug grin on his face. Hermione shot him a glare as well. She couldn't wait to beat that grin off of his face when they got back to school. Malfoy made it no secret he hated whenever Hermione got better grades than him - which was all the time.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of a wizard, Malfoy," Mr. Weasley hissed, his face redder than Ron's had ever been.

"Clearly," Mr. Malfoy said, his eyes roaming coolly over Mr. and Mrs. Granger. "With the company you keep, Weasley... and I thought you could sink no lower."

Hermione's eyes widened and she gasped at Mr. Malfoy's blatant insult. Before she could respond, an arm pushed Hermione, Harry, and Ron out of the way as Ginny's cauldron went flying. Hermione's books went crashing to the floor as she watched in fascinated horror from the floor as Mr. Weasley launched himself on top of Mr. Malfoy.

"Get him, dad!" George cheered.

The crowd parted slightly as the two men wrestled on the ground. The shopkeeper, a tiny little man with thinning black hair, danced anxiously around them, crying at them to break it up. Hermione could hear Mrs. Weasley screaming at Mr. Weasley to stop.

"Break it up!"

Two large hands appeared from nowhere and pulled the struggling wizards away from each other. Hermione quickly got up as Hagrid held both Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy by the scruffs of their necks, pinning both of them with a glare. Mr. Weasley was panting angrily, the little hair he had mussed in every direction and was now sporting a bloody nose. Mr. Malfoy was no better, his lip split and bleeding and a bruise already starting to form under his eye.

Hermione quickly bent down and gathered up her fallen books, examining them quickly to make sure they weren't damaged. When she was satisfied, she looked back up to see the shopkeeper and his assistant talking angrily at the two men. Mr. Granger quickly grabbed Hermione and Sally-Anne, pulling the two girls out of the way in case another fight broke out.

"What's the matter with yeh two?" Hagrid asked, ignoring the shopkeeper as he yelled. "Fightin' in public like kids!"

Mr. Malfoy struggled out of Hagrid's grasp, stooped down and grabbed Ginny's book. "Here girl," he said, thrusting the book back into the cauldron, "take this stupid book, it's the best your father can do."

Mr. Malfoy composed himself and swooped out of the shop with Malfoy in toe. Everyone in the shop was staring at them now, with Lockhart talking urgently to the photographer. Hermione and Sally-Anne quickly paid for their books and waited outside of Flourish and Blotts with Mr. and Mrs. Granger as the Weasleys and Harry sorted everything out.

"Are you girls alright?" Mrs. Granger asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," Hermione said, glancing at Sally-Anne. She nodded as well.

"I can't believe Malfoy's dad would say something like that!" Sally-Anne seethed.

"I can," Hermione muttered darkly. "It's no wonder Malfoy is so rotten - he's the spitting image of his father."

"Hermione," Mrs. Granger chided weakly.

"I'm sorry, mum, but it's true," Hermione defended herself. Sally-Anne nodded in agreement. "He's always trying to get Harry and Ron riled up at school to get them into trouble."

The Weasleys and Harry exited the shop shortly after, Mrs. Weasley hissing angrily at her husband as they walked towards Hermione. In the end, everyone decided the shopping trip was over and they all headed their separate ways.

The car ride home was quiet and tense. Hermione wasn't sure what her parents were thinking, but she knew that the Malfoys had left a bad impression on magical families.

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End Notes: And there's the first chapter, again I am so sorry about the wait. Now here's an IMPORTANT message regarding when another update will come:

I'm graduating college in a month, and the weekends leading up to that I'll be going around the country for interviews. That means I don't have much time to write - at all. So I don't know when I'll be able to give you the next chapter, hopefully it'll be sometime soon. But I will NOT give up on this story, no matter what. This is my baby.

Now that that's out of the way: I hope everyone has a Happy Easter!!

Kelci

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