This story is based on the song Over You by Miranda Lambert. All rights and characters belong to J. K. Rowling.
"Hermione, please stop crying. You're going to get my mum's sweater all full of bogeys."
"Ron!" Ginny scolded. "Hermione is having a hard time. Here, Hermione, you can cry on my shoulder, since Ron obviously does not appreciate the fact that he's got a woman crying in his arms." Hermione moved onto the couch and into Ginny's comforting embrace.
"Gin, I'm married! And besides, isn't Hermione taken?" Hermione's sobs grew in volume.
"Ron Weasley that is enough! Now get out of this room before I hex you!" Ginny threatened. Ron obediently left, and Ginny rubbed Hermione's back.
"Shhh… Ron's gone. Now tell me what happened with Draco."
Hermione sniffled."I- I can't."
"Okay, then tell me about when you first met him. That's a good story."
Hermione smiled for the first time that evening. "Ok, I'll tell it. But he tells it so much better."
Draco Malfoy was with his father for the first time in Diagon Alley. He had heard of it, of course, and had read multiple books about it's history. His father had brought him there to meet his Godfather, Severus Snape. Draco hadn't seen his beloved godfather since his seventh birthday, a few months earlier. Severus always had a present for Draco. Sometimes it was a book on potions, a small cauldron, or a beginner's potion ingredient.
However, Draco's excitement for his gift paled when compared to the wonder of the wizarding street. Although Draco was captivated by the many magical shops, his curiosity desired him to venture a step further. He'd read that the Leaky Cauldron connected Diagon Alley to the world of the muggles, and he'd never seen an actual muggle before. He'd heard all about them of course, with their big noses, beady eyes, and strange colored hair. His house-elf education was sound.
They met Severus outside of Gringotts, where Lucius told his son to wait, while they conducted some 'adult business.'
"Yes, Father," Draco responded automatically. That didn't mean he was going to follow it.
"So, I hear the boy is living with muggle relatives," Lucius said as they entered the bank. Draco waited obediently still until they disappeared from view. Draco estimated he had about ten to fifteen minutes to satisfy his curiosity, or, at least, until his next trip to the alley. He found the Leaky Cauldron easily enough, and from there, he simply took the door that had people entering from.
Muggle London was bustling with people, out running errands on a Sunday afternoon. Draco was shocked. They looked just like wizards, but none of them were wearing robes. Their noses had normal dimensions, their eyes looked just like his, and their hair was of the normal variety. The only difference Draco could tell between them was that most of the people had a bit darker skin, but Draco had been informed multiple times that he was pale enough to be a vampire.
Draco just watched the muggles rushing around for a few more minutes before decided to head back. After all, he could freely disobey the rules as long as he wasn't caught. As his father always said, "You're only doing something wrong if you are caught." Draco headed back into the Leaky Cauldron and headed for the doorway leading back to Diagon Alley. However, when he went through the doorway, he found himself in a room of bricks. No exit, no furniture, just a closet sized room with brick walls. Draco had been confident this was the way. He was too intelligent to get lost in a ratty place like the Leaky Cauldron. It was called the Leaky Cauldron after all. It wasn't quite the place a respected person like a Malfoy could go around getting lost in, or, heaven forbid, asking for directions.
The best option, Draco decided, would be to ask one of the muggles outside for help. Surely at least someone would have read some sort of book, detailing how the Leaky Cauldron connected their world to the wizarding one.
So Draco headed outside to the busy street to find a suitable looking adult to command directions from him or her. Draco opened his mouth to ask someone, but they had already moved on. Draco tried again, with similar success. There was a tap on Draco's shoulder.
"Excuse me. Are you lost? I happen to know my way around most of London. Maybe I can help!" Behind Draco was a girl that reminded him of lion with the way her brown hair extended to almost a flat line on the top of her head. Draco eyed the girl with suspicion. But time was ticking, and if he didn't find his way back soon, he would surely get caught. Getting caught always involved punishment.
"I suppose if you could help me-" Draco mumbled.
"Great! Let me just pull out my map book," the girl chirped.
"I thought you said you knew the way? If you have to look at the book, you don't really know your way. Anyone can look at a book."
"I said I knew most of London. I'm getting out the book just in case you're going somewhere I don't know." Draco stared at her quizzically.
"I'm trying to get to Diagon Alley."
"Diagon Alley? That sounds like a fake place. But I'll look it up." She turned to the back of the book, and trailed her finger along the D's. "I don't see a Diagon Alley. Are you sure it's a real place and not someone trying to be funny?"
Draco sighed. "Yes, it's a real place. I was there twenty minutes ago."
"If you've already been there, then how come you forgot how to get back? Don't you pay attention?"
Draco scoffed. "Of course I paid attention. There was a wall instead of the doorway."
The girl just stared at him. "A wall instead of- what?"
"Oh, nevermind. I knew you'd be too stupid to understand."
The girl's hair rose even higher, which didn't seem possible. "I can too understand! It must be, uh, a secret passageway! That's it. I've read about those, where a wall becomes a doorway. Is it one of those?"
"If I knew, do you think I'd still be talking to you?"
The girl's hand went on her hips. "If you show me this wall, maybe I can open it."
"Fine." Draco led her into the Leaky Cauldron and into the brick broom closet. "Now make the wall into a doorway."
Hermione let out a giggle. "You make it sound like the act of a magician."
Draco rolled his eyes. He was beginning to understand why his father spoke poorly of muggles. The girl searched the wall for a nail she could press, or some sort of uneven spot that would release the mechanism. Being a brick wall, a lot of it was uneven, so she spent precious time of his father's anger pressing uneven parts of the bricks.
"You already tried there," Draco complained at one point.
"But I'm not sure if I pressed hard enough the first time!" she argued.
"At this rate, it would be a lot faster just to tap bricks in random order," Draco said, touching his hand to two different bricks a total of six times. Then he turned back to the girl.
"See, look at me, I've made just as much progress as you have." But the girl was staring at the wall behind him. Draco made a face. "What are you looking at?"
"You- you did it!" she exclaimed. Draco turned, and sure enough, there was the doorway to Diagon Alley.
"I knew how to get in the whole time. I just decided to test your stupidity." He smirked. "You passed."
The girl's eyes glazed with tears. "You- you, vile little-" he silenced her with a wave.
"See you never," he said as he sauntered away.
"Wait, what? That is not how Draco tells it," Ginny commented. Hermione laughed for the first time.
"Well, that's what happened. He's just embarrassed because he acted so awfully to me! Imagine that, a seven year old me, being told I'd passed a stupidity test."
"You'd be crushed."
"Although it pales in comparison to-" a sob cut Hermione off.
"Hey, it's alright. Let's go get some ice cream," Ginny encouraged.
