A/N: Anything you recognise belongs to the wonderful J.K Rowling. Also sorry it's so late again, I've been stressing out over exams. Also if you feel like it review, so I know what needs to be improved – but nothing pointlessly mean! Also, the second part of this was going to be included, but it was over the maximum word limit. Thanks, Ludi Sen xxx.

"Ginny! Where are we going? First you floo us to Diagon Alley, then you take me to the tube, and now … I don't even know where we are." Ginny had Hermione by the arm, pulling her along a busy London street. The two girls were surrounded by people. Most of these wore serious, black suits that had that look to them that suggested that they were dry cleaned after every wear. On either side of the street large buildings overshadowed the lives below, many of which were straight, linear, no sign of living within them.
Ginny pulled her friend out of the way of a homeless person trying desperately to sell her an issue of The Big Issue, and said: "Oh Hermione, Hermione, Hermione. Why do you refuse to trust me?"
Hermione groaned, "Ginny, you know it's not that I don't trust you, 'cause I do, it's just-"
"Ah, afraid to see the big bad world?" The red-head giggled.
"No, but we're supposed to be in Hogsmeade. What if something happens? To Ron, or to Harry! No-one would find us and then we would feel guilty because we WEREN'T THERE! Especially considering the state of danger the world is currently in. We should know this better than anyone else." A curt looking woman turned to look at Hermione in disgust. She wore, guess what? A sharp black suit, and an expression as ugly as a blast ended skrewt. "Yes?" asked Hermione and then with a turn and a smack of her bag into the curly haired girl's stomach, the woman was gone.
"Well, she had a lovely sized stick up her arse didn't she?"
"Ginny!" Hermione scolded.
"Well, she did!"
"Yes, but there's no need to say it." Ginny took Hermione's hand, swinging it playfully as they walked.
As soon as the regular commuters had disappeared off of the streets, the day turned quite pleasant. Warm sunlight shined over the streets, leaving a trail of blazing fire on Ginny's head. She closed her eyes for a second as she walked, savouring the tingling feeling of this rare occurrence on her skin. As soon as the majestic golden light had shown its face on the area, the dreary mood of every day London became summery and fun-loving. Teenagers flowed into the street dressed in skinny jeans and band tee's, laughing at the world around them. In parks, old couples sat together on benches, reminiscing about days which stretched far behind them. Ginny took her coat off, tying it around her waist as the sun heated her body. Hermione shivered. Ginny looked at her, surprised. "Hermione, did you just shiver?" Wide-eyed, Hermione replied, unconvincingly "No."
"Yes you did. How can you be shivering, it's like, 15 degrees Celsius out here." Hermione pulled her coat further around her body. "I didn't shiver-" She let out a small cry as she doubled over, clutching her stomach in the hopes of protecting it from the shooting pain weaving through her ribcage, like ribbons on the skeletons used to celebrate the Day of the Dead in Mexico. "Hermione?" Ginny's face darkened with concern as the girl let out another cry. "Hermione, are you alright?" Hermione slowly straightened out, wiping a stray tear with the tip of her little finger. "Fine, I-I'm fine."
"Don't lie, Hermione-"
"I'm not lying!" Passers-by turned in alarm at her exclamation.
"Hermione, you're obviously not fine. Come on, please tell me." Ginny said gently. Hermione shook, "I'm fine, it's nothing but embarrassing, really." Ginny looked imploringly at her friend. "Please tell me?" Big blue eyes looked into Hermione's. "Please Hermione, please-"
"Oh fine! If you must know. Nothing's wrong, I just have period pains, that's all." She looked down in embarrassment. "Oh, that's all right then." Ginny's face sagged in relief. "I thought you were going to tell me you had some kind of life-threatening disease or something." If only you knew...
"Hah! I wish..." Hermione trailed off. The two girls walked for a little while, until Ginny stopped. Hermione, not noticing, walked straight into the girls back. "Oww! Thanks for that loving head butting there Hermione, I really appreciate it." Hermione tried to apologise. "Hey, save the grovelling until later, we're almost there." Ginny smiled broadly. "Wait a minute..." Hermione's eyes darted around their environment, taking in every minute detail, from the street names, to the buildings around them. She started as recognition flew through her. She turned around slowly. "Ginny, you didn't..."
"Oxford Street!" Ginny squealed. This is going to be a very long day...

***
"Okay, so we definitely need to go to Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Urban Outfitters, Schuh, New Look-"
"Ginny?" Hermione looked dubiously at the red-head standing next to her.
"Yes?"
"Can we go to Waterstones?"

" What's Waterstones?"

"A book shop…" Ginny shook her head vigorously.
"Oh no, you study all the time. It is time you took a break!"
"Awww, come on, please?"
"No Hermione. It's time you embraced your book hating, clothes loving inner self." Ginny said calmly. Hermione scoffed at this, she didn't like her outer self, let alone her inner self.
For the rest of the journey, Hermione sulked, anxious about what Ginny was going to do. She'd never had an interest in clothes, and would rather wear something baggy and comfortable than something that would cling to her body. As you can imagine, Hermione was quite worried.
"Oooh! Look Topshop!" Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her towards the shop. When they entered it, Hermione was overwhelmed by the smell of fresh clothes and floral perfume. All around her were girls that Molly Weasley would class as arty and frivolous. They wore dresses with sections cut out of the back, skirts with baggy jumpers, and skinny jeans with high heels and blazers. In her jeans, trainers, plain t-shirt, hoodie and big coat, she felt out of place and plain. Ginny looked more accustomed. Her straight red hair danced as she walked; Hermione could see other girls look at her in envy. Ginny's long legs were emphasised by the skinny jeans which clung to them. She wore her coat on her hips, and it brushed her pale blue t-shirt as she perused the clothes around her.

She picked up a t-shirt, a layer of fine black mesh (almost transparent) over a white under-layer; sparkling black beads arranged in floral patterns were sewn into it, and a vine flowed over the t-shirt where the small of the owner's back would be. Ginny looked at the price tag, shrugged and draped it over her arm. She continued to slowly look around the shop. For someone who belonged to a family that didn't have much money, she sure didn't care about buying expensive clothes.
All the while they were at Oxford Street, Hermione traipsed around shops after Ginny, not caring for clothes. Her friend would hold clothes up to her and then either shove her into the changing rooms or put the object back on the rail in disgust. By the time they'd raided Topshop, Miss Selfridge, New Look and Accessorize, their arms were loaded down with bags. Apparently, Ginny had gotten money from Fred and George as a bribe for her not telling Mrs Weasley about something they had done. She'd then changed it all into muggle money as she was planning to go shopping anyway. Hermione's parents had put their money in a muggle bank, and had given her their credit card to use if she wanted to buy something. So she used it. Normally she wouldn't want to waste money on clothes she would never wear, but if it shut Ginny up then it was worth the waste – she really couldn't cope with her endless protesting, and if she didn't buy it, Ginny would for her, and that in itself would just make her feel guilty.
"Ginny! Look Schuh! Ginny wait. Stop! I need to go in there!" Ginny stopped, turned around and gasped dramatically. "Do my ears deceive me? Hermione Granger wants to go shopping?" Hermione winced at this.
"Yes. Hermione Granger wants to go shopping. Hermione Granger needs some new boots and would like those boots to be Dr Martins." Hermione replied with a rather posh, miffed accent. "Okay, let's go then."
The two walked slowly into the shop, breathing in the smell of fresh leather – something which Hermione had not inhaled for years. She walked straight over to the section where the Doc Martin's were on show and immediately spotted a pair of black, shiny just above the ankle high boots. Her slender hands picked them up. "Hi, can I help you?" A tall guy around the age of seventeen loped towards her. He had slightly long brown hair, and there was a careless look to it, definitely different to Ron's bright red mop. "Ummm, yeah, can I have these in a size six?"

"Sure," he smiled and walked away.

Ginny walked over towards Hermione and elbowed her in the side. "He was cute."
"Why don't you go out with him then?"
"You know why." Ginny sighed. They both turned their heads when the guy walked back in. "Mmm-mmm-mm. Look at that butt."
"Ginny!"
"What? Come on Mione, loosen up a little." The petite girl audibly groaned.
"Here you go." The shop assistant handed her the right shoe.
"Thanks," Hermione took her trainer off and slid the boot over her foot. She then proceeded to do the same with the other foot. She stood up and looked at her feet in the mirror.

"So, been doing anything interesting?" The guy asked.
"I'm just taking my dear friend Hermione shopping." Ginny linked arms with Hermione, holding her in place as she attempted going for a walk to see how the boots fit. "So I can see," he jokes. "Wait. Hold on, did you say Hermione? Hermione Granger by any chance?"

"Yes." Ginny looked at Hermione warily. The guy hit his hand to his forehead in shock. "I can't believe this. Hermione, it's Conner. We were friends in primary school." Hermione searched through countless memories. She'd pushed all of her early ones to do with primary school to the back of her head. She'd been tormented in her early years for being a 'teachers pet', or at least that's what all of the other people in her class called her. But that was always comforted by one boy, he'd been her best friend...

Hermione felt hands on her back; before she knew it she was sprawled out on the floor, the books she had been holding splayed out in front of her. Children's laughter erupted around her. "Hah! Look at the teacher's pet! Teacher's pet. Teacher's pet. Teacher's pet..." The rest of the kids around her joined in, and soon they were chanting. Hermione picked herself up, tears running down her face splashed to the ground, pooling on the floor at her feet. "Hermione, is that you?" The crowd dispersed as her best friend, Conner jogged over. He bent down and helped her to pick up her precious books off of the floor. They both straightened up; he passed the books back to her. Conner wrapped his arms around her. Leading her to the first aid kit inside, he said: "Don't worry Mione. They won't be calling you that when you're really rich and famous..."

"Conner? Lemonbell Primary. Right?" His eyes sparkled at Hermione voicing her recognition. "Yep. That's me." He flashed a cheeky smile. Hermione squealed. Ginny covered up her ears, gaping at the unexpected sound. "I swear I have never heard you go that high in my life." She stated.

"Trust me," Conner grinned, "she used to go higher. I swear I went deaf when she got a level seven on an English test." Hermione buried her head in her hands from embarrassment. "I can't believe you still remember that. Hell, I can't believe you remember me at all."
"How could I not?" A sad smile crossed his face. Ginny suddenly experienced a fit of coughing. "So Conner, what do you think of Hermione's boots?" Hermione silently praised her red-headed friend for lightening the mood. "I like them, a lot. Although I think you'd like these ones a lot more." He held up the bright red version of the black boots she wore on her feet. "Yeah, but black blends in, and it goes with everything." She smiled. She hoped he would never ask why she needed boots that would blend in. "Knowing you, there's some sort of secret going on here." She shrugged and he pressed no further.
Hermione took off the boots and placed them back in the box. "I'll take them." Conner took the box from Hermione, and led the two girls to the counter. "Hold on a sec. I just need to sort something out for a previous customer. He ran a pair of bright red size six Dr Martin's through the till and paid for them. He then bagged them up and put them under the counter. "Okay, because I love you so much, you get staff discount. Shhhh, don't tell anyone. So that comes to a total cost of £60. Jesus that's a lot of money. Someone must be rich." Hermione held up her parents credit card. "Ah, le gift of ze parents." He said with a French accent. "Here you go," he held the bag out to her. "My contact details are on the receipt, and just in case you forget, here's them on a piece of paper." He slid them into her hands.
"It was really nice seeing you, Conner. I'll be in touch." The two friends, one with shocking red hair, and the other with long, curly brown hair, walked out of the door.
As the two girls walked out of the door, Conner couldn't help but feel concerned for Hermione. As soon as he'd seen her he'd felt a flash of recognition rush through his body, but he couldn't quite place where it had come from. When he found out she had been Hermione, his Hermione, he couldn't help but smile. The happy memories of the two together in the playground flashed through his mind – a two second story of his life. She seemed pleased to see him, he thought. But something wasn't quite right. There was something under the surface, when it came to Hermione, recognising her face value wasn't enough. He'd seen the pain that he had witnessed so many times in others reflected in her eyes. To him, she didn't look okay. She looked tired. Scared. Guilty. She looked like she'd given up. She looked ill.
As he passed his contact details onto her, he looked into her eyes, trying to wheedle something, even a tiny piece of information out of her. This would have been successful if she had not shamefacedly smiled, ducking her head to avoid the truth that looked at her.
As she walked out of the shop, and consequently out of his life yet again, he couldn't help but notice the grey hand pressing into her side, as if keeping her out of the way of pain.

***

"Hermione, where are you taking me?" Hermione laughed as she heard her previous words reflected in Ginny's voice. "We're going to a shop where you by loads of films and music and posters, and things like that." Hermione stopped. Ginny looked up, her face a mask of excitement and terror. "Hermione, what's Hmmmvh?" The girl next to Ginny choked. "I'm sorry?" Hermione wiped stray tears from her face. "What's what?"
"What's Hmmmvh?" A laugh escaped Hermione's mouth before she clapped her hand over it. "Up there. Hmmmvh." Ginny, baffled by Hermione's laughter pointed up to the HMV sign above the shop. "Ginny," Hermione laughed, "that says HMV. Not Hmmmvh!" She burst out laughing. Her red-headed friend crossed her arms and passed the well known Molly Weasley death glare onto Hermione. "Okay okay, I'll be nice." Hermione smiled. She linked her arm with Ginny's and pulled her into the shop. "Welcome to the miraculous muggle world of CD's, DVD's, Ipod's and many more." Ginny curiously followed Hermione into the shop.
"So this is a CD," Hermione held up a blank CD.
"Hermione, I know what a CD is. Believe it or not, I know what a CD, DVD, and Ipod is. Low and behold the benefits of an obsessed dad." Ginny said.

"Well, how was I supposed to know, you did call it Hmmmvh." Ginny ignored her friend as she burst into giggles yet again. "So, do they only have muggle artists, here, or do they have our type as well?" Ginny followed Hermione to the rock/pop section of the shop. "No, they only have muggle artists."
"Oh, well this is going to boring." Hermione rolled her eyes at that.
"Why don't you go look at the posters, find some cool things there."
"Fine." Ginny wondered off.
Hermione took around two hours to explore the whole of HMV, or Hmmmvh as Ginny would call it. She picked up countless numbers of CD's, looking at her favourite bands new releases. The songs names displayed on the back of the case. She stroked them with a hopeful longing. She had more than enough money to buy all of the CD's she wanted, but she'd given up on that years ago. The protection spells around the school interfered with electrical devices, it was like living in the stone age, but so much cooler, she thought to herself. Even though she loved Hogwarts more than anything in the whole wide world, it did have its downfalls.
Ginny walked up to Hermione in confusion. "Why don't you buy them," she gestured dismissively to the CD's surrounding them. "You have enough money."
"It'd be pointless." Hermione sighed in reply.
"Why?"
"The protection spells around the school interfere with electricity, and well, any type of muggle technology." A silence encompassed the two for a couple of long seconds.
"Well, I'm going to go pay for these, and we'll go," Ginny shrugged.