A/N: LadyNorth76 pointed out that the formatting of this chapter was all messed up. I deleted the chapter and re-uploaded it, so hopefully this will fix it. Thanks all!
So follow me down
Out of this town
Girl you're moving way too slow
- Follow Me Down, 3OH!3
"You'll love Diagon Alley, Helen!" Petunia exclaimed over breakfast. "It's just so… well, magical!"
They laughed at her joke, and then Lily turned to Hermione.
"Have you ever actually been to Diagon Alley? When did you move?"
"Um…I've been once or twice, but just with my parents doing errands. I don't remember much; I was really young," Hermione lied quickly.
"Oh, then we'll have to give you the whole tour!" Petunia said, excitedly. "It's so amazing! I could just spend hours there, but, of course, we don't need to stay that long…"
"I'm sure I could spend a long time just in the book shop," Hermione assured her.
"Well, maybe we can take a little longer than usual today," Rose said sympathetically, placing a pot of tea on the table.
"We don't have work until 7 tonight, so it'll be fine," Lily told her mother.
"We'll leave as soon as you girls are done with your breakfast," Rose said, and Petunia promptly pushed her plate away from her and put her fork down.
Lily and Hermione burst out laughing, but Rose looked a little sad. "Do you girls have your lists?" she asked. They nodded, and she sighed. "Alright, we might as well go now, then."
The three girls stood up, and Lily took out her wand, flicked it, and the dirty dishes were clean. Another swish, and they were all put away neatly. Hermione had become accustomed to Lily accomplishing all the housework with some simple spells. It certainly made life easier for Rose and Petunia when Lily was home!
"I'll get the Floo!" Petunia shouted, and ran off into the living room to grab the rarely used Floo powder. The others followed her, and each took a pinch of the powder she held out.
"Diagon Alley!" Lily shouted, automatically going first. The flames turned green, and the second they were normal again, Petunia rushed through.
"You next, dear," Rose said, when Hermione looked over at her.
"Diagon Alley!" she shouted, and tumbled through the fire. She always hated Floo, but wasn't sure which was worse: Floo or Portkey. She definitely preferred to apparate, but since Petunia and Rose couldn't, and it would be unfair for her and Lily to leave them behind, they all took the Floo. She came out, and almost fell flat on her face, but Lily caught her.
"I fell," she said sheepishly. "And figured I'd spare you the pain."
"Thanks," Hermione replied. Rose came out right afterwards, and Hermione turned around to see Petunia already skipping ahead.
"Come on, slowpokes!" she called. Lily laughed, and started running to catch up, but Hermione and Rose followed at a more leisurely pace.
"So you're meeting Mary here?" Rose asked, and Hermione nodded.
"We're going to have lunch together," she replied.
"Oh, that's nice. At the Leaky Cauldron?"
"Yes, but we're going to go to Fortescue's for ice cream afterwards."
"Now that's exciting!" Rose exclaimed. "I don't know what it is about wizarding ice cream, but it does taste so much better than the muggle kind, doesn't it?"
Hermione laughed. "That's just Fortescue himself!"
"You've had it?" she asked.
"Oh, of course," Hermione told her. "What good parent doesn't take their child there?"
"That's true, I suppose," Rose smiled. "I think I'll buy Petunia something special while we're here."
"She does love it, doesn't she?" Hermione said sadly.
"She should have been a witch, too," Rose said aloud, echoing Hermione's thoughts. "I never understood why only one of them was chosen. Lily's not better than her; She's not a terrible person. She deserves it just as much as Lily."
"It's so much worse because she knows about it. I can't imagine someone knowing about and just…" Hermione trailed off.
"Not being allowed in," Rose finished. "It's like standing at the gates of heaven, and Saint Peter won't let you in, even though you've done nothing wrong. It's not your fault, and there's nothing that can be done, but that's just the way it is."
"Can we go to the bookshop first?" Lily turned around to ask, effectively cutting Hermione and Rose's conversation short.
"No," Rose replied. "Then you have to carry those heavy books around all day. First stop is Madam Malkin's. I don't care what Professor Dumbledore says; a girl needs more than one set of robes to wear."
"It's going to be mobbed with little firsties," Lily grinned.
"Don't make fun, Lil," Petunia said, slowing down to their pace. "You're Head Girl this year; you have to take care of them."
"Yeah," she said, smile growing. "Can you believe it? Head Girl…"
"You've earned it, honey," Rose said, echoing what she said when Lily first received her letter.
"But still. I only ever hoped…"
"Do you have any idea who Head Boy'll be?" Hermione asked, wondering who she and Lily would be sharing their common room with.
"Maybe Remus," she said thoughtfully. "He's a prefect, after all. But he hasn't said anything about it in his letters, and Alice didn't say anything about Frank getting it. He would have been my next choice. If not Remus or Frank, then he won't be from Gryffindor. A Ravenclaw?"
"But there're all so quiet," Hermione pointed out. "Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs are rarely chosen for Head Boy and Girl, because they aren't the type to take charge, break up fights, take away points and whatnot."
"A Slytherin?" Lily questioned, and Petunia shuddered.
"If you two have to share a room with Snape all year - "
"Oh, don't even joke about that, 'Tune!" she grimaced. "Maybe Remus just doesn't want to brag."
"That would be most logical," Petunia said, but Hermione wasn't sure. Wouldn't Remus had said something about him being Head Boy back in her own time?
"Lily!" shrieked a familiar blonde. The four women turned around to see Mary running towards them.
"Mary!" Lily cried, and Mary crashed into her for a bone-crushing hug.
"How are you?" Mary asked. "I know we said we'd meet later, but I was just getting my shopping done, and I happened to see you all!
"I'm great!" Lily replied, and they let go of each other so Mary could give Hermione and Petunia each a hug in turn.
"Have you gotten your things yet?" she asked, after all the greetings were finished.
"No, not yet. We just got here," Lily replied.
"Well, you better get moving! I bet Helen has a huge supply list," Mary said, and Hermione laughed. It was a verbatim copy of what she needed to buy her first year.
Apparently Dumbledore didn't realize that students needed a lot more than one set of robes and a couple of books.
"Well, let's see. I need three sets of plain black work robes, a pointed hat, a pair of dragon hide gloves, a winter cloak, a pewter cauldron, a set of glass phials, a telescope, and set of brass scales," she said, taking out the letter from Hogwarts.
"That's quite a lot," Mary replied. "You have nothing from your old school?"
"Not at all," Hermione said. "Just a set of robes and my wand."
"Poor girl didn't even have any extra clothes," Rose chimed in.
"Well, let's do this methodically, then," Lily said, taking charge. "We'll go straight down to Gringotts, then work our way back up the alley until it's time for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, and then we can leave from there."
"Yes, ma'am," Hermione teased.
"You can tease all you like, but I bet you if we do it my way we'll be done in no time, and then we can spend all the time we want just looking around."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Petunia asked. "Come on, Gringotts is this way!"
Lily and Hermione laughed, but followed her down the long alley.
"Oh, I need to run into Magical Menagerie, too," Lily said while they walked. "I need to stock up on owl treats."
"No problem," Rose said. "Petunia and I will look around for a bit and meet you at Madam Malkin's."
"Ooh, thank goodness. I really do despise Gringotts, I'm sorry," Petunia apologized.
"I wish I could not go," Mary sympathized. "It gives me the goosebumps!"
The three girls commiserated on the generally frightening atmosphere of Gringotts throughout the entire walk there, and just as they were walking up the stairs, Lily added, "And it's not like the goblins are particularly friendly." Hermione shushed her, but the effort came too late, as one of the goblins standing guard at the door glared at her. They giggled together when they walked through the doors, disrupting the solemn air that Gringotts always had around it. They walked up to one of the goblins at the desks, and presented their keys.
"Follow me," he said, very unfriendly-like, and the girls had to stifle more giggles in order to follow him to the cart in proper decorum.
Mary sighed as they sat down. "This ride always makes me queasy," she managed to get out before the cart shot off, speeding along the underground passageways in record time. Lily looked concerned as Mary turned alternate shades of white and green, but Hermione was confidant they'd arrive at one of the vaults before the contents of her stomach rebelled. Sure enough, it took all of forty seconds before they stopped in front of Hermione's relatively new vault.
"Miss Grey," the goblin said, nodding his head politely.
Hermione climbed out of the cart, and walked over to her vault. She was pleasantly surprised with the amount of gold in there. Though it was nowhere close to what Harry's looked like, working all summer had definitely paid off. She scooped a handful of galleons into her purse, and resolved not to spend any more than that the whole year. She needed a down payment on an apartment, for goodness sake!
Lily's vault held a similar amount, and even though she had been working summers much longer than Hermione had, Lily apparently also spent a good deal of it throughout the year. Mary's vault, of course, made Lily's and Hermione's look destitute in comparison, but she explained that it was actually her family's vault, and she didn't have her own account yet.
Mary very nearly vomited on the way back up, but managed to keep it down. She did, however, stumble a bit when they were walking out of the bank, and Lily frowned worriedly.
"Mary, I went to Gringotts with you three years ago, and you weren't this affected by the ride then," she said questioningly.
Mary blushed, and shrugged. "I don't know," she mumbled. "I guess I'm just weaker now."
"Mary - "
"Drop it, Lil," she said firmly, and Hermione was reminded of the conversation Alice and Lily had at the end of term. What had Mulciber done to Mary MacDonald?
"Let's go to the Magical Menagerie," Hermione said, changing the subject, and the three girls walked next door in silence.
"I'll just be two minutes," Lily said as they walked in. She then promptly disappeared amidst the racket of animals and things you could buy for them.
"Maybe I should buy some owl treats, too," Mary thought aloud. "Do you have an owl, Helen?"
"No," she said. "I used to have a cat, but I left him home."
"Why don't you get a new one?" Mary suggested. "I'm sure you miss her."
"Him," Hermione corrected automatically and realized that she did, in fact, miss Crookshanks. She had been trying so hard to push thoughts of Harry and Ron out of her head that she hadn't even thought about a new cat at all. "I don't know," she told Mary, and the two began strolling along the aisles of cages.
"Well, it's up to you, but I always did love cats. It would be so nice to have one underfoot this year."
"He was just such a unique cat," Hermione said sadly. "I don't know if I'll ever find one like him again."
"What breed was he?" Mary asked, and Hermione was about to tell her a half-Kneazle, when she saw a flash of orange fur that made her think she was hallucinating.
"Helen?" Mary repeated, but Hermione had totally blocked her out, and slowly walked towards what simply couldn't be.
"Christ, Crookshanks!" shouted the cashier, who was ringing Lily up on the other side of cages. "Just give me a second, miss," she said. "This kitten is always opening his own cage. I frankly don't know how he does it."
Hermione rounded the corner to be faced with a familiar scene. A small ball of orange fur was shrieking at the cashier, and racing all around the store. The cashier looked quite foolish trying to chase it down, and Hermione had the distinct impression that when customers weren't around, the cat had free rein of the entire store.
"It can't be," she breathed lightly, transfixed by the kitten. She quickly did some math. Even if this kitten was just born a couple of weeks ago, it would have been well over twenty by the time of her sixth year. Yet Crookshanks back home was as healthy as can be. Was it the kneazle in him? Whatever it was, Hermione knew that she had to have him.
"How much?" she asked suddenly, interrupting the frantic cashier.
"I'm sorry?" she said, looking up at Hermione confused.
"For the cat. How much?" she repeated.
"This little crazy furball? Seventeen sickles. But you can't bring him back," she said hastily.
Hermione immediately took out a galleon and handed it to her. The cashier happily went back to Lily to ring her up, and Hermione knelt on the ground. Crookshanks immediately went over to her, and Hermione picked him up happily.
"Hello, love," she whispered. "Remember me? Of course you don't, but you will. I'm Hermione. Helen. Your new friend."
Crookshanks purred happily in her arms, and Hermione stood up and left the shop. Mary laughed at her when they all met up inside. "I thought you weren't going to get a cat," Lily teased, having apparently been filled in by Mary.
"This one's special," she said happily, and refused to speak anymore on the subject. "Shall we head to Fortescue's?"
Lily and Mary heartily agreed. But as they crossed to the other side of the alley and passed the intersection of Knockturn Alley, Mary caught sight of Severus Snape.
"Look," she said, nudging the other two.
"Walk faster," Lily said in response.
"It's the middle of the day, Lil," Hermione said. "We can't get hurt walking past the entrance to it."
"I don't care," Lily insisted. "That place gives me the creeps, and him too. It's only a matter of time now until he becomes a Death - "
"Don't say it!" Mary whispered.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Hermione rolled her eyes. "A Death Eater. He's probably one already. They recruit as soon as you're of age, don't they?"
"Let's not even talk about it," Mary said, distraught. "It's not a topic for polite conversation."
"It's a reality we have to deal with," Hermione argued. "These people exist, and they have to be stopped. Being scared of it isn't going to change a thing."
"He's coming this way!" Mary whisper-shrieked, and sure enough, it appeared like Snape was heading in the exact opposite direction of them, which of course meant he was walking straight to the three girls.
"He's just a kid like us," Hermione said. "It's the middle of the day in a crowded street; he can't hurt you. And even if we were alone in a dark alley, there's three of us and one of him."
"Helen, shut up!" Lily said firmly, but they were already face to face with him.
"Snape," Hermione said, nodding her head in recognition as they walked by. He seemed surprised, even taken aback, but nodded in reply.
"Grey," he said. "Evans. MacDonald."
Mary let out a terrified squeak, but Lily just ignored him and kept walking.
"See you at the start of term," Hermione said, before following Lily and Mary. Snape looked confused, but kept walking, as well.
"What's your problem?" Lily asked harshly after he had left.
"Listen, the problem isn't going to go away if you just ignore it," Hermione argued, the warm weight of Crookshanks in her arms giving her a bravery she thought she left back home.
"I can't even believe you," Lily said angrily.
"How do you know so much about British politics?" Mary asked, since Lily seemed determined to be angry at Hermione.
"It's very similar to what was going on back home," Hermione explained. "Pureblood bias against muggleborns. It hasn't escalated into a full-out war yet here, has it?"
"It will any day now," Lily snapped. "Do you just attract trouble? Why do you feel the need to get mixed up in this?"
"You mean you don't?" Hermione asked, shocked. "Lil, it's our duty to fight these people. To make sure they stay out of power. To stop them from hurting innocents. You can't honestly say you just want to stay home and protect your own?"
"While my parents are alive, I do!" she yelled. "They can't defend themselves! Hell, Helen! Do you not understand that things are more complicated than blindly rushing in and asking to be a target?"
"I know, but you can't just - "
"Can't just nothing!" Lily shrieked, and by now they were starting to make a scene.
"Lil, just let it go," Mary said quietly. "People are staring."
"No! I'm not going to just let it go! You're just like James and Sirius! You can't see that your own foolish actions could get somebody else hurt! Snape is just small fish compared to the others like him! What if I said something or did something to make my family a target? Do you know how many muggleborns and their families have been killed already? We can't all be soldiers, Helen!"
"Lily, calm down, I'm not saying anything like that. I just - "
"I don't even care," she said, and Hermione just happened to see tears in her eyes before she turned away and walked ahead of them.
Hermione stared at her retreating form, before turning to Mary in confusion. "What happened?"
Mary sighed and was silent for a moment, but seemed to understand the need for an explanation of Lily's completely out of character and erratic behavior.
"Would you believe me if I said she and Snape used to be friends?"
"What?" Hermione asked in disbelief, but then she remembered what Lily said in the train station.
"Best friends. Apparently he was even the first one to tell her she was a witch. But then he started getting mixed up with some of the kids who everyone knew were Death Eaters, and he and Lily started arguing. Like, all the time. She'd come back to the dorm crying almost every night in fifth year. Finally, he called her a . . . Well, you know what they call muggleborns," Mary said, almost apologetically.
"So what happened after that?" she asked.
"She stopped talking to him. He tried to apologize, but when he came to her house, Petunia wouldn't let him see her, because Lily told Petunia about what he called her. So he threatened Petunia. Of course, when Lily heard about it she hexed him, but she's stayed far away from that crowd ever since. I don't think it every occurred to her beforehand that they could hurt her family."
"He wouldn't actually hurt her, though, would he? I mean, if he really cared about Lily…" Hermione wondered, biting her lip in thought.
"That's just the thing. Even if she was going to accept his apology before, she would never after he threatened her sister. It was his own undoing."
Hermione sighed. "I would have never thought that those two…"
"He had a hard life, he did," Mary said, shrugging. "Lily told me once, when Alice and I were lecturing her for being friends with him. His mom didn't tell his dad that she was a witch when they got married, and his dad flipped out when he found out. Eventually he wound up killing her. He's an abusive drunk, apparently. They were destitute, too, and Snape almost couldn't afford to go to school. The Malfoys took him in, after his dad got locked up in muggle prison. I don't know if you know the Malfoys, but they're this rich, pureblood, very anti-muggle family. Snape didn't seem so bad until he started living with them. Now he's on his own, though, since he's of age. I think he started working in Hogsmeade. Dumbledore gets the poorer students jobs in the village during the year."
"Wow," Hermione said in amazement. "I had no idea."
"Most people have no clue. But it's an important part of Lily's life, and you should know. Besides, you look like you can keep a secret," Mary said, and Hermione was suddenly reminded of Luna, and of her basic trust in the goodness in people. Mary was like that, she realized, and was overwhelmed with homesickness. She also realized this was the longest speech she ever heard from the shy, quiet Mary MacDonald.
"Helen?" Mary asked. "Are you okay? You look sad."
"You just remind me of a friend I had back home," Hermione replied, and clutched Crookshanks to her tightly.
"I'm sorry. It must be very difficult," she said compassionately.
"Everybody has their own problems to deal with. I have mine, Lily has hers, and I'm sure you have yours. Life is hard," Hermione shrugged. "We have to deal with it as best as we can."
"Well, I'm sure some ice cream will make it better," Mary said cheerfully. "Come on. I'm sure the Evanses are waiting for us."
Sure enough, Lily was enjoying her ice cream, and it looked like Rose and Petunia had already finished when they got to Fortescue's.
"I'll get mine to go," Mary laughed when they met up again.
"I used my spending money on a cat," Hermione joked. "So I'm ready whenever you are."
"Ooh, let me see!" Petunia exclaimed. "She's so adorable!"
"He," Hermione corrected, and while Rose and Petunia squealed over the cat, Hermione could tell that Lily was still angry with her.
When Lily finished her ice cream and Mary had hers in a cone to go, the five girls left and starting making their way down the alley to do their shopping. The first stop was Madam Malkin's across the street, and since Hermione was the one being measured and ordering robes, she had no chance to get Lily alone to apologize. Flourish and Blott's next door was just as crazy, since the three of them needed new books and the store was packed. When they went into the magical instruments shop for Hermione's telescope, however, she finally cornered Lily.
"I'm sorry," she blurted out quickly before Lily could move past her. "I didn't think about it from your perspective, and I was rash in assuming things I shouldn't have assumed."
Lily just stared at her for a moment, before enveloping her in a hug. "I'm sorry, too, Hel! Things are different where you're from, and you don't know everything about what goes on here, and maybe I'm being silly, and I'm still not sure how I feel about everything, and…"
"I know," Hermione laughed. "It's dangerous territory, and it's silly for friends to fight about."
"Promise we won't ever fight about the war again?" she said, holding out her pinkie for a promise.
"Of course! We'll just fight about important things, like boys and clothes," she joked, taking her pinkie with her own. Lily laughed, and the two of them left the store arm in arm, with Hermione's new telescope.
They eventually got all of their shopping done - cauldron, dragon hide gloves and all - but they took hours doing it. Even before lunch, Petunia insisted on stopping in every store and buying some trinkets for herself. Though what a muggle was going to do with a poster of one of the beaters of the Appleby Arrows was beyond her. Lily apparently echoed similar sentiments, to which Petunia replied, "He's hot!"
"He's all brawn and no brains," Lily retorted, and the sisters soon became drawn into an argument about the merits of different types of men, to which Hermione and Mary teased them about. Rose laughed at all them, telling Lily and Petunia to stop focusing on the boys, and somehow at the same time telling Mary and Hermione that they should be more interested than they are. Only a mother, Hermione concluded, could possibly give such conflicting advice and still come off as wise.
Petunia looked close to tears when it was time to go home, and Hermione and Lily felt sad as well, embracing Mary tightly.
"I'll see you all on the first of September," she said, and Hermione was once again painfully reminded of the passing of time.
"See you then!" they said, waving goodbye as she disapparated.
"Ready to Floo again?" Rose asked after a moment.
"I'll go first," Hermione volunteered, and took a pinch of powder.
"Good luck," Lily laughed, and Hermione grinned.
"Evans House, Spinner's End!"
The world spun around, a mesh of soot and flame and dizziness, until she fell out of the Evanses' fireplace flat onto the carpet. Harry happened to be in the living room to laugh at her, but he got up from reading a book on the couch to help her catch first Lily, then Rose, and finally Petunia. As soon as she came through, she ran up to her room to, Hermione suspected, have a good long cry.
She and Lily sighed almost simultaneously, and then settled down in the living room to let Petunia have her privacy. The first of September was approaching quickly, and Petunia certainly wasn't the only one who wanted to cry about it.