Hello again! This chapter is a little longer than usual, but the length of my chapters tends to fluctuate so don't get too excited! *sighs at the people capable of writing 5k+ words at a time*
Things are getting a little busier again, August is the worst month of the year for me stress wise. Sometimes writing helps, sometimes it just makes me feel even more worked up, so we'll just see how it goes. Then I'm back in college, so... be prepared. I've written a bunch of chapters already so even if I do get a writers block I can at least upload a few without actually having to write anything? Heh.
Hope you enjoy, thank you for the love, and I wrote a thing to celebrate Harry's birthday called 'Having Had Worse Birthdays' if you want to check that out. It's pretty self explanatory.
Okay, that's enough from me, ONWARDS!
~BH
Her little Paradise
The next few weeks were very different for Hermione. After her accidental collision with Mrs Weasley she decided there was no point in her hiding upstairs anymore. Therefore Harry, Ron and Ginny ate breakfast with her downstairs. Then Harry and Ron left for work while Ginny side apparated Hermione to Diagon Alley. Hermione by now was insisting that she could do it herself but Ginny wasn't convinced. Hermione then left Ginny to work in the shop with George: Verity would stay up front, George would work on the tills or in his lab room and Hermione would drift near the back. Although it was busy, it wasn't packed now that students were in Hogwarts, so Hermione often had time to talk to George.
"What are you working on?" she asked, wandering over after refilling some shelves. George had his recipe book on the crowded desk and a stack of what looked like library books, due to the plastic covering.
"Are those library books?" she asked, astonished, picking up the book at the top of the pile and examining it. Sure enough, stamped on the inside was "Central London Library".
"Yes, they are." George answered. "Fred used to get them out because he liked reading those muggle stories you were so fascinated by." He sighed a little when mentioning his name and Hermione almost froze, but managed to compose herself before he noticed. "We found that muggle stories with magic in them help our research, especially when trying to appeal to muggle-born families."
Hermione couldn't help but smile. She thought of the times when Fred had helped her carry books in, and helped her find her favourites.
"The books you want are always on the top shelf, aren't they?" Fred would always laugh when Hermione indicated the book she wanted but could never quite reach. She point blank refused to summon it down, even after her 17th birthday. The slightly odd woman that used to run the library had died suddenly the year before Hermione went to Hogwarts, and even though she was almost certain she was a witch she was even more certain that the replacement librarian was a muggle. The new librarian reminded her of Harry's Aunt Petunia.
Her favourite memory of Fred in that library was when he managed to mispronounce "Diagon Alley" and wound up in the fireplace. She never found out how he got there and what he said instead of Diagon Alley, but that didn't matter now.
"Can you do me a favour and return these for me?" George jolted her out of her thoughts and memories, sorting out the pile into two smaller ones. He finished and handed the bigger one to Hermione. "Fred always knew exactly which ones to get, but I tend to get more out just in case… but you can only borrow ten at a time and I think that's ridiculous."
Hermione no longer struggled with heavy piles of books, but she still almost dropped them when she chortled at him. "Then people would lend the entire library!" she replied. "Then there would be no books to read!"
"That's true." Considered George, tilting his head to one side comically, his hair almost covering his face.
"Get going then," continued George, ushering her out. "Don't be long, then we can get ice cream for lunch."
Hermione nodded and hurried out of the shop, and ignored Verity who was watching their exchange suspiciously. Wasn't she dating Fred? She thought as she sent skiving snack boxes flying to their shelves. She watched Hermione leave then turned to help a customer who had been trying to get her attention whilst she was daydreaming.
Hermione stepped out into the open air, glad that the long winding street was quiet and almost empty. She scurried along the road and slipped back into the Leaky Cauldron, where she managed to feebly wave to Hannah Abbott and Tom at the bar before exiting again through the door into the muggle world.
She followed the path she had always walked down as a child, forcing herself to look away from her family home, which resided next to The Leaky Cauldron. It hadn't changed, however it did look abandoned and a little grubby. She walked on.
In next to no time she was at the library, after passing the place where she first met Fred, the shop where she showed Arthur the rubber ducks and even the alleyway where she met Fenrir Greyback for the first time. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the doors.
Like her old house, the library hadn't changed that much either. The same librarian was there, and she widened her eyes as she saw Hermione enter for the first time in years. The layout of the library was the same too, so Hermione thought she might have some time to browse before returning to the shop. She knew the library like the back of her hand, she spent most of her summers there when she wasn't at the Burrow. Her parents never complained once she started Hogwarts: They knew when she returned that she had blossomed and finally made friends her own age.
She fished Fred's ID out of her pocket while trying to hold the books in one arm. She allowed herself a glance at his picture. It was taken quite a few years ago, his hair was shorter and there was still love in his eyes. Most people who had survived the war had lost that spark, that energy, to make them feel happy and whole. They were too scarred.
She composed herself, and then headed towards the counter. The successor of the old, nicer librarian wasn't as bad as she looked, and she was good at her job, but there was a no-nonsense air about her.
"Can I return these books for… a friend, please?" Asked Hermione quietly, piling the books in front of her and almost blocking her face.
The librarian didn't look best pleased by this request, as she reluctantly took them from her and piled them under her desk to be returned to their shelves.
"Fine." The librarian replied, scanning Fred's ID almost with disgust. "But you can't borrow any books without your own card."
"Thanks." Said Hermione politely, taking his ID from her and putting it back in her pocket, where hers also lay.
She went straight upstairs.
She didn't go to the top floor often. It was mainly filled with science fiction books and travel guides, but she was thinking of going to Australia soon, maybe for a few weeks, to find her parents. She wasn't to sure about it because she was scared that she would miss the moment when Fred woke up. She still had hope, and she wanted to be in the same country when it happened.
There was always time for research, however.
She found they were organised by country, so she selected a couple of books to take out later. She could always come back. It was then when she heard footsteps, and the voice of a teacher.
"Come along children! Lucy! Behave, stop pulling on Penny's hair!" she heard the teacher yell.
She groaned. This was the last thing she needed. Despite them being muggles, she couldn't handle being surrounded by hundreds of small children running around. She heard the children stop as the teacher explained what was on the very floor she wanted to escape. She backed away, wishing she could just blend into a shelf until she was finished. She hit the wall and sighed as she turned around, coming face to face with a majestic looking door. It reminded her of Hogwarts. Near the centre was a knocker on which a large owl was perched. She wasn't surprised to here it talk.
"I sense you seek refuge." The Owl spoke. The children hadn't noticed her yet, as they were still on the steps with their teacher, so she nodded quickly.
"Only the greatest of book lovers can enter within this chamber." The Owl continued, regarding her. "So you will be required to ask a simple question."
The owl reminded her of the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room.
"What did parchment replace and when was it created?"
Hermione racked her brains. She was certain she had read about this in "A History of Magic."
"Papyrus." She replied. "It started being used around the 3rd Century, BC." She recited, hurriedly.
The owl nodded, deeming her worthy, and the door opened quietly. She slipped through quickly, glad that her thinner figure was now more useful for escaping situations.
She had entered an identical building to the library she had just left. She stepped forward, noticing it was empty and abandoned. She scanned the shelves, and marvelled in delight when she saw that they were Wizard's books. Why had she never noticed these before?
The floor she was standing on was the Charms section. She thought about getting books for George, but she wanted to explore. She wondered if the ten book limit included wizarding books or would she need a different account? No one was here. Maybe she could just take them and give them back? She dismissed that option, for she had a great amount of respect for library books. She descended the stairs and found Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Most of the books looked like they had never been touched. She wondered if anyone else had found this place. She looked for a potion section, deciding that she might as well get some things for George, since she was taking much longer than just a quick return would take. She ran down the stairs, feeling giddy, like she was a little girl again.
The potions section was on the ground floor. She almost laughed. She could probably make any potion in the world from these books!
Then she froze.
Maybe, just maybe, there could be a potion that could revive Fred.
She spun on the spot, taking in all the possibilities that were available. She could research a potion, and then George could help her make it in his lab! She was sure he would help, and she knew he needed to have as much of an input if not more, to reviving Fred. It could be a coping method for both of them.
Fred could revive Hermione and George like Hermione and George were reviving Fred.
They could all feel alive again.
She selected a few books front he shelf, and found a checkout desk identical to the one in the muggle library.
No one was there.
She approached it, and saw a note left on the desk.
Welcome to the only Wizard library in London!
If you're lucky enough to find this place, please ensure you check out your books by signing your name on this form. When you return the books to the shelves your name will be removed and you can take out more. You can use your muggle account, and these books will be altered to become muggle books when you take them back through the library.
Enjoy!
Hermione noticed there was no signature. She wrote her name on the form, and ran back up the steps, several at a time, before checking out her muggle travel guides and returning to the shop.
"How long does it take to return books?" George raised his eyebrow upon her entrance. "It's too late for lunch now, Verity got me an ice cream instead."
"Is that all we are, fetchers of ice cream?" Hermione retorted, chuckling.
"Exactly." George grinned. "What have you got there?"
"Just books for me." She answered, hugging them to her chest along with her wonderful secret. Maybe one day she would tell George, but for now, it was her little paradise.
