CHAPTER TEN:
Hermione enjoyed her weeks at Prewett Lodge greatly. After the conversation she had with Cassie her first morning there, she had steadfastly ignored the uncomfortable feeling of deja vu she had around the woman. Harry teased her a few times about their early morning conversations, Draco even making a quip about her using the twins to meet more interesting adults to interrogate the day she had disappeared before they all woke up and returned at suppertime with Gideon, having learned about magical publishing. The twins struck back in their own twin-speak claiming Draco was just jealous he hadn't known about the trip beforehand and missed out on a learning opportunity. He had brushed them off with a scoff of denial, but Hermione had apologized later for forgetting to mention it to him, knowing he had probably been at least slightly interested.
The last day of their time at the lodge, all the teenagers were headed to Diagon Alley with Cassie and Gideon after breakfast. Liam would be staying with his friends for the remained of the day before James picked him up for dinner. James, Narcissa, and the Grangers were waiting for them in the Leaky Cauldron with Dean Thomas, who was joining them for his shopping before heading to the Grangers for the weekend. The whole group met up with the Weasleys as they left Gringotts. They were joined by a small and very excitable boy named Colin Creevey, who was the newest muggleborn they were sponsoring and already good friends with their youngest, Ginny, who was also starting Hogwarts this year.
"Is it hard to fit in coming from a muggle family?" Colin asked Hermione as they all wandered Flourish and Blotts.
"Not really," she assured him before thinking a bit more on it. "But then again, my birthday is in September and yours is in May, so I had almost a full year longer to get used to the idea and read up on everything magic."
"Professor Sprout came to give me my letter this past May and introduce me to the Weasleys. Then she took my family to Diagon Alley just after school ended. I got a few books and a camera, but waited until now to get my supplies. Everything in the books seemed a bit...dated?" he questioned, lowering his voice to a whisper.
"I suppose it is," Hermione chuckled. "The wizarding world hit a peak and didn't really progress too far past it about a century or so ago. I'm still having problems reconciling some things they refer to as tradition. Draco's been a big help - he's from an older pureblood line. The Weasley family goes back almost as far as his, but they've pretty much shunned most traditions. Mrs. Weasley's from an old line as well, the Prewetts. I've just spent the last couple weeks at their home. Her brother Gideon took me to the publishing house his family owns to show me how the business works in the magical world and his wife Cassie has been very helpful in helping me see what's actually tradition and what's stubbornness or just outdated. She's from an old family too and wasn't treated well in it. She told me it was important to understand what I wanted to change and why rather than just try and change anything that seemed odd or different to me, disrespecting a different culture in the process."
"Do you think you could help me if I stumble a bit? It's all very different to me and I want to learn everything I can. My younger brother Dennis is a wizard too - he'll be starting next year. That's why I begged for a camera. I want to learn what I can so he can go to school knowing which way is up. I might not be there to help him," he admitted sadly.
"Not planning on staying longer than a year?" Hermione teased, slightly concerned.
"Might not be healthy enough to leave home for more than a year," he corrected with a sigh. "I was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago. It was in remission for a while, but my last doctor's visit didn't go so well. My parents haven't told me exactly what the MRI saw, but it was a fight getting them to let me go to Hogwarts this year. They only decided for sure about a week ago."
"Colin, that's awful! I'm so sorry…" she trailed off, completely blank on what she should say.
"It is what it is," he brushed her off with a shrug. "All I can do is keep fighting and enjoy myself while I can. I'm going to meet as many people and learn as much as I can while I'm there. If I'm lucky, I'll get to go next year too. If not, I've got my camera so I can keep my memories of this year and Dennis can send me more pictures after that."
"That's a great attitude to have," Hermione told him, impressed.
"I've have three years to get to it. It took a while, but things are much better living as much as I can while I can instead of crying and being scared all the time," he assured her, his gaze catching something out the window behind her. "What's the ice cream parlor like? It looks brilliant!"
"It's really good. Harry's godfather insists it's the best ice cream in the world. I don't know if I believe that, but it's certainly the best of the small amounts I've ever had. My parents are dentists. I'm not allowed sweets most of the time," she admitted.
"Do you think we can get some?" he asked hopefully.
"I think we should get your and Ginny's wands first so you're not grabbing at Ollivander's stock with sticky fingers," Cassie interrupted with a grin, walking up to the pair. "Do you have all your schoolbooks? Everyone else is about done here."
The two gathered their purchases and headed to the till once Colin was assured he would be getting ice cream before the day was done. He and Ginny headed over to Ollivanders next while Narcissa and James followed Draco, Hermione, Harry, and Dean to meet up with the Grangers at Eeylops Owl Emporium where they were getting some more treats for Butterscotch.
"If we pooled our extra money together, do you think we could afford a small owl for Colin?" Hermione asked her friends while they both chose treats for their owls.
"Another new best friend? I'm starting to get jealous here," Draco teased, drawing chuckles from Harry.
"No, I hardly know him, but he's nice enough and needs an owl. I don't think the Weasleys will think to bring him here. They didn't bring me," she explained.
"But he can use school owls. You only needed one when your parents started socializing," Harry pointed out. "Why are you so insistent on this?"
"He's sick. Cancer, he said. That's why he's taking so many pictures of everyone and everything. He doesn't know if he'll be healthy enough to go to Hogwarts more than one year and wants to learn enough to prepare his brother for next year," she explained, trying to ignore the way the boy's faces fell with the news.
"That's rough. If he can't go back, it'd be good to have an owl to talk to everyone he met," Harry decided.
"Even if he can, it'd be nice for him to have his own to send his pictures to his brother and order more film when he needs it," Dean agreed, pulling what he had from his pockets to count it up.
Between the four of them, they were five sickles short of the smallest owl Eeylops offered. Wondering what was holding them up, Emma Granger had come over and asked what they were up to. Once she got the full story from them, she called over James, Narcissa, and her husband. All the adults chipped in the rest of what they needed to buy an owl, a cage, and some treats. The Weasleys looked a little put out that the others had bought their charge a slightly expensive gift, but shrugged it off when Hermione explained the Creevey's would need a family owl Colin's parents and brother could summon to write to him once he was in school, especially seeing as Dennis would be there the next year too. Ron still looked a bit jealous, but Ginny proclaimed it was a brilliant idea once she heard it would be a family owl. After all, what family with witches and wizards in it didn't have an owl?
Colin loved the brown and white speckled bird and talked to it excitedly the whole way off the main drag and to the small apothecary owned by Severus Snape most of the students with him swore by. The Weasley family parted ways at that point, promising to meet them all at Fortescue's once their potions kits were stocked. After a quiet word from James, Gideon had grabbed the twins by the backs of their collars to drag them along with, telling Molly he would be personally stocking their potions kits that year, scolding the two for not telling him they were two of the top potions students in their year.
The young boy's excitement didn't end upon entering the shop that the twins and Dean looked upon with wide eyes. It was smaller than the main apothecary, but the ingredients were even visually a higher standard and displayed as meticulously and attractively as Honeydukes' candy when the store opened every morning. While the returning students went about gathering the ingredients they needed rather efficiently due to the good order the store was in, Colin flitted around looking at everything and snapping photos with his usual exuberance.
"I never thought a bin of beetle eyes would make me eager to buy some," Dean commented as he weighed out what he needed for school.
"This place is great," Fred agreed from a few bins over.
"Really well laid out," George noted, giving the store an appraising once over.
"I'm glad you approve, Mr. Weasleys," a silky voice interrupted as the owner showed up behind the students. "Is there a reason you've brought...that...with you?" he asked, inclining his head towards Colin with a critical look.
"We're his sponsors this year," Fred explained with a shrug.
"He insisted on buying his ingredients from the same place Hermione did," George added.
"Blame her," they both insisted, earning an unimpressed eye roll as the dark man focused on her instead.
"Miss Granger?"
"He seems to look up to me a bit," she admitted. "The Weasleys were my sponsor family last year and he's been told how unusual it is for a student to move on after just one year. This might be his only year at Hogwarts due to health concerns and he wants to learn everything to prepare his brother for next year."
"Two wizards born to the same muggle parents? That's interesting," Snape noted, looking over to the excitable boy once more. "Don't let him break or ruin anything," he added as the boy bounced over to them.
"Did you see the croakoa? It smells really good!" he insisted before noticing Snape. "I'm sorry, sir, I hadn't noticed you. I'm Colin Creevey. I'll be starting Hogwarts this year!"
"Congratulations, Mr. Creevey. I'm Severus Snape. I own this shop and teach advanced potions at Hogwarts," he told him, causing the boy to light up even further.
"Wow! This is a really great shop! I looked around the other one by the bookstore when I came here in May with Professor Sprout, but this one is way cooler! You've got so much more and even the stuff that's the same looks less gross! What's the croakoa used for? It's not on my list," he managed to get out all in one breath.
"Most commonly? Chocolate frogs. They're 70% croakoa. It's used mostly for cooking and confections, but can be used to alter the taste of some potions and for other properties in a few others. Magical cocoa is one way how the chocolate frogs get their jump," he explained, despite looking a little taken aback by the boy's enthusiasm and having sent Hermione a slight scowl.
"So if I took some to my mum she could use it in a cake?" he asked.
"Yes, provided it was supposed to be chocolate flavored," Snape agreed, measuring out a small amount. "You don't want to be using more than this in a muggle household. Tell your mother to mix it with the rest of the chocolate she would normally use making a cake to send you off to Hogwarts. It's on the house this time. If she wants more, I expect you to find out how much she needs and why she shouldn't use more first. I'll make sure to put a form in your bag for owl purchases, should you need it. If you send me your findings, I'll sell you the croakoa."
"Cool!" Colin added the bag to his school purchases gleefully. "Thank you so much, sir! This stuff smells amazing! And it's the same color as my owl! That's what I'll name you - Croakoa!" he decided, beaming at the amused-looking bird.
"Yes," was all Snape said before pulling the twins away to discuss a few other ingredients with them.
After everyone was done, they headed back to the main drag to meet up for ice cream. Though the Weasleys originally had tried to decline and head home with their children and purchases, Gideon had insisted that he was buying for everyone and even talked the Grangers into sharing a small sundae they seemed to be relishing while the kids all tackled huge sundaes of their own Fortescue himself had served them, making sure his hand went a little heavy when pouring on sauces and topping them with whipped cream. Hermione and Ginny had even gotten a few extra cherries on top of theirs with a wink from the proprietor when Fred teased that neither would steal his this time.
Colin was on cloud nine behind his own mountain of raspberry ice cream swimming in fudge sauce. When Fortescue had come over to check how they were doing, the boy had raved about the ice cream, telling him he would bring his brother back next summer when he was shopping for his own supplies, bragging out how lucky they were to both be wizards from muggle parents. Fortescue didn't get into the ice cream business just because he made phenomenal frozen treats, he truly enjoyed making peoples days better and especially loved seeing kid's faces light up when he handed them a cone. As such, he let the people at the counter get a bit backed up while he sat down and asked Colin about his trip to the alley and heard about how excited the boy was to go to Hogwarts.
After ice cream, the Weasleys and Colin (minus the twins) said their goodbyes and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to head back to the Burrow. Narcissa soon followed them, giving Draco an extra long hug and assuring the Granger's she'd be picking him up in a week. She was taking the time to tour the continent, looking in on some of the Malfoy investments she was watching over until Draco came of age. Most years he went with her, but she agreed to let him have a year off to spend with the friends she was so grateful he had.
Hermione turned to the Prewett's, ready to thank them for their hospitality the past two weeks and expecting them to leave when Gideon announced they'd be following them to a little bookstore Cassie was a fan of a bit off the alley. It had different offerings than Flourish and Blotts, which concerned itself mainly with the best sellers in every category and whatever was being assigned at Hogwarts. The Grangers seemed just as interested as their daughter when he explained that because they didn't want to be in direct competition with the larger store, they chose to sell lesser known titles and some books that were tailored to very specific subjects that didn't sell as well on a mass scale. By offering what their major competitor did not, they made a nice business for themselves and were rather good customers themselves when it came to the Prewett's own publishing business. As they set off, he pulled the twins to him again and started questioning them on their pranks they had been working on, not realizing how far along they really were until James Potter had tipped him off.
"We wanted to thank you for having Hermione over these past two weeks. With her having started Hogwarts and everything, we hadn't set up a holiday this summer and I'm sure she appreciated something more than sitting around home the whole time," Emma told Cassie as they walked down the alley.
"I was glad to have her. Harry and Draco, too, come to that. Gideon and I don't have children ourselves - I can't, you see. I love having Fabian and Marlene's kids around, but it was something special having our home filled with children for a while. With the lodge as large as it is, it's more like they live next door most of the time," she explained, smiling at Emma.
"It's not odd living with your brother-in-law and his family?" she questioned, jumping on something that had bothered her since Christmas.
"Not terribly. Gideon and Fabian have always been almost as close as Fred and George. They never would have lived too far apart. Gideon's supposed to be head of House Prewett, but we're unable to have children. Instead of just naming one of Fabian's his heir, he gave up the title to his brother so that his sons could be taught to lead the house by their father like he and Fabian were. We were going to find our own place, but Fabian insisted that he refused to have his brother, and rightful head of house, living anywhere but their ancestral home. Having been a holiday getaway set up to accommodate over a hundred guests at a time as well as a full staff, it's not like we're living on top of each other," she explained.
"So you just expected to be in close proximity to Fabian your whole life when you married Gideon? Perhaps even share a home with his family? It takes a special sort to accept that easily as a newlywed," Emma chuckled.
"I was friends with both of them since we were small and had started planning my wedding to Gideon when I was about Hermione's age, so I hadn't expected anything different for my life," she shrugged. "It took Marlene a bit of adjusting, but she accepted it as well and laid some ground rules the twins accepted. Once she had kids, she was actually grateful for it rather than just accepting."
"I suppose anyone who wants to marry your nephews will have a similar challenge," Emma noted, tilting her head to the side a bit, "Both sets if I remember correctly. Of course, all four are pretty remarkable boys. I suppose less than a special sort of woman would be out of the question."
"They are," Cassie agreed proudly, beaming at the nephews who were present in front of her. "Frankie and Garrett haven't found their calling yet, but Fred and George are dedicated to theirs and clever as kneazles. They'll get what they want out of life and accomplish great things," she paused, watching as Hermione helped the twins elaborate on something they were explaining to their husbands. "Of course, Hermione may just accomplish more than all of us combined. Your little girl has an exceptional mind. She's going to excel at absolutely anything she chooses to do."
"Talked with her for more than three seconds then, did you?" Emma teased, both women chuckling. "I suppose it's a good thing she is a special sort," she conceded, watching her daughter with the twins.
"I know this is going to sound strange from someone who doesn't know her or your family well, and I'll warn you I can't explain it for various reasons, but I promise you that they're perfect together and will only bring out the best in each other. I know for a fact that nothing will tear them apart, because the worst already hasn't," Cassie assured the muggle woman quite seriously. "I'd also appreciate it if you didn't mention that to Hermione. She'd have far too many questions I can't answer until she's had more schooling and understands magic better."
"Are you some kind of psychic?" Emma asked, remembering that those kinds of things were real in the magical world.
"No, I just have some very specialized training and have met some very interesting people," Cassie told her, grinning slightly. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Probably not," Emma agreed, following the group into the bookstore Hermione was already out of sight in.
By the time they got to the Hogwarts Express, Hermione had already read through two of the five books she had convinced her parents to buy her at her new favorite store ever. All of them were on magical bonds or the origin of magic in people. She knew what she wanted and somehow knew exactly where the books she needed would be found. Fred had also disappeared into the store, directing George to books on one thing while he pursued something else. Draco and Harry had teased her about being able to automatically find her way around any bookstore she entered, but the blonde boy had started watching her a bit more closely when he noticed Fred had as well. It was uncanny how whatever it was she looked for seemed to be in exactly the spot she looked for it and Fred seemed to be having the same experience. Draco knew neither of them had ever been to this store - both had said as much on the way there - but both went through it like they were frequent customers.
The more he thought of it, the more he realized something like that happened frequently. She would pick up spells and transfigurations quickly the first time as if she'd done them dozens of times before. She always knew what book she needed for what essay and not only where the book was, but where the information she needed was in it. Even that first week at Hogwarts, whenever they didn't know where to go, she had instinctively known how to get there. And while they were with the Prewetts, sometimes the adults would talk about something that had happened years ago during the war and both Fred and Hermione seemed to be able to fill in blanks with it. He was quieter than usual on the trip to Hogwarts, watching his best friend and wondering what he was missing. He'd be blunt and just ask, but didn't think she noticed she did those things.
At least not until they reached the carriages. When approaching them, Hermione had stopped dead, staring into the blank space in front of them with a combination of horror, wonder, and confusion. Draco had watched, trying to be subtle about it, following Harry and Neville into a carriage with Daphne, Tracey, and Anthony.
"I can see them too, it's nothing to worry about," he heard Fred tell her as he started to climb into the carriage.
"But they're...who...it's impossible," she sputtered quietly as she let Fred lead her into the carriage behind his while shushing her.
When the first years were brought in for the sorting, Draco decided to test his theory a bit further and asked Hermione where Colin would be sorted. She had laughed and told him the boy would of course be a Gryffindor, and laughed harder when she was proven right. After that he had made a game of guessing where each first year would go. The students around them joined in, all of them laughing and having fun with it, and none of them noticing Hermione was right every single time. Waiting until the feast got underway and everyone was distracted, he finally asked her what pulled the carriages.
"Thestrals," she finally told him after stopping mid-chew and letting her mouth drop open in shock, then finishing her bite slowly while eyeing him critically.
"It doesn't say so in Hogwarts, A History," he pointed out. "I know you saw them, I saw you and Fred when I was getting in my carriage. You didn't expect them. And once you identified them, you didn't know why you were seeing them."
"No, I didn't," she agreed cautiously. "I've never seen anyone die to my knowledge, unless you count movies."
"Which I don't, otherwise every muggleborn would see them and start asking questions," he pointed out. "You knew who would be sorted where. Every single student."
"No I...I suppose I did," she mused, having initially thought to brush off what was statistically almost impossible. "It's almost like I already knew."
"Like with the bookstore and all our lessons last year and the stories about the war," Draco pushed, watching her mind race as she tried to connect the dots.
"Is there some kind of weird magical skill that would do that? You know, like how Dora's a metamorphmagus?" she asked, still trying to work it out.
"Not that I've ever heard of. So you didn't notice any of this?"
"No, I hadn't. But now that I have…" she trailed off, chewing on her lip and playing with the charm on the necklace she never took off. "Can we keep this between us? At least until we figure it out?" she whispered, eyes darting back and forth to make sure no one was listening.
"If you want, but you should probably mention it to Fred as well."
"Fred?"
"He does some of the same weird things you do."
"And can see the thestrals too…" she trailed off again, eyes drifting over to the Gryffindor table where Fred was sitting. "And then there was that weird dream last Christmas…"
"What dream?" Draco asked, alarmed, but she ignored him, still staring at Fred.
"I wonder what it means," she mused, getting a concerned look from Fred once he met her gaze and smiled over at her, only to be perturbed by her absent expression.
