Chapter 26: Diagon Alley
Hermione grinned at the back of his head as they approached the Apothecary. He looked absolutely ridiculous in that hat, with those big, bug eyed sunglasses. She had burst out laughing back at the Burrow, and his lip was still pulled down into a slight frown from that. When she'd tried to take it off him, he'd told her to keep her hands to herself. She wiped the smile off her face as he held the door open for her to pass first.
Being here was stressing him out. She could see it. He didn't like being out in the open. How very snake-like. The thought struck her as she saw his eyes surveying everything around them cautiously as she entered.
The shopkeepers beamed at her when she came in. They began murmuring to themselves excitedly. Hermione picked up a basket, hooking it on her arm and pulling out her list. Draco charmed his basket into the air, then eyed the one hanging off her arm curiously. "Some of these things are heavy, Granger… don't forget the feather light charm on that basket like you did your bag all those years."
She frowned. He smirked, turning away with the other list of ingredients. Hermione looked down at the basket… why hadn't she charmed her bag at Hogwarts? Now that he mentioned it, it seemed incredibly foolish. She couldn't count the number of times she'd struggled to lift her massive bag of books, let alone carry it. Blushing slightly, she flicked her wand to cast the charm and walked to the far side of the store, waving her wand at shelves as she found the things she needed.
It was quiet. She could hear a few cauldrons bubbling, and the strange smells of this place never seemed to fade. There were jars of strange looking things, barrels full of glittering ingredients, and cauldrons set up on tables all around the room. The first quarter of an hour passed easily, because she knew where to look for things. Glancing down her list, she saw she had about half the ingredients so far. She might have to ask for help finding the rest of these. Her eyes caught Draco across the room. Another grin split her lips. He looked utterly ridiculous. Why had he insisted on wearing that getup? Draco hated making himself a fool.
Hermione's arm gave a sudden lurch. She gasped, falling to the floor, both hands in front to catch herself. The basket slammed against the stone floor, and the ingredients flew out, bottles cracking open, contents spilling over her hands. The skin began to bubble and hiss angrily. She cried out in pain, trying to shake some of it off. Tears of pain pricked her eyes.
"What happened?" The shopkeeper called in alarm. She heard feet rushing towards her. Draco made it there first. He held her forearms in his hands, turning her palms up so the mess slid to the floor instead of sliding down into her palms. His eyes glanced at the tall walls, lined with drawers of ingredients. When he raised his head to look at the nearby shelves, his hat fell off. He ripped off the sunglasses impatiently, then found what he wanted. His wand waved and a small bottle floated down to fill a nearby bowl. With a few quick flicks of his wand, a chair came out behind her. Ingredients began to pull out from drawers and shelves across the room to the cauldron at his right, where a fire began. The hand still holding her forearm guided her gently into the chair.
Hermione sighed in relief as he placed her hands into the bowl of Murtlap Essence. "What happened?" he asked quietly, turning his attention to the potion he'd begun.
"The feather light charm…. Failed." she said the last word very softly. "It… broke… and the basket was too heavy." She felt a lump in her throat but she swallowed hard, taking a deep breath. His silver eyes caught hers, his hand fell on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
There was no way she could deny it, this time. The damage was getting worse.
The shopkeepers were in a fluster at the sight of Hermione's hands. One quickly charmed away the bubbling mess of broken vials and ingredients near her feet, apologizing non-stop. Another examined the potion Draco was brewing, then nodded, looking impressed at the concoction. He grinned and looked up to say something, then froze, smile vanishing. The other wizard noticed and tensed in a similar fashion.
Draco didn't look up from the potion as he handed a list to each of them. "I need these ingredients. Gather them and bill everything to the Malfoy family, including the cost of things that were broken here, and what I'm using now. I'll take the cauldron as well."
The two wizards continued staring, dumbfounded, then one turned to Hermione, speaking very softly in her ear so Draco couldn't hear. "Miss Granger… are you in distress? Do you need assistance?"
She quickly shook her head no. "What? No! I mean, aside from my hands, I'm fine!" She nodded her head at the lists in their hands. "I need those ingredients. It's for an experiment Draco is helping me conduct."
Both shopkeepers looked at each other slowly, but they didn't argue anymore. Draco ignored both of them completely, focused on the potion in front of him. They hurriedly gathered the ingredients, bagged them, and watched from a distance. Their excited murmurs had become soft, low muttering. Draco took her hands from the Murtlap. She hissed softly in pain as he coated her hands in the strange blue potion. Then, it changed to the color of her skin. It felt like she was wearing soft, cooling gloves on her hands. Draco sealed the rest of the potion into a vial he pulled from his pocket.
He took the bag from the counter, and opened the door for her again. Hermione stepped outside, and then he held his arm to her. She put her arm in his without thinking, still worrying about the broken charm, and they started to walk. The motion was so natural that after several steps she stopped for a moment, surprised. His feet stilled and he looked at her. Pureblood manners? She'd never experienced this.
"Thank you," she muttered quietly. He didn't say anything, merely gave her arm the gentlest of squeezes with his.
As they moved, she noticed people staring at them. Now she understood. Draco hadn't wanted to draw attention to himself by being in Diagon Alley. He especially didn't want to point out that he and Hermione were there together. That had failed. Walking arm in arm, side by side got many double takes as they passed. They paused at a bench so she could draw her wand to shrink the packages into the bag in her pocket.
Her hands were tingling softly inside the strange gloves as she worked. "What is this?" She stretched one hand out in front of her, turning it over slowly.
"It's an accelerated healing potion, restoring the skin of your hands."
"...I've never seen anyone make potions like that." she frowned at him slightly, irritated that she now knew that her potion skills were nowhere near comparison against his. "Why weren't you the top of the class?"
"I never wanted to be top of the class," he replied dryly. His voice lowered as they approached the next shop. "Granger… I don't think this is a good idea. Can we get some tea and discuss this some more?"
Hermione merely took his arm again, pulling him gently. Mr. Ollivander wouldn't hurt Draco. She was convinced of that.
Maybe she should've listened to him.
The bell dinged in the small, dark shop. Hermione saw those strange eyes from behind a shelf, high on a ladder. At first, he looked pleased. Then, his eyes darkened. She'd never seen a look like that. She saw his arm move between shelves of wands. Ollivander raised his wand, and Draco's back slammed to the door. Draco put both hands to his throat, she could hear him choking.
"Mr. Ollivander, no!"
The elderly man didn't even seem to see her anymore. He raised his wand again. Hermione cast a shield charm. She cried out when his spell caught her in the shoulder, ripping open her sleeve. Blood trickled down her arm. The force sent her stumbling backwards into Draco. Mr. Ollivander raised his wand again. Trembling, Hermione lifted her wand to try the shield charm again. Draco's hand caught hers, his fingers reaching her wand. They moved together. The force of the shield charm sent Mr. Ollivander toppling from the ladder, and several shelves slammed to the floor.
Draco was released, he slid off the door, she let him take her wand, both hands over her mouth, panicking. Was Mr. Ollivander being crushed under one of those shelves?
Before another heartbeat, the shelves began to float back into place. A familiar voice spoke softly, "Oh Mr. Ollivander… I told you to guard your temper today."
"You could've been less cryptic about that, sweet child."
Luna Lovegood walked out with Mr. Ollivander. The man's face was now strangely blank as he looked at them. Hermione winced and hissed between her teeth when her shoulder throbbed. Draco lightly touched her wand to the wound, healing it. The sleeve of her shoulder barely held together.
Mr. Ollivander didn't take his eyes off of them. "You were early," Luna complained, looking to Draco, "Why didn't you take her for tea first?"
Both Hermione and Draco tensed. How did Luna always know such odd little details? The silence was uncomfortable. Draco shattered it. "She declined."
"Oh? Already there?" Luna beamed at them both, "Brilliant!"
Hermione couldn't do this. Two charms failing? Her nerves were shot. She turned to Draco. "I want to go."
"Wait," Luna spoke, "Hermione-."
"I want to go," she repeated to Draco, holding his eyes seriously. "...You were right, I'm sorry. We shouldn't of come here like this."
"The shield charm is blocking the door." Draco gently pressed her wand into her hands, speaking quietly. "...and I can't break this one. We are stuck here right now."
Hermione turned angrily, flicking her wand, trying to break the charm. It wasn't working for her, either. She huffed in irritation.
"Miss Granger," the clear voice of Mr. Ollivander was strong and steady, "How long has your wand been working in that man's hands?"
Panic burst in her chest just at the question. Hermione stiffened, glancing over at Mr. Ollivander. His eyes were still very strange. She'd never seen him look at anything like that. "That's none of your business." Mr. Ollivander's eyes turned to hers, then glanced to her torn shirt shoulder. His gaze softened, saddened. He seemed to debate something for a moment, then spoke again.
"You cast that charm, together." His eyes flickered to Draco momentarily before meeting hers again, "It will only break... together."
Hermione turned to look at Draco. He met her gaze. Slowly, he approached her, his hand reaching to her wand as before. His fingers wrapped around hers and they silently flicked the wand together. The shield charm broke.
"Fascinating…" Mr. Ollivander whispered from the counter.
Hermione turned away, pocketing her wand, marching straight to the door.
"Why did you come here today, Miss Granger?" Ollivander spoke softly, "And why… did you bring this companion with you?"
"I want to go," Hermione repeated very quietly, grasping the doorknob. "Draco, please." Without another word, she pulled open the door. He followed.