It was a week before Hermione was due to return to Hogwarts when they could put it off no longer and had to get around to going shopping in Diagon Alley.

Hermione was absolutely not looking forward to her first debut in public after becoming Madame Black. She was of course proud of her wife and her new name, but she had never enjoyed being the center of attention, and by the few articles she had seen the in the Prophet, their marriage was likely common knowledge and her presence would no doubt attract attention.

Then there was the fact that, despite the Dark Lord's best efforts, Bellatrix was still considered a fugitive and therefore couldn't make an appearance in Diagon Alley, lest she get chucked back in Azkaban. She'd just break out again, of course, but it wasn't worth the hassle. They were working on clearing her name, and hopefully with Voldemort's contacts in the Ministry it would only take a few more weeks, but for the meantime Bellatrix was still restricted in her movements.

This meant that Hermione would be going with Draco and Narcissa, which though she had gotten to know them much better over the past week, she was still disappointed that Bella wouldn't be following along. Also, the Malfoys themselves were somewhat of minor celebrities in the wizarding world, so being with them would only attract more unwanted attention.

Hermione sighed, resigned to a day of feeling like a lion at the zoo, and allowed Narcissa to fuss over the collar of her black robes, straightening invisible wrinkles in the fabric before stepping back and deeming Hermione presentable. Bella sent a smile over to Hermione, proud at how well she was getting along with her sister and adapting so quickly to the pureblood culture, and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips in farewell. The kiss was brief, as Narcissa and Draco were standing by, and because anything more and she wouldn't want to let Hermione leave.

Narcissa floo'd first, clearly enunciating 'Diagon Alley' in her aristocratic voice. Hermione was next, and sent Bella a farewell grin as she stepped into the flames and dropped her handful of floo powder. She stumbled slightly on the other side but managed to right herself before making a fool out of herself, and began to brush the stray soot off of her shoulder as they waited for Draco to come through.

Apparating to Diagon Alley was of course possible, but as she and Draco didn't have their licenses yet they would have both had to travel side along with Narcissa. Hermione didn't particularly like the feeling of side along apparation, not that anyone enjoyed it really, but there was something about that feeling of being out of control that really didn't sit well with her. She was fine when Bella did it, but as Bella's magic felt more or less like an extension of her own, that was quite different.

Once Draco had arrived Narcissa took charge immediately, pulling their supply list scrolls out of her bag along with another list that they had compiled containing a few extra items that needed to be bought.

'First will be Gringotts, of course, then Flourish and Blotts and Twilfitt and Tatting's. I've got to make a quick stop at the apothecary and then we can go down Knockturn as Draco needs to have a conversation with Mr. Borgin. We should make haste so that we can return to the manor before lunch, I'll not be catching something eating at one of these establishments.'

Hermione and Draco had no objections and so they set off towards Gringotts, Hermione aware of the increasing amount of gazes following them as they made their way through the crowded streets. It was almost comical the way the crowd parted for them to walk through, and if Hermione had been on the outside of it she probably would have laughed, but as it was she held her chin high and attempted a look of nonchalance, looking straight ahead and trying not to listen to the whispers.

She had thought that the goblins would have more tact than the witches and wizards, but apparently the rumors of her marriage had made their way through Gringotts as well, as many small oddly shaped heads perked up while she walked down the center aisle towards the goblin Narcissa had indicated towards at the end.

Draco had parted from them to see to the Malfoy vaults, but luckily for Hermione Narcissa had agreed to accompany Hermione to the Black vaults. Usually with the old family vaults one was unable to bring visitors, but as Narcissa was a Black by blood, she had some limited rights to the accounts.

Marrying into the Malfoy family superseded her claim to the Black fortune, and as Bella was the eldest and the heir she had official control over the vaults, but Narcissa retained some privileges over the smaller accounts and could accompany her sister, or in this case Hermione, to the main vault.

Bella had given Hermione the small key before they left, but had warned her that it was basically a formality and that she would have to offer a bit of blood to actually get inside. The vaults were imbued with the old family magics so they would automatically recognize Hermione and allow her entrance.

'I'd like to make a withdrawal from the Black vault.'

The goblin stared at her for a moment but didn't seem at all surprised by her request, and by his words she realized that he did indeed know who she was.

'Wand and key, please, Madame Black.'

Hermione handed over the key and her wand and watched as the goblin peered at both carefully before nodding to himself and pushing off from his abnormally tall stool. He handed the items back to Hermione before turning away without a word.

Narcissa placed a hand on the small of Hermione's back and urged her to follow the goblin, and so they made their way to the back of the bank where a small rickety looking cart sat on a track. Hermione had heard about the carts from Harry, but she had never taken one before as her personal vault had been small and unimportant it had been on one of the upper floors which only required climbing a few staircases.

It was not a journey she particularly enjoyed, especially when they neared the end and were thoroughly doused going through a powerful waterfall. Narcissa explained that it was a protection against thieves, which was all fine and good but Hermione remained rather perturbed as it required her to magically dry her hair. She could have sworn she saw a dragon, but they whipped past that floor so quickly she couldn't be certain.

When the cart finally stopped they were at what Hermione was sure was one of the lowest levels, and it was cold and damp enough that she was shivering slightly. Overall it was a process she wasn't looking forward to repeating often, and decided to take out a fair amount of gold in hopes of avoiding a repeat anytime soon.

The goblin got out of the cart but made no attempt to move towards the vault, he would wait for them and return them to the surface when they were done.

The archway leading to the vaults was open but an opaque mist prevented anyone from seeing what was inside, which Hermione had to assume was the house magic Bella had spoke of. The absence of a door and locks was very telling – the magical world was often not as it seemed and the fact that the vaults didn't require a physical stronghold meant that the magic protecting them must be incredibly powerful.

Hermione stepped forward towards the archway with the idea of reaching out her hand, but to her surprise the magic reached out to her instead, engulfing her and Narcissa entirely in the mist. Hermione coughed slightly as she breathed in the humid mist, and her hand stung briefly after it somehow corporealized enough to cut her. After a few minutes it was over, and Hermione hadn't realized that they were moving but somehow as the mist cleared she found herself inside the Black vault.

Hermione didn't know what she had expected or imagined, but it certainly wasn't the sight in front of her. The room was filled floors to ceiling with gold, jewels, magical artifacts and books. It was rather neatly organized instead of just a mass treasure chest, and looking around Hermione realized that she could probably spend days inside without being able to examine everything.

She stifled her curiosity though, knowing that they were on a time crunch, and pulled out her magically extended bag in order to collect some gold. Bellatrix had requested a few specific items, but she left that to Narcissa, who knew of the objects in question and had been to the vault many times and as such could locate them much easier than Hermione could.

They were done within a few minutes and following Narcissa's lead, Hermione walked out straight through the mist, which this time didn't impede her path. She had a feeling that were someone to attempt to take something they weren't authorized for, that they would likely be trapped inside the vault.

The trip back to the surface was easier than the trip down, and they found Draco waiting for them in the entry, having finished his own withdrawal already. The trio made quick work of buying schoolbooks in Flourish and Blotts and Hermione was thankful to only be subjected to one set of measurements and no fittings in Twillfitt and Tatting's. She was happy to leave the fabric choices and robe design to Narcissa, having found everything in the closet at the manor to her liking and so she trusted Narcissa's sense of style enough to relinquish all control in that department. They would both be happier for it.

Narcissa popped into the apothecary quickly and then they were on their way to Knockturn Alley. She spied Harry and Ron on the way as they passed Fred and George's shop, but as they were surrounded by the rest of the Weasleys and a few Order members, she didn't dare approach them. She would have to wait until they were at Hogwarts to try and get them alone in order to speak with them.

Hermione didn't know exactly what Draco was planning on doing at Borgin and Burke's, he had been rather quiet since his meeting with the Dark Lord and Hermione knew that was because he was apprehensive about whatever task he had been assigned. Draco could be quite closed off, especially when he was nervous, and so Hermione didn't push, hoping that in time he would trust her with the information.

As the door closed behind them to the shop, Hermione thought she heard Harry's voice behind her. When she turned around she didn't see anything, but years of being friends with the boys taught her to look closely at the ground. The two boys were much taller now than they used to be, and often forgot that fact, making it so the bottoms of their shoes were usually visible even if they had on the invisibility cloak, especially when they were both under it together.

Sure enough, Hermione saw flickering glimpses through the dirty windows of shoes making their way around outside the shop towards the back, and sighed to herself. Harry really needed to learn to mind his own business. However, it was an unprecedented opportunity to try to speak with the boys, one she didn't want to pass up.

'Draco, Narcissa, I think I'll wait just outside. The dust in here is irritating my allergies.' Narcissa nodded understandingly while Draco tried not to scoff, fully aware that Hermione was not allergic to dust if all the time she spent in the back of the Hogwarts library was any indication.

She exited the shop and made her way around the back. She had lost sight of Harry and Ron, but as the area behind the shop was rather closed off, she knew they had to be huddled against a wall or in a corner somewhere. She eyed the corner that looked the most probable and angled herself towards it, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow.

'I know you're there. Might as well take off the cloak.'

A few moments of silence passed but Hermione waited them out. She had 10 times the patience they did, and sure enough after a bit she heard them them start to fidget. Low voices were just barely audible as the boys whisper argued with each other. They apparently decided to stay under cloak, but at least decided they could talk to her.

'Is it true?' It was Harry's voice first. 'You've married her?'

He sounded upset. Hermione wished she could see them. She wished she could explain everything, but now wasn't the right time. If she told them everything they would go home with the conversation practically screaming in their minds and Dumbledore would no doubt find out and either twist everything she said, or simply obliviate them. He had done it before and would undoubtedly do it again.

She just needed to drive a tiny little wedge, plant just a seed of doubt in their minds. Nothing that would be overtly obvious, but something that would give her the in she would need to meet with them later at Hogwarts. Something to convince them to actually make a valiant effort to learn occulumency.

'Yes, it's true. I lied last year, when Ron asked if I had heard anything from Bellatrix. I had. We had been writing back and forth via an enchanted journal the whole term. I'm sorry I lied, but if I had told you and someone found out, I'd have lost my only way to speak with her.'

There was silence for a few minutes before the whispering started up again. This time it was Ron that spoke.

'We wouldn't have told anyone. You could've trusted us. I know how the whole house ring shit works. I know you didn't really have a choice. I wouldn't have blamed you for making the best out of the situation.'

Ron sounded hurt, and Hermione felt a pang of regret.

'If it had been that simple, Ron, I would've told you. I know you wouldn't have said anything, but you can't control your thoughts, and there are many in the castle that could've found out that way. I couldn't risk it.'

'Are you alright? That is… is she treating you alright? Are you still…you?'

Hermione chuckled. If she wasn't 'still her' she certainly wouldn't be admitting to it to the boys, but she could tell Ron's words were coming from his heart rather than his brain.

'Bella is...she's everything and nothing like you'd expect. She'd never hurt me. I'm still me, some things may have changed but you better believe I had a sternly worded conversation the other day with Lucius Malfoy about how he treats his house elves. There's a whole lot I wish I could tell you, but I can't. Not yet anyway. Just...don't give up on me.'

Ron and Harry snickered at her comment about the house elves and she knew she had succeeded. Whatever horrible, changed monster Dumbledore had depicted her as wouldn't still care about house elf rights. By saying that she had given them hope that she could still be 'saved', and if they thought they could save her, they'd be willing to talk to her. She could work on explaining how she didn't actually need saving later.

'Are you coming back to Hogwarts?' Hermione could practically hear the hope in Harry's voice.

'Of course I am. We've got NEWT courses this year and I'm taking all subjects besides muggle studies and divination. I may actually have to move into the library in order to get all my assignments finished.'

She laughed, though she wasn't entirely joking.

'I've got to go, and you should too, don't want to get yourselves caught down here. But be careful, and I'll see you on the train. I wouldn't say anything about this to anyone. And Harry? I know you hated it with Professor Snape, but you really should learn occulumency. Give it a try, practice with Ron. What could it hurt?'

Without waiting for a reply she turned around and walked back towards the door of Borgin and Burke's, hearing the telltale shuffling from the boys a few minutes later. They were long gone by the time Narcissa and Draco were finished in the shop, thankfully, and Hermione didn't say anything about their presence. She would probably tell Bella later, but there was no reason to add any fuel to the rivalry between Harry and Draco. Draco wouldn't take too kindly to being spied on, though Hermione suspected that she herself was the main reason they had been followed.

Bella was waiting for them when they returned to the manor, and Hermione found herself swept out of the fireplace and immediately into a demanding kiss. She returned the kiss eagerly and they both ignored the little scoff from Narcissa and dramatic retching sounds from Draco. She only had a few days left with Bella before Hogwarts and she was going to make the most of them.