Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it.
Hermione's POV
We had just walked out of the Leaky Cauldron when we bump into Malfoy and his mother. Of course, as the saying goes, if it can go wrong, it will go wrong. Ronald Weasley had to open his mouth and accuse them of coming to attack us. They were just walking into Diagon Alley. We already vouched for both of them at their trials, why start anything now?
"Weasel, you may not have realized this, but the world does not 'belong' to anyone, least of all you. How about we avoid any conflict, and just continue on our merry ways?" says Malfoy, in a slightly sarcastic tone. I'm surprised; he's trying to contain the argument as much as possible. Maybe he too has matured a bit over the summer, just like… well I guess it's just Harry now.
"Yeah right Ferret, you probably found out we were going to be here today and decided to attack us." I start trying to pull Ron away before this escalates and they both lose their cool. Despite remaining poised, Malfoy's mum looks tense and almost scared. Malfoy, himself, appears to be shielding her.
"You should take the hint from the know-it-all behind you. Even Scar-Head over there has more brains than you!" I turn to look at Harry and see that he's looking about as nervous as Narcissa. I decide to pinch Ron and see if he snaps out of it.
"Ow, 'Mione! What was that for?" Ron's face is very red and flustered but I don't care.
"I'm trying to save your life right now. We all know that Malfoy would easily beat you in a duel. Let's leave them alone before any of us do anything we'll regret later." Goodness, I already sound like a Head Girl and it's still a week before I become one officially.
"Ha, like I'd regret it." Even as he says that, though, I can tell Ron is beginning to see my point. He turns back to them. "This isn't over Malfoy. If you lay even a finger on Hermione this year, I swear to you that you won't live long enough to regret it." He storms away towards Flourish and Blotts and we have no choice but to follow.
"I can't believe he had the cheek to show up here after everything he's done!" At that point Harry loses his cool, going from nervous to completely furious.
"Ron, I can't believe you did that back there! I know none of us like him, but you can't just threaten someone on the street like that! Especially since we're both about to become Aurors. We're supposed to be more responsible than this. Even if no one likes them, you'd still get sent to Azkaban if you killed him." The last time I saw Harry get this mad at Ron, was last year in the forest.
"I agree with Harry, that was a very stupid move you bloody prat." Ginny looks as angry as Harry sounded. I feel proud of both of them.
"Since when did you all start acting like Hermione? Have you been meeting up during the summer planning different ways to yell at me?" says Ron in a flustered and accusatory tone. It's enough to make me lash out again.
"No, Ron, you're just an arrogant prat sometimes! Malfoy may be a git, but it doesn't mean you have to be one as well!" It's only been one day and he's already annoying me. I don't know when it started, but at some point last year, he just started getting on my nerves. His attitude has changed a lot since I first met him. It's kind of sad because I always thought he was so nice and cute when we were younger.
"Look," I say, pinching the bridge of my nose, "we'll continue this later. I just need to pick up some parchment, ink, and quills. Ginny, if you tell me what you need from Flourish and Blotts I can get it at the same time while you look for the rest of your stuff. Harry and Ron, feel free to go look at the quidditch store. We'll be shopping around here for the next hour or so." It feels so natural to delegate tasks. Like when we used to plan our nighttime adventures in Hogwarts. I've missed those.
"I need about eight rolls of parchment, five bottles of ink, and three new quills. That should cost about ten galleons and six sickles. Here you go."
"Thank you, Ginny. How about we all meet up at the Leaky Cauldron again at about 12 to have lunch and then we can go visit Fred," I suggest to the group. They all nod and we part ways.
I enter the shop and make my way to the stationery aisle to get all the supplies. I manage to balance everything and I've almost reached the counter to pay for them when I trip over someone's foot. Everything flies everywhere and I'm leaning too far forward to catch myself. Just before I hit the floor, a pair of strong arms stops me and pulls me up. I look up and see the concerned face of Draco Malfoy. I watch as his face transforms from an expression of concern to one of confusion, before finally settling on disgust.
"Of course, I had to catch a mudblood. Watch where you're going next time," he says. I shouldn't have expected any other reaction from Malfoy, but it's still disappointing. I thought he'd changed over the summer, but I guess he hasn't.
"Well, if you have nothing else to say, I'll be on my way," I reply. Using my wand to help levitate the parchment, quills, and ink, I get to the counter and pay. When I'm finished, I deposit the bags into my purse and walk off to find the textbooks I need for this year.
Once I finish looking for my textbooks and browsing for more novels to read, I head over for lunch. I've almost reached the Leakey when I spot a commotion ahead. Malfoy's beating up Ron in the middle of the street while Harry and Ginny watch on in shock. Draco's mum is standing off to the side, beginning to look even paler, while people begin to crowd around.
Draco's POV
I had just walked out of Flourish and Blotts when I met up with my mother again. I was too lost in thought about what had just happened to process what she was saying. The issue was not that I helped Granger up after she fell over. The issue was that when I realized it was her, I didn't feel repulsed like I usually did. Surprisingly, I felt bad for her. I almost wanted to comfort her, but that would have been weird so I put on a facade.
"-so I ran into Mrs. Zabini when," my mother paused, "Draco are you even listening to me?"
"I'm sorry mother. You were saying something about Mrs. Zabini?" I'm surprised their family stayed in England but, hopefully, that means Blaise is going back to school as well.
"She was saying that her son, Blaise, is sad that he won't be in the same dorm as you this year, but was hoping that you guys could set up a schedule to study together in the library."
Just as we turned the corner, we bump into Ron. He's very angry, and this time he's on his own.
"Watch where you're going!" he grumbles until he sees who he bumped into. "Malfoy? You're just the person I wanted to see." I push my mum behind me to protect her. The look in Weasley's eyes and the tone of his voice is beginning to worry me.
"Are you trying to hide your little mummy? Are you afraid I'm going to hurt her or mess up her ugly face? At least I don't have the filth of Voldemort all over my family name." I lose it and punch him squarely in the jaw. Forget magic, I'm too angry for that.
"No one. Talks. About. My mother. Like that." Each pause is punctuated by a punch to his jaw or a kick to the shins.
"I've been waiting to do this for a very long time." He says as he steps back and lunges for me. All of a sudden, the air is knocked out of my chest. I find myself sprawled out on the ground, my head knocking back against the cobblestones. He kicks me in the gut a couple of times, but my head hurts more. I look up and see Weasley reaching for my throat. I close my eyes and wait for his hands to close around my neck, but it never happens. Instead, I hear a thud. I look up just in time to see Ron go flying into a nearby wall. Standing where he stood a moment ago, is Granger, her wand still outstretched.
"Ronald Bilius Weasley! What were you thinking? Attacking Malfoy in the middle of the street?" Hermione thunders. She looks terrifying and I'm very glad that I'm not on the receiving end of her wrath right now. I'm terrified and I scramble over to my mother who looks about as white as a ghost. I glance around and see Potter motioning for me to hurry up and leave before Ron gets back up. I run with my mum to the apparition point and we're gone as soon as we get there.
In an instant, we're back at the Manor. We hobble down the path until we reach the doors, my mother and I leaning on each other for support. As soon as we get inside, my father comes out of his study to greet us.
"Hello, how are my… oh my goodness. What happened?" My father looks at the two of us in shock.
"We ran into… Potter's gang. Do you have any… ice…?" I still feel winded, from when Ron shoved me, and apparating back here didn't help in the slightest.
My father rushes us both into the living room, to the couch by the fireplace. He urges both of us to sit and runs off to get some ice for me, as well as water for everyone. In the whole time since the fight started, my mother has not said a word. I glance at her in concern and I see that she's still as pale as when we left.
"Mother, are you okay?" I'm starting to get more and more worried about her. I've never seen her react like this.
She's shaky at first, but she manages to whisper. "I knew that the world didn't exactly, like us, but I didn't realize they hated us that much. When you guys started fighting, no one tried to stop it. I was so scared, especially when you fell. I'm so glad that Granger girl, or whatever her name is, stepped in to help. If she hadn't, you would either be dead or in Azkaban." Tears prick my eyes and I can't resist hugging her. As soon as I do, she begins to cry. "I didn't want to lose you so soon after we got everyone back."
"Shhh, everything's fine, mother. Don't think about might have happened. What's done is done and nobody can change that." My father walks in with some ice in a blanket and a pitcher of water. He steps in to calm my mother down and hands me a glass of water with the ice.
"I'll take care of your mother. You go freshen up and rest. We can talk about this more at dinner."
"Thank you, father," I reply.
Slowly, I climb the marble stairs up to my room. I collapse onto the mattress as soon as I reach my bed and place the ice pack under my head. All I can do is lie there, replaying what happened, over and over again.
Some point later, when I think the swelling has reduced enough, I pull myself up to sitting and rub the back of my head. It doesn't feel as bad now, but a shower should take care of my headache.
I go to my bathroom and run the water as hot as I can without burning myself. Once the water temperature settles, I step in and lose myself in the soothing rhythm of the water beating down my back.
Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Just a reminder that I really appreciate your feedback so please review! Have a wonderful week, till next time!