A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! Wow - I am so blown away by the response and I just can't wait for you to go on this journey with me. I really hope that you will like what I have planned. Rodolphus finally makes an appearance in this chapter, so I will just get on with it. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions!
Please let me know what you thought of chapter two and be on the lookout for chapter three in a few days!
August 1967
Hermione was glad to make it to Diagon Alley, even if the previously sunny weather had been replaced by a thunderstorm that had moved in from off of the coast. Cedrella had not allowed a little thing like the weather stop her from doing something on her schedule, though, and had wrangled George and Arthur to go with them.
Arthur had been full of excited talk about how great Diagon Alley and how much she was going to love everything there. It was a bit cringeworthy to her to know that he was desperately trying to impress her, so she tuned him out and focused on looking around. The Alley was not that different than it was before, except that some of the shops had different names, but more or less the same purposes.
They had gone to the bookstore first, but Cedrella had unfortunately owled ahead and had all of their required textbooks set aside before they got there. Hermione wanted to join in with George in begging for time to look around the bookstore, but Cedrella was not her mother, and didn't think it would be very becoming of a house guest to act that way. After that, it was off to the pet store to get some much-needed owl treats.
Finally, they went to Madam Malkin's Robes for Every Occasion so that Hermione could be fitted for her new uniform. To her immense surprise, Madam Malkin was a young looking witch, smartly dressed, with pins held in her teeth. "Hello, dear," Cedrella greeted seamstress with an air kiss. "We are here to get this witch her school uniform."
Madam Malkin raised one eyebrow in surprise, looking Hermione up and down. "I didn't realize that you had...a, a newcomer with you, Mrs. Weasley," she said, head tilted to one side, clearly curious about who this interloper was.
"This is Hermione Granger," Cedrella answered, pressing a hand to Hermione's shoulders. "She's been staying with us this summer and will be going to Hogwarts with the boys," she explained.
The other witch took the pins out of her mouth, before bringing her hand to her chin. She walked around Hermione, looking her up and down, perhaps mentally calculating the work that she would be. "Well, I don't have any of her measurements on file," she said, finally. "It will take about an hour, but we will be able to get her fitted by then."
"Bunny, do you mind if we pop over to the Quidditch shops? The boys will be wanting to go there, and I doubt that you have any interest in looking at eighteen kinds of broom polish," Cedrella asked, her warm, grey eyes searching her face for any hint of concern. "You will be in excellent hands with Madam Malkin here."
Honestly, it would be nice to get away from the Weasleys for a little bit of time, Hermione thought privately. It wasn't that they weren't perfectly friendly, just...they seemed to be a bit too interested in making sure that she was okay, and it got overwhelming having to seem perfect all the time. "Of course I won't mind," Hermione said, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders.
"Maybe I should stay with her, mum," Arthur offered, hopefully. "Then her and I could walk over to the Quidditch store together."
"Arthur Herbert Weasley!" Cedrella scolded her middle son. "In what world would I leave you here to sit on your behind and pester Hermione, only to have you waste my time twice over at the Quidditch shop? We are leaving now," she insisted, before turning and heading off in the direction of the door, Arthur and George in tow.
Hermione attempted to hide her laugh behind her hand, but Madam Malkin caught her anyway. "Cedrella can be quite the taskmaster," she agreed playfully.
"It's not just that," Hermione said with a smirk. "I've never heard Arthur's middle name before. Quite the mouthful."
Madam Malkin directed Hermione back behind a curtain so that she could disrobe to a level to get proper measurements. Pulling the tape measure from around her neck, a quick notes quill began writing down all of the pertinent numbers she would need to pick up the robes. "Don't you just use magic to measure?" Hermione found herself asking, remembering that in her time, Madam Malkin barely spared her a second thought when getting her uniform.
"Customers like to know that I take their clothing needs seriously," she explained, pushing a bit of dark hair back out of her face. "Taking measurements by hand is more accurate - magic can't understand the fit that you'll want. Stand up straighter, dear."
Hermione supposed that that made sense to her. She corrected her posture, looking at herself in the mirror. Her mind began to wander, curious to know what the uniforms would be like in the late sixties. The Hogwarts uniform was notoriously out of fashion and hadn't seemed to be updated in at least a decade, so there was a possibility that it wouldn't have changed. The brunette thought that might be nice - the less change, the better, she figured.
Besides, she already had so much on her mind without having to feel uncomfortable in some new scratchy uniform, like how she was going to get back to her proper time. Dumbledore had told her to be patient and he would talk to her once she got to school, but it seemed like there was more and more chance of her irreparably changing the future the longer she stayed there. Arthur never seemed to have recognized her back in the future, though, so perhaps she wasn't actually there for all that long.
The two women were startled out of their silence a few moments later by the sound of the bell chiming, announcing another patron. Summoning a uniform, Madam Malkin handed it to Hermione. "Here, put this one and then meet me outside at the stand," she instructed, before leaving her to go greet her other customer.
Hermione quickly slipped into the uniform. It was not all that different from the one she had, except that the silhouette was slightly different. The waist was a bit higher and the hem a bit longer. She was pleased to note that the cut of the white cotton blouse was much more feminine as well. While wearing a uniform was never ideal, Hermione thought to herself, she could do worse for her figure.
She couldn't hear Madam Malkin murmuring with the man who had come in any longer, so she hoped that the coast would be clear, and crept out from behind the curtain. Standing on the platform, she turned around, looking at herself from every angle thanks to the multiple mirrors.
A quiet chuckle startled her out of her little daydream. Spinning around, Hermione was surprised to see a young man, around her age, sitting in a chair and watching her. Feeling her cheeks heat up, she apologized quietly.
"Why are you apologizing?" he asked, his lips pursed together in amusement. "It's not as if you've done anything wrong."
"You're right," she agreed, feeling nonplussed. "I take it back."
His smile broadened, showing off imperfect white teeth. "Are you new to Hogwarts? You seem a little bit old to be a first year," he commented.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him anything, but she supposed that it wasn't a secret either. "I, yes, I am new this year. But, I will be going into my sixth year," she explained, taking a moment to really look at him. He was rather good looking, she decided, with his expressive blue eyes and dark, perfectly styled hair. He looked at home seated in the chair, arms crossed over his chest. "Are you getting uniforms for Hogwarts, too?" she asked, unsure if she was hoping that he would be one of her future classmates or hoping that she'd never see him again.
"Ah, we are getting uniforms, but not for me," he explained, waving in the direction of the curtain. "My little brother is going to be a first year."
"Oh," Hermione answered, nodding in understanding. She wasn't entirely sure why she was feeling a little bit disappointed that she wouldn't be going to school with him. She returned her attention to looking at herself in the mirror to distract herself from the good looking man. It was probably for the best anyway, she thought to herself. There was no point getting attached to anyone in this time.
"So, are you going to be sorted with the rest of the first years?" he asked, making conversation. And why shouldn't he? It wasn't as if he had anything better to do. "Rab would be tickled to think that one of the older students would be sorted with the rest of them."
Hermione shook her head. "I'm in Gryffindor," she answered tersely. She was glad she'd been spared the embarrassment of being sorted in front of everyone, but Dumbledore thought that it would really be calling far too much attention to her. Hermione didn't even see the point of being sorted when she already knew what house she was in, and the Headmaster had eventually relented.
"Gryffindor, eh?" he said, wearing another one of those amused smirks, perhaps finding humor in her forcefulness. "And does the newest member of Gryffindor house have a name?"
Just as she was about to introduce herself to him, a young boy came bursting out from behind the curtains, with Madam Malkin hot on his tail. "Alright, young man," she said indulgently. The younger brother, Hermione supposed, looked shy and nervous, and desperately like he wanted to prove himself. "We will owl you your uniforms in a day or two."
"Thank you Madam Malkin," the older brother answered, ruffling the younger boy's hair. "Just send the bill to Gringotts and they will settle up with you," he instructed. "Shall we go?" he asked the young wizard.
"Yeah," he answered. "Can we go to Gambol and Japes before we go home?"
"Of course," the handsome one answered, leading his brother towards the door. He gave Hermione a little nod on the way out, but left before they could be properly introduced to one another.
A small part of her was dying to ask Madam Malkin who they were, but she didn't want to seem too nosy, either. Besides, it wasn't as if it was likely for her to cross paths with them again. Instead, she focused on the work the woman was doing on the uniform, pushing the handsome stranger from her mind completely. "This fits you nicely," she said, satisfied with her selection. "Just need a few adjustments." Using some pins, she lifted the hem until it was just stopped at her knee.
When Madam Malkin was one hundred percent happy with what she saw, she instructed Hermione to return to her normal clothing for the day. The brunette slipped back into her dress, smoothing down the fabric. By the time she came back out of the dressing room, the Weasleys had filed back into the little shop and were settling the bill for her.
"Thanks," she said to Cedrella, grateful for her assistance in all of this. Hermione was certain she wouldn't be able to get around as well if it wasn't for the Weasleys' generosity. While Dumbledore had given her enough galleons to get by, the Weasleys had still agreed to take her in.
"It's no trouble at all, Bunny," the woman waved off her thank you. "Now, I am sure that you are eager to get home after all of this shopping. I know that I could use a gin and tonic after what the boys put me through in that Quidditch shop. Eighteen kinds of broom polish was not an understatement."
Hermione laughed at the other woman's exasperation and the sheepish look on Arthur's face. Still, heading back to their house sounded like the perfect idea. Hermione really wanted to get into her textbooks so she could see what to expect for the year. Even though she didn't think she would be in the past for all that long, it didn't hurt to be prepared.