Yep, it was that time again. Time to get the next year's supplies at
Diagon Alley. Hermione always looks forward to these trips. It reminds
her that it's almost time to go back into the wizarding world. Of course,
the stop at Flourish and Blotts is something to look forward to as well.
As Diagon Alley trips go though, this one has not been going well. First off, her parents made her go through the Alley on her own. Like most teenagers, she didn't mind so much being away from her parents, but it did mean that there was not going to be able to be any renegotiation of the departure time. Her parents were going to sit in the Leaky Cauldron and talk with Professor McGonagoll about potential future safety precautions in case the Voldemort situation gets any worse.
She made her way to Gringott's to exchange the money that she was given by her parents. Her parent always made sure that she had plenty of funds to make it through school. Today though, it looks like there's a problem with the exchange rate. She didn't get back as many galleons as she thought she would. She kept track of what the exchange was, so she was quite surprised. She knew however that the goblins would not be cheating her since they enjoyed the victories they received from the settlement of the goblin wars of 1627. She just resigned herself to not being able to purchase extra books like she had hoped.
"Just great, can my day get any worse?" Hermione grumbled to herself as she was leaving Gringott's. It was also when she noticed that it had started raining. Since she was alone and still underage, she was unable to get an Impervious Charm cast on her, and quickly got soaked. She ducked into Flourish and Blotts to purchase her books. This part of her trip actually went fairly well, though she was again reminded that she would not be able to purchase the advanced Occlumency book she was going to give Harry for his birthday coming up. She didn't let it get her too down though, since she was pretty sure she would be able to come up with the rest of the money in time.
Since her time in Diagon Alley was quickly approaching an end, she rushed over to the apothocary's office to stock up on potion supplies. She decided she could owl order anything else she needed later in the month, she just wanted to get out of the rain.
She quickly moved through the rainy near deserted alley when.. WHOOSH a fireworks rocket flew right past her head. It startled her so much she jumped a couple feet into the air and backed into the person next to her. The good news was that this person slowed her fall. The bad news was, he slowed...not stopped her fall. They both went sliding into the mud and became utterly filthy.
With all of the attacks by Voldemort lately, Hermione was more concerned about a potential attack than even the person she landed on. Even though she was covered in mud and soaked from the rain, she still had her wand out quickly, ready to retaliate against her attacker.
She looked over to her side and saw her friend Ron laughing hysterically. "Ronald Weasley!!! Just who do you think you are going around shooting fireworks at people? You could tell that I was soaked as it was. You thought it was a great idea to get me all muddy too, didn't you? Now what if Harry was here? Huh? Did you think of that?" Ron was suddenly getting more and more red in the face and quiet. His facial expression quickly bounced from amused, to shocked, to almost fear. He settled on fear until she finished her next sentence, then it went to total surprise. "You know I've always tried to look my best since I told you I had feelings for him. What would he ever say if he saw me like this and knew about how I felt about him?"
A voice from below her said "He'd probably say, Could you spare a moment and help me off this cold muddy ground. Followed quickly by 'It would probably all work much better if you would get off my hand. It would make it much easier to get to my get to my feet."
She knew that voice, with as often as she had to listen to it, she could just imagine how she looked and dreaded having to turn around.
She looked down and saw that the person she had backed into and fallen over was none other than Harry. It only took a couple more seconds before she realized that Harry had heard every word she had just uttered. With a sharp squeak, she rushed off without even stopping to help Harry up. She didn't stop running until she burst into the door of the Leaky Cauldron. She didn't even slow down when she heard Harry's plaintive, almost begging voice "Mione...Don't go.please?"
As Diagon Alley trips go though, this one has not been going well. First off, her parents made her go through the Alley on her own. Like most teenagers, she didn't mind so much being away from her parents, but it did mean that there was not going to be able to be any renegotiation of the departure time. Her parents were going to sit in the Leaky Cauldron and talk with Professor McGonagoll about potential future safety precautions in case the Voldemort situation gets any worse.
She made her way to Gringott's to exchange the money that she was given by her parents. Her parent always made sure that she had plenty of funds to make it through school. Today though, it looks like there's a problem with the exchange rate. She didn't get back as many galleons as she thought she would. She kept track of what the exchange was, so she was quite surprised. She knew however that the goblins would not be cheating her since they enjoyed the victories they received from the settlement of the goblin wars of 1627. She just resigned herself to not being able to purchase extra books like she had hoped.
"Just great, can my day get any worse?" Hermione grumbled to herself as she was leaving Gringott's. It was also when she noticed that it had started raining. Since she was alone and still underage, she was unable to get an Impervious Charm cast on her, and quickly got soaked. She ducked into Flourish and Blotts to purchase her books. This part of her trip actually went fairly well, though she was again reminded that she would not be able to purchase the advanced Occlumency book she was going to give Harry for his birthday coming up. She didn't let it get her too down though, since she was pretty sure she would be able to come up with the rest of the money in time.
Since her time in Diagon Alley was quickly approaching an end, she rushed over to the apothocary's office to stock up on potion supplies. She decided she could owl order anything else she needed later in the month, she just wanted to get out of the rain.
She quickly moved through the rainy near deserted alley when.. WHOOSH a fireworks rocket flew right past her head. It startled her so much she jumped a couple feet into the air and backed into the person next to her. The good news was that this person slowed her fall. The bad news was, he slowed...not stopped her fall. They both went sliding into the mud and became utterly filthy.
With all of the attacks by Voldemort lately, Hermione was more concerned about a potential attack than even the person she landed on. Even though she was covered in mud and soaked from the rain, she still had her wand out quickly, ready to retaliate against her attacker.
She looked over to her side and saw her friend Ron laughing hysterically. "Ronald Weasley!!! Just who do you think you are going around shooting fireworks at people? You could tell that I was soaked as it was. You thought it was a great idea to get me all muddy too, didn't you? Now what if Harry was here? Huh? Did you think of that?" Ron was suddenly getting more and more red in the face and quiet. His facial expression quickly bounced from amused, to shocked, to almost fear. He settled on fear until she finished her next sentence, then it went to total surprise. "You know I've always tried to look my best since I told you I had feelings for him. What would he ever say if he saw me like this and knew about how I felt about him?"
A voice from below her said "He'd probably say, Could you spare a moment and help me off this cold muddy ground. Followed quickly by 'It would probably all work much better if you would get off my hand. It would make it much easier to get to my get to my feet."
She knew that voice, with as often as she had to listen to it, she could just imagine how she looked and dreaded having to turn around.
She looked down and saw that the person she had backed into and fallen over was none other than Harry. It only took a couple more seconds before she realized that Harry had heard every word she had just uttered. With a sharp squeak, she rushed off without even stopping to help Harry up. She didn't stop running until she burst into the door of the Leaky Cauldron. She didn't even slow down when she heard Harry's plaintive, almost begging voice "Mione...Don't go.please?"