Chapter 1: Friends and Catching up
The cold woke her up. She blinked into the darkness, letting her eyes adjust to the lack of light. She tried to get up but found that her hands and legs were chained spread-eagle on a slab of marble. She was lying naked and goose bumps were forming all over her exposed skin.
"Oh my God! Oh my God! Where am I?" she thought. She tried to cry for help but a foul rag was stuffed in her mouth. She looked around and saw that she was in the middle of the woods. The night sky was starless, save for the light of the full moon. The forest was deathly quiet, no crickets chirping, no sounds of nocturnal animals, nothing. Just silence.
She was startled by the sound of a snapping twig to her left. She turned and saw a man in a black robe walking towards her. He looked familiar, like the hitchhiker that she had picked up on the way back home. I should have listened to my mother about hitchhikers, she thought, mentally pounding her head on the marble table.
His hair was stark white in the dark and his face was lined with deep wrinkles. The scar along his jaw line was pale in the moonlight. He stood next to her, his jet black eyes blazing with a kind of hunger that made her insides cold.
Raking his eyes over her naked body, he removed her gag and said, "Such a beautiful body you have, just like my lovely Marianne." He trailed his wrinkled finger over her breasts and squeezed them hard.
"Please. Please let me go!" she pleaded, tears streaming to her temples.
"I can't do that my sweet. I have plans for you," he grinned insanely, taking a small knife from his robes, the silver blade glinting in the moonlight. He trailed the tip of the knife along the side of her ribs, drawing blood. He laughed at her whimpering and pleading.
"You can scream all you want, no one's going to hear you. In fact, I would prefer it if you did, it'll just make the magick stronger."
He used the knife with savage glee and precision. He knew exactly where to cut to draw the maximum amount of pain and blood without killing her instantly. He revelled in her blood and screams, chanting in a guttural language. With each phrase and every fading heartbeat of the girl, he felt the magick building and gathering. With the last word, the magick rushed through him, spreading through out his entire body. He was enveloped in a blood red bubble, rejuvenating him, increasing his own personal power. The blood red bubble disappeared, revealing a man in his mid-twenties, his jet black hair framing his boyish face. He looked down at his hands and smiled in satisfaction. The scar on his jaw line was less pale and noticeable.
He threw a contemptuous look at the dead girl on the sacrificial altar and smirked. He raised his palm towards the dead body and a red light shot out, engulfing the body in fire, turning it to ash. He turned and walked out of the woods, leaving the ashes to be scattered by the wind.
~ * ~
The incessant ringing of the doorbell woke Hermione up. She rolled to her side and covered her ears with her pillow to drown out the sound and failed. Kicking the covers aside roughly, she stomped to her front door and wrenched it open, ready to bite the person's head off.
"What!" she shouted at the two surprised men standing at her door.
"Umm..... Hermione it's us," said the taller of the two, his voice sounded afraid.
Hermione pushed her messy hair from her face and found herself staring at her two best friends, who were staring back at her with twin looks of shock and fear.
"Oh. Ermm .... Come in," Hermione said, her ears turning pink. She looked down at herself and just realised that her two best friends had seen her in her big nightshirt and messy bed hair. Closing the front door after them, she ran back to her bedroom to get her robe. When she got back out, she found that her best friends had made themselves home in her kitchen. Ron was putting something into the toaster oven while Harry was fiddling with her coffee maker.
"What are you guys doing here in so early in the morning?" she asked, looking very confused.
"Firstly, it's ten in the morning so it's not that early. Secondly, you were supposed to meet us an hour ago," Harry said, once he got the coffee maker going.
"That's right! We're supposed to go to Diagon Alley today," Hermione, slapping her palm to her forehead. "I'm so sorry guys. I came back really late last night and I must have overslept." She sniffed the aroma coming form the toaster oven and asked, "Is that garlic bagel I smell?"
"Yup! We figured you must have overslept and we brought you breakfast. If you don't wash up soon, we'll start without you," Ron said, smiling as Hermione rushed back to her bedroom.
Twenty minutes later, Hermione came back into the kitchen looking fresh and happy. Ron looked up and smiled at her, causing her heart to skip a bit. When did he get so handsome? Wait a minute; he's my best friend! I'm not supposed to think about him that way, she thought. Hermione sat in front of Ron and smiled at him before taking a sip of coffee that was placed in front of her.
Ron felt his mouth go dry when he saw Hermione step into the kitchen. She was dressed in a pink turtleneck and a black pair of jeans that hugged her figure beautifully. Her bronze highlighted hair fell in shiny waves past her shoulders and bounced with each step she took. She's beautiful, Ron thought, imagining what her body would look like underneath all that clothes. Snap out of it! She's your best friend! Best friends don't think about each other like that, he thought, panicking slightly. Afraid that either Harry or Hermione would figure out what he was thinking, he took a big gulp of coffee and stared into his mug.
Harry placed a plate of bagels and a tub of cream cheese on the table and took the seat on Ron's right. "Why were you back so late last night?" Harry asked as he spread cream cheese over half of his bagel. Hermione explained that the previous day was her last day as a TA at London University of Witchcraft and she had to clear her office. She didn't realise that she had so much stuff till she started to pack.
"You could have gotten both of us to help you pack," Harry chided, Ron nodding beside him.
"I didn't want to bother either of you as both of you have your own packing to do. I still can't believe that McGonagall offered all three of us teaching positions back in Hogwarts!" she exclaimed. All three of them had received owls from Professor McGonagall who had taken up Dumbledore's position as Headmistress after he retired three years ago.
"Neither can I. I can't wait to go back to Hogwarts. It feels like going home," Harry said.
"Do you know what subjects we'll be teaching?" Ron asked as he rolled his coffee mg in his hands.
"I guess we'll only find out when we reach there," Hermione shrugged.
They quickly finished the bagels and cleaned up the plates and coffee mugs. As Hermione went back to her bedroom to gather her wand and her handbag, Ron and Harry went to the living room to wait for her. The living room was very Hermione. There were bookshelves against every wall, filled with all kinds of books and magazines. There were pictures of her family and friends everywhere. The one that caught Ron's eye was the picture on the mantelpiece. It was the one taken during their graduation five years ago.
In the picture, the three of them were waving, laughing, joking and pushing each other. At eighteen, both Ron and Harry were tall and gangly. Five years later, they were still tall but they were lean and muscular. Both Harry and Ron had played Quidditch in university. When they entered Auror training, they had built up more muscles and had kept in shape during the one year they had worked as Aurors.
Looking back at the picture, Ron realised that Hermione had changed a lot too. Even though she was still a head shorter than both of them, she had grown up. Her bushy hair had transformed into curls and her body had blossomed.
"She's beautiful isn't she?" Harry said quietly.
"Who?" Ron asked, feigning ignorance.
"You know who I'm talking about. You like here. You always have."
Ron was saved from replying Harry's statement when Hermione came out of her room and told them she was ready. They apparated to the alley near the Leaky Cauldron and went into Diagon Alley. The street was crowded with people; parents with school going kids buying school items and people buying miscellaneous items like robes and Quidditch supplies. They went to the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to catch up with the Twins since neither Harry nor Hermione had seen them the past few months.
The Twins' shop was situated at the end of Diagon Alley. The shop looked tiny from the outside but it was spacious on the inside. It was two levels of nothing but joke items and gags. They Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had been such a success that it had gone international with shops through out Europe and the States.
Harry pushed open the door and a foghorn boomed from the back of the shop. They three of them stepped into the well lit shop and looked around for a familiar mop of red hair.
"Harry mate! Haven't seen you in ages! You too Hermione," George called out from the second floor. " Hey Fred, looks who's here."
Fred poked his head out of the storeroom and his face broke out into a grin. "My favourite group of people. Welcome, here have some," Fred said, shoving a basket of sweets at them.
"No way am I trying that. The last time you gave me some gum, I couldn't stop giggling. My date thought that I was making fun of her and she left after meeting me for five minutes," Harry said, shoving the basket back to them.
They Twin's laughed and brought them to a large sitting room in the storeroom at the back. They sat down and caught up with what they had been doing the past few months. Harry and Hermione found out that George and Alicia was expecting their fourth child and Angelina was due to give birth any day.
After all the congratulations were made, Hermione asked, "Has Ginny returned from her honeymoon yet?"
"Yeah, she came back last week. I still can't believe she married Malfoy," Ron said sulkily. "She hexed me when I was warning that Ferret about breaking her heart. Didn't she know I was just looking out for her?"
"That Ferret's my husband and you were trying to pound him into a bloody pulp a week before the wedding. I didn't want anything to happen to that gorgeous face of his," said a husky voice from the door of the sitting room.
They turned and saw Ginny leaning against the doorjamb with Draco's arms around her waist. "Ginny!" they cried as one.
Ginny walked into the room with her fingers laced through Draco's. She gave all of them a hug, making Draco growl when she hugged Harry, who smirked in return. Draco shook hands with his brothers-in-law and managed a grudging one with Harry. When he gave Hermione a big hug and a kiss, Ron frowned and growled but fortunately on Harry heard him
Much to everyone's delight, Ginny had brought four large boxes of pizza. They gathered around the coffee table eating the pizza and talked about Ginny's honeymoon in Hawaii. They had gone for the honeymoon as Muggle tourist, going to all the sites and beaches. They even met a local wizard how acted as their tour guide who brought them to all the magical places of the islands. Ginny had not brought the photos from her honeymoon, as she didn't expect to meet Harry and Hermione at her brothers' shop. Ginny was totally excited and happy for the trio when she found out that they had received owls from McGonagall about the teaching positions.
The pizzas were eaten in record time and they sat around the empty pizza boxes, talking about their old school days and laughing at the pranks that the Twins had pulled on Filch. Hermione looked at her watch and realised that it was nearly two and they still had not gotten their items from Diagon Alley. They bade the twins and the newlyweds goodbye and left to get their stuff.
As usual, Hermione managed to drag the two men to Flourish & Blotts to collect some books that she had ordered a few weeks back. They finally managed to drag Hermione out of the shop before she bought every book on the shelf. Even then, they had to help her carry two rather large bags of books, quills and parchments.
Their next stop was of course, the Quidditch supply shop. Harry needed to restock his broom servicing kit that Hermione had gave him on his fifteenth birthday. He was running out of polishing wax for his broom. Ron had gotten a few Quidditch magazines that caught his interest. They left the shop with a few more large bags of items and their wallets feeling a lot lighter.
As they sat on the bench by the Quidditch shop to decide where to go next, Ron saw a new shop that had just opened. The shop sold various knick-knacks and other miscellaneous items.
"How about we go to that shop? I think it's new," Ron said, pointing to a white painted shop next to Madam Malkin's.
"It seems interesting. Let's go," Harry said, picking up all of Hermione's bags while Ron pulled Hermione to her tired feet.
They opened the door to the shop and a bell rang at the back of the room. The shop was dimly lit and cluttered with all sorts of things like antique furniture, mirrors and pillboxes that were arranged in no apparent order. As they were looking at the large collection of pillboxes, an old lady suddenly appeared beside them and said, "Can I help you dearies?"
They nearly shot out of their skins but they calmed down as the old lady smiled at them kindly. "It's alright ma'am. We're just looking around. You have a very nice shop here," Harry said.
"Thank you."
Harry signalled to Hermione that he and Ron were going to wait for her outside. Hermione looked around and as she was about to turn away from a large mirror, she saw a dagger in a glass case behind her. She turned around and took a closer look at the display case. On the velvet lining of the display case, laid a silver dagger, its blade was curved like a slithering snake. The handle had leather strips wound around it for better grip. On the pommel of the dagger was engraved with a figure of a cobra that was ready to attack with two swords crossed in the background. Along with the dagger was sheath that was made from strong leather. Even on the sheath, the figure of a cobra and two swords were embossed on it. Hermione felt like she had seen it before.
"Does that interest you deary?" the kind looking old woman asked.
"Yes... I mean no.... I mean I don't know. I feel like I've seen it before. Do you mind if I touch it?" she asked.
"Of course not," the old woman said, unlocking the display case and passing the dagger to Hermione, pommel first. Hermione held it in her right hand before transferring it to her left. The weight and the feel of the dagger felt familiar, yet foreign to her. When she closed her eyes, she felt like she was in a different time and a different person.
"It's and old piece but I'm not sure how old. It's strong with old magicks. You're the first person to ever notice it on display. I think it was meant for you," the old lady said.
"I think so too," Hermione said softly. "May I know how much it is? I would like to buy it but I don't know if my budget will permit it."
"It's only 7 galleons," she said.
After much consideration, Hermione nodded to the old lady and followed her to the cash register to pay for the dagger. Once the transaction was completed, Hermione went in search for Ron and Harry. She found both of them were having a heated discussion on the latest Quidditch match outside the shop.
"Ok, I'm done. Lets go," she said, showing them the paper bag.
"What did you get in there? We've been waiting for you for 15 minutes," Ron said.
"I saw this very unique dagger. Let me show you." She sat down at the nearest bench and waited for Ron and Harry to sit on either side of her. Once they've seated themselves, she took the wooden box out of the bag and opened it, showing them the dagger. "I didn't know why but I had to have it, like it was meant for me. I know it sounds strange but that's how I feel," she said softly.
"It's alright Hermione, it's a really nice dagger. I'm hungry, lets go for something to eat," Ron said, smiling widely at her.
"You're always hungry Ron," Harry said, laughing at him.
They got up and picked up all their purchases, before making their way to the Leaky Cauldron for tea.
The cold woke her up. She blinked into the darkness, letting her eyes adjust to the lack of light. She tried to get up but found that her hands and legs were chained spread-eagle on a slab of marble. She was lying naked and goose bumps were forming all over her exposed skin.
"Oh my God! Oh my God! Where am I?" she thought. She tried to cry for help but a foul rag was stuffed in her mouth. She looked around and saw that she was in the middle of the woods. The night sky was starless, save for the light of the full moon. The forest was deathly quiet, no crickets chirping, no sounds of nocturnal animals, nothing. Just silence.
She was startled by the sound of a snapping twig to her left. She turned and saw a man in a black robe walking towards her. He looked familiar, like the hitchhiker that she had picked up on the way back home. I should have listened to my mother about hitchhikers, she thought, mentally pounding her head on the marble table.
His hair was stark white in the dark and his face was lined with deep wrinkles. The scar along his jaw line was pale in the moonlight. He stood next to her, his jet black eyes blazing with a kind of hunger that made her insides cold.
Raking his eyes over her naked body, he removed her gag and said, "Such a beautiful body you have, just like my lovely Marianne." He trailed his wrinkled finger over her breasts and squeezed them hard.
"Please. Please let me go!" she pleaded, tears streaming to her temples.
"I can't do that my sweet. I have plans for you," he grinned insanely, taking a small knife from his robes, the silver blade glinting in the moonlight. He trailed the tip of the knife along the side of her ribs, drawing blood. He laughed at her whimpering and pleading.
"You can scream all you want, no one's going to hear you. In fact, I would prefer it if you did, it'll just make the magick stronger."
He used the knife with savage glee and precision. He knew exactly where to cut to draw the maximum amount of pain and blood without killing her instantly. He revelled in her blood and screams, chanting in a guttural language. With each phrase and every fading heartbeat of the girl, he felt the magick building and gathering. With the last word, the magick rushed through him, spreading through out his entire body. He was enveloped in a blood red bubble, rejuvenating him, increasing his own personal power. The blood red bubble disappeared, revealing a man in his mid-twenties, his jet black hair framing his boyish face. He looked down at his hands and smiled in satisfaction. The scar on his jaw line was less pale and noticeable.
He threw a contemptuous look at the dead girl on the sacrificial altar and smirked. He raised his palm towards the dead body and a red light shot out, engulfing the body in fire, turning it to ash. He turned and walked out of the woods, leaving the ashes to be scattered by the wind.
~ * ~
The incessant ringing of the doorbell woke Hermione up. She rolled to her side and covered her ears with her pillow to drown out the sound and failed. Kicking the covers aside roughly, she stomped to her front door and wrenched it open, ready to bite the person's head off.
"What!" she shouted at the two surprised men standing at her door.
"Umm..... Hermione it's us," said the taller of the two, his voice sounded afraid.
Hermione pushed her messy hair from her face and found herself staring at her two best friends, who were staring back at her with twin looks of shock and fear.
"Oh. Ermm .... Come in," Hermione said, her ears turning pink. She looked down at herself and just realised that her two best friends had seen her in her big nightshirt and messy bed hair. Closing the front door after them, she ran back to her bedroom to get her robe. When she got back out, she found that her best friends had made themselves home in her kitchen. Ron was putting something into the toaster oven while Harry was fiddling with her coffee maker.
"What are you guys doing here in so early in the morning?" she asked, looking very confused.
"Firstly, it's ten in the morning so it's not that early. Secondly, you were supposed to meet us an hour ago," Harry said, once he got the coffee maker going.
"That's right! We're supposed to go to Diagon Alley today," Hermione, slapping her palm to her forehead. "I'm so sorry guys. I came back really late last night and I must have overslept." She sniffed the aroma coming form the toaster oven and asked, "Is that garlic bagel I smell?"
"Yup! We figured you must have overslept and we brought you breakfast. If you don't wash up soon, we'll start without you," Ron said, smiling as Hermione rushed back to her bedroom.
Twenty minutes later, Hermione came back into the kitchen looking fresh and happy. Ron looked up and smiled at her, causing her heart to skip a bit. When did he get so handsome? Wait a minute; he's my best friend! I'm not supposed to think about him that way, she thought. Hermione sat in front of Ron and smiled at him before taking a sip of coffee that was placed in front of her.
Ron felt his mouth go dry when he saw Hermione step into the kitchen. She was dressed in a pink turtleneck and a black pair of jeans that hugged her figure beautifully. Her bronze highlighted hair fell in shiny waves past her shoulders and bounced with each step she took. She's beautiful, Ron thought, imagining what her body would look like underneath all that clothes. Snap out of it! She's your best friend! Best friends don't think about each other like that, he thought, panicking slightly. Afraid that either Harry or Hermione would figure out what he was thinking, he took a big gulp of coffee and stared into his mug.
Harry placed a plate of bagels and a tub of cream cheese on the table and took the seat on Ron's right. "Why were you back so late last night?" Harry asked as he spread cream cheese over half of his bagel. Hermione explained that the previous day was her last day as a TA at London University of Witchcraft and she had to clear her office. She didn't realise that she had so much stuff till she started to pack.
"You could have gotten both of us to help you pack," Harry chided, Ron nodding beside him.
"I didn't want to bother either of you as both of you have your own packing to do. I still can't believe that McGonagall offered all three of us teaching positions back in Hogwarts!" she exclaimed. All three of them had received owls from Professor McGonagall who had taken up Dumbledore's position as Headmistress after he retired three years ago.
"Neither can I. I can't wait to go back to Hogwarts. It feels like going home," Harry said.
"Do you know what subjects we'll be teaching?" Ron asked as he rolled his coffee mg in his hands.
"I guess we'll only find out when we reach there," Hermione shrugged.
They quickly finished the bagels and cleaned up the plates and coffee mugs. As Hermione went back to her bedroom to gather her wand and her handbag, Ron and Harry went to the living room to wait for her. The living room was very Hermione. There were bookshelves against every wall, filled with all kinds of books and magazines. There were pictures of her family and friends everywhere. The one that caught Ron's eye was the picture on the mantelpiece. It was the one taken during their graduation five years ago.
In the picture, the three of them were waving, laughing, joking and pushing each other. At eighteen, both Ron and Harry were tall and gangly. Five years later, they were still tall but they were lean and muscular. Both Harry and Ron had played Quidditch in university. When they entered Auror training, they had built up more muscles and had kept in shape during the one year they had worked as Aurors.
Looking back at the picture, Ron realised that Hermione had changed a lot too. Even though she was still a head shorter than both of them, she had grown up. Her bushy hair had transformed into curls and her body had blossomed.
"She's beautiful isn't she?" Harry said quietly.
"Who?" Ron asked, feigning ignorance.
"You know who I'm talking about. You like here. You always have."
Ron was saved from replying Harry's statement when Hermione came out of her room and told them she was ready. They apparated to the alley near the Leaky Cauldron and went into Diagon Alley. The street was crowded with people; parents with school going kids buying school items and people buying miscellaneous items like robes and Quidditch supplies. They went to the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to catch up with the Twins since neither Harry nor Hermione had seen them the past few months.
The Twins' shop was situated at the end of Diagon Alley. The shop looked tiny from the outside but it was spacious on the inside. It was two levels of nothing but joke items and gags. They Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had been such a success that it had gone international with shops through out Europe and the States.
Harry pushed open the door and a foghorn boomed from the back of the shop. They three of them stepped into the well lit shop and looked around for a familiar mop of red hair.
"Harry mate! Haven't seen you in ages! You too Hermione," George called out from the second floor. " Hey Fred, looks who's here."
Fred poked his head out of the storeroom and his face broke out into a grin. "My favourite group of people. Welcome, here have some," Fred said, shoving a basket of sweets at them.
"No way am I trying that. The last time you gave me some gum, I couldn't stop giggling. My date thought that I was making fun of her and she left after meeting me for five minutes," Harry said, shoving the basket back to them.
They Twin's laughed and brought them to a large sitting room in the storeroom at the back. They sat down and caught up with what they had been doing the past few months. Harry and Hermione found out that George and Alicia was expecting their fourth child and Angelina was due to give birth any day.
After all the congratulations were made, Hermione asked, "Has Ginny returned from her honeymoon yet?"
"Yeah, she came back last week. I still can't believe she married Malfoy," Ron said sulkily. "She hexed me when I was warning that Ferret about breaking her heart. Didn't she know I was just looking out for her?"
"That Ferret's my husband and you were trying to pound him into a bloody pulp a week before the wedding. I didn't want anything to happen to that gorgeous face of his," said a husky voice from the door of the sitting room.
They turned and saw Ginny leaning against the doorjamb with Draco's arms around her waist. "Ginny!" they cried as one.
Ginny walked into the room with her fingers laced through Draco's. She gave all of them a hug, making Draco growl when she hugged Harry, who smirked in return. Draco shook hands with his brothers-in-law and managed a grudging one with Harry. When he gave Hermione a big hug and a kiss, Ron frowned and growled but fortunately on Harry heard him
Much to everyone's delight, Ginny had brought four large boxes of pizza. They gathered around the coffee table eating the pizza and talked about Ginny's honeymoon in Hawaii. They had gone for the honeymoon as Muggle tourist, going to all the sites and beaches. They even met a local wizard how acted as their tour guide who brought them to all the magical places of the islands. Ginny had not brought the photos from her honeymoon, as she didn't expect to meet Harry and Hermione at her brothers' shop. Ginny was totally excited and happy for the trio when she found out that they had received owls from McGonagall about the teaching positions.
The pizzas were eaten in record time and they sat around the empty pizza boxes, talking about their old school days and laughing at the pranks that the Twins had pulled on Filch. Hermione looked at her watch and realised that it was nearly two and they still had not gotten their items from Diagon Alley. They bade the twins and the newlyweds goodbye and left to get their stuff.
As usual, Hermione managed to drag the two men to Flourish & Blotts to collect some books that she had ordered a few weeks back. They finally managed to drag Hermione out of the shop before she bought every book on the shelf. Even then, they had to help her carry two rather large bags of books, quills and parchments.
Their next stop was of course, the Quidditch supply shop. Harry needed to restock his broom servicing kit that Hermione had gave him on his fifteenth birthday. He was running out of polishing wax for his broom. Ron had gotten a few Quidditch magazines that caught his interest. They left the shop with a few more large bags of items and their wallets feeling a lot lighter.
As they sat on the bench by the Quidditch shop to decide where to go next, Ron saw a new shop that had just opened. The shop sold various knick-knacks and other miscellaneous items.
"How about we go to that shop? I think it's new," Ron said, pointing to a white painted shop next to Madam Malkin's.
"It seems interesting. Let's go," Harry said, picking up all of Hermione's bags while Ron pulled Hermione to her tired feet.
They opened the door to the shop and a bell rang at the back of the room. The shop was dimly lit and cluttered with all sorts of things like antique furniture, mirrors and pillboxes that were arranged in no apparent order. As they were looking at the large collection of pillboxes, an old lady suddenly appeared beside them and said, "Can I help you dearies?"
They nearly shot out of their skins but they calmed down as the old lady smiled at them kindly. "It's alright ma'am. We're just looking around. You have a very nice shop here," Harry said.
"Thank you."
Harry signalled to Hermione that he and Ron were going to wait for her outside. Hermione looked around and as she was about to turn away from a large mirror, she saw a dagger in a glass case behind her. She turned around and took a closer look at the display case. On the velvet lining of the display case, laid a silver dagger, its blade was curved like a slithering snake. The handle had leather strips wound around it for better grip. On the pommel of the dagger was engraved with a figure of a cobra that was ready to attack with two swords crossed in the background. Along with the dagger was sheath that was made from strong leather. Even on the sheath, the figure of a cobra and two swords were embossed on it. Hermione felt like she had seen it before.
"Does that interest you deary?" the kind looking old woman asked.
"Yes... I mean no.... I mean I don't know. I feel like I've seen it before. Do you mind if I touch it?" she asked.
"Of course not," the old woman said, unlocking the display case and passing the dagger to Hermione, pommel first. Hermione held it in her right hand before transferring it to her left. The weight and the feel of the dagger felt familiar, yet foreign to her. When she closed her eyes, she felt like she was in a different time and a different person.
"It's and old piece but I'm not sure how old. It's strong with old magicks. You're the first person to ever notice it on display. I think it was meant for you," the old lady said.
"I think so too," Hermione said softly. "May I know how much it is? I would like to buy it but I don't know if my budget will permit it."
"It's only 7 galleons," she said.
After much consideration, Hermione nodded to the old lady and followed her to the cash register to pay for the dagger. Once the transaction was completed, Hermione went in search for Ron and Harry. She found both of them were having a heated discussion on the latest Quidditch match outside the shop.
"Ok, I'm done. Lets go," she said, showing them the paper bag.
"What did you get in there? We've been waiting for you for 15 minutes," Ron said.
"I saw this very unique dagger. Let me show you." She sat down at the nearest bench and waited for Ron and Harry to sit on either side of her. Once they've seated themselves, she took the wooden box out of the bag and opened it, showing them the dagger. "I didn't know why but I had to have it, like it was meant for me. I know it sounds strange but that's how I feel," she said softly.
"It's alright Hermione, it's a really nice dagger. I'm hungry, lets go for something to eat," Ron said, smiling widely at her.
"You're always hungry Ron," Harry said, laughing at him.
They got up and picked up all their purchases, before making their way to the Leaky Cauldron for tea.
