Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (big surprise! not!)
Well, I thank all of you that have been reviewing! Please keep reviewing! This is a fore-warning that this is the girly shopping/spa trip kind of chapter . . . anyways, enjoy reading!
Chapter 4 - New Beginnings
Hermione walked into the Leaky Cauldron to be greeted by Tom, the bald, toothless, and kind old man whose sight was beginning to fade, that owned the place. "Hello, would you be Miss Turoe?"
"Yes, you can call me Phoenix," said Hermione in her best Texan accent.
"All right, let me show you to your room ," he said smiling kindly as he led her to a room on the second floor. He stopped at the end of the hallway and opened the door to reveal a modest looking room and bid her 'good day.'
Hermione walked over to the desk in search of some quills and parchment. She wanted to get these letters done with as soon as possible.
She sighed as she found none. She hurriedly ran down the stairs to find Tom.
"Is there something I can help you with Miss Phoenix?" he said upon seeing her.
"I need some parchment and quills if you could," she said politely.
"Of course! I'll be right back," he said disappearing off into the room behind the bar. A moment later, he emerged bringing with him a quill, ink, and five pieces of parchment, and gave them to her.
"Thank you very much," said Hermione giving a small smile as she turned and went back upstairs.
She sat at the desk with the quill hovering above the parchment. She really had no idea what to say.
'Well I suppose 'Dear Harry' is a good place to start.' She wrote just that and considered where to start.
Ten minutes later, she looked at what was written.
Dear Harry,
I'm just going to get straight to the point because it's too hard to come upon this topic by beating around the bush. I have to leave England and you can't come after me. I don't really have a choice in the matter either. I love you so much Harry. These years of being your friend has meant more to me than you'll ever know. I know I've never said that before, but that's how I feel. You were such a wonderful boyfriend too. I really must be going though. Goodbye forever.
Love,
Hermione
p.s. I'm very sorry about this, and I wish there was something, but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.
She then wrote similar letters to Ron, Ginny, Parvati, and Lavender. (minus the part about the boyfriend) After she sealed each letter, there was a knock on her door. With not a moment to spare, Severus Snape walked in with all of her school things and set them down.
"Thank you," said Hermione.
"It was nothing Miss . . ."
"Turoe," Hermione finished for him.
"Turoe. Well, I must be going, is there anything you'll be needing before I go?" he said formally.
"Yeah, there's two things. Firstly, how did I not know about you being my uncle?"
"Your mother was a squib . . . my mother threw her out of the house, ashamedofyour mother even though my own father was a muggle,that's why I've treated you the way I have because of mymother not allowing me to be tied to my sister in any way. She thought that even with my father's genes, she'd never have a non-magic child and felt having one would mean disaster for the family line. I'm sorry about that," he said uncomfortably.
"Okay, that' fine and the second thing, can you deliver these letters please? I don't want them to be traced" said Hermione holding up the five letters.
"Yes. Good day Miss Turoe," he said grabbing them and leaving.
Hermione could tell that she wasn't the only one who found things extremely awkward and uncomfortable between the two of them.
Hermione also knew that she needed to talk to Dumbledore. As if having heard her request, he apparated into the middle of the room.
"Ah, Miss Turoe, lovely to see you," he said with the familiar twinkle in his eye.
"Hello Headmaster," said Hermione standing up.
"I understand that you will be needing to change your appearance and learn how the Texan accent sounds?"
"Yes, I will. I will also need new clothes."
"Yes because spells only work for so long and you don't want to be wearing the same thing everyday, so you will need access to the muggle world. More specifically, muggle Texas. So I have a portkey that you will use from five o' clock to ten o'clock. The week before school, it will be nine thirty, and the day before to nine o' clock."
"Thank you so much Professor Dumbledore. But what am I supposed to do until then?" she said the second part more to herself.
"That I do not know. One thing I do suggest though is that you get a new wand."
"I will do that sometime this week."
"Here is your portkey. You can use it today. Just make sure by ten o' clock, you are in an unpopulated area." He handed her a pair of blue sunglasses with silver frames.
"Thank you," she said putting them on.
"Not a problem. And just so you know, all the teachers know what's going on. All right, I will be going now as it is ten after four, and you need to get your money." Dumbledore apparated out of the room.
Hermione quickly made her way to Gringotts after grabbing her key. She made it there in seven minutes.
"I need to make a withdrawal and exchange," she said placing her key on the desk.
"This way please," said the goblin leading her to the tunnels.
After a couple of minutes the goblin said, "Vault 313, lamp please."
Hermione handed him the lamp and stepped out of the little wagon after him.
"Key please," he said handing he the lamp in return for the key and opened the door.
Hermione was shocked to find only a very small space left for walking. The rest of the vault was filled full of galleons, sickles, and some scant amounts of knuts. She grabbed a handful of the galleons and put them into her pocket. Then she stepped out and the goblin closed the door.
They were back above ground and Hermione had her money exchanged for American dollars.
"1,250 dollars, and here is your key back." Hermione pocketed the key and money and went outside. She looked at her watch and saw that she had five minutes left, so she put her money in the wallet that was in her purse.
The next thing she felt was the familiar pull in her stomach and the dizzying sensation of portkey travel.
Hermione walked into a salon and saw that the woman she had talked to on the street was correct, this place was really nice.
One of the employees walked up with a snooty air about her looking as though Hermione were unworthy to tread the ground they both stood on, and said in a ratherarrogant tone, "May I help you Miss?"
Hermionesaid ina voice that clearly stated she wasn't about to take this woman's crap, "Yes, there is a lot of stuff that I need. I would like to have my hair highlighted and straightened. I need an eyebrow wax, and a manicure and pedicure. That will be all for today. I plan to come back if I like what I see."
The clerk's demeanour immediately changed upon hearing Hermione's response, "Of course! Right this way, there is an open slot for hair right now. Follow me."
Hermione was led to a chair and the employee left to get a hair stylist.
A man came out moments later and said, "Okay what do you want me to do for you?"
"I want my hair highlighted with blonde and red. Then I want my hair straightened."
"All right, let's get started," he said and brought out all of the hair supplies.
An hour later, Hermione was having her hair straightened out, and people had begun her manicure, pedicure, and wax.
She was feeling so crowded in and didn't like this much pampering, but knew that she didn't want or have time to waste on each one of them separately and knew she needed to look and act different. So she dealt with the men and women fussing over her.
Two hours after walking into the salon, she left $200 poorer, and Hermione Granger was no longer just pretty or cute little Hermione Granger . . . her new looks just screamed fiery Phoenix, and there was no other word to describe this girl but gorgeous.
Now she needed some new clothes; not the kind of clothes she normally wore, because that would give her away too easily, but the kind of clothes she would never dare to look at while she was in stores. She could now get the kind of clothes that she'd always avoided and seh was going to have to learn to get used to them because she could not chanceallowing herself to get caught.
She walked across the street and down to a mall she'd seen along the way to the salon. As she walked into the mall, she felt a burning sensation on her back. She slowed and looked around and saw nothing unusual so she walked to the nearest clothing store.
She browsed through the shirts first and grabbed eight shirts after looking at the limit on the dressing room door. As she grabbed them, she felt as though something was etching itself all over her back in place of the burning she had felt originally.
Hermione stepped in and all but ripped her shirt off and immediately felt a cool relief as the air hit her nearly bare milky white back.
She held her hair out of the way and looked at her reflection letting out a gasp as she saw it.
A Phoenix.
Not a small Phoenix either, it was the outline of a Phoenix surrounded by flames covering her entire back. It was both enchanting and beautiful in all of its intricate detail.
She'd always wanted a tattoo, but was afraid of what her parents might say. Now she had one, and her parents weren't exactly alive to reprimand her for it, she couldn't help but run her finger along the lines to see if it was real.
She felt a slight sting at the feel of her flesh under the pad of her finger.
She wasted no more time and pulled on the first shirt. It was a backless, teal, triangle shirt with ties on the neck and mid-back to hold it up.
It complemented everything about her perfectly, and she had to admit that it was a nice color. She took it off and put it back on the hanger and put the garment on the hook to the far left, which meant she was going to get it.
She went through the eight and decided to get three of them. She gave the three to the clerk to hold for her while she looked for more.
Hermione was always fascinated with the new Phoenix tattoo (which looked the same color as a henna tattoo) that had burnt itself there without even the slightest sign that her inner fire had engraved it there.
She also found it amusing and somewhat irritating that she couldn't cover up the Phoenix more than about half way or the burning sensation would come back and the Phoenix would make a light cry and glow and squirm about on her back tickling Hermione to her very core making a very oxymoronic feeling between the burning and tickling sensations.
After scouring the store for the best deals, Hermione left the store with eight shirts, six pairs of pants, and two skirts in bags. And after consulting the clerk, she was allowed to wear the ninth outfit (the teal shirt and a pair of shiny, silver, hip hugger, boot cut bell bottoms -if you saw the Christmas episode of Lizzie McGuire, and remember the pants she wore in the Aaron Carter video, it's just like those-) out of the store after the purchase. She smirked to herself as something dawned on her . . . how very . . . Slytherin of her to wear this outfit.
With just two hours left, Hermione decided she would buy three or four pairs of shoes. She walked to the escalator and went to the second level, which was where the Payless shoe store was. (hopefully everyone has heard of Payless shoes)
She walked in and immediately saw a pair of black and charcoal gray, knee-high, patch-style, high-heeled boots and she knew that she had to get those. She found a pair of size seven and a half shoes to try on because she knew that to buy a pair of heels a half size bigger than one's actual shoe size would save their feet from the agony of feeling pinched and sore and getting blisters that bled after a while (I had that happen once . . . very painful.)
'Perfect fit,' she thought to herself as she put the shoes back in the box. 'Now for some other shoes.'
She finally left with three pairs of shoes in bags and was wearing the black and charcoal gray ones out.
Hermione was in the food court with only half an hour left when she decided what to do next.
She could see the store was nearby so she went to it and a lady with many piercings was at the counter. The lady looked at her skeptically, and then said, "May I help you?"
"I'd like to get my ears and bellybutton pierced please."
"All right, come with me."
Hermione followed the lady who led her to the bellybutton and ear rings and told her to pick what she wanted. She decided on a bellybutton silver ring with a silver Phoenix charm and silver studs for her ears.
Before she knew it, she was pierced and paying the cashier.
She saw that there was only two minutes left and ran to the nearest bathroom and quickly went into a stall only to feel the familiar tugging indicating the portkey was active.
The rest of Hermione's summer at Texas was spent mostly at the spa tanning and getting her hair fixed. She also spent a good deal of time training her body with yoga, kickboxing, and gymnastics (which she'd been doing since she was younger when her parents said she needed to be prepared for anything that might happen to her.) She also got four pairs of blue-violet coloured contacts. She also got a lot more clothes, including for fall and winter becausethey were obviouslydrawing closer than spring (the Phoenix on her back had finally calmed down and didn't complain as much as it did at first because it was finally used to Hermione.)
As school drew nearer, Hermione got all of her school supplies and new wand. As school got even closer, Hermione made a decision that she would need to start over and have a clean slate in regards to Hogwarts and not hold strong judgments towards anyone if she could help it, until she was completely re-introduced to them.
And so her summer went.
A/N: I want at least 5 more reviews please, or I won't continue on.