Disclaimer: not mine...need i say more?

A/N- im sooo sorry this has taken so long. and i know its short, but the end of my sophomore year was crazy, and i really didn't have much time to write. this is not the whole chapter, but i thought a little of it would be better than nothing. well ...enjoy!

Chapter Five part 1

The Wizarding World

The next few weeksblurred together. Every day was dull and boring. The only thing that Hermione enjoyed was the new reading material she received from Ms. McGonagall. She had read them the day they came, and she was now bored again.

It surprised her that she actually wanted the summer to end. The summer was usually her favorite part of the year, yet she wanted it to end very badly. She began to entertain herself with thoughts of her new school.

She glanced up at the calendar on her wall. There was only one day left until she would see the magical world for the first time. With that thought, she drifted off into a dream filled sleep.

"HERMIONE GRANGER WAKE UP!" Her mother bellowed from the bottom of the stairs. "BE READY TO LEAVE IN TEN MINUTES! I WILL BE IN THE CAR, SO DON'T YOU DARE KEEP ME WAITING!"

Hermione shot out of bed. She knew her mother wasn't kidding. She quickly got ready, not bothering to eat breakfast. She knew she could get something when she arrived at where ever she was going. She ran down the stairs, grabbed her purse and ran out to her mother's waiting car.

Her mother looked at her disapprovingly, and spoke with her teeth clenched. "It's about time. Where am I dropping you off again?"

"At the new bookstore. I will call you when I'm done." Hermione couldn't help but be excited. After all, this would be her first time in the wizarding world.

Neither her or her mother spoke for the rest of the car ride. When they arrived, her mother pulled up to the book store. Mrs. Granger began to rummage through her pocketbook. She pulled out a fistful of bills. "I know you don't have much money, so here is some to buy your books. If you run out, I expect you to use your own money."

"Thank you. I will see you later. Bye mom." Hermione eagerly got out of the car, and watched as her mother drove away.

"Are you planning on standing there all day?" Hermione jumped at the sound of the all too familiar voice behind her.

"What do you want, Hennings." She spat out. It was more of a statement than a question, but he answered it nonetheless.

"I know what you are, and as much as I hate you, I have been ordered to bring you to the Leaky Cauldron."

Hermione was not convinced. She had a feeling there was more to this situation than met the eye. She looked at him curiously. " What do you mean, you know what I am? What, exactly, is this Leaky Cauldron?"

"Granger, stop being stupid." He stepped toward her, and whispered in her ear. "I know for a fact that you are a witch. I know you will be starting at Hogwarts this year. Don't bother denying it."

Hermione's jaw dropped. She was stunned. How could he possibly know that? Before she had a chance to ask him, he spoke again. "Granger, if your done catching flies with your mouth, I want to get you there quickly. I don't want to be forced to look at your ugly face for longer than necessary." He walked off quickly, and she had to run a bit to catch up with him. He led her into an old, dirty looking building, which she had never noticed before.

"What is this place? Why haven't I seen it before?"

"This is the Leaky Cauldron. This is where I will leave you. Go to the man at the bar, tell him who you are, and he will give you further directions." Hennings began to walk away. Hermione, not satisfied, stopped him. "Where are you going?"

"Where I go is none of your concern. Now leave me alone. I do not want to ever see your face again." He paused for a moment and added, "Oh, and Granger, do try to do something with that unsightly hair of yours. We wouldn't want you to knock someone out with it now would we?" He sent her his trademark glare, and walked swiftly out of the building.

Hermione was speechless. Seeing Owen Hennings again was the last thing she had ever expected, or wanted for that matter. The more she thought about it, the more bizarre it seemed. Since when did Hennings know about the wizarding world? Did he have family that attended Hogwarts? She supposed he must, since he knew about the Leaky Cauldron. She decided to find a library once she started school, so she could research. Remembering that shestill had to get her supplies, she took her supplies list out of her pocket, and went up to the bar tender.

"Excuse me," She spoke softly. The man took no notice of her, so she tried again, this time speaking slightly louder. "Excuse me, sir."

The man turned around and smiled at her. "Hello there! Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron. How may I help you?"

"I am going to be starting Hogwarts this year, and I was told to come speak with you about getting my supplies."

the man took out a piece of paper from his pocket."Are you Hermione Granger?"

"Yes, I am."

"Congratulations on being accepted to Hogwarts. Best school of witchcraft and wizardry there is in my opinion."

"Thank you, sir."

"Please don't call me sir. It makes me sound like an old man. The name's Tom."

"It's nice to meet you...Tom."

"I suppose you would like to buy your supplies now."

"Yes, I've been looking forward to it for weeks."

Tom began to look around the dark room. Hermione was puzzled. What was he looking for? She followed his gaze, and noticed he was trying to get the attention of a middle aged woman sitting at a small table in the corner.

Tom called out to the woman. 'Ember, come here for a moment, please."

The woman stood up, and gracefully walked over to where Tom was standing.

"Ember, I believe you received an owl about a certain student?"

"Yes, Minerva sent one of the school owls to me. She asked me to assist a new student with purchasing their supplies."

"Well Ember, I would like to introduce you to the student you will be assisting. Ember, this young lady is Hermione Granger. Miss Granger, I would like you to meet Ms. Ember Hanesly"

"Well it's nice to meet you, Hermione. I suppose you would like to get started. Are you excited about starting school?"

"Yes, I was very pleased when I received my letter. I never even knew that witches or wizards existed until then."

"Well let's get started, shall we? Unless you have something you need to do first, of course."

"Well I didn't eat breakfast this morning..."

"Well we definitely can't have that. I will just have to treat you to ice cream. There is this nice little ice cream shop in Diagon Alley that I'm sure you'll love."

"Ms. Hanesley you really don't have to d-"

"I won't take no for an answer, and please, call me Ember. Let's go!"

Hermione followed Ember out of the backend of theold building, her excitement building. Ember pulledout her wand, and tapped a brick on a brick wall three times. She turned to Hermione and smiled. "This is how you get into Diagon Alley, where you will get your supplies, but don't worry about this yet. I'm sure you'll have someone else to accompany you to Diagon Alley next year as well."

Hermione watched as the bricks began to wobble. As she watched, a small hole appeared in the wall. She continued watching the bricks with interest,until the hole turned into an archway large enough fo both Hermione and Ember to walk through.

"Hermione, welcome to Diagon Alley."