Chapter Five - A New Chapter

Hermione needed to process everything. She made a pot of tea with some toast and took it all into the sitting room where she curled up in her reading chair. Immediately, she realised that the chair was a mistake. It smelled like Fred and she wanted to sink down and daydream about how it felt to be held in his arms, but she needed to think.

Sitting up straight, she turned her attention to her breakfast and forced herself to focus. Fred first, she decided. Today, she would try to come up with a present for him. She had plans to shop with Angie, Lavender, and Ginny the following day, but she didn't want to shop for Fred with them. They would notice if she was paying particular attention to selecting his gift. She also still needed presents for the three of them, and she wanted to get something for Angie and George's baby for the couple to unwrap at Christmas. Those items all needed to be purchased without prying eyes, so she would certainly hit the shops on her own later.

That would also solve the problem of wanting to stop by and see Fred at WWW. She didn't want to seem overly eager, but she also didn't want to wait for Christmas to see him again. As soon as she finished eating, she would send him an owl letting him know that she would be out shopping with the girls tomorrow and promise to stop in with or without the group after.

Now she just needed a brilliant gift idea for the man in question. It needed to be special enough to convey how she was feeling about him, nice enough that it would make her feel good to give it to him if he did turn out to be her secret admirer, and safe enough that no one present at the Weasely's house on Christmas would wonder why Hermione gave it to Fred. No problem, she thought sarcastically; that should be a fucking piece of cake.

Think, she ordered herself. There had to be something that she shared with Fred that only the two of them would really understand. Yes, that was it! The memory was special enough to him that he'd named his owl from one of the stories after all. During Fred's recovery, she'd spent hours at his bedside, first reading to him, then reading with him, and finally leaving stacks of books to entertain him when she couldn't be there. He'd especially enjoyed the muggle books with magical themes, but his absolute favorites were Matilda, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He'd always said that was because Matilda reminded him of Hermione and he fancied himself to be Willy Wonka.

A plan slowly began to take shape. Smiling to herself, she quickly finished her simple breakfast before sending off a quick note to Fred and dressing for the day.

Leaving her house a short while later, she headed out in the direction of a nearby shopping centre that she hadn't yet explored, but she knew that it had a book shop, a baby boutique, and a jewellery shop.

When she arrived at the shopping centre, she paused for a moment, looking around and taking in the festive atmosphere. In addition to the normal shops, there were also stalls set up outdoors selling seasonal items. She was close enough to read the signs that boasted mulled wine, and handmade ornaments. Hopeful now that she'd come to the right place, she excitedly began to wander in and out of the shops.

After nearly half an hour of exploring, Hermione came to a boutique that had all sorts of accessories. There were handbags, scarves, and costume jewellery in every colour. Deciding that this would be the place to find items for all of the ladies still on her list, she began to decide on a shade that would compliment each one. In the end, she found a pair of chandelier earrings, and a handbag for each of the girls: a deep forest green for Ginny, aubergine for Lavender, red for Angelina, and royal blue for Fleur. She also found a tiny, pale pink handbag for Victoire, and she couldn't resist a pair of gorgeous silver and black earrings for herself. As she waited in the queue to pay for the pile of gifts, she spotted a lovely scarf that she knew Molly would adore. Although she'd already gotten something for the Weasley matriarch, she added it to her stack without hesitation.

Her next stop was a posh baby boutique; everything in the place was as overpriced as it was adorable. Since George and Angie had decided not to find out the sex of the baby, she was left with neutral options. Overwhelmed by all of the possibilities, she ended up telling the lovely shopkeeper what she was looking for and, with the woman's help, she picked out a soft baby bath towel set that was covered in giraffes, a tiny book featuring zoo animals that had different textures for the baby to touch, and a giraffe teething toy made of natural rubber that was called, "Sophie the Giraffe."

Finally, she found a bookshop. As she approached, the name caught her eye: "A New Chapter." She thought to herself, what a great name for a bookshop. Reading on, she saw that it specialised in unique and rare books. Hopefully, that wouldn't put anything she found totally out of her price range. Deciding that she should ask for help as she had something specific in mind, she went straight for the counter. If she started browsing, she would never finish her shopping.

Making her way over to where a man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties stood ringing up the purchases for an older woman, she waited until the transaction was finished, then she smiled at the clerk. He returned her smile and said, "Hello, is there anything I can help you with today?"

"I hope so, I'm looking for Ronald Dahl books, specifically Matilda, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Do you have those?"

His smile widened. "I do actually. I haven't even put them into the inventory yet. Hold on one moment." Turning to his left, he called out, "Anne, will you come out here?" When a young woman made her way to the counter, he instructed, "Watch the counter for a few minutes please, this lady is looking for some of the books that I just got in yesterday." Anne nodded, and the man beckoned Hermione to follow.

He led her through an open doorway into another room. This area had some books that were already shelved and more that were in cartons stacked against the wall. There was also a large table that held even more volumes. Hermione inhaled deeply; the scent of old books always made her happy.

They came to a stop in front of the table where the shopkeeper rummaged around and extracted two books, which he then held out to her. She gasped when she saw that he had copies of Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and both were in wonderful condition.

Smiling, Hermione accepted the books. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she opened the front covers and discovered that they were both first editions that had been signed by the author. Resigned, she handed the books back. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid that these are a bit out of my price range." She didn't know how much they would cost, but signed first editions had to be thousands of pounds.

The kind-looking shopkeeper cocked his head to the side, clearly studying her. "Tell me why you want these specific books."

Hermione smiled softly and explained, "I'm looking for a meaningful Christmas gift for a good friend. He was badly injured six years ago, and during his recovery, I would go and read my favourite books to him. These were the ones that he liked best because he said that Matilda reminded him of me, and he saw himself in Willy Wonka."

"Willy Wonka, really? That's an interesting character to relate to. Your friend must be a fascinating person."

"Oh, he certainly is. He's a bit of an inventor himself, and he and his brother run a shop where they sell their creations."

"A local shop? What's his name? What do they sell?"

Crap! Well, she could tell a partial truth. She really needed to be more careful. "It's in another part of England, not near here at all. They sell joke products, and his name is Fred Weasley."

"Blimey, you're Hermione Granger, aren't you? I thought you were, but I couldn't be sure."

Immediately on edge, Hermione's hand automatically went to the pocket where her wand was stored. "How do you know who I am?" she demanded, more harshly than she intended.

"Please, Ms. Granger, I mean you no harm. I shouldn't have blurted that out, and I'm really sorry that I startled you. You're just a bit of a hero. I'm a muggle-born as well, you see. My family and I went into hiding before everything got really awful during the war." He sighed, "Would you join me for a cup of tea? I would love to tell you my story."

Hermione took a deep breath. She truly didn't feel threatened, but even now, years after the war had ended, she still had to force herself not to second guess everyone's motives. "I'd like that, thanks. What's your name?"

"I'm sorry, I should have already introduced myself. I'm David Wilson, but please just call me David. I was a Hufflepuff at Hogwarts." He gestured toward a doorway, "We have a little kitchen for the staff through here."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, David, and you must call me Hermione now. I'm really sorry about overreacting. It's a difficult habit to break." She followed him through the door and took a seat at the small table that David indicated as he walked over to a counter where an electric kettle sat.

Looking over his shoulder, David asked apologetically, "We only have tea bags here I'm afraid. Is that okay?"

"That's fine with me, thanks!" She watched as he busied himself with the tea, then asked, "Do you think anyone would notice if I shrank some of my purchases? I didn't attempt it earlier, but it would be nice to not have so many large bags."

Smiling, he shook his head, "No one will pay attention to how many bags you came in with. Go ahead."

Pulling her wand from her pocket, she shrunk everything and consolidated it all into a single bag. By the time she was done, David was placing a cup of tea in front of her, then retrieving milk and sugar and returning to the table. Taking the seat across from her, he began to speak. "My wife, Lisa, and I started hearing rumors of You-know-who's return during the summer of ninety-five. We saw what The Prophet was printing, but the rumors combined with all of the crazy things that we noticed in both the muggle and magical worlds made us nervous. We knew that muggle-born witches and wizards would be targeted first."

He took a moment then, adding milk and sugar to his tea before he continued. "After much discussion, we decided that our family would be safer in the muggle world. Our oldest had only just turned two and we'd recently discovered that my wife was expecting our second. We had far too much at stake."

Sighing, he sipped his tea. Hermione wasn't certain that he was done, but she wanted to interject nonetheless. "You did the right thing."

David nodded. "Yes, we know that, but it was still a difficult decision to make. Thankfully, we already had an account with a muggle bank. So we didn't have to draw attention by withdrawing funds from Gringotts. Instead, we emptied and closed our account with the muggle bank and magically altered paperwork in order to get new licenses with fake names. Then, we quietly moved to Ireland and started over there with our alternate identities. While we were there, we kept our ear to the ground and lived a simple life. I worked in a bookshop and found that I enjoyed it very much. So, when the war was truly over and it was safe for us to return, we made the decision to continue living in the muggle world, and I opened this shop."

"It's lovely here; I adore the place, and I can completely understand why you would choose to live in the muggle world. I do as well," Hermione admitted.

Looking her straight in the eyes, David told her, "I needed you to hear my story so that you could understand how much you've done for my family. It's because of your sacrifice that my eleven-year-old was able to start at Hogwarts this year, and I was able to send her off knowing that she would be safe and happy there. I never..." he faltered and took a deep breath before continuing, "I never thought that I would have the opportunity to thank you, but you're here in front of me. For that reason, I would very much like to gift these books to you."

He quickly held up one finger, sensing her resistance, and his eyes pleaded with her to hear him out. Sighing, she gave him a slight nod before he continued. "I know that you plan to give them as a Christmas present to Mr. Weasley, but from what you've said, they are special to both of you. It's the only way that I know to show my appreciation to you, to all of you really, but you especially. You not only helped save our world, but you took away the stigma of being a muggle-born."

Hermione generally hated the attention that she received because of her fame, but this felt different. It didn't feel like hero worship or some such shite, it felt like true gratitude. She knew that she would be back and had plans to spend loads of money in this shop in the future, but still, she didn't feel right about taking what she knew to be very expensive books outright.

After contemplating the situation, Hermione grinned. "I have a suggestion if you're open to hearing it…"

Half an hour later, she exited the book shop in possession of the two volumes, and with plans to have dinner with David and his family. She'd accepted the books only on the condition that she at least pay as much as David had when he purchased them. He'd finally agreed after trying to convince her to take them outright, but she hadn't felt comfortable with that.

Stepping out onto the pavement, she surveyed what was now an extremely crowded shopping centre. In the time that she'd been inside David's shop, the shoppers had turned up in droves. She still had gifts to buy, but anything else could be purchased when she went out with the girls tomorrow. Feeling too claustrophobic to walk through the horde of people, she found a quiet alleyway and apparated home.