In the weeks following receiving their letters from Hogwarts, Hermione and Ron began to spend less and less time together. She didn't mind, though. She had finally started to feel comfortable with their relationship again, no longer suffocating under Ron's constant need for attention.
Hermione found her passion for reading again, her depression growing smaller. Ron, on the other hand, had experienced a different effect following their shortened time with each other. He began to grow angry, becoming agitated at even the slightest thing.
Everyone gathered in the living room of the Burrow, getting ready to go to Diagon Alley to shop for the items they needed for the new school year. Looking at the small troop of young adults in front of her, Molly was beaming.
"Is everyone ready to go?" She chimed, thinking about how much everyone had grown. She could still remember how little they had been during their first year at Hogwarts, how confused Harry had been trying to figure out how to access Platform 9 3/4 when they stumbled across him in the train station. She couldn't believe those small kids were the ones looking before her now.
"Can we just go already? We've been ready for ages," Ron piped up, his face getting redder as his anger grew. "We aren't twelve anymore, mother. We can take care of ourselves."
"Well," Molly huffed as she crossed her arms and leaned against the edge of the fireplace. "I guess I'm not needed here anymore."
With that, she left the room in a hurry, determining they could handle everything by themselves.
"Ron! How could you?" Ginny yelled, her eyes filled with a deep seeded anger. "You know how mum can get around this time of year."
"Whatever. I'll meet you there." Ron snapped back as he moved to the side of the small group. Disapparating before anyone could protest his sudden anger, he left the three of them completely stunned.
After a few moments of silence, Harry moved in front of both Hermione and Ginny. "Well that was interesting..." he lightly joked as he wrapped his female companions arms around his own. "We should probably get going."
Fighting their way through the crowded street of Diagon Alley, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny looked for Ron who seemed to not want to be found. They looked everywhere, to no avail. Blaming herself for Ron's sudden burst of anger, Hermione dropped her head and clutched her small bag.
I knew talking to Ginny was a bad idea... she thought as she trudged forward, her head still tilted to the ground. As she watched her feet instead of where she was going, Hermione kept walking, thinking she was still with Harry and Ginny. When she looked up, the two were nowhere to be found. She had managed to lose them, too.
Glancing around the small nook she had found herself in, Hermione searched for any trace of her companions. As she looked to her right, she noticed a small shop she had never seen before. A small sign above the shop door read 'Books'. Nothing more, nothing less. Just 'Books'.
"I've never seen this shop before..." she silently said to herself as she headed to the door. "Maybe I could take a quick peek... Just for fun."
After entering the shop and closing the door behind her, Hermione was instantly overwhelmed. Large bookshelves that touched the ceiling lined the walls surrounding her. Rows of shorter, yet equally as large bookshelves stood in the middle of the shop. Each bookshelf was completely full of books, leaving no visible room for any more on their shelves.
Letting out an audible gasp as she walked through the maze of shelves, Hermione was stunned. This place is incredible! She thought to herself as she continued to scan the titles. When she made it to the center of the shop, Hermione noticed two small signs above the bookshelves, separating the shop into two sections. To her right, 'Wizarding'. To her left, 'Muggle'.
After she registered what the sign above the section of books to her left had meant, she ran into the section and quickly scanned the titles, looking for one book in particular. Unknown to her, a hooded stranger stood only a few feet to her left, looking for the same book she was.
Finally finding the title she and the stranger she hadn't noticed were looking for, they reached for the book at the same time. It wasn't until their hands had brushed together that she noticed she wasn't alone.
As she retracted her hand, Hermione quickly spun to her left, startled that she hadn't noticed the hooded man standing so close to her. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't notice you there."
"It's alright..." The stranger replied, burying his face deeper into the back of his hood. "You wanted this one, right?"
Hermione looked down to find he had been trying to hand her the book. Bringing her head back up to face the strangers, she slowly took the book from his hand as she attempted to find the face underneath the hood. Once the book had left the strangers possession, he spun around suddenly and left quickly, leaving Hermione standing there, awestruck.
"Thank you!" she called out after him, but she had been too late. The stranger had already left the shop. Standing there for a few moments as she stared at the book in her hands, Hermione tried to comprehend what had just happened.
It couldn't have been... It definitely wasn't... she thought as she headed to the clerks desk. There's no way he would be in this store. Pulling 3 galleons from her bag, Hermione paid for the book and exited the shop quickly, remembering why she had come to Diagon Alley in the first place.
Meeting back up with Harry and Ginny in front of 'Flourish and Blott's', the trio began to look for Ron once more. After another 20 minutes of searching, they finally found him in the one place they should have looked in the beginning: Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Of course Ron would go to the one place he felt safe, comfortable: helping his brother George with his newly reopened shop.
Upon seeing Ron in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Hermione quickly ran to him. Folding her arms around his neck, she quickly sealed his lips with a kiss. It wasn't much more than a small peck, but it had been enough to melt any anger Ron still held after leaving the Burrow.
Separating herself from Ron, Hermione sighed. "I'm so glad you're okay." Hugging him again quickly, she sighed once more. "You really had us worried."
"Yeah, I'm sorry..." Ron replied, a genuine, sincere apology written in his eyes. Turning to face the others he had deserted, Ron apologized again. "I really am sorry."
"It's alright, no worries!" Ginny giggled, lightly slapping her brother on the shoulder. "Shall we finish our shopping then?"
"Yeah, let's go." Ron said, his hand tightly clasped around Hermione's.
Author's note: Okay, so I got over excited and decided to upload the first three chapters for all of you, totaling roughly 3,000 words. I was just too excited to help myself! As always, review review review!