I realized that in our 5 th chapter, Sirius calls Hermione, well Hermione... it's hard to switch in and out of Hermione and Emily, and we were in a rush to get that chapter up, so same goes for this one, so if you see any mistakes, please tell us in a reply... thank you guys for reading, we'll try to get the next one up soon, wait till you see how we end this one: )
"You look like you've seen a ghost, Emily." Sirius told Hermione on their way to dinner. Not quite, but close, Hermione thought as they sat down in between James and Remus.
"Technically she did... Prof. Binns." Remus joked. Everyone laughed. James started formulating plans for the next days trip to Hogsmeade.
"Before you start," Hermione said, interrupting him," I need to go shopping for clothes, so why don't I meet you guys somewhere or something."
"We could all go the Three Broomsticks, then we separate and go to our 'respected' stores, then meet up again somewhere..." suggested James.
"Sounds good"
Hermione sat herself between James and Sirius, across from Remus in some sort of wonky circle. They had ordered, what else, three butterbeers and were talking casually as they waited for the drinks.
" I need more red ink." Sirius stated.
" Why? 'Cause you used it on all those self corrections?" Remus joked. They all laughed.
"Yeah I need blue ink anyways, we should go to Flourish and Blotts while Hermione gets her clothes." James suggested. At that moment the drinks arrived. They sat and talked, draining their bottles. A cold draft floated over Hermione's un-gloved hands, she turned her head and watched as Lucius and Rodolphus walked in and found a seat just barely in their sight. She heard a sharp breath that resembled a hiss issue from James. Sirius said," Oh jeez, look the scum of the earth."
"You mean future Death Eaters, or would you prefer Death Eaters in the making?" Remus said bitterly. Hermione turned to face them. She gave her best, puzzled look.
"They uh, are bad people? I don't think that's a good description. Moony?" Sirius looked over at Remus shrugging.
"They reason that they should be worshipped and placed high above all human being because they are wizards and purebloods. All muggle should be enslaved or killed, all muggle born wizards made fun of... all sorts of horrible logic runs through their minds. They discriminate against half-breeds. They are very narrow-minded people." Lupin's splendid explanation summed up juts about everything.
"Not to mention they all probably sport a Dark Mark" added James. Hermione gave a small horrified look at this 'new' information. Jeez, she could win an award for all the acting she was doing lately...
Hermione waved them goodbye and headed towards the clothing stores at the end of Hogsmeade. She didn't walk too far before finding a general clothes store. She felt for the coin purse Dumbledore gave her. It was kinda hefty she thought guiltily. So much money being spent on her. She walked up and opened the door... and her vision went red.
"Sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." a red-hared girl said as she picked up her bag. She straightened and looked into Hermione's eyes. It was like looking into Harry's eyes. Deep green emerald orbs stared at her apologetically. Lily Evans stood in front of her, apologizing for bumping into her. She was speechless for a moment, then realized she may have looked mad to Lily, standing there looking so idiotic. She attempted to collect her thoughts.
"It's fine. I, uh, really wasn't paying much attention either." she finished lamely. Lily nodded in agreement and walked past her. Turning back, she bid her a farewell and a good day. Hermione walked in and went towards the girls section.
Hermione held the deep purple shirt up to herself and turned to look In the mirror. She always liked dark colors on her, rich, dark colors that is. She had a red and yellow version of the shirt in stow, and now it seemed there would be a purple one too. She hadn't found any jeans she liked in particular here, but the shirts were amazing. Most were either all one color or had intricate swirls or some interesting artwork on them. She decided to get a few t-shirts, along with the tank tops and long sleeve shirts she had gathered. She felt she was ready now to head on to a different shop. She paid for her items and took two bags to the next shop. Sneakers became her mantra after the fourth store. All she saw were sandals and heels. Where were all the comfy shoes! At least she had found a few good pairs of jeans. As she walked towards the fifth store she caught sight of the boys.
"Oi! We were starting to get bored so we came to you." called Sirius. They took her bags from her (Hermione insisted on keeping the one with the bras and panties) and they entered the store.
Hermione made a beeline towards the shoes in the back. Along the way James had pointed something out to Sirius and they had ventured off on their own, leaving Remus and Hermione to seek out decent shoes.
"I think it'd be wise to invest in some flamingo pink stilettos." Remus said as he held up the very pair he was describing. Hermione's eye went wide, then she noticed the mischievous glint in his eyes and they started to laugh. Putting them down he grabbed a pair of dark grey sneakers.
"Really, though, I think these would work. Very...'universal'." he put them aside and picked up dark green ones." Also, depending on your given allowance, I think you should get these, a nice colored pair." he held up dark green shoes with cream laces. Hermione pondered them and turned them over in her hands. She heard a very audible intake ( if Remus was a girl it'd be a gasp) from Remus and she looked up. Sirius walked over to them with a red cocktail dress over his sweater and pants. James' sporting a twin but in blue, stood next to him, leaning dramatically to the left.
"What's shaken?" James said in what Hermione thought to be his 'seductive' voice.
Hermione couldn't breathe. her ribs hurt and her lungs burned with the need for oxygen. Somewhere in the back of her head she registered that her knees had hit the ground.
Remus was the first to recover.
"Jeez James... You are flaming!" he responded hoarsely.
"What about me?" Sirius blew him a kiss.
"Please guys. Don't get me kicked out, I just started to find shoes I want." Hermione pleaded after she caught her breath. The two boys stripped of the dresses easily and placed them on the nearest clothes rack. Remus gave an approving nod. James sat on the floor near Remus and Sirius leaned against the mirror behind Hermione.
" What about some black shoes?" James said, holding a pair to her.
"Maybe a dark blue?" Sirius suggested. Soon Hermione was looking at a pile of shoes and some decent comfy sandals. She had to admit, for guys, they knew shoes pretty well. In the end she had four pairs of shoes. The reasoning in her head was gawking at the amount of shoes she had now and the money she was spending. In her arms were three pairs of sneakers, a black pair, a blue pair, and the greens ones Remus showed her. Accompanying those was a pair of brown flat sandals, not too strappy either. As she walked to the counter she saw other isles of interest, so she asked the salesclerk to hold them for her while she browsed the store. There was a display table with watches and jewelry on it. She looked them over and grabbed a few chameleon studded earrings, they would change to match what color she was wearing. Also grabbed were a few simple leather or chain necklaces with colorful stones on them. She passed the hygienic care section, she already had brushed for both tooth and hair, along with shampoo and whatnot. As she walked Sirius engaged the other two into a conversation over quidditch and other things that were brought up. They were entertaining themselves as the 'woman' shopped. She laughed lightly at this and strode down the used book isle. She saw tons of weird titles she didn't recognize. That's what I get for being muggle born, she thought idly . Distantly she could hear the woman at the register yelling at some kids running by her store.
"What do you think Emily?" Sirius asked her. Hermione turned, a confused look on her face.
"Ah, I have a feeling you weren't listening. Never mind then." he turned back to their discussion. She let her eyes slide over the different covers. some were leather, others resembled cardboard. One looked like it was written in Hebrew. Hermione laughed at a cover that had a boy in a wizard hat sitting on a donkey. Her laugh seemed loud, but then she listened and realized it was oddly quiet. The boys had stopped talking. Outside someone was screaming. Hermione looked out the window and saw odd orange light. She turned an looked at the boys questionably, they shrugged.
"Who's screaming? Don't they know there's a town around them?" James asked.
"Yeah what's that weird light too." Sirius added. Everyone looked out the window again.
Horrified, Hermione realized what was causing the light. Fire. Hogsmeade was under attack.