Chapter 8

Summer 1991

Hermione Jean Granger couldn't remember the last time she was so excited. After school had finished for the summer, she quickly ran home and flopped onto her parents' bed where her mum was folding laundry.

"I'm done!" she shouted, punching her fists into the air. Her hair flew wildly about her face, mirroring her obvious excitement. "My very last year of Muggle school is done! I can finally stop pretending to be normal."

Helen giggled at her daughter's dramatics. As her eleventh birthday, and first year at Hogwarts, approached, Hermione had been more and more eager to read every book, pamphlet, and scrap of parchment that carried any pertinent information about Great Britain's wizarding school. The excitement of being able to finally learn about and use magic (legally...and on purpose) fueled many late nights of reading by torchlight under her covers when she probably should have been asleep. As usual, she consumed every bit of knowledge that was available to her.

Even with all of that information stowed away in the tidy files of her brain, she anxiously awaited the day when her Hogwarts acceptance letter would arrive. As a Muggleborn, she couldn't help feeling a bit nervous that something might go wrong and her letter would fall through the cracks amidst endless stacks of school forms. But when those fears would overwhelm her excitement, she would remind herself that Minerva McGonagall - in all her prim, tartan-clad glory - was the Deputy Headmistress of Hermione's dream school. That usually helped ease her worries.

When it didn't, her thoughts roamed to scarier topics. What would she do during the full moons at school? What would happen when she didn't have the possibility of escaping to her parents' cabin in the middle of nowhere to wait out her transformations in the old barn?

Her questions were only partially answered a few weeks later when an old, disgruntled owl dropped off a rather thick letter with the Hogwarts seal stamped onto the back. Hermione's hands shook as she tried to soak in the moment, feeling like her life was about to change forever.

Helen and Richard watched from their spots on the couch as Hermione stared in what looked like terrified awe at the letter in her lap. They glanced at each other before urging her on.

"Open her up, love! You already know what it's going to say," Richard prodded.

Helen piped up, "Read it aloud! It's not every day the daughter of two boring, old dentists gets a letter like that." She softened their teasing with a grin, and Hermione smiled in return, feeling a little better.

Hermione carefully slid her fingers beneath the flap to break the seal and pulled out the folded parchment. She scanned the heading, reminding herself to memorise all of the Headmaster's various titles and honours before the end of the summer, thinking, What on earth is a Mugwump? and read aloud.

"Dear Ms Granger,

"We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

"Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July."

She immediately flipped to the second, much larger piece of parchment, muttering, "It's from Professor McGonagall, of course." Her nose wrinkled at the description of wizarding clothing, but she knew what to expect after all her research about the magical world. She scanned down the list, and her eyes lit up as they found the rather large list of books she would need to purchase.

"So when can we go to Diagon Alley? I need to get these books as soon as possible so I can start getting ready for my classes." She tried to hold in the thrilled little bounce that wanted to come out and failed. Helen and Richard chuckled at the sight of their daughter, who suddenly reminded them all too much of her toddler self, bouncing out of her seat at the prospect of a new stack of books to devour. She looked chagrined at their response and added, "Clothes and supplies, too. And a wand, of course."

As she was folding the letter up to put it back in its envelope, a small note fell out from behind the larger pages. This one was also from McGonagall, but it was brief.

Miss Granger,

Please see me after your arrival at Hogwarts to set up an appointment to discuss the arrangements the school has set up for the full moon.

Professor McGonagall

A little bit of the happy grin that had been trying to take over her face slipped away at the ever-present reminder of the part of her that was hiding just beneath the surface.

She was pretty comfortable in her own skin, honestly. She'd been a werewolf for as long as she could remember, and it didn't bother her most days. Sure, there had been the time she'd gone out to eat with a friend's family and ordered her steak as rare as possible...which had subsequently ended that budding friendship. And the time she'd thoughtlessly sniffed the new boy in her class when she thought he was cute. He hadn't quite smelled right, anyway, so it wasn't the end of the world when he called her a freak and sat as far away as possible. Really, though, in her day-to-day life, being a werewolf didn't alienate her from people any more than being an overachieving bookworm did.

Hopefully things at Hogwarts would be different.

Hopefully they would be better.

XxxX

A woman named Lady Longbottom had owled the Grangers to let them know that she and her grandson, Neville, would be Hermione's host family in the wizarding world. They would be happy to answer any questions she and her parents had and offered to escort them all on their trip to Diagon Alley when they went shopping for school supplies. She said she could set up their home for floo travel and pick them up that way before they all went on to the Leaky Cauldron together. The Grangers graciously accepted her offer, concerning the floo and the escort to Diagon Alley, and Hermione counted down the days until she would meet her first friend from the magical community.

Augusta stepped through the floo first, quickly followed by Neville. She was sharp and matronly in a loving-grandma-who-takes-no-nonsense kind of way. Neville was quiet and painfully shy. Hermione could tell he didn't feel comfortable being away from home, especially in the presence of strangers, and Augusta's occasional sharp comment toward Neville made Hermione wonder why the woman felt the need to constantly criticize her grandson. Both of the Longbottoms had a shadow in their eyes that made Hermione wonder just what had happened to Neville's parents. But when Augusta was chatting with Helen and Richard about their plans for the day, Hermione caught Neville's eye and offered him a friendly smile. He mustered up a weak one in return, and she felt relieved. She wasn't the only one who was nervous to start school. They could be terrified together.

XxxX

Diagon Alley was a wonder to behold. The sights and smells bombarded Hermione's senses in the best possible way.

The trip over to the Leaky Cauldron had been uneventful, if a bit unsettling (all three of the Grangers agreed that traveling through the floo felt like being sucked through a straw), as was their stop at Gringotts. Muggle money had been exchanged for wizarding coins, and Hermione was ready to shop. They flew through her list, quickly acquiring her Potions class supplies, robes, and a beautiful black-banded owl who was quickly named Sirius. The Longbottoms looked at her strangely when she declared his name, but she brushed it off, saying, "Doesn't he look serious, though? It's as if he'd nip your finger if you told him a joke!" They laughed shakily and changed the subject, leaving Hermione to wonder what may have happened to her mysterious helper from her first full moon transformation years before.

They ran into a couple other people Hermione and Neville's age, including a redheaded boy named Ron with a passel of similarly carrot-topped siblings and an enormous man named Hagrid who was escorting a scrawny boy with wide green eyes, black hair, and a mysterious lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. Hagrid briefly said hello but didn't introduce his charge, so Neville leant over and told Hermione, "I think that's Harry Potter!"

She whipped around to get another look at the boy, remembering reading about the Boy Who Lived in one of the many books Professor McGonagall had so kindly sent her way over the years, but he was already gone, lost to the masses. Neville simply shrugged, and they went off to get their wands.

When they arrived at Ollivander's shop, there was another boy their age already there. A magical measuring tape whirled around him, measuring every possible angle and line of his body. The bell above the door startled him, and he turned to lock eyes with Hermione.

Her first thought was that he looked cold. His hair was palest blond and slicked back out of his pointed face. His clothing consisted of only black and white - and looked to be of the highest quality. The eyes that met hers were a startling, frozen silver colour, and she held her breath under his scrutiny.

His mother coughed, and he jerked his gaze away from Hermione to the rest of her party. Seeing the Longbottoms, he greeted them, saying, "Mrs Longbottom. Neville." But he said it as if he had a bad taste in his mouth, and Hermione scowled at him.

Luckily, he didn't look at her again to notice the death glare she was sending his way.

Augusta took on the role of group matriarch and returned the greeting. "Mrs Malfoy. Draco. I hope you are both well." She sounded a little more sincere, but there was clearly something going on between the two families that Hermione didn't know about.

Fortunately, the measuring tape had finished its work, and the shop's proprietor had pulled out a stack of wands and handed the first to Draco, announcing, "Ten inches, hawthorn, unicorn hair. Reasonably pliant." When Draco stood there, silently holding the wand, he instructed, "Give it a go, my boy!"

Draco gripped the wand and gave it a controlled flick. A beam of light streamed from the wand tip, followed by a shower of silver sparks. Mrs Malfoy clapped in celebration, and Ollivander smiled, muttering something about, "Always know just what to do with these Malfoys. Powerful but so predictable." But he was closer to Hermione and the others than the cold, beautiful Malfoys and their air of holier-than-thou, and nobody but Hermione seemed to hear him, so she smiled to herself.

Maybe that's it, Hermione thought. Maybe their hostility comes from a difference in religious beliefs. Do they even have those in the wizarding world? I'll have to ask Neville...or perhaps just find a book.

She shook her head minutely, realizing that the Malfoy family had already paid and left, meaning it was time for her and Neville to get wands of their own. Neville looked white as a sheet, and Hermione was neatly vibrating with the excitement of finally being allowed to do magic (that wasn't done on accident), so she stepped forward when Ollivander asked, "Who's next?"

The measuring tape went to work, making Hermione feel a bit violated and heartily glad that the odd, old man wasn't the one taking her measurements. She blushed but endured the process, sighing with relief when the length of tape came to rest. Ollivander glanced at the parchment where her measurements had appeared and muttered, "New blood is always good. Always a challenge," before wandering off into the depths of the shop.

Hermione heard the man shuffling through boxes and moving a sliding ladder back and forth for a few minutes before he came back into sight. The first wand he handed her looked similar to the one the Malfoy boy had ended up with.

"13 inches, hawthorn, phoenix feather. Give her a whirl!"

Hermione focused on the smooth length of wood and allowed her fingers to give it a twirl, gasping in surprise and mortification when a whole shelf nearby was instantly emptied of its contents, every single boxed wand shooting off in its own direction and creating mass chaos that only ended when Ollivander snatched the wand from her hand.

"No! No, that is definitely not quite right." He shuffled around in the stack of wands he had pulled for her and nodded to himself, offering a second one for her to try. "Perhaps something a little more flexible. Ten and three-quarters inches, vine wood. Dragon heartstring core for a girl who appears to hold her own bit of fire."

Hermione smiled briefly at the comment and looked down at the wand. Unlike the smooth one she held only moments before, this one was covered in twirling patterns of ivy. It was beautiful and feminine, and it felt good in her hand. Hoping that Ollivander had gotten it right this time, she flicked her wrist and simply stared, waiting.

The room around her filled with brilliant white light. It was so bright that everyone turned away or closed their eyes, but Hermione cracked hers back open when she heard something moving across the aisle from her. Her eyes grew to the size of saucers when she saw every misplaced box from her misfire with the first wand floating back into its proper place.

Ollivander quirked a smile at her. "I think you've found your match, miss."

She reverently held the wand, not even wanting to let go long enough to fill out the necessary paperwork to register her wand and pay for it. She was still a bit awestruck and stuck in her own world until Neville's first wand wreaked almost as much havoc as hers had. He flushed scarlet, and Hermione took pity on him, saying that she wanted to get a head start at the book shop and leading her parents out.

There was no such thing as spending too much time with books, after all.

XxxX

Draco went through the motions of the rest of the shopping trip with his mother, but the back of his mind was preoccupied with the girl with the wild brown hair and the unassuming eyes that flashed gold when their eyes locked.

He wondered how long it would take for him to forget about her and her changing eyes.

Did they really change, or was it a trick of the light?

Had he just imagined it?

A/N Guys. I have the best readers in the world. This silly, little story of mine is quickly approaching 500 followers! I can't wrap my head around it, but thank you all for the love. Every follow, favorite, and review makes my day.

I apologize for the wait on this chapter. I wrote and rewrote it and still didn't like it, so I gave it a rest and hashed out some future plot points with my betas, which helped me see exactly where I want to go with this story. I am more excited than ever, and I love the way this chapter finally came out. I am actually on vacation but finished this during our ridiculously long drive and was too excited to keep it from you, so I'm uploading via mobile. Hopefully the formatting is okay!

Beta thanks to synoir and Mahawna. These two are absolutely amazing.

I hope you like the new turn this is taking. Leave me a review to let me know what you think!

-M