Hello, thanks to all who reviewed! Updating may be slow because of Christmas, New Year etc…. Hope you all enjoy Chapter 3 and continue to read this fic. If we don't get the chance to update again, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays! Disclaimer in Chapter One.
Chapter 3 - Of Shopping and Shocks
Abraxas looked down at his school shopping list and scowled, "Why does there have to be so many books?" He groaned.
"Hmmm, I wonder... Maybe it's because you're about to do your N.E.W.T's!" Hermione scoffed.
"Whatever..." Abraxas sighed.
It was late January and Abraxas and Hermione were in Diagon Alley, doing some last minute shopping for school.
"Right, so what do you want to get first?" Hermione asked, scanning her list of school books.
"Ice cream from Fortescues?" Abraxas suggested, "I'm knackered."
"Abraxas! We only just arrived!" Hermione laughed.
Abraxas had become quite good friends with Hermione since she had arrived at Malfoy Manor. He had taken up calling her the 'Lady of the Manor', as she was the only female there since his mother had died...and because he knew it annoyed her...His father also liked her. Thought she was admirable, never showed how torn up she really was about her parents, or her attack.. All his friends liked her too, some in a way that made Abraxas curse them so horrifically, that they'd never recover. He hated the way he would smile at something Cygnus had said, or how her eyes would light up when she discussed some complex Magical Theory with Fomalhault.
She was smart, something strange for a Pureblood woman. She would never be a trophy wife, taught to stay silent and produce the required heirs. Abraxas could admit, it was a refreshing and welcomed change. Of course, she was pretty too. Hr hair was always wild and curly, but she rarely wore it up. Her eyes were the most beautiful thing about her though, they were warm and every time Abraxas looked into them, he could see himself falling and getting lost within their depths.
"Abraxas? Fine, we'll go to Fortescues after we've bought everything."
Abraxas snapped out his daze, embarrassed he'd been caught daydreaming. He scowled at a random child walking by, causing the little boy to hide under his Mother's robes. Abraxas hooked Hermione's arm into the crook of his elbow, before steering them towards Gringotts were he took out a sack of Galleons, then heading to the Quality Quidditch Supply store to buy a new, updated broom.
Next they bought their robes, which took an annoyingly long time in Abraxas' opinion due to the fact that Hermione kept hovering over the Gryffindor section, picking up the red and gold tie and then dropping it before picking it back up once again as if she had lost her mind.
She could never be a Gryffindor. They were a wild, uncouth bunch who would never appreciate her intelligence. She would be much better suited to Slytherin or Ravenclaw….
Then they travelled to Potage's Cauldron Shop where Hermione bought a small cauldron before hurrying next door to Slug and Jiggers Apothecary store to buy her potion ingredients while Abraxas restocked his supplies.
Next, they both entered the Telescope Store where Hermione bought a stubby telescope that seemed overly heavy for its size. Abraxas already had his supplies for the year.
At last they visited Flourish and Blotts where Hermione purchased a scary amount of books - How could some-one read that much? - before plonking themselves down at a table outside Florean Fortescues Ice Cream Parlour.
Abraxas went inside to buy their ice-cream, leaving Hermione sitting outside in the weak February sunshine, crossing items off her list with her newly bought quill and ink.
Abraxas looked back to see the back of Fomalhault's head by Hermione's ear. Abraxas sneered and glared as he walked by, causing a lot of people in the queue to shuffle back nervously. He cut through until he reached the counter, where he ordered, hoping he could be quick before Fomalhault sat down beside Hermione. He looked back at her again, realizing that he was too late and she was already laughing at something Fomalhault had told her. Abraxas grabbed the ice-cream out of Mr Fortescues' hands before dumping a pouch of Sickles on the counter and storming outside.
"Fomalhault!" Abraxas exclaimed, "What a pleasant surprise! Have you seen anyone else around?" He bloody well hoped not…
"Well, I saw Orion and Cygnus leering in the window of Gambol and Japes before I spotted Hermione here sitting by herself here... Thought she might need a friend," Fomalhault explained.
"I wonder if Tom's here," Abraxas frowned, "He's probably in Knockturn Alley or something."
"Could you excuse me a moment, gentlemen?" Hermione asked. She had eaten quickly as the two boys talked and had finished her ice-cream, having licked the spoon clean and all.
"Where are you going?" Abraxas frowned.
"Just to Magical Menagerie," Hermione explained, "Would you mind my bags?"
Without another word, she skipped off towards the shop without a backward glance, leaving Abraxas and Fomalhault unable to follow her.
Hermione needed a lot of things. She needed to get back to her own time.
She needed to fit in here.
She needed "friends" who weren't bigoted sociopaths.
She needed the Malfoy Family Library to contain books that weren't only about Dark or Wizarding Magic. Oh no, the Malfoy's wouldn't lower themselves to reading about Elf Magic.
But most of all, Hermione needed a wand. Bellatrix's did not work for her at all. In fact, Hermione had resigned herself to only using Magic when absolutely necessary.
Hermione made sure she was out of her chaperone's sight, before ducking into Ollivanders. Good to know his shop was open.
It was just as she'd remembered it. The shop was tiny, empty except for a single, spindly chair in the corner. Thousands of narrow boxes containing wands were piled right up to the ceiling of the tiny shop, and the whole place had a thin layer of dust about it.
"Mr Ollivander?"
Hermione jumped when she heard his voice - quite suddenly - behind her.
"I was looking to buy a wand, Sir…"
Ollivander regarded her curiously, before walking over to the boxes. Hermione felt the urge to explain to him why she didn't have one, so to speak.
"You see, I've just moved and my wand was damaged…They said it couldn't be fixed…" That didn't sound fake at all Hermione.
"I never asked." Mr Ollivander pulled out a box and handed her the wand. She waved it, causing the small light swinging from the ceiling to shatter. Mr Ollivander shook his head and gave her another wand. The process was repeated until he handed her a Rosewood wand with a Chimaera scale core that worked nicely and was surprisingly strong. She paid for the wand and quickly left the store. There was something about the way Ollivander looked at her, that made her think he knew something.
He couldn't possibly….Hermione reassured herself.
Hermione now had a wand that worked, thank Merlin. She would have to attend Hogwarts however, which could cause problems. Didn't Dumbledore work as a Transfiguration teacher there? Although, she had been fraternizing with the enemy as Ron would say…Ron….Did they miss her? Did they even know she was gone, or was time being rewritten from when she had arrived in the forties? That was another reason Hermione needed to go to Hogwarts. The only texts the Malfoy Library contained were those on Dark forbidden Magicks or those on the necessary Magical Theories. Not a single Tome containing Elf Magic…or even Time Travel! Yes, of course there were books on how it could work, but reading those opened up a world of paradox's that would drive an Unspeakable mad! Hopefully, Hermione would have more luck at Hogwarts. Maybe she could even ask an elf there. Although it was slave labour, Hogwarts treated it's elves surprisingly well, they would probably be able to help her. She really needed a plan too.
On her way back to Fortescues, Hermione passed Magical Menagerie. Hermione thought that as she would be staying in 1943 for a while, she might as well buy a familiar. Besides, she could talk to it and it couldn't tell her she was mad…or tell anyone else…
Hermione walked inside. She really did fancy an owl but didn't know if she would be able to look after it, Harry always used to have his hands full with Hedwig, no matter what he said about her so she had decided to look at the rats and toads instead She didn't want another cat, she felt it would be a slight against Crookshank's memory.
Hermione spotted a cage in the corner of the shop and made her way over to it, intrigued. Inside lay a long green and brown snake, curled around itself many times. Her curiosity overwhelming her, she opened the cage and lifted it out. It immediately curled itself around her shoulders as if it was going to crush her but it did nothing of the sort, just hissed in her ear. She laughed as its tongue tickled her ear. Hermione wanted the snake. There was something about it that just screamed "BUY ME NOW!" and she was determined to have it. Besides, for all the Slytherin talk she had been hearing over the past week or so, she knew a fair few of her 'friends' were very much afraid of snakes.
"How much is this snake, please?" Hermione asked the young shop keeper.
"Oh, that old thing? It hasn't moved for days," The shop keeper tutted.
"I'll take it anyway," Hermione decided, analyzing that the snake was lively enough, it was just bored of being stuffed into a cage for weeks on end.
"I won't stop you, dear. It's twenty five Galleons," The shop keeper replied.
Hermione also bought an extra large cage and some dead mice to feed her new snake before skipping back to the ice cream parlour with the snake draped over her shoulders.
"Hermione," Abraxas gasped - alarmed - when she got back to their table where both were finishing up their ice cream, "You appear to have a giant snake on your shoulder... Here, let me get it off for you."
"No, no," Hermione said, shrugging them off, "This is Lind, my new snake."
"I see..." Abraxas nodded, not really understanding…and slightly scared.
"Would you two mind coming down Knockturn Alley with me? I just need to go to Borgin and Burkes," Fomalhault asked.
"Oh, I don't know," Hermione stalled, "Knockturn Alley seems a bit... dodgy, doesn't it?"
"Come on! I'll only be a minute! I'll even carry your bags for you," Fomalhault bribed.
"I am quite capable of carrying my own bags, thank you very much!" Hermione snapped. Besides, Hermione did not want to go to Knockturn Alley.
"We'll see how you feel when we get there," Fomalhault grinned.
Without another word, he snatched up half her bags, urging Abraxas to pick up the other half, and sprinted down Knockturn Alley.
With a sigh, Hermione picked up her new bag from Magical Menagerie and followed him.
Hermione really didn't like Borgin and Burkes. It had a dark, foreboding feel about it, and was even worse once you got inside. Everything within the place screamed EVIL with a capital e-v-i-l. Hermione looked around nervously, not knowing where Abraxas and Fomalhault had run off to once inside the store. She didn't want to leave as that would mean standing in Knockturn Alley, alone, but she certainly didn't want to stay here either. She saw who she thought was Mr Borgin by the till, talking to some dodgy-looking Wizard. Over at the Cursed Artifact section, however, stood a tall male with dark hair and broad shoulders. She reasoned he was probably the nicest person in a shop like this since that stupid bloody Malfoy and Lestrange had run off.
She took a deep breath and walked over, seeming more confident than how she really felt. When she reached the stranger she didn't know whether he would appreciate her tapping her shoulder, so she spoke instead.
"I-I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering whether you had seen two boys in here. One is pale, blonde…he's a Malfoy…umm"
The stranger whipped around, facing her before looking her up and down. Hermione was getting sick of people doing that to her! Although, the stranger was very attractive. He was tall, her head only reached to just above his shoulder. His skin was pale and his eyes were as dark as his hair was, in more ways than one. Overall, he was very - unfairly - handsome…that was until he opened his mouth…
"What would a young witch - such as yourself - be doing in a shop like this, chasing a Malfoy?"
Like all good-looking men, he was as arrogant as a Hippogriff…and condescending too.
"I think you'll find the answer is in the question you just asked me." At this, the stranger's eyes seemed to harden, before he smirked. He stood up, off the counter he was leaning on and opened his mouth to speak again.
"Hermione! We thought you had stayed at Fortescues!" She knew it was Fomalhault speaking from his refined accent, unlike the ''famous'' Malfoy drawl.
She turned around to face them, both walking towards her when they froze, looking down for some inexplicable reason. It was Abraxas who spoke first.
"I see you've met Tom, Hermione."
It couldn't be that Tom, could it…?
She turned back to face him. He was still smirking, but held out his hand.
"Tom Riddle." Damn "A….pleasure to meet you miss…?"
"Gra-Westron, Hermione Westron" Hermione shook his hand, cautiously, before letting go quickly, as if it would burn her if she held on for a second longer.
"I don't believe I've seen you at Hogwarts, Miss Westron."
"I will be starting in February." She tried to keep her sentences as short as possible. She knew she would have to talk to him, but she really didn't want to.
"A snake is a curious thing to have draped over your shoulders. Are you sure you know how to handle it?"
"I've handled worse." Bastard.
Fomalhault cut in.
"I've bought what I needed….We should leave, lest Mr Malfoy gets worried at the late hour."
Tom lifted her hand, before kissing it. Hermione repressed a shudder.
"Until February, Miss Westron."
Hermione had never been more glad to leave a shop in her entire life. She had just met Lord Voldemort. Granted, he wasn't the 'My mother had and affair with a python' or 'I torture at least 8 people before breakfast' Voldemort she knew, but he had still killed Myrtle, his father! And he had kissed hand. No Scourgify would ever rid her of that memory. And she didn't like the way he was looking at her snake!
All were silent as they walked to the Apparation point, and went their respective ways, leaving Hermione to contemplate the repercussions of what she would have to do.
Her life could not get any worse.