Author's Note:
I got a bit overwhelmed by real life stuffs recently, but fortunately for everyone, I managed to write this out. Yay.
The funeral of one of my father's close friends gave me a bit of an unexpectedly painful déjà vu, even the higher maths textbooks stacked left and right in the living room was a discomfiting echo of his books (my father wasn't even in maths). Napped during midday at one point due to a headache, and my sister was visiting and just said go ahead. The sprog was taking up one side of my king-sized bed so I thought I'd be safe on the other one—woke up with his axe kick to my gut. I'm having some thoughts whether it's really worth having a kid...
Also, I'm practically not on FFNet unless I'm updating, and I used to just rely on FFNet's alert system to tell me when there's a new review/comment here. I'm beginning to think it's borked for a while now... So, just saying that I respond the fastest to my AO3 account, simply because the alert system is far more reliable.
'-
76 The Other Gifts
In which Hermione tries to figure out what to get Tom by digging through some memories. Hermione and Lakshmi go out on a little trip to London. A visit to a dingy store, and a far brighter stop after that in Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
'-
Lakshmi was only partly awake to roll over to the other side of her bed, mumbling a good morning to Eugenie who was brushing her hair. It was then that she saw that Hermione had returned to their dorm with a confused expression—even her conversations with Eugenie showed that she was somewhat distracted. It piqued her curiosity enough that sleeping again did not look as tempting to her. The dark-haired witch did not as much sit up as wobbled a little into a vaguely upright position, blinking with all the ill-humour of a cat in a winter morning.
"You're already back?" Lakshmi asked in confusion.
Hermione usually already had a suite of things to do even on Saturday that she rarely returned to her room once she went out. Now, though, she was back again with an odd mix of expressions on her face.
"I…may have a problem."
Lakshmi's forehead creased. Hermione didn't immediately clarify, as she turned and bid Eugenie goodbye as the blonde set off for breakfast. Lakshmi herself managed a lazy wave towards their mutual dormmate. It was only afterwards that Hermione turned to her once more.
"It's about Tom," the brunette blurted out.
Sleep evaporated almost entirely from her amber eyes and, Lakshmi's smile was intrigued. "Now, now, do tell. I'm always happy to help a friend in need."
"Where do I even begin…"
Hermione dropped herself at the foot of Lakshmi's bed without further ado as her dormmate pulled her legs up. She talked about her breakfast, of the oddity that was Melchior's sheer relief when he spotted her and how he beelined towards her immediately after that, with a plodding Pendleton not far behind him.
Lakshmi raised her hand, half musing. "Wait, they ate at the Ravenclaw table?"
"Yes? I thought it was obvious."
"Just making sure. Slytherins are usually a little more…self-contained than other Houses, though maybe if he's desperate enough…hmm… Go on?"
The transfer student continued with her story. As the topic turned to ghosts and ghoulies, Lakshmi couldn't help but shake her head. She whistled at one point.
"I bet they were digging something up." Lakshmi insisted.
"I know, right? You just get that impression. But considering how repulsed they were at the idea of it… Pendleton talked longer later on about how supremely suicidal it would be to go exploring old tombs when you're not even a trained curse breaker. He's really concerned about all the possible traps that could be lying in wait."
"Well, is it paranoia if the risks are true?" the black-haired girl hazarded, leaning her chin against one hand.
"Yeah. Still, what were they up to, though? What the hell is Tom coming up with that could also somehow be considered as personal?"
Hermione blew at some of the curls messily falling in front of her face.
"And here I was randomly thinking of just knitting him a scarf yesterday!"
Lakshmi narrowed her eyes. "You're joking, right?"
She grinned and then shrugged. "This is still the first week of December! I haven't even thought about buying presents seriously for anyone."
"Hmm… so, he's gotten something personal, but archaeological for you, and you haven't even thought about his." She shook her head. "I am pitying Tom Riddle yet again. How do you get me in these bizarre positions?!"
"Seemingly archaeological. The boys kept insisting they didn't touch ancient graves." Hermione pointed out. "Anyway, I didn't ask him to get me something rare!"
The British-Indian scrunched her nose.
"Urgh, this is too annoying to guess. What did they dig out, some sort of heirloom from the pureblood family closest to yours?"
Hermione laid down on the bed, staring at the canopy. "Who knows?"
Lakshmi languidly dropped down as well, rolling a little so she could face Hermione on her side.
"Now that Melchior has helpfully hinted at it, what are you getting Tom?"
"A…scarf?" the brunette rubbed her face and avoided Lakshmi's nonplussed look. "See, that's the problem. I have no idea! That's why I'm telling you all this in the first place!"
Lakshmi was about to say something again before something seemed to have crossed her mind. She closed her mouth and increased her scrutiny of her friend.
"Hmmm…"
Hermione made a questioning sound, but Lakshmi didn't answer immediately, more content with staring at the canopy and letting her kneazle step on her stomach before lying down on her chest. Lakshmi patted the mostly-white cat-creature.
"I think you have some sort of idea, even if you're not quite sure about it."
"I do?" Hermione's question was offhand. She was staring at the same set of bronze stars embroidered at the canopy. She forgot how many unexpectedly rich details various corners of Hogwarts have.
"You're not that worried yet. Of course, you could also just not care about Riddle that much, but knowing you, I don't think that one's true."
The brunette made a noncommittal sound at her friend's statement.
"But, you don't know how…good the idea is yet."
"What do you mean by good?"
"You didn't mention it to Eugenie earlier. She's not in that much of a hurry to eat breakfast, and you were back for a while before Eugenie was ready to leave. So…" Lakshmi drawled out in relish, "what plan that you're reluctant to tell her, Hermione? Is it one where you'll dig his father's grave and cut the heart out?"
"Lakshmi!" Hermione turned to her friend with wide eyes.
If she'd been drinking, she'd have choked. Trust Lakshmi to be able to find the most macabre possibility and say it with a straight face. Lakshmi was more occupied petting the purring Scherezade than anything else. Her lips curled into a sly grin.
"What? It would be able to be the, heh, heart of a powerful protective charm for himself. It was just a question. You're the one who didn't want to talk about your idea with Eugenie yet."
"You're more annoying than I expect you to be in the morning." the brunette complained.
"My instinct has never failed me in finding gossip." Lakshmi replied with aplomb. "And I felt it when I saw you going around in polite circles while talking with Eugenie. It was so boring—and so not you. Eugenie must've felt something off too, but she's always being nice and wouldn't ask you directly about it."
She huffed. "Boring? What, I'm supposed to shock people every time I talk to them?"
"At the very least, you can simply not hide your actual thoughts." Lakshmi said. "Also, Dear Hermione, I know you're stalling. What can I help you with?"
Hermione let out a long sigh.
"Lemme gather my thoughts into something coherent first and I'll get back to you in ten minutes or more."
"Certainly. I'm not going anywhere."
Hermione mulled over it as she walked back to her desk and pulled out a plain scroll and took out one of her quills. Her left hand was locating an inkwell as she sat down.
That was the crux of the matter, wasn't it? She wasn't exactly lacking any ideas of what Tom would really want. There was the Chamber of Secrets, for one. She didn't think that the Basilisk would be a risk in the hands of a Parselmouth (and her Tom wasn't exactly that driven to jump headlong into the dark arts like Voldemort did). That wasn't what had been on her mind when she was having second thoughts about this.
They never quite knew what else was discovered in the chamber, did they?
Was there an open or accessible side chamber connected to the tall atrium that Harry fought in? He had been so young and so desperate then that when Hermione asked him years after, he couldn't quite recall the details. Even drawing the memory out to pour into a pensieve didn't help much. That was the first time Hermione realised that memories don't look quite the same across different people. Some recall facial features and expressions in minute details, on par with a Rembrandt painting, yet the windows and curtains of a room can be mere blocks of colours. Others provide accurate representation of the spaces they go through, but unknown passing people lacked details, their facial features an impressionistic swatch of skin tones.
Unfortunately for her interest in the Chamber's layout, Harry's memory didn't have enough details. He had been young, then, as courageous as he was terrified (Being brave, as he had sarcastically pointed out, was mostly being able to move forward even when you feel like pissing in your pants). The lighting had been poor in the first place, only a few ancient lamps flickering here and there. Most spaces beyond the spot he fought in were just dark pockets of gloom. As for the rest, they were heavily shadowed.
There had been speculations about discovering parts of Slytherin's library, as the records in Hogwarts showed that he'd only bequeathed Hogwarts with a small portion of it. There were famous books other known wizards and witches had mentioned in passing to have borrowed from him, or ones he lent to. Yet many of those books weren't on the list that ended up in the Hogwarts' library. That the last recorded British Slytherins had bankrupted their family estate, scattering their precious collections to the four winds did not help either.
Parts of Slytherin's core Collections.
That had been one of the possibilities that crossed her mind in some sleepless nights. It would explain Voldemort's rapid rise if he had discovered rare tomes of dark magic in the Chamber, the last of Salazar's core library, an inheritance to his most magically-capable descendant. There might be a different side-chamber with an artefact or two of unknown provenance and function. She truly couldn't know for certain yet, but the risk of possibly handling anything like that to Tom was…not worth taking.
Never mind the slight guilt she felt of not immediately handling Tom his birthright, she still could not countenance the risk of triggering Voldemort's rise yet again. If she was guilty of denying him that, so be it.
Hermione dug deeper into what few memories she had of her later years. She did think that it was better if they planned to revisit the Chamber sometime later, but they always had other things to do. Even after Voldemort's Fall, there were other dark practitioners rising and making trouble. Harry had been relentless in being the backbone of his Auror team, and later on the sword of his section. Hermione had dived headfirst into being an Unspeakable. Ron was also an Auror, no less dedicated than Harry. Neville had already taken off on one of his trips to far-flung jungles and forests. This was one thing they all knew that Ginny did not want to revisit, so she had never been involved with the idea. Luna had never known of that particular thought of theirs, and neither had Draco.
And then…
Her memories weren't quite there after those few first years post-Hogwarts. Something happened that burned Hogwarts down entirely—this was a factoid that a deep part of her was utterly convinced was the truth. Yet she couldn't find clear memories related to that for now.
Hermione supposed it meant that they never returned to Hogwarts together in the end. Not before it was gone.
She moved her gaze out beyond the tower's French windows, to the landscape gently blanketed in white. It helped her ignore the dull ache in her chest that surfaced after her last thought. Perhaps that had also been a timeworn regret of the old Hermione, and that was why the contours of the hurt felt familiar even without her memory. She took a deep breath to stop her throat from closing up from things she no longer remembers, and blinked away the weight gathering behind her eyelids.
There was probably some benefit in the lack of remembrance.
The brunette could feel the pain evaporating now, slowly but steadily. Her throat no longer choked with words unsaid that she wished she could have said to people now gone. She knew of neither—not the words, nor the people. In the present, the hurt was now merely a dull echo of one.
She ignored the drop of water that fell from one strand of eyelashes. That world was gone, she supposed, and admitting that to herself again hurt less than she'd expected. Her chest was lighter instead.
Yet what now? If she was still uncertain about the Chamber of Secrets, unsure if she could explore it herself safely in a mere three weeks, she would have to consider something different.
She took a careful breath, and started to leaf through the frayed tapestry that was her memories once more.
When Hermione finally finished outlining her ideas, whittling down the more fanciful course of action from her plan and then adding a few more alternative actions to cover several contingencies, she stood up from the table. Eyes dry and a confident smile on her lips, she approached Lakshmi.
"We're going to have to go to Knockturn Alley."
Lakshmi merely grinned back. "Excellent! Let me change and get some breakfast in first."
'-
Hermione had wanted to leave immediately after Lakshmi was done with breakfast. The other witch pulled her back even as they kept walking away from the Great Hall.
"Hermione, Hermione, please. Look, what are we wearing?"
"Clothes?"
"Yes, but for what? A Hogsmeade outing, at most!"
Hermione only stared at Lakshmi for that answer. The dark-haired witch sighed. "You do know what kind of place Knockturn Alley is like, right?"
"A more wretched hive of scum and villainy you will not find?" Hermione asked rhetorically.
Lakshmi narrowed her eyes. "Why does that sound like a quote that I don't know?"
Hermione's smiled was a little stiff when she realised what she'd said.
"Look, never mind that! It's not actually the worst place in magical Britain, no. But as places that are supposed to be commercial districts go? Yes, it's quite shady, and I know we need to keep our guards up, but what's the big deal? We'd have our wands with us, and no one other than Grindelwald is quite crazy in trying to shoot at people out of nowhere."
With a wave and a shake of her arm, Hermione's wand was now firmly in her hand. She'd honed her quick-draw method quite well before, and it carried over perfectly. Another swish and subtle push back, and it returned to her forearm holster.
Lakshmi's face was somewhere between impressed and annoyed.
"And if you were disarmed?"
"Don't go anywhere without your backup wand." Hermione did the same and shook her left arm. A different wand slid down. Truly, Pendleton's insistence on providing her access to the Knights' various funds to arm herself properly had been a godsend. This wand wasn't as attuned as her main wand, of course (it would be practically impossible for it to be), but it was decent enough for her preferred transfiguration spells as well as the usual array of high-damage elemental ones.
Lakshmi's brows creased before she shook her head. "That'd teach me to argue with a defence nut."
"Hey, I'm not as bad as the Prewetts!"
"Psshhh, that's what you think. I've heard the rumours and accounts from the other students who'd seen your Defence fights. They say you don't even start slow—you just bullrush through spells, and if they're unlucky, area-wide spells to overwhelm people."
That was…well, Lakshmi wasn't exactly inaccurate. Hermione huffed as a matter of principle.
"I'm highly effective. It's a different thing."
"Of course, you are," Lakshmi sagely nodded. "Still, it doesn't hurt to dress a little more low-key and a little less 'hapless Hogwarts debutante'. Boots would definitely help."
Hermione didn't restrain her snort. As if either of them would be that fancy going out. She showed off her right foot at that.
"Boots? I already have that covered."
"Like I said, Defence Nut."
The brunette intentionally bumped into Lakshmi at that, ignoring her complaints and her counter-bump back.
'-
It was mildly amusing to see the other Ravenclaw toss through her supplies' chest and the piles and piles of beautiful clothes wardrobe before she found a wand (Lakshmi's backup wand, Hermione guessed). She managed to attach that with a few curses under her breath; Hermione had asked if she needed any help once, and was given the stink eye. So, she merely shrugged and waited, while doing her best to hide her smile.
Hermione had outfitted herself for travel, and Lakshmi certainly didn't do any less. Her coat with its fur-lined hood was definitely more luxurious than Hermione's, but it was still understated with its navy colouring. Her boots definitely looks like they were made of better leather, and was of a lustrous deep violet colour.
"Let's hit the road!" Lakshmi crowed as she fitted her last glove.
"Sure thing."
Hermione was going to ask her of how to do that when it wasn't Hogsmeade weekend yet, but Lakshmi had marched on confidently that she figured her friend had some sort of plan in mind. When they were out of the Ravenclaw Tower and climbing up two flights of stairs already, the brunette finally asked out loud.
"Well, we can always ask Dexter, of course. What else?" Lakshmi's answer was blithe, amber eyes bright.
"…is it really alright?"
She nodded firmly. "It sure is."
The dark-haired witch knocked on their Head of House's door before Hermione could say anything else. Lakshmi waited between her series of knocks, taking her time. When the door opened, Hermione figured why her dormmate did that—Dexter was distinctly bleary-eyed with a ruffled head of hair.
They must've disturbed his sleep. She felt an immediate pang of guilt.
"Professor Dexter, sorry for intruding this early," Lakshmi stated. "We need to go to London this afternoon, though, Hermione has an important errand to run. We'll be back later!"
Dexter sighed as he rubbed his forehead.
"Um, sorry for disturbing your sleep." Hermione added in a softer tone.
His smile was barely there, but his light blue eyes were still kind. The professor let out another soft exhale.
"It's not that much of a bother, Hermione. Alright. If you're back again before I'm up, just make sure you've closed the door properly on your way out."
"Definitely will, Professor." Lakshmi nodded with the firmness of a sergeant. She held Hermione's wrist and had started moving on again. A confused Hermione had only realised that their astronomy professor had drifted back in the direction of his bedroom once more and let herself be towed forward to the fireplace. She'd taken some vivid-coloured powder from a pot on the mantelpiece, and handed a handful of it to Hermione.
How did she even know where the floo powder is? Perhaps her friend had had many reasons to leave Hogwarts on weekends before? That was certainly something she can ask later on.
"Let's go to the Leaky Cauldron first, it's safer that way." Lakshmi said.
"Sure thing."
With that, her friend tossed her powder into the flames, turning them green, before calling out their next destination and stepping in. Hermione did the same within a second of her.
'-
Going into Diagon Alley had always given Hermione the vague impression of stepping into a different time—back when most of London's roads were lined with cobblestones and people didn't think that Tudor dab-and-wattle houses did not follow many important safety and building codes. She realised that the commercial alleys weren't even as bad as the ministerial areas where the government offices were—some of the well-maintained streets there were Roman streets still. Those were the parts of the city that were certainly of Londinium instead of London.
The impression never lasted long, as people with modern clothes would fill the thoroughfare (albeit for a particularly dated definition of 'modern'). The occasional bright spark of practical magic here and there—over there was a parent trying to distract a child with a colourful mini-firework—would also break the illusion of past times.
Knockturn Alley didn't give her that same reality check. She and Lakshmi walked through the connecting portal between the two main alleys, and the cobblestones there were darker than the ones in Diagon. It was as if the place had not ventured further than a century ago, when the thick smoke belched by factories stained every stone and wall. They ignored the haphazardly stacked crates to their left and right and walked to the main thoroughfare.
Green smoke curled upwards from the chimney of what she presumed was an apothecary; the sign was worn and unreadable, but the metal cauldron icon was loud and clear. There were fewer people here than in Diagon, barely any children running freely. The plants decorating the sidewalks were drooping. Their clothes were drab here, the movements hurried or furtive.
Most people minded their own business and was not pleased with nosey people.
Hermione moved with the same pacing just as easily with Lakshmi falling into step beside her. Her voice was low when she asked.
"You know where to go?"
"I do."
They'd entered from a point lower in the area, which gave them a view of the more commonplace businesses here, if there were such a thing. Hermione had scanned the numbers around her and saw they were around late 50s. She turned upstream, her gaze flicking at the various establishments from time to time to ensure the numbers were still going down. Now, they were among places numbering in the 30s, and she gainfully ignored a butcher that seemed like it was asking to get investigated by the Ministry of Health sooner or later. At her brisk pace, they passed building numbers in the 20s. Where there had been some anaemic and wilting plants in pots by the sidewalk, those had turned into outright skeletal shrubs at this point.
"Hermione…"
"I know where I'm going, really."
She looked up, checking the hanging signs one by one as she slowed down into a casual walk. Hermione clapped her hands once in satisfaction when one store came into view. It was rather distinctive, with the open iron maiden hanging from the ceiling visible even from the outside of its wide windows. She couldn't help curling her nose at the rust-coloured stains on it, though—that was very unhygienic. At least they were dry. She saw at least two different desiccated hands laid carefully on pillows displayed right at the window.
Lakshmi's grip on her arm pulled her out of her observation.
"Why do you need to visit a store that sells hands of glory? Is that what you're looking for?"
"Of course not. That's really…low tech."
"What?"
"There are many other charms and spells you could use to have the same soporific effect on a whole house. I bet Vespasian could tell you more than one potion you can evaporate with the same effects too." Hermione explained as she pushed the doors of number 13B open. She wasn't too worried—a quick sweep showed that there weren't many hiding places and the actual store counter was still farther in. There didn't seem to be any people near them either.
In her enthusiasm to walk in, she missed Lakshmi's bizarre expression at her explanation. Her friend merely shook her head, a bemused smile on her lips when she saw that Hermione didn't notice it at all.
Lakshmi followed her, but did so with her wand out. Hermione didn't blame her—it was not a bad thing to do, even, especially since she didn't know how fast Lakshmi could actually draw her wand in an emergency. The crossed the hanging iron maiden quickly; Hermione did not know how solid the chains holding it up were, and she wasn't going to trust it unless she'd tested it herself.
"Are we sure this place is safe?" the other Ravenclaw asked, louder.
Hermione glanced back once, noticing the various torture implements hung up.
"Yeah, all the blood splatter and…bodily fluids are biohazards, aren't they? They look old enough and dry enough that I don't worry much at this point. I don't think they pose a risk to healthy people right now."
Hermione only heard Lakshmi's long, drawn out sigh after that.
The place surprisingly did not smell of dust. It was worn and old, but quite decently kept. She could catch traces of dried blood and other similar offal messes. Memories of walking into old dungeons flickered by. There was the scent of vellum, dried skin, and that odd sweetness that hung around old people along with random potpourri.
She snorted when she located one; it was a skull with its top cut off filled with dried flowers and herbs.
"Excuse me? Anyone here?" Hermione called out.
She walked further in—the counter was half glass and half wood, perfect to display smaller items like rings, necklaces and other shiny trinkets perfect to lure people into an impulse buy. There was a shuffling sound further in, and incoming steps. Hermione casually knocked the glass panel—it had a dull thud sound, instead of a clear ring. Much thicker than it looks, and probably charmed to be unbreakable too.
"Ah, good morning, Ladies! Here to find something interesting?"
The wizard appeared before them, floating from the gloom, his footsteps as quiet as a cat. The brunette heard her friend took a careful step back. The proprietor has a sprinkling of grey in his hair already, but like many middle-age wizards, he was of a vague age. His smile was wide and welcoming, but Hermione did not miss the sharp gleam in his eyes.
"Something like that. Am I speaking to Mr. Burke or Borgin?"
"I'm Caractacus Burke, Dearie."
"Well, Mr. Burke, I'm looking to buy a few interesting trinkets and jewellery. I've heard that your shop can be trusted to have the most fascinating items this side of Knockturn Alley." Hermione said this with a polite smile.
Lakshmi had narrowed her eyes at the proprietor when he showed up, but was now more interested observing the various offerings the shop had. She did give Hermione a disbelieving glance for a second before she hid it again, right when the brunette was buttering up the shopkeeper. Hermione ignored it, of course.
"Ah, Christmas is coming up, isn't it?"
"Yes, very much so. Now, I want to see all your rings, pendants, necklaces, cufflinks and the like. I do have to find something for my beau." Hermione might not be really good at lying, but she can certainly carry the truth rather far. If there was a truth to the light colour dusting her cheeks, it was definitely due to the mild embarrassment at having to call Tom her beau.
She saw Mr. Burke making a quick assessment of them. Their appearances were not flashy, but Lakshmi's clothes were certainly of fine make and quality. Even the coat Hermione wore right now was several steps up from the second-hand one she received out of pity from the infirmary's lost-and-found.
"Ah, young love. Are you also looking for something impressive for the next Hogwarts ball too, Miss…?"
"Granger."
"Ah, of the Dagworth-Grangers, is it?"
Hermione only smiled mysteriously and shrugged. "Well, you know how it is. It's really hard to stand out when the old families have generations' worth of jewellery to choose from."
Their inane small talk went on for a bit, before Mr. Burke went back to procure 'the better jewellery, the real gold treasures' from the back. Lakshmi sidled right next to her.
"Dagworth-Grangers?" her left eyebrow was raised.
"My mother is a Granger."
Lakshmi snorted at her oh-so-innocent tone but said nothing else about it. "Do you know what you're looking for, or are you still fishing?"
"I do. But I can't look too desperate."
Her friend nodded. "Oh, I agree. I just didn't think you'd know to do that too."
It was Lakshmi's turn to ignore Hermione's faux-outraged look.
Mr. Burke came back with a tray piled with boxes. He placed it down on the counter and started opening them up one by one. They were certainly far more impressive than the ones on display. There were necklaces with sapphires the size of a robin's egg, a bangle studded with emeralds. There were pearl cufflinks, diamond cufflinks and ivory ones, and Hermione couldn't help wondering which now-bankrupt pureblood families once owned them. Which branch families were no better off than the average muggleborn family now? A part of her was morbidly curious to see the examples of pureblood families' decline in real time.
With a quick reminder to herself to get her artificial gemstone experiment going sooner or later as a source of funds, she set aside two cufflinks already, one of green jasper and another of indigo opal that reminded her of Tom's eyes. Lakshmi was also drawn in by the shiny stuffs, and had started picking through some necklace with a focus that made Hermione half certain already that her friend was going to buy at least one of them.
"Mr. Burke, we can get a friendlier price if we're buying half a dozen of things at once, right?" Lakshmi asked.
"Of course, my dear, of course! It can all be arranged."
Hermione saw Mr. Burke's complacent and satisfied expression at a side-glance while Lakshmi asked various questions about the different items she was picking up. He seemed sure that he'd managed to get two pureblood heiresses to buy his merchandise (and in the case of Lakshmi, she didn't think he was that wrong in his assessment). Still, it conveniently freed her to start looking further, to start opening the boxes he hadn't gotten around to. There was a delicate bracelet with little bluebells and white daisies on them that Hermione couldn't help but think would fit Eugenie very well and pulled that to her stash too.
She moved farther from Lakshmi to check the other items.
I really need to start making some large gems for the Knights.
It was somewhat disappointing to see that the rings she'd found were mostly gaudy with huge stones; you could take out someone's eye if you waved your arm a little too enthusiastically one day. Most of them weren't to her preference. Heck, she didn't know anyone who would fit their preference. A few rings had secret compartments that swung open when she pressed on a button or pulled a small switch—for poison or antidote, she had no idea.
Cute, though. The one with the skull head motif out of ivory was definitely cheeky. She thought it suited Ves very well. She was sure he wouldn't really keep poison in the secret compartment—that would be too easy to track these days. Why would he shoot himself in the foot so easily? It would still be a fun conversational piece. Hermione took another step to the left.
When she felt that she was far enough from them, she slid her wand down and stealth-summoned Slytherin's Locket.
That spell combination was something she and Harry worked on. The initial wand movements were the same as any Accio, but it didn't quite finish once it had locked on its target and bound it into the summoning. It segued first into a notice-me-not charm, distant-casting it (the wand movement was a little more complicated than the usual, but it worked, and she and Harry declared it done because they weren't looking forward to having to debug it for several more months just for the purpose of reducing the number of movements). Only after all that was done did she finish the movement for the summoning.
Hermione thought she could hear rustling through clothes or papers. Something zipped out in the air—something that seemed merely like a shimmer of air over the asphalt on a hot day. She felt the air movement, her hand instinctively raised up. Something soon fell into it with a cool clink.
She dropped it casually among her pile of trinkets, the notice-me-not charm was not quite dispelled but already at half strength. The locket was noticeable as one, but merely as a boring item.
Seeing that Lakshmi was still taking her time, she decided to relax and simply continue to see whether there were other interesting items to be had. It was another quarter or half an hour later before Lakshmi was satisfied and Hermione was certain she'd checked every closed box and assessed the various items she'd found accurately.
"Alright, so how much for each of us?" Lakshmi asked.
From her enthusiastic expression, one would be hard-pressed to recall that the witch that had been wary at stepping into the store had been the same person. Lakshmi certainly bounced back lightning fast.
"Well, let me calculate for you both…"
Mr. Burke started adding the price up to find the total and Lakshmi started haggling, Hermione gladly let her practice something she had more expertise in. The brunette merely chimed in once in a while. There was the time she took her wand out and cast a simple charm to detect curses and a few items on her and Lakshmi's pile glowed a dull red. It wasn't a wrong decision to wear gloves today, otherwise, some of those curses would've been triggered immediately.
"Aha!" Lakshmi crowed triumphantly, recognising the spell Hermione just cast. "Look at that! We'll have to spend some money to remove the curses! We should get a price cut for that!"
The proprietor harrumphed but couldn't really disagree with the evidence. "Well, I can fix that very quickly. It would not need to be a concern at all, really."
"Fix?"
"Yes, let me take them for now."
Mr. Burke pulled both of their items closer to him, taking the cursed ones, and proceeded to do exactly as he promised on the table behind the counter. His method was a tad on the crude side—Hermione pulled Lakshmi to duck down at least once when the backlash came with a small explosion. Otherwise, the wizard seemed to be as good as he said he was and at the speed he promised; no sign of curses came up the next time she checked.
Mr. Burke seemed proud of this; Lakshmi pointed out some flaws on some of the items. He said that a quick Reparo would work on them. Lakshmi said that she wouldn't mind doing that herself if only there was a guarantee that it would work. Hermione stepped in at this point to cast Reparo on all of the items on their stashes before it dragged out for too long. Most looked better. Some stayed flawed, probably because it was not a mere crack, but a missing gem or two.
"Still broken!" Lakshmi pointed at them.
For those, the proprietor reluctantly reduced the prices.
There was another round or two of that, at which point Hermione wandered away to the display at the front window to dispel her slight boredom. Lakshmi magnanimously chose yet another item, and they were very nearly done.
Hermione placed an opal necklace she'd picked up from the front on the counter.
"You're not going to argue that you should get reduced price due to the curse, are you?" Mr. Burke looked at Hermione sceptically.
"That's also cursed?" Lakshmi stared at the necklace.
"Well, of course I'd like a price reduction." Hermione answered.
"The curse is the whole point!" He complained.
"Yes, but this isn't a minor one." she countered, taking her wand out and starting to cast a far more complicated curse-revealing charm.
"It definitely isn't!"
The necklace glowed with a vivid red, the light of a baleful fire worthy of a demonic idol. Lakshmi took two steps away from it, while Mr. Burke simply looked proud.
"See? First grade fatal curse! They don't make things like that anymore these days."
"For a very good reason," Lakshmi murmured.
"I'll gladly take it off you," Hermione said, still with the same calm tone, "with a slight reduction for a cursed item, of course,"
"Out of the question."
"Or, I can report the store to the Department of Mysteries for possession of a dangerous artefact for assassination purposes. It's such a shame if an honest merchant were to have uncomfortable questions asked simply for doing business…but both of us would profit if you were to simply sell it. It would go away and cease to be your problem."
Mr. Burke sputtered at 'assassination' and how that was simply slander, but even his complaints and excuses sounded weak to her ears.
She couldn't help the slight goosebumps she felt for channelling Tom at that point. Urgh, that felt moderately slimy. Hermione felt like spitting out something when she said 'honest merchant'. She was sure that Mr. Burke was nowhere near one. It was necessary, though, to use the carrot and stick, because the faster she could remove that accursed necklace from circulation, the better. Hermione had recognised the necklace from both the description and from a memory Harry had shared with them from sixth year, and seen the item in the evidence chamber, albeit already somewhat broken by then.
Lakshmi actually looked impressed at her threats.
"So, how is it? I'll secure this, make sure it wouldn't be endangering anyone randomly, and it wouldn't be a problem for you either, Mr. Burke. How about it?"
It surprised none of them that Caractacus Burke folded easily under Hermione's cool smile.
'-
They didn't talk much until they were back in Diagon Alley, at which point Lakshmi laughed in relief, and Hermione followed not long after.
"I can't believe you walked away after threatening the owner like that!"
"Why not? He needed threatening. Otherwise, that damned cursed necklace is going to get somebody killed!" Hermione complained. Lakshmi rolled her eyes.
"Who even buys stuff at that crusty place regularly? It's not going anywhere."
"Somebody would one day, even if it's not tomorrow, or even next year. I'm just not taking that risk."
"You were taking a risk when you threatened him." Lakshmi pointed out, and the worry in her voice was real.
The brunette felt touched, but she only shook her head.
"He wouldn't dare bring an Unspeakables investigation on his shop. With the kind of stuffs he displays, he struck me as somebody with too many things to hide—much more serious things than a cursed necklace. It would be much easier for him to just let me pay for it and leave with the damned thing."
They window-shopped as they walked, taking a much more casual, meandering path while heading towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour while talking about everything and nothing. At Fortescue's, they walked in, taking one of the seats inside and picked the desserts of their choice. Ice cream weren't a great seller in winter, obviously, but their wide range of cobblers were still delicious—not to mention that you can still add a scoop of ice cream or so on top of it.
Once both of their orders were in, Hermione cast a soundproof bubble around them.
"Alright, we're back on mostly-safe ground. Ask your questions."
She'd seen the curious looks her friend sent her as they walked, even if Lakshmi has asked nothing. It was how she was one of the people who had collected the most rumours, gossips and secrets in Hogwarts—her sense of discretion was at least as strong as her curiosity. It was also why Hermione felt certain enough about going with her company today.
"What questions?" Lakshmi asked back, unconvincingly.
"The spell I just cast is soundproof and it also blurs the movement of the lips and obfuscates lip-readers as well. We're pretty safe from eavesdroppers even now, really." Hermione assured.
Lakshmi took one more glance around, before she dropped any feeble pretence of disinterest.
"What item were you looking for Riddle?"
Hermione rummaged through the small mokeskin bag she had and pulled the locket out. She dropped it on the table. Lakshmi pulled it closer to observe.
She whistled when she saw what it was.
"Morgana's tits, Hermione—is this even real?"
If she didn't tell Lakshmi about it, Hermione doubted she could actually come up with a satisfactory alternative answer on the spot. It wasn't as if she knew what other treasures might be hiding in the store.
"It's the real thing. I didn't even find it among the items that Mr. Borgin brought out—I found it only because I used a summoning spell to find it. It literally flew from the depths of the store after I summoned for Slytherin's Locket."
Lakshmi opened her mouth wordlessly for a few seconds before closing it again.
"You…you do know what Salazar means for the Slytherins in general, right?"
Hermione leaned forward. "You can keep a secret, right? I've seen you smiling mysteriously at some rumours or another, only to laugh out loud when the truth came out later. Lucretia said that you know several of hers and you've always kept them, so I can trust you with any of mine if I feel like it."
"You don't have to tell me anything," Lakshmi suddenly cut in. "I don't betray my friends—of course I was going to keep Lucretia's secret! But you don't need to tell me anything if you're uncertain."
It was an unexpected expression of solemnity from a witch who rarely took anything seriously, or cared for much. Hermione couldn't help but feel warmer at that.
"How's your occlumency?"
"Solid. It's not the absolute strongest and whatnot, but I can definitely start screaming and fighting back at unfriendly attempts, or just run away before anyone can find anything beyond surface thoughts."
"Tom's a Slytherin descendant." Hermione stated.
Lakshmi didn't even blink, unimpressed. "Heard that rumour from third year."
"That's the thing; it's not a rumour. It's true."
Her friend snorted with not a little amusement.
"Come on, Hermione. I know that you favour him, but he's not going to be the first of the last person to claim that."
Hermione's expression didn't change.
"One word—Parselmouth."
The dark-haired witch stared at her unblinking for a few seconds, before she started shaking her head. She glanced at the locket, then at Hermione again, before giving up and turning her attention back to the peach cobbler she'd ordered and started cutting and eating it. She murmured half-thoughts under her breath all the while, waffling between how the control he had over a good number of Slytherins made sense and yet it was all too annoyingly coincidental and she was tired of the whole secret prince type of bullshit prophecy.
That last part made Hermione chuckle. She took the locket back in and turned her attention to her own apple cobbler.
"Have you seen his familiar? He keeps it out of sight of most people. It's a python. He gives it orders and argue with it easily." the brunette added. "Many of the more well-known heirs of pureblood families in Slytherin are actually aware of this. They're just keeping it a secret for now."
Lakshmi glared at her for a moment before sighing and rubbing her forehead.
"So, you're dating the Heir of Slytherin." Lakshmi began.
Hermione nodded. "That's what I was trying to say."
"I don't even know where to…how did you find out that the locket was there?"
"If I tell you, the Department of Mysteries would probably need to kidnap you to one of their mysterious chambers. Don't ask."
Lakshmi groaned.
"Why do I get the feeling that you could've done this alone?"
Hermione shook her head. "I can't. I might be able to steal it, but that would put people on alert too much, not to mention the risks of being searched or followed. You were a really great distraction there. Plus, I might have missed all the other items without your assistance."
And well, she didn't think she'd outright steal it. That was just…wrong? It was a stupid feeling to have about a shady shop like Borgin and Burke's, but her principles wasn't something she could ignore easily. (She also didn't think that it was a good thing to start ignoring her personal standards for small things—soon, she'd be ignoring the larger issues too).
Her friend nodded slowly.
"Ah, yes. I have to admit that his more normal inventory is surprisingly varied and interesting."
"So, yes, thank you. I don't think I'd have done it without you." Hermione said, her words earnest and true.
"Really, it's not a big deal. We're friends." Lakshmi insisted, waving it away.
Yet Hermione could still see how her friend's lips couldn't stop curving up slightly at the corners, or how there was the subtle smile at the corner of her eyes. It meant something, even if she didn't want to say it.
A part of her had been worried of what she might have resorted to if the locket hadn't been at the shop, and that she'd have to find Hepzibah Smith instead to locate it. Perhaps she'd get the witch to sell it to her. But what if she was stubborn? What if she requested an irrationally high price? Hermione didn't think she was an unscrupulous person, but she wouldn't trust herself to enter such a situation where there was no easy solution without someone else watching her back.
She needed someone who wouldn't judge the lengths she was going for a dinky ornament, yet she also needed someone whose presence would remind her of who she was. That Hermione was not someone who would jump headlong into the darker side of magic without looking back.
"Plus, that hidden fact about Riddle? That more than pays for it, Darling. It would give me much more insight into Slytherin House dynamics."
Hermione grinned.
"Well, what are friends for?"
'-
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End Notes:
When they entered Borgin and Burke's Lakshmi was seriously thinking 'no, Hermione, the first thing that worries me about this place is not their hygiene practices...' but she figured out that her friend doesn't quite get it and gave up commenting further.
Considering the way human memory works, I'm also sceptical that a memory viewed via pensieve would be a perfect, movie-like reconstruction. I'm down with the magical folks having sharper and longer memories than the non-magical ones, but you can't recall what your brain had decided not to keep in the first place. So, perfect-view pensieve world is something I consider an artefact of making the HP movies (it's easier to just shoot and add a colour filter), but barely any recalled memories are like that.
'-
Random lists of stuff:
Hand of glory: (historical item) the hand of a hanged man, cut off after he was hung. Dried off a bit and preserved, and turned into a candle via various means. It is said that if you chant a particular (magic) chant as you light it in front of a house, the people in the house will sleep deeply and you're free to enter and burglarise the place. That's the belief among some thieves, anyway.
Iron Maiden: (torture device) a giant sarcophagus with spikes of metal inside. The idea is of course to put someone in and close the door, ensuring that they're punctured by the spikes from top to bottom. The challenge in constructing it is to ensure that you're not putting spikes anywhere it would make people die too fast (like puncturing the heart). I think this is a hard challenge that wouldn't be managed by many creators of the thing, especially when you have to keep in mind that the people that would be placed inside would have varying height and girth, so the spikes would hit different spots.
'-