* This chapter is broken. I'm actively working on fixing it but I haven't figured out what is actually wrong
Chapter Four
The next morning everyone came together as they
prepared to go to Diagon Alley. Dumbledore was incredibly
cautious so they had an Order escort. Along with Molly and
Arthur they were also accompanied by Sirius, Tonks, Bill, Fleur, and Kingsley. Sirius and Tonks were glued to Harry and
Hermione as they walked through the crowded Alley. "Why
didn't Remus join us?" Harry asked as they walked out of
Flourish and Blotts, "Dumbledore has him talking to some of the other Werewolf packs, He'll be gone until the next full moon." The boy's shoulders fell slightly "Dang, I didn't even get to see him." Sirius squeezed his godson's shoulder "I know pup, he was disappointed too." Sirius's eyes lingered on Hermione, who was currently checking her list for the 13th time since they had been there.
Harry, Ron, and Ginny were in Quality Quidditch and most
of the adults were with them. Sirius and Tonks stayed outside
so Hermione didn't have to go in. The young girl had noticed
that Sirius had seemed sort of off for most of the day. He just
seemed sad, she wondered if it was because Remus was gone. "You ok Sirius?" She asked after watching him mope around. "Yeah, just..." He paused, "I'm in my head I guess, this place holds a lot of memories." Hermione smiled sadly at him, "I met one of my best friends here." He explained. "Harry's dad?" Sirius shook his head, "No, no, he and I met on the train. No, My was different." He said. "My?" Hermione asked. "Yeah, that's what I called her. She was technically my cousin but I hadn't met her prior to then." She gave him a questioning look "That's a little odd don't you think?" She asked, "Not really, my uncle did his best to avoid my family. I only saw him a few times at big gatherings. "But they were here, shopping for My's first year the same time we were shopping for mine. She seemed almost scared of me at first, at the time I could only assume it was because of my mom, but before we parted ways she had warmed up to me quite a bit and we agreed to see each other again on the train." Hermione could see the unshed tears in his eyes. "What happened to her?" She asked, "Same thing that happened to everyone. The first war, she was just gone. We never truly had an answer for what happened. We assumed she died but even now we aren't fully sure." His voice was gruff with a dormant anger. "I'm sorry," Sirius shook his head, "Don't be, there's no use in being stuck in the past." He said as he turned around and walked off. Hermione looked towards Tonks, "I shouldn't have asked him"
"No, he needs to talk about her every now and then. It's good
for him" Hermione thought on it. She wondered why no one had ever spoken about Sirius's cousin before.
Soon the rest of the group exited the store. "Well now that
everyone has completed their lists, why do we go visit the
twins?" Bill asked, he was answered with a chorus of
agreements and the group was now making their way to the
end of the alley where the very brightly colored shop sat.
Hermione wasn't at all surprised when she saw how busy the
shop was. Each display was lined with students, and every isle was crowded. Her immediate thought was that somehow the Weasley twins were going to cause her more trouble out of
school then when they were in school. Ginny was looking at the Pygmy Puffs, "Are you getting one?" Hermione asked, Ginny looked longingly at the little creatures "I was thinking about it, they're just so cute and I don't really have my own pet." the two girls watched as the little puffballs rolled around in their pen. "Woah!" A voice yelled from behind them, making both girls jump. They turned to find Tonks looking into the pen as well. "They're... odd little creatures I guess?" The witch's nose was wrinkled and her hair had turned an odd shade of green. "What? Not a fan our furry little creations?" George asked from behind her. "Not a fan of most small furry things. They weird me out." Tonks said with a barely repressed shiver. Hermione and Ginny giggled and George turned towards them. "So you girls thinking of getting one?" He asked. Ginny nodded "Yeah but I want to know a bit more about them first." George launched into a sales pitch and Hermione went to peruse the rest of the store. She was more than a little shocked when she found the "love" potions. She was reading the ingredients when Fred popped up behind her. "Looking to catch someone's attention Granger?" Hermione jumped, not realizing he was there. "No, why would you sell something like this? They're illegal for a reason!" She reprimanded. "They aren't a true love potion, there has to be some sort of underlying affection there for it to work, and even then it wears off pretty quickly." She wrinkled her nose, "It's still wrong." Fred shrugged "Easy for you to say, not all of us have famous Quidditch players following us around like lost puppies." Hermione rolled her eyes "Viktor and I are just friends." "What's this about Krum?" Ron asked while he and Harry
approached them. "Oh I was just asking Granger why she
needs a love potion when she has Krum." Fred said. "What?!"
Ron yelled "You said you two were just friends!" He said turning on her. "We are!" Hermione responded, her face was
completely red. Harry felt bad for her so he quickly ushered her to another corner of the store. The two browsed the Skiving Snackboxes sticking close together. "Viktor and I are not together." Hermione said. "I know, you know how Ron is, he just gets jealous easily." Harry said softly. "Why? It's not like he has anything to be jealous over." Harry looked to his best friend. She was intentionally looking away from him but he could see the light blush on her cheeks. "You should talk to him, you know he never will." Harry said without looking at her. Hermione snorted, "The same could be said to you, yet here you are." Harry blushed, "Gin won't wait for you forever you know?" She said "Neither will Ron," He responded quickly.
A/N This one is short and I'm not particularly happy with it but it needed to exist. So flame away cause you won't say anything worse than I already have. Also I feel like I need to mention that Ron is definitely not painted in a good light for the first leg of the story. It will get better later on though. Also Dumbledore is not painted in a good light either but that won't change.