AN: Hello, fanfiction and Harry Potter fans. I do not own Harry Potter, but feel free to enjoy this or hate it. If you enjoy it, please leave a lovely comment, if you hate it, then leave some constructive criticism, thanks!

Can You Take the Jump?

Chapter 39

Lily groaned as her alarm clock began to ring at the ungodly hour of 6 AM.

Unlike her younger sister, Lily was not a morning person. During school, she would wake up as late as she possibly could so she wouldn't skip breakfast, and during the weekends she would skip breakfast altogether to sleep in. During the summers, it would be rare to see Lily outside her room before 11 AM. It wasn't that she was lazy—she was actually quite diligent—but she was someone who needed more sleep than others to function properly.

She walked into the kitchen like an Inferius, "Coffee."

"Good morning, Lils." Hermione greeted her by giving her the cup of coffee she so desperately needed.

She smiled at her sister in thanks and sipped the delicious coffee that only Hermione seemed to be able to make. She was dressed in her running attire, sweat glistening off her forehead and neck. She must have returned from her run not too long ago.

"What's the day going to be like for you today at the Committee?" She asked as she placed two slices of toast with margarine on the table for her. Their parents had already left for work, while Petunia slept after a night of partying with her friends.

Lily's tired eyes lit up, "I'm part of a team that's working with magical prosthetists to figure out how to help the neural connections between the amputees and their magical prosthetics. It's difficult, but it's so amazing!"

"Is this the reason you were up later than usual?"

Lily nodded as she took another sip of coffee. "I'm new and I'm still trying to figure my way around the office, let alone making new spells. I'll have to drop by Flourish and Botts during lunch to pick up some books about magical prosthetics, so I'll come by Ollivander's to visit."

Hermione had accepted Mr. Ollivander's job proposal and was working as a part-time assistant at his wand shop. Being unfamiliar and untrained in both wand-making and wand matching, Hermione's main job was mostly business management. She took inventory, managed the books, maintained the shop, and checked the shipment of the different types of materials that Mr. Ollivander required for new wands. It was a lot of menial work, but Hermione didn't mind, it filled the day and she enjoyed being surrounded by magic. Like Mr. Ollivander had mentioned when he first proposed the job, underage magic was allowed within his shop, a loophole created to allow new budding students to test out their new wands.

Also, unlike Lily's unpaid internship, Mr. Ollivander gave generous biweekly paycheques.

"You should, I'll buy you lunch."

Lily gave her a big smile. "Can we get ice cream at Florean Fortescue's after?"

"If we have time."

Hermione watched as Lily hummed with joy as she ate her toast. It was nice to see a glimpse of Lily's future as an adult. She could imagine her sister's life with James, their domesticity and happiness. In the future that Hermione created in her mind, Lily would stay up during the night to study and research the spells she was inventing for her job with the Committee of Experimental Charms. Being the supportive husband he was, James would wake up early and make breakfast after his morning workout. Then, he would go to Puddlemere United's quidditch stadium as their star Chaser. When Harry came along, both James and Lily would take their respective maternal and paternal leave to focus on raising their child together, taking turns during the night to feed him and lull him back to sleep.

In the future she saw for her sister, Voldemort was gone and dead, allowing the couple to follow their dreams and passions, rather than their sense of duty to fight the war.

It was almost ridiculous how invested she was in the future she imagined for her sister and her future husband.

"How's James doing at the DMLE? Isn't he doing an internship with his father?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Who knows. Instead of spending time at the department he's supposed to be in, he basically lives at the Department of Games and Sports. I'm pretty sure Sirius's role of Best Friend has been replaced by the Head of the Quidditch League."

The mention of Sirius made Hermione's chest constrict. It'd been over a month since school ended and she hadn't not a single word from him. She'd expected it, but his absence and silence left her feeling worried and anxious.

"Sirius is replaced by Ludo Bagman?"

"No, who's that?"

Hermione blinked, realizing her slip of the tongue. She'd been too preoccupied with Sirius's situation that she'd just told Lily the future Head of the Quidditch League. Ludo Bagman was still the star Beater of the Wimbourne Wasps at this time. "Oh, I must've been confused. Who's the head?"

"Some guy." Lily shrugged. "I never bothered to know his name. He's a bit of an arse."

"Well, I'll let Sirius know that he's been replaced, next time I see him."

"Oh, he'll be heartbroken." Lily giggled.

Hermione raised her brow, "Who knows, maybe I'll be replaced by the head of the Quidditch league when Sirius visits James at work."

"Don't worry that guy's nowhere near as pretty as you." Lily mockingly reassured. "He's balding and has wrinkles everywhere."

"Who said he'll be the girlfriend?"

Lily laughed out loud, "Sirius is pretty. Prettier than some girls." She acknowledged. "Maybe you should be nervous."

"If Sirius decides to leave me for a successful balding man, I'll fully support him. Who am I to stop true love?"

Lily snorted.

She gave her sister a tentative glance, "Have you spoken with Sirius lately?" Lily had heard about Sirius going to the continent for some kind of Pureblood finishing school. No one said it, but everyone assumed it was his punishment from his family for dating Hermione.

"No."

Lily bit her tongue at her sister's curt response. She just had to ruin their easy-going conversation with her stupid curiosity, didn't she?

She cleared her plate and started getting ready for work, but she placed a hand on her sister's shoulder as a sign of support before rushing out.

With a sigh, she washed the dishes, taking her time to get ready since Ollivander's didn't open until noon. Mr. Ollivander spent the mornings working on his craft, making wands to add to his already impressive inventory, then focused his efforts on sales during the afternoon. However, Hermione planned on arriving a few hours earlier to do some work of her own.

She walked quietly around the house, cautious about waking Petunia before she was ready. She cooked a hearty brunch, in hopes her sister would be up by then to enjoy a meal to cure the hangover she would probably experience.

Hermione stepped upstairs and took a hot shower to ease the muscle aches she was experiencing. Ever since summer began, Sirius's ever-loving presence next to her in bed was no longer a luxury she had. Her sleep had become restless, once more, her dreams plaguing her nights.

Sirius. He was plaguing her mind more and more frequently these days. She became contemplative when she stepped out of the shower and wiped the condensation off the mirror. The dark circles that had significantly lessened with Sirius's stubborn presence by her side had darkened once more, and her reliance on painkillers and potions had gone back to its original level.

"Who knew I'd become this dependent on Sirius Black." She muttered to herself as she placed a glamour charm on herself.

There was a part of her that debated on asking someone in her family to sleep with her, but Lily was already sacrificing sleep for this internship, her parents were struggling with money these days since their father's company was on the rocks, and Tuny…was Tuny.

Sirius's absence had been noted by the Evans household this summer, prompting her parents to tentatively ask whether they'd broken up.

"Walburga, what are you doing to him." She sighed as she rubbed moisturizer on herself aggressively to let out some of the anger and frustration she felt towards the witch. She had Regulus keeping an eye out for his older brother's wellbeing, but concern still bloomed in her chest.

She grabbed a pair of jeans from her closet and wore a thin long-sleeved shirt, keeping with neutral colours. She didn't have many magical robes to wear to work, but professional work attire for women in the 70s was not suitable for the work in Ollivander's shop. Instead, she chose to go with a clean and simple look, without too many flashy colours that would attract more attention to herself regardless of the world she was stepping into, whether it was magical or muggle.

It was still too early to leave, but a shipment of ash wood was going to come in at 10 and she wanted to be there to receive it so that Mr. Ollivander could focus on making his wands, leaving her plenty of time to work on her own projects.

Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she wrote a small note to Petunia telling her that food was prepared for her in the kitchen and slid it under her door, then grabbed her keys and locked up as she left.

She walked to a secluded corner of her neighbourhood and stuck her wand hand in the air. Within seconds, the Knight Bus came to a terrifying halt in front of her.

"To Diagon Alley, miss?" The driver asked, recognizing her from the past few weeks.

"Yes, thank you."

…

Lily followed the prosthetist like a lovestruck puppy, taking down notes on how their charms were integrating with the sample prosthetics they had brought in.

"Large motions are working great." The prosthetists complimented. "My patients and clients are happy that they're able to wave to people, give handshakes, and kick a ball with their kids. It's the first movement they've made with their limbs since they've lost their original ones. They're incredibly grateful."

"That's great to hear, but we're still working to improve the fine motor skills." Lily's boss, Siegfried Blane, noted. "It's not like waving, handshakes, and kicking a ball are the only things a limb does."

"But it's progress, people are incredibly thankful."

Blane nodded but was clearly dissatisfied with the progress they were making. "We'll keep you updated. Thank you for your donations of the prosthetics. We will handle them with the utmost care."

"Of course." The prosthetist nodded and left the team to ponder on their latest review.

"So it works!" Graham Mallory tactlessly cheered; high-fiving Nadia Prithika next to him.

"It's not enough," Prithika rolled her eyes. "We have to make it better so that people can do more things. At least get the fine motor skills advanced enough to write."

"I want them to have tactile sensation too," Blane added.

The group raised their brows at the ambitious goal.

"Sir, that's—" The ever-logical Ahmed Diab interjected, only to be interrupted by Blane.

"A lot. I know. It's a working goal, not a set one."

Lily admired how, as the Head of the Department and their team, Blane set an example of himself for the others to look up to. He took on a lot of responsibility, he was the first to arrive in the office, working on new theories, and running new tests. At the end of the day, he was the last to leave. He celebrated the loudest when their projects were successes and worked harder than anyone else when they failed.

In other words, Lily was desperate to impress him.

"I'm not sure if this will be of any help," Lily tentatively voiced. She wasn't usually this meagre when it came to voicing her own opinion or thoughts, but she was surrounded by adults who had years of experience in this field under their belt. "I think we should bring in a Healer into this team. I've tried studying a Healer's textbook on the nervous system, but the jargon and context made my head hurt. Even if they don't know how to create charms, having a Healer's perspective might be helpful and useful."

"We've already thought of that," Ahmed explained. "But most healers don't have the time to add their input for these types of projects. If there's an understaffed field, it's Healers, especially those who are specialized in certain areas? Hiring seasons for Healers are often more competitive than the drafts for the Quidditch teams."

"Also, most of them don't even understand why we do this," Nadia added. "With magic being so versatile, a lot of people live normal unhindered lives without limbs in the Wizarding community."

"Oh," Lily's shoulders dropped. Of course, they'd thought of this avenue. "Right."

Blane smiled at her, "But what you say has validity. We used to have a consultant that would give us notes every once in a while, but…he passed away. I believe he was your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor last year?"

"Professor Black?"

"Yes, Alphard Black." Nadia nodded. "He told us that he would give us some more notes because he knew we were stuck on this issue of fine motor skills, but then he fell sick and we didn't want to rush him for the notes. If we'd known he'd pass away…"

"There's a chance he may have written the notes, just never got them passed to you." Lily reasoned. "Why haven't you asked to look at some of his personal belongings?"

"We would have to ask his next of kin for that type of information, but his sister is not someone you'd want to spend even a second of your time with."

Hermione. Lily thought to herself. Hermione might be able to get her hands on his personal notes and help us.

"I know someone who can help us search for his notes," Lily spoke up. "Someone far closer to Professor Black than his sister was."

…

Hermione admired the giant clump of ash wood that they'd received. She imagined the unique wand that Ollivander would make out of this wood. She took in a deep breath, smelling the wood, the sawdust, and other materials Ollivander used in the workshop behind his store. It was an area that most people never saw, but she was immensely glad to have seen and experienced it.

She watched in silence on the sidelines as Mr. Ollivander inspected a unicorn hair's condition, checking under a magical microscope, searching for any fraying, discolouration, and other imperfections.

"See here?" He pointed at the white hair, but Hermione couldn't see with her naked eye what he was pointing to. "The sheen of the hair is different, it's these types of inconsistencies that make wands fail later on. It won't do." He threw the hair over his head, making Hermione scramble to catch it. "Ollivanders make wands for life!"

Hermione had heard those 5 words on repeat for the past month, yet she wasn't sure if it was the Ollivander family's motto or one, he's made for himself.

The older man pulled out another unicorn hair from his pile and started inspecting every millimetre.

It took him months to make one wand since the process was tedious and meticulous. Apparently, it took decades to know which wood was the best match for which core and its length, and it was only Mr. Ollivander's 3rd decade, or so he says. Even though the wood might be a good match, there was a difference in which part of the tree it came from, how old the tree was, and what season it was harvested. The core depended on the health of the animal it came from, its age, sex, and its life experiences. With so many variables to consider, it was a shock that it only took a few months to create wands.

"You can leave the ashwood here." Mr. Ollivander told her, his discrete way of dismissing her. She nodded and climbed up the narrow steps to the front of the store where everyone's core childhood memories were made. She breathed in the dry air, magically made dry to prevent mildew and mould to start growing on the many wooden wands, inhaling the smells of wood and magic. She double-checked that the front door was still closed and locked before heading upstairs.

She sat down in her workspace and opened her case of ongoing personal projects. She picked up a handful of galleons, her Protean charmed galleons to be more precise.

Hermione had tinkered with the spell slightly to read out longer sentences, but it also heated up and vibrated, depending on the call.

"Perfect." She set the galleons down and picked up the heavy stacks of books in the case. She was trying to create a new spell these days, but she kept falling into a hiccup. She conjured herself a warm cup of coffee and started her research, only to jump at the sound of the clock ringing at noon.

Knock knock.

"Yes, come in!"

Mr. Ollivander walked in, his eyes scanning the space until they landed on the book she had open in front of her.

"History of Magic?"

"Were you expecting something more insidious?"

Ollivander let out a laugh that meant "no, dear", but actually sounded like, "how did you know"?

Hermione knew that Mr. Ollivander hadn't given her this job purely from the goodness of his heart. She had an inkling it was a favour asked of him by Dumbledore, to keep an eye on her during the summers to ensure that she wasn't doing anything that would make her a target or recruit of Voldemort's antics.

Oh, how men loved to underestimate girls.

"Mr. Ollivander, it's lunch. Should I pick up a lunch for you before we open, and I head off for my break?"

"Yes yes." He nodded, "any soup from Leaky will be fine if they don't have lentil soup."

Hermione exited the shop, only to see that their pavement sign had fallen. A shop like Ollivander's always had foot traffic, but it was never a booming business like the bookstore or a clothing shop since most people only needed one wand their entire life. It was Hermione's idea to start selling wand holsters, wand polish, and other items to increase sales.

She knelt to pick up the sign but bumped into some as she got up.

"I'm so sorry." Hermione immediately apologized as she turned around. She had to stop a gasp from escaping when she saw the woman in front of her.

The young woman in front of her had long blond hair. The hair was straight with bangs that fell a bit too long, but the hair covering part of her vision didn't seem to bother her. Her tied-dyed shirt stood out in the crowd with its psychedelic colours. She carried a basket full of flowers and some type of potions, while her leather sandals looked handmade with white daisies painted on them. A true hippie of the 70s.

"It's alright. You know, to bump into each other in such an empty street is quite the coincidence, don't you think?"

It wasn't the attire that made Hermione stop, it was her eyes and that voice. The same pale silvery eyes and the same ethereal voice.

She was Luna Lovegood's mother.

"Your eyes." She observed, "it's seen many things."

Out of instinct, Hermione turned her eyes away, and put up her guard, checking her mental walls. In the midst of controlling her outward displays of emotions and controlling her body's reactions, she stopped. This was Luna's mother. Like mother, like daughter, it seemed that they both possessed the ability to see the world in a way that no one else did.

Hermione's first impression of Luna Lovegood was not good, she couldn't understand Luna's sense of logic, but over the years, she'd learned to see Luna's brilliance and charm. It was truly a shame she didn't see it sooner, but she wasn't known to make the same mistakes twice.

"Your eyes seem to see more than most as well," Hermione told her.

She gave her the most brilliant smile.

"Yes, it's quite the blessing."

"Is it?"

Luna's mother stared at her with those silver eyes knowingly. "No, you wouldn't think it a blessing, would you."

"Hermione!" Someone called from the distance.

The two looked towards the sound to see Lily and a group walking towards them.

"You have guests," Luna's mother made to move away. "I'll leave you to."

"Wait," Hermione stopped her. "My name is Hermione. I'm working at Ollivander's for the summer."

"I'm Pandora." She smiled, "Fair well, fellow spirit."

"Who was that?" Lily asked, watching Pandora walk away.

Hermione didn't respond, instead observed the entourage her sister brought with her.

"Oh," Lily turned to the group. "Hermione, this is the team I'm working with at the Committee. This is Nadia Prithika, she's the linguistic expert." A woman with rich brown skin and long raven hair that was neatly braided down her back gave Hermione a small nod. "This is Graham Mallory, he works out most of the wand movements." A tall blonde man with rosy cheeks grinned at her and waved his hand eagerly. "Mr. Ahmed Diab does most of the logistics behind the newly formed spells." A man with a fantastic beard rivalling Dumbledore's, but still dark and only speckled with white hair, stood tall with a vibrant orange turban wrapped around his head. "And you remember Mr. Blane, the head of our department."

"It's a pleasure to see you again. It's the first time since the Yule Ball, isn't it?" The older gentleman extended his hand. Despite his receding hairline, Hermione could tell he was quite the looker in his youth.

"Yes, Mr. Blane. It's nice to see you again. I've heard much about you from my sister. She's very happy to be a part of your department."

"And we're very happy to have her."

Hermione smiled, but stood awkwardly, unsure of what they were doing here. "Well, I need to pick up some lunch for Mr. Ollivander. Have a nice lunch."

Mr. Blane walked next to her, "please allow me to purchase Mr. Ollivander's lunch today."

"Oh, no. It's quite alright, he simply wants some soup."

"Hermione," Lily finally spoke up. "We're actually here to steal you away for the rest of the day. We were wondering if Mr. Ollivander could spare you for today."

"Me? What do you need me for?"

…

After dropping off Mr. Ollivander's lentil soup, Hermione sat in the Leaky Cauldron with Lily and her team as her sister explained their situation.

While Hermione empathized with their predicament, she couldn't give them Alphard's notes. Alphard may have been the type to document everything, but he wasn't organized enough to separate the notes based on the context. If they read his notes, they would read about her.

"I'm sorry." Hermione shook her head. "I can't give you his notes. Not only are they not in my possession, but they are also still Alphard's intellectual property that has been given to Hospital Director Belby for keepsake."

"But you can talk to him for us, right?" Lily asked, her eyes glittering with hope, clueless as to how her request would affect Hermione. She had no idea the information she was asking for would expose her sister to the team.

"Right." Hermione forced herself to smile, lying through her teeth. "I can ask. He might be able to get you copies of the sections he has on your project." He would most certainly not.

"We were hoping to read his actual notes. We don't want to miss anything he might have written in the margins, or later on in his notes."

"Of course." Hermione nodded slowly. Trying to think of a way to let the hopeful team down easily. "I have to warn you that Belby might not be as accommodating as you'd think." Or at least, he better not be. "He's quite possessive of knowledge. He likes the accolades that come along with being the sole proprietor of coveted knowledge."

"It's not his to keep, though. It's Alphard's." Lily argued.

"Which Alphard left behind to him, and for good reason, Alphard has many private notes on his patients in those notes as well. Belby would be breaking healer-patient confidentiality if he simply handed those notes over to you. It's in his hands now, he's not going to let it go just because I asked him." Hermione turned a blind eye to her sister's look of desperation. "You're going to have to be happy with the redacted form of those notes or no notes at all."

"How did you know Alphard?" Nadia asked, carefully watching our argument.

Hermione glanced at Lily, then at her team. The team consisted of some of England's brightest and most talented, perhaps some of the world's, scouted by the Committee to join their team.

"Whatever my association with him, it holds no power anymore." Hermione brushed off the question. "I can ask, but I'm afraid I cannot be of much help to you." She collected her barely touched lunch and stood up to leave. "There are other Healers. I suggest you start looking into getting help from another who is willing to help you."

Hermione felt her sister's burning gaze as she left the Leaky but did not turn back.

…

Later that night, Hermione walked into her home after working some overtime to organize Mr. Ollivander's shop. Dinner was already over, and most of her family were resting in the sitting room watching the telly or reading their own books.

"Hermione," her mother immediately got up to greet their youngest daughter. "How was work darling? Have you had dinner?"

"Work was fine, I was just late to organize some things for Mr. Ollivander so tomorrow morning would run smoothly for him. I ate dinner at the Leaky before coming here."

"Come sit," her mother ushered her into the sitting room. Although her other two sisters were unresponsive to their youngest sister arriving home late, her father raised his arms and pulled her into a strong hug, whilst kissing her on the head.

"I think Mr. Ollivander is working you too hard." He professed.

She shook her head. "I was the one who offered."

It was a rare evening to see their father at home so early. Although they lived in the same house, they hadn't seen each other properly in days. In those few days, it appeared as though Robert Evans had aged. His thinning hair had more speckles of grey than she last remembered, and he had more prominent frown lines between his brows and across his forehead.

"You work too hard." He told her, shaking his head, although she was the one who should've been saying it to him.

"Hmmm, I wonder who I learned that from?"

"Oi, you workaholics. I'm trying to hear the telly." Petunia complained.

Hermione rolled her eyes jokingly as she passed her gaze to Lily, who'd remained silent since her arrival.

The silent treatment. She was upset from their encounter early today. Her pride was also likely wounded. Lily had dragged her whole team to see her during their lunch hours, which probably meant that Lily had ensured that Hermione would be able to help. But seeing how Hermione had rejected them so outright must've taken a large beating to Lily's pride and ego.

I wasn't like Lily to be so petty with her, but Hermione knew that she'd been working her butt off for this project, not just to look good to secure future internships and a job at the Committee, but because Lily cared deeply for this project. She'd gone to St. Mungo's to meet amputees and heard of their struggles and pains. Lily was deeply invested in this project, working overtime for her non-paid internship.

Even the rest of the family caught the tense silence between the twins but wisely chose not to intervene. The evening passed by with the heavy silence blanketing their family. As their parents retired for the night, her father gave Hermione a small squeeze. She wasn't sure if it was a squeeze of encouragement, meaning he was on her side, or a squeeze to push her to make up with her sister.

Hermione decided it was going to mean a squeeze of encouragement because she wasn't going to budge on this issue. Lily may trust her team implicitly, but that was because Lily trusted people in general. Hermione didn't. Any one of those members could go to the Daily Prophet and tell them how Hogwart's Dueling Champion is an Obscurial.

When Petunia's show ended, she headed to bed, leaving the twins on their own.

"Lily—"

"I am allowed to be upset."

Hermione paused, "of course you are."

"I understand why you can't show the notes, but I'm allowed to be upset. Maybe not at you, but the situation, although I can't really differentiate it at the moment."

"Okay." Hermione accepted her response.

Lily avoided her eyes. They allowed another 5 seconds of awkward silence to pass until Lily walked up the stairs and into her shared room with Petunia.

"At least she's communicating her feelings?" Harry let out a fake-sounding laugh.

"Harry, shut up."

…

"Hi, Pandora." Hermione greeted when the small bell on Ollivander's shop door dinged to reveal a blonde hippie.

Instead of leaving it to pure coincidence, Luna's mother had come to see her at her job several times over the past few days. Sometimes it was for a quick visit, a pop-in to say hi, while other times she stayed, and they talked.

Hermione saw her daughter in her, but there were other aspects of Pandora that were solely unique. Luna remained serene and calm most of the time, making her a great friend to talk to when Hermione was stressed about life, but Pandora had an excited and insatiable curiosity. She frequented the apothecary in Diagon Alley because she liked buying new ingredients for experimental potions, wanting to know what certain ingredient combinations would create, how different temperatures, stirring motions, etc. would affect the potions she created. The very next day, Hermione bought her a book for Potions safety, knowing that it was a Potions accident that cause Luna to lose her mother at such a young age.

"Pandora," Hermione stopped sweeping Ollivander's empty shop and turned to her new friend.

"Yes?" Pandora looked up from the book that Hermione had gifted the day before.

After brief conversations about Hogwarts, Hermione learned that Pandora had graduated a year before she ever stepped foot in Hogwarts. "Which House were you in?"

"I didn't know House affiliations were important to you, Hermione." Pandora closed her book. "I was a Ravenclaw."

Hermione smiled, "I think it's very fitting."

"What House are you in?"

Her smile faltered for a millisecond, but she knew in her gut that those clairvoyant silvery eyes had caught everything. "Slytherin."

"Oh," For the first time, her brow arched. Pandora knew that 'Evans' was not a Pureblood name, or a known half-blood name either.

"But it's a fitting House for me. I assure you."

"You don't need to assure me of anything Hermione. I trust you."

Hermione's tight shoulder dropped, and a more genuine smile formed on her lips. "In Hogwarts, did your roommates treat you well?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because your daughter was bullied." Hermione wanted to say, but instead just shrugged.

Pandora smiled. "No, they weren't rude. We weren't best mates, and we didn't keep in touch after Hogwarts ended, but they weren't rude."

"I'm glad."

"I have cities, but not houses. I have mountains but no trees. I have water but no fish. What am I?" Pandora asked suddenly.

Hermione gave the Ravenclaw a questioning glance at the sudden riddle, but all she did was stare at her with those eyes, waiting for her answer. She knew Ravenclaws answered riddles to enter Ravenclaw Tower, but she didn't know why Pandora was testing her. For what? She didn't know, so it made her hesitant to answer.

Although she knew the answer, she ignored it by continuing to do her job: sweep the floor, remove the never-ending number of cobwebs, and polish the registry. They were tedious jobs that could be completed instantaneously with magic, but Hermione chose to do them by hand. She updated the inventory to check if she needed to order more dragon heartstrings or perhaps some high-quality birch wood.

The entire time, Pandora sat in the corner of the empty store, reading her book. Waiting.

It was close to closing time when Pandora finally stood up.

"Perhaps next time you'll be able to answer the riddle." Her smile seemed sad as she left the shop, the door's bell making a small chiming sound.

Hermione stood in the silent shop, staring at where Pandora had stood.

It wasn't that Pandora had made a lot of noise while she was here, in fact, she barely made any noise at all, but the lack of her presence felt barren. Like an old friend had been there, but instead of making their moments worthwhile, Hermione had wasted her time.

She hated wasting time.

With a frown Hermione ran out the door, chasing after the blonde.

"A map! The answer, it's a map."

Pandora smiled broadly and nodded.

"Ravenclaw will always open its doors to those who not only have knowledge but wisdom. It's why our passwords were riddles instead of knowledge-based questions like arithmetic. If you ever need a friend, you're always welcome to come and find me, Hermione."

…

With a loud whoosh, green flames disappeared from her vision, revealing the grand foyer of Malfoy Manor. She stepped out of the fireplace and looked around the room filled with unwrapped furniture, early wedding gifts, and jewelry to congratulate the soon-to-be husband and wife.

Is it just me or have the gifts doubled since last week? She thought to herself.

"Definitely doubled." Harry nodded to the other side of the corner that had been bare last week but filled with gifts today.

She walked down the dark and empty corridors, carefully avoiding the drawing room like she'd done every week since the semester had ended. She didn't bother knocking on the door as she swung open the door to the study, revealing four figures standing inside.

"Sorry, I'm late. Should we get started right away?"

…