Bookshop Brawls and Walking Through Walls

Hermione's POV

After a few more minutes of exploring we headed to Flourish and Blotts, I was excited about this because one of my new favourite authors was signing books there, Gilderoy Lockhart. I pulled the boys arms so we could get a place in the queue with Mrs Weasley.

After a few minutes of struggling to shuffle through the queue, I looked back at (Y/N) and I saw him looking worried. It took me a moment to figure out why, as he held the Hogwarts book list in one hand.

We had been at Diagon Alley for a while now and he still couldn't find his mum, I could see on his face he was concerned, his eyes darted around the faces of the witches in the shop but he didn't seem to find her.

I was about to go and comfort him when Gilderoy Lockhart made his appearance, I was looking at him and thinking about what question I would ask him, I wondered about his run in with a banshee.

Gilderoy saw Harry in the crowd and make a big fuss about getting a picture for the Prophet. He also announced he was our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, I was so excited, I'm sure he had some very interesting stories.

After they announced this Gilderoy spotted (Y/N), he walked up to (Y/N) who didn't seem too pleased. "What?" said (Y/N) rudely, still more concerned with finding his mother. "You must be Mr Bogwood, another future student of mine" 

Gilderoy turned to the cameraman, who snapped a quick picture "I'm so sorry to hear about your poor brother" he shook (Y/N)'s hand with a charming smile. There was a murmur among the crowd, "He's so sweet" and "How caring" where also thrown around, but anyone who knew (Y/N) knew this wouldn't end well.

"Of course, I wish I could have been there to-" He paused and let out a strained face. "Shut. Up." said (Y/N) with venom in his tone, he had a tight grip on Gilderoy's hand, it let out a loud cracking noise. 

The author pulled away with some effort and went right back to book signings after stretching his hand "Strong boy, firm grip" he said. "He was just being nice" I said, elbowing (Y/N) in the ribs. But I could tell it was a sore subject for him

"You're right, I'm sure he was, funny it just so happened to be in public" he gestured to the crowd, "Surrounded by the press" he said in a huff. I was going to scold him more for being so rude, but we were interrupted by Draco Malfoy.

"Famous Potter can't even go into a bookstore without causing a scene" he sneered. "Leave him alone" said Ginny in a quiet voice. "Oh, look Potters got himself a girlfriend." "Careful Draco, your starting to sound like you're jealous" retorted (Y/N).

Draco was about to snap back when his father arrived, he was a vile man, I could tell by the way he looked at my family, after a particularly hurtful comment Mr Weasley and Mr Malfoy got into a scuffle.

(Y/N) tried to join in, and went to swing at Malfoy but someone pulled him back before he could. He was knocked off his feet and landed harshly on his backside. As Hagrid broke up the two older men the person who held (Y/N) back announced themselves.

There was the distinct noise of someone clearing their throat loudly that gave everyone involved paused, followed by a clear and commanding voice. "Now gentlemen, this is no way for ministry representatives to behave, I suggest you contain yourselves." I turned to see where it came from.

It was a small woman, she had (E/C) eyes, short cropped hair in a bob haircut, she was wearing the standard auror uniform with a long trench coat over it. It was also fitted with a belt that held several different pouches. Her wand was holstered at her hip.

"Yes, you are quite right" said Mr Malfoy. Standing up and brushing himself off in a huff. "But I must say, I expected better from you (L/N)" The woman raised an eyebrow, Mr. Malfoy looked around. 

"I thought you'd have known better than to be seen in such a place, perhaps you should keep better company, don't want them to get you into any trouble, you should aim for a higher standard" He glanced over at my parents.

"Do you see any other bookstores around?" she cocked her head to the side, he scoffed. "I thought not" she said sarcastically. "And to be honest Lucius, I don't think that's any of your concern." 

"I am free to keep any company I see fit, perhaps if they do not fit your standards, you should leave. Since I'm sure you detest being seen in such a place with us." She smirked. "This isn't over" said Mr Malfoy threateningly to Mr Weasley as he left.

"Yes, I think it is" said the woman with a glare. Watching him like a hawk as he strode out the door. After he left the tone of the room changed almost immediately. She let out a deep breath of relief and her stern demeanor changed.

"But I must say" she said in a mock snooty voice as she cursed under her breath. "You ok Arthur?" he simply nodded; she gave him a thumbs up. "Nice tackle by the way, ever thought of switching careers? We could use more staff" she said jokingly. He shook his head.

"Good to see you Molly, thanks so much for watching over (Y/N) for me. Didn't cause any trouble did he?" she smiled at Mrs Weasley, who shook her head. "No, no, dear, he was the perfect houseguest. He's welcome anytime.

"Wonderful, at least you had an easy time of it, but I might have to take you up on that offer. I swear, covering shifts every time Dawlish get's put on sick leave is gonna be the death of me. The poor bloke's had it."

She sighed and turned on her heels to address the gamekeeper. "Thanks a lot Hagrid, I didn't feel like losing any more fingers, and Lucius Malfoy looks like a biter. Lovely to see you." she chuckled, I noticed she rubbed the back of her head as she did, the same as (Y/N).

"I's ok, I'll be off then" he said with a faint blush, shuffling through the crowd that had gathered for a moment before the woman dispersed it, addressing the room with a loud voice again. "Shows over people, go polish your wands or something" she proclaimed.

"Hi" said (Y/N) who had been waiting for her to stop talking, bouncing impatiently on the spot behind her. "Hi sweetie" she said absentmindedly, waving at him for a moment until she caught herself "What have I told you about fights!?" she wagged a finger at him.

"Leave it to the professionals" he said as if he had practised it a thousand times. "Good boy" she said. She gestured to him, and he bent down a little so she could look at him closer, "So, what's this I hear about flying cars over little whinging?"

"Dunno. Never been to little whinging." (Y/N) tried. She frowned at him and he caved immediately. "They had him locked up like he was in Azkaban mum. It was mental, they used bars and everything...wait...How did you even know-" "(Y/N) it's my job to know this stuff."

As she began to look at him I got a closer look at her face, she had a scar that cut her left eyebrow in two, and another across her nose. Honestly, she was quite beautiful. But shorter than I expected.

This was surreal, (Y/N) was close to being six foot, this woman was barely 5'4 and she was telling him off, she spoke to him strangely, like a you would tell off a dog, like she didn't really want to but knew she should. 

"Anyway. Where ya bin mum I've been looking for you for ages." he said in excitement. "Where have you been" she corrected before explaining, "I got distracted at The Leaky Cauldron, there was a fascinating pair of muggles who told me all about muggle cameras. Reminded me of...nevermind."

"Then Tom told a brilliant story about giants, long story short." she hugged her son around the waist, I couldn't help but notice her wand hand was covered in a black glove, "Sorry I worried you, I just lost track of time."

"It's ok mum." As I was watching this spectacle unfold, I realised this is why (Y/N) is the way he is, a lot of his odd behaviours made sense to me and clicked into place in my mind. "Anyway, enough of that, do you have your list?" he nodded and handed her the required items list.

"Jeez, why even have a list if all the books are the same? I swear sometimes I can't tell if Dumbledore is brilliant or bonkers" her head popped up suddenly as she noticed something out of place.

"Wait, where's Bones?" she asked, I instinctively looked down to the cat cradled in my arms and by the time I looked up I saw that (Y/N) had already pointed over to me. She tuned, saw me, let out a girly squeal and then rushed forward.

(Y/N)'s POV

Mum rushed over to Hermione. "Who's this?" she turned to me. "No don't tell me, I remember now" she pointed at Hermione who was starting to look very uncomfortable. "You're the smart one"

My friend introduced herself, a smile on her face because of my mother's nickname "Hermione Granger." "Lovely to meet you, I met the Weasleys children over the summer but we've never had the chance to meet in person" 

"(M/N) (L/N)" mum added cheerfully shaking her hand, luckily, she used her good hand, so I didn't have to remind her. "(M/N) is fine" Mum then scooped up Bones from Hermione's arms and started petting her fur.

She turned her head to me again "You were right baby; she really is very pretty" she said with a hand over her mouth, but this did nothing to muffle her voice. "MUM!" I shouted in disbelief, I had had enough so I pushed her by the shoulders and said.

"Look, Harry Potter" motioning to Harry like he was a prize on a muggle game show, he just turned to us and blinked in confusion. "Oh, so it is" she found something to occupy her and strode over to him, seemingly bombarding him with questions about the counter curse he used on You-Know-Who as a baby.

I took an awkward look back at Hermione who was still as a statue and a deep shade of red. Mum collected the rest of my stuff for me and I spent the next few days avoiding Hermione's gaze, the next thing I knew we were at Kings Cross. 

Mum had to drop me off at the entrance, she had to rush off to work. "Be good, stay safe, love you" she gave me a quick peck and dashed off. I was going to wait for Harry and Ron to go through and follow them, but Ginny seemed very nervous, so I decided to help.

"Do you want to go with me Gin?" I asked, she looked like she wanted to say yes but she was too nervous, so I continued. "To be honest, I've never done it alone before, I was hoping you could help me." I put out my hand.

 She nodded quickly so I held her hand. "Ready? Go" we both jogged towards the barrier, I had to slow down a bit because I had longer legs, but we made it through. "Thanks (Y/N)" she said, hugging my side and then quickly going off to see her family.

The train ride to Hogwarts was interesting, I met up with Neville, he told me all about his summer, Me, him, Hermione and Ginny all had a compartment to ourselves, we were later joined by a girl named Luna, she seemed nice, she had a bunch of interesting stories about creatures I'd never heard of.

Hermione kept getting worried about Harry and Ron, they were nowhere to be seen. "Don't worry, they probably just had to use another compartment" I said for the fiftieth time, but I saw something out the corner of my eye.

 I leaned over Luna who was reading a book and peered out of the window "No, can't be" I thought, and brushed the thought of a flying car out of my mind. Everyone looked at me funny and Luna said, "Must be the wackspurts."

Everyone started to get hungry, so I spent the remainder of my pocket money to buy us a feast of sweets, Ginny looked as if she had died and gone to heaven, honestly, I did it more to stop Hermione from worrying.

I hope she wasn't thinking something silly like they were avoiding her, I remembered how upset she was last year, so I gripped her shoulder and told her not to worry, giving her a smile, I booped her nose. "Prat" she said.

"Thank god", I said with faux relief, "I've been waiting for that since Diagon Alley". She burst into a fit of giggles; she had a much better mood for the rest of the train ride. With a promise to talk to Luna later we all separated and made our way to the castle.

 I sat through the sorting, cheering as Ginny was put into Gryffindor, and as Luna was placed in Ravenclaw, I had hoped she would be a Gryffindor, but she didn't seem to care and strolled off to meet her new friends, it wasn't until I was already in the dorms after the feast that I saw Harry and Ron.

"Were the bloody hell have you been?" I asked. They told me all about their stunt with the flying car and their run in with the Whomping willow, Ron showed me a snapped wand which he had tried to Sellotape, I tried my best not to sound jealous.

"I knew I saw you" I took a breath "Next time you two go off and do something mental, tell Hermione first, she's been freaking out." they both nodded guiltily, "And please, let me come with you" I added, rolling over into my bed for the night with a smirk on my face.

The next day started off like any other, we were at breakfast, I was talking to Hermione while stuffing my face, she was reading Gilderoy Lockhart's book, I saw Luna a few tables over and gave her a cheerful wave, but she was too busy reading to notice me.

 I was fully prepared to consider this morning a failure when something amazing happened. A letter was dropped in front of Ron, I saw it and immediately knew that this was going to be brilliant.

"Please tell me that's what I think it is" I said, already trying not to laugh, pointing at the letter. "A howler, Gran sent me one once, you should open it now, it's worse if you don't" confirmed Neville.

"I kind of want to see it explode" I poked it cautiously with a fork, it started smoking "You could just wait it out." "Not bloody likely" said Ron, tearing it open. "You're no fun" I said disappointed.

 Hermione then thwacked the back of my head and kept reading her book, I thought she had been ignoring me, but apparently not. Mrs Weasley's voice boomed across the hall, she started ranting about the enquiry her husband had to face and how it was Ron's fault.

Upside was the nice message of congratulations tacked on the end for Ginny, both of the letters recipients went scarlet when they were mentioned, though for entirely different reasons.

I was busting a gut, the stern voice coming out of a piece of paper was hilarious to me, what made it better was the look of terror on Ron's face "Louder than I thought it would be" I commented.

Colin Creevey introduced himself, he was a first year that had been sorted into Gryffindor and reminded me of a mouse or some other small hyperactive creature. He begged Harry for an autograph but was shot down.

To cheer him up I offered mine, he didn't seem very impressed, "Doesn't anyone want my autograph?" I thought sadly, thinking back to my incident with meeting Ginny at the burrow "One day" I thought hopefully.

I asked him to take a picture of me and he obliged, I took one with Hermione beside me, her nose still deep in a book, but for a laugh, I made sure she was in the shot by putting my arm around her shoulder and put cliché bunny ears behind her head as it was taken. 

She didn't seem to notice, if she did, she didn't care, so I just smiled at the camera. "Send me that when it develops please Colin" I said, he nodded enthusiastically.

We were in Herbology class first today, if I'm being honest, Herbology was not my strong suit, I wasn't terrible at it, but a lot of it involved being delicate with plants, I was not a very delicate person.

Luckily today we had to be a bit more forceful, uprooting baby mandrake and repotting them, I used my long limbs to my advantage for this, holding them well away from my face to avoid their screams, even with earmuffs, I'd rather take a howler. Although one of the nasty buggers did make a sizable divot in my knuckle with its teeth.

I also learned some pretty interesting stuff about them, apparently, they can be used as a sort of counter to loads of different curses or charms. But apparently, they can be lethal if you hear their scream, but only if they are full grown.

"Sweet" I said, wondering if I could realistically keep one as a pet, Professor Sprout looked at me disapprovingly as if she read my mind, I just put my head down.

Justin Finch-Fletchly introduced himself to us, he was in the team next to us, though I was a little bit distracted with getting my books out to  listen to him. He was a Ravenclaw who I had never seen before, but he seemed nice enough.

"You're Harry Potter" he said shaking Harrys hand. "Is he?" I said in fake surprise, lifting Harrys fringe, Harry shook me off and Hermione tutted and thwacked my head again. "Would you stop doing that? Sorry Justin don't mind him, he thinks he's funny" she apologised.

"How do you keep doing that?" I asked dumbfounded, she shouldn't even be able to hit my head like that, I'm so tall and she's tiny. "And I am funny." I murmured, she frowned at me.

"Hermione Granger, you seem to know everything" continued Justin, unfazed. She smiled wildly at being recognised. "Ron Weasley, that was your car that flew into the willow" he shook his hand.

"That makes you (Y/N) (L/N), you tried to change the house cup results last year." "The one and only" I smiled, shaking his hand.

A few hours later we were settling in to our first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, I was not impressed, the first thing I saw was a portrait of Lockhart who was painting a portrait of Lockhart, I had to resist the urge to set it on fire, looking at that stupid grin.

The real deal was even worse. The smug grin ever present, he sauntered around the room as if he owned the place, "I would take Quirrell over this ponce any day" I whispered to Ron and Seamus, "And he was a raving lunatic." They both nodded.

"Now students a quiz" "On the first day? We haven't learnt anything yet!" I complained, there where murmurs of agreement from the others. "Just a refresher on the important stuff" said Lockhart handing out sheets of parchment, I was relieved to hear it.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!" I said after a brief skim over the contents. "It's a quiz about you?" "Yes my boy, testing your knowledge of the required reading." "Come off it, this is a joke, surely."

After a heated debate we were forced to take the quiz, I was livid. I transfigured my quiz into an origami swan and charmed it to peck at Lockhart's hands when he collected it. This earned a few laughs around the class, Hermione glared daggers at me.

My answers where all something along the lines of, "Who cares" or "This is stupid" Lockhart was not pleased, especially near the end of our allotted time when I had got the brilliant idea of burning the edges of my book with my wand.

Even the practical part of the lesson was at its worst boring and at its best a disaster. Lockhart brought out a cage, covered in a sheet and bean a speech.

"Now, be warned, it is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures of wizard kind, you may face your darkest fears in this room, but know, no harm can befall you while I am here, all I ask is that you remain calm" this got me hopeful that the beginning of the lesson was a bait and switch and whatever was in the cage was awesome.

I was wrong, so very wrong, I was disappointed, I was about to start complaining. Seamus Finnigan beat me to it "Cornish Pixies!?"

"Say what you will Mr Finnigan, they can be devilishly tricky, let's see what you make of them" said Lockhart, who opened the cage and told us to round them up. After he saw that things were getting out of hand, he tried a spell I'd never heard of and lost his wand.

"Are you mentally deficient? You're meant to be our teacher" I asked loudly, batting away a pixie with my book and basically punching another as Lockhart retreated to his office.

I then watched as a few pixies formed a group and collectively hung Neville up on a chandelier by his robes. The chaos only stopped when Hermione pulled out her wand and yelled "Immobulus" and all the pixies were frozen in place, I batted a frozen pixie away as it was still attached to her hair and leaned over to her.

"Teach me that later" I said, nudging her, she nodded. "Don't worry Neville, we will get you down" I said trying to hold back laughter at the sight of him. "Why is it always me?" he asked. I shrugged as I watched him sway.

After successfully getting Neville down with the levitation charm we learnt last year I had had enough, I opened Lockhart's office door and basically threw his wand at his forehead, unfortunately he ducked, and it clattered against the wall behind him. I decided I should do something, I headed to McGonagall's office.

I knocked and opened the door when called McGonagall greeted me, I decided to get straight to the point. "Professor, I don't think Lockhart should teach us Defence Against the Dark Arts, he is a nightmare, honestly."

She sighed, "Nonsense, he is... perfectly capable" though she didn't look very convinced at her own argument. I then spent the next few minutes telling her about our lesson. I hoped that she would take my side, but she just looked at me sternly.

"So, what you are telling me is, you have repeatedly mocked and insulted a member of staff and shown blatant disregard for school rules" she paused "Again?" "No" I said quietly. "I guess it sounds bad if you put it like that" I thought.

"I'm glad to see you are putting Professor Flitwick's extra teachings to good use, and mine as well it seems" she said referencing the origami swan sarcastically. I suddenly felt very guilty about my impromptu transfiguration.

"I understand your concerns Mr (L/N), truly I do, but if you continue this behaviour, for any reason no matter how justified you feel, I will have to march you up to Professor Dumbledore's office myself, are we clear?"

"Yes, but Professor can't you, or Professor Flitwick teach us?" I pleaded. She cut me off, looked at me sympathetically and said, "Just grin and bear it for now" she gripped my shoulder gently with a smile, she then motioned for me to leave.

I nodded solemnly and walked out with a half-hearted wave goodbye. I was only cheered up later that day when Colin Creevey came rushing up to me with a picture in his hand.

"Here you go (Y/N), the photo you wanted" he handed it to me cheerfully, his smile was contagious, so my spirits were lifted instantly. "That's brilliant Colin, thanks a lot mate."

He looked so excited and jittery I thought he might start smoking like the howler did. He rushed off to his next class as I sat there and admired my picture.

In the moving picture I saw myself move to put my arm around Hermione to do the bunny ears, what I hadn't noticed before was that Hermione poked her head out from her book for a split second and beamed at the camera, then quickly looked back at her book, I was too busy looking forward at the camera to notice at the time.

"Well, this is going above the headboard." I thought, walking to my next class and carefully sliding it into my pocket.

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