Chapter 2
Warnings: None, Readers under 18 can read this book. It is solely fluff- nothing sexual
Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.
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Dear Elizabeth, Ron just wrote me to tell me that he and Fred and George are going to try and save Harry. That's the way he put it anyways. I think he just means going and picking him up. I certainly hope they don't do anything dangerous or against the wizarding rules. I'm incredibly busy with homework and studying-I'm sure you're doing the same. I just wrote a letter to Ron saying that I'm going to Diagon Alley next Wednesday. Will you be able to make it? . I'm still waiting to hear back from Ron. I figure we should get our Hogwarts letters sometime this week. Love, Hermione
I sighed, setting aside the letter. Hogwarts again. Now don't get me wrong, I love Hogwarts, it's my home away from home but. . .I closed my eyes, laying down on the bed. I'd nearly been killed three times and had jumped from a window to escape death. I could only imagine what horrible things were going to happen this year.
Knock it off, I scolded myself. You put yourself in that situation, if you had just been as obedient as every other kid, you wouldn't have been in that situation. Just don't do anything stupid or irresponsible this year.
Easier said than done though. I turned away from the letter and went over to the music player, putting on a Beatles record. Then, laying down on my bed, I closed my eyes, thinking, looking into this upcoming year.
My visions worked funny. I can't just see into a year, it's like there's a block on them until I get closer to the actual date. But sometimes- and only sometimes- if I concentrated enough, I could get a farther view.
"I wanna hold your hand. . ."
I concentrated farther. The visions moved fast, some of them melting together and others stood out like pictures on a wall. A sudden image of a young blond man with extravagant clothes was standing in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Then red paint on a wall. Then, water on the floor. A potion bubbling in the bathroom. Then, hissing and-
"ELIZABETH!" Dad called from somewhere downstairs.
I jumped, falling off my bed and knocking over the record player. It crashed to the ground. "Idiot." I muttered, pushing myself up off the ground, getting to my feet. I wasn't entirely sure if I was talking about myself or dad.
Dad appeared in the doorway. He surveyed the damage and then grimaced. "Trying to meditate?"
"Something like that," I muttered, pulling out my wand and pointing it at the record player.
"Elizabeth." Dad's voice had warning in it and I sighed, putting down my wand. Dad pulled out his own wand. "Reparo." He said calmly and the record player was repaired. Then, putting his own wand away, he said, "You know you're not supposed to do magic outside of school."
I picked up the player, putting it on my dresser. I'd just said I was going to stop being a rebel and here I was, already breaking the new found resolution. Maybe I should wait until New Years to make the resolution. "Sorry, I forgot."
"Come on downstairs, we have stuff to talk about." Dad said, leaving the room.
Seeing that there was no choice, I followed. I slumped into a seat at the breakfast table. "What happened?" I asked dully. I had forgotten about going and seeing him when he went up to his room last night.
"I got a erm, new job." Dad said uncomfortably, stirring his tea. I sat up and stared at him, trying to find out what was so bad about this new opportunity.
"Okay. . ." I said slowly, thinking, frowning in concentration.
"I'm going to have to leave next Wednesday." He said, "Which means that I won't be able to transport you to Kings Crossing on September 1st."
"Oh that's okay!" I said immediately. Whatever made things easier for Dad. "Ronald Weasley invited me to stay at his house. We're all planning on meeting up at Diagon Alley next Wednesday anyways. I can just go and stay with him. Or Hermione probably wouldn't mind either."
Dad blinked in surprise. "You didn't tell me your friends asked you to stay over."
I blushed. "Grounded, remember?"
Dad gave me an amused smile. "You're going to stay out of trouble this year, right?"
"Yes, and I'm going to make the Hufflepuff Quidditch team." I said. "So that broom doesn't go to waste."
At that moment, my rabbit Sushi sprinted through the room, did a lap around the table, and then did binkies back into the hallway.
"Awww." I squealed, my whole body tightening up in happiness. "You're so-" Then I stopped, turning to my dad and asked seriously. "Wait, who's going to take care of Sushi?"
Dad chuckled, "You would be worried about that, wouldn't you?" He smoothed my hair back with his hand, "I already asked Trang's parents to watch him. They're delighted."
"Oh good." I said happily, relaxing. "I'm going to go upstairs and pack."
"Already?" Dad asked in surprise.
"Well, I also have to send an answer to Ron and my bedroom's a mess so I need to locate everything." I said, blushing again.
"Oh, that's right." Dad said, taking a sip of tea. "I'll be cooking dinner tonight."
"Aww, dad I can still do that." I said.
Dad waved his hand. "It'll taste fine."
I hesitated. "Wait, no."
Dad frowned. "I don't cook that badly."
I laughed. "It's not that, I want to celebrate this new job opportunity. Come on, I'll take you out to eat."
Dad looked even more surprised than he had before. "Take me out to eat? Where?"
I jumped up and down in joy. "There's this great restaurant that you haven't been to before. It's called Panda Inn here. But in the U.S. it's called Panda Express. Apparently, they're supposed to have this delicious chicken that Trang calls Orange chicken. I've been wanting to try it for a long time now!"
Dad laughed and grinned. "So is this celebration for me or for you to try out your chicken?"
"Guilty." I said, grinning back.
"Oh," Dad said, picking up a piece of mail. "This came for you."
I grabbed it. "My Hogwarts letter!" I flipped it over and glared at him. "It's already open. That's a crime you know."
Dad laughed. "Only if you tell. The books ought to be interesting though."
I read over the list quickly.
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart
"I have to get and read all of these?" I asked revolted by the matching of letters like a children's book. "What a waste of money."
I finally got a real laugh out of dad. Then he grinned at me, "Wonder what he wrote about the Werewolves?"
I gave him a reluctant smile. "I'll read that one first and tell you."
"Alright, so go get ready." Dad said, finishing off his tea, "I'll be waiting."
I stared at him, raising an eyebrow. "Dad, it's a Muggle restaurant."
"So?" He looked at me confused.
"You need to go get dressed in Muggle clothes." I said, my lips twitching upwards into an amused smile. I waved a hand at his wizarding robes.
"Oh that's right." He muttered. "Let's see who gets ready the fastest."
I giggled sprinting up the stairs, and I heard a crack in the dining room, telling me he had apparated. "CHEATER!" I shouted, dashing into my bedroom. I heard him laughing from his room.
I pulled on my shoes and grabbed my purse, quickly checking to see how much money I had. I flipped through the bills- £60. Great, that should be enough to cover dinner tonight. I turned out the light and then dashed back downstairs. Yes! I'd beaten dad.
I bit my lip, slightly amused. I was eleven- almost twelve- why was I being so childish? I had this problem a lot. This was something we hadn't done since I was maybe eight. I sighed. Perhaps dad felt bad about leaving, or maybe there was something he wasn't telling me.
Dad popped down next to me with another crack. "Alright you win."
I grinned up at him. I'd question him tonight at dinner. "Let's go."
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𝕴 𝖑𝖆𝖎𝖉 𝖎𝖓 bed, staring up at the ceiling. I kept messing with the ring dad had given me for my birthday. Turning it over, feeling along it. It was a baby dragon ring, sometimes it curled its tail around my finger tighter. Sometimes it moved its head and I felt a little warmth along my palm. It was green, and sparkly, and felt like it was made of glass but it wasn't.
I sighed, rolling over, and carefully placed it on the bedside table. It curled up and I stared at it. I tried to figure out what was nagging me.
I closed my eyes, trying to sleep. Trang was leaving for America tomorrow, I was going to go and see her off at the airport.
I fell into sleep.
A shadowy figure stood on the edge of a large walkway. There were hissing noises and a snake slithered out and reached up to the person's waist. It was an anaconda snake, a type of water snake- native to the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil.
'Dangeroussss thingssss are going to happen. . . more dangerousssss than perhapssss the firsst time. . .' The boy whispered to the snake. He stayed in the shadows so all I could see was that he was tall. So the boy spoke parseltongue? But how could I possibly understand what they were saying? Oh, right, I must be dreaming.
The snake's tongue flicked in and out, 'find the ssssprocket, find the ssink, it all worksss asss well asss you think.'
So snakes could rhyme? Strange.
The boy turned to face me and all I could see were two, glowing red eyes.
I woke up with a start, sweating. I looked over at the clock. It was six in the morning. I slumped back down on my bed. Once my breathing returned back to normal, I climbed out of bed to start my day.
I quickly got dressed for a muggy day- jeans, a T-shirt, and a light rain jacket. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and tucked my locket under my shirt. I hadn't felt it burn in ages, so I felt safe wearing it under my clothes again.
I hesitated, looking at the ring, and finally realized why I felt so weird last night- I hadn't sent Harry anything for his birthday. But, he could definitely still be at his house, I hadn't heard back from Ron yet for confirmation about staying with him next week.
I picked up the dragon ring and put it close to my finger. It curled around it and I smiled. I was going to have to thank Dad again.
I grabbed my purse, put on my leather black combat boots, and ran down the stairs to go see Trang off at the airport.
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𝕭𝖞 𝖂𝖊𝖉𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖉𝖆𝖞, 𝕴 was packed and ready to go. My trunk was full of my Hogwarts robes, quills, ink bottles, and textbooks that I would need this year. Any book I didn't need was left on my bed. Any book I didn't need, but I wanted to bring, were packed in my leather school bag.
Dad had already left an hour ago so I didn't need to worry about good-byes anymore. I dragged my heavy trunk into the fireplace. I pulled my bag over my head, slinging it on my shoulder. I checked my pocket to make sure that my wand was still there.
I checked that I was wearing my locket, bracelet from Fred last Christmas, and my dragon ring. Then, I grabbed a handful of floo powder from the pot next to the fireplace and stepped into the fireplace. I threw it down and shouted "Diagon alley!"
I felt the spinning sensation and clutched tightly to my trunk so we'd both get out at the right time. When I saw the grate, I leaned forward and fell out. My trunk clattered down next to me and I quickly set it right side up and started pulling it towards the exit. Damn, why was this thing so freaking heavy?
"Elizabeth! Hey Elizabeth!" I heard my name being shouted by a familiar voice. I turned, a smile on my face.
George and Fred Weasley ran up to me. Their bright red hair was combed back the same way. They were still rather thin and tall.
"Hey guys." I said cheerfully, punching George's arm and smiling at Fred, "What's up?"
"Nothing much." George said, chuckling, punching me back lightly. "You?"
"I'm not looking forward to these stupid books we have to buy." I said with an eye roll. "They're ridiculously expensive and sound incredibly stupid."
Fred and George laughed but looked strained.
"Yeah, they are expensive." Fred said quietly, mostly to himself.
I bit my lip. I shouldn't be complaining. I'd grown up poor, but now I had a huge allowance from my parents. On the other hand, Fred and George had grown up poor and were still poor. I decided to get enough gold out of the bank so they could buy their own sets.
Mr. Weasley got out of the fire next and Fred introduced me to him.
"Harry should be coming next." Mr. Weasley said, when we were done with introductions. I waited eagerly, unable to control my excitement. While Harry didn't know that we were related, I did, and I was glad we were friends.
However, the next person that came out of the fire was Percy Weasley. He looked around as he came up to his father and asked, "Did Harry not come out?"
We all shook our heads. Percy cursed and said, "Harry went before me but he mixed up his words."
We all froze. "So. . . we don't know where he is?" I asked.
Percy nodded. Ron came out of the fire next. I closed my eyes, trying to see if I could find Harry. There- he was in a dark shop, a man with blond hair in the room with him. It looked like Harry was hiding in something. I didn't know exactly where he was, but in the end I could only figure one place like this.
"Elizabeth?" Fred asked. "You okay?"
"Oh, um yeah." I said. I quickly put my trunk up against the wall with other trunks, and locked it. Then I took off, Fred yelling my name behind me. Now which was was Knockturn Alley? I ran down the streets, probably looking crazy.
Then, I ran into Hagrid, who was walking up the streets with Harry.
"Lousy Muggles, If I'd known-" Hagrid was saying. "Careful where yer goin' Elizabeth!" he added as I bounced off of him. He reached out with a large hand and caught me before I fell on the street.
"Thanks Hagrid. Hi Harry!" I beamed.
"Hi Elizabeth." Harry said, smiling back shyly.
I heard a voice behind me saying "Harry! Elizabeth! Over here!"
I turned to see Hermione running down the Gringotts steps. "Hello Elizabeth!" Hermione said, embracing me.
Harry, Hermione, and I walked up the Gringotts steps with Hagrid.
"What happened to your glasses?" Hermione was asking Harry. "Hello, Hagrid- Oh it's wonderful to see you two again- are you coming into Gringotts, Harry?"
"As soon as I've found the Weasleys," Harry said with a grin, giving me a proper hug now that things had settled down.
"Let me see your glasses." I said, holding my hand out.
"Yeh won't have long ter wait." Hagrid said with a grin, pointing down the street.
The three of us peered down the street. Ron, Fred, George, Percy, and Mr. Weasley were all sprinting up the street towards us. I pulled out my wand and tapped Harry's glasses with my wand. "Reparo." His glasses snapped together and the glass shards connected again.
"Thanks." Harry said, putting his glasses back on.
"Yeh know yer not su'ppose ter be doin' magic outside of school Elizabeth." Hagrid chastised but he was grinning. The Ministry wouldn't know I was doing magic underage considering Diagon Alley was pretty much as magical and non-Muggle as you could get in London.
"Harry," Mr. Weasley said panting, as they caught up to us. "We hoped you'd only gone one grate too far. . . Molly's frantic- she's coming now-" He mopped his brow with a handkerchief.
"Where'd you turn out?" Ron asked, curious.
"Knockturn Alley." Hagrid said grimly.
"Excellent." Fred, George, and I all said together and then we all grinned at each other.
"We've never been allowed in." Ron said, sounding jealous.
"I should ruddy well think not." Hagrid growled at him.
I saw Mrs. Weasley running up the steps now, a handbag swinging violently from one hand, a little red-headed girl clutching her other hand. That must be Fred's little sister Ginny.
I started walking into Gringotts. I wanted to get the money so that I could get it to Fred and George before they left. Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran up to join me.
"Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes?" Harry asked. That must've been the store that I'd seen him in.
"Lucius Malfoy?" I asked.
"Yeah, and Draco." Harry said, giving me a surprised.
"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" Mr. Weasley asked from behind us.
"No, he was selling-" Harry said.
"So he's worried. Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something. . ." Mr. Weasley said slowly and with some sort of satisfaction.
I didn't know Lucius Malfoy, but if he was anything like his son, than he was probably an evil git. Plus, I was fairly certain that he had been a Death Eater. By fairly certain I meant 100%. Oh the things rich people get away with.
We entered Gringotts and I told Harry and Ron to come with me. Ron was more than willing and we left Hermione in the main hall with her parents, who were exchanging Muggle Money for Wizarding coins. Mrs. Weasley went her separate way with Ginny.
We went to Harry's vault first. He had quite a bit of money, though perhaps a bit less than I did. Then we went to my vault. I filled two bags and then we went back up to the surface. I gave Ron half of one of the bags and winked at him and then went off to join Fred and George. I heard Ron sputtering behind me and Harry laughing.
Fred, George, and I met up with Lee Jordan outside the bank. I heard Mrs. Weasley shout from behind us. "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!"
Fred, George, and I laughed. That was the first place we visited. Fred and George went down two steps, Lee went down three. I went down the entire way and then sprinted back up. It became a competition until someone appeared at the end of the corridor and we all sprinted the entire way back towards Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop.
We relaxed, laughing.
"Mum's going to kill us if she finds out." George muttered, looking through the different types of fireworks.
"She's not going to find out." I said pleasantly. "So don't worry about it."
"Oh yeah, Ron says that you're coming to stay with us for the last couple weeks of vacation." Fred said, "Is that true?"
I nodded, "Yeah, my dad got a new work assignment and he had to leave today, so I had no way to get to Hogwarts later. So, since Ron had already invited me to stay, I accepted."
Ron, Hermione, and Harry came into the shop some time later, when we were about to leave. I wandered off on my own for a little bit, buying parchment and new quills. I also bought different types of ink. I was really going to miss my Muggle pens again this year.
I met up with Fred, George, Lee, Hermione, Ron, and Harry as we made our way to Flourish and Blotts. There were many other people trying to get into the shop. I looked at all the witches, a little amused, a little annoyed, cause there were not many wizards.
There was a banner in the window saying:
GILDEROY LOCKHART will be signing copies of his autobiography MAGICAL ME today 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
"We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist." She smoothed her hair between her hands. It was a battle lost before she started it- her hair was never going to stop being bushy on its own.
I hung back with Fred, George, and Lee, internally groaning. Bloody hell, what a mess this was. I probably wouldn't be able to check the shelves for extra books because the walls would be crowded by witches. Maybe the owner would have some put away specially for me like he sometimes did when he thought I'd like something. Dad and I were his best customers.
We squeezed inside, past the adults. Hermione, Ron, Harry, and I each grabbed the Grade 2 book we needed off the stack by the door. Fred, George, and Lee each got books that they needed for their fourth year.
We went to stand next to the Weasley's and Grangers. I found myself next to Harry and turned to talk to him.
"How was your summer?"
"Could've been better." He said. "Honestly, I would've written back."
I grinned. "Oh I know, Dobby stopped you?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?" He asked in surprise.
"I know a lot of things." I said quickly. "But I actually just overheard you telling Hagrid."
Harry laughed.
At that moment, Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view and seated himself at a long table. There were many portraits of his face, winking and flashing on the table. The real man himself was wearing robes of light blue that matched his eyes. His hair was wavy and he wore a wizard's hat at an angle so not to mess up those waves. I stared at him with a mixture of horror and also giddiness.
He was extremely handsome though, I did have to admit that. I felt my cheeks grow red and I rubbed them, cursing internally. Stupid female hormones.
There was a short man wearing black and brandishing a black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash that emitted a smell of apricots. The reporter stepped backwards onto Ron's foot. "Get out of the way." The photographer snarled. "This is for the Daily Prophet-"
"Big Deal." Ron snarled back, holding his foot and rubbing it.
Lockhart apparently heard their interaction because he looked up at Ron. Then he moved his eyes along our line, eyeing Harry and then me. He leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "It can't be Harry Potter?"
"Oh bloody hell." I muttered as everyone in the store started whispering even more excitedly than they had moments ago when Lockhart had appeared.
The crowd parted as Lockhart walked down the stairs towards us. He grabbed Harry's arm and then, to my surprise, grabbed my arm as well, dragging us both up to the front of the room. I looked back at Fred, panicking. He looked just as surprised as I did.
Lockhart put one arm around each of our shoulders. I didn't smile as the photographer took pictures. "Nice big smile, Harry." Lockhart said through his own teeth. I didn't dare look at him in case the newspaper made my action out to be something other than disgust or confusion. As it was, I was panicking.
He didn't let us go when the pictures were done and I was starting to get strangely uncomfortable. "Ladies and gentlemen." He said loudly and the crowd quieted down. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!
"When young Harry and his sister here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, they only wanted to buy my autobiography- which I shall be happy to present them now, free of charge-" The crowd applauded, but I risked a glance at Harry. He looked at me, looking as confused as I was. The only difference being that my heart was pounding like crazy. Did Lockhart know somehow? I mean, surely not? I looked at the Weasleys. They were looking back and forth between Harry and I. The crowd was whispering. This was a complete nightmare. I should never have come. That seemed to be my signature line.
"They had no idea-" Lockhart continued, not caring about anything else but his little announcement. "that they would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. They and their schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
I groaned out loud but no one could hear me for the explosion of noise that burst in the bookshop. I wanted to die of embarrassment. I found myself being presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart, even more books than I needed for school.
I struggled back down to the Weasleys, Harry following me. I handed the books to Fred. "Keep them, I don't want them. Especially since he gave them to me for an incorrect reason."
"So you're not really my sister?" Harry asked behind me, and thankfully he was grinning.
I shook my head, my heart breaking that I couldn't tell him that I was. "I don't know why he thought that, we don't even look alike."
The Weasleys all seemed to accept this, but the others in the shop that had overheard were not as convinced and rumors were spreading. I was sure something was going to make the headlines. Bloody hell.
Harry tipped his books into Ginny's cauldron, telling her she could have his books. He'd buy his own. We went up and bought our books and then waited by Ginny's cauldron. I handed George money so that he could buy his own set. When Lee had his set, we all started to walk towards the back of the shop.
"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" Said a sneering voice. We looked up to see Draco Malfoy and I tightened my grip on my huge stack of books. "Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."
"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" Ginny said suddenly. I'd never heard her voice before but she had such a sweet voice.
"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" Malfoy drawled, giving Ginny a look over.
"Shut the hell up Malfoy." I snarled.
"Oh Kane." Malfoy said, sneering. "How'd you like being compared to someone as pathetic as Potter?"
"I would be quite proud to be Harry's sister." I said, speaking the truth for once on the subject of our sibling hood.
Ron and Hermione fought their way over, both of them clutching stacks of books.
"Oh, it's you." Ron said, giving Malfoy a disgusted look. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"
For a moment I was confused and then I remembered that they believed Dobby was the House Elf of the Malfoys. Of course, they were right, but I wasn't going to tell them that.
"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley." Malfoy retorted, looking a bit confused himself. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."
Ron went as red as Ginny and dropped his books into her cauldron. She nearly dropped the cauldron under the weight of two stacks of Lockhart books. Hermione and Harry reached out and grabbed the back of Ron's shirt as he went to hit Draco.
Fred and George were giving Malfoy an angry look. I touched Fred's hand softly and looked up at him and shook my head. It wasn't worth it. Lee was looking angry too, his arms crossed.
"Ron! Fred! George!" Mr. Weasley said struggling through the crowd to get to the back of the store. I felt my stomach drop, seeing a small glimpse of what was about to happen. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."
Now, I tugged on Fred's arm, trying to get us to leave before. . .
"Well, well, well- Arthur Weasley." A tall man with long blond hair and piercing gray-blue eyes was standing there now. He could almost be called handsome in his own way if he didn't have such a cruel, smirking look on his face. I felt my cheeks grow red again, the way they had when looking at Lockhart. Hm, maybe there was something wrong with me today. But he was quite good-looking. I supposed even bad people could look good.
"Lucius." Mr. Weasley said, nodding coldly.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids. . . I hope they're paying you overtime?"
I gritted my teeth as he reached into Ginny's cauldron and picking out an extremely battered second-hand copy of her Transfiguration book.
"Obviously not." Mr. Malfoy said, his lip curled upwards. Draco stood to the side, smirking. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
Fred and George gave a start and I grabbed both of them by the arms. My bag with all my books was cutting into my shoulder. Lee helped me out, restraining them. Mr. Weasley flushed a dark red. Mrs. Weasley, and the Grangers started coming over.
"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy." Mr. Weasley said under his breath.
"Like you." I piped up, giving him a jaunty smile.
Mr. Malfoy's gaze flicked over to me, and Draco dropped his smile. Fred smiled and relaxed. I no longer felt a reason to restrain him anymore.
Then, Malfoy's eyes flicked over to where Mr. and Mrs. Granger were standing, watching the whole occurrence with Mrs. Weasley, who looked extremely nervous. "Clearly," Mr. Malfoy said, narrowing his eyes at the Grangers. Hermione blushed red and Mrs. Granger took a step back and shot a terrified look at her husband. "The company you keep, Weasley. . .and I thought your family could sink no lower-"
Hermione flushed even darker than the rest of us, and there was a thud as Ginny's cauldron went flying. I ducked to avoid it, Lee quickly pulling me out of the way.
Multiple people were yelling. Fred and George were yelling "Get him Dad!"; Draco was yelling, "Get your filthy hands off of him!"; Mrs. Weasley was shouting "No, Arthur, no!"; The assistant was shouting, "Gentlemen, please- please, the books!"
Then there was a louder voice, not yelling, but louder and much calmer saying, "Break it up, there, gents, break it up-"
Hagrid waded through the crowd and he pulled Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy apart from each other, holding them each in one hand. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip and Mr. Malfoy had a bruised eye. He was still holding Ginny's Transfiguration book. He thrusted it back in her cauldron, his eyes glittering with malice and an image flashed in my mind of a little black book.
Without another word, he pulled himself from Hagrid's grip and tried to march out the bookstore with dignity. Well! That wasn't happening. Pulling my wand I quickly whispered, "Offendo." Lucio's Malfoy tripped over his own two feet and fell flat on his face. There was some tittering and laughter from the crowd. Draco looked back and glared at me. I smiled and waved and turned my back on him. I slipped my wand back up my sleeve.
We were leaving now, with the urging of Hagrid. I trailed behind the rest of the group with Lee. Hermione was with her parents, Harry was with Ron, and the rest of the Weasleys were crowded around their parents. Lee and I walked in silence until we were about to part.
"I saw that tripping jinx." Lee said with a smile. "Nice work, I'm going to find a lot of hard spells this year for you to try."
I smiled back, "Thanks Lee. Have a great rest of your vacation."
I waved and hurried to catch up with the rest of the group. We were going to leave through the Leaky Cauldron instead of the Floo station. I went to get my trunk and then met up with the others in Leaky Cauldron.
We said good-bye to the Grangers and Hermione. I decided, as I stepped into the fireplace, that I could wait for Hogwarts to start. Who didn't like a nice vacation?
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