MAGIANIMA // Hermione Granger

Quiet Comfort

Rain toiled within clouds above, threatening to fall upon London and those that walked the streets, it was dark, shady sidestreets once light enough to brave were now dingy and pitch, Atlas watched the buildings go by, her gaze bored and trailing across old homes as Ron continued to stretch his legs out in front of him. He knocked her leg, once twice, and on the third time, Hermione reached over to smack his ankle, shooting him a warning glare that Atlas grinned at, quietly and to herself. 

It was an awful day to shop but time was increasingly of the essence, the streets were getting more and more dangerous as the weeks dragged on, at least they had an envoy, their specially sent Ministry car driving them the whole way there, Arthur said they'd be meeting up with additional security, it was something Atlas had insisted upon and with the state of London, she was glad she did. 

Soon, they rolled up to the Leaky Cauldron and Atlas found herself smiling softly, getting out of the car to greet the great big hulking man known only as Rubeus Hagrid, she was pulled into a brief hug as soon as her foot had found pavement, a startled oomph forcefully expelling from her lungs at the contact, she was let go before she could really reciprocate as Hagrid moved on to Hermione, then to Ron and finally to Harry, the boy the last to leave the car.

"How's Buckbeak, Hagrid?" Atlas asked and he laughed joyfully.

"Buckbeak -- Witherwings, I mean -- yeh should see him, Atlas, he's so happy ter be back in the open air!" Hagrid boomed loudly as he let go of Harry, the boy massaging his ribs.

"That's good then," Atlas nodded, tucking her hands in her jacket pockets.

"We didn't know 'security' meant you!" Harry then said, grinning, eager to converse with the man. Atlas huffed and rolled her eyes lightheartedly, glancing at Hermione and taking her hand. Hermione obliged without real protest but cast the group one fleeting glance before fully following Atlas. The girl led them into the Leaky Cauldron and over to the bar. It was empty, depressingly so and despite the landlord's apparent attempts to keep it all clean, a thick layer of dust had settled over some of the bottles behind him and the spots beneath the tables seemed murky with idleness. That and his evident excitement upon seeing their two faces, he appeared incredibly hopeful.

"Could I get two butterbeers to go?" Atlas asked, holding up her two fingers. The barkeep seemed disheartened at the 'to-go', however, he obliged and reached around for two butterbeer, nodding gratefully when Atlas slid him the coins. The others soon came in and Atlas spared them a single glance before turning back to Hermione with a wink, "You come here often?"

Hermione laughed and rolled her eyes, covering her mouth slightly as she cradled her own Butterbeer, Atlas went to follow up but found herself dragged from the bar, tumbling to her feet from the stool as Ginny dragged her along.

"Now is so not the time to woman up," Ginny muttered only to her as Atlas freed herself from the girl's clutches and huffed.

"That's not what I was doing."

"Sure, come on Hermione!" Ginny called and Atlas stopped to wait for Hermione, sharing a look with her and an exasperated shake of her head, "Don't shake your head at me."

"Did Moody teach you how he sees from the back of his head or something?" Atlas muttered as Hermione smiled slightly, endeared by the interaction.

The conversation lulled out and the girls found themselves back in the middle of the group, Hagrid at the head guiding them through the motions of the secret brick wall and further into Diagon Alley, a place Atlas had only ever been a handful of times, if ever, as she couldn't remember what she would have gone there for. Even still, she knew, despite not visiting Diagon Alley, that it was vastly different from how it would usually be. Most shops that lined the streets were empty, newspaper clippings plastered across windows to hide their innards, all moving, creating a sickly thing to look at, a mish-mash of faces, all contorted oddly and grimly. Depictions of the escaped Death Eaters, of course.