You Are In Love

I

I | The Beginning of Everything

••••••

    HERMIONE Granger walked self-consciously down the vibrant and lively street she had recently come to be acquainted with as Diagon Alley.

Her fancy shoes clicked against the cobblestone as she took in everything with wide, brown eyes. Hermione Granger was most definitely out of her element. The feeling was uncomfortable, yet Hermione found herself occasionally shivering with euphoria. Though most people did not like learning new things, Hermione loved it- especially things that most ordinary people were not privy to.
Hermione was still wrapping her head around the fact that she wasn't ordinary; dare she say it, she was extraordinary. Despite having two of the most ordinary parents in the entire world, Hermione Granger was unlike anyone she had ever known.

She was a witch, and though she had never before had an explanation for her odd characteristics and bizarre tendencies, she finally understood why she always felt like an oddity amongst her social circles.

Hermione took in her surroundings and made a mental note of everything she laid eyes on. She noted how sorely her family stuck out among the oriented robes and absurdly tall pointed hats- not to mention, she'd seen at least twenty owls fly to and from shopping areas. That was more owls than she had seen in her lifetime.

Her inspection of Diagon Alley halted when Hermione noticed a very large man, probably the largest she'd ever seen, carrying around an umbrella despite the sunny August weather. He looked like a giant among the average sized wizards struggling to get past his large body.

His size was only enhanced as he towered over a small, black-haired boy standing beside him. Hermione filed the giant man away in her brain and turned her sharp gaze to the boy when she noticed the lightening shaped scar on his pale forehead. Hermione immediately wondered where he got it from and had a mind to ask him directly before realizing how utterly uncouth it would be of her. She did have manners after all. Hermione felt a sense of great relief, however, when she noticed the look of wonderment upon the boy's face. Perhaps she wasn't the only one learning new things today.

Hermione wanted to go over there and introduce herself to him, if only to gain a friend in this new world, but that desire was not a large as the desire to go seeking her new textbooks. The boy could wait— her school supplies, however, could not. How else would she catch up on the history of the Wizarding world. Blimey, she was probably eons behind the other children her age. She especially was looking forward to receiving Hogwarts a History. She had to know every detail about her new school and home.

A jingling bell could be heard as she stepped inside the shop called Flourish and Blotts. Her parents following uncertainty behind her and her father held tightly to bag of galleons her parents traded a pretty penny for at the Wizarding bank Gringotts. Those galleons were the tickets to her new life. She had to get her hands on those books.

The shop did not look anything like a bookshop, but what did Hermione know. She had never been to a wizard shop before. She was pulled out of her reverie when a booming voice called out amongst the low chatter of other customers . Suddenly, a man stepped out from behind a very large shelf.

"Hullo! Are you a young first-year looking to find her wand for the start of your term?" He asked pleasantly. Hermione stared at him in bewilderment. "I-I was under the impression that this was the book shop Flourish and Botts. I am looking to purchase my school books."

"Oh, well this is no book shop and thank Merlin for that. That is the shop next door. This is a wand shop, Ollivanders. I'd be happy to help you regardless. You'll need a wand before you go to school and this is the place to get it. We pride ourselves on being the best wand shop in all of Britain— why I bet even America has nothing on our skills. But enough of that; tell me, what is your name?"