The Bookstore
Tracey had written back a few days later saying her grandparents lived in London, so she could slip away whenever the rest of them were going to get their things and make up some excuse about it later, but Hermione had caught wind of it and decided she was far better off having the Grangers - who were muggles except for Hermione, pick her up for a day of school shopping. This ment, that by the time they managed to track down Holly’s idiot brother who couldn’t say words right and had thus, traveled to the wrong place through the Magick chimney network, the pair of them were waiting with Hermione’s parents.
Actually, Hermione’s parents looked pretty overwhelmed and shy, if anything. But, Hermione and Tracey looked no such way. They ran towards the group of Weasleys and Potters, Tackling Holly, then Harry and Ron in big bear hugs that made it hard to breathe.
Holly had still been nervous that they, especially Tracey, might be angry with her for not writing back all summer, but all of those worries slipped away the instant they reunited. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” Tracey said, pulling back briefly to look Holly over before squishing her into another bone-crushing hug. It had been a few weeks and Holly’s ribs could take it, though, she was a bit winded after.
Holly wriggled free. “It’s good to see you, too… I missed you.” She admitted.
“Alright, Kids, more time for that later. Right now we all need to visit the bank!” Mr. Weasley told the group fondly. He had been gushing over the Grangers - he was very excited to be meeting two real life muggles, it seemed.
Holly groaned. “I so don’t want to go down there…” she muttered.
Hermione had to do a money exchange which meant that she and her parents went one way, and Tracey came with them to go down into the vaults. Mr. Weasley stayed with his kids up above while Mrs. Weasley accompanied the four of them, along with their goblin escort.
Tracey’s vault was first. It was about as full as the Potter’s, but with a few very old looking treasures as well. She took a large coin purse and filled it with more than enough for the year, and then she left something wrapped in cloth inside. Holly didn’t ask.
Next was the Weasley vault. It was hard to see Mrs. Weasley open her door to a great big room filled with empty space, except for the very small pile of silver sykles and the single gold galleon. She took all of it, which was worse, and closed the vault.
That left Holly and Harry’s vault. They hurried to take what they needed without letting Mrs. Weasley see, though she probably already knew. And then they hurried back out of the vault and sealed it up.
After they were all done with Gringotts, everybody split off into smaller groups to get their things. Mrs. Weasley took Ginny to the second hand robes shop, Fred and Grorge went to meet up with their own friend, Lee Jordan, Percey weasley (one of the older Weasley boys) went off to get a new quill, Harry, Ron, and Hermione wandered off towards the ice-cream shop…
That left Holly and Tracey, and a laundry list of things to buy. “Robes?” Tracey asked, hopeful.
Holly nodded in agreement. “Robes.” She said.
They made their way to Madam Malkin’s Robes For All Occasions - the same place Holly had been fitted for her school uniform the year before. This year though, they knew what house they were in. This year they could wear silver and green, rather than just black.
“Oh, welcome back, dearies!” Welcomed Madam Malkin herself as soon as she saw them. “Houses?”
“Slytherin.” Both girls said at once, then glanced at each other and giggled.
Madam Malkin ushered them over to the collection of greens that they were allowed to choose from for their dresses. The robes would still be black, of course, and their hats, but they could get them lined with green if they wanted to.
Tracey picked a wool green and silver plaid, a plain green light knit, and a green and silver pinstripe linen - each dress would be for different weather, which Holly thought was smart. Tracey also got silver tights and green boots and green lining in her hood and hat.
Then it was Holly’s turn to be fitted. She thumbed through the fabrics one more time, before deciding on silvery-gray corduroy, the same knit as Tracey, only in silver, and a silver cotton for warmer weather. She got green socks and green lining for her robes and hat, though. Her boots still fit her, so she didn’t see any need to buy more yet.
“Alright, thats your school robes done. Feel free to look around or ask anything if you need anything else.” Madam Malkin said, and the pair happily wandered further into the shop.
Tracey went off to find new sets of head-to-toe witches robes, but Holly found herself wandering around, finding things she liked in pieces more than in sets. That made sense. She’d inherited some of Tracey’s old clothes, like the pink and yellow set of witches robes she wore today, but she mostly wore the skirts she got for christmas with alternating tops and either her boots, or, a pair of Duddley’s old trainers that she actually kind of liked.
“Whatcha got there?” Tracey wondered, when Holly eventually circled back to her with a pile of things draped over her arm.
Holly looked down at her collection. “Um… I’m not sure.” She confessed. “Or um… I mean… I don’t know how to-“ Holly floundered.
Tracey set her own collection of garments aside and started picking things up from Holly’s arm-pile one at a time. She nodded along at each new thing, and then set it on Holly’s head until Holly could no longer see what was happening. “Why do you have three pairs of shoes but you wouldn't get another pair of boots?” Tracey wondered, when there was nothing left but the shoes in Holly’s hand, all precariously balanced and straining her fingers.
Holly said from under the pile of clothes on her head, “because I don’t know which I like more. Can you help me choose?”
Tracey took two pairs of shoes off of Holly’s hands, leaving what she was pretty sure was a pair of mary janes. “Are you getting all of those clothes?” Tracey wondered, tugging softly at a sleeve falling from Holly’s head.
Holly shrugged. “Yeah?” She shuffled. “I mean… should I not? I just..”
Tracey flicked her nose. “Get them, Holls, you deserve to express yourself. Also, you grew into those robes way faster than I expected. You’re gonna need new clothes soon anyway. Are those all your size? You should probably size up…”
Holly held out her arms and tipped her head, letting the pile fall so it was no longer blocking her view of the world. “Everything is a few sizes too big. Except the shoes. Those fit. My feet haven't grown in a couple years.”
“Okay. You still need a good cloak that isn’t for school, though, and we both need to grab some underwear and regular tights and things like that before we go.”
Holly followed Tracey over to the cloaks. She had no real opinion, since she thought they all looked really cool, so she let Tracey match fabrics to her pile until she found one that would go with almost everything. “It has a matching hat!” She exclaimed, tossing the absolutely over the top hat in Holly’s pile along with the cloak. Then she picked one for herself, and lead Holly over to the accessories where they each grabbed the last few things they needed, before taking their stuff up to the front where Madam Malkin was holding their school robes. They paid, thank ed her, and then headed out.
There was still, surprisingly, half an hour left, so they went to go gather the rest of their supplies, including, excitingly, their very first brooms.
“Ron said you were hurt, when they came to get you… what happened, Holly?” Tracey eventually asked, as they passed from the broom shop to the apothecary.
Holly didn’t really want to talk about it, but she knew there was no sense in keeping it from Tracey. She’d probably just interrogate Ron until she heard the whole story from him. Holly just felt like if she told her, she’d feel even worse about her parents being sick. If they were better… well, Holly didn’t really want to think that way either. Besides, she really liked staying with the Weasleys.
Holly sighed. “My uncle threw me into a wall while he was trying to stop Harry from leaving. I think he just wanted me out of the way, but…” she faltered, remembering it like it was moments ago. Maybe she just didn’t want to talk about it because then she had to think about it.
“Holly… how bad were you hurt?” Tracey asked, careful in a way Holly had come to associate with Tracey’s general rage with the Dursleys’ treatment of her and Harry.
Tracy stopped walking, curling in on herself and trying not to cry in this public place. At least she had on a brimmed hat to partially hide her face if any classmates passed by. “I’m fine now.” She said, quietly.
“Holly,” Tracey pressed.
Holly shook her head. “It’s fine, okay! I’m fine. Besides… Mrs. Weasley patched me up. Can we please talk about something else?”
Tracey crossed her arms. “No.” She was quite stubborn, Holly had nearly forgotten.
“What good will it even do?” Holly demanded, suddenly angry. “What will change if I tell you?”
Tracey looked hurt, and it was enough to dissolve some of Holly’s anger. But, Tracey pressed on. “Then I’d know if I have to worry about losing you, too!” She snapped back.
Holly dropped all her things and hugged Tracey. “You aren’t gonna lose me, Trace, I promise.” She swore. “It’s just still fresh in my mind. I don’t like thinking about it. I’ll tell you the best part though, okay?”
Tracey nodded into Holly’s head. She was very tall. “Okay.” She agreed.
“George punched him in the face. He climbed into our window, socked Vernon right in the eye, and then helped me get out. I’ve never heard my aunt scream like that before and it was amazing!” Holly revealed.
Tracey snorted. Then snickered. Then laughed all together, and let go of Holly. “Of course that would be your favorite part.” She mused. “But really, Holly, you’re not still hurt?”
“No, I’m good now.” Holly promised.
Their hour ended, and everyone re-convened at Flourish And Blots, the bookstore. It seemed like every other magickal family in London had the same idea. Holly couldn’t see through the crowd enough to see why at first, until Tall-Tracey-Davis gasped. “Oh my gosh! He’s here!”
“Who's here?” Holly wondered, just as they reached the rest of their group.
“Gilderoy Lockheart!” Said Hermione, dreamily.
“Uh…” Holly was very sure that she had never heard that name before, and she read alost as much as Hermione did. “The guy who wrote half our school books?”
And then several things happened all at once. The crowd cleared enough for Holly to see a sparkley looking man smiling vainly next to a book with an identical man with an identical smile peering out at them. But, that also meant that he saw them. He saw Harry first, she was pretty sure, but then his eyes landed on her as well and before she knew it she and Harry were being literally passed up to the front by a sea of middle-aged witches.
Holly looked around frantically, thinking very seriously about screaming to disrupt whatever media-thing this had become, but she caught sight of some of her less favorite classmates near the back of the shop and decided instead, to not do that. Instead she let herself be dragged in front of the crowd and man-handled to stand in front of the sparkly blonde man with Harry.
“Nice big smiles, you two, together, we’re worth the front page!” Said Gilderoy Lockheart, through his piercingly white teeth.
Holly glared so hard at the camera that she thought she might've been the cause of the smoke blowing off of it into the weasley’s faces at first.
When Gilderoy Lockheart finally let go of their shoulders, Harry rolled his arms a few times to loosen back up and Holly found herself rubbing the place where the mans fingers dug into her.
“Ladies and gentleman, what an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I’ve been sitting on for some time-“
Holly wanted to escape. It wasn’t happening though. Any time she or Harry tried, Lockheart just found some new way to hold them there and pose while he talked.
“When the young Potter Twins came into Flourish And Blotts earlier this afternoon to perchase my new memoir, Magical Me, they had no idea that they would be getting much more than that! They and their schoolmates will soon be getting the real magical me! Thats right, ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that I will be taking up the position of Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts school come september!”
The whole crowd of witches cheered.
Holly and Harry were each handed the completed works of Gilderoy Lockheart and paraded about for a few more minutes before finally being allowed to go. She and Harry edged their way out of the limelight and off to the back of the shop where Ginny was waiting with her new cauldron.
Harry tipped his books into her pot, muttering something about buying is own, before Draco - the stupid pig - showed up.
“Bet you loved that, didn’t you, Potters!” He spat. Holly set her books down beside Ginny and turned. “Famous Potter twins. Cant even go into a bookshop without making the front page!”
“Leave them alone!” Ginny said, surprising Holly a bit, because she usually didn’t remember how to speak in front of Harry. “They didn’t want all that!” Ginny glared at Draco.
Holly put her hand on Ginny’s shoulder. “Nice one, Draco. It take you long to come up with that?” She taunted, right back.
Draco narrowed his eyes. “Shut it, Potter!” He snapped.
Holly shrugged. “Nah. I think you could do with someone standing up to you.” She said, casually.
Draco went beat red, like before, but this time he actually had words to throw back at her. “I would be more careful about what you say to me-“
“Why? Because you’ll go and tell daddy how mean I was? Oh look! Here he comes now! Tell him all about it, *Draco*!” She said his name as though it was, itself, a taunt.
Mr. Weasley came up behind them, placing a hand on Holly’s head. “Holly, calm down. Why don’t you all head outside?”
But Mr. Malfoy caught up to them before they could. “Well well well, Aurther Weasley.” He said, disdainfully.
“Lucious.” Mr. Weasley said evenly back.
Mr. Malfoy sneered. “Busy time at the ministry, I hear. I do hope they're paying you overtime.” He reached into Ginny’s cauldron and pulled out a very beat up copy of A Beginners Guide To Transfiguration. “Obviously not.” He said, dropping the book back in. “Dear me, what is the use of disgracing the name of wizard if they don’t even pay you well for it?”
Mr. Weasley turned such a dark shade of red, Holly thought he would explode. “You and I have a very different Idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy.”
“Clearly.” Mr. Malfoy agreed. His eyes wandered to the Grangers, and he added, “the company you keep, Weasley… I thought you could sink no lower-“
Mr. Weasly threw himself at Mr. Malfoy, shoving him into a wall.
It was incredibly satisfying.
While the Weasley’s and Harry cheered him on, Holly heard Tracy say to Draco, “you see? You're the only one who can fight your own battles. Even he can’t save you from your bad attitude. That's something you’ll have to do yourself.”