Lion Rampant

Chapter 6

"Wake up Hermione.", Harry whispered eagerly in the young girl's ear. She sat up quickly banging her head against his.

"Ouch!"

She rubbed her sore forehead and looked around for the source of her annoyance only to see him racing about her room.

Quietly.

He shoved some clothes into her hands before turning around and closing his eyes and whispering his thoughts to her.

"I remembered yesterday when Dudley and I were playing exploding snap, you said that we would never be prepared for the outside world if we never got to experience it. Well Dudley is already up and waiting for us. The adults are all busy with some new spell work and won't notice we are gone for at least a few hours."

Hermione popped her head out of her blouse and immediately went into "mini-mommy" mode.

"Harry! I can't believe the one thing you took out of my entire conversation was this ridiculous idea to run away!"

Her hair seemed to feel her anger and it flowed out nicely if a bit scarily around her. Harry whipped around at lightening speed and grabbed her around the shoulders steering her towards the door. She spluttered angrily.

"I refuse to be apart of this juvenile act!"

Harry stopped and pouted slightly his lip quivered visibly.

"But Hermione, we're not running away, it's an educational field trip. I don't know where Dudley and I could end up if you're not with us."

His arms dropped to his sides and Hermione stopped. The room was only dimly lit so Hermione could only see so much of Harry.

"I can't force you to go but Dudley and I have already prepared, and we are going to Diagon Alley with or without you."

She couldn't help it she laughed.

Harry stood taken aback as she just continued to laugh in his face. Wiping the tears from her eyes she straightened up and grabbed at her bookbag.

"We'll need to have a map of the area and if you think you're getting out of going to the bookstore you are sorely mistaken!"

Osososososososososososososososososososososos

As the kids entered the leaky cauldron they could feel the cooling charms fighting the humidity. Hermione distastefully eyed their surroundings. Just under her breath but loud enough for her two companions to over hear Hermione whispered," I assumed this place would have looked a bit different."

Harry snickered at her comment as he followed Dudley towards the back door. Once there Dudley put his hand on the knob and looked towards Harry and Hermione.

"Alright ladies and gents this is it. The alley is just on the other side of this door."

This was it!

Excitement welled up inside each of them. They had heard the tales from the lips of their very own parents and finally they were so close they could almost taste it.

He opened the door and they all excitedly peeked through it. Beyond the door was nothing but a small enclosed courtyard with a solid brick wall. Their faces became puzzled. Where was the magical place they had heard so much of? Silently they went through the door to see if maybe it was all some joke.

Hermione looked to the wall expectantly. Before she could voice her opinion on what to do next Dudley spoke up.

"So, this is it then? We came all this way for a moldy old wall?"

Honestly, it's like he never paid attention. Hermione rolled her eyes and began rifling through the small messenger bag she had grabbed at the last second.

"Since I wasn't given enough time to carefully plan for this little field trip", she glared at both boys," I wasn't able to grab one of the emergency wands, but I do have this!"

With a great tug she pulled a rather large tome from her bag. The boys rolled their eyes together as she began flipping through the pages of her book.

"Really Hermione? You just had to bring a book with you? Honestly, we can't take you anywhere." Harry shook his head while she continued to ignore them. This really should not surprise him so much, ever since he could remember Hermione had had a deep love of books. Their parents had all encouraged her reading for fun. The things she had learned while reading had more often than not really saved their asses.

They watched as she moved closer to the barrier between worlds. Hermione stood there, mere inches from the wall with the book held open to the particular page she would need. She mumbled a few words in a strange language and part of her daily glamor dropped. A slinky pointed black tail appeared behind her startling both boys.

"Hermione you can't drop that here!", Dudley whispered urgently while he moved to make sure the door was closed as Harry used his body to shield her.

She laughed.

"I really don't see what is so funny about all this Hermione." Harry bit out a bit aggressively. Hermione smiled at the boys she grew up with. The way they tried to protect her a testament to their inner animal and the close bond they all shared.

She shrugged Harry away as Dudley rejoined them.

"The door was closed but really Hermione you can't just whip out that thing whenever. Our parents would kill us if we got spotted.", Dudley said. He too now stood near her unsure if this whole thing had been wise after all.

"How else did you two think we were going to get in here?", Hermione scoffed.

"Now stand back you boys are crowding me."

They both stepped away from her as she brought her tail forward and tapped out a pattern on the bricks of the wall. Again, Hermione whispered a few words and her tail was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. At first nothing happened but then the wall began to shake, and the bricks moved themselves to reveal their prize.

Diagon Alley.

"Alright kiddies hood up.", Dudley said as he raised his hood and took their first steps into the magical world since they had been babies. Harry and Hermione followed his example and they were off.

Everything was loud and vibrant. Other people dressed in many different colored robes. They passed a few food shops and Harry realized they needed to exchange their muggle allowance into wizarding coinage. He moved to the side of the pathway and called out to his companions," Hey guys don't we need to head to the bank before we stop in anywhere?"

They walked over to Harry and Dudley nodded while Hermione pulled out a map.

"Well we have been wandering about for a while, but I think we are right about here." She pointed to the map and using her finger she traced a short path for them to follow.

"If we keep following this path right here, we can be there in about ten minutes.", she said.

"Alright so we head to the bank we exchange some of our money and then we shop!", Harry excitedly exclaimed.

"Where should we go first?", asked Dudley

"I was promised a stop at the bookstore don't forget.", Hermione chimed in.

The boys laughed and together the three made their way back into the stream of people milling around. It wasn't long before the hair on the back of Harry's neck began to stand up.

They were being watched.

There was a loud crash in the shop behind them. Hermione jumped a bit startled by the crash, but she laughed it off. Harry laughed with her, but he pulled her in closer to himself as he looked up at Dudley with a serious face. Dudley got the message and moved his bigger body to shield his to smaller companions.

"We should move faster if we want to get there soon.", Dudley said.

"I think I know a short cut with less traffic." Hermione said finally having caught on to the situation at hand.

Together they turned in the new direction. Just as Hermione had said this way had much less traffic, whether that was a good thing or not had yet to be decided. Strangely this shortcut seemed to be very dark and gloomy. Diagon Alley seemed to glow brightly behind them and for a moment they wanted to turn back. They walked in silence for a few minutes with Dudley cracking a bad joke every few minutes to lighten the mood.

It didn't work.

Finally, after what seemed like a century they saw the back of the bank.

"There it is! C'mon guys pick up the pace we've almost made it.", Harry called out as he took a running step forward. He had only taken a few steps before he ran straight into a body that hadn't been there before. He looked up slowly already recognizing the smell of the perfume this person wore.

Hermione's mother stood in front of Harry, hands on hip looking quite miffed with her hair a bit out of place.

"When I felt you pass through the wards I told the others that it had to be a mistake." Harry slowly backed up till he was once again huddled with his companions.

"I told everyone that you all were far too smart to be doing something so stupid, but apparently I was wrong.", she said the disappointment heavy in her tone.

"I told them it- ", Jean waved her hand and Hermione was silenced.

"Whether you told them or not isn't the issue. The point is that you all deliberately disobeyed orders set in place to keep you safe."

Jean looked on at the children. Her own daughter smarter and braver than she could ever hope for, and these two boys strong, courageous and growing brighter every day. What they had done had almost cost them all very dearly. They huddled together seeking comfort in each other and she softened her tone just a bit.

"You three do not understand the danger you were in today.", she closed her eyes briefly before continuing.

"If I hadn't come you three could have been taken by people who would've exploited you and your powers."

The children all looked up at her with worry in their eyes. Harry held onto Hermione's hand with one hand and thde other he held onto his brother's forearm. Jean sighed and pulled the children towards her.

"I love you all and I would hurt many people before I allowed anyone to harm you all.", she said embracing them tightly.

After a few moments of hugging Jean stood back from the children a bit. Pulling a small frisbee from inside her robes many pockets she motioned for them all to grab onto it. They couldn't apparate in the normal sense thanks to the many people who were closely watching for any strange travel signatures. After a few painstaking weeks, the adults had figured out something close to a portkey that they could keep under wraps. The only downside was that it was activated with blood.

The children waited calmly as Jean pulled out a small dagger and pricked her finger. She grabbed onto the frisbee with the hand she had cut. As soon as the blood touched the frisbee it began to glow.

"Alright everyone deep breaths. Remember you're all still in loads of trouble.", she sang out happily as they were suddenly zipped away.

The dark empty alley seemed to become darker after the small group had left. Almost imperceptibly a shadow unattached itself from the others and slinked away.