Flourish and Blotts

[Lily Evans]

.

[Hermione Granger]

Hermione entered the bookstore and immediately went to the Transfiguration section of the store. Desiring a fun read, she picked out The Origins of Human Transfiguration: A Brief Overview of the History and Theory Behind the Magic, a large orange book with slanted silver writing on the cover. She sat down Indian style on a small wooden chair in the corner of the store and began to read the book, her eyes quickly darting across the page. Occasionally, she glanced up to see if she saw anyone she recognized. The book was interesting, but she was not opposed to a good, intellectual conversation.

[Trey Davis]

Trey had assumed Tracey was following along as he took off for the bookstore. When he got inside though - happily away from the crowded walkways outside - he turned around to notice she wasn't there at all. Terrified to find himself suddenly very alone, Trey bit his lip and told himself to remain calm. He could do this. He had to be able to handle being apart from his family, otherwise his parents wouldn't let him finish his last two years of schooling off at Hogwarts instead of at home.

So all he had to do was find the textbooks for his classes, right? Right. He could do that.
Well...maybe not. He had trouble at first figuring out how the books were organized. The one he needed for Transfiguration class he couldn't find at all. He almost bumped a girl sitting in the corner on a stool with his elbow when moving around a bookshelf. Oh dear. His panic levels were rising, but he kept telling himself to remain calm. Tracey would find him at some point. He hoped.

[Hermione Granger]

Hermione noticed someone coming toward her and almost knock into her. She looked up from her book to see a boy wandering around, a confused expression on his face. Marking her page in the book, she stood up and gently tapped the boy on the shoulder. "Excuse me," she said politely, "but do you need help finding something? I don't work here, but I know the layout of the store by heart." She smiled encouragingly at him.

[Trey Davis]

Trey about dies from embarrassment when the girl he almost knocked into taps him on the shoulder and starts talking to him. Then he remembers that someone from his family shouldn't be acting like this and he really needed to get his act together. He would be okay. Besides...the whole point of him doing all this was to prove to his family, and his self, that he would be okay on his own. That he could make it in the real magical world. Not to mention, make some friends. Blood status didn't mean as much to him as it did to his parents, he just wanted to have close friends he could talk to and maybe even confide in. It really occurred to him, standing here, how sheltered he had been for most of his life, due to his parents insistence upon home schooling and the fact that the most social experience he had ever had outside his family was the lame pureblood parties he had had to go to. So, mustering up all the confidence he possessed, Trey nodded to the girl in front of him, trying to smile and not look too pathetic. "I would greatly appreciate it...this is my first time in here." He admits. "I'm looking for my Transfiguration textbook for school...I'm going to be a sixth year." He felt his face heating up and cursed the fact that he seemed to blush rather easily.

[Hermione Granger]

"I'm going to be a sixth year too," Hermione says enthusiastically. "I know exactly where the textbook for sixth year is." Hermione turned to a neighboring bookshelf and starts browsing through the shelves. "So you must have been home schooled before, then," Hermione babbled. "I've only heard of wizards being home schooled, but I've never met anyone who is. I'm Muggleborn, you see." She smiles brightly, holding the textbook in her hands. "Here it is," she said, handing it to the boy. "Oh, what's your name? I forgot to ask. I'm Hermione Granger."

[Trey Davis]

Trey breathes a great sigh of relief when the girl tells him she knows exactly where the book is. He nods at her comment about being home schooled, almost afraid to talk. Having never really socialized before with other kids his age, Trey was worried a lot about making sure he said the right things. When she informs him about being a Muggleborn it's seems almost instinctual that he slightly flinches away from her. He may not be entirely judgmental when it comes to blood status, but he also had been listening to his parents for the past 16 years of his life and they always went on about how muggleborns were the worst. He silently cursed himself for letting that cause him to react poorly - this girl, Hermione, seemed perfectly alright. And he always had told himself that when he got out in the world he would form his own opinions of people first for himself. Taking the book gently from Hermione, he felt his face redden again and a very quiet 'sorry' stumbled from his lips before he could think. "Er...thank you." Why the heck was his voice sounding so thin now? And he felt so tiny. Be strong, be confident! "I'm Trey...Trey Davis."

[Hermione Granger]

Hermione noticed Trey's flinch when she mentioned she was a Muggleborn; she's pretty sure it wasn't a coincidence, but the boy seemed nervous so that could explain his reaction. And he did apologize, which showed he wasn't all that bad. "It's fine," Hermione said with a reassuring smile, for the boy did look very pale. She didn't want Trey to beat himself up over his involuntary response. "And you're welcome. Are you excited for Hogwarts? Do you know what house you'd be in? I'm a Gryffindor, but I think all the houses are equally good." Hermione thought that Trey must be very shy, poor boy; it must be difficult to enter a school when the rest of your class had known each other for five years.

[Trey Davis]

Trey was glad when Hermione didn't get really upset with him. He really didn't want to mess up a chance to have another friend. When Hermione asked about the houses, Trey managed to smile somewhat. He did like reading quite a bit and had grabbed Tracey's copy of Hogwarts: A History before to read it one night. So he knew all about the houses now. "I've heard they're all really great houses...my sis went last year and graduated. She was in Slytherin, so she says I may be in there too. I really don't mind which house I get into...though once my parents got over being angry about the fact that I didn't want to be home schooled anymore they said I better get into Slytherin." He about rolled his eyes at that comment. Then he bit his lip, worried he may have rambled too much and bothered her. "Er...but I am looking forward to attending Hogwarts..." he trailed off, doing a pretty good job at keeping the smile on his face.

[Hermione Granger]

Rambling has never bothered Hermione, as she herself has a tendency to ramble at times. "I'm sure you'd wonderful in Slytherin," Hermione said, though in reality she wondered how the poor boy would make it out of the snake's den alive. He seemed far too sweet and innocent for Slytherin house; he struck Hermione as a Hufflepuff, though she's never say it aloud. "It's okay if you're nervous about Hogwarts. I was too, my first year there. I didn't know anything about magic or the Wizarding World," Hermione said. "If you weren't nervous, I'd think something was wrong. But I'm sure you'll do well; your sister Tracey can help you and I'll be there if you need anything. I'm a prefect, so it's my job. Plus you seem like a good person."

[Trey Davis]

Trey smiled at Hermione reassurance. It really did help his confidence a bit. "Thank you. It'll be good to know I'll have someone to talk to if I need help. You're really nice." And his parents told him muggleborns were terrible...sheesh, what did they know? "Oh! And there's this other guy who's going to be in my year...my sis wrote to me about him. His name's Reed Dawson. He's in Hufflepuff. I wrote to him before...so I'll have him to talk to as well." He wasn't about to admit out loud that Reed also happened to be his only friend, besides Tracey. Hermione would probably think that's odd, considering he's sixteen and most sixteen year olds - even home schooled ones - had at least a few friends by this point.

[Hermione Granger]

Hermione wouldn't think it was odd for Trey to have so few friends; if it wasn't for Harry and Ron, she'd have never made the amazing friends she has now. She wondered how often Trey had the opportunity to interact with other people his age; it was very lucky that he was going to Hogwarts now. "Reed sounds like an amazing guy, though I've never met him before. His name does sound familiar though," Hermione said, making a mental note that she needed to meet this Reed soon. "I'd imagine between Tracey and Reed you've heard all about Hogwarts. Do you have any questions still? Because I've read Hogwarts, A History several times, so I know most things about the castle."

[Trey Davis]

"He's really nice." Trey nodded. "OH, I've read that book! I borrowed Tracey's copy since she wasn't ever going to use it. Uh..." he was trying to think of a question to ask - he really had so many, but his mind was drawing a blank right now, "I don't know." he squeaked. "Is it really easy to get lost in there? I got to visit once for Tracey's graduation, but I didn't get to see all of it and it's so huge." He would most likely get lost several times a day. Ack.

[Hermione Granger]

"At first, yes," Hermione admitted. "The castle is so confusing, with the moving stairs and doors that change depending on the day. But after a few months you start to figure things out. If you're nervous, try to find someone with a similar schedule to you and follow them to your classes at first. Don't be nervous about it though; everyone gets lost at first and the professors understand that." Hermione thought about the Marauder's Map; while she didn't approve of the uses her friends put it to, she knew that it was very helpful when finding the quickest route to class.

[Trey Davis]

Trey looked rather intimidated by her response. "Oh dear..." he managed to squeak out, "well, er, I'm sure it'll be okay. And you're right...I'll just find someone with a similar schedule..." Unless he didn't make any other friends besides Hermione and Reed though...cause then he wouldn't fair very well. He had to keep reminding himself to be optimistic. At least he didn't have to deal with accidentally running into Reed's tall, scary, foreign boyfriend since he had already graduated. Meeting him had been somewhat terrifying. How could someone be that tall? Though Trey kind of wished he was built as well as Kras was. Trey was just sort of small and skinny. Guess that meant he'd have to work out a bit. If that would even help. "Is...is the transfiguration professor nice?" Trey asked curiously. "That's one of my favorite subjects, besides music, and it's something I'm really looking forward to studying while there..."

[Hermione Granger]

Hermione vaguely remembered Kras as a friend of Victor and doesn't find Kras scary at all. "Oh, I love Transfiguration too! Professor McGonagall is amazing; she's my favorite professor." She didn't mention how strict the professor, for she didn't want to scare Trey away from Hogwarts. "What other classes are you taking next year?" Hermione made a mental note to introduce Kras to some of her other friends; maybe Arthur Weasley, though he tended to be a bit excitable at times.

[Trey Davis]

[My Inner!Kras is rather glad Hermione doesn't find him scary...cause it saddens him when people find him scary or something like that. He's going to be trying to get Trey to think he's not scary...somehow.]

Trey's smile brightened when he heard that the professor teaching one of his favorite subjects was awesome. Now he was looking forward to that class even more. And he was happy he had something else in common with Hermione. Having stuff in common with people made it easier to be friends, right? He thought that was how it worked. He was still pretty new at this whole making friends thing. "I know I'm taking transfiguration, history of magic, charms, and muggle studies for sure." Even though his parents had rather disapproved of that when they heard he wanted to take the subject. "Potions isn't really my favorite, but-" he was interrupted as Tracey came around the corner, breathless and slightly flustered. Her new little kitten, Skitter, was laying inside Tracey's bag, head peeking out the top. Trey's new owl was fluttering about outside waiting for them.
"Trey! Goodness, I've been looking all over for you! I'm sorry." She spotted Hermione and couldn't help wrinkling her nose slightly - she was much prettier than that bushy haired squirrel face. Not saying a word to her, Tracey turned back to her brother. "I can't believe we got separated. Are you ready to go? Books scare me, lets get out of this place." She giggled, tugging on Trey's arm.
Trey had looked rather relieved when his sister had appeared, having been really scared when they had been separated. "Hey, Tracey. Er...I got my books. Hermione helped me." He smiled at the girl in front of him. Realizing Tracey wanted to head on out - knowing her dislike for books because she hated to read - Trey rolled his eyes and grinned. "Alright, hold on."
He turned back to Hermione. "Thank you for helping me out. Will I get to see you around the school at some point?" He really hoped so. Tracey huffed in slight annoyance - she really didn't think they should be associating themselves with muggleborns - but Trey ignored her, still smiling at his new friend.

[Hermione Granger]

"It was no problem, Trey," Hermione said with smile. "It was a pleasure to meet you and your sister." Hermione thought Tracey seemed different...though that could be because Hermione could not fathom the idea of a person hating a bookstore this much. "Of course you will. I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express and in Transfiguration and Charms class, definitely. Don't keep your sister waiting; I'm sure you have lots of stuff to do." Hermione smiled and waved politely to Davis siblings.

[Trey Davis]

Trey smiled happily and reached out to take Hermione's hand, squeezing it gently. "I look forward to seeing you again! Thank you again for your help!" Ignoring Tracey's slight twitching, Trey grabbed his sister's hand and tugged on it. "Let's go, Tracey. Mum and dad will be worried about us." Waving back to Hermione, he led the way out of the shop, Tracey tagging along beside.

Once they got outside they collected their belongings and headed on out, using side-along apparation again to get them home.

[Miela]

Stepping into the bookstore, Miela found a young, bored looking assistant sitting at the counter, flicking his way at books as they make their way neatly into piles. Walking right up to the counter, Miela placed the list Professor McGonagall had given her on it, and slide it to the assistant.

The assistant turned, and stumbled out of the chair he was perching on, before getting up and dusting himself off while saying “Good morning Miss, how may I assist you?”

“It would be wonderful if you could get me these books? While I look around the store?” Miela replied, as she tapped on the list, and then looked around, realizing that she might take more than an hour then Madam Malkins requested.

“Sure thing Miss, feel free to look around!” The young assistant chirped, suddenly looking very awake.

As the assistant whirled around, trying to source out all the books that is indicated in the list, Miela walked around the shop, marveling at the number of books and they wide range of topics they cover.

“DONE!”

Miela turned around at the yell, to see the assistant stumbling out of the sky high piles of books, with a pile in his hands, and was disappointed that it took so fast. Nevertheless, she walked up to the assistant and took half of the load, as he seemed to have some trouble with trying to catch his breath.

“Thank you, and how much would that be?”

As Miela counted out the amount that the assistant had said, he suddenly spoke up, “So, you must have gotten at least 9 or 10 OWLs to take all these subjects.”

“Excuse me?” Miela replied, as she concentrated on counting out the last few kunts.

“Your OWLs, how was it?”

Miela looked up at the young assistant, with a puzzled expression on her face. “I don’t understand you. What does owls have to do with what subject I take? And I don’t have any owls.”

It was the shop assistant’s turn to look puzzled. As Miela pushed the correct amount over to him, she picked up the books and decided she needed to get out of there. Hurrying out of the store, Miela though that perhaps the young assistant wasn’t right in the mind, seeing how ridiculous he was, talking about owls while selling books.

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