Ambiguous Aberrations

Chapter 1

5 years later

August 21st,

Hermione could barely hold in squeals as her eyes ran over the spines of all the books in front of her, not nearly fast enough. She drank in the sigh of the clustered shelves with books overwhelming the limited space in the small bookstore, varying from boring informative textbooks to fantasy novels to magical items. It was so unlike anything she had ever seen and her excitement upon hearing that she could choose one for extra reading had increased her already immeasurable excitement.

(R/N: Honestly, Flourish and Botts sounds like a dream)

(D/N: Ikr, like I would happily die here)

(R/N: Fr)

Hesitantly reaching a tentative hand up, her long fingers brushed over the spines, sending goosebumps down her arms as she breathed in the comforting scent that reminded her of home. She forced herself to go slowly, read all the titles, and absorb every detail. Which is why it took a few minutes to find the book she had wanted.

"The Eye of the World," Hermione breathed out, eyes fluttering over the gold lettering. "By Robert Jordan."

(R/N: I had to search up books that were published by then that I've already read and that took some time-)

Giddy excitement like unstable butterflies flew into her chest, and just as she tilted the book to take it out, another pale hand grasped the book greedily. The fleeting moment having been taken away from her, Hermione spun around to face the trespasser, a boy her age with gelled-back white-blonde hair and grey eyes, which paired with a haughty smirk, told her everything she needed to know.

"The Eye of the World," he repeated, stepping closer as if to increase his claim. "I've been needing a third copy. I have three copies of all of my books, you know." He set his eyes on her. "So obviously, this is mine now."

Hermione blinked, refusing to take off her hand. "I was here first, you know."

The boy narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't mean anything. Do you even know who my father is?"

Hermione looked him up and down coolly. "Nope."

The boy scowled. "My name is Draco Malfoy and my father is Lucius Malfoy. Heard of us? We're one of the biggest wizarding families in the UK." He studied her face and snorted. "No, actually I don't expect you to. Let me guess, you're a muggle-born?" He spits out the word like a curse. "An ignorant one at that." He motioned to her hair.

Hermione frowned. "So what if I am?" Ignoring the second part.

Draco scoffed, not answering that particular question, stomping it under as if it were nothing more than a pesky fly. "You know, I'm a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. So that automatically makes me better than you, and that automatically means that I get to have this book."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, clearly nothing gets in that daft head of yours because none of the founders have descendants - which you would know if you read the books you seem to have so many of. And that's coming from a so-called muggleborn. Let me just tell you that even if I am a Granger and not from a 'famous' family, I seem to know quite a lot more about the world that you grew up in."

Draco crossed his arms. "I know quite a bit-" he started, but Hermione had already taken her chance and stolen the book off the shelf.

"Bye!" She called behind her shoulder, walking over to her parents who were looking for the textbooks, leaving behind a confused Draco Malfoy.

***

September 1,

Hermione opened another compartment door.