To Brew A Scandal by stars_in_motion

Chapter 3

- NOT MY STORY!! ALL CREDITS TO @stars_in_motion ON A03!!

Hermione was up and out of bed the next morning as the sun rose in the sky. She hastily got ready for the day, before her mother had even woken as she normally did to help her dress, and slipped into the kitchen to grab a hunk of bread and an apple before attempting to slip out the door.

"And where is it that you're going, my lady?"

Hermione froze with her hand on the knob of the door, before slowly turning to greet her family's butler as he stood stoically in the corner of the kitchen, tea tray in hand.

Caught red-handed, Hermione scrambled for an excuse. "I'm off to go read outside."

"So early?" Mr. Crookshanks said. "Your parents have yet to even wake for breakfast."

Drat. "Only some reading before breakfast is ready, Mr. Crookshanks," Hermione said, growing more worried as the conversation progressed. "I will be back!"

Mr. Crookshanks stared at her warily, attempting to understand her eagerness to leave the house at once.

Hermione broke the silence with a question of her own. "Do you know of any wizards in the area, Mr. Crookshanks?"

His eyes narrowed. Hermione summoned an expression of innocence at his suspicion.

"I know of small wizarding communities here," Mr. Crookshanks explained slowly as he stalked towards her. "It certainly wouldn't be unlikely to meet one."

Hermione hummed, seeming interested. From the creaking of the floorboards above her, it appeared her parents had finally awoken. Hermione cursed her luck.

"How about you read in the sitting room before breakfast is served before heading outside?" Mr. Crookshanks supplied, gesturing towards the food she held in her hands, which she quickly hid behind her back. "And bring your snacks with you for your afternoon reading?"

Later that day, after breakfast and lunch with her family, Hermione finally slipped outside. Mr. Crookshanks was quick to follow her out.

"Do not be afraid to use your magic should they try anything improper, always be on guard," he whispered urgently. She shouldn't have been as surprised as she was that he had figured her out. "Always keep your wand on you. Promise me!"

"Of course, Mr. Crookshanks," Hermione whispered back, before ducking out the side door.

Once under the thick cover of the trees and out of sight from her parents, Hermione broke out into a run.

"You were correct."

Hermione looked up from her book, violently startled that she had not heard the boy approaching as she did the day before. He had somehow snuck up on her. "Correct? About what?"

"This point," the boy said, gesturing to the ground beneath them. "It's just outside the wards of my family's home. I had thought it encompassed everything until it reached the water, but it does not."

Hermione only looked up at him. He wore other-worldly robes as he did the day before, and his hair was combed back with what looked to be a frankly absurd amount of hair product. He was closer to her now than he had been the day before. His features seemed more pointy and sharp, a nose that poked too far out on his thin face. There wasn't anyone like him that she had seen before, even at a school like Hogwarts.

"What's your name?" he asked, breaking her from her study of his features.

"What's yours?" she countered, a bit childishly.