A Room With a View

Finding Purchase

"Right. Let's go over this one more time before we set off. Hermione, you and Severus will floo to The Leaky Cauldron, then use the back courtyard entrance to Diagon Alley. From there you will proceed to Flourish and Blotts where you will discuss your plans to attend Malfoy's Ball on the 5th. You will continue this conversation as you pass Madame Malkin's to window shop. You'll then go to Scibblulus' at which point you will part ways after agreeing to meet for tea at Oolong and Ambrosia at 4pm. From there Hermione will enter Malkin's, ostensibly to shop for robes without Snape's assistance. Deforge, you'll be tailing her. Severus, you will proceed to Wiseacre's and I will follow. Are we all clear?"

Severus sneered. "You're disturbingly authoritative, Potter. I'm not sure what to make of it."

"All due respect, sir, my boss wasn't exactly thrilled about this expedition, so I'd appreciate your attention," Harry snapped.

"Don't forget the kissing bit!" Hermione interjected.

Harry shuddered as he confirmed. "Right. And after we're sure you've attracted at least one photographer, you'll... erm... put on a show?"

Severus turned toward Hermione. "Are you sure about this? Our trip to Diagon Alley will likely be enough to draw my attacker's attention. You know how word travels amongst the shop keepers."

Hermione shook her head. "No, I want to be positive that word gets 'round that you and I are an item. It'll get out eventually, and at least this will head off some of the press speculation. It also ensures that whenever I am reported to attend an event - and you know they'll report on that more often than they report on you - the press will assume you're attending with me. It makes it that much easier for us to draw your obliviator out."

"I won't pretend to like it, Hermione. The Daily Prophet is a leech. They'll never leave us alone."

"I'm not ashamed of being with you, Severus. Let them snap their damned pictures. It doesn't change the fact that we are together." She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "And if we stay together long enough, they'll eventually lose interest in favor of simply covering our attendance at events. You forget, Severus. I've been through this before." The look on her face was determined.

Harry chose this moment to clear his throat. "Right. Well, if you have that settled then we should depart. We're already behind schedule."

Hermione sighed at the ironic rise of Severus' right eyebrow as he drawled, "Lead on, Mr. Potter."

With a terse nod, Harry and his partner, Marius Deforge swept on their invisibility cloaks, though Deforge added a disillusionment charm to his imperfect Ministry-issue item. Severus and Harry stepped into the large fire in the staff room and flooed to The Leaky Cauldron. Hermione and Deforge quickly followed.

Once out in Diagon Alley proper, Severus and Hermione attended to their 'errands' according to plan, holding hands in plain sight. While he was uncomfortable with publicly 'declaring' his relationship with Hermione (again, apparently), he understood that this time the press would be able to verify that the duo was, indeed, dating again. Hopefully the press confirmation would bring Severus' attacker out of the woodwork if their shopping trip and attendant gossip failed to do so.

Flourish and Blotts was not terribly crowded, so Hermione and Severus were able to move freely without fear of losing their disillusioned aurors. They both moved through the shop, each picking up a few new tomes to add to their already overflowing collections before moving to the front counter to make their purchases. As Hermione waited for Severus to pay for his purchases, she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. "Would you mind terribly if we went past Madam Malkin's before we hit Scribbulus'? I want to see if she has anything suitable for the Malfoy's Ball."