In Perpetuum

Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Rursus Occurrit

The bricks wiggled around until the archway was wide enough for the entourage to walk through. Hermione sucked in her breath sharply as she saw the familiar brightly lit windows of the shops in Diagon Alley. It felt just like it had the first time; the friendly banter, the people hunched over trays purveying their wares, and towering above it all was Gringotts Bank. Hermione knew and loved every nook and cranny of the street. Unlike the first time, she knew where she could get her robes and her books. She knew about colour changing inks and quills. She knew exactly why you should never, ever go down into Knockturn Alley.

“Hey Mum!” shouted James as he ran ahead of everyone else, “Can Sirius and I go and look at brooms in Quality Quidditch Supplies?”

“Ma P, could I go look at books in Flourish and Blotts?”

“Hey sis, surely you don’t need more books, I mean, you haven’t finished reading the entire library at home yet,” joked James. He had watched Hermione with a curious fascination, astounded at the fact that she would not allow her attention to wander, even after a full ten minutes of concentration.

“No, no,” chuckled Dorea, good naturedly, “I don’t want us scattering off into different directions. We will never achieve what we came here for. Although, having said that, it is important that we get all our school supplies quickly. Why don’t we split up the list?”

Dorea peered down at her parchment for a moment, forehead furrowed in concentration.

“Charlus, why don’t you go with the boys and get all the potions supplies, their wands and the like. Hermione and I can get all the books, quills and parchment for everyone. Then we can meet at Madame Malkin’s in an hour to fit you all up for robes, by which time, we will be due to meet the Lupin’s back here.”

Looking up at the group, she added with a twinkle in her eye, “I daresay we could even pay a visit to Florean Fortescue if we are quick enough.”

The family split into their two smaller groups and hurried off the purchase their required belongings for the upcoming term.

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Hermione felt a sense of peace pervade her being as she stepped into the bustling bookshop. Almost every inch of space had been taken up by ancient books, except for one narrow pathway in the middle. While Ma P discussed textbooks with the curly haired witch at the counter, Hermione walked around looking at the titles of the books. Many of them she had read before, courtesy of Hogwarts library. However, there were a few that caught her eye and she made a mental note to seek them out when she returned to school in a few short weeks.

Satisfied that she had seen everything the store had to offer, she turned quickly to rejoin Ma P, but was shocked to discover that there was something, or rather someone, in her way.

“Sorry,” apologised Hermione quickly, “I did not hear anyone approaching.”

“That’s alright, m...m...my fault,” stammered the small, brown haired boy.

Hermione looked at the parcels in the boy’s arm and then at his thin, pale face. She deduced that he must be going to Hogwarts for his first year as well.

“My name is Hermione. What’s your name?”

“R-Remus. Remus Lupin.”

Hermione gasped. She was shocked. Firstly that she had run into the child form of her old professor in Diagon Alley; and secondly that she had not recognised him.

Now, as she peered closer she saw the similarity between this boy and the man she had known in her time. There was the same light brown hair and hazel eyes, but this Lupin did not have nearly as many scars. His clothes, were perhaps a tad old, but they were not shabby as they had been.  The deep purple smudges that coloured the skin underneath his eyes were the only real tell-tale signs that this boy had underwent  a transformation into werewolf recently. Hermione took pity on him. She knew the Wolfsbane potion had not yet been created and that his transformation at this point his life would be very painful.

Wanting to cover up her moment of shock, Hermione looked down pointedly at the packages in his arms.

“Are you off to Hogwarts then?”

Remus simply nodded.

“Me too and so is my brother James. I can’t wait to get settled in and start lessons.”

Remus nodded his head once again, then added, in a soft voice.

“So you’re James’ new sister?”

It was Hermione’s turn to nod her head.

“We’re supposed to be meeting you and your family later at the Leaky Cauldron,” she replied.

This shy, young boy was certainly not Hermione had been expecting. The man she knew had been an exceptional professor and a talented duellist. His condition had taken its toll on him them, however, he had the courage required to use it to his advantage. Hermione supposed that this seemingly timid boy simply needed to spend a few more years with James and Sirius. She had no doubt their extroversion and inclination for causing mayhem wherever they went would soon rub off on this bashful Remus.

Hermione heard a voice calling out to her. It was Ma P, telling her that it was time to go.

“It was nice meeting you Remus. I’ll see you later, at the Leaky Cauldron.”

Returning his wave, she skipped off to join her mother.

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A quick trip to the stationary store ensured that everyone had all the parchment, quills and ink they needed, then it was off to Madame Malkin’s for robes.

3 sets of shirts, ties, jumpers, shoes and robes were bought along with pleated skirts for Hermione, and trousers and blazers for the boys. As the children did not know what house they were being sorted into, all the clothes remained either black or charcoal grey. The ties, necklines of jumpers and the like would change once the sorting hat had decided their fate.

They cautiously stepped out onto the sunlit street, parcels balanced precariously in their arms. A gust of wind chose to blow through at that moment and it almost took the entire Potter clan and Sirius with it.

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” muttered Ma P, and with a swipe of her wand, all the packages had been reduced to fit into one bag. Now, having been thoroughly unburdened of their purchases, they continued down the street in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

The smell of butterbeer and firewhisky assaulted Hermione’s nose as she stepped over the threshold and into the cavernous bar. It instantly took her mind back to the Gryffindor common room after a victory on the Quidditch pitch.

Fred and George Weasley would sneak down to the kitchens and pilfer food. To this day, Hermione could not work out where they managed to get the drinks from. She remembered turning her nose up at their antics. She wondered if she would react in that way now given the carefree time she had spent with Sirius and James.

Almost everything in this world reminded her of something or someone in her old world. A whiff of Lemon Meringue Pie catapulted her into Mrs Weasley’s kitchen.  She saw the friendly banter between brothers, the knowing glances between herself and Ginny, and the absolute love and adoration in the eyes of Molly and Arthur. But worst of all was when James would pop up suddenly from a hiding place and for a fleeting moment, she would believe that she had Harry back.

She put the painful reminiscences out of her head and plonked herself down on the chair next to James. She let out a series of drawn out breaths as she contemplated the day. It had been emotionally draining in light of all the memories that had been triggered. The simple acts of buying robes and books brought back the bemused expressions that had been on her biological parents faces back when she was about to begin her first year last time. Everything she had done had a sense of déjà vu about it

“Oi, Remus, come over here!”

James’ shouts jolted Hermione from her reverie and she went to greet her new friend.