Work Text:
Hermione looked around the shelves of her bookshop. The morning was her favourite time in PageTurners. The sun glinted off dustmotes, and she was waiting on the bell to announce her first customers.
“Miss Granger, help.” A frantic voice brought Hermione out of her morning reflections. “I have a major report due in two days, and I have no research done. I cannot afford to mess this up. Mr. Stark will kill me if he knew that I had put spider stuff ahead of school stuff.”
“Take a breath, Mr. Parker.” Hermione tried not to laugh as she watched one of her favourite customers pace in between the seating area and the first row of shelves in the front of the bookshop. “I’m sure I have a book or two on whatever you need to research.”
“I don’t have the money to buy them right now.” Peter stopped pacing to face Hermione. “I need to find something on hidden wars of the twentieth century. I have no idea where to start. If this was science class and the hidden world of spiders, I would be fine…”
“Breathe, Peter.” Hermione bit her bottom lip as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “I have some books in my personal collection that I can let you borrow. Is this for History class or Creative Writing?”
“Creative Writing. That’s why I haven’t written it yet.” Peter looked at the floor and scuffed his toe against the floor. “I hate that class. I never seem to get what the teacher wants us to do. Lab reports are so much easier. The science is right there in front of me.”
“Well then, it is a good thing you know me.” Hermione turned Peter towards her office at the back of her shop. “I have a collection of books on magical wars and the history of the people who fought them. I think we can find something to help you there.”
“Magic isn’t real.” Peter waited until they were in her office before he spoke again. “It is just illusions and sleight of hand. How can there be secret wars for something that doesn’t exist?”
“How many times have I told you to not believe everything you read, Peter Parker?’ Hermione pulled her wand out of her sleeve and waved it to close her office door. “Sometimes, seeing is believing, and I have a story you will never believe. Ready to hear how three teenagers saved the world, Spiderman?”