Chapter Text
Hermione Granger walked fast on the sidewalk of Charing Cross Road, neatly sidestepping Muggle pedestrians, holding a bookbag under one arm and her umbrella aloft in the other. It was a rainy autumn afternoon, the usual noises of the city muffled under the drizzle, providing her a respite of anonymity in the crowds. She approached the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron in no time, having timed it precisely to arrive ten minutes before the appointed start of her meeting.
She shook her umbrella closed, letting the droplets fall to the floor, then instantly drying what remained with a tap of her wand. She shrunk the now dry umbrella and placed it in her bookbag, as she looked around for the bartender, to inquire about the location of the meeting. The group had reserved a private parlour room for the occasion, though she wasn’t sure which one.
She saw a blonde head near the end of the bar, with two long braided pigtails, an apron tied around her waist. She approached the bartender, Hannah Abbott, at the bar and greeted her cheerfully as she turned around, ready to help a new customer.
“Hannah! Hello, how are you?” Hermione said, leaning towards the bar, but not taking a seat.
“Hermione, nice to see you! I’m well. And you?” Hannah replied readily, smiling as she cleaned some glasses with a dishcloth.
“I’m very good! Quite a rainy day to be out, but I’ve just finished some errands. How is Neville?” Hermione asked.
“Oh, he’s very happy, just started a new year at the school. He says his students are already settling in and catching onto the coursework. I think he’ll have some herbology prodigies yet!” Hannah gushed about her husband Neville Longbottom, who has now been the herbology professor at Hogwarts for several years.
“I’m so glad to hear that. I must pay him a visit soon, it has been some time since I’ve been back up to the school,” Hermione mused.
“Yes, I’m sure he’d be glad to see you. Feel free to send him an owl, he’s always the same amount of busy, so any time would do! But you didn’t come just to chat. You must be here for the Book Club!” Hannah mentioned.
“Indeed, I was coming to ask you which room they are in?” Hermione asked.
“Of course, and they’ll be glad to have you! They’re in the room behind the bar here. Come,” Hannah gestured to a discreet hallway around the bar, and Hermione followed her to a set of dark wooden double doors with squares of frosted glass at eye level, warm light shining through from the room beyond.
“Thank you, Hannah, it was so nice to see you. And give my regards to Neville,” Hermione said gratefully to Hannah.
“Will do, see you later, Hermione! Have a drink on me after your meeting, if you’d like,” she said, leaving to return to the bar.
Hermione smiled to herself then turned back to face the doors. A small paper sign in a plaque to the right of the entry proclaimed “Hogwarts Alumni Book Club” in an elegant handwritten script, and the day’s date below it “21 September 2003”. It was the Sunday just after her 24th birthday. It was a time for new beginnings, and this would be her first time attending this book club, even though it had been going on for a few years now. She took a deep breath then pushed the door open, entering the cozy room.
Several couches, arm chairs, dining chairs from the bar, and poufs made a circle of about 15 seats in the center of the room, some already occupied by people and some still empty. The club members were witches and wizards of all ages, many around her own age, but a few older ones too. She actually recognized a fair amount of the other club members who were already seated. She waved to the ones she knew, Padma Patil, Terry Boot, Susan Bones, and Ernie Macmillan. There were three other members that she did not recognize, all older. She took a seat in one of the arm chairs on the side by the windows and noted a fire crackling cheerfully to another side, sending warmth and light around the room. It was getting close to time for the meeting to start, and she expected a few more people might show up as it got closer. She took the book out of her bag that she had read for this month’s book club and set it in her lap.
Luna had gifted the book to her, with an encouragement for her to attend the meeting in her absence. Luna was traveling the world with her new beau Rolf Scamander, and would not be able to come to this month’s meeting. Luna had been a regularly attending member of the Hogwarts Alumni Book Club for a year now, and she had always been trying to get Hermione to go, but Hermione had always been just too busy. Now, that she and Ron had broken up, after a 2-year engagement, in fact, Hermione wanted to get out there and try new things. That included getting back into her passion for leisurely reading, that wasn’t for work or research.
Hermione was pulled from her musings by a friendly face, the facilitator of the club meetings. Hermione had never met this witch before, who introduced herself as Wendy Slinkhard. She looked to be quite old, but was dressed tidily and seemed to be ready to lead the meeting in a few minutes’ time.
“I notice you’re new. Welcome! We’re a pretty casual get-together, people come and go each meeting, though we do have a few regulars. Would you like to be introduced?” she asked affably.
“Oh, no thank you. I think I will just pick it up as we go along. I believe I recognize some of my former classmates, in fact,” Hermione replied, not wanting to make a big scene in the first few minutes.
“All right then, nice to have you, Miss Granger. Here’s your name badge, you can just charm your name onto it and keep it for any future book club meetings you attend. We’ll get started right away,” she said, checking her pocketwatch and stepping back towards the center of the room. Hermione shouldn’t have been surprised that she knew who she was, her face had made its rounds in the newspapers for years now. She looked down at the badge in her hand. It was a shiny bronze color, in the shape of an open book. She spelled her name onto the badge, which appeared as her own handwriting etched into the metal, then pinned it to her chest. She realized everyone else was wearing one too.
A few more people trickled into the room, Alicia Spinnet, a younger girl, an older man, and surprisingly Theodore Nott. She supposed he had always been rather quiet and it wouldn’t be far-fetched that he liked reading, though she remembered his father had been a convicted Death Eater. The new arrivals took their seats, greeting friends or acquaintances that they knew. Alicia waved to Hermione as well. Hermione could see that they were wearing name badges already too. She could see the younger girl was named Melinda Bobbin, and the older man was named Adrian Talbot.
Then, at 11 o’clock on the dot, a new figure entered the room. It was Draco Malfoy. Hermione was shocked into silence, staring in surprise at his tall, lithe figure. She had not seen him in years. He wore a black cloak with a black suit underneath, all fitted well to his narrow frame. His hair was loose and fell in soft swoops across his forehead. In one hand, he held the same book that everyone else had, indicating that he was indeed here for the book club. He had on a name badge too, proudly proclaiming Draco Malfoy in an elegant font. Her eyes were not playing tricks on her. He swept through the door, only a falter in his step betraying that he had seen her. But he took his seat without comment, next to Theo, near the doors. The men greeted each other, but otherwise turned their attention forward.
In the center of the room, Wendy briskly clapped her hands for attention and said, “Let’s begin.”