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The next morning we all stood in a line in front of the fireplace watching as Mrs. Weasley took the flower pot full of Floo Powder out of its holder.
"Right. Here we are. Harry, you go first dear," she said.
Harry looked puzzled.
"Harry's never traveled by Floo Powder before, Mrs. Weasley," I said politely, "I don't think he knows what he's doing."
"Floo Powder?" he asked me.
"Oh, well you go first Hazel so that Harry can see how it's done."
I nodded and walked towards the fireplace.
"Yes. In you go... that's it," she held the Powder pot out to me.
Walking into the fireplace, I scooped the Powder from the flower pot and dropped it I screaming,
"DIAGON ALLEY!"
The green flames engulfed me and I spun out of sight, stumbling out of the fireplace and onto the floor. Expecting Harry to be next, I was shocked when the fire erupted again and a ginger emerged.
"Ron? Wasn't Harry supposed to go next?" I asked, helping him up.
Ron nodded his head.
"Yeah, but he ended up saying Diagonilly" Ron explained.
I gasped.
"Where is he going to end up?"
"I dunno," he replied with a shrug. The fire erupted again and the rest of the Weasleys along with my brother came out one by one.
"He'll be fine. He knows his way around. I'm sure he'll find his way back to us" Mr. Weasley reassured.
I nodded and we walked to Flourish and Blotts. When we arrived I instantly recognized a girl with frizzy-hair standing over a table with books on display.
"Hermione!" I screamed. She turned around and ran up to me, embracing me in a hug.
"Hazel! It's so good to see you!"
"You too!"
We pulled apart and I introduced her to Ginny then Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. After everyone had said their hellos we explained how we had lost Harry when coming to Diagon Alley.
"I'm going to go outside. Maybe I can find Harry," she said before leaving the shop. I went up the stairs to a bigger row of books.
That's when I saw him.
Draco was standing overlooking the people of the shop from the balcony intently, his gray eyes piercing. His hair looked the same as the year previous—it was neatly slicked back on his head—but he was certainly taller and his face had matured.
"Draco!" I yelled. His head turned toward me. Once he saw me we ran into a hug.
"Hey Hazel," he said in my ear.
Whoa, his voice got deeper. We pulled away and I grabbed his face in my hands examining it.
"Wow, your face really matured," I said to him. He laughed.
"I could say the same about you"
I smiled and blushed.
"I'm going to look for the books we need for this school year, and just to be honest, Gilderoy Lockhart doesn't seem like that big of a celebrity to me," I admitted, referring to the Defence Against the Dark Arts book we had to buy.
Draco smirked his famous smirk and it just made me smile more. The books that we needed for the year were on display on a table to make shopping easier for students and parents, but I took a quick detour to run my fingers over the spine of the other books still on the bookshelves.
As I picked up The Standard Book of Spells Grade 2, I noticed the newly found Harry uncomfortably taking a picture with the celebrity himself Gilderoy Lockhart. I couldn't help but laugh at his face of discomfort.
I glanced over to where I had previously left Draco and notice him rip out a piece of paper from a book. (A/N: REMEMBER THIS) I furrowed my eyebrows and picked up the last book I needed before walking over to the Weasleys. As I made my way over, I saw Draco already talking to them. Stopping in my tracks, I hid behind the crowd to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"I'll bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter? Famous Harry Potter! Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page," Draco said to Harry. Ginny stepped up into Draco's face.
"Leave him alone," she said in Draco's face. He looked at her in surprise. Clearly, he hadn't expected to be talked back to.
"Oh look, Potter. You've got yourself a girlfriend,.\" Draco taunted. Suddenly, Mr. Malfoy's walking stick handle hit Draco in the shoulder.
"Now, now Draco, play nicely. Mr. Potter..." Mr. Malfoy said with a devious smile while raising his hand. "Lucius Malfoy. We meet at last."
They shook hands and he pulled Harry towards him. He used his walking stick to push Harry's hair out of the way to see his scar.
"Forgive me, your scar is a legend, as, of course, is the wizard who gave it to you," he said.
"Voldemort killed my parents," Harry replied as he stepped back. "He was nothing more than a murderer."
"Hmm. You must be very brave, to mention his name...or very foolish."
The way Mr. Malfoy seemed to almost be mocking Harry made me want to slap him. I walked out of my hiding spot and towards the feuding group.
"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," Hermione said.
"And you must be" Mr. Malfoy looked at Draco who nodded. "Miss Granger. Yes, Draco's told me all about you and your parents. Muggles, aren't they?"
Hermione kept a glare.
His eyes drifted to the Weasley's
"Let me see...red hair... vacant expressions... tatty second-hand book," He took out Ginny's book from the cauldron she was holding. "You must be the Weasleys."
I curled my fist in anger as Mr. Weasley came up to us.
"Children, it's mad in here! Let's go outside."
"Well, well, well. Weasley senior," Mr.Malfoy said.
"Lucius," Mr.Weasley replied without any expression.
"Busy time at the Ministry, Arthur, all those extra raids? I do hope they're paying you overtime, but judging by the state of this, I'd say not. What's the use in being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it."
"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Mr. Weasley replied tensely.
"Clearly. Associating with Muggles," Mr. Malfoy stepped towards him and dropped the book back into Ginny's cauldron.
"And I thought your family could sink no lower. Do you care to join us Ms. Rosewood?" he asked not taking his eyes off Mr. Weasley. Though I felt it was more of a demand.
"Er- I'm alright Mr. Malfoy. Thank you though," I replied. Mr. Malfoy nodded.
"I'll see you at work," He said before strutting out.
"See you at school," Draco said before leaving after his father. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. It's going to be a long year.
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Look at this and switch out Hermione with Hazel: