11 | "Surprise, stranger."
Harry, Ron and Hermione had just come from The Three Broomsticks, and now, they were traipsing around the Hogsmeade main street just for old time's sake. The sky looked as if it could start crying anytime soon, and there's not much people around.
Hermione had insisted to bring the groceries back to the Malfoy Manor, but Ron had been in such a foul mood that she had just succumbed into putting the two grocery bags inside her handbag, charmed, of course, with the Undetectable Extension charm, just like she had three years ago. Its usefulness never fails to surprise her.
The weather was awful cold, so the three of them embraced their coats tighter and shivered. She looked over at the two boys, laughing about something incoherent.
"What are you guys laughing about?"
"What? Oh, nothing." Harry dismissed. He wiped the happy tears from his eyes. "Ron and I were just talking about the cute girl that just passed by."
She rolled her eyes. "I am so going to tell Ginny about this."
"No, no! It's Ron who has the eyes for her." He said, giving his friend a nudge at the ribs.
Ron didn't look to happy about it, with his face scrunched up and his posture a bit defensive. "Nah, not really." He said, his cheeks turning bright pink. "I was just saying that she has. . . pretty cheekbones."
Harry and Hermione laughed. "How lame is that?" She teased.
The three of them walked for a few minutes, looking inside the shops and buying all sorts of knick knacks. The whole time, all she could think about was bringing the food back to the Manor. She had called up on Dean to check up on Malfoy, but she wanted to see for herself if he still had food to eat, and if he diligently took his medications.
Stop thinking about it, she thought. It'll just give you a migraine.
They stopped just in front of Honeydukes Sweet Shop and entered, overwhelmed by the amount of students inside. There was a long line along the cashier, and most of them are preoccupied about the assortments of candies placed among the shelves. Some of the students looked up and was surprised by their presence.
"Oh my god, it's Harry Potter!" A boy squealed.
"Oh no. . ." Ron muttered. Knowing what will happen, he and Hermione moved out of the way, bumping against the students that was shoving past their way, just so they can get closer to their famous friend.
"So much for popularity." She said, taking notice of Harry's sudden aura of awkwardness. He looked up at the two of them and waved, as if to say: Get me out of here.
"All this time, and he still doesn't know how to handle crowds." Ron marveled, ogling at the wide assortments candies and sweets arrayed across the aisles. He started picking up stuff and scrutinizing them. "'Oh look, it's Harry Potter!', they said. On the other hand, there's me: 'Oh, hello there, I'm a weasel!'" He muttered, making Hermione laugh in the process.
"Oh come on, Ron." She said, looking over at Harry, who was now signing autographs and writing on their arms and whatnot. The male students kept on saying stuff like "Whoa!" or "Blimey!" while, on the other hand, the girls kept squealing fanatically and chanting "Harry Potter! Harry Potter!"
"Ah man, they still have Ice Mice in here!" Ron hooted with distaste. "Who still buys this horrid stuff?"
Suddenly, an old man entered the shop. Harry politely veered away to give space for the man, and the students did the same way for courtesy. Hermione noticed him, and had an ominous feeling. He was the same old man who was sitting alone, hunched over, while they were in the Three Broomsticks. He spoke to no one in the entire duration and didn't even order anything.
"That's weird." She said.
The man was clad in a robe and had a cane with him, for support. He looked like any ordinary elder man, with a little stubble on his chin and grey hair covering his eyes. He had wrinkled and blotchy skin, and his feet wobbled with every step he took.
"Ron," she hushed over to him. "Don't look now, but the lonely old man from the Three Broomsticks just walked in here."
"Whu—" Ron diverted his eyes away from the Ice Mice and looked around.
She pinched him in the elbow.
"Ow!"
"I said to not look!"
Just then, the throng of students that was surrounding Harry dispersed, like particles of sand scattering as water drew them away from shore. They mumbled excitedly, looking at Harry's autographs and whispering to each other's ears, with smiles plastered across their faces.
"Thank you, Mr. Potter!" They said gleefully.
Harry nodded to them timidly, a shy smile on his lips. He had his hands hidden inside the pocket of his windbreaker—a habit whenever he's nervous—and slowly sauntered over to the aisle where Hermione and Ron were.
His face looked confused when he saw their faces. "What did I miss?"
"Let's get out of here, right now." Ron urgently whispered. The palms of his hands were cold and sweaty, and his shoulders were tense.
Hermione pinched him again in the elbow.
"Oh look!" She exclaimed with the same excitement of the students a while ago. "Chocolate Frogs!" She picked one up from the shelf and looked over at Ron. "I reckon you want to buy this one, Ron?" She asked him nicely, with a smile that seemed too forced.
Keep it normal. Keep it simple, she thought.
Harry picked up her message quickly, so he played along. "Yeah, they're your favorite, right?"
Ron looked at them, with a helpless look on his face, as if he didn't know what to say or do. Luckily, Hermione saved him from acting too weird.
"Come on, I'll treat you a couple of them." She perked up, walking rather briskly towards the cashier. From her peripheral vision, she saw the old man look at her. After a second, he drank something from his leather whiskey flask. The way he shot his head back as he guzzled it down made reminded her of Professor Moody.
Could it be. . .? She thought to herself. Her mind was racing. There was something suspicious about this man, and she wanted to find out who he really is, but she just continued her merry composure and smiled up at the cashier lady.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Flume." She greeted.
"Ms. Granger!" The woman said in surprise. "It's nice for you to visit the shop! What are you going to buy this time?"
Hermione placed the Chocolate Frogs on top of the counter eagerly. "These ones."
"Just as I thought." The owner of the shop mused. She placed them in a bag and gave it to the young witch, receiving the galleon that Hermione had in her hand as payment.
"Thank you." She said to her.
"Oh, you're welcome here anytime. Good day to you as well, Potter and Weasley!" She called after them, while the trio exited the shop, along with a few students. Harry and Ron waved goodbye to Mrs. Flume.
The three of them was met by the cold breeze, causing them to shiver once again. They walked towards the direction of The Hog's Head, shoulder to shoulder, like sardines in a can. Hermione let her eyes gazed around, just to see if there are other familiar looking people following them.
Her heart was beating very fast.
Ron non-chalantly looked over his shoulder, as if something from a shop caught his attention. He then turned back again to look forward and tugged at his fingers. "He's still following us, all right." He was so nervous that he almost squeaked. "Harry, do you recognize the man by any chance?"
"No." He whispered, keeping a straight face. "What should we do, Hermione?"
"The man is not him." She said incomprehensibly.
"What?"
"I mean, I think that the old man is innocent." She explained, the gears in her head working. "Someone else might have plucked his hair when he got the chance and used it for polyjuice."
"How do you know?" Ron wondered, his breathing ragged.
"I don't know. I'm not certain. But I saw the man drink something out of his flask inside Honeydukes."
"What do we do?" Harry asked again.
She squeezed her head for a plan; a diversion; something. Funny thing is, she had the inclination that the man was after her, and her only. He only ever looked at her at the Three Broomsticks. She closed her eyes, thinking.
There's only one way to find out.
"Okay," She perked up. "Let's split up. The two of you will go into the shop across Zonkos, and I'll go into the alley between Zonkos and Gladrags. If the old man follows me, you run and jump behind him. If he goes into the shop where you're in, I'll go to you, and I'll doubt that he will do anything to cause a scene because we're in a public place. We'll confront him either way."
"Brilliant." Harry marveled.
The two men followed her plan. They separated just before she could reach Zonkos. She took a left turn to the alley, her wand in hand. She crouched at the dark corner of the alley and waited, wind whistling in her ears. Agonizing seconds passed by, her mind raising and her hand gripping her wand so hard that it was starting to shake.
Just when she thought that the old man had went after Harry and Ron instead, a silhouette blocked the light coming from the opening of the alley. It was hunched over, feet wobbling, and his face was hidden in the darkness of his hood.
Hermione stood up slowly, taking note that he had his other hand inside the pocket of his baggy coat—probably holding his wand, preparing to fight. She slowly took a step back, her wand ready. Her lips quivered as fear seeped in through her veins.
An old man is always deemed harmless, but knowing the prospect of him using polyjuice potion, that scared her more.
"Who are you?" She asked, fighting off the urge to run.
The old man took a step forward.
Where's Harry and Ron? She thought frantically.
He took another step.
"Make one more step or I'll jinx you!" She warned.
The man stood stiffly, letting seconds pass.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then he was running towards her, sprinting with a faint limp, as if his age was nothing but a complete disguise. Before she could cast out a spell, someone else's voice spoke up.
"Levicorpus!"
Suddenly, the old man was hoisted into the air upside down, his ankles together. He flailed around and unsuccessfully tried to reach for his wand that fell to the ground when the spell was cast upon him.
Her two friends appeared at the end of the alley, with Harry's wand still in the air, to which Hermione realized that it was him who uttered the spell. Ron sauntered over to the old man with a satisfied expression and took a good look at his face.
"Surprise, stranger." He said, his face boasting.
"Put me down!"
"Not if you tell us who you are." Hermione said, standing beside Ron.
"Put me down and I'll tell you!"
She looked over at her two friends, earning a nod from Harry. She leaned over to get the old man's wand so he wouldn't have any chance of fighting against them. Ron, on the other hand, searched his pockets and his sides, discovering the whiskey flask that Hermione was talking about a while ago. He then opened the lid and took a whiff of it.
"Polyjuice." He confirmed, glancing at the two of them.
She nodded at him. "All right, Harry. You can put him down."
The old man met the ground with a loud thud, causing him to groan in pain. His eyebrows were furrowed as he rubbed his back.
"Stay down." said Harry in a stern tone.
"Okay, you old git." Ron knelt so he was face to face with him. "Time to introduce yourself."
The old man looked like he wanted to punch him in the nose, but after lamenting his options for a few seconds, he took his coat off and gave it to Hermione.
"Look at the sub-label of the coat." The old man ordered.
She did what he said, and when she saw the name that was embroidered, she almost dropped the coat from shock.
"Surprise, Granger. Now, take me to Draco Malfoy." Blaise Zabini said.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Surprise, folks! Why do you think Blaise needs to see Draco? Comment below!
I will be posting the next chapter on Thursday or Friday.
Solemnly swear that you're up to no good?
-Ally