Hi guys.

Sorry this chapter had taken so long to hit your screens, I had hoped to have it up for my thirtieth birthday on the tenth, but well life seems to have conspired against me of late.

This chapter may seem a little fillerish but there are some important hints in here for later so learn them well if you can find them all. Some are probably obvious and the rest...well you're just going to have to read between the lines cause I'm a twisty little so and so. :D

Enjoy!

It was just before nine on a dreary Monday morning as Harmony and Hermione made their way down the lonely road that led to Hogsmeade village.

Strictly speaking they were supposed to be undertaking their first self study sessions of the week: arithmancy for Hermione and potions practical for Harmony, but therein laid the problem. You couldn't exactly conduct a potions practical when you had nothing to conduct it with.

Asking Eddy to send the missing equipment and ingredients to her was out of the question, since with such a heavy load even the owls of the continental post would keel over before they reached the channel. And even though herself and Snape had parted on more amicable terms the night before, if you could call him moodily answering her questions and silently glaring her into the carriage amicable…which she sort of did, she was not going to track the man down and ask to borrow what essentially amounted to an entire lab and half his stores.

She was fairly sure his sneer alone would be enough to turn her into pot ash.

Therefore a trip into the village to purchase what she needed was unavoidable. She simply hoped her savings would be enough to cover the cost, otherwise a visit to Gringotts was in her near future and that was something she truly had no desire for.

Not because she feared being turned away. Merlin knew the Gringotts goblins had been hounding her since she'd turned seventeen to come in for an appointment; they'd be fucking thrilled if she finally showed her face. And it wasn't like she feared lack of funds either. Sirius had made her his heir when she was twelve and with it had come access to the seemingly endless Black fortune.

The real crux of the matter, despite her Godfathers many impassioned rants whenever Harmony mentioned it, was that she just didn't feel comfortable touching money she felt wasn't hers. Even if the necessity of school things dictated she'd often had no choice in the matter.

Of course one might question why she had need to use Sirius's gold in the first place given that the Potter estate was nothing to sniff at. But of that vast estate there was only one vault she had personal access to.

Her hush vault.

Every month like clock work one hundred galleons was transferred from the main Potter accounts in London and into her little corner of Rue Lisette Banque. And even at her most desperate she knew she'd never use it.

It didn't matter to her that the money had likely never passed through James's grubby fingers or that it had likely been her grandparents and probably even their grandparents before them. The sheer thought of touching it, when it had come to her merely as a way of trying to keep her quiet, made her feel dirty and sick to the stomach.

At the end of the day the only money she ever felt comfortable using was what she'd earned herself. Something which had only become an option for her in the last few years, and even then it was still a tad controversial.

Simply put she sold potions to the general student populous of Beauxbatons.

Nothing illegal of course. It was mostly acne cures and Lady Lax for those who felt to embarrassed to go to healer Fogarty, and St Bernard and prophylactics for those who knew better than to do so. Eddy always checked her potions over before she sold them, and her mentor had been quite clear that once she graduated the practice of selling potions without a mastery would have to cease. But for the moment her sideline for those in the know had enabled her to mostly break free from her dependence on others.

But replacing all her potions paraphernalia was no small ask, and with no way of making any more money while she was at Hogwarts Harmony was more than aware that even if she didn't need to that day, one day soon she would need to swallow her pride and use Sirius's vaults.

Though she hoped she could put of the inevitable for as long as possible.

Putting her hand in the pocket of her purple cloak she absently started to twiddle with her small leather money pouch; rolling the coins inside it between her fingers even as she glanced over at Hermione.

All thoughts about her financial situation aside it was nice to see her friend so happy about something other than books.

If she was honest she'd actually been quite surprised that the prospect of seeing Hogsmeade for the first time appeared to have made Hermione forget the were essentially playing hookie to do so... though she supposed the fact that Remus had opened the main gates for them had negated some of her more overzealous worries.

"I clearly don't need to ask if you're looking forward to this or not," Harmony said after watching her friend for a few moments. "You look like you're about to buzz out of your own skin."

Hermione gave her a mock glare from under the edge of her turquoise woolly hat.

"Oh hush. We're going to the only fully magical village in Britain. How can you not be excited about that? Don't you think it will be interesting to see how wizards and witches live when they don't have to hide themselves from muggles."

A biting breeze whistled down the hard packed path, and Harmony gave her friend a deadpan look as she pulled her thick green scarf tighter around her throat.

"We live in a magical school ten months of the year 'Mione," She said just a little sarcastically, "and Rue Lisette is hardly crawling with muggles. I think we already know how they live."

Harmony hid her smirk in her scarf as the words had the intended effect. Almost instantly Hermione rolled her eyes and started in on one of her patented rants about the existential differences of two societies both forced to live by the same statute.

It was so easy to wind her friend up sometimes.

§¥§

Severus leaned against the scoured counter as he waited for Broderick to appear from the back with his order.

A loud crash followed by a lot of cursing told him it was far from ready, and with an aggravated huff he wandered over to the display of books at the front of the shop.

Some were leather bound works of serious potions mastery, others were simple ingredient guides for his dunderheaded students to peruse. But the vast majority were gaudy recipe books for mediocre home brewers and hobbyist potioners alike.

The mere presence of such books disgusted him and he felt a sneer steal over his lips as he was forced to look at the wastes of parchment.

To his mind one could not expect to pick up a brush for the first time and find you were Michelangelo incarnate; most would agree it would be a fallacy to do so. And yet society as a whole believed that anyone with no prior knowledge, or even a modicum of skill, could pick up a blunt knife and a three sickle sheath of brightly coloured parchment and become the next Linfred of Stinchcombe.

If any of the fools who'd bought these 'books' had actually made a passable potion from the drivel they contained he'd eat his cloak.

Plucking one of the less offensive looking texts from the shelf he sequestered himself away in a heavily shadowed corner at the back of the shop and settled in for what promised to be a long wait. It sounded like Broderick had got his foot caught in one of the horned toad barrels again.

Honestly the apothecary had gone to the dogs since the man had started working there.

He found himself scoffing at a wholly ridiculous paragraph where the author was trying argue that aconite could not in fact be poisonous to werewolves, due to it proven inclusion in Belby's wolfsbane, when the warped door at the front of the shop opened.

Damp Scottish air breathed into the musty room, causing Severus to tug his cloak more firmly about himself. The door closed with a quiet thump and two sets of feet started wandering around near the front displays.

Making no move to avail the newcomers of his presence Severus turned his attention back to his book. Hopefully if they didn't know he was there he would be able to avoid the need for the pointless social interactions these types of situations usually seemed to dictate.

He'd just managed to get to the end of another wholly laughable page of drivel when an unfortunately familiar voice broke through the silence of the shop; bringing his perusal of the trash in his hands to a screeching halt.

"Do you want one jar of viper fangs or two?"

That was Granger.

Which meant the other one with her could only be... "Better make it two"… the Potter girl.

"I'll need to make a bigger batch of Lady Lax this month to make up for the ones I left behind… Can you see a basket anywhere? I'm gonna drop this lot in a minute."

"Er…I think I saw some over in the corner."

Booted feet headed towards him and he caught a flash of dark purple cloak just inching around the shelves when Granger's voice called the girl in the opposite direction.

"No not there. The other corner Harm. Next to the pickled rat spleens."

With a low breath he moved himself further back into the shadows before casting a quick disillusionment charm over himself.

Extreme perhaps, but despite the fact that the girl had proved herself a modicum more intellectual than her thrice damned father he still had no desire to interact with her at that present time. The speech he used on all his first years seemed to have had quite the opposite effect on Potter, and she'd started to quiz him mercilessly as they'd walked through the forest collecting ingredients. And while her questions had been insightful, and clearly coming from someone who knew the answers already but was intent on testing herself as well as him, having to actually act like a teacher had nearly driven him to madness.

It didn't help matters that the attitude that had made countless students pray to every deity known to man and wizard appeared to have no discernable effect on the brat. He'd sneered, glared and generally been a grouchy bastard for several hours; eventually levelling her with one of his very best sharp eyed looks as he'd left her at her carriage for the night. In defiance of all good sense the girl had merely blinked up at him with those damnable absinthe eyes, thanked him once more for fixing her ankle and bid him a cheerful, if slightly shivery, goodnight.

It had been disconcerting to say the least.

The last time someone had been that unbothered by his surliness he'd still had a best friend.

Fifteen minutes later and the dull thump of two heavy baskets hitting the counter finally reached his ears.

"I think that's everything. I couldn't find any refined peat though Harm."

Severus frowned suspiciously.

Refined peat? What in Salazar's name could the girl possibly want with something so volatile.

"Hopefully they'll have some in the back. I certainly can't remake the bastards surprise without it."

The sound of a bell resonated around the room as one of the girls struck the tiny copper ringer on the counter.

§¥§

Mabel heard the bell in the shop and wiped her hands on her apron.

She was in the middle of making a cake for Sally's birthday, but by the sounds of it her dolt of a son had left the front unattended again.

Muttering to herself about hiring someone who actually knew how to work in an apothecary she pulled off her apron and tucked a few fallen strands of grey back into her loosening bun, before wandering out to the shop. A welcoming smile instantly forming on her lips after so many years of practice.

Her steps and smile faltered slightly as she saw two unknown, and rather bright, young women standing next to her clean counter. But customers were customers and it was her responsibility to serve them... even if they did look like they were junior members of one of those newfangled covens Skeeter had reported about in the prophet.

"Can I help you ladies?" She asked cautiously.

The girl with the bright green hair and glasses smiled at her, and Mabel felt a little less uneasy. After all She couldn't envisage a young girl with a smile like that running around in the nude and smearing herself with kitten blood under the harvest moon.

"Hello, yes.. do you have any refined peat at all? We've looked through the shelves and I can't seem to find any."

Mabel felt her eyebrows join her hairline, refined peat was an unusual request. She'd not been asked for the particular ingredient since the Weasley boys had set up their shrine to trouble making and started buying everything wholesale.

"It's not something I keep on the shelves dear. It's a little to unstable to be left where anyone can fiddle with it. How much are you wanting exactly?"

The girl chewed on her silver painted nail for a second. "Er.. well I can probably get by with a quarter, but half a pound would be better if you have it."

Well that was a little more than she was expecting; it would certainly clear out her remaining stock.

"I think I can just about manage that, let me just go and check."

"Thank you."

Mabel nodded her head slightly before pushing through the curtain that hid the back of the shop from view. She could clearly hear Liden cursing up a storm in the order room and not for the first time she despaired of the influence his father had had on him.

An absent flick of her wand illuminated the storeroom and after a couple of minutes she found the large black jar she'd been searching for. Hefting the heavy glass container against her chest she removed the seal spell on the lid and carefully started to pour the contents into the silver scales sat on the storerooms small counter.

As she'd predicted the half pound the girl requested more or less emptied the jar and she decided to shove the last few dregs into the girls order for the hell of it. She'd need to purchase a new jar anyway and keeping the last few bits was taking up storage she didn't really have.

Though looking at the cobwebs on the upper shelves she wondered if it wasn't time for a stock clearance again… not that Linden would actually get off his arse and do it if she asked. He'd be to busy listening to the crup racing on the wireless.

Shaking her head slightly Mabel picked up the weighing pan and poured the peat into a leather pouch; making sure to apply a good strong sealing spell before heading back to her waiting customers.

The two girls were chatting quietly with their backs turned towards the counter when she returned. She cleared her throat slightly to gain their attention, inadvertently causing the one with the blue hair to jump.

"Here we go. Half a pound of refined peat."

"Thank you."

"You're quite welcome dear." Mabel said as she felt an unusually genuine smile take over her wrinkled face. It was rare to find such polite and friendly teenagers these days. "Now let me just tot up the rest of your things and you and your friend can be on your way. I'm sure such lovely young ladies have better things to be doing than standing around a dusty old apothecary."

Without much thought she started to age old process of pulling items from over full baskets; gradually writing the items down on an old scrap of parchment from under the counter. Her arthritic fingers started to cramp as the list got longer and not for the first time she wished those muggle calfulators worked in her shop. Unfortunately they always fizzled every time her youngest daughter had brought one around for her to try.

After double checking the total Mabel had to try very hard not to wince at the amount the girl owed.

"That will be twenty five galleons, seven sickles and one hundred and thirty three knuts please dear."

Apparently the girl wasn't as bothered by the amount as she was because she simply pulled a small pouch from her cloak and handed over twenty six galleons without so much as a blink.

Taking the offered coins Mabel discreetly shook her head. The amount of money young people had these days was truly astonishing. She could remember back in her day her father had been reluctant to give her more than a few galleons for a full weeks work in the apothecary. After handing the girl her change Mabel delicately wrapped the ingredients before placing them in one of the shops specially expanded feather light bags.

"There you go dear." Mabel said as she gave the girl her purchases. "Have a nice day now won't you."

As one the girls bid her a cheerful goodbye, before heading off into the steadily pouring rain. After giving the counter a quick wipe, and making sure the till was closed, Mabel turned to head back to her kitchen only to see a black figure materialise out of the shadows.

Her hand flew to her throat and she was about to start screaming bloody murder in the hope that her idiot of a son might hear her, but stopped at the last moment when she realised who it was who was trying to scare the living daylights out of her.

"Severus Snape!" Mabel cried in outrage. "How many time do I have to tell you not to loom in the shadows!"

"I do believe this will be the one hundred and ninety eighth time."

Mabel glared at the boy. Honestly the lad had been darkening her doorway since he'd arrived at Hogwarts nearly three decades ago and the teenage snarkiness had never left him…though it had become sharper after that dreadful war.

"If you can remember how many times I've said it then you can certainly remember not to hide in corners like a member of the undead." Mabel scolded.

She had half a mind to have a word with his mother. Not that the woman ever welcomed visitors in that mangy shop of hers.

"Now would you mind telling me exactly why you are looming in my apothecary so early in the day? If those poor girls had seen you lurking in the shadows they'd have been scared half to death."

Once upon a time Severus would've rolled his eyes at her or even cocked a cheeky sneer, but his eyes and face remained completely closed and inscrutable; uncomfortably reminding her that the war had done more to the boy than simply sharpen his tongue.

"If you care to recall," Severus started in his usual smooth drawl, "it has long since become my honour bound duty to scare troublesome brats. However that is not my purpose at this present time. I came to pick up my order nearly an hour ago and I am still waiting for your son to appear with it."

Mabel closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

Why had Tabitha married that muggle?

She loved the grandchildren the marriage had provided, but Rowena help her if only the girl had married a wizard Mabel wouldn't now be saddled with her eldest son in place of his sister. She'd only given Liden the job because they'd both been at a loose end: he'd just been fired and she needed the help. But she simply couldn't let him keep working there. He was going to run the family business into the ground.

"I apologise Severus." Mabel said after a moment, a tight smile taking up residence on her face. "That is not how I expect one of my best customers to be treated. I'll give you a ten percent discount for the inconvenience. Now if you'll excuse me for a moment I'll see about getting your order… and giving my miscreant fifty year old a clip round the ear."

Severus inclined his head in understanding and watched the plump, muttering witch bustle off through the black curtain; her face like thunder.

It didn't take many seconds before the shouting started.

Honestly Molly Weasley had nothing on Mabel Broderick.

§¥§

Harmony pulled her hood up just as she heard Hermione giggle.

"What's so funny?"

Hermione shook her head as she tucked her hands into the pockets of her padded coat.

"Nothing really, but did you see the look on the owners face when she saw us standing at the counter."

Harmony gave her friend a small smile as she side stepped a rather large puddle forming in a dent in the cobbles.

"Yeah I saw it. She seemed nice enough in the end though, and it can't be easy being her age without being at least a bit judgemental." Harmony said lightly. "After all I bet there weren't many people walking around with blue and green hair when she was a teenager."

"No probably not. Though I can never understand how you can be so blasé about people being instantly critical just because of the way you dress."

"It's not that I'm blasé." Harmony shrugged. "It's simply a matter of knowing that people will always judge other people whether they fit the appropriate moulds or not. It really is easier just to ignore the looks if they come. Most people come around with time and those that don't simply aren't worth the bother… well most of them anyway." Harmony grinned cheekily "Some of them are just to fun to screw with."

"Well I suppose you'd know." Hermione said with an amused huff. "Where are we heading now anyway? I couldn't help but notice you left the apothecary without even touching the shiny new equipment on display."

Harmony snorted. "Yeah like I was even going to think I could buy any of that. The pewter cauldron alone was nearly eight Galleons and it was only a basic model. Call me old fashioned but I think I'd much rather spend my hard earned cash on something that isn't going to melt after three months. So I figured we'd check out the junk shop I noticed before we went into Brodericks." Harmony placed her arm through her friends and started walking her in the direction of a crooked little shop on the other side of the street. "We, my dear bushy headed bookworm, are going bargain hunting."

"Fine." Hermione looked fondly exasperated even as she allowed herself to be tugged along. "But be warned Harmony Potter. If you happen to find another Hyacinth during this 'hunting trip' I may very well be forced to disown you."

"Duly noted." Harmony replied with a laugh. "Though I personally couldn't see the harm in getting her a friend. Maybe she wouldn't be so radgie all the time if she had someone to play with."

"Or maybe she'd rip the place to shreds in a fit a jealousy."

§¥§

Pushing against the door of Penelope's Paraphernalia Harmony and Hermione found themselves stepping into a cold, dark world that had been filled to the brim.

From old wireless sets to broken brooms and everything in between the space was certainly not sparse on stock. There was even a large stack of Ollivander boxes next to the glass door; though a quick snoop on Harmony's part proved them to be both empty and incredibly dirty.

She'd known the junk shop was unlikely to be pristine, she'd been in enough of them by that point to know being anything other than disorganised and a little grubby would be against their nature, but she had to admit even she had not expected the contrast between this shop and the one they'd just left to be quite so stark.

Where one was musty with ingredients but meticulously clean and dry, the other pervaded the stench of mildew and looked like it hadn't felt the loving touch of a duster in decades. Honestly the place was disgusting, and it was easily apparent that whoever actually owned it had long since given up running it as a viable business.

Finding the things she needed was not going to be as easy as she hoped.

"Should we look for the owner?" Hermione asked quietly as she pulled her hat off and stuck it in her pocket. "I'm not sure I want to touch anything in here without permission. Half the piles look like they'll come crashing down as soon as we breath near them."

"To be honest I'm not sure how we'd go about finding them in the first place. There's no bell here like there was in the apothecary." Harmony replied, glancing at the mahogany counter that separated the front of the shop from the back. "Besides, the shops clearly open so it's not like they can say we're doing anything wrong by looking around. If things happen to fall its hardly our fault the place hasn't been set up properly for customers."

Hermione gave her a look that said she was being particularly thick.

"Even if you use that as an excuse-" which you really can't "-what exactly are you planning on doing if you find something you want to buy." Hermione asked pointedly. "Looking is one thing, but you can't merely leave a certain amount of Galleons on the counter and then be on your way... not that anything here actually seems to have a price on it."

"Well to be honest I figured it we made enough racket while we're looking around it would alert the owner that we're here any wa-"

"What do you two want."

Cracked with age and disuse the sudden voice made the two girls jump out of their respective skins.

Swinging around it took Harmony agonising seconds to register that what she was seeing was not in fact Snape in drag, but a very pissed off witch. Spindly, tall and mean looking; her black wand was pointed directly in their faces. Making it quite plain that she was not a woman whose questions you ignored.

"I'm looking for potions equipment." Harmony said carefully. "I thought your shop might have some."

The woman continued to glare down her hooked nose at them, seemingly assessing her words for any hint of a lie. After a beat the wand was reluctantly lowered and she brushed a lank strand of white hair over her bony shoulder as she eyed them suspiciously.

"And why are you darkening my doorway for potions equipment? I don't know if you've noticed girl but this is not an apothecary. You need to see the busy body down the street for that."

"We've already been there, and it was pretty apparent I can't replace all my things new." Harmony said with a frown of discontent. "I had hoped this being a junk shop you'd have something a little...closer to my price range. But if you haven't got anything I'll find somewhere else to look."

She bent to pick up her bag of ingredients when a sharp fingered hand curled into her shoulder; stopping her before she could move more than a few inches.

"Now I never said I had nothing for you, just that this wasn't an apothecary. I don't get a lot of Hogwarts brats darkening my doorway, most of them are to scared to come near my shop let alone step foot inside it." A short, sharp twitch of her lips said that was just the way the witch liked it. "But since you've proven to have more backbone than that imbecilic lot lets see if I can't find what you're after."

The black wand was abruptly flicked towards the glass lamps lining the walls, finally bringing much needed light to the dank space and letting them see that filth and junk were not the only things housed in the gloom.

"Follow me and don't touch anything."

Picking up her skirts the woman swept away, not that herself or Hermione noticed; they were much to busy gaping in sick fascination at the mummified elf heads dangling from the ceiling.

"Well come on then."

The crackling voice broke through their horrified staring and they turned find the woman giving them a withering glare from the other side of the room. "I haven't got all day for you two to gape like a pair of mindless Hufflepuffs you know. My program will be on soon and I am not missing it, customers or no."

The woman's mouth curled in displeasure, revealing a glint of nicotine yellowed teeth as she turned on her heel and disappeared through the thin door; her black velvet dress cutting a trail across the grime encrusted floorboards.

Cautious of knocking over the various piles the elderly witch had evaded with ease Harmony and Hermione shared a brief look before gingerly picking their way across the shop. The room the woman had disappeared into was almost identical to the one they'd just left behind; stuffed to the rafters and filthy as all hell, the only real differences Harmony could see was that the walls were sort of white and none of Mary's kin were hung around the place like macabre baubles.

Hearing the not so distant sound of harsh mutterings, the two girls carefully wound their way around the various teetering piles until they came upon the woman rummaging through two battered school trunks that had been pushed against one of the peeling walls.

Harmony just managed to duck as a moth eaten rug flew over her head and landed on one of the piles behind her.

"Hey!" Hermione said somewhat indignantly, "you could've took her eye out."

"Don't be so dramatic girl." The woman said, not looking up. "The worst it would've done is made her dusty."

Her friend looked like she very much wanted to disagree with that, but the caustic sneer in the witches voice was unmistakable, and Hermione wisely chose to keep her mouth shut as the woman turned away from her rummaging and walked towards them; her posture radiating exactly what she thought of their presence.

"Everything I've got that's potions related is in there." She said, gesturing at the two fat trunks behind her. "I'll leave you two to look through them but be warned if you try and pinch anything you'll both be in for a world of trouble." A long finger pointed towards a faded red rope hanging near the windows. "When you're done just pull on that. Though if you know what's good for you you'll not pull on it to bloody quickly. You've already had the nerve to disturb my peace once today and I can promise I will not be anywhere near as hospitable if you interrupt my hour with Celestial Warbeck."

With a final sneer of pure loathing the witch stalked passed them and around the piles of junk before slamming the door behind her.

"Well that was pleasant." Harmony muttered as the muffled clack of heels faded away.

"Pleasant is not the word I'd use." Hermione replied as another door slammed and the shop went silent. "You really have to wonder why she even owns a shop if she loathes the thought of customers so much."

Harmony shrugged as she undid her cloak and flung it towards one of the least precarious looking piles she could see.

"Maybe she just enjoys scaring the shit out of people. Merlin knows those elf heads would do the trick ninety percent of the time."

Hermione gave a tiny shudder as she shed her coat and placed it on the pile.

"Don't remind me. I'm going to have some really horrid dreams tonight thanks to that."

"You and me both." Harmony said with grimace, before giving her friend a nudge. "Come on. Instead of discussing the décor it might be better if we got this lot sorted through. I really don't want to be in this shop longer than necessary."

"Is there anything in particular we're looking for?" Hermione asked as her friend knelt next to the trunks.

"Well a cauldron or two certainly." Harmony mused as she threw an old Slytherin robe off to the side. "And a few knives and stirrers, a pair of gloves… a set of scales wouldn't go amiss either. Oh and I definitely need a-"

"Alright! I get it." Hermione said, holding up a hand to stop the apparently long list. "What you're saying is you basically need enough to outfit a small lab."

Harmon grinned, "Pretty much."

Hermione shook her head slightly. "I still can't understand how you left everything behind in the first place. I thought you said you'd packed all of your potions stuff three days before we left."

Harmony blushed as she reached out to grab a blackened cauldron sticking out of the trunk on the left. "I did. I packed the travelling case and shrunk it down myself. The only thing I can think is that I forgot to put it with the rest of the luggage when the elves took everything down to the carriage." She frowned when the cauldron didn't budge under her insistent tugging. "I sent a letter off to Eddy before my detention last night. I asked her to check our room and see if the case is still under my bed. She'll look after it 'till we get back if it is."

"And if it isn't?" Hermione asked with a small grunt as she knelt next to her; trying to help her pull the stubborn cauldron free.

"Well if it isn't I guess I'll be using whatever we find today for longer than just our time at Hogwarts."

The small cauldron finally came loose and Hermione fell slightly backwards as it ended up in her lap. Her friend took a moment to examine it before holding it up in front of her face and giving Harmony a sceptical look through the fist sized hole melted in the bottom.

"I think you might need to find something a little less used first."

§¥§

Brushing a filthy strand of hair out of her eyes Harmony glanced at her watch letting out a small groan. Who the hell knew sifting through junk could take so long. Of course it probably wouldn't have taken her half as long if Hermione was still helping her, but fairly soon after they'd put the melted cauldron to one side her friend had grabbed something unknown and oozing and she'd refused to put her hands in the trunks again.

Not that Harmony blamed her. She doubted even Merlin himself could accurately describe half the things she'd pulled from the manky abyss.

With a low sigh Harmony sat back on her haunches and threw a pair of fingerless dragon hide gloves into the unwanted pile, turning to see what Hermione was up to; her friend had gone oddly quiet after her initial demands for a plethora of disinfectant spells and something clean to wipe her hands on.

It took Harmony a few moments of craning her neck but her eyes soon found the back of Hermione's bushy head hidden behind a large stack of ancient Witch Weekly's. She couldn't see what she was looking at but at least her friends posture said she hadn't been to mentally scarred by touching the unknown ooze.

Shaking her head Harmony stretched out her back before bending back over the trunks to pull out the last few bits. A pair of mustard yellow socks, a remembrall that looked like it had been used as an impromptu snitch and a ratty looking book.

Chucking the remembrall and the socks in the same direction as the gloves Harmony pulled the book into her lap and wiped the cover with her grubby fingers.

Advanced potion making

by

Libatius Borage

It was a Newt level school book, though being a Beauxbatons student not one she'd ever been subjected to. Curious to see what the Hogwarts books did differently to the Eddy approved variety Harmony carefully opened the mouldy cover.

The first few pages were covered in the same sort of mind numbing preface, introduction and dedications as her own books, but as she turned to the recipes proper she found herself blinking in surprise.

Tiny writing had been crammed into the pages blank spaces at all angles, while portions of the original instructions had been struck through and replaced with cramped alterations. With a small smile she flicked to the next page only to find it had been over written in exactly the same way. Allowing her smile to transform into a full fledged grin Harmony began to flick through the book at speed, her eyes quickly, and greedily, skimming over the blur of annotations until three words scrawled boldly across the top of a page near the middle made her pause.

Sectumsempra – For Enemies.

Harmony mouthed the words to herself as she ran a careful finger over the faded ink. It was no spell she'd seen before and she had to wonder if it worked.

She certainly had plenty of 'enemies'.

Deciding that she'd test it on her dummies the next day she brushed her finger over the words one last time and shut the book; intending to read through it properly once they were back at the carriage. But as she put it to one side the top of the keep pile collapsed and the textbook tumbled. Its spine cracking against the hard floor and the back cover flopping open as it revealed one last surprise.

This book is the property of the half blood prince.

Harmony couldn't help snorting when she saw the name; though she instantly regretted doing so when she inhaled Circe only knew what and started coughing up a lung.

"You okay?"

"Yeah-.. I'm fine. Just breathed in at the wrong time."

Wiping her streaming eyes with the only part of her sleeve not covered in muck Harmony once more closed the book, leaning it against the pile this time instead of on top of it, before pushing herself up off the cold floor.

Eyeing the piles of discarded junk she scrubbed her gritty fingers down her skirt before picking the things up an armful at a time and haphazardly flinging them back into the two empty trunks.

"Are you done?" Hermione asked as she appeared behind her a little while later.

"Yeah." Harmony said as she threw the last few items in and closed the lids. "Did find anything you want yoursel-" she started, only to cut herself off with a fondly resigned huff as she noticed the haul in her friends arms. "I can't take you anywhere without it turning into a trip to the library can I?"

"Oh shut up." Hermione said as a light blush stained her cheeks. "We've gone plenty of places where I haven't even thought about books, much less bought any. Besides you're one to talk, what on earth do you want that mouldy thing for."

A trainer clad foot came up to point at the princes book.

Casting a quick glance at the tatty thing Harmony offered her friend a small shrug. "I just wanted a bit more time to read it. It's basically been rewritten by whoever last owned it and some of the annotations and things look like they could be interesting," she grinned at her friend. "Honestly there's so many of them the book looks like it's suffering from some sort of parchment disease."

Raising her eyebrow Hermione gave her a flat look. "Like yours do you mean?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Harmony muttered innocently as she cast a quick scourgify over her filthy jumper and skirt.

"You don't huh."

Hermione was trying to look stern but the playful twinkle in her eyes gave her away. "So it's my imagination is it that your text books look more like notepads?"

"Notepads?" Harmony said giving Hermione a comically bewildered look as she walked around her and grabbed her cloak. "What are these mysterious things you speak of."

Her friend rolled her eyes in a way that said she would've smacked her on the arm if her own weren't full of books.

"Oh har." Hermione said with a slight smile, before her eyes turned just a little more serious. "But honestly Harm wouldn't it be easier just to write your notes and things somewhere separate? I really don't understand how you can read half your books any more."

"I can read them just fine." Harmony said as she swung the purple wool around her shoulders and fastened it closed. "Besides you shouldn't knock something until you've tried it. You might like writing all over your books."

"I would never commit such sacrilege." Hermione said with a hint of indignation that was in no way feigned.

This time Harmony was the one to roll her eyes. "It's hardly sacrilege. Eddy encourages me to do it and our friend here," she pointed at the princes book, "clearly had no issue with it." She shot her friend a vaguely feral grin as she wandered over to the other side of the room. "You really should try coming over to the dark side 'Mione. Life is so much easier here and we have large supplies of Honeydukes finest."

Hermione gave an odd combination of a snort and a giggle. "No way am I coming over to the dark side if the only benefits are hanging around with Eddy and some random ex Hogwarts student while we defile our books and eat chocolate."

"I'd be there to." Harmony pouted playfully.

"Because that makes it so much more appealing." Hermione muttered dryly.

Sticking her tongue out at her friend Harmony wandered over to the window and pulled the red cord.

Nothing happened.

Harmony frowned and pulled it again.

No bell.

No chime.

No noise at all.

"Do you think it's broke-" Hermione started to ask, but was interrupted by something large scraping across the floor above. Sharing a look the girls waited in silence until the unmistakable clack of heels could be heard through the ceiling.

The owner was on the move.

§¥§

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief Hermione pulled the glass door closed and followed Harmony out into the soggy street. She honestly didn't know where her friends gumption to haggle had come from, but with the way it had set the witches wand hand twitching she was surprised they'd managed to escape in one piece.

"Well that was fun wasn't it?"

Even though her face was hidden behind the box containing their purchases Hermione could still tell her friend was grinning like an idiot.

"Fun?" She asked incredulously as she grabbed Harmony's elbow and started walking her away from the shop. "If you call that fun it's no wonder the goblet chose you as champion… it clearly picked up on your rampant desire for a painful death."

The box shook in Harmony's arms as she laughed. "I do not have a desire for a painful death."

"You must do. Why else would you have haggled with a woman who clearly has no strong grasp of her temper."

"Oh come on, who in their right mind was going to pay seventy five galleons for this lot? Not only was it a total rip off it would've more or less wiped out my savings." Her friends head turned slightly giving Hermione a quick glimpse of green eyed mischief. "Besides I really think she enjoyed having a good'ol barter in the end."

"Enjoy- Harm when was the last time you saw Monsieur Ocularist?"

"Why?" Harmony asked clearly caught off guard by the seemingly random question.

"Because you obviously need a new set of glasses if you couldn't see that woman was about five seconds away from turning you into her latest ceiling decoration."

"Maybe. But in the end does it really matter what she looked like she was about to do? The main thing is that she didn't and I managed to get your books and my things for a price we could both afford."

"I still say you have a death wish."

"And I say you have a book fetish but we are who we are. Now when the wicked witch of the nest-"

"West." Hermione muttered patiently.

"-grudgingly went off to grab me a box you mentioned something about lunch?"

Recognising the change of subject for what it was Hermione shook her head in exasperation and gripped her friends elbow more tightly; steering her around the lamp post she'd been about to walk into.

"Yes, it's already well after eleven so it makes sense to eat before we finish looking around the village. We'll go to The Three Broomsticks. It's a little less offensive to the senses that Madam Puddifoots appears to be." Hermione answered, eyeing the garishly pink teashop she could just see up an adjacent side street.

Harmony giggled into her box. "That bad is it?"

"Not bad… I just don't feel like sitting in cherub vomit."

§¥§

The pub smelled distinctly of wet dog and damp wool as Hermione led her through the door of the three broomsticks and over to a table. Seeing the edge of a chair she placed the box down with a relieved sigh and rolled her shoulders.

It was going to be hell carrying back to the carriage.

Though I suppose I should be thankful that the feather light charm worked on it considering the Reducio didn't. Harmony thought as she tried running a hand through her tangled curls; only for it to get ravelled in a particularly nasty knot.

"Dammit."

"Oh honestly." Hermione muttered when she saw what she'd done to herself. "This is why you're supposed to use a hair brush and not fingers."

"I do use a hairbrush." Harmony hissed she wiggled her fingers free and started untangling the clump of hair.

"Not very well clearly." Hermione said as she draped her coat over a chair before discreetly pulling a pad from the pocket. "You can order us some lunch if you like. I'm just nipping to the loo."

Harmony nodded. "Yeah alright," she paused slightly looking at the pink plastic packet in her friends hand. "I didn't think you were due 'til-"

Hermione cut her off with a thin smile. "No it's just a bit of cramp. I don't honestly think anything's started yet but… well it's better to be safe than sorry isn't it."

Harmony snorted.

Oh yes they'd certainly learned that lesson.

A bright red patch on the back of light blue skirt was not a good look.

Her eye caught Hermione's and the two of them shared a rueful smile before her friend wandered off to the toilet.

Trying very hard not to remember two of the most embarrassing days of their lives Harmony cast a quick, though far from painless, detangling spell over her hair before taking off her cloak and going to order some lunch a requested.

The buxom blond behind the bar was talking to a large shaggy man as she approached. Seeing that the woman seemed to be in no great hurry to end her conversation Harmony turned her back against the counter and let her gaze wander idly over the pub and it's patrons. It was certainly nothing like La Sorcière Fantasie; the salon they often frequented in Rue Lisette. For one thing none of the people in it looked like they'd just stepped off a Parisian fashion plate.

She'd just noticed a rather fine looking infestation of Durmstrang students at a table on the other side of the room when a cheerful voice spoke up behind her.

"What'll it be love?"

Knowing she was unlikely to get a croque monsieur and a fizzy nymph Harmony turned towards the land lady with an uncertain smile and asked for the next best thing. "Do you do tea and sandwiches at all?"

"Course love." The woman's own smile was all teeth, though still remarkably friendly. "One pot between you and your friend is it?" She asked; gesturing over at the table where Hermione had come back from the loo and was already busy rooting through the box for her books.

Harmony frowned. "Yes. How did you-"

"It's the hair love. No one else whose come in ere's looked like you two." The land lady said jovially as she bustled off into the back.

Harmony tried her best no to gape, but honestly. First the apothecary and now this. They could not be the only ones to have walked around Hogsmead looking a little outside the norm. For one thing Tonks had been hanging around the area since she was a young child, and Harmony refused to believe herself and Hermione were more conspicuous than a woman who regularly donned neon pink locks and various animal noses… granted these days the noses were mostly to amuse her baby son but still.

"Haf your friend recovered?"

The unexpected voice in her ear gave her a start. Though thankfully not enough of one to be noticed by anyone other than herself and the brooding Viktor Krum who'd appeared at her side.

Harmony gave him a side eyed glance. "Recovered?"

She knew Hermione was looking a little flushed from the cold weather but she didn't think she looked like she was getting over an illness or anything.

The lines on Krum's forehead deepened. "After she vomit on my feet she not look so good. I vish to know how she is doing, I know hangover rather nasty."

Those two sentences were so simple and yet they left Harmony feeling like she'd been doused in ice as the memories that had lain just out of reach the day before came hurtling forwards.

The broody babies

"Fuck."

The soiled trainers.

"Fuck."

Krum carrying her comatose friend back to the carriage... which was sort of sweet really but still...

"Fuck"

How could I have forgotten something so fucking important.

Harmony was fairly sure she must've looked as bad as she suddenly felt because Krum was looking at her with some concern.

"Vot is wrong?"

"So fucking much." Harmony muttered, before looking at the boy with a grimace. "Please, please don't mention it to her. She doesn't know what she did."

The seeker quirked an eyebrow at her. "How she not know? She was one who vomit."

Harmony felt like smacking her head against the bar. "I- well yes she was but I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was she can't remember anything about the party, much less what happened on the way back to the-"

"Harm?"

Bloody hell

"Is there a problem?"

Hermione's voice was hesitant, though not devoid of an undercurrent of: if he's trying to be an arse for beating him in quidditch on Saturday I'll punch him in the nose. And while she would normally feel just a little mushy that her friend was so protective now really was not the time.

"I vas asking your friend if you are okay after-"

Shitting sodding fuc-

"He was asking if we were okay after he escorted us back to the carriage the other morning." Harmony said, hastily cutting over the boy. "He found us stumbling around in the dark and was kind enough walk us in the right direction. We'd probably have ended up in the black lake if he hadn't run into us."

Her insides squirmed as she told the half truth.

She knew Hermione needed to know what she'd done but she couldn't let something so mortifying be aired in the middle of the bloody pub. Yes the boy in question didn't seem the least bit bothered by her friends actions but that didn't mean Hermione herself wouldn't be.

"I'm sorry if we inconvenienced you." Her friend said; flushing brightly as her eyes took on an unmistakable gleam at the thought of her long term crush being such a gentleman.

"I have to say I'm drawing a blank for anything before eleven yesterday morning, but had I been made aware of your help," Harmony felt her insides squirm again as Hermione gave her a mock glare of consternation, "I would've thanked you sooner. So thank you."

Krum waved off her thanks with a gruff look, though there appeared to be a slight hint of pink in his cheeks. "It is alright. I haf teammates who haf been much vorse."

Hermione looked like she was about to ask what he meant by that, but the land lady seemed to have been a seer in another life because she interrupted before she even got a chance to open her mouth.

"Here's you tea and sandwiches love. I've added an extra cup in case your gentleman friend wanted to join you."

Both girls suddenly looked like rabbits in a lumos, though for very different reasons.

"I'm sure he has much better th-..."

"I vould like zat very much." Krum said with something vaguely like a smile as he cut over Hermione's flustered mumbling. "If ze ladies not mind my company."

Hermione went scarlet. "Of course not we'd be happy for you to join us."

As her friend smiled shyly at Krum and he took the tray off the patiently waiting land lady Harmony honestly didn't know what to do with herself. Laugh, cry, cheer...throw herself off the nearest tall building. Frankly they all seemed like brilliant options as she followed the retreating pair back to the table.

As Krum set the tray down and moved the box off the spare seat he noticed the books Hermione had left on the table and pointed to one sitting precariously close to the edge.

"Zis is interesting book."

Hermione gave the boy a bright smile as she poured herself a cup of tea. "Oh, have you read it?"

Krum frowned. "A little, I vas confused by some of ze finer point. But ze professor recommend for my vork and I manage to get enough from it in ze end."

"Are you taking runes as a subject then?"

"Da, it is most interesting. My Dyado vas rune smith-…"

As Krum drew her friend into safe, and very much Hermione worthy, conversation Harmony felt herself relax just a touch. Perhaps letting them talk over tea wouldn't turn out to be such a bad thing. She knew it could still backfire spectacularly if Krum were to spill the beans, but with her there to chaperon at least the chances of it were slim. And maybe this way the less than auspicious first meeting could be forgotten about… at least until Harmony found a better time and place to break the truth.

As Hermione laughed at something Krum had said she really hoped her revelations didn't end up unravelling everything. Because while she currently felt like the worlds biggest third wheel it was still nice to see her friend opening up around a boy she'd been crushing on for so long; particularly one who seemed like they'd be able to keep up with Hermione's never ending thirst for knowledge.

With a small smile Harmony sat back and grabbed a sandwich; deciding that for the moment it was probably best not to worry about what could be and simply enjoy the Krumione show.

There'd be time enough later to fret over her friends reaction.

And anyway she had other things to worry about before then. Like investigating the bright orange monstrosity they'd passed on the way to Brodericks earlier that morning. She still needed to replace a few more bits that had been in the forgotten travelling case and the brightly lit windows of the joke shop had looked promising for replacing them… even if a few of the things they were advertising did appear to be just a tad suspect.

She still hadn't been able to figure out why people would want to buy canary flavoured sweets.

note

I know a few of you may be wondering why Harmony was able to go into Hogsmeade given the Geasan is enforce, but there are a couple of things that might help you understand that better.

One I wholly believe that the man who created the terms would've seen Hogsmeade as within reasonable bounds. From what I can tell the village should've existed at the time of the altered contract so it would've likely been included as somewhere the students could still go without consequence.

And two as is stated in chapter nine the contract ensures "the entrants do not leave bounds for a prolonged period of time." Not that they can't leave at all, ever.

The terms I created and never used in the end essentially said that the students wouldn't start to feel the first effects of the contract until they'd been outside the set boundaries for eight hours.

These terms may well come up later so I won't include them here for the time being.

Right now that's out the way I would once again like to apologise for the long wait, I lost broadband mid September and in the end didn't get it back again until November seventh, which made life fairly tricky considering my laptop has no proper hard drive and all my docs are stored on my Microsoft cloud.

Like I said I had hoped to have this up for my thirtieth birthday but things just kept getting in the way. So I really am sorry.

Once again I hope you enjoyed this new chapter and since the next one won't be posted until after the new year I'm going to wish everyone a very merry December however you choose or have to spend it.

And for those followers of my when snakes fall verse there might be a new two shot coming your way over Christmas. I can't promise because I'm hellishly busy at this time of year but we'll see.

See y'all in 2020, pink X (^^)

Edit May 2020. As much is it pains me to do so Out of sight is now officially on hiatus, this does not mean the story is in danger of being abandoned, I have put far to much effort into it for that out come to be acceptable, but for the time being I currently have no idea when the next update will be. Sorry if this has led to either a) disappointment or b) that hair ripping feeling of "AAARRRGHH I want to know what happens next". I have suffered both of these with on hiatus stories so it gives me not pleasure to do it to you guys. But until I can figure out how to adult and write at the same time I'm afraid real life has to take precedence over a story that takes so much research and mental dedication that I have literally lost entire days to the Wikipedia demons.

Thanks for reading. Pink x