Chapter 31: 28th July 1991, Sunday: Part 19

There was no reaction from Hermione after Sprout's introduction. Instead, she continued to sieve through the pile of textbooks whilst simultaneously organising the discarded books in alphabetical order. She must have been so engrossed in her self-appointed task to reorganise the bookstore, that she had closed herself off to the outside world. As much as George would encourage such a noble goal to bring order to this mayhem, he believed she was wasting her time. Unless Hermione was planning on living here for the next month, there was no way she could right this monumental wrong.

A woman who looked even more exhausted than Remus, if that was even possible, gave Hermione a tap on the back.

"Hermione darling, there are people who would like to meet you?"

Oh, so that is Hermione's mother. And the man carrying a huge stack of books beside her was probably Hermione's father. George's attention had been somewhat stolen by the teacher and student, he'd neglected to see the two warn-out muggle adults behind them. George had thought his foster parents had been struggling to adapt, but looking at these two wrecks, Dominic and Amanda were doing great in comparison. Both of Hermione's parents looked like they hadn't slept in days. The shock of learning about the wizarding world must have been keeping them awake at night. The bloodshot eyes and the slight swaying left and right made George feel like they were about to pass out at any moment. 

After the gentle prodding from her mother, Hermione's head shot up out of the mound of half-organised books. Unlike her semi-lucid parents, Hermione looked well-rested and raring to go. Even though this magical world was completely new to her, she appeared to be in her element. George wished he could have been born with some of that drive and confidence. He wouldn't have had the bottle to do any of this prepping for Hogwarts stuff if he hadn't seen the future. George only worked well if the path ahead was already paved, preparation was always essential. Without planning and careful preliminary arrangements, he was practically useless.

"Hermione is an incredibly bright little girl who loves her books. She insisted on coming to Flourish and Blotts before anywhere else", Sprout continued as Hermione got back on her feet.

Sprout then gestured at George, "Hermione, this is George Linwood. He'll be joining Hogwarts this year, just like you."

Hermione neither appeared to enjoy nor shy away from all the attention being directed at her. She walked up to George and assertively held her hand out. George reciprocated the gesture whilst mimicking her confidence. But as soon as he felt the warmth of her hand, George was overcome with a powerful sense of sorrow. Although the sensation only lasted for a fraction of a second, for that brief moment, he felt like his life and the world around him had ceased to matter. George had absolutely no idea where this sadness came from, his day had been going well up to this point and he had been in a generally good mood.

He felt something dripping down his cheek as Hermione asked, "is something wrong?"

George touched the corner of his eye and looked down to see a tear droplet on the tip of his index finger. Did he just shed a tear? He'd cried because of physical pain before, but never emotional. This didn't make any sense whatsoever. George knew who he was, he knew what made him tick. There was nothing in this world that could make him feel this sad, nothing! Not the death of the Linwoods, not the death of his patron, and definitely not his death! IT DIDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE... WHY...

And then George forgot.

George wiped his face and calmly responded, "it's nothing. I guess I didn't get enough sleep last night."

This particular introduction with the special girl was a little premature because George had planned to conduct it on the train to Hogwarts. Since she's here and alone, he saw no problem with starting to lay the foundations for their future relationship early. Building a strong friendship with Hermione was mandatory for the plan to succeed. At least now George wouldn't have to compete over her attention with any of the other students. He already knew this girl better than she knew herself, it was just a matter of tailoring the conversation to her requirements.

George eloquently introduced himself, "it's a pleasure meeting you, Miss Granger. I hope we can be friends at Hogwarts."

Hermione responded, "likewise, Mr Linwood."

George then turned to her mother and father, "and this must be your parents. It is very nice to meet you, Mrs and Mr Granger."

"What a well-mannered young boy, you must be very proud of him", Mrs Granger said while looking wearily at Amanda.

George felt his foster mother's hand rest on his shoulder, "we're very lucky to have him."

"So... you and your husband are new to all this magic malarkey as well?", Amanda asked while gesturing around the bookstore.

Mrs Granger weakly chuckled before saying, "we always knew our daughter was special, but finding out she was a witch... It was quite overwhelming, to say the least."

Amanda nodded her head, "our thoughts exactly. And what do you think of this magic school we have to send our children off to?"

"We're still thinking about it", Mr Granger chipped in before his wife could speak.

Mrs Granger then added right after, "the acceptance letter says we have until the end of April, so we're going to take our time to decide. If you don't mind me asking, what about you two?"

Whilst the adults were talking, George decided to pick up from where he'd left off with Hermione. He still needed to ensure his first impressions of Hermione were as impactful as possible. Starting this friendship a month early would mean nothing if she forgot about him by the time September rolled around.

George leaned over with an evil grin while lowering his voice to a whisper, "hey, would you like to know a secret?"

Hermione looked down from her parents and asked him, "sorry, what was that?"

"Shh", George said while putting a finger over his lips, "I said, would you like to know a secret about me? Only say yes if you promise not to tell anyone."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "well okay then. What is this big secret?"

George looked left and right before whispering, "I can see the future."

"You're joking, right?", Hermione scoffed.

You are reading story Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon at novel35.com

George shook his head, "not at all, I really can see the future. I can prove it."

"Really... let's see then", Hermione smugly indulged him.

To complete the act, George brought his index and middle fingers to his forehead and tightly closed his eyes. He clenched his jaw and scrunched up his face for a few seconds before opening his eyes wide.

He looked back at Hermione and declared, "the next thing you're going to say is 'how do you know my parents are dentists'."

Hermione blinked in disbelief, "wait... but how do you know my parents are dentists."

George lowered his hands, "ya see, it's because I can see the future. I knew your parents were dentists because I could see you were going to ask me how I knew they were dentists."

"That doesn't make any sense", Hermione rebutted.

George smiled sympathetically, "of course you wouldn't be able to understand. You're limited to three-dimensional thinking. Time is just an illusion created by mankind to perceive the flow of physical reality. I have gone beyond such primitive comprehension, and can see in all four dimensions."

The look on Hermione's face was truly priceless, George might have just melted her brain with all that philosophical gibberish. Amanda must have been listening in on their little conversation and stepped in to provide the 'true' explanation for his parlour trick.

"You should know better, George. It isn't nice to trick people like that, even if it's just a joke", Amanda reprimanded.

Hermione looked at Amanda, "if it's a trick, Mrs Linwood, then how did he know about my parent's jobs."

"George has a photographic memory. He had probably read an advertisement in the Yellow Pages about your parent's dental practice. You're not the first, he's done this to a lot of people he'd never met before. You should just ignore him", Amanda explained.

Hermione turned back at George with a clear 'is this true' look on her face. He merely responded by shrugging his shoulders. This double-bluff strategy had been George's main method of concealing his biggest secret since day one. There were many things his patron had restricted him from talking about, but his future sight wasn't one of them. Since it was inevitable that some people will notice his ability to prepare for the completely unexpected, George decided to mask the truth behind an exaggerated version of itself. The plan was to openly let everyone know he can see the future so that no one honestly believes it.

George elaborated on the lie, "I did see an advertisement in the Yellow Pages for their private dentistry practice under the name Granger. There are a few Grangers in England, but after hearing your accent and seeing how white your smile is. I took the risk, and it paid off. I hope I didn't startle you too much."

There was a reason why George had been reading books in such vast quantities, but it wasn't because he found the Yellow Pages particularly enthralling. A precedent needed to be set for this lie to pay off.  He did indeed have a photographic memory, but that's where the truth to this excuse ended. George wasn't Rain Man, he couldn't possibly remember every name in a phone book. But when the Linwoods, or Hermione in this case, are faced with a choice to believe in him either having a good memory or future vision, they're always going to lean towards the former.

Hermione then asked George, "do you read a lot? Other than phone books, I mean."

Amanda decided to answer on his behalf, "George loves reading books, we can't tear him away from them. He's practically emptied the local library and has made us subscribe to ten different magazines."

What a good foster mother, trying to use this rare opportunity to help George make friends. He didn't have any friends before today, unless Ellie counted, so Hermione would technically be the first.

Considering the question was originally for George, he decided to weigh in, "pretty much what she said. I can tell you like reading as well, your Dad's legs look like they're going to give out at any moment.

There's a shop called Stowe & Packers Magical Bags at Carkitt Market where you can get a bag to carry all those books you've purchased. Here, I'll show you mine."

George pulled the folded-up leather sack out of his pocket and stuck his entire arm inside. He demonstrated its ability to Hermione by pulling out a few things he'd bought today, which should not be able to fit inside, before putting them back. Hermione was clearly fascinated by its function, she took the offered bag from him and closely examined it. Due to the anti-theft enchantments of the outer lining, Hermione wasn't able to pull anything out. To her, the sack appeared completely empty.

Sprout decided to use his demonstration as an excuse to say, "don't you see Hermione. I told you there are a few places we should have gone before we came here. Now your poor father is going to have to carry all those books to Carkitt Market."

Mr Granger's muffled voice came from behind the books, "someone else could always help carry a few to lighten the load. You know, if their hands are free."

Funnily enough, none of the other Grangers seemed to hear that cry for help as they concluded their conversation with the Linwood family.

Mrs Granger checked her watch before saying, "oh my, would you look at the time? It's nice to meet you all, but we really have to get a move on. We've only got another three hours before we miss the train home and we've only bought a couple of books. If you'll excuse us."

Hermione handed the sack back to George and said her goodbyes, "I guess I'll be seeing you next on the Hogwarts Express."

"I've just checked the future, and yep... that sounds about right. See you in a month's time", George retorted while tapping his temple.

"I'm sure you did", was the last condescending thing Hermione said before leaving the bookstore.

Hopefully, that bit of friendly banter was going to be enough. George will have to wait until September to know the answer for sure.

You can find story with these keywords: Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon, Read Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon novel, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon book, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon story, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon full, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon Latest Chapter