Knowledge Leads To

“Come on, it won’t take long,” Narcissa promised, linking her arm through Hermione’s as she swept into the bookstore, the little bell tinkling over their head as the door opened. “The party is tomorrow morning, and I want to get this over with.” Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend’s phrasing, laughing to herself as she tried to picture her at a children’s birthday party.

“So do you at least have some idea of what your niece likes?” she asked, glancing around at the small store for an idea as to where to start.

“Nymphadora? Oh, I don’t know. She’s a bit of an odd girl. So far her only interests seem to be hair dye and strange clothing. Why her mother indulges her in it so much I’ll never know. I thought I’d get her something to expand her horizons a little.”

“An odd girl with the name Nymphadora? Who could’ve seen that coming,” Hermione mumbled, freeing her arm from Narcissa’s so the other woman could unbutton her coat.

“Did you say something?”

“Me? No. I was just going to say, let’s divide and conquer. Why don’t you take the right half and I’ll take the left. I’ll meet up with you in a little bit.”

“Hmm. All right,” Narcissa agreed. The two parted ways, and Hermione began to wander amongst the shelves, perusing titles, one finger skimming the shelves. She wound her way through sections on history and classic literature, botany and astronomy, finding herself near the check out desk after some time. Having found nothing that really stood out to her, she decided to ask the woman who worked there for guidance. She waited in the short line, watching the woman behind the counter ring out customers. She was a petite figure, dressed in black slacks and a simple black tank-top, her arms banded by silver cuffs almost up to her elbows. A black cord hung around her neck, from which swung a silver pendant that she couldn’t quite make out from this distance. The most striking thing about her was her copious amounts of long curly black hair, which was barely restrained by a long silver ribbon.

Hermione arrived at the counter, and the slight woman looked up at her. Scratch that, she thought. The eyes. Her eyes were so dark they almost appeared black, wide and beautiful. Hermione shook her head slightly to clear it, and smiled.

“How can I help you?” the woman asked, glancing over Hermione’s empty hands.

“I was just wondering if you could give me any pointers. My friend’s old niece is having her twelfth birthday tomorrow and I’m honestly not sure where to start, I don’t know much about what she likes. Is there anything you could recommend?” The woman leaned her forearms against the counter, inclining herself forward, and pursed her lips in thought. After a moment, she huffed and straightened up.

“Come with me,” she said, turning and walking away, not bothering to check if Hermione was following. Hermione hurried after her, letting herself be led through the store, around bookshelves, down aisles, toward the back of the store.

“I didn’t notice the section before,” she commented when they’d arrived at their apparent destination. The other woman smirked, and absent-mindedly brushed a stray curl out of her face.

“I know every hidden corner of my store, and this is what came to mind,” she replied, gesturing to the wall of books before them.

“This is your store?” Hermione asked in surprise, taking in the woman with fresh eyes. She didn’t look like she could be any older than her early forties, and she was running her own bookstore. Hermione was impressed, and more than a little taken with her already.

“Mmm,” she owner smiled. Turning back to the books, she pointed out a few titles. “This section is really generalized knowledge, different books that have a lot of information on various specific subjects. I thought of it for the girl’s birthday because it’s always good to offer an avenue to more detailed facts on any given subject, no matter what someone is already into. Knowledge leads to passion. At least in my experience.”

“I like the sound of that,” Hermione murmured, leaning in to look at some of the books. “I think I’ll be find something here, thank you so much. And I’m sorry, what was your name?” Hermione prompted, realizing she’d never asked it.

“Bellatrix. But please, call me Bella. Everyone in my family has ridiculous names.” Hermione stared at her for a moment, squinting at her as she finally saw the family resemblance to Narcissa and especially Andromeda.

“You’re Bella,” she said, still a little stunned. She’d never met her friend’s eldest sister, and Narcissa hadn’t told her it was to her bookstore they were coming today. Bellatrix frowned in confusion.

“Yes. I just said that.”

“No, I mean...Sorry, I know your sisters. I came in with Narcissa. The book is for Andy’s daughter. I’ve hear about you, we’ve just never met.” Bella blinked in surprise, wondering, much as Hermione was doing, why her youngest sister hadn’t mentioned she was coming in today.

“And you are?” she asked, recovering.

“Hermione,” the younger woman smiled. “It’s lovely to finally meet you. I love your store, it’s amazing.”

“Thank you,” Bella said, moderately taken aback by the compliments, not used to them. “You’re welcome back anytime,” she added, wishing she had a more concrete way of knowing she’d see the girl again.

“Are you coming to the party tomorrow?” Hermione asked.

“I wasn’t planning to…”

“Oh, you should come! Narcissa’s making me, I think to give her an adult to interact with so she doesn’t have to get her hands dirty with the kids,” Hermione laughed, only partially kidding.

“That sounds like Cissy,” Bella laughed, rolling her eyes. “All right. I’ll see you there. That way you have an adult to interact with aside from my ridiculous sister.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Hermione smiled.

“I have to get back, but it was...nice, meeting you. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Bella promised, giving an awkward little wave before departing back to position at the counter.

Hermione remained in the corner of the store that Bellatrix had introduced her to, ending up with an armful of four or five books by the time Narcissa made her way over to her.

“Find anything good? I’ve come up with nil,” Narcissa said in lieu of a greeting.

“Mmm. And I met your sister,” Hermione responded, glancing over at the blonde who stood at her shoulder.

“Oh?” Narcissa replied, feigning disinterest. “How’d that go?”

“She’s coming to the party tomorrow,” Hermione said in way of an answer.

“Really?” Narcissa asked, genuinely startled this time. “I never would have thought it possible to drag that woman to a children’s party.”

“I didn’t do any dragging,” Hermione shrugged. “I just asked her. She said she’d be there.”

“Well then.” Narcissa eyed her younger friend, looking at her with both surprise and new respect. “You must have made quite the impression,” she commented, before suddenly becoming quite engrossed with the books Hermione held. “Show me what you have there.” Hermione narrowed her eyes, vaguely suspicious, but let it go for now, and shared with Narcissa her finds.