The Syndicate

Hogwarts this year was going to be very boring. Fred and George, even though they liked to joke around a lot, passed their N.E.W.T.S with decent scores and had graduated, having started a joke shop with an incredible amount of money. Plus, Harry Potter, my best friend and the person that I figured out that I loved, has disappeared off of the face of the earth. These were the thoughts that were running through one Hermione Granger's mind as she shopped in Diagon Alley along with the Weasleys. Her and Ginny had remained friends (this was whom she was walking around with, as Ron was too busy at his brothers joke shop and at Quality Quidditch Supplies), but her friendship with Ron was on the rocks. They had absolutely nothing in common besides Harry, which was discovered while they dated, and had not been that close since he suddenly disappeared.

Nobody had even noticed that he had vanished until he didn't show up on the Hogwarts Express or at the school itself. Dumbledore personally went to the house to find that it looked like that it hadn't been lived in for months. After tracking down the Dursley's, he discovered his mistake. He should never have told them about what was going on in the wizarding world since they had abandoned Harry Potter and left him there to fend for himself. He was outraged to say the least, but that still didn't help him to find Harry. His main idea was that he was kidnapped by Voldemort, because he knew that if he was killed then there would have been a Dark Mark above his house.

The wizarding world had been on high alert since that day, and some idiots actually believed the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, that Harry was really a delusional kid and that maybe it was him behind all of this, though most were death eaters. Anyway, back to where we were before in the story. Hermione was walking down Diagon Alley with Ginny. The young red headed girl had her own friends that she wanted to go with, but then again she was also friends with Hermione and didn't want to leave her here alone, especially with the threat of You-Know-Who looming above their heads like a beacon. The Weasley's and the Grangers were very high up on Voldemorts hit list due to their association with Albus Dumbledore and the missing Boy - Who - Lived. Currently, the pair of teenage witches could be found in Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore.

Hermione Granger, always the over aspiring bookworm, loved it in the bookstore and it was her favorite place to be in the wizarding world and in the muggle world.

"Come on Hermione, can we please go to some other shop now! We've been here for nearly four hours!" Ginny pleaded. She knew that the bushy haired girl liked books more than she did people, but this was just taking it way too far.

"In a little bit...." she replied, not even looking up from 1111 Ways to Ace the N.E.W.T.S by Alice Umperdink.

"Come on, you can read that later. You don't even have your N.E.W.T.S until next year."

"Well, it never hurts to study early. You should already be studying for your O.W.L.S."

"I will, and if you want to buy the book just buy it so we can GET OUT OF THIS STORE!!" She screamed the last part, and Hermione finally looked up from the book, placed it with the others, and left the store with that book along with the required text.

"So, where do you want to go now miss I - Like - to - Scream - All - of - the - Time?"

"Well, I guess that we could go to Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor. I know that, with your parents being dentists and all, you probably didn't get very much candy at your house."

"You're right. I could really go for some strawberry ice cream. It's been forever since I've had something sweet."

After getting their ice creams, they went outside to find a seat so that they could set and enjoy the beautiful weather. School would be starting back in a couple of days, and they couldn't wait. Last year they had been unable to find a teacher for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, and they wondered if the headmaster had been able to find another one instead of substituting himself. The old man couldn't teach and be the headmaster of the school at the same time, and with Voldemort back that was not a good thing. That class was greatly needed during these times, but Dumbledore had his hands full with the resistance anyway.

"Where are we going to sit Hermione? All of the tables have people at them."

Before Hermione could answer, they heard someone at the table behind them. "You can sat here if you want. I promise I don't bite."