Midnight Velvet

Midnight Velvet

Ch 1 - The Stranger

It was a typical Saturday morning in Harry and Ron's Quidditch shop, The Broom Closet. It was the very same shop they had purchased in America, after the War of the Dark Side had ended. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all moved to America in order to escape the excitement of the defeat of Voldemort and his Death Eaters - and the fame it had given them. They were living in one of the few wizarding villages there, a town named Verborgen, hidden deep in the mountains of Virginia. They had moved from England about a year after Voldemort's defeat, and had never bothered to go back home; there was no real reason to, either. The Weasley and Granger families followed their children to the "land of promise"- and for both families, it certainly had lived up to its name.

Fred and George had opened their shop a few doors down from Ron and Harry's, and business was booming. The demand for a good joke shop in America had been appallingly great, and Fred and George were well welcomed: as were Harry and Ron. Ginny helped out Fred and George, while Hermione helped out Ron and Harry from time to time, but mainly worked in the local library, where she had always felt at home, among her books and knowledge. Arthur Weasley had retired from the Ministry of Magic and had moved overseas with Molly Weasley to be with their children. Melissa and Keith Granger were still doing a wonderful, private practice cleaning the teeth of their fellow muggles. All in all, life was happy and profitable for most everyone.

Yes, a fine morning it was. However, it was soon to be disturbed, when shortly before lunch, a mysterious customer came into The Broom Closet. At first, Harry and Ron were too preoccupied with admiring their new shipment of the latest model of Firebolts (the exquisite racing broom, the Firebolt 10 had just been cleared for public use), to pay much attention to the strange customer. If they had, they would have seen a man around the same age, and with a similar build as themselves. He was a fairly handsome man, about six feet in height with silver blond hair and eyes that could speak measures.

The customer approached the counter, but before Harry or Ron could open their mouths to greet him, the customer began to speak, "The only colors in here are that of Gryffindor house! It is amazing to me how you can sell anything at all."

This statement caught their attention rather quickly; the customer continued with the hint of a well-hidden English accent: "Do you have any other Hogwarts colors in here?"

Ron replied, with a bit of a snip in his voice (he did not appreciate anyone, no matter who they were, poking fun at his alma mater house): "The other Hogwarts school colors are over there, we tend to sell quite a bit of the Gryffindor colors- it seems they are in the most demand. Did you attend Hogwarts, sir?"

The customer chuckled, and answered with a simple: "Yes."

"How long ago did you attend?" asked Harry.

"About 10 years ago."

"Hey, that's when we were there!" Ron exclaimed. "I'm Ron Weasley, and this is Harry Potter."

"How could I not know who you are? Everyone at Hogwarts was familiar with the "Golden Trio": Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger. And imagine the "Golden Trio" is still together, and so far away from Hogwarts. But, just where is Miss Granger? Has she unattached herself from the two of you, or is she still hanging out in the library, studying obsessively?"

"Why should we tell you where Hermione is? How do we know that you aren't just asking because you wish to cause her harm?" asked Harry, in an annoyed and protective voice.

"Come now Harry... don't you trust me?"

"Why should I trust you, when I don't even know who you are?" Harry asked, a little more loudly than normal.

The customer chuckled again. "Come now Harry, you don't recognize me?"

"No, honestly, I don't know who you are! And if you don't tell me soon, I shall have to ask you to leave."

"Well I guess that I can understand your thinking process, especially after all that the three of you have been through together..."

"How do you know what we have been through?" spoke up Ron, who had not been participating in this conversation up until now.

With a slight smirk that seemed to hold a memory, the man replied in a barely audible voice-

"Because, don't you remember- I was there!"

End of chapter......