Tracey hated forgetting things. She'd been down Diagon Alley already that afternoon and she thought she had accomplished everything on her list. Why she wore her new black pumps before adding the cushioning charm was beyond her, but her feet were killing her and she was cursing the damn book she'd forgotten about. That afternoon she'd met with Meredith Mervyn about the flowers for the Abercrombie wedding and made her manicure appointment with plenty of time, but she'd managed to forget the book for elderly Mrs. Lyon that she'd promised to bring to tea the next morning. While Tracey normally didn't go round attending luncheons with Muggles, there was some sort of familial obligation when it came to Mrs. Lyon. Tracey could never bring herself to call the woman 'aunt', but she knew that despite her late uncle's unfortunate choice in a Muggle bride, she owed her family at least to be civil to the woman. It was her duty, after all, so she found herself rushing out to Flourish and Blott's at this time of night, despite the chill in the air.

About to open the doors of her favourite bookshop, she looked up through the front glass and cringed. Hermione Granger was standing near a long oak shelf, looking every bit as studious as she had years before at Hogwarts. Excellent, Tracey thought. This is exactly what I need tonight, a run-in with the Mudblood.


Upsilon, Roger, Hermione was thinking, shifting the weight of the stack of books in her arms in order to reach up and slip Magical Remedies for Muggle Maladies in the right spot on the shelf, between a book by Emma Underwood and another by Terrence Utricht. She hummed to herself as she worked, glancing down at her pile quickly to see that the next book was by Samantha Atherton, and would require walking halfway across the store to the beginning of the alphabet...

As she turned, Hermione glanced out the pristine window of Flourish and Blotts, and noticed Tracey Davis standing outside the shop, staring in with a strange expression on her face, as though she wanted badly to enter but wasn't sure she ought to. Hermione raised a quizzical eyebrow before she could help herself, but managed to quickly replace that face with the welcoming smile every employee of Flourish and Blotts had been trained to apply to their faces before walking in to work.

Hermione had known Tracey at Hogwarts, of course, but she'd been more of a name and a face than anything else; as such, she didn't feel the need to go out of her way and beckon her in. She had a vague suspicion about where Tracey's opinions of Muggle-borns lay, and she felt no need to confirm them.

The bell tinkled as she entered, and Tracey remembered to pull her shoulders back into the perfect posture and poise that a proper pure-blood witch should show to the world. Briefly looking around for another employee and finding none, she grimaced and forced herself to walk toward Granger.

"Excuse me, Granger. Can you help me?" There was an icy politeness to her words, though if anyone was observing them they would find nothing amiss.

"Certainly," said Hermione. There was a sharpness in her eyes that betrayed her wide smile and welcoming nod. "If you'll just allow me to put these books down...please, follow me to the counter, and I'll see what I can do for you."

Hermione walked a few feet to the back of the store, and deposited the stack of books on the counter. Then she positioned herself behind the counter top, picked up a quill, and asked, "Well, how can I help you, Miss Davis?"

Tracey was surprised and impressed at Hermione's professionalism, though she didn't allow her approval to touch her face. Those thoughts stayed locked behind her dark green eyes. "I'm looking for a book on Bandicoots. Are you aware of what they are?"

"Small marsupials, I believe," replied Hermione promptly, with just a touch more steel in her tone than before. Tracey's condescending comments were not going over well, but Hermione had dealt with irritating customers before, and she would do so again. "Is there a specific book you're looking for, or just anything concerning the subject? I can look anything up for you in the registry, but it isn't likely we're carrying a book on them at this time, as most of the books in stock are Hogwarts textbooks and the like. We can certainly order whatever you'd like, however."

Hermione released a quick breath after that small soliloquy, and stared at Tracey expectantly.

Cursing herself silently, she knew she should have planned things better. When she got upset with herself a little of her facade faded, allowing the person she was beneath it to shine through. "I need to find a non invasive Magical way to be rid of them, it seems that a pair have unintentionally immigrated from Australia and taken up residence in a neighbour's back garden. She's worried they'll procreate and ruin her roses, but she's afraid magic will upset ph balance in the soil. I promised her I would search our world for her, she's not a witch, you see, " Tracey paused to see Hermione's reaction to that before pressing forward, "How long did you say a special order would take, Miss Granger? I would hate for Mrs. Lyon to wait long, after all, it was my thoughtlessness that caused the delay."

Tracey living in a neighbourhood with Muggles? Hermione's eyebrows shot up--the one quirk she seemed utterly unable to control--before she re-focused on the issue at hand. Frowning, she rested her chin in her hand and thought hard. A typical reference book on Bandicoots wouldn't do; she doubted they included advice on how to banish the little buggers from rose gardens.

"Well..." Hermione began, but she trailed off as her eyes drifted around the store, scanned the shelves as she wracked her brain.

Suddenly her eyes lit on the pile of books to be shelved, and she had a burst of inspiration.

"Oh!" she cried, her eyes brightening at once. "A special order won't be necessary--I have just the book you need!"

She darted away towards the other end of the store, leaving Tracey behind.

Unsure as to whether she should follow, and too vain to look unsure about anything, Tracey bent her head around the large row of books blocking her vision and watched Hermione pull a large volume from a low shelf. Righting herself just before the girl looked up, Tracey stood at the counter and waited patiently.

Hermione was too pleased with herself for finding the solution to notice that Tracey had waited for her at the counter to fetch the book. She pulled Magical Remedies for Muggle Maladies by Roger Upsilon off the shelf with enthusiasm, and flipped to the index, running her finger down the columns until she reached "bandicoots, pages 34-38." Grinning with delight, she trotted back to the counter, and held out the book for Tracey to take.

"I was just shelving this when I noticed you dawdling outside," she informed Tracey. "You're lucky you weren't a minute earlier, or I would never have known we had it. Until the book hits the shelves, the system doesn't register its presence. You might have had to wait a week and a half for a special order."

Tracey couldn't look more thrilled. Her normally schooled features betrayed her relief at being able to present her findings to Mrs. Lyon. Though at Granger's mention of 'dawdling' her delighted smile dropped immediately and turned into a more familiar sneer. "Thank you, Granger. I'm sure Mrs. Lyon's house-elves will be happy to have some recourse against the little blighters." Handing her galleons over she couldn't help but smirk at the confused look that swept over the other woman's face. "Mrs. Lyon isn't a witch, but she married a pure blood. The youngest brother of my grandfather actually. The only Hufflepuff the Davis line has sprouted in generations."

"Well, I'm glad to hear you are branching out after all this time in Slytherin," said Hermione sweetly, collecting the Galleons and scooping up the proper amount of change. She simply couldn't contain her bitterness; here she had helped the woman, been friendly with her, saved her neighbor almost two weeks more frustration, and still Tracey was calling her "Granger" and smirking at her!

"And how lovely to hear that your family advocates intermarriage between the non-magical and the pure-blooded. Gives us Muggle-borns something to aspire to," Hermione added. She handed the change back to Tracey and put on a wide, false smile that didn't reach her brown eyes.

"Oh, we don't." Tracey could hardly contain her ire. She had let her guard down. She'd actually smiled and been genuine with the witch and then this was the behaviour she was met with. She pulled the ice back over her eyes, and coolly said, "Thank you for your help with the book," before flipping her long hair over her shoulder and exiting the shop.

Still fuming as she walked away, Tracey could see what her father had been saying all those years ago. Clearly there was a reason people of lesser blood shouldn't rub shoulders with proper witches and wizards, no matter how clever they appeared to be.

Hermione watched her go, shaking her head. She shouldn't have let her temper get the better of her like that--but it had been a long time since anyone had been condescending to her like that, with the terse requests and icy tone, not to mention that nasty sneer she'd sported for a few minutes. There were a few benefits to being Harry Potter's best friend, and heroine of the wizarding world, and that was one of them....Hermione had almost been allowed to forget "her place" in this society she'd adopted so long ago. She'd even dated two pure-blood wizards (though briefly), for Merlin's sake! But some of the offspring of these ancient families simply couldn't get over themselves...

As she moved to collect the pile of books she'd been shelving, before closing up for the night, Hermione had to admit (as little as she might have wanted to) that Tracey Davis's cool exterior had been quite impressive. If a shop girl had snapped at Hermione, she knew she would have snapped right back. But besides that flounce of her hair, Tracey had remained icy cold, revealing no irritation or anger. She'd simply exited, no longer needing to condescend to the Mudblood working behind the counter at Flourish and Blotts. Hermione had proved her point for her, and Tracey had been able to walk out with her head held high, principles reaffirmed.


(Summary: Hermione and Tracey have a run-in at Flourish and Blott's. Books and Politics are discussed. Never a good thing for a first meeting...)