multiversallogs | (no subject)

Who: Hermione Granger, OPEN
What: Hermione goes book-hunting, and runs into ~fellow citizens of Baedal~.
Where: The Library of the Blessed St Brian.
When: A few days after her arrival, before this.
Notes: If you want your character to interact with Hermione but doubt they'd be in the library, feel free to have them somewhere else and she can stumble across them; she's likely going to do some exploring elsewhere.
Warnings: none.

Libraries are sanctuaries, and that, right now, is just what Hermione wants, along with as many cold hard facts as she can find. Rumours are hardly trustworthy, anecdotes are just rumours in seed form, and the only thing the propaganda has done is made her wary and worried. She doesn’t trust herself to go into any bookshops just yet, not on limited funds, and she’s always preferred libraries anyway- from the architecture and the smell, to the fact that these are books passed from person to person, books with history, to the (admittedly mundane and worldly, but still relevant) lack of cost involved in frequenting them.

This, therefore, would be why she’s prowling through the shelves with her eyes wide, seeking out facts and figures and records. There’s an expression of intense, slightly hungry concentration on her face.

There are also three books floating beside her, which she feels a little nervous about. They’re too heavy to carry, and from what she’s seen magic isn’t taboo in Baedal- but she’s so used to keeping it hidden when not in explicitly wizarding society that it feels as if she’s doing something illicit. She keeps glancing at them, and then around, the furrow between her brows getting progressively deeper every minute.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She does catch it, and raises her eyebrows briefly- I'm not surprised. "That's telling, at least," she says, calmly and quietly, before giving the book a bewildered look and slotting it back into place.

"I'll certainly pay attention," she adds, giving Kate a smile. "It would be very stupid not to, really, wouldn't it?"

"Admittedly? Yeah. Oh, I'm Kate, by the way," she says holding out a hand for a shake and pointing at her name tag with the other. "Pay attention, keep your eyes open, and your nose clean."

Not literally, but that would be nice for all of the public.

"Three things I always try to do," she said, taking her hand. "Penelope," she said, too quickly to let herself think about the lie- it wasn't that Kate struck her as untrustworthy or likely to be affiliated with the Death Eaters in the city, but she couldn't know whether she might drop any name she gave her. She would probably have been much more willing to give her real name if Snape hadn't enlisted her to help protect Martha. "I think I'll probably be spending rather a lot of time in here- you'll likely be sick of the sight of me in a few days."

Kate has no indication or reason to believe Hermione is lying and well, they all have their secrets and aliases. Everybody deserves to hold something close to their chests for whatever reason.

"I'd rather see you than that guy," Kate chuckles as she jerks a thumb over her shoulder to a sleazy, three-eyed guy camped out by her desk. "He has a problem with the word 'no'."