It was rarely a good idea to go down Knockturn Alley, and when you did, you kept a cloak over yourself and your head down. Hermione Granger, now a few years removed from her time at Hogwarts, was there for certain potent spell ingredients you couldn't get in Diagon Alley - or anywhere else, really, which was the only reason she was even there. With the demise of the Dark Lord, it had become less dangerous to be there, but just because you took the fangs off the snake didn't mean there wasn't still poison backed up in its head somewhere. She tread carefully.<br/><br/>Some of the shops were boarded up, and some paths led down side streets that turned into a wall of black not six feet in, poorly hiding wizards and witches who seemed to be doing their best to simply lurk. Keep your head down. Her chestnut bangs hung down, keeping her face obscured.<br/><br/>But the more Hermione looked around, the harder it got to find the shop she was looking for. She walked from one end of the alley to the other, then back again, blending in with the crowd as much as she could. She couldn't escape the feeling - a strange premonition - that she was being watched. She just thought that maybe it was in her head, but in Knockturn Alley, you could never be sure...<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>