Written after a challenge request in HPFC.
SilverBirch's challenge :
"Here's your challenge. Hermione is home for the summer holidays - maybe after her fourth year. She meets up with some friends she was at primary school with (that is your first school, when you are between 5 and 11 years old in Britain).
Does she still have anything in common with them? Can she hide being a witch? Does she regret having to say goodbye to her old world?"
I hope I answered it well.
Thanks xxx-Angelin-xxx for beta-reading it!
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It had been a hard year for Hermione. All the years were hard at Hogwarts, but that one was particularly painful for the students; one of them had died.
From the first year, she had never hesitated to tell her parents about what had happened in Hogwarts. They knew about the troll, the basilic, they knew about Sirius Black; nothing ever made them to forbid her attend the school. But she could realize that this time it was something much more important than incidents: death.
.
"Honey, I know you are a witch and you want to go to your school again- I understand that. But it's too dangerous now. We would be less worried if you stayed with us." Hermione's father suggested.
"If it was just my decision, you wouldn't return after that troll incident. Fortunately for you, your father supported you, so we let you go. But every year, a new accident occurred. And now, you're talking about a dead student and a crazy, dark wizard who wants to rule the world. Staying here, is for your safety, Hermione." her mother added.
"I know, but Hogwarts is like a second home for me; all my friends are there. And nothing wrong will happen to me. Dumbledore always says that Hogwarts is the safest place in Britain. I'm listening to your arguments for two hours, but my decision is made. I'm a witch and I belong to wizardry school."
"Just think about it, sweetheart." her mother answered.
.
Hermione did think about it. She made a mental pro/cons list. She established the reasons for her to stay and the ones for which she had to go to Hogwarts. But for the first time in her life, she felt lost. She did not know which arguments valued more than another. She kept on changing her mind every two minutes.
Finally, she decided to take a break and go for a walk in the city.
"Hermione? Is that you?" a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Anna! Sam! How are you?" she asked her old primary school friends.
"Fine, you? Still in that Scottish school?" Anna replied.
"Yes. And you?"
"We're in the same school as Luke, Jane and Harry. Remember them?"
The only Harry, Hermione remembered ever knowing was Harry Potter: her best friend.
"Of course!" she lied.
"What are you doing now?" Sam asked.
"I'm still in the same school ..." she answered not actually knowing what to answer. She couldn't tell them that she was a witch…
"No, I mean now, now. We're going to virgin megastore- Muse album."
Muse? Is that supposed to be a musician or something? She was puzzled.
"You don't know them? It's a group, they released their first album!" Anna exclaimed.
"Aw!" was Hermione's only answer.
"Come with us." The two girls grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the store. While walking and small-talking with her two old friends, Hermione made a realization: she had nothing in common with them. She had left the Muggle world only for four years, but it seemed like she was "disconnected".
Soon, she realized that she even missed portkeys! The sensation was definitely not pleasant, but at least, it was quick. Not like walking one hour to go to a store where she would probably not find anything interesting for her. Merlin! She preferred going to a Quidditch store with Harry and Ron. And she even swore in 'wizard' terms.
When they entered the store, again, she felt that strange sensation of not being where she belonged.
They were no quills just pens and the books seemed banal. Hermione not interested in books meant that the situation was very serious! She couldn't help but look for magical subjects, but of course, she found nothing.
"How's school going on? What are studying?" Anna asked, distracting her from her thoughts.
Hermione believed that it would be easy to talk about school. She just had to be vague toward the subjects she studied. Potion could be chemistry, and runes could be foreign language... Yes, she could handle that, but skipping the subject was a better option.
"I'm top of the class actually," she smiled, proud of herself. "And you?" she asked, politely.
"Last year was great! There was a huge strike at the end! We hadn't have school for two weeks!" replied Sam enthusiastically.
Anna glared at her.
"Yeah, it was pretty annoying. Can you believe that Mr. Evil –that's our school headmaster's surname- wanted to remove the music lessons? But our teachers went on strike, the students support them and he didn't dare removing it at the end."
"We all fought against the devil forces and the light side won." Sam mocked.
.
.
When Hermione went back home, she thought about Sam's last sentence, "we all fought against the devil forces and the light side won". Of course, for them, it was just a joke, but not for her.
There was a real war in the wizard world- her new world. And she needed to fight. She was a Gryffindor and as such, she had to stand against devil forces, and fight for what she believed.
It would probably put her life in jeopardy, but she didn't care. Wizard world was welcoming her. Some of the wizards were not very kind with her -she thought about all those 'purebloods'- but still, she was a witch and she would fight for what she thought right.
She would support Harry and Ron and all her new friends. Friends who actually understood her. Friends with whom she got along, with whom she could talk about everything without restraining herself. In Hogwarts, she didn't feel that lag she felt with her old school friends.
It was where she belonged.
She had taken her decision: she would return to Hogwarts, and if 'Mr. Evil' had resumed service, she would fight along her friends.
.
She explained that to her parents who were reluctant at the idea of sending their daughter in that school again. But in the end, they agreed. They let her go; she was going to join the Order's quarter by the end of the week. By portkey, of course.
"Good bye, sweetheart." her parents greeted her as she was standing next to Remus Lupin, who came to pick her.
"Au revoir." she answered.
Even if it felt like she was leaving her old world, she knew it was just a 'see you later', not a good bye.
In a split second, she was at the quarters. It was dusty, dark and surely full of dark magic. Like the next years would be...
The twins 'poped' in front of her to greet her and she smiled them. She didn't care about the danger; it was her world. Her magic world.
A world in which she belonged, in which she was welcomed with open arms. Literally; Molly's arms.