My So-called Perfect Life

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters from it. It all belongs to J.K Rowling.

"Where have you been?" asked a voice from the dark.

"Nowhere. I've just been walking around," said Hermione Granger as she tried to locate the origin of the voice.

"Liar. You're curfew's at nine p.m. Know what time it is? 11:30," snapped the voice as its owner stepped into the light.

"I'm sorry father. I didn't know it was so late."

"You knew damn well what time it was. You stayed out on purpose didn't you?"

"Of course not," replied Hermione, a trace of fear in her voice. He had been drinking. She could smell the alcohol. He was bad enough sober. Drunk he was…

"Don't lie to me you little bitch. The only reason you're in this house is because of my generosity and don't you forget it. Now I'll ask you again, where were you?"

Not for the first time, Hermione wondered what her mother had seen in this man that she had married him so soon after her first husband had died. He was vile, cruel, despicable… Unfortunately he was also her legal guardian and because she wasn't 18 yet, Hermione didn't have the right to go live on her own.

'Just two more days and I'll be back at Hogwarts.' Hermione repeated to herself over and over again in her head as she struggled to come up with an answer to her stepfather's question that wouldn't result in another beating. Her wounds from the last beating had not yet healed.

"I really was just walking around the park. I guess I lost track of time."

"I told you not to lie to me again. The hospital called a few minutes ago to tell you that you left your scarf behind. You were in the sick children's ward again weren't you?" her stepfather asked in a menacing tone.

Hermione knew she was caught. She had to come clean and hope that his drunken state would mean that he wouldn't hit her for too long.

"Y..Y..Yes," she stuttered.

Her stepfather walked closer to her, taking out a little bit of his belt with each step. Hermione backed off. Unfortunately she hit the wall.

"I warned you not to lie to me. YOU LITTLE BITCH!!" he yelled as he grabbed her hair and shoved her to the ground. Hermione fell on her knees and waited for the blows to come. And they did. One after the other. Again and again, each one harder than the last. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. But after the tenth blow she just couldn't hold it in. She cried out. Her stepfather just laughed and hit harder with more frequency. Hermione's shirt had ripped after the third blow and her back was now covered in lashes overflowing with blood.

After what seemed like an eternity, the blows finally stopped. Her stepfather looked down at her battered body and kicked her hard, making her fall to the floor in agonizing pain.

"That'll teach you to lie to me," he said walking away, leaving behind the beat-up body of his stepdaughter.

Hermione whimpered in silent pain as she listened to his footsteps fade away. She slowly sat up, the pain making her whimper louder. She picked herself up off the floor and made her way to the bathroom, each step a silent reminder of what she endured almost everyday that she spent in this house with HIM.

She finally made it to the bathroom after what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. She opened a cabinet to take out some antiseptic and bandages. She couldn't heal herself magically because underage wizards weren't allowed to do magic outside of school. Hermione opened the bottle of antiseptic and attempted to put it on herself, the pain making her actions clumsy. She finally managed to get the bandages on and put everything back in its right place.

She turned around and found herself looking in a mirror. The sight that greeted her left her speechless. Looking back at her was the reflection of a pale woman. There was a cut over her right eyebrow and dark circles under the eyes. Her body was that of a young woman, but her eyes were that of an old woman who had suffered enormous grief in her lifetime.

Hermione made her way to her bedroom and lay down. Her pillow was soon soaked through with soundless tears. Her eyes were bloodshot but also determined.

'He may hurt my body, but he'll never hurt my soul.' That was Hermione's last thought before she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Well this is my first HP fanfic. I hope you guys like it. I'll only update if someone reviews. If no one reviews, I don't know if anyone is reading it and so there's no reason to continue if I don't know if someone's reading it (did that make any sense?)

Anyways just review please.