A/N: Hey guys, I was just thinking about Hermione, and decided to write this, as I see so many similarities between her and myself. It will be focused mainly on her life as it relates to all the pressure she is under. I think this will be my "Hermione" story, so I will continue it and add more chapters. I am pretty new at writing fanfiction, so please tell me if there is anything I can improve. Feel free to tell me what you like and what you don't; I can handle criticism. Any reviews will be greatly appreciated, but I won't be one of those demanding authors who rants about not getting enough reviews and withholds chapters. I'll also try to update as much as I can. And I promise to never abandon a story.
This first chapter is short, but that is just because it is the prologue.
This story is set after the end of the war, and everything will follow canon (except for the epilogue).
Impossible Perfection
Hermione was done. She was done. She was always under so much pressure. Pressure to be smart, to get good grades. Pressure to be perfect.
Growing up, she had always been different. Granted, she was a witch growing up with muggles, but she was also different in other ways. She really wanted to learn. She always got the best grades, always knew everything, and always did her best in everything she did, especially her schoolwork. She was often teased for not only her hair, but for reading while other children were running, for being eager to answer every question in class, for eating fruit instead of candy.
When she arrived at Hogwarts, she was ready to begin the next part of her life. She greeted every new challenge with determination, and every opportunity to learn with enthusiasm. She gave everything her best effort. She seemed unaffected by negative remarks, and was proud of who she was. She was a muggleborn, but through her extensive reading she knew more about the wizarding world than most purebloods.
Throughout her schooling she somehow balanced everything. She kept her position at the top of her class, she continued learning, all while helping her friends. She was pivotal in the downfall of one of the most powerful dark wizards in history; she was the brains behind the golden trio, and all as a teenager.
After all these years, people expected perfection. She was expected to raise her hand every time a professor asked a question. She was expected to always have an answer. She was expected to always get an "O" on everything. And she did. But after so many years of living up to people's expectations, she was tired of it. She was tired of knowing everything. She was done.
Because beneath it all, she was just a teenage girl. She was a real person, something people usually did not think about. She had feelings and emotions, and she had her insecurities. And behind what people thought was perfection, there was an overwhelming fear of failure.