A/N: I will try to take us through the whole story with Hermione. I am not J.K. Rowling, and I do not own anything Harry Potter related. I hope you enjoy!

November 1, 1985,

A bushy-haired girl of 6 sat sullenly in the back seat of her parent's car. Her purple backpack tossed on the seat beside her looked far too cheerful for the mood she was in. She tried to push it to the floor of the car, but her chubby arms couldn't reach past the side of her car seat and she screamed her frustration. The girl's mother looked concern. It was rare for her daughter to act out like this.

"Hermione, why don't you try telling me one more time, what happened?"

Hermione sniffed and swiped at her leaky eyes.

"Mum, I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was just reading ahead a bit. Ernie Steadson let me borrow his book. He's in year 3. Lisa tattleded on me." Hermione said. For once, she did not have perfect grammar because she was so upset.

"Dear, that hardly sounds like a reason for you to get in trouble, and I am pretty sure you are leaving out the flames that were mentioned in this note from your teacher." Hermione's mother countered. She was really having trouble understanding the events of the day.

"Well, Mrs. Wigglestone wasn't happy. She told me I wasn't allowed to read ahead. She put a new workbook for my year on my desk 'cause I had already finished mine. She told me I could start over..Then..it sorta burst into blue flames? She yelled at me about playing with fire, and I might have yelled back a bit because I DIDN'T play with fire." Herminone finished, indignantly crossing her arms with a small pout.

Hermione's mother sighed. She wanted to believe her daughter. The young girl rarely lied, and she could see it plainly on her face that she didn't think she had done anything wrong. The trouble was, however, that strange things often seemed to happen around Hermione. This wasn't the first note that had been sent home, and she worried that if she continued to ignore them she would be a neglectful parent. Mrs. Granger steeled herself for what she was going to have to say next. She desperately wished her husband was with her, but he had stayed late with a patient from their shared dental practice.

"Hermione, I am going to have to ground you. These are very serious claims from your teacher, and I have to know that you understand them. I'm taking away your book for one week." Mrs. Granger sighed. She hated taking away books from her little girl, but they had learned long ago that that was the punishment that worked best.

By the time Mrs. Granger pulled up on their red rock driveway, Hermione was staring resolutely out the window refusing to speak to her. Mr. Granger, who had barely beaten them home, grinned as tiny feet flew past him and slammed the upstairs door.

"Long day dear?" He asked pulling his wife to him for a quick kiss.

"Her teacher believes that she set her workbook on fire. Hermione, of course, swears she didn't do it and I believe her but…" She let the rest of the sentence drop. Both of them knew that the things that happened around their daughter were not easily explained.

"I took away Matilda for the rest of the week."

"Oh, that will be fun. It is going to be a long week, but at least her room is filled with other books that she can read. I don't think I would like to see my daughter without easy access to the written word. She is angry enough when you just take away the current favorite."

"So, what do you think happened today? Hermione said the flames were blue… but that can't be right"

"I doubt we will ever know." Mr. Granger answered. He placed the prized Matilda up high on the mantelpiece and the two of them tried to let the matter drop from their minds. They were never quite successful though. They were both highly intelligent people who love their little girl. It would take many years before they found out the answer.