"Aunty Carolyn!" Hermione exclaimed as she entered the lounge, "When did you get back? How come you never told me you were coming?" Mia paused as she saw the tears in the other woman's eyes, "What's wrong?"
"Mia, sweetheart, I have to tell you something, sit down" Mia's Aunt gently led her to a chair, before kneeling in front of her.
"I really don't want to be the one to tell you this, but you know that everything good comes to an end, don't you?" She paused until the younger girl nodded "everybody has their time on earth, and after that they move on to a better place, but they will always be in out hearts, never you forget that, you can never loose touch with someone unless you chose to, they will always be in here" She said, gently touching Mia's heart.
"Aunty, what are you saying" Mia asked, fear kicking in.
"Mia, sweetie, your parents were in an accident…"
"What?" Mia said, her voice going cold "you're lying"
"I would never lie about this"
"IT'S MY FUCKING BIRTHDAY!!! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!"
"Mia, honey, calm down, your mother is still alive, she is in a coma at the hospital, but your father didn't make it, I'm so sorry, I know this is going to be the worst day in your life, but please, don't push me away, I will be here for you" Carolyn said as Mia tried to leave the room.
"I need to be alone," Mia cried as she bolted from the house.
Instinct kicked in, and before long Mia found herself walking up the steps at the hospital.
"Excuse me Miss, can I help you?" A nurse asked, looking concerned at Mia's puffy eyes.
"My name is Hermione Granger, I was told my mother was here, in a coma, please, I would like to see her" Mia choked out, with more calmness than she felt.
"Oh, I see, here, I'll show you the way, I'm so sorry, this must be very hard for you" Mia only nodded at the nurses words; it was all she could manage.
"Here you are, if you need anything, just ring the bell, a nurse will be along to check on your mother shortly, good luck" The nurse said, with a small smile.
Mia walked in the small room in a daze, only focusing on her mother. She was covered as far as Mia could see with bruises, her face swollen so badly she was almost unrecognizable.
Mia dropped into the seat beside the bed, "Oh mom, I can't believe this is happening, please wake up, I know you can, you must be able to hear me, please mom don't leave me, I need you please I know you have the strength to fight this, remember when you had pneumonia and you were terrified 'cause we all had to go into isolation to stop you getting sicker, but you pulled though even when you didn't think you could and you pulled though, you were fine and you will be this time as well, I know you will be, please you have to answer me mommy, I know you can do this, your strong a fighter, isn't that what you used to always tell me when I'd come home crying after being picked on at school, you can make it, I know you can. Please mommy, wake up, you have to, I love you"
A hand on Mia's shoulder made her jump, it was the nurse from before. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's someone here to see you. I think she said she was your Aunt, would you like me to sent her in?"
"Oh, sure, go ahead, thank you"
"Its no problem, my name is Destiny by the way," The nurse- Destiny- said, holding out a hand"
Mia accepted the handshake, "Mia, pity we couldn't meet under better circumstances"
"That's for sure, I'll sent you Aunt in now"
Mia turned back to her mother, wiping the tears from her eyes, she didn't want her mother to wake up and find her crying, she had to be strong.
"Mia, honey, I thought you might be here" Carolyn said, trying to take Mia into her arms, but the young girl pushed her away.
"Mia… you're allowed to be comforted"
"I don't need it, I still have my mom, and when she wakes up we will grieve for Dad together." Mia said in her best matter-of-fact voice.
"And what if she doesn't" Carolyn said softly.
"How dare you, get out, now, of course she will wake up, we just have to stay positive, you'll see, you just have no faith in her, she will prove you wrong, she WILL wake up, and you'll regret ever saying such a terrible thing, now GET OUT! We don't need you, or your negativity"
"Mia, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, and I just…"
"I said get OUT!!!" Mia said, her voice rising shrilly.
And this was how it continued for the next nine days, Mia refusing to see her Aunt, never leaving her mothers bedside, and not allowing the notion to enter her head that maybe, just maybe, her mother would never wake up.
"Hey mommy" Mia said exhaustedly on the 13th of August "I can't wait to talk to you properly again, its going to be wicked, I miss you so much but I don't care what Aunty Carolyn thinks, you will wake up, cause you're a fighter, and you know you are, come on Mom"
A shrill whistle interrupted Mia's whispers, and suddenly the room was full of people, strangers, whom she had never seen before. Mia found she was shunted to the side, watching as these people surrounded her mother, inserting needles and a collection of other things into Mrs. Granger.
"Mia, this probably isn't the best place for you right now sweetie, why don't you come outside with me?" Mia turned to see Destiny, the only person she had spoken with these last few days, aside from her mother.
"Destiny, what's happening, is she okay? Please tell me," Mia said, panic-stricken.
A loud, long beep filled the room, and the head doctor turned to Mia sadly, "I'm sorry, but we couldn't save her, she put up a good fight, but in the end there was nothing we could do for her."
Mia turned cold; it was all over, in the space of nine days, she had lost her mother and her father, and she felt totally alone.
She felt arms surround her, and turned to see Destiny kneeling in front of her, crying, and hugging her. "Mia, I am so sorry this had to happen…"
Mia just pulled away "Don't. Don't say anything, there's nothing left here for me"
And with those words, Mia ran as fast as she could away from that hospital, and into the sanctuary of her small bedroom.
'Oh god, this can't be happening' Mia thought as she sat in a corner, weeping.
Something shiny beside her- under the dresser, caught her eyes, and she pulled it out. It was something Mia had once used to perfect herself; before she realized how bigger control it had over her life, and threw it away, where it must have landed there.
-FLASHBACK-
Mia sat on the floor of her Hogwarts bathroom, it was dark, and all others were asleep, except for her. She just sat, thinking about her latest result in potions, she'd only answered 86 of her mid-term practice exam correctly, and in her mind that was no where near good enough, she was supposed to be smart, the class know-it-all, she couldn't afford to let other people down like this, it was unacceptable.
She looked at the small silver object lying in her palm, and slowly uncovered her upper thigh; which was already riddled with scars. She pulled it down her skin, watching as a new wouldn't was created, then, grabbing her wand, muttered a quick healing charm, which took away the wound, leaving only a pale scar. She repeated this process over and over, exactly 14 times, once for each point she had missed on her exam.
"There" She whispered," that should make sure I don't fail again" Mia smiled faintly to herself, no one ever need know, no harm ever came of it, if she wanted to be the best then that's what she had to do, punish herself for failing, then she would be able to go back to being perfect.
-END FLASHBACK-
And now, over a year later, as Mia looked down at the small razor blade that had helped her through so much, and also caused her so much pain, she found that she couldn't resist any longer, and so, bringing the blade to her wrist, she cut.
Her Aunt found her ten minutes later, passed out cold on her bedroom floor, blood everywhere, and the offending knife lying on the floor beside her niece.
"Mia, sweetie, can you hear me?" Mia's brown eyes fluttered open, and she found herself staring into the concerned eyes of her Aunt.
Mia panicked, no one had ever found out about her habit, no one was ever meant to; she stared wildly around, trying to find an escape route, so that she could finish the job she had started, and be back with her parents. She tried to get off the bed, but her Aunt held her back, "Mia, honey, it's ok, please, stay, talk to me, I know you've had a shock but…Mia!" Her Aunt cried as Mia bolted from the room.
Mia raced through the hospital, not knowing, or caring where she was going, just knowing that she couldn't face her Aunt so soon. She slid on the tile floor and smacked into someone. "Mia, your awake! What are you doing out of your room?"
"Just leave me alone okay," Mia said, pushing herself out of Destiny's grasp.
"I'm sorry sweetie but I can't do that, here, I'm not going to make you go back to your room just yet, how about you come in here, talk to me"
"I don't want to talk, there's nothing to talk about!"
"What about this" Destiny said, holding up Mia's left wrist, or the other older scars on you leg?"
"They don't matter"
"I think other wise, come on, please, tell me" Destiny said, guiding the younger girl into an empty room.
Mia sat down on the bed, looking everywhere but at the nurse.
"I started doing it almost two years ago," Mia said in a small whisper, "If I didn't do well enough at school I would punish myself for it, one scar for every point I failed. I wanted to be the best; I wanted Mom and Dad to be really proud of me, I stopped after I realized that it was not normal, that doing it made me some kind of freak. That was roughly a year ago."
"Oh sweetie, you don't need to punish yourself, no one can be perfect" Destiny said, taking Mia in her arms.
"I know," Mia said, "that's why I stopped"
"Can you tell me about this?" Destiny said, indicating Mia's wrist.
"I just wanted to be with my family" Mia said, breaking down and sobbing in Destiny's arms.
Destiny muttered soothing noises to Mia until she stopped crying.
"Now, answer me honestly okay, no matter what you answer happens to be. Do you want to do it again?
"No, it was a spur of the moment type thing, I don't plan on repeating it.
Two days later, after psyche assessments and a promise to Destiny (who Mia had gotten quite attached to) saw Hermione Granger stepping out of hospital, her Aunt by her side, with a resolution to make the most of the small amount of family she had left.
Well, if anyone has read this I hope you enjoyed it, and please sent me a review with ideas, anything. This will become a Hermione/Draco story, with angst.
Thanks for reading- if anyone did!
Karma