Written for The Houses Competition
House Hufflepuff
Theme: Golden era pre-Hogwarts
House prompt: If anybody knew what he/she was currently doing, they'd try to stop her/him.
Personal prompt: Two is better than one
Word count: 1,765
Beta: Dark Angel of Sorrow Returns
Who can say if I've been changed for the better,
Because I knew you
I have been changed for good
~For Good, Wicked
The young girl with bushy hair and rather large front teeth took a deep breath. She was determined to do this but she knew that it wasn't allowed. If anybody knew what she was currently doing, they'd try to stop her. She didn't care though, and she was determined to follow through with her plan.
Hermione Granger was a very intelligent young girl and was the favourite of many of her teachers at school. However, this one act might make them change their minds about her. Hermione Granger was a very clever girl, and she knew that she was special. She knew that not everyone could make objects fly towards them unless they were Magicians that knew all the tricks of the trade.
Staring determinedly at the door like she had seen Matilda do in the book, Hermione focused her will and told the door to unlock. The hum of children playing outside dimmed into the background even further and her entire world narrowed down to that one, singular door. So much so that she didn't hear the person sidling up to her side and watching amusedly.
"You trying to set it on fire or what?"
Hermione jumped and a hand went to her heart. Percy, for she knew that was his name even if they didn't share any classes, grinned at her. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Nothing much, just wondering what the most rule-abiding girl I have ever seen was doing glaring a hole into the door that leads into the records room. You wouldn't happen to know the reason she would be doing that, would you?"
Hermione panicked, "N-no! I mean, there isn't a reason, not at all! Nothing to see here, I'm not doing anything!"
"Uh-huh, right." Percy raised an eyebrow in disbelief and then grinned at her, "You want some help? Two is better than one, after all."
"No, it's fine, I don't want to get you into trouble."
The eyebrow went up again, "You do know who you're talking to, right? Percy Dohare? Notorious troublemaker in our illustrious school? Are you trying to steal my crown, and that's why you don't want me to help you?"
"No…" Hermione giggled at the pout she was being given by the older boy.
"Then let me help! It is my duty as the reigning troublemaker to participate in all kinds of trouble I come across and to aid my fellow troublemakers as they make their debut into the world of troublemaking!"
"Fine, you can guard the door, I don't need anyone else offering to help me."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Percy gave her a salute and marched to the entryway, content to act as a lookout while his new protégé acted out her bit of mischief.
Hermione rolled her eyes and giggled at his antics before turning her attention back to the records room door. She wasn't trying to set it on fire, she was trying to open it. Her stare increased in ferocity until, finally, somehow, the door gave a click and swung open. The young girl of eight-years-old gaped at it for a few seconds before quietly squealing and doing a quick happy dance.
Percy glanced back at her when he heard the quiet squealing and jumping around, "Oi! Hermione! If you want to be a successful sneaker-arounder, you don't celebrate until after you've left the scene of the crime!"
"Sorry!" Hermione whispered back before proceeding into the records room in a more subdued fashion.
In front of her were rows of filing cabinets, each one holding the files of the many children attending the same primary school she was. Taking in yet another deep breath, Hermione set off to find the third-grade filing cabinet that held her scores for the previous term, muttering the labels to herself as she went past them.
"Ah-ha!" she cried in satisfaction as she found Third Grade, G-K. She quickly began riffling through it until she came across Hermione Granger and pulled her file out. There it was, the grade that had started this whole journey. A big fat B.
Once again concentrating all her willpower on that single letter, Hermione told the B to become an A. It wasn't her fault that the teacher hadn't explained the assignment properly; and Hermione had done what she thought the assignment was perfectly. The teacher had even said so, that was the reason she had gotten a B instead of something lower even though it was a completely different piece of work than what the assignment wanted.
The B slowly changed shape and was an A, Hermione grinned down at the paper and quickly shoved it back into the filing cabinet. With her dastardly plan completed, she hurried out of the room to join Percy at the door. He grinned down at her and she grinned back.
After that Hermione found herself in Percy's company more often than not. Every break they had would be spent together. He had taken the young girl under his wing and was happy teaching his apprentice all the tricks of the trade whilst also keeping her away from the bullies that liked to target the bookworm.
It would be safe to say that Hermione Granger was no longer the strict rule-abiding student that she had once been and she was very happy about that. It was a tie between her time reading and her time spent with Percy as to which one was her favourite. Her parents were happy that she was happy and even happier that she finally had a friend that wasn't from a book.
During one break, Percy brought up Hermione's first adventure to the records room. "So why were you trying to set the door on fire when I took you on as my apprentice?"
Hermione choked on her apple juice. She had not told Percy what she had done to her file or how she had done it and he had never asked before. It wasn't so much that she was keeping it a secret, more that she didn't know how to tell her best friend that she was, possibly, a witch or something similar. Percy may be happy-go-lucky but how would feel when his protégé stated she was something that only existed in stories?
"I, uh, I was editing my report card…"
"Okay," Percy drawled, "and how exactly did you manage that when everything is either typed or written in ink?"
"Iusedmagic," Hermione rushed out.
"Sorry? Didn't quite catch that."
"I… used magic."
There was silence for a few seconds as Percy processed that and when he did speak, it was a simple, "Huh, cool."
That was the end of that conversation. Occasionally Percy would ask a question about her abilities, and if she didn't know the answer, they would try to figure it out between them. Thus, started their magic lessons with the both of them doing research into the different types of magic found in various books and testing to see if Hermione could do similar things.
It had been a week since Hermione had last seen Percy, and she was getting worried. Although the older boy was a troublemaker, he didn't miss school; and he certainly didn't miss it when he knew Hermione was waiting for him. She was so worried that she was contemplating going to find his file and checking that nothing serious had happened to him that had been noted.
Another week went by, and Hermione had made up her mind; she was going to find Percy's file and make sure that he would be coming back. That morning break, she snuck into the office and, using her magic to make others not see her, located Percy's file. Quickly flipping through it she stopped at the giant red stamp that stated the worst possible thing to have happened to her friend and teacher.
Expelled. Percy had been expelled. Expelled due to the many strikes against him for his delinquent behaviour. Hermione shut the file and escaped the stifling office, running to their spot beside the boundary fence in a desperate hope that Percy would be there and the file was lying.
Percy was there, but he was on the wrong side of the fence. He smiled sadly in greeting as he saw her run towards him. "I guess you snuck in and found my file, huh?"
"Please say that it's not true!"
"Sorry, Glinda, no can do. It's worse than that though, I won't be able to come here ever again, my family is moving to Scotland tomorrow. I won't be here anymore."
Tears made their way to and out of Hermione's eyes as she heard this and she shook her head in denial, "No, I won't let it happen! I'll use my magic and change it!"
"You can't, not this time. Don't cry, Hermione," Percy's hands came through the gaps in the fence and he wiped away her tears. "We had fun together, didn't we? Hold onto that fun and never forget the times we had together. I need someone to take over my throne, after all."
Hermione gave a watery laugh at that and Percy smiled, "I will see you again, Percy."
"I'm counting on it. Now off you go, the bell's about to ring and you have to keep your image of being a good girl if you want to be a sneaky troublemaker. You'll see me again, Glinda, you just wait."
Hermione followed the rules and waited. She waited for three years until a stern looking woman came and told her she was a witch; that she had been invited to attend a magic school in Scotland. There was no question of whether or not she would go, no matter what her parents thought.
Hermione was going to Scotland, and she was going to see Percy again. She wasn't going to leave until she found Percy, not even if she was expelled; although, she'd try to avoid that if she could. Two was better than one, after all, and she had not been very good at causing mischief on her own.