AUTHORS NOTE: (EVEN IF HALF OF YOU WON'T READ IT) So. I'm currently on an extended writers block with my other Tomione, I have half of a new chapter written but I'm completely stuck. While i'm stuck I came up with this golden piece however and had to at least try it out. I KNOW it's COMPLETELY different because it has absolutely no magic but I promise if you stick with me, it'll be better. I've been reading a lot of AU non-magic and I just had this one pop in my head and, this chapter like all my first chapter is a start up. You get into the feel of this Hermione and her backstory. That's important to me. You need to know the character you're going to be spending at least thirty chapters with Right?
Anyway, Disclaimer: I own NO rights to Harry Potter or any of the characters that J.K. Rowling produced or any of that junk. While this is a story of my making, she owns all rights to her characters and blah..blah...blah you know the rest.
Hit me up with some reviews because I definitely need to know if this can go any further than what I've written. I feel pretty good about it though, even if you don't like it, I'll keep writing it because I actually really like it and love AU non-magic Tom. He's just as dreamy as the other.
I feel like you'll get a good feel of my AU from this first chapter though.
Enjoy and Review! =)
Hermione pulled at her bushy curls, her headache was pounding. She stared out the car window of her parent's car longing for the quiet streets of her London townhome. She couldn't understand why she couldn't have just stayed in London and continued going to school. She had aunts and uncles living in London, why couldn't she have just stayed with them.
"Hermione, your father and I would like to tell you something, sit down please." Her mother's face looked nervous, grasping at the pearls that hung around her neck.
"What? Did someone die?" Hermione asked, her stomach clenching in fear.
"No…no. Nothing like that." Her father replied, his brown hair was slicked into a very professional side part, his dark grey suit fit him perfectly.
Her parent's brown eyes eyed her nervously, as though she were about to blow up and tear the home into a thousand pieces.
"What? What is it?" Hermione demanded, she was getting nervous.
"We're moving." Her father said, he put his hand in her mother's lap.
"Moving? Where are we moving too?" Hermione felt her stomach clench again, what of all her friends here? She had spent the last seventeen years of her life here in London, why all of a sudden did they want to move?
"We…your father and I that is, are moving to Germany…"
"Germany why Ge- wait. What do you mean you and dad? I'm not coming?!" Hermione felt her voice creak, a shrill tone sweeping into her voice.
"Well, we don't think it would be right to take you from where you've grown, but of course we can't leave you here alone. Your father and I have thought a lot about it, and we've found a nice private boarding scho-"
"You're just leaving me here? You're not taking me with you?" Hermione was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that they were just leaving, just leaving without her.
"Hermione, be quiet. Your father is trying to speak." Her mother admonished her, placing her hand on hers in an attempt to calm her.
Hermione stared angrily at both her parents, they were really going to leave. They were going into another country and they were just going to stick her into a boarding school and leave her by herself. She wouldn't even get to go to school with all her old friends. She fought the urge to cry, she would not cry over something like this. She would be strong.
"It's a lovely school Hermione, very private and secluded. It'll be good for you, the courses there are even more challenging, and you need that. You're too smart for public school anyway. Your mother and I can't simply leave you here by yourself and we just don't feel right taking you somewhere where you wouldn't even be able to speak the language, let alone be in an entirely new city. If you stay here, you'll still be here in London and you can visit your mother and I on holiday." Her father seemed desperate to try and soothe Hermione's anger, but it seemed every word just coursed like hot poison through her veins.
"What's the name of the school?" She asked, her stomach burned and clawed at itself, she felt like she was going to throw up.
"Hogwarts, a funny name really for a private school. It's just on the edge of London and it's quite posh. You'll love it dear, I promise." Her mom rubbed her knuckles, which had turned white.
"We're here Miss Granger, I'll grab your things if you'll go inside. The headmaster will be waiting for you." The driver's green eyes stared into hers through the mirror waiting for her reply.
She sighed and stepped out of the vehicle, pulling her skirt that had ridden up during the ride. She had received her school uniform in the post and was told to be dressed in it when she arrived. Her parents had left her earlier this morning and her goodbye to them and been short and emotionless. She was still angry at her parents for just dumping her into a private boarding school rather than taking her with them. What kind of job in Dentistry was so important that they had to move to Germany? Her school uniform felt starchy and uncomfortable. The skirt reached right above her knees and was a dark navy and she wore knee high navy socks. She wore a navy cardigan with the school's insignia sewn right over her breast on the right side. She wore a white oxford which she had rolled up to go over her sweat sleeves.
The school was massive, the pamphlet that her parent's had provided her did the school no justice. It looked like a mixture of a university and castle with rolling gardens and greenhouses sprawling out behind it. Large patches of oak and blossom trees littered around the school and the school grounds, which were large to say the least (according to the pamphlet over 500 acres) were gated and surrounded by thick dense patches of trees to give the school privacy. The school was tall, it seemed to be over fifteen to twenty stories. The building itself looked to be over a hundred years old, but seemed so well kept it looked posh and expensive. Hermione's parents had told her the school was picky over who was allowed and the fees were incredibly high. Hermione was allowed in because of her outstanding grades and given a scholarship (which didn't cover all the fees) and here she was, one month later.
She took her time walking up the great stone steps leading up to the large wooden doors, she pulled the door open and it creaked and groaned loudly. You would think that with a school this aristocratic that they would at least be able to afford some oil for the door…or at least new hinges. Hermione worked to keep her mouth closed as she walked inside, the grand entrance was spectacular. A large electric candle chandelier hung from the ceiling, it was massive, as though it weighed a ton. Windows covered with stained glass shown light into the wondrous hall which was lined with portraits and lush rugs. A large grand staircase led up to another set of wooden doors and curved off into two hallways on either side. Hermione looked to her left and right to find two more sets of wooden doors on either side. Hermione did a double take, a very stern severe looking woman stood in front of the left side doors.
"You must be Miss Granger, I'm Ms. McGonagall. I'll be your English literature professor." She strode forward and bowed her head at her. Her doorman came through the doors behind them with several of her suitcases. "Ah, you may wait here for our care taker Mr. Filch, he'll be by shortly to help you with the bags."
Hermione didn't say anything, she just stared at the woman. Her hair was black with grey streaking throughout it and pulled into a very tight bun behind her head. That bun is so tight on this woman's head you would think that she wouldn't have so many lines on her face. Hermione suppressed a giggle at the thought. She wore a long dark green skirt and a cream colored blouse with a matching dark green cardigan over it. Her outfit looked just as severe as she did.
"You'll be living in the girl's dormitory of course, and you'll have one roommate. Girls and boys are forbidden to be in each other's dorms. Curfew is 10:00 and breakfast starts at 6:30 and classes start at eight. Lunch is at 12:30 and dinner will be at 6:00. I have your class schedule here." She paused to hand Hermione a sheet of paper that listed out classes, it looked like a university schedule, with certain classes on some days and different ones on the other. "All students have free period at the same time, every day, 1:30. If you're late to class, you will be written up and if you're written up three times, you will receive detention, any questions?"
Hermione's head was swirling with all the information the woman was saying, she felt overwhelmed.
"This is the great hall, where all your meals and special events will happen. We have annual Christmas balls before Christmas break and an optional New Year's Eve social for the students who stay over holiday. All dormitories are off this way to the left, if you'll follow me." She didn't wait her Hermione and strode off up another set of stairs leading upwards.
Hermione quickened her pace to keep up with Ms. McGonagall's fast strides up the steps until they reached the top which sprawled out for what Hermione almost could've assumed was a mile. It was a wide corridor that had Doors every twenty feet or so with numbers on them. A large deep mahogany colored rug stretched all the way to the end of the corridor which seemed to split off into separate corridors.
"This is the middle school corridor, you'll corridor will of course be on the top three floors with the upperclassmen. Gym class," Hermione winced visibly, she hadn't taken Gym class since grade school. McGonagall noticed. "Yes, Gym Class, all students must participate in some sort of physical activity. We won't be sending you all home looking like stuffed turkeys. As I was saying, all your classes will be on the top three floors, each class carries roughly 15-20 students a piece, we like to keep our classes small so the students can feel closer to their teachers. Class is Monday through Friday. Saturday is free day, you may do as you please, every other Saturday of the month we take buses into London for students to shop and do as they please, and you'll need permission from your parents."
Hermione stared blankly ahead, she was trying to siphon all this information in but it was adding onto her already throbbing headache. Something about the third floor and buses into London and this was middle school. Hermione usually had no trouble taking in information. Had her parents not removed her from her previous school, Hermione would have been head of her class. Grades had never been a problem for Hermione, she enjoyed studying and reading and always did all of her homework and tests with great flourish. She picked nervously at the end of her cardigan, her parents had said this school would challenge her. Was she going to fall behind in classes because she was showing up a month after school had started? Would she be a complete dunce compared to all the other students here at this school?
Hermione had done her research, this was an incredibly prestigious school, she was almost baffled at being let in on scholarship, let alone being let in at all. Most of the children here had parents in high politics, wealthy first class families that owned large land plots or businesses, corporate, or even royalty. She felt her stomach threaten to expose her breakfast at the thought of trying to fit in with all these prominent people. A fear gnawed at the back of her head that they would know simply by looking at her that her parents were just lowly dentist. While Hermione's parents weren't overtly wealthy, they had money. Hermione had never wanted for anything. However, Hermione knew that compared to the children at this school, she might as well have lived in poverty.
"Here we are, the head student's offices." Hermione stumbled back to avoid running into this woman.
She looked up and found herself facing a clear glass door with the words: HEAD STUDENT'S OFFICES plated onto the door. Ms. McGonagall opened the door and held her arm forward, gesturing for Hermione to quickly enter. Hermione felt timid as she stepped into the office, it was cozy and luxurious. A large high backed couch sat against the wall, its leather high buttoned back and arms were the same length, Hermione had half the mind to just lay in it and go to sleep. A oak coffee table shaped as a large piece of waxed refinished wood sat in the middle littered with magazines and an elaborate wrought-iron candle centerpiece. The walls held painted pictures of two students apiece, a boy and girl, dressed in a cap and gown holding a diploma.
"Hermione, this is Marietta Hedgecomb, she is the girl's upper classmen Head Girl. She'll be showing you around to your classroom and your dormitory. Any questions you have can be answered by her, Miss Hedgecomb, you may take over from here." Ms. McGonagall nodded at Hermione and her skirt swished behind her as the door slammed shut, leaving an incredibly loud uncomfortable silence.
The girl was tall but stout, she had short curly redish-blonde hair that appeared much more tamed and sleek than Hermione's bushy locks, she felt a small twinge of jealousy. Her eyes were a dark brown and they looked almost muddy and they held Hermione with a small look of contempt.
"Well it's nice to meet you..?" Her voice trailed off, she held out a shiny manicured hand. Hermione stared at it for a second before reaching hers out.
"Hermione, Hermione Granger." She spoke, the girl's handshake was firm and she squeezed Hermione's roughly.
"Well Hermione, I guess I'll show you to your classrooms, all of them are in the same three floors so you shouldn't have any problem with that. The numbers," She stopped to pick up Hermione's paper and shove it under Hermione's now scrunched nose. "They all correspond to the floor you're on, so class 1524, well that'll be floor fifteen then won't it? Pretty easy. I'll show you to your dorm room first. I assume you've already seen the Great Hall." She didn't stop to wait, she simply walked straight out the head office door leaving Hermione standing there staring at the back of her disappearing head.
Does everyone in this damn school just walk off and expect you to follow them? Hermione followed behind Marietta as she rattled off an absurd amount of historic facts about Hogwarts and it's founders, apparently there was four. The school was founded in the very early 1800's, one of the first in London. The school had many historic landmarks inside the grounds, an enormously large willow that was as old as the school itself, a statue of the founders, a park with a fountain, a running path that went all the way around the school (like I'd even care to know that information) and a beautiful lake situated in the very right hand corner of the land, simply called The Great Lake.
"Ah, here we are. The girls dormitories, you're dorm is right…" She walked on down an impossibly long twisting and turning hallway until she reached a door, 497. "Right here, your roommate will be Ginny Weasley. She's a nice girl all right, bit of a temper though. Her whole family is here actually, well, except for two of her brothers, they've graduated. You'll like her I'm sure, she gets along with most everyone. Her entire family has gone here, all get to come here free on an alumni scholarship. Their mother's side of the family is quite wealthy though, not much to say about their father." She babbled relentlessly.
"Can we go inside?" Hermione interrupted her, afraid that she would simply stand outside her room all day gossiping incessantly.
"Oh yeah, of course." She opened the door and Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, the dorm room was massive.
It was in itself a master bedroom, two queen sized four poster beds stood at each side of the room. Inbetween the beds, a large window with a padded ledge looked out towards the back grounds which Hermione's breath caught in her throat out. A small desk sat in front of each four poster bed, Ginny's side was a little cluttered, posters hung up on the walls of soccer teams (who even likes the Chudley Cannons these days?) along with a few decorative touches here and there. Hermione saw that next to her bedside was a picture of her and a boy with a large messy amount of black hair kissing her on the check. A corkboard
"Curfew is at ten and breakfast starts at-"
"Six and ends at 8, Ms. McGonagall told me." Hermione cut her off before she could ramble on again, she didn't mean to be rude but her head was still killing her.
The rest of the tour consisted with Marietta spouting more useless historical knowledge as she walked Hermione up to her first class. Hermione looked down at her schedule and saw that her first class was Advanced Level Biochemistry. She felt a pang of excitement, finally something interesting. This entire tour was really starting to bore her.
"Alright, here we are Hermione, your first class. If you need anything else, I'm on the third floor, but I'm sure you can ask someone else too, everyone here is pretty nice if they're not too busy being stuck up."
Hermione nodded and ignored the urge to gulp as Marietta opened the door letting Hermione in. She felt all eyes turn on her and she felt a hot blush creep slowly up her neck. The professor was a regular heighted man with a very large rotund belly. He wore a very old fashioned tweed suit and had a coat pocket chain hanging down his side, Hermione stared at him for a second before she turned back to the class.
"Professor Slughorn, this is Hermione Granger, she's a new eleventh year." Marietta announced her proudly as though she were the Queen.
"Hermione, good to meet you m'lady. Please, come in and have a seat. There, over there, a seat next to Mr. Weasley will do fine. Mr. Weasley if you please, yes, thank you." A boy with flaming red hair waved his hand. His face was speckled with bright orange freckles and he had the largest doe brown eyes Hermione had ever laid eyes on.
Hermione slowly slid out her notebook from her bag and took out a pen and began writing notes on the board, ignoring the stares that she felt pulsing into her skull, if she could just make it through this day without crying or having a panic attack, everything would be okay. She just had to concentrate on class, she loved Biochemistry, all she had to do was pay attention and this class would fly by.
"M'name's Ronald, but you can call me Ron." The boy next to her whispered, his voice was deep and friendly. He smiled at her heartedly.
"Hermione," She nodded, a genuine smile reaching her lips at the sight of his friendliness.
"This class isn't too hard, if you pay attention, usually I sit next to him-" Ron pointed over across the room and Hermione caught eyes with the boy from her roommates picture frame earlier. His bright green eyes stood out against his messy mop of black hair. "That's Harry, he's my best friend. You'll meet him later."
Hermione was felt a bit of surprise at the way he just assumed that Hermione would automatically want to meet and befriend this boy, Harry. She nodded her head, watching the professor as he wrote on the board. She turned her head and then stopped and caught her breath.
A boy was staring at her, she would hardly call him a boy however. He had dark hair that was such a dark shade of brown Hermione almost mistook it for black. It was parted down the side and styled into a neat messy wave, it was sort of old fashioned but it looked ageless on him. It looked perfect. He was tall and broad shouldered, but lean. Hermione could have stared at his body for days, his eyes burned into hers and she felt a hot blush creeping up her chest into her face. His eyes were a beautiful shade of blue that Hermione couldn't even match a color too. If she weren't so embarrassed at being caught staring, she would have looked even longer. Ron had noticed.
"That's Tom Riddle, bit of a prick really. Father's a wealthy politician of sorts, lots of power. His father is one of benefactors to the school. Everyone thinks he's a great guy but he's hiding something." Hermione had trouble believing that someone that handsome and charming looking was any sort of a prick. "Him and his friends are all in a posse of sorts, secluded bunch. His posse is a bunch of pompous asshole's, act like their better than everyone else."
"Sounds like trouble." Hermione wandered out loud.
"Tom Riddle is nothing but." He said with a sort of finality.