Hermione's Story
A/N: I prefer Ron and Hermione together and Harry and Ginny together, but this is a Harry and Hermione story.
Chapter One: First Year
Let's say your eleven. "I was eleven a very long time ago," you say. You are eleven and you are Hermione Granger. You have always been Hermione Granger but this year, you know who you really are. When you are eleven you have knotted brown hair. People tease you, they say you have a squirrel on your head.
You sit alone in a dark corner, reading. You always read, have always adored it. It takes you out of the cruel world you are forced to live in. You read about Cinderella and you wish that you could have buttery blonde hair like her and a Prince Charming to take you away from the dark.
You have parents and they are the only thing you like about your life. They are there to dry your tears when you rush home from school and tell you to tell the other cheek when Jessica Heap teases you about your hair and for being a know-it-all.
Your room is your haven, your sanctuary. It's the place that you can escape to after a bad day. You can snuggle under your covers and drink hot cocoa and read your favourite book of all. You can dream about far away lands and forget about any of the dramas that happen at school.
When you are eleven, an owl arrives in your bedroom. You don't scream, like other girls would, and you are not frightened. You are not that type of person. You get up and walk over to it, and admire it. You read the letter, the letter that changes your life for the greater good.
It invites you to attend a school, a school with a funny name. Hogwarts. Is it a joke? Is it Jessica Heap and her clique making fun of the weird things that happen around you? But it looks so real.
You show your Mum and Dad and they are confused and anxious. Anxious and confused. They fret about this, they worry about this. But they agree to let you go. You think, "I am so lucky to have such open-minded parents."
It's September and you board the Hogwarts Express. Yes, it's all real. You sit by yourself in a compartment near the front. You finish reading Hogwarts: A History when a round-faced boy slides open the door. Neville Longbottom, what a strange name, you think. He has lost his toad and there are tears on his cheeks. Why does it matter? but you help him find it. He clings to you and you feel as though you are back in first grade, with your then-best friend Annelieze. She is your first and only friend until you reach Hogwarts.
You hear laughter coming from a compartment at the back. Raucous boys, they probably are. You see a red-haired boy with freckles and a long nose, clutching a Chocolate Frog and a black-haired, green-eyed boy with silly glasses that are too big on his slight face. It's Harry Potter, you know that of course, you've read all about him. Nothing what you had expected him to be. Valiant and bold, maybe even with an air of pomp. He is wearing baggy jeans and a shirt twice his size. His hair is messy, unkempt and behind the sticky-taped glasses, behind the stunning emerald is sadness. Harry Potter is a sad person and a piece of your heart breaks.
You stop at Hogsmeade Station and there is a friendly half-giant waiting for the first-years to take you up to your school. To be living in a genuine castle for seven years? You feel like Guinevere from the legend of King Arthur.
You are sorted into Gryffindor House, you didn't expect that. Surely you would have been in Ravenclaw. You feel mousy and small when you reach the table and sit next to a tall red-haired boy that looks an awful lot like that boy you saw with Harry Potter. Daring, nerve, chivalry, bold... you aren't any of those things and you never will be, that's what you are thinking.
Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, they are you roommates. They are both pure-blood witches, they are best friends. They are friendly to you and are also curious. They stick together like paper and glue. They talk about the Wizarding Network Wireless and play Gobstones and Exploding Snap. You watch them giggle over silly things, like gossip, and continue to do your homework, secretly wishing you had just one friend...
It's an unfortunate thing when one is teased. You think that it will all be finished, until that Ron Weasley calls you a nightmare. Bad memories come back, you burst into tears in front of everyone and rush to the nearest girl's bathroom. As you run past, you hear Harry Potter say quietly, "I think she heard you." He isn't making fun of you, there was genuine concern in his voice and you feel slightly grateful.
You want to go home and be with your parents, they were always there for you. You sob in the lavatory and think about Annelieze, the only person who was ever nice to you until Jessica Heap convinced her to go over to the dark side.
There is a troll, you've read all about them. You are scared for the first time in years. You are trapped, there's no way out. But in burst Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. They save your life and they are your friends. You feel giddy all the time and you are braver than you were before. You make a life bond with them.
You find out things about them. Ron tells you about his family, and you know all their names. His father is Arthur and he loves muggles, his mother is Molly and she is caring. His eldest brother is Bill and you picture him like his other brother Percy; pompous, fond of rules. Charlie works with dragons, he seems pretty cool. Fred and George, the twins, they are the biggest trouble-makers you've met. Then there's Ron, one of your best friends, and Ginny the only girl, the girl who grew up with six older brothers. He tells you that his favourite colours are orange and black for the Chudley Cannons, his favourite Quidditch team.
Harry doesn't tell you much. His favourite colour is blue. He loves the steak at Hogwarts. He doesn't have a brother or a sister and you think, maybe Ron could share. Harry Potter is a lonely person even with friends. A piece of your heart breaks for him and you tuck that piece away, deep inside you, where no one could ever destroy it.
Harry Potter is the bravest person you have met, you know so because he escaped from You-Know-Who for the second time in eleven years. You are not brave but it feels as though Harry has given you some of his own braveness just through his words.
a/n: first chapter, please review!!