A/N: Hello darlings! I really hope you enjoy my story!

Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling, and I did not create the characters of Hermione or anyone else you recognise. If you don't recognise them, they're mine. If you do, please don't sue me!

Hermione Granger was no ordinary five-year-old. Her parents proudly stated to anyone who asked that she was "five, going on twenty-five." She was, to put it simply, a genius. Her favorite author was J. R. R. Tolkien, and she was working on reading the Silmarillion. Because of her brilliant mind, though, she was an outcast. Children are unnaturally cruel to those they find different, and Hermione, brilliant though she was, seemed different. On any given day, she was sure to come home either in tears or missing one of the many books that she carried around. Most parents would be furious or would dry her tears and tell her how amazing she was. But not the Grangers. Dan and Emma Granger didn't quite know how to comfort a child who seemed perfect to them. They didn't understand the subtle nuances of a child's mind and tended to treat Hermione in exactly the wrong way. They believed that she, being perfect, would overcome the bullies with an amazing show of knowledge, which was why they were so shocked when Hermione was suspended.

The fourth day of primary school, a few Year 5 bullies decided to trip the "know-it-all bookworm." Hermione fought back. Needless to say, she lost. Hermione Granger never lost in class, so why should she lose on the playground? She could see teachers approaching from her position on the ground, far too slowly, in her opinion. So, she struck back. As the boys were ripping her books apart and hurling them in the mud, she broke a wall inside herself and felt power, pure and uncontrollable power flood her senses. Without warning, the power burst out of her, seeming to surround her, lifting her back on her feet, knocking down the bullies, and gently cleaning and repairing her books. And suddenly, her books were back in her arms, good as new, and the bullies were each sporting a black eye and broken finger seemingly by magic. And Hermione Granger was suspended from Grade 1 for two weeks.

Dan Granger had no idea how to deal with his prim and perfect daughter beating up a group of bullies. Dan had always been the winner in schoolyard fights, and smart enough to never get caught. He had no problem with the fighting bit of the scenario, but he couldn't comprehend how his perfect daughter had gotten herself suspended. Emma, on the other hand, was angry with Hermione for fighting back. She had been the popular girl at school and never got into trouble of any kind. She hadn't raised her daughter to systematically take down four older boys. No, she had raised her daughter to take the abuse with a smile, and never, ever strike back.

Both parents canceled their appointments for the rest of the day after receiving a call from Hermione's teacher. After arguing over who would pick her up, both got in the car, and Dan drove them to Hermione's primary school. After checking in at the front, they saw a bruised and red-eyed Hermione sitting miserably in the office with tear tracks down her cheeks. She jumped up from her seat and ran to her parents, explaining tearfully what had happened. "Daddy, Mummy, I'm so glad you're here! They kicked me and ruined my books, but no one will believe me! I don't know what happened to them, I don't know! Mummy, I swear I don't know, they were just on the ground all of a sudden and my books were fine!" Hermione was in tears, again, at this point.

She clung to her dad's leg, expecting a pat on the head from him and an "It'll be alright" from her mum, but instead her mum grabbed Hermione's upper arm and started pulling her towards the door as she scolded Hermione. "You are in so much trouble, young lady! Those boys each have broken fingers! You are just lucky nothing more serious happened, or you would have been expelled! As it is, you are going to have to come to the surgery with us for two weeks instead of going to school! And, your father and I have decided to cut your supply of books off, seeing as they were the cause of this whole situation! That means no trips to the library, no more new books for your birthday or Christmas, nothing."

"But, Mummy, I have to have books! I'm almost done with the Silmarillion, and I've read everything else so many times already! You can't—" Hermione was suddenly interrupted by her mother.

"Hermione, get in the car. We are headed straight home, and when we get there, you will be cleaning off your bookshelves and donating ALL of your books. I don't want to hear any complaints about 'But-but it's just unfair Mummy!' Emma mocked, glaring at Hermione. "I don't want to hear it. Is that clear?" Emma looked at her daughter in the back seat. Hermione was staring sullenly down at her lap, and Emma reached back to shake her shoulder. "I said, is that—"

"NO!" Hermione had felt the same power from when she saved her books begin rising up inside her during her mother's speech. At her scream, she lost control of the power, and the windows in the car shattered. Startled, Dan jerked the wheel of the car reflexively, causing the car to swerve off the side of the road.

Hermione woke in a white room, staring confusedly at the many wires and machines surrounding her. She tried to move, but she found that her leg was suspended above the bed, even though it felt perfectly fine. Just then, a nurse came bustling into the room. Hermione cringed away from the nurse, fearing the new person. The nurse noticed Hermione's movement, paused, and blinked as she said, "Oh. You're awake then, are you? How does your leg feel? Need any painkillers? Water?" Seeing that Hermione couldn't keep up with the rapid speed of her questions, she sat on the edge of the bed and simply asked, "Are you feeling better?" enunciating each word slowly to make certain Hermione understood.

Hermione mulled the question over for a minute or two before answering, "Actually I feel perfectly fine, except for a bit of drowsiness, which I'm sure is due to the long amount of time I was asleep for. How long was I asleep for?"

The nurse blinked again, looking taken aback at both the seeming well-being of the girl, and the apparent control over her words that she exhibited at such a young age. "You were out for two days, but you suffered such severe injuries that shouldn't have been survivable, much less recoverable from." The nurse blinked again, and said, "You know what, I'm going to get the doctor, and maybe he can explain all this nonsense. I'll be back." And the nurse left, despite Hermione's stuttering protests that she was fine and didn't need the doctor.

Hermione was curled up in a ball, crying, on the floor of the orphanage bathroom. Gemma, an older girl at the orphanage, had teased her about her too-big teeth and her bookish habits. She had taken Hermione's copy of The Silmarillion and ripped it apart. Hermione was lamenting her liking for paperbacks and the reminder of the end of her previous life.

Of course, no one can expect to have a bathroom to themselves for long, especially not in an orphanage with twenty kids and four bathrooms. Someone walked in with heels clacking, whistling the theme from Forrest Gump. Hermione only cried harder, the sad tune exacerbating her unhappiness. The clacking stopped. The door separating the sink from the lone toilet creaked. The person had noticed her when they opened the door to the toilet.

"Are you alright, darling?" The crisp voice of Ms. Jade, the orphanage matron, cut through Hermione's sniffles. Though Hermione would later look back on her actions and cringe, she grabbed Ms. Jade's leg and clung to it like a lifeline.

Sobbing, she said, "She-she to-took my book, and I want it, I want my book back! She ripped the pages and she hurt my book!" Hermione clutched Ms. Jade's leg tighter as Ms. Jade maneuvered herself into a sitting position.

"Shhh, darling. It's alright. Who is she?" Ms. Jade attempted to comfort Hermione, probing as to the identity of the "she" Hermione spoke of.

"Gem-Gemma . . ." Hermione cried. "I want my book back!"

"Alright, darling. You're fine. If you'll let me up, I'll go get your book for you. Shhh, darling. It's alright. Shhh . . ." Ms. Jade eased Hermione off of her lap and shifted her onto her hip. She brought her hand up to Hermione's cheek and brushed her bushy hair away from her face. "Let's go find Gemma, alright sweetie?" And Ms. Jade walked out of the bathroom, unaware that one major piece of Hermione's life had just changed.

Hermione finally had someone to care for her.

"Hermione! You have visitors!" Ms. Jade yelled. Since their meeting in the bathroom when Hermione first arrived at the orphanage, Hermione had learned about Ms. Jade and how she came to work in the orphanage. Ms. Jade was a 30-something-year-old who grew up in the orphanage and ended up staying there. She was cynical, and she understood Hermione perfectly. She had even bought Hermione a copy of The Silmarillion after learning that Hermione had "lost" hers. Therefore, she was Hermione's only friend. Not to mention, none of the other five-year-olds spoke like university graduates.

Hermione shut The Silmarillion with a sigh: this book was never going to be finished. Oh well. At least Hermione had visitors. She'd been stuck in the orphanage for four months, ever since she left the hospital. Apparently, frizzy-haired know-it-alls were not desirable orphans to adopt, and the other children always made sure to disparage her to any prospective new parents. As such, her last visitor that stayed long enough to meet her was a month ago. Maybe she would catch this one as they were leaving.

Hermione walked into the parlor to find Gemma in the middle of a sentence. "—weirdest girl here, I mean really, she's a recluse! Spends all of her time with a book instead of real friends, and that's 'cause she doesn't have any, she's just too weird. She's a know-it-all too, always correcting our grammar and such. It's rather annoying, and did I mention her hair? It's so frizzy, and it's just an ugly brown. Impossible to braid. Maybe you'd prefer a girl with straight, blond hair like mine, Mrs. Kalinsky. Maybe you don't want a reclusive little brat—" Gemma fell silent when she saw Hermione.

"Oh hello! You must be the prospective adoptive parents Ms. Jade told me about! It's lovely to meet you, what are your names?" Hermione launched right into introducing herself, continuing, "Oh, and I'm Hermione Jean Granger. You probably already knew that, but my parents always said it's nice to introduce yourself!" She quieted, waiting for one of them to speak.

"Well, hello Miss Hermione. I'm Robert Kalinsky, and this is my wife Diane, but you seem so lovely and perfect already, so you can just call us Mum and Dad!" Robert took the lead, hoping for a positive reaction to his suggestion.

"Okay, but can I call you Papa and Mummy? I called my deceased parents Mum and Dad," Hermione asked, not wanting to be rude, but not wanting to remember her biological parents every time she talked to her new parents.

"Of course, sweetie. You must be so sad about that terrible accident. We wouldn't want to intrude on your memories of your parents, darling," Diane immediately hugged the girl. Hermione considered telling Diane that she just didn't want to associate bad memories with Diane and Robert, but decided to let it go. "Ms. Jade, was it? I think we've made our decision. Could you draw up the proper papers for us?"

"Of course, Mrs. Kalinsky!" Ms. Jade walked into her office and returned with a folder full of paper. "You'll just need to sign here, and here, and initial here . . ."

Hermione's new parents were fans of Shakespeare. They attended the theater as much as was humanly possible for two members of the elite "rich man's club". Which is to say, a lot. They were also as unreligious as it was possible to be without scorning or cursing religion. And they also, curiously enough, had gotten the urge to adopt a child in order to, shall we say, "get in good" with the higher levels of society (they did, however, love the child as their own). And the child they had adopted was none other than the delinquent miracle child, Hermione Jean Granger-Kalinsky (they had politely asked Hermione to change her name completely, but she had refused, not wanting to leave her old life behind).

Hermione was currently holed up in her new, plush bedroom equipped with a walk-in closet, a bathtub, and a shower, and, of course, two wall-length bookshelves filled with every kind of book imaginable. And, the best part was, they all belonged to her.

Her new "Mummy" and "Papa" were off watching Othello, and she was under the "watchful eye" of a nanny they had employed to take care of her and watch her at all hours. However, the nanny was passed out on a comfy armchair in the living room and had been for several hours. Hermione supposed it was because of the rather large bottle of sherry sitting next to said armchair. So, what to do?

Hermione remembered her new parents telling her where the linen closet was. Maybe there was a big, fluffy blanket Hermione could fall asleep in. She hopped off her bed and made her way to the hallway outside her new parents' bedroom. Hermione was in luck, as an extremely soft blanket was folded on the lowest shelf as if meant for her. She grabbed the corner of the blanket and started walking to her room, intending to cuddle and read her book until the Kalinsky's got home.

However, on the way to her new room, Hermione peeked in the open door to her new parents' bedroom. They had an even bigger bed than hers, and she wondered if it was as soft. Obeying her curiosity, she dragged her blanket with her to the bed and crawled under the covers. She once again opened her book and started reading.

Mr. and Mrs. Kalinsky found her fast asleep with her book on top of her in the middle of their bed when they got home. They exchanged glances, and Diane gently took her book and put a bookmark in it, while Robert gently lifted Hermione to carry her to her bed. He lovingly laid her under the covers, and Diane smoothed back her bushy hair to give her a soft kiss on the forehead. He followed suit. Despite any ulterior motives they might have had when adopting her, the Kalinsky's truly loved their little Hermione.

Thank you so much for reading, darlings! Please, please review, I really want to know what you think!

XOXO,

QueenRavenclaw