Hermione ½

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Ranma ½.

Note: This really horrible fan-fiction is something that I thought would be interesting. Read at your own risk. It takes place from Hermione's POV, which I am not good at writing, so bear with me. It's almost 1:00 in the morning, and my mind is off somewhere else right now. It'll get better.

Chapter 1:

The Springs of Juseknyo: The Perfect Vacation Spot?

It seemed like the perfect summer day; birds singing, voices laughing, and all around plants were blooming and full of life. Such a fine day, however, didn't seem to cheer Hermione Granger up in the slightest way. The end of her 5th year at Hogwarts was a disaster! She had regained consciousness only to learn that Sirius Black had perished and that the prophesy had been destroyed. Voldemort was back at full power, and poor Harry was probably feeling full of sorrow; a sorrow he was trying his best to hide from everyone else. Hermione, however, could see it in his eyes.

The worst part of all this was the fact that she couldn't say a word to her Muggle parents! And even if she did talk to them about her troubles, she figured that they wouldn't be able to help at all. They hadn't an idea as to what the magical world was up against.

However, they did manage to get it through their heads that it had certainly been a tough year, so they planned an exotic trip to China as a family vacation. Mr. Granger was always fascinated by their culture and hoped to extend his enthusiasms into his family. Thus, two weeks before the start of the new year, the Grangers found themselves on a plane heading straight for China.

As the plane took off, Hermione found herself chuckling softly to herself as she imagined what Arthur Weaslely would think if he saw her flying around in a hunk of metal. However, she had to admit, it was more convenient than flying on a broom all the way to China. It was just too bad they couldn't just find a port key that would lead directly to wherever it was that they were going.

Hermione spent the entire flight with her nose in a book, which was hardly a shock to her parents, who conversed quietly about what the tours would be like and such. They only hoped that they could manage to cheer their daughter up somewhat, or at least pull out of her what was wrong.

Upon arriving in China, the Grangers immediately unpacked their belongings and stuck them in the hotel room. It was a rather small room, but comfortable. The hotel was 5 stories high, and the Grangers were on the fifth floor, room 721. The two beds were relatively large, and Hermione had one all to herself. The walls were lined with pictures of ancient China, and even the curtains were made to look old.

"Well, this is it!" Mr. Granger exclaimed, as he set down the remainder of the luggage. Hermione couldn't tell whether he was forcing a smile for her sake or whether he was just really excited about the whole thing; maybe it was both.

"It certainly is lovely," replied Mrs. Granger. She brushed her thick brown hair from her eyes and inspected their room more closely. However, she quickly directed her gaze towards her daughter, who was busy fumbling with the strap on her suitcase, which had previously broke from the weight of her schoolbooks.

Hermione managed to look up from her suitcase to notice her mother and said, in a soft, but audible voice, "Yes, it's nice."

She noticed that her parents didn't seem quite satisfied with her answer, so she continued on in her usual matter-of-fact tone, "The Chinese certainly strive to preserve their heritage." She pointed vaguely at the paintings on the walls.

"Of course they do!" replied Mr. Granger. "The Chinese are very proud people, and their heritage is so fascinating, why, anybody would preserve it."

Hermione forced a small smile in regards to her father's enthusiasm before changing into night-wear. The plane didn't reach the airport until late that night, and she was feeling extremely tired.

Mr. Granger stood in the middle of the room and stated, "Tomorrow's agenda is this: go sight-seeing in any place that looks interesting. Our tours don't start until later in the week."

He and his wife then crawled into one of the beds, as did Hermione, and the lights went out.

During the night, Hermione dreamt of sad happenings. She pictured Sirius Black clearly in her mind. He was standing in a dark room with no furniture and no lights; his face bore a smile that seemed to stretch from ear to ear, and his eyes sparkled gently. However, his joyful, yet relaxed face, soon turned into that of sheer horror, and in an instant, almost simultaneously, fresh blood spewed from his back, creating puddles on the floor. Hermione felt her insides churn as she beheld her friend fall to the floor in a heap of blood. Then, out of the darkness, the figure of Lord Voldemort, the most feared wizard in history, became present. Sirius' blood was splattered on his robes, and the wizard raised his wand and pointed it directly at Hermione.

"Wake up, sleepy head!" called the cheerful voice of her mother.

Hermione woke with a jolt and peered around the room. She felt a warm tear form in the corner of her eye, but she wiped it away quickly before her parents noticed.

"We have a big day ahead of us!" said Mr. Granger as he entered from the shower. "Now get dressed and grab something to eat. There's a free breakfast downstairs, so eat to your fill."

Hermione got up and moved over to her trunk. Sorting through it, she decided on a plain T-Shirt and a pair of jeans, and, after getting dressed, went to eat breakfast.

The hallway leading to the elevator was completely empty. She liked it that way because it allowed her to clearly think.

"I should probably write to Harry," she thought to herself as she walked, slouching slightly, to the elevator. "He's probably in more pain than any of us. In fact, my own pain is probably less than half of what he's feeling right now! But I can't talk to him while I'm here; I've no owl to send letters to him, and I can't use Ron's owl because I don't think the poor thing to make the journey here!

"Maybe it's best that I don't talk to him, though. After all of that, I don't think I'd want to be bothered with sympathy or empathy. But I also don't want him to think I'm un-caring or something – I've spoken to him so little since we departed from the train."

She reached the elevator and tried to put all thoughts of Harry and the late Sirius Black from her mind. Rather she spent the brief ride down thinking about what sorts of things there was to see in China.

China, she had read, was one place in ancient history where muggles and wizards lived together, in a certain sense. At least, the muggles were aware that there was magic around them – they just associated it with gods rather than with other human beings. Hermione hoped to uncover some of the secrets that linked the muggle world and the wizard world together.

The elevator came to a halt, and Hermione immediately smelled exotic foods. The breakfast room was just to her left, and she entered it without much of an appetite. Her eyes scanned all of the Chinese noodles and such that they called 'breakfast food', and eventually decided on some fortune cookies for breakfast. It wasn't much, but she really didn't feel like eating.

She had barely finished one, however, when her parents entered. Taking a bowl, her mother quickly walked over to a bucket of rice and, dumping some in her bowl, took a seat next to Hermione. Before eating, though, she reached into her purse and tackled her daughter's hair with a hairbrush.

"Hermione, I shouldn't have to remind you to do this every morning," she scolded.

"Sorry," muttered Hermione.

Her father sat down with a whole dish of exotic noodles and began eating them eagerly.

"Are we taking a bus?" Hermione asked, having finished off her cookies.

"Nope," replied her father between bites.

"Your father and I have decided to just walk around a bit and see if there's anything interesting to see." Mrs. Granger stuck the little brush back into her purse.

"I was reading this brochure in our hotel room," Mr. Granger said, "that mentions this place called the Cursed Jusenkyo Springs near the hotel that I thought we'd might like to visit. It didn't say much of anything about it, but I figured that they would grab your attention."

"It does sound interesting," Hermione admitted, "but what are they."

"Like I said, the brochure didn't say much. It only said that there were over 700 springs, each with its own curse."

Now she felt really excited! It was just the thing she'd hoped for. Perhaps China wouldn't be so bad after all.

The second they had finished eating, Mr. Granger was leading them down the street and to the Jusenkyo springs. They barely had time to notice all of the artifacts that surrounded them. Old buildings stood brilliantly through the trees. Nearly every design ever etched into them was apparent in the morning sun. Despite the rush, Hermione was able to snap a few photos. Since nothing was moving, she didn't feel the need to develop them in the wizarding world.

After about 15 minutes of walking, the Grangers finally found themselves standing before the multitudes of cursed springs. There were poles sticking up all around, tall and slender, and a short Chinese man with a dull expression stood before the springs.

"Welcome," he said as the Grangers approached. "I tell you about springs, yes?"

"We'd love to know more about them," Mr. Granger said excitedly as he eyed the springs.

"Each spring is cursed. Whoever fall into spring, take form of whatever drowned there last."

This caught Hermione's attention more than anything. She had never heard of this kind of magic. Perhaps the knowledge of the spell had passed away? Whatever it was, she was definitely researching this when she got back to Hogwarts!

"Fascinating!" her mother whispered.

"Not much more is known about them than that," continued the guide. "You can walk around, yes, but should know about work being done near far end."

Mr. Granger thanked the man and he and the rest of the family began to walk around the perimeter of the springs.

"I wonder what makes them cursed," said Hermione softly as they continued.

"If you find out, tell me," her father replied. He patted her on the back affectionately, happy that he was spending quality time with his daughter.

One particularly large spring had a wooden bridge above it. Only about ten yards away was a construction site. Hermione felt a little nervous, but assured herself that nothing bad could happen.

Her family crossed the narrow bridge single-file, Hermione being the tail-end, her mother being in the lead. Mr. Granger wanted to stay in the middle so he could keep an eye on everybody.

Mrs. Granger stepped back onto the ground with ease and waited for everyone else. Mr. Granger had neared the end of the bridge when there was an explosion at the construction site. In a flash, some stray debris came soaring directly at Hermione, but rather than hit her, it went crashing into the support beams under the bridge, causing it to collapse. Both Hermione and her father went crashing into the spring under them.

She sank into the water, and had just started to climb towards the surface when her body froze. A tingling sensation swept over her, and for a moment, she thought she was paralyzed. A surge of pain ran through her body; she could feel her bones rearranging themselves. She could feel herself changing shape in slight ways and her mind raced. But in only a few moments, the sensations passed leaving her somewhat light-headed. An arm wrapped around her body and lifted her to the surface. She was, in fact, in her father's arms, being held tight.

She heard her mother scream and opened her eyes in time to see the guide and several workers from the construction site rushing over.

"Oh, yes, fall in that spring very bad!" the guide said almost frantically. "That called Spring of Drowned Boy. Whoever fall in that spring take form of boy. Of course, since father already boy, it no affect him."

Hermione's eyes widened. Mrs. Granger had begun to cry and the workers immediately began to apologize. Mr. Granger held his son tightly and whispered words of comfort into his ears. It was all happening so fast! Hermione lost consciousness.

Well? Was it that bad? Was it readable? Please review! I'm sorry that it took so long to get going! The next chapters won't take so long, I don't think. For upcoming chapters: how will Hermione deal with her/his new curse, and what will Harry and Ron think? I'm not good at writing stories from a girl's POV, but I thought it would be an interesting change from the usual Spring of Drowned Girl stuff.