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'Alright, Ms Granger, cover your left eye please,' said Madam Pomfrey. 'Can you read those letters for me?'
Hermione looked from Madam Pomfrey to the large piece of parchement hanging on the Hospital Wing walls, and began to read.
'T, O, Z, ... K, H, L, ... M, N, F, ... U ... E ...Ess?' Hermione squinted hard, but failed to making out the last few rows of letters.
'Mmm,' Madam Pomfrey grunted, then scribbled on her clipboard, 'just as I thought Ms Granger.'
'And you thought ... what?' said Hermione, reluctant to how much the nurse was acting like Professor Umbridge.
'You need glasses dear girl! Why have your parents never taken you to get your eyes checked?'
Hermione pulled a sour look, and glanced at the floor. Eyes never really were a main priority in the Granger household - teeth were always first and foremost.
'I remember,' said Hermione, clearing her throat, 'maybe - well, years ago before I attended Hogwarts, Mum and Dad took me the an Optom -'
'Optomatrix, yes yes, a type of the muggle healer. Please continue,' Madam Pomfrey interrupted disdainfully.
'R - right, Optomatrix,' said Hermione oddly, trying desperately not to correct the nurse. 'Anyway, I think I was about nine or ten. But I clearly recall the eye doctor saying my vision was 20/20.'
'Eyes don't stop developing until you reach the age of twenty or so - and even then eye sight is still progressive.' said Madame Pomfrey while clicking her quill against her chin. 'I can almost accurately say that your vision began to get bad about four years ago. Though, it appears that the most vision loss has occured in the past year.'
Hermione froze. Four years ago? I was in my second year four years ago. What could have happened ... ?
Madam Pomfrey saw the worry in Hermione's face and added, 'My dear, it'll be alright. We can order you a lovely pair of spectacles, and you will be just fine.
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Hermione left the Hospital Wing at around 7:00pm. She knew Harry and Ron would be waiting for her inside the common room. She'd promised to assist them on their Astronomy essays.
She walked slowly down the corridor leading to the Gryffindor common room. Her mind was truely somewhere else. She hated the thought that her eye sight wasn't perfect. She hated the idea of having glasses. Harry was the only person she could see wearing glasses - and even so, she knew very well that Harry couldn't see a thing without them. Was that how she was going to turn out? Was that how things were going to be for the rest of her life?
To Hermione's own astonishment, she could feel her eyes getting heavy with tears, but refused to release them. She could now feel pressure in her head getting stronger.
'Breathe, just breathe,' she reassured herself, while taking deep breaths. She then pulled out a handkercheif from her robes and aired her eyes out in a sad attempt to dry them. 'Pull yourself together now. What would Harry and Ron think if they saw me blubbering over such a silly thing?'
Before Hermione knew it, she was already infront of the Portriat hole.
'Password?' said the Fat Lady.
'Green ch - ch - chair,' Hermione said, beginning to sob. The Fat Lady proceeded to open the door.
'W - wait!' Hermione shouted, while hastily fanning her puffy eyes.
'What is it?' said the Fat Lady, thoroughly surprised.
'Just a moment ... please.' Hermione knew she needed a few more minutes to calm down. Sliding down the wall onto the floor, she breathed deeply for a while longer and waited until the pressure in her head subsided.
'Are you ready yet?' said the Fat Lady, slightly indignated.
'Ok. Yes,' said Hermione, clearing her throat as she got up off the floor. 'Green chair.'
The Portriat hole opened once more, and Hermione walked through. The light of the common room made her eyes sting faintly. She lifted her sleeves and put pressure to her eyes to relieve the stinging.
'Oi, Hermione!'
Hermione removed her sleeves from her face and turned to see Harry and Ron infront of the fireplace, books and all. They looked oddly different though ... a bit blurry.
'Where in the bloody hell have you been?' said Ron pointing to his watch, who looked as if he had been waiting for hours.
'Don't be so bluntly thick Ron,' said Hermione back, almost just as nasty. She rubbed her eyes a bit more. 'You know I went to the Hospital Wing. Please forgive me if I happen to find my health much more important than doing your essay for you.'
'Oh? So promises mean nothing to you then?' spat Ron, ignoring her discomfort.
Hermione tried to ignore Ron, and the obvious fact that he hadn't even cared to asked if she was alright. She looked at Harry who's face was very close to his parchement. 'Well Harry? Do you have anything to say? Ron's had a go, don't you want one now?' She felt a fight coming on, and didn't really care to avoid it.
'Nope,' said Harry indifferently, still glued to his parchement.
'Really Harry, must you put your face so close to it? You have glasses for heaven's sa - '
Hermione stopped suddenly, and looked into the fireplace. For she knew, that she too would soon have glasses.
'Hermione?' said Ron. 'Er, what is it?'
Hermione squnited. She was afraid to tear her eyes away from the flames for fear that she would start crying again. She took another deep breath, and turned to them. Their faces suddenly became blurrier than they were before ...
'Goodnight,' she said, pulling the biggest, fakest smile she could. And with that, she turned on her heal, and headed up to the girl's dormitory.
'Hermione!' Ron yelled, frantically waving his blank piece of parchement. 'What the - Harry, she's supposed to be helping us here! How could she just run off like that?'
Harry shrugged, watching Hermione's robes disappear up the stairs.
'I've come to terms with not being able to understand girls, Ron,' said Harry. 'It's about time you did too.'
A/N Yeah, that's it for now. It's weird isn't it? It's a much bigger deal than it seems ... I guess we'll see. Chapter two will be coming soon. I'd love you see your reviews.