Disclaimer: I do not own any of the beautifulness or amazingness that is Harry Potter. If I did, Percy would have died in Fred's place. And Remus would've lived.
Sonder - n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
Hermione looks out the library window with her head in one of her hands, and sees a diversity of students outside enjoying one of the first enjoyable days of the year. The Scottish skies have seemed to finally swept away the clouds, at least for today.
It hits her in a very odd way, that every single one of these people have known love, laughter, heartbreak, fear, they have dealt with wins and losses; just like she has. She couldn't imagine how intricate anyone else's life could be, compared to her own.
Every single person has a story of their own. Every single person goes through situations differently. Every single person has inside jokes with their siblings and parents and friends. Every single person has a different story to tell about how they get their first wand. How they felt when they boarded the train for the first time. How they feel every time they get to go back home; some dread it with every fiber of their being, and some cannot contain the joy they feel and show everyone how excited they are with the broad smile on their face. Everyone has different stories and traditions with the Grandparents and Christmas.
There's a couple sitting cozied up by the lake, watching the squids lazy tentacles drift in the water. The boy believes that love is a feeling; due to his parents showing him that they have to choose each other every single day. The girl watched her parents hatred grow for each other for years and ending in a divorce so she believes that love is just a feeling that can go away with time.
Every single person down there has different humors, and accents, and handwriting. They each have different bedrooms in different colors with blankets that might have been passed down from their grandparents; or a raggedy stuffed animal that's been through the darkest nights with them.
Hermione hears the library doors open, and Harry and Ron laughing and joking a little too loud, and turns back to the books and parchment on the table in front of her, and thinks how different her two best friends were.
Harry; lost everything when he was just a baby and taken in by people who did not want him for anything. He grew up as basically their slave, learning to cook and clean and garden as soon as he could walk and talk. He learned to eat as fast as he could, before his cousin 'accidentally' knock his plate off the table. He went to bed hungry, more times than not. He learned that he was not as important as anyone else. But despite all of that, he also learned to show compassion and love to anyone, no matter their station in life.
Ron; grew up in a household full of loving parents, brothers, and a sister. He learned what it is like to be a part of a team, he learned he could go to his parents for almost everything, and go to his older brothers for anything else. He knew what it was like to wake up on Christmas morning ecstatic for the feast that he knew his mother had gotten up early to start, exhilarated when he saw the pile of presents that proved that he had family that loved him.
"Hermione," Ron chuckled, waving his hand in front of her face, "You still with us?"
She shook her head slightly, as if waking from a daze and looked at her two best friends in the entire world. With a small smile, she said "I'll always be with you two, or else you wouldn't ever graduate."
Harry gave a short laugh and sitting in the wooden chair next to her, which groaned slightly under his weight, put his arm around her shoulders, smiling across at Ron who playfully looked affronted.
In that moment, Hermione knew that this was her place in the world.