Hermione Granger has dealt with a lot of ignorant prejudice in her life, being Muggleborn and all. But this was just horrible.
Ever since she was a child she dreamed of being a teacher, even when she found out she was a witch. With no jobs at Hogwarts available, she did the next best thing.
"Are you sure about this?" Ron asked nervously, Muggles worried him sometimes. Hermione smiled and placed a kiss on her husband's lips.
"I'll be fine honey." She pressed her hand to his cheek affectionately and Disapparated.
She arrived several feet away from the Muggle school she was assigned.
McKinley, it was called.
She walked up to the school briskly, and entered the classroom in which she would teach. As she wished, she received the role of the English teacher.
With a glance around the room, to make sure there were no lurkers, and a wave of her wand, all her things were set up neatly.
She breathed out a breath of content and sat in her chair awaiting her students.
The first child in the room was a scared looking red-headed boy with glasses; he sat way in the back.
Hermione got up and wrote 'Mrs. Weasley' on the board, then stopped to enjoy the sudden rush of affection towards Ron.
Soon the room was full of ditzy girls in cheerleading uniforms and frumpy girls looking longingly as they flirted with the boys. Hermione felt a rush of nostalgia fill her. She smiled knowingly at the girls, hoping they'd realize that they would eventually find someone. With one last fleeting look at her name on the board, she began to quiet the class down.
A group of boys in football jerseys walked in laughing hysterically but quieted as they saw Hermione's stern glare.
"Ok, I am your new teacher, Mrs. Weasley." She clapped her hands together enthusiastically, a few boys and girls rolled their eyes, "I need you to be quiet while I take attendance."
The class immediately started to whisper as she got the clipboard full of students' names.
"Blaine Anderson?"
The jocks in the back snickered loudly.
Suddenly the door to the class room opened and in walked two boys, each holding a late pass.
"We're terribly sorry for our lateness." The curly haired one said, he glanced over at the snickering jocks, "We got…sidetracked."
Hermione accepted the late pass with a comforting smile to the boys and told them to sit.
"Blaine Anderson?" Hermione repeated.
The curly haired boy raised his hand.
Hermione smiled warmly at him and marked him down as late. She couldn't find why but she rather liked this boy.
She finished attendance, making note to remember their names. She then began to get started on the lesson.
After one sentence was written on the board she was interrupted by the sound of those damn jocks snickering again. Putting on her best bitch!teacher face, she turned to glare at them.
"Please feel free to inform the class about this joke we are sharing, I'd hate for them to be left out."
They instantly quieted and turned to hide their faces in their books. Hermione turned and grinned smugly to herself.
After a good 2 minutes of writing a couple more things and explaining them, she was interrupted once more. She heard girls giggling and boys chuckling.
She turned and saw the Blaine boy with his hand on his other late companion's shoulder, Kurt, she thought it was, a piece of paper in his other hand.
"Mr. Anderson, I most certainly will not tolerate note passing." She walked up and snatched the paper up and glanced at it. Inside she saw simply the word fag in a messy scrawl. Hermione's eyes narrowed and she turned the glare at Blaine; she couldn't believe she felt sympathy for this guy.
Blaine looked terrified as she approached him, holding up the paper.
"What is this?"
Blaine's face flushed and he began stammering, "No, I-I I didn't write that. I swear- I would never- you don't realize-"
"Oh I think I realize rather well." Hermione said, ignoring the rest of the students' low chuckles.
"You see, when I was a kid, I was made fun of because of…who I have…descended from." She tried to word her situation without revealing too much. "And I grew up in a world full of hatred and prejudice, except it was much, much worse than a couple of notes." She shuddered at the memories, "But for all you know, a couple of notes could start it all over again.
"I will not stand for this attitude and if you are going to act like this I will have you removed from this class immediately."
Blaine's face was completely pale, his mouth dry, eyes blown up in fear.
"Miss-Mrs. Weasley, I-I-I seriously didn't write that note, I mean Kurt is my-my boyfriend w-why would I even…?" Blaine blushed as he said this and Kurt tried his best not to grin stupidly at the words.
The class broke out into louder chuckles and a few disgusted grunts were made.
Hermione stood in her spot, her cheeks darkened and she tried not to stutter her reply.
"I'm sorry... but who wrote it then?" she asked, a confidently as possible.
The jocks took this time to hide in their books again, some of the cheerleaders following.
One girl stood up, a blonde rather distant looking one, "I saw Davey passing a paper like that earlier." She pointed to one of the jocks.
"Thank you, Brittany is it?"
The girl shrugged, "I hope so..."
Hermione tried not to look confused and she slowly approached the jocks.
"See me after class." She hissed at the three of them.
Two rolled their eyes, one looked horrified. Hermione assumed that was "Davey".
She approached the board and finished the lesson without any further interruptions. She dismissed the class but asked Kurt and Blaine to stay behind too.
"Just sit there and wait while I talk to these boys, I'll write you an excuse for being late."
They nodded and went to sit. Instantly they intertwined their hands and brought their heads together to whisper. Hermione looked over and saw two of the guys glaring at the boys in repulsion, but one looking rather upset about it.
"Which one of you is David Karofsky?"
The upset looking one slowly raised his hand. The other two began to get up.
"I am not done with you yet!" Hermione shouted, the two boys sat down instantly as if an invisible force made them.
Hermione took a few calming breaths, she couldn't lose her cool or she might do something she regretted.
"Tell me David, why did you do this?"
Karofsky blushed slightly but attempted to cover it up, "Because they're fags and they deserve it!"
Hermione slammed her hand down on the desk where he sat, "You will never use that word in my classroom! Do you understand me?" Karofsky moved his hands off the desk hastily as if burnt and he and the other two boys nodded quickly.
"Why would they deserve to be bullied?" Hermione inquired after calming herself once more.
"My father says that f-guys like them are sinners and should be punished." Karofsky answered, his voice wavering slightly.
Images of a smug Draco Malfoy crossed her mind, "Oh yes. How dare two people try to be different? How dare they try to be with someone they like? How dare they be in love? What simply awful people!" she shouted, voice dripping with sarcasm and rage. In the background, she heard a high pitched gasp emit from one of the boys.
She pointed her finger at the boys, "People like you and your parents disgust me. If I could, I would wipe the world of all people like that." She paused for a second, "No, no actually, I wouldn't.
"That would make me as awful as the likes of you, and I'd never stoop that low."
She glared at them one last fleeting time, "I don't care if you go home right now and tell your parents I did this. I don't care if this little chat loses me my job. If I ever hear you so much as look at one of them" she pointed the frantically whispering pair in the corner, "or anyone else you deem weaker than you. I will see to it that you are expelled at the least. Do you understand?"
The jocks nodded frantically. Hermione smirked at dismissed them, they ran out sending almost apologetic looks towards Kurt and Blaine. Kurt was currently staring at Hermione in pure terror, Blaine was staring with admiration. She blushed as she realized the boys staring and she motioned them to sit where the jocks were previously sitting.
She took a deep breath and spoke almost in a whisper.
"Look, when I was a kid at my old school, I was never the popular type. I was frumpy and the top of every class, I literally memorized all my school books over the summer and I raised my hand to answer every question." She chuckled at the memory. "I also had a very…different upbringing than most of the children there. Some people made fun of it, but not most. In the end, I was braver than anyone else who made fun of me. Because I had two of the greatest friends; one of whom I married and currently have two children with, and the other we are both still great friends with; and that's all I needed in the end."
She grinned warmly at Kurt and Blaine, "Just stick with your true friends and in the end, you guys will always be the winners."
Blaine wrapped his hand around Kurt's. Kurt looked like he was going to cry, but apparently Blaine prevented that.
"Thank you so much Mrs. Weasley." Blaine said, unable to think of better words to say.
"Anytime."
She walked up to her desk and wrote out two excuse notes for the boys to give to their teachers.
"I'll see you tomorrow." She called as they left hand in hand.
Hermione only had to deal with subtle bullying for the rest of the day. She saw some kid in a wheelchair get hit with a slushy and was about to yell at the thrower when a tall boy stepped in and defended the boy.
Several moments exactly like this happened all throughout the day, Hermione began to suspect that there was some sort of group they all belong in. most of the time she just shrugged the feeling off. Who cared, as long as they have each other.
Finally it was the end of the day.
Hermione wait for everyone to leave so she could Apparate in peace. She smiled as she realized tonight she would be having dinner with Harry and Ginny; the Potter children all happily at Hogwarts with the Weasleys.
The school sounded rather quiet so Hermione packed up her things and exited the building, but paused as she saw a group of children by the dumpster.
She approached it instantly, "What's going on here?" she wondered casually.
The three jocks from her class saw her and immediately flushed and went to run away, but a force kept their feet on the ground.
Hermione lifted the lid and inside she found Kurt and Blaine from her class. She gasped loudly.
"What-how-why?" Hermione stuttered, "What person in their right mind, finds it ok to throw someone into a dumpster because they happen to be a little different?"
The jocks stared at her, trembling in fear.
Hermione helped Kurt and Blaine out of the dumpsters and motioned the five boys to follow her.
"Figgins, I need to talk to you, now." Hermione said, bypassing Figgins' assistant. "Call these boys' parents and have them come in. we need to discuss expulsion
Figgins rolled his eyes and sighed impatiently. Damn Shue's kids were always making his actually do his job. He picked up the phone and dialed some numbers.
About 10 minutes later Kurt and Blaine sat together, hands intertwined, next to Burt Hummel on a couch. Across them sat the three jocks, two of their fathers and one of their mothers. Hermione stood next to Figgins, glaring at the jocks.
"Mr. Karofsky, Ms. Adams, and Mr. Strando; were you aware that your children were tormenting these boys daily?" Hermione enquired, pointed towards Kurt and Blaine.
Azimio's mother's eyes widened, she turned to stare at her son.
"What is the meaning of this Azimio?"
Azimio shrugged and hung his head in shame.
Karofsky's father looked at Karofsky in slight irritation.
Strando's father looked as if he could care less.
"What do you mean Mrs. Weasley?" Figgins wondered, sighing again.
"Just today, I saw these boys and their teammates passing derogatory notes to them, throwing slushies in their and other children's faces, and throwing them into dumpsters."
Azimio's mother stared at her son in pure shock.
"I had no idea he was so bad…"
Karofsky's father continued to stare at Karofsky with a look of irritation.
Strando's father chuckled.
Hermione narrowed her eyes, "What makes you think is acceptable, I'm generally curious."
Strando spoke up after a moment of silence.
"They're fags." He said, as if it were obvious.
"I told you never to say that again!" Hermione raged, her wand sparking in her pocket.
Strando's father chuckled once more; he slapped Strando on the back proudly.
"That's my boy." He grinned widely.
Burt narrowed his eyes and interrupted Hermione, who was about to yell once more.
"Bill, I didn't know you were like this." He said with pure disappointment.
"I didn't know your son was like this." Bill sneered back.
"Hey! My son is a very successful and talented boy. He happens to have better fashion sense than most guys and he is in love with another guy, but that doesn't mean he deserves to be thrown into dumpsters!" Burt yelled, standing up from his seat, "If your son was being bullied like this, you'd come in this school within a minute and would kill whoever did it!"
Kurt stood up, evidently unable to break his hand from Blaine's strong grip; he reached out to his father.
"Dad, calm down. Your heart."
Burt sighed and sat down once more.
"Please wrap this up Mrs. Weasley." Figgins sighed.
"Look, these boys need to learn a lesson. I will not rest until they are at least expelled. I will not allow them to torment these boys any longer. They simply do not deserve to be miserable because they are in love."
Kurt and Blaine shot her identical grateful looks, she smiled warmly in return.
Figgins sighed again and packed up his things, "Fine. I will talk to the school board tomorrow. You may go now."
Hermione shot one last fleeting glare towards the boys. Burt Hummel approached her soon after.
"Hey, thanks for doing what no other teacher has had the courage to do."
Hermione smiled, "Any time."
"Ron, I home. Are Harry and Ginny here yet?"
Hermione walked into the kitchen and saw dinner all set on the table, which was occupied by Harry and Ginny Potter.
She smiled and went to hug each of them, then walked over to place a light kiss on Ron's waiting lips.
"I've had the worst day." She sighed as she began to eat.
Everyone quieted as to allow her to tell.
"See there were these two boys, gay I believe, and they were being bullied. Of course, I got angry. All I could think was how prejudice had caused Voldemort to attack everyone at that time. I couldn't believe that prejudice was still around and causing trouble."
Ron gave her a comforting smile, "Yeah, but those guys haven't had V-Voldemort to teach them that." After all these years, Ron still had trouble saying he name.
"Well, I'm not going to sleep until those boys get expelled. They have no right bullying people because they like to date people of the same gender. It makes absolutely no sense." Hermione said defiantly, placing her hands on the table.
"I'll toast to that." Harry exclaimed, raising his glass.
The rest of the table chuckled and raise their glasses in toast.
A/N: Whoo.
It took me a total of 5 days to write this. Mostly because of procrastination.
I was thinking, imagine how Hermione would react to seeing the prejudice McKinley has, especially after the whole Draco and Voldemort thing.
I don't feel like writing a sequel so let's just say they get expelled and Kurt and Blaine live happily ever after and have lots of babies.
YAAAY! Please review and such… :)