September 1st 1980
"You are not going to leave Hermione."
She looked at him, dejected. They had been fighting for days over this. Well, after he was done with giving her the cold shoulder for weeks. She didn't know which was worse.
"That decision is not up to you, Tom." She told him in a voice that was far too mature for someone her age. He hated when she talked like that. Like he was a child who was throwing a tantrum. Which he wasn't, not in the ways that mattered. He didn't think he had ever been a child. And she knew that. Just like she knew that he didn't like being told what to do. Least of all by her.
"This whole thing is stupid. Why would you even want to attend a dance school ? Do you want to be like those prissy old hags that we make fun of ?"
He was looking at her like he couldn't believe she would be that stupid. She hated when he looked at her like that. It seemed like they had both decided to infuriate the other as much as they could, if only to make the other see from their point of view. It wasn't helping.
"Why would you think that ? You know very well this is what I have always wanted. I have been taking lessons for years Tom! Years! I am not going to throw away this opportunity just because you said so!"
Hogwarts Dance School didn't just accept anybody. She had been preparing for the entrance audition since she had learned how to walk. Every penny that her parents had saved before they died went to her ballet classes. Now that she had a full scholarship to the biggest dance school of the country, she wasn't letting it go, whatever the cost.
He sneered at her, the hate in his eyes making her feel sick. But she wasn't going to let him get to her. Snapping her embarrassingly small suitcase close, she turned towards the door. They train was going to leave in half an hour. Mrs Cole, the matron of Wool's Orphanage, was going to drop her off. She looked at the old room where she had been living in for the past six years one last time. She had decided that she would not be returning to this place. She would stay at Hogwarts during the holidays. She could honestly say she was glad at the prospect of never seeing this place again.
She couldn't say the same about the boy that stood in the middle of the room, staring at her with every ounce of hate that his body held. She felt wretched leaving Tom alone here. God knew that he hated this place even more than her. But she knew that if given the opportunity, he would've done the same. He wouldn't have thought twice about her. She had no doubt about that.
Picking up her suitcase, she started towards the door. She looked back one last time.
"Goodbye Tom."
There was a lot more she could've said. Wished him luck, hope that they saw each other again and many other trivial things that would have only infuriated him furthur. So she didn't.
Walking out, she didn't look back. And he didn't follow.
