Summary: They called her a know-it-all. They wanted to burn her books. Was something wrong with her? Could no one else understand her love for books? A two-shot about an unlikely friendship during times of need.
Written for some special friends. Happy birthday!
Cleverness And Books!
PART I : So What, I Like To Read
Hermione beamed as she packed up her books after Charms. She couldn't believe that she had cast the levitation charm correctly on the first attempt! It had worked out exactly as the textbook had described it!
As she left the classroom, Hermione spotted fellow Gryffindor firsties, Harry and Ron in front of her. Hermione jogged to catch up.
"Hi!" Hermione greeted them. "I was just wondering if you wanted me to help you work on the levitation charm?"
The redhead, Ron, snorted derisively.
"You're mental." He spat loudly. "Such a know-it-all. No wonder you don't have any friends."
Hermione gasped, dumbfounded. Why had those boys been so mean to her? She had been just trying to be nice! Feeling the emergence of salty tears in her eyes, Hermione turned and ran into the nearest girls' bathroom. She was followed in by Lavender and Parvati.
"Don't cry, Hermione!" Lavender cooed. "We can teach you how to ditch the books!"
"Yeah" Parvati insisted. "We can even hold a book burning ceremony in our dorm tonight!"
That was not what Hermione wanted to hear at all.
"Leave me alone!" She wailed as she scrambled back out of the bathroom. Blindly, Hermione ran to the one place which had always felt safe – the library.
Hermione found herself a desk in an isolated corner of the library. Hermione clutched her backpack of precious books to her chest. Could no one else understand her love for books?
She remembered being teased by bullies at her muggle primary school. They would call her names such as 'bookworm' and 'nerd' relentlessly, detouring others from becoming her friend. Hermione was told that if she wanted to make friends, she would have to change, and abandon her bookish traits. There had been several weeks where Hermione had tried to not read any books. But she had felt so abject and empty on the inside that she quickly returned to her pages with fervour. So the ribbing continued and Hermione was forced to keep dreaming of finding companionship while wondering – was something wrong with her?
Hermione buried her face into her bag as the sobs took over. When she had been accepted into Hogwarts, Hermione had hoped that circumstances would change. That surely, someone else would share her appreciation of books.
Yet, Hermione was crushed. At Hogwarts, it was more of the same. Here she was 'mental' and a 'know-it-all.' Maybe she was a freaky abomination after all.
Well, Hermione scowled. She swiped her sleeve across her face, wiping at the tears haphazardly. She didn't need friends. She had her books. She didn't need friends, as long as she had her books. Hermione told herself.
Hermione sniffed. She was lying. She knew that. But she couldn't keep holding onto her silly childish hopes. Hermione nodded. She had to convince herself. She had to compose herself and seal her heart. She couldn't take any more of the disappointments. She knew that too.
Hermione pulled her books out and placed them on the table in front of her. Her fingers grazed against their spines.
"This is all I need." Hermione muttered through clenched teeth.
But that wasn't enough. Books. She needed more books! Hermione darted towards the nearby library shelves and grabbed more books. She used them to build a wall around her, so that she was shielded from sight, even if someone else happened to walk into her deserted corner of the library. And that would be a good thing, Hermione didn't want anything to do with them anyway.
"Whoa, that's a lot of books you've got there, Granger." A loud drawl cut through Hermione's mantra.
Hermione shrieked, knocking some of her books over.
Hermione fumed. It was Draco Malfoy, arrogant jerk.
"So what Malfoy, I like to read." She snarled.
"Oi Granger, you alright?" Draco asked.
"Yes!" Hermione snapped; realising her face was damp, Hermione turned her back, hoping that he would go away.
He didn't.
"You know what, Granger." Draco stated simply. "I like reading too."
"You what?" Hermione was so surprised that she whipped back around, uncaring that her face was blotchy and tear-stained.
"Yeah." Draco glanced at the mountains of volumes on the desk. "Mind if I look at some of these books?"
Hermione nodded mutely. Draco reached for one book and gently parted its pages.
"So you don't think that because I'm a bookworm I'm a freak?" Hermione queried.
"No, of course not." Draco answered as though that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. "I've seen you in potions class and you know what you're talking about. That's why I wanted to get to know you. And then I saw you coming into the library, here. People like Daphne or Pansy who are complete airheads or Vincent and Gregory who couldn't read to save their life – those are the freaks to me."
"Harry and Ron don't agree." Hermione mumbled with a choked hiccup.
"Potter and Weasley?" Draco scowled. "Quidditch boy and Scarhead are idiots. You deserve better than them."
"Here Granger, read this one, it's good." Draco passed her one of the books.
Hermione contemplated as she began to skim through it. Could it be that searching for acquaintances within the wrong places? She had not connected with anyone in Gryffindor house but just a short conversation with a supposed enemy Slytherin had made her feel much better about herself.
"So Granger, any relationships to Hector Dagworth-Granger, founder of the society of potioneers?" Draco enquired after a while.
"No, I don't think so." Hermione replied. "I'm a muggleborn."
"Oh." Draco fidgeted.
"Is that going to be a problem?" Hermione challenged.
Hermione was nervous. What if this meant she wasn't good enough to be his friend anymore?
"No, it's fine." Draco reassured her. "I learnt from my mother and godfather not to have issues with muggleborns. It's my father who has problems. He could make life difficult if he found out. It just means we should always meet up here, where people are not likely to come across us."
"Ah okay." Hermione understood.
There was a comfortable silence, interrupted only by the rustling of pages.
"Oi Granger." Draco interjected suddenly. "You can call me Draco."
Hermione beamed.
"Hi Draco, I'm Hermione."
-clevernessandbooks-
Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed the start of this fic! The second chapter will be posted within the next week.
Reviews?
~livebyinsanity
