A/N: Prompt given by, as per usual, SnarkyAndProudHufflepuff.
_ shook with barely-contained anger. If she/he hadn't been in the library, she/he would've screamed.
Takes place during Chamber of Secrets when she, and most of the main characters, are in their second year.
Millicent Bulstrode despised anything to do with reading. It greatly confused her and gave her a splitting headache. She tried, once, but had been kicked out of the library for disruptive behavior and disrespecting the books. It wasn't her fault the book had slipped out of her hand ... because she had been shaking it. Before she left, a snarky Ravenclaw suggested she get a checkup because, undoubtedly, she had suffered brain damage from her unusually small cranium. She had blinked at them in confusion before she finally got it. Small. Yeah. They said she had a small brain. Not like she hadn't heard that one before.
Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabb had helped her track down that Ravenclaw and they had given the mouthy student a swirly. She grinned at the memory and dutifully ignored the hint of pain she had gotten by their words.
The library was near empty when the large girl pushed her way through. Most of the students had gone home for the holidays. Millicent and her mother didn't celebrate so she never saw the point in going home. She glanced around, barely noticing the still-there librarian, and slowly made her way deeper inside. Irma Pince, all the while, glaring at her retreating back.
When she managed to cut off the glare with the shelves, she allowed herself to shudder freely, remembering the week detention prior. It had taken four months before she was able to enter the library or handle a book again. Not like she was complaining. It was easier to pretend she didn't have a problem when the problem wasn't in front of her. The professors were starting to notice.
Her face became red and she closed her eyes, fighting off tears of embarrassment. She tried at home but the disproving eyes of her mother and step-father forced her to stop. She couldn't stand making her parents unhappy and they were unhappy with her poor reading skills. Seeing it, face-to-face, made them meaner, harsher, than she was used to. Finally, she had stopped entirely where they could see. It didn't mean at school.
Millicent hesitated, her hand frozen in mid-air, fingers twitching. Which one should she use? She bit her lip and clenched her hand before she began to reach for a book. It was thin and worn, the cover a simple moss green and the title one word. When it was away from the shelf and into her sizeable hands, she noticed the pages were a golden brown. With a shake of her head, she decided she would ignore the odd color and buried her curiosity as to why.
She sat at a table hidden in one of the corners and hunched over the book, her face set in grim determination.
"What are you reading, Millicent?" came a hesitant, though commanding, voice.
Millicent closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. "What do you want, Granger?" she asked, her cheeks flushing at being caught. When she opened her eyes to glare at the girl, she found herself face-to-hair with Hermione Grander, the Gryffindor having bent down to read over her shoulder. "Watch it!" She reared back with a fist.
Hermione jumped back. "That's rude," she said, crossing her arms. Her messy hair was a tangle across her face.
"It's also rude to read over someone's shoulder," Millicent shot back with a growl.
Hermione blinked. "I'm sorry."
"Wel–What?" Millicent frowned. "Is this some sort of trick? Why are you being so nice?"
"Do I need a reason to be nice?"
"Yes." The strength Millicent put behind the word caused Hermione to freeze, a brief flash of uncertainty crossed her eyes.
A moment of awkward silence passed between them. Millicent's face grew redder the longer it lasted. "So," Hermione finally said, "what are you reading? I've read a lot of the books here already, though I haven't gotten through half of them, yet. Is it any good?"
"I–I, uh," Millicent sputtered.
Hermione had pushed back the hair that had fallen in her face and was back to hovering over the larger girl's shoulder. She was like a bee circling around Millicent's head, buzzing and an all-around annoyance, yet she was too afraid to swipe it in fear of being stung. She was afraid of being exposed.
"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed happily, "I know this one. It's quite interesting and–"
Millicent shook with barely-contained anger. If she hadn't been in the library, she would've screamed, but the ever-looming threat of another Madam Pince detention forced her into silence. "Granger," something in her voice must have reached the babbling–buzzy–Golden Trio member because the frizzy-haired girl finally stopped in the middle of explaining the book and had stared expectantly at the other girl, likely expecting some sort of back-and-forth with the Slytherin. Millicent felt a rush of happiness at being included before she ruthlessly forced it away. No fraternizing with a mudblood, she reminded herself, even if they were being strangely nice.
"I," she said, ripping the book away from Hermione's hands, "don't need your help. Leave. Me. Alone." She slammed her hand down with each word, the surprisingly loud hollow sound causing the Gryffindor to flinch.
Without another word, Hermione turned and left, her hand ghosting across Millicent's broad shoulders.
Millicent snarled and muttered, "Mudblood." She felt satisfied when the girl faltered before abruptly leaving the library with a tense back. When Hermione was gone, she frowned down at the book, her previous embarrassment coming back.
She took a breath and opened it. Whispering to herself, she began to read.