A.N. - House: Gryffindor, Type: Drabble, Prompt: Midday
Yes, the silence is good, calming, relaxing. Hermione closes her eyes for a moment, admiring the way the breeze sounds as it pushes its way through the leaves above her, back resting comfortably against the trunk of the tree.
It's a warm day, just after lunch. Her stomach is satisfied, the sun is high in the sky, and she has finally managed to escape from the constant noise of the castle to dive within the pages of her books.
Oh, the wonderful art of studying, the turning of pages, the utilization of mental capacity, stimulation of the mind.
Her eyes snap open at the sound of voices. The loud, arrogant, insufferable voice of Draco Malfoy leading his two idiotic friends towards her place of quiet, serene, studying.
"Oh, look who it is," Malfoy says to the other boys. "The mudblood. Mudblood Granger," he taunts in a singsong voice.
Hermione simply sighs and doesn't look up from her book. She will not let him get to her. Not today. Not this wonderful, beautiful day.
"I'm Hermione Granger. I have to study all the time, because I'm not a real witch," Malfoy takes on a higher pitched voice, an impression of her.
Hermione's blood boils, but she stays calm, composed silent. The corner of her mouth twitches into a smile, just for a second, and her fingers tighten around her wand. He isn't even going to see it coming.
Of course, these insults are a regular occurrence from the lips of the Slytherins, especially this particular boy, and she wouldn't normally act on the emotions they evoked within her. But today, alone, with no professors to step in, she does what she has been holding back for years.
In the next moment, the boys are running from their own bogeys, and Hermione is left in peace once again, knowing that this is the last time they will bother her; at least for today. She smiles to herself, silently thanking Ginny for sharing her expertise in the hex, and continues her studying.