No romance in this one whatsoever, just a young Hermione. Honestly, I think this one is the cutest of the bunch. The word the dictionary gave me was nibble and it led, somehow, to this. Enjoy. Ta ta.
S. White
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Nibble
Hermione Granger nibbled carefully on her toast, biting away small pieces and then closely scrutinizing the bread in her hand. Her parents sat on either side of the table from her, her mother doing the morning crossword and her father reading the rest of the paper, sipping his tea. They weren't paying her much attention at the moment and she was letting her imagination run wild.
Hermione had met a wonderful person yesterday. She meant wonderful in the sense of filling her with wonder rather than a particularly good experience, although the man had been pleasant enough. Her mother had ushered her away quickly, despite her protests. He had been nice to her, and besides she was almost eight years old now, she could take care of herself. She had been playing in the yard as the man walked down the street, whistling with his hands in his trouser pockets. He had been wearing a black suit, but it had purple and green pinstripes, she remembered that very clearly, and he had a bowler hat which he raised when he saw her.
"Hello, little lady. How are you on this fine day?" He asked with a smile when he drew level with her.
"Good, sir. And you?" She had said politely.
"Excellent, miss, excellent," He laughed. "You know, little lady, you look like a witch I once knew."
"You knew a witch?" She said, her face lighting up with interest.
"Yes, I certainly did. And you know she cast a horrible spell on me?" He said with a grin. "It made me tap dance until I apologized for calling her cauldron old and rusty."
Hermione had laughed and laughed. She knew there weren't really witches, of course, and it was just a grown up making up things because he thought it was funny and sweet. But it was a funny and sweet story and she liked it.
"Goodbye, little miss. Remember to be kind with your curses when you learn some yourself." He said with a wink.
"I will, sir." She said with a smile and a laugh.
The man had been walking away when her mother had noticed and rushed over, putting an arm around Hermione's shoulders and pushing her back toward the house. But Hermione waved to the man when he glanced back anyway, much to her mother's annoyance. But she couldn't see the harm in him, even if he had a wild imagination and made up silly stories. Still there was something about it that caught her and pulled her along like a leaf in the wind. She finished carefully nibbling her toast and placed a little bread pointed hat on a little bread figure in a witchy dress.