"Okay, let's see……Grunelda Zippercrat abolished troll slaving in 1834 in Old Crooks County?"
Hermione opened her eyes looked down at the book on her desk and ran her finger down the page to see if she had remembered the information correctly.
"Yes! Good. Now let's see…..Gaffrey Spindlehurst was the first person who used bat testicles (ugh!) as an antidote to ….to…ummmm…….Arghhhhh!!! I can't do this!! I just can't do this!"
Hermione smacked her hands on the table and banged her forehead down on the open book. She picked her head up and looked at the clock. Half past one in the morning. She could practically feel the bags under her eyes sagging. Reluctantly she closed the book and fell backwards onto the bed fully dressed and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
~~~
The next morning found Hermione sitting in a tall tree in her backyard studying the giant book 'Little Known Wizarding Facts That YOU Need To Know.' One by one she was trying to memorize all the facts in the book by the time school started next month. As she crammed facts into her brain a sleek eagle owl landed on the branch beside her. She glanced at it and recognized it as Viktor's messenger owl. She reached over and plucked the letter off the owl and patted it on the head absentmindedly. She unrolled the letter and began to read.
Dear Hermione,
I am writing to you to see if you and your parents would join me and my parents as our guests at the seaside town of Cape Haggides. I do not live near the beach and enjoy spending my summers there. I would love to show you around town. It is only about half filled by muggles. There is just enough that your parents should feel very comfortable on holiday. I am missing you very much and hope that you will join us on holiday. It will be fun. Please let me know your answer within two weeks, that's when we leave.
Viktor
Hermione groaned as she read the letter. She knew she should be thrilled that a famous international Quidditch player was 'chasing' her, but she found his pesterings to be slightly annoying. It wasn't that she didn't like him, but he seemed a little more serious than she was right now. Besides she had way too much to do before school began. She was thrilled when her parents decided to skip the annual vacation to Cheddar. It meant she had more time to study. And more time to study meant better grades and better grades meant a better job. And a better job meant….well she wasn't quite sure what it meant she just knew she has been striving most of her life for it.
"I guess I had better respond to him." She mumbled to no one in particular. She climbed down from the tree annoyed at having to stop what she was doing to answer his letter. She went inside and saw that her parents had already left for work without saying goodbye. A note on the fridge instructed her to clean the kitchen and microwave something for her dinner as they would be working late catching up on some patients at their dental office. She hadn't eaten dinner with her parents in over a week. Lately she had felt they were not paying her as much attention as they used to. They used to introduce her to their friends and brag on her school accomplishments to anyone who would listen. But ever since she had been going to Hogwarts they had been avoiding any social situations involving her and their work friends. It made her feel like a freak.
She threw a poptart in the toaster and when it was done 'cooking' she plodded up the stairs to her bedroom to answer Viktor.
Dear Viktor,
Thank you for the lovely offer to stay with you and your folks in Cape Haggides. However, I'm sorry to inform you that my parents have decided not to go on holiday this year. They are swamped with work. I'm sure we would have had a fun time together and I hope that I will be able to see you soon, or at least before school starts.
Your Friend,
Hermione
She felt a little guilty about the shortness of the letter, but she just didn't have anything else to say to him right now. She sighed and rolled it up and tied to the owl's leg to take back to Viktor. She sat there after the owl flew off and looked around her room. Ever since she could remember she had been collecting awards from school. In first grade she had gotten neatness awards. In second grade she got good handwriting awards and awards for learning to read faster than anyone else in her class. As she looked around the room she saw awards up until she had entered Hogwarts. They didn't give paper certificates that she could put on her walls, or that her parents could brag about. She would try to tell them about the close calls she had with Lord Voldemort. But they didn't seem to let the gravity of the situations sink in their skulls enough to get worried or be proud. She wondered what it would be like to slack off and just barely scrape by in her classes. She would have more time to spend with Ron and Harry in the common room at night after classes. She could stop going to the library every day studying. To heck with it, she could get a life!
She laughed at herself. She was being silly and she knew it. She decided to go for a walk.
She walked along a shady street trying to remember the things that she had been reading in her school books. It wasn't doing much good. She seemed to have so much in her brain that the rest was overflowing and not staying with her.
* What I need is a pensieve like Professor Dumbledore has in his office. I wonder if I could buy one at Diagon Alley? Well, I suppose it's worth a shot.*
With a determined look on her face she tried to remember Harry's instructions for the Knight bus. She looked around and made sure no one was watching. Looking more like a band leader than a traveler, she threw her wand hand out and immediately heard a loud bang!
She turned around expecting to see the bus Harry had described. Instead there was just an old stray tabby who had jumped up on a metal trash can lid and made the loud banging she heard. Hermione cocked her head at the cat, it looked familiar.
"Hello kitty, …..nice kitty…."
Hermione made her way to pet the cat but it jumped down off the can and she didn't see which way it went.
Hermione stood there on the sidewalk for what seemed like hours, but really was just a few minutes, trying to decide what to do. Apparently, she couldn't call the Knight bus to her and without her parents she didn't dare try to travel to London on her own. With her shoulders slumped down and hands in her pockets she headed home.
~~~~
When she got home she decided to order a pizza to be delivered for dinner. It would cost her some saved up allowance, but she felt she needed it. She flicked the television on and looked for something to watch. She couldn't explain it, but she just didn't feel like reading or studying or cleaning the kitchen as her parents had told her to do. She just felt like…well…blah. Blah. She felt like a little spark that she had always had about her had gone out. She was beginning to wonder if she was coming down with a cold. Maybe that was it. That would explain her listlessness. While she waited for the pizza to arrive and seeing as how nothing was on tv, she pulled out a notebook and a pen. She remembered some advice that a counselor had given her back in her old muggle school. She began to write.
What's wrong with me? I feel blah. Nothing. I haven't felt good in weeks. I can't be sick. This is stupid. STUPISSTUPISSTUPID. I CAN'T BELIVE I'M DOING THIS. I wonder what Harry's doing right now? I bet he and Ron got together at Ron's house and are having loads of fun. I'm not sure how I feel about Ron. Sometimes I want to hug him and other times I want to smack his face silly for being so sarcastic to me. Not that he could get sillier looking. I mean, really that red hair of his! Hehehehehehehehe. Hey Ron! If you read this, I'm gonna hurt you!! The pizza's late. It figures. The perfect end to my perfect evening. Or perfect month. What's wrong with me? I've never felt like this before. I should be studying. Not goofing off with this stupid BOOK. Blah,blah,blah,blah. BLAH. Blah. I thought writing my thoughts down would make me feel better. Instead I just keep wondering why I'm doing this instead of studying. Studying. I'm always studying. I've spent over half my life studying. Why?? Because I'm supposed to. I guess I enjoy reading about Errol the Eager, and Billet the Bold. Don't I? They're pretty interesting people to read about. I've never encountered them on a test though. Oh good, the pizza's here. Yummy! Good pizza. Ron would love some of this stuff! Wonder if Harry is getting enough to eat? I sure am!!!A whole pizza to myself!! To myself. Not that I wouldn't mind some company to share it with. I wonder when Mom and Dad are getting home?I guess they don't care about eating dinner with me. After all, people's teeth need to cleaned. Yeah, RIGHT! Oh honestly,they should be at home with me! They should be sitting here eating some pizza, laughing with me, and telling me about their day at work. I wonder if they're ashamed of me? Harry's aunt hated his mom because she was a witch. They don't even talk about Harry to other people. I wonder if that's why mom and dad don't introduce me to their friends anymore? Are they afraid I'll freak out and turn people into mice? I wonder if I could ask Professor McGonagall to send home some accomplishment certificates that they can show people?Maybe that would help. I'll have to ask. I feel a little better. Maybe a journal isn't such a bad idea after all. Oh wait I got it! I'll know what I'll call this notebook!
Hermione grabbed her fancy gold ink pen and very carefully wrote across the front of the notebook. She held it up to the light to examine her work. She was quite pleased with what she saw. Very clearly glittering in the soft light were the words: My Pensieve.