Hermione felt a deep, pooling kind of sadness as she sat on her bed, looking at the opposite wall of her room. Her Hogwarts robes hung on a coat hanger on her closet door, ready to go. Her trunk that held her wand and other various magical belongings made her feel even lonelier. It sounded strange, to be looking forward to school so eagerly even though her summer vacation had only started a week ago, but in the Muggle world Hermione didn't have many friends, not that she had a lot at Hogwarts either, but the few she did have were better than nothing.
Crookshanks, her tattered ginger cat must have sense her loneliness as he pushed his face against her leg, begging for attention. Hermione smiled, picking the cat up and cuddling him in her arms like one would to an infant. She ran her fingers through his long fur and the cat closed its eyes and quickly settled into a slumber.
Hermione could hear noises from the floor below, her parents were awake, but trying to keep as quiet as possible so as not to disturb her. In the Muggle world Hermione rarely ventured out from home. Usually she spent her vacation in her room, studying and writing letter to Ron and Harry. Since she'd left public schooling about 5 years ago her childhood friends had scarcely contacted her, understandably. She was home only a couple of months out of the year, and the rest of the year she disappeared and never spoke about, so it's not like she could blame them.
Crookshanks began to purr quietly as Hermione scratched his belly. She looked out the window to her left, not wanting to wake the cat by moving. The sky was a dull gray; as usual it looked as if it were about to rain at any moment. A sunny day was a rare thing in the Granger's suburban neighbourhood, but Hermione didn't mind. The prospect that rain could fall at any time gave Hermione more of an excuse to stay inside.
Her stomach let out a grumble of hunger, and before she could turn away from the window Crookshanks had already jumped out of her arms and onto the floor at the disturbance. The cat strode towards her closed bedroom door, its orange tail standing straight up, flickering from side to side as it scratched at the door.
"Sorry.'' Hermione muttered with an embarrassed smile as she got up and opened the door, stepping behind his leisurely pace down the stairs.
The kitchen was warm and glowing and cozy with the sound of bacon sizzling and her parents smiling at her arrival.
"Morning.'' Mr. Granger said from behind his newspaper as Hermione pulled the chair our across from him at the breakfast table.
"How was your sleep?'' her mother asked, flipping a pancake with her weathered spatula.
"Fine.'' Hermione answered, propping her chin up on her fist as she forced a smile.
"Hungry?'' her father asked, turning a page of his newspaper. Hermione's eyes flickered from the front page of the newspaper over to the frying pan her mother was tending. Her stomach twisted eagerly a little at the sight of food. She could feel Crookshanks nuzzling her legs under the table, reminding her to share some of the bacon.
"Yeah, a little.'' Hermione said as her mother placed the pancake on top of the plate full she'd already prepared.
"Well eat quickly, dear.'' She said, placing the plates of food onto the center of the table.
"What's the rush?'' Hermione asked, biting into a crisp piece of bacon as she tried to search her mind for the date, wondering if she'd forgotten something. When her mother turned around to retrieve the maple syrup Hermione held out the piece under the table to a waiting Crookshanks. Her father didn't take his eyes off his paper as he spoke.
"You didn't notice the moving trucks, Hermione?'' he asked, and Hermione felt her heart drop. She had noticed two moving trucks yesterday when retrieving the morning post, but it hadn't clicked in her mind what that meant.
The Granger's street was populated almost entirely by elderly couples, or young professionals, in fact Hermione hasn't seen a single child around since she was one herself, but she remembered now what had happened the last time they got a new neighbour. Hermione's mother, who was always concerned for her lack of social interaction, had dragged Hermione and her father over to greet any new person on the block. Mrs. Granger would march them up to the front step, usually forcing Hermione to brandish a plate of cookies or cake to 'welcome them to the neighbourhood', and then probably never speak to them again. Neither Hermione or her father particularly enjoyed doing this. Her mother had always said that's where Hermione got her quietness from, but she was determined for Hermione to make friends, however unenthused she was about the idea.
Ten minutes later Mrs. Granger was marching up to the front door, Hermione in tow with a plate of plastic wrapped cookies, and her father beside her, his newspaper still folded under his arm.
"Don't fret, we'll be in and out.'' Her father whispers in her ear, probably noticing the sour look on his daughters face as she stood behind her mother.
There was an instant rumbling, scurrying sort of noise from behind the door after Mrs. Granger had rung the bell. Hermione silently hoped that this meant it wasn't a good time and whoever answered would send Mrs. Granger away, but of course things never worked out as planned. Hermione's father put his hand between her shoulder blades, ready to push her forward to the door when it opened.
A tall woman with long flowing blonde hair and bright piercing blue eyes answered the door with a wide grin that could rival Mrs. Granger's. Immediately Hermione felt a sense of dread wash over her, knowing that this woman was friendly and probably going to talk their ear off.
"Well, hello!'' she beamed cheerfully. The woman's happiness was infectious, even though Hermione wasn't particularly happy the woman's smile invoked her to do the same.
"Hello, I'm Eleanor Granger, and this is my daughter Herm—" her arm reached back for Hermione, who stepped forward awkwardly as the woman interrupted her mother with another cheerful outburst.
"Well, aren't you just the cutest little thing!'' she exclaimed, leaning forward and reaching out to grab at Hermione's cheek. Hermione was already on the cusp of blushing, so she quickly thrust the cookies towards the woman to stop her.
"Here.'' She said as the woman's body snapped back upright, "These are for you.'' The woman's smile faded to a much smaller size as she took the plate in her hands.
"Oh, well, thank you, dear. It's very sweet of you.'' She could sense she'd broken Hermione's comfort zone, which Hermione felt bad about since she knew the woman was just being friendly. Nonetheless, Mr. Granger swooped in from behind to cut the tension.
"I'm Walter, Walter Granger.'' He greeted, extending his hand out. The woman's smile grew a little and she took his hand in her empty one and gave it a shake. Mr. Granger put his hand on Hermione's shoulder and introduced her as well.
"And this is Hermione, our daughter.'' He said with a little smile, and the woman nodded to Hermione.
"Hermione…'' she said slowly, "That's an…unusual name?'' She quirked an eyebrow like she was waiting for the punch line, but the Granger's just stood there awkwardly. Hermione's could feel her cheeks starting to burn with embarrassment, she wished that this was enough to please her mother, that now they could all say their goodbyes and go back home and spare her any further humiliation, but the homeowner seemed to be just as hell bent on forcing Hermione out of her comfort zone as her mother was.
"Come in, come in.'' she said, beckoning them as she stepped into her own home, "I'm Peggy.''
Hermione hadn't noticed until now that Peggy was wearing high heels, because each step the woman made on the hardwood floor echoed through the whole house. It wasn't quite a mansion, but it was much larger than the Granger's modest two bedroom home.
Peggy led the Granger's through her massive foyer, Hermione's father kept his hand on her shoulder the entire time, partly to comfort her, partly to keep her from running off if she were to get the chance.
"How old are you, dear?'' Peggy asked as she set the plate down on top of a stack of cardboard boxes that had yet to be unpacked.
"Um, 17.'' She stuttered, "Nearly.''
"Ah, perfect. Same as Joel.'' Peggy replied with a reassuring smile that made Hermione feel a little bit better. Peggy turned and leaned against the staircase's railing, turning her head to look up to the second floor.
"Joel!'' she called out, her voice echoing off the walls so loudly Hermione jumped a little.
"What?'' a deeper masculine voice called back, more muffled, from some closed door above.
"Come down here and meet our new neighbours!'' she flashed the Granger's a smile.
Hermione felt her stomach lurch a little at the thought of having to meet yet another new person, normally when she met a new person she was surrounded by other friends, but here, with just her parents she felt terrified at the prospect, especially if that someone was her age.
Rumbling could be heard from above, almost a scrambling sort of noise, followed by the sound of a door opening. Footsteps grew louder until finally the boy appeared at the top of the staircase. He looked down at the waiting faces of his guests, lingering there in a tentative sort of way before he actually took the first step.
Hermione could see herself in the boy when he paused, she could tell he was debating whether or not to turn back into his room or go and greet them. Oddly it made things little better that he was just as thrilled as she was to meet new people, because at least there was some sense of relief I knowing she wasn't alone. Even his fake smile matched hers.
As he took his time coming down the stairs Hermione got a better look at him. The boy was quite tall, probably about a foot taller than her. He was slim and somewhat pale, which made Hermione think he was perhaps even more like her beyond just the shyness. He wore a red and black plaid collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and jeans that looked as if they'd been washed far too many times. He had very dark brown hair that was only about an inch long; it made his pale blue eyes contrast so much that Hermione found herself staring into them until the boy stood before her with a waiting hand. Hermione blinked and chuckled awkwardly, snapping back into reality as she took his hand.
"I'm Joel.'' He said with a little smirk of amusement, probably at Hermione's dazed look. Hermione slowly shook the boys hand, feeling her cheeks red with embarrassment again as she stammered out her answer after another long pause of staring into his eyes.
"Hermione.''