Chapter one: Where it all begins
Hermione woke with a startle. She gasped and looked around her tiny dusty room and began to panic. Shes been having the same nightmares everynight. She dreams of a long boney man that was as tall as the sky who called himself the master of death. He held in his hand a wand of great power and said she must stay away. He warned her of great danger if she ever tried to come back. Hermione always was stunned, speechless, at this man and would try to run. But everytime she got far, he would scream "AHVADRAH KAHDAVRAHHH!" and a green light would bring her back into her small safe world on Gringotts street.
"HERMIONE! BREAKFAST!" Her mother yelled. She took two more deep breaths until she placed her shaking feet on the ground and got herself up. Hermione looked at her closet at her slim selection of clothes and decided to wear a dark blue skirt and white tanktop tucked in. The sun was scorching through the window and Hermione's cat sat perched on the window sill letting the sun warm her fur. Finally, she decended the stairs and looked up to see her parents both sitting at the kitchen table looking sober. It has been 3 days since they announced their divorce and Hermione's dad announced his move with his new girlfriend was approaching.
"Hermione my dear," Her mother started, "Your father and I have been talking and we decided that staying here isnt the best choice for now." Her eyes began to twitch slightly and Hermiones mouth dropped.
"But... I cant move! I just began to get all my schoolwork here! It is only the second week of school!" She said sadly. Her voice quivered and she glared at the man who she called her father. He seemed content with this situation and didnt look as hurt as he should be. She guessed that his girlfriend was waiting at her house for him. Hermione always disliked her father. When she was little, when she made a mistake, he would hit her or make her sit in the small cupboard under the stairs. He was never a nice man, but he did have his moments with Hermione. He would take her to libraries that were as big as a skyscraper filled with books from thousands of years ago and every genre. She wiped the good thoughts out of her head and looked at the man about to leave across the table.
"I have to go to school. Have fun with your new whore. I hope she gives you herpes." She spat at her father. They both went to protest but Hermione was out the door and down the walkway before they could. She began to tear up as she walked to her bus stop, but quickly wiped them away. She didnt want to cry for someone so ignorant she decided. She would never cry for someone who never deserved her tears.
"Well looky what we got here, a fat bushy-haired freak", Dudly screeched so the entire bus could hear. Some snickered and others minded their own buisness, pretending they couldnt hear what the big boy was saying. "Well? Arent you going to cry little freak? Oh? Playing the quiet game, eh?" He knocked her backpack to the ground so everything spilled out. He tried to grab her diary and throw it out the window but she grabbed it and swiped everything from the ground and sat in her seat. Dudly, raging with anger at this point, began to curse the girl. Hermione blocked this all out and gripped her backpack.
The day went by alarmingly slow. All the teachers decided that today was the day to go over the worst things and tortured the kids with quizzes. Hermione welcomed the quiz and was relishing in the quietness of the classroom. Besides the quite murmurs of kids trying to cheat, it was the quietest time Hermione has had, between her parents throwing fits and her nightmares of the tall man, Hermione has gotten no peace.
Once the last bell rang, Hermione gathered her items and dashed to the basment of the school to visit her janitor friend Griddy. Griddy was a large man that was taller then some doorways and was as round as a globe. Some would consider him a freak of nature but him and Hermione got along just fine.
"Hello Griddy." Hermione said cheerfully as she saw her friend. He looked up smiling, "'Ello 'ermione!" Griddy said in the thick scottish accent., "Come 'ere an' 'ave a seat!" he pointed at the stool next to the box of tea he had hidden down there.
He grabbed a cup and wiped it with his dish rag and placed it in front of Hermione and poured her a thick dark brown tea. Hermione took a sip and flinched. The liquid was like oil and tasted just the same. She put the cup down and decided that one sip would be enough.
"How has yer day been Mione?" He said as he tried to put a desk back together. "Alright, nothing too eventful" She smiled shyly. He always knew everything but she didnt feel like elaborating and he knew she didnt want to so he kept quite and so did she. She turned to the desk and began to do her homework. After 2 hours of friendly silence she got up and said her fairwell to him. He smiled at the little girl and wished her well.
Hermione walked home and began to dream of a far off place that she could actaully call her home. She imagined a castle with towers so high, it tangled with the stars and entrance bridges that hovered over thousands of feet. She saw small classrooms full of kids and moving stairs that took you to whereever you needed to be. Hermione then imagined doors that were a thousand times her size and when she pushed it open she was welcomed by a tall man with a long beard who had a twinkle in his eye and 4 long tables of people cheering for her.
She began to have a skip in her step as she imagined this and didnt even notice one lampost light went out.
When she arrived home Hermione grabbed her cat and layed her on her bed and quickly fell asleep like any other night, only this night wouldnt be that ordinary at all.