Thank you for reading the first chapter. I promise nothing really sexual will happen in the following chapters. I want to keep it fluffy, not smutty. Keep the positive reactions coming!
The next morning, I woke up and went into the common room. First years were scrambling around, trying to figure out what they needed to do on their first day of wizarding school. I yawned and scratched my unruly curls as I went to sit on one of the couches in front of the recently relit fire. It wasn't like me to be anything like this. I don't act like a love-sick girl. I never have before. Not when I liked Harry, or Neville⦠Wow, some things are just spilling out of me.
That isn't the point, though. How I feel about that Goddamn teacher is different. He looked at me like I was actually important, special. I'm sure Dumbledore had told him about my reputation at school, but Lupin couldn't have made any assumptions off that, could he?
Ron and Harry descended the boys' side of the dormitories, and I stood up to greet them. My hair was more of a rat's nest than usual, but I honestly couldn't have cared less. I got great sleep that night, and I was more than willing to show it around school that day.
"Well, it looks like someone had a good night," Ron teased.
I didn't even have the motivation to argue with him. I just smiled and said, "Yeah, let's go get some breakfast. What do you say?"
Harry nodded, and Ron looked at me, shocked. I just shrugged and walked toward the common room door. We walked side by side down the winding staircase to the Great Hall. I could hear the boys whispering to each other next to me, but I paid no mind. It didn't benefit me in any way to listen to their banter. Maybe this was how Harry felt all the time.
Breakfast that morning was hash browns, scrambled eggs, pancakes, and sausage. Ron piled his plate with everything he could reach from his seat. Harry took a reasonable amount, enough to keep him going, but not gorge himself. I gingerly took a pancake, a sausage link, and a small pile of hash browns mixed with scrambled eggs. I knew how much I would probably eat, so I didn't take more than I needed. What's strange to me, though, is that Ron was always able to put away all the food that he placed in front of him. I don't know where it all went.
Our classes started at 9 o'clock sharp, and we were expected to be in our seats at least five minutes before that mark. It just so happened that Harry, Ron, and I all had Defense Against the Dark Arts first on our schedules. Wasn't I in luck? We left the Great Hall at the same time Lupin entered to get his morning meal. We arrived back at the Gryffindor Tower at around 7:45. I whisked myself up the stairs to my room and sat down at my vanity.
I pulled out my hairbrush and looked at it for a second, "Please be nice to me today. Please do what you are supposed to." Of course an inanimate object couldn't hear me, but I really wanted to look good today. I got off on the wrong foot when I saw him this morning. I was all disheveled and gross. I should have at least taken a shower. I knew there was a possibility of me seeing him, but I thought the chances were slim to none.
I guess I just won't leave my room without getting ready ever again.
Twenty minutes later, I had worked my brush through my hair. I had tried smoothing it out; I had tried everything. My hair looked worse than it did when I had just rolled out of bed. I had the thought to maybe tie it up, in a ponytail. But that was exactly what it looked like, a horse's tail. I cursed under my breath. I had fucked up.
I ran out of my room and down the stairs one door. I knocked on the door, "Ginny?"
The little red head opened the door and gasped, "Woah, Hermione, what did you do?"
"I actually tried, and I failed so so hard." I wanted to laugh to diffuse the tension, something Fred, George, and Ginny were so good at, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, a tear broke out of my left tear duct.
"Oh dear," Ginny said, pulling me into her room and sitting me down on her bed. "We're going to fix this." She rummaged through the drawers in her bedside table. "What did you use to try and style it?"
"Um, I used some detangler, and mousse, and some Sleekeasy's Hair Potion. It just didn't work."
She stood up and looked at me, pondering, "I have just the thing." She ran out of the room, leaving me on the bed, almost in tears. A minute later, she returned with a bottle in hand. "I'm so glad the twins were awake."
I froze, "The what?"
"The twins, they really are genius, you know." She squirted some of the liquid in the bottle onto her hand.
I scattered away from her as fast as I possibly could, "Yeah, genius at practical jokes and pranks, not beauty routines!"
"Hermione, you have to trust me with this one. I used it all summer. I'm just glad that they brought it with them. It works miracles."
I sighed. I had no other choice, it was either this, or I face the school, I face Professor Lupin looking like a dandelion. I sat back down on Ginny's bed and let her get to work. I hoped for the best.
When she finished ten minutes later, I ran my hand through my hair. It was amazing; it hasn't looked, or felt like this ever. I took a glance in the mirror and got hooked. It was straight, stick-straight. And it framed my face nicely. I could see my natural highlights poking through the brown of my hair. I whipped around and hugged Ginny. She was the savior to me and I owed her.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. So, why did this mean so much in the first place?" She asked.
That's what I love about Ginny, she's an action first, ask questions later type of girl. "It's a long story, and we don't have that much time. I promise we will sit down later and I will tell you." It was true, it was 8:20 already, and I needed to get to class. I liked to be early.
"Okay, I'm going to hold you to that." She said, picking up her books and leaving the room.
I followed closely behind her but headed up the stairs instead of down. I couldn't stop touching my hair. It really was a miracle. I entered the room and ignored Lavender and Parvati, grabbed my books and left.
I got to the bottom of the stairs to see Ron and Harry waiting for me.
"Bloody Hell."
Thanks for reading. It means a lot to me. Leave your comments in the box below. Give me helpful feedback on the chapter and what you may want to see next. I tried not to make Hermione too lovesick, but sometimes, it happens. It's a natural reaction for girls.
Thanks again, Babygirl669
