For anyone who has expressed any worry about Hermione developing a relationship with Ron/Harry – it is purely platonic on her part. Promise!
Sorry for any typos today, I've been having blood tests all morning so my left arm is a little all over the place!
I don't own anything! On with the story…
The rest of the journey was a blur, and before I knew it the train had stopped.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry was looking at me concerned and I snapped back to reality.
"Sorry, just a little nervous." I smiled weakly, and he smiled back at me, reassuringly. It didn't reassure me at all. Fred stood up to pull everyone's suitcases down from the rack and I could feel those butterflies in my stomach, the ones that tickle your insides and make you want to violently throw up. I grabbed Cleo, and we filed out of compartment, joining the throng of people leaving the train. I had been told that someone would meet me at the station, so that I didn't have to take the boats across with the first years and further my embarrassment. Climbing down from the train, I expected to see a little sign with my name on but instead I saw 'HERMIONE' in little stars, with an arrow pointing directly town to a tall, stern woman. I walked over towards her, battling through the crowds of people spilling everywhere.
"Hermione Zabini?" She questioned as I got close and I nodded. "I am Professor McGonagall. Follow me." She gestured to a small carriage which was just behind her. It was pulled by some strange creatures, which I couldn't help myself asking about.
"What are those?" I asked, as we climbed into the carriage and she gave me a funny look.
"Thestrals. They pull all of the carriages here."
"Oh, I've never heard of them." I muttered - she was quite abrupt.
"You can only see them if you have seen death." The rest of the trip went in silence, as I thought over what she had just said.
FLASHBACK
"Mummy, mummy, mummyyyyyyyyy!" Hermione cried, running around the house. Draco and Blaise had been picking on her again and hidden her toy broomstick – she needed all the practice she could get, she wasn't very good. Blaise and Draco were good flyers for being 8, better than Hermione was anyway.
Hermione heard voices coming from her mother's room and walked over to the door, listening. There were raised voices and smashes coming from inside the room, and Hermione was dubious about entering. Curiosity getting the better of her, she pushed the door open a tiny bit and peeked through.
"You're disgusting!" Jasmina yelled at the top of her lungs, and a plate whizzed across the room. Markus, her husband of the past year ducked, before storming across the room.
"You make me this way Jasmina! You push everyone away! The problem lies with you! You are the problem!" He growled, grabbing her by the shoulders, she pushed him away.
"You've always been this way! I never made you do any of this!"
"What is it I'm supposed to have done?!"
"You know exactly what you've done!" Jasmina screamed "Oh that's right, go back to the alcohol, it's the only thing you care about!" Markus grabbed a bottle from the bedside, swigging from it deeply. Hermione was scared, too scared to move.
"I'm leaving. I am done with this Jasmina!" Markus yelled, but he stopped before he got to the door, holding his chest. He looked round to Jasmina, and rasped…"What have you done?" He fell to his knees, seemingly choking on his own breath. Hermione grabbed the door firmly, her eyes bulging. He collapsed in a heap on the floor, and Jasmina walked over to the bottle he had drank from, making it disappear with a flick of her wand. She moved over to the bed, sitting on it, exhaling before she looked to the door and caught sight of Hermione. Her eyes flashed for a moment, but she quickly gathered herself, and smiled slightly.
"Come to me." She gestured, and Hermione pushed the door open lightly, trying to ignore Markus on the floor. Jasmina lifted her onto the bed next to her, running her fingertips through her hair. "What did you see, baby?"
"Markus fell down." Hermione said, looking up at her mum. Jasmina smiled a little.
"Markus was very ill, Hermione. He used to drink bad things, and it made him do bad things. Do you understand?" She asked, playing with Hermione's hair.
"Yes Mummy." Hermione nodded.
"Now you're just going to feel a small sensation." Jasmina had moved her wand up to Hermione's temple and muttered a small memory charm, before putting Hermione to bed.
PRESENT
If my mum had been any good at memory charms, I probably wouldn't have remembered how I could see thestrals. I'd remembered Markus dying a week after my mum had tried to wipe my memory, but I didn't tell her – I knew she'd be mad. That day was just the beginning of our strained relationship. Lost in my thought, I didn't realise that Professor McGonagall was trying to talk to me.
"We're here. Just leave your bags in the carriage, they'll be sent to your room when you're sorted." McGonagall said, and I hopped out of the carriage after her, looking apologetically at Cleo. She led me up towards the school, before turning towards me. "Would you like to be sorted early before the first years and all of the students have arrived, or would you like to wait?" McGonagall questioned, and I felt like a weight had been lifted, maybe if I went now Draco and Blaise wouldn't be there.
"I'd like to go now, please." I said, fighting my feeling of nervousness. She nodded, opening the doors to the Great Hall. I walked in after her, glancing around the room which was half full. My heart sank as I saw Draco and Blaise sat at the table in the far corner, as I moved further into the room I saw Harry and Ron at another table. I should have just waited, it wouldn't have mattered, and everyone I knew was going to see anyway. McGonagall cleared her throat to silence the room and I felt 200 pairs of eyes on me. She gestured for me to sit on a stool, and before the hat was placed upon my head, all I could see was Draco glaring at me, his eyes burning into me.
"Well, well, another Zabini. Should I place you in Slytherin like your brother, or what about Gryffindor, is that courage I see or cunning…"
My mind was just as confused as the hat was it seemed.
"Better be…"
Thanks for reading (:
