Chapter seven – The Best and Worst of Days
Dear Hermione
Thank you for your wonderful letter, we're both really glad you're getting along well at school, it sounds quite amazing. Are you really getting the hang of all the spells so quickly? We think it's very impressive for someone who has only known about magic for a month! So what else do you do in the evenings for fun? You say you practise your school work but do you do anything else, I don't know, do witches and wizards have different games to play? Have you made any friends yet? You said you get along well with the girls in your dormitory but do you spend all your time with them, would you say they're like best friends yet? Sorry I know I'm asking a lot of questions, your fathers telling me to stop, he says I'll overwhelm you!
How was your first flying lesson? I know sport has never really been your thing but it would be amazing if you enjoyed riding a broomstick, although it does sound dangerous! Me and your father are getting a bit lonely, we both keep calling to you when we walk in the door before realising you aren't here, but don't worry about us, it will just mean that when you get home we definitely won't run out of things to talk about.
Keep working as you are and make sure to have fun. And your father says keep remembering to be yourself.
All of our love
Mum and Dad xxx
Hermione read the letter with a smile, glad that her parents were okay. She wished she could tell them in her next letter about the dog, but that would scare them to much. She was slightly annoyed that her mother had noticed from her letter that she hadn't made any close friends, she had been hoping that wouldn't come up, but she decided that in her next letter she would just skate over that part. Hermione had an uneventful rest of the week, apart from refusing to speak to Harry and Ron it was much the same as the week before, with Hermione becoming even more deeply fascinated by what she was leaning in lessons. However she awoke in the middle of her third week of Hogwarts to find a small pile of presents and envelopes and the foot of her bed. Hermione had been so immersed in her studies that she had almost forgotten it was her birthday on the 19th. The other girls in the dormitory had noticed the presents when they awoke as well.
"Hermione, is it your Birthday?" asked Paravti
"Yes." said Hermione reaching for the first envelope.
"Well why didn't you tell us? We would have got you a card or a little present!" Parvati said, seeming quiet upset.
"I don't know, don't worry though it don't mind, really" Hermione smiled reassuringly at Parvati
The other girls had heard Parvati and Hermione's conversation and now calls of Happy Birthday filled the room.
"Thanks everyone" said Hermione, finally opening the card which had been in the first envelope.
To Hermione
Happy Birthday, hope you're having a great time at boarding school
All our love and kisses
Gran and Gramps
All together Hermione had got five birthday cards, which she put on her bedside table before turning her attention to her presents. She carefully unwrapped each one, the eyes of all the girls on her. The first present was from her one of her aunts, it was a patchwork blanket, with a note inside that said 'to brighten up your dormitory'. The next present was from her aunt and uncle who lived in Manchester, they had bought Hermione a blue and white striped skirt, which the rest of the girls in the dormitory seemed to quite like. The next two presents were attached and from her grandparents, one was a new muggle book which the girls in the dormitory were immediately fascinated by and a recipe book for making cupcakes, which made Hermione smile as there weren't exactly opportunities for cooking at Hogwarts. The last few presents were from her parents, first there were quite a few new jeans and tops, as Hermione was growing quite quickly at the moment. Then there was a very small beaded purple handbag, so small it could barely be called a handbag, more of a large drawstring purse and finally there were a set of five new books, three of them to do with charms and the other two, history books. With the books there was a funny note from her parents saying it had taken a long time to convince someone in the Leaky Cauldron to open the passageway for them. Hermione happily looked at all her new presents before changing into her new skirt, one of the tops from her parents, then throwing the robes over the top.
The rest of her birthday passed quiet uneventfully. Professor McGonagall wished her Happy Birthday as Hermione left transfiguration and when Hermione got to the common room that night Parvati, Lavender, Lucy and Julie handed her a homemade card with all there names inside. Hermione was very grateful and thanked them all. Although Hermione missed her parents more today than she had any other day, she decided that this year she had had quiet a good birthday and was happy as she fell asleep that night.
OOO
September passed quickly and Hermione had soon settled into a familiar routine, she was enjoying lessons immensely and the more they learnt the more exiting the lessons became. Homework was slowly mounting but Hermione coped with it easily and still had time to practise a lot of extra spells. In her letters to Hermione, her mother was sounding increasingly concerned that Hermione had not made any real friends, but every time Hermione wrote back she would either ignore the topic or drop in something funny one of the girls had said, so as to sound like Hermione spent a lot of time with them. She was still refusing to speak to Harry and Ron after the arrival of Harry's broomstick, which seemed to suit all of them, as Hermione had settled on the idea that both boys were actually quiet rude and inconsiderate. Most of Hermione's teachers seemed very pleased with her, and had gotten over there surprise at Hermione's advanced intelligence. It was actually quiet a surprise to Hermione when the end of October arrived, bringing with it the excitement of Halloween. Although she had never been a big fan of Halloween, Hermione soon got into the thrill of it that Hogwarts seemed to bring, with the promise of live bats and pumpkins as big as cart wheels.
The last class before lunch was charms and today Professor Flitwick said they would be making objects fly. Hermione, along with the rest of the class, had been dying to give this a go since Professor Flitwick had made Neville's toad Trevor fly around the room. However Hermione had not tried it outside of the class as Professor Flitwick had said it could have some nasty consequences. But she had been practising both the movement and the words separately so she was feeling quietly confident. To Hermione's dismay when they were paired up she was put with Ron Weasley. Hermione watched for a while as Ron failed miserably at both the movement and the words, finally she could take it no longer.
"You're saying it wrong" She snapped to him "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
Ron turned to her, an ugly look on his freckled face "You do it, then, if you're so clever,"
Hermione rolled up her sleeves and took a deep breathe, hoping that it would go right the first time, whilst elegantly flicking her wand she said "Wingardium Leviosar!"
To her absolute delight the feather slowly rose off the desk and hovered around four feet above her head. Professor Flitwick looked delighted.
"Oh, well done! Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
Hermione filled with pride as the class turned to look at her feather. She had been the first one to succeed, most other people here had been raised by wizards and she, the muggle-born girl who had know about magic for all of three months had been the first one to successfully perform the spell. She practically glowed for the rest of the lesson as she sat back and watched Ron try time after time with no success. She felt a tad sorry for him by the end of the lesson when he still hadn't performed the spell, but didn't say anything as they walked out of the classroom. As she pushed her way through the crowded she was shunted right behind Ron and Harry just as Ron said.
"It's no wonder no one can stand her. She's a nightmare honestly."
Hermione felt something break inside of her and the happiness she had felt moments before evaporated quicker than she could have thought possible. Her throat was constricting and Hermione realised she had to get out of here before she broke down, but it was to late, hot tears were already spilling out of her eyes as she shoved past everyone in front of her, finally she found the girls bathroom at the end of the corridor and rushed into a cubicle, slamming the door behind her. She turned her back to the door she had just shut and slid down it, tears coming thick and fast and sobs racking her body.
It took a while for Hermione to realise why she was this upset over the comment, she had received similar comments before but hadn't cried this much in a long time. It was because Hermione had surrounded herself in this new world, barely realising that she had fallen into a very similar pattern as primary school, a pattern where books were her sole companion and she didn't really have anyone to talk to. Here she had fooled herself into believing she was happy because no one hated her, no one teased her openly and here there were people who actually liked her, she couldn't call them great friends but they didn't laugh at her or make cruel jokes about her. She had fooled herself into believing that she was perfectly happy and now a single cruel remark had made her see that she had, yet again, failed to make any real friends. Now memories were rushing back to Hermione along with the single line she had just heard repeated over and over.
"Circus freak, rabbit teeth, no wonder no one can stand her, have you got no friends Granger, weirdo, have you seen her hair, she's a nightmare honestly, you're nothing but a know-it-all, she shouldn't be allowed near normal people, such a teacher's pet, no one can stand her, she'll be marrying the books next, not pretty more like ugly, she's a nightmare honestly, is that a birds nest on your head, no one can stand her, freak, she's a nightmare, no one can stand her, nightmare, stand her, nightmare."
"Hermione?"
A quiet voice broke the onslaught of memories that had rendered Hermione immobile. Tears were still sliding down her face and she almost felt sick from crying for so long.
"Hermione I know that's you in there, please come out,"
Hermione recognized the voice now, it was Parvati.
"Leave me alone." She called, her voice sounding thick from crying for such a long time
"Hermione come on, the feast is about to start, you wouldn't want to miss it," Parvati wheedled
"Go away," Hermione said, not caring how rude she was being
"At least tell me what's happened Hermione, none of us know, we thought something bad had happened to you because you missed the afternoons lessons."
Hermione sighed "Please Parvati, can you just leave me, I don't want to talk about it"
Now Hermione heard Parvati sigh and say with resignation "Ok, but Hermione…. Whatever's happened, it'll be alright eventually"
After a few seconds Hermione heard Parvati's footsteps out of the door. A few more tears slipped from Hermione's eyes, it wouldn't be alright, it would never be alright, because Hermione couldn't make friends. She didn't seem to have the ability, and this meant she would always be lonely. All she wanted was for someone, just one person, to accept her for who she was. Was it really to much to ask? She supposed it was, she supposed that she must be such a flawed person that no-one could accept her. Hermione had never hated herself more.
Hermione lost track of time again as she sat there, her tears had now dried up and she just felt hollow inside, she supposed at some point she would have to go back to her dormitory and it was probably best to do that whilst everyone was at the feast. Just as she was contemplating finally moving the door of the bathroom slammed loudly and she heard the key turn in the lock. She sat bolt upright in fright when a horrible stench reached she nose and she heard as odd sound, like something heavy being dragged across the floor. Slowly Hermione stood up and unbolted the door, what she saw in front of her would haunt her dreams for a long time, it was a troll, twelve feet tall holding a large club in his hand. Hermione screamed in terror, which was a mistake as it alerted the troll to her presence, she tripped over to the wall opposite the door to try to get around the troll but it just advanced towards her. Hermione had never been so terrified, her head felt faint and she wanted to be sick, her feet felt like they were glued to the floor even thought her brain was screaming for her to run, it didn't even cross her mind to reach for her wand, she could only shrink back against the wall as the troll lumbered towards her, knocking sinks off as it went.
There was a yell and a clatter and slowly the troll turned away from Hermione to Harry Potter. Harry Potter? What was he doing here? Hermione brain had jammed and she still couldn't move from where she crouched, terrified and confused. There was another yell and another clatter and the troll turned again to Ron Weasley, who also seemed to have appeared in the bathroom. Now, from somewhere very far away she heard a voice saying 'Come on, run, run' and a tugging on one of her arms. But Hermione couldn't tell who was saying it and whether there really was a tugging on her arm or whether she was imagining it, all she could see and smell and hear was the troll. And now the troll was spinning around wildly and howling and something was hanging from the back of its neck and Hermione was on the floor with no recollection of getting there. Then she heard something other than yells that she couldn't distinguish, something that snapped her out of her senseless terror.
"Wingardium leviosar!"
Hermione turned her head towards the noise, it was Ron Weasley. Ron who hadn't been able to perform that spell hours earlier, Ron who had called her a nightmare. He had made the troll's club rise up out of its hand and fall onto its head with a sickening crunch. Ron and Harry had come back for her. Ron had just saved her life. The troll fell with an almighty crash onto the floor and Harry, who had been attached to the back of its neck, slowly picked himself up. Hermione realised that her mouth could move and she asked quietly from the wall.
"Is it – dead?"
"I don't think so, I think it's just been knocked out." Said Harry, looking thoughtfully at the troll. He then bent down and pulled something out of the troll's nose, to Hermione's horror she realised it was Harry's wand and it was covered in a sticky grey mess.
"Urgh – troll bogies." He said and wiped it on the troll's trousers. Ron had still not moved from his position. Wand in the air, jaw slack.
There was a sudden slamming of doors and all three of their heads snapped around, Hermione realised what a racket the troll must have made and people were now coming to look for them. As soon as she realised this Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell burst into the room. Quirrell nearly fainting at the sight of the troll in front of him. They stood for a moment looking utterly dumbstruck, then Professor Snape bent over to examine the troll and Professor McGonagall turned to glare at Harry and Ron, not noticing Hermione curled up against the opposite wall.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" She said furiously, her voice steely and her lips pressed thin and white "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"
Hermione looked at the scene in front of her. Snape was watching Harry closely, Ron still stood with his wand pointed in the air and professor McGonagall looked as if she was ready to murder the two boys on the spot. With a sinking heart Hermione realised what she had to do, what was the right thing to do. Slowly on shaking legs, she stood up.
"Please, Professor McGonagall – they were looking for me."
All eyes turned to her and Professor McGonagall jumped as she realised Hermione was in the room. With a shaking voice she said,
"Miss Granger!"
Now Hermione sucked in air, hoping that she would be alright, hoping that she wouldn't be expelled. Her only comfort was that if she was expelled at least it would be because she was saving others from her fate.
"I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I've read all about them."
Hermione was now staring solidly at the floor, so that Professor McGonagall couldn't see the lie in her eyes. Dully she was aware of the clatter of a wand dropping to the floor.
"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead by now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."
On the last sentence Hermione raised her head to look at Professor McGonagall who looked quite appalled at Hermione's statement and seemed to be struggling to find words.
"Well – in that case…..Miss Granger you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"
Hermione's eyes burned and she hung her head, ashamed of the way Professor McGonagall, who she had been working do hard to gain the respect of, was looking at her with a mixture of anger and disappointment. She also felt fear grip her insides at what was coming next, Hermione prayed that she wasn't about to be expelled after only eight weeks at Hogwarts.
"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this. I'm very disappointed in you. If you are not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feats in their houses."
Still processing what had been said Hermione left the bathroom and began walking back to Gryffindor Tower. It was difficult to control all the different emotions running through her. Relief at not being expelled. Sadness at Professor McGonagall's disappointment. Gratefulness to Ron and Harry for saving her life. Anger at losing five house points. It was all very difficult to get her head around. Before she knew it she was standing outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Pig's Snout," She said quietly, then entering the room.
It was packed and noisy but Hermione stood silently by the door, waiting for the two boys to return, to thank them for what they had done. She didn't have to wait for long, they were soon climbing through the portrait hole. They all stood awkwardly for a few moments before muttering 'thanks' at them same time and hurrying of to get plates. When they had all collected the food they wanted, which was a lot more than normal for Hermione as she had missed lunch, they found three unoccupied seats by the fire. At first the conversation was uncomfortable and slow, all of them filling there mouths with food so that they wouldn't have to talk. Then slowly it began to flow naturally, until two hours later, as the common room began to empty they were all laughing together, comments and jokes rolling off their tongues. Hermione fell asleep happy that night, pleased that she had found friends in the most unexpected way.
Hey guys, sorry for the longer wait than usual, i've had a busy week! i hope you liked this chapter. Thank you for all your reviews so far, please keep them coming i really love to read them.
Hannah x
