1942
"Miss Granger, are you here again?" Hermione quickly hid a book behind her back.
Mrs Dyce, the librarian, shook her head and smiled. "The sun is shining and you're in this dusty and boring library." She placed a lock of her already gray hair behind her ear.
"I'm about to leave now." Hermione smiled back a charming smile. She was quite good in dazzling people and as usual Mrs Dyce fell for it and strode away.
Hermione went out of the library while she put the book in her bag. She felt a twinge of bad conscience about the book, a book about dark magic. She was a liar, she was always disguised as the perfect student who wouldn't hurt a fly. But in her spare time she read about dark magic. It was something she couldn't stop, she promised herself every time that this book was the last one, but there was always another even more darker book on a shelf.
Hermione walked unhappy and lost in her own thoughts when she bumped into a crying girl.
"Watch it!" The girl wore thick glasses and her face was filled with pimples. Tears streamed from her eyes. "No one cares about me, no one cares about me..." She said mostly to herself.
"Myrtle?" Hermione asked softly. "What's going on, why are you crying?" She raised her hand and placed it on Myrtle's shoulder.
"Don't touch me.." Myrtle hissed. "I said don't touch me!" When Hermione didn't back away Myrtle took a deep breath and yelled. "I said don't touch me, you- you filthy orphan!"
Hermione immediately let her go, her eyes was wide and surprised. Myrtle was famous for her emotional break downs but she didn't insult people.
Myrtle was also surprised. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth. "Oh my god, what did I just say?" She whispered softly more to herself than to Hermione. "I am so sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean what I said."
"It's okay, you just lost control over yourself. You were angry." Hermione said to her. She knew very well how it was to lose the control over your own anger. The faces of Zack Baker, Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop danced in front of her own eyes. She pressed them back, pushed it away and returned to reality when a boy came and joined them.
"Well well isn't it the spectacled snake, Myrtle?" He snickered at his own comment. Olive was one famous bullies in Hogwarts. Myrtle seemed to be his favorite victim.
"Leave me alone, Olive! Why won't you leave me alone?" Myrtle screamed while she backed away. Before Olive or Hermione could say something she had turned around to run away.
"Was that necessary?" Hermione sighed.
Olive shook his shoulders. "Let a guy have his own fun.." He added and winked. "Speaking of fun, Granger you've turned into a crumpet lately. Would you mind if we shared the same broom closet this afternoon?" His eyes ran over her body.
Hermione shuddered "I would probably say 50 points from Hufflepuff." She scowled when he was unaffected.
"Too bad." His eyes ran over her body once again. "You are not bad looking. I guess you would make a small fortune if you let the guys pay you for special services."
"Be careful, Hornby, you are speaking to a prefect." Hermione was about to loose it, her vision was turning red.
"What?" He put on an innocent face. "You are a mudblood plus an orphan. That is probably the only way for you to stay alive after Hogwarts." He became silent when her magic started to affect him.
Hermione's vision was blood red and her magic swept around her like an aura. Olive Hornby's eyes became wider with fear when he realized that he almost could see the magic and almost touch it. Coldness wandered fast from his toes up through his veins, it had almost reached his heart when a cold voice interrupted them.
"What's going on here?" It was a voice Hermione only heard in Herbology when he was answering questions with the right answers of course. They hadn't spoke to each others since she was placed in Gryffindor and he in Slytherin. Ca 5 years ago.
The tall handsome Slytherin prefect stood behind Hermione in a safe distance. The prefect badge glistened in the light. Olive Hornby's lips curled in a respectful smile at the sight of the mysterious Tom Riddle.
"I didn't mean to offend Miss Granger, Mr prefect. I was about to leave." He stared into Riddle's face but not into his eyes, waiting for permission. Riddle nodded and Hornby turned around.
"Miss Granger" Hermione imitated Olive Hornby's voice. "Two minutes ago I was just a crumpet." She snorted contemptuously and turned around to look at 'Mr Prefect'. He wasn't as flawless as usual, his neat hair was uncombed he had bags under his eyes and his uniform hung wrinkled on him. His eyes were red but they had a little sparkle though it seemed like he hadn't slept in days.
He tucked his wand into his robe and was about to leave when Hermione put a hand on his arm. He froze from the touch. "I'm curious, why did you defend me?" Hermione asked interested. "We haven't said a word to each others in 5 years."
"I don't have the time, really." His dead eyes were back. "Excuse me" With those words he left her alone, looking at his back with a puzzled face.
….
