Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the characters. Fortunately, I do own this particular plot and the perks that come along with it.
I'm sorry I've taken a while, I was going to update but I've been laden with homework (bloody science). Hopefully, I should be updating more though I do have my first set of assignments coming up, especially a nasty one for business, so I may not come through with that.
Enjoy.
Hermione groaned and shielded her eyes. The sun had risen and was proceeding to kill her by streaming through the open curtains and slicing through the bottom of her closed eyes. But unfortunately, shielding her eyes did nothing to void off her enemy. Hermione groaned once more before proceeding to roll over and sink her face further into her pillow.
Like every other day, Hermione didn't want to get up from her bed. Walking around Hogwarts just reminded her of home, of things she would never be able to see again. Her home, her family, Harry and Ron. She would even be ecstatic to Professors Snape's face again, not his young and snarling one. The greasy one that instead of helping Malfoy continue to terrorize her, would make Harry, Ron and her lives a living hell. Yes, she would even prefer that.
But to wake up day after day, unable to think properly because the people you care about the most would never she you again. Hermione just couldn't handle it. Then seeing your best friends' parents fighting and think, they haven't got much time together so why are they fighting? Hermione was fighting a losing battle with herself.
Just as her eyes started to sting, she heard Lily bounce into the room. Hermione stifled a groan and buried her face deeper into the pillow.
"Jasmine?" She heard Lily's voice next to her and Hermione gripped her pillow tighter.
She felt Lily tug at her blanket and Hermione hissed, "Go away Lily, I'm trying to sleep!"
As Hermione tried to pull her duvet back up, she heard a faint murmur and a giggle being stifled by a hand. Hermione grimaced and shot her head up, craning it around to see Lily and a girl with black hair standing over her bed, both were grinning delightedly.
"Jasmine," The girl with the black hair let go of the edge of Hermione's duvet and clapped her hands together excitedly. "I don't believe we've met."
Hermione squinted in the sunlight to see her face properly. The girl had a pale, love-heart shaped face with large, clear blue eyes wide with excitement. Her black hair was tied in a sleek pony-tail with a red ribbon and she looked like the perfect impression of a school girl. After not recognizing the girl standing next to Lily, Hermione sat up properly and shielded her eyes once more.
"No I don't believe we have but you seem to know my name," Hermione finally replied, squinting again in the sunlight.
The black haired girl grinned again. "Lily has told me all about you. I'm Ghita Bagman."
"Well isn't that a lovely name," Hermione exclaimed, staring at the fascinating girl. "You look so… English. I would've never have guessed that name."
Ghita chuckled. "No one ever does. My father is Greek but my mother is English. They met while she was traveling in Greece," Ghita continued as she added a shrug, "I'm a bit of both."
"A mix breed," Lily added, laughing along.
"You wouldn't be related to Ludo Bagman then?"
Ghita grinned widely. "He is my older brother. Finished at Hogwarts a couple of years ago and is now playing Beater for Puddlemere United," somehow, the grin widened further. "Oh he told me that the offered him Beater for Wimbourne Wasps, isn't that delightful?"
Lily gasped. "You didn't tell me that Ghit."
"They offered it to him a couple of days ago," her grin faltered as she looked to Hermione. "Do you know Quidditch?"
Hermione opened her mouth to answer but Lily cut her off. "Of course she does. She's from France not under a rock." Lily said.
"You're from France?"
Hermione smiled a small smile. "Yes. I transferred here with my parents."
"I've been to France!" Ghita exclaimed. "Which part?"
Hermione quickly thought back to when she had traveled with her parents, experiencing all the tastes and sites of everything France had to offer. At the thought of her parents, her eyes stung and Hermione quickly rubbed her eyes. She refused to cry, not in front of anyone. "From Dijon," Hermione muttered.
Ghita's eyes were sparkling in amazement. "We traveled to Lyon, which is close to Dijon I guess, isn't it just lovely. I thought I might've fallen in love with it."
Hermione laughed. "Yes it is beautiful but my mother and father wanted to come back to my country of birth, a proper English upbringing they would often laugh."
"So that's why you don't have an accent Jasmine. I've always wondered." Lily added in.
With a laugh, Hermione threw back her duvet and swung out of bed. She walked over to the bathroom and stood in the doorway. "You needn't wait for me," and she swung the door shut.
Ghita and Lily exchanged looks. "She seems lovely," Ghita finally said after a minute or two. The shower finally turned on and Lily sighed, sitting down on Hermione's empty bed.
"She is, I just think there are a lot of things she's not saying."
Ghita sat down next to her friend on the bed. "What do you mean?"
"Well, when she first arrived, she was delightful, full of spark. But then she started to study in the Library a lot. She would stay there all afternoon and someone would have to drag her out for dinner or to sleep," as she spoke, Lily frowned. "Then, a couple of weeks earlier, we were at Hogsmeade, Remus and I escaped the clutched of James and were walking to the bookstore. We saw Jasmine crying in Sirius' arms. Since then, she's been a walking corpse." Lily finished with one final sigh.
"Maybe she misses home or, like you said, it could be something else," Ghita suggested, looking at Lily sadly. "If she doesn't tell you, she won't. You can't force a confession from her, but what do I know, she may just need a little time to adjust."
"She's had nearly two months."
Ghita shook her head. "When people are in a delicate position, they tend to need time, however long it is."
"You're right; I just wish I could help her." Lily told her friend regretfully.
"You're not a miracle worker Lily, you just need to relax and do the best you can do." Ghita gave her a smile. "And for you, that's a lot."
Lily chuckled just as the bathroom door opened. Hermione emerged whilst toweling her hair dry. She looked to the girls and frowned. "You didn't need to wait for me."
Ghita smiled. "We wanted to escort you to breakfast my dear."
Hermione narrowed her eyes at Ghita and then to Lily. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Lily stood up, her face a perfect picture of innocence. "We just told the marauders that we would escort you to breakfast. They seemed to be worried about you."
"Great." Hermione mumbled and fumbled with her wand. She stuck it in her pocket and turned back to Lily. "Ok."
Fifteen minutes later, the girls' stepped off of the last step and steered Hermione through the Entrance Hall, away from the Great Hall and to the giant oak front doors. Hermione shot them a puzzled look as the doors creaked open and they stepped onto the dewy ground. The sun, which had nastily woken Hermione up not to long ago, was now covered by dark clouds, blocking out the warm sunshine.
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked them cautiously as they continued to steer her down the grounds.
The girls' continued their silence and their paces became faster. As they went further downhill, a small hut came into few. Hermione's heart stopped for a few seconds but then she remembered to breath. The hut looked exactly as it had the last time she had saw it. Smoke was emerging from the chimney and the flower patches out the front made the house seem just as comfortable as she had remembered it to be.
"Have you been down here yet?"
Hermione refrained from smiling. "I haven't Ghita. It seems that I haven't had time to explore." Hermione gestured around and then to the hut. "It's lovely."
Lily grinned. "Hagrid said he would be delighted to see us on Halloween. He said-"
"An' wha' took yeh so long?" Hagrid's voice boomed from the now open door. "Thought yeh forgot where I lived Lily," he said and a grin spread across his huge face as he looked to Hermione. "Yeh mus' be Jasmine."
Hermione nodded and grinned. "You must be Hagrid."
Hagrid's chest puffed out in pride. "So yeh kno' 'bout me…"
"A dashing man like you, who wouldn't?"
A faint blush crept over his bulging cheeks. "Yeh flatter me too much," he laughed and looked to the sky, almost immediately ushering them inside. "It's goin' to rain."
Once they were inside the warm hut, Hermione frowned. The marauders were sitting around the table, hot mugs in their hands and all donning the same smile. So this was their plan, to get her to talk to them. Obviously they had noticed how she was avoiding them as much as she could, if only they knew why. If they did, they would be running for the hills, calling her a liar and a fool. They would never believe that she was from the future.
Hermione sighed and sat down in the seat nearest to the door, which happened to be next to Sirius. As Hagrid handed her a steaming mug, Sirius winked at her and leaned over. "We thought you might like to meet Hagrid."
She raised an eyebrow calmly. "We?"
"All of us. That's what people do for their friends." He whispered before leaning back and taking a sip from his mug.
Hermione mimicked him and took a sip of her mug. The lovely hot chocolate ran through her senses, filling her with warmth. She shut her eyes and sighed in content. When she opened them, Sirius was staring at her and Hermione shifted uncomfortably.
"What?"
He continued staring. "What?"
"Why are you staring at me?"
Sirius smiled lazily. "The look on your face when you drank the hot chocolate, like Christmas had come early," he took a sip of his then turned back to her. "You should drink it more often." And then he turned over to James to talk to him, leaving Hermione speechless.
Hours passed and everyone lounged lazily in their chairs, reluctant to leave the warmth. After only 10 minutes inside the hut, the rain had decided to fall, spluttering against the window with much needed force. Hagrid had told them that they would be frozen to the bone if they had tried to leave.
But finally, the rain had lightened. The sky was becoming darker, meaning that the day was ending. Hagrid stood and clapped his hands, making the others jump. "I think it's 'ime for yeh all to ge' to the feast." He told them half-heartedly.
They trudged through the mud, light rain drops splattering against their clothing as they walked to the castle. Hagrid opened the oak doors for them and they walked through the entrance hall and into the Great Hall.
It was decorated magnificently. Pumpkins hung in the air and the ceiling was dark and swirling. Bats flew around the room, making people duck their heads randomly. The tables were not yet laden with food but everyone was already seated.
Hermione followed the others and sat down quickly. Once they were seated, Dumbledore stood from his seat and glanced around the room.
"Do tuck in," his voice boomed through the hall, interrupted by the sound of clanking from the many knives and forks.
Hermione listened throughout the whole meal, deciding it was easier than trying to talk with a mouth full of food. She listened as the marauders' discussed future pranks, earning icy looks from Lily.
"You're head boy, James!" She exclaimed. "You need to set an example."
"All the more reason to prank Lily dear," he laughed and flashed the red head a charming smile, which only infuriated her more.
Hermione then listened to the endless Quidditch talk, ending only when Dumbledore had stood and announced it was time for bed. Hermione walked out with them and sided up between Sirius and James.
"I'm surprised."
"About what? That we got you to talk to us?" James asked her.
Hermione shook her head. "No not that. There was actually nothing that went wrong at the Halloween Feast. From all I've heard, it seems you are losing your touch." She let out a small laugh and walked ahead of them to talk to Lily.
Sirius dropped his mouth at James. "Do think she's right. Why didn't we prank?"
James shrugged. "We need to have a 'bang' prank."
"How do you propose we do that?" Remus added in.
"We'll think of something." James shrugged again. "But at least we now have Jasmine talking to us. I knew taking her to see Hagrid was good idea, the big guy can cheer anybody up."
"That was my idea!"
"Was not Sirius!"
Hermione stopped listening to them and stepped though the portrait. She said quick good nights to the girls' and quickly walked up the stairs, avoiding saying good nights to the boys'. They had tricked her today, making her forget about what she was unhappy about.
"Damn them!" Hermione muttered as she collapsed on her bed. She used all her strength to sit up and yank her curtains shut, only to collapse back into her pillows.
But as much as Hermione wanted to disagree with what the marauders had done, Hermione was thankful inside. They were slowly becoming to know her and that scared her the most. She didn't want to keep her knowledge to herself anymore. After seeing those young and friendly faces of Harry's parents, Hermione could not bare to keep the knowledge of them being murdered to herself. Or Sirius being trapped in Azkaban for a crime he did not commit. Or Remus having to waste away because he was a werewolf and no one would give him a job.
But after having thought this, the tears did not come as they would have. For once, in nearly two months, Hermione fell into a dream that didn't consist of her red haired friend staring at her with life-less emerald eyes.
This is the first chapter I have written that has taken me more than two sittings to write. I actually researched the name and important background of her.
IMPORTANT: Ghita is an important character. Remember her, because she will come into the story a lot more for a very important reason. She is very important.
Do review, I love to hear feedback.
