AN:
Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Season 9
Round: Round 3
Team: Puddlemere United
Position: Beater 2
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: Write about someone two-faced.
OPTIONAL PROMPTS:
1. (theme) isolation
2. (quote) "I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other." - Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
3. (word) monster
4. (dialogue) "You're better than this."
Word count: 1400
People always say that love is blind. Hermione had always thought that to be an exaggeration, she always thought that she was too logical to fall in love and not see the reality of the relationship she was in.
This had all come crashing down when, one day, she had surprised a conversation between her then boyfriend, Ron, and best friend Harry.
Flashback
Hermione had just Apparated into Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, she had finished work early and decided to surprise Ron and Harry. Ron had been complaining about never seeing her and her working too much. And Harry was his usual self, always following Ron's lead on everything.
"Harry, you can't imagine what I have to deal with, she's annoying, controlling and doesn't even put out," Ron said, plopping his legs up on the table. Hermione was startled by the words, the words hurt her, they reminded her of an eleven-year old's words that had sent her crying so many years ago.
"She's always been this way, Ron," Harry told him; Hermione hung back listening to the two talking. Harry's response wasn't one she was expecting, wasn't too much to ask to be defended by him once at least.
"She's always been a bloody know-it-all. This is a whole new level mate; I wish I hadn't started dating her. Girls are throwing themselves at me left and right, and I have to pretend in public not to notice! I have needs, you know! Hermione is refusing to even sleep with me or give me a little hand. 'Ron why is the place so dirty! Ron why are your clothes on the ground.' I am a man, I don't clean, she needs to learn her place, she needs to start acting like a good well breed witch and stick to her place. Stuck up, bushy haired bitch." Ron slurred the last words. It was clear to Hermione that the boy was drunk, but the words had cut her deeply. Tears were streaming down her face without her even realizing. She fisted her hands and bit down on her lips as to not make a sound and announce her presence. Hurt was emanating from every cell, years of friendship torn to pieces with just a couple of words.
"You knew what you were getting yourself into, I told you she wouldn't put out easily. Plus, you need to teach her where her place is, she shouldn't be working, her place should be in the house, cleaning it and pleasing you. Look at Ginny, she's the perfect witch, I could have never asked for a better girlfriend." Hearing these words from Harry broke something in her, she had stood by his side no matter what. She had been the only one to never doubt his words, to always stand and defend him. Ron had run off on them multiple times, he had gotten mad and abandoned them more than once. And here was Harry, agreeing with him after everything, Harry who she had sacrificed everything for.
The Boy-Who-Lived had been her first friend and she had cherished and valued that bond. She had loved him more than herself sometimes, and this was how he was repaying her. They weren't her friends; friends wouldn't say these things. They had used her, used her brains. They didn't see her, not really, she wasn't what they wanted her to be, who they wanted her to be like. They were monsters, crueler than any Death Eater.
In that moment she realized that she was alone, that she couldn't remain friends with people who talked about her behind her back this way. She deserved better, she wanted better for herself.
End of Flashback
After the incident — as she had taken to calling it — Hermione apparated to her apartment. Ron liked to say that it was theirs, but in actuality it was hers and hers alone. She had bought it after selling her parents' house. With a flicker of her wand, she had gathered Ron's belonging and had banished them to the Burrow.
She closed her wards immediately after and closed all floo connections to her house. No one would be getting in any time soon. She crumpled to the ground as soon as knew she was safe and let out a gut-wrenching sob. Her emotions were raw, and her pain was unimaginable. Ron had pretended to love her; he had told her that he wanted to build a life with her. But his words had been the complete opposite of those of a person in love. They were cruel and hurtful. From that point on, Ron had equated Bellatrix in her mind, both had hurt her immensely and both had used her and thrown her like trash. They were the epitome of what monsters were.
Days and weeks passed, and Hermione fell more and more into darkness. She was alone, isolated from everyone, she had no one. Harry, Ron, the Weasleys, had become her family, she didn't have anyone else.
The pain that had been slowly consuming her had turned into a numbness. She felt numb, nothing else, her emotions were muted, she had become a living shell.
HGMMGHMM
"Hermione! You need to get out of this place, you can't keep living here on your own." Came the gentle voice of her mentor. After the war, Minerva had taken her under her wing and had helped her deal with the trauma she had undergone.
When the older woman had realized the disappearance of her pupil, she had searched for her day and night. When she had questioned Harry and Ron, the old woman had been shocked by the detachment and the nonchalance the boys had shown. It had been bluntly obvious that they didn't care for Hermione's wellbeing.
When Minerva had finally located her apartment, she had broken down her wards after hours of work and had found her lying on the ground staring into space.
Minerva had been terrified when she saw the emptiness of her usually warm brown eyes and had taken it upon herself to nurse her back to health.
"You're better than this." That had become her mantra, day in and day out she would repeat these words to the girl in the hopes of her actually reacting. She still didn't know what had happened, but she had vowed to make however had hurt her pupil pay. She suspected that the other members of the Golden Trio were behind this change of attitude. That had only been confirmed when she had seen the pictures of Ron partying and kissing different women every night.
That slowly something had started to shift, Hermione started coming out of her shell slowly. Minerva had been so relieved to see the younger woman up and about, she had thrown her arms around her and hugged her for dear life. But something had changed for the young woman, she wasn't the same anymore.
Minerva could see the hurt still present, but another emotion was gradually taking its place.
HGMMHGMM
"Hermione how are you feeling?" asked Minerva apprehensively.
"I'm angry professor, the hurt I was feeling has morphed into rage. What they said, the way they acted, it hurt me so much. I thought they were my friends but in reality, they were using me to further themselves. I can not even think of them without seeing red." Hermione told her.
"In time they will realize what they have lost dear, you deserve far better than what they gave you. You are a brilliant young woman, and you will accomplish many great things."
Hermione starred and her Mentor and smiled, the woman had been there for her and saved her from herself. She had pulled her away from her self-imposed isolation and had talked her down the ledge. She had come to love the older woman and respect her more than anyone else in her life and she had vowed to make her proud.
But before she could do that, she needed to let her rage burn through the people who had wrong her. She needed to make them pay.
An old saying popped into her mind and it rang beautifully with her state of mind.
I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.