Hermione took just two months after the fall in the room to master the skill of walking. She enjoyed walking around the castle, with a nurse behind her the whole time. Joanna had initially trailed after her for one week, before her duties caught up with her. She had delegated a woman of safe repute to be her nurse, tasking her with ensuring Hermione's safety.
The nurse guided her path, calling out the names of the different parts of the castle and explaining to her about what she could find there. Hermione was most excited when she saw the library. The smell of the books and manuscripts had been positively alluring. The Maester who managed the library had smiled when she pressed her face to an old book and laughed giddily.
She knew that she had to wait for her lessons to start, so that she had an excuse to spend her time in there. She had also seen the other areas of the castle, the stables, the giant halls, the storerooms, the barracks, the courtyards and the balconies. The Golden Gallery would have made the Malfoys sit up and take note of the opulence, with even the walls appearing to be gilded.
She was yet to go into the mines, where she was told that gold was extracted. She visited the bowels of the Rock instead, and was delighted to find real lions living there. She visited the lion enclosure often with the nurse and laughed at the antics of the animals.
The one place she hated was the Hall of Heroes. Containing the mortal remains of the Lannisters who died valiantly, it had an eerie atmosphere, with armour of the fallen Lannisters left hanging from corner to corner for the world to see. Hermione resolved never to visit that place again.
When she was nearly two years old, she tried her hardest to convince Joanna for her to start her lessons, partly inspired by watching Cersei and Jaime learning the alphabets with the Maester. Joanna had not been in favour of the idea, as she felt that the age of four was the most ideal for her to start her lessons.
Hermione had been extremely disappointed that day. She never let go of any opportunity to badger Joanna about her learning after that day. Each request was turned down, with Joanna asking her to enjoy and play, instead of worrying about her letters.
Hermione realised that Joanna was unaware of the absence of playmates for her. She had initially trailed hopefully behind Cersei and Jaime, only for the two to shun her. She felt miserable the first time Cersei pushed her away. Jaime laughed at her misfortune and made rude jokes about her to his friend and cousin, Addam Marbrand.
Addam had not appreciated Jaime's lame attempts at humour. He reached out to her and helped her back on to her feet. Jaime had not been happy with his actions and dragged him away before Hermione could thank him for the help.
She decided to lock herself away in her room and practise using magic instead. She knew that she didn't have a wand, which made her task difficult. She had read every book the restricted section had to offer, partly in thanks to a pass she talked Harry into obtaining from Slughorn. She knew now what all the texts implied, that wandless magic required great skill and it was more difficult to channel her magic into potent and accurate spells in the absence of her trusty vine wood wand with the dragon heartstring core.
She placed a feather on her bed and backed away. She raised her hand towards the feather, allowing her fingers to trace the path her wand usually made. "Wingardium Leviosa", she tried. The feather hadn't moved an inch.
She tried her hardest to quell her disappointment. She couldn't expect to nail her first wandless spell in an unfamiliar world. It was completely unreasonable for her to think of succeeding in her efforts in the immediate future.
Yet, she remembered her boggart, of Professor McGonagall informing her that she failed in her exams. The expression of disappointment in the stern woman's face nearly had her sobbing every single time she faced a boggart.
She felt like a failure for the first time. She had no answers for her questions, no means for finding a way out. And most importantly, no friends.
She missed Harry and Ron fiercely. She also missed the others, Ginny, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Arthur, Molly, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Fred, George, Remus, Tonks, Luna, Neville, the list was endless.
Most importantly, she missed her muggle parents. They were living in Australia, as Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins. It had taken her a great amount of determination to continue with her plan of sending them away. She had no choice, the death eaters would have come after her parents in order to target her.
But she couldn't ignore the hollow feeling inside her, the one that reminded her that she was painfully alone in this world.
Hermione found it hard to stifle her tears. She kneeled down by the edge of the bed and sobbed profusely. Her nurse was alerted to her sobs and came running in to console her. "I want mother", she whispered to her. She had meant her British mother, but the nurse brought her to Joanna instead.
She hugged Joanna and let her tears flow freely. Joanna was perturbed, as she held her and whispered words of encouragement in her ear. "It is alright, my sweet. You are a lioness. Be bold", she said. "A lioness has a pride. I don't have one", she wailed.
"You do, my sweet babe. You have me, your father, your uncles, your aunt, Jaime and Cersei".
"No, not Jaime and Cersei. They don't like me", she said, instead of naming each person from Britain she missed.
"They do, my lovely girl. Give it some time. You will see for yourself that they do love you, just as much as I do", Joanna's tone was reassuring.
Hermione knew that Joanna was lying. The twins were mostly indifferent to her presence, rejecting the occasional attempt she made to integrate herself in their company. But she forced herself to nod for the sake of the poor woman.
Hermione couldn't sleep that night. She stared at the ceiling for a long time, wishing for sleep to take her to a world where she would be much happier. Yet, she realised that she was fated to stay awake in her current world instead.
She threw off her bedcovers and slinked into the corridor. There were no servants around when she grabbed a small torch. She wanted to walk around for a while before she made another attempt to sleep.
She was surprised to see her two golden haired siblings making a dash to the stairs that led to the lion enclosure. Jaime held the torch out in front of him and Cersei was hurriedly whispering instructions to him.
Her mind made up, Hermione followed the two to the bowels of the Rock, curious to know what they wanted to do in the middle of the night. She was alarmed to see Jaime dropping the torch on a larger lamp, while Cersei pulled out the bolts to open the doors of the cage.
She let out a frightened gasp, that did not go unnoticed. "Who do we have here?", Jaime asked sweetly, though his eyes were unwelcoming. Cersei flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Don't care about her, sweet brother. We are here for the lions".
If Cersei had attended Hogwarts, the sorting hat would have made a strong case for Gryffindor. Aged just four, she swaggered to the nearest lioness and boldly started petting her nose. Jaime looked at her in wonder.
Neither Jaime nor Cersei took note of the menacing lion that slowly walked towards Cersei. Hermione bolted into the lion cage immediately and put herself between Cersei and the lion. She could hear Cersei's scream from behind her, as the lioness she was petting moved towards the lion. She waved her torch in the lion's face while she screamed "No, go away!", mustering all the willpower she had in her. She couldn't allow Cersei to be hurt by the lions. She didn't want to be a failure again.
For a moment, Hermione could feel a powerful burst of some unknown feeling from her. She couldn't explain what she experienced, but she saw both animals' eyes glaze over. The huge cats lumbered to the other end of the room, as if drawn by a mysterious command.
Hermione felt a hand tugging at the back of her collar. She turned around to see Jaime yanking her and Cersei out of the cage. Neither girl said a word when Jaime reached for the bolts and locked the cage.
"Are you alright?", Hermione asked Cersei, breaking the spell of silence. Cersei looked like an apparition had spooked her. Jaime knelt down by her side after he had secured the door of the cage, looking wonderstruck. "What you did back there… you ordered the lions to go away, and they obeyed you! That was the best thing I have ever seen!"
Cersei recovered from her shock and surprised Hermione by moving in for a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you", she whispered fiercely in her ear. Hermione gratefully leaned into the hug.
Hermione certainly missed Harry and Ron, but she had two new friends after that incident. Cersei and Jaime welcomed her into their company, as the three of them wandered around the Rock and played with each other, laughing merrily at each other's antics.
Joanna often smiled at her three children getting along well. Hermione smiled back at her, remembering her words of how the twins just needed time. It was truly spoke, for Jaime, Hermione and Cersei were now the members of the new golden trio, complete with the red and gold banner that depicted a roaring lion that fluttered in every corner of the castle.