All rights belong to Jk Rowling
Branded Mudblood
The dreadful shrieking of laughter filled the dark, cold and damp room. She lay there; desperately attempting to stifle her pain filled sobs, aware that any more sign of weakness would give Bellatrix even more pleasure at the pitiful sight before her.
She wished herself away from her current horror but her mind betrayed her. Instead, other sights flashed before her closed eyes, namely the last few weeks on the run. The lonely nights with just Harry and her memories of arguing with Ron to accompany her already troubled mind. It had all ended with the chase through the forest, and imminent capture by Scabior the snatcher; the first man whose eyes roved her with a look that had been otherwise foreign to her, though there was no mistaking his intentions. His eyes lingered in her mind. But most of all the screams and cries of the battlefield filled her. No one could imagine the confusion and rapidity of a war, how quickly her friends fell and how often she was blinded by the fluorescent flash of green light.
Hermione awoke with the etched scar on her arm burning. Mudblood.
She sighed a breath of relief that only a reality away from the one in her past could bring. Checking the clock on her bedside table she read blearily, 8:15. Once upon a time that hour had been part of her normal everyday life, however it appeared now extremely early after the long, relaxing summer that all the Hogwarts students had been entitled to after their, rather tumultuous last year. Indeed the last year or two had seen Hermione and her closest friends leave Hogwarts altogether to search for Horcruxes, and now was the first day of term. A fresh start after everything. Hermione could finish her NEWTS and life could go on normally. Life would go as she had always expected. This thought brought a smile to Hermione's face. Normality. It was long overdue.
Waving aside her tiredness, she jumped out of bed with a spring in her step and started her morning routine. A long and hot shower to wake her up was first on her list. It had been one of the few comforts she had missed those few months on the run and now she indulged in as many as she could, even dialling up her beauty routine with new lotions and potions to smooth her once frizzy hair into caramel curls and smooth her now tan skin. All these comforts she had always had and never taken advantage of she mused. Tying a robe around her body and hair she returned to her room and headed for her black and red wizarding robes. She'd had to have new ones made in Diagon Alley this year as she was too tall and had outgrown her sixth year robes. Strange how much had changed since first year. Hermione stared past her robes towards the floor length mirror that hung opposite. The Hermione staring back was much changed in more ways than one. It was not too much to say it was a complete transformation. Internally Hermione was thinking just this and glanced down at the red ugly scar on her arm, the heat from the shower water having made it more garish than usual. It was a constant reminder that she would likely never be the same. Looking back in the mirror Hermione reviewed her appearance. Her hair still wet, hung in loose curls over her shoulders and having grown awfully quickly this summer, reached mid-way down her back, the longest it had ever been. Her skin too was clear and tanned after a holiday in Australia with her parents and her other facial features pretty and not out of proportion as she had found when she was younger. Her teeth, shrunken in fourth year were much smaller thanks to Madam Pomfrey discreetly allowing them to shrink to a normal size. She was all too aware that her body had changed greatly since last year, where the war had meant food had been scarce and rationed at that. Since then Hermione had eaten a better diet and having reunited with her parents, there had been many reasons to celebrate and indulge. This had inevitably seen her gain curves, with luck in all the right places, and with the tan to go with it she had been very confident sporting a bikini this summer.
All that aside she was still the same old bookworm, the same old know-it-all and what's more she had received a letter a few weeks past to inform her she was to become head girl at Hogwarts. A position she had dreamt about in her early years, but one she had to cast aside when leaving to search for the Horcruxes. It seemed all too good to be true.
Performing a quick spell to dry her hair, Hermione then proceeded to apply a light and natural base of foundation, bronzing her face to add more dimension and then a light lip tint and some mascara. With her makeup complete, Hermione dressed in normal muggle clothes, so as to avoid suspicion walking around London in wizarding robes. Doning white wash denim shorts, a t-shirt and black biker boots, Hermione studied her incognito image with a smile. She had developed her own style this last summer, having had time to get to know herself beyond the wizarding world and it felt good to express herself.
Now that she was ready to go, she had a few remaining books to force into her trunk, overflowing as it already was. As if reading her mind, Hermione's dad knocked curtly on her bedroom door, "you ready to go yet Mione?" he asked opening the door slightly. She smiled reassuringly at him as she sat casually on her trunk, forcing the latch on, "Yes, all ready" she replied, slightly breathless.
The nerves had started once she sat in the back of her parent's car and they began the short journey from Surrey to King's Cross station. Unusually quiet in the back, Hermione sat watching with a smile her mother and father nattering in the front seats. To them it was like nothing had ever changed, the obliviate charm she had cast on them was easily undone after the war. Hermione soon turned her head and took to staring aimlessly out the car window, not really taking anything in, her mind already wandering. What would it be like seeing everyone again? She thought. Since Australia she had only seen Harry and Ron a handful of times during the summer, but had wrote to them incessantly. She'd even managed to get them on the phone a few times, although that appeared to be somewhat a bigger task than she realised with Ron and his incapability with any muggle device. Apart from this she hadn't seen any of the remaining Hogwarts bunch since the war, many she knew had not been able to move on so easily, all of them holding their own personal scars; visible or not.
Before she knew it they'd arrived at King's Cross. Stepping out of the car she noted how busy the station was, nothing unusual for a Friday morning. Caught up in the bustle and her own thoughts, Hermione didn't take any notice of where she was going and bumped straight into a hard body. "Careful dear!" called her mother who was trailing behind with the luggage trolley, which she'd insisted on pushing. Hermione looked up to see who she'd knocked into and began to apologise, "sorry I wasn't looking-" she began but cut off sharply as she saw the pair of striking silver eyes and white blonde hair. She'd almost forgotten about him. "Clumsy as ever Granger…" came the smooth reply. Before she had even time to retort he had turned his back on her and headed towards the barrier of platform nine and three quarters. Draco Malfoy had returned.