Hermione started to walk towards the Gryffindor tables, then remembered her sister had been sorted to a different house.
"Come on, Eileen," she said, "I'm sure they'll understand if you sit with me and the Gryffindors this one time."
"Okay," said Eileen, her cheeks flushed with glee.
"I'm sorry," Hermione twisted a lock of wavy chestnut hair between her fingers.
"About what?"
"We're in different houses. And you know," Hermione gave a small grin, "you're in Slytherin. They've got a reputation for being rather...slimy."
Eileen stopped walking, so Hermione followed suit. "Excuse me?"
Hermione grimaced. "Um..."
"You've got no right to insult my house like that." Eileen snapped icily. "I bet you didn't realize that I was actually hoping to be in Slytherin. That or Ravenclaw. See, there's really no other options that suit me. The Hufflepuffs are lame, and the Gryffindors are arrogant. Yeah, arrogant. Don't look at me that way, you know it's true. The Gryffindors seem to think that all other students wish that they too could be in that house. Ha! I've just got to tell you something here and now, sissy dearest. That's bull!"
Hermione glared. "Oh, if you're too great to sit with me and my egomaniacal friends, you're more than welcome to--"
"Shush," Eileen smiled, her voice suddenly taking on a lighter tone. "Let's not worry about house differences now. We're still sisters and that's all that matters. So... are we going or not? I still want to meet those two guys Dad and Mum say you talk about all the time. Ron and Harry."
"All right, then," sighed Hermione, feeling utterly confused and trying not to show it. Her heart was melting at the kind words, but her mind was wary. Her sister was so hard to understand. Just when she thought she knew how to deal with Eileen, the girl would throw a curve ball at her. Eileen seemed to have two entirely different personalities, which she wielded at will, calculated to suit whatever situation she happened to be in.
Upon reaching their destination, Eileen plopped herself down into the seat that was being saved for Hermione. "Hey, people," she greeted.
"You must be Eileen...obviously," Ron felt vaguely stupid, but continued on. "I'm Ron, and the fellow next to me is Harry. Good to meet you. Hermione's told us...er...absolutely nothing about you."
Eileen cracked up. Her laughter was so infectiously bubbly that Ron joined in, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out what she found so funny. Even Hermione couldn't help but smile.
Only Harry showed little intrest in the new student. He gave her a brief wave, then turned to speak to Hermione. "Great to see you, Herm," He stood up and moved closer to her, so he could whisper in her ear. "It's a shame she didn't make Gryfiddor,"
Eileen twirled about gracefully on her chair. She smiled playfully, looking right into his eyes. "Harry, darling! You may be The Boy Who Lived, but you sure don't know how to whisper!"
Harry looked down at the ground, breaking the eye contact with Eileen. Somehow, it made him feel ill. "I thought she lived in the muggle world? How does she know who I am?" Harry said, hoping Hermione would have a logical explanation, like she always did.
"She probably either read about it, or my parents told her. It's not that remarkable." Hermione answered, sounding annoyed.
"Yeah," Eileen chimed in. "you don't have to know Voldemort personally to know what's going on around here."
Everyone in earshot shuddered, and fell silent "It's You-Know-Who," Ron corrected, finally.
"Or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Hermione agreed.
"Oh, come on," Harry said bitterly, "SHE couldn't have known. She hasn't experienced what he's done to to society, to families here,"Heads nodded.
Harry worked up the courage to look at Eileen. Her soft pink lips were formed into a remorseful pout. But her eyes... they had a sardonic glint in them. They were staring right at him, waiting to see what he would do. Challenging him.
"She also hasn't experienced the horror of battling with him face to face. I have. It was last summer--"
"I...uh, have to go to the bathroom." Hermione dashed out of the dining hall.
She had no desire to hear the story of how Harry had defeated Voldemort. Again. How many times had she heard the same old thing? The whole situation made her feel guilty, for not being there. She and Ron had been with him that time, the last time. They were the three musketeers, after all. Hermione smiled. 'We used to...' , she thought, then frowned again. Past tense. After what happened last summer they couldn't be the three musketeers anymore. They never would be again.
A series of bad events had found Hermione under the Imperius Curse, and Ron in a veritable Azkaban of a dungeon, complete with dementors. Harry had to face his adversary by himself. Nothing she or Ron had ever told him since then could convince him that they had not abandoned him that day. 'Anyone in her right mind would have left him,' Hermione thought, 'But we loved Harry, me and Ron. We would never have abandoned him by choice. We'd have gone down with him, with no second thoughts.'
It didn't work that way. And Harry was alone. Very alone. It eventually came to be just him and Voldemort--plus a legion of his followers. Together, the Dark Lord and his servants raised their wands, and put a powerful curse on Harry. It was not the killing curse. The unfortunate who found himself under the curse would suffer a fate far worse than death. In a burst of ingenuity, Harry reflected the curse at Voldemort, who disintegrated, presumably dead. Or as dead as he could be. His presence could no longer be detected. Without their master, the Dark Forces crumbled. Harry had saved the day again. This time, the wizarding world was convinced it was for good.
Without impending danger at his back, Hermione thought the neverending stream of glory he received was starting to go to his head. Or was it? He was showing genuine unease around her sister. Hermione grinned. Maybe his ability to sense evil was still intact after all.
'In all seriousness,' Hermione murmured to herself, 'what if there is something going on?'
She immediately dismissed the thought. 'His reputation is probably losing its credibility by now,' she thought, rather cynically. 'Perhaps he wants to stir something up around my sister to beef it up'. As she reentered the dining hall, an ironic, rather Eileenish smile spread across her face. 'Nobody can get to Eileen. Not even Harry Potter.'
Hermione hoped her sister would give Harry the tongue lashing he deserved.
As she arrived, Ron and Eileen were engaged in animated conversation. Ever so often the two would break down into fits of giggles. The other people in the area were obviously trying to contain themselves from laughing as well, although not very successfully. Hermione noticed, not suprisingly, that Harry seemed decidedly unamused.
"C'mon Eileen, " Hermione scolded, "leave 'im alone."
"Ugh," Eileen pouted theatrically, "You Griffies absolutely cannot take a joke! I'm going off to socialize with my own kind."
She beamed. "'Bye Herm. Buh-bye Ron." She started to walk off, then remembered whom she'd forgotten.
"See you around, Potter." With that, she was gone.
Still waving in the direction where Eileen had gone, Ron turned to Hermione. "Your sister is absolutely adorable! So sweet and..." He started to chuckle. "hilarious! I wonder why that hat put her in the same category as it does creeps like Crabbe and Goyle."
"Oh, believe me, she'll fit in just fine!" growled Harry.
"You've got to admit...it WAS funny. You know it was."
"What was it Ron?" whined Hermione. She hated being the last to know these sort of things.
"Don't say a word," said Harry through his teeth.
Hermione put an arm around Harry's shoulder."If it makes you feel any better, I'm not surprised she's in Slytherin either. When we're alone she can be a real witch with a capital 'B', if you know what I'm saying."
"She...seems familiar. And not the good kind of familiar either."
Hermione sighed. He was Harry. Harry the honest and true. He wasn't making it up, she decided, at least not conciously. How could she have thought such a thing? All the same, Hermione was convinced that there was nothing wrong with her sister. At least nothing seriously wrong. "Aw, just cause she was ripping on you doesn't mean she's evil, Harry. Since You-Know-Who was defeated, there's not going to be many dark workings around here for a while."
"Maybe, Hermione, maybe," For lack of anything else to say, he declared. "Did you hear the way she called me Potter? She sounded just like Malfoy!"
Hermione shrugged, and moved down the table to chat with Lavender and Paverati. Ron, the only one of the so-called three musketeers to have noticed the food had appeared, was somehow managing to shovel his dinner into his mouth, and have a conversation with Seamus at the same time.
Though surrounded by people, Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, found himself alone, once more.
A/N: If you are reading this... I LOVE YOU! Thanks for reading , please review. So...whaddaya think? Comments? Suggestions? More on Harry's solo defeat of Voldemort, and the reasons for the spiritual breakup of the "Three Musketeers" in chapters to come. Thanks to everyone who replied to my desperate pleas for a beta reader...I took the only the first two but I love you all! Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed already....I love you as well! I love the world right now for some reason! **chuckles insanely** Oh, and it's great to know that other people listen to old music as well! If only everybody would just join hands and sing "All You Need Is Love" in unison ! *Sigh* The world would be a better place...... :)
~Eleanor
"Come on, Eileen," she said, "I'm sure they'll understand if you sit with me and the Gryffindors this one time."
"Okay," said Eileen, her cheeks flushed with glee.
"I'm sorry," Hermione twisted a lock of wavy chestnut hair between her fingers.
"About what?"
"We're in different houses. And you know," Hermione gave a small grin, "you're in Slytherin. They've got a reputation for being rather...slimy."
Eileen stopped walking, so Hermione followed suit. "Excuse me?"
Hermione grimaced. "Um..."
"You've got no right to insult my house like that." Eileen snapped icily. "I bet you didn't realize that I was actually hoping to be in Slytherin. That or Ravenclaw. See, there's really no other options that suit me. The Hufflepuffs are lame, and the Gryffindors are arrogant. Yeah, arrogant. Don't look at me that way, you know it's true. The Gryffindors seem to think that all other students wish that they too could be in that house. Ha! I've just got to tell you something here and now, sissy dearest. That's bull!"
Hermione glared. "Oh, if you're too great to sit with me and my egomaniacal friends, you're more than welcome to--"
"Shush," Eileen smiled, her voice suddenly taking on a lighter tone. "Let's not worry about house differences now. We're still sisters and that's all that matters. So... are we going or not? I still want to meet those two guys Dad and Mum say you talk about all the time. Ron and Harry."
"All right, then," sighed Hermione, feeling utterly confused and trying not to show it. Her heart was melting at the kind words, but her mind was wary. Her sister was so hard to understand. Just when she thought she knew how to deal with Eileen, the girl would throw a curve ball at her. Eileen seemed to have two entirely different personalities, which she wielded at will, calculated to suit whatever situation she happened to be in.
Upon reaching their destination, Eileen plopped herself down into the seat that was being saved for Hermione. "Hey, people," she greeted.
"You must be Eileen...obviously," Ron felt vaguely stupid, but continued on. "I'm Ron, and the fellow next to me is Harry. Good to meet you. Hermione's told us...er...absolutely nothing about you."
Eileen cracked up. Her laughter was so infectiously bubbly that Ron joined in, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out what she found so funny. Even Hermione couldn't help but smile.
Only Harry showed little intrest in the new student. He gave her a brief wave, then turned to speak to Hermione. "Great to see you, Herm," He stood up and moved closer to her, so he could whisper in her ear. "It's a shame she didn't make Gryfiddor,"
Eileen twirled about gracefully on her chair. She smiled playfully, looking right into his eyes. "Harry, darling! You may be The Boy Who Lived, but you sure don't know how to whisper!"
Harry looked down at the ground, breaking the eye contact with Eileen. Somehow, it made him feel ill. "I thought she lived in the muggle world? How does she know who I am?" Harry said, hoping Hermione would have a logical explanation, like she always did.
"She probably either read about it, or my parents told her. It's not that remarkable." Hermione answered, sounding annoyed.
"Yeah," Eileen chimed in. "you don't have to know Voldemort personally to know what's going on around here."
Everyone in earshot shuddered, and fell silent "It's You-Know-Who," Ron corrected, finally.
"Or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Hermione agreed.
"Oh, come on," Harry said bitterly, "SHE couldn't have known. She hasn't experienced what he's done to to society, to families here,"Heads nodded.
Harry worked up the courage to look at Eileen. Her soft pink lips were formed into a remorseful pout. But her eyes... they had a sardonic glint in them. They were staring right at him, waiting to see what he would do. Challenging him.
"She also hasn't experienced the horror of battling with him face to face. I have. It was last summer--"
"I...uh, have to go to the bathroom." Hermione dashed out of the dining hall.
She had no desire to hear the story of how Harry had defeated Voldemort. Again. How many times had she heard the same old thing? The whole situation made her feel guilty, for not being there. She and Ron had been with him that time, the last time. They were the three musketeers, after all. Hermione smiled. 'We used to...' , she thought, then frowned again. Past tense. After what happened last summer they couldn't be the three musketeers anymore. They never would be again.
A series of bad events had found Hermione under the Imperius Curse, and Ron in a veritable Azkaban of a dungeon, complete with dementors. Harry had to face his adversary by himself. Nothing she or Ron had ever told him since then could convince him that they had not abandoned him that day. 'Anyone in her right mind would have left him,' Hermione thought, 'But we loved Harry, me and Ron. We would never have abandoned him by choice. We'd have gone down with him, with no second thoughts.'
It didn't work that way. And Harry was alone. Very alone. It eventually came to be just him and Voldemort--plus a legion of his followers. Together, the Dark Lord and his servants raised their wands, and put a powerful curse on Harry. It was not the killing curse. The unfortunate who found himself under the curse would suffer a fate far worse than death. In a burst of ingenuity, Harry reflected the curse at Voldemort, who disintegrated, presumably dead. Or as dead as he could be. His presence could no longer be detected. Without their master, the Dark Forces crumbled. Harry had saved the day again. This time, the wizarding world was convinced it was for good.
Without impending danger at his back, Hermione thought the neverending stream of glory he received was starting to go to his head. Or was it? He was showing genuine unease around her sister. Hermione grinned. Maybe his ability to sense evil was still intact after all.
'In all seriousness,' Hermione murmured to herself, 'what if there is something going on?'
She immediately dismissed the thought. 'His reputation is probably losing its credibility by now,' she thought, rather cynically. 'Perhaps he wants to stir something up around my sister to beef it up'. As she reentered the dining hall, an ironic, rather Eileenish smile spread across her face. 'Nobody can get to Eileen. Not even Harry Potter.'
Hermione hoped her sister would give Harry the tongue lashing he deserved.
As she arrived, Ron and Eileen were engaged in animated conversation. Ever so often the two would break down into fits of giggles. The other people in the area were obviously trying to contain themselves from laughing as well, although not very successfully. Hermione noticed, not suprisingly, that Harry seemed decidedly unamused.
"C'mon Eileen, " Hermione scolded, "leave 'im alone."
"Ugh," Eileen pouted theatrically, "You Griffies absolutely cannot take a joke! I'm going off to socialize with my own kind."
She beamed. "'Bye Herm. Buh-bye Ron." She started to walk off, then remembered whom she'd forgotten.
"See you around, Potter." With that, she was gone.
Still waving in the direction where Eileen had gone, Ron turned to Hermione. "Your sister is absolutely adorable! So sweet and..." He started to chuckle. "hilarious! I wonder why that hat put her in the same category as it does creeps like Crabbe and Goyle."
"Oh, believe me, she'll fit in just fine!" growled Harry.
"You've got to admit...it WAS funny. You know it was."
"What was it Ron?" whined Hermione. She hated being the last to know these sort of things.
"Don't say a word," said Harry through his teeth.
Hermione put an arm around Harry's shoulder."If it makes you feel any better, I'm not surprised she's in Slytherin either. When we're alone she can be a real witch with a capital 'B', if you know what I'm saying."
"She...seems familiar. And not the good kind of familiar either."
Hermione sighed. He was Harry. Harry the honest and true. He wasn't making it up, she decided, at least not conciously. How could she have thought such a thing? All the same, Hermione was convinced that there was nothing wrong with her sister. At least nothing seriously wrong. "Aw, just cause she was ripping on you doesn't mean she's evil, Harry. Since You-Know-Who was defeated, there's not going to be many dark workings around here for a while."
"Maybe, Hermione, maybe," For lack of anything else to say, he declared. "Did you hear the way she called me Potter? She sounded just like Malfoy!"
Hermione shrugged, and moved down the table to chat with Lavender and Paverati. Ron, the only one of the so-called three musketeers to have noticed the food had appeared, was somehow managing to shovel his dinner into his mouth, and have a conversation with Seamus at the same time.
Though surrounded by people, Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, found himself alone, once more.
A/N: If you are reading this... I LOVE YOU! Thanks for reading , please review. So...whaddaya think? Comments? Suggestions? More on Harry's solo defeat of Voldemort, and the reasons for the spiritual breakup of the "Three Musketeers" in chapters to come. Thanks to everyone who replied to my desperate pleas for a beta reader...I took the only the first two but I love you all! Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed already....I love you as well! I love the world right now for some reason! **chuckles insanely** Oh, and it's great to know that other people listen to old music as well! If only everybody would just join hands and sing "All You Need Is Love" in unison ! *Sigh* The world would be a better place...... :)
~Eleanor