The author finds it appropriate to note that this chapter was inspired by a friend's description of a particularly annoying RPG character (slight adjustments and exaggerations were made, of course, though the author finds it scary how close the resemblance still seems). Thank you to that character -to the author's understanding, this is probably the most useful thing you've done yet- we are all enjoying ourselves laughing at you. And, of course thank you to the author's friend, whom the author laughs at also for reasons not pertaining to this fanfic.
~*~*~*~
Hermione's prediction came true, but not quite in the manner that she had envisioned. True she did not sleep the rest of the night, and, true, the night passed with an unusual amount of worry, but something much more pressing occupied her thoughts. She had just changed into her nightgown when the first sign came. Crookshanks, who had not yet recovered from the Dobby incident, was licking himself woundedly in the corner of the room. This, of course, is not actually the first sign, the author just put that sentence in here like that to amuse herself.
The first sign, for real this time, was a knock on the dormitory door. From the way Crookshank's head popped up, (okay, so maybe that sentence was important afterall) Hermione should have known something was amiss, eh, something ELSE. But even though Hermione is very smart, in this fanfic she doesn't learn because the author likes it better that way. But back to the story. Hermione crossed the room and opened the door.
At the threshold was a younger girl, perhaps a first year, but Hermione doubted it. The girl looked about nine, two years younger than a first year ought to be. As Hermione drew breath to speak, the girl interrupted her.
"Hi! I'mthesuperhyperenergeticandannoyinglong-long-long-longlostyoungersisterofHarryPotter! Iknowmyexistancedoesn'tmakesensebutI'mhereanyway. I'mtheproductofsomeone'sclichenon-imaginativeimagination (the author would like to here note that the author also finds these "imaginations" scary and pathetic). Itwasn'tactuallyHarrywhodefeatedtheDarkLordallofthosetimesbutmecleverlydisguisedsothatnobodyknewIwasthere. IwouldberelatedtoRontoobutI'vedecidedthatitwouldbemorefuntofallinlovewithhiminstead. I'msupersmartandmymagicisamazinglystrongsoHogwortsadmittedmethreeyearstooyearlybecausetheywantedmeheresobadlybecauseI'msoamazing. Don'tyouthinkI'mamazing?" The girl said all of this in one breath.
Hermione was positively speechless. She shouldn't have been, though. She should have seen it coming. Standing stupidly for a moment, staring at this girl who obviously expected Hermione to begin singing her praises any moment, Hermione only had the presence of mind to ask one question.
"Uhh ... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name-"
"Youdon'tknowmyname? Wellofcourse,sillyofme,Ihaven'ttoldyouyet! MynameisHarrietta.Isn'tthatabsolutelyfantastic?Icantellbythelookonyourfacethatyouthinksotoo. MaybeI'llbeinsomeofyourclassesbecauseI'msupersmartandthey'repromotingmetosixthyearclassesbecauseI'msoamazingthatthey'rehavingmeskipthefirstfiveyears! I'mGinny'sbestfriendandeveryoneintheentireschoolisalreadyfallinginlovewithme." Again, all in one breath. At this feat, Hermione could do naught but marvel.
Perhaps a discription of Harrietta is appropriate at this point. Harietta looks exactly like Harry but she is a girl and her scar is more feminine looking. She is breathtakingly beautiful. The author feels that no more needs to be said on this subject.
"Well ... Harrietta, um, what did you come up here for then?" Shock and fear did not fade with time, Hermione was discovering.
Harrietta didn't seem to be able to believe that Hermione didn't know the purpose of her visit. "Why so you could see me of course! It would have been unkind of me not to come up and let you see me! I mean, my beauty and my impossibility of existance being so teriffic and all. I'm sure you're just dying with happiness at my-" Harrietta had not actually slowed her speech any, the author just likes to use word spacing to mess with the reader's mind.
"Oh, okay," Hermione replied, cutting her off but unsure of what to say next. Harrietta, however, did not seem to notice Hermione's hesitation and went on talking.
"I'm sure we'll be the best of best of best of friends! Your pretty kitty will like me better than you, of course, awful sorry about that but you'll like me so much that it won't matter. Can't worry about things that can't be helped, can we? We can study together and I can help you with your homework!"
"Help me with my homework?" Hermione repeated blankly.
"Of course! Nobody knows more than I do! I do say, you don't do your reputation much credit, Hermione, I assumed you were smarter than this. Of course, I always knew anyhow that you would pale in comparison next to me-"
Hermione, who was finally beginning to come to her senses, cut her off again. "You know, Harrietta, I really can't wait to get to know you better but I'm awfully tired and-"
"I see!" Harrietta replied instantly. "Of course your stamina is not nearly what mine is! Why once I saved the entire world using only one hand while I was on my deathbead." So why didn't she just die? "I'll leave at once so that you can get some rest. But if you want me to stay, on second thought, my singing voice is celestial and I could lull you to sleep with it if you like! Yes, yes, that's what I'll do!"
It took Hermione several minutes of flattery and convincing to get Harrietta to leave without a bedtime song. In the course of the arguement, Harrietta had began singing in her gorgeous perfect (of course) soprano to demonstrate. The music was so beautiful that it brought tears to Hermione's eyes (of course). If it were not for Crookshank's yowling interruption bringing her back to her senses, Hermione might have reconsidered. Hermione argued on and at last she was alone again (if one doesn't count Crookshanks).
So, as stated at the beginning of this chapter, Hermione didn't get any sleep that night. She wasn't worrying about Dobby. She wasn't worrying about Ron. She wasn't worrying about Harry. She was worrying about something scarier. Much scarier.
~*~*~*~
Hermione's prediction came true, but not quite in the manner that she had envisioned. True she did not sleep the rest of the night, and, true, the night passed with an unusual amount of worry, but something much more pressing occupied her thoughts. She had just changed into her nightgown when the first sign came. Crookshanks, who had not yet recovered from the Dobby incident, was licking himself woundedly in the corner of the room. This, of course, is not actually the first sign, the author just put that sentence in here like that to amuse herself.
The first sign, for real this time, was a knock on the dormitory door. From the way Crookshank's head popped up, (okay, so maybe that sentence was important afterall) Hermione should have known something was amiss, eh, something ELSE. But even though Hermione is very smart, in this fanfic she doesn't learn because the author likes it better that way. But back to the story. Hermione crossed the room and opened the door.
At the threshold was a younger girl, perhaps a first year, but Hermione doubted it. The girl looked about nine, two years younger than a first year ought to be. As Hermione drew breath to speak, the girl interrupted her.
"Hi! I'mthesuperhyperenergeticandannoyinglong-long-long-longlostyoungersisterofHarryPotter! Iknowmyexistancedoesn'tmakesensebutI'mhereanyway. I'mtheproductofsomeone'sclichenon-imaginativeimagination (the author would like to here note that the author also finds these "imaginations" scary and pathetic). Itwasn'tactuallyHarrywhodefeatedtheDarkLordallofthosetimesbutmecleverlydisguisedsothatnobodyknewIwasthere. IwouldberelatedtoRontoobutI'vedecidedthatitwouldbemorefuntofallinlovewithhiminstead. I'msupersmartandmymagicisamazinglystrongsoHogwortsadmittedmethreeyearstooyearlybecausetheywantedmeheresobadlybecauseI'msoamazing. Don'tyouthinkI'mamazing?" The girl said all of this in one breath.
Hermione was positively speechless. She shouldn't have been, though. She should have seen it coming. Standing stupidly for a moment, staring at this girl who obviously expected Hermione to begin singing her praises any moment, Hermione only had the presence of mind to ask one question.
"Uhh ... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name-"
"Youdon'tknowmyname? Wellofcourse,sillyofme,Ihaven'ttoldyouyet! MynameisHarrietta.Isn'tthatabsolutelyfantastic?Icantellbythelookonyourfacethatyouthinksotoo. MaybeI'llbeinsomeofyourclassesbecauseI'msupersmartandthey'repromotingmetosixthyearclassesbecauseI'msoamazingthatthey'rehavingmeskipthefirstfiveyears! I'mGinny'sbestfriendandeveryoneintheentireschoolisalreadyfallinginlovewithme." Again, all in one breath. At this feat, Hermione could do naught but marvel.
Perhaps a discription of Harrietta is appropriate at this point. Harietta looks exactly like Harry but she is a girl and her scar is more feminine looking. She is breathtakingly beautiful. The author feels that no more needs to be said on this subject.
"Well ... Harrietta, um, what did you come up here for then?" Shock and fear did not fade with time, Hermione was discovering.
Harrietta didn't seem to be able to believe that Hermione didn't know the purpose of her visit. "Why so you could see me of course! It would have been unkind of me not to come up and let you see me! I mean, my beauty and my impossibility of existance being so teriffic and all. I'm sure you're just dying with happiness at my-" Harrietta had not actually slowed her speech any, the author just likes to use word spacing to mess with the reader's mind.
"Oh, okay," Hermione replied, cutting her off but unsure of what to say next. Harrietta, however, did not seem to notice Hermione's hesitation and went on talking.
"I'm sure we'll be the best of best of best of friends! Your pretty kitty will like me better than you, of course, awful sorry about that but you'll like me so much that it won't matter. Can't worry about things that can't be helped, can we? We can study together and I can help you with your homework!"
"Help me with my homework?" Hermione repeated blankly.
"Of course! Nobody knows more than I do! I do say, you don't do your reputation much credit, Hermione, I assumed you were smarter than this. Of course, I always knew anyhow that you would pale in comparison next to me-"
Hermione, who was finally beginning to come to her senses, cut her off again. "You know, Harrietta, I really can't wait to get to know you better but I'm awfully tired and-"
"I see!" Harrietta replied instantly. "Of course your stamina is not nearly what mine is! Why once I saved the entire world using only one hand while I was on my deathbead." So why didn't she just die? "I'll leave at once so that you can get some rest. But if you want me to stay, on second thought, my singing voice is celestial and I could lull you to sleep with it if you like! Yes, yes, that's what I'll do!"
It took Hermione several minutes of flattery and convincing to get Harrietta to leave without a bedtime song. In the course of the arguement, Harrietta had began singing in her gorgeous perfect (of course) soprano to demonstrate. The music was so beautiful that it brought tears to Hermione's eyes (of course). If it were not for Crookshank's yowling interruption bringing her back to her senses, Hermione might have reconsidered. Hermione argued on and at last she was alone again (if one doesn't count Crookshanks).
So, as stated at the beginning of this chapter, Hermione didn't get any sleep that night. She wasn't worrying about Dobby. She wasn't worrying about Ron. She wasn't worrying about Harry. She was worrying about something scarier. Much scarier.