Disclaimer: Yeah, for some reason, I need two different versions of "Themen Neu"… I don't know, but I know own two of them. Oh, and I still don't own HP.
A/N: I'm working on the plot line here, I'm sure you'll have some questions but I'm trying to build up this story so I am maintaining a certain mystique but in time all will be revealed. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I manipulated Hermione's parents to meet my own ends along with some other minor details. And for anyone who's reading this, could someone tell me what the hell lemons and flamers are?
Hermione waited for all of the others to get off of the train, she watched them climb into the boats and head off to the school. When everyone was ahead of her, she then got herself dressed and started toward the castle.
She didn't even want to see the sorting ceremony this year. She went straight to her rooms and began unpacking. She looked into the mirror and shied away from what stared back at her. Her eyes and cheeks had sunken in. The only thing full about her was the swollen and bruised right eyebrow and red puffy lip that had been her latest reward. She had been three minutes late for lunch, which was entirely unacceptable. She crawled into bed and tried to sleep away the thoughts that invaded her mind.
Hermione awoke the next morning to see a letter slid under her door.
Dear Miss Granger,
I guess you were either feeling ill or tired from your journey last night as we missed you at the feast. Please drop by my office this morning as I have some good news for you.
Yours,
Professor McGonagall
Hermione put on her robes and applied makeup the best she could to hide the proof of love left on her face. She gathered her books together and made her way to Professor McGonagall's office.
The door was open and waiting as she rounded the corner.
"Ah… Miss Granger!" her head of house exclaimed. "I have some excellent news for you."
Hermione thought that the dim lighting and the makeup had sufficiently covered her embarrassment. She smiled politely and sat down as Professor McGonagall motioned her to a chair. All the while, Professor McGonagall knew what was going on just wanting to let her student hide what she wished.
"I received all the work you did over the summer and it appears that you have done enough work to not have to actually take regular classes this year. I am proposing another option for you. I know that you thrive on challenge and research so I have a proposition for you. The headmaster and I think that you should further your education by doing a series of independent research projects. Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Potions, whatever you like. And we need someone to help our new Muggle Studies teacher with certain shortcomings. What do you think?"
"That would be excellent!" Hermione beamed.
"Perfect. You can choose which ones you like. One this semester, one next, and one over the summer, if you choose. You will be obligated to help with Muggle Studies for the entire year however."
"That's fine," Hermione smiled at her, "I'd like to do Arithmancy this semester and Transfiguration next term. I'm not sure about the summer however." Hermione lied. She had really wanted to do Potions but she knew that Severus Snape hated her more than any other student in the history of Hogwarts. He would certainly never allow her to do any work in his dungeons.
"Excellent my dear. We'll make arrangements this afternoon. Until then, I have scheduled a meeting for you this morning with Professor Hanson, the Muggle Studies teacher. He is in dire need of your expertise. Between you and me, I don't know how the lad ever graduated from Hogwarts much less apprenticed in Muggle Studies. However, our headmaster feels he should be given a chance. When he tried to tell us that a rolling pin was used in Muggle Cricket, we began to have our doubts. Oh, and this letter arrived early this morning by owl to my office for you, some owl was horribly confused I suppose."
"Thank you. I'll see you this afternoon," Hermione chimed as she began walking out the office. She began to open her letter as she walked down the corridor. No return address but it had a stamp on it. That's odd, she thought to herself. Must be a Muggle, who else would owl a letter with a stamp on it. She opened it up to find a single newspaper clipping. The headline read, "Eight killed in EuroRail crash in Amsterdam." Hermione had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she stopped to finish reading it. She scanned until she found the list of victims. Her father's name was on that list. She sat down in the floor but didn't shed a tear.
It wasn't as if she and her father had been close. She hadn't spoken to him since her fifth year. Before that, they were never close either; Hermione was simply an inconvenience that her father dealt with, rather brutally at times. Accepted to Hogwarts, a boarding school, had been the answer to her father's prayers. Hermione tucked the note away into her pocket and went to meet this new professor. She stopped by the Great Hall to grab some juice when the all too familiar owl came drifting down towards her. Viktor had sent a letter.
