Disclaimer: - I do not own any of these characters just the new spin, they
are J K Rowling's' and hers alone.
A/N:- terribly, terribly sorry for the delay, I wrote the first 2 chapters a long time before posting them so it was difficult to recapture the frame of mind I was in the day I wrote them, but fortunately I refound my muse. Hope you like them!
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Chapter 3 - wading through treacle.
Professor McGonagall led Hermione down the train in a stuffy silence. Endless possibilities ran through Hermione's head. What if she is leading me to professor Dumbledore so that he can expel me! What did I do! What if they have found out! Maybe my grades were not good enough! My parents were right! Oh god! I'm in so much trouble.
She grabbed her elbow, squeezing the angry cuts sending delicious pain up her arm to try and calm herself, but it didn't work. The panic was rising up her throat and she was finding it difficult keep her legs from trembling. Tears were beginning to prick the backs of her eyelids again and she desperately fought to keep them down. She kept her face to the ground but Professor McGonagall took no notice of her anyway. She had lost interest in her since Hermione had lost herself. She managed to attain the highest marks in the year, but no longer with such finesse and purpose. She was no longer her star pupil.
They reached the end of the train and came to a compartment where the door had not glass, but a beautiful mahogany door with the Hogwarts crest on it that she had never noticed. She figured it must be charmed so that no one knows its there to keep it private. Hermione used to love that crest. Each animal had looked so righteous and noble (except the serpent of course) all representing that there is at least one place on this earth that is safe and good. The motto now looks corny; the lion false, the badger comical, the eagle cold and the serpent just looked on at her with those cruel silver eyes...
"Miss Granger?" she was snatched out of her thoughts by the pinched voice of Professor McGonagall. She was looking at her with an air of impatience, quirking a plucked eyebrow. "Sorry" Hermione whispered blushing to the very roots of her chestnut hair. Her eyes brimmed with tears but did not spill. She swallowed the painful lump in her throat. It felt like some one had rammed a smooth stone down it.
She took a deep breath and slowly knocked on the door. "Ahh yes, come in Miss Granger." Oh god it IS Dumbledore! I'm going to be expelled! Professor McGonagall opened the door and Hermione looked around the room puzzled. It was just a normal study. There was a strong wooden desk (strangely with no chair behind it), walls mostly covered by bookshelves and paintings wherever there was space. She seated herself in one of the chairs that faced the desk, wondering where the voice came from whilst Professor McGonagall sat in the other. She sat there looking at her shoes when a voice said "so Miss Granger, I trust that you are well?" She almost jumped out of her seat as she looked up to the painting in front of her behind the desk where Professor Dumbledore was twinkling back at her.
"I... I am quite well thank-you Professor" she stuttered back Professor Dumbledore chuckled at her and tapped his long fingers on the picture frame. "Good, good. I have some very good news for you Miss Granger; you are to be our new head girl".
'Oh' thought Hermione. 'Oh god, Head girl. Oh no.'
"Now with this new position comes a lot of power and a lot of prestige, but also a lot of hard work. You are in charge of all students and represent the school and although your new duties will take up quite a bit of time, you must not let your impressive marks slip. Remember, you are representing the school, so do not let us down"
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She was now back in her lonely carriage staring at the wall. She now has to cope with being a social outcast, keeping her marks high above everyone else's, all of the duties being head girl would bring and the humiliation that HE brought her. Now that she was head girl how would she hide from everyone? She was now stuck in the spotlight. She felt like she was in a gold fish bowl, unable to get out and unable to stop the eyes burning into her. She changed into her school uniform and robes with a sense of dread. This year was not starting well at all. All the pressure was too much. There was no escape and she felt trapped.
The train screeched to a halt catapulting her back into her seat. 'Back again' she thought. She grabbed her shoulder bag with her disc man, pen knife and purse in and left her compartment. As she left the train she saw two familiar tall figures.
One had messy black hair, glasses and a thin white scar shaped like a lightning bolt down the middle of his fore head. He was sooo proud of it. Without it he would be like anyone else. The other had flame red hair and was even taller than the other boy. You could see that he longed to be like the other boy by the way that he copied him in every way. Hermione was sure that he would carve a lightning scar down the middle of his forehead if he had the courage.
Those had been the boys that she had known so well and had loved as much as it was possible to love a friend. They had loved her back at one point in just the same way. Pride is a cruel thing like so many other things in this world. It had turned two pure brave boys into shallow ego pushers. Their fixation with their own glory had made them forget what it had been that they were fighting for. Voldemort had long since been defeated and they fought to keep their fresh hero facade. She missed them so much it tore her inside but she dare not approach them. They had left her years ago, when they found others to satisfy their new needs more than she could, and now saw her as nothing. She saw the black haired boy sling his arm roughly around a pretty blonde girl who simpered and giggled at him sickeningly. 'Harry, why?' she thought. She still did not understand fully why Harry and Ron had left her. They had been through so much together.
As she walked past them they sneered at her and sniggered. Yes she was nothing to them now.
The sorting ceremony passed in a blur. She did not care who got in to Gryffindor. She wouldn't ever talk to them so why should she. No one would know that she is head girl until the next day so she could hide behind her invisible barrier of silence for now. She pushed her food around her plate not hungry. Her stomach was twisting at the prospect of having to get up in front of the whole school tomorrow morning. At the end of the feast she left the hall with the password to her new room. At least I won't have to share with lavender, Pavarti and the rest of the Harry worshippers she thought.
She didn't take in any of her surroundings. She walked straight through the circular common room not even checking who the new head boy was. She went to the door on the right of the bathroom as she had been told to and walked into her new room and sat on the bed with her head in her hands. The thoughts were circling in her mind again as they had before. The images coursed through her body making her shake violently.
She reached into her trunk and dug down into the bottom of it. Suddenly the tips of her fingers hit the item she was looking for. She wrapped her fingers around the cold glass and pulled it free of her belongings. She looked at the bottle of clear liquid and swirled it slowly round the bottle. That will make it all go away. That will make me forget.
She hungrily unscrewed the top and swallowed a mouthful of vodka. She spluttered on the harsh taste but persevered. She took another sip before swallowing the whole bottle. It hit her empty stomach and she was promptly sick. Good, she thought, now it will all go away.
A/N: - sorry that wasn't a very good chapter and not really worth the wait but its one of those linking chapters. Thanks to all my reviewers I hope this chapter isn't too disappointing, but rest assured, the next chapter is on its way soon if not instantly.
A/N:- terribly, terribly sorry for the delay, I wrote the first 2 chapters a long time before posting them so it was difficult to recapture the frame of mind I was in the day I wrote them, but fortunately I refound my muse. Hope you like them!
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Chapter 3 - wading through treacle.
Professor McGonagall led Hermione down the train in a stuffy silence. Endless possibilities ran through Hermione's head. What if she is leading me to professor Dumbledore so that he can expel me! What did I do! What if they have found out! Maybe my grades were not good enough! My parents were right! Oh god! I'm in so much trouble.
She grabbed her elbow, squeezing the angry cuts sending delicious pain up her arm to try and calm herself, but it didn't work. The panic was rising up her throat and she was finding it difficult keep her legs from trembling. Tears were beginning to prick the backs of her eyelids again and she desperately fought to keep them down. She kept her face to the ground but Professor McGonagall took no notice of her anyway. She had lost interest in her since Hermione had lost herself. She managed to attain the highest marks in the year, but no longer with such finesse and purpose. She was no longer her star pupil.
They reached the end of the train and came to a compartment where the door had not glass, but a beautiful mahogany door with the Hogwarts crest on it that she had never noticed. She figured it must be charmed so that no one knows its there to keep it private. Hermione used to love that crest. Each animal had looked so righteous and noble (except the serpent of course) all representing that there is at least one place on this earth that is safe and good. The motto now looks corny; the lion false, the badger comical, the eagle cold and the serpent just looked on at her with those cruel silver eyes...
"Miss Granger?" she was snatched out of her thoughts by the pinched voice of Professor McGonagall. She was looking at her with an air of impatience, quirking a plucked eyebrow. "Sorry" Hermione whispered blushing to the very roots of her chestnut hair. Her eyes brimmed with tears but did not spill. She swallowed the painful lump in her throat. It felt like some one had rammed a smooth stone down it.
She took a deep breath and slowly knocked on the door. "Ahh yes, come in Miss Granger." Oh god it IS Dumbledore! I'm going to be expelled! Professor McGonagall opened the door and Hermione looked around the room puzzled. It was just a normal study. There was a strong wooden desk (strangely with no chair behind it), walls mostly covered by bookshelves and paintings wherever there was space. She seated herself in one of the chairs that faced the desk, wondering where the voice came from whilst Professor McGonagall sat in the other. She sat there looking at her shoes when a voice said "so Miss Granger, I trust that you are well?" She almost jumped out of her seat as she looked up to the painting in front of her behind the desk where Professor Dumbledore was twinkling back at her.
"I... I am quite well thank-you Professor" she stuttered back Professor Dumbledore chuckled at her and tapped his long fingers on the picture frame. "Good, good. I have some very good news for you Miss Granger; you are to be our new head girl".
'Oh' thought Hermione. 'Oh god, Head girl. Oh no.'
"Now with this new position comes a lot of power and a lot of prestige, but also a lot of hard work. You are in charge of all students and represent the school and although your new duties will take up quite a bit of time, you must not let your impressive marks slip. Remember, you are representing the school, so do not let us down"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
She was now back in her lonely carriage staring at the wall. She now has to cope with being a social outcast, keeping her marks high above everyone else's, all of the duties being head girl would bring and the humiliation that HE brought her. Now that she was head girl how would she hide from everyone? She was now stuck in the spotlight. She felt like she was in a gold fish bowl, unable to get out and unable to stop the eyes burning into her. She changed into her school uniform and robes with a sense of dread. This year was not starting well at all. All the pressure was too much. There was no escape and she felt trapped.
The train screeched to a halt catapulting her back into her seat. 'Back again' she thought. She grabbed her shoulder bag with her disc man, pen knife and purse in and left her compartment. As she left the train she saw two familiar tall figures.
One had messy black hair, glasses and a thin white scar shaped like a lightning bolt down the middle of his fore head. He was sooo proud of it. Without it he would be like anyone else. The other had flame red hair and was even taller than the other boy. You could see that he longed to be like the other boy by the way that he copied him in every way. Hermione was sure that he would carve a lightning scar down the middle of his forehead if he had the courage.
Those had been the boys that she had known so well and had loved as much as it was possible to love a friend. They had loved her back at one point in just the same way. Pride is a cruel thing like so many other things in this world. It had turned two pure brave boys into shallow ego pushers. Their fixation with their own glory had made them forget what it had been that they were fighting for. Voldemort had long since been defeated and they fought to keep their fresh hero facade. She missed them so much it tore her inside but she dare not approach them. They had left her years ago, when they found others to satisfy their new needs more than she could, and now saw her as nothing. She saw the black haired boy sling his arm roughly around a pretty blonde girl who simpered and giggled at him sickeningly. 'Harry, why?' she thought. She still did not understand fully why Harry and Ron had left her. They had been through so much together.
As she walked past them they sneered at her and sniggered. Yes she was nothing to them now.
The sorting ceremony passed in a blur. She did not care who got in to Gryffindor. She wouldn't ever talk to them so why should she. No one would know that she is head girl until the next day so she could hide behind her invisible barrier of silence for now. She pushed her food around her plate not hungry. Her stomach was twisting at the prospect of having to get up in front of the whole school tomorrow morning. At the end of the feast she left the hall with the password to her new room. At least I won't have to share with lavender, Pavarti and the rest of the Harry worshippers she thought.
She didn't take in any of her surroundings. She walked straight through the circular common room not even checking who the new head boy was. She went to the door on the right of the bathroom as she had been told to and walked into her new room and sat on the bed with her head in her hands. The thoughts were circling in her mind again as they had before. The images coursed through her body making her shake violently.
She reached into her trunk and dug down into the bottom of it. Suddenly the tips of her fingers hit the item she was looking for. She wrapped her fingers around the cold glass and pulled it free of her belongings. She looked at the bottle of clear liquid and swirled it slowly round the bottle. That will make it all go away. That will make me forget.
She hungrily unscrewed the top and swallowed a mouthful of vodka. She spluttered on the harsh taste but persevered. She took another sip before swallowing the whole bottle. It hit her empty stomach and she was promptly sick. Good, she thought, now it will all go away.
A/N: - sorry that wasn't a very good chapter and not really worth the wait but its one of those linking chapters. Thanks to all my reviewers I hope this chapter isn't too disappointing, but rest assured, the next chapter is on its way soon if not instantly.