Please note: I am aware, as a huge Harry Potter fan, that this is not how the characters would usually act. I just thought it was a nice little story. When you read it, suspend reality
Hermione pulled her frizzy brown hair behind her head and held it there, as she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't think she was that bad. She picked up a brush resting on the bench and pulled it through her hair. It got snagged on tangles and pulled as usual. She squinted with the pain as her eyes watered, and she finally pulled the brush free. Frustrated by the state of her hair she slammed the brush back down on the bench. She had never been one of the girls who wore make-up and styled their hair every day, she always thought that type of thing was shallow and vain; besides, it took up time she could spend on homework. But lately she had been felling self-conscious as she wandered the halls of Hogwarts. She felt like the other girls looked down on her, and the boys, well they just looked past her. She knew she shouldn't care, she should be focusing on her studies, but ever time she looked at herself in the mirror, she found herself picking out all the things that were wrong with her. She picked up a ribbon and tied her frizzy mane behind her head. It didn't look much better, but it was a start. She gathered her things for classes, put them in her bag and dashed down the stairs to meet Ron and Harry. They were standing at the door in the common room waiting for her.
"Take your time, why don't you Hermione" Said Ron, tapping his watch "What have you done with your hair?"
"Nothing… I just tied it back, something wrong with that?"
"No, I've just never seen you pay attention to your appearance before." Said Ron, screwing up his nose. Harry rolled his eyes; Ron always knew the wrong thing to say in ever situation.
"Well, who says I can't start now?" Said Hermione, and sped and walked ahead so she didn't have to walk with them, but she could still hear them.
"Nice one, Ron" She heard Harry say.
"What?" Asked Ron, oblivious to himself.
Hermione ignored Ron for the rest of the day. She sat beside Harry in all their lessons, and the only time she made eye contact with him was to give him daggers across the table in Potions. She didn't even know why she had taken what Ron said to heart so much. It wasn't like her to care so much. Ron never thought before he spoke, and Hermione usually ignored his silly comments, she usually found them endearing. But she was feeling really down on herself lately, at Ron's comment was like the icing on the cake. That day after lessons she went to the library, but she didn't pursue her usual volumes on Advanced Magic, and Highly Involved and Intricate Potions, she was looking for a different type of spell book. She ran her finger along the spines of the books, reading the title as she went, until she found the one she was looking for. A book called filled with useful spells and potions to fix pimples, clear dandruff, remove warts, and things like that. She opened the cover and looked at the list of people who had borrowed this book. "The usual suspects" she thought to herself as she scanned the names. Parvati Patil, Cho Chang…. Draco Malfoy?! She giggled at the thought of it. So that was how he got his hair so slick! She thought of the looks on Harry and Ron's faces when she told them this, but then she remembered she wouldn't want them to know she was borrowing this sort of book. She took it to the front of the library and took it out in her name, she then slipped it in her bag and disappeared back to her dormitory.