YAY! It's Spring Break! I was gonna put a chapter up last week, but I was catching up on my sleep, so…yeah, didn't really bother there…

Okay. So.

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to harry potter. Nope.

How She Came To Be…

Chapter Six:
Home Sweet Home?(1992)

Dad set her trunk down next to her bed.

"Thanks, Dad," said Hermione who no longer had braces.

"We're glad you're home," he said, giving her an one-armed hug.

"Me too," she said, looking around her room with a content expression.

"I'll let you unpack while your mother and I get dinner ready," said Dad, cracking a smile. Hermione also grinned; Dad couldn't cook a proper meal even if his life depended on it. "Have fun unpacking," he said as he left the room.

"Have fun cooking," she called after him. She shut the door and examined her room in a closer fashion. Her satisfied expression faded. Something was missing.

"It's probably because all my books are in my trunk," she comforted herself as she undid the clasps of her trunk. The chest popped open and she took out her many textbooks and put them along the bookshelf next to her desk, which was littered with parchment from when she visited back in December.

After her trunk was emptied, her room dusted, the homework assignments set on her desk in the order that she was going to complete them in, Hermione stepped back and surveyed the room. "I still feel like something's missing," she muttered, squinting around. Her eyes rested on the pillows of her bed for a moment, taking in the under water pattern. It seemed empty. Then it hit her.

"No," she whispered, jumping to her bed and ripping everything off. She them flew to her closet. It wasn't there either. She turned her empty trunk over. Nothing.

"Mum! Dad!" she yelled sprinting down the stairs. "Have you seen Olive?"

"Who?" asked Dad, who was reading the newspaper as Mum shredded some lettuce.

"My stuffed otter," she said slowly as her stomach sank to the floor.

"Oh, we gave that to the old toy drive after you went back to school," he said without looking up from his paper.

"You gave her away?" she repeated and took a step back.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but we thought that since you're a witch, you wouldn't mind if we gave it to someone that didn't have as many good fortunes as you," Mum said as she set the head of lettuce down to come to her twelve year old daughter.

Hermione looked from one parent to the other. What happened? she wondered as her mother gave her a quick hug before turning back to her lettuce. She left the room, her shoulders slumped forward. Everything was so different. Why were they so different? When did her parents change?

She walked into her room and threw her sheets back on the bed half-heartedly. Maybe it wasn't her parents. Maybe she was the one that changed…

Her hand formed into a fist. She brought it up and punched the headboard of her bed. It cracked and sparks flew out. She grabbed her bag, stuffing a few things in it before leaving her room. The clock struck six. She paused at her doorway, thought for a moment, and went back to write a quick note. She then slipped down the stairs and out the front door, careful to shut it quietly.

"Hi Hermione!" an old neighbor greeted as he got out of his car. "How was your new school?"

"All right," she said with a forced smile.

"Have a nice evening," he said before letting himself into his house.

"You too," she replied. As soon as the door swung shut, she broke into a run. The cemetery was only a few miles away and she knew a short cut that would cut the run in half.

"Hi, Grandpa," she said to the familiar headstone. Weeds now surrounded it, little irritating plants inching up the sides of the granite marker. "I have so much to tell you."

She set a bouquet of daisies and ferns that she bought on the way over on the grave. Then she took a deep breath to collect her thoughts.

"I found out I am a witch about a year ago. I remember how you said I always have to study to understand life and how I need to experience it for myself in order to understand what other people are talking about. I was the top of my year!" she smiled slightly as she took a seat next to the tombstone. "But I let myself slip a bit after Halloween," she looked at the ground guiltily, but quickly brightened. "That was when I met my two best friends: Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Actually, I met them before then, but they weren't my friends at the time.

"They're both amazing. Harry was the little baby wizard that stopped the Darkest wizard of all time from taking over the world. Ron's really funny, you'd like him a lot. He doesn't really like to work, though, but he's really smart! He just doesn't try as hard as he should," she scowled slightly.

"Anyway, I just got back from my first year. It was the best year of school I've ever had! I wish you were there when that wizard told Mum and Dad that I was a witch!

"About a week ago, Harry had to fight the Dark Wizard again. We call him You-Know-Who, but his proper name is…V-Voldemort," she cleared her throat. "Nobody says his name except Harry.

"Anyway, You-Know-Who was trying to rise up again by getting one of our teachers, Quirrel (he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he wasn't very good at that) to steal this stone for him. It had the Elixir of Life, which makes the drinker immortal, but you probably already know that. The stone was hidden in our school and the three of us heard that one of the teachers was trying to steal it, but we thought it was the Potions teacher, Snape. But the three of us tried to get it before Quirrel did. Ron and I had to stay behind because only one person could enter the final chamber because of the black fire."

She looked at the headstone before her and could almost picture Grandpa's wrinkled old face listening to her. She cracked a smile, "I'm not making much sense, am I?" she sighed.

"The reason I came down here tonight was because Mum and Dad gave my stuffed otter away. I know I'm too old to play with toys, but it wasn't just a toy!" Hermione darted her eyes sheepishly. "She spoke to me. I know it sounds like I'm crazy, but it's true. She was my only true friend until I met Harry and Ron. I suppose that's why I left her behind, you know, when I was packing to go back to school during Winter Break. I had people who didn't just speak to me when they needed the answers to the homework." She cracked a slight smile, "Actually, Ron does that, but we talk about other things, too.

"But it wasn't fair for those two to just give her away! She was my stuffed otter for over seven years! I wish you were here to tell them that."

Only the chirp of crickets responded. She took out a worn black book.

"I still have it," she said, flipping through the pages as she reached for her flashlight. "I even took it to Hogwarts."

She sat back, leaning to one side so that she was hugging the headstone slightly. She then turned the pages to the story of Athena and Arachmide and read it aloud, brushing the worn pages lovingly.

"Hermione!"

The book of mythologies fell out of her lap as she jerked awake. She sat up and rubbed her eyes to refocus her vision.

"This is where you've been all this time?" Mum ran to her, her eyes blazing, her brown ringlets glistening in the small light of two flashlights. "Do you have any idea how worried we've been?"

"I left a note," she said groggily as she looked at her watch. It was eight o'clock.

Dad lifted the portable light up slightly as he held a scrap of parchment before him, "Gone to see Grandpa," he read aloud before crumbling it up and throwing to the ground. "We thought you killed yourself!"

Hermione blinked. "I…I didn't mean…"

"We're going home!" Mum announced as she hauled her daughter to her feet.

"Wait…" Hermione stooped over and scooped the bit of parchment off the ground. "Bye, Grandpa," she whispered as her parents waited impatiently. She straightened up and waved the crumpled parchment slightly, "Don't want to litter."

Her parents didn't even crack a smile.

The drive home seemed endless and was excruciatingly uncomfortable with an unpleasant silence. Never had her parents been so angry with her. She shifted slightly in her seat, imagining how frantic they must have been for the past couple of hours.

Serves them right, too, a voice in the back of her head piped in, but she quickly shut it out.

The car lurched to a stop on their driveway, but nobody moved to get out.

"We're very disappointed in you, young lady," Dad said as he turned the ignition off. She looked at her knees guiltily. "Why didn't you tell us where you were going?"

"I was—I mean, I needed to see something that was still there."

"What?" said both her parents, confused.

"I thought you two were turning against me because I'm a witch."

"What would make you think that?" Mum asked in a baffled tone.

"You gave Olive away."

"What?" Dad swerved around in his seat and squinted his eyes, disbelieving what he just heard.

"My stuffed otter. You gave her away."

Dad turned back around and his shoulders shook slightly.

"Dad?"

He roared with laughter. The other two stared at him.

"That's it?" he chuckled. "This whole mess was about a stuffed animal?"

"SHE WASN'T JUST A STUFFED ANIMAL!" she shouted. She pursed her lips and sat back. "I'm sorry. It's just that. She was my only friend before I started to go to Hogwarts."

"Well, then, if you feel that way, I don't think you should go back to that school," said Mum.

"What?" said Hermione.

"Oh, Amy, let the girl go," said Dad as he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.

Mum glared at him before turning back to her daughter. "And what do you mean you didn't have any friends aside from Olive (who, by the way, is an inanimate object)? What about Danielle and her little group?"

"Exactly," Hermione waved her hand at Mum, "'Danielle and her little group'. I wasn't part of her"—She brought her hands up and formed invisible quotation marks—" 'little group'. The only reason she spoke to me was because she wanted the answers to her homework and when her mum found out, she made Danielle invite me to her stupid sleepover!"

Mum looked at her, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Mum, I'm sure," she sighed. "Please let me go back? You met Ron and his family! And you still need to meet Harry. They're the best friends anyone can possibly ask for!"

"Oh, Amy, when have you ever heard her talk about her friends like that?" asked Dad as he motioned his hand at his daughter. "I think it's quite an improvement; at least she isn't holed up in her room pouring over an encyclopedia. That's just not normal behavior for a human being!"

Am I invisible? thought Hermione as she looked at Dad with a slightly hurt expression.

"This!" Dad continued, waving his hands around enthusiastically. "This is the normal behavior of a normal girl! Talking about her friends and guys—-!"

"Dad!" Hermione said in a horrified tone.

Mum raised her hands in defeat, "Okay, she can go back."

Hermione threw her arm around her mother's shoulders and headrest. "Thank you!"

Mum reached back and tweaked Hermione's nose, "He's right, though, you're much happier than you've ever been."

"And we're sorry for giving away Olive without your permission," Dad added.

Her heart sank. Olive was gone. She was really gone…

Okay! Another chapter, finished! If my calculations are correct, I think I only have two more left. sniffle bittersweet moment…

Um…yeah. I promise I'll shut up about the talking stuffed animal in the next chapter, but I loooooove Olive! I love Grandpa, too, but he had to go 'coz I didn't know who else to kill off. Plus, having the power to kill a random person off is…scary and satisfying all at the same time. Hum…hope I don't become one of those people that just will others to die 'coz they're just there…

Okay. So. Yeah. Um. Okay. I mean, er…review. Please? Or just sit there and face my wrath when I come back! Er…my infamous eye glare? My pathetic excuse for claws? My…disturbingly strange fear of wrists and necks…?

Dude, I need to work on my threatening skills…

Okay, so…just drop a review, It'll REALLY make my day!

Good day my young muffins,

Farfanugans,

Chikin Wang.