A/N: I'm so happy at all y'alls reviews! Thanks a million! It makes me happy to see how curious y'all are about what's going to happen next! I love your suggestions and most the time I'm either already planning on doing it or I like your suggestion so much I'm gonna add it in somewhere later. Y'all have changed my plot and the direction of the story by your suggestions more than you'll ever know! Thanks for reading!
Review Questions: Haha, I'm sorry if they sound American, after all I am from the U.S. I feel like it'll look stupid if I try to use British words, cause I'm not British, but I apologize and I'll start trying! For Mrs. Granger, I just made up the first name Tabitha. I actually know a girl named Tabitha with rather curely hair that I work with in After School Day care and she's always nice to the misfit kids sooo, I gave her the honor of being Mrs. Granger's name! On a side note, I also work with a girl named Chelsea who's mean to all the misfit kids! Sam is just a year older than Hermione. I think that answers them all, if it doesn't, I'm sorry! Ask me again!
Chapter Six
"...and then Fred poured this new powdery invention that he and George made onto Ginny's dinner plate while she wasn't looking, but Ginny's turning out to be as tricky as twins and could tell something was up. So, when Fred went to get something to drink, she switched plates with him and when he took a bite of his food the words "stupid prat" and "kick me" started flashing interchangeably on his forehead." Ron said. Hermione and Harry started laughing. "It took Fred about five good kicks from Ginny and George before he realized that it wasn't that the powder in Ginny's food wasn't working, but that it had somehow got on his food." Hermione and Harry laughed harder.
"I wish I could have been there." Harry said with a big smile.
"It's about time; Fred needed to see what it was like to be pranked instead of being the one doing the pranking for once." Hermione said, trying to look serious, but she couldn't help the smile that kept tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Well, if you ask me, it didn't do him any good. He thought it was hilarious too." Ron said. "If anything, I think it only encouraged him." Just then, the door to the study cracked open and the three Hogwarts students looked expectantly at the door.
"What encouraged who?" Samantha asked curiously.
"Doesn't really matter, it's not really any of your business." Ron said unconcernedly. Hermione gave him a pointed look, telling him that he was being rude, but Ron just shrugged, he personally thought it was very rude to barge in on the middle of someone's conversation.
Samantha didn't seem to be too bothered by his impolite demeanor and sat crossed legged by him on the floor. A little closer to him than Ron would have liked. Actually, being in the same room was closer than Ron would have liked.
"Oh Hermione! Do you remember when I dared you to climb that tree in your back yard, because I just knew you couldn't do it and you fell out and broke your arm?" Samantha said in a voice that would suggest she were reliving the two girl's most pleasant memory together.
"Of course, how could I forget?" Hermione asked, cheeks tinted pink with anger, but her face was a mask of calm. Harry and Ron looked quite abashed at Samantha.
"You were never really good at any physical activities. I think you made it about half way up before a limb broke and you fell to the ground." Samantha smiled and Hermione winced in remembrance.
"If I remember correctly, I made it all the way to the top and half way back down before the limb broke." Stated Hermione, a glint of anger visible in her eyes for a split second before it was gone once again.
"No, no, no. I would have remembered if you had made it to the top." Samantha said. Ron looked worriedly at Hermione, she looked like she was just about to jump up and climb the tree again just to prove that she could do it, when Sam changed tactics at the speed of light. "Do you still have Mr. Whiskers Hermione?" All the anger that Hermione was feeling was suddenly replaced by pure embarrassment.
"...." Hermione was speechless; she didn't think Sam would have remembered that! Ron and Harry looked confusedly from Sam to Hermione and against all his better judgment, Harry asked, "Who's Mr. Whiskers?"
"I'm sure he's still on Hermione's bed, I'll go get him." And with that, Sam jumped from her spot and rushed from the room. Hermione gaped at Harry. And Ron voiced her opinion.
"How could you do that Harry? Give Sam a reason to embarrass Hermione like that!" Ron glared angrily at his best friend.
"I'm sorry... it slipped..." Harry looked sheepishly at his feet and the door flew open once again. Samantha was holding a stuffed orange cat. Its fur was all matted and didn't even have any whiskers, it looked liked it had been ripped several times because there were stitch marks on its neck and legs. Hermione buried her face in her hands.
"Aw, Hermione, you're embarrassed of him? You used to take this ratty old thing with you everywhere." Samantha grinned at Hermione's embarrassment. "It is however a bit childish to still have a stuffed animal; do you want me to get rid of him for you?" Samantha had already started to head out of the room, holding Mr. Whisker by the tail.
"No!" Hermione leaped from her spot and grabbed for Mr. Whiskers, but Samantha held it high in the air. Hermione openly glared at Samantha, all good manners and false cheeriness dropped. "Give him back!"
"There's the Hermione I remember! Try as you might to keep up that perfect facade, it won't work, you'll slip in front of the adults soon enough and they'll see you for how they already know you are." Samantha smirked evilly. Hermione clenched her fists at her sides.
"No matter how hard I try, I may not be perfect, but I'll always be better than you!" Hermione spat angrily. "I saw you sneaking out of the house last night, we're staying in the same room you know, do your parents know where you're sneaking off to so late at night?"
Samantha stared at Hermione for a second before grabbing Mr. Whiskers at the stitching and ripping Mr. Whiskers head clear off his body. Hermione gasped in horror, Samantha grinned, that had certainly wiped that smug look off Hermione's face.
Samantha dropped Mr. Whisker's two halves to the floor and Hermione collapsed on her knees in front of him as Ron and Harry watched, petrified in shock. "Listen here Hermione, I may have cheated in order to graduate first in my class, but as far as everyone else knows, I'm the perfect daughter that you'll never be. I get top marks, I'm the captain of any sports team I want to be on, and I'm certainly a lot prettier than you are." Sam looked down at Hermione scoffing. "You're an outcast in this family, so don't try and pretend that you're better than I am." With that, Sam walked gracefully out of the room. Ron ran and slammed the door behind her, muttering a few choice words that Hermione would have normally reprimanded.
"Don't listen to her Hermione, she's no good!" Ron growled in fury. Harry sat down beside Hermione and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You okay?" Harry asked her. Ron was pacing around making violent gestures in the air when he heard a sniffle.
"Oh Hermione," Ron said, dropping to his knees in front of Hermione who was now clutching the remains of her stuffed cat. "Please don't cry. Don't listen to what that stupid girl says, it's rubbish!"
Hermione however wasn't phased in the least by what Samantha had said, she'd been hearing things like that her entire life. The reason tears were slowly trickling out of her eyes was because her cherished stuffed cat was probably ruined. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut in remembrance.
It was a hot summer and three year old, almost four year old Hermione was playing in the sun alone. She spent most of her time alone. Her parents were inside talking with a couple people she didn't know, they were wearing funny clothes that were mostly black. Whenever people came over, her parents always complained that she was making too much noise and forced her to go outside and play.
Normally Hermione wouldn't have minded, she liked playing outside, but today was very hot and her parents had only given her a sippy cup of water. She didn't dare ask for more either, her parents didn't react very kindly to being interrupted. Hermione shuddered at the thought.
Deciding to conserve her energy, Hermione sat in the shade of a big tree and began to look at a tattered old word book she had left outside for just such an emergency. She would rather have taken a stick and dug for buried treasure, but her parents didn't like it when she dug holes into their nicely manicured yard.
Hermione was just getting into her book when a loud mew came from some nearby bushes. Hermione set her book down and watched as a small orange kitten tottered out. Hermione reached out her hand and the tiny kitten walked slowly towards her. She noticed that it looked hungry and thirsty as she petted its head softly.
She knew what she had to do. She also knew it could be hours before her parents would let her back into the house, but this was more important. She unscrewed her sippy cup lid and set the now open container on the floor. Little Hermione smiled at the tiny creature as it eagerly lapped up the cool liquid.
As the days went by, Hermione snuck food and drink out to the kitten whenever possible. One day however, her parents caught her in the act.
"What are you doing Hermione?" Her mother asked sharply.
"N-nothing." Hermione responded, holding the slice of chicken and cup of milk behind her back. Forcibly her mother grabbed her hands and pulled them out in front of her.
"What is this?" Mrs. Granger demanded. Before Hermione could answer however, the small orange kitten came mewing out of the hedge. The milk and chicken clattered to the ground. "Oh, I see. Wait until you father hears about this!"
The next day Hermione ventured outside, a few bruises, even rather large bruises wouldn't stop her from taking care of that kitten.
"Here kitty, kitty, kitty." Hermione called, but she got no response. The kitten was gone... her father must have done something to it and she had done nothing to stop him, it was all her fault.
A few months later, after the "incident", as her current parents called it, occurred she was living with her aunt and uncle, but they told her to call them mum and dad. They were in a toy store. Hermione had never been allowed to go in one of those before. She smiled.
"What do you want? You can pick out anything." Her new father said. She was shocked.
"Really?" Hermione asked in a timid voice. Her father reached down towards her. She winced at the blow that was sure to come, but it didn't. Instead she received a gentle pat on the head. She looked up into the eyes of the man that towered over her, they were soft and he gave the girl a small reassuring nod. This had never happened before, such kindness, was it possible?
After walking around the store for a while Hermione pointed with a tiny finger at a medium sized stuffed cat. It wasn't the cutest cat, but it was orange.
"That's what you want?" Her new mother asked sweetly. The little girl nodded eagerly.
"I used to have a cat just like that once." She said, with more confidence than before. Her new parents looked at her questioningly but they didn't voice them. Instead they bought her the cat and Hermione made sure never to let it out of her sight again.
"Hermione, you okay?" Harry asked, shaking her shoulder softly. She had been staring off into space for some time now.
"I'm fine." Hermione said, shaking herself out of her daze, trying to slow the leak of tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry; this... this was just my favorite toy as a child..."
Ron smiled softly at his best friend. "Don't worry Hermione, my mum's a pro at sewing charms, she'll be able to fix it for you, I'm certain of it." Hermione couldn't help but smile back at the boy.
"Thanks Ron." Hermione grinned as she stood up with the stuffed cat cradled carefully in her arms. "I'll just go put him in my trunk, and then we'll need to get ready for dinner."
"Get ready?" Harry asked, but Hermione had already left the room. Ron looked at Harry and shrugged.
A/N: I thought I was doing the dinner last chapter, then I thought I was this one, but now I'm pretty sure it'll be the next one! SarahLou, you're the reason I did the whole flashback thing this time, I know it probably wasn't what you wanted when you said I should do more of the dream, but I hope you liked it anyway. Thanks for reading, y'all are terrific!!
Review Questions: Haha, I'm sorry if they sound American, after all I am from the U.S. I feel like it'll look stupid if I try to use British words, cause I'm not British, but I apologize and I'll start trying! For Mrs. Granger, I just made up the first name Tabitha. I actually know a girl named Tabitha with rather curely hair that I work with in After School Day care and she's always nice to the misfit kids sooo, I gave her the honor of being Mrs. Granger's name! On a side note, I also work with a girl named Chelsea who's mean to all the misfit kids! Sam is just a year older than Hermione. I think that answers them all, if it doesn't, I'm sorry! Ask me again!
Chapter Six
"...and then Fred poured this new powdery invention that he and George made onto Ginny's dinner plate while she wasn't looking, but Ginny's turning out to be as tricky as twins and could tell something was up. So, when Fred went to get something to drink, she switched plates with him and when he took a bite of his food the words "stupid prat" and "kick me" started flashing interchangeably on his forehead." Ron said. Hermione and Harry started laughing. "It took Fred about five good kicks from Ginny and George before he realized that it wasn't that the powder in Ginny's food wasn't working, but that it had somehow got on his food." Hermione and Harry laughed harder.
"I wish I could have been there." Harry said with a big smile.
"It's about time; Fred needed to see what it was like to be pranked instead of being the one doing the pranking for once." Hermione said, trying to look serious, but she couldn't help the smile that kept tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Well, if you ask me, it didn't do him any good. He thought it was hilarious too." Ron said. "If anything, I think it only encouraged him." Just then, the door to the study cracked open and the three Hogwarts students looked expectantly at the door.
"What encouraged who?" Samantha asked curiously.
"Doesn't really matter, it's not really any of your business." Ron said unconcernedly. Hermione gave him a pointed look, telling him that he was being rude, but Ron just shrugged, he personally thought it was very rude to barge in on the middle of someone's conversation.
Samantha didn't seem to be too bothered by his impolite demeanor and sat crossed legged by him on the floor. A little closer to him than Ron would have liked. Actually, being in the same room was closer than Ron would have liked.
"Oh Hermione! Do you remember when I dared you to climb that tree in your back yard, because I just knew you couldn't do it and you fell out and broke your arm?" Samantha said in a voice that would suggest she were reliving the two girl's most pleasant memory together.
"Of course, how could I forget?" Hermione asked, cheeks tinted pink with anger, but her face was a mask of calm. Harry and Ron looked quite abashed at Samantha.
"You were never really good at any physical activities. I think you made it about half way up before a limb broke and you fell to the ground." Samantha smiled and Hermione winced in remembrance.
"If I remember correctly, I made it all the way to the top and half way back down before the limb broke." Stated Hermione, a glint of anger visible in her eyes for a split second before it was gone once again.
"No, no, no. I would have remembered if you had made it to the top." Samantha said. Ron looked worriedly at Hermione, she looked like she was just about to jump up and climb the tree again just to prove that she could do it, when Sam changed tactics at the speed of light. "Do you still have Mr. Whiskers Hermione?" All the anger that Hermione was feeling was suddenly replaced by pure embarrassment.
"...." Hermione was speechless; she didn't think Sam would have remembered that! Ron and Harry looked confusedly from Sam to Hermione and against all his better judgment, Harry asked, "Who's Mr. Whiskers?"
"I'm sure he's still on Hermione's bed, I'll go get him." And with that, Sam jumped from her spot and rushed from the room. Hermione gaped at Harry. And Ron voiced her opinion.
"How could you do that Harry? Give Sam a reason to embarrass Hermione like that!" Ron glared angrily at his best friend.
"I'm sorry... it slipped..." Harry looked sheepishly at his feet and the door flew open once again. Samantha was holding a stuffed orange cat. Its fur was all matted and didn't even have any whiskers, it looked liked it had been ripped several times because there were stitch marks on its neck and legs. Hermione buried her face in her hands.
"Aw, Hermione, you're embarrassed of him? You used to take this ratty old thing with you everywhere." Samantha grinned at Hermione's embarrassment. "It is however a bit childish to still have a stuffed animal; do you want me to get rid of him for you?" Samantha had already started to head out of the room, holding Mr. Whisker by the tail.
"No!" Hermione leaped from her spot and grabbed for Mr. Whiskers, but Samantha held it high in the air. Hermione openly glared at Samantha, all good manners and false cheeriness dropped. "Give him back!"
"There's the Hermione I remember! Try as you might to keep up that perfect facade, it won't work, you'll slip in front of the adults soon enough and they'll see you for how they already know you are." Samantha smirked evilly. Hermione clenched her fists at her sides.
"No matter how hard I try, I may not be perfect, but I'll always be better than you!" Hermione spat angrily. "I saw you sneaking out of the house last night, we're staying in the same room you know, do your parents know where you're sneaking off to so late at night?"
Samantha stared at Hermione for a second before grabbing Mr. Whiskers at the stitching and ripping Mr. Whiskers head clear off his body. Hermione gasped in horror, Samantha grinned, that had certainly wiped that smug look off Hermione's face.
Samantha dropped Mr. Whisker's two halves to the floor and Hermione collapsed on her knees in front of him as Ron and Harry watched, petrified in shock. "Listen here Hermione, I may have cheated in order to graduate first in my class, but as far as everyone else knows, I'm the perfect daughter that you'll never be. I get top marks, I'm the captain of any sports team I want to be on, and I'm certainly a lot prettier than you are." Sam looked down at Hermione scoffing. "You're an outcast in this family, so don't try and pretend that you're better than I am." With that, Sam walked gracefully out of the room. Ron ran and slammed the door behind her, muttering a few choice words that Hermione would have normally reprimanded.
"Don't listen to her Hermione, she's no good!" Ron growled in fury. Harry sat down beside Hermione and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You okay?" Harry asked her. Ron was pacing around making violent gestures in the air when he heard a sniffle.
"Oh Hermione," Ron said, dropping to his knees in front of Hermione who was now clutching the remains of her stuffed cat. "Please don't cry. Don't listen to what that stupid girl says, it's rubbish!"
Hermione however wasn't phased in the least by what Samantha had said, she'd been hearing things like that her entire life. The reason tears were slowly trickling out of her eyes was because her cherished stuffed cat was probably ruined. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut in remembrance.
It was a hot summer and three year old, almost four year old Hermione was playing in the sun alone. She spent most of her time alone. Her parents were inside talking with a couple people she didn't know, they were wearing funny clothes that were mostly black. Whenever people came over, her parents always complained that she was making too much noise and forced her to go outside and play.
Normally Hermione wouldn't have minded, she liked playing outside, but today was very hot and her parents had only given her a sippy cup of water. She didn't dare ask for more either, her parents didn't react very kindly to being interrupted. Hermione shuddered at the thought.
Deciding to conserve her energy, Hermione sat in the shade of a big tree and began to look at a tattered old word book she had left outside for just such an emergency. She would rather have taken a stick and dug for buried treasure, but her parents didn't like it when she dug holes into their nicely manicured yard.
Hermione was just getting into her book when a loud mew came from some nearby bushes. Hermione set her book down and watched as a small orange kitten tottered out. Hermione reached out her hand and the tiny kitten walked slowly towards her. She noticed that it looked hungry and thirsty as she petted its head softly.
She knew what she had to do. She also knew it could be hours before her parents would let her back into the house, but this was more important. She unscrewed her sippy cup lid and set the now open container on the floor. Little Hermione smiled at the tiny creature as it eagerly lapped up the cool liquid.
As the days went by, Hermione snuck food and drink out to the kitten whenever possible. One day however, her parents caught her in the act.
"What are you doing Hermione?" Her mother asked sharply.
"N-nothing." Hermione responded, holding the slice of chicken and cup of milk behind her back. Forcibly her mother grabbed her hands and pulled them out in front of her.
"What is this?" Mrs. Granger demanded. Before Hermione could answer however, the small orange kitten came mewing out of the hedge. The milk and chicken clattered to the ground. "Oh, I see. Wait until you father hears about this!"
The next day Hermione ventured outside, a few bruises, even rather large bruises wouldn't stop her from taking care of that kitten.
"Here kitty, kitty, kitty." Hermione called, but she got no response. The kitten was gone... her father must have done something to it and she had done nothing to stop him, it was all her fault.
A few months later, after the "incident", as her current parents called it, occurred she was living with her aunt and uncle, but they told her to call them mum and dad. They were in a toy store. Hermione had never been allowed to go in one of those before. She smiled.
"What do you want? You can pick out anything." Her new father said. She was shocked.
"Really?" Hermione asked in a timid voice. Her father reached down towards her. She winced at the blow that was sure to come, but it didn't. Instead she received a gentle pat on the head. She looked up into the eyes of the man that towered over her, they were soft and he gave the girl a small reassuring nod. This had never happened before, such kindness, was it possible?
After walking around the store for a while Hermione pointed with a tiny finger at a medium sized stuffed cat. It wasn't the cutest cat, but it was orange.
"That's what you want?" Her new mother asked sweetly. The little girl nodded eagerly.
"I used to have a cat just like that once." She said, with more confidence than before. Her new parents looked at her questioningly but they didn't voice them. Instead they bought her the cat and Hermione made sure never to let it out of her sight again.
"Hermione, you okay?" Harry asked, shaking her shoulder softly. She had been staring off into space for some time now.
"I'm fine." Hermione said, shaking herself out of her daze, trying to slow the leak of tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry; this... this was just my favorite toy as a child..."
Ron smiled softly at his best friend. "Don't worry Hermione, my mum's a pro at sewing charms, she'll be able to fix it for you, I'm certain of it." Hermione couldn't help but smile back at the boy.
"Thanks Ron." Hermione grinned as she stood up with the stuffed cat cradled carefully in her arms. "I'll just go put him in my trunk, and then we'll need to get ready for dinner."
"Get ready?" Harry asked, but Hermione had already left the room. Ron looked at Harry and shrugged.
A/N: I thought I was doing the dinner last chapter, then I thought I was this one, but now I'm pretty sure it'll be the next one! SarahLou, you're the reason I did the whole flashback thing this time, I know it probably wasn't what you wanted when you said I should do more of the dream, but I hope you liked it anyway. Thanks for reading, y'all are terrific!!