Chapter Four: Hermione - Explaining Myself to an Inanimate Object
potterfreak16
A/N: So, I'm sure that quite a few of you were becoming extremely fed up with me for my lack of updates with The Summer After. I can only apologize for taking so long with chapter four. Other commitments kept me extremely busy these past two months, preventing me from finishing the long-awaited chapter written in Hermione's POV. I find her to be the hardest character to write, simply because it's hard for me to capture her voice. I hope I did her character some justice, though. Enjoy, and please leave a review when you're done! Thanks!
Disclaimer: The only thing that's mine is the plot. Unfortunately.
19th June, 3:16 PM. Currently inside of my kitchen.
Hello. I'm Hermione Jane Granger, age seventeen, about to embark on a mission to help my best friend and hero of the magical world, Harry Potter, to defeat Lord Voldemort.
And yes, I did write his name. There will be none of that You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named rubbish in this journal.
And yes, this is a journal. I am not afraid to admit it. I am using this journal as a means of documenting my journey with Harry and my other best (and emotionally retarded) friend Ronald Weasley as we search for missing pieces of Voldemort's soul.
Not your typical journal, is it? Talk of evil dark wizards and destroying pieces of a fragmented soul aren't exactly things one would expect to find in a normal seventeen-year-old girl's journal. Perhaps talk of crushes and mindless babble would be more appropriate, but luckily for the eyes that will eventually read these pages, (although possibly unlucky for me) I am not an average girl. I am, believe it or not, a witch.
I know, it's a bit unbelievable, isn't it? When I received my Hogwarts letter in the mail all those years ago, I was nothing short of skepitcal...
Hang on. Why am I explaining myself to an inanimate object?
It's true that this book may be read by someone other than myself in the future, but I'm quite certain that this long-winded explanation is completely unnecessary. I think I tend to get caught up in the details of things sometimes. My apologies.
Right. Maybe I should discuss more relevant topics. This is, after all, supposed to be my version of the events that will take place once our journey begins. But since our journey hasn't officially begun yet, I really haven't a clue as to what to talk about.
I really haven't a clue as to why I started this today, but that's beside the point.
Hmm...well...oh!
In two days, I will be traveling to the Burrow and spending nearly a month there with Harry, Ron, Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys. Bill and Fleur are getting married next month, and it should be quite beautiful...
Hang on again. Why do I sound like such a boring, stuffy snob?
Honestly. I may be a bit of a bookworm, but I'm certainly not boring.
There's a completely non-boring topic that I wanted to talk about, but the problem is that I'm not sure I should talk about it. I know it'll only drag up more horrible memories, but...well, it's as though there's this indescribable yearning within me to talk about it. It's as though I know I won't feel all right again unless I get this off of my chest.
It's no secret that Professor Dumbledore is dead. It's been one of the very few "hot topics" that the Daily Prophet has been covering constantly. The intrigue of it all isn't exactly the fact that he's dead - it's more about the unanswered question of who killed him. I've been tempted on more than one ocassion to send an owl to them saying that it was Severus Snape who commited the atrocious crime, but I always stop myself, and sometimes I don't understand why.
But I think I understand why now.
There's been this nagging voice in the back of my mind that's been telling me that things aren't exactly as they seem. That maybe what happened that night on the Astronomy Tower wasn't cold-blooded murder.
I can't owl Harry about this because I know him well enough by now to know that he won't believe any of my theories. He's too loyal for his own good sometimes, I think. Most of the time it's a good quality of his, but on a few ocassions it interferes with his judgment, and that isn't beneficial to anyone.
But if I can't voice my theories to Harry, who can I tell? Surely Ron will think me insane, and will probably have no problem telling me so. Sometimes I think it's entirely useless to even attempt to communicate with that thick-headed moron. I'm completely aware that nothing I say ever penetrates his mind.
I could always talk to Ginny, I suppose, but she's probably just as strong in her belief that Snape is nothing more than a murderous traitor as Harry and Ron are. She might be a bit more open to theory, but she's certainly not going to agree with me. In fact, she'll probably follow the same route as her brother and tell me what an idiot I am.
I can't help but wonder if I'm the only person in the entire magical world that thinks it's possible that there's more to Severus Snape than meets the eye. Am I the only one that thinks that there may be more to his story than hasty assumptions and biased opinions? Something tells me that I might just be.
Still 19th June, 7:54 PM. Currently sitting on my bed (which isn't made by the way, and it's really bothering me).
I've just received an owl from Ginny. Of course she sent Pig, and I really wish she wouldn't have, because he's hooting exceptionally loudly and my parents are getting rather annoyed. I can hear them muttering in their bedroom across the hall. She should've sent Errol instead. The bird may be a bit disoriented, but at least he doesn't make so much noise.
Anyway, back to the point.
Ginny sent me a letter, and I noticed that she went to great lengths to avoid mentioning Harry. She even went so far as to say: Ron's best mate got here a few days ago, you know, the one who bumps into me on staircases and doesn't apologize or even acknowledge my presence.
I cringe to think of what it's going to be like once I get there. With Harry and Ginny not speaking, it's going to make for a very awkward stay indeed.
I leave in two days. With everything that's bound to happen at the Burrow, I'm sure I'll have you filled up before we even begin the search for the Horcruxes.