Chapter 3

Hermione looked at herself in the mirror.

This wasn't one of her favourite habits, but today she had nothing to do.

As usual she had finished every last iota of her work for the next month, and had gone over everything in her brain, struggling to be perfect. She had to be perfect.

Nothing was wrong with her. Yet.

Her eyebrows were nicely combed, her cheeks were red, and her mouth was shiny.

Her hair looked liked someone had tried to tame it with a lawnmower, but then again, what else is new? She licked her teeth to removed any filth that might have the unfortunate annoyance to happen to land on her pearly whites.

She draped a cloak over her head, grinding her teeth nervously.

FLASHBACK, Summer, 1996

'Darling, Hermione, please stop!'

Descansar Granger watched her daughter slowly drive the compass point into the palm of her hand, eyes closed.

Robert, her middle-aged, somewhat balding father stood, up, in a rage.

'Hermione Granger! Drop that at once!'

He tried to wrench it from her, succeeding in cutting a slice across her wrist, thin, but bleeding profusely.

Hermione stared at her hand, willing herself for it to go away, for the blood to stop.

She hadn't wanted this!

She felt shamed, knee-deep in dog shit, and as close to suicide as to life.

The pressure on the ten year old was enormous.

A year later, she received her letter.

Her freedom was here, and not in the form of the Angel Of Death.

It was a passage to safety and knowledge, one of the most craved things known to man.

Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

PRESENT DAY

Hermione had her headphones over her head.

My Chemical Romance blared in her head.

'Like a match, you incinerate, the lives...tonight, what's the worst that i could say.

Things are better if I stay,

So long,

and Goodnight,

So long,

and Goodnight.'

Story of her life, well, not really, especially since it was written about the main guy's dead grandmother, (happy?Anya) but when she read it, she felt as though she identified with it somehow, she felt, different. Almost holy. It was astonishing, really.

She fell asleep, listening to the soft beating of her heart.

Thanx to all who reviewed!

Natural-181
2005-10-15
ch 2, signed

it's alright but very confusing if you could please update asap...cuz this fanfic is confusing...:D

thanx much,but it's supposed to be confusing in a dark, weird way. I thought people would cry because Hermione's bulimic (eats a lot, then throws up). In the fourth book, in the beginning, Hermione was always stuffing herself to go the "library", but i thought it would be good to make her have an eating disorder...