She rolled her wand between the fingers of her left hand as she added the finishing flourish to her "holes" essay with her new fountain pen. The writing looked beautiful, the essay was long and detailed, even Herr Kerr would approve it. She would receive full marks of course, her day life was so predictable, so dull, compared to the lifetime she lived in her dreams. She took a sip of the English tea; her parents didn't let her drink it but she had begun to find hot chocolate so unbearably sweet. It amazed her that her dentist parents let her drink the stuff.
She flicked her wand towards the bookshelf, summoning the English-German lesson tapes that she'd borrowed from the library. She'd been pleased to discover that she could skip the first two 'years' of German, and she'd spoken to her teachers about being entered into her 11 exams early. Her parents had been curious but happy none the less and had been only too happy to take her to extra German classes.
Whilst she listened to the childish songs about people's morning routines, she cast the levitation charm on her books - she'd learned that magic and electronics didn't mesh well in an unfortunate incident with the TV remote. Fortunately, her parents had assumed it was faulty and she hadn't had to admit to breaking it.
Whilst she levitated her copy of "holes" she felt for the magic that flowed out of her and around the book. It was like feeling a glowing stream, and she could imagine feeling it tangibly in her hands as it channeled through the wand. With a firm grasp on her core, she ended the spell and put her wand down, then she directed the magic to create light in her hands. When she opened her eyes, the imagined glow was a real glow. She watched the slightly pulsing light for a moment, then allowed it to go out. She reached for the magic again, still familiar with the feeling, and directed it to cradle a book on her desk. When she raised her hands, the magic moved with them, raising the book. She held it for a moment, then let it down again.
The happy children's voices were singing about what they ate for dinner now and some of the words were unfamiliar. She copied down the new words to look up, making sure to twist her wrist just so as she finished the "s". The song ended and she fast forwarded the tape through the English translation, instead using the time whilst the characters discussed transport to look up the german words she had just copied down.
Gellert had remarked more than once how fast she was progressing, what he didn't realise was that she was practicing whilst he was asleep - when she was awake in her real life. She knew Lady Grindelwald's affection was conditional and she intended to earn that affection, along with all the benefits that came with it. After all, the things she was learning were wonderful and she had found a wonderful friend in Gellert. He was intelligent and driven, perhaps not quite as fond of books as her but perfectly willing and capable of reading advanced topics and discussing them like a grown up. He appreciated being outdoors without the need for rough-housing but he had a wicked sense of humour.
She could still barely believe he was real but the wand, the magic, the otherwise inexplainable learning of seemingly random subjects (her riding skills were real too, even if mortal horses were a little... humdrum...) all pointed to her dreams somehow being real.
Her parents called her for dinner and she hurried down to join them. Her mother had made a shepherd's pie and Hermione laid the table. It was comforting to eat with the sturdy, mass produced cutlery and plates, the food wasn't as good but she took great pleasure in eating a large portion, licking the back of her spoon and cutting her vegetables with her fork.
Her parents discussed their days at work and asked Hermione about her day at school. She summarised her day quickly - top marks in her Maths test and a new English assignment. She assured them she had already finished it and done some more work on her German.
Her mother had noticed the apple tree was ready for a harvest, and she offered Hermione some pocket money to fill a crate with apples and Hermione accepted. She wanted to get some more books, perhaps classic literature, or take violin lessons. Gellert played the piano and he was excellent, she would love to be able to play with him and Lady Grindelwald had expressed disappointment that she didn't already know an instrument.
Bed time came quickly after that. Her tooth brushing was carefully supervised, her parents singing a song where she had to change areas of her mouth depending on which line was being sung. Then she was left in her room and the curtains were drawn. Her eyes alighted on her German-English dictionary and she wondered if, like her wand, she could bring it with her.
Sleep didn't exist, she shut her eyes in the real world and blinked them open in her glorious castle room. She was only mildly disappointed that the book hadn't come with her; after all, her clothes didn't travel either.
She would be with Frau Brandler today and she flopped back down on her bed in horror. She hated lessons with Frau Brandler - they would be studying yet more dancing today. She was already dressed in the painful heels and long skirt that she was to wear for dancing lessons, and a knock at her door had her stifling a moan as she rose.
Gellert offered her his arm and she tucked her hand into it for support, clutching her skirts with her other as he helped her down the stairs. He walked her all the way to the music room, then turned back to the writing room for his own lessons. He was learning runes, which was the foundations of sorcery and ancient wizardry and she was so envious of him. The subject sounded fascinating, particularly when she was learning dancing of all things.
She took a deep, calming breath.
She was younger than Gellert and he had probably already learned to dance. She was sure that once she learned to dance, she would be allowed to study runes and duelling.
'Good morning, Fräulein Granger.' Frau Brandler greeted and Hermione curtsied unsteadily in her heels. She could just about manage walking but the ankle twist required to curtesy was another matter entirely.
'Today we shall be practicing the dance we learned last week.' She was informed curtly and Hermione's eyes drifted to the mannequin that stood against the wall. The awful thing was enchanted to keep dancing without care for her, and its arms were hard and unforgiving. It was heavy too, and last lesson her toes and shins had been bruised and painful from it treading on her when she got her legs in the way.
The string quartet in the corner of the room jumped to life and began to perform a song that was beginning to sound like the soundtrack to her nightmares. The mannequin jumped to life and she had to hurry in her heels to reach him. She knew from experience that cutting in was harder than starting from the beginning. Six other mannequins joined them, forming the rest of the quadrille and then they were off, wooden forms looking graceful with her bumbling along between them.
Two dances and several hours worth of bruised feet later, she flopped into her chair in the lunch room with a lack of grace that even Flighty seemed to have sympathy for as she was allowed to guzzle down her glass of water with no hand slapping.
'Still not dancing?' Gellert asked. He was nursing bruised knuckles, having already informed her as to his runes tutor's fondness for the cane.
'No. I hate that woman, and I hate her stupid music.' She grumped, glaring at the empty hearth. When she looked up again, Gellert was standing over her, his hand held out.
'Come, dance with me Fräulein.' He offered, she scowled at him, lowering her brows to make her glare even darker. 'You will like it.'
She relented, taking his hand and letting him escort her to the music room again. It was empty, Frau Brandler away for lunch and her mannequins motionless against the wall. Gellert tapped the instruments with his wand and they jumped up to perform a Polka. Hermione took her place next to him and rested her hand on his arm.
He stood completely still, facing an imaginary partner as the cello counted them in, then they turned towards each other and he spun her about. Just as she felt about to topple over, her arm swept around her waist, stabilising her and his left came up to clasp her hand and sweep them forwards. They sidestepped across the room, twirled once, kept sidestepping, twirled again, then danced around the room in a large circle, spinning. He stopped suddenly, their momentum throwing her into a twirl beneath his arm and it was really just logical where her feet went to execute it smoothly. She didn't have a chance to lose her balance as she was swept of her feet and sum around in the air, before being set down and guided once more into a twirling circle. The violin chirped a tempo that it was impossible not to follow, and she managed to keep it perfectly as he spun her away, she twirled twice, then like a boomerang found herself twirling back into his arms. He led them into a series of intricate steps through the room, her footwork wasn't perfect but it really didn't matter as it was difficult to get too far wrong when he was leading the way.
She had a little trouble with the sideways flick of her heels, then he was leading her again in a series of twirling loops and lines, her skirts swirling around her legs and her breathing coming faster as they kept up the vigorous pace. He instructed her gently as they got to the parts she was less familiar with, until before she knew it she was draped backwards over his arm as the violin drew the music to a tremulous close.
Applause echoed through the suddenly silent room.
'Sehr Gut, Sehr Gut, Herr Grindelwald.' Frau Brandler strode across the room with a click of heels against the wooden floor. She spoke too fast then for Hermione to really catch what they were saying with her limited German, and Gellert replied in kind.
She had enjoyed herself, she realised. She had really enjoyed herself, and the dancing had been easy when she had relaxed and let herself... flow, for want of a better word, with the music. The mannequins were terrible dance partners, and Gellert was truly excellent in comparison. He had an aristocratic grace that she couldn't help but share when she danced with him. Her feet felt light, her arms lighter. Her heels hadn't bothered her because she was dancing on delicately pointed toes, her feet never resting long enough for balance on the precarious shoes to become an issue. The speed of their twirls had held the skirts away from her feet, the hem swirling several inches above the ground. Oh yes, she really had enjoyed herself.
Of course, he had his own lessons to attend, so Gellert was soon dismissed and Hermione's lessons moved from dancing to walking. She felt like she had stepped out of a Jane Austen novel a book and teacup were piled on her head, a broomstick tied to her back and she was forced to perform tasks that would otherwise have been easy. Again and again she was forced to sit and stand, climb a step, even walking at different speeds was difficult. When she concentrated on her posture, she'd tangle her legs in her skirts, Shen she looked down to keep her feet untangled, the book and teacup would fall and smash on the floor.
Then, as if things weren't already bad enough, Frau Brandler combined both deportment and broomstick flying, forcing her to precariously balance on a flying broomstick - side saddle of course, no self respecting witch would ride astride - with the teacup still on her head. Thankfully they didn't have to go high, but she had to balance the acceleration smoothly or the teacup would be swept off by the acceleration.
Her whole body ached from the exertion by the time she was finally released and she could go with Gellert to visit Katana in the stables.
He finished later than her, nursing a swelling sting that effectively immobilised his left hand. Along with his still bruised knuckles from the cane earlier, he was almost as worse for wear as she was.
Katana was in the stable opposite Kelpie and she paused to admire her beast as Gellert tempted his own from the pond in it's stall. He was tall, taller than Kelpie by far and she had to stand on a stool to be able to comb the mane on his back. His silvery scales shimmered like moonlight, and his mane was an icy blue-white, running from the base of his long antlers to the tip of the scaly tail, which ended in a tuft. His pale, leathery wings folded tightly against his sides, but he carried them raised so that she could scratch the join between them and his shoulders.
She rubbed him down with a wet cloth and filled his manger with hay. A wet slop from across the barn signalled that Gellert had fed his Kelpie and with chores done, they retired upstairs to the lunch room to nurse their aching muscles and play a game of chess. Hermione already knew that Gellert would beat her thoroughly and hoped that at least she would be woken by the time the game finished so that she wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of having her king chased around the board by his many remaining pieces.