* The Suspension *
Saturdays were the days which Hermione spent lazily on the couch with a cup of tea in one hand and a good book on her lap. Since Harry had told them about the Kids' Quidditch League and how he was thinking about taking Teddy, and after seeing Belle on a broom recently on The Burrow, Ron decided it was a great opportunity to initiate his little girl into the sport. Hermione was reluctant at first, but since Belle was excited about the prospect of playing with Teddy and spending time with her father, she finally agreed. And, to tell the truth, she was really enjoying having the house for her own for a few hours, especially since she couldn't move much due to her advanced pregnancy. So there she was one Saturday afternoon, reading one of the Brontës' novels when the front door opened and two sets of feet were heard, along with what she could get as an argument.
"No, I'm not!" She heard her 6-year-old state.
"Yes, you are." Ron said, firmly.
"No, I'm not!" Little Belle shouted as she and her father walked in the living room.
"Yes, you are, young lady. If you want to go back to play with Teddy in the Quidditch League, you're going to do it." He said.
"I'm not going back!" Belle shouted furiously.
"Belle Granger-Weasley! You do not yell at your father, do you understand me?" Hermione told her off from the couch. They looked at her, then Belle just looked down, ashamed. "Now, can you please tell me what all this is about? I thought you were going to be gone until 5." She asked them as she sat down. Ron looked at her and sighed.
"Well, your daughter was suspended from the Quidditch League until further notice." He answered, looking at his little girl reproachably.
"Suspended? What for?" Hermione asked, shocked.
"Hitting another kid." He said. Hermione's eyes got bigger. Belle? Her Belle hitting someone? She must have heard wrong. Her Belle was sweet and nice. Her Belle would never hurt anyone on purpose. She instantly looked at her daughter.
"Is this true, Belle?" She asked as she held her hands to Ron so he would help her up. Belle didn't look at her but nodded her head. Hermione sighed as she stoop up from the couch. "You know we do not use violence to solve problems, right?" She asked then. Belle kept looking down but nodded in agreement anyway. "Then, you should apologize for what you did." Hermione concluded. Belle didn't look at her, but this time she shook her head. Hermione and Ron looked at each other, then at her, shocked. "Belle, you must apologize for hitting that kid." Hermione insisted, but Belle was adamant and she shook her head again. "Why not?" Hermione asked, one hand on her hip, the other on her back. Belle finally upped her head to them.
"He deserved it! He was very mean, mommy." She defended herself.
"That's not an excuse to hit someone and you know it." Hermione said.
"But mommy..." Belle started before Ron cut her in.
"But, nothing, Belle. Next weekend, you're going to apologize to him." He said firmly. Belle shook her head.
"Never!" She shouted.
"Belle..." He started. But Belle just shook her head vehemently.
"Then, go to your room, young lady. Now." Hermione ordered. Belle glared at them, then upped the stairs to her room, stomping her feet, and slammed the door when she got in there. Ron looked at Hermione and sighed.
"Merlin! If she's like this now, I don't want to think what she'll be like when she's older." He said sitting on the couch.
"I don't understand, Ron. She's not the kind of girl who hits someone. What happened?" She asked. Ron shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know, really. Harry and I were sitting on the benches, talking. One minute, the kids are tossing around the quaffle, the next one she had hit a kid right on the nose." He said.
"But what triggered it? Something must have happened for her to do that." She said, trying to find an explanation for her daughter's odd behaviour.
"She didn't say, really. She just said that he said something mean and she punched him. That's all." He said. Hermione sighed.
"Well, it doesn't make any sense and it's not right! She's not like that!" She exclaimed, walking to the stairs. She went up and knocked on her daughter's door. She waited for a reply. When she didn't get one, she knocked again. "Belle? Sweetheart, can I come in?" She asked. She thought she heard a muffled "ok", so she opened the door to find her daughter laid on her back on the bed and her nose stuck in a book. Hermione took a deep breath and walked to her. "I think we should leave Jo with her adventures for a little while and have a talk." She said, sitting at the edge of the bed. Belle looked at her.
"It's not Jo who's having an adventure. It's Meg. She's going to a party at her friend's house." The little girl corrected.
"Right. Well, we'll have to see what happens to her in Vanity Fair later. I really want to talk to you." Hermione said. Belle sighed, placed the bookmark inside the book and closed it. "So, I would like you to tell me what really happened in the Quidditch pitch today." Hermione said calmly. Belle sighed and sat up.
"Well... We were tossing the quaffle around... and Justin Finchley told me that I threw like a girl. Some of the boys next to him laughed, which I thought it was stupid because... what's so funny about that? I am a girl, so I throw like one. How does he want me to throw? Like an hippogriff?" She asked. Hermione laughed a bit at the comment. "So, I looked at him and said: 'well, I am a girl. How do you want me to throw? Like an hippogriff?' he didn't seem to like it much because everyone laughed but him." Belle continued.
"O...K... but... that's not reason enough to hit someone, hun. You were right by standing up like you did, so that should be more than enough." Hermione said. Belle looked down to the book in her lap.
"He... he then..." Belle started, gulping. Hermione reached out and squeezed her daughter's hand, reassuringly. Belle sighed and looked up. "He called me a mudblood." she finally said. Hermione looked at her, shocked, and felt her eyes filling with tears of anger. Did she fight a bloody war against the darkest wirzard of all and his followers while being heavily pregnant just for a little kid to call her daughter that? No wonder why Belle got upset... but then, Hermione started thinking: does Belle really know the meaning of that word? It wasn't a word she would hear in Muggle primary school. And she didn't recall having that conversation with her, though she did believe that Belle deserved to know about its meaning. She remembered the little girl asking her once about that word, but Hermione only told her that it wasn't a nice word to say and that she shouldn't repeat it. She didn't sit down properly and explained why because she thought Belle didn't need to know it until she was much older. But now she thought that she should have had that talk in the moment the little girl asked about it.
"so you... you hit him because he called you that word?" Hermione asked in a clarifying but reassuring tone. Belle nodded.
"And... he also said that I was the worst of all because... he said you were a mudblood, so... I punched him." the little girl said, looking down to her book again. Hermione sighed.
"Do you know what that word really means?" she asked. Belle just nodded, which surprised Hermione a bit.
"They call that to the witches and wizards whose mommy and daddy have no magic." Belle explained. Hermione nodded.
"Where did hear it?" she asked again. Belle upped her head and looked at her in the eye.
"I read it in the Encyclopedia of Magical Terms in your library." she said, matter-of-factly.
"Why... why didn't you ask me or daddy?" Hermione inquired.
"I did, but you just told me it wasn't a nice word and that I shouldn't say it, so I asked uncle Harry one day and he said the same thing and that I should ask you about it. Since nobody else told me anything, I went to the library and looked it up." the girl explained. 'Of course', Hermione thought, shaking her head. Belle was her daughter through and through. So it was only logical: when in doubt, she went to a library. "But, I don't get it, mommy. Everyone's blood is the same, right? Why they say that kids whose mommies and daddies have no magic have dirty blood?" she asked innocently. Hermione grabbed her daughter's hand and squeezed it gently.
"Well, Belle, there are some wizards and witches who believe that they are better than the rest because their whole family has magic. And they think that people who doesn't have magic parents are not real wizards or not that good, so they call them that word as a way to make them feel bad, to make them feel like they're worth very little." Hermione tried to explain.
"But mommy, that's very mean! Someone can have no magical parents and be the best in magic. Like you! Daddy said your parents had no magic but you're the best witch of all." Belle concluded. Hermione smiled a bit and moved to sit next to her daughter.
"I know, baby. But some wizards and witches think that." she said, wrapping her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "I know you were mad at him because of what he said to you. It was very mean of him, but still... hitting is never the solution, ok?" Hermione said. Belle nodded.
"I don't regret it, though, mommy. And I'm not going to say sorry. He's very mean! Last weekend, he told Aggie very nasty things and made her cry, and he did the same to Danna and Molly and they never came back. I'm the only girl left in the team." Belle said. Hermione looked at her with big eyes.
"You mean he... he only says bad things to girls?" she asked, shocked. Belle nodded.
"And nobody says anything because he's the coach's son." Belle added. Hermione was furious. Not only was the kid racist in terms of magical status but also a misogynist git. That... That Hermione wasn't going to tolerate.
"You know what? You won't apologize for that punch." Hermione concluded. Belle looked at her with big eyes.
"I won't?" she asked, shocked. Hermione shook her head, smirking.
"You won't, baby. He deserved that punch. And if you wanna go back to play, then you will. And I'll go with you. I won't let him or anyone make you or anyone else feel bad." she said. Belle smiled and held onto her tight, placing her hands in her mom's belly to feel her baby sibling moving. Hermione kissed her daughter's head and held her tight.
"You are the most amazing little girl in the entire world, Belle. You worth a lot more than anyone will ever know and I bet anything that you can do more and better magic than that Justin ever did. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, baby." she said, looking at her daughter in the eye. Belle smiled and nodded, then held onto her mother tight. Hermione would have wanted to spare Belle all the suffering of hearing that word, but she knew her daughter was tough and that she had taught her well. She knew Belle wouldn't let anyone make her feel bad and that she would fight for what was right. If anything was a prove of it, it was that punch.