Chapter Three

Eleven

September 19, 1990

She was falling. She knew she never should have climbed this tree. She couldn't scream. In fact, everything seemed very quiet, as though all the sound had been sucked out of the atmosphere, leaving only her thoughts to fill the space. Her arms flailed out in an effort to catch a branch to at least slow her down. She wondered how she would land. She really hoped she didn't land on her head or neck; she had seen a movie where that happened to someone and they couldn't walk anymore.

Her hair got caught in branches, enhancing the bushiness to the point of ridiculousness. Her hair caught, but her arms were simply scratched and bruised with each branch they hit on the way down. She was falling fast and thought all of this in a couple of seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, almost a relief, she met the ground.

She bounced. All she could utter was a surprised, "Oh," as she bounced a little more before coming to rest about a meter from the trunk of the tree. She lay there, afraid to move. Afraid to look at them. But, then, the sound came whooshing back and the air was filled with exclamations of "Wow! Did you see that? She bounced! She bounced! Wicked!" and "Oh my God, Hermione, are you okay?" and "I knew she'd fall, pay up," (there was a jingle of coins).

Black hair and blue eyes filled her field of vision as her only friend, Jennifer, leaned over her and offered her hand, "Let me help you up, Hermione," she said. Hermione grasped her hand and pulled herself up, then brushed the dirt and grass off her backside. She looked around at everyone staring at her. She wanted to run. She just knew they were going to make fun of her, just like every other time she did something that couldn't be explained.

To her astonishment, they began patting her on the back and asking how she did it and if she could do it again.

"I-I-I don't think…no, I can't. It was a fluke…the wind or something…." The leaves mocked her as they hung perfectly still in the absence of wind.

"Do it again!" cried one boy. Soon everyone but Jennifer and Hermione were chanting "Again! Again! Do it again!" Hermione knew she couldn't possibly recreate whatever had just happened, so she ran.

She ran, hair streaming behind her. She ran past her parents who were setting up the birthday cake and had apparently not noticed her fall on the other side of the park.

"Hermione!" called her mother, confused. "Jennifer, what's going on?"

She ran harder, knowing now that her friend was in pursuit and could almost always outrun her. Her legs were burning and her heart was beating a hole through her chest. She ran the three blocks to her house and then realized she didn't have a key to the door, so she sat on the front steps, with her legs crushed to her chest and arms hugging her legs. That was a bad idea; she stretched her legs trying to stop the cramps.

Meow

She chanced a glance in the direction of the park and was not surprised to see Jennifer catching her breath not far from her house. Her parents would be along at any moment. What was she going to tell them? What reason could she give them for running away?

"Since…when…have…you run…so fast?" heaved Jennifer as she plopped down next to Hermione and lay back on the porch landing.

"I don't know, but my legs really hurt," replied Hermione as she shook a cramp out of one leg.

"So…how did you do it? You know, the bounce trick?" asked Jennifer as she sat back up, shielding her eyes from the setting sun.

"I honestly have no idea. I thought for sure I was never going to walk again," said Hermione as all the odd occurrences in her life passed through her mind like a home video.

A green fairy and the word "SOON" in glittering gold letters hovering in mid-air…

Walking through London and seeing that pub that no one else could…

Running from the big dog down the street and making it over that fence in one leap…

And now this: bouncing out of trees.

Meow

It didn't make any sense to Hermione. She had never told her parents about any of those things except for the fairy and she had been so young that her mum had thought it was just her imagination. Hermione wished it was that simple.

A car screeched to a halt in front of the townhouse. Hermione could see that her parents had packed up her presents and cake and decorations before racing home. Her mother was the first out of the car, having opened her door before the car had fully stopped.

"Hermione? What's wrong sweetheart?" asked her mum with such confusion and kindness in her eyes that Hermione almost told her what happened. Almost.

Meow

A tabby cat was sitting on the step next to Hermione, looking up at her. It had spectacle-like markings around its eyes. It seemed to understand what they were saying for it seemed to be telling Hermione to tell her parents everything she could. For some reason, Hermione felt scolded and knew she should tell her parents everything. She couldn't do it with Jennifer there, though, for not even her best friend knew all of the strange occurrences.

Sensing this was what Hermione wanted, Mrs. Granger said, "Jennifer, why don't you go on home? Hermione will call you later."

"Yes, Mrs. Granger," she hugged Hermione, "You're eleven now! See you at school!" and Jennifer jogged towards her house.

"C'mon, sweetie, let's go inside," Mrs. Granger turned towards Mr. Granger, "John, dear, can you unload the car? I'll leave the door open for you," and as she opened the door the cat slipped inside the house, as though it had been waiting for the opportunity all along.