A Winters Tale
Hermione had never had many friends. She was too bookish, and she was smarter than all her peers. Her parents told her that they were jealous of her, for knowing so much so easily. Hermione had accepted that easily, after all, jealousy would explain why they made fun of her faults. Then she had gotten her Hogwarts letter. A whole world she knew nothing about. She had gotten all the books that even hinted they might help her learn. A muggleborns guide to the wizarding world, Hogwarts a History, History of Magic and Modern Magical History became her guide. She learned about ancient wizards and modern wizards, that most of the well known wizards throughout history were Gryffindors or Slytherins. The Gryffindors received more praise, and less accusations of being dark and evil. So she determined she would be a Gryffindor. She would make friends in a house of extraordinary people who wouldn't be jealous of her because they also were overachievers. She should have known it was too good to be true.
It had started slowly, Lavender and Parvati had quickly bonded over their mutual loves of fashion and drama leaving her, Fae and Sally-Anne to awkwardly try to bond. Hermione didn't truly start feeling isolated in her dorm until after the first potions class. While she had been partnered with Dean, Fae and Sally-Anne had partnered. And they had discovered that despite Fae being a pureblood and Sally-Anne being muggleborn the two shared an absolute hatred of anything involving animals; dead or alive. They continued talking from there and were enjoying discussing the differences in their two worlds. When Hermione tried to join in, she was rebuffed or the conversation became awkward, stilted. And in a dorm of five girls, two groups of two left her all alone. It had been her first major disappointment in this new world she'd entered. It wouldn't be the last. While she had thrown herself into her studies following the revelation that none of the Gryffindors seemed to share her work ethic, it only led to mumblings from the others and the upper years. Was she sorted right? Why did they give us a Ravenclaw? Clearly she doesn't belong here. It had all come to a head in Charms. And to her eternal shock and gratification Ron Weasley and Harry Potter had rescued her from the ensuing incident. And then they hadn't ignored her. They let her lecture them on whatever topics she wanted, they did their homework and asked for her help. And when Harry told them about how he was worried his sister was a Slytherin she had felt a vicious need to keep Harry and Ron to herself. Aster wasn't like the vapid, shallow, reserved girls she shared a dorm with. And if they had someone to take her place, someone who was related, she would be a pariah again. And knowing the taste of friendship would make the lack of it emptier. So she played up how Aster's study group of Slytherins had rejected her due to her inferior blood status. And when Aster accused Quirrel Hermione had been offended. "She's a Slytherin! Of course she'll defend Professor Snape!" Luckily with Ron agreeing, they had managed to keep Harry from trusting his Slytherin sister. Then the twin bond tore. Harry had been in agony, rubbing his chest and unable to sleep. And in a completely unfair decision, Harry had to go to class when Aster didn't. Hermione thought it was sexist, clearly they were both in the same amount of pain, why excuse one but not the other? She had voiced her thoughts to Harry, who had agreed with her. When she left for the holidays, it was with confidence. Her boys would do some research for Flamel, though she wasn't very optimistic on their odds of finding something. Her parents would be proud of her for making friends and fitting in with this new world she'd joined.
She had been wrong. Her parents had been happy she made friends, but were concerned that she only had the two and they were both boys. They didn't understand her classes, and wanted her to go back to studying normal subjects. She promised to do summer tutoring to catch up. Her father mentioned disappointment in Professor McGonagall for not telling them that mundane subjects like english or chemistry were not taught at Hogwarts. Then she got back to school and found Harry trying to mend fences with his sister, who was happy to talk to him now, when before break she'd been distant and always with the other Slytherins. And when she spoke up, everyone took the other girls side. It was too much, especially when Harry started to tell her about Flamel. That had been their thing. Their little trio's investigative project. Then he started talking about that stupid twin bond. Hermione didn't believe that it existed, the twins she'd known in primary had bickered all the time with no consequences. Why would this be any different? She made it to her dorm this time, curling under the covers and crying ugly sobs. All she had wanted was friends!
She woke up to Lavender shaking her shoulder.
"Harry and Ron want to speak to you." Her lower lip trembled. She was going to lose the only friends she'd ever had. Slowly she walked down the stairs, and she saw the boys waiting for her at the bottom.
"Hermione, I'm sorry. I didn't tell Aster about Flamel. I was telling her about my holiday, it's the first time we've been apart. I don't trust her fully, she is a Slytherin and I don't know where that came from. Are you still mad at me?" Hermione flung herself at Harry.
"I thought you wouldn't want to be friends anymore. I'm sorry, I just wanted to keep the Flamel stuff between the three of us, and you including her when she hasn't spoken to you in months before today…"
"I'm sorry Mione."
"It's the three of us. I'll pick you over my brothers and Ginny if you promise to do the same."
"That sounds great Ron. I'll pick you two over anyone else every day." Harry smiled at them, relief evident on his face.
"I'm so happy I'm friends with you guys." And a wave of warmth drowned Hermione in contentment.
