Again I own Nothing!
Thanks to Pazed for the edit.
As a note I am very ill at the moment, and will most probably be in the hospital soon, I may be a few extra days before I am up to writing again. I'll be back as soon as possible.
Chapter 12
Her name was Hermione Granger, she loved magic, her parents, and her few friends. When she was first told that she, the daughter of a pair of well-to-do dentists, was a witch and could do magic she was immediately smitten. A lot of people would have been, but she was not most people. It was not the power, or the abilities magic offered, it wasn't being able to turn a teacup into a rose, or flip her wand and create a chair from nothing (even if it would not last). No, it was two things that drew her more than anything, knowledge that not many had, and the possibility that she would belong.
All of her young life she had been teased for her love of books. Her mother had brushed off the teasing saying 'Never you mind, someday they will know better and you will be ahead in the game', while her father likened it to having her pigtails dunked in the inkwell, or a chance for character building. It wasn't that her parents didn't love her she knew that they did, it just seemed to her that they did not understand, and it hurt. Something had always been different about her, and when she was told about magic she was sure that that was it! She jumped at the chance, and badgered her parents relentlessly for the decision she so desperately wanted.
They wanted their little girl happy, and this for the first time seemed to be a ray of hope to bring that happiness. Finally they agreed, and were taken by the Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall to the oddly named Diagon Alley. There they were introduced to a strange world right out of a fairytale; you could fly on a broom, mix smoking potions in a cauldron (complete with eye of newt!), send post using an owl, and read many forms of mystical tomes.
Their little girl's eyes lit with an unmistakable fire, she wanted to know! She wanted to learn all about this magical world.
All of that had changed once she had arrived within the stone walls of this drafty old castle that was called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The first day had spiraled downhill from the beginning, though there were still parts she remembered fondly. Her disillusion started while still standing in the station in London, her parents couldn't see her on to the train because the magic protecting it from the eyes of the world did not recognize the non-magical parents of a new student. Leaving her to enter onto the platform and board the train alone. She rationalized it was important to enforce the Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. She had read they were a set of laws that the magical world followed to protect itself from non-magicals, or as they were known muggles.
The ride was long, seven hours, and rather boring. She helped a boy search for a toad, introduced herself to… well just about everyone. Observed people doing magic, and playing odd games… then she met Malfoy.
Draco Malfoy was short, thin, pale skinned, and bleached blond. He carried himself with an arrogance that she had seen many times, he was a bully. With his small stature he would not have posed much of a threat but he came equipped with two hulking bodyguards that looked as if they had been held back at least five grades. Their dark eyes seemed to reflect no intelligence and they rarely spoke, but the slightest gesture from Malfoy put them in instant motion. He had money, he had muscle, and his father's political clout and as it turned out he was also a bigot.
She had learned quickly that where the outside world had bigotry, its lines drawn mostly by skin color or religion, the wizarding world had it as well. Only theirs was drawn by blood purity, how many generations both sides of your family had been magical. And in this world the law offered little deterrence, and less protection.
Because of his father and his money, Malfoy was untouchable. She had seen him, deliberately, sabotage others in potions class (which his head of house taught), and magically assault students in the hallways. He was a bully plain and simple. Too bad he was not the only one.
Every house had some, Gryffindor had the Weasleys (though some called the twins pranksters, to her it was still bullying), Ravenclaw had Edgecome and her group, Hufflepuff had Zacharias Smith, among a few. It was a sad truth, but somehow she had hoped that this world would be better, free of such things.
The last vestige of hope that she had for this world broke that year on Halloween. Ron Weasley, the boy was a pig, food stains all over his clothes, hair uncombed, had sat next to her in Charms class. During the lecture he had doodled in his book, eaten an apple, played like his wand was a broom and just stared at her, he had done anything other than pay attention to the professor. When it was time to do the practical part of class he had waved his wand in great loops and yelled the incantation repeatedly, causing her to duck out of the way to keep him from putting her eye out.
Soon she had had enough, grabbed his arm and made him stop. She then corrected his pronunciation and wand movements. He, by way of thanking her, had turned red at that point and begun yelling at her. Challenging her to do it if she was so great, and she did.
She directed her now floating feather around the room, much to the delight of the professor, who awarded her house points for 'exemplary work!' On the way out of class she heard exactly what her so called housemate, Ron, thought of her and her help, the other boys agreed.
She ran, once again she was not accepted. She spent the rest of the day in the second floor women's restroom, trying to figure out how to tell her parents this had been a horrible mistake and she wanted to come home.
Her next memory was waking a day later in the hospital ward. Both her legs had been shattered, along with her pelvis and right arm. A magical creature, a mountain troll, had somehow entered the school and found its way to the restroom she was in and… they said she was lucky.
It never felt that way, they had regrown the bones, using some form of potions, and had her out of the hospital wing soon after. She still felt the effects, her legs ached when it rained, they said it was her imagination. She knew it was real.
She told them she wanted to go home, she was done with this place. That was when she was presented with a harsh reality, if she were to leave her and her family's memories of the magical world would be removed. They would mess around in her brain! It was the one thing she counted on, her most treasured thing outside her family.
So, she stayed, they offered to re-sort her into a different house and she accepted, but she expected little out of Ravenclaw. When she took her OWLS, Ordinary Wizarding Levels, she would be out of here and they could not legally alter her mind. So she studied, if she had to take them she would do them perfectly.
It was not till the next year she met someone she called friend, a tiny blond girl entered that year, she had large steel grey eyes, and wore radishes as earrings. When she was sorted at the feast she almost seemed to float to the Ravenclaw table, she spoke of odd creatures and seemed not to notice the odd looks that came her way.
It was mid-winter when Hermione found her walking alone in the hall outside of the common room trying to keep warm, no cloak, no shoes, and still in her nightgown. She immediately forgot her own needs, she had been on her way to the hospital wing for personal reasons, and pulled the young girl into the room and near the warm fire. From that day on she kept an eye on the younger girl, and by the year's end she held a special place in her heart for her. The younger sister she never had, Luna Lovegood.
Other than class it was rare to see them separate, meals, studying, they were always at each other's side. They had been good for one another, Hermione's adopted place as big sister gave the younger girl a solid anchor in the world, one that had been lost when her mother had passed when she was nine, her father being not much help in that regard as she had been his anchor as well. As for Luna, she provided Hermione a reason to be, one that was not tied to books, one that gave her a connection to people. She protected Hermione from herself, as much as Hermione protected Luna from others.
Today was different however, Hermione walked alone toward the Great Hall, as Luna had been up late writing an article for her father's paper, the Quibbler, a first-hand account of the Tri-Wizard Tournament's first event. Once Hermione had proof-read it this morning Luna had sent her on ahead to breakfast while she sent it out via owl post.
It was still very early, almost seven, as she walked through the corridors while quietly ticking off the things she needed to do today from the list she kept in her head. Being forced to attend that stupid tournament had disrupted her schedule, but this being Sunday she thought she could get ba… back?
She heard something she had never heard within these walls before, a lone guitar and voice…. She smiled, and muttered quietly, "Elvis, is in the building." She turned at the next corner following the song.
Walk a Mile In My Shoes: Elvis Presley
If I could be you, if you could be me
For just one hour, if we could find a way
To get inside each other's mind
If you could see you through my eyes
Instead your own ego I believe you'd be
I believe you'd be surprised to see
That you've been blind
Walk a mile in my shoes
just walk a mile in my shoes
Before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Then walk a mile in my shoes
Now if we spend the day
Throwin' stones at one another
'Cause I don't think, 'cause I don't think
Or wear my hair the same way you do
Well, I may be common people
But I'm your brother
And when you strike out
You're tryin' to hurt me
It's hurtin' you, Lord HAVE mercy
Walk a mile in my shoes
just walk a mile in my shoes
Before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Then walk a mile in my shoes
Now there are people on reservations
And out in the ghetto
And brother there, but, for the grace of God
Go you and I,
If I only had wings of a little angel
Don't you know, I'd fly
To the top of a mountain
And then I'd cry, cry, cry
Walk a mile in my shoes
just walk a mile in my shoes
Before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Then walk a mile in my shoes