I wasn't expecting anyone to actually be interested in this in all honesty.
This next chapter takes place at roughly the same time as the first right until the end, I hope you all enjoy it too.
I'm also not sure what to do in regards to reviews, I appreciate them and I know some authors reply but would that be what you want? Let me know.
-TIOF-
The knock on her door woke her from a fitful sleep and she quickly sat up, feeling the sweat from her nightmares soaking her pyjamas. Her throat felt dry and she was sure that she had been screaming in her sleep again.
The knock came again, harder this time and accompanied by her mother's irate voice. "Get up Hermione! I don't have the time to deal with your theatrics this morning. It's bad enough you're forcing me to take you to London to go shopping for your rubbish." Her mother was in a bad mood again and Hermione felt her heart beat quicken in fear. Bad moods never ended well.
"I'm sorry mother, I'll be right out. Do I have time for breakfast?" she had stood from the bed and was hurriedly making her way to the door, intent on washing the sweat from her body.
"I've told you not to call me that anymore! No daughter of mine would be involved in something so unnatural." Disappointment coloured her words, cutting into her only child like a blade.
Hermione felt the desire to sob welling up inside of her and tried her best to force it down. She knew that her mother didn't approve, that she wanted nothing to do with a child who possessed magic.
It had been almost a year since the Professor had arrived at their door with explanations for the odd happenings that centred on the bushy-haired 11-year-old.
It had been almost a year since her mother had decided that Hermione was no longer her child, merely a stranger that she cared for.
It had been almost a year since her mother had stopped being one and became Sarah Granger instead.
"Yes Sarah. I'll be as quick as I can, sorry." Hermione's voice was as steady as she could make it while she walked past Sarah and into the bathroom, towel in hand.
She waited until she heard footsteps moving away before taking a deep shuddering breath and reaching towards the taps of the family bath, knowing the running water hid the sounds of her sobbing from anyone outside.
-TIOF-
Hermione sat quietly in Sarah's car, her eyes focused firmly on the streets passing by outside. The radio played just loud enough for her to catch snippets of the news; apparently there had been a fire in South London and reports of people in fancy dress rushing into the blaze. Her mother made jokes at the idea of that sort being burnt in the fire and Hermione had to fight down the desire to snap at her.
It wasn't fair that her mother treated her this way, that she expected Hermione to act as if everything was normal and she wasn't hurting. Sarah had been a lot better before the Professor had arrived, leaving Hermione mostly alone and ignoring the odd occurrences. But Professor McGonagall had arrived and everything had gotten worse. Her mother had treated the knowledge of Hermione's magic as an explanation for her husband's sudden death, had taken her anger and sadness out on a child not yet old enough to handle the emotions that she was feeling.
The young girl blinked and tried to clear her head of those thoughts, trying instead to concentrate on the hope of a happier future at a new school. Her mother had refused to take her shopping last year and so she was about to make her first trip into the magical world, a trip she was assured she would be making alone. She looked out of the window again to see that the car had stopped near to the pub that she knew her mother couldn't see.
Her mother cleared her throat and began to speak to her in a voice devoid of love. "Hermione we're there. I'm giving you £200 and you'll be staying at that Leafy Cauldron place the Professor told us about. I don't want to see you again until I pick you up next summer, nor do I want to have any of those filthy owls coming into my home. Do you understand?" She paused and waited for Hermione to nod before continuing with her instructions. "Be thankful that I'm even doing this for you, anybody else would have left you to fend for yourself. Now get out of my car!"
Hermione unbuckled her seat belt and quickly opened the car door, sliding out and twisting to close it behind. Her mother's hand held four £50 notes and she gently took them from her, making sure that they didn't fall. She tucked them into the pocket of the jeans she was wearing and opened her mouth to thank her mother only to see the window winding up as the car pulled away.
She felt like crying again but didn't want to make a scene in the middle of London, especially as she had no way of explaining why she'd been practically abandoned by her mother. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Hermione turned away from the street and strode towards the Leaky Cauldron with confidence that she didn't truly have.
Pushing open the door and stepping forward with purpose had taken all of Hermione's confidence away and now she was acutely aware of how much she stood out surrounded by cloaks, robes and pointy hats. She hesitantly made her way towards the barkeep, a man who seemed to be cleaning pint glasses by hand instead of using magic, and cleared her throat before asking for his help.
"Excuse me sir? Would you be able to tell me how to get into Diagon Alley? I'm a muggleborn you see and the Professor forgot to explain it to me..." Her statement hadn't been a lie exactly, Professor McGonagall had explained it to her mother but never directly to Hermione.
"School shopping then?" The barkeep had a warm voice that made her feel at ease, he placed his glass down and stepped out from behind his bar. Walking over towards a door that seemed to lead out into a beer garden the man introduced himself to Hermione. "I'm Tom, this beauty is my pub; oldest one in all of London! And this!" Here he gestured to a brick wall just outside of the pub with his wand (how had he pulled it out without her noticing?) which appeared to be their destination. "This is the entrance to Diagon, get ready to be speechless eh?" His wand tapped at certain bricks and the wall parted into an archway that exposed a bustling street full of more oddly dressed people.
"This is amazing! How does it all stay hidden?" Hermione's eyes darted from shop to shop, taking in her first real sight of her new world. Her eyes were drawn to two people who stood out in the sea of robes and she was sure they were like her, the dress the lady was wearing was enough of a give away but the boy she was with was bouncing just as excitedly as Hermione was sure she was. Turning to thank Tom, she saw him smiling at her excitement and felt her cheeks flush slightly. "Thank you very much Mr Tom! Professor McGonagall told me that you have rooms available? Would I be able to rent one when I return?"
Tom raised a thinning eyebrow at the girl and considered why she'd be needing a room at a pub she'd never been too but thought better of asking, everyone had their secrets and he wasn't one to pry too deeply. "Of course miss, if you make your way down to the end of this street you'll find Gringotts which is the goblin bank; they'll change your money for you. It's 3 sickles a night for a room with breakfast."
"Thank you very much Mr Tom, I'll be back after I've finished shopping. Hopefully I'll have enough left over, the Professor didn't know the exchange rate for our currency to yours." She nodded to him in what she hoped was a grownup fashion and marched into the unknown, hoping to find the two people who looked as out-of-place as her.
With a strengthened resolve she stepped off to see the goblins at their bank.
-TIOF-
Hermione stepped out of the potioneers store still feeling uncomfortable with the treatment she'd received from not just the goblins but also the witches and wizards, she tried to convince herself that it was because she was young and alone but she knew that it had nothing to do with her age. She could see the way they looked disgusted with what she was wearing. It cut into her young heart, knowing that her own people were treating her like her mother did. She had hoped that this would be different, that she would find a place to belong here. She felt herself sob as her feet took her towards her last stop of the day, the dusty wand shop that she'd been so excited to visit earlier.
'This wasn't fair!' she thought to herself, she hadn't done anything wrong but here she was being treated like a criminal! Like she wasn't supposed to be here! Maybe her mother had been right? Maybe she didn't deserve to be accepted after what had happened.
"Um excuse me? Are you alright? It's just that you're crying and you aren't with an adult and my Aunt told me to see if you needed help..." At the soft voice Hermione looked up, her brown eyes locked with the most vibrant green she'd ever seen in her life. In front of her was a boy about her age, he was slightly shorter than her and much thinner than she thought any person should be. Her hands wiped furiously at her face and she looked past him to see the lady she'd noticed earlier looking on with worry on her face.
Hermione cleared her throat before answering the boy. "I'm just slightly overwhelmed, it's all been a bit much for me. I didn't realise that I'd stand out this much and my robes won't be ready until tomorrow and I just felt so lost!" She looked him up and down and was shocked by how pale his skin was, he looked as if he didn't get any sun at all and then there was his hair! She didn't know hair could be that colour, it seemed almost like her eyes were playing tricks on her.
The boy smiled shyly at her and his eyes seemed to follow something in front of her face as she spoke, she couldn't see anything but thought that perhaps he was just nervous and couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes again.
"I'm Harry, would you like to come with us? We're about to get my wand and my Aunt Petunia doesn't think you should be alone in Diagon, some of the people here aren't very nice apparently." His hand reached out and she was struck by the fact that his aunt hadn't spoken at all during their exchange. She also realised that he was wearing a jumper at least 2 sizes too big for him, his sleeves had been pulled up slightly so his hands weren't completely hidden and she stopped herself from asking why he was wearing something so ill-fitting.
"I'd appreciate that, thank you very much. I'm Hermione Granger, it's nice to meet you Harry, Ms Petunia." She straightened her back and assured herself that this new world couldn't be all bad if there were people who wanted to help a stranger.
As she stepped forward towards her new acquaintance she would have sworn she heard him whisper something but quickly put the thought out of her head, Diagon was busy and the voice could have come from anyone.