Hermione Granger

"...And then he called me a stalker! A stalker! As if I liked following him around!" exclaimed Hermione, her voice trembling with rage. She was currently in one of the unused classrooms in the castle's dungeons, walking around the room at a brisk pace and venting her emotions, still humiliated by her previous encounter with Brown in the library. "And why do I even have to put up with the insults of this nasty, evil brat! He's the one who should be ridiculed, not me!"

The only response to her words was silence, but Hermione didn't seem to mind, more focused on the anger she was experiencing at the moment. When she reached the wall, she quickly turned around and started walking again, with her finger raised as if to make a point.

"But you know, I could handle it, I could! It wouldn't be easy, but somehow I would manage! What I can't stand, though, is the fact that this twisted gremlin was somehow able to turn the other students against me!" Hermione almost screamed, her face turning into an ugly grimace upon recalling the accusations she could see in the eyes of the students witnessing her earlier argument with Brown. "How can no one else see his evil nature?! He is urging people to overthrow the ministry, for Merlin's sake! And yet everyone thinks he is a brilliant thinker, accusing me of jealousy! As if I am somehow wrong for trying to save this school!"

Hermione took a few more steps, but then she began to slowly lose momentum, distracted by a new thought that appeared in her head. Soon she stopped walking around the room and raised her gaze to the ceiling, her earlier anger evaporating, replaced by sadness.

"...You know, the worst part is that even Harry and Ron think I'm crazy. Every time I start talking about Brown, they either run away or try to make me stop investigating. I know they do it because they care, I really do, but..." Hermione trailed off, unsure of what to say. She then sighed quietly, betraying the exhaustion she was experiencing. "It's... difficult to be so lonely, to have no one around who understands. Well... except you, of course."

Hermione then turned to the target of her speech, seemingly looking for some advice. The next few seconds passed in silence, however, making Hermione sigh once again, a little embarrassed for expecting an answer. Of course she wouldn't get one.

After all, she was talking to the Board.

In front of Hermione lay a familiar array of threads and notes that she had been cultivating for the past few months. It had changed quite a bit since she brought it to Hogwarts, as the board would grow exponentially each time she gathered new information about Brown. At first one wall would be enough to fit the Board, but now the room was almost too small to contain it. Every part of the walls, as well as numerous spots on the floor and ceiling, were covered with various pages and pictures, all of which were connected by an incomprehensible network of colorful threads.

The current room, an unused classroom in the dungeons, was actually the third to house the board, as its ever-increasing size had already forced Hermione to relocate it twice. Then again, it wasn't like the board was going to stay in any of these rooms for long anyway, as it was simply too valuable for Hermione to risk losing it. That's why most of the time Hermione would simply carry it on herself, using spells to keep it folded and reduced in size.

If Hermione was to be honest, the mere thought of somehow losing it filled her with dread. She simply couldn't imagine the Board, her greatest masterpiece, falling into the wrong hands, especially of someone like Brown. It was simply too important to Hermione, not only as a source of information, but also as a companion of sorts.

Well, maybe the word 'companion' was a bit of a stretch. It wasn't like Hermione believed that the Board was actually sentient. It was simply a collection of loose notes connected by a few threads, used by Hermione to organize her thoughts and gather evidence against Brown. Its nature as an inanimate object didn't however change the fact that she had spent countless hours cultivating it, leading to Hermione developing a certain attachment to the Board.

It sounded rather silly, but sometimes, when she was alone with it, she could almost imagine the Board answering her questions, giving her advice and motivating her to keep going despite various hardships. That's why, even if none of it was real, the Board was currently the closest thing she had to a companion in her quest to defeat Michael Brown...

Hermione sighed, realizing how sad that sounded.

Even if the Board was helping her keep her exhaustion at bay, she really needed someone to talk to. Fighting Brown alone was simply too difficult. Hermione was just one person, while Brown had Luna Lovegood, as well as a loyal army of gullible idiots charmed by his lies.

The problem was, even if she knew she needed allies, she didn't really know how to get them...

'Courtyard.' came a thought, followed by a wave of exhaustion.

Hermione blinked, suddenly feeling quite tired. It was quite surprising, but then again, she probably should have expected it after spending almost two hours screaming and complaining in the dungeons.

She really needed a break.

"I should probably clear my head. It can't be healthy to be so stressed." Hermione muttered, ruffling her hair absentmindedly. "Maybe I should go for a walk? I think it's warm enough to visit the courtyard..."

Lavender Brown

She was seriously considering changing her last name, pureblood traditions be damned!

For some reason, despite Lavender's constant and vocal denials, everyone at Hogwarts seemed to think she was somehow related to Ravenclaw's resident crackpot, Michael Brown, even though the only similarity between them was the same last name. One that, she might add, was one of the most popular surnames in Britain.

That little tidbit didn't seem to discourage people, however, as various oddballs and freaks would often approach Lavender to ask about Michael Brown, for some reason expecting her to provide them with answers about their new guru.

Well, she didn't!

But the worst part was that the constant harassment by Brown's freaks made Lavender look like she was one of them! It made most normal students begin to suspect that she was actually related to Michael Brown, which led to Lavender's slow alienation from her former peers. Apparently, people didn't even want to risk entering the orbit of that madman, so they decided it would be simpler to just cut her out of their lives!

At this point, she had almost no one to talk to, as most of her friends avoided her!

Lavender sighed heavily. She was currently sitting on one of the benches in the courtyard, done with the whole situation.

With nothing else to do for the past month, she had spent most of her free time simply wandering around the castle, looking for anything interesting. Today her feet led her to the courtyard, located right next to the entrance hall. The weather was still quite warm, so many students could be found there, walking and chatting with each other. None of them, however, approached Lavender.

Because she was "tainted" by Michael Brown's crazy or whatever.

By Merlin, she hadn't even met the brat before, and yet she already hated him so much...

Lavender was in the process of wallowing in self-pity when she heard a female voice calling out to her.

"...Lavender? Are you alright? You seem... down." Startled, Levander raised her head, only to see one of her dorm mates, Hermione Granger, standing in front of her bench and looking at Lavender with quiet concern in her eyes.

"...Ballistic Granger?" Lavender muttered, not expecting to see Gryffindor's most troublesome student there. Although they knew each other, having the same classes and sleeping in the same dormitory, Lavender didn't really know the bushy-haired girl all that well. She simply didn't see the point in talking to Hermione during her first year, finding the girl too boring, and didn't really want to spend time with her during her second year, finding the girl too unstable... which was a bit ironic, now that she thought about it.

Then again, she probably shouldn't have been so quick to judge Hermione, given her own situation.

"Don't... Please don't call me that." Hermione muttered in response, clearly not fond of the nickname the other Gryffindors had coined for her. Soon, however, she looked at Lavender with concern once again. "You know, maybe it's none of my business, but you look a bit sad. Did something happen to you?"

Lavender blinked a few times upon hearing the question, surprised. Then she remembered that Hermione didn't really participate in house politics, so she wouldn't know about Lavender's situation. Well, if she was so interested, Lavender would gladly tell her. After all, at this point she had nothing to lose.

"Michael Brown happened. Just because I have the same last name as that disturbed bastard, everyone thinks I'm somehow related to him and I believe his nonsense." Lavender said darkly, not noticing that Hermione twitched at the mention of that name. She didn't even know the boy, so why was she being punished for his behavior? "I hate Michael Brown. He has made my life utterly miserable."

After saying these words, Lavender hid her face in her hands, trying to stop herself from crying. Why was this happening to her? It was simply unfair!

Suddenly Lavender felt someone's hand on her back. Looking up, she saw Hermione, who had quietly taken a seat next to her and was stroking her back comfortingly. Although there was some awkwardness in her movements, the girl looked at Lavender with compassion, clearly trying to comfort her.

"I... I think I understand what you're going through." Hermione said slowly, each word filled with emotion. Hearing this, Lavender looked into her eyes, only to find that she was telling the truth. There was frustration in Hermione's eyes, the same frustration Lavender often saw in her reflection in the mirror. The frustration of someone whose life had been ruined by Michael Brown.

"You... you really do, don't you?" Lavender replied quietly. Of course Hermione would understand. Because of Michael Brown, Hermione's life was probably even more miserable than Lavender's.

Realizing that, Lavender smiled.

It was quite shaky at first, threatening to disappear at any moment, but soon it blossomed into a beautiful, pure smile, full of hope. A smile that Hermione gladly returned.

On that day, an unbreakable bond was forged between the two girls, who were brought together by a common misery.