A/N: This is part 3 of the Hermione does a better job making friends thanks to her parents help series. Parts 1 and 2 are chapters 30 and 38. This chapter came about in a curious way. Vukk posted 3 reviews recently and 1 of them was on chapter 30. Vukk was surprised to see a line for swings on the playground due to personal experience of having found slides more popular/line prone. However, when I read the review, I wasn't sure what Vukk was even referring to because I'd kinda forgotten about that chapter. I wrote chapter 30 in very early 2022 and chapter 38 in summer 2022. After that I mostly lost interest in the Hermione does a better job of making friends thanks to her parents series and up until a couple of days ago it was unlikely that there was going to be a part 3. However, after reading Vukk's review on chapter 30, I reread chapter 30 to remind myself of the reference. Well, after reading chapter 30, I also reread chapter 38 to see how I'd followed up on chapter 30. It turns out that I really enjoyed rereading those chapters to myself and doing so has rekindled my interest in this series, so I've written a part three. This is set on Hermione's first day of kindergarten.
It was Tuesday, September 5th, 1984, and, after spending Labor Day the day before at home with her parents, Hermione Granger was starting kindergarten.
Each of the previous three Saturdays, Hermione's parents had taken her to the local playground and while she hadn't made a good impression of interacting with others on that first visit, a talk with her parents combined with some targeted role playing on their part had led to Hermione doing a much better job of interacting with the other kids at the playground the last two Saturdays, which had led to the start of a wonderful friendship with a boy named Colin Creevey, even though Colin was almost two years younger than she was. In fact, Colin, Hermione, and all four of both of their parents had reached an agreement that as long as both families continued to live in the area and as long as both Colin and Hermione were still young enough for the playground, they would meet up at the playground every Saturday morning.
However, as Colin was too young to start Kindergarten and would not be in Hermione's kindergarten class, she would need to make new friends at school if she wanted to have friends amongst her classmates.
The nanosecond Hermione stepped into her classroom, she noticed there were about twenty students in addition to an average sized and average heighted woman with curly black hair who must be their teacher.
"Good morning, class," said the woman, "My name is Jennifer Finch Fletchley and I'm going to be your teacher. Before we get down to the business of learning, I'd like to give you all the opportunity to meet and greet each other. "
Remembering what her parents had taught her, Hermione turned towards the classmate who was closest to her, a boy with curly black hair who was like a miniature version of their teacher.
"Hello," said Hermione, addressing the boy politely, "My name is Hermione Granger. What is your name?"
"I'm Justin Finch Fletchley," answered the boy happily.
"It's nice to meet you, Justin," said Hermione warmly, offering Justin her right hand.
"It's nice to meet you too, Hermione," replied Justin cheerfully, shaking Hermione's right hand with his right hand.
"Is Mrs. Finch Fletchley your mother then?" Hermione asked Justin.
"Yes, she is," beamed Justin, "Mom homeschooled me during my preschool years. As she no longer needs to stay home all day to look after me, she decided to get a job and there was a need for a kindergarten teacher because the previous teacher, Ian Instruct, retired at the end of the spring 1984 semester."
"Have you ever had friends before?" inquired Hermione.
"No," admitted Justin, "Because I was homeschooled in preschool and I live on a block where I'm the only child who lives on that block, that hasn't been a thing for me up until now. However, mom and dad have explained to me how to go about making friends once I started kindergarten and we even roleplayed the scenarios."
"My mom and dad also roleplayed with me these past few weeks about how to make friends and interact with others," explained Hermione, "They took me to the playground on August 18th and observed how I interacted with the other children there. They were concerned about what they had observed and roleplayed with me to help me correct my behavior. I corrected that behavior upon a return trip to the playground on August 25th and managed to strike up a special friendship with a boy named Colin Creevey who is almost two years younger than me. I hadn't exactly treated him well upon our first meeting but when we met for the second time, I apologized for my behavior the previous week and he forgave me and well, we've begun a wonderful friendship."
"I'm glad that worked out for you, " said Justin sincerely.
"But" smiled Hermione, "Since Colin is too young to start kindergarten, I knew I'd have to make new friends if I wanted to have friends amongst my classmates. I think we've hit it off well."
"So do I," smiled Justin, "If I ever have the opportunity to meet Colin, maybe the three of us could form a friendship trio."
"Well, Justin," smiled Jennifer, "I think that would be a very healthy thing for all three of you. I will find out where this playground is and if it is a reasonable distance from our house, I will take you there on Saturday mornings."
Both Justin and Hermione smiled at that.
Hermione, however, had now noticed something:
Most of the other children had formed friendship groups of anywhere from two to four people.
However, there was one girl sitting near the wall who was by herself and looking lonely.
She looked both shy and sad. Hermione sensed that she had hoped for a classmate or two to befriend her, but it hadn't happened, and she was too shy to make the first move herself. The girl was of an average size and height and had really light brown hair and deeply tanned skin.
"Justin," said Hermione seriously, pointing to the girl near the wall, "That girl looks really shy and sad. I think we should go and try to talk to her; I sense she wants to make friends but is too painfully shy to make the first move."
"Okay," agreed Justin, "But if she wants to be left alone then we leave her alone."
"Yes," agreed Hermione, "We offer, but we don't push and prod."
Next nanosecond, Justin and Hermione walked toward the girl by the wall. She gave them a small smile when she saw them approach.
"Hi," said Hermione quietly to the girl, "Would you like to talk to us?"
The girl nodded slowly.
"I'm Hermione Granger," said Hermione, holding out her left hand towards the girl's left hand.
"And I'm Justin Finch Fletchley," added Justin, holding out his right hand towards the girl's right hand.
"Hi, " said the girl softly as she gave Hermione and Justin simultaneous handshakes, "My name is Lily Moon."
"It's nice to meet you, Lily," chorused Hermione and Justin.
"It's nice to meet both of you as well," smiled Lily.
"It's okay, " said Hermione softly, "We can tell you are shy and uncomfortable, but it's going to be okay."
"You are sweet and kind, Hermione Granger," smiled Lily, "I wanted to make friends but-"
"You were too painfully shy to make the first move," acknowledged Hermione.
"Unfortunately, yes," admitted Lily.
"It's okay, Lily," repeated Hermione, "Justin and I are here for you and if you can come to the playground on Saturday mornings, you can meet our friend Colin Creevey as well. Maybe we can be a quartet."
"Colin's not yet old enough for kindergarten," explained Justin.
"Thank you for reaching out to me," said Lily sincerely.
"Lily Moon is probably the coolest first name last name combination I've ever heard," said Justin glowingly.
"You are sweet and kind, Justin Finch Fletchley," said Lily radiantly, "The female side of my family has always been named after flowers. My mom's name is Daisy Moon."
"That's beautiful," replied Justin.
"My three primary areas of interest are flowers, nature, and the weather," explained Lily.
"Let's strike up a conversation about those topics to make you feel more comfortable here, "said Hermione kindly.
And for the next ten minutes and ten nanoseconds, Hermione, Justin, and Lily chatted away about Lily's three favorite subjects.
By the end of it, it was obvious that Lily was feeling a lot more comfortable.
Hermione couldn't be happier; she'd made two new friends and a quartet was on the verge of forming.
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Much love from Arizona for all the support. Love you all-Michael. :)