Hermione was happy, she was in her first week of her third year at Hogwarts, but once again her brain wouldn't turn off, the person who occupied her thoughts was none other than Harry Potter, believe it or not she knew Harry before coming to Hogwarts, they had went to the same primary school, she couldn't believe she was friends with him, as she had tried before.
Hermione had invited her whole school year to her birthday party, she was very excited, her family had hired out a whole building with ball pits and bouncy castle, along with other inflatables, but no one came including Harry.
She had hated that birthday no one showed up, she cried the whole day, finally falling asleep between the embrace of her parents, all 3 were in tears, she loved her parents they always made her feel normal, and they cared deeply for her.
So why was he her friend now, did Ron drag him along to apologize when the troll attack, does he even want to be her friend, what changed, these thoughts of course popped up over the years, bit she was happy she had friends and she didn't want to lose one when she had so few, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, Harry was alone in the common room doing his homework, she was only this late back because she had to get the time turner from Professor McGonagall.
She took a deep breath to steady her emotions.
"Hey Harry"
She paused and only continued when she had his attention.
"Why are you, my friend?"
Hermione winced she didn't mean to be that blunt, she could clearly see the shock on his face.
"Because I like hanging around with you?"
He answered it like it was a question which annoyed her further.
"No! I mean why now, why after all these years why now?!"
Again, the confusion that flicked across his face annoyed her.
"first year of primary school, I invited the whole year so we could be friends, you were in a different class but I remember everyone I invited, I spent so long writing the invites, i remember making all the goody bags with everyone's names on, but no one came, so why HARRY POTTER ARE WE FRIEND'S NOW!"
At this point she was yelling, and tears ran down her face, she spent so many years alone, and all that pain was coming to the surface.
Harry was shocked, he remembered that invite, he was so happy, someone wanted to be friends with a freak like him, he was a fool though, you would have thought he would know better, but he was so excited, he came home and shown his aunt and uncle, he remembered the anger on his uncle's face.
That was the first time they physically abused him, his back was covered in scars, and he thought he could hide from them here, but if he did he knew he would lose Hermione as a friend, if he wasn't honest here, he would lose her friendship forever.
He rose to his feel, he could see the disbelief in Hermione's eyes, he knew she thought he was about to walk off.
"Please just hang on, I will be back in a second, I just need to get something".
Harry didn't know if he managed to suppress the tremble in his voice, his heart was racing, it always did when he told someone, but maybe this time will be different, maybe someone will believe him, maybe Hermione will believe him.
It took him 5 minutes to get what he was looking for, it was a scrap book of things he held dear, it was very few things, but it included a picture he had found in the attic of a orange haired youth, he thought it might have been his mother when she was younger, and he only had it confirmed when Hagrid had given him the names of his parents, as on the back was the name Lily Evans, he also had a bit of the blanket which he arrived at his aunts with, it was only a small corner peace which he cellotaped to the page.
Lastly was a bit of paper he had managed to get from the invite Hermione had given him.
"To Harry, I wish to invi"
Was all it said, it was small, but it gave him hope, hope that someone could still be friends with a freak like him, he had no idea it was Hermione though, cause in his excitement he forgot to read the name, and by the time he thought about it was too late, that one scrap of paper was the only bit he managed to save.
Harry had stopped in the stairway to the boy's dormitory, he was taking deep breaths trying to clam his heart, he only moved on wards when he heard shuffling, Hermione had just risen to her feet and Harry could tell she was about to head to bed, but her head snapped to Harry as he made his entrance.
Harry had wished he came sooner when he saw the state of Hermione, tears rolling down her face, her eyes were red and puffy where she had tried to wipe them away, her robes were dishevelled, the worse though was the blood on her right hand where her nails bit into her skin.
Harry quickly made his way over to Hermione, and grabbed her good hand gently, he could tell she wanted to pull away, but he held tight and guided her back to the sofa, he wished he knew the healing spell, he cursed that he didn't try harder to learn magic, it was so wonderful, and he wanted to know everything, but every time he tried to improve he remembered the punishment of doing better than Dudley, he wasn't here, so it was stupid to still hold back, but the fear of it alone stoped him from trying to do better.
It was another 5 minutes before Harry spoke again as he tried to decide, what to tell her, he knew once he started it would all come out, it always did, most of the time what he says doesn't make sense as, he becomes a verbal waterfall, or worse he breaks down into uncontrollable sobbing, he wanted to avoid the latter if possible.
"I wanted to go".
He had said it so quietly he didn't know if she had heard him.
"Why didn't you?"
Her voice was just as quiet but also quite Horace from the crying.
"I live with my relatives, I didn't even know my name was Harry Potter until Primary school, they wanted to keep me in my cupboard, but I got noticed by a neighbour so they had no choice but to send me, they said no one would be friends with a freak like me".
Harry paused to get his emotions back under control, he didn't want to cry, he wondered what Hermione's face looked like, but he could not bring himself to look.
"Then imagine my surprise when I get an invite to someone's birthday early in the year, I was overjoyed, but I was a fool" Harry laughed mirthlessly.
"I ran home all excited so excited that I forgot what kind of people they were, they did not take it well, it was the first time they laid their hands on me, they tore up the invite and locked me in my cupboard for a week".
Harry was about to continue but he heard what Hermione was whispering.
"No no no no no no no no no no, your lying, because if your not, it means I got you hurt, I'm sorry, I am a curse, you should stay away from me, stay away, stay away."
Hermione was clearly having a break down, Harry didn't know what the curse comment was about, but he guessed it was bullying, like he sometimes referred to himself as a freak still, he wanted to curse, he should of paid attention to her, made sure she was okay with what she was hearing, instead he was a coward and looked at his hands the whole time.
Harry grabbed her shoulders to stop her from shaking, but she still wouldn't look at him, so he gently took one hand and lifted her chin up until they were eye to eye.
"Please don't tell me to stay away, I too don't have many friends, losing you would crush me".
Harry reached over for his scrap book and turned a couple pages, he stared at the page, reading everything on it, he hesitated, but he slowly handed it to Hermione, Hermione's eyes went wide at what she saw, she saw very distinctive handwriting, that, that belonged to her, around the torn piece of paper, were words and sentences that broke her heart.
"Would they still like to be friends with a freak like me if we ever meet again".
"I wish I knew your name, if I did, I could apologize for not going, but you wouldn't want a freak like me there".
"it's been two years since I got this invite, sometimes I talk to you, wondering who you are and what you are doing, I don't know you but you're my first friend".
"I'm a freak, you wouldn't like me, I'm a freak after all, just a freak, not worthy of living, you got lucky that my uncle was kind enough to keep me from going, I can't believe I thought we could have been friends, you're probably a wonderful person I'm just a freak".
Hermione's heart stopped, the last comment she read was heart wrenching, even more so when she noticed it was written in blood, but before she could comment on it harry spoke again.
"This piece of paper gave me hope so many times, even when I was at my lowest, when I spoke to it I always imagined a voice soothing me and calming me down, it gave me hope, hope that someone could be my friend, I never thought I'd meet you here at Hogwarts, but thank you for being my first friend".
Author's note
As always, all characters belong to their respective Authors, this is a fanfic I had an idea on for a while, it's more to just get it out there, people can take inspiration from this, or just give feed back, I'm hoping to continue it, but the first chapter is all I've came up with so far and wanted to see how well it was received. Hope you Enjoyed