thefairyprincessmindset - Tumblr blog

[thefairyprincessmindset]

something good and right and real

It is real, says Professor McGonagall as she takes the Grangers' baby girl away. Hermione thinks that this all feels like a book; like a story, but she is not the main character. She is simply dreaming and will soon wake up.

Of course she is magic, say her parents, Our wonderful little girl, beaming proudly as Hermione examines her new wand. Hermione knows they love her, are proud, would be proud even if it was a mistake and she was still ordinary.

You're one of us now, Parvati says kindly as she paints Hermione's nails vivid red to match their new uniforms. Lavender and the others watch from their beds, smiling. Hermione thinks that maybe having friends could be good.

Can you help me? asks Ron, biting his lip over a Potions essay, and Hermione thinks that maybe it is a little wonderful to be needed. To be wanted.

Mudblood, sneers Malfoy, and Hermione realizes that maybe this world is not a fairytale. That maybe this is something darker.

Insufferable, Snape says, and hate simmers in Hermione's stomach. She is not. She knows she is not. She refuses to be insufferable. Hermione swears it to herself; she will make people like her.

Would you go to the Ball with me? Viktor asks, and Hermione's heart explodes into a million shining fireworks. Here is one person that does not find her insufferable. Here is one person that cares. When he kisses her at the end of the night, Hermione thinks that maybe she could get used to it.

Emotional range of a teaspoon, grumbles Hermione one night, ignoring Ron's baffled look and storming upstairs. She doesn't think it's really fair how Harry talks about Cho; she'd act the same if it was her boyfriend that died. Hermione starts to understand that girls like Cho will always be labeled as shallow and weak, and girls like herself will always be labeled as insufferable. There is a storm at the edges of her school, her sanctuary, and Hermione does not like it.

We made it, says Ron in disbelief, as they gaze out across the Hall; it's still full of bodies, still full of Fred's laugh and Tonks' bubblegum hair, Remus' threadbare jackets and Colin's bright, flashing camera. Lavender's bright red nails. The scars Bellatrix carved into Hermione will always be there, and Hermione feels an odd satisfaction as she stares down at the woman's corpse. Hermione lays the evil, evil woman's wand on her body and walks away. Ron kisses her for the second time that day (night? She doesn't know, for once) and Hermione lets herself get lost in it.