Hermione Granger and the Philosopher's Stone

The Letter Part 2

It made her think of a prank letter she had received a week ago. She had known they had been putting effort in it when she had seen they'd used an actual owl to deliver the letter, but she hadn't thought her classmates would go as far as to hire an actress to try and fool her. Honestly, what were they thinking, involving her parents. Hermione needed every ounce of her self-discipline to stifle a snort. 

"Could I come in, please, Miss. Granger?" the witch asked smiling in what Hermione guessed was an attempt to appear kind, but the natural severity that seemed to radiate of her prevented this from having even the slightest effect.

Hermione blinked for a second, keeping her face stoic, as she decided what to do. Then she yelled: "Mom! Dad!" at the top of her lungs. 

While she was convinced this was the doing of her peers, this woman could still be a kidnapper for all she knew; better to yell first and apologize later. When the woman didn't make any move to grab her she added in her best don't-mind-me-I'm-just-a-little-kid voice: "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm not allowed to invite strangers in."

This didn't seem to bother the woman; not a pedophile then – Why would a pedophile want her of all children anyway? –, well that was something at least. Hermione continued to study her as she waited for her responds. She had to fight as to not narrow her eyes as she did as well; it was a natural response when examining something new, but Hermione believed opting for an innocent expression would be smarter in the long run. 

Hermione's musings were interrupted by the woman's voice as she said: "Of course, not. I shall just..." her voice trailed off for a second as she looked over her head. Hermione turned her head just as she felt a warm hand be placed on her shoulder and saw that both her father and mother were regarding the strange woman with frowns on their faces. Interesting, it seemed as if her parents didn't know her either nor did they trust her if the subtle protectiveness of their stance was anything to go by. Definitely an actress then.

The witchlike woman didn't let this deter her though as after a momentarily pause she simply continued speaking: "I suppose I won't have to wait after all. Good evening, Mr. and Miss Granger, allow me to introduce myself. I am professor Minerva McGonagall and I have rather urgent news concerning your daughter to discuss with you."

That last bit of information had Hermione raising her eyebrows; so the actress admitted this was about her. The plot thickened. Her mom, ever the gracious host, only let the weird woman's appearance stun her for a second before she politely said: "Of course, professor, please do come in."

Her dad on the other hand merely gave the woman the expected smile, before he went out of the doorway so the woman could walk in. Hermione didn't miss the way he pulled her with him, while her mother kept the woman busy with her idle chatting and led her to the sitting room. It seemed that he, unlike her mother, sensed that this woman meant far from well.

"Would you like some tea? I'm afraid we weren't expecting company so we don't have any at the ready. My husband was just starting on dinner, you see, but I'm sure we could whip something up."

"If you would be so kind," the strange woman answered as her mom continued to smile. Hermione supposed her response was generally considered gracious, but the woman's tone held a certain cold edge she had never heard before. Not to mention the way she kept eying her with a curious expression that rivalled her own was rather unnerving. 

"Oh, it's no problem," her mom laughed amiably, "Wendell, would you please make some tea?"

She didn't need to look at her dad's face to know how strained his smile had become. He really didn't want leave her alone with such a strange person. Her mother wouldn't be giving him a choice, though; she arched her eye brow in a manner that Hermione easily translated as 'Now!'. Hermione took the hand placed on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze, all the while smiling up at him. Her little gesture told her father all he needed to know: she had this. Her dad let out a small sigh, evidence of his reluctance to leave, and then responded in a pleasant manner: "Of course, my dear. Do you have any preferences, professor?" 

Hermione had hoped the witchlike woman had missed these little gestures, but she noticed her hawklike stare was once again fixated on her. This woman's gaze seemed almost designed to intimidate, but, while hers was most likely the best Hermione had ever encountered, she was not the first adult to have tried this on her. If the strange woman wanted her to feel small, she had another thing coming; Hermione Granger did not bow down to anyone. So instead of crimping in on herself, as she was sure any other child would've done, she stiffened her back and held her head high, refusing to break the staring contest they appeared to have started. 

"I'd be most pleased with Camille tea," the woman said casually looking up. The amusement that colored her voice annoyed Hermione to no end, "if that's a possibility." 

They sat down, her mother sat on the sofa next to the strange woman and Hermione on the armchair, which was conveniently situated farthest from the strange woman, in an attempt to relax her dad. Personally, she didn't see what he found so dangerous about this woman; of course she was rather weird and mysterious but she wasn't exactly threatening either. Hermione noticed she even looked a tad uncomfortable; though she supposed that was only natural seeing as her mother had run out of subjects to chat on, leaving the room's occupants subjected to a rather awkward silence. This silence wasn't conquered until her father came back from the kitchen with a platter on which he had placed a nice smelling teapot and four teacups. 

Once her father had poured all the cups full and had distributed them, he cleared his throat. Then he, never one to beat around the bush, started: "So you told us you had urgent news you wished to discuss with us, news concerning our daughter."

Author's Note

Hi there, thank you for reading. So I know a lot of people enjoy Hermione being tougher, caring less what others thing, which she is going to be. However, in my story, Hermione also hasn't ever had friends before. In fact, she has been bullied for most of her life, which has left its scars. Therefore, while she won't simply let people walk all over her, Hermione does crave a friend. She craves a compagnion whose equal to her in intelligence, wit and ambition, but she will take what she can get. She doesn't want to be alone anymore and she will go very far to make sure that she isn't.

This is something that I have been trying to hint at with some of Hermione's darker, more self-depreciating thoughts. So what do you guys think about that? 

Until Friday!