Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling... blah blah blah...
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Chapter One: HermioneSixteen year old Hermione Granger lay on her bed at 6:30 in the morning, waiting for her alarm clock to go off in 15 minutes so she could get ready for her trip to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express. Since she could neither Floo nor Apparate, her parents had to drive her to the train station, which was a 2 hour drive from her house. So she waited, listening on her mp3 player to the song "Anthem of Our Dying Day" by a Muggle rock band called Story of the Year.
Her appearance had considerably changed. Her hair was no longer curly, but straight, and long. Her mother had taken her into town to get it permanently straightened as a reward for her good grades. She had also taken Hermione on a shopping spree, since she couldn't celebrate her sweet 16, as her birthday was in September, after school started. As puberty would have it, Hermione filled out a bit, giving her a more womanly figure. Her new clothes were a bit on the edgy, vintage side. She started to listen to rock music. Perhaps it was because of David.
David... She stared out at the window thinking about her summer. She didn't go to the Burrow like other summers. Her boyfriend, David Lynch, insisted that she spend as much time with him as possible. He too, was a wizard, but he went to Beauxbatons. Hermione never told Ron or Harry or even Ginny, her best friend, about David. They had bumped into each other during their Easter holiday and decided that they wanted to date each other.
David was a great boyfriend. He showered her with gifts, her parents loved him, and he was protective of Hermione. Too protective. Whenever they went out and Hermione stopped to talk to a few of her Muggle friends, David would get angry. He would sometimes hit her. Never on the face, but on the arms and stomach. After David realized what he'd done, he'd hug Hermione and tell her that he was so sorry, and that he loved her so much.
Hermione always forgave him. She truly believed with her whole heart, that she was in love with David, but as we all know, the illusion of love is a very tricky thing. She started wearing long sleeved t-shirts all the time, and she stopped talking to other guys. If she ran into a guy friend when she was with David, she'd pretend as if she didn't know them. Looking at their crestfallen faces, her heart silently broke.
Hermione stood on the platform wearing the clothes she bought with her mother. It was a plain, white, long-sleeved t-shirt under a black shirt bearing the legend "Sex Pistols". She had a denim miniskirt on, with the edges frayed, and wore black fishnet stockings on her legs. Her old black Chuck Taylors were charmed so the shoe laces would change colors at irregular intervals, one of the many presents David had given her after he hit her.
"Don't forget to write to us okay?" Mrs. Granger said anxiously.
"Don't I always?" Hermione laughed, hugging her worried mother.
"Oh..." Mrs. Granger started crying. "My baby's all grown up now!"
"Mum! You've said that every time I leave on the Hogwarts Express! I'll always be your little, bushy-haired girl! Don't worry!" Hermione joked. She hugged her mom again.
"Well honey," Mr. Granger said ruffling his daughter's hair, "off you go now. You tell Ron and Harry we say hello, alright?"
"Yes daddy," Hermione hugged her father. "I love you guys so much!" Mrs. Weasley joined the hug. "Family hug!" Hermione laughed. She looked up at the clock. "I'd better scoot! I'll owl you the second after Dumbledore finishes his First Day of School Speech!" she called, running towards the train with her black knapsack, Crookshanks in her arms.
"Oh honey, look out!" her parents called.
"What?" Hermione said confused. She ran into a boy trying to get on the train, the contents of her bag spilling. "Oh damn," she said, helping the boy up. It was Harry. "Oh, sorry Harry."
"Do I know you?" Harry said, eyeing her appreciatively. He stopped for a second, and blushed furiously, realizing that it was Hermione he was checking out. "Uh..."
"Hurry up! Let's go find a compartment!" Hermione said picking up her things. "Where's Ron?"
"Prefect compartment," Harry said as they walked into the train. "I still can't believe you gave up that prefect job, Mione. Now it's Lavender that's a prefect! What were you thinking?"
"Prefect is boring, Harry, you've no idea," Hermione said looking into the compartments.
"Here's one!" Harry said, opening a compartment door. It was empty. "Ron should be coming along in a few."
"Alright." Hermione set her things down, and pulled out her mp3 player out of her bag.
"Hey! Is that an mini iPod?" Harry asked pointing at the light blue iPod in her hand.
"Yeah."
"I've got one too," Harry said showing her his green one.
"The Dursleys bought you an iPod?" Hermione asked disbelievingly.
"Nah, I went into Muggle London before I went to the Burrow and bought it. I used Dudley's computer to load the songs on it."
"Awesome! We could trade maybe?"
"I thought you needed a computer for that? And what's with the new lingo?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised.
"Magic, you twit, magic. And it's all David's fault."
"Oh? And who is this David person?" Harry grinned. Hermione mumbled something. "Speak up, woman!" Harry's smile grew wider.
"My boyfriend..." Hermione mumbled turning red.
"Wow! What school does he go to?"
"Beauxbatons. He's our age." Hermone reached into her bag, and pulled out her wallet. She thrust a picture to him. "There's his picture."
"What's this?" someone from the compartment door asked.
"Our dear Hermione with a boyfriend?" another voice asked.
"We must take a look!"
Fred and George grabbed the picture from Harry's hands. They looked at a picture of Hermione hugging him on the beach. He was a head taller than her, with tanned skin, shaggy brown hair that fell gracefully into his sparkling green eyes.
"What boyfriend?" Ginny asked appearing out of nowhere. She glanced at the picture. "Oh wow Mione! He's absolutely gorgeous!"
Hermione bristled. She snatched the picture away. "His name's David Lynch. He's my age, and goes to Beauxbatons," she said tiredly, going back to her seat and put on her earphones, music blasting "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional. She didn't say another word the whole trip. She just stared out the window thinking about David while everyone else played Exploding Snap. She didn't even notice when Ron came in.
The song changed to "Anthem of Our Dying Day" again. Hermione sang softly, oblivious to the looks of shock from her friends, as she sang a slightly depressing song. First, they've never heard her sing before. And second, they've never seen Hermione so out of it.
"The stars will cry
The blackest tears tonight
And this is the moment that I live for
I can smell the ocean airAnd here I am
Pouring my heart onto these rooftops
Just a ghost to the world
That's exactly
Exactly what I need
From up here the city lights burn
Like a thousand miles of fire
And I'm here to sing this anthem
Of our dying day
For a second I wish the tide
Would swallow every inch of this city
As you gasp for air tonight
I'd scream this song right in your face
If you were here
I swear I won't miss a beat
Cause I never
Never have before
From up here the city lights burn
Like a thousand miles of fire
And I'm here to sing this anthem
Of our dying day
Of our dying day
Of our dying day
Of our dying!!!
For a second I wish the tide
Would swallow every inch of this city
And you gasp for air tonight!!
From up here the city lights burn
Like a thousand miles of fire
And I'm here to sing this anthem
Of our dying day
From up here the city lights burn
Like a thousand miles of fire
And I'm here to sing this anthem
Of our dying day
From up here the city lights burn
Like a thousand miles of fire
And I'm here to sing this anthem
Of our dying day
Our dying day
Of our dying..."
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Author's Note: This will be a George/Hermione fic people! Read and Review pretty please?
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