"This Cinders girl is just like you!" Dudley snickers as he watches the television. "Dressed in rags, does all the chores, always dirty, and no one wants her. Even her parents are dead!"
Later, when Harry lies in bed and stares up at the dusty cobwe...
Hermione pats down her thoroughly tousled hair and anxiously smooths out the wrinkles on her costume. "Harry, we're late! Come on, Sirius already left without us."
Harry leisurely ties his cravat around his neck and winks at her. "Cinderella always arrives fashionably late."
She groans when he leans down and takes even longer to manually tie his dress shoes.
"Have to tie them just right, Hermione." He chuckles at her deadpan expression. "After all, if they're not loose enough to fall off, how will you find me when the clock strikes midnight?"
Hermione rolls her eyes and points her wand at his shoes and they instantly tie themselves. "I've already memorized every inch of you, I don't need a silly old shoe."
"Wherever you are," she leans her face close to his and whispers. "If you need me, I'll always find you."
_____
The light was still on and faintly illuminated the dark, narrow space which a cluster of spiders had long made into their own home. The main inhabitant of the Cupboard Under the Stairs had, however, already fallen asleep. His thin body was curled up on the edge of the small bed and his glasses were folded at the side.
The book of fairy tales lay open above his blanket and he had been too drowsy to read the last page.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"And they lived happily ever after..."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
_____
Author's Note: This fic was inspired by the HMS Harmony Discord's "Cinderella" themed prompt. You can join the discord server by going to the link "hhriscanonbitches.com" (yes, that's a real site haha)
The art by Arishatistic for this story can be found on:
(instagram) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGiXFw1gZne/ OR https://www.instagram.com/arishatistic/ (tumblr) https://arishatistic.tumblr.com/
Whenever someone tries to imply that Harry was too dumb, too weak, too passive, or too accepting of all the horrible shit that was thrown at him...I just shake my head. This boy endured a living hell for a decade, he was an abuse survivor, and taught to believe that he was worth nothing. Harry deserves praise for becoming the person he did in spite of it all.
I always thought that Hermione, although she didn't know the exact details, had an inkling of this. To Hermione, Harry is the boy who despite being a weak first year, rushed headfirst into rescuing her from the troll. She knows that Harry is someone who would risk his life for others without a second thought, but views his own life with little value. Maybe this was one of the reasons behind her becoming his fiercest protector. Harry may have saved the wizarding world, but she was the one who always saved him.
