Hermione Granger and the Paradigm Shift

Chapter 2 - Part 1

As she assessed her appearance in the mirror Hermione allowed herself a small smile. For the second day in a row she had spent a few extra minutes tamping down the stubborn fuzzball that was her hair and was pleased with the results. If she was honest with herself her main motivation was still to show Ron a bit of what he was missing but that wasn't the only reason. She honestly liked how it looked.

"You look lovely today," her mirror chimed in. "Can we expect this to be your new routine going forward?" the mirror asked, the hopefulness apparent in their voice.

The mirror had stayed relatively quiet over the years after a harsh comment early in first year had led to Hermione lecturing for fifteen minutes on improving one's appearance being a false and easy crutch to hide from and ignore self worth issues. Hermione wasn't sure if it was the substance or the volume of the message that had cowed the mirror but regardless, their comments from then on had been much milder and much less frequent.

"I'm considering it," Hermione answered. "Do you really think it suits me?"

"Oh yes!" the mirror replied. "It's amazing how taking just a bit more time can make such a difference. Not that you didn't look fine before, but the small change suits you," it hastily added.

"Thank you," Hermione replied with a smile as she grabbed her bag.

Despite Hermione knowing intellectually that the mirror's personality wasn't 'real', she'd always felt a bit bad for the magical item. Lavender and Parvati seemed to have daily consultations with their mirrors. It was all Hermione could do not to start flinging hexes listening to Lavender droning on about her Won-Won the last few mornings. The Yule ball had been her mirror's one night of glory surrounded by days and days of boring sameness. Hermione decided to throw her a bone.

"I'll be attending a get together tonight so I'll be taking a stab at using a bit more makeup and maybe a few mild beauty charms later."

"Really?" the mirror replied in hopeful disbelief. "I know just the thing!" it continued in a much louder voice, the years old dam holding back its tamped down enthusiasm temporarily forgotten.

"Nothing too crazy, mind you," Hermione clarified. Best not to set unrealistic expectations.

"Of course, of course," the mirror quickly replied. Although they meant for the tone of their reply to be muted it was clear that Christmas had arrived early. Six years worth of Christmases.

"Enjoy your day!" the mirror happily shouted as she left the room.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and was disappointed to see that only Harry was waiting for her. Despite the turmoil of the last few days she missed Ron's presence. Greatly.

A bit of it was informed by the years of insecurity she felt that the trio's friendship could end at any time. That without Ron or Harry around to entertain and lighten the mood the other would grow bored and seek out other, more interesting people. After over five years of friendship she knew it was silly but she suspected the feeling would never go away entirely.

"Ron went on ahead...I told him we'd catch up with him at breakfast," Harry supplied as they exited the common room.

They walked in silence for several minutes until Harry spoke again. "Your hair looks nice...uhh...again," he clumsily blurted.

She smiled to herself. Only Harry would be so awkward at giving a compliment that it somehow made it even more endearing. He was trying so hard. She was so glad she hadn't invited McLaggen.

"It didn't take too much effort and I knew I'd be doing a bit extra for the party later, anyway. My mirror was thrilled," she replied with a laugh.

Harry snorted. "Mine gave up on me as a lost cause years ago. The best I can rate is it doesn't look as bad as usual.

"You don't need to worry, Harry," she reassured. "Girls love your hair."

"You're joking," he scoffed.

"You have no idea," she replied in annoyance. The number of comments that Hermione had been subjected to on the topic during her time at Hogwarts was unnerving. Ginny alone could write a novel opining on Harry's locks with enough thoughts on his eyes to warrant a sequel.

Thankfully over the last couple of years Ginny had grown fond of the things that had made Harry truly special as well. Based on the glances Ginny still shot at Harry when Dean wasn't around it was clear she was still a big fan of the hair and the eyes though.

"You do this thing where you run your hand through your hair when you're working through a spell in class or when we're studying. Girls completely lose the plot."

"Stop teasing, Hermione," Harry replied in disbelief. He'd grown so used to the staring over the years he no longer gave a thought to the reactions he garnered...especially the positive ones.

"I'm not teasing," she reassured. "When we were working on Transfiguration last night half of the girls and a few of the boys couldn't keep their eyes off of you."

To her joy Hermione had also noted that Ron kept sneaking envious glances their way, clearly wishing he could have been sat with him. With the party nonsense sorted Hermione and Harry had spent the remainder of the evening challenging each other to more complex color combinations and patterns. The joking and relaxed conversation were a welcome relief to the scowling and scolding she had been doing so often lately.

"Well, I'm sure it's down to this anyway," he muttered in annoyance, pointing to his scar.

"It's different this year," she noted sincerely, "after Dumbledore's Army and the Department of Mysteries."

"I'll take your word for it," he answered grimly.

"Don't worry, Harry," she teased, patting him on the arm. "I'll protect you from your admiring public."

"My hero," he grunted as they entered the Great Hall.

Her good mood evaporated slightly as she spotted Lavender tittering over something Ron had said.

"We can sit at the other end if-"

"No," she forcefully interrupted. Last night taught her that acting the idiot and purposely avoiding or antagonising Ron would be letting him win. She would not let him win. She noticed the slight unease on Ron's face as she casually took the seat directly across, paying him no mind. It felt good to win despite how small and petty the victory was.

Lavender giggled at something Ron muttered and it immediately set her nerves on edge. "She's a bit ridiculous these days," Parvati said in a hushed tone beside her. Hermione suspected the girl felt bad for laughing so hard at Ron's joke yesterday.

"Young love," Hermione mused sarcastically, drawing a laugh from Parvati. Hermione had spoken quietly enough that Lavender could not have heard exactly what was said but based on her annoyed expression she knew it was most likely about her. Yes, small victories were important.

"Looking forward to the party tonight?" Parvati asked.

"I am, actually," Hermione replied honestly. "Are you going?"

"Didn't get asked," she replied with a sad shake of the head. "Who are you going with?"

"Harry. As friends," she hastily added. She spotted the smug expression on Ron's face in hearing she hadn't secured a proper date and, surprisingly, wasn't nearly as annoyed as she expected.

"I love what you've done with your hair by the way," Parvati complimented.

"Thanks," she replied pleasantly in a voice purposely loud enough for Ron to hear. "It's just something I decided to try on a whim the other day. Harry said he liked it so I decided to keep up with the routine. Some people are worth the extra effort."

She didn't have to look to know that Ron was scowling again...she could practically feel it.

Small victories were excellent.