Hermione Granger and the Philosopher's Stone (Completed)

Chapter 10 - The Troll

Dedicated to __okaycons__

Hermione was not talking to Harry Potter or Ronald Weasley. They were both idiots who would likely get themselves expelled. She did not want to be friends with people like them. She had learnt long ago that she couldn't sway their ridiculous decisions, and she had no clue why she even tried when she saw Harry Potter carrying a broomstick shaped parcel. She walked up to them.
"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" she said angrily. They both turned. Ronald Weasley groaned and Harry Potter raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" he said
"Yes, don't stop now" said Ronald "it's doing us so much good"
She walked off in a huff.

To Hermione's relief, she was not forced into either Harry's nor Ronald's company for a long time. That was, until Halloween. At the beginning of the day's charms lesson, Professor Flitwick had announced that they would be learning how to make things fly. Trevor the toad seemed to have understood the word "fly", and he hopped nervously out of sight, his head probably full of memories of their first charms class, in which Professor Flitwick has hoisted the toad into the air and got it to zoom around the room, before crash landing into the large back windows.

He told everyone to get into pairs. Unfortunately, Dean Thomas went with Neville and Harry Potter went with Seamus Finnigan, so Hermione was landed with Ronald Weasley. He looked as furious with this arrangement as Hermione felt, but she couldn't understand why. All she had done was give him some helpful advice, so why was he annoyed with her?

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, who was standing on a dictionary "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too -- never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
Hermione thought that it might be considered showy offy if she mastered the spell within seconds, which she knew she could, as everyone was finding it so hard. Seamus Finnigan had somehow managed to set fire to the feather he was practising with, and Neville had turned his feather purple. She turned to watch Ronald.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he was shouting, madly waving his long arms. She decided to help.
"You're saying it wrong" sure said "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long"
"You do it, then, if you're so clever" Ronald said, scowling at her. Hermione was taken aback. She thought Ronald didn't like her! Why was he asking for help? She obliged none the less. She rolled up her sleeves and pointed her wand at her own feather.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" she said, flicking her wand.
Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch Hermione's feather float high into the air, hover there for a few seconds before falling back to the earth
"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
Happiness and pride bubbled through Hermione, until she noticed the expression on Ronald's face.

After the lesson, Hermione was walking behind Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley to their next class, when she overheard Ronald say her name.
"It's no wonder no one can stand her" he was saying to Harry Potter "she's a nightmare, honestly"
Hermione stopped dead and digested what she had just heard. Fighting back tears, Hermione hurried past the pair of them and accidently knocked into Harry Potter. She was desperate to hide the fact that she was crying, but Harry seemed to have noticed.
"I think she heard you" he said to Ronald Weasley
"So?" said Ronald "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

***

Hermione ran into the nearest girl's bathroom, locked herself in a cubical and broke down into tears. She knew she was missing lessons, but she couldn't face her peers knowing that they all thought she was awful. After all her studying, after all her preparation, she had still failed. Everyone still hated her. She had hoped that, in this new world, people would like her, but it seemed she was wrong. She was, yet again, completely alone, and this time there was no one to blame but herself.