mudblood. (dramione fanfiction)

chapter one: ignis

The ground tore at Hermione's feet as she ventured to a nearby water pool. Beneath her was dry, rocky terrain which coated most of the land she resided on. She supposed it would be smart to create a type of shoe to clothe her bare feet, except she was missing her wand. She had been missing her wand for too long now. It had been, she had come to realise, around two years since it had been snatched away by what she presumed a Death Eater. Hermione shook the flooding memories from her mind as they reeled back in slowly.

It was clear as day, the memories. They were still so raw, so livid that Hermione could almost remember the disgusting smell of the wizards and witches dying around her as their bodies burnt up or were obliterated by different curses. A shiver ran down Hermione's spine as she trekked along the rocks, the most unnerving memory of all that she had preserved. It was the look on Harry and Ron's faces as they fled; leaving her behind.

Dunking her bucket into the slowly drying pool, she sighed at the sight of discoloured water. It wouldn't be long before her only water source drained utterly, leaving her with no way of living. She had tried countless times to use wandless magic, in a desperate attempt at preserving at least a fraction of her charm. But it was no use, she was not appropriately trained in mind magic and now suffered the consequences. Despite the water's poor quality, it would be safe enough to boil.

Her new house, which resembled more of a wreck than anything, stood wistfully in the middle of an open plain. Of course, this wasn't the very smartest of locations to have a house, but it was her best bet at living an adequate and sustainable life. Hermione had considered multiple times of retreating to the thick of a forest, but she was too vulnerable without her wand to delve too deep into a place like that. Where exactly she had moved to was unknown to her, it was a house given to her by the Order as a weak attempt of a thank you. A thank you for giving it all she had. A thank you for trying. It felt more like a spit in the face than anything; she knew they had many things pinned against herself, Harry and Ron. For one, they had failed to defeat the Dark Lord entirely. And on the other hand, Ron and Harry had both committed acts of complete cowardice: contrary to what should have been part of their Gryffindor spirit. The second reason for the Order's disliking was not at all Hermione's fault, yet they still blamed her for whatever reason.

At least she could be thankful that there was a vegetable garden thriving in the backyard to keep her alive.

It was admittedly lonely living by herself. Hermione longed for another place to live in, but she had fallen so much out of contact with her past friends (especially Harry and Ron) and no longer had her parents to fall back on, that it was either this house or risk getting snatched by a couple of Death Eaters in the forest. The interior design was satisfactory, with Hermione's unique touch on the decor. There wasn't much, but there was enough. The garden in the backyard was what entertained her, and fed her for that matter. Being too afraid to venture into a nearby forest for meat, Hermione was living off of pumpkins, radishes and anything else that was growable in their respective seasons. 

Hermione poured the water carefully into her kettle, deliberately ignoring the rust that was beginning to form on the base of it. She swiftly turned the gas on and waited for it to start to whistle. She proceeded to pour the reasonably clean water into a large white jar sitting on a small table in the living room. Although, it wasn't much of a living room. It served as a kitchen, living room and bedroom. To the far right corner of the small wooden house was a door that contained a bathroom. Hermione couldn't believe her eyes the day her shower had stopped working. The day her water supply had been officially cut off by the Order. She had cried her eyes out until she was practically motionless. They had most likely assumed she had died, living in the middle of nowhere with no known contact with anyone. It was a saddening feeling that she tried to push away.