Don't Act Like You Know Me

Year 1 - The Boy

It was Hermione Granger's first year at Hogwarts. She was so excited that she was searching her house top to bottom to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything. 

She walked into her room, the walls painted light periwinkle. Her bed set matched the color of the walls with white sheets and a white pillow. She walked over to the blue ottoman that had her trunk on top of it. The top of the lid of the trunk was embedded with Hermione's monogram. H - G - J. She always thought monograms were strange in the way that they were displayed First, Last, Middle instead of First, Middle, Last. After all, her name was Hermione Jean Granger, not Hermione Granger Jean. Hermione sat beside her trunk and sighed, looking at the old painting of purple flowers hung up on her wall. Although she was bursting with excitement to be able to pursue her life in the Wizarding World, she was going to miss her old home and her parents. She was also new to this whole magic thing. 

People that lived in the magical realm lived completely different lives than the life she was currently living. She had read all about it in some books she had purchased. Her parents had taken her to the magic realm only once before. While there, she had purchased some books that might help her understand what was really going on over there. A few were about spells and magical creatures, which before this, were things she could only imagine in her wildest dreams. One was a nonfiction book about the new school she would be attending, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had spent many hours since the purchasing of said book combing through the pages, soaking up every single piece of information. Sky animated ceilings, moving staircases, and even ghostly companions? She couldn't believe it. Every rational thing Hermione had known was about to be proven false. 

"Hermione, darling!" Mrs. Granger called. Hermione's mother walked into the room. She was thirty-eight with beautiful fair skin, deep brown eyes, and luscious dark hair. 

"Yes, Mummy?" Hermione answered back. 

"It's almost time to leave! Are all of your things packed?"

"I think so."

"Well, if you forget something, you'll be able to get it at Christmas time. Do you know if you're allowed to receive post from the ordinary world?"

"I think so, Mummy. I'm not exactly sure. All posts are transported by owls."

"Well, splendid." Mrs. Granger pulled her little Hermione into a hug, "Oh I'm going to miss you so much, Hermione Jean!"

"I'm going to miss you, too, Mummy." Hermione could feel tears forming in her eyes. She let out a small sniffle.

"Now, now, you're not allowed to cry. You're about to be at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the first time! I'm so proud of you! Cheer up, and I'll grab your trunk. Daddy's waiting in the car."

"Alright, Mummy." Hermione exited her room and took one last look around the living room before she left her house. She got in the backseat of her parents' car to see her father in the driver's seat. He had soft ginger hair and kind brown eyes. 

"Hey, munchkin! Are you excited?" Mr. Granger asked.

"Absolutely! I can't wait! I reread Hogwarts: A History for the seventh and eighth time so I think I'm good to go," Hermione laughed.

"That's great, munchkin, I hope you have an amazing time." Mrs. Granger brought Hermione's trunk around to the back of the car and got into the passenger seat.

"Is everyone ready?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Yep, let's go!" Mr. Granger said as he pulled out of the driveway.

They made the moderate drive to King's Cross Station, which was about twenty to twenty-five minutes away from the Granger house. Once they got there, Hermione sprung out of the car and took a look at the train station. Although it was so close to her house, Hermione had never been to the train station or been on a train. She'd read about them, of course, but had never been on one. 

Mr. Granger got Hermione's trunk out of the back of the car and the Granger family walked into King's Cross Station. The train station was flooded with people. Hermione had a hard time navigating her way through all of them, but she stood close to her father. Mrs. Granger pulled out Hermione's train ticket. 

"Platform nine and three quarters?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"It's a secret wizard platform," Hermione whispered. "I read about it in Hogwarts: A History. You have to walk through a wall!"

"Very well then, to platform nine and three quarters!" Mr. Granger said. The family of three pushed their way through a crowd containing every sort of person imaginable. All were bustling around, checking their watches or talking to guards. Mothers were attending to their children and dragging them along as they were late for their departure. The Grangers approached the wall between platforms nine and ten. There, stood a simple looking brick column with rather mundane looking bricks. 

"Are you supposed to walk through this?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Apparently," Hermione said. Hermione and her parents were ogling at the brick wall when...

"Out of the way," boomed a voice from behind the Grangers. A tall man with long blonde hair and a brooding look on his face squirmed his way through the Grangers with a woman and a boy, Hermione's age. The woman was beautiful. She had black hair with streaks of blonde in it, piercing blue eyes, and a deep red color on her lips. Shuffling along between them was the boy. He was the most breathtaking boy Hermione had yet laid eyes on. He had gorgeous pure blonde hair like his mother and father as well as pale porcelain skin. His eyes were rather puzzling to Hermione, as they weren't quite blue, like his mother's, they were a muted gray. It had occured to her that she was kind of staring. The boy didn't seem to notice her. 

"Draco," the tall man said as he handed the boy a big black trunk with silver monogrammed letters that read 'D - M - L'. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Draco," the woman said.

"Goodbye, mother. Goodbye, father," the boy, Draco, nodded. Draco turned around and ran straight into the wall. He looked like he ran through it, but he didn't come out on the other side. Draco's parents coldly turned and walked away from the column, side-by-side, as if nothing had happened.

"That must be it," Mr. Granger said, but Hermione's mind was elsewhere. Hermione thought the interaction between the blonde boy and his parents was strange. Draco was saying goodbye to his parents, but there was no 'I love you',  'I'll miss you', or 'I'll see you at Christmas'. There was no kiss or hug goodbye. 

"Well, it's time," Mrs. Granger sighed. Her father kissed her on the top of the head and her mother kissed her on the cheek. "We love you, Hermione," Mrs. Granger said. 

"We're going to miss you so much," Mr. Granger said. Hermione's parents wrapped her up in a group hug. 

"I love you, Mum and Dad," Hermione said. She turned around and waved at her parents one last time before she took a deep breath and ran through the wall, into another world.