Brews and Braids

Chapter 5

"Magic is real."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. She questioningly turn to Pansy, who gave her a small nod and grasped her hand in response.

To skip the disbelief and questions, McGonagall fluidly removed her wand from her sleeve and levitated the bed the girls sat on. Hermione shrieked gleefully. The witch held the bed in the air for a minute, and then gently lowered it again, setting her wand in her lap.

"This big building that you're in is Hogwarts, a school for witches and wizards. I'm a witch and Pansy here is a witch. Hermione, you are a witch, too. You're a student here, you have been for seven years."

"I'm only four years old!"

McGonagall gave the girl a small smile. "I know. You are now. But a few days ago, you were eighteen years old and in potions class when an accident happened and you were turned back into your 4 year old self. You and Pansy were in the same class, that's why she was there when you appeared."

Pansy gently undid Hermione's braids, snagged the brush from the bedside table, and slowly brushed Hermione's hair.

"So I can do magic?" Hermione asked eagerly, before her brain finished processing the rest of what the Headmistress was explaining. "Wait, am I going to be stuck younger than I'm supposed to be forever? What about my parents?"

"Don't worry, Hermione. The potion will wear off. And as far as your parents know, you're at school like normal." A little white lie seemed to be a much better idea than trying to explain that Hermione had permanently wiped herself from her own parents' memory to protect them from a war in which she was fighting.

"Good," Hermione said, content with her answer, "Mum and dad love me lots. I don't want them to be scared for me." Pansy smiled sadly, clutching Hermione's hand tighter.

"As for your magic, it is unlikely at your age that you will be able to use controlled magic; Hogwarts doesn't start for students until they turn eleven. Because of your special situation, you can attend classes with Pansy if you would like, as long as you try not to distract the other students. Pansy has been excused from classes for the rest of this week, but she will start back on Monday. Would you like to try this?"

Hermione barely let the Headmistress finish her question before she excited chirped a "Yes!"

"Pansy, you are both welcome to dine in the Great Hall from now on. I believe it would be beneficial for Hermione to meet the other eighth years. I've already taken the liberty of speaking to them about the situation. Do either of you have any questions?"

"No, Professor," Pansy said politely. Hermione simply shook her head, still too excited to try to speak. 

"In that case, I will leave you two to yourselves, for now. Ms. Parkinson, I will go directly to the infirmary to bring your concern to Madam Pomfrey. If either of you need me, ask Mippy to bring me." She disappeared through the door.

Hermione glanced at Pansy questioningly. "Mippy?"

"You remember that magic is real? Mippy is a house elf. Mippy!" Pansy called.

Mippy appeared  with a pop. "What can Mippy be helping Mistress Pansy and Mistress Hermione with today?"

Hand clasped over her mouth, Hermione gasped with delight. "Oh! Hi, Mippy! It's nice to meet you."

Pansy wasn't sure, but she thought the house elf blushed as she responded, "Hello, Mistress Hermione."

"Sorry for bothering you, Mippy. I just wanted to introduce you to Hermione," Pansy explained.

"Bye, Mippy!" The house elf bid the bouncing child goodbye in response before disappearing with another pop.

Pansy took the now-energetic girl by the hand. "Come on. Do you want to see the rest of the castle?" She gently pulled Hermione down the hallway and into the eighth year common room.

"Castle?"

"Oh, yes. Hogwarts is in a castle."

"Is there a dragon?"

"There isn't a dragon here, Mini — not right now. But dragons are real. If you want to know more about them, we can go see Hagrid soon. He works at the school and knows a lot about magical creatures."

"Yes! Can we?" Hermione gazed earnestly at Pansy's face.

"Of course. I said we could, didn't I? We can't go right now, though. He's teaching a class. I was thinking we could explore part of the castle before we go to the Great Hall for lunch. You can meet some of our friends, there."

--

The pair didn't end up exploring much of the castle; Hermione was enthralled by the moving staircases and kept jumping between them and the platforms. Pansy barely managed to stay with her. Eventually Pansy persuaded Hermione away so that they could go to lunch.

When they walked through the doors of the Great Hall, students turned from their tables to stair at the bouncing girl frizzy hair clutching the hand of a disheveled Pansy. 

The two went to the eighth grade table, where Pansy sat Hermione down between her and Harry, and across from Draco.

"Mini, do you remember Harry from last night?" 

Hermione nodded, "Hi, Harry!"

"The boy across from us is Draco."

"It's nice to meet you, Draco. Your hair is pretty."

Draco blushed lightly, smiling at the small girl, "Thank you, Hermione. It's nice to meet you, as well." His eyes rose to meet Pansy's, an eyebrow raised. "And what happened to you, Pans?"

"Hermione here," Pansy patted the head of the girl in question, "decided that jumping between the moving staircases made a fun game."

Hermione grinned proudly. "It is fun."

With an involuntary chuckle, Draco told her, "I like you. I think we're going to be friends."

Pansy directed Hermione's attention to the plat in front of her, where a specially-made grilled cheese sat waiting. "I think that's for you. You like grilled cheeses, right, Mini?" Pansy winked at her. "Now, let's see if you can make a little less mess this time, yeah?"

"Mini?" Harry teased.

Her mouth already full of grilled cheese, Hermione explained, "It sounds kind of like 'Mione and Pansy says I'm Mini. But only Pansy can call me that."

Harry glanced at Pansy, trying to keep the accusation out of his eyes. He knew a strong relationship between Pansy and the young Hermione would make the whole situation easier, but he couldn't help but feel jealous over the situation. With Ron at the joke shop, it made the loss of Hermione's normal presence much more difficult to bear.

Pansy raised her hands in playful defensiveness. "Hey, what I can say? I'm amazing." Her eyes were drawn back to Hermione because of the girl's emphatic nodding. "Mini... You're made a mess." She grabbed the cloth napkin from beside her plate. "Look at me." Gently, she wiped off Hermione's face then took her hands and did the same.

"I'm sorry. It's just so good."

"I know, Mini," Pansy sighed, "But can I tell you a secret? If you take your time eating it, you'll get to enjoy it for longer and you won't make such a mess." 

"I'll try," Hermione replied resolutely.

Having watched this whole exchange, Harry met Pansy's eyes, softly telling her, "You're good with her."

"Yeah," Pansy said, equally softly, as Hermione's attention was drawn back to the array of desserts that had just appeared on the table in front of her, "My parents weren't around much. I'm just... trying to do for her what I wish my parents had done for me."