MAGIANIMA // Hermione Granger

Peaches

It was the day of the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin and Atlas wasn't at all ready. She wasn't excited, didn't feel a spike of vibrancy not like she usually was and it saddened her to think Quidditch didn't thrill her anymore. That morning had dawned bright and cold, Atlas had earlier decided to take a swim in the Black Lake to clear her head but it had only succeeded in numbing her limbs, now, she sat in the Great Hall, pouring over a platter of toast, slathered in her favourite strawberry jam. She ate aimlessly, blind to the chatter surrounding her and the jumping bodies of those Gryffindor's celebrating prematurely.

Many hands and arms would frequently dress Atlas, words of confidence and faith cried loudly into her ear. But she hardly listened to any of them, her own words, echoing throughout her mind much louder than any cheer offered. She took up her final slice of toast quietly while thoughts ran rampant behind her eyes. Most were indecipherable and that was what created her turmoil. A loud roar sounded from her right and she jumped, gaze snapping upwards to look over at Luna Lovegood. The girl was dressed in a lion headpiece, smiling widely as she rocked back and forth on her feet, she caught Atlas's gaze and waved eagerly, the girl offering a half-hearted one of her own.

"Hello, Atlas!" Luna cheered, skipping over to her. The girl in question straightened, turning in her seat to engage the girl in conversation. "You look a little pale today."

"It's just pre-game nervousness."

Luna gave her a brief searching look before shaking her head, the lion atop it following the movement, "that's not it at all, your head is full of thoughts, it must be confusing."

"I...yeah?" Atlas muttered, the noise growing the slightest bit louder. She shook her head, "can't seem to quieten them."

"I get that," Luna beamed, her hands behind her back, "I find my magic calms me down, maybe it's because you haven't been doing much spellwork with Professor Umbridge as our Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor?"

"Maybe," Atlas nodded, fiddling with her wand idly, disturbed by the lack of song, from the wood in her hand and the broken pieces in her pocket. It unsettled her deeply and she found herself growing restless. "But I also just have a lot going on, I'm hoping a victory will cheer me up."

"That would be nice," Luna agreed wholeheartedly, "anyway, good luck doggy."

"Thanks, Luna," Atlas laughed quietly, watching as the girl skipped away and back over to her table. She turned back to her empty plate, leg bouncing beneath the table as she examined her wand again. 

It was frustration, the emotion that weld up inside her as she looked at the wand because it was perfect, the weight, the distribution, the length, the wood and the pattern. Flawless in every sense of the word. Her mother truly was a talented inventor, a woman of many polished talents as it really was a fine piece of weaponry. To Atlas, however, it was just wrong. It felt wrong to hold, to use. She yearned for her old wand and its song.

"Atlas!" A sudden pair of arms wrapped around her neck and ginger locks fell into view, "has Dumbledore said anything yet?"

"No, Ginny," Atlas sighed, Ginny had been persistently pestering her about any news from the Order ever since her 'girlfriend' had become a topic of interest among them. "And you know your mother would have my head if I told you."

"And I will have yours if you don't," Ginny warned, hooking her arm around Atlas's throat and putting the tiniest bit of force behind the lock. Atlas rolled her eyes and tapped at the girl's arm.

"Ginny, let her go," that voice. Atlas turned, looking over at an approaching Hermione, she was wearing Atlas's team jacket again. Harry and Ron followed behind, the latter looking paler than any ghost that roamed the castle. "Honestly, roughhousing before a game..."