black out days ✞ dramione

two | hermione

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things started to change visibly after her seventeenth birthday.

hermione wasn't sure what it was exactly—it's started off small, like accidental magic small, but the ministry never contacted her whenever these 'accidents' occurred, so she figured it was something bigger than herself and the ministry.

after that she just... heard this ringing. whenever she concentrated enough a high pitched white sound invaded her ears—but the thing was, it was white sound for a brief moment before she could make out whispers. it was all a jumble so she didn't know what was being said—she just know that it was some form of communication but it wasn't human.

she researched then. high pitched ringing, clicking, hissing or roaring was said to be tinnitus—but it was associated with depression and anxiety and poor concentration, and she didn't have a problem with either of the three, but she just brushed it off as a fluke. so she left it as that.

however, on a trip to hogsmeade, she spotted two people that seemed to be following her around. a woman with dark hair, tan skin and piercing hazel eyes and a tall asian man with dark hair and dark eyes. hermione had taken random routes around the village and it proved her suspicions—they were following her, watching her.

after that she didn't return to hogsmeade. instead she just stayed in the castle, telling harry or ron to get her whatever she wanted or needed. however, when she sat near a window in the castle, she spotted the two same people at the edge of the forbidden forest, peering up at her.

form then on she didn't ever feel safe. her wand was always in a holster on her arm and she didn't go anywhere alone—not even to the loo. she stopped wondering around late at night and she spent less time in the library in fear that she'll be left alone and the two people will have their shot at hurting her for whatever reason.

the tinnitus worsened as the days went by but it was at its worst whenever she was somewhat near malfoy. in transfiguration she sat two desks away from him and her ears would ring so loudly she's snapped quills and broken her nails to keep from screaming at the top of her lungs.

christmas time came and she was finally able to go home. usually she would catch a taxi home but she was too scared to be alone so she had owled her dad and stepmother to come pick her up from the station. and so they did but as they walked through kings cross—the muggle side—hermione spotted the two people from before—dressed in suits and long black coats—following them again. she hated to give them her address but she knew they were supernatural—witches and wizards or something more otherwise they wouldn't have made it passed the wards undetected. they would find out where she lived whether they followed her or not.

so hermione sat anxiously in the back seat—and it did not go unnoticed to her how anxious she actually become over the last few weeks. the only thing she ever really worried about was hyperion's change in behaviour and exams—now she was scared to be in her own home.

her home—what a safe haven it was to her. when she started hogwarts—and even before then—she was the outcast. the lowly muggle girl who stole her magic to have a greater meaning in life. little naïve girl who thought that gaining the best grades meant she could change the world.

her house was a place she felt immensely safe in. her dad would be there with the newest films or tv shows, her stepmum would beet there with books and hot chocolate and the three of them would spend their days together. she never really had any friends until harry and ron.

now, that was an unusual friendship. hermione was being bullied by some older slytherins and instead of running away she stood her ground. she fought them back until they finally scoffed and dragged their misogynistic arses back to the dungeons, muttering how they shouldn't be wasting their breath on a mudblood girl such as herself.