Out of Time

Hermione

Hermione Granger was a brilliant girl. Even as a toddler, she was well ahead of the other children. By the time she had started primary school, she had no friends. Most kids her age found her to be snobbish. Too smart for her own good was a phrase she had heard quite often from her teachers.

Her parents encouraged her hunger for knowledge. Hermione absorbed everything she could. When a strange woman showed up at her house to invite her to a boarding school for magically gifted children, Hermione scoffed at the idea. As the woman continued to explain, everything kind of clicked.

She didn't belong in the "Muggle" world. A word the Professor had told her. The thought that there would be a school with kids her age that would understand her, she felt happy. She assumed her passion for learning had to do with her being a witch.

As she showed up to purchase her supplies, she was in awe of the amazing world around her. She begged her parents to purchase her a set of year 2 books as well as the required list. They complied. When they all returned back to her house, she felt as if the muggle world was lack luster. There wasn't that hum of magic under everything.

By the time school had started, Hermione had finished reading her school books through. She sat in a compartment and practiced the basic charms. She was able to perform most by the time they had arrived at the school.

The sorting ceremony was quick. The hat took a few minutes to decide but ultimately put her in Gryffindor. She wasn't sure how brave she really was but she was happy. The year was uneventful. By the time she was to head home she was a bit disappointed. The kids in this world shunned her too. She tried to make friends, but most called her a know it all.

She had made no real friends, she was too nerdy for the girls and not girly enough for the boys to pay attention to. But it was like that most of her life, she wasn't too upset, she was still top of her class. Her 2nd year was much the same. Though she had made friends with a Ravenclaw girl named Luna. She was spacy but brilliant to study with.

By the end of 3rd year, she had noticed all of the girls around her had blossomed. Sure, she had breasts now, but they were modest. She had slight curves to her figure. The girls around her had exploded through puberty and it seems their skirts got shorter. Hermione shook her head. She refused to join the rest of her year's fashion sense.

She was still top student in her year. And still she studied ahead. By the time she finished her fourth year, she was sure she could take her OWLS and pass without issue. She noticed the boys had begun noticing the girls. It was horrible walking into the common room to see couples snogging.

In her fifth year she was a prefect. A job she took very seriously. The job of patrolling made her even more unpopular with her classmates. She had caught Harry Potter snogging three different girls on three different nights. The boy was horrible. When she took points the third time, he called her a swotty mudblood.

She was unsure what mudblood meant, and asked her head of house. She had been called swotty before. The insult rolled off her without issue. She knocked of Professor McGonagall's door.

"Come in." she heard

Hermione opened the door and stepped into the small office.

"Professor, I need to ask you a question."  She walked up to the Prof.'s Desk.

"Have a seat Ms. Granger." She gestured to the chair in front of her desk. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, I was docking points earlier and I was called a name, but I am unsure what the name means. I assume it's a wizard term, though I have not heard it before."