dursley [h. g.]

••dursley•• || help! i need somebody

Kendra beat Hermione to the library the next day. She wasn't sure where to wait, but she made sure she was in view of the doors so that when Hermione did come in, she would easily find her. Sure enough, when Hermione did come through the door, Kendra hastily stood up, fixing her hair, and made her way over to the Gryffindor.

"Kendra!" Hermione said, a grin betraying her. "You're here early."

"I- erm, yeah," Kendra replied, smiling at Hermione through her nervousness. "Ready to get started?"

"Of course," Hermione replied, her bag hitting the floor with a dull thud. She took her place next to Kendra at a table in the quietest corner of the library, which Kendra knew was Hermione's favorite spot. "What do you want to start with?"

Kendra's mind raced. She didn't know who exactly she was supposed to pretend to need to be tutored now that she was in the situation. "Transfiguration," Kendra blurted, remembering McGonagall's words. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment. "I don't know where to start  the essay on ethicality."

"Well," Hermione said, pausing to look at Kendra. Eyes met eyes and Kendra looked away slightly, staring instead at the small first-year who was getting whisper-yelled at for dropping a sixth year's load of books. "It depends on which side you're taking. Do you think transfiguration is ethical? Should there be some common rules and guidelines that everyone has to follow when transfiguring animals?"

"I think..." Kendra began slowly, "that if they can't use it as a punishment at school, people shouldn't be forced to do it to their pets."

"Excellent," Hermione beamed at Kendra. "You have your position to take in the essay, and supporting evidence. Here-" she pulled out a scrap of paper "-write that down."

Kendra did so, her handwriting consciously very neat. Hermione leaned over her shoulder to inspect Kendra's work. "Like this?"

"Yeah," Hermione praised, distracted. "You've got nice handwriting."

"Really?" Kendra asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper, her ears growing hot with the compliment. Hermione blushed, embarrassed.

"It's very neat," Hermione continued, her index finger tracing the divots in the parchment that the quill had made. "Did they make you fix it in primary school?"

"Yes!" Kendra gasped, remembering her horrid English teacher who had made her write the same sentence twenty-seven times until her handwriting was neat enough for her standards. "Did you have to do that too?"

"That's why I asked," Hermione replied. "It's nice to have someone who can relate. Ron never had to do that and Harry..."

"Is Harry," Kendra responded. "Trust me, I know better than anyone here. We've shared a room since just before his eleventh birthday."

"We're off-topic," Hermione suddenly said. "Write an introduction that introduces your point and read it out loud to me. I'll tell you if anything needs fixing."

Kendra set back to work, the ghost of a smile on her lips. Hermione watched her as she worked, starting to pay attention to what Kendra was doing and then how she was doing it. She bit her lip when she paused and thought. Her hair fell out from behind her ear every so often and she would pause what she was doing to tuck it behind her ear again. She would tap the feather of her quill against the table whenever she was stuck on what to write next.

"You know, my aunt scratched her name into this table when she was a student here," Kendra said. "I didn't know anything about her until Harry told me last year. That's why this is my favorite table."

Hermione smiled fondly. "Get back to work, Kendra."

"Yes, ma'am," Kendra replied, teasing.

As soon as Kendra returned to the dorm that afternoon, Lisa pounced. Kendra had only just set down her now completed essay when Lisa slunk next to Kendra with a broad grin on her face and demanded to hear everything.