Percy Jackson and the Mirror of Erised

26) Helping Hermione

It seemed crazy once I realized I had been at Hogwarts for 2 months already. There was the quidditch practice, which was even more fun with the rest of the team. There was training with Luke and the other demigods, which left me bruised and happy. There was homework with Hermione, building up my knowledge of different things in the wizarding world.

Hogwarts was more of a home to me than my real one.

Classes were also getting more interesting.

Halloween morning, Flitwick told us that we could start practicing making things fly.

Professor Flitwick put us into pairs, leaving me with Neville. I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" Flitwick squeaked, like a mouse. Swish and flick. Got it.

Neville and I both struggled for a moment. We were pronouncing it, wigardium leviosa, correctly and making the motions perfectly. Ron snickered at us before realizing he couldn't do it either.

I suddenly had an idea. I pictured myself on my broom for a moment, the feeling of my feet off of the ground.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" I said, smiling as the feather rose into the air.

I heard Hermione and Ron bickering, and smiled when Hermione's feather rose off of her desk by a few feet. We were both congratulated.

I saw Neville frowning and turned to look at him, "Uh... you know those helicopter seed things? The ones that spin when you toss them into the air? Imagine how it feels to be one of those. With your feet off of the ground. In the air."

Neville looked a little surprised but nodded anyways. He said the spell and did the motion, smiling brightly as his feather lifted off of his desk, flying a few feet into the air.

Walking out of the classroom, I talked happily to Harry and Ron about the feather.

Then Ron started to complain about Hermione. "It's no wonder no one can stand her. She's a nightmare, honestly."

Hermione rushed past us, her face in tears.

I whipped around at Ron, "She heard you!"

"So? She must've noticed she's got no friends!" Ron tried to defend himself.

I snapped, "She does have friends! Me, Susan, Justin, Hannah, Terry, Olive! Hades, Draco and her get along fine! Quit being so daft and get your head out of your butt, Ron! She's brilliant, even if you're jealous about it."

I stormed off, placing my hand on Hogwarts so she could lead me to my friend. I eventually found myself standing in front of the girls bathroom.

I heard soft crying and knocked on the door, "Hermione? Are you all right in there?"

The crying stopped, and I didn't hear anything, so I just continued, "Ron's a git. Hades, I'm going British now. But he really is an idiot. You do have friends. Remember? I enjoy studying with you. I like sitting by you in class. And I'm not the only one. Remember when Hannah, Susan, and you all had a girls day by the water? Trying on all of the makeup Hannah has. And when Justin, you, and I joined together to win the puzzle challenge Professor McGonagall gave us? I remember. Even Draco, who has to pretend to hate all muggleborns, talked happily with you about that architecture book in the library! You've got friends, even if that freckled, red-headed, annoyingly tall dolt can't see that?"

After a few painful minutes of silence, Hermione spoke up, "... You're really... my friend? Not just using me to help you study?"

"Of course not! A friend would know you're birthday is September 19! You're middle name is Jean. You're parents are both dentists. Your wand is vine wood, with a dragon heartstring core. You're favorite color is violet. And I know you hate breaking rules, but I'm coming in," I said, pushing open the door. Hermione was sitting against the opposite wall, her face streaked with tears.

She quickly tried to wipe them away and I didn't comment, closing the door behind me. I looked at her and said, "People suck, Hermione. My step-dad, Draco's dad, Harry's aunt and uncle, the drunk who hit my mom with his car, even Ron sucks. But it's okay. Cause everyone sucks just a little bit, and you've got to learn to look past that, even if Ron can't. Guess what, 'Mione. You suck. You can sound really bossy, your intelligence is so superior to the rest of ours it's almost painful, you're hate for breaking the rules makes life a little boring... but I still want to be your friend. Because I suck too. I'm a little broken, I can't even take care of myself, I can't read English, my dad left, I've got scars. I can be annoying, I can be rude, I don't understand anything that doesn't scream 'poor' because I'm not perfect, and neither are you. But Ron isn't perfect either, and he's got his head shoved so far up his butt that he can't even see it."

Hermione smiled slightly and shook her head, "Why do you not realize just how amazing you are? Percy, you're not annoying. You're not rude. You learn fast. You're perfect. The world around you isn't, and that's really not fair. Not fair at all. You deserve a better life, Percy. You really do. But we are friends, and I know you. I know that you never complain. I know that you carry the world on your shoulders, even though you're only 11. I know that you're good, and that you hate lying. I can see it in your eyes. When you told Filch about your fake dream, I could picture you, almost perfectly. You hated it. And right now the only thing you're hating is Ronald. You're not lying. Thank you, for cheering me up, Percy."

I was about to say something, but the door suddenly opened.

My sister, Emblem, is a diabetic and has asthma. Because of this, we have to be very careful about the coronavirus. If she gets it, it's practically game over. So all in all, I'm thankful for this whole quarantine business. I like it better knowing that she's okay. Even if I have to hear her boyfriend, Brianna, say "darburger" or sing Baby by Justin Bieber. Now I'm supposed to be doing AMI, but I don't want to, so I'm going to put it off for the rest of forever.

Next chapter should be up on Saturday :)