janus ~ hermione granger

xiii

"i hate it here," maddy mumbled, plopping down onto the bed her and ginny were sharing at the leaky cauldron.

"i wanna go home," ginny mocked her new best friend, repeating the words she continued with whenever she was tired of egypt.

madison playfully pouted and threw a pillow at the red-head who was organizing their bags. they were staying there for a few days, and knowing hermione, she would want a clean room.

"we all know you secretly enjoyed egypt," ron scared the two girls, leaning in the doorway.

"so. much. walking!" the taylor girl complained, getting louder after each word.

molly and arthur smiled from the hallway, happy that maddy was finally talking more than a few sentences a week.

"are you sleeping?" hermione shoved ron, placing her cat on her bed.

"nothing new," harry teased, causing the girl who was trying to sleep to open her eyes.

"harry!"

surprisingly, maddy jumped up, running into harry's extended arms.

"what the-"

"i guess almost dying together two years in a row really strengthens a bond," fred joked, interrupting ron.

"im the only one who almost died," harry informed once maddy let go. "this one got saved both times."

"lucky," ron groaned, thinking back to that very harsh game of chess in their first year.

"where were you during breakfast?" the granger girl questioned. harry and ron noticed the hint of worry in the bed voice, and smirked.

"sleeping," maddy shrugged, throwing herself on the bed once again. crookshanks jumped off hermione's bed and traveled over to the other bed. madison saw this and picked the cat up, petting it. she looked up to see the bushy-haired girl smiling at the interaction.

"we can never seem to wake up her," molly chuckled.

"why is everybody here?" ginny complained. she noticed hermione and maddy still looking at each other, so she smirked and shooed everyone away. "i'll leave you two alone," she cleared her throat, bringing the two older girls out of their trance.

"uh-yeah, we need to catch up," the granger girl recovered.

ginny gave them a thumbs up and walked out of the room, closing the door

"thank you," hermione whispered. maddy raised an eyebrow, gesturing for the girl to elaborate. "for talking to them. you seem so much happier."

"i didn't do it for you, darling. life was getting a tad bit boring, so i decided to increase the amount of words i spoke. little by little, they made me start having full conversations with them. turns out, it's kinda therapeutic."

hermione slightly blushed at the pet name, but chuckled at her last comment.

the two sat in comfortable silence before the granger girl attempted to get her cat back, but failed.

"he likes me more," maddy spoke a little bit higher than a whisper, too focused on crookshanks.

"then keep him," hermione joked, causing maddy to playfully widen her eyes. "yes, i said a joke, deal with it."

"as much as i would love to, im a dog person and i already have michelangelo," she nodded over to the turtle.

"i still have the letters you sent this summer," hermione said after a couple moments of silence.