Chapter Text
~At Hogsmeade: August 24th~
With the new school year coming up and all the former 7th years having to repeat due to the war, I’m headed to Flourish and Blotts to buy new books for school. The books were modified and updated after the war, so the old books are useless. With the book modification, the curriculum changed as well. Luckily, we didn’t learn much last year due to many distractions; otherwise, we would have learned the material for nothing. I’m thinking about what changes may have been made when I bump into someone, causing me to nearly fall. “Can’t you see where you’re going, mudblood?!” I know that arrogant voice by heart. Why him? Of all the bloody people walking in this damn street, he just had to be the one I ran into. “How are you enjoying your freedom, Malfoy?” I ask with a sarcastic smile on my face. “Why should you care, mudblood? Someone of your status has no business in the same vicinity as me.” he sneers. “And why is that Malfoy? Last time I checked, this mudblood helped to keep your spoiled ass out of Azkaban.” “Whatever. You’re not worth my time,” he says, walking away. Shrugging off the encounter with that prat, I walk into Flourish and Blotts and pull out my school supply list. After getting everything I need, I pay for the books and return home. Malfoy hasn’t changed one bit. Harry and I helped him at his trial, and he still acts as arrogant as ever. I definitely don’t want to deal with him this school year. Maybe he’s not allowed back. However, if he’s free to roam the streets of Hogsmeade, then he’ll more than likely be able to return to Hogwarts. This is going to be one hell of a year.
~One week later~
Since I’m bored at home, I decided to brush my hair. As I’m sitting at my vanity, trying to brush through my hair, I notice more tangles than usual, so I lean forward a bit to get a better look at my hair. “What the bloody hell?!” I whisper. “Since when did my natural waves turn into full curls? And why is my hair so frizzy? How am I supposed to maintain this for school? And my friends? What are they going to say? Oh, who am I kidding? They would never notice, even if I made it obvious. I should still find out how to deal with this, though. After some research, I should shop for what I need to care for it.”
(Narrator’s POV)
Hermione makes her way to her closet and grabs a black hoodie, putting it on. She sits at her desk, opens her laptop, and pulls out a notebook. After using Google to find out how to care for her new hair, she found a youtube series called ‘Natural Hair 101’. She watches episodes 1, 4, and 5. After learning the basics (terminology, hair type, must-have), she goes to the beauty supply store. New shampoos, conditioners, creams, gels, combs, brushes, sleep protection, and more were bought. Gathering everything she needed was heavy, so she took a cab home. There were up to ten bags of hair products and accessories, and let’s not dare to even speak about how much money she spent. After damn near breaking her wallet and lugging the heavy bags inside the house, she headed straight to the bathroom to put her newfound knowledge to use. She quickly searches for ‘curly school hairstyles’, and one of the first pictures she sees has a cute up-down style. Luckily for Hermione, it was a thumbnail for YouTube. She sits down and gets to work as the how-to video plays.
(Hermione’s POV)
I completed the hairstyle after spending an hour fighting with my hair. Even though I have a bonnet, I can’t sleep in this hairstyle, so I pull my hair into a messy bun. I lost two combs while detangling, but at least my hair looked nice; I also learned that a Denman brush is much better for detangling. “I can’t understand how people deal with this every day. It’s only been a few hours, and I want to cut my hair off.” I grumble to myself. “Well, at least I know a bit more about how the new texture of hair works. I can figure out what spells would be good to use to help me tame it when I rewash it tomorrow. Now, I have to clean the hair out of my bathroom and put up all these hair products”.
~ 1 MORE hour later~
“How in bloody hell do natural curly hair girls do this daily?” I throw the last ball of hair in the garbage before I go into my room and grab my pajamas for a relaxing bubble bath. I turn on the water, letting it run so that it would heat up before plugging it up and pouring my Epsom salt in along with my lavender bubble bath. Once the tub is ready, I light my lavender-scented candles and turn off the lights before getting in the tub. I soak for about 30 minutes before I decide to bathe myself. I exited the bath, dried myself, and moisturized my skin. My pajamas for tonight are a satin deep red spaghetti strap and shorts pajama set with white trim around both the top and bottom.
After putting on my pajamas, I boil a water kettle for my black tea. Once the kettle finishes and I make my tea, I return to my room, placing the tea on the side table before climbing into bed. I grab Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo and begin my nightly reading. After an hour of reading, I became bored with the book and decided to sleep.
~September 1st~
(Hermione POV)
It was 5:00 AM when I woke up and started my day. I get out of bed and dress in workout attire: a black and red crop halter top, matching Under Armour sports bra, and a maroon red cropped hoodie with a matching pair of high-waisted leggings.
I brush my hair a bit to tidy it up. Now that I look at it, the bun is more of a curly puff because of the new curl pattern. I grab an apple, granola bar, and red hydro flask downstairs. I headed to the gym, which was a three-mile jog. It was 6 AM when I reached the gym, so I failed to avoid the crowds as I had planned. I made my way to the stretching area of the gym to start a basic warm-up. I stretched for about 20 mins and began warming up. I started quickly with five sets of 20 sit-ups, five sets of 20 crunches, five sets of 25 weighted squats, three sets of 50 jackhammers, and five sets of 40 jumping jacks. I grabbed my water bottle and towel, cooling myself off before starting the intense part of my workout. As I finish exercising, I look at the clock, which reads 8:00, so I decided to head home to shower and put my hair in the hairstyle from last night. Before doing some last-minute packing, I get dressed in a red crewneck, black high-waisted jeans, diamond stud earrings, a silver watch, and 3-inch boot heels.
~At Hogwarts Express aka 9 ¾ on the train ~
I boarded the train, passing by many smiling and excited faces. It’s funny how the war affected us all, but we can still find a way to be happy. I go to the back of the train until I see Harry sitting in a compartment. “Hey, ‘Mione. How was your summer?” Harry asks as I take my seat across from him. “It was fine. Nothing exciting occurred.” I say. “That’s good. And how have things been since the breakup with Ron?” Harry asks. “If I’m being honest, I haven’t thought much about it. The love that I felt for him left when he betrayed me. What about you and Ginny? I know you were all over each other the last time I saw you.” Hermione says. “We decided that it would be best to break up. We’ve known each other for so long and have been through so much. We’ve grown as people and figured we only see each other as siblings rather than romantic partners. I think I like someone else, however.” he says, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Someone’s got a crush,” I say in a sing-song tone, teasing him. “Yeah, so what?” he shrugs. “Well, do I know them? What house are they in? Are they short or maybe tall? Is it a boy or a girl?” I ask. “Wait. What would make you think that it would be a boy?” Harry asks, a blush evident on his face. “Because, Harry, ever since we became friends, you preferred to hang out with guys rather than girls. Any romantic attraction to a girl has been an attempt to appease others. I mean, the only reason you and Ginny got together was peer pressure,” I say. “Well, that is true, but you don’t need me to tell you you’re right. It is a boy, but I’m not telling you who.” He says, making me fake pout. “But why not? I want to know.” I say. “Because I’m just now getting comfortable with that idea of liking guys. I’m not ready to confess to them. Hell, I don’t even know if he likes guys or will think of me that way. But no more attention on me. I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime. Let’s turn the focus back onto you. Any new crushes yourself?” Harry asks. “No. Same as you, I’m not ready to try dating again. I want to enjoy being an independent woman. Alone and on my own.” I say. “Understandable. Hey Mione, do you think any Slytherins are returning this year?” “Some might, but I don’t think many pureblood kids will come yet. You know many of them are still under house arrest and observation.” I say. “What about Malfoy and his gang?” “Malfoy is no longer under observation. I saw him at Hogsmeade. I’m sure they will return once they’re off house arrest. Hopefully, some of them decide to stay home.” I say. Moments later, Draco and the other Slytherins pass our compartment, one person opening the door. “Damn it ‘Mione, I just had to mention them. I jinxed it,” Harry grumbles.
“Oh well, look who it is. Miss know-it-all and Mister everyone-who-loves-me-dies. Hopefully, Granger will be the next one to go. Another useless mudblood out of the way.” Malfoy says, he and his posse laughing. “Leave us be, Malfoy, or I’ll make you regret it,” I say. “Oh, I’m so scared. What are you gonna do? Read me to death with your boring and useless information?” Malfoy taunts. “No, but I can demonstrate to everyone here what happened in the third year when my fist made contact with your face and broke your nose.” I smiled sarcastically. “Whatever, mudblood. I don’t have time to waste brain cells on you,” he says. “It should be embarrassing that you have to waste brain cells thinking hard on ways to insult me.” I laugh as he scowls. “Zabini, Parkinson, Greengrass, Nott, let’s go. We have better things to do than associate with this filth,” says Malfoy, walking out of the compartment. “Why did we defend him and his mom again?” I ask. “Because he and his mother saved my life, and everyone deserves a second chance, even if it is Malfoy.” “Fine, but the next time he says something else to me, we will have a recap of that punch,” I say. “The breakup with Ron changed you; if I’m honest, I love it,” says Harry. “He can’t hold me back anymore. I can finally be myself. Free and feisty.” I sigh happily. “I’m glad that you feel as if you’re free to do what you want. I can already tell that this will be our best year at Hogwarts.”
With Voldemort gone and not having to constantly look over our shoulders, this year will be good. However, I can’t stop thinking about what happened to my hair. What could have caused my hair to completely change its texture? Why did it happen so suddenly, and will it happen again? The scariest question is: why do I feel this strange, magical pull to someone in the Slytherin group?