Fic Exchange: Fic for sickle_girl
Giftee's name/username/house:Noelia/sickle_girl of Ravenclaw
# of words: ~2100
Title: The One Who Sees Me
Rating/warnings: G/sappiness?
Characters/Pairings: Hermione Granger, Harry Potter
Summary: Based on the prompt: The Grangers move to Privet Drive.
Author's Notes: The idea of this AU really spoke to me. I wonder why it isn’t a trope! There are tons of ‘Snape-rescues-Harry-from-the-Dursleys’ fics, but I haven’t come across Hermione being there for Harry as a kid, and I really love this idea. Thanks for the prompt, bb!
Harry cautiously peered out the library door, looking ahead and turning his head both ways to make sure the coast was clear. He’d taken to whiling away some time in the foyer of the school library, waiting for Dudley and his gang to leave, before he headed off. It was safer that way.
Once he was sure they weren’t lurking nearby, he set off at a slow pace, idly kicking a pebble along. There wasn’t anything to rush back home to, after all. This time of year was his least favorite. Following Dudley’s birthday, it was like his cousin couldn’t handle coming off the high of being celebrated to a ridiculous degree (thirty-eight presents! Harry couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to have one decent present) and compensated by over-indulging in his favorite sport: Harry Hunting.
Awfully kind of Dudley to share the joy, but Harry could’ve done with the bruises and scrapes that dear Dinky Duddydums merrily offered him as an ‘early birthday present’. ("It’s so nice that you’re thinking of me," he’d once told him once, "Here I thought you didn’t care at all!" Dudley had been so confused by that cheerful statement that his grip on Harry’s neck had loosened and he’d been able to wriggle free while Dudley was still processing his response)
It was too bad that school finished in a week, so he wouldn’t be able to rely on the safety of classes and teachers for much longer. Dudley couldn’t hurt him too badly when school was on- it invited too many awkward questions from the adults- but holidays were the worst time of year for Harry. It wasn’t as though his teachers had ever done much to help him (especially after his aunt and uncle put about the story that he was a troubled boy, given to instigating fights for no reason other than his taste for bloodshed), but it made life a little easier when he had them to deter Dudley’s more extreme outbursts. He often managed to evade his lumbering cousin, being slight and nimble enough to dodge his blows, but sleeping under the same roof made it impossible to avoid contact altogether.
Needless to say, Harry rather found himself nostalgic for the school year. While every other child impatiently awaited the holidays, Harry alone regarded it with tired resignation.
o.o.o.o
Thankfully, Dudley had slept in this morning, enjoying the first day of freedom. That gave Harry enough time to complete all his chores before escaping out the door, relieved to have been so quietly efficient as to avoid drawing Aunt Petunia’s attention and being laden with even more last-minute work.
And yet, now that he was left to his own devices- what was he to do? Unwilling to spend more time in his closet or as Dudley’s punching bag than he had to, Harry had sped out of the house without any idea of his destination.
For a brief period in the past, he had frequented the library. Then Dudley and his friends had come in and made a scene, hollering and throwing his books around and generally causing a disturbance. Even though Harry hadn’t been in the wrong, he’d been thrown out with them nonetheless, then greeted with suspicion and disdainful glares on the one occasion he’d gone back. After the third time a librarian loomed over his shoulder and coldly enquired whether they could assist him in any way, he’d taken the hint and left, another haven ruined by his malicious cousin.
Given his lack of alternatives, Harry made his way to the nearest play park. He could waste some time there on the swings. Shabby and run-down as it was, at least he could count on it to be abandoned, give him some space to daydream in peace.
Except…as he approached the fence, he could see a figure already perched on the only functioning swing.
Harry sighed in frustration. He had to deal with his awful relatives and cramped closet and ghastly hand-me-down clothes and- and- snooty librarians and horrible holidays and everything else that was unfair and not right in his life. Why did this unknown person have to take his swing away?!
He hovered indecisively for a moment before hopping the fence. None of the children in the area were willing to befriend him. Nobody at school would even sit next to him in class because they were all too afraid of Dudley’s gang, whose loathing for Harry was well-known. No doubt this kid would run off once he got closer, to avoid the taint of being in the pariah’s presence.
Harry shrugged off the sharp sting of hurt at that thought. At least he’d get his swing back. While it wasn’t much of a diversion, it was the only thing he had in mind and he wasn’t giving it up.
Not surprisingly, the figure- a bushy-haired girl, he observed- stopped pushing herself back and forth on the swing as he drew nearer. Go ahead and run, he thought dully. What if Dudley were to see you with me? Oh, the horror.
What was surprising was her look of…eager anticipation? Harry blinked, unused to being greeted with anything resembling positive emotion. His steps slowed as he took in this conundrum.
As if whatever measure of self-restraint she’d employed to remain seated had abruptly run out, the girl launched herself out of the swing and skipped forward to where he’d halted uncertainly. “Hello!”
Harry had to fight the ridiculous urge to look around. He knew quite well they were the only two people around, but it was hard to believe she was addressing him so cheerfully. Was she playing a prank on him?
“Do you live nearby? I expect you must, since you’re here on your own. If you were just visiting, your parents would most likely be with you. My family’s only just moved to this neighborhood and I don’t know anyone here at all, so it’s nice to meet you. I’m Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?”
“Er. Harry Potter,” he answered. He was so used to having a reputation that it was novel having to actually introduce himself. Ever since he could remember, he had been ‘that odd Potter boy’. When he wasn’t ‘that nuisance, Potter’ or ‘keep an eye on that Potter, he’s trouble’. And so on and so forth.
“Harry,” she nodded with a happy smile. She continued babbling, something about not having much to do and perhaps he could show her the sights, or at least, where the nearest grocery store was, she felt a little hungry (“My parents would be absolutely scandalized if they found out what I was saving my allowance for- they’re both dentists, you see- but I have a craving for chocolate, or anything sugary, really”), before he finally interrupted her.
“Hermione. You should know,” he started awkwardly, “that- er…”
He really didn’t want to sound self-pitying, but this girl was the first person to be nice to him in a long while and, while she was more than a little chatty and just the slightest bit overbearing, he didn’t want to get used to her only for her to snub him once she met the other kids and learned she should stay away from him. It was better for him to end this on his terms. And he had to warn her, at the least, what she was getting herself into by talking to him.
“My cousin, Dudley, he’s- really not very nice.”
Hermione looked distinctly unimpressed.
“I mean, he’s- he’s massive, for his age, much tougher than all the other kids around here and- he doesn’t like me. At all.”
He could see by her expression she didn’t get what he was driving at.
“Look, he has a problem with me and anyone who’s around me, all right? The other kids leave me be; you should as well.”
Harry felt inexplicably resentful towards this girl for making him voice something so personal and humiliating, and touching on a sore spot he hadn’t let himself dwell upon. It was just life, nothing to be done about it. Harry was alone, this was the way things had always been, and then she had to come along and be friendly and talk to him and force him to warn her away from him for her own good when that was the last thing he wanted!
His outburst seemed to have shocked her into silence. Harry stiffly walked past her, trying to maintain his dignity (although it was rather difficult to manage in baggy clothes and taped glasses) as he dropped into the swing. He didn’t feel as good about it as he’d thought he would.
Two small hands suddenly settled on his shoulders. “What-?” he twisted around to see Hermione standing behind him, face set in stubbornly determined lines.
“I’ll push you if you push me,” she offered.
Harry couldn’t believe his ears. “Did you hear anything I just said?”
She sniffed. “I don’t give in to bullies.”
“But you don’t know what he’s like when he gets-”
Shushing him, she declared in prim tones, “I’ll decide who I want to be friends with- and even if it were up for debate, it doesn’t sound like your cousin is a person whose opinions I’d find valuable. So, unless you have other plans…?”
A slow smile spread across his face. “I guess I could spare some time for you,” he said diffidently, trying in vain to hide his pleasure.
It was dangerous to hope. She might say these fine things now and change her tune later. When she finally encountered Dudley, he’d be nasty enough to scare her off. Though who’s to say such drastic measures would be necessary? Maybe all it would take was for her to meet some other kids. He was only the first person she’d come across, after all. She could probably do a lot better than him, especially once school started and she was around the others and could see for herself what a poor choice she’d made.
He could see it now: Hermione surrounded by a group of giggling girls, mocking him, telling her she’d be crazy to want to be around him, urging her to ignore him and pretend like he didn’t exist. He was a bad sort, everyone knew that-
The clanking of the chains and rocking of the swing beneath him jolted him out of his dismal thoughts as Hermione pulled him back. “Ready?” she called.
Rather tickled and pleased at her tenacity, he wondered to himself whether he should be happy or worried at the possibility that Hermione was going to be bossing him around for a long time yet. He exhaled in a huff of laughter that seemed to release all his worries as he decided to live in the moment.
“Ready!”
And with an enormous heave, she sent Harry soaring up to meet the sky.
o.o.o.o
Harry found himself regretful when the school holidays finally ended. It had been the best part of his life to date. He’d spent most of his time with Hermione, who had proven odd and exhausting and a little scary with the way she acted like a mini-adult, but for his first ever friend, he was quite satisfied with how things had turned out.
Even if she did insist on playing Scrabble just so she could beat him soundly over and over and over again. (He let her crow about these victories, because he was better at computer games than she was, but since he lacked her vicious competitive streak, he managed not to throw that in her face)
When school started, if he had still harbored concerns about whether she’d care to know him once they were around other children, well, they were put to rest with her first day speech. The teacher asked her to come to the front of the room for the traditional ‘new student introduction’ that terrified many, but Hermione was unfazed.
Facing the class confidently, she announced, “My name is Hermione Granger.” She put particular emphasis on her first name, enunciating it slowly and clearly to make sure nobody had any excuse for getting it wrong, unless they were total idiots. “My parents are dentists; we moved here because of the job opportunities, so they could provide great dental care to more people in need. I have a cat named Macavity, and my best friend is Harry Potter…”
He turned red as everyone in the room looked at him in surprise, but returned her broad smile. And when the class politely applauded at the end of her speech, he clapped the loudest of all.
# of words: ~2100
Title: The One Who Sees Me
Rating/warnings: G/sappiness?
Characters/Pairings: Hermione Granger, Harry Potter
Summary: Based on the prompt: The Grangers move to Privet Drive.
Author's Notes: The idea of this AU really spoke to me. I wonder why it isn’t a trope! There are tons of ‘Snape-rescues-Harry-from-the-Dursleys’ fics, but I haven’t come across Hermione being there for Harry as a kid, and I really love this idea. Thanks for the prompt, bb!
Harry cautiously peered out the library door, looking ahead and turning his head both ways to make sure the coast was clear. He’d taken to whiling away some time in the foyer of the school library, waiting for Dudley and his gang to leave, before he headed off. It was safer that way.
Once he was sure they weren’t lurking nearby, he set off at a slow pace, idly kicking a pebble along. There wasn’t anything to rush back home to, after all. This time of year was his least favorite. Following Dudley’s birthday, it was like his cousin couldn’t handle coming off the high of being celebrated to a ridiculous degree (thirty-eight presents! Harry couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to have one decent present) and compensated by over-indulging in his favorite sport: Harry Hunting.
Awfully kind of Dudley to share the joy, but Harry could’ve done with the bruises and scrapes that dear Dinky Duddydums merrily offered him as an ‘early birthday present’. ("It’s so nice that you’re thinking of me," he’d once told him once, "Here I thought you didn’t care at all!" Dudley had been so confused by that cheerful statement that his grip on Harry’s neck had loosened and he’d been able to wriggle free while Dudley was still processing his response)
It was too bad that school finished in a week, so he wouldn’t be able to rely on the safety of classes and teachers for much longer. Dudley couldn’t hurt him too badly when school was on- it invited too many awkward questions from the adults- but holidays were the worst time of year for Harry. It wasn’t as though his teachers had ever done much to help him (especially after his aunt and uncle put about the story that he was a troubled boy, given to instigating fights for no reason other than his taste for bloodshed), but it made life a little easier when he had them to deter Dudley’s more extreme outbursts. He often managed to evade his lumbering cousin, being slight and nimble enough to dodge his blows, but sleeping under the same roof made it impossible to avoid contact altogether.
Needless to say, Harry rather found himself nostalgic for the school year. While every other child impatiently awaited the holidays, Harry alone regarded it with tired resignation.
o.o.o.o
Thankfully, Dudley had slept in this morning, enjoying the first day of freedom. That gave Harry enough time to complete all his chores before escaping out the door, relieved to have been so quietly efficient as to avoid drawing Aunt Petunia’s attention and being laden with even more last-minute work.
And yet, now that he was left to his own devices- what was he to do? Unwilling to spend more time in his closet or as Dudley’s punching bag than he had to, Harry had sped out of the house without any idea of his destination.
For a brief period in the past, he had frequented the library. Then Dudley and his friends had come in and made a scene, hollering and throwing his books around and generally causing a disturbance. Even though Harry hadn’t been in the wrong, he’d been thrown out with them nonetheless, then greeted with suspicion and disdainful glares on the one occasion he’d gone back. After the third time a librarian loomed over his shoulder and coldly enquired whether they could assist him in any way, he’d taken the hint and left, another haven ruined by his malicious cousin.
Given his lack of alternatives, Harry made his way to the nearest play park. He could waste some time there on the swings. Shabby and run-down as it was, at least he could count on it to be abandoned, give him some space to daydream in peace.
Except…as he approached the fence, he could see a figure already perched on the only functioning swing.
Harry sighed in frustration. He had to deal with his awful relatives and cramped closet and ghastly hand-me-down clothes and- and- snooty librarians and horrible holidays and everything else that was unfair and not right in his life. Why did this unknown person have to take his swing away?!
He hovered indecisively for a moment before hopping the fence. None of the children in the area were willing to befriend him. Nobody at school would even sit next to him in class because they were all too afraid of Dudley’s gang, whose loathing for Harry was well-known. No doubt this kid would run off once he got closer, to avoid the taint of being in the pariah’s presence.
Harry shrugged off the sharp sting of hurt at that thought. At least he’d get his swing back. While it wasn’t much of a diversion, it was the only thing he had in mind and he wasn’t giving it up.
Not surprisingly, the figure- a bushy-haired girl, he observed- stopped pushing herself back and forth on the swing as he drew nearer. Go ahead and run, he thought dully. What if Dudley were to see you with me? Oh, the horror.
What was surprising was her look of…eager anticipation? Harry blinked, unused to being greeted with anything resembling positive emotion. His steps slowed as he took in this conundrum.
As if whatever measure of self-restraint she’d employed to remain seated had abruptly run out, the girl launched herself out of the swing and skipped forward to where he’d halted uncertainly. “Hello!”
Harry had to fight the ridiculous urge to look around. He knew quite well they were the only two people around, but it was hard to believe she was addressing him so cheerfully. Was she playing a prank on him?
“Do you live nearby? I expect you must, since you’re here on your own. If you were just visiting, your parents would most likely be with you. My family’s only just moved to this neighborhood and I don’t know anyone here at all, so it’s nice to meet you. I’m Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?”
“Er. Harry Potter,” he answered. He was so used to having a reputation that it was novel having to actually introduce himself. Ever since he could remember, he had been ‘that odd Potter boy’. When he wasn’t ‘that nuisance, Potter’ or ‘keep an eye on that Potter, he’s trouble’. And so on and so forth.
“Harry,” she nodded with a happy smile. She continued babbling, something about not having much to do and perhaps he could show her the sights, or at least, where the nearest grocery store was, she felt a little hungry (“My parents would be absolutely scandalized if they found out what I was saving my allowance for- they’re both dentists, you see- but I have a craving for chocolate, or anything sugary, really”), before he finally interrupted her.
“Hermione. You should know,” he started awkwardly, “that- er…”
He really didn’t want to sound self-pitying, but this girl was the first person to be nice to him in a long while and, while she was more than a little chatty and just the slightest bit overbearing, he didn’t want to get used to her only for her to snub him once she met the other kids and learned she should stay away from him. It was better for him to end this on his terms. And he had to warn her, at the least, what she was getting herself into by talking to him.
“My cousin, Dudley, he’s- really not very nice.”
Hermione looked distinctly unimpressed.
“I mean, he’s- he’s massive, for his age, much tougher than all the other kids around here and- he doesn’t like me. At all.”
He could see by her expression she didn’t get what he was driving at.
“Look, he has a problem with me and anyone who’s around me, all right? The other kids leave me be; you should as well.”
Harry felt inexplicably resentful towards this girl for making him voice something so personal and humiliating, and touching on a sore spot he hadn’t let himself dwell upon. It was just life, nothing to be done about it. Harry was alone, this was the way things had always been, and then she had to come along and be friendly and talk to him and force him to warn her away from him for her own good when that was the last thing he wanted!
His outburst seemed to have shocked her into silence. Harry stiffly walked past her, trying to maintain his dignity (although it was rather difficult to manage in baggy clothes and taped glasses) as he dropped into the swing. He didn’t feel as good about it as he’d thought he would.
Two small hands suddenly settled on his shoulders. “What-?” he twisted around to see Hermione standing behind him, face set in stubbornly determined lines.
“I’ll push you if you push me,” she offered.
Harry couldn’t believe his ears. “Did you hear anything I just said?”
She sniffed. “I don’t give in to bullies.”
“But you don’t know what he’s like when he gets-”
Shushing him, she declared in prim tones, “I’ll decide who I want to be friends with- and even if it were up for debate, it doesn’t sound like your cousin is a person whose opinions I’d find valuable. So, unless you have other plans…?”
A slow smile spread across his face. “I guess I could spare some time for you,” he said diffidently, trying in vain to hide his pleasure.
It was dangerous to hope. She might say these fine things now and change her tune later. When she finally encountered Dudley, he’d be nasty enough to scare her off. Though who’s to say such drastic measures would be necessary? Maybe all it would take was for her to meet some other kids. He was only the first person she’d come across, after all. She could probably do a lot better than him, especially once school started and she was around the others and could see for herself what a poor choice she’d made.
He could see it now: Hermione surrounded by a group of giggling girls, mocking him, telling her she’d be crazy to want to be around him, urging her to ignore him and pretend like he didn’t exist. He was a bad sort, everyone knew that-
The clanking of the chains and rocking of the swing beneath him jolted him out of his dismal thoughts as Hermione pulled him back. “Ready?” she called.
Rather tickled and pleased at her tenacity, he wondered to himself whether he should be happy or worried at the possibility that Hermione was going to be bossing him around for a long time yet. He exhaled in a huff of laughter that seemed to release all his worries as he decided to live in the moment.
“Ready!”
And with an enormous heave, she sent Harry soaring up to meet the sky.
o.o.o.o
Harry found himself regretful when the school holidays finally ended. It had been the best part of his life to date. He’d spent most of his time with Hermione, who had proven odd and exhausting and a little scary with the way she acted like a mini-adult, but for his first ever friend, he was quite satisfied with how things had turned out.
Even if she did insist on playing Scrabble just so she could beat him soundly over and over and over again. (He let her crow about these victories, because he was better at computer games than she was, but since he lacked her vicious competitive streak, he managed not to throw that in her face)
When school started, if he had still harbored concerns about whether she’d care to know him once they were around other children, well, they were put to rest with her first day speech. The teacher asked her to come to the front of the room for the traditional ‘new student introduction’ that terrified many, but Hermione was unfazed.
Facing the class confidently, she announced, “My name is Hermione Granger.” She put particular emphasis on her first name, enunciating it slowly and clearly to make sure nobody had any excuse for getting it wrong, unless they were total idiots. “My parents are dentists; we moved here because of the job opportunities, so they could provide great dental care to more people in need. I have a cat named Macavity, and my best friend is Harry Potter…”
He turned red as everyone in the room looked at him in surprise, but returned her broad smile. And when the class politely applauded at the end of her speech, he clapped the loudest of all.