Jadis of Charn
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(1/26/06 5:23 pm)
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Hermione Granger - School Nurse
OOC
Name: Stacey
Contacts: Ezboard inbox is probably the best place, or you can email me at amber_goddess85@yahoo.co.uk
Age: 20
Code: Hermione Granger
IC
Name: Hermione Jane Granger
Nickname(s): Apart from the occasional mispronunciation of her name, none.
DOB: 19th September, 1979
Blood: Muggle-born
Previous School/House: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry/Gryffindor
Occupation: School Nurse, former mediwitch.
Qualifications: After graduating from Hogwarts with uniformly outstanding grades, Hermione fulfilled her ambition to train as a mediwitch. She earned her doctorate after four years apprenticeship at St. Mungo’s, and spent a further two studying to specialise in the diagnosis and treatment of curses. As a qualified mediwitch, she headed a junior research team in the hospital's Spell Damage department, and earned a name as one of the foremost practitioners in her field.
Physical Appearance:
With her dark eyes, honey-brown hair and clear, pale complexion, Hermione Granger has the classic ‘English rose’ colouring. Though never a conventional beauty by any means, she retains a deceptively youthful appearance, and - despite rapidly approaching her thirties - her skin remains smooth and unblemished. She emphasises this by keeping makeup to a bare minimum, and generally limits herself to a coat of lip-balm and a sweep of mascara. Recently, however, she’s noticed faint worry-lines beginning to emerge around the corners of her mouth, and there’s a tightness around her eyes that hints at a deeper fatigue. Young-looking or not, Hermione feels old.
Nevertheless, impending middle-age aside, her looks have not changed a great deal since her time at Hogwarts. She still has the same slim, oval face, and though subsequent growth-spurts have left her bone structure slightly sharper by contrast, there’s no mistaking her deep brown eyes. Framed by long lashes several shades darker than her hair, her eyes are perhaps her finest feature, and serve (as the cliché goes) as the window to her soul. Perhaps that is at least partly the reason why she has taken to wearing a pair of silver-framed glasses when working; expressive eyes can be as much a curse as a blessing, and there are certain occasions where she has found it prudent to keep her thoughts to herself. Of course, the glasses also serve a practical purpose, and since being prescribed them by her (muggle) optician, she’s found reading fine print to be a great deal easier indeed.
As far as her facial features go, Hermione treads a fine line between unremarkable and woefully plain. Her nose is long and slightly broad towards the end, and there is something about her mouth that seems strangely out of proportion - as though it were somehow just a little too wide for the rest of her face. Now that she is no longer cursed with buck teeth, however, her full lips lend her a pleasantly girlish pout, and this helps to harmonise the various aspects of her face somewhat.
Using liberal applications of conditioning potion, Hermione has also managed to tame her trademark mass of hair, allowing it to flow in loose curls to a point midway down her back. Although she affords little time for clothes or makeup, her hair-care regime is a complicated system of spells and styling products, and maintaining it’s smooth texture is a constant battle. Even the barest hint of humidity can convert it back to its former bushy state, and she has been known to carry bottles of hair-stray around discreetly in her purse for this reason. For practicalities sake, she prefers to wear it up whilst working, and generally styles it into an simple knot at the nape of her neck.
If asked to sum up her personal style in one work, Hermione would probably respond with ‘practical’. She typically favours sensible wizarding robes whilst working, and though her preference for high-collared, full-length designs may not win her win her many admirers in the fashion world, the conservative cuts certainly lend her an undeniable air of authority. Regulations require her to wear a starched white apron whilst attending to her duties, but the overall affect is not wholly unpleasant, and she makes for an elegant - if somewhat straight-laced - figure as she sweeps along the school corridors. Out of work, Hermione is a little more relaxed in her choice of clothing. A still-lingering sense of teenage self-consciousness stops her from wearing anything too revealing, but a pair of form-fitting jeans and a casual blouse are enough to see her through most days. Her time spent in Bulgaria has left her with an extensive winter wardrobe, and she currently owns an impressive array of scarves and gloves (she’s tried leaving some out for the House Elves, but so far without success). She wears jewellery sparsely and tends to forgo it altogether whenever possible, the only exception being her engagement ring, which she keeps out of sight on a chain around her neck. Though not normally one for sentiment, she finds it strangely reassuring, and often finds herself touching it when in need of comfort or assurance.
With her slight breasts and narrow hips, Hermione openly despairs of her willowy build. Always slim, even through adolescence, she never seemed to ‘fill out’ in the way that other girls did, and her notable lack of curves continues to be a source of private disappointment. When combined with her height of 5’8”, her size makes clothes shopping a tiresome, frequently exasperating event, and she tends to stick to a few reliable boutiques that she knows will cater for her fittings. Though no amount of padding can disguise her admittedly boyish figure, she will concede that there are some benefits to a lean physique; her cheekbones, for example, are fashionably prominent, and her slender limbs add interest to even the most staid of outfits. This fine bone structure means that she appears healthy as opposed to emaciated, but she would still gladly trade it in for favour of something a little more voluptuous.
Despite her somewhat lanky appearance, however, Hermione moves with remarkable poise. Her movements are quick and meticulously precise, and she glides around the Hospital Wing with the same grace and assurance that a dancer would a stage. For all her private insecurities, in her abilities as a mediwitch she holds nothing but the utmost confidence, and her deep passion for her art is apparent whenever she is called upon talk about it. Her eyes light up, her cheeks colour, and she smiles without caring whether her teeth are on show or not…in fact, though Hermione herself would never believe it, she almost - almost - becomes beautiful...
Personality:
During her first year at Hogwarts, many people questioned why the Sorting Hat had placed Hermione in Gryffindor House. Superficially at least, she would seem far better suited to Ravenclaw; her academic leanings earned her few friends within Gryffindor, and her strict adherence to the rules often put her at odds with her more hot-headed housemates. Despite this, Godric Gryffindor prized courage above all else, and it is this quality that Hermione possesses in abundance. Her bravery might not be as obvious as that of Harry or Ron, but it is so deeply ingrained into her personality as to occasionally override even her most basic sense of self-preservation…she would risk her life in the service of a just cause, and has indeed done so on many occasions. It is not that Hermione is fearless, but rather that she is able to do the right thing in spite of her fear that made the Sorting Hat chose to place her in Gryffindor. Her love for her friends lies at the core of this bravery, and, once earned, her loyalty is unwavering. Though differences may see them estranged for months or even years at a time, if she so much as suspected that a friend might be in danger, she would be by their side within a heartbeat.
As a primarily political animal, Hermione’s reverence towards the rules is not quite so black and white it as might initially seem. She posses a highly intuitive sense of right and wrong, and tends to follow her own conscious rather than any set of written laws - a reasoning that has placed her at odds with the authorities on several occasions. She remains a zealous advocate for the disadvantaged within wizarding society, and continues to lobby for the rights of werewolves and giants (and, yes, house-elves) whenever possible. Though her tendency to argue may frustrate and annoy those around her, this is simply Hermione’s natural response to a topic on which she holds strong opinions. She does not argue with someone because she has anything against the individual; she argues because the issue is important to her. Indeed if anything, Hermione thrives on such verbal exercises, and finds herself instinctively drawn to people who can facilitate her need for healthy debate. Her temper may occasionally get the better of her at times, but she is always the first to admit when she is in the wrong. Argumentative or not, Hermione has never been one to hold a grudge, and is more likely to play the peacemaker than allow herself to wallow in ill-feeling.
Though something of a know-it-all as a teenager, age and experience has helped to tempered this somewhat. Nowadays Hermione has learned to restrain her more officious tendencies, and though she will still eagerly demonstrate her knowledge if the opportunity arises, she at least understands that most people don’t care to be lectured. She unquestionably holds herself to higher standards than she would others, and her pride is often misinterpreted as arrogance, but her strength lies in her intellect rather than her looks, and one cruel quip about her appearence can cut Hermione down faster than any hex possibly could. Of course, she would never admit to worrying about something so petty, but it nevertheless remains a source of lingering anxiety. She is also more than aware of her social defects, and her sense of humour is vastly underdeveloped in comparison to her powers of reasoning. She enjoys laughter and good company, but lacks the necessary social skills to create these things herself, and it often takes the active encouragement of a friend to get her to join in with a joke. This is not to say she lacks creativity and imagination, however - only that she benefits from being around those who can draw her out of herself.
When confronted with a boggart as a teenager, it came as no surprise when her innermost fear was revealed to be a teacher issuing her with a bad grade. Ever since childhood, Hermione was subject to the high expectations of others, and this has lead her to develop a deep-rooted fear of failure; she expects a great deal from herself, and the mere thought of failing in any way can make her sick with anxiety. Her drive to succeed has spurred her to achieve many great things, but it has also proved detrimental in her private life, and Hermione often neglects her personal relationships in favour of her work. It was this single-minded focus that would eventually cause her to break off her engagement with Ron, and when given the choice between marriage and a career, she chose to leave him in favour of perusing her own aspirations. Hermione would never allow herself to settle for second best, and - for her, at that point in her life - abandoning her career to become ‘just’ a wife and mother would be second best. With hindsight, she now understands that her behaviour was borne from misplaced fear rather than absence of love, but this realisation has come too late to mend her relationship with Ron. Of all the mistakes that she has made in her lifetime, hurting him is the one thing that she is truly ashamed of.
For all her undeniable faults, however, Hermione’s compassion is her one saving grace. Though her bedside manner can be deceptively brusque, she has a genuine desire to help those around her and derives a great deal of satisfaction from healing the sick. She is perceptive by nature and possesses what Mrs Weasley might have referred to as ‘female intuition’ - an instinctive empathy for the feelings of those around her. She can spot a blossoming romance from fifty paces away, and if somebody has something to hide, it does not usually take her long to discover it. Secrets rarely escape Hermione, and there is nothing that she finds so infuriating as a mystery.
History:
With a name derived from the Greek God of ingenuity, inspiration and eloquence, it was perhaps unsurprising that Hermione would one day go on to become one of the brightest young witches of her generation. What would be less easy to predict, however, would be the direction that her natural gifts would take her. Certainly her parents could never have guessed what lay in store for her; until the day that a Hogwarts owl arrived on their doorstep, they had never even believed in witches, much less suspected that their daughter was one…
Growing up in a pleasant suburb of Cambridge, England, Hermione enjoyed all the benefits that a middle-class upbringing could provide. As the only child of Richard and Katharine Granger - both of whom worked as dentists in the family dental practice - Hermione was encouraged scholastically from a very young age, and quickly developed a near insatiable appetite for knowledge. Delighted by their daughter’s obvious intelligence, the Grangers oversaw much of her early tuition personally and indulged her with a steady supply of books and learning resources. As she grew older, they supplemented her schooling with frequent educational trips, and it was not long before Hermione was more familiar with the great institutes of British culture than she was her local playground. As a result, she lacked much in the way of social development and found it increasingly difficult to mix with children her own age. It was a privileged childhood, but a lonely one, and although blessed with a brilliant mind, Hermione was to have few friends.
Perceptive as she was, it did not take Hermione long to realise that she was ‘different’ in some way. At school, she made a few tentative attempts to make friends with others, but all such efforts seemed doomed from the onset. It was not just her overbearing personality (though this undoubtedly did little help matters) - it was the strange coincidences that seemed to happen whenever she was around. When she was eight, for example, a simple game of rounders descended into chaos when it was Hermione’s turn to play. Never athletically inclined, she panicked when the bowler threw to her and immediately dropped her bat, but instead of hitting her in the face, the ball seemed to burst in mid-air. Onlookers later testified that they saw it turn into a puff of glittering smoke, a cloud of butterflies emerging to flutter harmlessly around her head. A birthday party went similarly awry when Hermione joined in a game of hide-and-seek, only to be later found perched on the top of a telephone pole some half a mile away. She was frustrated by these incidents, but also a little afraid. Was there something wrong with her? Was she a freak? It was a frightening and confusing time for Hermione, and she became increasingly unhappy as the years wore on.
All this was to change when she received her letter of enrolment from Hogwarts. In the letter, she learned that not only had she been accepted to a boarding school that she had never even heard of before, but that she was, in fact, a witch. Although understandably stunned by the revelation, Hermione was not as shocked as might be expected; indeed if anything, she found herself strangely reassured to find that the unsettling incidents had been caused by magic. For her parents, however, the discovery was to be a source of both pride and uncertainty. Although they understood how important it was for Hermione to attend Hogwarts, they could also see how different the wizarding world was from their own. Nevertheless, they resolved to support their daughter in whatever way they could, and accompanied her during her initial trip to Diagon Alley. Having taken her to Kings Cross, they found that they were unable to enter platform nine and three-quarters, and so said their good-byes in the station car park. Deep down, they both realized that she was not their little girl anymore, and their farewells had a significance that Hermione would only come to understand in hindsight. From that point on, her family had given her up to the wizarding world, and to the life that they knew she was destined to have.
Once aboard the Hogwarts Express, Hermione’s initial excitement faded into nervous anxiety. Everybody else seemed to know each other, and she was left with the uncomfortable feeling that she had been absent when everyone else had picked their friends for the coming year. She readily welcomed the distraction of helping another first year - Neville Longbottom - locate his lost toad, and it was during this search that she first encountered Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Unfortunately for Hermione, she did not make a good first impression, and it seemed increasingly likely that she would be as unpopular at Hogwarts as she had been at her previous school. When they arrived at Hogwarts, she was able to identify almost everything around her from her prior research, but even this did not prepare her for the nerve-wracking experience of having the Sorting Hat placed on her head. The Hat wavered briefly, apparently deliberating whether she might be more suited to Ravenclaw, but after a short pause announced that she was to be sorted into Gryffindor House. Hermione was pleased to be apart of Gryffindor, but a little uneasy too. After all, she hardly fitted into the stereotype of ‘brave Gryffindor’…what would her classmates make of a studious, bossy eleven year old with oversized front teeth?
Sadly, her first few months at Hogwarts passed as miserably as might be expected. To compensate for her lack of social skills, Hermione was keen to impress the teachers with her already-extensive knowledge of magic, and eagerly showed off her talents whenever possible. This behaviour did little to endear her to her peers, and she quickly became the brunt of the other student’s jokes - including those in her own house. Hermione became increasingly isolated and homesick, and when she heard Ron Weasley talking about her derisively behind her back, it proved to much for the young girl to bear. Deeply wounded, she retreated to the toilets to cry, and tearfully ignored the school bell when it sounded for dinner. When she emerged from her cubical some time later, however, her self-pity was quickly forgotten when she discovered that a gigantic mountain troll had somehow found its way into the toilets. Hermione - alone and defenceless - was the perfect victim, and it was only the timely intervention of Harry and Ron that saved her from an ugly demise. When questioned about the incident by Professor McGonagall, Hermione felt it only right that she should lie to spare them from punishment. The episode proved to be the catalyst for an unlikely friendship, and the three remained close throughout their time at Hogwarts.
Once accepted by Harry and Ron, Hermione’s time at Hogwarts became a great deal more exciting. Although initially sceptical of their claims, she was able to use her knowledge to help them find the Philosopher’s Stone, and the trio found themselves hailed as heroes at the end of the school year. By the time that she had to return home for the Summer, Hermione’s life had changed completely. Returning to Cambridge almost felt like a step backwards, and she could sense a growing distance between herself and her parents. The wizarding world was alarmingly foreign to them, and though they tried their best to support her in her studies, Hermione understood that their relationship could never be the same as it had been before she went to Hogwarts. She still loved her parents deeply of course, but there was a whole other part of her life that they could never fully be apart of. When the time came to return to Hogwarts, Hermione was glad to be going back to the school that she loved. In many ways, it was as much ‘home’ to her as Cambridge had been, and with Ron and Harry as friends, things were certainly far from boring.
Her second year at school proved to be every bit as eventful as her first. When the famous Gildroy Lockheart announced that he was to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, Hermione - already a fan of Lockheart’s work - developed something of a schoolgirl crush, much to Ron’s obvious chagrin. Far more pressing, however, were the events occurring within the castle itself. When several students were mysteriously attacked within Hogwarts grounds, the trio resolved to find the Chamber of Secrets - a place hinted at in the strange graffiti that appeared in the school hallways. Once again, Hermione was able to apply her knowledge to the investigation, and when the trio needed a way to sneak into the Slytherin Common Rooms, she undertook the complicated process of brewing a polyjuice potion. Although the potion created near perfect disguises for Ron and Harry, due to an unfortunate mix-up Hermione’s own dose of the polyjuice turned her into an anthropomorphic cat, and it took a rather embarrassing trip to the Hospital Wing to return her to her normal appearance. Despite this set back, however, she continued to take charge of the trio’s research, and spent most of her spare time pouring over obscure tomes in the library. It was this tireless study that eventually produced the identity of the attacker, but Hermione was petrified before she had the chance to inform her friends. She herself remembers mercifully little of this event, but it was several weeks before she was to recover fully. As a result, she was absent from much of Harry’s subsequent adventure, and it was not until the end of the school year that the trio was once again reunited.
Following her petrification, Hermione’s parents were naturally concerned about allowing her to return to Hogwarts. Though she downplayed the matter in front of them, they began to consider withdrawing her from the school, and it was only a personal correspondence from Professor McGonagall that eventually convinced them otherwise. In fact, McGonagall seemed to have taken a personal interest in Hermione’s studies. Her academic brilliance had so impressed the Professor that she allowed her the use of a Time Turner - a device that could allow her to go back in time to fit extra classes into the school day. Although elated at the prospect of taking so many subjects, the added stress soon took its toll, and by the time that Christmas was over, Hermione was physically and mentally exhausted. She also found herself increasingly estranged from Harry and Ron, and with all her extra studies - not to mention the work that she had undertaken for Buckbeak’s trail - she found that there was little time left for socialising. After suffering a near nervous break-down, however, she was finally convinced to decrease her work load. The Time-Turner was to prove useful in other ways, however, and at the end of the school year she and Harry were able to use it to go back in time and save both Sirius Black and Buckbeak, thus preventing two serious miscarriages of justice.
Her fourth year at Hogwarts brought both new challenges and new relationships. As the setting of the Tri-Wizards Cup, Hogwarts played host to two other major European schools and Hermione found herself increasingly attracted to the Drumstrang champion, Viktor Krum. The two began a tentative romance, and she accompanied him to the Yule Ball that winter - much to the astonishment of her friends and housemates, who could not understand what a Quidditch star like Krum would see in her. Although her relationship with Viktor prompted a row with Ron (who had also asked her to the ball), Hermione refused to apologise for ‘fraternising with the enemy’ and angrily told him that he should have asked her first instead of as a last resort. Though the two eventually resolved their differences, the incident would remain a sore point for many years to come. The relationship between Ron and Harry had also suffered that year, and Hermione was forced to spend much of her time mediating between the two. If it had not been for the quiet support of Viktor, she would have found the situation almost unbearable. Another bone of contention was the infuriating Rita Skeeter, a reporter who had taken it upon herself to chronicle Harry’s challenges in the Tri-Wizard Cup. Hermione was horrified when she found out that Skeeter was implicating her in a sordid - but entirely fictitious - love-triangle between Harry and Viktor, and, humiliated at being the subject of gossip, she vehemently swore revenge.
…Of course, such matters were quickly put aside when Harry emerged from the final trial bearing Cedric Diggory’s dead body. The news that Voldemort had remerged sent shock-waves through the school, though the Ministry staunchly refused to accept Harry’s claims. Hermione blackmailed Skeeter (who, she had discovered, was an illegal animagus) into publishing a report announcing the return of Voldemort, but it did little to convince the masses. As the trio departed for their respective homes for the summer, Hermione could not help but feel as though the pieces were being set for an upcoming battle. It was a strange and unpleasant sentiment, and although she would never admit it to anyone - least of all herself - she was not entirely certain that they would be ready for the task before them.
Although she spent the first few weeks of the holidays with her parents in Cambridge, the bulk of the summer was spent with the Weasley’s at Grimmauld Place: the Black’s ancestral mansion and headquarters of the newly re-formed Order of the Phoenix. Although her friendship with Ron had suffered in the previous year, the two grew closer as the weeks passed and, for the first time, she allowed herself to acknowledge her developing feelings for him. Though neither of them spoke of it, they both understood that something had fundamentally shifted in their relationship, and an uncomfortable fission of tension began to emerge between them. It was almost a relief when a decidedly broody Harry joined them, simply to find herself part of the familiar ‘trio’ rather than face the possibilities of ‘Ron and Hermione’.
Upon her return to Hogwarts, Hermione was delighted - though perhaps not entirely surprised - to find that she and Ron had been named as the Prefects for Gryffindor that year. She took her responsibilities very seriously, and remained entirely committed to her studies - particularly in light of her upcoming O.W.L exams. The year was not without trials, however; largely in the formidable shape of Professor Umbridge, a Ministry official who had taken on the role of Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher. Umbridge’s methods of teaching left much to be desired, and it was soon clear that they would learn nothing useful whatsoever under her guidance. Deeply incensed by her totalitarian approach to teaching, it was Hermione who provided the genesis for an mutinous underground organisation. The idea was simple: Harry (having more practical experience of DADA than many Aurors) would use his knowledge to teach a select band of students, training them with defensive spells in readiness for any possible Death Eater attacks. Although initially reluctant, Harry agreed, and Dumbledore’s Army was created. The Army - or DA as they became known - met frequently in the Room of Requirement to hone their skills, and the practice soon proved extremely beneficial…even Hermione found that she had much to gain from Harry’s tutelage. Their abilities would be put to the test far sooner than any of then realised, however, and when one of Harry’s dreams led him to believe that his godfather was in danger, the core members of the DA decided to take action and storm the Department of Mysteries - a move that, though unquestionably brave, lead them straight into a Death Eater trap. In the ensuing fight, many of the DA were grievously injured (including Hermione) but the real blow came when Sirius Black was killed in cold blood by Bellatrix Lestrange. Though Dumbledore’s intervention meant that nobody else was lost, the horror of Sirius’s death was not something to be easily forgotten. It was a terrible time for everyone, especially Harry, and Hermione found herself turning increasingly to Ron for emotional support.
In the wake of the Department of Mysteries attack, the Ministry of Magic was finally forced to acknowledge Voldemort’s return. An almost palatable fear gripped the wizarding world, and once again Hermione spent the majority of her summer with the Weasley clan, determined to be close at hand should anything happen. Despite the trials that they faced, however, that summer would mark what Hermione would later remember fondly as their last days of innocence. She spent most of her time with Ron, Harry and Ginny, and although she felt the occasional twinge of guilt at neglecting her parents, deep down she knew that there was no place on Earth that she would rather be than the Burrow with her friends.
Having received her O.W.L exam results at the Burrow - ten Outstandings, one Exceeds Expectations - Hermione threw herself back into her studies with renewed vigour upon her return to Hogwarts. Once again, her academic brilliance marked her out, and she was invited to join the Slug Club - Professor Slughorn’s elite group for accomplished (or otherwise well-connected) students. Despite her diligent work, however, she was stunned to find herself being outperformed in Potions…by Harry, no less. Using notes found in an old text book, Harry’s grades improved dramatically, and Hermione - despite her protestations to the contrary - became increasingly jealous. Moreover, when some of the spells were revealed to have some decidedly nasty consequences, she began to suspect that the notes author (who rather grandly referred to himself as the Half-Blood Prince) was not to be trusted. She warned Harry not to use the book anymore, but was blithely ignored, leaving Hermione both irritated at his academic dishonesty and worried for his safety.
Romantically, things began to get more complicated in Hermione’s sixth year. By now she had realised that her feelings for Ron went far beyond that of simple friendship, and the Slug Club’s Christmas Party seemed like the perfect opportunity to tell him this. She decided to invite him as her date, but anxiety made her procrastinate, and by the time that she had worked up the courage to ask him he had already half convinced himself that she was using the Slug Club as a means to better herself socially. It was all nonsense of course, spoken in the heat of the moment, but Hermione was deeply hurt by his attitude and hotly announced that she would attend the party with Cormac McLaggen instead. This proved to be a spectacular mistake, as Cormanc - true to his reputation - spent most of the evening trying to paw her underneath the mistletoe. Nevertheless, Ron seemed suitably jealous, and Hermione tied to convince herself that she was pleased to see him so miserable. He retaliated in style, however, and soon took to shamelessly snogging Lavander Brown; an action that prompted an uncharacteristic display of jealousy from Hermione, who furiously attacked him with a flock of canaries.
Once again estranged from Ron (and, to some extent, Harry) Hermione found herself every bit as torn and unhappy as she had been to begin with. Ginny’s revelations about her history with Viktor only soured her relationship with Ron further, and the two did not speak to each other again until after Christmas, when Ron was mysteriously poisoned whilst in Slugorn’s classroom. Although Harry’s quick thinking meant that he received the antidote in time, the incident came as a shock to Hermione, who was immediately at his bedside when she heard the news. The two quietly patched up their differences, and when Ron and Lavender split up shortly afterwards, Hermione was the happiest she had been in a long time. Now that she and Ron were back on speaking terms, Hermione was pleased to find her suspicions of romance confirmed when Harry began dating Ginny later that year. She liked Ginny and was satisfied that she was good for Harry; when the two of them got together, it was clear they were made for each other.
Everything seemed to be going well for the trio, but the apparent change in fortune was not to last. The increasingly disturbing occurrences in the castle proved to be omens of things to come, and one night, near the end of the year, the unthinkable happened: the Death Eaters raided the school and Dumbledore was killed, apparently murdered by Professor Snape. Although the Order of the Phoenix soon arrived to protect the students, it was to late to save Dumbledore, and Snape escaped with Draco Malfoy in tow, leaving Dumbledore’s lifeless body at the foot of the tower where it had fallen. Though Dumbledore’s demise was not the first casualty of the war, it was perhaps the greatest. The loss left Hermione heartbroken, but she found comfort in Ron, and the two finally seemed to reach an unspoken understanding. Though neither of them spoke of it, their mutual feelings were perfectly clear, and Hermione knew that it was only a matter of time before one of them admitted how they felt. When Harry announced that he would leave Hogwarts to hunt down Voldemort, they both promised to remain by his side. It was a promise that Hermione intended to keep, and she wrote to her parents announcing that she would not return home that summer. Her place was with Harry and Ron, and whatever petty squabbles had come between them in the past, she was determined to stay with them, whatever the consequences might be.
Summer at the Burrow was a quiet affair, and ended far too quickly in Hermione’s opinion. When the time came to return to Hogwarts (Harry having realized that it was at the school where he was most needed), she did so with some considerable trepidation. With Dumbledore’s demise, Hogwarts no longer offered any guarantee of protection to the students, and the school seemed to be a likely target for another Death Eater attack. For Hermione, however, it was Harry’s increasing distance that served as the immediate worry. She tried to talk to him several times, but he only seemed to withdraw further from her, retreating deeper into his near-obsessive search for the missing horcruxes. Neither she nor Ron could get through to him, and as the months wore on, it became obvious that Harry intended to see the final battle with Voldemort alone. Their trio was broken, and Hermione and Ron were left to face an uncertain future together, both afraid for Harry and unsure of how to help. They came to depend on each other greatly during this time, and their tempestuous friendship finally settled into something more secure. Hermione was elected as Head Girl for the year, but the title no longer meant so much to her as it might once have done. She instead devoted most of her spare time to research as both she and Ron sought ways to assist in the war against Voldemort.
The year passed as though in a dream. She was vaguely aware of studying for her N.E.W.Ts, but such considerations seemed almost ridiculous when compared to what Harry was facing. The exams came and went in a daze, and as the year drew to a close, Hermione became aware of an increasing sense of foreboding that hung around the school. The air was almost electric with anticipation, and as she escorted the students to and from their classrooms (such security measures having become standard for that year), she found that she was no longer afraid of what the future would bring. Whatever Voldemort had in store, she decided, nothing could be worse than all this waiting…all this uncertainty…
The night before her last day at Hogwarts, Hermione saw the Dark Mark explode into being above the castle turrets. She and Ron were in the library at the time, furtively stealing a few extra hours alone together, and as the realisation of what was happening dawned, they wasted no time in racing to meet the combatants. The battle came swiftly and suddenly, and the corridors were swarming with Death Eaters before anyone had the chance to raise the alarm. Hermione was more than able to defend herself, but it soon became clear that they were vastly outnumbered, and though the two managed to fight their way to Gryffindor Tower, they were too late to stop the Death Eaters from slaughtering many the students within. Hermione was horrified at such indiscriminate carnage, but their was no time for grief. They rounded up the survivors and attempted to lead them to safety, but with so many Death Eaters inside the castle walls, they were quickly forced to retreat into the ancient belly of the school. It was in the Great Hall that they found Harry and the others, and as the trio reunited for one final battle, Hermione was finally able to fulfil her promise to stand by her friends till the end. As Voldemort led his attackers forward, both she and Ron attempted to help Harry fight, but the Death Eaters proved too strong to hold back. The lines of teenagers broke swiftly under the onslaught, and in the midst of the chaos that ensued, Hermione saw many of the students fall to the Death Eater’s wands. Cho Chang, Seamus Finnigan, even Draco Malfoy…one by one, they all perished, and as she turned to seek her friends in the crowd, she found herself facing Bellatrix Lestrange, who was advancing on her with her wand drawn. In those final, dreamy seconds, Hermione found herself thinking of Ron, and wishing that she had been brave enough to tell him how she felt…then there was a blinding stab of pain, and the world grew dark around her.
She awoke in St. Mungo’s hospital some two weeks later to find Ron - bruised, battered, but demonstrably still alive - dozing in a chair at her bedside. She lay there in silence for several moments, drinking in the realisation of what must have happened. She was alive…Harry had done it! After that, everything that followed was as natural as breathing. When Ron opened his eyes, Hermione put an end to seven long years of repression and denial by telling him that she loved him, and was overjoyed when he admitted that he felt the same. Somehow, having faced down Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters, admitting that they loved each other suddenly didn’t seem quite so scary anymore…
As the days passed, Hermione was able to learn of what had happened at the school. Bellatrix had indeed used the Cruciatus curse on her, but Harry had been able to fight her off before she could finish the job. As the students fell before the Death Eaters, Harry had taken up the sword of Godric Gryffindor, and it was with this ancient relic that he was finally able to defeat Lord Voldemort, as he once had the memory of Tom Riddle. The prophesy had been fulfilled - the Second War was over, and the whole wizarding world rejoiced at Harry’s victory. Still, despite this atmosphere of optimism, Hermione could not help but feel strangely uneasy. So many Death Eaters had evaded the Aurors…what if they somehow managed to regroup? She confided her fears to Ron, but they both agreed not to raise the issue further. More than anyone, Harry deserved a fresh start; it was time for them all to forget the past and move on with their lives.
In spite of all the disruption in her final year, Hermione was pleased to discover that she had graduated with uniformly Outstanding grades in her N.E.W.Ts. She toyed briefly with the idea of joining the Ministry, but her time in St. Mungo’s had left her with a fascination for medicinal magic, and she applied to the hospital for a junior internship. The training was difficult and intensive, but Hermione flourished at St. Mungo’s - the work appealed to her logical mindset, and the act of healing others helped her to put the horror of war firmly behind her. After four years, she earned her doctorate as a mediwitch and applied for further training in the study of Spell Damage. She eventually went on to become one of the leading specialists in the treatment of curses, and by the time that she was twenty-five years old, she had earned a reputation as one of the brightest young witches in her field. In her private life too, things seemed to be going from strength to strength. She and Ron had recently become engaged, and had set up home together in a small cottage within walking distance of the Burrow. Though their relationship was - by its very nature - argumentative, the two were obviously deeply in love, and Hermione could not think of a time when she had been happier.
Rapid promotion meant that she was soon heading a junior research team within St. Mungo’s, and it was this role that saw her called to oversee a post-mortem in the hospital morgue. Such occurrences were not unusual and Hermione went about the examination with her usual business-like precision, until she noticed several odd burns on the deceased’s hands and chest, and the faded scarring of a Dark Mark on his forearm. She immediately recognised the burns as the indicators of a curse - a very specific curse, one only used by Lord Voldemort and his followers - and the presence of a Dark Mark, however faint, could only lead to one possible conclusion. Greatly alarmed by this, she instantly alerted her superiors within the hospital, but was surprised and dismayed when they failed to launch an immediate investigation. The body disappeared soon afterwards, and Hermione could find no one willing to substantiate her claims. Not content with the hospital’s instance that the young man had died of natural causes, she took matters into her own hands and contacted the then-head of the Auror Office to alert them to the possible Death Eater activity. This action braught her to the attention of Cornelius Fudge, who did not take kindly to an upstart young mediwitch stirring up old fears within the wizarding community. He used his considerable leverage to force the St. Mungo’s board of governors to fire her, publicly discrediting all her previous research and denouncing her as nothing more than an attention-seeking sensationalist. Hermione was outraged, but Fudge had systematically closed off all avenues of appeal. As unjust as it was, there was nothing that she could do but pick up the pieces of her tattered reputation and try to get on with her life as best she could.
For months, Hermione trailed around various employers in search of work, but everywhere she went, Fudge had been there first. Her name had been effectively blacklisted from all wizarding society, and nobody was willing to offer her a job. After a while, she tried to content herself with a life at home, but settling down as Molly Weasley v.2 was not what she had in mind upon graduating. She became increasingly frustrated and listless, and despite Ron’s best efforts, cracks soon began appearing in their relationship. Their arguments became more frequent and less light-hearted, and though Hermione knew that it was all her fault, she could not bring herself to rally out of her deepening depression. When she received an owl from Viktor Krum offering her a job in Bulgaria, it seemed like the answer to her prayers. Following his experiences in the Tri-Wizard Cup, Viktor had gone on to become one of Eastern Europe’s foremost Aurors, and his influence was such that he was able to secure her a role in his office in the Bulgarian Ministry. Naturally, Ron was less than enthused about the offer. For one it would mean them both relocating, and he had his own, more private reasons for not wanting to see Viktor and Hermione working together. The issue led to a series of rows between the two of them, and Hermione knew that she had a choice to make: to stay with Ron, and give up on any aspirations she had for a career of her own, or else to move to Bulgaria, and work with Viktor as his research assistant. Rightly or wrongly, Hermione chose her job. In the years that followed, she would look back on this decision with no small amount of regret, but by then it was too late to change her mind. It was not that she did not love Ron…she simply wasn’t ready to settle for the kind of life that he wanted for them.
Once in Bulgaria, Hermione quickly eased into her new life at the Auror Office. Though she worked primarily as a research assistant, she was occasionally able to utilise her medical training to join Viktor in the field, and her past expertise proved useful in investigating suspected Death Eaters. Viktor - like Hermione - had seen enough evidence to convince him that Death Eater cells were still in operation around Europe, and the two began to compile a case to convince the Bulgarian Ministry to act on their claims. Though Ron was never far from her mind, Viktor was a good friend and working partner, and their report was persuasive enough to make the head of the Auror Office take them seriously. The Bulgarian Ministry, with its links to Drumstrang and the Dark Arts, was anxious to be seen as taking a more hard-lined approach to dark wizards, and allowed Hermione and Viktor full use of its resources to continue their investigation. Hermione loved her job, and for the first time since her early days at St. Mungo’s, she felt as though she was apart of something important…something worthwhile.
Time passed, and by the time that Hermione was twenty-nine, she had been working for the Bulgarian Ministry for almost four years. She still tried to keep up to date with developments in England, however, and had copies of both The Daily Prophet and The Quibbler delivered to her on a weekly basis. When she read that Minerva McGonagall had been hospitalised with suspected poisoning, she instantly suspected Death Eater involvement. Luckily for Hermione, the head of the Auror Office agreed and referred the matter to the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, who decided to place an agent within Hogwarts to maintain a surveillance on the school. Hermione was the obvious choice for the role, and the Bulgarian Minister (through a series of bribes, threats and favours) was able to secure her a position as school nurse - a job that she was more than sufficiently qualified to do. Nevertheless, it was with no small amount of trepidation that Hermione once again found herself preparing to return to Hogwarts. She had not seen England since her split with Ron, and she had fallen out of touch with most of her old friends; having tried for so long to convince herself that she was happy in Bulgaria, the thought of returning left her sick with anxiety. But if the Death Eaters were back in force, then Hogwarts would undoubtedly be one of their principle targets…she owed it to Professor McGonagall to investigate the matter fully.
And so, after an absence of more than ten years, Hermione found herself back at Hogwarts, the place that she still thought of as ‘home’ even after so long.
Roleplay Sample:
Despite weeks of worry and apprehension, Hermione had no idea how it would feel to return to Hogwarts. After all, how long had it been? Ten years? Eleven, maybe? Sitting in an empty compartment in the Hogwarts Express, however, it was easy to forget that she had ever left. The rattle of the carriage sent a thrill of familiarity down her spine, and she found herself peering anxiously out of the window, eager to drink in the half-forgotten scenery. Her gaze swept over the distant hills, reassured by their gentle lack of drama. Having spent the past four years in Bulgaria, she had grown accustomed to the bleak mountains of her host nation, and the British countryside seemed satisfyingly tame by comparison.
On a whim, she reached up to pull the upper portion of the window forwards, letting the wind gust coldly against her face. The air was kissed with the promise of frost, and she found herself reminiscing fondly about all the winters she had spent in the castle. Visits to Hogsmeade…snowball fights on the Quidditch Pitch…the fire-lit seclusion of the Common Room…following so long an absence, she was surprised by how quickly her memories were returning to her. But now, as always, these recollections were tainted with a hint of sadness, and she could not help but wonder at how things had gone so terribly wrong. She had been so achingly young back then, so full of promise, and yet looking back on the past decade, Hermione found that she had little to show for it. Perhaps that was at least partly the reason why she had chosen to come back. If could make a difference here, then maybe that would somehow help to erase all the mistakes of her past…maybe it would make everything alright.
Maybe…
A sudden clatter of the wheels pulled her forcibly from her ravine. She started, as one caught daydreaming, and promptly reached up to pull the window closed. In any case, there was no need to start wallowing in self-indulgence like some petulant teenager. She had a job to do.
Pursing her lips, Hermione reached into her bag and withdrew a copy of The Daily Prophet, opening it up to mull over the headline once again. ‘Hogwarts Students in Mystery Attack’. The article was vague and noncommittal regarding the identity of the suspects, but Hermione felt sure that she could hazard an educated guess. After all, what better way for the Death Eaters to announce their return than by abducting students from the Hogwarts Express? She frowned and set the paper aside, wondering what take The Quibbler would have on the story. As much as she detested some of it’s more outlandish theories, she had found that The Quibbler was one of the few publications that operated beyond Fudge’s control, and could usually be trusted to provide a balanced assessment of the situation…at least, so long as you were willing to ignore the occasional references to goblin conspiracies. With the Minister of Magic’s influence seemingly penetrating every aspect of wizarding society, Hermione had learned to value what few free-speakers remained. As far as she could tell, there weren’t that many left.
Sighing absently, she slumped back into her chair, a pensive frown lining her forehead. She found herself thinking of Professor McGonagall, and an icy shiver of dread ran down her spine. If the Death Eaters were involved, then this attack was only the beginning. Things were about to get far, far worse…
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(A/N: In looking back over this application, I realise that I may have let myself get a bit carried away with Hermione’s bio. I’ve taken several liberties with other characters, and I don’t want to be seen as godmoding. If this is unacceptable then just let me know and I’ll go back and change it. Thanks!)
Edited by: Jadis of Charn at: 1/30/06 5:44 pm
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