Perfection

Perfection

By ivegotanaxe

Hermione had always been obsessed with perfection.

Even as a young girl in grade school, she had always worked harder than anyone else on her school assignments. She often went through multiple drafts, throwing out papers that would have received top grades, had she bothered to turn them in. Her classmates teased her, and even her parents thought it a little odd, but nothing less than perfection could appease Hermione Jane Granger.

Now, older and considerably more mature, Hermione still accepted nothing short of excellence from herself in everything she did. Her bed was always perfectly made, her clothes, neat and tidy. Her behavior in class was exemplary, and her study habits were something to aspire to. Teachers and students knew, when Hermione Granger was involved, the project would be perfect, whatever it was. Everyone expected it, and Hermione did her best to live up to those expectations.

Which is why she was having trouble finding the perfect words to say.

Hermione always had a plan. Everything she did was mapped out. From her carefully executed morning routine to her dental regime before bed, her course for the day was set.

All her classmates admired her for it. Some went so far as to request that she show them how to organize their time in the same manner. Hermione always knew where to be, what to do, and exactly when to do it.

Which is one of the reasons it was so surprising when she couldn't respond.

Hermione wasn't stupid. She figured out in an instant what it meant when one of her best friends suddenly couldn't speak to her without mumbling, stammering, or losing his train of thought. She knew what he was thinking when he couldn't keep his eyes off her anytime they were together. She waited patiently through his first stuttering invitation to Hogsmeade, and smiled to herself when they became a 'couple' in the eyes of her yearmates, as she'd known they would.

Walking back together from one such trip to Hogsmeade, Hermione noticed her friend seemed much more distracted than usual. His eyes kept scanning the sides of the road, and he didn't look her in the eyes. Hermione thought she knew what was coming, which is why she was surprised when he tugged her into a corner on the edge of the path and mumbled a broken confession of love.

Looking up into his blue eyes set in his freckle-filled face, Hermione began to panic. She hadn't expected this and had no idea of how to respond. For once, Hermione was at a loss for words. She wanted to say the right thing, but she didn't know the perfect thing to say, so she stammered the first thing she thought of.

It turned out to be not a perfectly thought-out, calculated response, but the truth.

As the figure in front of her sighed in relief and gently pressed his lips to hers, red hair mingling with brown, Hermione reflected that it was one of the few times in her life she hadn't tried to be perfect.

But everything turned out perfect anyway.