Hermione Granger And The City of Sorrowful Angels

Hermione followed Sarah through the halls, nodding and murmuring affirmation whenever Sarah pointed out something or other.

They stopped in front of a wall covered in photos. Sarah turned to her, smiling. "This is our awards wall," she said smugly.

Hermione looked at it and frowned. "Awards?"

"Yes. We feel that regularly validating certain students while punishing others isn't appropriate for a learning environment. So, instead, we have the awards."

Hermione frowned. "Which are...?"

Sarah gave her a sharp look, then continued. "Each year, the seniors must do a project furthering the uses and study of magic. At the end of the year, there's a school-wide assembly, and the project presentations are evaluated by the entire school. The one with the highest grade wins that year's award."

Hermione looked at the smugly smiling portraits. "You can do them in groups or alone?" she asked.

"Naturally. Eight years ago, the entire class participated in one project." She pointed at one photo, in which a hundred students beamed and waved. "Quite ingenious."

"What was their project?"

"Strangely enough, it's why you're here -- they started the magical school exchange program." Sarah pointed at one girl standing in the middle. "I think she went to Hogwart's. They wrote up their experiences and had them published... I'm sure it's in the library somewhere."

"You didn't read it?" Hermione asked.

Sarah turned to her and arched an eyebrow. "I was too concerned with my classwork -- I can't do any extra reading -- especially for something so trivial..." She spun on her heel and began walking again.

Hermione stared at the girl, her eyes narrowed to small slits. Just as Sarah was about to turn the corner, she ran up to catch her.

Sarah held open the door and led Hermione outside. From the chill air of Hogwarts and the perfectly cool air of inside Santo Domingo's, the outside world seemed almost hot. Hermione blinked up at the sunlight filtering through the ecalyptus trees. "Is it always so bright?" she asked.

Sarah fished in her backpack for a pair of sunglasses and nodded as she put them on. "Usually... Although last week, it rained for most of the week -- it's an El Nino year, I think..." Sarah looked towards the squinting girl. "I'll show you to your dorm now. Delgadillo wanted you to have the morning off, and someone else will show you around your afternoon classes. I would, but I've got a meeting with my project group and then a three hour Advanced Astrological Divination lab, so..." She pointed down a small path surrounded by hedges. "It'd be really helpful if you could find your own way to your dorm. We only have two, so you can't really miss it -- it's called Saint Catherine of the Jacarandas..."

Hermione opened her mouth, but before she could reply, Sarah smiled widely. "Thanks. I'll...see you later, I'm sure..." Sarah turned and ran off, shouting at a small group of girls as she left.

Hermione stared open-mouthed at her retreating figure, then turned back towards the path. She took a deep breath, then started walking. The path was deliberately winding, taking several turns but never forking, to Hermione's relief. As she followed the path, she counted the turns, anything to distract her from how lost she felt.

One final turn and the hedges suddenly stopped, opening up to a large garden, filled with large flowering trees, purple blossoms falling onto the path, and finely laid out borders of flowers. Hermione smiled as she walked along the path, occasionally leanning over to smell the various flowers. The flowering trees smelled bitter green, the gardenias were strong and sensual, the cherry blossoms were faint and tender, falling softly on her cheeks...

She looked at the two houses, one on either side of the walkway. One was attached to the walkway by a small cheery red brick path, lined by cherry trees, blossoms falling onto the brickwork. A small sign next to the door declared the house to be "Saint Christopher of the Cherry Trees."

Hermione frowned, then turned to the other house. The path of this house was white, and made of sandstone. Above it stood several of the purple flowering trees, dropping their blossoms onto the sidewalk. She walked up the path and peered at the small sign. "Saint Catherine of the Jacarandas," she said, looking up at the house.

It was a smallish house -- small compared to the school, but larger than the semi-detached her parents lived in. The plain white stucco and red tile roof gleamed in the sunlight, making Hermione less nervous.

She walked to the front door, stopping right before it. "Hello?" she asked timidly. "I don't know the password..."

The door remained closed. She stared at it, then saw the small doorbell next to the sign. She pressed it gently, then pressed it again when she heard no bell.

A bell rang through the house, but she heard no footstepps running to meet her. She waited a few minutes, then rang the bell again.

A few more minutes passed, with no response. Hermione sighed and curled up her fist, preparing to knock. "Hello?" she said, one more time. "I'm supposed to move in today..." She started knocking, quietly at first, but growing louder as she continued.

After a full minute of knocking, she put down her hand, sighing heavily. She slumped against the door and, after taking a quick glance around, tried the doorknob. When it didn't open, she looked around surreptitiously again, then slowly pulled out her wand. "Alohomora!" she whispered.

The door refused to open. She repeated the spell, slightly louder, but to no avail. She sighed and looked around, her shoulders slumping in exhaustion as she spotted a bench on the porch. She sat down, sighing heavily.

After a few minutes of sitting there, swinging her feet back and forth, the weight of the day hit her, and, in the warm mid-morning sun, she closed her eyes and gently dozed off.