Hermione's Dark Secrets

Perfect. Perfect. She had heard it too many times today. They didn't even know what it meant. She had to get out of here.

Hermione hurried out of the common room to her secret place.

As she got to the edge of the lake, she saw the brilliant sunset, with its bright purples, reds, pinks and oranges, slowly turning into a dark blue. This reminded her of real perfection. She shuddered at the memory of it. She gobbled down the gillyweed and plunged in, in one swift move.

She let the water surge around her, through her newly formed gills.

"This is my only release from the past. From what perfection truly means," She thought as she swam deeper and deeper.

Then she reached it. Her secret place. "No. Not secret. I don't have secrets. Not anymore. I don't need to keep anything from anyone. It wasn't my fault. It was hers. Not mine. Hers. Push her out of your mind. She doesn't matter now."

But a voice inside her said, "Yes, she does matter. She's the reason for everything you are...."

Hermione shook it off. She glanced around her wonderfully magical surroundings. The old sunken treasure ship with a million jewels inside, sparkling and glimmering, as peculiar looking fish swam around it ignoring, and without a care. All nestled beside a natural cave, with darkness consuming everything inside its murky depths.

"So mysterious. Alexis would have begged to see this.

"No! Don't think of her! Dammit!"

And before she could stop herself Hermione was ensnared in her horrible path of her horrible secret past.

A memory whirled about her, trapping her in painful reminders.

~~~~~~~~~************~~~~~~~~~~

"Mommy. Mommy, I want to go to the zoo today! Can we please go? Please?" a younger Hermione begged her busy parent.

"Not today, Hermione! Don't you remember anything! Today we're going to Alexis's piano recital! I'm so excited, aren't you? Her teacher says she was always had a knack for music and now she's performing, only a year after she started, a wonderful piece of Mozart! She's worked so hard! It would break her heart if we missed it! Don't you want to go?" asked her mother.

"I don't want to go! I don't want to! It's always so boring, Mommy!" whined the tiny girl.

"Hermione! Don't you dare say that any where near Alexis! She worked so hard on this! Your sister would be so hurt!" her mother scolded.

"She's not my sister! You told me! Alexis is my cousin! You only took her in because her mom's dead!" shrieked small Hermione.

A silence met her. She knew what was coming next.

Wet drops of salty tears fell upon her mother cheeks. "Hermione. You know you're not supposed to speak of my sister's accident." the woman said, trying to recover posture.

"Mommy, it wasn't an accident. And you know it. She was drunk. She deserved what she got for being stupid."

"Hermione!" An angry mother slapped her child across the face. Hermione looked at her mother, stunned. Her mother had never hit her before.

Little Hermione ran to her room, crying up the stairs. "Hermione! Wait! I'm so sorry!" bawled her mother. The child pretended not to hear her, crying to herself, pitying herself, with one main thought in her mind.

"She never liked me, her own baby." thought the little Hermione. " She only loves her adopted daughter, Alexis. I should be the one she takes care of. She only cares about Alexis. Same with my father, too. He only cares about Alexis or his dentistry. Never me. My parents never have the time for me. I'm not perfect like Alexis."

"Hermione?" said a sad Mrs. Granger, standing in the doorway " You know I didn't mean to hit you. It's just.... Those things you said... They really hurt me. They would hurt Alexis, too. She worked this piece to perfection..."

Perfection. A word that would haunt Hermione's guilty being forever.

~~~~~~~*******~~~~~~

Hermione snapped back to the present world. "The gillyweed will wear off soon. I had better swim back."

Hermione speedily started swimming to the surface. Suddenly, she started slowing down. A quick look confirmed a fear. The gillyweed was wearing off fast!

"I have to get to the top!"

Hermione started swimming a fast as any person can, when fearing for their life. Then, her gills disappeared! She could no longer get needed oxygen to her body! She still had a few feet to go. Struggling against exhaustion, Hermione thrashed in the water. She had to survive! She had to!

Mere inches from the surface, Hermione could no longer contain her breath. Bubbles emerged from her mouth, and as a reflex she sucked water in.

She started to drown.

Spluttering, flailing, she tried to fight, but only wasted her efforts.

Just before she lost consciousness, she felt a tentacle wrap around her waist, and push her to shore.....