When a Good Witch Goes Bad

Prologue: The-Girl-Who-Shined

Hermione Granger had it all: she was top of her class, had a famous boyfriend, and was relatively liked throughout Hogwarts. Yet, it's a fact well known that looks can be deceiving and Hermione Granger was no exception. Yes she was smart- there was no doubt about that but the constant studying and pressure to be the best was getting to her. And yes, her boyfriend was famous- Harry Potter, after all, was known as the Boy-Who-Lived: who wouldn't want to date him? That of course was the root of the problem. The Boy-Who-Lived was also known as the Boy-Who-is-Lusted-After. Some girls just couldn't keep their hands off of him- that was understandable, he was, you understand, a very charming and good-looking boy. But when his eyes start to wander (as well as his hands) towards an other ( flaming haired, freckled face, best friend's sister, and girl friend's best fried other)- things got messy.

And sure- Hermione was well liked. As well liked as a mudblood could be in a pureblood infested school. She was discriminated against- by students and a couple faculty members- she had even been cursed a couple times in the hallways. You see, looks can be deceiving. Underneath the shining mask Hermione Granger was just as insecure, and messed up as any other student at Hogwarts. The problem was, she didn't want to be like any other student at Hogwarts. She wanted to stand out. She wanted to shine. Hermione could never shine if people know the dirty bits of her life. And so, Hermione didn't break up with Harry- even though she knew he was cheating on her with Ginny.

Harry, being the relatively feeling person he is, couldn't bring himself to hurt Hermione and break up with her to be with Ginny. Besides, it would ruin both of their reputations. And so, The-Boy-Who-Lived and The-Girl-Who-Shined seemed to be living the cliched 'happily ever after' scenario. The-Boy-Who-Lived and The-Girl-Who-Shined lived a lie until their seemingly perfect little world was flipped upside-down by one event- the death of Ginny Weasley.

If it wasn't for Hermione, everything could have turned out different. Ginny could have still been alive. In a way Hermione had killed her best friend. Dumbledore gave her a truth serum to drink. Hermione told him everything, and Dumbledore tried to explain it to Molly and Arthur Weasley. Hermione was not guilty of murder.

Just because she was not guilty, and just because the adults knew of her innocence did not mean that everything was alright. In fact, the students at Hogwarts seemed to doubt her innocence to the point of rumors going around that she did kill Ginny. People found out about Harry and Ginny, and Hermione's little world fell apart piece by piece. The fact that she was innocent did not bring Ginny back- perhaps that was why so many people didn't care if she did it or not. Two of those people being her best friend, and ex-boyfriend. Ron and Harry abandoned her, along with the other Gryffindors. Hermione was taunted in the hallways, shoved around in the Common Room, shunned by the school, and hated by everyone. The-Girl-Who-Shined lost her luster, all because of rumors- all because of appearances.