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Beautiful Soulless Marionette	By : AlphaTSigma7 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 1653 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Alpha: I�m back with another chapter so enjoy. Or Not� (shrugs) Just to let you
know this is a bit out of the ordinary okay? Very AUish�but
what fanfic of mines ain�t
AU? I know it starts off sounding odd but it will eventually make sense, just
be patient. This is not one of those
very waffy stories, there is some OOC but not much;
it will be more of a drama/tragedy/romance type of thing�well I�ll stop
blabbering and let you continue on with this bizarre twist of a HG/SS fanfic. Oh! One more thing if nobody has noticed this, for
some reason my italics don�t show on AFF.net but they do on FF.net�the italics
is what Severus is reading in the book he has. Usually each chapter will start
off with it, have a short middle; and end with the words in the book he has.

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah don�t own blah blah blah! Nuff
Said. (smirks)

Beautiful Soulless Marionette

Chapter II: Readying Materials for Doll Making Pt. 1

Roses for beauty and
grace

Jasmines for longevity
and good fortune

Water lilies for chastity
and innocence

Magnolias for talents
and intellect

Chrysanthemums for
royalty and power

These are the things
that describe the Maiden.

Heaven is so full of
wonderful things and we praise the skies when blessed with extraordinary gifts
that have descended to the Earth from the shining clouds above. The Celestial
Maiden arrived to us from Heaven one day.
Hair as dark as the night sky, wavy like the blue waters of a river;
eyes like golden dews of honey with flecks of blue. Skin as rosy like a flower
in full bloom, a sweet scent of flowers drifted from her and a glow of innocent
power that flowed through her veins.

Garnets of fire

Emeralds of earth

Amazonites of wind

Aquamarines of water

These are only the
basic essentials of the Maiden�s power.

Sun, Moon, and Star
are hers alone, her symbols of meaning; along with the flowers that resemble
who she had been, what she has become; what she is destined to be.

Angels of Heaven

Demons of Hell

This is what is
reflected in the Maiden�s heart and soul.

Extraordinary she was,
even upon her first arrival to us when she was no more than a child�

Doppelgangers

This is what the
Maiden let follow her from day to day to always be many shadows of her self.

*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�

Silent whispering could be heard from inside the bright
colorful kitchen area. The urgent
whispering halted to an immediate stop as a small child with curly hair, with
the brightest smile and a toy cat in her arms; burst through the doors leading
into the kitchen.

�Good morning daddy and mommy!� she replied, sitting down at
the table, toy in lap. Waiting patiently for her mother to finish and serve her
breakfast this morning. The child was
famished, waking up to the delicious smell of pancakes and sausage, toast and
jam.

Her parents looked at her, forcefully smiling back to their
child. They seem to look quite pleased
that their daughter and only child had been oblivious to their previous
conversation. Though she couldn�t place
it, the child felt like something was mildly wrong with her parents. Like they were discussing something they
didn�t want her to hear.

�Good morning Hermione dear,� Mrs. Granger said to her young
daughter. She went back to cooking.

�Good morning sweet pea,� said Mr. Granger shortly after. He
returned to the daily newspaper he was reading.

Hermione smiled at their short greeting to her, but than it
was silent again. Ignoring her anxiety
about her parents odd behaviors that morning she started humming to herself;
playing a hand game with her toy, she had affectionately named him �Mr. Shadow
Paws�.

She took him where ever she went, though she made sure never
to show him in public during school. When
she was in 2^nd grade, the class had teased her one day about her toy
cat. She thought it would be neat to
show her class her favorite toy for show and tell that day.

Everything was fine until the class had their free time and
Hermione sat quietly to herself outside on a swing indulging her self into a
book regarded more for a fifth/sixth year level. She was reading out loud to
her toy; it being the only audience she had.
She had hoped that some of the children would like her toy and maybe
even talk to her and become friends; even one person would have made her happy
to know she made a friend.

Two students surrounded by a few others came up to Hermione
very arrogantly. They were older
students, who were known as the bullies of the school. It was the first they ever started to mess
with Hermione and preferably their last; and as such their last time to bully
other kids as well.

One of them the boy rudely knocked Hermione�s book out of
her hand. It landed in the damp and dirty sandbox. It had rained the previous
night into the morning so it was no surprise to see the sand still moist and
damp by the rain.

�Heh heh! Serves you right you mental chit!� the
surrounding kids laughed at this.

Hermione didn�t cower in fear, she felt more annoyed than
scare of the heavy set boy. She ignored him, getting off the swing to pick up
her book.

She felt her legs give from under her and a swift blow to
her middle back. She let out a small cry, refusing to scream at all by biting
her lips.

�Hey! You stupid kid! Don�t you hear him talking to you?�
retorted a high pitch squeal from the girl who walked up to Hermione with the
heavy set boy. She was responsible for tripping and than the kick she gave to
Hermione.

�I�m just trying to get my book,� said Hermione, getting up
again glaring at the taller skinny red head girl.

�Oh yeah! Well if that�s all your
trying to get, you wouldn�t mind if I take this than!� she said, snatching
Hermione�s toy away from her. Hermione�s
eyes widened a bit. She opened her mouth
to say something to the girl, but the boy had pushed her back down hard on the
muddy ground.

�I think my little sister likes your weird toy so you�re
going to give it to her, she told us all about the weirdo in her class!� the
red head crackled.

Hermione glared hard at the two students, tears stinging the
corners of her eyelids. She was fully
covered in mud. Her voice quivered in a low whisper that was barely heard. �Give it back, give
me back my toy,�

�Shut up! You jinx, all you ever do is read and talk to your
toy! Your so weird no wonder no one�s your friend!�
the boy said, yanking her hair and pushing her back down into the ground.

The students seemed to grow into the circle that held
Hermione and the two bullies in the middle; most were sniggering and laughing
at her.

�Here, catch!� the girl yelled, laughing purposely throwing
the toy over Hermione�s head to the boy behind her.

�Let�s see what you do now without your freaky toy!� the boy
spat pulling on the toy�s arms.

�Stop it, give it back! It�s mines,
my friend gave it to me!� Hermione yelled more afraid for the toy�s well being
than her own.

�What you gonna do about it? Hex
us, say curses to put bad luck on us? We�re so scared!� they both laughed.

�Give it back!� she said a little louder; pleading with
them.

�Aww the little evil witch is
going to cry!� the boy was close enough to tearing one of the arms apart from
the toy.

Hermione�s dirty brown bangs put a shadow over her
eyes. She unsteadily, but slowly stood
back up hunch over. �I want my toy please give it back, I never done anything
to you,� she whispered, unshed tears falling down her face.

They chose to ignore her, undoing the seams to her toy, the
cotton falling out, Hermione�s eyes stared blankly at her toy being demolished.
Anger that was to much to repress boiling to the
surface inside the small seven year old and she retaliated.

With a scream full of fury she yelled at them, �I said give
me my toy back! My friend gave me that toy! Give it back right now and leave me
alone!!�

It happened so fast, the frustration and anguish she felt,
caused the ground to shake beneath their feet.
She glowed with a fluorescent green color, eyes narrowed dangerously.
Her concentration was set upon the two bullies, the mud clawing and seeping up
their bodies, binding them to the earth. A conglomerate of pebbles; tied itself around
their wrists; working like strong steeled handcuffs. The mud continued to claw
into their flesh around their necks, small clumps of it finding its way into
their mouths. Where the mud and rock clawed, it tore away layers of skin, like
cutting thin slices of meat. And all the while, Hermione stood unblinking at
the way they were suffocating or the way the ground shook.

It wasn�t until she heard the teachers yell; that she
snapped out of her trance and fell unceremoniously to the ground. The glow of
green light vanished instantly, the tremors stopped and the two children that
were being clawed at and choking to death fell to the ground. Both of them a pale ghostly
white; blood oozing from their bodies.

The whole school looked at Hermione, even the teacher looked
on horrified some of them were backing away from her. Hermione for her part
didn�t try to move at all.

�I- I�Didn�t mean to�I�� afraid;
she was afraid, no matter where she turned she saw the looks in their
eyes. The accusing eyes of her teachers
and peers, and their whispers, they were whispering and pointing. Calling her
of type of things: mental, witch, strange, demon child; what else could they
think? This was the fourth time something far surpassing the paranormal that
happened by none other than she. Every
time it did, someone got hurt, sometimes others, sometimes her own person.

Hermione couldn�t take the whispering and stares she tried
to ignore, quickly getting up, grabbing her ripped toy and running, running
away from the laughs, the taunts, those disappointed eyes that accused and were
afraid, afraid of her.

As she ran she wished that just once her toy could hug her
back; maybe because nobody else would; nobody wanted to care for a demon child
that cried and made bad things happen. Not even her parents, once they found
out what she done.

It was hours that had passed and she was sure she was far
from her school and even further away from home. She was sure no one would find
her, not like they wanted too. Hermione didn�t even know where she was other
than some deserted park surrounded by a lot of trees. It gotten drastically
dark, which meant that it must have been already some time
after six pm.

Hermione�s small legs finally gave way under her, and she
fell exhausted near a park bench on the grass below. Squeezing her toy for some
comfort, she cried again. She heard leaves rustle in the wind, it was getting
chilly but she paid it no mind. Her
small cries abruptly stopped, by feeling the small wet but rough licks of a young
adult black cat.

She stared at it, it stared right
back and than it started to rub itself on her arms purring. She picked it up
petting and holding it to her face, suddenly crying again. It stayed in her
arms for a little while before leaping from her onto the ground.

It was some time before she cried herself to sleep on the
bench; and that was when she felt comfort.
She was in a deep sleep yet her conscious was fully aware that someone
held her in a soothing embrace. She should be afraid, should wake up and be
cautious of the person that held her; but something deep inside her knew she
wasn�t in any danger. Their presence was very familiar to her and she had to be
smiling in her sleep now.

She never opened her eyes to see; but she remembered saying,
�Thank you�my friend,� after that she was out and later woke up fully cleaned
and dressed in her pajamas. Her toy
shadow paws newly repaired again; she hugged her toy again to her deciding to
go back to sleep in her bed.

Her toy was the first gift she ever received from someone
other than relatives; the odd stranger that was hurt and sort of mean; but she
regarded him as her friend because he didn�t push her away, even though all the
yelling and insults he threw her way could have been his way of getting rid of
her. But he didn�t tease her or turn away like other kids did; and the reason
she didn�t cowered in fear of him was because he looked sad, lonely, and
miserable himself and she wanted to keep him company so he didn�t feel so alone
during those briefest of moments he had appeared. She did wish she could have
known his name or if he would come back and see her someday, or just to
remember him fully. He was nothing more than a blur of a person with dark hair
and a dark persona to match; but one that tolerated her nonetheless.

�Hermione, we do not bring toys to the dinning table,�
scolded Mrs. Granger.

Mrs. Granger startled her daughter a bit; Hermione was
shaken out of her reverie, she had drifted off into her own world. Hermione
seemed to just pout, looking back in forth between her toy and her mother. Not
wanting to disappoint her mom, she reluctantly stood up to take Mr. Shadow Paws
back to her room. After all she was ten
now, maybe it wouldn�t do keep with the habit of taking an old worn out hand me
down toy to her new school. The kitchen doors swung shut behind her retreating
back.

The prospect of starting a new school excited and
disheartened Hermione at the same time. But this wasn�t just an ordinary
school; it was in fact a special school she learned that existed in a whole new
world and it taught children who were just like her. But she was insecure, maybe it was a hoax?
There was no such things as witches and magical
creatures; but Hermione hoped with all her might it was true and as the days
had progressed and someone had come to inform she and her parents of her
�predicament� she was ecstatic.

So she did all she could to know more about this �Hogwarts�
and the world of magic in which it resided. Maybe things could be different for her; maybe
this time she would make some friends; and she had dedicated a lot of her time
to study about the magical world perhaps she could impress her new Professors
and peers how much she knew about the world in which she was about to enter;
that she was prepared. That she could
perform well in her skills as a Witch too and that she wouldn�t be looked upon
as someone who was odd or strange�maybe�she hoped�

She looked at her toy again, squeezing it one last time
until she left back down the stairs to go eat she decided she�ll forever keep
it around her. She couldn�t possibly
keep it away from her; she loved that toy so much; she was drawn to that
toy. She had been fascinated with this
story of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and of the cat who
was left out of the banquet. So Hermione
learned and made more stuff toys all 12 animals from the Chinese zodiac to keep
her and Mr. Shadow Paws company.

Her parents never understood her fascination with it or the
fact she barely played with her other toys and took it wherever she went. Their
peculiar child had a love for reading or being crafty, Hermione knew her
parents knew she wasn�t very social and was bad at making friends, they also
knew of her incidents. They had agreed
on their child attending this magical school; it was the only logical
explanation that gave some meaning to their child�s bizarre nature. No matter
how irrational it sounded that something like it really existed.

Hermione immediately came to a halt, a breath away from
entering the kitchen to get a bite to eat.
She heard them, they were talking about her, they
had mixed feelings about her.

Hermione�s smile left her face; the brightness in her eyes
dimmed; her parents were afraid of her; they didn�t want her around. They were forcing themselves to love a child
full of satanic evil; but they were arguing with themselves that there wasn�t
an ounce of darkness in their child; just that she had no control over her
magical powers. The few times she
unleashed it; when she caused a blazing fire to scorch the daycare building she
attended when she was angry and hurt; or how she was in the mist of a strong
wind storm that destroyed everything in its path except her when she had been
embarrassed and sad; or that one time the kids in her Kindergarten class fell
ill by whatever was put in their mouths; apparently the cookies her mom made;
saying they were poisoned. She had been
feeling unwell and distraught. Even the incident where she had healed a kids
mouth from where she clonk them with a ball hard; it had been a mistake.

People obviously wanted her parents to seek some help for
their mentally unstable child; but they refused, they seen it as a lost cause
anyway; most doctors they knew would have tried to run tests on her or feed
their child many medications that wouldn�t do anything but make her
insane. Even so far as to keep her in
the mental ward for life; the Grangers weren�t about to let something like that
damage their child; because people were afraid of what they couldn�t
understand. Then it was the matter of those who wanted to exploit their child
as if she were some freak of nature; there was no need to make Hermione shy
away from the world.

The smile returned albeit smaller this time on Hermione�s
face; they were afraid but they still did love her genuinely like they always
done. She was glad to know they didn�t
hold what happened against her, most of those incidents were argued to happen
when she her emotions were high; like fear, anguish, anger, embarrassment, when she was sick and even when she was
feeling happy. Also their child had been
provoked during those times too; being teased and bullied. They had been
grateful to have a solid based reasoning behind their daughter�s issues. They had welcomed it fully, her being a Witch
and they hoped too that it would make things better for her as well.

Hermione returned to the kitchen to eat her breakfast; the
welcoming of light conversation finally overtaking the silence of the kitchen
area. Hermione would never tell her
parents what she heard; there was no need to.
They were happier it seemed now, when she returned to breakfast. She
loved her parents and she was glad to know her parents loved her and that was
all that mattered to Hermione Jane Granger.

*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�

�Daddy! Mummy! Please wake up!!� a
desperate shriek rang, booming loudly into the dark weary skies. The sky was full of violent dark storm
clouds; that coincided with the extra effect the young woman pleading to her
parent to wake up, gave off.

It was pouring down; had been the whole day. And when the young teenaged girl saw the look
of death upon her parents; she was in shock. She was quiet for a long moment,
just staring at them and shaking them; trying to get them to wake up. As the seconds ticked; and they made no
sounds of stirring; warm salty tears slid down her face; quietly demanding them
to wake up; her anguish was building up and being completely distraught with
their deaths that she wouldn�t let herself come to terms with; she was
oblivious to the out of control raw power she was emitting.

She was glowing a light purple,
yelling to them to wake up. Her power was building up in unstable bouts of huge
energy sources reaching for the sky. When Hermione knew her parents were going
to wake up at all from their eternal rest; she yelled her grief; the erratic
magical power burst from her being in different directions and that was when
the torrent of thunder banged loudly it was very sensitive to the ears and the
lighting clashed and beautiful but dangerous bundles of streaks to the
ground. Burning holes into whatever it
touched.

There were others with her, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Sirius,
Minerva, and even Professor Snape just to name a few.

But they didn�t matter at the moment; Hermione in a most
upset state; tried everything she learned to try in vain to revive her parents
even though she knew it wouldn�t work. She was cold, wet and soaked to the
bone; but that didn�t matter.

She fought anyone who tried to touch her or tell her
something. Those who did touch her were
zapped by her skin. She just wanted to be alone, she
kind of wished she brought her toy with her and to mourn in peace. For a long
time she sat there; she didn�t realize that they had left to give her some
solitude; except one person.

That one person kept his distance from her; face impassive
even while feeling the annoyance of being drenched from the rain water. He had
finally decided to try and reproach her since everyone else failed to do so.

Black robes clung to his body; the cape unable to billow in
such a fashion it was accustomed to doing, dragged full of water to his back.

�Miss Granger,� he paused, waiting for her to acknowledge
she heard him. While also trying to get
what he wanted to say correctly in his head without coming off too harsh with
the girl. He betted anything he was her
least favorite person right now.

�Go away,� she barely voiced. She still hadn�t even tried to turn around.

It annoyed him and he was holding all his common sense to not
yell at the child for being so disrespectful; but he reasoned this wasn�t any
ordinary circumstance; but a solemn and very sensitive one for Hermione. The girl just lost her parents,
he wasn�t going to be too insensitive.

But he did not go away, he knew that and she knew that too. She was ignoring him which was fine by her;
but not for him.

�Miss Granger, it will not do to dwell too long here in this
vicious thunderstorm. You will make
yourself sick; I do-,�

�Please will you just leave me alone Professor? Please? If I
make myself sick I don�t really see why you�ll be concerned about that,�

Severus hated two things, two things that he knew the girl
wouldn�t do under normal circumstances unless very irritated one: ignore him,
two: cut him off in the middle of a sentence and three- yeah well yes there was
even a three and that was being disrespectful. He was about to finish his
sentence again; still reminding himself to reason and not lose control with the
upset female until one of his least favorite people came strolling their way.

Someone he disliked more than Harry Potter; someone he
loathed to the deepest level of hell. With black hair and piercing blue eyes;
and sporting a sickening smirk and narrowed eyes his way.

�Yeah Sevvie boy you prat, do as Hermione says and leave her be,� Sirius scowled
at Snape�s appearance.

Severus sneered retorting back at Sirius, �Do stay out of
other�s business you mangy dog; it will do Miss Granger no good to sit out here
in a state of shock over her parents death. It also will not do to not give
them a proper burial, no?� it was a statement, not a question.

Severus knew the animagus was up
to something; what he didn�t know and what Severus didn�t know, Severus sought
a way to find out. Severus had quietly observed Sirius when he had no choice
but to be confined in the same room with him during Order meetings mostly.
Everything about the arrogant mutt disgusted Severus greatly. So far as of late, Severus couldn�t pinpoint
anything that would give what Sirius was up to away. He been good, Snape
grudgingly gave him that; but too good for Sirius that the man was bound to
slip up only just a little tiny bit and that was all Snape needed to solve the
puzzle surrounding Sirius Black.

�Oh! Since when are you so concerned with the wellbeing of
your students Snape or so sensitive to any of their problems?�

Black just didn�t know when to stop or shut up at all? Severus would think after over 30 something
years he wouldn�t be having petty arguments with any of the marauders
particularly Black. It wasn�t as if Severus was just going to one day wake up
and forget and forgive the past; the things he had to
endure because of Sirius and James and decide to be all buddy, buddy. Oh no, no way even in the face of death would
Severus Snape ever forgive; he held onto grudges for life and the many he had for
Black were never going to go away.

But at the moment, Severus was irritated; Black was like a
pest that leaves an agitated itch on your skin that refused to go away on its
own.

�As much as it will shockingly put you in your grave and I can
only hope it will; not only is it concern but quite logical for her to cease
her melodramatics,� he bite off; he knew he sounded a little harsh from the way
he watched Granger�s shoulders stiffen at his tone. It wasn�t partially his fault, Black was grating
his last nerve and the events take took place earlier today didn�t help in the
slightest either.

�Damn it all,� Snape said sourly, glaring daggers at Sirius.

�What?� Sirius retorted right back, glaring just as hard at
Snape.

Severus turned to start walking away from the two
Gryffindors, his hands clasp together and with a final sneer thrown at Black
said, �It seems my traumatizing news of concern didn�t make you suddenly drop
dead. Well in that case I�m pretty sure I can come up with something far more
brutal to fix that,� he finished off sarcastically, hurriedly stalking off to
be alone; Sirius looked pissed off for a moment; good it served him right Snape
thought.

Having extremely good hearing, Severus abruptly came to a
stop; hearing every little word said between Black and Granger.

He was comforting her of course, she mumbled it was hard to
decipher all of it; but she seem to accept his words
of comfort. Completely innocent, but
their short conversation ended leaving silence; but Snape could make out the
soft crying belonging to Granger.

He turned around, suddenly scowling at what he saw; the girl
being held in Black�s arms. It was
innocent, it looked innocent, so- it had to be just
that completely innocent. So why was it, that it bothered him too much? He
already concurred that Black remains a constant thorn in his side so it wasn�t
that entirely.

It was because he knew why; but refused to acknowledge but
he couldn�t deny it. It bothered him
greatly to have figured out Black�s motives and Black comforting Miss Granger
wasn�t so innocent after all. The fact
that it was Black that Miss Granger let comfort her made him feel�jealous? Because he was once again upstaged by that prick? It was
plausible he finalized.

It still didn�t make him feel any better; because thinking
of Granger with any male company except his of course didn�t spell innocent
especially when in Sirius Black�s company. It made him furious because his
nails were digging deep into his palms that he was drawing his own blood as he
continued to separate himself away from the duo.

*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�

A soft sigh breathed into the air and brown eyes slowly
open; adjusting to the bright light filtering the room of the seventh year head
girl�s dormitory. Silky curly brown hair
glided along the smooth white cotton pillow as it floated in the air for a
second before falling down silently onto the back of Hermione Granger.

Hermione stretched her limbs, sitting up in bed trying to
fully awaken. She had restful sleep, aside from her dreams which were actual
memories; a part of her life that was the most upsetting. A few stuffed animals
fell softly to the cold wooden floor; now that she had her own room to herself
in the case she believed no one would ever want to come visit her at; she
boldly showed off her childish collection of plushie
dolls. Her large bed consisted of only
the ones she made, her own little zodiac collection, and her favorite toy of
all Mr. Shadow Paws. She would never
live it down if someone were to know the Head Girl slept with a bed full of
stuff animal toys.

The rays of sunlight were shining through the windows,
making the room bright. It was Saturday,
no classes today; which meant Hermione was going to make the most of it by
studying and completing homework she hadn�t the previous night.

Getting out of bed, Hermione walked her way through the
threshold of her bathroom to prepare herself for the day. She was quite hungry,
not bothering to go to dinner last night too enthralled in her studying and worry
over her slowly depleting friendship with both Harry and Ron. Well, it was no
surprise with the constant arguments she had with Ron. She always had a row or two with him no
matter how ridiculous it was. But having
one with Harry, well that added fuel to the fire. Basically whatever she and Harry had argued
about, Ron quickly took his side; like he had a personal duty to do so for
Harry. It kind of hurt, the way they
seemed closer to each other and not with her; Hermione had wondered the
millionth time during the summer how she even ended up being friends with those
two in the first place. Ron and Harry
were already the best of pals before she came into the picture; plus they were
both young men and had pretty much everything in common; so it was more likely
that the two of them stood up for the other when one of them is threatened;
even if by a girl, their friend and the school�s resident bookworm.

As she was cleansing her body in the warmth of the shower,
Hermione still didn�t have a clue to what could cause such a drastic upset in
Harry or to say what she done to cause it.
The reason she was a girl and had interests in most things completely
different from the boys couldn�t be it; even if her hobbies consisted of study,
read, and homework while theirs were Quidditch, girls, and wizard�s chess. All three of them
were set in their ways, it been like that since 1^st year, so that
wasn�t it.

There was a reason,
maybe more but there was always one when it concerned Harry. She remembered Harry had deliberately yelled
at her once, back when they were at 12 Grimmauld place over the summer. It was a few days ago before school started;
she had been retreating in her own world; doing what she does best when feeling
slightly unnerved, upset, or bored; reading.
It was her escape from reality, a mechanism she created since she was a
small child. Out of habit she was holding her toy Mr. Shadow Paws while
reading; there was no one around so she took him out of her trunk. She was in
the living room area when Sirius came in.
He saw how she jumped and tried unsuccessfully to hide Mr. Shadow Paws
from his view. Sirius had started laughing at her and her face burned a dark
red color. She was so embarrassed, he
made a comment about the way she looked and her old toy; she became annoyed and
snapped at him to mind his own business.
He sat down next to her on the sofa, apologizing through fits of
laughter. After awhile he calmed down
and Hermione trying to ignore him went back to reading, clutching unhealthily
to Mr. Shadow Paws and it only made Sirius laugh again and she assumed she did
look sort of funny even a tiny bit the way she held her toy and joined him in
his mirth.

The both of them started talking about nothing in particular
and than the conversation switched to Sirius asking her about boys or whom she
had a liking to. It kind of puzzled her
until he started announcing he knew someone who liked her in that annoying sing
song voice of �I know something you don�t know�. Hermione had spent part of the time trying to
figure out �who� this person was, playing and joking around with the animagus. She had playfully clonked him on the back of the
head with her toy and he had grabbed her from behind and started tickling her
stomach. She was taken aback by his sudden
boldness to do something like that; and her cheeks had tinted a mild red
color. She was embarrassed by the
closeness and contact between their bodies; aside from his relentless torture
on her tummy.

That was where the fun stopped and Hermione�s feelings were
hurt by Harry�s words. She concluded
that he must have been looking around for Ron, he was calling his name when he
entered the living room; caught her and Sirius by surprised and made Sirius
fall onto Hermione. Harry startled them
no doubt, the pair on the floor had been in a very comprising position, though
one noticed it and the other was oblivious to it. Something in the way Harry looked at his
godfather and than at Hermione was unnerving.
He was at first shocked but than it slowly turned to annoyance, than
anger. Why, Hermione will probably never
know, but he looked angrier with her than his godfather. He started ranting and raving at her about
things that made no sense, all of which were about her being around everyone
except him. To put it bluntly, every male at Order Headquarters not her friends,
though he didn�t say it directly like that, but if you were smart you could
understand the underlying meaning behind his words. Unfortunately, she didn�t
get it, but Sirius surely did, especially after the comment Harry made. Obviously he commented about her upsetting
him being around his godfather and he looked as if he wanted to continue and
yell at her some more but he refrained himself from doing it. Hermione had
wished Sirius had told her what he meant; but he refused to; choosing instead
to follow Harry and see what was troubling him and also for him to apologize to
Hermione for his disrespect.

Harry never did apologize or find himself in the same room
with her unless grudgingly when it came to Mrs. Weasley demanding he come down
to eat at the table with everybody else. Hermione just hoped that she could
talk with Harry to make sure things were okay. She surely didn�t make an effort
to do so since that last argument; and Harry was purposely making it known he
was ignoring her; yet he surely asked to copy her notes for Ron�s sake when he
could without blinking an eye. Hermione
had spent the rest of the days fully retreating into herself after that; not
speaking unless spoken to and even than she excused her person from discussions
that rose from the group of people sitting around her. She would just get up to go study someplace
she could be alone without being bothered or feeling she was the one bothering
them.

Dressed, teeth brushed, and hair plaited in two held
together by white ribbons; Hermione rushed through her bedroom door, down the
stairs into the common room of Gryffindor House and out the door, holding the
portrait of the fat lady to make it for breakfast that morning.

On the journey to the Great Hall, she bumped into the main
person who was the cause of all her troubles and for once it wasn�t Draco Malfoy who had made Head boy this year alongside her
as head girl. Rather it was a messy haired, green eyed with lighting bolt scar and
circular glasses that are responsible for her growing insecurities.

�Sorry�� she remained to keep her eyes glued to the floor,
refusing to look up at the now tall young man by the name of Harry Potter.

The growing silence between them started to make her
nervous; and Harry made no attempt to move or say anything. She couldn�t take it anymore and so she
decided to make a move first, side stepping Harry on his right to continue on
to breakfast.

She got as far as three steps before she felt a strong and
firm grip on her delicate wrist. She immediately halted and looked at Harry
somewhat startled and tensed. She had to tilt her head a little, since he was
at least almost five or six inches taller than she. He looked back at her with intense green eyes
behind much smaller round eyewear, eyes that were concentrating on her. Than he let go of her, and did something he
hadn�t done in her presence since before the defeat of Voldemort; smile. He was smiling at her as if there weren�t any
ill will feelings between them. He than
tugged playfully on one of her braided pigtails and boldly and so unlike
himself; lightly pecked her cheek.

It confused Hermione it really, really confused her very
much. She had remained silent through
all of this; not trusting herself to say something that would sound
comprehendible.

�Morning �Mione, sorry about
bumping into you like that, I got tired of waiting for Ron to hurry up in the
baths so we can go down to breakfast. I
was kind of in a rush you know,�

�Umm whatever you say Harry�� she trailed off again, not
really knowing what to do other than stand there and feeling fidgety with Harry
invading her personal space.

�Come on don�t be like that Hermione, how about we walk down
to breakfast together?� he asked, still smiling at her and tugging on her
braid.

�Okay Harry,� she smiled lightly at him.

Harry turned around, joining her by her side wrapping a
friendly arm around her shoulders to hug her closer to him as they started
walking down the hall to breakfast.

�You look nice today �Mione, I
like your hair like this,� and he showed his likeness by playfully tugging on
the other pigtail this time, �You should wear it like this more often.�

�Sure,� Hermione just concentrated on getting to the Great
Hall; pleading in her mind for Harry not to suddenly get too out of character,
scaring the bookish geekiness out of her.

�Look, I know I have been a total prat
to you during the rest of holiday and I�m really sorry �Mione,
I really am,�

She stopped walking, he was
apologizing and is being sincere about it too.
She looked into his face; looking into his expressive eyes; he was being
truthful, regretful, and feeling a shame of how he treated her since summer
holiday.

�Really Harry?� she asked, not feeling completely sure of her
self to trust him.

�Really, I want to make it up to you somehow Hermione; show
you how much I am sorry for the way I mistreated you; it wasn�t no way to treat
a friend of mines,� and he showed this by squeezing her to him in a hug.

�How do you plan on making it up to me Harry?� she asked
him, feeling a bit more confident to say more than just one or two words at a
time.

He got in front of her, dropping down to the floor on one
knee and grasping her small hands in his in such a dramatic fashion; making a
cute puppy dog face at her.

�I�ll make it up to you by�doing all your homework for you!�
he exclaimed jokingly.

Hermione smiled at him, laughing �Harry you can�t handle my
work load, if I let you do my homework I�ll drop a whole grade level. I think
you better stick with doing your own work, we don�t want the boy-who-lived to
meet his end by doing too much homework,� she reprimanded playfully.

Harry only pouted, all the while chuckling knowing she was
right, �Well than how about I just do whatever you ask of me than?� he
suggested.

�Are you sure about that?�

�Positive Mione,�

�Than get up from there looking like a fool and walk me down
to breakfast, I starved,� she said, starting to walk to her destination.

Harry, got off the marbled floors
following Hermione until he was walking alongside her to the Great Hall. He
grabbed a hold of her hand, squeezing and rubbing it affectionately and she
looked up at him smiling; he smiled in return.

Hermione�s spirits were lifted already this morning; Harry
had made her feel better and he looked very happy to be around her. Though the sudden change in interaction
between them, didn�t settle well with her; she still felt as if Harry would all
of a sudden go back to how he acted towards her; not wanting to have anything
to do with her anymore. Maybe she was thinking too much into it; he had
apologized and even started talking to her.

She was kind of curious as to why he felt so sudden to do so
and why he had been acting the way he had since the summer. But she made a mental note to ask him about
it later, somehow she had a feeling right now wasn�t the time she would get
anything out of him. He�ll mostly be
vague about it, explaining he didn�t quite know or understand.

So Hermione just let it slide and enjoy being with one of
her friends again for the time being.

*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�

Paradise is not too faraway; the place of
eternality. The Princess Doll had a long
ways to go; never really sure which way to turn. Always insecure, always
hiding; always trying to escape; but from what or whom?

We�ll never know�

The only ones who know
are the Maiden and the Emperor. Stark
contrasts between each other, they complete each other respectively.

Light and Dark

Sun and Moon

Hot and Cold

Left and Right

Right and Wrong

Man and Woman

Silence and Sound

Dominant and
Submissive

Heaven and Hell

War and Peace

Life and Death�

Love and Hate�Respect,
Rivalry, Pain, Pleasure, Lust, Sin, Jealousy, Fear, Arrogance, Bravery,
Cowardice, Admiration, Hurt, Comfort, Joy, Play, Fight, Touch, Taste, Smell,
Hear, See�

Opposites attract
nicely they never repel�

No matter how much
twins so much alike and yet so much the opposite of each other try�

We knew them both
quite well yet could never figure them out�

Abominations to the
cause really in so many ways�

A
curse of bondage which enable them to be loyal and dutiful to one another no
matter how much they wanted to be free.

They were opposites
and they attracted each other no matter how much they wanted to repel away�

A twin
of Virtue and a twin of Vice.

*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�*�

Umm yeah I bet a lot of you probably guessed or knew right
off where I got that little snippet about the Chinese zodiac from. Yeah�I�m an anime fan go fig�and I love
Fruits Basket its one of my fav. Animes. (cheesy
smile) and well if you don�t know what the hell I�m talking about�well�*shrugs*
I don�t know what to tell you really. But that little piece of info has no real
significant purpose with this story.
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Beautiful Soulless Marionette