Chapter Text
September 2, 1998
“I am marking this moment in history. I know something about the magical world that Hermione Granger doesn’t!” exclaimed one very excited Ginevra Weasley.
Looking back on it, Hermione really had been a dimwitted prat. Despite everyone praising her for her love of learning and knowledge this was something Hermione had assumed upon entering the wizarding world. She had done extensive research ahead of her time at Hogwarts and during her revising sessions for classes, but some quirks of Hogwarts she had never questioned.
The morning after her birthday, Hermione woke wondering about the rather sparse dream she had had, seemingly all night. There was a hazy, foggy quality to it at first. No color as far as she could remember. But then as she wandered around, she found a vine beginning to grow out of the ground. The vine continued to grow slowly until it filled the space and she woke.
How odd, she thought. Maybe the magic of the castle was trying to tell her something. Then she saw it. The inside of her canopy had an intricate vine carved all the way around. It had not been there the day before, or any of the days since she had arrived for that matter.
Although the new carving was odd to her, nobody could see it but her as it was on the inside of the canopy. She already stood out for being a muggleborn student and for being a know-it-all. Hermione had quickly learned not to ruffle any feathers. She noticed a few of the other beds had different carvings as well.
“Wait... “ started Ginny. “You were roommates with Padma and Lavender, and I know they would have been all over this. How did you not learn it from them? Didn’t they ask you about your carvings?”
Hermione sighed, filling up her lungs completely to push them out again. You would think she would have been more observant as well.
“You know I didn’t like Lavender and crew, and she didn’t really care for me either. When I heard “soulmate” this, “made for each other” that, even love magic… well, I… I ignored them. I’d leave the room or shut my curtains.”
“I guess that makes sense…” said the ginger witch, pensively scratching her chin. “But why not do more research?”
“A flaw in my scientific method…” said Hermione.
Ginny gave her a questioning look. Before she could get her myriad of questions out of her mouth, Hermione explained.
“Confirmation bias. Meaning, I guessed that Hogwarts was trying to tell me something, maybe about my time at the school. After I didn’t find anything in Hogwarts a History I was just looking for signs related to a vine-”
“So when you got caught in devil’s snare, you assumed it was a preview of your year?”
“Right in one.”
“Pity your birthday is at the beginning of the year, that probably exasperated the problem.”
Hermione laughed. Maybe she was impacting her friend’s vocabulary for the better after all.
“I think so, a sneak peak of the upcoming year just made sense.”
“That means you’ll get another clue soon!!! Do you have any idea who it could be? We’ll have to go over all your clues once you get the last piece. Look at them in a new light.”
Hermione was unsure on how she wanted to move forward. Did she want to take magic’s suggestion on her soul mate? Did she want to pursue a relationship she may not have chosen for herself? Maybe figuring it out would help her make up her mind.
“Sure Gin. We can go to the Library-”
“No, we’ll meet in the Gryffindor common room. No way am I going to be in the library this early in the year.”
“Fine, we’ll lay it all out in the common room after breakfast the morning after my birthday.”
“Deal.”