A Darkness Returns - a Harmione story

6 - Back to Work

A/N: Just thought to let you know that Harry Potter does not belong to me, and I gain no profit from this work other than practice and a fun time writing, not to mention the happiness/ amusement that I gain from the sweet comments XD <3

I'm so so sorry for how long it took to publish this chapter. I wrote like half of it almost a week ago, but then I was super busy with stuff. But here it is! I hope you guys enjoy it!! :)

(✿ヘᴥヘ)

They had so much fun at the lake that day that they unanimously agreed to return on Sunday. The next morning, however, they grudgingly returned to the office, albeit slightly more refreshed and energized than they would have been on the usual work day.

Back in their days as students at Hogwarts, Mondays had always been Hermione's favorite day of the week, when she could re-immerse herself in her classes as an effective method of distraction from all the going-ons of life. She had never really shared this with Ron, Ginny, or even Harry, but the truth was that part of the reason why she always put the effort in to work so much harder than the average student was not just because she loved to learn, but because she had always felt this strong need to prove herself, prove that she was a bright witch who did indeed deserve her magic, despite being a muggle-born. She was aware of how wrong this thought process was, and she knew that she mustn't let that fact bring her down -- her friends were proud to remind her every so often that she was "the brightest witch of her age," but then again, old habits die hard. 

It didn't help that she had been the only Gryffindor muggle-born in her year (that is, excluding Dean Thomas, with whom there was a viable chance that his dad was actually a wizard; he just had no proof, and most people were under the impression that he was a half-blood anyway), not to mention that the pure-blooded prejudiced bigots such as the infamous Draco Malfoy and his Slytherin gang constantly bullied her throughout their years at Hogwarts for her "mudblood" status. Thanks to Bellatrix, the scar on her forearm would always be there to remind her of that fact.

However, she didn't blame Malfoy. She and the others (Ginny, Harry, and Ron) had come to understand that back then, he was just a boy shoved into a role with too many expectations, and like any son, all he wanted was to please his father, to make him proud. She recalled how depressed and worn-out he had appeared throughout all of their sixth year, with terrible bags under his eyes and an almost sickly, more pale tone than usual to his skin. Little did they know that the entire year he had been dragged down, carrying such an enormous burden and task on his back with the threat that he and his family would be killed, brutally murdered if he didn't complete it, didn't succeed in it. The fact that he was too scared to tell Dumbledore or ask him for help was not really cowardice; it was out of fear, but it was explanation enough for why he wasn't sorted into Gryffindor.

She remembered how helplessly petrified he had looked, a mask of horror on his face as he stood there, watching Bellatrix torture her. And they would always be appreciative of the time he had bought them by feigning uncertainty, pretending that he couldn't recognize Harry back in Malfoy Manor. 

They had made amends with Malfoy after the war and gotten to know him slightly through a few afternoon teas, but the rough childhood history between them could never get them past calling each other by their surnames, in her most humble opinion. Ron in particular couldn't really come to terms with the fact that they were even on speaking terms with him, much less friends, although he was never upfront about it. Nevertheless, it was quite the improvement, for Malfoy had reformed himself completely, and from what she heard from Ginny, he had made quite the name for himself as a substitute Quidditch player -- for what team, however, she could not recall.

Now, on the other hand, she absolutely dreaded Mondays and having to return to work. Yeah, she enjoyed her job, the pay was good, and her co-workers were nice, but they didn't understand her or truly know her the way her real friends did. They just thought of her as Harry Potter's best friend, the Brains of the Golden Trio, and the Brilliant Sidekick to the Great Savior of the Wizarding World. She had all these expectations thrown onto her, and like her old adolescent self, she still felt the ridiculous urge to strive to not just meet but to exceed those expectations, as if she owed something more to them, to the world. Being an introvert, the fact that she always wanted to drown herself in her work in order to avoid socializing with her co-workers was also a playing factor.