\u201cTell me how it was for you\u201d, Hermione was sitting on the couch next to Lyra, while Harry and Viktor were talking Quidditch. \u201cTo me, when you were being offensive and hostile, I initially reacted with the typical childish pouting. You know the kind, \u2018she\u2019s just a stupid cow\u2019\u201d, she giggled. \u201cBut when I saw you later for what you are, it became one of the worst feelings in the world. You were not a stupid cow. You were horrifyingly intelligent, competent, dignified and brave; I was despised and considered subhuman by the best girl of our generation. After your stunt in the hallway when you challenged Harry to kill you, I outright admired you, and my reaction would normally be to come talk to you and tell you how impressive that was, but I was too much of a coward to face the possible humiliation of you looking at me from head to toe, making a face like you smelled something nasty, and just silently turning away\u201d, she finished.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to be able to say that you were wrong, because I really was a stupid cow\u201d, Lyra grinned painfully. \u201cI was just a kid repeating what my parents taught me, and at first, I thought that the \u2018mudbloods\u2019 were people devoid of all the virtues I was taught to be the property of a pureblood wizard or a witch; intelligence, courage, dignity, refinement, tradition, magical ability, nobility and so on. Then I saw people like Crabbe and Goyle, who were idiotic buffoons, while you were the smartest girl in our generation, a magical prodigy, and a brave girl who stood by Harry Potter, who was at first number one on a list my mother taught me, of the boys from ancient magical families who are fit for me to consider for marriage. Soon, he became the only name on my<\/i> list. And not only did I have to live with the fact that I offended a girl who might have been my friend and confidante through school, but she was also ideally positioned to destroy my life by either taking him away from me, or poisoning his mind against me. To my great fortune, you proved to be a better person than I, and I found out that when you talked to Harry about me, you were impartial and kind. But probably the worst of all was, I couldn\u2019t face any of it at the time. If I was wrong about you, then one of the cornerstones of my parents\u2019 ideology falls. They might even be on the wrong side of the coming war. I could look at Harry and concede that the parts of his mother in him made him better, not worse, but I managed to rationalise it somehow. So, I remained stubborn, if inoffensive, until Voldemort came back and I saw what he\u2019s actually like, and I understood that my father was completely, unjustifiably wrong, and I was stuck at the wrong side of the war, in the headquarters of the worst people in the world, and even worse creatures, where I regretted every nasty word and ugly thought I ever sent your way, and yearned to apologise\u201d, Lyra sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t in an easy position\u201d, Hermione nodded. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine what it would have been like for me to find out that my parents taught me wrong and are sided with the greatest evil in the world, and that by trusting them I did all kinds of horrible things. But probably the worst for me was knowledge that you might be right about me. Harry kept your confidence like a perfect gentleman, but he revealed the general gist of your conversations. I couldn\u2019t say for sure that you\u2019re wrong. And also, what I read between the lines is that you\u2019re such a magnificent person, that even what little I surmised seemed to be very far off the mark. Knowing you despised me was hard enough, but knowing that your actual reason was that I lacked tradition, upbringing, that I wouldn\u2019t know the fairy tales the wizards tell their children, that I knew next to nothing about that entire world, and that I might actually be someone who will make a pureblood wizard bond to me for life, only to have non-magical offspring and see his tradition disappear forever. What if I actually end up being a hamster \u2013 a cute pet one can\u2019t have a family with? I think I only got over that once I saw my baby levitating in the crib, obviously magical, so I could finally set that terrible thought aside and accept that I\u2019m a proper person\u201d, she shivered.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a terrible thing I did to you, but I didn\u2019t know it was wrong, either. Scientifically, we didn\u2019t actually know. The statistical pool was too shallow for certainty. Squibs happened, and nobody still knows why. Harry might have been an outlier. We don\u2019t actually know how magical blood emerges in muggle marriages, and if it\u2019s inheritable. Your obviously magical daughter increased the statistical probability that I was wrong by a huge factor; that\u2019s how little we know. My obviously magical son is also contributing slightly, and I can\u2019t say I wasn\u2019t a little bit scared; for all I knew, some recessive gene from Lily Evans might have activated in the second generation. However, with what I know now, I would not hesitate to redefine \u2018pureblood\u2019 to include you and Lily. You are both obviously pureblood witches. Your magical ability is formidable, and matched by the purity and kindness of your character. Your magical ability is inheritable. What you lacked in education and tradition is easily learned\u201d, Lyra smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you\u201d, Hermione smiled back and cuddled with her best friend. \u201cYou know, I wanted to ease the pang of your insults by believing that the purebloods are just a bunch of inbred haters. However, you actually looked like a superior human being. Other than hating me, I couldn\u2019t point to any single thing where you didn\u2019t appear perfect. You were so beautiful other girls hurt to look at you. You were so smart, I had to work to keep up. You actually looked like a concentration of magical essence and all other virtues. But then I saw other pureblood wizards and some truly looked like inbred haters, so I decided it\u2019s just you being a freak of nature\u201d, she laughed. \u201cIt didn\u2019t hurt less to have a beautiful super-genius princess think you\u2019re a hamster, but I didn\u2019t actually feel like one. Instead, I developed a girl crush on you\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d, Lyra wondered.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a muggle thing. It\u2019s what they call one girl admiring another for being all the things you aspire to be. It\u2019s not romantic or sexual, but I guess it\u2019s the second best thing to religious worship\u201d, Hermione smiled shyly. \u201cAnd to be perfectly honest, since you hit me with that spell of yours, I\u2019m not actually sure it didn\u2019t cross into full religious worship\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease don\u2019t do this to me, Hermione. I\u2019m conceited enough as it is already. I\u2019d actually rather have you think I\u2019m an inbred cow; at least sometimes\u201d, Lyra hugged her and hid her embarrassment in her hair.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I\u2019m fully aware that my personal goddess is completely human. However, that just makes you even better, so suck it up\u201d, she giggled at her friend\u2019s embarrassed whine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cTell me how it was for you\u201d, Hermione was sitting on the couch next to Lyra, while Harry and Viktor were talking Quidditch. \u201cTo me, when you were being offensive and hostile, I initially reacted with the typical childish pouting. … Continue reading