Room 308, Saturday morning

[smartestone]

Hermione slept in a little, and is barely awake when she hears a familiar tapping sound. If she's surprised, it's only because she's hearing it again so soon. When she gets up to open the window, she's even more surprised to see that it's Hedwig who's waiting to come inside.

She lets the owl in, smiling. "Didn't expect to see you here," she tells her quietly, and takes the package from Hedwig before letting her scrounge around for food and drink. Hermione thinks if they actually keep up with correspondence, maybe she'll leave something out regularly, as long as Kaylee doesn't mind muffins from JGOB sitting out.


There's a note attached, simply reading,

Dear Hermione,

Here's the book you asked for. I don't think I'll be getting much use out of it. She isn't even teaching us defensive spells because we have no reason to use them. It doesn't make sense to me, either. Or half the class.

Sorry about the not writing thing,
Harry


When Hermione unwraps the package, she finds a barely opened copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard. Letting Hedwig stay as long as she needs, Hermione takes a seat on her bed and starts reading. Within half an hour she's wondering why she hadn't thought to get a subsciption to The Daily Prophet before, and half an hour after that, she's decided she hates this Umbridge woman.


[Open.]

Comments

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

Hermione was smart. Jude knew that. She could help him. A little bit of asking around and he was pretty sure he had the right room. So he lifted his hand and knocked.

[smartestone]

Hermione finishes the page, then keeps her finger in the book so she doesn't lose her place, and goes to answer the door. "Oh, hello," she greets him.

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"Hey, bra," Jude said. "I, uh, know we're not really friends-friends, but, uh . . . I need your help."

[smartestone]

"Of course," she says, and opens the door to let him in. Getting a bookmark and setting the book on the desk, she asks, "What's the problem?"

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"You're good at talkin' to adults and stuff about school, right?" Jude scratched the back of his head. "I need to convince my parents to let me stay in Fandom."

[smartestone]

"You want me to talk to them?" she asks.

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"Uh . . . maybe. If it'll help. I was thinking of getting a teacher to write a letter to them, but I dunno what else to do."

[smartestone]

"That might not be a bad idea," she says. "If there's a teacher that would vouch for you, it shows that you're doing well and are showing responsibility. You have tried talking to them yourself, right?"

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. That's kinda the problem. I've always told them pretty much everything about school, and I thought they'd think my workshops and stuff were as cool as I did, but . . . they didn't."

[smartestone]

"Well, the class selection this summer left a little to be desired, but it was also summer. We weren't even graded for session one," Hermione points out. "The classes in the fall will probably be completely different, and it's really too soon for them to make any sort of decision just based on that."

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"I know that. Everyone knows that. But parents don't think like everyone else. They said that I'm wasting my time playing video games and making up stupid stories. That at least at home I was working every day."

[smartestone]

She pauses, thinking. "What if there was some way to prove why you like it here?" she asks. "If they think that's all you do, maybe you can, I don't know, make them a video, or send them your scrapbook to show them who you know and that you are doing something worthwhile."

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"I could do a video . . ." Jude mused. "But I don't think they really care if I like it here or not. They "want what's best for me" and all that parent stuff."

[smartestone]

"Well, what's best for you should also be for you to be happy," she says. "That really should be the most important thing."

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"Your parents are much cooler than mine, bra. What's best for me according to them is high test scores and the U of T engineering program."

[smartestone]

"If my parents were cool, I'd still be at my old school," she says honestly. "Maybe you can work something out, like a test. See how well you do in the fall and go from there."

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"So . . . convince them that I'll do better here than back at Michael Powers. Maybe I should talk to some of the students who were here last year . . . any ideas what kind of test I could use?"

[smartestone]

"I meant a sort of metaphorical test. Like doing well next semester would mean you'd passed," she clarifies. "But that might not be a bad idea, especially if there's a particular subject you're good in."

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"Oh. Okay. Got it." He thought. "I'm not really good at much, though. Except skateboarding. And flying, according to Anakin."

[smartestone]

Hermione hates being at a loss, especially considering she did end up here instead of Hogwarts. "All right," she says, "if you need any help with your subjects this coming semester, I'm more than happy to help. There, now you've lined up a tutor if you need one. Maybe that will help in convincing them."

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"Tutor! Awesome, bra, thanks!" Jude was beaming. "Yeah, that'll help. A lot, I hope."

[smartestone]

"I hope so, too," she says. "I wish I could help more."

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"You helped tons," he informed her with a grin. "Thanks. Really."

[smartestone]

She smiles. "And if you need anything else, just ask."

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"I will." Jude headed for the door with a wave. "Catch ya later, bra"