[Harry Potter] Best Friend
Title: Best Friend Author: Trio Maxwell-Chang Fandom: Harry Potter Pairing or POV: Hermione Written for: Cleo Special Note: Another of the Christmas Drabble, written to these specifications. Merry Christmas, Cleo!
Her true best friend is neither Harry nor Ron. Not even Crookshanks holds that special place in her heart, although she will never tell any of them. No, her best friend in all the world is a book, the pages ragged and worn through in places from near-constant use. In five years, she's gone through at least three copies, and her latest copy was a gift from Harry, hard-bound and well-made. He gave it to her just last Christmas, and already she's begun to notice the tell-tale signs of wear. But the aging is slower now, because there are only a few places she has yet to memorize.
They tease her about how often she thumbs through it, and how she can quote whole passages without even blinking. Lately, she's considered really scaring them by adding the page number to the passage. She can already imagine Ron's face, the goggle-eyed amazement. And Harry would be silent for a moment, absorbing the statement in quiet shock before chuckling at Ron's open reaction.
They're all special to her, but she knows that whenever she feels hurt, or betrayed, or a host of other emotions that she's not quite ready to share with Ron or Harry, she can turn to the book. Because the book will never judge, and does not care what she's done wrong. It simply exists, transporting her into another world. She likes it that way.