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[slashluv18]

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Rating: PG
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Harry/Hermione (only mentioned at the end)
Warnings: EWE
Summary: Hermione was never special as a child, not with Jasmine Granger there.
Word Count: 1,047

Hermione was never special growing up. The only thing she had going for her was her intelligence, and even that was overshadowed.

Her sister, Jasmine, was the golden daughter. Jasmine was two years older. She was pretty, nice, smart, pretty much perfect. Everyone liked her.

When Jasmine was around, no one seemed to notice Hermione. With Jasmine around, not even Hermione's brains made her special.

Anything Hermione could do, Jasmine could do better.

While Jasmine was the cheerleader type: perky, popular, outgoing, the usual, Hermione stayed by herself. Hermione didn't feel secure unless she was by herself. Hermione was targeted by bullies quite often, something Jasmine never had to contend with.

Hermione was always jealous of Jasmine. While Jasmine had tons of friends over to play and even sleepovers, Hermione never had anyone at the house. On the nights that Jasmine had friends over, Hermione would sit in her room trying to read, all the while ignoring the inane giggling coming from across the hall.

Jasmine was never mean about the fact that Hermione didn't have friends, but at the same time, she never invited Hermione to spend time with her. Jasmine had her own life, and Hermione wasn't a part of it.

Things changed when Hermione received her Hogwarts' letter, though. When she took the strange envelope from her mother's hands, she quickly opened it. Jasmine was sitting at the breakfast table, looking bored.

Hermione's eyes were wide as she read through the letter. She didn't believe it right away, but she knew that sometimes strange things happened around her. "Mom! Mom! Look, it's a once in a lifetime chance."

Her mother calmly took the letter. After she finished reading it, she said, "Honey, this isn't possible. Magic isn't real."

Jasmine snorted into her milk, but Hermione ignored her. "Mom, you know sometimes things happen around me, things that aren't normal. Maybe this is why."

Both of her parents refused believed the validity of the letter. That lasted until a teacher from the school came to talk to them. Finally, her parents believed it, but they were still uncertain about sending her away to a boarding school.

"M'am," Jasmine said as she batted her eyelashes. "Why didn't I get a letter from your magic school?"

Hermione held her breath, as she too wanted an answer.

Professor McGonagall smiled thinly. "Hermione is what we call a muggle-born witch, a witch born from non-magical parents. Although sometimes there are instances where siblings are both muggle-born magic users, it doesn't always happen. Even though Hermione has magic, it didn't automatically mean you should have magic as well."

Jasmine crossed her arms after that explanation, anger clear in her eyes.

Hermione found herself smiling. Finally, she had something that was all her own. Jasmine might have gotten brains just like Hermione, but she didn't have magic. Hermione was special for it, and Jasmine could never take it away from her.

When Hermione was taken to Diagon Alley, both her parents and Jasmine were allowed to accompany her. Professor McGonagall escorted them.

After getting on the alley through the place called the Leaky Cauldron, she looked around, awed at the magical site before her. When she got to the bookstore, she knew her eyes must have be glowing. "Opportunity whispers," she breathed as she moved between the shelves. She wanted all of the books, in order to learn everything she could about the wizarding world. She settled for a few.

Once she arrived at Hogwarts, she found she didn't fit in there, either. She was called a know-it-all and didn't seem to be liked by the house for the brave due to her pushy personality. Even her roommates didn't seem to like her.

Hermione knew she could be over-ambitious and inquisitive, but she thought she'd have friends for the first time ever at a place where there were people just like her. When she wrote home, she told her family about the classes she took and everything that she was learning.

When Jasmine asked about any new friends, she lied, saying she had made friends with her roommates. No way was she going to tell her perfect sister that she couldn't even make friends when Jasmine wasn't around to ruin it.

When Hermione finally did make friends with Harry and Ron, she was ecstatic. She no longer had to hide the truth because the truth was she had friends.

Jasmine had already been hinting that Hermione was lying about the friend thing. "After all," Jasmine wrote, "You never had friends at home. Why would that freak school be any different?" Hermione could just imagine Jasmine's snide tone. Although Jasmine had never been mean during childhood, she seemed to change after Hermione got accepted into Hogwarts. If Hermione didn't know any better, she would say Jasmine was jealous.

Hermione eagerly introduced her family to Harry and Ron before the two of them had to go to their own families. Jasmine seemed very put out about the fact that the two boys weren't merely figments of Hermione's imagination.

As the two of them got older, Jasmine and Hermione grew more and more apart. They were never extremely close to begin with, but the chasm continued to widen. They acted like they were total strangers.

When Hermione told her family about the war and how she was in the thick of it the summer before her sixth year, Jasmine's eyes welled up, tears threatening to fall, before she hugged Hermione tightly. Hermione returned the embrace.

Both of them realized they had wasted a lot of time. They could have been sisters all of these years, but instead they weren't even friends.

There wasn't a lot of time, but for the rest of the summer, Hermione and Jasmine talked and really got to know each other.

When Hermione finally said "I do," as she gazed at her almost-husband, Jasmine stood at her side proudly, standing in as her witness. Hermione smiled at her sister as Jasmine wiped tears of happiness from her eyes.

The man standing before them was smiling. "I now pronounce you partners in life. You may kiss each other."

Hermione gazed into Harry's emerald eyes before gently kissing him. She knew without looking that Jasmine was clapping the loudest out of everyone.