Harry thought he was having the most vivid dream
ever, until he felt a familiar presence beside him. "Harry, what are you doing? Why are you watching this? I really don't want to be reminded of this day again."
The candles on the cake told Harry this was Hermione's sixth birthday and an excited little girl was almost bouncing off the walls at what would be her first ever party. That excitement slowly drained away, being replaced by despair, as the hands on the clock slowly travelled well past the appointed time - and still none of the children she'd invited had turned up. Harry was enraged as her parents casually started packing all the food away, so it wouldn't waste, while Hermione was in floods of silent tears as she removed her party dress and curled up in her bed. Her mother at least checked on her later, though Hermione was pretending to be asleep. Harry tried to comfort Hermione over the incident, which was extremely hard to do since neither of them were physically here - wherever here was. It was at least more than her parents had done at the time. Hermione though had other things on her mind.
"I know your mum was rushed tonight when trying to give us the information she thought we needed but this was a hell of a big thing to leave out. We're sharing thoughts and now memories, can cast with our rings - I suppose my main worry is what else didn't she have time to tell us."
"Whatever it is, we'll face it together. As strange as it might seem, this is still the best night of my life. Oh shit! Not this - please not this..."
The scene in front of them had now changed. It was still a sixth birthday party though this cake was at least twice the size of the one little Hermione had. She could feel the anxiety pouring off Harry's presence as he watched his younger self scurry about helping to make sure everything was perfect for the invited guests arriving.
"Mum, the freak will spoil everything…"
"What! Don't be silly Diddums - he won't be here when all your friends arrive. You hear that Freak? Get to your room, and don't make a sound. I'll let you out later and you can clean up the mess from the party."
Hermione only thought she was angry as the skinny little boy walked away without arguing. When he opened the cupboard door and climbed in, her confusion soon turned to utter rage as Harry spent the next few hours sitting in his 'room' - peeking out through the door vent at all the children their age enjoying themselves.
She had thought her birthday experience was bad but Harry's was much harder to take and then it got even worse. She could actually feel the small boy's hunger as he silently sat there watching the other children stuff their faces. When the party was over and everyone had left, Harry was let out to clean up from the party he had so cruelly been excluded from.
When the starving child understandably snuck a few morsels of leftovers into his mouth, while he tidied up, the resulting slap from his Aunt was a total shock to the watching Hermione. The harridan then stood over Harry and ensured all the leftovers were scraped into the waste bin, smirking in satisfaction as she did so. After Harry had done all the washing up, he was sent back to his cupboard with something that Hermione supposed technicality qualified as a sandwich. Two skinny pieces of bread and a little clump of wilted salad certainly wouldn't stave off the boy's hunger. After eating every crumb of this meagre meal, the younger Harry warily moved some of the contents of the cupboard to reveal a pitiful stash of food.
Her Harry spoke his first words since the memory began playing. "Dudley and Uncle Vernon were always helping themselves to food when Aunt Petunia wasn't looking. That was the second birthday cake she had to buy, they ate the other one the day before. I was able to snag a piece of it while Aunt Petunia was moaning at them about having to go shopping again. She wasn't really angry though, not like she would get at me. She never hit Dudley, and certainly never with her frying pan."
The scene switched from Hermione being bullied at school to her dad sitting down with her that night and discussing the matter with her. While Harry never even had that, it was the lack of affection coming from the parent that shocked him most. He knew his Hermione liked her hugs, yet it would seem hugs were a commodity that were severely lacking at home. It was almost as if her father was dealing with an upset young patient in his dentist chair - rather than his own daughter.
Hermione had already sussed they seemed far more accepting about what happened to their younger selves, while becoming enraged at the treatment of their betrothed. She spoke up in defence of her parents.
"Harry, my mum and dad aren't very demonstrative people. As I got older I wondered how I was even born, since they never seem to kiss or hug - they sleep in separate beds too. When you are younger, you just accept these things as normal. It's only as you grow up and look around you…"
She stopped as the scene they were now witnessing was 'Harry hunting', and Hermione knew for certain where Harry's mother's rage had come from. Hermione was also ready to take on all comers to ensure Harry never returned to those people again.
Harry was very interested in McGonagall's talk with the Grangers, explaining that magic was real and what Hermione could expect from Hogwarts. Compared to his own induction - 'yer a wizard, Harry' - Hagrid had apparently left out rather a lot.
Hermione thought so too - including vital information like how to get on the bloody platform. Watching with fresh eyes and a different perspective, the entire 'meet the Weasleys' incident seemed very contrived. Neither suspected Ron of any wrongdoing, he was a terrible liar and up there with Hagrid in the secret keeping department. Both though could easily imagine Dumbledore manipulating Molly so Harry would meet a family the old wizard approved of. Seeing the troll incident from Hermione's perspective was a real eye-opener for Harry. All he could remember was hanging on for dear life.
"I'm sorry I never stuck up for you after what Ron said."