faderift | OPEN: And you can shake the mountains with a whisper

WHO: Hermione Granger and YOU!
WHAT: Hermione ventures out of the library. Sometimes. But she's also in the library most of the time, because she's Hermione.
WHEN: Late Justinian, creeping into early Solace if need be.
WHERE: Throughout Skyhold, just outside of Skyhold, pick a place far away from Skyhold and find a reason to drag her there.
NOTES: If you'd like a particular starter and/or would like to hash out some minor assumed CR that can lead into this, feel free to let me know either via PM or plurk (

StarryOblivion). Otherwise, feel free to have them randomly bump into one another!

The Herald's Rest.

Hermione doesn't often come in here, not since receiving an odd look when she'd first asked for just some water (really, given how young everyone here seems to think she is, she'd been surprised that the surly bartender had thought she'd wanted something harder). But sometimes it's a nice change of pace, sitting among the mostly quiet chattering of the other patrons and enjoying the fire as she reads or looks over her notes. Presuming, of course, that no one is foolish enough to have too much to drink and try to bother her. Talking is a distraction she'll accept with no fuss, but Merlin help anyone who's had enough alcohol to think she's open to anything friendlier than that.

Stables.

When she'd first arrived at Skyhold, the stables had seemed relatively empty and were a fine place for practicing her magic without risking hurting anyone. She'd thought she could do the same now, only to find that there are considerably more horses - and, er, other creatures - residing there. Magic might only frighten them, she decides, but they're so pretty that she can't help visiting with them for a bit, getting as close to them as she dares. It's been years since she's ridden a horse, but she's entirely certain that these mounts aren't exactly the type that would trot gently along a given course for an inexperienced rider, so she isn't even going to ask after something so silly, even if the interest is clearly there in her eyes.

Courtyard, not too far from the healing tents.

When the stables prove not to be the best place to practice with her magic, Hermione decides that it might be best to find a little corner close to the healing tents instead. At least then there would be other mages around, and so it was less likely that anyone who stumbled across her would look at her disdainfully. And if anyone gets hurt, a healer wouldn't be too far away. Of course, she highly doubts that anyone would get hurt just because she was unsuccessfully attempting to transfigure leaves and pebbles and whatever else happens to be in the vicinity. Transfiguration doesn't seem to be an aspect of her magic that's carried over into Thedas, or at least Hermione can't manage it without more practice, given that she's growing more and more frustrated as she continuously taps rocks and other objects with what looks like a stick, muttering to herself in exasperation.

Library. Because of course.

If you've been to the library, you've seen her. Whether you know her and enjoy talking to her about rifter politics or think it's entertaining to scandalize her or have never bothered to approach her, Hermione can more often than not be found in the same little niche in the library, nose in a book or a quill hastily scribbling down notes. Or even, occasionally, dozing off, since she hasn't exactly claimed any sort of sleeping space for her own and more often than not loses track of the time when she doesn't explicitly have somewhere to be.

Wildcard!

Hermione wanders, and while she tries to be careful, sometimes it takes her places she just shouldn't go. If it doesn't look like a private room or setting, it's safe to assume that the young witch has made her way there, likely looking for a quiet place to read or do magic or just to get a few moments of silence. And while she doesn't often journey outside of Skyhold, she can definitely be tempted beyond its walls if she has the right incentive, or the right company.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hermione had been only all too happy to let herself get distracted by the horses, though hearing a low, familiar voice speaking to her takes her by surprise. She hadn't realized anyone had been around, and when she moves to pop her head in and say hello to Anders, she finds herself distracted once again.

"Oh!" she gasps, stopping at the sight of the tiny cat on Anders. She gasps again when she notices the other two playing not too far away, and she takes a step towards them before forcing herself to stop, not wanting to scare them off.

"You have a way with cats, I see," she murmurs softly, eventually taking her eyes away from the kittens to actually look at Anders.

Hermione. It's a relief to see her. There aren't a lot of people he has the energy to deal with right now, but she's welcome.

"If you're slow about taking a seat, just out of the stall opening, they won't be scared. And yes." He gives her a small, very tired smile. "They're about the one group I'm good with, really. They don't care if you're a mage or what you've done. They just want food, warmth, and attention on their terms. You're looking better. How are you feeling?"

Even with his warning, Hermione doesn't dare get too close to the playing kittens, slowly taking a seat closer to Anders and deciding to let them come to her if they so decide. "I don't know," she murmurs absently, still looking towards the hay. "You're good enough with people. You're just better with certain types of people than you are others. So is everyone else."

Looking to Anders, she observes him carefully, not having seen him since the disaster of that ritual. "I'm fine. Better than most of the others had been the last time we saw each other. How about you?"

It's nice that some people see him like that. Maybe he doesn't deserve her consideration, but he appreciates it anyway. Anders looks down at the question before holding a finger out near the tussling kittens. One of them attacks his finger while the other attacks its sibling's tail.

"I'm... working on it." Headaches, guilt, short-term memory issues, guilt, some bruising, guilt, confusion, guilt, there was a list of things he was working through. "I'm no longer possessed, though. That's progress. And the people hurt for me are recovering. Albeit slowly. Very slowly."

He owes them. He owes all of them.

"We all knew what we were getting into," Hermione tells him. Pausing for a moment, she corrects that with, "Well, maybe not exactly, but I for one knew that every single time I've left Skyhold, there have been demons and all sorts of disaster. If I knew that, I'm sure the people who've been here longer than me must have known that, and they still tried to help you. Because they care."

Managing a small smile, she adds, "We care. And the fact that you're no longer possessed makes it all worth it. You're your own person again, Anders. No one would blame you for smiling a little because of it."

He understands what she means, and she gets another little smile before he looks down.

"Before Justice and I joined, he was a friend. The night we joined together saved my life." Reaching up, Anders parts his robes a little to show her the top part of a scar on his chest. "A Templar drove their blade through my heart. If I'd not been possessed, I'd be dead. Justice saved me, used my abilities to heal me. ...And then obliterated the entire group of Templars that wanted me dead."

Anders takes a breath. "I'm my own person at the cost of his life. I know that at the end he chose to stay, and that's where it went wrong. He died because of his choice. But knowing that the being who has been my constant companion for over a decade is dead, along with all of the injuries, makes it a little hard to fully smile just yet."

Hermione still doesn't fully understand spirits and Thedas' relationship with them. She'd thought they were beings to be feared, but then Christine had introduced her to a spirit in the Fade, one that had helped the pair of them escape, and she no longer understands where she's supposed to stand insofar as they're concerned.

And hearing Anders' story doesn't really help clarify matters.

Frowning a bit as she realizes that he's lamenting something that she's celebrating, Hermione's silent for a few moments before quietly breathing out, "I'm sorry. I never thought of it that way."

She mulls over her words for a few moments before she can bring herself to look up at him. "Was it- ... was he really the same spirit in the end that he'd been when you'd first met him? That is, would you still have accepted him as a friend if you'd met him now instead of ten years ago?"

It's a question that strikes at the heart of the matter. The look Anders gives Hermione is very, very tired when he answers.

"No." There's a few beats of silence. "But there's another question beyond that. How much of that is due to him and how much of that was due to me? Spirits and mortals... We don't think alike. We view the world in such different ways. He was in my head for so very long; how much of the change he underwent was due to him having to deal with my thoughts and my emotions? He changed, he changed a great deal. And I don't think it was all his fault."

He takes a breath. "Justice got thrown to this side of the Veil saving our lives. Mine, Nate's, Velanna's, a few others. He was doing what was right, fighting a spectacularly powerful demon, and then he was trapped. Maybe from that moment he didn't stand a chance. I don't know. One way or another, I contributed to his death."

It still feels like something just beyond her comprehension, but at least spirits are one subject where Hermione knows she isn't alone in feeling that way. And as much as she'd like to find out more, she knows she can't ask Anders about them. He's too close to the subject, and it's still a very personal one for him.

So while she can't have an academic discussion with him, she can at least have one as a friend, trying to support someone who's lost someone he cares about.

"If you're going to admit that it wasn't all his fault, then you're going to have to acknowledge that it wasn't all your fault, either," she tells him softly. "I've known people who've died, and who might still be alive if I or one of my friends had done something differently. And I don't mean that in a roundabout, theoretical sort of way; I mean honestly, in a very direct fashion, if I had stopped my best friend from buying into an obvious trap, his godfather never would have come to help rescue us and would likely still be alive today. But I couldn't see the future. And neither could you. We have no way of knowing how our actions will impact our lives and the lives of those around us. So while I don't have as much of a personal stake in everything that happened, I do know that this spirit had been dangerous in the end, and while the world doesn't exist in black and white, you'll mend from this. In time. Besides... no one is saying you can't value what good he'd done, before things had gotten complicated."

OPEN: And you can shake the mountains with a whisper

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