Prologue
"Boys are only mean because they like you."
That's the phrase. One of many barmy things that primary teachers tell their students. and somehow it always comes just after a little girl has complained about something rude that a little boy has done to her.
The first time Hermione heard it (that she can remember anyway) was when a little snot-nosed boy named Connor, grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled. Hard. With tears in her eyes, her 8 years old self walked over to the teacher and told on him.
Then when she was 10, Connor snatched the book out from her hands, and ripped the pages right out from the cover. Her teacher's response was "Oh Hermione, you should have known better, boys will be boys after all."
What she should have known better about continued to be a mystery for her over several years.
Now, 8 years later, she still doesn't understand how that was at all her fault. Or why muggle primary teachers tend to blame the girls for the boy's behavior. Since they're all women, they must have been girls once themselves, so why can't they understand?