Unofficial Portkey Archive

AN: I'm so happy that some people are actually reading this..hehe well I might be updating kind of slowly because of school work and all that, but I'll try my best :) Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters in Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling does. The plot and any extra characters belong to me :)

"Check mate!" A red head exclaimed with a broad grin plastered across his freckled face while he sat back in triumph. "Told ya you couldn't beat me, the master at wizard's chess. But you just had to push it Hermione."

Hermione scowled and shook her head disprovingly. "Don't let this get over your head Ronald Weasley."

Ron made a face. "Don't call me that!"

"Ronny," Hermione looked satisfied at Ron's grimace.

"Oh stop it...Herms!" Ron smirked as he retaliated.

"Oh no you don't Ronnily," Hermione placed her hands on her hips while shooting Ron daggers with her eyes.

The red headed boy raised an eyebrow. "Ronnily? That's a new one." Ron pointed out and shrugged. "But really, KneeKnee, do you have time to be fooling around with me right now?"

"KneeKnee?!" Hermione shrieked and jumped off the velvet red chair of the Gryffindor Common Room. "That's it! I really don't have time to have childish quarrels with you, so if you would exuse me..."

"Right indeed KneeKnee," Ron smirked again as he knew he had hit the right string at last. "Oh Hermione! You're impossible!"

She shot him a glare before tucking her bushy hair behind her ears. "In that case, you're even more impossible. I think you should start studying for our upcoming Potions quiz that Snape so generously offered to us."

Ron's shoulders fell at the reminder of the quiz that Professor Snape had suddenly wanted them to write. "It's insane! I mean, it's the first week back from holidays! We've only taken what? One page of notes!" He cried in exasperation.

"That's why it won't be such a pain for that little pea brain of yours," She replied while smoothing out her robes and examining them expectantly.

"Oh right, you fixed them!" Ron realized as he eyed Hermione's crisp unwrinkled robes. It looked even newer and cleaner than his.

"Oh a simple mending charm did the trick," Hermione said with a wave of her hand.

Ron nodded, "Bloody brilliant I do say."

"Yeah, but really, thank Harry."

"What?" He blinked.

"I said- thank Harry! Is that also hard to understand?" Hermione rolled her eyes while picking up her books quickly, the weight of them pulling her down slightly.

Ron scratched his head thoughtfully before saying, "Harry...uh... oh Harry! That guy who was in your class today?"

"Yes, of course...you know, it is rather strange how we never really noticed him through all these years isn't it? I mean he's not a stranger, but it feels like it." Hermione said in wonder.

"He's just awfully awfully quiet, that's all. He blends into things too." He added with a chuckle. "So he like, grabbed that thing off you or what?"

"No, he used a spell, unlike you who probably would have tried to grab that Floundrake off!" Hermione shifted the books around her hands before standing straighter. "Use your brain Ron, I mean you have one, just wake it up. And I really better go now, see you at dinner!"

Ron simply nodded as Hermione headed towards the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Harry sighed as he waved his wand over the fork infront of him for the twentieth time. It stood up on its pointed end and shriveled up into a ball.

He glared at the fork and stretched his stiff arms. "How am I suppose to change this fork into turkey dinner!" Harry poked the fork with the end of his wand, causing sparks to erupt and bounce off the fork. He really didn't dislike Transfiguration, but he just wasn't...talented in it. Infact, Harry noticed he wasn't talented in alot of things.

Professor McGonagall had assigned them homework, which was what Harry was trying to do at the very moment. He was really trying to clear his mind from the events of the past week, but something or another would slip into his mind and then the fork would quiver and change into something else other than a delicious turkey dinner.

"Guess I could try it again..." Harry raised his hand determinedly and waved it over the shriveled fork just as his emerald eyes caught sight of an awfully familiar girl coming into the library. Hermione.

"Oh hi Harry!" Hermione smiled brightly while setting down her books on the same table as him, but a few seats away. "Oh that's really pretty."

"Huh?"

"That rose underneath your nose," Hermione pointed with a strange look in her eyes. "I mean, it's yours isn't it?"

Harry blinked as he looked down the end of his nose and saw a delicate glass rose sitting in place exactly where his shriveled up fork had once been. "Oh! That...I mean, it was..er.."

Hermione came over for a closer look and placed it on her hands. "Where did you get this? I've never seen any glass item so delicately carved..." Her voice faded away as she ran one finger around a petal.

"Er...youcanhaveit!!"

"Pardon?" She switched her gaze from the rose to Harry who seemed to be an awful shade of red at the moment.

Harry sighed and let out a breath. "You can have it." He said with a shrug. "If you don't want it I can just...change it into something else."

"I can have it?" Hermione asked in shock. "But it's yours!"

"I uh...don't have use for these things anyways. I found it," He lied quickly. "Just sitting on this table when I arrived, and I guess I was marveling its beauty too."

"Oh..." She blushed a light shade of pink before returning to her seat. "Then..thank you I guess."

A small smile played at the ends of Harry's lips. "It's nothing really."

Hermione nodded and quickly dipped her head behind a book, not wanting to waste anymore time than she already had. A quill was already in her hand and a piece of fresh new parchment was laid in front of her, with the glass rose sitting beside her left hand.

The library was silent after that, except for the occasional scratching sounds of quill on parchment, and the coughs coming from Madam Pince. Harry sat there and it slowly dawned on him that he had just given away his Transfiguration homework to the girl sitting a few feet away from him. He groaned inwardly, not knowing what to do. He couldn't walk up to the girl and ask for it back...that was plain rude. But what would he say to Professor McGonagall?

I turned it into a rose accidentally and gave it to a girl. Harry thought and knew at once the whole class would probably erupt into laughter and 'ooooohs'. Then again, he could always steal a fork at dinner...yes, that was set. He would simply take his fork with him after dinner and continue his attempts with Transfiguration.

"Why are you muttering about a fork?" The question snapped Harry out of his revere.

"What? Did I say something?"

Hermione closed the huge textbook she had been reading through and nodded, "Kind of. I just caught a few words, mostly the word 'fork' and something of that sort. Are you hungry?" She glanced around her shoulder to the big clock hanging over head. "But that's no surprise since dinner's about to start in ten minutes."

"Uh...yeah...well..." Harry felt bad for lying again in the same day and to the same person, so he sighed and spoke, "No actually..it's Transfiguration." He confessed.

"What about it?"

"I'm having trouble with the assignment," Harry muttered sheepishly and as quickly as possible while avoiding Hermione's eyes at the same time.

"Oh! That thing? It's actually quite simple once you get the hang of it!" Hermione said smartly as she pushed her chair back. "How about let's go to dinner and then we can return to Gryffindor Tower and I can give you some help?"

"Really?" Harry questioned and he realized he shouldn't have spoke up so soon. He looked at his feet again.

Hermione stood up and tilted her head, "Of course, it won't take up too much time."

"...Thanks," Harry uttered.

"Well, let's just say it's me showing thanks to you for giving me this," Hermione picked up the glass rose and tucked it securely into the pocket of her robes and looked up again to meet Harry's gaze.

Harry quickly broke the gaze by turning his attention to the clock once again. "Two minutes left to get to the Great Hall."

"I'll race you there!" Harry stood dumbfounded on the spot before he realized what Hermione had just said as he broke into a run after her.

She is one strange girl...

Dinner at Hogwarts had never gone by so slowly as it was tonight. Harry found himself holding his fork and moving it in a circular motion around his peas and carrots. He didn't know why, but he had a great urge to jump up and tell everyone to get back to Gryffindor Tower to sleep and stop eating.

"Can you pass the salad?"

Harry's eyes darted from his plate and his first glimpse was a mass of awfully red hair. He didn't say anything though, but simply handed the salad bowl towards the boy.

"Thanks Harry," The boy grinned heartedly before scooping himself a big spoonful of salad and plopping in onto his plate.

He knows me...well my name! Harry thought that this was very strange. No one knew his name except for the teachers, Neville, and...Hermione. Possibly some other people he didn't know of, but other than that..that was all.

"Well, you are Harry right?" The boy looked uneasily at Harry.

"Yeah.." Harry answered uncertainly, wondering how this boy knew his name. But Harry knew that the red head was obviously a Weasley. Everyone knew that if they saw a red head roaming Hogwarts, it was most likely part of the Weasley crowd. Yet Harry knew this Weasley a bit more than just..a Weasley. He had seen him before, out on the Quidditch field, and infact, Harry remembered that this Weasley was Keeper and captain for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

"And you're..." Harry began and the boy looked at him meekly.

"Oh right! I'm Ron Weasley!" He stuck on his hand towards Harry and he shook it slowly.

Ron sank back into his chair and noticed Harry's expression- a cross between confusion and shock. "What's the matter?"

"Er..nothing really," Harry grabbed his forked and stuffed a spoonful of peas into his mouth before grimacing and having to swallow a whole goblet of pumpkin juice along with it.

Ron chuckled, "Calm down, I'm not going to bite or something!"

"...Right," Harry turned away in embarrassment and focused on Seamus Finnigan's nose.

After a good few minutes of silence from Ron, Harry dared to turn back to his food but he was wrong that Ron had forgotten about him. "So, you saved Hermione didn't cha?"

"I did?" Harry said bluntly.

"Uh yeah. During Herbology!" Ron reminded. "How could you forget so soon?"

"Oh that, well..it wasn't that big of a deal," Harry replied. "Anyone could have done it."

Ron shook his head with wide eyes, "No way! I would have lunged at that Floundrake and tried to pull it off of her...ha, you can say I don't think before I act at times." He added sheepishly. "It wouldn't have been smart to have grabbed it neh?"

"Well...you would probably get a few of those..puss bubbles all over your hands...but other than that, it's not life threatening," Harry smirked and Ron laughed.

Maybe dinner wasn't going by too slowly, not with Ron Weasley at least.

Harry for the first time had used his prefect status and ordered every fourth year and under to go to bed and leave the common room. It was getting horridly noisy with them around and impossible to concentrate on what Hermione was explaining to him.

"Ok, that settles the noise," Harry muttered before sitting down again. "So where were we again?"

"On the focusing part," Hermione said as she waved her wand over the fork. "See." The fork instantly changed into a nice steaming plate of turkey dinner. "Simple!" She exclaimed while sniffing the fumes. "It doesn't smell bad either."

"Easy for you to say...I noticed you're like a dictionary!"

Hermione raised her eyebrows before changing the plate of food back into a fork. "A dictionary?"

"Well yeah...you just kind of seem to know stuff," Harry explained before raising his own wand. He closed his eyes slightly, trying to think of that steaming plate of turkey dinner while he waved his wand over the fork.

"Oooh! Pretty close Harry!" Hermione exclaimed and Harry's eyes snapped open completely.

A plate with a carrot had replaced the fork, and Harry's face broke into a grin. "I guess that's the best I've done for the day isn't it?"

"Mm hmm, you're getting there," Hermione beamed. "Really!"

"Yeah, thanks," Harry gave her a lop sided smile, and Hermione's eyes shifted quickly away from his face to the carrot. "Is something wrong?" He asked, noticing her sudden silence.

"Oh nothing.." She quickly stood up and headed towards the potrait. "I think we should call it a night! You made great progress Harry and I think with a bit more practice you could master Transfiguration in no time."

Harry turned red and simply uttered, "Good night."

"Night," The portrait swung open and Hermione was gone and headed towards the Head Girl and Head Boy dormitories.

He was the only one left in the common room by now, and as he made his way slowly up the stairs to the Prefect's section of the tower, he couldn't help but feel proud at his accomplishment.

"Chicken Wings," He muttered to the portrait and it swung open revealing a nice warm room decorated in a similiar way as the Gryffindor common room. Harry flopped onto his bed without a second's glance and immediately jumped back onto his feet and rubbed his back.

"Ow..." He muttered under his breath while scanning his bed sheets. A noticeable lump was visible from underneath and he quickly pulled the scarlet sheets back to reveal... "What? I don't remember taking out any books from the library at all."

He picked one thick book up from the pile and squinted his eyes to make out the strange cursive writing across the top of the book. "History...of...the most...feared...dark wizards...of the...wizarding world." Harry shifted his glasses for they had slipped to the bridge of his nose.

After a few minutes he had realized that most of the books from the mysterious pile were all quite similiar. On dark wizards and history on them. "I wonder who left them here? I mean, I think only Neville knows the password to my room cause he heard me mutter it once...but knowing Neville, he would have forgotten it right away, and he wouldn't take out so many books...and hide them under my bed." He pondered aloud in confusion.

Yet nonetheless, he picked one up and walked slowly over to a couch against the wall and sat down. He opened the book in curiousity, and soon enough, he was drawn into the history of one of the most feared dark wizards of them all; Voldemort.