Simple Twist of Fate
by DwarfLord128

Rating: PG13
Ship: Harry & Hermione
Canon: Books 1 - 7
Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance
Status: In progress
Length: 39,530 words in 9 chapters
Published: 29 Nov 2007
Last updated: 11 Aug 2008

Welcome to a world where Harry's parents were never killed after a simple twist of fate. The Harry we all know and love
would consider that paradise, but does paradise have a price?

From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/7787/

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1. Evil Conquers Good

Simple Twist of Fate
Summary: A simple twist of fate allows Harry to grow up the most ideal life he could ever ask for. However, his charmed
life does not come without grave consequences. Harry must deal with the obstacles thrown at him all while trying to
maintain his school marks. His only salvation will come in the form of his extended family and his friends, including
Muggle-Born Hermione Granger.

A/N: This is a new story I was playing around with in my head that's not based off of any fics. I mean, most of you
should be able to peace together the fact that my other fic is a love letter to Vox Corporis. Because I want something
to be entirely my creation, I give you this. Yes, bits and pieces of the story are taken from stories that I've read,
but this is mostly all from my head. The only main idea that I got from another story was to start from the very
beginning and that was from Harry McGonagall by witowsmp (This is a must read, in my opinion). Well, I really hope you
all enjoy this.

***

Prologue: Evil Conquers Good

***

"Lollipop." James Potter muttered to the phoenix shaped gargoyle as a small smirk graced his weathered face. With that,
the eyes lit up and the door swung open, allowing the couple to enter. Hand in hand, they walked up the spiral staircase
to reach another massive door.

"Foxtrot... Hogweed Giant... Supper's Ready." The visibly pregnant Lily Potter muttered much in the same way her husband
did at the first door. Hers too had the same effect. They both gave each other a worried look and took a step into the
room. The witch and the wizard ran towards the corner of the room and pulled out their wands.

"Specialis Revelio!" They chanted in unison and suddenly a table appeared at the center of the room and seated at it
were Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Arthur Weasley, Alastor Moody, Amos Diggory, Xeno Lovegood, Peter Pettigrew
Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Frank and Alice Longbottom and to their dismay, to Dumbledore's right was Severus Snape.
"What is he doing here, Albus?" Lily asked disgustedly.

Dumbledore nodded and glanced at Snape, then back to Lily. "Severus quite possibly has saved your life... and the life
of your child. Please sit down."

Sirius stood up and offered Lily a chair when he saw that there were no more left. "It's good to see you, James. It's
been far too long." He shook his friend's hand firmly and emphatically.

"It's hard to get out in these times. Lily's due date getting closer has put a lot of pressure on protecting the home."
James gravely spoke to his friend as Dumbledore poured Lily a cup of tea.

"It's understandable, my friend. Just remember, if you ever need my home, it's yours. No questions asked." Sirius put
his hand on his friend's shoulder to knock him out of the oddly dazed state he was in. In the two years since they
graduated from Hogwarts, James had become strangely serious and dark. He wasn't anything like the boy who he went to
school with and he wasn't entirely sure if he liked the new James.

The conversations ended and all eyes settled on Dumbledore who had raised his hands in silence. "Now, I'm sure most of
you are wondering what Severus is doing here, but I assure you his intentions are pure." Lily and James traded angry and
shocked looks with each other and then with Sirius and Remus.

"I'm sure you all recall the prophecy from our last meeting. Well, somehow, Voldemort has found out about it." No one
was entirely sure if Dumbledore continued, but if he did all the gasps in the room covered it. "Thanks to Severus we
were informed before Voldemort decided to prevent it."

The room erupted into hurried conversations. Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily, and James were off in their own little world,
the Hogwarts staff members were discussing on how to protect Lily and Alice, all while Arthur, Amos and Xeno were trying
to comfort the Longbottoms whom were obviously worried out of their minds. "SILENCE!" Dumbledore bellowed, not loudly,
but enough for everyone in the room to turn in his direction.

"Albus, what do we do?" Alice questioned the white bearded wizard with a bit of a quiver in her voice. She and her
husband were both noted Aurors, but ever since the pregnancy, she was constantly in fear of Voldemort or the Death
Eaters getting to her unborn child.

"We send you into hiding, of course. Secret Keepers, fidelius charms, felix felicis, and everything to keep you away
from You Know Who. We need both of your children if we're ever to beat him." Alastor Moody spoke for the first time
since the start of the meeting as his eye went flying around the room scanning each person.

Arthur stared at him with a blank look and shook his head. "Moody... how can you even say that. I'm a father myself.
Welcomed the newest one into the world this past spring. I know that they're more worried about their children than
about the war at this time."

"It's one in the same! If they don't offer their children to us, we might as well just kill ourselves now." Alastor
snapped at Arthur as he slammed his fist on the table.

Arthur quickly pulled out his wand and pointed it at the one eyed Auror. "You heartless bastard. What are you fighting
for anyways? It seems as if you care for less than You Know Who does."

"ENOUGH!" Dumbledore shouted again. This time it shook the stone walls and one of the paintings fell off the wall and
made a large crash on the floor. "Now I partly agree with Alastor. We need to put the Longbottoms and the Potters into
hiding. At least until we can figure out something less restraining. Now the hard part will be finding a secret keeper.

"Sirius." James shot out with out skipping a beat. "There's no one I trust more."

"No. You two were legendary. A lot of people know of your exploits while in school." This caused James to smirk a bit,
especially at Snape's cold reaction. "If I wanted to find you, the first person I would go through would be Sirius.
No... we need someone less obvious." He stopped looking at James and Lily and he looked directly at Peter.

"Me?" Peter asked in a shocked tone. The only reason he really joined the Order was so he could remain with his friends.
So he could be protected by more powerful wizards rather than be expected to fend for himself. "You couldn't
possibly..."

"Oh yes, Master Pettigrew. You're not exactly an extraordinary wizard and not as well publicized as a friend of James
like Remus and Sirius. Keeping the secret will be easier. Same for Frank and Alice. I don't think you're that well known
as an order member." With much convincing and bribery, Peter decided it was for the best and took the position as Secret
Keeper for the Longbottoms and the Potters.
***

As the months passed, the Order felt that both families were safe and at the end of July both gave birth to boys. Frank
and Alice named theirs Neville and James and Lily named theirs Harry after Lily's father.

The good fortune for the families continued through Neville and Harry's first birthdays when the Order held a party for
them. It was the first time either family had seen any member of the Order since the birth of their children. The scene
was a joyous one with very little talk or feeling of Voldemort (mostly since they left Alastor guarding the
headquarters).

"Molly! Congratulations on the birth of your 7th. Her name is Ginerva, right?" Lily asked her friend as she greeted her
with an embrace.

"Yes... named after my eldest sister who perished at the start of the war."

"I'm sure she would be proud."

James, Remus, and Sirius were off in the corner with bottles of Fire Whiskey. "So where the hell is Peter? Wasn't he
invited?" James asked as he took a sip of his drink.

"He's been acting strange lately. He said he had things to do today." Remus explained to James in a rather nonchalant
manner.

"Things... what possibly could that rat be doing? I've been having trouble trusting him since we made him Secret
Keeper." Sirius grunted under his breath. The other two couldn't help but agree. They were all friends in school, but
they really didn't trust the integrity of a man who's Animagus form was a rat.

"Sirius... he's never given us any reason to distrust him. If he was sharing the secret, I firmly believe that something
would have happened by now. You Know Who wouldn't sit on information of Harry's whereabouts." Remus was always the most
logical in the group, even back when they were at Hogwarts. Even when they were at war, Remus would be the one trying to
think the Battlefield through while Sirius and James were throwing every spell in their books at the enemy.

James sighed a bit and looked at his son who was in the play pen playing with Neville, and Ron Weasley. "I also don't
entirely trust Severus. If their is a plot on mine and Lily's life, then I am forever in our debt, but what made him
trade sides. He hated me."

"But he loved Lily." Remus shot back. "I know you don't like to hear that, but he did. He still does probably."

"I know and if this saves Harry and Lily, I guess I can't be angry about it any more." James looked down at his glass
and then took another gulp. "I just can't wait for this to be over. For Harry's sake."

"I understand what you mean. Arthur was just telling us about his situation. He's welcomed 4 children into the world in
the past 4 years and his first is starting Hogwarts... he too is worried about the future..." Remus trailed off as he
glanced at the children and began staring into space.

Sirius grunted and took a large gulp of his whiskey. "If it were up to me, this war would be over by now. You and
Dumbledore think too much. We need to get spies out there, find out where he is and murder him in his sleep."

"Does he sleep? Don't you have to be human to do that?" James spat lazily. Lily looked over towards her husband and
noting his vacant expression, she walked towards him.

"Are you feeling all right, honey?" She asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Her looked up at her and nodded with
a small smile. "James, do you think it's time we talked to Padfoot with Dumbledore... alone."

James acknowledged her with a quick nod and stood up. "Sirius, we require a word with you in the other room... Remus, if
you will, could you entertain the guests while we're gone... tell them that joke you know."

The three grabbed Harry and as a group, they entered the master bedroom where Dumbledore was already waiting for them.
"What's all this about?" Sirius asked inquisitively, almost defensively.

"This war doesn't look like it's ending soon and we seem to be prime targets. We'd really be able to rest assured if we
knew Harry would be going to a good place if something happened to us...:" Lily said sweetly as she kissed her son on
the top of the head.

"I've always assumed that Remus would take him. He's certainly more responsible than me." Lily passed Harry to Sirius
who cradled him on instinct.

"That much is certain, but Lupin will constantly be under fire for being a werewolf. We can't let Harry grow up with
that. Remus understands this and he'd tell you the same thing." Sirius nodded at James' explanation. Remus was always
sensitive about his double life as a monster. On the other hand, their group of friends were so used to it that they
rarely gave it a second thought.

Sirius took a long, deep thought about it. It wasn't as if he was going to say no, but he really didn't see himself as
being a good father to Harry or anyone for that matter. He was supposed to be a loner. "What do you want me to do?"

"We've decided that it would be best for you to become his godfather magically. That way the Ministry can't take him in
some sort of legal power play." James explained to his friend and then looked at Dumbledore. "If you would, sir, I would
like you to be the one to perform it."

"Of course, James." Albus stood up and took Harry from Sirius. He then took a small knife out of his pocket. "With your
permission, I will need a drop of Harry's blood." Both Lily and James nodded and Dumbledore scratched Harry with the
knife. Oddly enough, the child didn't even let out a small cry. With the same knife, he cut Sirius' palm allowing the
blood to mix on the blade.

"Now what?" Sirius asked, unfamiliar with the ceremony.

"Now I put the mixed blood in a vial and we put the unbreakable vow on it." Dumbledore disclosed as he pulled a vial out
of his pocket at dropped the blood into it. "Now, Sirius... you must place your wand on the vial and say the spell
vinculum infragilis."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, but followed Dumbledore's instructions. "Vinculum Infragilis!" He tapped the top of the glass
bottle and it began to glow.

"Now James, do the same with yours. You will speak for Harry." James followed Dumbledore's directions and did exactly
what Sirius did and the blood turned a distinct goldish color. "Good, now Sirius, you take this as it will prove the
bond." He nodded and slipped it into his inside pocket.

Sirius and Lily both exited the bedroom right after the spell to rejoin the party, but Dumbledore and James stayed
behind with Harry. "James... I was hoping that we could talk about your invisibility cloak."

"My cloak? Why...?"

"No reason in particular, I just feel that it will be come very important in the future."

***

July turned into August and August to September and September into October. All seemed to be going well with the war as
Voldemort hadn't made any real power plays since mid August. All was going well until there was a knock on the door of
the Potter's Godric Hollow home on Halloween. They wrote it off as a trick or treater, but were quite surprised to see
Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" James exclaimed as he opened the door and saw his two best friends. From the
looks on their faces, he immediately knew that they weren't baring good news.

He invited them in and they sat in the living room in front of the fire place. "Well, there's no way to put this
lightly, but I just got word from Dumbledore... Frank and Alice were killed this morning. Bella Lestrange with her
husband." Lily dropped the tray of mugs that she was carrying and they all shattered on the floor.

"What of Neville?" She asked in a distraught, sad tone.

"We don't know. Dumbledore said his body hadn't been found, but that's not to say he survived... and if he did, may God
have mercy on his soul." Remus put his head in his hands thinking of his fallen friends.

"Regardless, this is the day that we've been dreading for over a year." Sirius said coldly, looking out the window. "You
need to come to my home, we can protect you here."

James and Lily looked at each other and then at Remus. "Mooney... we can't uproot ourselves permanently..." To Lily's
surprise, Lupin agreed with her.

"The Order has this place on watch. We're going to try to draw You Know Who out by leaving. We think that if he's not
expecting a fight, he won't come up with guns blaring. This might be our last chance to win." Lupin explained to his two
good friends as Sirius grunted at the plan.

"Rubbish, if you ask me." He spat. "These are our friends, Remus. They aren't dead worms."

"Sirius, this might be the only chance they have at a normal life."

"Is it?" The group spun around to see Voldemort standing in the living room. "Where is the boy." Without saying a word
the group pulled their wands out and aimed them at the Dark Lord. "I could have killed all four of you before I even
thought about getting your wands, but I like to play with my food before I eat it."

"Lily... go get Harry out of here and then get help. Sirius, Remus and I can hold off Snake-Eyes." James told his wife
without taking an eye off his adversary.

Voldemort just sneered at the company. "Don't think I don't have help." He snapped his fingers and out of nowhere
appeared Antonin Dolohov, Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Walden MacNair, and the Carrows appeared next to him.

"Lily, Go! Stupefy!" James shouted all it one breath. The house soon erupted into a mass of total and complete chaos.
Disregarding their own safety, they stayed with the Death Eaters making sure no one got up the stairs to where Lily and
Harry were making their escape. Suddenly, Voldemort disappareated in the middle of the fight.

"Remus! Sirius! He's going after Lily!" James screamed as he blitzed up the steps, almost getting up the whole staircase
in one power leap. Once he reached Harry's room at the end of the hall, he kicked the door in and saw Voldemort standing
in front of both Lily and Harry. Looking to be somewhat hurt, with a cut on her foreheads, she had her wand in one hand
and Harry in her other arm. James threw a stunning spell at him that went right over his head.

Voldemort turned around and smiled at him again. "Good of you to join us, Potter."

"Leave her alone, Goddamn you, get out!" James barked tossing another hex towards the Dark Lord. Voldemort easily
blocked it with out even reaching for his wand.

"Potter, you must think less and let the power take you away. Until you can do that, you won't ever beat me." The Dark
Lord whispered to James. Without a response, James threw a few more curses towards Voldemort and then decided to take a
more physical approach.

He backed up a bit and took a running start at tackling Voldemort. Before he made contact, Voldemort disappeared and
reappeared just so James would run right through him "Fool!"

"You shouldn't have come here, Tom," Dumbledore's disembodied voice taunted the Dark Lord. For the first time in since
he arrived, Voldemort shivered and began to sweat.

"Dumbledore... sh...show yourself our are you too much of a coward?"

"I am not the coward, Tom. All you do is use the element of surprise on your enemies. Now power ever shown."
Dumbledore's disembodied voice spoke in an onimous tone. Then out of nowhere, he appeared next to James.

Voldemort quickly forgot about Lily and Harry and put all his focus on the two male wizards. "Your lines are failing
downstairs. Soon you will star losing good people. People you can't afford to lose. You can go if you promise to leave
James, Lily and Harry alone."

James quickly shot a questioning look at his former professor. "Al..." But he was cut off by Dumbledore pulling out his
wand.

"You're too weak to continue this fight. Leave."

Voldemort looked around and saw Harry asleep in his mother's arms. "Fine, Old man, but I will be back. And don't stand
in my way when I get back." With that, Voldemort disappeared as did the noise downstairs. Before the group in Harry's
bedroom knew it, Remus and Sirius had run up the stairs to help out.

"They're gone. Just disappareated." Remus exclaimed, out of breath. After a long winded explanation by the head wizard,
Remus and Sirius retreated to the fire place in the living room while Dumbledore and James discussed things in the
bedroom.

"Albus... that felt really anti-climactic."

"Climax? Ha. We haven't even gotten passed the beginning, my friend. The climax lies not with us, but with Harry."

***

After discussing the attack with Dumbledore, James went downstairs to see his wife and his two best friends sitting on
the couch in a daze. Lily was lazily playing with Harry's hair and staring into the fire while James walked over to her
and kissed her on the top of the head. "Hello, Luv. How are you feeling?"

"I've been better... Kind of have a headache." She looked up and smiled at him with loving eyes. "Come sit down, it'll
make you feel better."

"A little bit later. I need to have a word with Sirius." James motioned towards the kitchen, which was burnt to a crisp
from all of the random spell work that was going on earlier. "Dammit, Sirius... how in the bloody hell did this happen?"
James asked in anger. Not towards Sirius, but towards to the entire order. He knew Sirius wasn't going to answer.

Sirius then began to look around the room, prodding and sniffing through everything as if he were in dog form.
"Sirius... what's wrong?"

"I think I smell a rat." James' heart sunk. He hadn't even thought about Pettigrew through the whole ordeal.

"You don't think...?"

"I hope not for his sake." Sirus snarled. He continued to tear apart the kitchen until he stopped in front of one of the
cabinets on the floor. "Wand at the ready, James." Sirius swung the door open and saw a fat grey rat scurrying around in
the cabinet. "ANIMAGUS REVEALO!" He shouted while stabbing the rat with his wand. Suddenly, a fat, rodent like man
appeared where the rat once was.

"Sirius, James. Wonderful to see that you're all right." He smiled as he hopped out of the cupboard. "What happened to
You-Know-Who?"

"YOU DID THIS, YOU... YOU... BASTARD! YOU KILLED FRANK AND ALICE! YOU TRIED TO KILL JAMES AND LILY! DEATH IS TOO GOOD
FOR YOU!" Sirius barked as he chased after Peter, who had began to run towards the front door.

Before he could get out Remus stepped in front of it. "I don't think so, Old friend..."

"Remus... I'm innocent! I swear!" Peter got on his hands and knees and began to kiss Money's feet.

"If you're innocent, you have nothing to worry about. The Dementors would never kiss an innocent man." At that,
Pettigrew began to morph into a rat again. "ANIMAGUS REVERTO!" Remus yelled and Peter quickly turned back to human form.

Sirius walked up to Peter and kicked him in the side. "We should kill him now. With his Animagus abilities, he'd be able
to theoretically sneak passed the Dementors."

"No. I want to know why. I want to know what made him turn on his friends." James quickly replied to Sirius'
proposition.

"Why isn't important, James."

"It is to me..." He turned to Peter and glared right into his eyes. "WHY!"

Peter looked around the room for help from the others. Sirius and Remus both had the same looks on their faces and Lily
had gone up to make sure Harry didn't see what was about to take place. "He offered me... everything. Protection, money,
a hideaway for after the take over. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"That's all you ever been good at, Rat." Sirius hissed. "You joined up with us because we were the best wizards of our
day. You joined the Order because Voldemort wouldn't mess us. And you sold out your friends to the Devil because he
wouldn't kill you. You give the House of Gryffindor a bad name." Sirius raised his wand and pointed it at Pettigrew.
"You'll be lucky if I don't kill your right here."

"NO!" James yelled pushing Sirius away from Peter. "You're not stooping to his level, Padfoot. We are not killers."
Sirius looked over to kick him again, but to his shock, he was gone.

"GOD DAMMIT! DAMN IT ALL! I'm going after him." Sirius screamed at the top of his lungs before James stopped him from
continuing.

"Let it go, my friend. We will catch up with him one day and he will answer for what he did to all of us, but that is
not this day. Today we mourn the loss of our friends and celebrate our lives." James looked at Sirius and smiled. "Or at
least that's what I think Dumbledore would say."

The three friends looked at each other and began to laugh. They didn't know why, but for some reason it felt good. They
had just lost three friends. Two through death and a third through the most despicable betrayal. "Trust me, Gentlemen,
we will find him one day and he will be sorry. I just want to check on my beautiful wife and child. Anyone care to join
me?" Remus and Sirius followed James up the stairs, for some reason oddly comforted by James' words.

A/N: Whew! That was my longest chapter yet. Well now that I finished my first chapter and you all get my premise, I will
redo the summary. I wanted it to be somewhat of a surprise, so I left it vague. Well, next chapter should be up soon.
This is flowing a heck of a lot better than my other story (which I still will be writing).

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2. Growing Up Potter

Chapter 2: Growing Up Potter
A/N: The nice reviews are really overwhelming, thanks guys. And to answer some of the questions. The fate of Neville is
still up in the air. The scene was so messy that they can't confirm or deny his survival at this time. Also, no, Harry
is not the Boy Who Lived. In fact, there isn't a Boy Who Lived, because Voldemort never actually died. Well, I hope that
answered some questions and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

"Come here, Harry, come to mommy." Lily told Harry in a very sweet manner as she held out her arms for him to walk into.
James was holding his arms above his head, making sure he didn't let go until he was ready and Sirius was sitting with
Remus on the couch watching the whole affair.

The two weeks since the attack were going very well for the Potters, all though they couldn't wait to move out of 12
Grimmauld Place once their new home was ready. It's not that they didn't enjoy living with Sirius and Remus, but they
needed to get on with living their lives on their own. That and 12 Grimmauld Place wasn't exactly the epitome of
happiness. It was still inhabited of the memory of Sirius' pro-blood purity mother and since they were fighting for the
resistance, the Potters weren't what one would call welcomed guests.

"Come on, Harry. You can do it." Lily smiled at him and James let go allowing to take three steps into Lily's arms as
Remus snapped a wizard's picture. Once he reached her arms, Harry collapsed into them and she pulled him into a big hug.

James walked over to the couch were Sirius and Remus were seated. "The Order will be here soon, right?" Just then,
Arthur came out of the fire place holding Ron, accompanied by Amos Diggory, and Xeno Lovegood holding his daughter Luna.
"Ah welcome, it's good to see all of you." James exclaimed shaking each of their hands.

"We're so glad all of you are all right. We were all worried sick when we heard about the attack. Molly was devastated
when she heard about Frank and Alice, I don't think she could have handled you." Arthur told his friends as he set Ron
down on the floor with Harry.

"It must have been a One Eyed Transparent Jlarmonican spying on you..." Xeno placed his daughter on the floor with the
other two children.

Remus, Sirius, and James looked at each other with questioning looks on their faces and then they looked at Arthur who
was rolling his eyes. "A what?" Sirius finally got the courage to ask.

"A One Eyed Transparent Jlarmonican..." Xeno told him condescendingly as if it were a common thing. "They sneak into
your house through chimneys and spy on the people in it. I've known You-Know-Who's been using them since the start.
Quite clever if you ask me."

Rather than question it more, the three decided to let it go and convene in the dining room with Lily watching the
children. Soon afterwards Molly Weasley came with Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny from the Burrow (Arthur had
been at The Lovegood House with Ron prior to his arrival). "Lily, I'm sure this meeting will concern you more than it
will me. Leave all of them to me." Lily thanked her with a hug and ran into the Dining Room where a meeting table was
set up.

Lily was surprised that in her time of watching Harry and his friends, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Filius
Flitwick, Severus Snape, Kingsley Shacklebolt (the newest Auror) and Alastor Moody had arrived and were already
discussing the attack. "Lily, it's good of you to join us." Dumbledore greeted her as he magically pulled another chair
up to the table between Sirius and James. "I was just explaining to everyone about Peter Pettigrew and asking if anyone
had any suggestions of how to prevent future betrayals."

"You've heard my idea several times, Albus, but for some reason you keep saying no." Snape stated to Dumbledore cooly.

"I will not subject my allies to random veritiserum tests. The one thing that makes us better than Voldemort is our
ability to trust." Dumbledore reminded the greasy black haired man sitting to his right. That line struck a chord with
most people at the table. Not only did Dumbledore trust Snape enough to sit in on the Order meetings, but he hired him
as The Potions Master after Horace Slughorn retired last year. "Now, Lily. Since you're here, I think we should move on
to protection. Regardless of his so called disappearance, he still wants Harry."

Lily's heart sank. She knew this was most likely true, but she hated the way Dumbledore said it. "What do we do?"

"We've been setting up a Muggle home for you. Voldemort doesn't think highly of Muggles at all. He won't waste his time
with them until the Wizards are all gone. That would be the best place for you to hide." Dumbledore recited as if he
were trying to sell beach front property.

She wasn't sure what to make of the whole ordeal. She grew up among Muggles, but had she been away from them so long
that she couldn't do it again. "What about our magic?" she asked him.

"You will be able to use it, but not over use it. We're not exactly sure of what Voldemort is capable of." The room
shuttered a bit at his name. Dumbledore was constantly trying to make them understand that fearing the name only makes
him more powerful. "He might be able to detect suspicious magic."

Lily and James looked at each other knowingly. She could tell that he didn't especially want to live around Muggles. He
liked her parents well enough, but everyone else, like her sister, weren't exactly high on his list of who to send
Christmas cards to. "James..."

He nodded and relented to Lily. He knew it was for the best, especially for their son and Lily's secret. "We'll take it,
Albus. You're right it is the best thing we have going now." She smiled at James and nodded her head.

"You know, since we're all here... hold on... MOLLY!" James yelled into the other room. "Come on in here, we have an
announcement to make." Molly came running in with both Ginny and Harry in he arms, Charlie was holding Luna and Percy
with Ron and Fred and George tumbling in shaped into little balls.

Lily and James smiled at each other again and clasped hands. "Well, I'm pregnant again." The whole crowd burst out into
applause and joy. This was exactly what they needed in the dark time they were in. They all forgot about Voldemort,
except for Moody who was off brooding in the corner thinking of ways they could track Voldemort.

In the month that followed, the work on their house in a little London suburb was complete and they moved into it with
no incidence. It certainly wasn't Godric's Hollow, but it was a nice comfortable little place to call home. It was
small, yet big enough for an expanding family That was good because on June 15th, they welcomed Carolyn Potter into the
world and about one year later on April 5th, Lily gave birth to Christopher Potter.

Harry grew up to be a normal child despite having the unique ties to Voldemort that no other child of his age could say
they had, except for Neville Longbottom, God rest his soul. He began walking and talking a little bit later normal age,
but nothing too odd.

On nice days, Lily used to take Harry, Carolyn and Christopher down to the park. Most of the time, they went very
normal, very Muggle as James used to put it, but one time when Harry was five something really different happened. It
was a strangely beautiful December day. A fresh coat of snow had fallen on the ground the night before and it was if all
of Britain was a Winter Wonderland. The park looked like one of those paintings where the snow was fluffy, covering
trees and houses with smoke was coming out of every chimney.

"Mommy...?" Harry whimpered. "What if I'm not like you?" He asked his mother.
She was surprised at his question. First, he was only five. Most children weren't odd if they didn't display magic up
until they were nine, some maybe even later. Also, she wondered what had prompted this. He didn't really spend much time
with witches and wizards his own age. Ron and Ginny came sometimes when Molly and Lily would have tea, but otherwise he
was oblivious to the use of magic by his peers.

"Sweetie, there's nothing to worry about. Just because Ron has already developed his magic doesn't mean you won't." Lily
sweetly told her son as she continued to push the stroller that held Harry's brother and sister. The walked a little bit
more until they saw a man with two girls that looked very familiar to the.

"Ms... Potter?" The man asked as he got closer to them.

"Yes?" She knew she had seen his face before but for some reason, she could place where.

"Oh dear, this must be terribly awkward. I'm David Granger from next door. I just realized we haven't formally met in
the passed five years. Marie and I are always so terribly busy." David reached his hand out to his neighbor and she
shook it.
Lily then remembered a few times how she had seen him working in the yard a couple times. "Ah yes. How are you?" She
warmly greeted him as if they had known each other for years.

"I'm quite fine. Beautiful day we're having here. Except these two are running me through a loop." He pointed to his two
girls and smiled. "This is Julie and my youngest, Hermione. She looks about the same age as your oldest."

Suddenly several snow birds in the sky began to fly backwards and several trees began to teleport to different places
around the park. Apparently Mr. Granger didn't see anything as he continued talking, but Lily wasn't so fortunate. She
looked down at Harry who had a questioning look on his face. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but we must be going. It's
getting late." She said quickly and walked away, not looking back to see if the problem had corrected itself.

"JAMES! You're not going to believe what happened at the park today!" She called as she entered the house with her three
children. "Harry did his first magic today!"

James ran towards his son and picked him up in his arms to bring him in for a big hug. "That's wonderful, my boy! This
calls for a celebration!" With in a few hours the Potters had arrived at Dumbledore's Office where they were met by
Sirius and Remus.

"Congratulations, Harry. In accordance with my duties as your Godfather, I brought it upon myself to get you your first
owl." Sirius lifted a blanket off of a cage and revealed to Harry a beautiful white snowy owl. "Now, remember don't let
your father take this away from you." Sirius looked up at James and gave him a sarcastic look.

"Thank you, Unca Siryus." Harry smiled at his Uncle and took the cage with him to the opposite side of the room to show
Ron and Ginny.

The gathering was a great time for all parties involved. James and Lily really didn't have much contact with the magical
world now that they were in pseudo hiding. They still regularly got together with Remus and Sirius and Lily had tea with
Molly Weasley every now and then, but otherwise their meetings were few.

"Albus... Do you think we could have words?" James asked the old Hogwarts headmaster with a sense of worry in his voice.

"Of course, James." The two wizards exited the room and began to walk through the halls of the school.

"Merlin, it hasn't changed a bit since I left. Yet it has... it doesn't seem as happy as it used to. The joy is gone."
James reminisced and bowed his head. Back when he was younger, Voldemort wasn't the foremost on everyone's mind, in fact
he didn't start to truly gain power until his and Lily's 6th year. "I want the truth, Albus... how is the war going?"

"Deceptively well. Voldemort has gone into hiding because of that loss five years ago. He's spending time building an
army while he deceives the world that he doesn't exist anymore. Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange have gone back to
work among others." Dumbledore shook his head and sighed lowly. He wasn't one to admit defeat easily, but he couldn't
help feeling down about this one.

"Lestrange and Malfoy? They were the ones responsible for the Death of the Longbottoms. How the hell can they be allowed
back in the ministry?" James exclaimed disgustedly with another string of colorful metaphors accompanying it. Luckily,
it was the Christmas holiday.

"That was close to my reaction. But, they denied it and they are so talented in occulumency that veritiserum won't work
on them. They also claimed that they were under the influence of the imperius curse... again that can't be verified, so
they're being given the benefit of the doubt." Dumbledore didn't try to hide the contempt in his voice. The normally
whimsical old wizard was starting to show the fatigue that war brought on people. "There's also a child. Bella has a new
baby who I just know is Neville, yet I cannot prove it..."

"This is the calm before the storm, James. And I fear for the future. After seeing what Harry's first display of magic,
I believe he will be one of our last hopes."

Dumbledore was right in a way. Voldemort didn't reveal himself, but there were countless mysterious disappearances that
were unexplainable by Muggle and Wizard Law Enforcement teams. The Potters nor the rest of the Order ever said anything,
but it had to be Voldemort. There was no other answer.

"You know, Carolyn. You're probably a squib." Harry teased his sister as they were playing a game of wizard's chess.
Harry was nine, his sister was seven and she too had yet to display any type of magic.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"AM NOT! MOMMY!" She yelled out to the other room where Lily and James were washing the dishes from the meal before.
Both James and Lily came running out of the kitchen to see the table, the chess set and Harry on the floor in a large
heap with Carolyn standing over it with her arms held out in front of her.

"Honey... did you do that?" Lily beamed at her daughter's first display of magic. Carolyn simply shook her head as if
she though she were in trouble, but rather than yell, Lily picked her up and gave her a big hug.

"Harry, why don't we go for a little walk." His father told him while picking him up from the mess that was on the
floor. They exited the house and began to walk around the block. "Harry, I've been meaning to tell you something for
sometime now."

Harry looked up questionably at his father. Was it about his magic? Was he really not a wizard? Would he not be going to
Hogwarts with Ron in three years? "What is it?"

"I don't know if anyone ever told you, but the wizarding world is at war. There hasn't been a real battle in years, but
we are none the less at war." James bent his head down to look into his sons eyes, who obviously didn't understand.
"Years ago, there was a dark wizard named... Voldemort. He was as evil as they come and he didn't think very highly of
Muggle Born and Half-Blood witches and wizards like your mother."

"Why didn't he like Mom?" Harry asked, still seemingly confused.

"Well, no one is exactly sure, but he felt they were unworthy of magic. And he tried to wipe out everyone like that."
James tried to say it as simply as he could, but he was having trouble. How do you describe something as dark as war to
a nine year old? "There's something else. Before you were born a witch saw the future and she saw that there was a child
who would destroy Voldemort."

"And did he?" Harry asked the first question that came to mind.

"No... at least not yet. You see, that child is you." James got it out as fast as he could, worried about Harry's
reaction. "When you were just a baby, Voldemort attacked our wizardly home in hopes to get to you before you could get
to him."

Harry began to look a bit worried at the new revelation. "Dad...?"

"Your Uncles Sirius and Remus and Dumbledore were there to help us out and we got him to go away. He actually hasn't
been seen since." James tried to calm his son down who was visibly about to break down at the new information he got
from his father. "We were going to wait until before you went to Hogwarts, but I felt that you needed to know now."

Harry nodded and they didn't talk for the rest of the walk, but before they got back to their house, James leaned into
Harry. "Hey, want to go to Florean Fortesue's Ice Cream Parlour for Dessert in Diagon Alley?" Harry smiled up at his Dad
and nodded vigorously.

Harry handled the knowledge very well, at least that's what James and Lily thought. They didn't dare tell Harry about
Neville for more than obvious reasons. He didn't need to be worrying about his life at this time. The next two years
went on with out much incidence besides his brother having his first magical experience. It wasn't nearly as magnificent
as Harry's or Carolyn's, but it came earlier.

One of the bigger problems in Harry's young life were the experiences at Muggle school. He didn't go around advertising
his wizardry, but everyone knew there was something different about him. He did have several fiends, but he didn't enjoy
universal popularity. There was only one person who was more on the outside than he was and she was Hermione Granger.

Throughout their years going to the same school and living next door, they never spoke a word to each other. Hermione
just plain didn't talk and Harry didn't talk to her in fear of becoming even more of a social outcast. "Hey brainy!" One
of Harry's friends tossed an orange at her. Though he didn't exactly want to be friends with her, he did feel sorry for
her. No one should have to take abuse like that.

"Hey guys, maybe you should lay off. What'd she ever do to you?" Harry asked his friends rather affirmatively. He didn't
expect it to come out that way, but it did.

"What? Is she your Girlfriend or something. Potter and Granger sittin' in a tree..."

"Bloody hell, you guys are so immature." Harry got up from his seat at the lunch table and walked out of the cafeteria.
When he got home he relayed the story to his father.

"It wouldn't hurt for you to make some more Muggle friends. What do you think of Hermione?" His father asked him after
listening to the whole story.

Harry looked up at his father and pondered the question a little bit. "Well, she's kind of weird..."

"Harry, you're a wizard living among non-magical folk. And in the future you're destined to destroy the darkest wizard
of all time... I wouldn't exactly call that normal." Both Harry and James laughed at that one. Ever since that talk last
year, James and Harry were closer than ever, not that they weren't close before.

"I just can't wait to get out of this place. How long do I have?" Harry whimpered in a fake sad voice.

"This time next year you'll be studying for your mid term exams and getting ready to visit us for the Christmas holiday.
Just you wait. It will be amazing." James kissed his son on the forehead and walked out of the room to see what Lily was
doing.

Sure enough, right on the dot on July 31st, 1991, Harry received his letter to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry that September. "Congratulations, Harry." James clapped Harry on the back after reading the letter. "What do
you say we go to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get supplies and books."

Diagon Alley was one of the most fantastic places Harry had ever seen. He had been there many times a child, but he
never appreciated the true wonder of it. This was his world now and he would spend as much time trying to soak it all
in.

"Now, we should probably get your your wand first..." James suggested looking towards Ollivander.

They walked into Ollivander's shop and Harry thought he had stepped into heaven. There were wands of every shape and
size lining the wall and upon seeing them his eyes grew as wide as saucers and lit up. He had dreamed of this is whole
life, even picking up random twigs in the yard and pretending to hex his sister.

"'ello..." A crackley voice spoke from behind the counter. Harry stepped back for a second, bumping into his little
sister because of the the odd almost deranged voice the man had.. "Ow can I 'elp you t'day, master..."

"Yes, Mr. Ollivander. Do you remember me...?" James asked him.

"Ah yes... Potter. James Potter. 11 inches long, made out of mahogany with a dragon heartstring core... pliable and
excellent for Transfiguration." Ollivander smiled at James at the preciseness of his memory as James nodded. "I remember
every wand I ever sold."

Harry looked around as the two men talked about the use of James' wand and how it was holding up after all these years.
"Hey, Dad... What about this one." Harry asked pointing to a 12 inch rosewood with a dragon heartstring.

"Give't a flick." Ollivander offered and Harry did so, sending a blast that went right passed his sister's head and
knocking a couple wands off a nearby shelf. "Ah... powerful young wizard we 'ave 'ere... Try a phoenix feather wand...
Dumbledore uses one... as does You-Know-Who."

"I don't think I want a wand similar to You Know Who's." Harry expressed a bit of worry in his voice as he looked up at
his father.

"Harry, a wand isn't evil in itself. It can be used for evil, but that has nothing to do with the wand. Look at Albus
Dumbledore. He's the greatest wizard of all time and uses a similar wand to You-Know-Who." James clapped his son on the
back to reassure him and Harry nodded.

It was as if Ollivander didn't even need to see Harry's decision he had already reached for a large collection of
phoenix feather wands. After trying close to a dozen, Ollivander reached for what seemed to be the last hope. One made
of holley, 11 inches long with a Phoenix feather. "Try this."

Harry picked it up and gave it a tired flick and to his surprise nothing blew up. In fact, the wand tip began to glow
fiercely as if it were saying yes. "Wonderful, wonderful." Ollivander smiled at himself and gave them the wand for half
off. The three of them exited the shop and decided that it was time for lunch.

After lunch at The Leaky Cauldron, James figured that he wouldn't have enough money to complete the rest of the
purchases so they made way to Gringotts. "God, going to school costs a hell of a lot more than it did when I was a kid.
Here, I'm going to show you something that neither of you have ever seen before."

The three of them walked into the bank and saw three people that they never expected to see in there. Right before them
arguing with a Goblin was The Granger Family. "David Granger?" James Potter shouted out in a state of shock as he walked
over to them.

"Is this Muggle a friend of yours, Potter?" the Goblin asked James with a large amount of annoyance in his voice.

"Their my neighbors. What's the problem Griphook?"

"They don't understand our ways, Potter. Not that you wizards are much better. How's that sword by the way that
Dumbledore has in his office..." Harry didn't know this Griphook very well at all, but he knew that he didn't like him
all that much. He never really had met a more unpleasant person in his life.

After ten minutes of arguing with the Goblin, James settled the dispute and Griphook passed over a cloth pouch filled
with wizarding coins. "David, your daughter's a wizard?"

"Hermione is. You can imagine how shocking it was when we found out... a man named Albus Dumbledore came to our home and
explained it all to us... It's still all a blur." David seemed to be tired and very much overwhelmed.

James clapped his hand on David's back. "Why don't you all come with us. I know my way around pretty well. We just have
to get something out of our account."

The Hermione who was sitting next to Harry on the cart was exactly the same Hermione he knew from school. He gathered
that she wasn't much of a talker in general. "So... you're a witch?"

"Guess so." Harry was a bit put off. He was trying his hardest to make a new friend to have at Hogwarts, but it wasn't
working she was too quiet. A few minutes later she spoke again to break the silence. "Are you nervous?" she asked in a
quiet, sweet voice.

"Actually, no. My Dad's a wizard and my Mom's a witch. It's always where I felt like I belonged, even before I got my
letter. Are you?" Harry asked back, hoping for more of an answer than a simple yes or no.

"Oh yeah..." She smiled a little bit. "Ever since I was little, I've been a good student. I was probably close to the
top of the class... now I'm completely starting new. What if I'm not good enough, Harry?"

Harry smiled. He never really expected Hermione to be like this. He expected to be quiet, which in a way she was, but he
never expected her to be so insecure. "Hey, I know. I'll teach you about the Wizarding world. I'm pretty new myself to
the whole world, but I can help a little bit."

"Really?! You mean kind of like friends do?" She exclaimed. At this point he realized only what he believe before hand.
She wasn't used to having friends.

"No, Hermione... I mean exactly like friends." She engulfed him in a vice like hug, but quickly pulled away, looking
embarrassed. "It's okay. Hugs are fine, 'Mione."

As the rest of the summer wore on, James and Lily rarely ever saw their son or daughter. They were both always next door
at the Grangers, helping her read through all the books that she purchased at Flourish and Botts. Harry enjoyed giving
the lessons and making a new friend. He wasn't as socially awkward as Hermione, but he wasn't used to having many
friends. This was a welcomed experience.

"Bloody hell, Hermione. It's getting to the point where you know more than me... you've been practicing." Harry winked
at her from across the table.

"Every night. I have a reputation to keep." She returned his smile.

"Well, then I guess I'll have to stop helping you learn about our world." Their study sessions rarely stuck to studying.
They were mainly in place to get to know and enjoy each other. Both of their parents saw that the union was good for
them. The Grangers were initially worried that their daughter would have no friends. And the Potters thought that the
weight of Voldemort would crush Harry.

"Hey, Mione, I better be going. Mum wanted me home so we could have dinner one last time as a family before tomorrow.
I'll see you tomorrow at Eleven. We'll sit together on the train with some people that I know from growing up." Harry
smiled at her again and gave her a quick hug as he walked out the door.

As excited as he was for Hogwarts his whole life, he was even more excited now. He could only dream about all the
fantastic things awaiting he and his new best friend.

A/N: I think I'm going to end it here. I was going to feature the train ride, but I decided against it. I will add more
with Hermione in the next chapter (It might even be closer to her than Harry, not sure though). Hope you like it, Please
read and review.

P.S. I know there were no scenes with Harry's little brother, but I feel there will be times for that in later chapters.

Built by Text2Html

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3. Take the H Train

Chapter 2: Take the H Train
***

A/N: I'm really having a blast writing this and I have a lot to owe to my amazing readers. I'm getting a lot of comments
on the Neville situation and I want to say that it will be delt with in this chapter or the next.

***

Naturally, Harry couldn't sleep a wink that night. He kept neurotically looking through his trunk, making sure he had
everything and when he wasn't doing that, he was playing with his wand making it light up and move different things.
"Hedwig... not much longer." He told his feathered friend that he got from his Godfather six years ago. She clicked her
beak and hooted in what Harry thought was agreement, but there was no way he could be sure.

He felt so eager to call Hermione, but he decided against it. Her parents really liked him. He didn't want to spoil it
with calling in the middle of the night. "Harry..." The voice sounded from his doorway and he looked over and saw his
brother standing there.

"Christopher?" Harry asked into the darkness. "What's wrong?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Me either." This voice belonged to Harry's sister, Carolyn. "The kid was keeping me up." He was always a lot closer to
Carolyn than to Christopher. Probably because they were closer in age and had two years to get to know each other before
Christopher came. Also a lot of it had to do with he being social in school. All Harry and Carolyn seemed to have was
each other until Hermione came alone.

Without invitation, the both of them crawled into bed with Harry. "We don't want you to go tomorrow." Christopher
pleaded with his brother.

"I have to go... um... Hermione would be lost with out me." Harry made up the best excuse that he could think of that
didn't involve him belonging there. "Just think, in a couple years the two of you will be joining me there."

"Oh, I can't wait for you to go. I get to have my own room." She chided. Harry knew his sister well and he knew that she
actually would miss him, despite never wanting to say it. On the flip side, he would miss her too. She was always a
mainstay in his adventures since they were both little.

A light then went off in Harry's head. "Merlin, I almost forgot." He dove towards his trunk where he pulled out two rose
smooth colored stones. "I got these for you while I was in Diagon Alley. They're channeling stones. With them you can
talk to the other person who has them or other two in our case. I also had them link to Hermione."

"Thanks, Harry." They both gave him a hug and they spent the night talking about Hogwarts and how cool it will be when
they all were there. Rather then going back to their room, they fell asleep in Harry's bed, not wanting him to wake up
the next morning and go off to Hogwarts.

That next morning, when Lily and James went in to wake Harry, they were very surprised to find their two other children
in the bed with him. "Wake up, sleepy heads. Aguamente!" James laughed as he used his wand to spray cold water at his
kids. They all awoke with a jolt and tumbled out of the bed.

After waking up, Harry went into overdrive. Running back and forth from one end of the house to the other, making sure
he had everything. "Toothbrush! Wand! Extra Robes!" Rather than help him, his parents just stood by and laughed.

"Come on. If you forgot anything, we'll owl it to you." His mother knelt down to his level and kissed him on the nose.

"All you'll really need for the first few days are your robes and your wand... at least for the teachers I had.
McGonagall, Flitwick, Binns... I don't know about Snape though." James tried to keep the bias out of his voice, but he
didn't think it worked well after Lily shot him an evil glare.

She sent Harry off to his room to get the trunk into the car and pushed James into the nearest room. "We are not sending
our son to Hogwarts with pre conceived feelings for Severus..."

"Lil... he's not right... I trust Dumbledore, but I don't trust Severus." James' expression quickly became serious in a
way she hadn't seen him in a long time. "Honey, I know that I wasn't exactly the nicest person towards him in school,
but he was a dark wizard... there's no retribution for that."

"I know, but maybe Albus is right. Maybe he has changed." She bowed her head as if James' look was killing her.

"We both know why he changed. He got himself into a pretty big mess and he didn't want to see his beloved Lily get
hurt." James knew he had taken it too far when she walked out of the room with out a word. "Lily!" He knew it was no
good though. She just needed some time to calm down. "Dammit."

The drive to King's Cross was a tense one for James and Lily, but luckily for their children, they didn't sense it for
they were continuing the conversation from last night. "Lily..."

"James, we'll talk later." And that was that. There was no sense pushing the subject any further. "Hey, there's David's
car. Let's park there."

The five of them got out of the car along with Harry's trunk and Hedwig and they started moving towards the terminal.
"Do you want us to go through with you for the first time." His mother asked him and he nodded.

They didn't need to explain to him how to get through the barrier. He had quizzed them on it no less than a thousand
times. When then got to the other side, Harry marveled at the beautiful the red locomotive "Is this...?"

"Yeah. You're going to have a great time." Lily smiled at her son as she kissed him on the forehead.

"Now, remember, Harry. If you're not in Gryffindor, you're no longer welcome in our home." Harry's heart sank. He never
even thought of the change that he wouldn't be in that house. It was always expected for him to be in Gryffindor. What
if he was placed in Hufflepuff or worse... Slytherin.

"Harry! I saved us a compartment!" Yelled a voice from the train. He spun around and saw Hermione waving at him with a
huge smile on her face. Harry smiled back at her and look up at both his parents with wide, excited eyes.

Both Lily and James pulled him in for a hug and his two siblings soon joined in. Though he would greatly miss his
family, he couldn't wait to start his life at Hogwarts. It was as if that had been where he came from and he was going
home after so many years.

Before Harry got on the train he father took him aside and knelt down on the ground. "I didn't want to say this in front
of your mother, but give Filch 'Hell for me." James smiled at Harry and gave him a big hug before lightly tapping him
towards the train.

That was exactly what Harry needed. Without looking back, he hopped on the train and began scouring the halls to find
the compartment that Hermione was seated in, but before he could reach it, he ran into none other than Ron Weasley and
Luna Lovegood.

"Harry Potter!" Ron exclaimed as he clapped his hand on Harry's back. He hadn't seen Ron or Luna in years, but he could
certainly tell who they were. Ron had the classic Weasley distinguishing features, most notably the bright blue eyes and
striking red hair.

Luna hadn't changed one bit. She still had the same long blonde hair, the same vacant grey eyes and he even thought he
recognized the radish earrings that she wore back when they last saw each three years ago. "'Ello, 'Arry." Luna smiled
at him with a spacey look on her face.

"How the hell are you, mate?" Ron began to lead Harry down the hall, the opposite way. "Oy, it's been way too long."

"Uh... Ron, I have a compartment... with a friend of mine, I'm sure you could join us if you want." Ron was always a
little bit overbearing. Even when they used to play as children, he was always the dominating friend.

"Of course. That would be great. Come on, Luna." Ron went on plowing through the narrow passage ways as if he owned the
train.

"I'm sorry, Harry. Haven't been able to calm him since we left... he really is quite cute really." Luna smiled at Harry
while grabbing his hand. "Lead the way." Harry smiled back at his old friends and led them both back to the compartment
where Hermione was patiently waiting.

She appeared to be going through her fifth reading of A History of Magic, and at first, she didn't even see them come
in. "Oh! Harry! It's good to see you." Hermione was one of those people that were very skittish while reading. She
normally got so lost in a book that she forgot where she was if she was left alone with one long enough.

"Hey, 'Mione, I'd like to introduce you to Ron Weasley and Luna Lovegood. Friends of mine from the Wizarding World. Ron
and Luna, this is Hermione Granger, my next door neighbor." The three wizards introduced themselves, shaking hands and
finally sat down as the train began to disembark.

The train was everything Harry had expected and more. From his seat, he heard people dueling in the passage ways, though
Hermione told him that it was probably very much against the rules. Around twelve o' clock, Harry heard a large
explosion near their compartment that made the whole car shake and before Harry could go out and check to see what it
was, two similarly looking boys tumbled into where the four were sitting. "Bloody 'ell." One of them said.

"Bloody brilliant if I do say so myself." The other one commented. "Well, what do we have here? Our dear brother's found
some friends..."

"It was bound to happen sometime, mate." Both Harry and Hermione looked at each other as if they were about to get
whiplash from their method of speech because they kept trying to finish each others sentences and were succeeding pretty
well. It was if they were one person, but in two different bodies. "Oh how rude of us... he's George Weasley."

"And he's Fred." The other one piped up.

"And we're the Weasley twins." They exclaimed in perfect unison as they took a bow.

Harry had remembered them from when he was a kid, but not as well as Ron or Ginny. They tended to stay at home and play
tricks on Percy instead of coming to tea with their mother and younger siblings. "So... was that you?" Hermione piped
up.

"Was that us?"

"I'm almost insulted..."

"Spreading chaos is our specialty..."

"Yet people still have to ask..." Harry, Ron and Luna let out a bit of a snigger, but Hermione glared at them.

"You know if you're caught doing something bad, you'll be in detention before you even get to school." Hermione scolded
them for their foolish behavior in a very matter of factly tone.

The twins looked at each other and began to laugh furiously, slapping each other on the back. "May I ask what's so
funny?" Hermione questioned incredously.

"You. The Weasley Twins. Caught. No one that goes to Hogwarts is stupid enough to turn us in..."

"Not if they don't want to wake up with a third limb."

The boys laughed again and exited the compartment. "Sorry about them, they can't help it really. They're funny most of
the time, except when you're at the receiving end of one of their 'practical jokes.'" Ron apologized to Hermione who
looked a little bit shocked and hurt. "They told me that I'll probably end up in Hufflepuff and they magically charmed
my room to have everything to be in their colors. That's unlikely though. I'll probably be in Gryffindor like the rest
of my family."

"Yep. My Dad told me that if I weren't in Gryffindor I'd have to find a new place to stay." Harry laughed a bit, but
Hermione looked down right dreadful again.

"Gryffindor? What about Ravenclaw, they're the house of cleverness and wit... that seems to define you pretty well."
Hermione exclaimed. Her true goal was to be in Ravenclaw, but at the same time, she didn't want to spend her time at
Hogwarts any other way, but with Harry.

"Wit beyond measure is Man's greatest treasure." Luna smiled as she recited her favorite quote.

Harry gave Luna a questioning look. "Hey, I just thought of something... aren't you still ten?"

Luna lazily shook her head. "I'll be eleven next week. Daddy thinks You-Know-Who is coming back and he decided it would
be better for to go to school as one of the younger ones in my class, rather than one of the oldest." Harry wasn't
exactly sure how they linked together, but his Dad used to tell him about Lovegood logic and he decided no to question
it.

The four of them continued to talk about what Hogwarts and what their first classes would be like and the sorting,
though it noticeably wasn't Hermione's favorite subject. As the sun began to hang low in the sky, the four heard
murmuring outside the compartment.

"What doe we have here?" sneered a voice as the compartment door swung open and in walked a thin, pale bleached blonde
boy accompanied by three hulking "side-kicks."

The blonde boy stalked the room, examining each person and piece of cargo in it. "A Weasley and a Mudblood. The other
two look semi-respectable. If only they would pick better friends."

"You did NOT just call my friend a Mudblood," Harry stood up and pulled out his wand which was resting in his sleeve.
"You'll apologize or I'll hex you from here to Azkaban."

Rather than back off, like Harry thought he would, he and his goons just laughed it off. "You've got spirit..."

"Potter. Harry, Potter."

"Well, Potter. They call me Draco Malfoy and these are Crabbe, Goyle, and Entwistle." Ron suddenly looked disgusted and
pulled his wand out to back up Harry.

"Malfoy... take after your father, I imagine. Your father stopped mine from progressing in the ministry." Ron spat at
Malfoy, thinking about all the hexes he could throw.

"That had nothing to do with my father. Your last name did it to him." Harry didn't know Malfoy at all, but he was
already sure that they wouldn't get along... ever. He was sure that his father mentioned the name somewhere, but he
couldn't be too sure. If he had a knut for every time his father mentioned a wizard's name in anger, he probably
wouldn't have to work a day in his life.

"Oh yeah, Malfoy...? um... uh..." Ron stammered trying to think of a spell, but he couldn't. He was beginning to wish
that Fred and George were there to help him out. "Damn..." He sat down and put his head in his hands.

Malfoy and his goons began to laugh, except for Entwistle who just stood there and looked angry as if he didn't find
humor in it... or he didn't get it. Harry didn't find him to be a very quick witted. "Avis Oppugno!" Harry yelled,
pointing his wand at Malfoy. Out of the tip, flew a large flock of canaries and they charged right at Malfoy and his
cronies. "You wanted something, Malfoy?"

Harry sat down and smiled at his first spell cast by his new wand. When he actually got down and thought he realized
that it was the first spell that he did on purpose. "You know, if I get in trouble, it will be worth it."

"Don't say that, Harry!" Hermione shrieked. Harry was a bit taken aback by Hermione's behavior towards breaking the
rules. Harry saw this whole Hogwarts experience as a chance to live on the edge, but Hermione didn't share his
sentiments.

A half hour later, Ron and Luna took their leave to talk to Percy and then change into their school uniforms. Harry gave
Hermione a look that screamed 'welcome to the Wizarding World' that really made her laugh, for the first time since they
got on the train.

"'Mione, you okay?" Harry asked her when he noticed that she was aimlessly look out the window.

"I'm not sure, Harry. I thought I was getting good at this whole magic thing and then I met Fred and George... and that
spell you shot at that Malfoy person. I could never dream of that." Hermione lamented. Harry looked into her eyes and
saw that tears were starting to form.

"'Mione... there are tons of Muggle Borns that go to Hogwarts and they eclipse people like Malfoy all the time. I mean,
my mum was a Muggle born like you and she excelled far beyond my Dad who was completely pureblood." Hermione looked up
and smiled at him. He could tell that made her feel a little bit better, so much that she continued to chatter away
about how exciting it was to go off to a completely new place and learn completely new things.

As they heard the announcement over the intercom that they would soon be reaching Hogwarts, they decided that it was
time to change into their robes. "What's a Mudblood?" Hermione asked so suddenly that it made Harry drop the book that
he was reading.

"Um... nothing important really..." Harry tried to cover it up the best he could, but Hermione just glared at him with
one eye-brow raised. "Uh... it's just that some Wizards, like Malfoy, I imagine and You-Know-Who, feel that some wizards
are better than others because they come from a whole family of wizards. Mudblood is a derogatory term that means
someone who has Muggle blood in them... dirty blood, as they think. It's a load of rubbish."

Surprisingly, Hermione didn't look at all hurt, she just shook her head in agreement. "With all the magic, I find it
that the haven't yet progressed passed Muggles yet."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked her with his head cocked to the side.

"Well, it's just that in many cultures, racism runs rampant, it's just odd to see that the wizarding world, as
progressed as they are suffers from the same prejudice." Hermione explained to him, not as he though she would. She
didn't sound like a teacher trying to fill his head with knowledge, but as someone who was truly upset with the world
around them.

Harry thought about it for a second and he began to realize how right she was. He had never thought of Purebloods vs.
Mudbloods as a parallel to Muggle racism, but it rather did make sense. "I never thought about it that way... you're
right... but you'll show them." She smiled up at him and then did something that she had never planned on doing. She
lightly and sweetly kissed him on the cheek.

"You're so sweet, Harry. I'm so glad we're friends." She then pulled him into a big hug.

The rest of the train ride was more or less uneventful or at least there were no more Malfoys or Weasley twins visiting
their compartment. Towards the end of their trip, Ron and Luna joined them, full decked out in their Hogwarts uniforms.
"Percy said he'd deal with Malfoy later. Though, oddly enough I think it was just to get rid of me. He's been such an
arse since he got that shiny new prefect badge."

"Typical Percy." Luna rolled her eyes and sat down next to Ron who had already sat across from Harry and Hermione.

A few minutes later, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade station and all of the young witches and wizards stepped
off of it.

"Firs' years t' the right... the res' o' ya know where t' go." yelled a large, bearded man at the top of his lungs.
Harry was a bit taken aback. Every thing magical that he had personally seen up to now didn't look all that strange, but
the giant did.

The giant led all of the first years towards the Black Lake and on to boats only big enough for four. Harry, Hermione,
Ron and Luna stepped into one of the larger ones closest to them. "Ah... wonderful... no' many people join me t' the
castle." The giant exclaimed as he stepped into the boat, almost sinking it. "Oh, 'ow rude o' me... I'm Rubeus Hagrid,
Keeper o' the Keys... an' you mus' be James Potter's boy."

"Yes, sir. Harry." Harry said at almost a whisper.

"I miss 'im. Always useta visit me wit' his friends... er... Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and um... we best not talk o' the
other one." Hagrid looked at the other two who were noticeably frightened by him. "An you mus' be Ron Weasley. Charlie
used to speak a lot of you. It won't be the same wit out him aroun'"

The boats moved closer to the castle, and the four began to get to know Hagrid and they realized that he wasn't as scary
as he seemed to be. He was actually quite nice. "Ah... well, we're here. I hope we get ta talk later or summat."

As the boats pulled up to the shore, the new students finally got an idea of how big the castle actually was. Even
Hagrid looked small in comparison. "Allrigh' now... Everone enter through the main entrance and wait fer McGonagall.
She'll explain everything to you."

All the young students walked into the entrance hall and took in the amazing image that they beheld. Hermione looked at
Harry with wide eyes. She had read all about what she could look forward to, but she never imagined that it would look
like this. "Ah. Welcome first years. My name is Professor McGonagall. In a few moments I will ask all of you to enter
the Great Hall to be sorted. When I call your name, you will come to the front and place the Sorting Hat on your head
and you will be placed into that house where you will remain for the rest of your time at Hogwarts. Now... I need to
check on some things. I'll be right back."

Harry wasn't sure what to think of Professor McGonagall, except that she seemed to be very by the book and seemingly
strict. His father spoke much praise of her, but Harry didn't see it at this point in time. The whole experience was
starting off so fast. It seemed like it was just ten minutes ago that he was on the train, throwing his first curse at
Draco Malfoy.

He looked over to a crowd of rather unfriendly looking first years and he saw Draco right in the center, not that it
really surprised him. But the thing that really did surprise him was Entwistle. He seemed to be really detached from the
group, as if he really didn't want to be there at all.

"Okay, we're ready for you now." McGonagall spoke in the kindest, most encouraging voice that she could muster, but it
still came off as that of an angry librarian.

The mass of about 100 students moved into the Great Hall at a slow, nervous pace. No one really wanted to be sorted, yet
all of them couldn't wait to see what house they would be in. It was a paradox that every first year had to suffer,
except the Weasley Twins. Fred and George decided to take bets to see if they could will themselves into Slytherin, and
they also had bets on how long it would take for their mother to send a howler.

The Great Hall was magnificent, everything that Harry dreamed about. The four long tables divided by house, the great
ceiling that looked like it could reach all the way to the heavens and the glorious staff table where all the teachers
and Hagrid sat watching the first years file in.

"Now it is time for the first years to be sorted. Minerva, you will take it from here." An elderly man at the center of
the staff table, that Harry knew to be Albus Dumbledore spoke. He waved his had towards the chair standing right in
front of the staff table and the Sorting hat appeared. Just afterwards, Minerva McGonagall pulled a large piece of
parchment out of her robes and began reading.

"Abbott, Hannah!" Professor McGonagall spoke as loudly as she could, and from what Harry heard, it was loud enough to
ring out through the entire room. From the small crowd, a small pink faced with her strawberry blonde hair tied back in
pigtails stepped up towards the stool and put the hat on.

"Hufflepuff." Harry whispered to Hermione. Sure enough, after a few seconds, the hat shouted Hufflepuff. Harry continued
doing this and getting it right almost half the time, each time causing Hermione to laugh.

"Entwistle, Oscar!" Professor McGonagall yelled again.

"Slytherin." Harry rolled his eyes as if they didn't need to waste time seeing where he would end up.

Oscar got up to the chair and McGonagall placed the hat on his head and despite what Harry thought, the hat began to
speak in a voice that only Oscar could hear. "Hmm... Entwistle... one would expect you to go into Slytherin... but you
don't feel a connection with that house."

"No... but I don't know why... I just know I don't belong there." Oscar whimpered into the hat.

"I wouldn't suppose that you do, but that is for another discussion... if not Slytherin than it better be...
GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled and rather than get the applause that the rest of the students got, the hall just continued
to stay silent. Without looking at the faces of his other classmates, he ran towards the Gryffindor table and put his
head down.

Harry simply looked at Hermione with a shocked look on his face. "Bloody 'ell. I don't think anyone expected that one."

"Well, Harry. Maybe there's more to Oscar Entwistle than meets the eye." Hermione smiled back at Harry, but it was no
use, he was still completely confused at what had just happened.

Before they could chat anymore, Hermione's name was called. Though she should have expected it, her eyes showed that she
was completely caught off guard and she probably never would have made it up if Harry didn't give her a little nudge.

Hermione cautiously walked up to the front and sat on the stool, allowing McGonagall to place the hat over her head.
Before too long the hat began to shout, "RAVEN...!"

"Wait!" She spoke a little bit too loudly into the hat. "Not Ravenclaw... Harry won't be in Ravenclaw."

"Hmmm... intriguing... Ravenclaw fits you like a glove, are you sure that this friendship is a lasting one? Enough to
ruin your future over?" The hat asked her in a little bit of a devious voice.

Hermione started off knowing that she wanted to be in Gryffindor, but now she wasn't so sure. Her future was always the
most important thing to her, not friendship. "Yes..." she finally said with a bit of a sigh.

"Extreme loyalty is a Hufflepuff trait, but I know where you really want to go. GRYFFINDOR!" The whole Gryffindor table
began to clap loudly, but no one was louder than Harry. Before going to the table, she ran down in to the slimming group
of students and gave Harry a big hug.

For the rest of the sorting, Harry couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. Luna was placed in Gryffindor, Malfoy and
the rest of his cronies were placed in Slytherin and Harry was put into Gryffindor before the hat even touched his head.
To finish up the night, Ron was too put into Gryffindor joining the rest of his family and friends. "Gosh, Hermione, I
really thought you'd be put into Ravenclaw..."

"Yeah, I guess the hat saw who I really was..." Hermione was quiet for the rest of the night, but Harry barely noticed,
while getting to know all the other members of his house. He was in a heated argument about Quidditch through
Dumbledore's speech with a dark haired Irish boy named Seamus Finnigan. He did hear something about the third floor
corridor being off limits, but he didn't feel it important and if it were, he'd just ask Hermione later.

As far as Harry was concerned, he was at home. Hermione on the other hand, never felt more away.

***

After the feast, Dumbledore and McGonagall retreated to his office where they shared a cup of tea, like they did ever
year. Usually, the conversation was a bit more personal, like talk of their holidays and families, but this time they
went straight down to business.

"Seven and six... very interesting, if you ask me, Minerva." Dumbledore smiled with a bit of a twinkle in his eye as he
looked at the giant book with all the house rosters, taking special note at the Gryffindors. "The inclusion of Oscar
Entwistle is an odd one... surely he was to be in Slytherin."

Minerva simply nodded. She wasn't especially fond of the idea that one of her students would be such good friends with a
Malfoy or being the son of known Death Eaters. "My dear, Professor McGonagall, you're not letting age old rivalries get
the best of you, I trust?"

Minerva sighed. She hated house rivalries just as much as Albus did and tried to fight them but, this time it just
didn't feel right. "Albus, this is an odd situation... Melinda and Thomas Entwistle were Death Eaters. The other two
that over took the Longbottoms..."

"Which brings up another interesting situation." Albus winked at her and turned around to tend to Fawkes.

Minerva looked at Albus, her eyes were wide with shock. "You don't think he's... No. It can't be."

"He has Alice's eyes... and Frank's build." Dumbledore solemnly spoke, his voice full of unhidden emotion. Albus was
usually calm and collected, or if not that slightly whimsical. This time he was neither. "We should have won all those
years ago. The plans were set and set well, if I do say so myself."

Minerva walked to where he was standing and put her hand on his shoulder. "Albus... you can't dwell on the past. You
always used to tell me that. Frank and Alice's deaths aren't what we should be focusing on... we should be focusing on
how to save Neville." It pained her to call him that. She knew it since he walked into the Great Hall, though she didn't
fully realize it until Albus mentioned it. He was born in a feeling of hope, but now... she wasn't sure what would
become of him now that he was in Gryffindor. The house of the enemy, as his "parents" would say.

"Mr. Longbottom will be fine... seven and six adds to thirteen. Thirteen Gryffindors in one year. That's a very powerful
number." His wrinkles became highlighted in the candle light as he gave his friend a devilish grin. "The two supposed
chosen ones in one house... a house of thirteen. It must be fate."

Minerva rolled her eyes at the thought of it all. "Divination is poppycock, Albus, and you know it. When has it ever
been proved to be right?"

"Time will soon tell. Now my one wish is that you do not act strangely in front of the boy. His future and past are
things that he needs to be determined on his own." Minerva nodded as she walked towards the exit.

"It's going to be a very interesting year... or seven."

***

A/N: I'm so sorry for making you all wait so long. But the good news is that I'm on break. I have six weeks off, so I
really hope to get these chapters out faster. Thanks for sticking around!

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4. Slowly Walking Down the Hall...

Chapter 3: Slowly Walking Down the Hall...
***

A/N: I've simply been overwhelmed with the reception that this story has had. I've never gotten this many reviews,
unless I'm in a more intimate community like some of my first fan fics were in. I'm quite grateful to everyone who's
taken the time out of their busy schedules to write a review on my story. With out all of you none of this would be
possible.

With this chapter, I'm going to focus a bit more on Hermione, seeing as I really haven't done that yet. I really hope
you all like the direction I take her in and continue reading this.

Also, I'm terribly sorry that I didn't get this up when I promised. The holidays were quite stressful. Not bad, by any
means, but just a lot to do in a very small amount of time. I hope you all had a good holiday and now I'll be back and
hopefully start a more frequent update schedule.

***

With the warning from the Sorting Hat fresh on her mind, Hermione's first walk towards the Gryffindor tower wasn't
exactly an easy one. Her worries forced her to withdraw a bit from Harry as he chitchatted with a few of his new dorm
mates. Maybe she was just worried, but for some reason she didn't see herself getting close to any of them. Loftily, she
glanced off at the Ravenclaws going towards their tower in the opposite direction and felt a strong sense of longing for
them. She felt a connection.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Luna Lovegood asked her sweetly.

Delaying a difficult conversation, the bushy haired witch looked down at her shoes and sighed. "I'm fine, Luna... just a
little overwhelmed."

"Oh... I sometimes get that way when I'm searching for a Dobhar-chu... I figure I'm bound to find one sooner of later."
Luna smiled reflectively and put her arm around Hermione, who was obviously still in distress. "But that's not all, is
it?"

Hermione nodded and looked up at Luna. "Yeah... Just something the hat said... said I'd do better in Ravenclaw, but I
still picked Gryffindor."

"Ah... that hat is probably one of the most powerful things in this school... infested by Nalydbobs, probably. I really
don't think it would have put you somewhere if you didn't really belong there." That was the third time Luna had
mentioned something that Hermione really didn't existed. She decided that it was best to just let it go.

Arriving at the giant portrait that was sure to lead straight into the Gryffindor common room, didn't quell her fears
any. Where was Harry? Where was the reason she chose this house? She looked around the crowd of about 150 students and
felt even more lost when she saw Harry laughing and joking with a group of boys including Ron, Fred and George Weasley.

"Come on, Granger... did you really expect him to be with you all the time? He needs other friends... maybe I should try
the same thing..." Hermione reasoned with herself and then caught the eye of Luna who was talking to a group of 1st year
girls.

Luna's eyes brightened as soon as she saw Hermione's smile, making her quickly pull Hermione into the group. "Girls this
is Hermione Granger."

"Lavender Brown."

"Annabelle Rothschild."

"Parvati Patil."

"Demelza Robbins."

"And of course you know me." Luna smiled dreamily. Hermione sat back and listened to all of their random talking. She
never did have many friends, but she did know that girls could talk a lot and magical girls didn't appear to be much
different.

With out even putting a word in, she could tell that she wouldn't like Parvati Patil at all. Parvati apparently was
rich. Very rich. She had only designer robes, new books and of course, her wand was made custom for her. Hermione didn't
want to throw in the fact that wands chose the wizard and the fact that it was custom didn't make it any better for her.
She just turned to Luna and shared a quick laugh.

Parvati was enough to come to school with her best friend, Lavender Brown, who Hermione did like. She too was probably
rich, but she wasn't shoving it in anyone's face like Parvati. Sadly, she was best friends with Parvati, so that kind of
ruined the idea of getting to know her better. Deep down, Hermione was almost sure that Parvati would have been in
Slytherin if it weren't for Lavender being placed into Gryffindor.

The other two really seemed to be nice girls, but way too shy for their own good. Annabelle was a muggle born and was
completely overwhelmed with all the new things that she was seeing. It was complete awe... on the other hand, Demelza
Robbins, another muggle born was downright terrified. Every time she heard something louder than the normal group noise,
she jumped.

Once everyone was settled into their rooms, they all moved downstairs into the Common room to get to know each other
officially. There were games all around the room, snacks on all the tables, including a vast array of sweets, a record
player was in the corner playing the Weird Sisters' Greatest Hits and perhaps the most relaxing option were the
comfortable chaires and sofas all around the fire place. "Knight to B7. Check." Ron declared arrogantly as the knight
jumped into place destroying Harry's black rook. "I believe I see checkmate in about 2 moves." Harry hung his head and
tipped his king. "Want another go, mate?"

"Not in the slightest. One can only take so much losing in one sitting." Harry spun around to find Hermione looking at
the board in a dazed state. She reminded him almost of Luna. "Hey, you okay?"

In a state of shock, she looked up quickly and shook her head to snap herself out of her daydream. "Oh yeah, just a bit
exausted. We all had a big day today... and an even bigger one tomorrow."

"Big week... sadly tomorrow is a Monday. We have to go through a whole week before a break... though we don't have any
classes Friday afternoon." Harry explained to Hermione, as the schedueling had yet to be explained to the first years.
"I'm sure McGonagall will all tell us this tomorrow morning at Orientation..."

"Harry... I think I'm going to go to bed... a girl can only handle so much stress in one day. A good night's sleep will
do me some good..." Harry smiled up at her and gave her a big hug before sending her off to bed.

"Goodnight, Hermione. I'm really glad we ended up in the same house."

She froze when he said that. "Um... yeah... me too." She whispered half heartedly as he continued to hug her. She
thanked God that he couldn't see her face. "Goodnight, Harry. See you at orientation." Before she made it all the way up
the stairs to her dormitory, she turned around to Harry who was still looking at her. "Um... Harry? I noticed that my CD
player wasn't working, do you know what's wrong?"

"Yeah... Muggle electronics can't work here. The magic disrupts them... sorry." Harry remembered that Hermione mentioned
once that she really enjoyed Muggle music.

"Oh... no matter... I'll figure something out later." She turned around again and continued walking towards her
dormitory for a good night's sleep.

***

While Hermione slept the night away, people in other parts of the castle only wished they could be as lucky. Professors
Severus Snape and Quirinus Quirrell were disrupted from their sleep by Albus Dumbledore who had called them to his
office as soon as McGonnagal left. "What is the meaning of this, Albus? Tomorrow is too crazy for us to be running
around the castle at one in the morning."

"Ah, Severus... you should know that in my years here I've learned never to wake up a sleeping man unless there is a
matter of war or a beautiful woman... and sorry for you, it's not the latter." Dumbledore said with a bright twinkle in
his eye. Snape was almost worried that a man about to discuss darkness and death could be so cheerful.

Dumbledore walked over to what Snape believed to be a pensive as he pulled a large strain of light from his head with
his wand and placed it into the pool. "I feel a dark power growing in the East... now I know that doesn't seem like
much, noting some of our own students, but I feel this may be the big one... Vold..."

"NO!" Quirrell screamed before Dumbledore could finish speaking.

"My dear Professor Quirrell... how can you teach the class, yet not be able to speak the name of the darkest wizard of
our time." Quirrell bowed his head in shame and embarrasment.

For a time, he was much like Dumbledore... that is until he faced Voldemort right before Halloween eleven years ago.
That event would change his life forever. "Albus... what's going to happen?" Quirrell asked.

"I have no idea. Which is quite a pity, seeing as we now have both potential chosen ones in our midst... perhaps Mr.
Entwistle wasn't meant to be in your house in the first place, Quirinus." Querrill spun his head towards Dumbledore with
a look of shock and terror.

"You mean?" Dumbledore nodded with a smile.

Severus sat in the corner with a devious smile on his face. To him it wasn't that strange. Yes, Bellatrix had taken the
young Longbottom, but it wasn't odd for parents of Death Eaters to trade children around to fit convinence. Ms.
Lestrange didn't need the extra publicity of getting a random son, so she passed him off to The Entwistles... a more low
key Death Eater family. "What he's trying to say is... your time is up. You know full well that Voldemort cursed your
position. 'After I returned from hiatus, more powerful than ever, there will be no steady teaching of defense! No point
in it."

Dumbledore and Quirrell looked uneasy at how well Snape had just rattled off the warning that Voldemort had given
Dumbledore close to twenty years ago. "Yes... Quirinus... I would understand if you want to leave."

"Not at all, Albus. I've been at this post the second I finished my 7th year at Hogwarts... V--V--Voldemort's warning
won't make me quit." Quirrell said affirmatively. He had been at Hogwarts for close to 30 years in one form or another,
either as a student or teacher. He didn't know anything else.

Dumbledore nodded and gave a little bit of a half smile. "I believe that this year will have all our fears realized... I
wish it weren't true, but I can't pretend. A war is coming gentlemen... and I fear that the wizarding world is not
ready."

"What would you have us do, Albus?" Quirrell inquiered almost in a rushed tone.

Dumbledore walked over to the class roster on his desk and pointed to Harry's name. "I fear that the prophesy will
realize itself before young Mr. Potter leaves these dusty walls... He needs to be trained."

Both Quirrell and Snape nodded in agreement. They both knew the prophesy very well and knew that if they were ever going
to defeat Voldemort, Harry would need to be ready. "He's just a boy though, Albus."

"I know... but I fear that we don't have any other options... but that is for another day. As the Potions Master so
elequently stated, tomorrow is a big day. We all need our strength." Albus released them and they both went to their
rooms with out protest. "Good lord, Fawkes... and I thought after Tom graduated, this would all get easier..."

***

The orientations the next day went as smoothly as they always did. The first years meet with their respective house
leader, who went on to explain everything that they would need to know to get by at Hogwarts. Most of the students used
this as extra time to get ready for their year at Hogwarts and just relaxed through the whole thing, but Hermione was
vigorously taking notes.

"You know, Hermione... you don't really need to take notes for this... you won't be tested on it." Harry reminded her,
but before he could finish, she shot him a nasty glare and continued.

He had known since last night that something had been eating her, but he wasn't entirely sure how to ask. They were
sitting together everywhere, but for some reason she seemed to be very disjointed and not all the way there. "Ron, I
think something's wrong with Hermione." Harry finally confided in Ron.

"Oh, don't worry about it mate. Fred always has said that Muggle Borns have some trouble adjusting. Something to do with
all the so-called 'supernatural.'" Ron explained to Harry and it did make a little sense, but he couldn't help, but feel
that there was a lot more to it. "Either way, you have enough to worry about. Double Potions with the Slythrins after
lunch. Fred and George say that Professor Snape is down right dreadful."

Great, was all that Harry could think. Not only did he have to suffer through wondering what was wrong with Hermione,
but he had to do it with the one Professor that his father warned him about. Something about bias against the Potter
name or something like that. He was not looking forward to his after lunch class, but deep down he hoped it really
wouldn't be that bad.

"Welcome to Potions... I am Professor Severus Snape... please open your books and turn to page 37." Professor Snape
demanded in the coldest voice Harry had ever heard, but without thinking, he swiftly pulled out his book and started
flipping through the pages and when he reached the given page, he was shocked and disgusted at the images of potions
gone sour. There were images of peoples bodies boiling and turning inside out and other things that left Harry turning
green. "If you do not follow my specific instructions, the images you see before you will be what your parents will see
you as in the casket."

"Potter! What would you get if you drank the blood of a unicorn?" Snape stapped towards Harry's direction, causing him
and Hermione to jump.

Harry took a second to gather his thoughts. "Um... probably a one way ticket to jail. It's highly illegal."

"Five points from Gryffindor for your cheek." Snape shot back towards Harry. He then looked out of the corner of his
black eyes at Hermione who was raising her had high in the air. "Yes... Miss Granger."

"Sir, it's so illegal that the Ministry of Magic rarely discusses the effect to prevent people from having the incentive
to do so." Hermione pleaded, trying to get the points back that Harry wrongfully lost.

"Just because the ministry doesn't discuss it doesn't mean that it is impossible to find out. Insufferable know it alls
like you are the reason the Ministry is as powerful as it is." Snape spat at her, making her sink down in her seat.
Harry caught the god awful sound of Draco Malfoy laughing in the back corner. He looked back and saw Draco and all his
cronies getting a big kick out of Snape's destruction of Hermione's self-esteem and sure enough, Oscar Entwistle was
with them.

Harry's blood boiled at the sight of his own house mate making fun of another house mate with supposed Gryffindor
rivals. When it came to loyalty, Harry was very much a Hufflepuff. He couldn't stand betrayal. That was always a value
that his father and Uncles Sirius and Remus had tried to instill in him since an early age.

"'Mione... he's not worth it..." Harry put his hand on Hermione's shoulder to comfort her the second he noticed that she
looked close to tears.

"I'm not? I will pity you for thinking that when your first potion blows up in your face and you are sent to the
hospital wing for growing an extra head. DO. I. MAKE. MYSELF. CLEAR?!" Harry sat there with out making another move or
another sound.

"You know... my father says you're all bark, but not bite... unlike my Uncle Sirius." Harry gave a bit of a half smile
at the teacher who was literally six inches from his face.

"DETENTION, POTTER! This Saturday... now, may I move on?" Snape moved away from Harry and continued teaching the class,
using mostly scare tactics. Once both classes let out, Harry and Hermione exited the room at the same time for the first
time all day.

They were already half way to Gryffindor tower before either of them spoke. "Thanks for that back there, Harry... but
you really shouldn't have gotten in trouble over it."

"My best friend's worth it. Either way, he was out of line. My Dad said he was exactly the same back when they attended
school together." Harry explained as he put his arm around her in comfort. "Severus Snape is just a greasy-haired-git...
nothing more."

"That so, Potter?" Harry spun around to see who it was, but he really didn't need to. He knew that it was Draco Malfoy.

Again, Entwistle stood in the back, hulking and looking menacing to back up his friends. "So, Oscar is this how you show
loyalty? By tormenting members of your own house because Malfoy says so?"

Entwistle became furious and pulled out his wand. "You have no idea Potter... You have a Mum and a Dad that actually
care about you... not all of us have that luxery, but at least my parents aren't blood traitors."

Harry was stopped dead in his tracks and pulled out his wand, pointing it straight at Entwistle. "You will take that
back! DEPRIMO!" Harry yelled and Neville was forced down ot the ground.

"HARRY!" Hermione shrieked as she tried to pull him back before he shot another spell. "You already got one detention,
you don't need another." But before she pulled him back completely, she heard Draco say something she didn't understand
and a blast hit her and Harry knocking them both over.

Before Hermione could get her barings boils began to errupt on both she and Harry. "MR. MALFOY! FIFTY POINTS FROM
SLYTHERIN!" boomed a voice that neither Harry nor Hermione recognized. They turned around and saw Professor Quirrell
standing above them with a deadly look on his face. "I don't care if you're in my house or not, we do not use such
spells unsupervised. Now, Mr. Potter... Ms. Granger... you need to get to the hospital wing."

"So, Mr. Potter... what happened?" Quirrell askedd the raven haired boy once they reached the hospital wing and Madam
Pomphry began to work on Hermione's boils.

"I started it, Sir. Entwistle mentioned something about my parents being blood traitors and I snapped... it's a very
derogotory term for someone who doesn't support Voldemort..." Harry put his head down, realizing how much of a mistake
he made. Fighting on the first day. His Dad wasn't even that bold, Uncle Sirius maybe... but not his Dad.

Professor Quirrell nodded and patted Harry on the back, causing him to tense up in pain. "Sorry... but not to worry, Mr.
Potter, I'll take care of Malfoy and I'll have a chat with Professor McGonnagal about Mr. Entwistle... now about your
punishment... I'll have to take 5 points away due to fighting... but 10 points to Gryffindor for using the deprimo
spell... interesting choice.

Harry quickly looked up and smiled at Professor Querril. "Um... yeah... I didn't want to hurt him or use a spell that I
already had used on him... and that was all I could think of."

"It was quite clever none the less. Quick thinking will get you far." Quirrell said with a bit of a smile as he exited
the room.

Harry looked over at Hermione, whom Madam Pomphrey was still working on. All though her skin wasn't entirely clear, it
looked significantly better than Harry's that had yet to be treated. "Well, if this is any indication of what's to
come... I can't wait..." Harry said to himself sarcastically.

The next week or so went on without much incidence. Harry could tell that he was going to have a lot of fun in Charms.
Professor Flitwick was an aged little wizard, who was almost as much of a kid as his students were. Half of his lessons
were him standing on a stack of books using the charms he was teaching about on certain students. His favorites were
always when he was always to levitate unsuspecting trouble makers around the room.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was another favorite of Harry's. Ever since Quirrell had saved Harry from Malfoy and his
gang, he had taken an extreme liking to Harry. It may have had something to do with the fact that Harry was a complete
natural at the subject, which Professor Quirrell found to be particularly ironic. "You know, Harry (He was also the only
teacher, besides Dumbledore to call him by his first name), you remind me a lot of your father. This was always his best
subject." Professor Quirrell noted to Harry as he was about the leave the classroom.

"You knew my Dad?" Harry asked with a bit of a smile.

"Of course I did. I taught him, wish I could talk more, but I have to run. Meeting with Dumbledore."

That Thursday, when Harry and Hermione came in from the Greenhouses to attend D.A.D.A, they found a note on the door
that said Professor Quirrell was away on business and that all classes were cancled until Monday. "Huh... wonder if that
had something to do with his Dumbledore business." Harry mused out loud.

"Well, this is actually a wonderful birthday present," Hermione smiled as she turned around with Harry and walked back
towards their common room.

"What!?! It's your birthday?" Harry was downright shocked. He couldn't remember her ever saying anything about it, but
if they were as good friends as he thought, he should have known her birthday.

Hermione turned in front of him and put both her hands on his shoulders. "Harry... relax. You didn't know. No harm
done."

"But, Hermione..."

"But nothing. Trust me, I'm not worried about it." She gave him smile and continued up to the Common room. Wondering
what he could do, he spun around on a dime and ran out of the castle, towards Hagrid's hut.

"HAGRID!" Harry yelled as he began knocking on the door. Before too long, the friendly giant came to the door wearing a
large apron, with his dog in tow.

"Harry? What's wrong?"

"I need you to Floo me home really quick... I missed Hermione's birthday..." Harry wasn't pleased with himself at all.
First he forgot Hermione's birthday and now he was asking a friend of his to break a rule.

Hagrid scratched his head a bit and swiftly let Harry in and much to Harry's suprise, Dumbledore was sitting at Hagrid's
oversized table. "Hello, Harry... so good of you to join us."

Harry stopped dead with his eyes with fear. "Umm... I... Uh..."

"No need to fret, Harry. I won't turn you into the headmaster... oh wait." Unlike at the sorting ceremony, Dumbledore
didn't sound much like a powerful leader. On the contrary, he sounded quite old, almost grandfatherly. "No, Harry. There
is no reason you should get in trouble fore being virtuous."

Harry calmed down a bit, but not by much. "Professor... Hermione never had many friends before coming to Hogwarts and
she's having a bit of trouble fitting in with some of her housemates... this is something I need to do... if only to
show her just a little bit about what it means to have friends."

"Very honorable, Harry. But, you know I can't allow you to Floo home... but I do think that I need to go to Hogsmeade
today... I've all but run of of fizzing whizzbees... would you be willing to acompany me?" Dumbledore asked Harry with a
twinkle in his eye.

James had told Harry of Dumbledore's willingness to bed the rules. He had mentioned that Dumbledore would start warping
words and he would stop making a whole lot of sense. The twinkle in his eye would also get a lot more apparent.

Once they arrived at Hogsmeade, Harry went with Hagrid straight to the bookstore. "Harry, I thought you told me that
Hermione has every wizarding book in existance."

"She does, but I don't. See, Hermione loves Muggle Music, but she can't listen to it here because Hogwarts has such a
high concentration of magic. I want to learn how to charm her CD player to be able to play here." Harry explained to the
giant. He rushed through the book store and quickly found a section on Charms and a book called Charming Your Everyday
Muggle Electronics. "Well, that's oddly specific. Hagrid... could you help me out with this?"

"Um... no. I'm not exactly allowed to do magic. Long story... but I'm sure you could do it with the proper
instructions..." Hagrid did his best to evade the subject and rather than pry, Harry simply let it go.

Harry nodded and began to walk towards the counter with the book when he saw something that really caught his eye.
"Hogwarts, A History? Why haven't I seen that one before?" Harry picked up the large book written by Chroniclus Punnet
and began to examine it.

"Ah yes, it's just been printed. More or less a compendium of everything ever written about Hogwarts. Quite the
reference book." The store keeper said as she passed Harry with a feather duster, dusting off the table. Harry believed
that she looked like she had been sucking on a rather tart lemon before their conversation, given by the odd expression
on her face.

Harry continued to flip through the book and quickly realized that Hermione would love it, seeing that it had around
1,000 pages of just history about their school. "How much does it cost?" Harry asked with a bit of doubt. He knew that
it couldn't be cheap. It weighed a ton.

"30 Galleons. And with your other purchase, it will be 45 galleons." Harry's heart sank a bit. He did have the money,
but he didn't have it with him. No student would ever need more than 30 galleons over an entire year, especially seeing
as they weren't usually allowed to Hogsmeade.

"'arry, ya gimme wha' you 'ave, an' I'll get the res'." Hagrid put his hand on Harry's shoulder and pulled out his money
pouch. Harry looked as if he were about to protest, until Hagrid, but his other hand over his mouth. "'Sa loan, I 'spect
I'll be paid back in full... I know you wouldn' 'cept it if it wasn'"

Harry sighed a bit as he nodded, giving Hagrid his 20 galleons. Once the books were paid for, they went to find
Dumbledore who had quite a large bag a sweets. The group made their way up the the castle and Harry quickly ran up to
his dorm room where he opened the book. "Hey, what's that?" Ron asked as he walked up to Harry who was lost in the book.

"Hermione's birthday is today. I've decided to charm her CD player to be able to play here... It doesn't seem that
difficult... hey, would you mind asking Luna to bring me her CD player and her CDs?" Harry asked Ron without looking up
from the book. The day was growing shorter and he still had to perfect the charm, which seemed easier said than done.

"Of course, mate. I'll be right back."

Sure enough, Ron came right back with Luna and all of Hermione's music equipment. "Here you go, Harry... Hermione was
napping, so we were able to get it pretty easily... I sure hope the bed bugs weren't biting though. Pesky little
creatures." Harry smiled a bit, taking all of the stuff from Ron and Luna. "Well, we better be going to History of
Magic, care to join us, Harry?"

"No, I'm not going today. I want the CD player to be working when Hermione gets back to the Common Room." Luna looked as
if she was about to argue, but she decided against it and walked out of the room with Ron, leaving Harry with the CD
player and the books.

Harry starated to get a bit worried when he saw that he only had ten minutes before the class ended and he was no where
closer to completing his goal than when he started. "That is pretty advanced magic to master in an hour..."

Harry spun around and saw Dumbledore standing in the doorway. "If you were able to do this at your age, I'd probably
have to give you your diploma now." Harry's heart sank. He'd failed his first true friend. "But, there's no shame in
getting a little help from those... wiser."

Dumbledore waved his hand over the CD player and it started to make odd sounds, as if it were trying to pick up radio
wave signals. "There... that should sufice." Before Harry could thank him or do anything, he was gone.

Harry put one of the CDs in the player, and after closing the top it began to play. "Thanks, Professor." He said to
himself as he ran downstairs and placed it on the table just as the Gryffindor 1st years were returning to the Common
room.

"Bloody Hell, Harry, you got it?" Ron exclaimed, patting Harry on the back. He went over to examine it as if it were the
first time he had seen something like it in his life.

"Yeah... wasn't easy. I had to get Dumbledore's help. So, where's Hermione?" Harry asked hopfully as he looked around
the sea of Gryffindors for his bushy haired best friend.

"I'm here, Har... what's this?" She asked in shock as she heared the music coming out of her CD player.

Harry smiled widely. "Happy Birthday, Hermione." He then pulled Hogwarts, A History out for her. "I hope this makes up
for everything."

Hermione just stood their speechless for a few seconds, taking everything in. "My God, Harry... This is the nicest thing
anyone's ever done for me. Thank you." She walked up to him and gave him a big, loving hug.

"I'm glad you like it... now you'll have to explain all this Muggle music to me. I don't understand a word of it."

***

A/N: I'm really sorry this took so long. Now that I'll have the house to myself without a car, I can focus a bit more.
The next one shouldn't take this long.

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5. Faster Than a Cannonball...

Chapter 4: Faster than a Cannonball
***

A/N: So I can do two chapters in two days... haha. I wouldn't expect it on a constant bases or else we'd be in third
year by the end of my break from college (which I'm certain will stop me from frequently updating, though all free time
will be spent on updating). Well, I hope you enjoy this one, it's going to feature more Quirrell, which I know some of
you have liked and there will be more Hermione and Harry stuff. Well enjoy and let me know what you think!

***

Before anyone at the school realized it, September became October and the first month of school was over. Unfortunately
for the students, the change in the weather didn't help the moods of some of the less than cheerful professors like
Snape and McGonagall. They were just as crabby and overbearing as they always were.

The only thing that had changed however was Albus Dumbledore. Unlike at the beginning of the term, he was a lot more
withdrawn and the twinkle in his eye had all but gone out. Students began to think that it had a lot to do with all the
unsolved murders that had been taking place in the Wizarding World of late. The Daily Prophet was beginning to feature
at least one new mysterious death everyday, the latest being a man named Nicholas Flamel and his wife, Perenelle.

"These deaths are getting to be a bit weird... Ron, your Dad works for the ministry, right?" Ron nodded in-between
chews. "Has he said anything about this?"

Ron shook his head emphatically as he took another bite out of his buttered toast. "None at all. He's been keeping a lot
about his job pretty hush hush at home... or at least that's what Ginny's been saying. But I agree, mate... this is
getting odd."

"Dad's been saying in his letter's that it was a lot like this before the war started... He won't say anything in
specifics... he doesn't need to." Harry grimly told Ron as he continued to read the Prophet. "You know, I'd ask
Dumbledore, but Dad said I should leave him alone when it comes to such matters."

The whole circle that included Luna, Seamus, Dean, Parvati and Lavender all nodded with vigor. "Dumbledore's under a lot
of pressure these days... especially with the new infestation of nargles."

"If my parents knew about Voldemort, I probably wouldn't have been able to attend Hogwarts. They sent me to get an
education, not to get caught in some sort of war zone." Hermione added, walking up to the table and sitting next to
Harry. "But I'm sure Dumbledore will do something to prevent things from getting out of hand."

"Like he did the last time? Dumbledore dropped the ball so many times I'm surprised Minister Fudge didn't ask for his
resignation." Seamus butted in with a large amount of contempt in his voice. "Half the deaths at the end were because
Dumbledore was too incompetent to do a bloody thing about it."

Harry rolled his eyes at Seamus, who obviously had no clue what he was talking about. Harry was always told my his
parents how Dumbledore was the reason He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named went away for as long as he did. "Were you there,
Seamus?"

"No... but neither were you!"

"I was more there than you were. My parents house was attacked by him when I was fifteen months old... the house was
demolished and if it weren't for Dumbledore, we probably would have been killed. He moved us to a Muggle neighborhood
for us to hideaway in... so don't tell me that Dumbledore is useless." Harry snapped at Seamus and stormed away from the
table, after picking up his bad.

Annoyed, Hermione shook her head at Seamus and ran after Harry. "You never told me that."

"Told you what?" Harry asked her without looking back.

"About your connection with You-Know-Who. No many people can say that." Hermione caught up with him and empathically put
her hand on Harry's shoulder, gingerly rubbing it to try and comfort him.

Harry gritted his teeth and pulled away. "There are many times where I wish I couldn't say it. He's had me marked for
death since before I was born."

"Wait... what?" The potential explanation was cut off by an unexpected voice.

"Harry? Harry! There you are!" They both recognized the voice to belong to Harry's little sister Carolyn. With great
joy, she ran up to Harry and gave him a big hug that would rival the one Hermione gave him on her birthday. "I've missed
you!"

James and Lily leisurely walked over and joined the reunion soon after, beaming down at their son. "Professor Quirrell
asked us here for a conference... you haven't been a trouble maker have you?" Lily winked at her son. "He also wants you
there, so Hermione, do you mind watching Carolyn while we're there?"

"Not at all, Mrs. Potter. Come on, Carolyn, I'll show you the library." Hermione took Harry's sister's hand and lead her
away towards the library.

Once they were out of sight, James' expression turned from bright and cheerful to dark and grim. "Harry... we think he's
back." Harry's heart sunk. He was almost sure of it before his parents told him, but to hear his father's voice, it just
made it all the more real. To him it was the last nail in the coffin.

"I know, Dad. I've known for quite a while, this was just the confirmation... but what does Quirrell want?" Harry wasn't
exactly sure of the correlation between the two, except for the fact that Quirrell was the defense teacher and Harry
probably was going to be needing defending. "Whatever the meeting's about, I hope you know that I'm going to tell
Hermione everything."

James looked as if he were about to tell him no, but Lily interjected before he could say anything. "That's perfectly
alright, honey. I had a friend like that too in school and I know your father did with Sirius."

"Who was your friend, Mum?" Harry asked, wondering if he knew them.

"Um... you don't know him..." Lily quickly answered. She didn't want Harry to know about how she and his "favorite"
potions master used to be best friends, or at least until he tried to kill her.

Harry gave his mother a questioning look when Professor Snape walked by them. "I wasn't expecting to see you here,
Potter..." Snape jeered at James and then curtly nodded towards Lily. "It's agreeable to see you again, Lily." She
simply stood there and looked at her feet as if to avoid his cold, black gaze. "I trust your son's trouble-making is the
reason you're here."

"Actually, no. Quirinus wanted to see us. Something about You-Know-Who and the You-Know-What." James shot back with a
rude tone equal to Snape's. "So if that's all, Snivellus, I'm sure you have something more pressing to do."

Snape stood there and glared for a few seconds before completely storming off in the opposite direction. "You just have
to know how to deal with him, that's all."

"Don't listen to your father, Harry. It'll just get you in trouble." Lily rolled her eyes at her husband and continued
to walk towards Quirrell's office. Before continuing, Harry and James shared a look and a laugh before deciding that
they should follow Lily before she took their heads off with a hex.

Harry remained silent for most of the trip, but it was more than obvious that something was really on his mind. "Hey,
Dad... I was thinking of trying out for the Quidditch team... they need two chasers."

James stopped dead in his tracks. Of all the things that could have been bothering Harry, he was more than a little bit
proud that his son was most worried about Quidditch, his old sport... and his old position. "Son, you know you're more
built like a seeker." Harry wasn't built like his Dad at all. He wasn't big and muscular, he was small, lanky and quick.
A lot like his mother.

"Maybe, but I want to play the same position as you." James continued to beam at his son with out saying another word,
before they arrived at the office of Professor Quirrell.

Lily knocked at the door and almost immediately, the bald Professor swung the door open and warmly greeted all three of
them. "James, Lily! It's wonderful to see the two of you again, all though do I see a lot of both of you everyday in
Harry." He let all three of them in and to their surprise, there was a kettle over the fire place to get tea read. "I
hope you don't mind the mess. I haven't had much of a chance to clean up since I returned from a... business trip."

"That's perfectly fine, Quirinus. We're not worried about it... what we are worried about is sitting next to us." Lily
looked at Harry and ruffled his hair a bit.

"Perfectly understandable, my dear. Shall we get down to business?" He gave them both a half smile while he lead them
into his actual office and allowed them to sit down and sip their tea that had just come up. "Now, down to business."

They spent the next half hour discussing how Voldemort was about to make a power play against all of England, not just
the Wizarding World. They also mentioned something about the prophesy and how they should try and make it fulfill
itself, something Lily wasn't entirely thrilled about.

"Lily, this is a prophesy. Either way, it's going to happen and we have to make sure Harry's ready when it does.
'Neither can live while the other survives.' V-V-Voldemort won't rest until our boy is out of the way. And dammit, I
want my son to see his coming of age."

Harry had never really thought about it before. The prophesy didn't exactly say that he would vanquish the Dark Lord, it
said that he had the power and that neither of them would actually be able to move on until one died. "Mum, Dad's right.
I need to be ready some how."

Lily bowed her head down and let one of the tears fall that had been growing in her eyes. "Harry, you're just a boy...
you shouldn't have to deal with all of this. This isn't how it's supposed to happen."

"I know, but it is happening... There isn't anything I can do to stop it." Though he knew he shouldn't, Quirrell smiled
a bit at Harry's courage. He had a feeling that Harry would end up becoming his most prized student ever... too bad he
wasn't a Slytherin.

"Harry, I admire your courage. You are much wiser than your age would dictate, so, I was thinking that we do some
personal one on one training after school on Friday. My last class ends at two, so if you could be here then, do an hour
or so of practice. Teach you things that I don't teach in your year." Professor Quirrell went off talking about how the
most important thing to do was practice and learn as many spells as possible to counter the Dark Lord.

At first, Harry wasn't all to thrilled about giving up his Friday afternoons, but he felt in the long run that it was
the best option, until he thought of the perfect addition. "Hermione."

"I'm sorry, Harry, what was that?" Professor Quirrell asked as he was writing out a letter to Dumbledore to explain what
had just gone on between he and the Potters.

"Hermione Granger, sir. She's easily a better witch than I am a wizard... she never needed my help when she asked for
it... but really professor, let her get in on this." Harry looked at Quirrell, who appeared to be strongly considering
it.

James once again looked like he really didn't want to do it because it would risk more about the prophesy getting out
into the open, but he decided not to say anything. "I know what it's like to be alone in dark times, Harry. Of course we
can let her join us too." Quirrell smiled at the young boy.

The rest of the meeting was just getting the logistics of it all out and work out somewhat of a curriculum. Disarming
spells would of course be first and he wanted to work up to the point where they would practice a bit of wandless magic
before the end of the year. Of course, Harry wouldn't be able to do it, but it was always good to learn a basic
knowledge, in case Voldemort used a bit of it.

Once the meeting was over, it was about time for lunch and Harry and the Potters went down to the Great Hall and found
Hermione and Carolyn eating with the rest of the Gryffindors. "Mind if we join you, Harry?" His father asked.

"Of course not, have a seat." James nodded and sat down next ot Carolyn and across from where Lily sat. Harry grabbed
the seat next to Hermione, a seat that was almost always reserved for Harry, no matter the time or place.

"Harry, who's that?" His father asked him, motioning towards the end of the table where a boy sat alone and seemed to be
only paying attention to the food he was eating.

Harry shook his head and let out a bit of a growl. "That's Oscar Entwistle. Never met such an insufferable git in my
life. He's in Malfoy's crowd... if that says anything."

James looked at him a bit and after a few minutes his eyes grew in shock. He turned to look at Lily who had obviously
come to the same conclusion a few seconds before he did. "My God..."

Before too long, the two realized it was time for them to leave, but before they left, James took Harry aside in the
entrance hall. "Harry, I have tot ell you one thing before I go... don't write off Entwistle... I have a strange feeling
that me may surprise you." James spoke gravely, in the same voice he did when he explained the prophecy to Harry. A
voice that he knew Harry would listen to.

"But Dad!"

"But nothing, Son... there's a reason he was placed in Gryffindor and I don't think that reason should be taken
lightly." James turned around and after seeing that no one was looking, he bent down and hugged Harry. "Watch your back,
son. I feel there's a power growing in this world that doesn't want you to see your next birthday... be careful."

Without another word, James turned around and went with Lily and Carolyn out of the castle towards Hogsmeade so they
could floo home. Harry turned around to go back towards the Great Hall when he found Hermione leaving "Hermione, we have
a lot to talk about. Everyone should be out in the courtyards... let's go back to the common room."

The second they arrived, they started a fire in the fire place and sat down on the couch. Not knowing how to start,
Harry just started at the beginning of the prophecy and went through everything up to today. Hermione was the best
listener he could ask for. She gasped at all the right moments, she comforted him at all the right moments and by the
end of his talk, she was in tears.

"My God, Harry... how are you able to handle this all?" Hermione cried and pulled him in for another hug. She hugged him
every time he choked up a bit, every time she was at a loss for words and just when she thought he needed it. "I don't
know what I would have done."

Harry nodded in a daze. This was the first time he had ever vocalized the whole thing to someone and he was just now
beginning to realize how heavy the whole thing actually was. "I don't know 'Mione. I never really had a chance to feel
upset about it. When my Dad first told me, it was almost like a fairy tale... something that wasn't entirely real... it
feels real now."

They spent the next several moments in total silence. "You know, I'd understand if you don't want to be friends
anymore... I come with a lot of baggage and I might not survive my time at Hogwarts..."

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! DON'T SAY THAT!" She began to completely break down and sob. "I'd never abandon you and I won't let
you give up that easy." Hermione was downright screaming, leaving Harry very glad that the whole tower was empty of the
students enjoying the last bit of good weather.

Harry hung his head in shame. "Thanks... I'm glad you said that because I don't know what I'd do with out you. Ron's
great and all, but I don't think he'd be able to understand the complexity of the situation."

Hermione smiled a bit at that. She didn't know Ron all that well, but she knew that he probably wasn't the most
conscientious person in the world. "Harry, I'll never leave you... you know that. And we're going to take on
You-Know-Who together."

It was now Harry's turn to smile. He was now very sad that he never had given Hermione the time of day back when they
were in school together. He wouldn't have fit in if he befriended her, but did it really matter? He couldn't think of a
single real friend he had back at home. Not that it mattered all that much... He had Hermione. "What are you smiling
about, Potter?" She returned the smile and gave him a quick swat to bring him back to reality.

"Nothing, nothing at all."

Ever since their little conversation about the prophecy, Harry and Hermione had gotten even closer and Hermione's doubts
of being in Gryffindor were beginning to shrink, especially since she was starting to show signs of success with out
being in Ravenclaw.

She was quickly becoming a favorite of all her teachers, especially Professor McGonagall, head of the Gryffindor house.
At first the other Gryffindors treated her unfairly, calling her a know it all, until they realized how many points she
was getting them. Harry on the other hand wasn't as focused as he was when the term started. While all of the
educational aspects of Hogwarts were still very important to Harry, there was something more important to him happening
at Hogwarts: The start of the Quidditch season.

"Harry, you have to eat something. You need your strength." Hermione begged Harry as she made him a plate filled with
bacon, toast, eggs, and other hearty foods. "Half the people all ready think your mad for trying out as a first year, I
don't want you to prove them right."

"I know, 'Mione, but I'm just not hungry. I don't want all this to come back up at the try out. Puking all over Oliver
Wood, wouldn't exactly secure my place on the team." Harry said grimly, prodding his food with a fork.

Hermione rolled her eyes and took a bite out of a piece of bacon that she gave to Harry. "Whatever you say... I'm sure
you'll do fine."

"Oh, I'm sure he will too... he'll do fine at falling off his broom," Malfoy sneered at Harry with his goons backing him
up with a barage of laughter.

"Yeah, well too bad you didn't make it... I'd have been glad to knock you off your broom in the first match." Harry was
very happy about the fact that Malfoy didn't make it when Slytherin held their try outs.

Malfoy let out a little growl and walked off with Crabe and Goyle. "Don't listen to them, Harry... you'll be fine."

Harry watched the clock in horror for the next hour and allowed Hermione to lead him by the hand to the Quidditch pitch
once it was time for the try out. Harry wasn't prepared for actual feeling of being there and if it weren't for Hermione
holding him in place, he probably wouldn't have stayed for very long.

"Okay. Welcome all hopefuls. As most of you should know, I'm Oliver Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Now,
I won't waste any time explaining the rules, so if anyone doesn't know how to play, leave now, you will not be allowed
to try out." Harry was surprised that a fifth year had so much power, energy and authority... and also to Harry's
surprise half the group left when they found out they had to know about Quidditch to join the team. "That one always
gets a few... ah... I'd like to introduce you to my assistant Charlie Weasley, he'll be helping me out today."

Harry recognized Charlie, fondly recalling his childhood when the Weasleys came over. Charlie was always nice to him,
unlike Percy. "Charlie graduated last year and he wanted to know if I needed any help, so I gratefully accepted. Now,
everyone, start off by flying laps, I want to see what you've got."

Harry's heart sank. He didn't have a broom, first years weren't supposed to have them. He thought that they'd have some
lying around for just this reason. "Um... Oliver... I don't have a broom..."

"A first year, eh? I'm sorry, but..."

"You can use mine, Harry. It may be a little bit too big for you, but I'm sure you can manage... I've seen you on a
broom before." Charlie interjected, handing Harry his broom and he quickly took to the sky. "He's a friend of the
family... he won't let you down."

If only Charlie were right. While the flying went well enough, he completely sucked at being a chaser. Out of at least
fifty tries he only made one and that was because Oliver was too busy trying to evade Harry as he catapualted towards
him after losing control of his broom. "All right, Potter. That's enough. Maybe next year."

Sadly, Harry floated down to the ground and joined Hermione in the stands where she gave him a big hug. "No sense losing
sleep over it, you just weren't ready."

"I guess..." Rather than go back to the castle and risk running into Malfoy, the two decided to hang around and watch
the rest of the practice. By the time the chasers were done they had picked Alicia Spinnet, a 3rd year and Katie Bell, a
2nd year over all the others that had shown up.

After that it was time for the seekers to take to the sky. While there were a lot of potential chasers, there were even
more seekers, as it was the most popular position. "Half these people are all wrong for the part. They need to be the
best flyers, but some one them were less than mediocre." Just then Harry caught a glint of gold in his eye. "Hermione,
did you see that?"

"See what?" She asked trying to look around and find what Harry had seen.

"The snitch! It's right there, why isn't anyone doing anything? Harry pointed directly to where he saw it, but Hermione
still wasn't picking it up.

Before anyone saw him, he lowered his finger, so he wouldn't give away its position. "We're surely going to lose the cup
this year if they can't see that... it went right passed one of their heads... wait..." Harry's brain lit up with an
idea as he looked to his left and saw Charlie's broom still there. Without thinking, he picked it up, mounted it, and
rocketed towards the snitch with his hand held out.

To Harry's dismay, rather than search for what he was going for, the potential seekers all flew out of the way leaving
Harry enough room to grab the snitch, which he did with no problem. "Potter! I said you're done... what are you doing?"

"Um... no one was going for it..." He held out the snitch, making Wood almost fall off his broom in shock.

Oliver rockted towards Harry and stopped with just enough of a a distance to see the snitch in Harry's hand. "Merlin!
None of them even saw it... I didn't even see it... do it again." Harry did do it again. He caught every snitch that
Wood threw at him, not letting another player get one. "Harry, that was some of the best flying and seeking I have seen
in years. Between you and me, Charlie Weasley couldn't have done half the things you did."

Harry smiled widely at the big compliment he had just recieved from Oliver. "Needless to say, you're on the team. You
can use one of the school brooms." Harry nodded and raced towards the stands where Hermione was beaming up at him.

"I made it!" He shouted excitedly. After everything was over, Harry and Hermione raced back to the castle so they could
send a letter to Harry's parents telling them of his acomplishment.

***

Elsewhere in the castle, Dumbledore was pacing around his office waiting for Professor Quirrell to return with the
parcel that was delivered to Gringotts earlier that day. Before too long, Quirrell came rushing into the office with a
small package in his hand. "It's here, Albus." He shouted throwing the package in his dirrection.

"Wonderful, Quirinus, now this must be hidden deep in the castle. Are all the obsticals in place?" Dumbledore placed the
package on his desk and looked up at Quirrell with grave eyes.

"All but mine, but I'll put it in place once soon enough... we got it, Albus," Quirrell was relieved that they didn't
have to worry about Voldemort getting what was in the pacakge.

With a great sense of relief, Dumbledore sat down at his desk and took a sip of tea. "I fear this isn't the last thing
in the world that would help Voldemort go to power... but this is a victory none the less. One worth drinking to."

Dumbledore poured them both glasses of Firewhisky and after toasting each other, they both took a long, well deserved
sip.

***

A/N: Well, I hope you all enjoyed. Drop me a review and told me if you did or not. Plus bonus points, if anyone can pick
up a pattern in the past two chapter titles.

Coming up next: HALLOWEEN!

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6. From Darkness, There Springs Light

Chapter 5: From the Darkness, There Springs Light
***

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, guys. I really appreciate all the time you all have taken to read my story and write
something about it. Well, here’s the Halloween chapter of my story, it will also include a bit more with some of the
final events of last chapter (with Quirrell and Dumbledore). Hope you all enjoy. Plus, there are bonus points to who can
tell me where my title comes from (Hint: Think old music)

***

Harry truly wished that he had a camera for this moment, Muggle or otherwise, it really didn’t matter. If only he had
something to be able to freeze Malfoy’s face in time because, to Harry’s immense pleasure, Malfoy had just found out
about Harry being the youngest house Quidditch player in almost a century.

News of Harry’s success had spread fast. He barely had time to get back to the castle before everyone knew about it. For
the most part, everyone congratulated him, even those in other houses, but that couldn’t be said for the majority of the
Slytherins. “You only made it because your friends with The Weasleys. If Charlie Weasley hadn’t been there, Wood
wouldn’t have even thought about giving you a spot.”

“Or maybe Harry’s more talented than you are.” Hermione retorted to Malfoy, causing him to turn a brilliant shade of
pink.

“What would you know about Quidditch, mudblood?” He shouted before turning in the opposite direction to storm off. She
still wasn’t entirely sure of the connotation, but it was starting to get to her. If wizards were so much more advanced
than that of their non-magical counterparts, why couldn’t they get passed simple bigotry.

Hermione turned to Harry and saw that he looked furious as he gripped his wand and took a step to follow Malfoy. “And
what do you suppose hexing him would accomplish?”

“I can’t let him say that stuff to you. You’re better at magic than he could ever dream of being.” Hermione shook her
head and lead Harry back to the Gryffindor tower as she began to think about life before Hogwarts.

It wasn’t all that different, to be truthful. Sure she had Harry, Luna, and Ron, but there were still people who put her
down. They still made fun of her for her bushy hair, bucked teeth, and her tendency to be a bookworm, but now they had
the added bonus of being able to make fun of being a Muggleborn… or a mudblood as they preferred.

But she had Harry now. That’s what was important, not that she couldn’t stick up for herself, but it helped to have
someone by her side, something that she wasn’t used to. If only she had Harry back then.

***

“What’s wrong, Grangey?” Chelsea, one of Hermione classmates asked her once she spotted her crying on a bench while the
rest of her class was out for recess. Hermione looked up, afraid to answer after detecting the hate in her voice. “I
asked you a question, Hermy One.”

Hermione shut her eyes hard, causing several more tears to flow out. She hated it when they called her that. Why did her
mother have to give her such an odd name? Why did she have to save the name Jane for her middle name? They couldn’t have
made fun of Jane… could they? She just shook her head as if to tell her to go away. “My gram died last night…” Hermione
sobbed louder than she wanted to.

“How sad…” Chelsea shot back, causing Hermione to look up in shock. Chelsea was one of the meanest kids in her class; it
wasn’t like her to be sympathetic. “She probably died because she couldn’t bear to live with such an ugly
Granddaughter.” That one did it. If she was only crying before, she was sobbing now. But something happened that she
hadn’t expected.

Out of nowhere, Chelsea was lifted off the ground and went hurtling towards the large oak tree that the bench was
sitting next to, knocking her out cold. “HERMIONE GRANGER!” the teacher shouted after seeing Hermione standing over the
knocked out Chelsea. Without thinking, Hermione started to run towards home as fast as she could. She couldn’t bear to
stay at that school for any longer.

“MUMMY! DADDY!” Hermione cried as she plowed in through the front door, still in tears. “I WANT MUMMY AND DADDY!” She
flew into the kitchen and saw her older sister Julie sitting at the counter, eating an apple. “Where’s Mummy and Daddy?”

“Hermione, honey… you’re supposed to be the smart one. They’re still at work. What’s wrong?” Julie got down from the
counter and took Hermione, sitting her on her lap once they reached the couch. “What happened?”

Hermione let out a long sob before she was able to talk. “They said grandma wasn’t proud of me… that’s why she died.”
Julie’s blood began to boil after hearing what Hermione had to say. “Why did you have to get the normal name? Why did
you have to be the pretty one? Why does everyone love you?”

Julie was seven years Hermione’s senior, making her sixteen at the time, and she really was the anti Hermione. She was
drop dead gorgeous, all the boys were after her, she had loads of friends, and she was athletic. She certainly wasn’t as
smart as Hermione, but she was intelligent in her own right. “Sweetie, Dad gave up being a musician so he could help
raise you. He couldn’t possibly love you more.”

“I don’t mean, Mum and Dad… I know they love me, I mean everyone else.” Hermione cried again onto Julie’s shoulder. “Why
do they hate me?”

Julie smiled and kissed her little sister on the forehead. “They don’t hate you… they’re scared of you. You’re smarter
than all of them put together, and if you actually cared about such shallow things, you would look better than all of
them.” Hermione grunted. She knew that she wasn’t capable to be pretty, but she did have her brains and that would have
to be enough for now.

A few moments later, both of Hermione’s parents came plowing through the door much like Hermione did a little bit
earlier. “Hermione! Your teacher called. We were so worried. What were you thinking?!?!” her mother, Marie, screamed,
hugging her daughter tightly.

“They were mean to me…” Hermione cried on to her mother’s shoulder.

“That’s no excuse, you could have been killed!” Her mother screamed again, causing Hermione to burst into tears.

“Marie, it’s okay. No harm done, now why don’t you go back to the office and finish up, I can take it from here.” Not
that Hermione didn’t love her mother, but she always had a special connection with her father and it was self evident in
this situation. It was even more apparent when she got her letter to Hogwarts. David was ready to send her before
McGonagall showed up; it took Marie a little while.

***

The weeks that followed Harry’s successes on the Quidditch field were very exciting, yet stressful for the first year
students. In their classes they started going passed the basics and learning actually useful bits of magic.

“Okay, now students take your feather and perform the spell. Remember the flick and swish.” Professor Flitwick
instructed from a stack of books adjacent to his desk. All the students did as they were told, but only Hermione’s moved
anywhere and that was just to float to the ground.

Next to Professor Quirrell, Professor Flitwick was probably his favorite teacher. His classes weren’t as in depth, but
he had a true enthusiasm for his subject and for teaching in general. Apparently, he was really talented too. Hermione
had read in Hogwarts, a History that Flitwick used to teach an elective class on Dueling, before the Ministry deemed it
inappropriate.

Suddenly, there was a large explosion on the opposite side of the room. Every head in the room spun around to see Ron
and Seamus covered in soot and a flaming feather fall to the ground. “They probably forgot to flick…” Hermione turned
towards Harry and began to laugh.

“Err… um… class dismissed!” Flitwick yelled as he ran over towards the table in question. The class let out a collective
laugh and filed out of the classroom. Charms was always pretty low stress, since it was with the Hufflepuffs. Not that
the Hufflepuffs were bad at magic, but they were a lot less competitive than Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts
with the Slytherins.

Since they had an extra half hour before Lunch, Harry and Hermione decided that they would go take a walk down by the
lake and unwind for a bit before their double potions class with the Slytherins. “So, I was thinking, Harry, what do you
want to do for Halloween? The fourth years and up have the Halloween Ball and most of the other under classmen will be
trying to sneak in… so it’ll pretty much just be us stuck in the common room alone.”

“What are you getting at, Miss Granger?” Harry winked at her, running away before she could figure out the double
meaning.

“HARRY JAMES POTTER, YOU GIT!” She shrieked, chasing after him once she realized what he meant. Without much trouble,
she caught up to him and tackled him to the ground. “I was only wondering what you wanted to do so we wouldn’t get
bored.”

Harry snickered a bit. “Well, I don’t think we’d get bored…” Still on top of him, she hit him with all of her might. She
probably would have been terrifying if she wasn’t laughing while she smacked him. She got off of him and then helped him
back to his feet. “Actually, I was thinking I could invite my Uncles and Carolyn to come up for the night. Carolyn just
mentioned in her last letter that she enjoyed spending the day with you a couple weeks ago and I don’t think that you’ve
met my Uncles yet.”

“Uncle Sirus and Uncle Remus?” Hermione asked and Harry nodded. “You’ve mentioned a lot about them, but now, I’ve never
met them.”

Harry smiled. “They’ve both been an awful influence on me.”

“Oh then I can’t wait.” Hermione gave Harry another friendly slap as they began to walk up to the castle. Suddenly they
saw Snape and Quirrell fly out of a passage way towards them.

Without thinking, the two jumped out of their way and hid in a corner. “Quirinus, won’t you see reason?”

“Reason? It’s hidden for a reason, Severus. Dumbledore trusted me to help keep it hidden and I’m not about to tell a
former Death Eater where the object of Voldemort’s desire is hidden.” Quirrell asserted towards Snape with his wand
drawn, as if he was afraid Snape was going to take the information from him with magic.

Though he didn’t look like he was about to attack, Snape still looked livid, as if he were about to explode. “That, my
dear Professor Quirrell is your first mistake. Isn’t Dumbledore the one who wants everyone to trust one another?” Snape
asked in a voice that elicited he didn’t feel the same way.

“Look, Severus, I don’t know why you want to know where it is, but I am not in the position to tell you where it is.
Good day, Professor Snape.” Quirrell said coolly and walked away, leaving Snape in the hallway with a murderous look on
his face.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other in a state between confusion and fear at the short conversation between their
favorite and least favorite Professors. Without words, they both began to run towards Gryffindor Tower with much haste.
Once they got their, they got into Harry’s empty dorm room and jumped on his bed. “What in Merlin’s name was that
about?”

“Snape… A Death Eater?” Hermione gasped at the thought of being taught by one of Voldemort’s followers. “Do you know
what this means?”

Harry violently shook his head, as if he wanted to not think about it. “I’m more worried about what he wants. What could
it be? Some kind of wea…” Harry then stopped dead mid sentence.

“Harry, what is it?” Hermione walked over to Harry and put a comforting hand on his arm.

It took Harry a few seconds before he could completely form words. “My Dad always told me that the prophecy isn’t
exactly common knowledge in the Wizarding World. Maybe Snape knows that will be the end of Voldemort is here and he
wants to destroy it. Maybe he wants me.”

“Harry, that’s crazy. Voldemort knows about the prophecy, so I’m sure Professor Snape would too. You can’t think that
way.” Hermione pulled him in for a vice like hug, which did kind of make him feel a bit better.

They sat their in silence, not even moving for the lunch bell. They weren’t hungry. But, once one o’clock hit, the two
decided that they couldn’t skip out on Potions, no matter how much their stomachs told them they shouldn’t go.

For obvious reasons, that Potions class wasn’t the best one in the world, not that there were others that were much
better. This one took the cake though. Neither Harry nor Hermione could look at Snape with out getting an odd shiver
down their spines. “Not in the Know-it-All mood today, Miss Granger?” Snape sneered as he asked his sixth unanswered
question of the day.

“No, sir…” She didn’t even try to meet his gaze; she just kept looking down at her Potions book. “Not feeling well.”

“Then perhaps, you should leave my class and quit wasting my time… Potter, take her to the hospital wing.” Snape
commanded, pointing her and Harry towards the door. Without question, Harry put their books in their bags and carried
them both out, leading Hermione by the hand.

Harry and Hermione were half way to the hospital wing before either of them could talk. “Hermione, you lied…”

“No, I didn’t. I really wasn’t feeling well. But we’re going to have to deal with it for now, because we can’t miss
every potions class… wait.” Hermione saw the girl’s bathroom and quickly made a run for it, so she could relieve her
stomach. A few moments later, she emerged from the bathroom, looking significantly paler. “I think I just need a spot of
tea.” Harry nodded and put his arm around her waste to lead her towards their common room.

The Double Potions class that next day was equally tough, but the two friends made a goal to at least answer two
questions, wrong or not. If they got questions wrong, they probably could have used that as an excuse.

“How much longer until summer?” Harry and Hermione both gave a weak laugh as they left the Potions room in the dungeons.
“This is harder than I thought it was going to be… oh well, I’m going to go check if there’s anything from Sirius or
Remus yet… If they come tomorrow, we can tell them about Snape.”

Once the two got the Owlry, Hedwig swooped down and dropped a letter from Sirius and Remus into Harry’s hands. He opened
it up and began to read aloud:

---

Dear Harry… and Hermione if you’re with him,

It would be our pleasure to come visit you after the Halloween dinner on Thursday. It has been far too long since we
last saw you. The week before you left, if I remember correctly. Harry, a lot has happened in the world since you got
into school that the Prophet isn’t telling the world. I would be interested in sharing it with you… and Quirrell if we
get the chance.

It was also quite considerate of you to include your sister into your plan. She simply can’t wait to see you.
Christopher on the other hand isn’t exactly thrilled about it, but he’s too young at this point. By the time we arrive
it will probably be passed his bed time. Well, I really must be going; I have to do some things before I arrive. I will
see you soon.

Sincerely

Sirius Black and Remus Lupin

---

Harry smiled widely as he finished reading the letter. That was just the pick-me-up he needed, so much that it almost
made potions bearable. “Now this is exciting!” Harry looked brightly at Hermione and almost skipped back towards the
Common room.

***

Both Harry and Hermione were very happy that Thursdays was an easy day. Herbology in the morning, then double Defense
Against the Dark Arts with lunch in the middle and a nice nap afterwards that came in the form of History of Magic. And
all of it went normally that is until the second dose of D.A.D.A.

“Now, remember the protection spells we were working on?” Quirrell asked the class, to which they all responded with
nods. “Now partner up… err… um… Potter why don’t you work with Malfoy and Granger with Entwistle… just for the sake of
variation.” He said once he saw Hermione and Harry instantly move together.

Harry and Hermione looked timidly at each other, but then decided not to argue with their favorite teacher. Shocked at
the new turn of events, the rest of the groups formed in their normal states, until he discouraged all of them,
reforming the groups in a very odd manner. “Now, this is better. Believe me, when you’re out in the field, you don’t
have the luxury of knowing the style of your enemy.

“Now, one partner will send sparks at the other partner while they use the shielding spell. I don’t expect anyone to be
able to defend from more than sparks at this point, but you’ll get there.” Quirrell smiled at the students and gave the
cue to start.

What at first Quirrell thought was a good idea soon turned out to be more than he had hoped. Before the first ten
minutes were up, he had to put out flames on three students robes and send Demelza Robbins and Blaise Zabini to the
hospital wing. The only one able to produce a stable shield was Hermione Granger.

“Um… now switch.” The students who started out on the receiving end of the sparks gladly changed positions. The problem
with the first group happened in the switch too. No one was ready to produce a shield this early.

“You’re doing it wrong, Oscar. See the shield is produced with the force and meaning you have in your voice… There’s no
fancy wand work with this.” Hermione instructed her partner as he failed for the fifth time.

Entwistle was effectively getting annoyed with Hermione. She wasn’t supposed to be good at magic. She was a Muggleborn.
A mudblood. They were supposed to be just a small step up from Squibs… or at least that’s what his parents told him.
Hermione raised her wand and once again sent sparks towards him. “Protego!” He spoke in an angry voice, but the sparks
still managed to hit him and knock him down.

“Oscar, It’s about will power, you need to feel stronger to be stronger.” Hermione rushed to his side to help him up,
but to her surprise, he whipped his wand out and sent her flying backwards into the bookshelf with an undistinguishable
hex.

Oscar picked up her wand that she had dropped and threw it towards her. “What do you know, you filthy little Mudblood?
There’s a reason your only friend is Harry.”

”DETENTION! DETENTION EVERYDAY UNTIL CHRISTMAS, ENTWISTLE!” Quirrell screamed at the top of his lungs. Though it wasn’t
directed towards Harry, he still backed off a bit. He had never heard Quirrell go off on a student like that, not that
he didn’t deserve it. “You are damned lucky that you two are in the same house or else I would have taken all your
points away. Now get out of my classroom. You aren’t welcome here anymore.”

Oscar just scoffed it off and stormed out of the room, leaving a very shaken up D.A.D.A class. Even the Slytherins were
silent. “Hermione…?” Harry ran over to her and helped her up, his heart broken once he saw the tears flowing down her
face.

“I’m fine… I just have to… go…” She sobbed, running out of the classroom. Quirrell offered to let Harry go after her,
but he knew that he shouldn’t. She just needed to cool off on here own.

After that the class was so shaken that they all knew they wouldn’t be able to get anymore progress done, so Quirrell
let them leave. “Harry... may I have a moment?” Harry turned around at the door and looked at Quirrell. “Harry, I need
to talk to you about Voldemort.” Harry was immediately attentive.

“What is it?” Harry asked quickly.

Quirrell hesitated. “Um… well, I just wanted to let you know that Voldemort’s fear is his own humanity… He’s done
everything in his power to make himself inhuman and there are certain… items he’s used or had the desire to use.”

Harry gave his Professor a quizzical look. “Couldn’t this have waited until next meeting?”

“No… you see, all the deaths that have been taking place have had something in common. They all possess knowledge of
extra long life.” Quirrell explained, leaving Harry in shock. “Jonathan Poncedelon claimed to have the map that led to
the Fountain of Youth. Adam and Eva Godwin were thought to know the location of Eden. And other things like that.
Dumbledore being the clever wizard that he is figured this out and was able to get to some items before Voldemort could
off the people.”

Harry gave Quirrell another quizzical look. “There are some things of such nature at Hogwarts being protected… and
Voldemort could be lead here by them. I don’t want to see him try to knock out two birds with one stone.”

Harry finally realized why Quirrell needed to tell him immediately. “Professor…”

“Harry, I can’t teach you enough to prepare you if it comes soon… but the one thing I can tell you is to not take your
friends for granted. Especially Hermione. Remember when I told you that I knew what it was like to be alone?” Harry
nodded. “Well, I wasn’t lying… one day I’ll reveal it all to you, but for now take my word for it.”

“What do I have to do?” Harry looked down at his shoes.

“Go find Hermione and see if she’s okay… and watch your back.”

But that was easier said than done. Hermione wasn’t there at History of Magic when it started, nor did she come in late.
To be fair, she was pretty shaken when she left Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Harry really started to get worried
when he didn’t see her when he got back to the common room. “Parvati, Lavender? Have you seen Hermione?”

“Sorry, Harry. You might want to ask Luna or Anna.” So Harry did, but it was still no good, although Anna remembered
that Hermione was in the bathroom when she went in between Defense and History.

“Harry, it’ll be best not to bother her, she was pretty upset.” Anna said sweetly. She was a Muggleborn, like Hermione,
yet not as headstrong or clever, although what she didn’t have in skill, she made up for in enthusiasm. She was very
excitable and naive in a very adorable way.

Harry nodded and then went down with Ron and Luna to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. “I’ll kill him, Ron. There
he is… he’s lucky that McGonagall is punishing him, because my punishment would be a hell of a lot worse.”

“Don’t get to angry, Harry, it attracts the polyphemus.” Luna simply said as they took their seats. Harry couldn’t seem
to focus on the wonderful feast, as he kept staring at Entwistle with a look of death in his eye.

Luna and Ron quietly debated on how to get Harry to get away from the point of wanting to kill Entwistle in his sleep.
“Harry, he’s not worth it. I doubt Hermione would think much of you if you were expelled for killing him.”

Harry grumbled at went back to his food, looking at the Professors’ table at the front and noticed something very
peculiar. “Ron, where’s Professor Snape… or Quirrell?”

“Couldn’t tell you, mate, but the less I see of Snape, the better. Quirrell’s okay though.” Ron said between chews.
Suddenly, Professor Quirrell came flying through the Great Hall with a look of terror on his face.

“There’s a troll in the dungeon, Albus!” And for the first time since Harry started school, Dumbledore looked scared and
furious at the same time.

“Prefects direct your houses back to the dormitories! NOW!” Dumbledore bellowed and the whole Great Hall went into
action. Before he could manage to get into the Gryffindor line, Harry’s heart sank.

His eyes grew wide and he quickly turned to Ron and Luna. “Hermione!” They both returned his look of fear, though Luna
probably couldn’t help it. That’s just how her face was. “I’ve got to go find her.”

“Not without help you aren’t.” Harry spun around and saw Oscar right behind him with his wand out. “Percy will have too
close of an eye on Ron and Luna. Face the facts, Potter. You need me.”

Harry looked as if he were about to protest, but he soon realized that there was no time to argue. He gave Entwistle a
quick nod and the broke the line and began heading towards the dungeons. “She’s in the girl’s bathroom.” Before Harry
could finish his sentence, he caught sight of the troll smashing into the loo in question. “Bollocks.”

“Potter, we should go get help. I didn’t think we’d actually have to take on the troll.” Entwistle’s voice quavered so
much that it almost made Harry laugh. In fact, he would have if the situation weren’t different.

“You go. If we both went, Hermione could be dead before got back. I’ll keep the troll away from her.” Harry commanded as
he began to run towards the bathroom with his wand drawn.

Once he got in the bathroom, he saw Hermione crouched in the corner with the troll above her, holding out his club as if
he was ready to bring it down on her. “EXPELLIARMUS!” Harry bellowed, pointing his wand at the club. He really hoped the
spell worked with non magical weapons, there was no time to test it.

Sure enough, to Harry’s immense pleasure, the club hurtled out of his hand, but unfortunately for him, the club started
falling towards him. “PROTEGO!” shouted a voice from behind him, knocking the club off its path and into the opposite
corner of the loo.

Harry turned around and saw Oscar behind him with wand drawn. “I didn’t want to come back and see you both dead.
Conscience couldn’t have taken that.” Harry let out a bit of a snicker and then put his full attention back onto the
troll. “Any ideas, Harry?”

“Just one and you just called me Harry.” With all his strength, Harry jumped up onto the top of one of the toilet stalls
and leaped onto the troll’s back from there. “Hermione! I need your best Expelliarmus!” Hermione nodded and raised her
wand a little bit.

“EXPELLIARMUS!” they both shouted at the same time. Both jets hit the troll at opposite ends, sending it into a top
spin, sending Harry flying to the ground. “EXPELLIARMUS!” They both shouted again, doing the same thing to the troll,
but this time its head found a wall, knocking it out cold.

“HARRY!” Hermione screamed rushing to his side to make sure he was okay. Thank God, he wasn’t hurt. Once Hermione go to
his side, he got right up, despite being a little bit sore. “That was amazing.”

The three students walked over the fallen troll to admire their handy work, but were interrupted by the shrill voice of
Professor McGonagall. “WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?” She screamed. Harry and Hermione spun around and saw her standing with
Quirrell, Flitwick, and Sprout

To Entwistle’s slight amusement, the two Gryffindors began to babble incoherently to create a good story for why they
weren’t in their dormitories finishing their Halloween dinner. Entwistle then felt oddly sorry for them and spoke up.
“It was me, Professor. I made a fool out of myself in Defense Against the Dark Arts today that I wanted to take on the
troll to prove myself. Harry and Hermione came after me to try and stop me… If it weren’t for them I’d probably be
dead.”

”Oscar Entwistle. I have never in my life seen such foolishness in a student. Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention
with Filch next Saturday… I believe that makes double detentions that day.” Oscar bowed his head as McGonagall turned to
Harry and Hermione. “Now… not many first years could take on a mountain troll. 50 points each to Gryffindor.” She smiled
as she walked towards the troll to examine it.

Harry quickly looked for Quirrell, who was obviously scowling as he walked towards the troll, but the second no one but
Harry was looking, he flashed him a smile and a thumbs-up. Harry’s heart suddenly grew lighter.

”Harry, Hermione, Oscar, dinner is in your common room, please head up there and try to keep out of trouble on the way.”
McGonagall ordered, though her voice was a bit lighter, as she was in awe over the incapacitated troll.

“Actually, Minerva, I believe Harry and Hermione have visitors in Dumbledore’s office. They may want to go see them.”
Quirrell smiled at the teens. They didn’t wait for further instruction they just ran towards the office.

When Entwistle turned to go back to Gryffindor tower, both Harry and Hermione grabbed his arms to stop him. “That was a
good thing you did for us, Oscar… why don’t you come with us.”

For the first time that Harry had ever seen, Entwistle gave them a genuine smile that made both Harry and Hermione glow.
“I’d like that. Oh and Hermione… I’m sorry for earlier… It’s just my parents… they don’t think highly of Muggleborns…
and um…”

“Oscar. Think nothing of it.” Hermione gave him a quick hug to show him that it really was okay and to her surprise, he
returned it. “You call me a Mudblood and then save my life. We’re even. But, there are more important things to talk
about… like where Professor Snape was.” Harry stopped dead in his tracks when he realized that back in the bathroom,
Professor Snape was nowhere to be found.

A/N: YAY! Everything I’ve been working towards has been realized here. I never intended Oscar to take Malfoy’s place. He
was always going to be friends with Harry and Hermione, but I still couldn’t make it automatic. Well, I hope you enjoyed
this one and I look forward to your reviews!

Next Chapter: Quidditch and Concerning Christmas.

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7. Hey You! Up In the Sky! Learning to Fly!

Chapter 6: Hey You! Up In the Sky! Learning to Fly!

A/N: Well, I got a little bit over zealous when I said that I would get into a little bit of Christmas in this chapter.
Then again, I wasn't expecting the muse to take the plot in this direction. I'm sorry to say that there is a little less
Harry and Hermione in this chapter, but a lot more James, Lily, Sirius and Remus. Of course, Harry and Hermione will
still have some moments, but the focus is on the plot, rather than the fluff this time around. Well, I hope you all
enjoy!

P.S. I go back to school on the 17th of January, so my work habits will probably be cut down a bit. I will be working on
the story as much as I get the chance, but this will be my first semester away from home, so I would like to take the
time to enjoy the whole college experience. However, I'm having a lot of fun with this story, so I will be gladly
continuing it when I can.

***

Seeing Sirius and Remus was just what the healer ordered. They both helped Harry talk through his suspicious of Snape
and got him to believe that Snape wasn't really out to help Voldemort, although Sirius was a bit less convincing. It was
also nice for Harry to spend some more time with his little sister. She wouldn't be coming to Hogwarts for two more
years and he really did miss her. Before Hermione came along, they were the best of friends.

Before Sirius and Remus left, they did take him aside and give him a similar warning that his father gave him a few
weeks earlier. Harry couldn't help but wonder what all the fuss was, if there was “nothing to worry about.” All of these
warnings were beginning to make him wonder if there really was nothing to worry about.

Another thing that was on Harry's mind of late was how great it was to have Oscar Entwistle on his side now, if only for
Malfoy's reaction. Harry was trying to decide what was more rewarding; finding out Harry made the Quidditch team or
finding out that Entwistle was friends with a Blood traitor and a Muggleborn. “ENTWISTLE! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK
YOU'RE DOING!?!”

“Walking to class with my friends... rather than walking to class with a `boss.' I'm done being your minion, Malfoy.”
Entwistle shot back as he continued walking to Defense Against the Dark Arts. In the weeks that followed Halloween,
there was a huge change in Oscar's personality, so much that Professor Quirrell decided to cut down his punishment to
only two detentions to be given back to back. He'd only need to waste one Saturday.

And of course he wouldn't have to have one the day of Harry's first Quidditch match as everyone in the school wanted to
see that one, including Quirrell. “Harry, you'll do fine… honestly, I don't know why you listen to Malfoy.” Hermione put
down the paper that had a wizard drawing of Harry falling off his broom and breaking every bone in his body on it. She
did have to admit it was quite an impressive drawing, but resisting the urge to study it, she balled it up and tossed it
aside.

“Because he's right. I've never flown on a broom where everyone on the opposite team wants to make you fall of your
broom. That's a lot of pressure. Sure, I can find the snitch easy enough, but there's so much I have to dodge.” Harry
was playing with his food the same way he was on the morning of tryouts.

Hermione couldn't help but snicker a bit at the sight of Harry being this nervous over a Quidditch match. He was the
person who was supposed to defeat Voldemort and she was a little bit scared that he couldn't get over a little game of
Quidditch. Then again, she had never really seen a match in her life.

“You know, Harry, we'll be there making sure no one unfairly tries to hex you. Believe me, it's a lot more comforting
having Hermione Granger on your side than Vincent Crabbe or Gregory Goyle… or Pansy Parkinson… or Millicent Bulstrode…
or Blaise Zabini… put together” Oscar laughed a bit at his house's collective stupidity, causing Harry and Hermione to
join in. To their surprise, Ron and Luna also soon followed. Luna was somewhat impartial, but Ron took a little bit to
warm up to Oscar being a friend. His dad was always telling him about how bad the Entwistles were, so it was only
natural that Oscar wouldn't be his favorite person in the world.

The group froze up as Professor Snape walked towards them and stopped behind Harry and Hermione. “Good luck today,
Potter. I trust you won't let your teammates down. It would be most… unfortunate if something… happened to you.” He
spoke in the softest of voices before walking away to join the other Professors at the head table.

Hermione shot Harry a very knowing look that confused Ron, Oscar and Luna. “What is it?” They all asked, almost in
unison.

“Nothing... It's just something Snape said a few weeks back. It's not important.” Harry brushed it off as he continued
to pick at his food.

It was a cold November day when they stepped out to head towards the Quidditch Pitch for the first match. Normally, the
regular students didn't show up until a half hour before the match, where the teams were required to be there an hour
before. However, Hermione, Oscar, Luna, and Ron made sure to accompany Harry to make him feel a bit more confident.
“You'll be fine, Harry.” Hermione told him once they were right outside the Gryffindor Locker Room.

“I sure hope so… you'll be in the front row?” He asked hopefully.

“And cheering the loudest.” She added, giving him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving him at the door.
“Good luck.” They all wished him and walked away.

Gathering all his Gryffindor courage, he took a step into the locker room where he was met by Oliver Wood, Fred and
George Weasley, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet. “You're late, Potter.” Was all Wood said before he
showed Harry his locker. “Harry, this is where you will keep everything related to Quidditch. It's the safest place for
it because only Gryffindors are allowed in here. It can't be easily bewitched.”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. “It's alright, I'm here for Harry. I'm his father.” Wood cautiously let him in,
looking for Harry's approval. Harry gave Wood quick nod, giving him permission to fully let him in. “Harry, we're all up
in the stands rooting for you. Sirius, Remus, Carolyn, Christopher, your mother, they all found a seat close to Hermione
and everyone… I just wanted to give you this… It's not much, but it's better than one of those school brooms.” James
gave Harry the most magnificent broom he had ever seen in his life.

“Dad…”

“No, Son. It's okay. Just knock them dead. If you lose, Snape would never let me hear the end of it. Good luck.” And
with that he was gone. Harry turned around to look at his team and saw that they were all beaming at him.

Fred and George both walked over to Harry so they could get a closer look at his broom. “Oh. A Cleansweep! This one's
better than my broom!” Fred exclaimed.

“And my broom.” George replied.

“Put together, if I do say so myself.” Alicia sarcastically shot in as she adjusted her uniform a bit.

“Alicia, darling, you slay us!” George put his hand over his forehead and pretended to faint.

“One day you'll admit that you're in love with us…” Fred put his arm around her, causing her to push him away.

Harry laughed a bit and then began to put on his uniform. He knew that the biggest danger he faced were the bludgers and
that with Fred and George on the team, he was at least safe from them. They had such a connection. “Oh um Harry, if we
have an off day… it's not our fault.” Fred put his hand on Harry and pretended to be sympathetic.

“Alicia's rejection it just leaving us completely distraught. I don't think we can go on.” The whole team laughed at
both Fred and George, well everyone but Oliver.

Oliver didn't look pleased at all. “This is no time for jokes, this is crunch time people. You know, I've had the
pleasure of being on this team for four years and I would go as far to say that this is the best team I've worked with.
Sure we lost Charlie Weasley, Arnold Darwin and Deanna Mendelson, but I think this team has the ability to go on and win
the House Cup. Something we haven't ever done in my time here as a player. Now, play hard team… I have a good feeling
about this one.”

After Oliver's pep talk was over, the team as a whole walked out of the locker room into the stadium of screaming fans.
Harry hadn't really expected such vast crowds when he first became seeker, but here it was. The whole school was there,
including all the teachers and probably several parents of students on the two opposing teams. Before Harry could even
make another thought, he was up in the air searching for the Golden Snitch. He couldn't even remember the whistle
blowing.

After about a half hour and still no sign of the snitch, the score was 110-60 in favor of Slytherin. Harry could just
see Snape's crooked smile across his cold, pale face. The Slytherins were lucky. They didn't have to replace anyone this
year, but too bad for them that next year they'd have to replace over half their team next year. Two chasers, their
seeker and one beater were all in their 7th year. Next year, the team would be in shambles.

Suddenly, Harry felt something large fly passed his face, knocking him a bit off of his course. “Watch out, Harry. A
little closer and we would have had to train a new seeker.” George yelled, chasing after the bludger and knocking it
towards Marcus Flint, the Captain of the Slytherin team. He was the youngest person on the team, but he was made captain
so they wouldn't need a new captain too next year.

After another half hour, Harry decided to trick out the other seeker by doing a couple dive bombs, making them think
that he saw the snitch. Neither of them was very successful. That was a move he had learned from Charlie and sadly, this
seeker had played against Charlie fairly often.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a glint of gold sparkle. Rather than jerk over and speed towards it, he
slowly turned and gracefully made his way towards what he thought was the snitch. As he got closer, he confirmed that it
was in fact the Golden Snitch and he began to speed towards it. But, before he could reach the Snitch, the broom he was
riding began to shake violently.

“Oh my God, Harry!” Hermione shrieked. “Mr. Potter, what's going on?” Hermione looked over at Harry's family and saw
that all of them had their wands drawn, trying to steady him.

The spells weren't working properly, but with all of his own strength, he continued to move towards the snitch and
before he lost all control, he reached out and grabbed the snitch with his right hand, almost falling off his broom.
“Yes!” Harry shouted to himself, before clutching the wand for dear life.

Out of nowhere, Dumbledore walked up to James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus and began to speak into James' ear. In all of the
confusion, Hermione tried to decipher what he was saying. Unfortunately she was only able to understand two words: “He's
here.”

What did that mean? She really wished that Dumbledore would speak louder, but suddenly she froze. “Oh God.” Before she
could react, the teachers and adults began to evacuate the students.

“Hermione, go back to your common room.” Dumbledore commanded in a harsh voice that she never heard before. “This isn't
safe.”

She turned up to face the old headmaster and glared at him. “I'm not leaving, Harry. Not a chance.” Oscar, Ron and Luna
turned to Hermione shocked. They had never heard her, nor did they ever expect her to ever defy authority.

“Albus, I'm not leaving either, I'll keep an eye on her. Who knows she could be a bit of help.” James smiled down at
Hermione without breaking his concentration on his son. Dumbledore nodded and looked over to Sirius and Remus.

“Are both of you fit for battle?” They both nodded and began to follow Dumbledore before a green energy jet hit the
stands near them, blowing them up. All of them looked down and saw a small group of Death Eaters blasting away at
everything that moved.

“STUPIFY!” Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore bellowed almost in unison, knocking out several of them. “Minerva!
Contact the Ministry. I need as many aurors as they can get here as fast as they can.” She nodded as she ran back into
the booth where she could use the floo network.

Amid all the chaos, Hermione, Lily and James did their best to steady Harry, but it was no good. Whoever was cursing the
broom, was a very powerful wizard and they all shuddered to think that it may have possibly been the Dark Lord himself.
“Lily! Your daughter's calling for you back at the school.” She looked at James and he nodded at her allowing her to go
back to the castle to console her other children. “James, are you okay.”

“I'd be a hell of a lot better if I didn't have these damn Death Eaters blasting Killing Curses at me while I'm trying
to save my son.” James' voice seemed strained to Hermione, making her more than a little bit worried that his magic
would start to cut out and Harry would be left to fend for himself.

Quirrell nodded and shot a green curse towards a Death Eater that was closing in on them, making him double over. “I'll
cover you… now, Miss Granger, what are you doing here?”

“She wouldn't leave his side…” James gave a bit of half smile as he patted Hermione's shoulder with his free hand.
“Albus said the bastard was here. What do you make of that one?”

Quirrell shook his head. “In all my years of teaching here, if I've learned one thing, it's that Albus Percival Wulfric
Brian Dumbledore is never wrong and when is wrong… he's still never wrong.”

James let out a short laugh, until it was stifled when he caught sight of his very fears personified. Standing on the
opposite sides of the stands was none other than Lord Voldemort. “Quirrell!” James pointed towards Voldemort and
Quirrell quickly caught on.

“Dear God, protect us.” Quirrell was at a loss for words, but then took his wand and pointed it towards him. “What do
you say we end this right now? AVADA KEDAVRA!” Quirrell screamed, almost louder than he intended, sending a green jet
towards Voldemort. Unfortunately, Voldemort was expecting it and he redirected the curse towards Harry making it hit is
broom, blowing it up on contact.

“NO!” Hermione screamed.

James looked flustered as if he were completely out of ideas. “Hermione… the levicorpus spell…”

“I'm not familiar with it.” Hermione said with sheer panic in her voice and face.

“Doesn't matter. Just point your wand at Harry and say Levicorpus. That should help. Quirrell, keep anything that
bastard shoots away from Harry.” Both Quirrell and Hermione nodded at their instructions and got into place.

“LEVICORPUS!” Both James and Hermione shouted, slowing Harry's fall down before he hit the ground with a large thud.
“ACCIO HARRY!” James barked, making his son fly towards them.

Once Harry reached his arms, James hugged him tightly, looking for a response. “Dad… I got it… I caught the snitch.” He
spoke before going out cold.

“Quirrell… I've got to get him back to the school… Cover us...” James patted Quirrell on the back and began to run
towards the castle with Harry in his arms. Without looking back at the battle at all, he made it back to the castle
where he found Lily, Carolyn and Christopher waiting for them. “We've got to get to Poppy.”

In haste the whole group ran towards the Hospital Wing. “Poppy… please, my son.” All she did was nod and put him on one
of the beds.

“James, dear… he'll be fine in my care… please just wait outside.” All of them gratefully acknowledged and took a seat
on the floor outside.

They waited for what felt like hours before anyone spoke and to their surprise it was Hermione. “So that's what he looks
like… I wasn't sure what to expect… he was so… inhuman.”

James snickered a bit. “I have trouble believing that it was ever human. But Albus assures me that it still is.
Despicable… going after a boy.”

Hermione was going to question it further, but she decided to leave it alone when she saw how much hate it brought to
James' voice. She glanced over at the clock and saw that barely any time had passed, but it still felt like hours. She
would have so much rather taken all of the blows than see her Harry hurt like this. Seeing him hurt like this did in
fact hurt her. She knew it wasn't the magic that made her sore as she was running towards the castle; it was seeing
Harry limp in his father's arms.

After about an hour, James got up and decided that he was going to go have a look around and scout out the rest of the
castle. Once he was gone, Lily turned to Hermione and saw the distress in her face. “You really care about him, don't
you?” Lily asked Hermione sweetly as she tried to lull both Carolyn and Christopher to sleep.

“More than anything, Mrs. Potter. I have other friends, but none of them come close to Harry. We connect on a different
level.” Lily smiled a bit at Hermione. She too remembered what it was like to have a friend like that, being a
Muggleborn.

“Yes, I too had a friend like you do with Harry.” Lily slightly mused over telling her who and once she realized both
her children were sleeping; she gave in. “His name was Severus Snape.”

Hermione's eye widened at the new revelation. “No!”

“Yes… he was a lot different when he was younger, but age changed him… much like it changed James. But it was the
opposite. James changed for the better and Severus for the worse. If things had ended up differently, you could have
been best friends with Harry Snape.” Hermione coughed, half out of humor, half out of complete and total disgust. “But,
you can't tell Harry. He'd flip.”

Lily and Hermione spent a little bit more time girl talking before James and Remus came walking up towards them with
Sirius balancing him between them. “It got away. The bleeding bastard got away.” Sirius grunted in a strained voice. “If
I ever see it again, I'll kill it.”

“My dear, Sirius… you need your rest.” Remus spoke softly as he transfigured a small bucket in the corner into a large
comfortable chair. “Now sit.” Rather than argue with his friend, he followed the order and sat down, but continued his
little rant.

James shook his head and sat down next to Lily again. “This is madness… we lost thirteen aurors, and a few students and
teachers were injured. Katie Bell being the most severe. Damn it.”

He really didn't need to explain it all the injured as all of them were soon passing by them on their way to the
hospital. Fortunately, none of the students really looked all that bad off, more shaken than anything else. Like James
had earlier started, Katie was one of the most badly injured. Fell off her broom after it was hit by a curse aimed at
Harry, but it appeared as if she would be alright.

“I got a piece of him! I showed all the Death Eaters than their master can still bleed.” Professor Quirrell laughed as
he was being guided to the hospital wing by both McGonagall and Snape. Neither of them was exactly in the best of
spirits, not that anyone could blame them. McGonagall looked as if she had just seen a ghost and Snape even looked a bit
grim. Well, grimmer than usually.

After a few moments went by, Dumbledore walked up to the small group huddled together in the corner. “Mooney, Padfoot,
and Prongs… could I see the three of you in my office. Lily, I'd invite you, but you seem a bit occupied right now.”
Dumbledore said with a half smile and a twinkle in his eye, seeing that both her young children were asleep in her lap
and Hermione was in the process of falling asleep on her shoulder.

The three marauders nodded, stood up and followed Dumbledore towards his office. When they arrived, they were met by
Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Bill Weasley and a female with pink spiky hair that they didn't recognize. “Bill
Weasley! How are you, my boy?” James exclaimed taking his had and firmly shaking it. “I didn't know you became and
auror.”

“It's a fairly new endeavor, Mr. Potter. I started training back in September, when I began to realize that the war was
only picking up steam. Now, I think I'm just lucky enough to be doing this job.” His tone went from somewhat happy to
grim very quickly and James could sense the same feeling all around the room.

“Of those who were sent, these are the only survivors.” Albus explained, causing James to go into a bit of a panic. This
had to have been the largest single loss in the war's history. They just weren't expecting it, they couldn't have.

James shook his head and looked at both Sirius and Remus. “Well, what's the story?”

Albus' twinkle came back and pointed to the girl that they didn't recognize. She couldn't have been any older than
Charlie Weasley, who was just about to turn nineteen, probably a trainee. “She is. She reverted and took several curses
that were aimed directly at your son, even a cruciatus curse. James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, I'd like you
to meet Nymphadora Tonks.”

With brightness in their faces, they all most gratefully thanked her. “It was nothing, just doing my job, sirs”

“Nymphadora, I was an auror once, but it was never in our training to take curses for another. It's hard to fight if
you're dead.” James stated matter of factly.

Tonks squirmed a bit at the thought of being dead. It wasn't exactly something that she had though about when she had
taken up the training to become an auror. “Please, just call me Tonks… I'm not a big fan of Nymphadora.”

Without fear of ruining the brighter attitude that had been created, Alastor Moody began to speak. “We should have seen
that coming. With Harry here, there is no reason we shouldn't have expected You-Know-Who to not be far behind.”

“Why what's wrong with Harry?” Tonks asked, breaking the conversation when they all turned to each other debating
whether to tell her.

James nodded at Dumbledore and then began to speak. “Well, there was a prophecy made before Harry was born that said the
one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord would be born as the 7th month dies. Neither can live while the other
survives. Voldemort has spent a lot of time making sure the prophecy doesn't fulfill itself.” James explained to the
young auror, making the whole room besides Dumbledore and the Marauders shiver as he used Voldemort's name.

“Then we need security around the school.” Tonks stated before Moody or Shaklebolt could say anything otherwise. “If you
two knew about it, why wasn't this put in place the second he got here?” James was beginning to like Tonks. He knew that
when he was her age, he never would have dreamed of speaking to her superiors like she did. Maybe lives would have been
saved if he did.

Both Moody and Shacklebolt nodded. “I agree. People need to be put in place, but we took a hit today. If we want people
here, we'll have to sacrifice people at the office.”

“Then let me back in.” Everyone turned to look at James in a state of shock, especially Remus and Sirius. “I can work in
the office as well as anyone, just as long as my boy is safe.”

Sirius smiled a bit and patted his friend on the shoulder. “Mrs. Prongs won't like this one bit.”

“On the contrary, Padfoot… If this protects our son, than I'm sure she'd let me do just about anything… so Kingsley,
where do I sign up.” With James's stubbornness, Sirius and Remus too decided that they would enter the fold. The one
thing holding Remus back was the fact that he was a Werewolf, but Shacklebolt figured that they could work around that
in someway.

“Lupin, I think we could send you out as a semi-free agent. I'll set you and Tonks up together. I'm sure you could learn
a thing or two from each other. Potter and Black, you'll be stationed at the London Headquarters, but no promises you
won't be required to go on some missions.” Everyone nodded at their newly given assignments and decided that they would
all meet at the Headquarters in a week to finish up all the logistics of their new plan. By the time their conversation
was over, James, Remus, and Sirius decided that it was time to go back and check on Harry.

When they arrived at the hospital, they saw that Christopher and the girls were all asleep, so rather than disturb them,
they went into see if Harry was awake. “Dad…” Harry had a very groggy voice, but to a father who thought he had lost his
son that day, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard in his life.

“I'm here, Harry… how are you feeling?” James said with tears forming in his eyes. He grasped his son's had tightly and
to his happiness, Harry returned it.

“Been better… really sore.”

James smiled down at him and ruffled his hair with his free hand. “That's to be expected, just relax; everything is
going to be okay.”

Harry sat there silently for a while, but then suddenly a light went off in Harry's head causing him to jerk a bit.
“Hermione! Is she okay?”

James was a bit taken back by his question, but then nodded. “Remus… could you bring in the others?” Remus gave a half
bow and stepped out. A few seconds later, the rest of the company came rushing it with Hermione leading them. James was
very amused that she grabbed his free hand, rather than letting Lily have it.

“You gave us quite a scare, honey.” Lily cried as she brushed some hair out of his face.

They all turned their attention towards Hermione, whom they saw was sobbing into Harry's chest. “Harry James Potter…
never, ever do that again.”

“Don't worry, `Mione… I won't be trying to do that ever again… but the good news is… I caught the Snitch before all the
chaos. We won.” Harry gave a weak laugh and pulled the Snitch out of his pocket where he had stowed it so he could hold
on to his broom better. “But Dad… your broom.”

James shook his head adamantly. “Nope. That's nothing to worry about. I'm just happy you're safe… You can thank Hermione
for that one. A bit of quick spell work probably saved your life.” Harry gave Hermione's hand a squeeze, making her
blush a bit.

“Wouldn't have been anything, if your Dad didn't teach me the spell first.” Hermione blushed, causing James to shake his
head again.

“All I did was tell you what to say. You did all the spell work… all I know is that I couldn't have done that at your
age.” For the third time in a span of ten minutes, Hermione blushed again and looked down at the floor.

For a good half hour, they all stayed there by Harry's side, until Madam Pomfrey kicked them out, saying that her
patients needed rest. “Lil, we better be going… We can't stay over night here and I trust Hermione with Harry's care.”

To James' surprise Lily agreed and the left after Hermione bade goodbye to Carolyn and Christopher with a friendly hug.
The second they all left, Hermione ran back up to the hospital wing and to her surprise Madam Pomfrey was waiting
outside of room. “Ah, Ms. Granger… Harry was asking for you. Now, normally I wouldn't allow this, but he's been through
so much… I can at least grant him this,”

Hermione smiled and entered the room with the school nurse, quickly walking towards Harry's beside. “What is it, Harry?”

“Nothing important. He responded simply. “I just wanted someone to keep me company, someone to talk too. Everyone else
is still out cold.” Harry laughed a bit and then took Hermione's hand.

The bookworm smiled to herself a bit. “So what do you want to talk about? We have a quiz in charms coming up on
Wednesday.”

Harry rolled his eyes and let out a bit of a laugh, before he realized that it hurt to laugh really hard. “Nothing
magical, please. Let's just talk about normal stuff… Muggle stuff… like what your parents do for a living.”

This time it was Hermione's turn to laugh. Everything was different around Harry, so sometimes she felt stupid to talk
about non-magical things, but she would greatly oblige him. “Well, both my parents are dentists now, but that wasn't
always so. My Dad was in dental school at the University of Rochester in New York… the United State when he attended a
big rock music concert called the Monterey Pop Festival in California. He was always a musician, but that kind of pushed
him to pursue it. Well, to his benefit, the bass player for a musician named Jimi Hendrix broke his wrist before the
show, so my Dad being in the right place at the right time, took his place.”

“You may be surprised at this, but I do know Jimi Hendrix. Some people I used to hang out with were fans of his. I've
probably have heard all his albums at least once.” Harry smiled as she brightened up.

“Well… I'll have you know that my Dad played bass on his final album. He went on to be a pretty respected session
musician. He played with Bob Dylan on a few of his seventies albums, Jackson Browne on his first four albums. Not just
bass either. He plays guitar, piano, organ, mandolin, banjo, along with bass. And he sings. He used to sing me lullabies
when I was a little girl. His real claim to fame though is being the original piano player for Bruce Springsteen's band.
And he did that until September of 1979. When I was born.” Hermione smiled proudly at the fact that her father quit his
passion because of her. She used to feel pretty guilty, but now she knew that it was because he loved her so much.

Harry looked a bit confused at Hermione's last statement. “Isn't your sister seven years older than you? Why didn't he
quit with her?”

“Because she was an object of his rock music… The result of a fly by affair with my Mum. Later he'd realize that he
wanted to settle down, so he married my mum and then had me.” Hermione smiled again and gave Harry's hand a loving
squeeze.

Harry then drifted off to sleep, not before thanking Hermione a thousand times for staying with him and just talking
like normal people.

***

Down in London, James was finally telling Lily about his application to become an auror and to his surprise, for the
second time that day, she agreed with him whole heartedly. “James, our children are the most important things in the
world to me… this is meant to protect them. I'm all for it.”

“I'm glad you think so, Lily, but I must say that I really fear for the future. This little stunt that Voldemort played
today… I shudder to think what's going to come next.” James took off his shirt and got into bed next to Lily.

Lily bit her lower lip much like Hermione did when she was nervous. “I fear the same thing, but not only will he have to
deal with the chosen one now, but also the marauders… they're a force to be reckoned with.” Lily gave her husband a big
smile. The true strength behind their marriage is that they refused to get old. Sirius and Remus helped see to that. No
matter what they would always have fun.

“Ha! I think you're mocking me.”

”Could be…” She kissed his ear and began to nibble a bit on the lobe. “Let's not worry about anything tonight… let's
just have some fun. SILENCIO!” She pointed here wand at the door before casting it away and kissing her husband full on
the mouth.

***

A/N: There you have it! Pretty full chapter if I do say so myself, and I think this is my longest yet. Now, isn't it a
bit ironic that I say I suck at action, yet this chapter is kind of one big action scene? So yeah, the steaks get raised
a bit higher this time.

Next chapter we will have Christmas and also a little bit of an aftermath.

Before I leave this be, I wanted to ask you one thing. I was thinking of having Katie Bell in kind of a Cho-esque roll
through out the story. I think she would work a lot better than Cho given the circumstances. Well, let me know what you
think about that. I look forward to your reviews.

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8. You Didn't See It Was Time To Go Home

Chapter 7: You Didn't See It Was Time to Go Home.

***

A/N: I was really happy with how my last chapter turned out and I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to follow that one
up. Well, I guess its back to my character oriented chapter. In this one, you'll see a little bit of aftermath (the
aftermath will be weeded into the story, rather than a block of exposition). And at the end, we will see the first
chapter featuring the Potter Family Christmas!

Well, I hope you enjoy and I look forward to any and all reviews.

P.S. And as always, points to the person who gets the reference from the title.

***

The shockwave of Voldemort's appearance sent a shiver down the proverbial school spine. Most everyone in the school
didn't feel that it would be a common occurrence, but it still left enough of an impression that it made Hogwarts a
little bit less friendly. Dumbledore did his best to try and quell the fears of there possibly being a second attack,
but a lot of the students, especially the Muggleborns just wouldn't hear another of it.

It was a good thing that there was Hermione or else the Gryffindor first years would have gone completely insane, for
they had the most Muggleborns and non-magical half bloods of any house. With Harry still in the hospital wing, it seemed
like it was her job to be leader of the first years in Gryffindor. Luna, Ron and Oscar helped too, but Ron was
insensitive, most of the Gryffindors still didn't trust Oscar and Luna was so far out that a lot of people wouldn't
listen to her.

In the hospital wing, both Harry and Katie were very luck, as Madam Pomfrey arranged them to have beds right next to
each other, so they could keep each other company and it would be easier to be visited. The whole Quidditch team, along
with Ron, Hermione, Oscar and Luna were there daily during all their breaks until Madam Pomfrey kicked them out.

Harry and Katie spent a lot of time getting to know each other in the weeks that they spent locked up in the Hospital
Wing and they realized they actually had a lot in Common, besides Quidditch. She too lived among Muggles. She was a half
blood and when her parents divorced, she moved in with her Muggle mother and boyfriend, leaving her father in the
Wizarding World. While most English children looked forward to spending their summer holiday in another country, Katie
looked forward to spending it in the Wizarding World.

She too was somewhat of an outsider before she came to Hogwarts. There must be something about witches and wizards
living among Muggles that made them feel like outsiders. Unlike Harry, she did find solace in Muggle sports. She
participated in field hockey and football, which she still did for summer holidays, to keep her speed and strength
sharp.

They also determined that their fathers played Quidditch together when they were at Hogwarts. Don Bell was several years
older than James Potter, so they only played together for a few years, but they were both chasers.

All though Harry found a new friend in Katie, the highlight of his day is when Hermione would stick around after the
rest of the visitors left and just talked to Harry. Not about the prophecy or Voldemort or school work, but about
regular things that kids would talk about on a day to day basis. Sometimes Katie would join in the conversation, but
often she would just entertain herself with a book, knowing that this was important to Harry.

After a whole month of being in the hospital wing, both Katie Bell and Harry Potter were allowed to leave. “Hermione… if
I ever get hurt again like that… just kill me and put me out my misery first.” Harry laughed as he gave Hermione the
first real hug in almost a month.

“Don't talk like that! Being in the Hospital Wing is a lot better than being in one of You-Know-Who's torture cells.”
Hermione scolded him as she returned the hug.

Harry laughed again and pointed towards Katie who was still standing behind him. “She's the only thing that made it
better… well and your nightly visits too.” Hermione shrugged and they continued to walk through the courtyard, so Harry
could get some fresh air.

“Well, I'm going to head in, guys. I'll catch up with you later. See you, Harry.” She smiled sweetly and then walked off
into the castle. Hermione wasn't sure why that bothered her a bit, but it did. Could she be jealous of his new found
friendship with his teammate? They were on the team together; it would only make sense that they would become friends…
right?

By the time Harry got out, it was already mid December and Christmas was already on everyone's mind. On December 14th,
the 4th years and up would have the Yule ball and the next day, everyone who would be heading home would board the
Hogwarts Express and they wouldn't come back until January 9th.

Christmas was always one of Hermione's favorite events, as it would bring her whole family together. Hermione's family
was all over the world. Her paternal Grandfather was spending his retirement in Ireland in a beautiful house overlooking
the shores. Her maternal Grandparents were in New York City, living where they lived since they emigrated from France.
Her Aunts and Uncles were spread across the globe, so she didn't get to see them that often. Christmas was the once
chance for everyone to get together at the Granger's house.

This year it wasn't the same however. For one reason or another, every member of the family was hung up on something. It
would just be her parents, Julie and her for Christmas. But, then again she would be right next door to Harry and that
at least gave her something to do for the rest of the holiday. Wait! What was she going to get Harry? He did all that
work for her Birthday, she should return it for Christmas, but what could she do. Well, she did have a pretty good idea,
but she didn't exactly want to resort to it.

“Fred… George… I need a favor.” Hermione asked as she approached the Weasley Twins in the Common Room.

At the sound their names, they immediately jumped into action and swooped around the girl. “Ah, Hermione, darling…”

“What can we do for you?”

Hermione bit her lower lip, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You want to win the next Quidditch match, right?”
They both looked at her as if she was crazy and decided not to qualify that question with a response. “Well, you're not
going to do it unless Harry has a better broom.”

That last bit interested them. “First years can't have brooms on campus.” George reminded her.

“But when has that stopped us… What do you have in mind?” Fred asked her.

Hermione bit her lower lip again and continued. “Well, you're third years, you can go to Hogsmeade, and where I believe
there is a broom shop. If I give you the money, would you get a broom and then send it to my house for me?”

Fred and George smiled at each other with a glint of mischief in their eyes. “Now, you're talking, Granger, but that
doesn't explain how he'll get to keep it.”

“Right. I was thinking that we could keep it with the school brooms and I could bewitch it so that it responds… badly
when anyone but Harry rides it.” Hermione smiled at what she had come up with for a scheme.

Fred and George's eyes lit up in a way she had never seen before. “We might just have to let you into the club… by the
way what broom did you have in mind.”

Hermione pulled out a piece of paper that looked like it came from some sort of catalogue. “I've been talking to Ron and
he said that this one… the Nimbus 2000 is probably the best racing broom out there right now… I know it's a lot, but I
have the money right here.” She pulled out a sack of coins that looked to be pretty weighty. “200 galleons.” Fred and
George looked as if they had just seen the most money they had ever seen in their entire lives… too bad to say, it
probably was. “Both my parents are dentists… they make quite a bit and my Dad still gets paid for work that he did when
he was younger and that still pays a lot.”

Wordlessly, Fred and George nodded and too the money bag and the ad for the Nimbus 2000. “Um… yeah… of course we'll do
this, Hermione.”

“Anything for the team.” She smiled and gave them both a quick hug and ran off towards her dorm room.

When she got there, she almost airily flopped on to her bed with her eyes closed. Little did she know, Lavender Brown
had already turned in for the night to do some light reading. “Why are you floating, `Mione? You and Harry have a close
encounter in a broom closet?”

Hermione got wide eyed and turned a brilliant shade of red. “What are you talking about…? Lavender… I've never… err…
um.” Lavender put her book down and doubled over in laughter, causing her bed to shake.

“I'm just kidding, but it's obvious that you have it bad for Harry. Just a friendly observation… Luna, Parvati, Anna and
I were all talking about it earlier today. It's actually kind of cute.” Hermione started to stammer again, making
Lavender bust out into another burst of laughter. “If it makes you feel better, Harry's a boy. I'd imagine he's
completely thick towards the whole situation.”

Hermione sighed a bit. “But, I don't fancy him like that.”

“Uh huh… just keep telling yourself that.” Lavender rolled over and continued to read her book, leaving Hermione
completely lost in her thoughts. Did she really think of him like that? Did she really want Harry to be more than just a
friend to her? Why did she feel obligated to spend more money than she had on a Christmas gift for him? Rather than rack
her brain for answers, she decided it would be best to get some sleep.

Hermione woke up the next morning to the sound of Luna's voice telling her to get up. It was Saturday and the day of the
Hogsmeade visit that the Weasleys would get Harry's broom and the day of the Yule Ball. On her way downstairs, Hermione
walked passed the 4th and 5th Years' dorms and saw girls frantically trying on dresses, yelling about how they would
need to get them altered before they wore them that night.

Dressing girly never appealed to Hermione, mostly because it was just downright uncomfortable. Why would she want to
wear clothes that were uncomfortable just to make her look a little extra pretty? Not that it would help much at all.
She wasn't what a person would call your classic beauty.

“Hermione! Ready to go?” Harry asked as he saw her descend down the staircase. He was completely decked out in all of
his snow gear and had a look on his face that looked like he was ready to do battle.

Hermione looked at him strangely. “Ready to go where?”

“Snowball fight in the courtyard. First and Second Year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs vs. First and Second Year Slytherins
and Ravenclaws.” Harry said excitedly, giving Hermione a wide smile. She ran back upstairs to fetch her snow gear and
flew back down, seeing that everyone else was ready but her.

Witches and wizards really knew how to have a good snowball war. Every year on the day of the last Hogsmeade visit
before the Christmas holiday, the heads of houses set up a snowball fight for all the students unable to attend the
outing. When all the First and Second Years got down the courtyard, they saw a winter wonderland set up to look exactly
like a war ground, complete with trenches.

For the whole afternoon, the young students battled in good spirits and they only decided to quit because Slytherin was
starting to curse everything they sent over. Once inside, Harry, Hermione, Oscar, Katie, Ron, and Luna went up to the
Gryffindor common room and sat by the fire with mugs of hot chocolate. “You know, Harry… I could probably convince my
Dad to lend you his broom… he wants to see Gryffindor get the house cup as much as anyone.”

Harry looked up and smiled at his new friend. “Yeah, that'd be great.”

Luna and Ron gave Hermione a bit of a knowing smile, which coincided with Fred and George coming back from Hogsmeade and
turning to Hermione saying, “Mischief managed, Granger,” in unison.

“So, Oscar… what are your plans for the holiday?” Hermione asked, not sure how Death Eaters celebrated the holiday.

He shook his head. “Death Eaters don't celebrate Christmas. It involves worshiping something that isn't the Dark Lord.”

”Wait. Your parents are Death Eaters?” Katie asked with genuine surprise. She was new to the whole group and it hadn't
really come up in conversation since she had joined the group.

Oscar simply nodded. “You never can truly tell, can you? If they aren't now they were… and old habits die hard. I was
actually planning on staying here… the less time I'm at home, the better.”

Harry and Hermione looked at each other knowingly. “Oz… you know, Hermione and I live next door to each other. Why don't
you come home with one of us?”

He shook his head adamantly. “No, I wish I could, but I'm going to be in enough trouble if a certain ferret tells his
Dad that I'm friends with you guys and my parents find out. I'd be lucky if I was allowed to come back.”

Rather than press the subject any longer, Hermione decided to move on to classes and how excited she was about the up
and coming term, causing Ron to roll his eyes and leave. Luna gave both Harry and Hermione a worried look and then
decided to join Ron, against her better judgment.

“Well, guys, I better be going. Alicia wants me to help me do her make-up. She says she's dreadful when it comes to that
stuff. Ah, the benefits of being raised with the Muggles.” She smiled and then got up to go towards the Girls
Dormitories.

With Katie off of the couch that she and Harry were sharing, Hermione brought her feet up off the floor and pulled them
to her chest. Then in an unexpected move, she flopped over and rested her head on Harry's shoulder. “If only all
Muggleborns could be that lucky.”

“'Mione, you're beautiful without all of that stuff on your face. You don't need it in the least.” Harry smiled down at
her, making her look at him with a disgusted look on her face.

“Thank you, Harry. You're sweet, but there's no need to lie to make me feel better.” Both Harry and Oscar rolled their
eyes, deciding that there would be no winning that argument, at least as long as Hermione was still conscious.

Rather than do anything else for the rest of the evening, the trio simply decided to get into their pajamas and hang out
by the fire place until it was time for bed. Enjoy each other's company in a way that they haven't had the ability to
because of certain attacks on the school.

On a second look, Harry didn't realize how much Hermione belittled herself in terms of appearances. He didn't have the
chance to see it for the Halloween Ball, because they were too busy fighting trolls, but Hermione had such a longing
face as she looked at all the girls dressed up, going to the dance with their dates.

Harry was completely lost at what to do to make her feel better; it hurt him to see her hurt like this. “So, Oz… fancy a
chess match?” Harry looked up at his other friend, hoping to keep `Mione's mind off of the night.

***

The sun was beginning to set at the forest outpost on the outskirts of the Hogwarts Ground as Remus Lupin returned from
a day in the field. Since the top of the month, Lupin had been secretly guarding Hogwarts with Nymphadora Tonks, Bill
Weasley, Octavius Maroni, and Harold Brown and it was really starting to wear on his spirits and body. Now that the full
moon was coming up, he was even more on edge.

“Wotcher, Remus, you don't look good!” Tonks shouted as he entered the outpost with notable scratches and hunched over,
like he was about to completely lose his balance. She rushed over to him and helped him into a large, over stuffed
chair.

“Ha! No, I'm an old man, playing a young man's game. If it weren't for Harry up at the castle, I wouldn't be out here.
Sirius told me I was the lucky one… if only, if only,” Lupin let out a hearty laugh, kicking his feet up onto the coffee
table in front of him.

The forest outpost was set outside the Forbidden Forest, on the opposite end of Hagrid's hut as if to create somewhat of
a wall, protecting the perimeter completely. Like the opposite hut, it was set up to feel like a home away from home.
Dumbledore didn't want any of the aurors to be battle worn before the battle actually came. The fireplace was where
Tonks and Lupin spent most of their time when they weren't out stalking the grounds.

“Remus, let me make us some dinner.” Tonks smiled patting his leg before she walked into the kitchen that was attached
to the main room.

“You play nurse and you cook? Damn, you'll make someone a good wife one day.” Remus called in towards the kitchen,
causing Tonks to blush a bit.

“Aren't I a little too young for you, Wolfie?” She asked slyly, poking her head, which now had neon green hair out from
behind a counter.

Remus squirmed a bit in his chair at the question. “Erm… you're also a little too feminine for me too… my furry little
problem isn't the only secret I had Padfoot and Prongs keep for me.” Tonk's eyes grew huge as she began to forcefully
apologize. Remus got another healthy laugh out of watching the incredibly uncomfortable auror try to make it up to him,
which he quickly declined.

“My dear, it is nothing worth getting worked up over. I'm a werewolf and I am also a half blood. I have far bigger
things to worry about than whether or not I find women attractive.” Remus got up and put his arm on the young girl. “I'm
just grateful that I have been able to spend these past two months in such great company.”

Tonks again blushed and then turned back to the kitchen. “So, do you have anything in mind for dinner?”

Remus simply nodded. “Yes. It's getting to be… that time of the month again. So if there're any steaks left, I'd quite
fancy one… rare.” Tonks let out a snort and went back to fixing their dinner.

***

The holiday season was always a favorite time for James and Lily Potter. When they were young, they always were looking
forward to spending the holidays with their families, as that was the one time of the year that they actually had time
to be around them. Naturally, they were both very excited on December 15th when the Hogwarts Express was due in. James
even got there an hour early, so he wouldn't have to worry about crowds.

“David Granger! How are you doing to day, sir?” James walked over and shook Mr. Granger's hand firmly. “Can you believe
their first team is over already?”

David smiled and nodded. “It will just be nice to have Hermione home for a little bit. I've missed her terribly. Marie
and I both have.” David always had a close relationship with his youngest daughter, mostly to make up for how distant he
was with his eldest in her formative years. He was completely lost with out Hermione around the house. “It's just too
bad the family won't be joining us for Christmas this year. Just us.”

James stood back and thought for a second. “Hey, why don't you come over to our house for Christmas Eve dinner?
Christmas isn't a time to be alone, it's for families and I have a strange feeling Harry and Hermione have gotten close
enough to be family. It'll be great; we have my two best friends coming, a few co-workers, and perhaps one of Harry's
teachers stopping by.”

Unsure of how to answer, David was left speechless. “James, that's nice of you, but I wouldn't want to intrude.”

“I insist. Harry and Hermione would have so much fun together. Harry rarely has someone his age to spend time with; this
will be good for them.” David knew that he was right. In her letters home, Hermione talked more about Harry than she did
herself, which it was great she had friends, but he really wished that she hadn't mentioned Halloween. He could have
done without knowing about the troll.

David smiled at James and nodded emphatically. “Of course, I'll have to run it by Marie, but I'm sure she'd be okay with
it. Between you and me, she was kind of depressed about her parents and sisters not joining us for the holiday. Hey,
erm, shouldn't you clear it with Lily first?”

“Actually, we had talked about it earlier. Before we knew if you had plans or not. It was more or less her idea.” James
patted his new friend on the back and he warmly returned it.

David stood their awkwardly and began to look around, wondering what time it was, hoping that Hermione would arrive
soon. “James, what was Hogwarts like when you were there? Hermione hasn't told me much.”

“Well, um… lets see… there's nothing really to worry about. The teachers are all wonderful, except for the so called
Potions Teacher. I didn't have him, but he was a classmate of mine. Brilliant, but a horrible bloke. If you're worried
about Hermione getting hurt with all the magic flying around, don't be. Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen to a
student while he's headmaster.” James explained, watching his friend as he tried to take everything.

Dumbledore? David had heard that name before. Back when the large bloke came into their home and explained the Wizarding
World to them. “You seem to be a fan of this Dumbledore bloke too. The guy who gave Hermione her letter was just as
pleased with him… big fellow too.”

“Ah yes, Hagrid. An old friend of mine… he might even be coming to dinner.” James smiled, remembering his old friend.
“But yeah, there's nothing to worry about now that Sirius and I have graduated. We caused a lot of trouble in our day.”

David wasn't exactly excited to hear about people causing trouble with magic. He didn't think it was something to be
messed around with, but who was he to argue. He was only a Muggle. “Ah. Here they are.” David pointed towards a large
sea of children that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. “There's Hermione and Harry!” The two gentlemen saw Harry and
Hermione warmly saying goodbye to a redheaded boy and a bleached blonde haired girl. Once they spotted their parents
they began running towards them.

“DADDY!” Hermione jumped into his arms as soon as soon as she got close to her father and Harry did the same, but a lot
less excitedly and Hermione-like.

“Well, shall we go? Where's your car, James?” David asked the black haired wizard who was putting down his son.

“I actually don't have one with me right now… I apperated… err teleported here… would you mind giving us a lift, I
forgot how big these trunks were.” James asked shyly, but David graciously agreed, leading the company to his car.

Needless to say, The Grangers were insanely well off. David still got royalties from his work in the music industry and
he and his wife were currently dentists. Both of them paid very well and they were reflected in his black 1991 BMW E31.
It was small, yet large enough to fit the Grangers and any random luggage that they needed to be carried along with
them.

”Daddy… do you think Harry could spend the night with us tonight?” Hermione asked her father once they were in the car
and driving towards home.

David wasn't entirely sure. He wouldn't exactly like it if Hermione decided not to spend her first night home… away from
him. “I don't know, honey… Harry hasn't seen his family in a long time. But if it's okay with James, we'd love to have
him.”

“Of course it's okay. We're at the school all the time, and we're flexible. We'll move the welcome home dinner to
tomorrow. That's easy enough.” James smiled at Harry's new found friendship after remembering a talk from a year ago
where Harry placed Hermione as weird. He felt that this was the start of a beautiful friendship.

A/N: Okay, so we had a little Harry/Hermione, Katie Bell, Remus, David and James… really full chapter (hope it wasn't
too full). Well, I really hope you all enjoy this chapter (It's not my favorite, but I needed to write it) and I hope
none of you kill me over some of my Remus developments… Well, I look forward to your reviews.

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9. Author's Note

Hello fine people!

Okay, so I went to college this past spring and it cut down my abilities to write at all (or anything besides papers).
Now that I've been back, I spent the whole summer trying to come up with a good way to continue, but I just couldn't.
Reading back, I was not happy with how the story was coming out, so I decided to scrap it. However, I still like the
idea of it all and would very much like to still do it. So, I'm going to delete the story and then I'm going to star
over from chapter one. But not right away. I'm going to create a stock pile of chapters, so that if I have to stop
writing for a little bit, it won't be months between chapters. So, I really hope to see all you guys soon!

- Chris

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