From the Eyes of a Know-it-all

Candra

Rating: NC17
Genres: Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 7
Published: 18/07/2009
Last Updated: 04/11/2009
Status: in_progress

What if the Troll Atack had never happened and Harry, Ron and Hermione wouldn't have become friends? How would the characters develop? Would Harry and Hermione built a close friendship and more eventually, if they hadn't been best friends since first year? Read this story to find out. Hermione POV

Chapters

1. At The Beginning

2. Broken Dreams

1. At The Beginning

From the Eyes of a Know-It-All

A/N: This is my first fanfic told entirely from Hermione’s POV, which is kind of strange because she has always been my favourite character. So, this story is about her life in Hogwarts and her relationship with Harry, if Hermione hadn’t been attacked by the Troll in first year.

Harry and Hermione will eventually become friends (and more) in this story, but not during their first years at Hogwarts. I will keep the first years short and start with the main part of the story in 4th year. This story will be longer than my first two Harmony stories and will go until Harry’s and Hermione’s Graduation from Hogwarts.

The rating is obviously for later chapters. I’m not a complete pervert, so there won’t be anything sexual going on between Harry and Hermione before 5th or 6th year.

Chapter 1

We were strangers starting out on our journey
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through
Now here we are and I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you

At the Beginning - Anastacia

“Platform 9 ¾?” Mrs. Granger asked confused, looking at the ticket in her hand. “What is this supposed to mean? No station has such a platform.”

Hermione smiled. “This one has, it’s just hidden.” The young girl lowered her voice, making sure only her parents could hear her. “You have to step up to the wall between the platforms 9 and 10. If you are a witch or wizard, you can just walk through the wall. It’s amazing, isn`t it? I read about it in a book called ‘Hogwarts – a history’.”

“Are you sure this will work?” Mr. Granger asked skeptically.

“Of course, dad. The book surely didn’t lie,” the little girl answered confidently.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger smiled at their daughter’s complete faith in the written word.

“Well, then we have to say goodbye here. I’m sorry, Dear, I would have loved to bring you to the train,” Hermione’s mother said a little sad.

Hermione’s enthusiasm was belittled by the impending farewell from her parents. “It’s alright, Mom,” she reassured her mother. After a little pause she added “They will like me, won’t they? They are all like me, right? I won’t be so different in my new school.”

Mrs. Granger had to fight back the tears when she saw the hope and worry in her little girl’s face. Hermione had never really belonged in her old school. She had never been invited to birthday parties, she had been chosen last when sports teams were selected and she had spent the breaks sitting alone in a corner, reading and secretly watching the other children play. Hermione Granger was an eleven year old girl who had never had a friend. The other children thought she was strange because of her interest in books and her ambition and they were a little afraid of her because strange things happened when she was really scared or angry. Hermione had never understood why things broke without her touching them when she was angry or why boys who bullied her always stumbled without her doing anything. She had had a feeling that she was responsible for these events, she just didn’t know how. All she knew was that she was different and nobody liked her because of that.

Hermione had been thrilled when she got her Hogwarts letter. Suddenly everything made sense. She was a witch; that was the only reason why she had always been an Outsider in her old school! She belonged to a different world, an exciting magical world in which everything was different.

Hermione was convinced that everything would change when she got to her new school. Nobody would be afraid because of the strange things that happened to her because all of them must have had similar experiences. They would probably not reject her because she loved to learn so much, because surely they would want to learn everything about magic, too. Who wouldn’t love to study Witchcraft? They would probably be as eager to learn as she was. There was no reason why she shouldn’t make friends in her new school. At least that was what Hermione had thought when she got her letter. Now – mere minutes before she would board the train - she wasn’t so self-assured anymore.

“I’m sure they’ll love you, Dear. Everything is going to be different from now on. You are special, Hermione and the children you knew were not. That’s why you didn’t get along with them. Maybe there is a little girl or a little boy entering the train right now who feels just like you. Someone who has never belonged in this world and hopes for a new start, too. Maybe your future best friend is waiting for you right now,” Mrs. Granger encouraged her daughter.

“Just be yourself and don’t be afraid to make the first step and introduce yourself to your new school mates. I’m sure they’ll love you,” Mr. Granger added.

“Thanks, Mom, thanks, Dad. I love you.”

“We love you, too. Write often, alright? We want to know about your exciting new life,” Hermione’s mother said.

“I’ll write every week, Mom,” Hermione promised.

“I think it’s time for you to go, you want to have a little time to find a seat before the train leaves, don’t you. I love you, dear. See you on Christmas,” Mr. Granger said.

Hermione hugged her parents one last time and then made a beeline to the massive wall between the gates 9 and 10.

Hermione stared with wide eyes at all the people around her. The children and their parents actually looked pretty normal. They were all still in the Muggle clothes they had put on to prevent attracting more attention than necessary in the crowded station. The only eye-catching things about the people on the station were all the huge trunks and several cages with owls. Some of the students had already boarded the train and were searching for a seat, but many were still on the platform, saying their goodbyes to their families. Hermione was a little sad that her parents couldn’t accompany her to the platform. She felt so alone between all the children who were talking animatedly to their parents and siblings or greeting their school friends.

There was a lively boy with Rasta locks showing his friends a Tarantula he had brought with him. I wonder if this is allowed, Hermione thought. Her letter had said that the students were allowed to bring a cat, an owl or a toad, other pets weren’t mentioned. Hermione assumed they would tolerate other harmless pets like mice or hamsters, but a Tarantula?

Hermione thought about questioning the boy about his dangerous pet but decided against it. Surely a prefect would come soon and take it away from him.

Hermione noticed a small black haired boy who looked as lost as she felt struggling with his trunk. The boy was obviously alone, too and he didn’t look for his friends in the crowd, so he was probably a first year. Maybe he was a Muggle born, too and that was the reason he was here alone.

Hermione watched how red haired twins, who had previously been standing with their mother and three siblings, helped the boy with his trunk. She suddenly realized that she had no idea how she should get the heavy trunk in the train either.

Hermione looked around for someone who could help her and caught a few sentences of the talk between the redheads. The twins were apparently teasing their brother because he had been boasting about being made prefect. Hermione couldn’t understand that. Usually only the best students were nominated as prefects and the boy had every right to be proud of his achievements. Maybe he could help her with her trunk. It was the prefects’ task to help younger students after all.

“Excuse me, I heard that you are a prefect and therefore thought you might help me with my trunk. My parents are Muggles and couldn’t accompany me to the platform and the trunk is very heavy. I’m Hermione Granger by the way,” Hermione explained.

The boy beamed; being asked for help by a younger student on his first day as a prefect seemed to make him proud. “Of course I’ll help you. That’s what prefects are there for after all. I’m Percy Weasley,” the boy introduced himself.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” Percy said and levitated Hermione’s trunk into the train until he had found a compartment which was still relatively empty. There were only a few older students in a corner.

Hermione thanked Percy and took a seat in an empty booth, watching the students who were still standing on the platform. Percy’s mother was just warning her twin sons not to cause any trouble this year. The twins seemed to be quite the pranksters. Hermione wondered how they could be so different from their obviously responsible older brother.

The last students boarded the train and a few minutes later the Hogwarts express started moving. Hermione changed into her school robes and then took her new charms and transfiguration books and her wand out and started to practice a few simple spells. She had already practiced the wand movements and pronunciations of the spells, but hadn’t been allowed to put them together and actually perform the charm, because underaged witches and wizards weren’t allowed to perform magic during the summer.

After a few hours of practice, Hermione was able to unlock the lock of her trunk with the Alohomora spell, could let a piece of paper fly by using Wingardium Leviosa, mastered the Lumos spell and could change the colour of the bottoms on her jacket . Hermione was just thinking about which spell she should try next, when an unhappy looking boy who looked like he was about her age entered her compartment.

“Excuse me, I’ve lost my toad Trevor. I’ve been looking all over, but I can’t find him. Maybe you’ve seen him?” the boy asked her.

”I’m sorry, I haven’t seen him,” Hermione answered and the boy looked very disappointed. Hermione felt sorry for him. “I can help you search if you want,” she offered.

The boy smiled gratefully. “That would be very nice of you, thanks. I’m Neville Longbottom.”

“I’m Hermione Granger. It’s my first year at Hogwarts. I’m so excited. No one in my family is a witch or wizard,” Hermione explained.

“I’m a first year, too, but everybody in my family is magical. They are all very great witches and wizards and my grandmother has high expectations on me. I don’t think I’ll be good. I thought I was a Squib when I was younger,” Neville said worriedly.

“I’m sure you’ll learn everything you need to know. You wouldn’t have gotten a letter if you weren’t meant to be at Hogwarts. I can help you learn if you’d like. Of course I don’t know how good I will be either, but I’ve learned all our school books by heart and I just tried some simple spells and they worked,” Hermione told him excitedly.

“You learned all the school books by heart?! Wow!” Neville sounded impressed, but a little intimidated.

“I like to be well prepared for everything,” Hermione explained, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to learn every text book by heart before the school year had even begun. “Come on, let’s ask around if anyone has seen Trevor. When did you last see him?”

“I think that was when I brought my luggage in,” Neville answered.

“Great, then we should start searching in this compartment and look further after that,” Hermione decided.

They had been searching for a while, but still hadn’t found Neville’s toad when they reached a compartment in which two boys sat. Hermione recognized one of them as the boy she had seen struggling with his trunk and the other one as Percy’s youngest brother. The redhead held his wand and pointed it at his rat.

“Has someone seen a toad? Neville lost his,” Hermione asked.

“We’ve already told him that we didn’t see it,” said the red-haired boy, but Hermione was only half listening to his words. After having lived in the Muggle world all her live, Hermione was ecstatic about everything magical and she was curious to see the boy perform a spell.

“You’re performing magic? Let’s see,” Hermione asked him and the boy agreed, although he seemed to be a little nervous. The boy said a spell Hermione had never heard of. She doubted it was a real spell, it didn’t work anyways.

“Are you sure this is a real spell?” Hermione asked. “It isn’t very good, anyway. I tried a few simple spells, just to practice, and they always worked. No one in my family is magical, it was such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was so happy, I have heard it is the best school for wizardry. Of course I have learned all our school books by heart, I just hope that is enough. I’m Hermione Granger by the way and who are you?”

The boys looked at each other and then gave her a surprised look. Have I said anything strange? Hermione wondered briefly.

“I’m Ron Weasley,” the red-haired boy said.

“Harry Potter,” the other boy introduced himself and Hermione looked at him with interest. She had read that this boy was the only person who had ever survived a killing curse.

“Really?” Hermione asked. “I know everything about you of course; I’ve read a few more books, as background reading, and you are mentioned in History of modern magic, Rise and fall of the dark arts and in the Big Chronicle of 20th century magic.”

“Unbelievable,” Harry said, looking seriously surprised. Hermione couldn’t believe that Harry Potter, who was some kind of a celebrity in the Wizarding world, hadn’t known that he was mentioned in books.

“Do you know in which house you’ll get sorted by the way? I asked around and I hope I’ll be in Gryffindor, you only hear the best about that house. Dumbledore was there, but I think Ravenclaw wouldn’t be bad either,” Hermione said, before saying good bye and telling the boys that they should get changed soon.

While she and Neville continued their search for Neville’s toad, Hermione thought about Harry Potter. He wasn’t like she had imagined him at all. She had thought he would be a proud and confident boy, maybe even arrogant. Instead he seemed to be a shy boy; he hadn’t said a word aside from his name. Hermione had noticed the worn and too big clothes Harry wore, too. She wondered where he had grown up; it was never mentioned in any of the books about him. Why had he been all alone? And why didn’t he know that books had been written about him?

Hermione and Neville still hadn’t found Trevor and Neville had to leave to get changed. Hermione had asked the driver how long it would take until they arrived and he had told her that they would be there soon. She was just trying to get back to her compartment – what wasn’t easy because students were running up and down the halls constantly - when she heard a scream from Harry’s and Ron’s compartment. When she had reached the compartment she saw three boys leave, one of them was blonde and pale, the other two were very burly. Hermione entered the compartment and saw sweets scattered on the floor. Ron was examining his rat and Harry looked angry.

“What happened in here?” Hermione asked, but neither Ron nor Harry answered her question. Harry told Ron about his first meeting with one of the boys who had just left their compartment – his name was apparently Malfoy - and Ron told him that Malfoy’s family had been supporters of Lord Voldemort.

“Can we help you?” Ron eventually asked in a tone that didn’t sound helpful at all.

“I suggest you hurry up a little and put your robes on. I’ve just talked to the driver and he said we will arrive soon. You didn’t get into a fight, did you? You’re going to get into trouble before we’ve even arrive,” Hermione warned Ron and Harry.

“My rat Scrabbers got into a fight, not we,” Ron said, looking angry at Hermione. “Would you please leave, so we can get changed?” he added impatiently.

“All right. I just came in because the people out there are acting completely childish and are running up and down the halls constantly. By the way, you have dirt on your nose, do you know that?” Hermione asked in a tone that was as unfriendly as Ron’s had been. He is such a git. Hermione thought. After all she had just wanted to keep him and Harry out of trouble.

When the train had reached its destination, a huge man was waiting at the platform, calling for the first years to follow him. When they had walked for a few minutes Hermione saw Hogwarts for the first time. She had seen pictures of the castle, but they didn’t do the beautiful and majestic building justice. Hermione stepped into one of the boats which brought the first years to Hogwarts together with Harry, Ron and Neville.

“Everybody in?” the huge man asked. “Okay then – Ahead!” he called and the boats started moving on their own.

When the boats had crossed the lake the boats floated through a curtain of ivy which had suddenly appeared. They made their way through a dark tunnel which ended in an underground harbour.

When the children alighted the boats the giant man called: “Hey you, is this your toad?” and handed the toad to a very happy Neville.

The tall man lead the first years to a meadow in front of the castle and the children gathered at the entrance gate. The man knocked three times and the door opened immediately.

The group was awaited by a tall witch with black hair and an emerald robe.

“The first years, Professor McGonagall,” the man said.

“Thank you, Hagrid,” the witch answered. “I’ll take them from here.”

The witch directed her attention to the children who were waiting nervously. “Welcome to Hogwarts. The traditional banquet at the beginning of the school year will start soon, but before you take a seat in the Great Hall, we will find out in which houses you belong. That is a very important ceremony, because your house will be your family in Hogwarts. You have classes together, you sleep in your houses’ dormitory and you spend your spare time in the common room. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has created great witches and wizards. During your time at Hogwarts you can gain points for your house with great achievements, but your house will lose points of you break the rules. At the end of the year, the house which has most points will win the house cup. I hope that every one of you will be an enrichment to your house.”

Hermione nodded eagerly. She wanted to be enrichment to her house and gain many points with her achievements.

“The banquet will start in a few minutes. I suggest that you use the time to make yourself presentable.” McGonagall said and looked at Ron’s dirty nose.

I told him that he has dirt on his nose, Hermione thought indignant. He really should have washed on the train. It was a very important day in their lives and Hermione couldn’t understand how this boy could be so careless with his appearance on such a day.

Professor McGonagall asked the students to wait for a few minutes and then entered the Great Hall to prepare everything for the sorting ceremony.

“How do they find out in which house we belong?” Harry asked Ron. He sounded quite nervous.

“I think it’s some kind of test. My brother Fred says it hurts a lot, but I think that was just a joke,” Ron answered.

Hermione rolled her eyes. Didn’t these boys know anything? Everybody who had read Hogwarts – a history knew that the children where sorted into the houses by a speaking hat which was charmed and had the knowledge of the four school founders. Hermione wanted to share her knowledge with her new school mates, but was interrupted by the arrival of several ghosts who were on their way to the Great Hall to watch the sorting ceremony. Many first years screamed hysterically when they saw the ghosts and Hermione sighed. Hadn’t they known about the ghosts either? How could anybody be so poorly prepared for their first day at a new school?

After a few minutes Professor McGonagall returned and asked the students to form a line and follow her. A moment later Hermione entered the Great Hall of Hogwarts for the first time. She had read about it, but the reality was overwhelming nevertheless. The ceiling was charmed to look like the sky outside, which was dark but lit by countless stars at the moment. Hundreds of candles which were floating above their heads illuminated the room and made the atmosphere even more magical and mystical.

Professor McGonagall brought a chair and placed a worn and very old hat on it. The sorting hat. After a moment the hat began to shake and a cut which looked like a mouth appeared. Then the hat begun to sing.

Oh you may not think me pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!

The students applauded when the hat had finished its song and Professor McGonagall waited until the Great Hall had calmed down again. “When I call your name you will put the hat on and sit down on the chair, so you can get sorted,” the Professor explained.

Hermione waited nervously until her name was called and nearly ran to the chair when it was her turn. Hermione eagerly put the hat on and a moment later she heard a voice in her ear.

“Interesting,” the hat said. “You’re a rare case, I think all founders would have liked you and that’s saying something. You’ve got a bright head, that’s clear. You would fit in Ravenclaw, but your cleverness is not your only quality. I see a deep loyalty and an intense sense for fairness. You can be quite cunning when the situation calls for it, although you don’t know that yet. There is a quality that outshines all these traits though. You are very courageous. You will always stand up and fight for your friends and everybody who can’t stand up for themselves. My decision is final: You belong in GRYFFINDOR!”

The hat had said the last word out loud and Hermione beamed when she heard applause from the Gryffindor’s, who would become her housemates and hopefully her friends.

Hermione watched the rest of the sorting ceremony from the Gryffindor table. She was happy that Neville, the boy who had lost his toad, was sorted into Gryffindor, too, but sighed when Ron Weasley became a Gryffindor. She couldn’t stand the guy. She didn’t know if she should be happy that Harry Potter was sorted into Gryffindor. He seemed to be a nice guy, maybe a little shy, but he was friends with Ron and that probably meant that she wouldn’t get along with him in the long run.

It took a long time before Hermione was able to fall asleep this evening. There were so many new impressions she had to handle: The amazing and unbelievable big castle in which she would probably get lost, all the new people she had met, being separated from her parents for the first time, the worry if she would be good at school: All these thoughts occupied Hermione’s head on the first night in a strange bed that would be hers for the next seven years.

2. Broken Dreams

A/N: I know I haven’t updated for ages and I’m terribly sorry. I had a serious case of writers block, but I’m starting to feel creative again. Much in this chapter is still close to canon, but I promise the next chapter will differ a lot from canon. I decided to add a playlist for this story, so each chapter will get a song quote. I’ve added one for chapter 1, too.

Thanks a lot to my beta Marla1, you’re great!

Chapter 2

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone

Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Green Day

The first weeks at Hogwarts spun away for Hermione. She had been a little nervous before classes but soon noticed that she had been worried for no reason. Hermione learned, much to her surprise, that she obviously was the only student who actually knew everything that was written in their textbooks, which gave her a head start. She knew the pronunciation and the wand movement for each spell and therefore learned very quickly to get the spells right. There were only two classes she found frustrating: Potions and Flying.

Hermione had been so angry after her first Potions class. Professor Snape had asked Harry Potter some simple questions – nothing that wasn’t answered in their book – and Harry had not been able to answer even one of them. Hermione hadn’t known if she should feel sorry for Harry, who was obviously feeling very uncomfortable, or if she should be irritated because he hadn’t learned thoroughly during the holidays.

No matter which of these emotions was stronger none of them was as strong as her anger at Professor Snape. Hermione had known the answer to each question, but Snape had completely ignored her. How rude! Snape obviously disliked the Gryffindors and took every change he got to take points from their house. He seemed to hate Harry even more than anybody else. He had already taken two points from him during their first lesson.

Even Hermione thought it was a little harsh to take points from Harry for not knowing the answers to his questions. After all it were questions about things they hadn’t learned at school yet, although Harry could have known the answers if he had thoroughly read the book. The second point Snape took from Harry was completely unjustified and Hermione started to wonder why their teacher hated the boy so much. Harry hadn’t done anything to upset Snape. After this first lesson Hermione was determined to force Snape to properly credit her achievements. Even if he never let her answer a single question, he would have to give her good marks for her potions and essays. Hermione was determined to never make a mistake in potions. She wouldn’t give Severus Snape a reason to take points from Gryffindor because of her.

Flying was the one lesson Hermione had dreaded since she had gotten her Hogwarts letter. The thought of being high in the air on a thin stick of wood without a security belt wasn’t a comfortable imagination. Hermione would have preferred staying firmly on the ground. She wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or frustrated when her broom granted her that wish by refusing to move more than a few inches from the ground. As if that hadn’t been enough trouble for her first flying lesson, she had to watch Neville Longbottom lose control over his broom and fall off. That was exactly the reason Hermione preferred to stay on the ground. Poor Neville, she hoped the school nurse could get him back to health fast.

After Neville’s accident Draco Malfoy, the conceited git from Slytherin, and Harry Potter decided to use the unsupervised time to get into a fight. Malfoy had stolen Neville’s Remembrall and Harry tried to get it back from him. How stupid! Okay, it was nice that Harry wanted to help Neville, but he could have simply told Madam Hooch what Malfoy had done. Instead Harry grabbed his broom and chased Malfoy!

Hermione had overheard enough conversations between Ron and Harry to know that Harry had grown up with Muggles, which meant that he had never been on a broom before. He could have broken his neck with this stupid manoeuvre! Or worse: He could have gotten expelled! Instead he turned out to be a natural and instead of being punished he was chosen as a seeker for Gryffindor. Usually, Hermione respected Professor McGonagall a lot, but in this case, she didn’t really approve of her decision. How should the students learn that breaking rules was bad when they were rewarded for that?

Even though Hermione thought it wasn’t right that neither Harry nor Draco had gotten a lecture for their behaviour she was glad that nobody had gotten hurt and Harry hadn’t been expelled. She had hoped that Harry would be happy that he hadn’t gotten into trouble and wouldn’t press his luck further, but she had been wrong.

Hermione tried to confront Harry and Ron, but they had simply told her that it was none of her business. None of her business, as if! Of course it was her business when two fellow Gryffindors’ risked losing points!

Hermione decided to stay up late and wait in the common room until Harry and Ron came down from their dorm to meet Malfoy for the duel. There had to be a way to talk Harry out of this. Ron was obviously an irresponsible idiot like his twin brothers. He probably didn’t even care if he lost points or got expelled, but Harry didn’t seem as careless. Okay, chasing Malfoy on a broom had been a stupid idea, but apart from that Harry didn’t seem to be as irresponsible as his friend. He didn’t learn nearly as much as she did, but he always managed to get his homework done in time and he learned pretty fast. He seemed as happy to get the chance to attend Hogwarts as she was. Surely he didn’t want to risk getting expelled because of a stupid Slytherin.

At half past eleven Harry and Ron sneaked down the stairs and made their way to the portrait hole.

“I can’t believe you are doing this, Harry,” Hermione said, purposely addressing only him and not Ron whom she considered a lost case.

“Go back to bed!” Ron said angrily.

“I nearly told your brother about this. Percy is a Prefect and he wouldn’t have allowed this,” Hermione said, finally addressing Ron.

“Come, let’s go,” Harry said to Ron, completely ignoring Hermione.

Hermione couldn’t believe that Harry wouldn’t even listen to her. Didn’t he realize which consequences his actions could have?

“You don’t care about Gryffindor at all, you are only thinking about yourself! I don’t want Slytherin to win the house cup because you lose all the points I’ve gotten in Transfiguration,” Hermione ranted, following Harry and Ron through the portrait hole.

“Get lost,” Ron demanded.

“Alright, but I warn you, remember what I told you when you are sitting in the train back home tomorrow!” Hermione answered angrily.

Hermione turned around to go back to bed, but the portrait of the fat lady was empty. She couldn’t go back to the common room until she returned.

“What am I supposed to do now?” Hermione asked piercingly.

It was past curfew, she would get in trouble if a prefect or a teacher found her here!

“That’s your problem. We have to go now,” Ron said mercilessly.

Hermione considered her opportunities. She could either stay here and hope that she wouldn’t get caught by Filch or she could join the boys in their crazy adventure. Both possibilities didn’t sound great, but the later seemed a little less bad.

“I’m coming with you,” Hermione said and followed Harry and Ron.

“No, you’re not!” Ron argued.

“Do you think I’m waiting here until Filch catches me? If he catches all of us I’ll tell him the truth, that I wanted to stop you!” Hermione said.

Hermione’s and Ron’s argument was interrupted when the three students stumbled over Neville, who was lying on the floor sleeping.

“Thank goodness that you found me! I’ve been out here for hours because I forgot the password,” Neville explained.

“The password won’t help you, because the fat lady left her portrait,” Harry explained. “We have to go now; we’ll be seeing you later.”

“Don’t leave me alone!” Neville exclaimed.

Ron gave Hermione and Neville an angry look and threatened to curse them if they got caught because of them while they made their way to trophy room where they were supposed to meet Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy and his friend Crabbe weren’t there. Ron assumed that Malfoy had chickened out of the duel, but Hermione didn’t think so. She had a bad feeling about this and she was proven right when they heard Filch’s voice. He was obviously looking for them; Malfoy must have told him where to find them.

The four students ran as fast as they could, using short cuts and some secret passages until they were far away from the trophy room.

“Malfoy tricked you!” Hermione said to Harry as soon as she had caught her breath. “He never intended to meet you. He must have given Filch the hint to look for us in the trophy room.”

The students made their way back to Gryffindor tower, but where interrupted by Peeves the poltergeist who thought it was fun to call for Filch and cause them trouble.

A few minutes later they heard Filch’s footsteps; he was getting closer.

“In here!” Hermione called and quickly opened a locked door with the Alohomora spell.

They had barely time to catch their breath before they noticed that they weren’t alone.

In front of them stood a giant dog with three heads and he looked anything but friendly. Hermione was frozen; for a few moments she couldn’t do anything but stare up and down the giant creature. And that was when she noticed that the dog was standing on a trap door. Before she had time to process that information Harry opened the door. He had probably come to the conclusion that Filch was less scary than the three-headed dog and she had to agree with him.

The four ran back to the Gryffindor tower and thankfully were not caught by Filch. Hermione was relieved when she noticed that the thick woman in the pink gown was back in her portray, so they could get back inside. A few moments the children were completely occupied with catching their breaths. Poor Neville looked like he was about to faint and Harry and Ron looked as terrified as she felt.

“What were they thinking keeping such a thing here in the school?” Ron asked angrily.

Hermione was furious. First this git accepted a wizarding duel in Harry’s place when Harry didn’t even know what a wizarding duel was and nearly ended up getting all of them expelled or killed and now he had the guts to complain! And the fact that none of the boys had seen the trap door only fuelled her anger further. Did these guys never pay attention?!

“You obviously don’t use your eyes! None of you!” she exclaimed angrily. “Didn’t you see what it was standing on?”

“On the floor?” Harry suggested. “I didn’t look at his feet, I was too occupied with the heads.”

“No, not on the floor. He was standing on a trap door. He’s obviously guarding something,” Hermione informed the boys. “I hope you are satisfied now. We could have died or worse - been expelled. And now, if you don’t mind, I am going to bed.”

With as much dignity as a fuming twelve year old in a pink bathrobe could emanate Hermione left the common room and returned to the girls’ dorm.

During the following weeks Hermione tried her best to ignore Harry and Ron. If they thanked her attempts at keeping them out of trouble by yelling at her (in Ron’s case) or ignoring her (in Harry’s case) they could see where that will get them. Hermione kept her positive resolutions until the day Harry got his new broom from Professor McGonagall. Hermione couldn’t believe that their Head of House supported Harry’s behaviour during their first flying lesson by not only letting him join the Quidditch team, but even buying him his own broom! Even though she was furious, Hermione really intended to keep her mouth shut – until Harry and Ron started bragging about the broom in front of Malfoy. Harry even sarcastically thanked Malfoy for helping him get the broom. He was obviously proud of breaking the rules and getting rewarded for that.

Despite her intentions to stay away from Harry and Ron she couldn’t help it – she had to remind Harry that what he had done had been wrong, although he had had good intentions.

“You think this is a reward for breaking the rules, don’t you?” Hermione asked Harry when he and Ron left the Great Hall.

“I thought you’re not speaking to us anymore?” Harry said. He sounded irritated, but Hermione wasn’t sure if that was because she hadn’t spoken to him during the last weeks or because she was giving him a lecture now. Hermione assumed it was the later.

“Please don’t stop talking to us!” Ron said ironically. “That’s so good.”

Hermione didn’t grace either of the boys with an answer, but walked away with her head held high.

During the following weeks Hermione kept her self-made promise to ignore Harry and Ron. If they didn’t want her well meant advice it was their problem, not hers. They would see where this would get them. Unfortunately, that meant she didn’t have anyone to talk to. The girls in her dormitory, Lavender and Parvati were superficial and either ignored or teased her about something. Even if one of them had wanted to be her friend, Hermione would have refused. She wasn’t interested in a friendship with girls who didn’t speak about anything but fashion and the latest gossip.

The other Gryffindor guys mostly ignored her, too. Maybe it was because they saw her as a know-it-all or maybe they were just in this silly boyish “all girls are stupid” phase. The only one who occasionally spoke to her was Neville. He was quite nice and Hermione had helped him with homework a few times, but Neville seemed to be quite intimidated when she got ahead of herself and tried to teach him second year stuff.

To sum it up: Hermione was alone, more alone then she’d ever been. She hadn’t had friends in elementary school either, but at least she had had her parents back then. Sometimes Hermione wondered if it had been a mistake to attend Hogwarts, but she tried her best to push that thought away. She was a witch and with the proper education she would learn to work with her powers and maybe someday she would have a job that would allow her to make a difference in the world. This hope was the only thing that gave Hermione the strength to stand up in the morning, attend classes and study, no matter how depressed and lonely she felt.

When Hermione got out of the bathroom on Halloween, she found her roommates decoration their school robes with glittering cobwebs with a flick of their wands.

“What looks better, purple or red cobwebs? Or should we use spiders instead?” Parvati asked Lavender.

“I think we should stick with the cobwebs. Many people don’t like spiders and we want the other kids to compliment our party outfits, not run away screaming. And why can’t we use both colours?” Lavender answered.

“You aren’t going to wear these robes during classes, do you? You know that’s against school policy. We have to wear simple black school robes,” Hermione reminded the girls.

“Mind your own business! Nobody cares about your opinion,” Lavender snapped.

Hermione fought back the tears and held her head high. She wouldn’t these girls let get to her. “Fine, do what you want. But don’t complain when you get a lecture by Professor McGonagall when she sees you dressed like that.”

Hermione went down to the Great Hall for breakfast but only ate a slice of toast. Her discussion with her dorm mates only worsened her already bad mood. When the first lesson of the day started Hermione’s mood improved slightly – Professor Flitwick announced that they were finally ready to let things fly. Of course Hermione had already tried the spell with light things like a sheet of paper, but she had wanted to wait with experimenting with something heavy until a teacher was there in case something went wrong.

Hermione rolled her eyes when the professor announced that they would only let a feather fly this lesson. When Flitwick paired her up with Ron Weasley Hermione sighed. Could this day get any worse? Hermione let Ron try the spell first because they had only been given one feather and she was sure she’d master the spell with the first trial – a feather wasn’t heavier than paper after all. Hermione rolled her eyes when she saw Ron swinging his wand as if he hadn’t been in the room when their teacher had explained the wand movement. His pronunciation was totally wrong, too.

“You’re saying it wrong. It’s Wing - gar – dium Levi – o – sa, you have to pronounce the ‚gar.“

Ron gave her an angry look. “Do it yourself, if you know everything better!”

Hermione didn’t need to be told twice. She flicked her wand and said the spell and watched satisfied when the feather began to fly.

Professor Flitwick clapped his hands and told the class to look over at her table. Hermione smiled proudly. No matter how bad her day had been a compliment by a Professor always meant a lot to her. The joy didn’t last long though. Ron kept throwing her angry glances during the rest of the lesson and Hermione decided to stop correcting him. At the end of the lesson Ron rushed out of the classroom in a furious pace and his friend Harry had to hurry to keep up with him. “No wonder that nobody can stand her. She’s a nightmare,” he told Harry.

Harry didn’t disagree with his friend and neither did anybody else from all the students who had heard the comment. Everybody seemed to think that Ron was right!

That was too much for Hermione. She felt her carefully kept composure break and hurried to get somewhere, anywhere where nobody would see her inevitable breakdown. Hermione hurried to the girls’ bathroom and looked herself in a stall, finally allowing herself to break down.

The young girl let herself fall to the floor, buried her faith in her hands and started to sob uncontrollable. Everybody hated her. She was a freak, both in the wizarding and muggle world. She simply didn’t belong anywhere. Hermione had expected so much from the new start in this exciting new world. But here she was, alone and friendless like always.

It was then that Hermione gave up. The eleven year old girl resigned herself to a life of loneliness and misery. She knew she would never have friends and she would never marry. Seriously, if she didn’t find a single person who wanted to be her friend, the chance of finding a man who would ever want to marry her when she was grown up was zero. That meant she would never have a family of her own, she would never have children, because nobody was capable of loving her.

Sure, her parents and grandparents loved her, but they kind of had to. All parents loved their children, didn’t they? You don’t have to be pretty or loveable to be loved by your parents, but you had to to be loved by somebody else. In this moment Hermione realized that she would be completely alone when her parents died some day. The thought was so depressing that Hermione felt a new wave of sobs shook her little body. She cried and cried for hours, cried until she was simply too weak to produce any more tears.

When Hermione finally stopped crying it was already dark outside. A look on her watch told her that it was already past dinner time. Startled, Hermione realized that she had to get back to the common room if she didn’t want to stay out past curfew. Hermione quickly washed her face as good as she could, but her eyes were still red and swollen. With a little luck most of the other students would have already gone to their dorms so that nobody would pay attention to her.

Hermione made her way back to the common room and noticed to her relieve that most of the other first years had indeed gone to their dorms already. Some older students sat together by the fire chatting, but none of them paid any attention to her. The only person who looked up when she entered the room was Harry Potter, who was sitting alone on a table at the far end of the room. Hermione was surprised and shocked when Harry called her name. What did he want? Had Ron told him to wait for her to torture her with some more cruel remarks? Harry didn’t seem like the mean type, but maybe his friend’s approval was important enough for him to do something he wouldn’t have done otherwise.

Hesitantly Hermione approached Harry, bracing herself. “What do you want?” she asked coolly.

Harry seemed taken aback by her tone. “I… ahm… I wanted to ask you if you are alright… And I’ve brought you something to eat from the feast. You missed lunch and dinner and you didn’t eat much at breakfast. You must be hungry… I don’t know what you like, so I brought a little bit of everything,” Harry said, pointing to a napkin covered plate in front of him.

That was so far from what she had expected that Hermione just stared at Harry in shock for a moment. “You brought me food?” Hermione asked, stunned.

Harry nodded shyly. “Yes. But it’s cold now and I don’t know how to warm it up. Sorry.”

Hermione gave Harry a small smile and then pointed her wand at the plate and muttered a heating spell before taking the napkin from the plate. When she saw and smelled all the fine things Hermione noticed that she actually was hungry. “Thank you,” Hermione said sincerely.

“You are welcome,” Harry answered and after a small pause he added, “Are you okay?”

Hermione thought about the question for a moment. No, she wasn’t okay. She wasn’t stupid and she didn’t believe that Harry bringing her something to eat meant she had gained a friend for life. Harry would probably go back to ignoring her whenever Ron was around. But still, the kind gesture had managed to cheer her up a little.

“I’m fine,” Hermione said eventually.

Harry stayed with Hermione until she had finished eating and although he didn’t say much Hermione was thankful for the company.

“Have I missed much today?” Hermione asked worriedly when she had finished her meal, realizing for the first time that she had missed two double hours today.

Harry shrugged. “Probably nothing you haven’t read in the books twice, but you can borrow my notes if you want.”

Hermione thanked Harry, accepting his offer and then excused herself. Hermione felt really tired and decided to go over the notes tomorrow. Tomorrow was Friday and they only had lessons before lunch, meaning she had two and a half days to catch up on what she had missed.

Hermione fell asleep within minutes after going to bed and for the first time in months her dreams were pleasant.

Hermione was sitting by the lake with a book on her knees when Harry came by, sitting by her side. “What are you reading?” Harry asked and Hermione closed the book, letting Harry see the title of ‘Hogwarts – a history’. “You should really read it, it’s a great way of getting to know the magical world,” Hermione said. Harry just laughed. “Why? No matter what I want to know I can always ask you.”

Hermione looked slightly older, maybe twelve or thirteen. She was standing in front of the Hogwarts Express with her school trunk, scanning the crowd for a familiar face. Then she saw him. He was a little taller and a little less thin, but still unmistakable Harry. He rushed towards her and pulled her in a tight hug, laughing. “Hermione, I missed you so much!”

Harry was about 15, he was wearing Quidditch robes and proudly holding the Quidditch cup, but he passed it to one of the other players when he saw Hermione running towards him. Harry spread his arms and Hermione rushed into them, returning the hug. “Harry you were great, congratulations!”

Everybody was dressed in their finest robes and Harry and Hermione were wearing badges reading “Head Boy” and “Head Girl” and they both held their diplomas. “Congratulations!” This time it was Harry congratulating her. “Best NEWT results since Dumbledore, wow! But I’m not surprised. I always knew you had it in you.” Hermione smiled, but the smile didn’t look genuine. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Harry asked concerned. “It’s just… It’s our last day and I’m afraid of the future. What if our friendship won’t survive when we go our different ways?” Harry shook his head vehemently, taking both of Hermione’s hands. “That will never happen, Hermione. I can’t imagine a life without you being a part of it.”