**All of these characters (with the exception of my first years) belong to
the talented J.K. Rowling. ***
Chapter One
(In which we learn of the gangs seventh year, Ron's crush on Hermione and Lavender's winning of a poetry contest (which becomes important later on)
"Hey Everybody! Look! I got a letter from Witches Weekly! They liked my poems! They're going to publish them!!" Lavender Brown gushed as she hurried through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room.
Everyone looked up from what they were doing to see the bubbly blonde, her long curly hair disheveled from the run back from the owlery, breathing hard and very much out of breath. Parvati ran up to Lavender smiling and together the two girls sat giggling in a chair as they re-read the letter. A few other girls walked over the Lavender to congratulate her (the whole of Gryffindor knew how anticipated Lavender was to get published. As much as they had 'never heard the end of it', everyone was glad for her. Lavender was a nice girl and friend to everyone).Hermione, who had been helping a first year, Elizabeth McConnal with her Potions homework, politely excused herself and walked over to her roomates.
"Hey Lav! Good job!" Hermione smiled.
Lavender looked up smiled back, her huge green eyes sparkling with pride. "Thanks Hermione! I'm so happey!" And with that Lavender gave Hermione a huge hug. "Thanks for helping me with the spelling" Hermione smiled and walked back over the Elizabeth. Beside her were two more first years, looking a little apprehensive, with their Potions homework. When she reached the table to two other girls blushed.
"Lizzi said t-that you c-c-could help us Hermione" the one with the blonde pigtails stuttered, offering her parchment to Hermione.
Hermione smiled cheerfully "Sure! Have a seat beside Liz and we'll have a look"
The other girls sighed in relief and seemed to relax as they quickly sat down. It seemed that, even though it was the first month of school, Snape had choosen to be particularly on everyone, scaring the first years to death.After explaining to the three girls the concept of the Sonoradream potion, she looked over to Ron and Harry who were playing Exploding Snap with Neville, Semus and Dean, before turning to answer some more questions concerning homework.
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"Aha! I am the master of ALL wizarding games!" Ron shouted triumphantly, having won his third game of Exploding Snap in a row. Dean and Neville groaned and Harry just shook his head with a grin on his face.
"Ah no! ONE more game Ron and I WILL beat you this time!" Dean announced, setting the cards back on the table. As he sorted them, Ron let his eyes drift over to the table in the corner where Hermione sat with three first years. He let his eyes linger on her sparkling eyes and then moved to her lips when she smiled at one of the girls.
'Man' he thought, 'did she ever get beautiful this last summer'. And indeed she had. Her hair, after three flattening spells, had lost its bushiness and now her brown curls cascaded over her shoulders. Her cinnamon eyes were always sparkling and her full lips almost always in a smile. Ron couldn't help but smile
"Oi Ron!? Whatsa matter?" Seamus said, breaking his thoughts. Ron shook off his dazed expression and turned back to concentrating on the game, but it was too late. Seamus followed his previous gaze straight to Hermione and smiled.
"Shes pretty hot eh?" he said drawlingly, as he grinned at Ron.
"Yeah....I mean No!" Ron said quickly, blushing furiosuly. Beside him Harry grinned wildly. He had known about Ron's crush on Hermione since the last weke of summer, when he had finally admitted it at the Burrow. Harry swore he wouldn't tell anybody, but he couldn't help but grin now at the situtation.
"Oi mate, your not sweet on Hermione now are you?" Dean laughed. Ron blushed even redder.
"No! Shes my best friend, why would I be sweet on her?" Ron demanded furiously.
"Good! Cos if you were you'd be in for a little competition" Seamus announced.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked quietly.
Seamus and Dean turned to eachother and grinned, "Only that me and Dean and about every other seventh year hormonally charged male at Hogwarts have been trying since school started" Dean stated simply.
"Yeah" Neville spoke up, (Neville having lost his hsyness and awkwardness in the sixth year)"but, it's hard totlak to her when shes always with the two of you." he laughed.
Harry had no idea and looked confusingly at Ron, who continued to blush. Harry guessed Ron had already noticed Hermione's sudden 'hotness' as Dean put it. Sure Hermione was pretty and everything but Harry considered her a best friend and sister, not someone he would be sweet on.
"Did you see her at the Welcome Back dinner?" Seamus asked them, "Man, she was hot!" he whistled as he spoke.
"Okay guys, enough! Thats practically my sister you're talking about" Harry stated.
"Man Harry, Ron you don't know how lucky you are. Not only are you two the most eligible bachelors in Hogwarts, ut you got the hottest girl by your side." Dean said simply, and they returned to their game much to Ron's releif.
(A/N - Yes obvioulsy theyre going to be a good looking pair of boys with the girls swooning for them sigh)
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An hour later the common room began to empty as students filed up into their dorms. After winning his last game of Exploding Snap, Ron yawned and called it a night. Ron and Harry walked over to Hermione who was still sitting with Elizabeth, only this time, the cute little girl with pigtails, had tears in her eyes and her lower lip trembled. The boys hung back for a moment, listenin to their conversation.
"It's okay Elizabeth. When I was in my first year, I missed my parents too. But trust me it gets better. You'll meet new friends, trust me." Hermione crooned, rubbing her hand on the girls back.
"Just like you met Harry and Ron?" Elizabeth sniffled.
"Yes." Hermine smiled and looked back at them. They smiled and sat down at the table
"How about Katie and Lindsay? They seemed like nice girls?" Harry asked, still smiling gently.
Elizabeth nodded and sniffled. "Why don't you write a letter home?" Ron suggested.
"I don't have an owl" Elizabeth stated gently.
"Well I'm sure Harry would lend you Hedwig, thats his owl wouldn't you Harry?" Hermione smiled at him.
"Yeah of course! And if shes ever gone, there tons of owls in the owlery" Harry said.
Elizabeth smiled and nodded. "Okay, I'll take you up first thing after breakfast then, alright?" Hermione said, "but first go to sleep and don't worry it'll get better"
"Thanks a lot Hermione" Elizabeth smiled, and after collecting her work, shuffled upstairs to the first year girls dorms.
Watching her go, Hermione sighed and looked at Ron and Harry. "Thats exactly the way I felt in my first year" she smiled.
"Thats how everyone felt"Ron stated lightly.
"Man that was seven years ago almost! Can you beleive it?" Harry said quietly looking into the fire.
"I know. And look at us now! We're prefects" Hermione smiled. "And Harry's head boy"
Harry laughed, "And YOUR'E head girl"
"And I'm champion of Wizards Chess!" Ron said smiling, sarcastically. He had gotten over his jealosy of his two friends early and now made a lighthearted joke about his only greatness.
"Hey! You beat Malfoy in Chess!" Hermione stated
"And oyu made Chaser!" Harry said.
"I know!" Ron laughed "And I have the best friends I could ever want. Thats pretty much all I ever wanted"
They all smiled at eachother. The Three Musketeers. They grinned until Hermione laughed.
"As much as I love you two, I'm really tired! I'll see you tomorrow!" Hermione said, quickly excusing herself, and after hugging them, ran quickly up the stairs.
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Back in the Seventh Year boys dorm, Harry and Ron quickly changed and joined the other three in discussion of Hogwarts students. The converstaion quickly focused on Hermione again.
"Maybe I'll ask her to the Yule Ball, eh?" Seamus suggested triumphantly. Ron instantly reddened, and the others noticed.
"Why don't you just admit it mate! You're sweet on Hermione!" Dean announced, emphasizing the words.
Ron looked to Harry for help.
"C'mon guys. We all know he was sweet on her in fifth year but not anymore" Harry said simply.
"Yeah right! Lets hear it from Ron!" demanded Neville. They all looked to Ron
"I'm completely over her! I mean why would I like Hermione? She's too smart, she smiles too much." Ron started, "shes nice, kind, happy..." he continued, smiling dreamily now " and she smells like strawberries" He finished. Harry grinned even bigger. Ron groaned and flopped back onto his bed.
"Harry mate, I have a problem!".
Everyone on the room laughed.
"I'd say" Harry chuckled "You're not sweet on Hermione, you're downright infatuated!"
@@@@End chapter one! Please review! I promise it gets better! @@@@
Chapter One
(In which we learn of the gangs seventh year, Ron's crush on Hermione and Lavender's winning of a poetry contest (which becomes important later on)
"Hey Everybody! Look! I got a letter from Witches Weekly! They liked my poems! They're going to publish them!!" Lavender Brown gushed as she hurried through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room.
Everyone looked up from what they were doing to see the bubbly blonde, her long curly hair disheveled from the run back from the owlery, breathing hard and very much out of breath. Parvati ran up to Lavender smiling and together the two girls sat giggling in a chair as they re-read the letter. A few other girls walked over the Lavender to congratulate her (the whole of Gryffindor knew how anticipated Lavender was to get published. As much as they had 'never heard the end of it', everyone was glad for her. Lavender was a nice girl and friend to everyone).Hermione, who had been helping a first year, Elizabeth McConnal with her Potions homework, politely excused herself and walked over to her roomates.
"Hey Lav! Good job!" Hermione smiled.
Lavender looked up smiled back, her huge green eyes sparkling with pride. "Thanks Hermione! I'm so happey!" And with that Lavender gave Hermione a huge hug. "Thanks for helping me with the spelling" Hermione smiled and walked back over the Elizabeth. Beside her were two more first years, looking a little apprehensive, with their Potions homework. When she reached the table to two other girls blushed.
"Lizzi said t-that you c-c-could help us Hermione" the one with the blonde pigtails stuttered, offering her parchment to Hermione.
Hermione smiled cheerfully "Sure! Have a seat beside Liz and we'll have a look"
The other girls sighed in relief and seemed to relax as they quickly sat down. It seemed that, even though it was the first month of school, Snape had choosen to be particularly on everyone, scaring the first years to death.After explaining to the three girls the concept of the Sonoradream potion, she looked over to Ron and Harry who were playing Exploding Snap with Neville, Semus and Dean, before turning to answer some more questions concerning homework.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Aha! I am the master of ALL wizarding games!" Ron shouted triumphantly, having won his third game of Exploding Snap in a row. Dean and Neville groaned and Harry just shook his head with a grin on his face.
"Ah no! ONE more game Ron and I WILL beat you this time!" Dean announced, setting the cards back on the table. As he sorted them, Ron let his eyes drift over to the table in the corner where Hermione sat with three first years. He let his eyes linger on her sparkling eyes and then moved to her lips when she smiled at one of the girls.
'Man' he thought, 'did she ever get beautiful this last summer'. And indeed she had. Her hair, after three flattening spells, had lost its bushiness and now her brown curls cascaded over her shoulders. Her cinnamon eyes were always sparkling and her full lips almost always in a smile. Ron couldn't help but smile
"Oi Ron!? Whatsa matter?" Seamus said, breaking his thoughts. Ron shook off his dazed expression and turned back to concentrating on the game, but it was too late. Seamus followed his previous gaze straight to Hermione and smiled.
"Shes pretty hot eh?" he said drawlingly, as he grinned at Ron.
"Yeah....I mean No!" Ron said quickly, blushing furiosuly. Beside him Harry grinned wildly. He had known about Ron's crush on Hermione since the last weke of summer, when he had finally admitted it at the Burrow. Harry swore he wouldn't tell anybody, but he couldn't help but grin now at the situtation.
"Oi mate, your not sweet on Hermione now are you?" Dean laughed. Ron blushed even redder.
"No! Shes my best friend, why would I be sweet on her?" Ron demanded furiously.
"Good! Cos if you were you'd be in for a little competition" Seamus announced.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked quietly.
Seamus and Dean turned to eachother and grinned, "Only that me and Dean and about every other seventh year hormonally charged male at Hogwarts have been trying since school started" Dean stated simply.
"Yeah" Neville spoke up, (Neville having lost his hsyness and awkwardness in the sixth year)"but, it's hard totlak to her when shes always with the two of you." he laughed.
Harry had no idea and looked confusingly at Ron, who continued to blush. Harry guessed Ron had already noticed Hermione's sudden 'hotness' as Dean put it. Sure Hermione was pretty and everything but Harry considered her a best friend and sister, not someone he would be sweet on.
"Did you see her at the Welcome Back dinner?" Seamus asked them, "Man, she was hot!" he whistled as he spoke.
"Okay guys, enough! Thats practically my sister you're talking about" Harry stated.
"Man Harry, Ron you don't know how lucky you are. Not only are you two the most eligible bachelors in Hogwarts, ut you got the hottest girl by your side." Dean said simply, and they returned to their game much to Ron's releif.
(A/N - Yes obvioulsy theyre going to be a good looking pair of boys with the girls swooning for them sigh)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later the common room began to empty as students filed up into their dorms. After winning his last game of Exploding Snap, Ron yawned and called it a night. Ron and Harry walked over to Hermione who was still sitting with Elizabeth, only this time, the cute little girl with pigtails, had tears in her eyes and her lower lip trembled. The boys hung back for a moment, listenin to their conversation.
"It's okay Elizabeth. When I was in my first year, I missed my parents too. But trust me it gets better. You'll meet new friends, trust me." Hermione crooned, rubbing her hand on the girls back.
"Just like you met Harry and Ron?" Elizabeth sniffled.
"Yes." Hermine smiled and looked back at them. They smiled and sat down at the table
"How about Katie and Lindsay? They seemed like nice girls?" Harry asked, still smiling gently.
Elizabeth nodded and sniffled. "Why don't you write a letter home?" Ron suggested.
"I don't have an owl" Elizabeth stated gently.
"Well I'm sure Harry would lend you Hedwig, thats his owl wouldn't you Harry?" Hermione smiled at him.
"Yeah of course! And if shes ever gone, there tons of owls in the owlery" Harry said.
Elizabeth smiled and nodded. "Okay, I'll take you up first thing after breakfast then, alright?" Hermione said, "but first go to sleep and don't worry it'll get better"
"Thanks a lot Hermione" Elizabeth smiled, and after collecting her work, shuffled upstairs to the first year girls dorms.
Watching her go, Hermione sighed and looked at Ron and Harry. "Thats exactly the way I felt in my first year" she smiled.
"Thats how everyone felt"Ron stated lightly.
"Man that was seven years ago almost! Can you beleive it?" Harry said quietly looking into the fire.
"I know. And look at us now! We're prefects" Hermione smiled. "And Harry's head boy"
Harry laughed, "And YOUR'E head girl"
"And I'm champion of Wizards Chess!" Ron said smiling, sarcastically. He had gotten over his jealosy of his two friends early and now made a lighthearted joke about his only greatness.
"Hey! You beat Malfoy in Chess!" Hermione stated
"And oyu made Chaser!" Harry said.
"I know!" Ron laughed "And I have the best friends I could ever want. Thats pretty much all I ever wanted"
They all smiled at eachother. The Three Musketeers. They grinned until Hermione laughed.
"As much as I love you two, I'm really tired! I'll see you tomorrow!" Hermione said, quickly excusing herself, and after hugging them, ran quickly up the stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the Seventh Year boys dorm, Harry and Ron quickly changed and joined the other three in discussion of Hogwarts students. The converstaion quickly focused on Hermione again.
"Maybe I'll ask her to the Yule Ball, eh?" Seamus suggested triumphantly. Ron instantly reddened, and the others noticed.
"Why don't you just admit it mate! You're sweet on Hermione!" Dean announced, emphasizing the words.
Ron looked to Harry for help.
"C'mon guys. We all know he was sweet on her in fifth year but not anymore" Harry said simply.
"Yeah right! Lets hear it from Ron!" demanded Neville. They all looked to Ron
"I'm completely over her! I mean why would I like Hermione? She's too smart, she smiles too much." Ron started, "shes nice, kind, happy..." he continued, smiling dreamily now " and she smells like strawberries" He finished. Harry grinned even bigger. Ron groaned and flopped back onto his bed.
"Harry mate, I have a problem!".
Everyone on the room laughed.
"I'd say" Harry chuckled "You're not sweet on Hermione, you're downright infatuated!"
@@@@End chapter one! Please review! I promise it gets better! @@@@