Author's Notes: I'm writing this because Hannah Abbott remains a relatively unexplored character, although she was really unexplored before JK Rowling said in an interview that she ended up marrying Neville. This was originally going to be a one-shot but it would have been way too long. I plan on doing one chapter for each year (perhaps two for seventh year) and maybe an epilogue.

I will try to keep this in line with canon but I am taking a few liberties (like Hannah's brother, etc.) because this story would be incredibly boring if I only worked with the details that JK Rowling gave us.

Hope you enjoy, and if you could leave a review that would be highly awesome of you. Even if you don't, I'm glad you're reading.

The beginning of Hannah's magical journey was an inauspicious one; she was born into a magical family, blew up her older brother's birthday cake when she was five due to uncontrolled jealousy, and got her Hogwarts letter when she was eleven. Of course, there was a lot more to it than that, but none of it was terribly exciting. Even during Voldemort's first reign of terror, the Abbotts were relatively unaffected. They were pureblood, after all, and there was no reason for them to get involved in what was clearly someone else's war.

Hannah grew up listening to stories of Harry Potter. As she grew older she harbored the standard prince-rescuing-princess fantasies that most girls her age had. These fantasies never had a concrete situation from which she needed saving; her mind always skipped to the part where handsome Harry Potter came to retrieve her. When her Hogwarts letter arrived, she realized for the first time that she would actually be seeing Harry Potter in school, that they might be in the same house, even. This thought excited her tremendously.

Her first trip on the Hogwarts Express was also her first contact with Harry Potter. Her brother grudgingly let her tag along with him, so instead of meeting other girls her age, she spent the train ride in a compartment full of rowdy fourth-years who played Exploding Snap in the loudest manner possible. Halfway through the journey another one of her brother's friends burst into the compartment and told them that he had just seen Harry Potter - the Harry Potter - in a compartment near the back of the train. Her brother and his friends seemed interested but elected not to go have a look; they would see him at the feast, anyway. Hannah was secretly disappointed, but was too frightened by the prospect of wandering around the train by herself to entertain notions of going to look for him.

When they arrived and Hogsmeade and disembarked, Hannah just got a glimpse of Harry Potter's back. He was standing next to a lanky red-haired boy (clearly a Weasley) and looked very tiny by comparison. When he was greeted by the gigantic bearded man she would later learn was Hagrid, the groundskeeper, he looked smaller still. Hannah felt slightly let down. Was that her prince? He looked like a plain old eleven-year-old boy to her.

Soon she found herself sitting in a boat with three other scared-looking first-years, none of whom wanted to say anything. Hannah could sympathize. She felt like she would throw up if she opened her mouth. Like everybody else, she gasped in awe when she got the first glimpse of Hogwarts castle. It looked very large and daunting from their perspective on the lake, and it looked larger and more daunting when Hagrid led them up to the entrance.

Now came the part which Hannah was dreading most; the sorting. She had tried asking her parents what would be expected of her but they had only smiled indulgently and kept their lips tightly closed regarding the matter. Her brother had been even less of a help; the only thing he had said was, "Abbott's right at the beginning of the alphabet, so you'll be going first, twerp. Usually the first one doesn't make it." He had said it in a joking manner, but, nevertheless, she was frightened close to panic as she stood in the Great Hall's antechamber.

Hannah didn't have long to ruminate, because within minutes they were being ushered into the Great Hall, where hundreds of students were waiting and twice as many eyeballs were eyeing them. McGonagall brought out a stool with a hat on it, but Hannah couldn't figure out what they were supposed to do with it. Was it going to attack them? When McGonagall explained that they would only have to put on a hat, she shared the indignation of some of her fellow first-years who had been similarly duped by their relatives. However, a new concern was now pushed to the forefront. Which house would she be sorted into? Her brother and father were both Hufflepuffs, and her mom was a Ravenclaw, but she had close relatives from every house. Her parents had never told her which house they expected her to get into, which was odd considering that they had always made their expectations for her very clear.

Unexpectedly, the hat opened its mouth and began to sing. The tall black boy standing next to her was clearly muggle-born, because he jumped noticeably when the hat began its song.

Hannah listened intently, but she still had no idea what house would be most appropriate for her. She didn't feel like she had any of the qualities for any of the houses. So when she stumbled out of line to be the first to put on the hat, she was too preoccupied with speculation to be nervous that she was the first in line and that everybody was looking at her. She sat down on the stool and put on the hat, which only had a few things to say to her: "friendly and loyal, better be HUFFLEPUFF!"

It occurred to her at that moment that if the table furthest to her right hadn't started clapping and hollering loudly, she would have no idea which table she was supposed to sit at. She took off the hat and scurried over to the Hufflepuff table, where she was greeted with a few smiles and pats on the back. Her brother, halfway down the table, was giving her the thumbs-up. She smiled back weakly and wished she could get up and sit next to him.

The next person to be sorted was also put in Hufflepuff. She sat down next to Hannah and smiled.

"I'm Susan."

"I heard," Hannah responded. She had attempted to sound cool and composed but was surprised at how curt she sounded. In an attempt to rectify things, she gave a small smile.

It seemed to work, because Susan began to giggle and said, "Yes, I suppose you did." Soon they were both giggling and chatting excitedly about what their classes and professors would be like. Hannah hardly paid attention when several other students were sorted into Hufflepuff.

When McGonagall called out "Potter, Harry" however, Hannah's attention snapped directly back to the sorting, along with almost everyone else's. He looked completely terrified, not at all like somebody who could defeat a dark wizard. In Hannah's opinion, he wasn't unattractive, but he definitely didn't look anything like he had in her fantasies. The hat took a long time on him, and when it finally sorted him into Gryffindor, Hannah was distinctly disappointed. She hoped they would have a few classes together, at least.

That night, after meeting her and Susan's roommate, Megan Jones, Hannah went to sleep with a much more realistic princess scenario in her dreams.