A/N: This is my first fanfic, and whether or not I really continue this depends on your responses. Hope to hear from you soon! Also, I own nothing but this particular story line.
Sept 1, 1995
A dark, shadowy, figure creeps slowly into the second floor bedroom, making as little noise as possible so as not to wake the young man sleeping in the bed. Reaching the foot of the bed, the figure stands up to his full height, pulling out his wand and directing it at the sleeping figure. A dark blue spell shoots from the tip, impacting the face of the sleeping young man, who wakes up spluttering as he is now soaking wet, one word breaking from his lips after the already fleeing figure.
"SIRIUS!"
Cackling madly, Sirius ran from the room as quickly as he could, shortly followed by a fully drenched and fairly ticked off Harry Potter. To anyone passing by this particular house in Godric's Hollow it would seem as if a war was being fought, as spells could be seen flashing past windows and impacting on various walls, doors and household items at a near alarming rate as Harry chased Sirius around the manor.
As Sirius ran up the grand staircase for the second time he was stopped short by a diminutive figure with a wand pointed right between his eyes. Turning around to try and flee, Sirius found Harry right behind him, wand pointed at his chest. The woman sighed as she saw her son drenched from head to toe.
"Sirius, was it really necessary to wake Harry up like that?
"Aw, come on Lily, it was just a harmless prank, and besides, he's up now, isn't that what you wanted?"
"Sirius, I asked you to get him up, not turn my house into an active war zone!"
"Fine, fine," Sirius replied as he turned to Harry and raised his wand. He didn't get much farther as Harry hit him with a stunner and levitated him off the ground so he wouldn't hit his head on the ground.
"I am not done with you Sirius," Harry muttered, talking to the stunned and floating form of his godfather, "You started this, and I am going to finish it."
Harry made to walk past his mother, but she stopped him with a hand on his chest. "You need to get ready, Ron and Draco will be here soon, and you have no time for this."
"Aww mum, he started it. Look, I will be done with him soon, and then I will get ready to go. Ron and Draco won't be here for another two hours."
Lily sighed and smiled at her son, "All right, just make sure you are ready." Removing her hand from Harry's chest she walked down the stairs on her way to the Kitchen before turning around, "Harry?"
"Yeah mum?"
"Don't get him too bad, he does have to teach tomorrow."
"Ok mum," replied Harry dismissively, making his way back to his room where he would find some way to prank his godfather.
Lily sighed again and smiled to herself as she walked down the rest of the stairs and into the manor's extensive kitchen to find Holly, their house-elf, hard at work making breakfast for them. Lily barely sat down at the table before a cup of coffee found its way in front of her. Smiling at the house-elf and giving her a nod, Lily looked around her home, already starting to feel how lonely it was going to be with her son and best friend gone for the school year. She loved the boys company and, although she knew and loved Hogwarts, was a little upset that they had to go, leaving her with just her job and this big lonely house. Sure she had her friends from school, but she wanted her son by her side as much as possible, a feeling that was intensified as she thought about how she nearly lost him as she had lost her husband.
Flashback
Lily, James and Harry were walking down the streets of Godric's Hollow, celebrating their first Halloween where they could dress Harry up and take him Trick or Treating. Deciding to take a shortcut through the park, Lily turned to James.
"Stay here, I am going to run to the house and get the camera. I want pictures of us on the park."
James smiled to his wife and gestured for her to go, taking Harry's hand and walking slowly over to the fountain nearby. They hadn't gone far when a cloaked figure appeared seemingly out of nowhere in front of the two. James didn't spare a second glance before scooping Harry into his arms and breaking out into a full run, shouting at the cloaked figure, "You'll never get my son, Tom, not as long as I am alive."
Tom Riddle merely raised his wand and pointed it at James back as he ran, and a sickly green spell hit James squarely between the shoulder blades. His momentum carried him another few feet as Harry fell from his arms and he landed in the grass, dead. Tom walked up to Harry and watched as Harry cried from the fall. Lily was just in time to see Tom raise his wand and cast the same spell at Harry, only have it rebound on himself, killing him instantly.
End Flashback
Lily had been devastated, thinking she had lost her husband and son at that moment, sinking to her knees in tears, the camera lying discarded on the ground. It wasn't until she heard a small cry that she found the will to pick herself up off the ground to find Harry still alive, and Tom's body lying motionless on the ground. For years she could barely stand to be more than a few feet from Harry, fearing that she would lose him for real at any time. His years at school had hardly been any better, facing Voldemort not once, but three times in four years, the last time witnessing his return. It had taken no small effort on Dumbledore's part to convince Lily that Harry should return to school. Voldemort, he said, would continue to come after Harry until he was dead, and that Harry needed to fight him, and that Dumbledore himself would train Harry. Not that it seemed that Harry needed much training. The boy was a spectacular duelist, she had seen it herself. That dueling club that Dumbledore had created in Harry's third year had turned Harry into quite the sorcerer, equal in natural ability, though not quite knowledge, of most of the staff. He was also very skilled on a broom, probably the best seeker the school had ever seen, not that Harry would admit it to himself. In Harry's eyes he was just the average student, hating the fame that came with all the spectacular things that he had accomplished. He just wanted to be the normal teenager with friends and laughs and love.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Harry walking into the Kitchen, cleaned up and smiling broadly. He sat down as a plate of food was placed in front of him and his mother and dug in.
Right of Passage
"I still don't see why I can't go. It's so unfair!" pleaded Hermione Granger. She stood in front of an old man sitting at desk looking at her over his half-moon glasses. "The notion of inheritance of magic through blood is ridiculous. What about squibs? What happens to them? Who cares if I am muggle-born, why should I not be allowed to learn magic? Why can't I go to Hogwarts?" Tears were streaming from her eyes as she finished, sinking into her chair.
"Miss Granger, I truly understand what you mean, and I agree with you completely. However, I did not say that you could not go this year." The old man's eyes were twinkling as he watched Hermione's face go from teary-eyed and crying to a gigantic smile and tears of joy. She practically launched herself over the desk and wrapped the old man in a hug, before pulling back and looking at him thoughtfully.
"How did you manage that? I thought it was impossible?"
"Miss Granger, there are some things that you do not know about me and my role in the wizarding world. First, is that I am not Aberforth Bumblebee who lives in your neighborhood as you think I do. Rather, I am Albus Dumbledore." He paused as the girl gasped, "I have taught you much, my dear, and I have spent many hours getting the pertinent information and subtly placing files and documents where they need to be. All this effort has allowed me to enroll you in Hogwarts in time for you to start your fifth year."
"But, how? I am not from a magical family. I don't know where my magic came from. How did you do it?"
"Miss Granger, as much as I would love to tell you this tale, for a thrilling tale it is, we do not have time for this discussion. The train for Hogwarts leaves in two hours. Now, I can help you pack, and I have here the supplies and books you will need, but we still need to hurry in order to get to King's Cross Station and I have a few important details that we must go over. First, when you go to school, your bloodline will be through the Ancient and Noble line of Peverell. While your ancestors left the family, it will still explain where you got your magic. You will also say that your parents wanted you to go to private tutors before ever attending Hogwarts. Second, don't say anything about me being your tutor. Other than that, you should be able to use your significant mental abilities to spin a tale of your liking."
Hermione once again engulfed Dumbledore in a bone-crushing hug as the old man chuckled. Standing up and placing his arms on Hermione's shoulders he looked at her with a piercing stare. Hermione was rooted to the spot. How does he do that? She thought. After a moment of silence, Dumbledore spoke again.
"Do me a favor once you graduate Miss Granger. There are people at Hogwarts who believe as we believe, but they are not out in the open. You will need to make friends and learn through those friendships who share our beliefs. But don't let first impressions scare you away. Beneath the surface there are those who would be very supportive, they just need a nudge in the right direction. When you find these friends, and you graduate, make an effort to change our world, Miss Granger, because our world needs it, and I have every confidence in you that you and those friends can be an instrument for that change."
With that, Dumbledore grabbed Hermione's arm and they apparated away with a soft "pop."
Right of Passage
"You know Potter, with all the trouble that you get into at school, I cannot fathom what Dumbledore was thinking when he made you Prefect."
Ron, Draco and Harry were walking down the train platform of King's Cross, winding through the crowds of parents and children in an effort to get their own compartment, somewhere near the back of the train.
"He was thinking 'Anyone but Malfoy, anyone but Malfoy.'" Harry replied, earning a laugh from Ron and a growl from Draco.
"I told you Potter, keep Lucius' name out of this. I refuse to be related to that moron."
Harry held up his hands in defense, "Alright, alright, don't get your knickers in a knot Draco, I just forgot for a minute. No need to hex me."
As the trio worked their way through the crowd, Harry's eyes were inexplicably drawn to a young woman struggling to get her trunk onto the train. With a murmured statement to his friends about meeting up with them after the prefects meeting, he made his way over to her. Placing his hand on her shoulder he said, "Can I give you a hand?"
She turned and looked at him, her chocolate brown eyes seeming to stare into his soul. After a moment she smiled.
"Sure, thank you. These trunks are really heavy." She relinquished her grasp on her trunk and followed Harry on to the train. Finding an empty compartment, he placed her trunk on the overhead rack and took the opportunity to look her over. She was a new face but also obviously not a first-year. She looked to be about his age, her eyes were gorgeous, her slim figure, although hidden beneath her robes, was obviously an attractive one and her hair. Oh man her hair. Rarely did two strands follow the same path down from her head to her waist, but together formed a beautiful picture. Harry couldn't look anywhere but at her. He eyes simply refused to move from her.
Hermione was having the same issue. Her body simply refused to obey her commands. She was looking at this young man who was easily very attractive. His hair was obviously messed up that made him look like he had just gotten off a broom, he had a kind face, and eyes that could keep you focused only on him. But it wasn't these things that kept her attention, it was something from her core that simply refused to let him out of her sight. It was then that she saw his scar, the small lightning bolt just peeking through his hair. Oh Merlin, it's Harry Potter! She thought.
The two of them stood there, not noticing the time passing or the students that jostled them around on the train corridor. They were in their own little world, focused entirely on each other. Without warning, the train lurched forward, sending Hermione flying straight into Harry's arms, and he caught her without even thinking. As they stood there, Harry holding Hermione, their faces slowly coming closer and closer together and their lips met. Tentatively at first, before the kiss grew more intense with Harry drawing her tighter to him and Hermione throwing her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair, lost in each other. Neither of them noticed the blue flash that filled the compartment, nor the wave of magic that blasted its way from them.
They surfaced only for air, and Hermione leaned her head on Harry. A moment later, both of them jumped back, refusing to look at each other. Harry ran his fingers through his hair and stuttered, "I… um….. I have a meeting to go to," before dashing out of the compartment. Hermione simply stood there, stunned, her fingers gently brushing her lips that had just recently been connected to Harry's. Her legs gave out and she sank down onto the compartment bench. Oh my God, I just made out with HARRY POTTER!