A/N: This is fist attempt at posting a Harry Potter fanfiction. I decided to do one because a lot of HP Fanfics around the web don't seem to stay true to the characters. I don't know, maybe they want to change who they are, but I like them the way they are just fine. This story is about the Trio going to college. I don't know if JKR believes there are college's in the Harry Potter world, but I do so I'm writing about it. It shoud be noted that I think the following will happen in JKR's books:

Hermione and Ron will "get together" (We all know it's going to happen… even if some of us are hoping for another person for Hermione… some of us being me.) Harry will defeat Voldemort (Duh…) Draco becomes uber-evil and/or a Death Eater (Though I should note that I do not want this to happen! Draco is one of my favorite characters and I hope JKR will give him some emotion eventually. He's like the Grinch, his heart just two sizes two small right now LOL)

So basically it starts off as a happy go lucky fic about them going to college, but it does get darker as the chapters continue (Keeping in with the spirit of JKR's writing style… I admire her very much). So I hope you like it and here we go!

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Chapter 1: Beginning Anew (Harry)


Harry Potter, the boy known the world over as The Boy who lived and the one who defeated He-who-must-not-be-named, looked at his small dorm room with a big grin on his face. Now 18 and finally able to move out of the Dursely's, he had never felt happier than he had in this moment. He threw his bags down on the bed and walked down the hallway toward the stairs, where Ron Weasely was waiting for him with a bored expression on his face. Ron's hair was now in a cropped cut and had a lot of goo in it, Harry guessed he was trying to look cool for his first day at college, but really he looked like he had fell into a vat of oil head first. He and Ron had drove up here together from the Burrow, and both were excited about the new adventure they were facing.

"Did you find it Harry?" Ron asked him, and he nodded in reply. With that, Ron jumped up and ran down the stairs so fast that Harry barely could keep up. It was rather obvious that Ron was happy to be off on his own and away from the crowded family he had grown up with. Harry slowed his pace and began dodging the massive amounts of people on the first floor. Everyone looked a lot older than he was, which intimidated him a bit. It had been a long time since he was at the bottom of the barrel after all. When he finally got outside, he spotted Ron pulling luggage from the car they had driven here. A lot of people didn't have cars at this place, most people had found rather interesting ways to get there, but Harry really liked his car, he had bought it off of a Wizard near his home over the summer. One of the many perks of finally being free from Privet Drive.

"Harry, this year is going to be good," Ron beamed as he pulled out a few trunks with his name on them, "I can tell, you know. With You-Know-Who gone, all he have to worry about are if we get to class on time and if we pass the finals."

" I suppose it will be Ron," Harry laughed and looked at the school. It wasn't much bigger than Hogwart's, but it look a lot more ominous. The walls were straight and squared, contrary to the softer curves of the Hogwart's castle. Each of the Dormitories were separated from the large school, all seven formed a perfect circle around it, and it seemed to Harry it was going to be difficult to get to some classes. Just like Hogwart's though, it was out in the middle of nowhere, but by looking at the parking lot and library it looked almost as though it would fit right in a bigger city.

"You think Hermione is here yet?" Ron asked, his ears turning a very bright pink. Hermione and Ron had a very strange relationship indeed, no one was really sure if they were dating, but it was clear that they were off limits to the dating world. Seemed they only had eyes for each other, even if they didn't want to admit it.

"I don't know, I got an owl from her saying she was taking the subway in," Harry shrugged and pulled Hedwig's cage out of the backseat.

"What dormitory do you think she picked?" Ron looked around the small parking lot, probably hoping that Hermione would suddenly appear.

"Most likely the Rosewand dorm, it's for girls only." Harry smiled, "I highly doubt that she would want to live with us in the Boy's and Girl's Dormitories."

"Yeah, I can hear her now about how unclean it all is." Ron laughed a little bit and shook his head, "Still, it would have been nice if we were all in the same dorm. It would be just like old times. All of us in Gryffindor."

"Except we're not in Gryffindor anymore, we're in," Harry looked at the big sign that was sitting over the even bigger wooden door, "Pheowin."

"Okay then, Ron smiled, "All of us in Pheowin."

Harry laughed and grabbed all the luggage he could and began to go back into the dormitory. Ron was right behind him with the rest of the stuff, trying to keep up even though Pigwidgeon, his owl, was making such a fuss in it's cage he nearly dropped it as he opened the door. Once you walked into the Dormitory, there was a big area that looked very much like the Gryffindor common room, including all the decorations being deep red and gold. People were laughing and talking, or playing a game of wizard chess, some were even showing off their broomsticks to each other (Which made Harry want to be a part of that conversation very much). When they got to the stairs however, a giant picture of a Phoenix was standing in their way, eyeing them both suspiciously.

"Berty Bott's," Harry told the picture and it quickly slide out of the way so they could walk up the stairs and to their dorm room on the second floor. The Dormitory was spilt right down the middle, if you went right you were on the boy's side, and on the left was the girl's. So each floor had many people of different sexes trying to find out where they were being placed. Harry noticed a lot of rather attractive girls looking his way. When he made eye contact with one, they all began to giggle and walked back into their room. Harry just smiled and began to walk down the right hallway and into the room him and Ron were going to share for the year.

"This is so wicked Harry." Ron said excitedly as he walked into the room, "Me and you are going to be roommates."

"Should be an interesting year." Harry murmured to himself with a smile and walked over to the window that was resting between the two beds. The room was about half the size of the one they had gotten used to in Hogwart's, but it was still very nice. It was decorated in the same Red and Gold they were used too and had the four poster beds as well. Ron began having a look around before putting the luggage he was carrying down. That caused for Pig to get very impatient and she began nipping at Ron's fingers. Ron said a curse word and dropped the cage on the left bed, making Harry laugh hysterically. He was very glad that he was here, at a Magical Institute. He really never thought he would survive his 7th year at Hogwart's, but there he was, laughing with his friend Ron. It was nice to see the world at peace, he had really never seen it before. When he came to Hogwart's all kinds of bad things began happening and he couldn't wait for everything to be peaceful again. Now that it was, he was immensely happy. All he could do at that moment was stare out the window and into the big blue sky and smile.

"Stupid bird! You're so impatient!" Ron yelled, breaking Harry from his own thoughts. He looked over to Ron, who was trying to keep Pig calm since owl's couldn't leave their cages just yet. Harry looked over at Hedwig, who was eyeing Pig with an angry look. Obviously she didn't like the way the little owl was acting.

The two began to unpack quickly so they could explore the school grounds before Freshman orientation later that night. But the two had barely gotten started when they heard a knock on their open door. Both turned their heads to see a muscular boy with a wide, toothy grin and big brown eyes.

"Hi! You're door was open, I thought I'd say hello." He told them in a thick American accent. But it wasn't a typical American accent, it was the kind that Harry had heard on T.V. cop shows that were based in New York City or Boston. It made him sound very tough indeed, "I'm new here too, where you two from?"

"From around here," Ron said after he gulped down some if his anxiety, "You?"

"I'm from Bawston." Harry was sure he meant Boston , it just didn't come out that way, "Got a Quidditch Scholarship, went to school at Alkateer Institute of Magic. Where'd you go?"

"Hogwart's." Harry answered quickly. The guys smile grew even wider at his answer.

"Hogwart's. Great school, I'm sure I'll like you guys." He walked over to Ron and held out his hand, Ron reflexively flinched, "I'm Jessie, Jessie Fatoni."

Ron took his hand quickly and squeaked out, "Ronald Weasely," Just as Jessie was moving to shake Harry's hand.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter." He saw Jessie's eyes grow wide just as everyone else's did when they heard his name.

"Are you really?" Jessie asked him, his eyes skimming Harry's hairline, "Great to meet ya Harry, Heard a lot about you of course."

"Thanks." Harry said grimily, he really hated all the attention truth be told. Jessie talked to them for awhile before deciding that he needed to finish unpacking himself and left them alone.

"I thought he was going to kill us!" Ron squeaked yet agian, "I didn't know that freshman were that big."

"It's no wonder he got a Quidditch scholarship." Harry mumbled to himself, but Ron had heard him and nodded along.

"He's probably a beater or a Keeper judging by his size." Ron said as he began to unpack yet again. Though, just like before, before they could make a dent in their trunks there was another knock on their door. Expecting to see another new face Harry looked up eagerly... and saw the very sullen face of Hermione Granger. Ron suddenly began to beam as he noticed who was standing in their doorway, and Harry notice he looked quite a bit happier.

"I can't believe it!" She whined and walked into their room, sitting down on the bed where Pig was flying around in her cage.

"Hermione!" Ron cried happily, "What are you doing here?"

She threw herself down, now looking up at the ceiling, "I TOLD them to put me in Rosewand, but when I got my Dorm Room, they made a mistake, THEN they said they couldn't fix it and I was stuck where I am for the next year!"

"Where are you at Hermione?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer to that question.

"HERE! Can you believe it!?" She sat up again, "Me!? At a Boy/Girl Dorm! It must be against some kind of law! How am I ever going to get any studying done with boys right outside my room!?"

"That's great Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, but Hermione shock him a very evil look, "I mean... I'm very sorry."

"Well, you should be!" She sighed, "I can't believe this."

Harry looked at Hermione like he hadn't seen her in ages (Actually it was about 3 months, but to him that was a very long time) and smiled at her. Hermione was a pretty girl, well she would be if she really cared about being pretty. Her hair was still quite bushy, though it would be very easy for her to flatten it now and she still dressed like she was a librarian. Even now she was wearing a long, grey, wool skirt and stopped at her calves, and a white button up blouse that was reminiscent of the uniform that they had to wear while at Hogwart's. The style seemed to have made an impression on her because he really had never seen her in anything different. Despite that though, anyone could tell she was a pretty girl, the only one who couldn't tell was Hermione herself.

"Don't worry about it Hermione," Harry said as he shoved a bunch of clothes into a drawer, "we're all together again, it can't be that bad."

"I guess that's true," Hermione smiled a little bit, "as long as you two don't bother me while I'm studying. I'm done with the antics that we pulled while we were at Hogwart's."

"You never know Hermione," Ron said rather smugly, "You actually might not study all the time."

"I'm taking this very seriously." She shot a very cold look toward Ron, "Unlike some of us here. After all, this is my future we're talking about."

Ron grinned widely and looked over at Harry, "Hey, we might as well have a little fun right? We really didn't have time last year."

Hermione looked at Harry with a sympathetic eye as she remembered what happened in their 7th year, "I guess that's true..."

"Besides Hermione, it's not like we came here just to party." Harry told her reassuringly.

"Yeah," Chuckled Ron, "Harry came here to get away from his family."

Harry just sighed and then continued, "We're going to do some old fashioned book learning just like you want us too."

Though Harry really meant what he said as a general amusement, it made Hermione very happy to hear it, she perked up a little bit and the smile on her face grew very big. He chuckled a bit, after seven years she had barely changed at all, she was still bookworm Hermione. It was nice, she was familiar to him and that made him quite happy.

"So who's your roommate Herm?" Ron asked, making her shrug.

"I don't know I have met her yet. I hope she's from somewhere far away. I would love to meet an American witch or an African Shaman."

Harry shook his head and began to laugh, "You're a strange girl."

The three talked until Ron and Harry were completely unpacked ( "I unpacked hours ago." said Hermione) and then they all decided to have a look around the grounds of the school. They were walking around taking in the sights. It was really a nice school despite the fact it looked a bit on the ominous side, the grass was completely green and fountains were everywhere, each one spewing out a different color of water. Hermione was giving them a verbal tour of the place too, Harry guessed she had read it somewhere before she came. He didn't dare ask her though, he had learned that asking Hermione where she got her information only made her talk more. So instead he listened to her talk about how certain Muggle inventions did work on the premises, but the spell could make certain items off limits to certain people, or how the fountain all lit up at night as were used as lamps so people knew where they were going. Or how fairies were flying around the whole school.

She went on like that for a very long time and Harry noticed Ron listening intently. Well, he might have been pretending to be listening, but he was looking at her and nodding his head vigorously. That made Harry smile, one of the many examples of what Ron and Hermione felt for each other. That was exactly how they were too, sometimes he would swear that they didn't notice he was even there. He wished they would proclaim that they were Boyfriend and Girlfriend already because it was just confusing pretending they were otherwise. Harry realized that he was pretty lonely himself, the closest thing he ever had to a girlfriend was Hermione after all (Which was a strange thought in itself). It made his mind wander about what was going to happen while he was at school.

"Harry!? Are you listening to me?" Hermione snapped her fingers in front of his face, making him respond with a very simple "huh...", " I said we might as well find the auditorium since we're almost there anyway."

"I keep telling Hermione that we have time, the orientation doesn't start for another hour," Ron whined, "But she's not listening to me."

"We're going to have the best seats in the place if we go now." She smiled and walked inside the building. That was the end of that argument because both boys followed her inside as quickly as possible. When they got inside they didn't see an auditorium, they saw a long, empty hallways with many doors on both sides. They followed Hermione closely, since she seemed to know exactly where she was going.

"Herm, do you know where you're going?" Ron asked as she turned on her heels into the right hallway. She stopped, turned around, and looked over to him.

"Of course," She rolled her eyes, "Don't you see the small light in front of me?" She pointed it out. It seemed rather obvious it was there now that Harry was looking for it, "The Fairies are around to help if you get lost, since classrooms around here have the tendency to switch around a lot."

The small yellow light fluttered around Hermione's head impatiently and began zooming down the hallway. Hermione quickly began to follow it yet again, and both boys were right behind her. After turning quite a few corners and walking down many long hallways, they finally came across two very tall doors. They were a bit shocking to gaze upon at first since they were tall enough for giants to fit easily between them and had intricate carving throughout. They weren't very nice pictures though, it was full of dragons, gargoyles, werewolves, and all kinds of scary creatures. Honestly, Harry didn't really like the look of the door.

"What's up with the door?" Ron asked with a slight squeak, "It's not going to attack us, is it?"

"It represents the protection spell that has been placed in the college," Hermione explained, "This place has the tendency to attract darker spirits so they put a spell on it that keeps them at bay. See that," She pointed to a beautiful woman holding a sword that was carved near the top of the door, "She represents the spell. There are a lot of different carvings, each representing a different spell. I think it adds a creative touch."

"Well, it still gives me the creeps." Ron gulped.

Hermione quickly opened the door and they all walked inside. The auditorium was massive and very well decorated. It was filled with lush velvet draperies and very comfortable looking velvet chairs, all the color of deep maroon. The cherry wood that was throughout complemented the color scheme and made it seem very inviting. There was a balcony right above them and Harry noticed a few people sitting up there. Honestly, Harry longed to be one of those people since he knew that Hermione was going to make him sit right up front with her. He wondered if she thought tat, if she forced them both, eventually they would like to learn as much as she did. By the way she acted, that was certainly plausible. And so, when she moved toward the from of the auditorium, he wordlessly followed her, despite the fact he want to argue with her.

The three of them talked about what classes they were going to be taking that semester ( "I want to take Advanced Alcemetic Chemistry and Advanced Incantation," was Hermione's answer to that) for the rest of the hour as hundreds of Freshman piled into the auditorium. Harry had never seen so many new faces since his first trip to Hogwart's. It was strange being new all over again, he had really gotten used to Hogwart's and considered it to be his home. Now he was going to have to get used to another school, the thought of that was rather intimidating and he tried to push it out of his head.

"Hello! Hello! May I have your attention please!" A woman's voice boomed in the air, making everyone quiet down quickly. On the stage was an older lady with white hair and a gentle face. She reminded Harry of a female Dumbledore and hoped that she was just a friendly, "Welcome all of you to your new home!"

Everyone clapped, he looked over to see Hermione clapping extremely hard herself. Hermione seems pretty excited, Ron whispered to Harry in a monotone voice, making Harry laugh.

"First off I want to tell you how wonderful it is for you to have chosen Widdlewall School of Advanced Magical Studies as your school!" The woman smiled, some people cheered, "I'm Head Master Pomple, and behind me stand the Professor's who will be teaching you throughout the year. We at Widdlewall pride ourselves on teaching you the finer points of magic and do hope that we can help you on the path to choosing your career in the wizard world. Now with that said, I will tell you the rules at this school."

Harry noticed Hermione pulled out a tape recorder, she looked over to him and mouthed, "This works here."

"Class registration will begin in two days, and most classes will start following the weekend. During that weekend you will be expecting to purchase the needed book for your course. Freshman are not allowed to take any advanced classes unless they have special permission. There is no curfew, but the Guardians do appreciate you trying to get back to your dorm fairly early. Quidditch games will consist of two different teams," Harry perked up when he heard the word Quidditch, "Dorm team and School team. Only people in a specific dorm can try out for that team, but everyone is welcome to try out for the School team, The Widdlewall Wobblers, though we are much more selective."

Harry heard a bunch of people mumbling around him, seemed a lot of people were excited about the Quidditch teams. He wondered if the American boy they met was on the Widdlewall Wobblers team or the Pheowin team, he made a note to ask whenever he saw him again. After Headmaster Pomple was done talking about Quidditch, he zoned out for the rest of the orientation. He caught pieces of the different speeches made by the Professors, but wasn't really paying attention to anything they were saying really. He mostly was thinking about the Quidditch teams and what classes he was going to be taking. Everything was so new around here, and there was so much freedom, he had to wonder what kind of adventure's he and his friends were in for. If only he had the slightest clue of what was to come...


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A/N: Hope you liked the first chapter. I liked writing it. Review it if you want to, I would love to hear your opinions, but if you don't that's fine too. Just as long as you read it and enjoyed it I'm a happy camper!