A/N: So this starts right before the fifth book…basically I'm not going to stick with Rowlings plot, because I'm too lazy to look everything up. Oops! Did I really just say that? Haha, no, I respect J.K. and acknowledge that she has full rights, I just wanted to see where my mind would take the story she wrote. Anyway…I'll leave most things the same, and I'll try not to change character's personalities too much. Enjoy! And please PLEASE leave reviews.

Harry Potter had lived on Privet Drive with his aunt, uncle, and cousin his entire life. Ron Weasley had lived at the Burrow with 6 siblings and his parents for just as long. However, Hermione Granger hadn't ever lived in the same place for long. When her parents had her, they were just beginning to climb the social ladder of success in their dentistry company. This is why they moved not once or twice before Hermione turned 11, but six times. For this very reason, she had never had close friends, or really any friends at all, for that matter. But when she began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she found herself attached to two young boys who would change her life forever. She also found that she was the brightest witch to come along in many, many years.

Thus, in her fifth year of attending Hogwarts, she was made a class prefect. The morning before they left to head off to school for the year, she found herself sitting alone her bedroom, reminiscing over her time at Hogwarts. Her first memory associated with Hogwarts was, by far, the most endearing, hilarious memory. She'd never forget the morning that she and her parents had been sitting at the breakfast table, and an owl had swooped in and dropped a letter on her plate of eggs. The owl had then proceeded to perch on top of the empty chair at the table. Her parents had sat, frozen for a few moments, before her mom let out a screech and went for the broomstick to chase the owl away (the irony of that would haunt Hermione forever). Hermione, however, lunged for the letter and tore it open.

Hogwarts School

Of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore.

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards.)

Dear Ms. Granger,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Someone will arrive at your house this afternoon at promptly one'o'clock to help you find your books and school supplies needed for the year (see attached list), as you are a muggle-born student.

The term will begin on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours Sincerely,

Minverva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

She had sat staring agape at the letter, until her father tore it from her hands.

"I'm sure it's just some stupid prank, Hermione. Perhaps your mother and I should stay here with you this afternoon, though. We don't want to take any chances with some crazy coming here to spook you, now do we?"

At this point, father and daughter turned to survey the woman brandishing a broomstick, swatting at the owl that had landed on the chandelier.

"I don't think the crazies would spook me, daddy, but maybe you and mom should take the day off."

"Jean!" her father moved to her mother's side, and took the broom away gently, "Leave the poor animal alone. If we open the windows, I'm sure it will leave on it's own."

Luckily it wasn't raining in London (where they had finally ended up) for once, so they were able to leave the windows open for the day. However, by one'o'clock the owl still hadn't left. And at one'o'clock a woman named Minerva McGonagall, dressed in emerald green robes had arrived and explained everything to the Granger family. She had then gotten the owl to leave and escorted Hermione and her parents to Diagon Alley to get her books.

Her second memory of Hogwarts involved the famous Harry Potter. She had read about him in almost every book she had purchased, and had found herself fascinated by his story. When she had accidentally bumped into him while looking for a boy named Neville's frog, she naturally made a fool of herself. All the same, she found herself entranced by the young boy.

And now, as they were about to enter their fifth year, she found herself best friends with the Harry Potter. The Chosen One. The boy who lived. The boy who would never see her the way she wanted him to.

She met with the Weasleys and Harry (Harry was always with them) just outside of Platform 9 and ¾. They were immediately ushered through the brick wall and into the magical platform. From there the three spent a few moments with their hugs, and then climbed hastily aboard the train so that they could discuss how their summers had gone—and, more pressingly, so Harry could fill Hermione in on his court appearance.

"Well…er…the entire Wizengamot Court was there, to begin with." Harry muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He winced a little when Hermione exploded with rage, as he expected her to.

"What? Oh Harry, that's horrid! How dare they! I can't believe they would have the full court there. You were just protecting yourself and Dudley! I mean, really, a dementor attacked you in the middle of an alley. What were you supposed to do, let it have at you? What were they bloody thinking?" Hermione crossed her arms as she plopped down next to Harry.

"Did you really say bloody?" Ron's jaw dropped at her use of the word.

"Just because we are both prefects, Ronald, doesn't mean I can't say bloody now and again, if I want to. Which reminds me, when the train starts moving, we need to head up to the prefect compartment so we can get our orders from the Head Boy and Girl."

"Oi, Hermione, I know. You don't have to nag, I got the letter too."

Hermione heaved a sigh and then turned to Harry, "Then what happened?"

"Well…Dumbledore came in and basically blew them all away with evidence and whatnot, just like I expect you would have," he shot her a grin, "But he wouldn't even look at me the entire time…and afterward he just got up and left."

"Manky git…"

"Ronald Weasley!! He is our headmaster, and if he ignored Harry I'm sure he had a perfectly good reason. After all, he can't very well play favorites in front of the entire Wizengamot court. You watch that mouth of yours or I'll have you in detention!" She sent Ron a nasty glare, which silenced him, and then turned to Harry once more, "Well, I'm glad that's all over." She hugged him tightly, "I'm glad you're safe, Harry."

"What's the worst they could have done? Banished me to Azkaban? If they did that, Voldemort would just have at them. Maybe we'd all be better off."

"Oh, don't talk like that, Harry."

Suddenly his eyes filled with rage.

"They won't do anything to stop him, Hermione. They're wasting all their time going after…Snuffles."

The next thing Hermione knew, she was hugging The Boy Who Lived again, feeling bad for his incredible streak of bad luck. Everyone who seemingly got close to him died, or wasn't allowed to be near him. It certainly wasn't fair.

Just then, the door to their compartment slid open, and in stepped Neville, Luna, and Ginny Weasley. Hermione first noticed the change in Ginny and Neville—Ginny had certainly filled out, and Neville seemed slimmer and more certain of himself.

"Harry!" Ginny let a full smile reach her lips as she sat down on his other side, "I was hoping we would find the three of you."

Harry offered her a little smile, and then slumped down in his seat, seemingly deep in thought. Hermione knew he didn't feel like talking.

Neville and Luna both nodded quietly, and took seats on either side of Ron. It was then that Hermione noticed that Ron's eyes were glued to Luna—apparently her carrot shaped earrings had drawn his attention…or perhaps the girl's short plaid skirt and revealing white blouse were enticing him.

"Alright, Ronald, it's time for us to head up to the prefect compartment."

"What? But the train hasn't even begun moving."

"Yes, well, by the time you shrug your robes back on it will be halfway to Hogwarts, and you'll be the first late prefect in a hundred years."

The entire compartment chuckled quietly has Hermione summoned both of their robes and their prefect buttons. She then handed Ron his things, pulled hers quickly on, and hurried into the hallway. Hopefully Ginny wouldn't be able to get through to Harry while she was gone.

Ron bustled into the hall behind Hermione, fighting with his robe, "These bloody robes…no wonder I don't wear them during the summer."

"Really, Ron. You make everything too difficult." Hermione sighed in a motherly way, and moved to help Ron with his robes.

"Thanks." Ron grumbled, once they had straightened his robes out, "I don't know how I got them so twisted up.

Just then the train jerked to a start, and the last straggling students rushed into their compartments.

"Come on, we'd better hurry up to the front of the train. I wonder who the rest of the prefects will be…I swear, if Malfoy is the Slytherin prefect…"

"But if he isn't, our possibilities will be endless. I'll give him detention every day for the entire year. And I'll ban him from the Quidditch team!"

"Ronald, you can't keep him from playing Quidditch, and I will not let you give him detention simply because you don't like him. Being a prefect is a lot of responsibility, and I'm going to make sure you handle it appropriately."

"Aw, Hermione, being a prefect means I'm supposed to boss other people around, not be bossed around."

"If you can't handle the responsibility, you're going to get bossed around. That's the way it is. Honestly, I'm surprised Dumbledore didn't ask Ha--", Hermione stopped mid-sentence and turned to Ron, "I'm sorry, Ron."

"Nah, it's okay." Ron shuffled past her in the hall, "I don't know why he didn't ask Harry either. We all know Harry's smarter than I am, and better at everything."

"That's not true!"

"Yes, it is, Hermione. He's the Chosen One, after all…but at least I'm his best friend, right?"

"Yeah…" Hermione sighed quietly, "The three of us will always be best friends, Ron."

"Thanks, Hermione." He turned to her and embraced her quickly.

Hermione ended the hug quickly, and then walked to prefect compartment door. She held it open as Ron stepped inside. It was strange that Ron had hugged her; he generally didn't give her hugs, unless it was the beginning or end of the summer. Strange. But, perhaps he was finally growing up. Maybe this prefect thing would encourage him to be more like Percy. That was something that certainly couldn't hurt.

"Are you going to come in, or just stand in the hallway like a statue, Granger? Maybe they really never did fix that petrification problem." A slimy voice floated out to her, and Hermione snapped back to reality. She stepped into the apartment and rounded on Malfoy.

"If you knew anything, Malfoy, you'd know that petrification is not a word." She snapped at him, and then took a seat next to Ron, across from Malfoy, turning her attention immediately to the Head Boy and Girl. Apparently they were still waiting on the Hufflepuff Prefects.

Next to Malfoy was Pansy Parkinson, Hermione noticed out of the corner of her eye. Pansy was the second person in Hogwarts who Hermione hated. The first, obviously, was Malfoy. Now, with both of them as prefects, she was sure this year would be a battle of the wits, so to speak; Pansy and Malfoy would be fighting to get as many Gryffindors into detention as possible, and Ron would be fighting to get Malfoy in detention just as often. However, Hermione would do her best to keep Ron under control, and if Malfoy and Pansy crossed too many lines, she'd appeal to Professor McGonagall, and perhaps even Headmaster Dumbledore. Next to Pansy was Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein—they were the Ravenclaw prefects. Hermione thought they were both fairly good choices, as they were mature, studious individuals. Hermione had always somewhat gotten along with Padma; they were somewhat alike.

Just then the door to their compartment slid open, and in came Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan. Two more good choices. So Dumbledore was 6 for 8 this year—not bad, overall. Surely the 6 students who were in line would be able to handle Malfoy and Pansy. The only person they may not be able to rely on was Ernie, as he tended to be wishy washy. Hermione leaned back in her seat and relaxed a little. Even though the Slytherin prefects (that was another ironic statement) weren't the top of the line, it would turn out to be a good year. She could feel it. For once Hermione didn't pay attention as the Head Boy and Girl gave the instructions—Hermione already knew them all; she'd done immense amounts of research once she'd found out she was going to be prefect. Instead, she thought about Harry. At the end of last year, she'd begun feeling…differently about him. That was really the only way to explain it. Harry seemed to think she had a "thing" for Ron, but the only reason she fought with Ron as much as she did was because she was jealous of their relationship. There, she'd admitted it. She was jealous that Harry and Ron were so close—she knew the three of them would always be inseparable, but Harry still didn't share his feelings with her. He had begun to during the Triwizard Tournament last year, but then he and Ron had made up, and everything had gone back to normal. She'd been shoved to the back burner, becoming once again the smart girl they only turned to when they needed her help. Well, not this year.

"Hermione?" Ron hissed at her, nudging her elbow, while everyone else in the compartment were staring at her in confusion. Hermione Granger daydreaming? Yeah right.

"Hmm?"

"We've asked everyone to introduce themselves, Ms. Granger." The Head Girl gave Hermione a reprimanding look. Oops.

"Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment, there. I'm Hermione Granger, but I suppose you all knew that by now." Ernie, Hannah, and Ron all choked back laughs, and Malfoy and Pansy gave her a contemptuous glare.

"Alright. Gryffindors, you need to do your patrolling in 2 hours. Slytherins, you can take the first shift, Hufflepuffs take the second, and Ravenclaws take the last. Then you'll repeat, switching every hour until we get to Hogwarts. Make sure you help with the first years when we get off the train, and then you'll need to meet with the other 6th and 7th year prefects at dinner, and get your patrolling schedules from the 7th year prefects." The Head Boy gave the final instructions, and then dismissed them all with a wave of his hand. Obviously he had little patience. Hermione and Ron were the first ones out the door, anxious to get back to Harry.

Halfway back to their original compartment, however, a slimy blonde-haired boy pushed between them and stood in front of them. He didn't say a word, simply waiting for Ron's rage to build up and give a reason for him to give Ron a detention.

"Malfoy, our compartment is that way," Hermione pointed ahead, "Why don't you let us through, hmm?"

"Why would I let a Mudblood pass me?"

Ron let out a low growl, and Hermione gripped his wand arm.

"Because the mudblood is smarter than you are, and is going to take 50 points away from Slytherin for using such foul language. Now move aside, please and thank you." Hermione pulled Ron to the left and they hurried past Malfoy. She could feel his eyes burning into her back.

"Foul git." Ron muttered under his breath.

"Just let it go, Ronald. There's nothing you can do about it."

Ronald grunted in acknowledgement, but it didn't seem to stop the string of foul words that escaped his lips.

"Ronald Weasley, if you don't watch your mouth, I'll take fifty points away from our house, too!" Hermione spat at him angrily.

"You can't take fifty points away from our own house! That's…that's practically suicide! The rest of the Gryffindors would never let you live it down."

"Well, I would rather face their wrath than let you get away with something I didn't let Malfoy get away with. You're better than him, or at least you could be."

"What?! Anyone is better than that git! Even you don't like him, Hermione!"

"Just because I don't like him doesn't mean I'm going to let everyone else get away with things and only punish him. This is a serious job, and if you don't take it seriously, you'll lose as many points as Malfoy will."

Ron finally took her threat seriously as he stormed ahead of her and into their compartment. She coolly followed him, keeping her face calm. Harry, however, could immediately tell what had happened.

"Don't tell me you two are already going at it." He chuckled slightly, and Ginny and Luna exchanged glances.

"Hermione is threatening to take points away from Gryffindor."

"Oh really?" Harry gave Hermione a quizzical look, "Why would you do that?"

"Malfoy called me a mudblood again," Hermione sighed as she sat down next to Harry, "I took 50 points away from his house, and when we finally got past him, Ron let loose a string of words that I will not repeat. Then I told him that if he kept it up I'd take points away from Gryffindor."

Harry gave her arm a soft squeeze, "He called you a mudblood again?"

Hermione closed her eyes for a brief second. Harry would think about how she was feeling, not about her threat, "Yes, he did, but it's okay, Harry. I'm proud that I'm a Muggle born who is more intelligent and a better witch than almost every Pureblood in our class. Malfoy's just mad that I beat him on all of our exams last year."

Harry let out a chuckle, and then slipped his arm around her comfortingly. "Well, if you ever need someone to turn him into…oh, I don't know, a ferret? Let me know."

Hermione chuckled and playfully smacked Harry on the chest, "You'd better watch out or I'll take 50 points away from Gryffindor because of you, too."

Harry smiled at Hermione, and suddenly found himself lost in her eyes. It was strange how her chocolatey brown eyes could do that—they were so warm and friendly.

A giggle from the person on his other side distracted him, "Oh Hermione, you're so funny! We all know you'd never take points away from Gryffindor."

Hermione rolled her eyes. She and Ginny had always been friends, but sometimes she was so…well, such an airhead, to be honest. Ginny was smart, of course, but sometimes she lacked all common sense. Not just some of it—all of it.

"I don't know, Ginny. I wouldn't put anything past Hermione." Harry removed his arm from around her as he spoke, giving Hermione a sympathetic smile. It wouldn't do to get Ginny all worked up over nothing. Well, nothing to Harry.

Neville and Ron chuckled, to show they agreed with Harry. Ron, however, still had a sour look on his face, as if he had just been forced to drink a barrel of lemon juice. The ice had been broken, though, and the group slowly lapsed into energetic conversation. They talked about teachers, classes, and the workload they expected to have, as well as trips to Hogsmeade. Hermione and Ron took their rounds, and Harry accompanied them the first time, but the second time he was asleep, and when they came back, he had slumped over into Hermione's seat. She didn't have the heart to wake him, so she sat on the floor against the door until they got to Hogwarts. By that point, she and Ron were overwhelmed with their duties, and she didn't see Harry again until halfway through dinner in the Great Hall. Well after Professor Umbridge had been introduced and Hermione realized how horrible this year could truly end up being. When Harry came sulking through the doors well after everyone else had finished his or her first servings, she knew something had gone terribly wrong.