He was her first real friend at Hogwarts, the only person who didn't treat her intelligence and thirst for knowledge like it was a disease. He was kind and considerate and helped her when she got lost or overwhelmed by her lack of friends and this new world she had been thrown into away from her parents.

He stopped her from feeling completely alone and unwanted. She thought at first that he was only being nice to her because it was his job; he was a Prefect after all and that he probably thought she was just as annoying as everyone else did. During those first few weeks of her first year he was her saviour.

One evening she had gone to the library, as was her habit when she was upset about anything, and immersed herself in the only book she had brought with her from home. She had not realized that the school's library would not hold any books that were intended to be read for pleasure alone. She was so enthralled in the pages of Romeo and Juliet that she didn't notice him sit in the arm chair next to her.

"Shakespeare was a wizard did you know that?" He whispered quietly.

"ARGGH" she almost jumped out of skin "Don't do that! You scared me half to death," she hissed out quietly through clenched teeth.

"Oh I am sorry; I didn't mean to scare you. I had said hello but you mustn't have heard me." His voice was soft and his face was ever so slightly pink as he bowed his head and studied his hands.

"Its ok really, you just startled me. I get lost in my own little space when I am reading sometimes."

She couldn't help but feel guilty for her outburst. He looked up and met her eyes, one corner of his mouth curling into the smallest of smiles before he quickly looked away again.

"I get that way too. My brothers are constantly teasing me about it the twins are the worst although Charlie can give them a run for their galleons at times too..." He rushed out until he realized he was rambling and stopped his confession suddenly and returned to his earlier question.

"Did you know?"

"I'm sorry. Did I know what?" Her mind was a jumble of confusion and sympathy for his question and his torment.

He laughed lightly and repeated his question for the third time. "I asked, whether you knew William Shakespeare had been a wizard or not?"

"No, I didn't know that. How fascinating." She gave him a wide smile "So are all his stories true, do you know, or are they still make believe?"



"I think the muggle versions are altered enough so that they understand certain things but mostly they are true. Take that one you're reading for example. There was a family feud between the Capulet's and the Montague's. Miss Capulet was a Muggle born Gryffindor and Mr Montague was of course a pure blood Slytherin. They fell in love and obviously that went over quite badly with their families who were not impressed. The headmaster at the time had formed some kind of soft spot for the couple and had helped them hide, in the muggle version I believe it is priest that helps them hide and marry. They ran away and were happy for the shortest time until her family had the aurors track them down.

Montague's best friend warned him in advance and he was able to get to the headmaster with her and again asked for his help. The headmaster gave him a Draught of living death and told him to take only three drops that would make him appear dead for three days. Long enough for his family to believe him dead for real and when he awoke he and Miss Capulet would be free to live happily ever after as it were. Unfortunately the owl informing Miss Capulet of this plan was injured and didn't arrive in time and the rest I believe is exactly like the muggle version: tragically sad and terrible." He took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders. "Well there you have it.
Sometimes it seems as if we will never learn from the past and forget about blood and just be peaceful."

"It's still one of my favourite stories though, but it makes a lot of sense the way you tell it. Thank you for sharing that with me."

"Oh think nothing of it. I have a wizard copy of some of his tales if you would like to borrow it sometime."

"Yes, yes that would be wonderful thank you."

He seemed to notice someone enter the room behind her "There's Penny I must be off Prefect rounds you see." his eyes lit up at the sight of the Ravenclaw Prefect and his ears went bright pink. "I will find the book and get it to you tomorrow OK? Bye Hermione." And then he was off leaving her to stutter.

"Yeah, thanks Percy," she whispered to the back of his retreating form.

She never did get the book from him as the very next day was Halloween and that was the fateful day when she became firm friends with Harry and Ron. The trio became inseparable and Percy couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of his youngest brother and the famous Harry Potter. Hermione didn't question drifting away from her she just assumed he was busy with his studies and other responsibilities. Her new friends kept her to busy with dangerous schemes that she really didn't have time to dwell on it anyway.



As the years passed by and their adventures got more and more involved and dangerous she thought of those days with a strange longing. When Percy disowned his family in favour of believing the Minister of magic over them she was devastated. What had caused him to change so completely from the boy she thought she knew? She hoped that somehow one day he would come to his senses and come home to them and they could be friends again.

She managed to develop a fleeting crush on every one of Ron's brothers during her Hogwarts years. The length of time for each ranging from Bill which lasted about three days until Charlie had arrived home to the burrow for the world cup to three years with Ron.

She remembered the first time she saw Charlie. He was leaving the bathroom when she was heading downstairs from Ginny's room. He wasn't wearing a shirt and he smiled at her with the whitest most perfect teeth she had ever seen. Her jaw dropped and she stammered out a timid hello before quickly averting her eyes, blushing. She could have sworn he winked at her as he passed. That crush lasted the entire summer before fourth year.

Fifth year she couldn't help developing a soft spot for the twins, they were so funny and brilliant at times she had to pretend that that she was furious with them to cover up for her true feelings. They would never be interested in her anyway she told herself.

She had always had feelings for Ron his jealously of her and Victor making her think that she was in love with him. He was loyal and kind and he defended her with his own life more times than she could count. The older they got the more attractive be became and during their sixth year it was her turn to be overly jealous of his relationship with Lavender and then when he was poisoned and she thought he was going to die she fell for him hook line and sinker.

During what should have been their seventh year he started to return her feelings finding more and more reasons touch her or meet her eyes. They finally shared an earth shattering kiss during the final battle making her feel as though she had been injected with a powerful electrical current. Their timing was dreadful as Harry felt he should point out but at the time she was too caught up in emotion to care.

That day became her favourite day in living memory but not because of the kiss or because none of the Weasley's had lost their lives in the battle or even because Harry had finally finished Voldemort off. No, it was her favourite day because it was the day she'd waited seven years for. Percy finally came to his senses and returned to them, to her.