Sorry for the wait, I had a few uni assignments that needed doing. Hope this chapter makes up for it! Let me know what you think in a review!

Enjoy!

"Albus!"

Said man looked up from his paper work in surprise.

"Yes Poppy?"

"Were you aware of Miss Granger? I should have been told, I could have been watching for complications!"

Surprised, Albus put aside his work.

"Miss Granger? I was not aware of anything that would have required your expertise Poppy." The surprise that filtered across the Nurses face at his admission was amusing. "After all, I am not all knowing, no matter what the students say." Poppy blushed.

"Yes, well." she took the seat across from his desk. "Miss Granger has just been to see me, and I have discovered through her scans that she has gone through an Inheritance of some type in the last few hours." Albus sat up further in his chair. "I believe that it took place at around two o'clock this morning, and as it is Miss Granger's birthday today…" Here Poppy trailed off, allowing the Headmaster time to think about the information he had just been given.

"Hmm, Miss Granger is 15 is she not?" Poppy nodded.

"Yes Headmaster; she also reported that she has experienced her first menstrual cycle today, as well as severe pain and aches."

"Hmm, very interesting indeed… there are not many inheritances that take place on the 15th birthday." Albus stood from his chair and walked to his bookshelf, glancing across the titles, "Ah!" He plucked a purple covered book from the middle of the top shelf. "This book has all the known inheritances that a Witch or Wizard is capable of inheriting. I say known since I am sure it is not an exhaustive list."

Sitting back at his desk, he reclined in his deceptively comfortable chair.

"Headmaster, the first menstrual cycle is what worries me most of all." Albus motioned for her to continue as he was flipping through the book. "It is unusual for a Witch to not have her first cycle during her 13th year of life; most Witches that do not, are either infertile, or have an inheritance that involves mating seasons." Poppy paused, waiting for Albus to understand what she had said; she knew the moment he had, for his head snapped up to look at her.

"Mating seasons?"

"Yes Albus, I am positive. I do not know much about Inheritances, or the different types, but as a Healer I have to know all about the body. Miss Granger is going to go through some sort of process in the next few weeks that will ensure she is ready for childbirth; what the process is will depend on the Inheritance." She paused again, knowing that she had given all the information she could that would help Albus figure out what exactly Miss Granger was.

Hesitantly, she decided to mention just one more thing.

"Albus…the only Inheritances that involve mating, are Creature ones…"

"Yes Poppy, they are indeed…" He stopped suddenly, his finger pointing to a specific spot on the page that Poppy couldn't see. "Poppy dear…" He indicated her to come to him, and he pointed back at the page. Her eyebrows went up to her hair line.

"Yes Albus that would make sense. I'll keep an eye out." With a nod, she moved out of his office and back to the Hospital Wing.

Sitting in his office, Albus Dumbledore stared at the words on the page and decided that yes, this would be an interesting year indeed.

"Aspen; fiercely protective and loyal of their mates and offspring, highly dangerous being that is believed to come into their powers at the age of 15."

Harry sat in the common room, staring across the room at Hermione. Since their visit to the Hospital Wing that morning he had been watching for anything strange. So far all he could see was that she was slightly more irritable, and he figured that was, well normal, considering her…condition at the moment. He winced, imagining what hex she would use if she ever found out he had thought that.

Hermione was currently sitting at one of the tables on the other side of the common room, attempting to help some of the younger years with their homework. Usually she had no issue with it, but at the moment she was red in the face, and looked to be breathing quite hard. Concerned, Harry stood up and made his way over.

"Hermione, you okay?" The girl startled when she heard him and tossed him a glare for scaring her. He smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'm fine Harry. No need to hover like I am going to collapse any minute."

"Sorry Hermione, I'm just worried you know? You're my best friend in the entire world; I don't know what I'd do if something happened and I didn't notice in time to help you…" Hermione's glare softened. There was no way she could stay mad at him for that.

"It's all right Harry, just try not to hover so much okay? I'm not helpless and I can tell when I need help." Harry nodded.

"Yeah, I'll try Mione." The smile she levelled at him had him slightly out of breath. With another smile, he quickly retreated back to the other side of the room.

What in Merlins name had just happened? Harry looked around the common room, desperately hoping to see someone who he could ask about this. He spotted Ron over at the chess set, beating some poor third year, and figured it was good that he hadn't seen anything. Neville was walking down the stairs!

"Hey Nev!"

Surprisingly, his voice didn't come out as shaky and uncertain as he thought it would. There was a strange desperation to it though. Sighing, he motioned Neville over to the sofa.

"Hey Harry, you alright?"

Harry sank into the cushions and put his head in his hands.

"I have no idea Neville, absolutely no idea." Neville took one look at his friend, who he had looked up to since they had started school together, and sat down next to him.

"What's going on? Does this have anything to do with the trip to the Hospital Wing this morning? I saw you leading Hermione up there."

"Yeah, she uh, wasn't feeling too well. I've just been noticing things about her that I haven't before… I am watching more closely than usual, since Madame Pompfrey told me too, but I'm noticing things that have nothing to do with her health…" Neville grinned at him.

"You like her."

Harry's head snapped up so fast Neville was worried he'd have to take him to the Hospital Wing for whiplash or something.

"What?!"

"Well, what are you noticing about her?"

"Her smile…It just lights up the damn room." Neville waited for more, but it seemed that Harry was done.

"That's it?" He was surprised; he was expecting more observations on how Hermione had, well, filled out.

"Yeah, why? What else am I suppose to notice?"

"Nothing Harry, her smile is a good thing to focus on." Neville really should have expected this from Harry; he wasn't the type to objectify anyone, especially Hermione. "But yeah, I think you like her."

"Oh man…" Harry's head was back in his hands, muttering about how Ron was going to kill him.

"What does Ron have to do with it?" Neville was very confused.

"He likes her!"

"Oh…well does she like him?" Honestly, Neville couldn't see Hermione with Ron…

"I don't know…but he's liked her for ages, I'd be a pretty crappy best friend if I tried to get with her when I know that my best friend already likes her."

Neville nodded slowly, he understood that.

"What if we could find out if she liked Ron?"

"What?"

"Well, what if we could figure out whether she liked Ron; if she does then you back off, if she doesn't…well then you can give it a go."

"But…"

"Harry, if she doesn't like him then there's no point making yourself miserable about being a bad friend"

Harry had a thoughtful look on his face, and Neville let him think through the idea on his own. Finally, he slowly nodded his head.

"Alright…but how do we find out if she likes Ron?"

"Well, as her friend, and Ron's, you could ask her. Or we could ask a girl to find out." The panicky look that crossed Harry's face told Neville that they would ask a girl to ask Hermione.

"Hey Ginny!" He called out to the red head. Said girl smiled and walked over.

"Hey Nev, Hey Harry!"

"Hey Gin." Harry was mumbling into his arms. Neville rolled his eyes.

"We need a favour; could you find out if Hermione likes Ron?" He smiled at her.

"Ron?" She sounded, and looked, confused. "Why on earth would she like Ron?"

"I don't know, but could you find out?"

"Yeah sure…Is he okay Nev?" Neville followed her concerned gaze to Harry; who was once again cradling his head and mumbling.

"I think he will be…he just needs to know whether Ron's feelings are returned."

"Ron likes Hermione!? Ew!"

Neville laughed as Ginny walked over to Hermione, her face still a mask of disgust. He watched as Ginny and Hermione started talking, smiling as he watched Hermione's face take on the disgusted look Ginny was wearing. He almost burst out laughing at the vigorous head shake Hermione did, as Ginny's face melted from disgust to relief.

A few minutes later, Ginny smiled and walked away with a wave. When Hermione turned back around, she walked back over to them.

"She was disgusted by the idea of her liking Ron as I was. She doesn't like him." With that, she smiled and walked off.

"Hear that Harry? She doesn't like Ron."

Instead of the happiness he was expecting, he got a long moan of depression.

"What? I thought you'd be happy." Confused didn't even begin to cover what Neville felt at that moment.

"Imagine what I'll have to deal with when Ron finds out!"

The entire common room looked over when Neville burst into loud laughter and fell off the sofa.

Hermione's week was getting weirder; while she understood that she was moodier because of her period, she was not expecting any other symptoms to arise. But she was still in pain. Madame Pompfrey's words floated around her brain. Hermione knew that the amount of pain she was in wasn't exactly normal, but she was sure it wasn't anything to worry about. Nothing was worrying her, except for her classes and getting her homework done on time.

That is, until Thursday morning. Hermione woke up at her usual time, and she was going about her usual routine when she noticed something… odd. The skin across her abdomen was, slimy? Hermione slid her hand across the skin, her hand coming away with a thin, clear substance on it. Terrified, she screamed into the hallway.

"Someone get Harry!"

Lavender and Parvati were sitting in their dorm when they heard the shout from the bathroom. They heard one of the other girls reply that boys weren't allowed in the girls dorms. The resounding shout had Lavender scrambling for the common room

"NOW!"

Lavender stood in the common room, looking for Harry. When she didn't see him, she ran across the room and up the stairs to the boy's dorms. She found Harry sitting on his bed.

"Harry" Hermione needs you!" She didn't wait any longer, just turned around and kept running. She could hear him running behind her. She smiled; she wished she had a boy who was this devoted to her. When they reached the girls stairs Harry stopped, but Lavender grabbed his hand and pulled him up; the slide activated just as they reached the top. Lavender ignored the screaming prefects and pushed Harry into the bathroom where Hermione was.

Breathing deeply, she glared at the prefect.

"Hermione wouldn't call for him if it wasn't serious." Flipping her hair, she stalked back into her dorm; Parvati following behind her.

Harry stood in the girl's bathroom breathing deeply; the scent was entirely different to the boy's bathroom. It was much more pleasant.

"Hermione?" He called.

"H-harry, I'm in here…" Her voice came from one of the shower stalls. Taking a steadying breath, Harry pushed the door open gently. She was clutching a towel to her chest, and it was very apparent that she wasn't wearing a shirt or bra underneath, and there were tear tracks on her cheeks. Immediately pushing everything else from his mind, he stepped forward and hugged her.

"What's wrong Hermione?"

"You'll think I'm a f-freak!" Hermione's voice broke and she started crying again.

"Hermione, I could never think you're a freak. Tell me what's wrong." The sincerity in his voice and in his eyes convinced Hermione to show him.

Stepping back from him, and the protective circle of his arms, she lifted the towel. Being careful to keep her breasts covered, she showed him her stomach.

"I noticed when I was getting ready for my shower…I'm slimy!" The tears had started again, and despite himself Harry couldn't help but notice that Hermione's eyes had hints of gold in them. Shaking himself, he directed his attention to her stomach. He reached a hand out, hesitating slightly he looked up at her for permission; at her nod he pressed hid fingers against her stomach. Surprise flitted across his face as his fingers slid across her skin. She was right, she was, for lack of a better word; slimy.

"Hmm, that is strange…" Hermione didn't say anything; tears just kept dripping down her cheeks. "Hermione, while I do not think you are a freak, I do think this is something we should tell Madame Pompfrey." Hermione nodded. "Oh Mione." He crushed her to him, hugging her with all his strength.

"Thank you for trusting me. I was very surprised when Lavender burst into my room and said you needed me then ran out again; though not as surprised as when she pulled me up the stairs and pushed me into your bathroom I'll admit." Hermione smiled, a small giggle making its way out of her throat.

"Thanks Harry, I better get dresses." He nodded, quickly stepping out of the stall and shutting the door behind him. Hermione smiled, pressing the towel against her face to hide the new, red tinge on her cheeks that had nothing to do with her crying.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, Harry was confronted by the same prefect that had yelled at him before. Her hair was frizzy, though not nearly as bushy as Hermione's and her eyes were wide with anger.

"Just what do you think you are doing?! You are NOT allowed here!"

"Hermione needed me! If you think for one bloody second that a stupid school rule or enchanted stairs is going to stop me from being there for her when she needs me you are very bloody mistaken!" Harry glared at her, dared her to say anything else. The prefect huffed, spun on her heel and slammed the door to her dorm.

"Harry." The small voice nearly broke him; he hated hearing her so meek.

He spun around, grabbed her hand and slid down the slide that had still not reverted back to a staircase, when he was helping her up at the bottom he was not prepared for the explosion that was Ron Weasley.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?!" Harry looked up, saw the red faced Ron, and looked back down at Hermione.

"I'm helping Hermione." It was a statement, not an answer. Ron was gearing up for another shout. "Look Ron, Hermione needs help, and I don't have time to deal with you right now. See ya." Then he left with Hermione.

The common room exploded with noise as Ron Weasley had a fit.