chapter one.. Thoughts on the past seventeen months.

Hi, I'm Harry Potter and I'm going to tell you about the last year and a half of my life. Well maybe not the last year and a half, just the latter half of my sixth year at Stonewall Secondary School onward.

On the first day of that term, I met my best friend. You see, up until then, I'd only really had one okay friend, Dean Thomas... yeah the Captain of the football team, all around good guy, great artist, popular, yeah, the complete opposite of me, the quiet, introverted, workaholic since I was five and given my first list of chores by my Aunt and Uncle.

Back to the meeting of my best friend... okay, now you maybe wondering why me the Eighteen year old has decided this is my best friend... well she is! Okay, she just is, and no I'm not in love with her, she's just my best friend. And no, we've never dated.

Why am I explaining this to myself?

I was late to school on this Monday morning and barely made it to my new first hour on time, Chemistry, I sat in the first chair I saw, right in front, next to a pretty brown haired girl... I DID NOT JUST THINK THAT! DID NOT! Okay... maybe I did.. what! A guy can't admire his best friend? Well, I sat next to a girl with her head barried in a book and her bag overflowing with what else, more books.

I'd never had a class with her before.. though I had passed her in the halls.

To my doom, though in reality great luck, after Professor Janeway chastised my forgetting to take off my knit hat, much to my embarrassment.

Next she announced our partners for the term would be the person we happened to be sitting next to.

Hermione Granger is her name and right there was the first time she'd faced the wrath of my cousin Dudley's friends.

Dudley fortunetly was off at boarding school, thank the gods! (I'm leaving this open to anyones interpretation whether they believe in one or many :-))

If he had went to school with me for another seven years I would have gone bloody mad, but fortunetly he went to Uncle Vernon's Alma mater, Smeltings.

Back to my story, Hermione and I paired up again in history, for the project assigned that day, Thank you Dean, for having a new girlfriend that day, to occupy you.

You see, normally, it would have been Dean and I, unless he had a new girlfriend, then I'd try all in my power to go at it alone, but today, I was brave as was Hermione and we asked each other at the same time if the other would like to be each others partner, obviously we both did.

That Saturday was the first time I'd EVER had anyone over at my Aunt and Uncle's home on Privet Drive, And let me tell you, boy was it embarrassing... every time Hermione ever came over, Uncle Vernon would ask snidely, if she was my girlfriend... we've always replied the truth, No.. oddly, he always seems disappointed... lets just say Uncle Vernon is losing his mind or he's trying to provoke me so he can kick me out.

The very funny thing about Hermione and me becoming friends was the fact we were numbers one and two in our year and both dreadful at making friends. Yet, with each other we quickly became best mates, as Dean would say, maybe we were lonely in our solitary existences or we just clicked together...

We both worked our arses off on school work, and read constantly. Me so I could keep up with assignments, she for fun. She's more intelligent then me and I'd bet if she barely ever studied she could have passed with flying colors regardless, but me, if I didn't work hard... I would have been flunking out and working at Surrey Foods for the rest of my life.

It's funny.. if I'd never become friends with Hermione Granger, I would never have even applied to where she, myself and Dean are attending for college; Hogwarts University in Scotland.

Dean got recruited for the football team. Hermione and myself got scholarships as well, I'm glad for that, or I shant have afforded going where we're heading.

It seems so very odd that just... well seventeen months ago we were just a couple of anonymous faces passing in the halls and now we're off to college! The same one, I'm told, my parents attended!

I'm really glad Hermione told her parents to shove off and let her drive us to school... that was embarrassing, sitting in the car as her parents told her good bye. Whew was I glad I wasn't her... though my Aunt and Uncle were really quite horrible. I've always thought they'd be jumping for joy the day they got rid of me.. or as Uncle Vernon called me, "Free loading little brat..." and unsurprisingly they were.

Aunt Petunia kept crying, laughing and smiling and Uncle Vernon gruffly threatened that if I didn't do well I better not come back. Well, that was expected! Though he also said, if I didn't, he'd come to Scotland and kick my arse, so I guess somethings never change.

"Harry," Hermione said, "Hey Potter!"

"What?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah.. just reminicing."

"On what?"

"The last seventeen months."

"Ah... yeah.. it's wierd isn't it?"

"It is! Can you believe we're off to Hogwarts?"

"Can you believe I had to threaten you to even apply?"

He laughed, "I'm glad you did!"

"Me too, or I'd be all alone again."

"So would I, I'd be .. I guess still in Surrey going to school with my cousin."

Hermione stuck out her tongue in disgust and said, "Ugh!"

"I know!"

"It was a total shock to meet him after meeting you. Your personalities clash and he's just such a selfish spoiled bastard."

"So you agree with my assesment of what I told you he's like before you met him?"

"YES! Whole heartedly."

He laughed, "So how much longer do you reckon till we get to Hogsmeade?"

"My guess is a half hour, considering the last sign a half hour ago."

"Alright."

"Eager to get out of the car are you?"

"Very much so. I didn't think sleeping in the car last night would be so uncomfortable."

"It was fine."

"Hermione, if you recall, there's too many things blocking my seat from reclining."

"Oh, right, sorry."

"That's okay."

"It was quite funny to watch your head loll around when you were sleeping this morning."

"Thanks," he replied sarcastically.

"No problem," she grinned back.

AN: Hello, here I am with Chapter One, just got it back from my beta, Thank you to Jenna Kathleen. And thank you to the girl from Scotland who let me pick her brain on things Scottish, THANK YOU! I hope you all enjoy this, and please review.

AN#2: Expect slow updates after Chapter Two.. which will be posted either later this week or next week. I have a massive project for drawing due Friday.. I finally started it last night… I have a research paper due a week from Thursday… and Exams are the week following next.. so unless I go crazy and write through the night like last term… there probably won't be too many updates till I have vacation, four months off! Well, not exactly cause I have to get a job.

Thanks for reading… and review please.