DISCLAIMER - I don't own Harry Potter or its characters. They belong to JK Rowling. Klaus Baudelaire belongs to Lemony Snicket.

Chapter 2

New Friends

Hermione bent down to tie her shoes, ignoring Parvati and Lavender's constant giggling. That was, until she heard her own name amidst the chirpy whispers.

She brushed her bushy brown hair out of her eyes and surveyed the two birds. Surprisingly, both of them seemed to making an effort to look, if it was possible, even more stylish than usual.

Parvati was applying something in her hair, and experimenting with different kinds of hairstyles. First a bun, then a bun with locks framing her face…and Lavender was checking her uniform for creases, stains…etc.

"What's the occasion?" asked Hermione.

Lavender looked at her. "That new boy of course!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Klaus? You girls aren't serious."

"Well, he's so cute!" exclaimed Parvati.

"No offence, but his life is too complex at the moment to think about you two…I mean, girls in general."

The two girls sighed. "You always try to talk us out of any boy in the now, Hermione. Cool down."

Hermione felt a little twinge of annoyance but shook it off. "I did advise you."

She grabbed her book-bag and walked out of the dormitory and into the common room.

Klaus was sitting on one of the couches, gazing into the fire.

Hermione gave him a glance and then continued to the portrait hole. She stopped two steps short of it however, and looked at Klaus.

"Aren't you coming to breakfast?" she asked.

He broke out of his trance. "Yes, in a few minutes."

She nodded, and turned back to the portrait hole. Then she remembered something, and voiced it.

"Would you like some help catching up?"

"The Ministry taught me everything you guys have learned, but I'd like to practice a little more," replied Klaus. "Maybe the next free period we have, you could help me out?"

Hermione smiled. "Sure. The next one is on Monday, third period."

Klaus smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

"No problem."

With that, Hermione walked out of the common room to meet her friends for breakfast.

At the table…

"Hermione!" exclaimed Ron. "You were five minutes late! You're never late!"

"That's not true," said Hermione, amused.

"It is! You're always here by eight sharp! What happened today?"

"Well, Parvati and Lavender have gone crazy, and Klaus needs a little help with the work."

"Apogy asshepted," said Ron, with his mouth full of bread and butter.

Hermione looked revolted and turned to Harry.

"Morning," she said, and started breakfast with a juicy green apple.

"Good morning," he said absent-mindedly, flipping through the pages of the Daily Prophet.

"Any bad news?"

"No, thankfully."

He folded the newspaper and looked at Hermione. "So, you'll be helping Klaus out?"

"Yes…the next free period. If he can do all the simple spells correctly, I'll try and train him on the advance defense spells…but I'm sure the Ministry covered those as well. Maybe advance charm spells, but I don't know if the Ministry taught him the gritty attack-and-defend spells or just stuff we'll learn in school, like Charms, Transfiguration…Or I could do it a different way…"

"Hermione," said Harry, firmly. "Why is it so important? The Ministry has probably taught him everything, so he's pretty well off. And I've never heard of Hermione Granger coaching any new student."

"Hi," said the "new student" in question.

"Hi, Klaus," said Hermione.

Klaus sat next to Harry, across Hermione, and started eating.

"Klaus, do you like books?" asked Hermione.

Ron and Harry exchanged 'uh-oh' looks. Klaus, however, didn't catch them.

"I love books," he answered. "My father used to have an enormous library in our house."

Hermione looked thrilled. "I love books too! Hogwarts has a huge library, like your father, so many books! They're all about spells, and wizarding figures, but I'm sure you'd enjoy them."

Klaus' eyes twinkled. A little color trickled into his face. "Really? Can you show me please?"

Hermione nodded. "Okay, but finish your breakfast first. Classes start at eight thirty, so we have just enough time to take you to have a look."

Klaus bent over his plate, and began eating his toast, and drinking his milk. A few minutes later, he was waiting for Hermione to finish. She took her last sip of orange juice, wiped her mouth and hands, and stood up.

Ron and Harry watched as she led Klaus out of the Great Hall.

"Wow, now Hermione has another bookworm to talk to," said Ron, gazing blankly at them.

Harry nodded and went back to his breakfast. Ron stared after the bookworms a while longer, and then turned back to his breakfast, looking slightly worried.