Morning came to the Scottish countryside. Hermione was up early; thinking she was the only one up, she went down to the common room to read. Much to her surprise, Harry was already there lightly dozing. "He's been there for almost an hour, I've no clue why though," she heard whispered to her side. Turning to ask a question, she was even more surprised to see Alba standing behind her, "I've been sleeping off and on, helping the young ones stay asleep, thank goodness classes don't start for another two days." he muttered.

"I'll speak with him when he wakes, honestly, I didn't sleep much either, but I was too worried about Harry to sleep," she replied. Looking at Harry, she asked, "Were you the one that brought concerns to Professor Snape?"

Alba nodded, "He's much too thin to have been eating right, and he doesn't seem like the type of person who would do such a thing," he then thought for a moment, "How was the meeting? Did someone else notice?"

She looked down, "I'd rather not say without Harry knowing."

Alba nodded, "I understand, it's good to see that Harry has at least one good friend." then he smirked, "I wonder…"

Before Hermione could question Alba on what he said, he disappeared and Harry began to stir. Walking to his side, Hermione gently woke him up. "Hey Hermione," he said, eyes still shut.

Hermione was shocked, "How did you know it was me?"

Harry opened his eyes and smiled, "I recognise your shampoo scent, but I also felt that I would be awoken by you for some reason," standing and stretching, he asked, "What's on the agenda for today?" at Hermione's confused look, he said "Since we are the only Slytherin first years, we'll be the only ones with our schedule, therefore, I assumed that you would want to find our classes first so we're not late on the first day." They agreed and walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast then spent the day walking around the castle to find their classrooms.

While Harry and Hermione were eating Lunch, the Headmaster was fighting an oncoming migraine. Minerva, Amelia and Severus were in his office tearing him a new one over a mistake me made nearly ten years ago. It had been his hope that Harry would grow up in a loving environment and away from the Wizarding World and thus away from his fame. There was only so much battering his ego could take and so came to a decision that he hoped would please all, "Thank you for your perspectives, it is my opinion that I have wronged Mr Potter so greatly that I have no recourse but to resign from my position as Headmaster."

Silence accompanied his announcement, admittedly not the reaction he expected, he thought that they would at least express some emotion. Finally, Minerva broke the silence, "That might be for the best Albus, are you sure?"

Nodding, he replied, "I've spread myself thinly for years, if I can focus my efforts, I will be able to work more effectively and Hogwarts will do better. Minerva, I suspect that the Board of Governors will confirm you as my successor, will you need someone to take over Transfiguration?"

Minerva shook her head, "I think that spreading the duties between myself and the Depute will allow me to continue teaching."

With that, they parted ways, and by four in the evening, there was not a trace of Albus Dumbledore in Hogwarts. Once dinner came, and all of the students were in the hall, Professor McGonagall rose and addressed the students, "As I'm sure the more astute of you have noticed, Headmaster Dumbledore is not here, that is because he has resigned as Headmaster of Hogwarts," silence ruled the hall, prompting her onward, "As such, until confirmed by the Board of Governors, I will be taking over as Headmistress with Professor Flitwick as Depute," this brought on shouts with the most common theme being about the Transfiguration class, "I will not be stepping down from my teaching position as I enjoy doing it." cheers arose from them, one would have thought that a party of trolls were in Hogwarts as the noise could be heard from Hogsmeade.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, they both suspected that yesterday's events were at the centre of today's. In Hermione's mind, anything that punished the guilty party was good, but she really wanted to make those Dursleys pay, her mind racing to figure something out quickly. Harry, however, felt a great deal of relief at being able to put it behind him before the term started.

Soon though, there was little time to dwell on it as classes started in full force. Their first class was double Potions with the Gryffindors. And almost immediately after taking role started testing Harry's knowledge, "Mr Potter, What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"The Draught of Living Death, sir," he replied.

Snape nodded, "Good, where would I find a bezoar?"

"Normally in the stomach of a goat, but as it is a common ingredient to antidotes, most apothecaries and Potion labs would have them."

"What's the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Harry shook his head, "Nothing sir, they are the same plant which goes by the common name of aconite."

To say Severus was shocked would be putting it mildly, no one had ever answered his three start of term questions right, and, considering that they wouldn't use aconite until May at the earliest, it meant Harry had read the book back to front even though most students wouldn't touch their books until told. "Well done Mr Potter, take five points to Slytherin for reading the text so soon. I don't expect potion prodigies in your first years here, however, as long as you follow the instructions presented to you as well as my guidance, you will be able to produce acceptable potions without visiting Madam Pomfrey in the Infirmary."

After Severus put the instructions up, Harry soon proved that his knowledge was not over exaggerated. Hermione had paired up with him and they were the only group to produce an outstanding version of the cure for boils, and rather quickly as well. Amusingly for Harry and Hermione, the Weasley boy and Malfoy had paired up and, judging by the sounds emanating from their caldron, failing horribly. Suddenly, their caldron exploded; acting quickly, Harry shielded Hermione and heard a hissing as his robes heated up, thus causing him to throw them off, surprisingly though, neither Weasley nor Malfoy were covered in their failure, but Harry had little time to think about it as Professor Snape began yelling at the guilty party, "Weasley, Malfoy, what do you think you're playing at! Should I ask why you're caldron's shield was non-existent in the direction of Mr Potter and Miss Granger? Headmistress' office now! Class dismissed."

Looking to Hermione, Harry saw the fear in her eyes, his concern notching up several ticks when she clung to him and wouldn't let go, though if Harry was being completely honest with himself, he sure didn't mind the close proximity at all. "Hermione?" he asked. He was sure she whispered something but couldn't quite hear it. "Hey, it's alright, we're safe, we're safe…" repeating it, trying to reassure her of that but it took hours before she calmed enough to walk and as it was, they were almost late to Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall though was understanding and didn't raise the issue, though it would have been hard to do so as she was in her Animage form. The class was spent trying to turn matchsticks into needles, Harry believed that on any other day, Hermione would have accomplished the task quickly, but as the second and final hour ended, she couldn't even turn her matchstick silver.

And so it went for that week, Harry doing what he could, but with his life experiences, he just didn't know what to do when an idea came to him.

Early Saturday morning a couple wakes into their morning routine when a snowy owl delivers a letter to them. The woman opens it, hoping it's from her daughter reads it with vigour only for her face to fall. "Daniel!" she shouts, drawing her husband to her as she shoves the letter into his hands.

Dear Mr and Mrs Granger,

This is not how I wished to introduce myself, but circumstances prevent my wishes. My name is Harry Potter and your daughter is my closest and first friend. The reason for my letter stems from Monday morning, we were in Potions class, it's akin to chemistry in the muggle world, when a classmate's potion exploded, I shielded Hermione and I fear what would have happened if I hadn't as there was nothing left of my robes that the potion hit early the next morning. Whilst this would have been enough of a concern, our Professor said something that caused me to pause, he said "Should I ask why you're caldron's shield was non-existent in the direction of Mr Potter and Miss Granger?" leading me and him to believe that this was intentional. However that is not the main reason I am writing as Hermione seems to have retreated into a shell of sorts and, from personal experience, I know what that's like, everything attempted by myself and the professors here is met with half-hearted answers. Please, I beg for help.

Yours sincerely, Harry Potter

Both Grangers were very concerned, to say the least. They were glad that Hermione had someone wanting to help her, but with her past experience, their daughter had little experience with anyone helping her.

That morning, in Scotland, at breakfast, Harry and Hermione are sitting next to each other. Hermione had still barely said more than two words to anyone and Harry could only hope that he wouldn't lose his first and most likely only friend. This was the scene that saw Hedwig fly in and sit in front of Hermione whilst sticking her claw out, in it, a letter. "Is that for me?" a nod from Hedwig, "Who could be sending me mail? And why would they use your owl Harry?" she wondered whilst she opened it.

Once she finished reading, she had tears in her eyes, Harry was very worried. "Hermione?" was all he could get out before she wrapped her arms around Harry in the tightest hug he had ever received.

It wasn't to last though, "Miss Granger, while I would hope that this is warranted, I'm sure Harry would like to breathe." Professor Snape said.

This caused Hermione to release Harry whilst blushing heavily, thus causing most of the school to laugh at her, though the Slytherin contingent was silenced by a single look from Snape. Taking Hermione and Harry back into a spare room Snape raised a single eyebrow towards Hermione, waiting. She did not disappoint, "Harry wrote my parents and told them what had happened, and their response helped me calm myself," she took a deep breath, "When I was in Primary, some kids thought it would be funny to pour acid on my homework and books. Then they…"

Harry could see what happened next and fill in the rest, "So when you saw and heard what happened in potions on Monday, you went back to then, worried about what would happen next, that history would repeat itself."

Harry couldn't see her face anymore, it being buried into his chest, but he figured that she would have been just as terrified as he had been when he thought he would lose his only friend. Professor Snape sighed, it was stories like that that made him wonder about children's minds, "I promise that from now on, I will personally shield the caldrons of my pre-OWL students as it seems I cannot trust them with the safety of others. Next class will be about the safety procedures for potions and why one must follow them, hopefully, this will not happen again."

True to his word, the next Potions class was spent solely on safety measures and why they were important. In order to brew again, one had to pass a test given at the end of each class until they either passed or the fall term ended. While Professor Snape did not believe that anyone in his older classes would need to worry about it, in his Gryffindor/Slytherin first-year class, he wasn't so sure. Some students, like Mr Potter and Miss Granger, passed the test first time around. Others, like Mr Malfoy and Mr Weasley, well he wasn't too sure they would pass his class, never mind this one test.

Days turned into weeks and soon it was December, the previous months passed with little happening, Hermione had written her parents weekly and her last letter had her jumping for joy. Her parents had agreed to host Harry for Christmas, now all she needed to do was to tell him of this, no biggy right, just walk up to the boy she was crushing on and invite him to Christmas with her family… she was terrified, to say the least, she didn't want to even think about him rejecting it. She waited until he was alone, "Harry, can I ask you something?"

Harry nodded "Of course Hermione, what can I do for you?"

She began fiddling with her hair, "Well, I was kinda hoping that you might want to come to my place for Christmas?"

Harry was overwhelmed, it showed since Harry embraced Hermione "I'd be glad to come, would your parents mind?"

She shook her head "They were the ones to suggest that I ask you."

Later that day, a staff meeting had been called and all seemed to be well, then Severus spoke, "And Harry is leaving the castle for the Holidays."

This brought alarm to the Headmistress. "Where is he going?"

"Miss Granger has invited him to her home for Christmas, she says it was at the request of her parents, but I'm not so sure," he replied.

Professor Sprout raised an eyebrow, "Gossiping Severus? What's gotten into you?"

He shrugged, "When it is clear to a blind man how much they care for one another, it makes one think about it."

Professor Flitwick nodded, "Yes, they are quite the pair, and practically inseparable, though I think that incident at the start of the year might have helped that along."

Minerva nodded, "Quite and my grandson started a pool on when they will see what everyone else has and step up their relationship."

Everyone chuckled at that, except Severus, who simply stated: "I know, I've placed five Galleons on Christmas of their third year."

Everyone silenced at that, "Wait, Staff can get in on it?" Hagrid asked.

Severus nodded and soon everyone was trying to figure it out themselves. Then the hat spoke up, "It is good to see Harry settling into a normal life, depending on how Christmas goes, we may consider contacting the Grangers ourselves, maybe we could persuade them to take in the boy for the summer months."

Severus nodded, "Anything would be better than the life that he was leading, speaking of which, how are things with the Dursleys going? If worst comes to worst, I want to make their lives a living hell."

Minerva looked at a pile of parchment on her desk, "Amelia is coordinating with her muggle counterparts, turns out they hate the situation almost as much as us and will ensure that they pay." she replied.

With that, the meeting came to a close.

Soon the day came that students would board the Express. Harry was both looking forward and dreading his meeting with the Grangers, well, particularly Mr Granger. Since that day in September, Harry had been thinking long and hard about Hermione and was slowly unravelling what it was that he felt, though he had a lot of ground to cover before he could figure out what it was, after all, his social experiences weren't typical of an eleven-year-old boy. But that was hours away, as it stood, he had a six to seven-hour journey with Hermione and he was looking forward to it. Roughly an hour into the journey, Hermione looked at Harry, "Harry? Can I tell you something?"

He nodded, "Of course Hermione."

She sighed, it was easy for her to talk to Harry, almost too easy, but she felt as though she needed to tell him this. "I've never had anyone stay over before, I never had any friends during school and with you being the first, I didn't want you to…" she trailed off, but Harry knew what she was going to say and knew she had to get it off her chest. "I don't want you to laugh at me." she finished meekly.

Harry shook his head "Why would I laugh at you? It's your home, I'm merely a guest."

Tears began to collect in Hermione's eyes, no one had ever been considerate of her. The next thing she knew, she was hugging Harry for all his worth. Harry rubbed her back, "Hermione, I know what it's like, being friendless I mean, I promise that I'll always be your friend," he whispered before pulling back slightly, "Now and forever."

Embracing again, neither child saw the dull glow surrounding them, but they knew, they would never again be alone...

With that, the end of the second Chapter comes upon us. I wish to clear a few things up that was brought to my attention in the reviews of the first chapter: Firstly, ClaireR89 brought up that I used Depute rather than Deputy, as Hogwarts is in Scotland, I used what I remembered of the school system from friends and that is how they refer to the Deputy, if I am wrong, please let me know, my information could be out of date. Secondly, Rajiv A. Rajaram brought up that Alba, as a third-year would have been two or three during his visits to the Potters, I explain this by saying that Grandmum Minerva would have brought her Grandson once in a while to visit her favourite students and their son. some weren't surprised that the kids ended up in Slytherin but one guest was surprised that they were the only in their year group, to this I say, if one was to follow the Dark Lord even when he has a track record of being soundly defeated, that is either bravery or the highest accord or immense stupidity, hence most of them would have been Gryffindors.