Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, I love hearing from my readers! In this chapter we dive right into Dean and Hermione's story, so I hope you're ready! Also sidenote, I hate Ron Weasley with a burning passion and I usually bash him in my stories, but I've decided not to in this story. Try something knew. But it DEFINITELY will not be a Romione story. Sorry loves! Anyways, please enjoy!

"Hermione?" Harry asked, looking at his best friend with confusion written all over his face. Everyone was currently looking at Hermione and Dean, confused as to how the two had any connection. There were only two other people in the room who knew their story, but stayed silent until it was time for them to speak up. Two others, however, had absolutely no clue what was going on and didn't like the fact that they may not know their best friend as well as they thought.

Hermione looked at Harry with pleading eyes. "Harry, do you trust me?" she asked.

Harry nodded immediately. "With my life."

"Then trust that there is nothing I would keep a secret from you unless I believed I absolutely had to."

"So you are keeping secrets?" Ron asked, hurt laced in his voice from the opposite side of the room, across from Harry.

Hermione opened her mouth, ready to defend herself, when Pansy cut in. "Aw, what's wrong, Weasel? Scared your little girlfriend is actually a little liar?" she mocked with a fake pout.

"Shut up, Parkinson," Ron snarled.

"Oh, I guess the Golden Trio isn't as perfect as they seem," Draco tutted.

"Malfoy, I swear to一" Harry started.

"Enough!" Dean shouted, and everyone turned to him, shocked. No one had ever heard Dean raise his voice at anyone, let alone get mad at someone. Dean was known as the "class clown", the "comic relief". When things got heated he was the icebreaker that cooled down the situation by cracking a joke. Never had he ever gotten mad at someone, at least not publicly. "I'll be damned if I let anyone in this room try to make Mia feel guilty for having her secrets, especially you two," he said, pointing at Harry and Ron. "What about your home life, Harry? How long did it take you to tell Mia or Ron what was going on when you left Hogwarts? Hm?" Harry looked down, slightly ashamed of himself. "Or how about you, Ron? Wanna talk about what you did this summer? Do you really want people to know about the incident?" Ron went red in embarrassment and shot Hermione a guilty look. "Exactly. If you guys are entitled to your secrets, why isn't Mia?"

"Very well put, Mister Thomas," McGonagall said. "I will not allow anyone in this room to gang up on niether Miss Granger or Mister Thomas through the viewing of these memories."

"If we're going to do this, can we get on with it?" Dean asked, slouching in his seat and taking Hermione's hand. "I think we'd both like to get this over with."

McGonagall nodded sympathetically. "As you wish. Now I will not be staying to view these memories. These are for your benefits only I will be back in a few hours to let you out for lunch." With that she waved her wand over the paper with their names on it and it turned to mist, which slowly floated up to the misty screen and infused itself inside. Suddenly a picture of a small town with a bunch of people popped onto the screen and it started to move. "Good luck," McGonagall said, and she quickly swept from the room.

Hermione and Dean shared one last hopeless look before joining the others in watching the screen.

It was a bright Friday afternoon in the middle of July. The air was a comfortable warm and a light breeze fluttered through the trees that littered around the town. The town itself was full of bustling people, walking to and from the little shops that lined the streets.

Among the busy crowd of people taking advantage of their Friday afternoon was a small family of three. First was a woman of medium stature with curly, long brown hair that trailed after her as she walked as the wind blew through it.

"Is that your mum?" Harry asked, realizing with a start that he had never met either one of Hermione's parents. He knew that they were both dentists, but that's just about it.

Hermione nodded, a slight smile on her face as she looked at her mom. Those had been the good days. The days where they had all been so happy. The days before everything had gone so wrong.

"Well you can see where you get your hair from," Seamus said, laughing lightly with others joining in.

With bright, green eyes and a wide smile, she held the hand of a tall, muscular man. Like the woman beside him, the man also wore a large grin. He ran his free hand through his shaggy, brown hair as his golden, brown eyes took in his surroundings.

"And there's the eyes," Dean said softly. He smiled at Hermione gently as she took a deep breath at the sight of her father. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

Hermione nodded, begging the tears to go away. "Yeah, it's just been a while, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," he said, giving her hand a squeeze.

In front of them skipped a young girl. The girl was quite small for her age.

"Still is," Ron laughed.

The other occupants in the room laughed as Hermione stuck her tongue out at him. "Not everyone can be a giant."

"Better a giant than a midget," he teased right back, laughing as she huffed.

As she skipped her wild, bushy brown hair bounced, making her hair look even wilder. Out of all of them the little girl wore the brightest smile that seemed to just burst with excitement. Her wide grin showed off her two buck teeth and a gap towards the back of her mouth where a tooth used to be. Her golden brown, wide doe eyes stared straight ahead, shining determinedly.

"Oh, I remember what day this is," Hermione said fondly with a wide smile. "This is a good memory."

"Omigod, Hermione, you were so cute!" Parvati squealed and the other girls, minus those from Slytherin, cooed along.

"Uh, thanks?" Hermione said awkwardly.

"Oh, you were so cute, weren't you? Oh, yes you were," Dean cooed mockingly, going to pinch her cheeks.

Hermione swatted his hand away with a growl. "Shut up, doofus. Get away from me!" she exclaimed when he tried to pinch her cheeks again.

Everyone watched the interaction curiously. Before today hardly anyone had ever seen the two talk to one another, or at least no one had paid close enough attention to notice. Now here the two were, teasing and laughing with each other like they had been best buds their whole life. Well, for as far as anyone else knew, they might've been.

"I'm getting a brother. I'm getting a brother," the little girl sang as she skipped.

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "Hermione, I thought you were an only child?" Harry said cautiously.

Hermione didn't respond, instead staring at the screen like she hadn't heard them.

The woman laughed joyously. "Or a sister, Hermione. We haven't decided yet."

Hermione scrunched her nose in slight disgust. Shaking her head, she said, "I don't want a sister. Girls are mean. I want a brother that will play with me and protect me from the mean girls."

"I still stand by that notion," Hermione mumbled to herself, casting a quick glance towards Pansy, who was sneering at the screen. Beside her she felt more than saw Theo look at her, his eyes amused.

Hermione's parents shared a sad look behind the girls back. They were aware of the bullying that their daughter received from the kids at her school. At four years old their daughter was very intelligent, more so than the other kids her age.

"Nothing has changed," Neville said with a grin towards Hermione, who blushed with a smile of her own.

Where they wanted to go out and play, she prefered to stay in and read. The other kids didn't understand her love of learning, which immediately made her the outcast. The boys were intimidated by her knowledge, while the girls were jealous of it.

There were more than a few guilty looks shot Hermione's way. No one in this room could deny that they had at least once in their life picked on or resented Hermione for her brains. Hermione had by now accepted the fact that her intelligence would always make her different from everyone else, but that never made it easier to deal with.

It was because of this that they decided to adopt another child.

Almost everyone reeled back at that confirming information. Everyone in this room had heard that Hermione Granger was a single child. But an adopted brother or sister? Now that was not something you just accidentally left out of a conversation.

"Looks like Granger has a dirty family secret," Pansy cooed with a nasty smirk.

"Shut up, Parkinson," Hermione growled, glaring at the still smirking girl. "It's not a dirty secret, just a personal one. I may like to read, but my life isn't an open book for everyone to read the story of."

Pansy snickered. "Whatever you say, Granger. I guess we'll see."

Hermione growled and looked up at the screen again. Dean squeezed her hand again, trying to give her as much comfort as possible. Ron was looking at their hands suspiciously, wondering exactly what role in Hermione's life Dean played.

They wanted Hermione to have someone that would accept who she was, but also push her to go out and play sometimes. They wanted their daughter to be able to have someone by her side. Sonya and Daniel Granger had discovered long ago that they wouldn't be able to have anymore children, they barely had been able to have Hermione,

"Shame," Draco said mockingly, causing Harry to give him a heated glare as he smirked.

so adoption was their only choice. Even so, they wanted to have a child around Hermione's age that she could get on with.

"We're here!" Hermione squealed.

"I've never heard Hermione squeal over anything before," Justin Finch-Fletchy said from his place beside Ron as he watched with wide eyes.

"Except books," Harry and Ron said fondly, and Hermione smiled gently.

They arrived in front of a large, towering, house-like building. The exterior was made of a deep brown wood that seemed to be wilting and cracking in many places. The grass lawn was starting to brown, and was littered with scattered toys. Grass sprouted between the rocks of the path that led up to the front porch. The porch itself and the stairs that led up to it looked rickety and poorly built. Above the porch was a sign that read, "St. Jude's Orphanage". The letters were worn out and the sign looked ready to fall from the roof.

"That's an orphanage?" Theo said disbelievingly, looking at the building in disgust. "Who would allow that to run?"

"The poor children," Hannah Abbott said sadly from her place beside Neville.

Dean frowned bitterly as he looked at the building.

"Gloomy," Hermione whispered to herself, shaking slightly at the creepy sight. She took in the dark, misty windows, wondering if the people inside could see the bright sun. As she looked at the dark windows she jumped as her brown eyes met another pair of darker brown eyes that belonged to a young boy looking at her through one of the cracked windows on the ground floor.

Hermione smiled knowingly as she watched her younger self look at the boy that would change her life.

"C'mon, love," Sonya said softly, staring at the building warily as she took her daughter's hand.

Hermione continued to look at the boy as they made their way up the path. He sat on the bay window, knees clutched to his chest as he observed her as well. Through the cracked glass she could see that his skin was the color of chocolate, which made him a little harder to see through the dark window. He had a small afro that wasn't that well trimmed, some curls sticking out from all different angles. He wore a green shirt that had holes in different places and jeans that didn't quite reach his ankles. Hermione met his brown eyes as they reached the porch and she noticed how sad his eyes were as they watched her move.

"Wait," Lavender said, leaning out of her seat to get a closer look at the screen. "Dean, is that you?"

Everyone gasped as they looked closer and realized the young boy on the screen did in fact look like a miniature Dean. From the afro to the eyes.

Dean didn't answer, but the reminiscing smile on his face said it all.

"You were an orphan?" Blaise asked gently. They may have not been friends for long, but when they were Blaise had always felt like though Dean was always an open person there was something he was keeping to himself. Blaise had accepted that, having a few secrets of his own, but he never imagined that this was what Dean had been hiding.

Dean tensed when the other boy spoke, but soon relaxed. "I was."

"Why didn't you ever tell anyone?" Parvati asked.

"Why is it anyone's business?" Dean asked. He didn't snap at her or growl, instead he was perfectly calm. And it was the calm way he said it that made her flinch.

"Here's a bright idea," Daphne Greengrass spoke up, "how about if you guys want your answers so bad, you shut up and continue watching."

Everyone looked at her, shocked, but agreed to let the matter go for now. Dean nodded to Daphne in silent thanks, which she accepted with a nod of her own.

Hermione, being the kindhearted girl she was, smiled at him gently and waved. The boy's eyes widened, surprised, looking as if no one had ever waved to him ever in his life.

Those who were close to Dean cringed. Living in a building like that they didn't want to imagine the kind of life he had lived.

That thought made young Hermione sad, but she continued to smile at him until they reached the door and was out of his line of vision.

Daniel stepped forward and knocked on the door. Almost immediately the door was thrown open, causing him to take a surprised step back. In front of them stood a plump, middle aged woman dressed in a ratty, long blue dress. She had sickly pale skin that was littered in freckles and zits. Sonya could have sworn she'd seen a few scratch marks on her arms and neck as well. Her hair was bright red and knotted into a bushy bun, or at least half of it was while the other half flailed all over the place. Her dull green eyes seemed to brighten in hunger at the sight of them and she grinned toothily, causing the Grangers to cringe when they saw she was missing teeth.

Dean growled. "Fatty Haggy," he said. Hermione started to giggle mercilessly at the name, forgetting what he used to call the woman.

"Who?" Neville asked.

"Abigail Hagitha, the owner of the orphanage. Evil, vile woman she was," Dean spat, though he slowly smiled as Hermione continued to giggle.

"You know, not to be mean, but she looks like she could be the evil, ugly twin of Molly Weasley," Theo said quietly so only Hermione and Dean could hear him. Dean gaped widely at him while Hermione gasped and started giggling wildly.

"I shouldn't be laughing at that," Hermione said as she continued to laugh, clutching her stomach. Theo watched her with an amused smirk. He'd never seen Hermione Granger laugh so freely before. It was a sight for sore eyes.

"Shouldn't be laughing at what?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," Theo, Hermione, and Dean all said quickly, Hermione calming down enough to breathe.

"Hello!" she exclaimed excitedly, her voice too high pitched to be believably pleasant. "You must be the Grangers!"

"Reminds me of Lavender," Hermione muttered, causing Dean to snort and Theo to smirk.

"We are," Daniel said hesitantly. "I am Daniel, this is my wife, Sonya, and our daughter, Hermione," he said.

The plump woman's eyes zeroed in on Hermione, causing her to flinch.

Hermione couldn't help but flinch again.

"Oh! Well aren't you the cutest little thing!" Before Hermione even knew what was happening the woman swooped down and pinched her cheek . . . hard. Hermione flinched and tried not to cry out, and as soon as it had started it ended. Hermione rubbed her cheek

Hermione unconsciously rubbed her cheek again. "I swear I can still feel it."

"You can still feel it?" Dean said incredulously. "Instead of dragging kids by their ears she dragged them by her cheeks. I swear my cheeks were numb for years."

and looked up at the woman who wore a shark like smile.

"Nope, definitely Umbridge," Dean said, causing some people to laugh and others to shudder.

"A mix of Umbridge and Brown? The world is doomed," Theo said quietly again, and Hermione snorted. She looked at him, shocked. Never in a million years would she had imagined Theodore Nott cracking jokes with her, let alone her actually laughing at them. Theo looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she blushed, looking away.

Hermione backed away from the woman into her mother's side, who glared at the woman in front of her. "Well, come in, come in! The children are so excited to meet you!"

The woman ushered them in and they entered what looked to be a foyer. The walls were a dark, greyish blue color, and was chipped and peeling in multiple places. To the far left side was a staircase that led to the second floor. Next to the staircase was a small, dark hallway. At the end of the hallway was a door that read, "Abigail Hagitha". On the wall to the right was another door, and behind it screaming and loud bangs could be heard.

"I hate to say it, but it reminds me of Grimmauld Place," Harry said.

Dean flinched. "No wonder Sirius hated it there, then," he said darkly.

Hermione looked at the door warily.

"I'm Abigail Hagitha.

"Also known as Fatty Haggy," Dean said pleasantly, and mostly everyone, even some Slytherins, laughed.

It's such a pleasure to have another family looking for a child to add to their mists! And to have you adopt one of my kids, well it's always such an honour! To see the bright smile on both you and the child always brings such joy to my heart!" she said with enthusiasm that was so fake the Grangers nearly choked on it. "The kids are right in here, waiting excitedly to meet you. I hope to help you find the perfect one for your family."

"They're not animals!" Hannah exclaimed.

Daniel and Sonya raised their eyebrows. This woman made it sound like they were adopting an animal instead of a small human being.

"Looks like you're as smart as the Grangers," Neville said with a grin, causing Hannah to blush.

Abigail chose to ignore their expressions and took out a ring of keys. Going to the door she put a key in the lock and unlocked the door.

"She locks them in there?!" Hannah exclaimed.

"You lock the children in the room?" Sonya asked, shocked and disgusted.

"Okay, now this is just getting freaky," Seamus laughed, causing Hannah to blush again.

"Oh, dear, of course I do," Abigail said, not noticing or ignoring Sonya's disgusted tone. "If I do not they run all over the house and I can barely get them under control. I am one woman."

Dean frowned bitterly, remembering all the times he was locked in that room with the other kids. He winced as he remembered all the multiple beatings he used to get. With no way of escape.

"Why don't you just hire more help?" Daniel asked.

"Money," Abigail said with a shrug before pushing open the door.

"If you're not fit to be looking after children, then you shouldn't own an orphanage," Draco growled. Draco might have been a bastard, but one thing he couldn't stand for was the mistreatment of younger children. Iit brought back too many memories. It's one of the reasons he never bullied anyone younger than a third year. Whether they were muggleborn or Gryffindor, he couldn't stand the sight of tears running down small faces.

Harry shot Draco a disbelieving look, but didn't comment.

Inside was a smaller room, definitely not one fit enough for the twenty or so children currently running around inside of it.

"That room isn't even fit enough for five children, let alone twenty!" Padma Patil growled.

Little boys and girls littered around the small room, some running and screaming, and others playing with or throwing toys. A small group of boys were wrestling in the corner, and a little girl was crying in another.

"This is so sad," Susan Bones said, shooting Dean a sympathetic look.

While Sonya and Daniel looked at the scene with wide eyes, Hermione's eyes immediately zoned in on one particular boy in the back that sat on the bay window looking out the cracked glass. Her eyes lit up. It was the boy she saw earlier!

"Children!" Abigail barked and immediately all movement seized. In the next moment the children were scrambling to their feet and standing straight, looking at Abigail in fear.

"That's not a good sign," Blaise muttered to himself.

Sonya looked around with worried eyes, wondering what this woman has done to cause such a reaction. Hermione, however, was still watching the boy in the back, who she noticed hadn't moved a muscle at the woman's bark. Instead he continued to sit there and look outside.

Dean snorted. "At that point I had stopped caring. I was going to be punished whether I obeyed or not. For all I cared, Fatty Haggy could have sucked a一"

"Dean," Hermione warned. Dean shot her an innocent look, which she just glared at.

"Good morning, Miss Hagitha!" the children chorused.

"Good morning, my sweets," Abigail said in a sickly sweet voice. "The Granger family I told you about has arrived and would love to meet you. I expect you to be on your best behaviour," she said, practically growling the last part. But whatever Abigail had said had flown right over the children's head as their eyes zoned in on the family standing in front of them, especially Sonya and Daniel.

"It's like watching a pack of animals find their pray," Ernie Macmillian said in a horrified tone.

Quicker than they could blink they were swarmed by excited children, asking questions and yelling and begging for them to choose them.

"Please take me!"

"No, take me!"

"Can we get a dog? Do you have a dog?"

"I'll be good, I promise!"

"Do you have a big house?"

"I'll keep my room clean!"

"I'll let you use my special crayons to color!"

"This is so sad," Padma said.

"This is so annoying," Pansy spat. "Remind me to never have kids."

"Oh trust us, we will. We wouldn't want anymore of you running around," Ron said in a fake sweet voice, causing Pansy to glare venomously.

Sonya and Daniel looked around, flustered. They didn't quite know who to look at or talk to. Abigail was beside them, trying to regain control, but the children weren't listening.

Hermione looked around with wide eyes before her eyes once again found the boy in the back of the room. With a determined glint in her eyes

"Oh, the glint," Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville all groaned.

"Oh, shut it," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "That glint has saved all of your eyes more times than any of you could count, thank you very much."

The boys all grinned at her cheekily, and she rolled her eyes again.

Hermione started to shove her way through the crowd of excited children to get to the boy. When she finally made it through the crowd to the other side Hermione took a deep breath. She always hated small spaces, being highly claustrophobic, and pushing through that crowd put her nerves on edge.

Hermione flinched. To this day she was still very claustrophobic. If anything the past few years had made it worse.

Raising her eyes she jumped again when she found the strange boy watching her. For a small boy his face was expressionless, something Hermione had never seen on a boy close to her age.

"That because kids that age shouldn't know how to put up a mask the deep," Blaise muttered again, but Dean had heard and he tensed once again.

Up close and in person she got a better look at the boy, and he looked even more worn down and dirty than he had through the cracked window.

"Thanks, love," Dean said sarcastically.

"To be completely fair, you do look quite awful, mate," Seamus said.

"You know, I'm just feeling overwhelmed by all the love in the air," Dean said dramatically, and everyone laughed.

There were scratch marks on his face and arms, and Hermione spotted a small bruise on his shoulder. His nails were rough and it was obvious he chewed on them a lot.

"Still does," Seamus snorted, and Dean crossed his arms to hide his hands when everyone turned to look.

His clothes were even more ratted than she thought, and his shoes were basically falling apart. Hermione met his eyes again, and they were even sadder than they looked through the window, but they also held caution as they regarded her.

Almost everyone that knew Dean decided that they didn't like that look in his eyes. His eyes were always so bright and full of light. Who knew that they hadn't always been like that.

"Hello," she said, smiling sweetly.

"That's my smile," Dean said fondly, looking down at her. "It's the smile you use only for me."

"It's the Dean smile," Hermione agreed, delivering him the very smile.

Dean grinned gently. "I lived off of that smile. Still do."

Everyone watched the scene in wonder, wondering how none of them had ever noticed the close connection between the two before.

"I'm Hermione." The boy quirked an eyebrow at her. "I know, it's a mouthful. Mama says it's beautiful, but I think it's just too much. So you can call me 'Mione or Mia. What's your name?"

"And there she goes, always rambling when she's nervous," Dean laughed, causing Hermione to stick her tongue out.

"You said we couldn't call you Mia," Ron said, practically pouting.

"That's because it's a family nickname," Dean said. "Only myself, Calvin, and Jessie are allowed to call her that."

"Who's Calvin and Jessie?" Harry asked suspiciously.

Both Dean and Hermione flinched. "You'll see, I guess," Hermione said quietly.

The boy just stared at her for a moment, making Hermione fidget. Hermione had never been good at talking to other kids her age. It's one of the reasons she didn't have any friends.

"Besides being an annoying swot?" Pansy asked nastily, earning a glare from most of the room's occupants.

"Pansy, shut up," Daphne snapped, and all eyes flew to where she sat right next to the girl.

"Daph?" she asked, shocked.

"You're the only one being annoying right now," Daphne said, exasperated. Pansy stared at her wide eyed before glowering with a pout.

As he continued to just stare at her Hermione began to fear that she had come off too strong.

"Always playing games," Hermione muttered, and Dean laughed.

"Dean," he finally said, hesitantly though, as if it was a secret he was revealing to her.

Hermione smiled toothily at him, glad he hadn't told her to go away like she had been expecting. Happily, she climbed onto the bay window beside him, causing him to clutch his knees tighter to his chest in mild surprise. "Why are you all alone? Why aren't you with the other kids over there?" she fired.

"Always so subtle," Dean grinned.

"If I was subtle I wouldn't get my answers," Hermione said confidently and Dean laughed again.

Dean blinked at her, his expression still blank. "Because I don't have any friends here," he shrugged. "And those kids don't really like me."

"Who doesn't like Dean?" Seamus asked, confused. "It's Dean."

Though no one could see it Dean could feel his cheeks heat up in flattered embarrassment as everyone made sounds of agreement.

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But why not?"

Again, Dean shrugged. "I don't really talk to them and they don't like that. They don't like being ignored."

Harry shot Draco a look, remembering their first meeting on the train in first year, and Draco glared.

Hermione frowned. "Well, that's stupid!" she exclaimed,

"That wasn't the last time I heard that," Dean chuckled, causing others to laugh as well.

glaring over at the other kids as if they had offended her. Dean raised an eyebrow, but made no comment. Turning back to him Hermione gave him a sad smile. "I don't have any friend either."

"Why?" Dean asked simply.

Hermione shrugged. "They don't like that I like to read and that I like school. They call me a know-it-all."

"Well, do you?" Dean asked.

"Do I what?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Know it all?" Dean said patiently. Hermione couldn't help but be surprised that he didn't treat her as if she was stupid for not understanding his question like the kids in her class would.

"Hermione Granger? Stupid? The world is definitely coming to an end," Theo muttered. Hermione shook her head, trying to contain the small smile threatening to bloom on her face.

Hermione thought for a moment. "No," she finally said. "But I will one day!" she said with a mix of determination and excitement.

Dean snorted. "One day came and went, Miss 'Smartest Witch of Our Age'," he teased, and Hermione blushed.

Dean turned to look out the window, his lips quirking into a small smile. As he looked outside his smile slowly vanished and his eyes turned curious. "What's it like outside?"

Hermione tilted her head at the strange question. "Outside?" she asked, and he nodded, his eyes never straying from the window. "You've never been outside?" she asks, and he shakes his head sadly.

"How old are you there?" Harry asked.

"Four," Dean replied.

"In your first four years of life you had never been outside?" Harry asked incredulously. Dean shook his head. "Why?"

"To go outside was a privilege. A golden ticket. She knew what being in that dark house all day everyday was like, and knew the thirst we'd have for some sunlight. She used that against us. Used it as an award to manipulate us. But it was an award I never got for the simple reason that she hated me."

"Why did she hate you?"

"I have a couple theories," Dean said, but didn't elaborate.

She thought for a moment, her four year old mind trying to come up with words that could describe the outside to him, but coming up short. With horror, she discovered she had no idea how to describe something that she never really thought about before.

"I don't know," Hermione said sadly.

"Words I never thought I'd hear come out of Hermione Granger's mouth," Draco drawled, and Hermione shot him a glare as he smirked.

Dean didn't frown or show that he was unhappy. He just continued to look outside. "Is it bright?" he asked suddenly. "Is the sun as bright as I think it is?"

Hermione gave a small smile. "On sunny days it's very bright. Sometimes so bright it hurts my eyes," she says, happy she could offer something. "It rains a lot, but even then it seems like the sun is still shining, even if it's just a little bit."

"I love it when it rains," Blaise said with a far away look. "I find it very一"

"Calming," Dean finished along with Blaise. Blaise looked at him, surprised, but Dean continued to look at the screen. "I know," he said quietly.

"And the town?" he asked softly.

"The town is great," Hermione said, grinning. "There's so many different shops to go to. Oh, and the park! The park is so big and it has a playground and a lake right next to it. And everyone is super nice. It's a small town, so everyone knows everyone and everyone looks out for everyone. I mean, the kids my age may not like me, but the older kids and adults are always very nice and try to help me when I need it. And then there are the town festivals! Like the Christmas Festival or the Valentine's Day Festival. There's lots of games and food and dancing!"

"That sounds . . . fun," Millicent Bulstrode said quietly, wishing she had a neighborhood like that instead of just her cold house surrounded by nothing but woods, not a person or town for miles.

"What about the trees?" he asks suddenly, his eyes still looking out the window.

"Oh they're so tall!" Hermione exclaimed, becoming excited. "And there's so many around here. My house is surrounded by them, and behind my backyard there's a forest. The forest is so beautiful and if you walk through them you can get to the meadow."

"Meadow?" Dean asked, his eyes snapping to her. "What's a meadow?"

Hermione's eyes lit up. "A meadow is this big piece of land that's full of grass and flowers. My meadow is full of pink and yellow flowers. It's so pretty. I go there when I want to be alone and to read."

Both Dean and Hermione's eyes seemed to gloss over as they thought about their meadow. It was their safe haven.

"It sounds wonderful," Dean said with a faraway look as he tried to imagine it.

"Hey, why don't we become friends!" Hermione exclaimed happily, rising to her knees in excitement. "That way you can come over and see my meadow for yourself!"

Dean looked at her with hope shining in his eyes, before suddenly he deflated. Hermione watched him, confused, as he sighed and slouched back into his seat. "It'll never work out," he said.

Hermione frowned. "Why not?" she asked, hurt.

Dean looked at her sadly. "Because in a few minutes your mum and dad are going to pick one of those kids to take home," he said, motioning with his head to the group of kids that were still excitedly hounding the Granger couple, "and you'll get a new brother or sister that will be your new friend and you won't need or want to be friends with me. I'll probably never see you again once you leave."

"I'm so glad you grew out of your pessimistic stage," Hermione sighed.

Dean grinned. "Yeah, I passed it onto Harry."

"Hey!"

Hermione looked at him sadly. "Well, how do you know they won't adopt you?"

Dean snorted and shook his head. "Look at the difference between me and those other kids," he said bitterly. "And then look at the difference between me and your family."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows while observing the difference between him and everyone else in the room. Besides him having the darkest skin color and being a little taller than the other kids, she couldn't come up with anything else. She looked at him, confused. He couldn't possibly think that what he looked like had anything to do why he hadn't been adopted yet, did he?

"Is that true?" Seamus asked, worried eyes trained on his best friend from where he sat on Neville's other side. "That's why you thought no one liked you or wanted to adopt you?"

"It's not what I thought, it's what I knew," Dean said bitterly.

"That's dumb," Draco spoke. "Who cares about your skin color?"

Dean laughed coldly. "That's rich, coming from you."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Draco spat.

"Let me put it this way, skin color in the muggle world has the same meaning as blood in the magical world," Dean snapped. "In the muggle world there are people who view brown skin as dirty and disgusting. There are the same people, people like you, in the magical world who believe the same of muggleborns simply because they don't come from wizarding families."

"It's not the same," Draco snarled.

"What makes it different?" Dean asked calmly. "Hm? Because in my eyes both things are just two elements that make us human. Let me ask you this, he's your best friend, right?" Dean asked, pointing Blaise.

Draco furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Yes."

"Would you ever stop being friends with him just because he has brown skin?"

"Of course not!" Draco yelled, outraged.

"What if daddy told you it was wrong? That his brown skin was disgusting a disgrace to the wizarding world. Would he still be your best friend?"

"Of course he would be!" Draco exclaimed.

"Then what makes a muggleborns blood type any different?! Because your daddy said their blood was disgusting, that must mean it's true?!" Dean shouted, causing everyone to jump. "Just because our skin is a little different does that mean it's not the same? That we're less human than you are because you have 'purer' skin? No! So why does it matter if a muggleborn has different blood than you? Just because they were born from muggles doesn't make them any inferior. God dammit, look at Hermione! She's number one of this entire freaking school, and I'll be damned if she doesn't rule the world one day! If that doesn't shut down your dumb racist views, I don't know what will!"

As Dean paused to calm himself down, everyone looked at him, shocked. No one had ever seen Dean lose his cool in such a way. It was obvious to everyone that this was a topic that had bothered Dean for a long time.

"There are people in the muggle world that would hang Blaise and I simply because we are black," Dean said slowly, reigning in his control. "There are muggle versions of Death Eaters out there targeting people with our skin color. If you think the two worlds are still so different you are out of your goddamn mind." Draco flinched and flushed ashamedly, but continued to meet Dean's gaze stubbornly. "Sure, racism now has calmed down some, but it still exists. And around that time," he said, pointing up at the screen, but keeping his eyes on Draco, "it still existed heavily. And that vile woman was the worst racist woman I had ever met. If it was up to her I wouldn't have even been in that orphanage. You see those kids, those white kids, she allowed them to stay there. They were her choice. Me, my parents took that choice away. I was dropped on the doorstep with a simple tag that said my name, and she had no other choice but to take me in. And she hated me everyday for it." Dean took a deep breath before continuing. "That was a very white family central part of England. When families came looking for a child to finish their picture I didn't fit. They were white families coming in to find white children to perfectly finish their painting. I didn't think they were racist, I still don't. And I didn't hate or resent them for it. I couldn't hate these people for wanting the picture perfect family . . . but it didn't make life any easier waiting for the one family to come in and look at me and think that I fit their mold."

Everyone was silent at Dean's confession. No one had ever known that Dean had had such a big problem on his shoulders. Hermione gently took Dean's hand, giving it a squeeze. She knew the topic of race and blood had always been a sore spot for Dean. For Dean he had to deal with discrimination for his skin color in the muggle world, and discrimination for his blood in the wizarding world. He had always taken it with his head held high, but it didn't mean it didn't still tear him down inside.

"I'm sorry, mate," Seamus said sadly.

"I'm different. No one wants the child that's so different from everyone else. It's why the kids here don't like me. It's why parents won't adopt me. Fatty Haggy made sure I knew why," he said bitterly, turning so he was once again looking outside.

Hermione looked at him sadly, tears welling up in her eyes. She didn't like that he thought such a way. She still didn't understand what his appearance had to do with anything, but if it did she thought it was just stupid. She liked Dean. He was the first person her age to actually talk to her like a friend and not immediately hate her off the spot. He was nice, and nice people didn't deserve to be in pain.

"Uh oh, she's about to do something," Harry said lightly, and a few laughed.

"Well, we're both different, Dean." Hermione said slowly. "And people that are different should be together, right?" she asked. Dean looked at her, his eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Do you want to go outside?" she asked suddenly.

"I can't一"

"Do you want to go outside?" she asked more forcefully.

Dean blinked at her, still not understanding the sudden change of topic. But in the end, he nodded. "Yes."

Hermione smiled. "Then I'm going to take you," she said, determination shining in her eyes.

"And there's the glint," Neville laughed.

"The glint that saved my life," Dean smiled fondly.

With that said, she hopped onto her feet, standing on the bay window, and screamed, "MAMA, PAPA!"

Dean's eyes grew wide as he watched her, panic shooting through him as every eye in the room shot towards them. He shivered as Fatty Haggy looked at him, a nasty, promising glare coming on her face.

It took all of Blaise's effort not to growl. Dean may hate him right now, but that didn't mean he stopped caring about him. And the thought of the awful woman hurting him made his blood boil.

"Sweety? What is it? What's wrong?" Daniel asked, worry laced in his tone as he and Sonya quickly made their way to their daughter, who they hadn't even noticed wondered off in all the excitement.

"I want him," she said bluntly, pointing to Dean. The room froze, including the boy she was pointing to.

Theo scoffed in amusement. "Great way to break it to them easy. Just a simple 'I want him'." Hermione rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out.

"What?" Sonya asked dumbly.

"I want him," Hermione repeated, her head held high in determination.

"Oh, there's no way she's leaving without him," Harry laughed. "I've seen that stubborn determination one too many time."

"Hermione," Daniel said gently, knowing the temper his daughter could have when she's in her stubborn mood, "you haven't even talked to the other kids yet一"

"I don't care about the other kids, I want him."

"That definitely hurt their pride," Daphne snorted.

The other kids behind the Grangers glared at her, taking offense to her words, but she ignored them. "His name is Dean. He's never been outside and kids don't like him either. He says he won't get adopted because of how different he looks, and I think that's stupid. He's different and I'm different, and different people belong together.

"Sounds like a pretty logical argument to me," Seamus said in a sarcastically serious voice, causing everyone to laugh.

So I want you to adopt him because I only want him as my brother and I want to take him outside and away from the mean other kids and Miss Hagitha," she said in one breath.

As Sonya continued to look at her daughter in shock, Daniel looked down at Dean. Dean was looking down at the ground, his knees clenched tightly to his chest and Daniel could see he was shaking slightly. It was obvious to anyone that Dean was terrified to have all the attention on him, and Daniel felt his heart clench for the boy.

Dean sighed happily as he looked at Daniel Granger. The man had always been so good to him, had always taken care of him. Where had the good days gone?

Kneeling to one knee in front of the boy Daniel spoke softly, "Hello, Dean. My name is Daniel, and this is my wife, Sonya."

"Hi," Dean said quietly, his voice croaking with fear.

"Oh, poor baby," Padma cooed, forgetting that that 'baby' was now an eighteen year old boy sitting a few seats down from her with heated cheeks.

"Tell me, Dean, what's your favorite thing to do?" Daniel asked. Dean shrugged. "Oh, c'mon, there's got to be something you like to do."

Hesitantly, Dean looked up and met his eyes. Once again, Daniel's heart clenched at the pure fear that shined in his eyes. "I-I like to draw," he said quietly.

"I think that 'like' is an understatement. I don't even know the color of the walls on your side of the dorm anymore, Dean," Seamus teased.

"Shut it."

"And your bags are filled with more sketchbooks than school books."

"I said shut it!"

Sonya's eye lit up and Daniel chuckled when he looked at her. "Oh, really? My wife here likes to draw too. Has a whole art studio at home."

Hermione smiled sadly. She remembered when her mother used to draw before everything had gone . . . south

A small light came to Dean's eyes as he looked up at the woman. "Really?" he asked quietly, but there was a hint of excitement in his tone.

Sonya nodded. "Yup. I have canvases upon canvases, and all different types of paints and pencils in all different colors. I have tons of sketchbooks just full of drawings. And I have clay that I use to make sculptures." As she spoke Dean began to get the far away look he had gotten when Hermione spoke of her meadow. "Do you like the sound of that?"

"Yes, ma'am," Dean said, a slight smile on his face.

"I think he still likes the sound of that," Hermione giggled, looking at Dean's glassy eyes.

"Do you like it here, Dean?" Daniel asked. Immediately the fear was back in the boys eyes as they widened and shot to Miss Hagitha fearfully. "It's okay, Dean, I won't let you get in trouble. You can tell me," Daniel said quietly, so only he could hear.

Dean looked at him before hesitantly shaking head no. "No, sir. The kids here are very mean. And so is Fatty Haggy."

Daniel couldn't help but snort at the name, causing Sonya to nudge him. "I'm sorry, but Fatty Haggy? How'd you come up with that?" he asked, laughing silently.

Dean smiled a little. "She's fat and her name is Hagitha," he said, shrugging.

"And people call Granger the genius," Draco snorted, and people chortled more in surprise that he had joked in a friendly manner than the joke itself.

Daniel snorted again before becoming serious once more. "Well, how would you like to come home with us and see that art studio?" he asked, sharing a confirming look with his wife.

"R-Really?" Dean asked incredulously, his eyes wide and unbelieving.

"Really," Daniel said, nodding. "We're a house of very different individuals. And like my daughter said, different people should be together, right?"

"Is that like the Granger motto or something?" Theo asked.

"Yup," Hermione and Dean replied together.

"Yes, sir," Dean said quietly, eyes still wide.

"Then would you like to come home with us?" Daniel asked.

Dean looked at his kind smile, then at Sonya's gentle gaze, and finally at Hermione's wide excited eyes that practically begged him to say yes. And as he looked at her it was as if something inside of him clicked. Like a puzzle piece finally put into the right spot.

"That's because she's the soulmate of my heart!" Dean proclaimed happliy, pulling Hermione in for a tight hug. The girls awed while the boys all just shook their head in amusement.

"Yes," Dean said, still looking at Hermione.

"Yes?" Hermione said excitedly.

"Yes," Dean said, nodding.

"Yes!" half the occupants of the room screamed excitedly, even though they all already guessed he had said yes.

Hermione squealed excitedly and threw herself into Dean's arms. Dean gasped as she hugged him tightly and hesitantly wrapped his own arms around her.

Both Daniel and Sonya smiled happily at the scene. "Okay then," Daniel said, rising from his knee and turning towards Miss Hagitha. "Miss Hagitha, I would like the papers to adopt young Dean here, if you don't mind."

"Him?!" Miss Hagitha practically screeched, pointing at the boy, causing him to flinch and hold onto Hermione tighter.

"Oh shut up you dumb troll!" Daphne hissed.

"She can't hear you," Millicent stage whispered, drawing a few surprised gasps.

"Well I'll hunt her down and make sure she can hear me loud and clear then!" Daphne said, drawing surprised looks from everyone.

"Yes, him," Daniel said, his voice going cold. "Is there a problem?"

"Well一"

"Because if there is I have no problem calling Child Protective Services and getting it fixed."

"Go Mr. Granger," Ron laughed.

Miss Hagitha paled at that and shook her head frantically. "No, no! No problem at all! Dean's a wonderful boy and I'm sure he'll make you all very happy!"

"It's not our concern whether he makes us happy," Sonya said, stepping close to the still hugging children so she can rest her hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's us that has to make sure he is happy."

Dean couldn't help but flinch slightly at her words, and action no one but Hermione, Blaise, and Theo had caught.

Dean slowly smiled up at her, and finally it seemed like all fear and sadness had finally vanished from his eyes.

"Thank Merlin," Hermione whispered happily.

The scene fades

"I got a brother. I got a brother," Hermione sang as she skipped up the street, holding Dean's hand as she led the way.

"So cute," Hannah laughed.

Dean didn't mind the fact that she was practically dragging him along side her.

"I better get used to it," Dean laughed.

His eyes could stop taking in his surroundings. All the cars, the buildings, the trees, the people, the bright sun. Everything was so new to him and he felt like he was walking through dream land. He never thought it'd happen where he'd be let outside, let alone adopted. But here he was, walking along the sidewalk to his new home holding his new sister's hand as his new parents trailed behind them.

Everyone smiled. Though it was a shock to discover that Hermione Granger and Dean Thomas were actually siblings, after seeing their story they found themselves relieved that the two had found each other.

As the two older Granger's spoke happily behind them about new arrangements and preparations they'll have to make for Dean, Dean turned his eyes to the happily singing girl skipping beside him.

"Hey, Mia?" Dean said.

Hermione turned to him in surprise, which soon faded into happiness, at the nickname. She knows she said he could call her that, but she didn't he would.

"Yes, Dean?" she asked sweetly.

"I just want you to know that you have a friend now," he said a bit shyly. "I'm going to be there for you, know matter what. And I'll make sure no one is ever mean to you again. I'll protect you. Promise."

Hermione looked at him, eyes swelling with tears. For the second time that day she threw herself into his arms, and this time Dean didn't hesitate before hugging her tightly.

"I'll always be there for you, too," she said, tearfully. "Promise."

The scene faded out and Dean turned to Hermione.

"I kept my promise, right?" he asked, a little bit of worry laced in his tone.

Hermione smiled and wrapped him in a tight hug. "To this very day."

There you have it folks! I hope it was worth the wait and that it's worth continuing! Y'all better throw away any expectations of what either one of their lives may be like, because you have no idea what's coming your way! Also, this subject is going to hit A LOT of touchy subjects, like you saw with the racism discussion. It won't be the last time you see that topic. I will be trying to hit every touchy topic available; abuse of all kinds, racism, sexual assault, depression, suicide, self harm, diseases, bullying, homosexuality, homophobia, gender confusion. ALL OF IT. I want to make this story as real as possible and I have a lot of characters I can use to do so. I think for me personally it's important to do so. I'm not going to let these topics consume my story, it's not going to be dark and depressing, but there will be rough moments here and there in their lives or I will simply touch on it and move on. I guess we'll see.

Please review, I absolutely love hearing from you guys! It keeps me going!

Love you lots,

Oliviaa Rose