Sorry for the delay. I have a beta so I will be reposting these chapters after she gets done with them in massively improved form.

Concrit is love.

The first week was a happy tiring blur. Harry seemed to be firmly enmeshed in their group. He gripped about his height a fair bit, which was fair and his muggle clothes didn't make it any easier being sized for some one at least 4 sizes bigger than him. Ron had already after one embarrassing evening gone through his trunk and dumped his already too small clothes on Harry's bed with a mumbled, "They'll fit you better than me. Mum thinks I'm gonna have another growth spurt soon." Directed somewhere above Harry's head.

He was the shortest boy in their year and smaller than most of the girls. When his great snowy owl, Hedwig, perched on his shoulder at breakfast he looked impossibly tiny. She arrived every morning even though she never had post for him. With his permission both Ginny and Luna had used her to send letters back to their parents. Receiving prompt replies and a delighted owl.

The Friday of their first week she arrived with Harry's first letter. He tore it open with open hand the other feeding Hedwig pieces of bacon.

Dear Harry, (it said, in an untidy scrawl)

I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.

Hagrid

"It's Hagrid." Harry said with a broad grin. "He's inviting me to come for tea this afternoon. I could ask if you could come to?" His eyes flicked down with the question and a slightly flush coloured his cheeks.

Ginny dug a pencil out of a pocket somewhere and handed it to him. "We'd love to go. Why do you send back a note saying you'd like to come and we'd love to met the man in so many of the twins stories."

The twins preternatural ability to know when their names were begin taken in vain kicked in and they flashed a grin at Ginny before returning to their plotting with Lee. The colour on his cheeks deeper Harry wrote a quick reply and sent Hedwig back.

Before the end of breakfast she returned with a note implying that it would be a good idea to get to know the newest Weasleys as soon as possible. So they headed off to their first potion's class with the promise of tea with Hagrid to look forward too.

It was a good job they did. Snape was as bad as the twins had said. He ignored praised the Slytherins, awarded points constantly and ignored pranks and bullying while deducting points and claiming the Gryffindors were "dundee heads". Worse he seemed to have a particular hatred of Harry, calling on him to answer questions beyond the scope of their potions text or contained in other course books. When Neville added porcupine quills without taking the cauldron off the flame Harry was deducted a point for not stopping him.

It was a relief to escape from the dank dungeons and make their way across the grounds to Hagrid's hut.

It was an indian summer day; the sky a vivid bright blue, the air still crisp in their lungs at 3 o'clock and the sun shining brightly down on to the green leaves of the trees and bushes. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest set in side a fenced garden containing a well tended vegetable garden and a chicken coop. A wooden rain water butt nestled under the thatched eaves by his front door, against the butt a crossbow and pair of galoshes leant.

The door Harry knocked on was thick with a large brass knocker in the shape of a boars head. Harry's knock triggered frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks which caught Luna's attention and drew her from her dreamy inspection of the Forbidden Forest to push herself forward. Hagrid's voice rang out, "Back, Fang, back."

He pulled the door open a crack letting them see his big hairy face, "Hang on," he said obviously struggling to pull a dog out of the way. "Back, Fang."

He opened the door fully and they pilled in, Luna and Ron first followed by Ginny, Hermione and Harry at a more cautious pace. The dog Hagrid had been holding back was an enormous black hoarhound.

Once they were inside Hagrid pushed the door closed and released Fang, who bounded straight at Luna and Ron and started licking their faces. Smiling they dug their hands into his dense fur and petted him. Relieved that Fang was not as fierce as he looked or sounded Ginny, Harry and Hermione gathered around to stroke him and let him get used to them.

There was only one room in Hagrid's house. A warm cosy place, there was an open fire over which a copper kettle was boiling in front of which was a scarred wood table and four aged but comfortable looking chairs, herbs, onions, bags of potatoes, pheasants and joints of meat hung from hooks on the ceiling and in one corner a massive bed covered in a brightly coloured patchwork quilt was partly hidden behind an ancient dresser and chest of draws.

"Make yourself at home," Hagrid said, a thick west country burr.

"These are Ginny, Hermione, Luna and Ron." Harry told Hagrid who was placing a massive teapot on the table and placing rock cakes on to a plate.

"Two more Weasleys and Xenophilius Lovegood's daughter." Hagrid said glancing at Ron and Ginny's red hair and freckles and Luna's dreamy face and dirty blonde hair. "I spend half my life chasing your twin brothers away from the forest. As bad as your dad and his friends, Harry."

They nearly broke their teeth on the rock cakes but Hagrid seemed genuinely interested in their first week and occasionally intersect with tales of Ginny and Ron, Harry or Luna's parents to their delight.

"Your dad was a mischief." Hagrid said a big grin across his face, "As bad as the Weasley twins. Always pulling a prank he and his friends. Most of the time like the twins it was all good fun, directed at a large group catching themselves in it as often as not. Only with-" He broke off.

"With who?" Harry asked his face bright and his rock cake dangling precariously from one hand as he crammed up against Ginny in their shared seat Fang drooling on their robes.

"It's-" Hagrid started then looked at Harry. "Your dad was a good man but he could be jealous. Your mum she was friends with Professor Snape and James went to far when pranking him. It's not that he was bad just that he was a jealous brat sometimes but he grew up and out of that." Hagrid refilled Harry's tea cup. "Your mum had a temper if Lily found out about that James, that the Marauders pranks weren't all good fun then she'd flay a strip from them with her tongue and her wand."

It was getting dark went they finally left, grins plastered to their faces. As they stood a lone piece of paper fluttered off the table to land on Fang's back but neither they nor Hagrid paid any attention and Fang was sleeping comfortable under the table his tail beating a steady rhythm against the floor.

"It's not that different from the Burrow." Hermione mused the morning before their first flying lesson her left had absently spinning her spoon through her porridge. The first few weeks at Hogwarts had passed in a dizzy happy blur of classes, homework, backfiring wands and getting lost. To be honest the backfiring were mostly Hermione and the twins who were equally poorly matched and the getting lost could be placed firmly at Luna and Harry's feet.

"How so?" Harry asked.

After a pause Ginny answered, "Luna, Hermione and I still share a room."

"I'm still the twins' favourite test subject." Ron added.

Ginny turned to glower at her brothers who raised their hands in surrender. "Pax" One twin said.

"We've been too busy trying to keep up in classes with these wands." The other twin continued, he shook his wand causing the whole table to reflexively duck.

"Can't understand it." The first twin said once everyone sat back up. "They kind of worked last year."

"Puberty." Percy pulled the twins wands from their unresisting hands. "It changes your magic. Are they working at all?"

"Not even Lumos." The twins said mournfully.

"Then it won't matter if you don't have them." Percy told them, "Now I believe first years have their first flying lessons." He gently hurried them out of the Great Hall.

"And Percy still tries to be our mum." Hermione finished her train of thought as the left the castle.

Gryffindors and Slytherins had previously only shared potions classes to both their and their teachers relief so they had barely interacted and the expected grudges were not yet fully formed. Still they spilt along house boundaries with Neville and Daphne nominated to stand at the shared centre.

Madame Hooch's instructions seemed to expect a familiarity with broom flight or a natural aptitude. Sally-Anne, Millicent and Neville struggled to even bring their brooms to their hands. Hermione whispered the twins instructions over the summer to Dean standing next to her. Looking along the row Draco was quietly showing Millicent, Daphne exaggerating her movements next to Neville and Lavender gently guiding Sally-Anne. Once they all had their broomsticks hovering by their hands Madame Hooch told them to mount their brooms and strode up and down the row of first years correcting their grips and mounting with an air of furious disappointment that her commands had not been sufficient instruction.

She was glowering once she was satisfied with them. "When I blow my whistle kick off the ground hard." She said, "Keep your broom steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning slightly forwards."

Taking a deep breath everyone waited until her whistle sounded then kicked off. The old school brooms either didn't seem to want to move, pulled to one side or jerked under their riders commands. In Neville's case rather than hover 3ft above the ground it kept rising gaining speed as it rose; Neville's pale scared face looking down at them until the broom was at about 30ft then the broom bucked once. His mouth open in silent horror Neville slipped and plummeted like a rock to land with a sickening crack in a crumbled heap.

Madame Hooch did not seem overly concerned about Neville's broken wrist or about supervising her class telling them to stay where they were until she got back. Draco rolled his eyes at her and dismounted his broom encouraging Millicent to do the same. "Father has been after the Board of Governors to replace the brooms for years." He said as the rest of the class dismounted. "I'll write to him at lunch. Now he's a governor this is sure to be enough reason."

Daphne walked across the grass to a glass ball glinting in the autumn sun. "Is this Neville's?" She asked holding it up so the Gryffindors could see it.

"It's a remeberall." Seamus spoke up, "His gran sent it to him this morning."

"Well give it back to him once Madame Pomfrey releases him." Daphne threw it to Seamus

When Neville hadn't returned to Gryffindor tower after dinner Ron convinced the other four that they need to go and find him. They were required by Percy's watchful eye and the twin's less watchful but shared protectiveness to wait until Percy had gone out on prefect rounds and Lee had distracted the twins with a new prank before sneaking out the portrait hole. They stumbled almost immediately upon Neville trying to sleep curled up on the stone floor.

"I forgot the password." Neville admitted. "I've been waiting for someone to come by."

They turn as a group to the portrait and groaned as they saw a blank canvas. Seconds later they heard Flitch grumbling. "Run." Harry said grabbing the nearest hands to him and pulling them along.

The group tore through the hallways hearing Flitch's groaning, Prefects and Peeves on their tails until they came to a locked door. They could hear Flitch coming closer and the beyond the door the corridor was a dead end. Pushing to the front Hermione muttered a spell under her breath and pushed the door open. "It was in one of Bills books." She said at Ginny's curious look.

They pressed up against the door holding it closed with there weight and catching their breaths until Ron opened his eyes. "Uh." He gulped.

"A three headed dog." Harry whispered.

"It's a cerberus." Luna breathed walking forwards, "They love children and music." She offered her fist to each of the heads in turn then moved to stroke the giant dog. "They're the gentlest dogs."

Watching the cerberus drool on her the others came forward and offered willing hands to rub itchy spots and provide all the love a lonely cerberus could require.

It was quite late and the cerberus fast asleep when they left. "Someone hasn't been taking proper care of him." Luna said, "We will have to go back tomorrow." She nodded once.

"Someone's using it to guard something." Ron muttered darkly.

"It's a school!" Hermione's exclamation was shrill. "If you need a THREE headed dog to guard something it shouldn't be in a school."

Luna, Ginny and Hermione shared a dorm with two other girls. Sally Anne was a shy child who was childhood friends with Hannah Abbot and rarely returned to their dorms from Hufflepuff before curfew. Lavender was a bubbly, chatty blonde who was knocked off centre by Luna's dreamy ignorance of Lavender's point of view, Ginny's tomboy nature and Hermione's quiet snubs. If she had shared with the Patil twins or Sue and Hannah they would have been close friends in hours but in Gryffindor tower she was growing quieter and stiller everyday drawing Percy Weasley's smothering concern. With childish empathy and insensitivity her Gryffindor year mates surrounded her trying to draw her in to their pick up football matches, homework groups and after curfew exploration of the castle.

Her silence came to a head during charms on Halloween. Her once cheerful voice barely whispered the charm before her shoulders drooped. Her partner Ron blew, " You're not even trying. You act like you're so much better than us." he bellowed.

She quivered slightly and began to cry. Luna slid from her desk and wrapped a slim arm around her shoulders whispering to her. Hermione turned to Ron. "Like you can talk! You've only tried once and set the feather on fire!"

"Not all of us can be geniuses." Ron responded, "Honestly, it's no wonder your parents didn't want you" Hermione flew out the room tears pouring down her face. His normally cheerful face rigid with fury Professor Flitwick gave up on controlling the class and dismissed them early.

Ron didn't seem to be too worried until they settled down to the Halloween feast with no Hermione. Then he began to fret his face so pale his freckles stood out and he pushed his food around his plate. His anxiety wasn't helped by Ginny and Luna's decision not to speak to him until he apologised to Hermione. When Professor Qurriell burst into the hall yelling about a troll he looked like he would faint.

"Perce." He hissed, "Percy. Please Percy." Ron said trying to catch his attention but Percy was busy with the unenviable task of herding the twins, their year mates and the second years. "Hermione doesn't know. We've got to tell her."

Seeing he wasn't going to get any help from the prefects and the teachers had all left he sprinted from the room, Harry, Ginny and Luna barely managing to keep sight of him. They were still at the stairs when he disappeared into the bathroom Hermione was crying in.

"What's that smell?" Harry asked.

"The troll." Luna looked as pale as Ron had. "It's coming this way."

"Quick." Ginny ran into the bathroom waiting until Harry and Luna were inside she slammed the door. "Coloportus."

A thump rattled the door. "Oh blast. It's trying to knock the door down." Luna's calm felt slightly absurd.

They huddled together at the back of the room. Ron still whispering apologies and vows that Hermione was his sister and the Weasley's wanted her as the troll smashed the door open and began to lurch over to them.

Each step the troll took spread vibrations through the floor. Faces pale Ginny and Harry stood at the front of the group wands clutched tight in their hands. Ron pushed Hermione and Luna back stepping up in the middle behind Harry and Ginny his wand drawn.

They stood silent as the troll grew closer smashing sinks and stalls on his approach.

Voice shaking Harry spoke, "Wingardium Leviosa"

The troll's club twitched in his great claw of a hand. "Join him!" Luna's urgent voice broke the apprehensive silence. "We have to join him."

"Remember what Mrs Weasley taught us." Hermione said. "Raise the club and knock him back."

As one Harry, Ginny and Ron's voices cried out, "Wingardium Leviosa!" in the same moment Luna and Hermione joined them, "Ffwrdd!" The club rose above the troll's head as it stumbled backwards mid step. Their wands dropped and the club crashed down on the troll's head toppling it. Professors McGonagall and Snape arrived as the troll's landing rattled the debris.

"What is going on here?" McGonagall's stern voice broke the stunned silence.

"It's my fault-" Hermione and Ron spoke simultaneously.

"No it's my fault." Ron's voice was a pale imitation of Mrs Weasley's but it worked. "I called- I said something unforgivable about Hermione. She ran off crying and didn't know about the troll. We tried to tell the prefects but they were busy." His explanation halted.

"You are unbelievably lucky." Professor McGonagall shook her head. "Come on with me. I'm sure your brothers are worried about you."