Chapter 2

Friend

One year later

Harry yawned as he sat up. He sat there for a moment, thinking. What was I going to do today? Oh, right. I'm out of books to read. Guess its time to head to Flourish and Blotts.

He looked at his trunk and, with a flash of red light, a shirt and pair of pants were sitting on the bed. He slid them on, grabbed his wallet, and walked out of his room. He said good morning to Tom and got a quick bite of breakfast. Then he walked out the door towards Diagon Alley. As usual, he just walked right through the portal, which opened up to admit him without needing to use his wand.

As he walked down the Alley, the Rune of Knowledge in his Ring began to feed him information on books. Of course, many of the books he was learning about either were something that he wouldn't want, or books that there was no way that a store like Flourish and Blotts would have. He used a mental technique to erase some of the useless information. He had developed mental abilities in order to cope with the power of the seventh Rune. He probably would be in a coma from information overload if he hadn't.

While he was focused on his own mind, he didn't notice a girl with bushy brown hair running out of Gringotts and tripping on something, right as he was passing the entrance. The Rune of Combat triggered, enhancing his reflexes and his awareness. He caught her in his arms before she could hit the ground. After living with the Dursleys, his old muscles wouldn't have been able to hold her for long. However, after acquiring the Ring, his growth had been enhanced. He was much stronger than anyone his age would be.

As he helped the girl to her feet, he looked at her face and was stunned by the sudden attraction he felt. He tried to quash the unfamiliar feelings with his mind magic, but was unable to completely eradicate them. Who was this girl?

Hermione Granger looked at the boy who had caught her. He had messy black hair and incredible emerald green eyes that seemed to suck her in. She was entranced by his face, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she noticed his muscular build. He looked to be about the same age as her, but he held himself with a grace that made him seem much older. Who was this boy?

"I- I'm sorry." She said, shyly. "I'm kind of clumsy." What was wrong with her? She never stuttered.

"No, it's fine. Are you okay?" Harry asked with concern in his voice. He was just as confused as she was. Why was he so worried about her?

"I'm fine. Thank you for catching me." Suddenly, she looked around. "Oh no!"

"What?!" Harry asked, alarmed at her sudden change. "What happened?"

"I dropped the Galleons that my dad just gave me. I don't see them anywhere! They're so expensive! He's not going to be happy." She said, dismayed.

"What do you mean, expensive?" He asked.

"The exchange rate is five pounds to a single galleon!" She said.

"Oh. Is that all?" Harry said, relieved. He pulled out his wallet and removed twenty galleons. Before he took them out of the wallet, he used his Ring to materialize a small bag to hold them. He handed her the bag. "Is that enough?" He asked. "If it's not, I-"

She stared at him. "No, it's far more than I lost. I can't accept this." She tried to hand it back. "It's my fault. I lost them, I'll deal with the consequences myself."

Harry shook his head and pushed the bag back into her hand. "Keep them. It's alright." He shrugged. "It's not a problem."

"Really… I don't have any way to pay you back, this is a hundred pounds!" She said, still trying to hand them back. How the hell is a hundred pounds 'not a problem'?

"Don't worry about paying me back. This is the first civil conversation I've ever had with someone my own age. I'd pay for that any day." He said. He was surprised, and pleased, that she wasn't obeying everything he said, like most other people did.

She was stunned. How could someone not have a single conversation with anyone their own age? She wasn't liked much in her hometown, but she still had a few friends. "What do you mean?" She asked.

He sighed. "Usually, whenever I was with someone my own age, the 'conversation' would be either insults directed towards me, my cousin and his friends shouting for me to stop running so they could beat me, or people running away because they were scared of him." He said. He had no idea why he was telling her all of this.

"Your own cousin? What the hell is wrong with him?" She was shocked, both at his explanation and at her own fury. Why was she getting so worked up? She never cursed. Ever.

"My aunt and uncle weren't too happy with having to look after me." He said simply. He didn't want to share what had happened to him in that place.

Hermione was furious. "Why the hell are you staying with them?" She snarled.

"I'm not. I left about this time last year. I've been staying at the Leaky Cauldron." He instantly regretted his disclosure. He didn't want her to feel sorry for him.

She felt him trying to calm her down and allowed it. "Oh, that's good. Tom seems nice." He nodded. "Oh, that's right. I still don't know your name. I'm Hermione Granger."

"I'm Harry Potter."

Just then, Hermione's parents exited the bank. They saw Hermione and moved towards her. Harry heard her father muttering about 'Highway robbery' and 'five pounds'.

"Who's this, dear?" Mrs. Granger asked Hermione.

"This is Harry. I nearly fell onto him, but he caught me." Hermione looked at him. "You're going to Hogwarts, right?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. You too?"

"Yes, she is." Mr. Granger said, butting into the conversation. "Now, mind telling me what you're doing with my daughter?" He noticed the bag. "What's that bag, Hermione?"

Harry had to stifle a mental laugh at the 'protective father' routine. "Nothing. We were just talking. She dropped some money when she fell, so I gave her some."

"That's very nice, but… Hermione, you know that you shouldn't be taking things from strangers."

Harry saw a look of anger on Hermione's face. "It's fine. You don't need to worry." He said.

"Of course." Mr. Granger said calmly. "It's not a problem. Never mind, Hermione."

Hermione looked at Harry strangely. One moment she was about to kill her father for trying to drive away her first magical friend. The next, he was calmly agreeing with that same friend that it was perfectly fine for him to be giving her money. She tried to shake off the thoughts. "Come on, let's go explore the Alley." She said to her parents. "See you later, Harry."

"Mind if I tag along?" Harry asked, trying to keep the desperation from entering his voice. He didn't want to be separated from his friend yet. "I'll give you a tour. After all, I do live here. I'm in the Alley practically every day."

"That'd be great!" Hermione said. She turned to her parents. "Harry's lived in the Leaky Cauldron for the past year."

Harry instantly sensed a barrage of questions was oncoming and changed the subject. "Why don't we begin with Ollivander's. You don't have a wand yet, do you?"

Harry showed them most of the stores in the Alley. Because they were also picking up Hermione's school supplies, he was saving Flourish and Blotts for last. After taking them to most of the stores, he led them to Madam Malkin's, to pick up her uniform.

As they entered, they saw a pale faced blond boy getting fitted for his robes. He looked at the Grangers and sneered. "Well, if it isn't a group of mudbloods. Why don't you useless dirty muggles go back to your own little lives. It's not like you mudbloods even deserve to learn magic anywa-" He froze.

Hermione was in tears and her parents looked shocked. Harry's eyes were blazing with murderous fire. He threw his right fist at the boy, thrusting the Ring towards him. The boy was thrown back as a massive blast of invisible force slammed into him. Harry vanished in a flash of red light, reappearing in front of the cowering boy. He raised his arm up, opening his hand. A glowing bolt of golden light surged into it. The horizontal bolt began to shrink, but before anything else could happen, there was the sound of a gunshot.

He looked over to see Madam Malkin with her wand pointing up into the air. "What in Merlin's name is going on here?! " She demanded. When she saw the blond boy's condition, she gasped. "Mr. Malfoy, are you all right?"

"Mr. Malfoy here was insulting Ms. Granger and her parents. I felt that it was only right for me to defend my friend's honor. I cannot believe that you would want such a foul person in your shop. I demand that you eject him at once." Harry said angrily. He knew the origins and meanings of the word 'Mudblood' and was furious that this little bastard had dared use it to refer to Hermione. His Aura of Majesty was so powerful that the force of his words was more powerful than the Imperius Curse.

"Malfoy, get out." Madam Malkin said, getting furious. "I don't want to see you again." Of course, he would be back. It was only because of Harry that she had ordered it, not that she knew that. She turned to Hermione. "Now miss, how can I help you. I'll give you a set of robes free, because of that nasty treatment you just had to endure."

After they left the shop, Harry led them to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and treated them. Harry's aura was active, so they didn't complain when he said that he would pay. Once they finished their ice cream, he took them to Flourish and Blotts.

When they walked into the bookstore, Harry was surprised to see Hermione's face light up. He had no idea that she was such a bookworm. She spent the next hour or two looking at the books. When she was finished, she had a huge stack of books. When she brought them to her parents, her father shook his head. "Honey, as much as I'd like to, I don't think we can afford to spend so-"

"I'll take care of it." Harry said. He turned to the shopkeeper. "Put her books on my tab." The man nodded. Hermione tried to protest, but Harry just smiled at her and her arguments fell to pieces.

After they had finished for the day, it was very late. Hermione asked her parents, who, after Hermione's desperate pleading, agreed to allow her to come back whenever she wanted to. She spent most of the next month with Harry in the Alley. She couldn't wait for them to get to Hogwarts. She knew that, since Harry was there, she would enjoy the next seven years.

It was the morning of September 1st. Harry packed up everything into his trunk. Hermione and her parents had stayed in the Leaky Cauldron for the night, so they could go to the station together.

When they arrived, Harry told Hermione and her parents about the secret entrance in the pillar. They rushed at it, passing right through. Hermione's parents had actually expected them to bounce off and look like fools. As they had passed through the entrance, Harry had caught sight of a group of red haired people who were obviously going to Hogwarts as well.

Molly Weasley was annoyed. Dumbledore had told them to wait at the entrance to the station. He had told her that Harry Potter would be there and would be unaware of how to get onto the platform. By helping him, she would be able to begin to form influence over him, and seed her family into his good graces. But the boy hadn't been confused at all.

She saw a boy who almost matched the description, except for the part about his being scrawny. His messy black hair was a giveaway. She was furious when he entered with a bushy haired girl. He was supposed to only have Ron as a friend, to manipulate Harry. She planned to try to adopt the boy, to get access to his money earlier. Failing that, Ginny was supposed to become his girlfriend so that she could marry him later and get his money.

The girl didn't matter. All she had to do was tell her youngest son to get rid of the mudblood somehow, so that Harry's only friend was a Weasley. Dumbledore had told her about the millions of Galleons in the Potter vault. She couldn't wait for the time when she would gain access.

Harry and Hermione found an empty compartment and settled in. They began to talk about what the Hogwarts curriculum might be. They also discussed which house they would like to be in. If they could pick, the two decided on Ravenclaw. Gryffindor was a close second.

Harry had mainly selected the house because of its reputation. He would need to read dozens of books on law. Sure, he would be King, but there was already a ruling system in place. Before he could remove it, he needed to be fully informed. Hermione had just liked the idea of being among people who shared her enjoyment of learning.

She was interrupted when a red-headed boy walked into their compartment. He looked straight at Harry, ignoring Hermione. "You're Harry Potter, aren't you? I'm Ron Weasley. I'm a huge fan."

Harry was wary of the boy. He could feel the boy's greed and jealousy. He watched Ron glance at Hermione.

"Why don't you ditch the mud- muggleborn and come talk with a pureblood wizard? I want to hear about your life." Ron asked. He'd been warned not to risk insulting Harry, and figured that he wouldn't like hearing his friend being insulted. "You're going to be in Gryffindor, right?"

Harry sighed. "Go away. Me and my friend are having a private conversation. You're no better than she is. All being a pureblood means is that you've been subjected to several hundred years of inbreeding. I will not befriend someone who believes themselves to be better than someone because of their blood. You also lied to me. Get out and stay out."

If someone had been watching the bones of Ron's legs, they would have seen them being enveloped in red light as he marched out of the room. Harry sighed as Hermione giggled.

"You showed him. Thanks." She said with a smile.

"Not a problem." Harry replied.

They'd been able to continue their conversation for ten minutes before the next interruption. Malfoy walked into their compartment flanked by two large boys.

"I heard that Harry Potter was in this compartment. My name's Draco-" He said, before actually looking at the people within the compartment. He sneered. "Oh. You're Potter. Should've guessed that you'd be a mudbl- muggle lover. I suggest you apologize for your conduct in Madam Malkin's. My father is one of the governors of the school and I can make things very difficult for you."

"I've got a better idea. Why don't you and your gorillas turn around and crawl back into whatever dark hole you came out of? I don't care about your father. And I suggest that you catch your slip faster next time. I'll let it slide this time, but if hear you say so much as half of that word again, I'll make sure you live to regret it."

Malfoy wisely decided that it would be a good idea to obey and left. Harry and Hermione went back to their conversation, hoping that they'd be left alone this time.

Once the Hogwarts Express came to a stop, they headed into the grounds, towards the lake. As Harry passed the entrance, he heard the castle speak to him.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Your Majesty, Lord Gryffindor."

Harry smiled. It seemed that the school recognized him. He wondered what else it would have in store for him.

Just before the Sorting that night, Harry found himself telepathically talking to a hat.

"Hello, Your Majesty. Welcome to the school."

"It's nice to be here. You are the one who divides us into houses, are you not?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Which house would you like to be in?"

"Ravenclaw. I have some studying to do, and I'd like to be in the proper place for it. Do me a favor and put Ms. Hermione Granger into Ravenclaw as well, please."

"As you wish."

Just before Harry's Sorting, Dumbledore sent a message to the Hat, demanding that he be placed in Gryffindor. The Hat ignored him, however, and obeyed Harry's request. Harry watched Dumbledore as he walked to the table, where Hermione was already sitting. Amidst the thunderous applause, he saw a bit of anger in the Headmaster's face. The old man might be a problem.

Harry decided not to worry and to enjoy his first meal at Hogwarts. He and Hermione had a pleasant conversation during the feast. Apart from the Headmaster's manipulations, the year was looking to be pretty good.

I put a bit of confrontation in there, so I could illustrate Harry's anger at the injustice. He's spent the past year mostly alone, so he hadn't experienced the general problems with the wizarding world, such as their biases.

I realize that Harry's and Hermione's sudden attraction is not normal for people their age. It is because of their soulmate status (their actual link hasn't been established yet) in conjunction with the Rune of Enhancement. The Rune enhanced their bond, augmenting the feelings.

I'm creating a new class. Magical Combat. As in, dueling with weapons and magic. I want to get some physical fighting in there and I used a normal Dueling league in my other story, so... I'm thinking that I might bring in Lupin as the teacher, just so that I can have him in the story. If anyone has any opinions on that, or other suggestions, let me know.

Any opinions on Neville? Good or bad?

Please review!