Disclaimer: I do not own.

Takes place during currently unfinished/unwritten chapter. But fits any time after Chapter 10.


A few days later found activity in the castle returning to normal. The somber mood that had prevailed in the wake of the talk was beginning to lift. Unfortunately if you were friends with Hermione Granger this meant you were forced to listen to her rant about falling behind in her revision. Much to Harry and Ron's horror she began drawing up schedules for them.

From that point on they were often found in the library. Hermione would have her head buried in a book, while Ron daydreamed and Harry scribbled on his parchment. Their third night in the library Hermione caught them playing hangman. She had been furious that they weren't taking things seriously. There were barely three weeks left of term and they were going to be tested before break started.

Harry and Ron shared a look while she ranted at them. They had seen her impossible workload night after night and neither could understand how she managed it. It was obvious that she wasn't getting enough sleep or food. And to top it all off she was trying to make sure both he and Ron passed their classes as well. Harry thought it was only a matter of time before she cracked under the pressure.

When he saw the unshed tears in her eyes he slammed his book shut (earing himself a reproachful glare from Madam Pince). He had no idea what to do with a crying girl. Judging by the horrified look on Ron's face neither did he. The sound of the book slamming shut had stopped her ranting, but also led to a few tears falling down her face.

"Hermione I can't revise like this. Neither can Ron. No, don't say anything, just hear me out okay? You're smarter than us. You can read something and then remember it weeks later. Me and Ron can't do that. All this constant reading of our books and notes doesn't help us. It's not that we don't want to revise with you, hell we'd be barely passing our classes if it wasn't for you, we just need a new way to do it."

Looking at his friends he saw that they were hanging on to his every word. Hermione had even stopped crying. Maybe he should have had this talk with her sooner.

"Professor Lupin was telling me about different ways of revising the other week. He said not everyone learns the same way. The way you revise doesn't work for me and Ron. We need to try something else."

"He's got a point Hermione. I can't do this. These books aren't interesting and reading them constantly puts me to sleep."

She looked at the boys thoughtfully. Harry made an excellent point. She watched them both struggle through the readings over the last two years. She had always put it down to them just not wanting to put the effort in, but maybe Harry was right. But she didn't know of any other way to revise. She always revised like this and it always got her top marks.

"You're right. It's just I've always done things this way and it's always worked for me. I don't know how else to do this. Did Professor Lupin mention any other ways?"

"Er – yeah," Harry really wished he paid better attention that night. There was just so much to take in. "He said some people need to see something done in order to do it. And some people learn more by listening."

"That makes sense," she gave Ron a long scrutinizing look. "I think you might be an auditory learner."

"I'm a what?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "It means you remember things you hear better then things you read. It makes sense really, especially when you think about Norbert."

"What does Norbert have to do with studying?" Harry asked.

"Well when we first found out about the egg Ron was able to tell us the laws regarding dragons," she explained. Turning to Ron, she added "I imagine you learned all that from listening to your brother."

"Yeah I did. Whenever Charlie comes home he tells us all sorts of things about the dragons. Bill does the same about the pyramids and wards. It was interesting, and before Hogwarts I enjoyed listening to them talk about the different magics they've seen." Ron said enthusiastically. He remembered most of what they told him because they made it interesting. This just might work, and he wouldn't have to spend hours poring over books anymore.

"I don't think that would work for you Harry. Maybe you learn better with visuals. Was there anything else Professor Lupin said?"

"Yeah. He, uh, said something about doing it first. I think he called it hands-on learning," he half asked.

"Hmmm," she hummed. "That could work for you. You picked up flying quickly without any real instruction. And you tend to do better with the practical part of classes then you do with the theory portion."

Hermione was lost in thought for a few minutes before narrowing her eyes at the boys. "I hope you don't think this is going to be an excuse for you two to not do the reading. If you aren't going to read I'm not going to help."

Harry's eyes widened, "Of course not Hermione! We'd never do that to you. What if we all read the work first then talk about it? I don't understand half the stuff in the theory until you explain it to me anyway." Ron nodded along. He could push himself through the reading to get to that if he had to.

"There's just one problem," Ron said. "Madam Pince isn't too keen on us talking, I doubt she's going to let us practice spells in here." Looking over at said woman they saw her staring them down for daring to have a hushed conversation in her domain. As tonight seemed to be a lost they began packing up their books.

It wasn't until they exited the library that they resumed their conversation. "We can't use the Common Room either. It would be too easy for someone to get hit with a stray spell if we become distracted," and with the twins around that was always a possibility.

"Maybe we can use an empty classroom," Hermione suggested. She thought it over for a minute then nodded to herself. "Yes, that would be perfect. It would be quiet like the library and there shouldn't be any distractions." She beamed at the boys, "I think this can really work."

It wasn't until Christmas break that the professors would notice a marked improvement in both Harry and Ron's grades (Hermione's obviously didn't need any improvement, but she did seem slightly less stressed). The only professor who wasn't surprised was Lupin. But then again it had, in around about way, been his idea.