A/N—I've always been a firm believer that Ernie Macmillan and Hermione Granger should have gotten together. They were both incredibly studious, and ambitious, and it sounds like they spent a lot of time together in classes—in third year Ron asked Ernie about Hermione's class schedule. So here's a story about them. It spans from 5th year through 7th, so it'll be pretty long.

Please read/review!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. J.K Rowling owns Harry Potter and all the characters and places.

This chapter is for Witty Eagle Proud Ravenclaw, and for RonWeasleyILove. Both of them kindly reviewed this piece. Thanks so much you guys!


The Library was quiet. And, apparently, empty. Hermione smiled. Perfect.

Plunking her bag on a table, she pulled out her books and set to work.

"D'you mind?"

Looking up, trying to ignore the sudden butterflies in her stomach, she saw Ernie Macmillan standing before her, his bag on his shoulder.

"D'you mind if I sit here?" he asked again.

"No, not at all," she said, sliding her work to one corner of the table and making room. "I was just working on Umbridge's essay"

Ernie stiffened.

"She's terrible! I don't know what she told you in her class, but in our class..." he bit his lip, his brown eyes dark with anger. "Rant after rant about inadequate teachers—and I'll admit that I rather agreed with her till she started in on Professor Lupin—"

"She did that with us too."

"—and then things got bad. You'd think she'd leave off on the topic, but no, on and on and on about werewolves being monsters. Zacharias tried to speak up, and she nailed him with a detention before he even got to tell her she was a total—"

"Language, Mr. Macmillan," Madam Pince admonished as she whisked by with a stack of books.

"She gave Harry detention too," Hermione told Ernie.

"I heard. And all for standing up for him and for...for Cedric. She's just—" Ernie hissed, sucking in the swear word he had been about to utter. He yanked his Defense Against the Dark Arts book from his bag and tore it open, slamming it on the table. He didn't even look up when Madam Pince shushed him from the main desk.

Hermione watched him, feeling even more in awe of him than she had when he had stood up for Harry after Herbology.

"We're going to fail our OWLS with her," Ernie muttered after a pause. "She won't teach us a thing."

She nodded.

"If only we had someone who'd actually teach us something."

Hermione nodded again, and suddenly grabbed Ernie's arm.

"I need to ask you something," she blurted, and then lowered her voice. "If I were to get a—oh, not here, not with Madam Pince. Come with me." She stood and, leaving her homework on the table, hurried from the Library. She could hear Ernie behind her, shoving books and parchment into his bag.

"What?" he asked as she dragged him into a classroom and scanned the place for any ghosts. Peeves was nowhere to be seen, nor were any other ghosts.

"If I were to find a teacher who could actually teach us some Defense Against the Dark Arts—"

Ernie paled, his freckles—Hermione hadn't known he had freckles—standing out. "Hermione, I wasn't serious. Well, I was serious, but I wasn't suggesting anything."

"I know, but...Ernie, our OWLs are incredibly important. You know that."

Ernie nodded.

"Umbridge won't teach us anything. But if I can find someone who can teach us, would you—" she trailed off, unable to formulate her words.

Ernie was silent. He sat down on the top of one of the desks and swept his foot back and forth across the floor, kicking up dust and scraping the sole of his shoe on the stone. He fingered his Prefect's badge and bit his lip again, just like he had in the Library.

"Okay," he said. "I know what you're trying to say. We need to start our own...our own little class. And I'll do it. If you find a teacher we can trust who will teach us something worthwhile, I'll do it."

Hermione smiled.

Ernie stood up and picked up his bag from the door. He was still pale, though he looked more determined. "So go find your teacher, Hermione, and let me know when you do."

He headed for the door, and suddenly turned.

"By the way, are you still doing SPEW?"

"I guess. It didn't really kick off last year." Hermione sighed.

"Try again this year. Do you have a badge?"

Hermione nodded and pulled one from her bag. Ernie took it from her and pinned in on his robes, by his Prefect's badge.

"I'll see if I can't rope Hannah and Susan into it."

Hermione was left alone in the classroom, turning their plan around in her mind, wondering how she could convince Harry that if he could just teach them, they might actually stand a chance of surviving.