Hola people! Sorry I haven't updated. Haven't been home in a while, but I have two chapters left, and then it's over :/. Anyway, Since most of what happens here is in the books, it's pretty short, but I hope you enjoy it.

~*~BONDING OVER A GIANT TROLL~*~

The comment hurt much more than she wanted to admit. It had been hard enough here, getting used to magic, being in a new house with girls she did not particularly like (and that reminded her of Jane Appelby and Marlene Fritz far more than she would have liked, both in looks and in manners) and boys who were…well, boys.

It was horrible enough trying to make friends without the remarks. She had had enough of that all her life.

She was sitting in the bathroom, trying to cry quietly, but unsuccessfully.

"Are you okay?" someone, Parvati Patil she thought, asked.

"I'm fine" she said.

"Are you coming to dinner?"

"I think I'll skip it, if it's all the same to you"

She heard the door close and the storm gathering outside. It only made her more depressed. She was terribly homesick now. Homesick to the extent that she was nauseous. She wanted to go home. Maybe that was what she needed. Maybe she wasn't supposed to be here, she realized. But she had had to come here to realize it. She was writing home tomorrow and asking to come home. The dinner would have started, she realized, and she was wondering what she was missing. She wanted to go, but the thought of seeing Ron now, sent her in to her second major crying session of the night.

She wasn't sure how long she was in there, but eventually, she felt confident enough that walking out to the other students and seeing them would make her cry.

She exited the stall, and wiped her eye, looked up, and was face to face with a 12 feet tall troll.

Hermione screamed. Louder than she had ever screamed in her life, and she ran back in to the stall.

She heard someone come in. It turned out to be Harry and Ron.

They kept shouting at her to stay down, but she wasn't sure how they were going to overpower this troll. It was like nothing they had ever encountered before. They hadn't even studied trolls in class yet!

High on adrenalin, she hid over and over again as the troll's club wrecked the stalls and sinks, and eventually, Harry got on to its back and jammed his wand up his nose.

Ron looked panic-stricken.

"Swish and flick!" Hermione yelled.

"Uh, right!" Ron replied and said, loud and clear "Wingardium Levi-o-sa!"

It was hard to tell who was more surprised when Ron managed the spell; Him, Harry or Hermione. The troll, however, did not realize what was going on at first, and when he did, Ron knocked him out with his own club.

"Ick, Troll-boogers" Harry said and wiped his wand on the troll's cloth just as Professor McGonagall, the headmaster, professor Snape and professor Quirrel came running.

Harry and Ron started talking over one another.

Hermione realized that if she took the blame, she might be expelled. It was probably a better way to go home. It didn't officially mean she failed. It just meant she had tried and got expelled. Failing was something she had trouble accepting. Also, it was the least she could do for Harry and Ron, to make sure they weren't punished.

"It was me" she said "I…I had read about trolls and I thought I could handle it. Obviously I was wrong. If Harry and Ron hadn't come to save me, I would have died" '

She awaited her punishment.

"Well" Professor McGonagall said "It was a very foolish thing to do indeed. I'm afraid I will have to take 5 house points for that, Miss Granger"

She turned to Harry and Ron and it took a while for Hermione to realize she wasn't expelled from the school. It didn't seem like the professor believed her story about going after the troll though; maybe that was why she had been allowed to stay.

Professor McGonagall ended up rewarding the boys 5 points each for coming to her aid and sending them off to bed.

They walked in silence up to the common room.

"Thanks" they all said simultaneously and Hermione thought she saw them actually smiling at her before she closed the door to her dormitory.

She went to bed that night, happier than before. Maybe she was finally making some friends.

~*~Comments are appreciated! ~*~