Hermione blushed as a few guys wolf-whistled as she walked down the isles of the Great Hall, making sure everyone accounted for was present and in the proper place.

"Damn, Granger!" someone shouted from the Ravenclaw table.

"Owwww!" yelled another. "Work it, baby!"

"Oi, shut it, you!" Ron shouted, standing up at the Gryffindor table. She looked at him and smiled thankfully. But that didn't stop the whistles. Yeah, she had grown some boobs. Ooh, she thought, big 'effin deal. Grow up.

She smoothed out her skirt before taking a seat next to Ginny.

"Well, well. Liking all the attention?" Ginny asked. Hermione shrugged.

"I don't know how you deal with it." She bit down on her lip. "I feel like it's my first year again, and they're all teasing me,"

"Definitely not teasing you," came an embarrassed sounding voice next to her. She turned around and saw Neville Longbottom. He had lost weight and his thick brown hair looked shaggy for once. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm sorry?" she asked. His cheeks turned something just short of scarlet and he muttered something incoherent. She bit her tongue to keep from laughing. Neville had always been insecure and shy, but now he really had no reason to be so. She put her hand on his in a (what she hoped) reassuring tone. "You look really good, Neville. I like your hair longer."

He smiled nervously. "Er…um, I mean, thanks. My…uh, my Gran says it slims out my face and um, well, that really doesn't matter, um," he said. She grinned and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"It's lovely seeing you again, Neville. And your Gran's right, by the way."

"Um, yes. Lovely." He said, his voice sounding high pitched.

"Yeah," Ginny said, leaning backwards so she could see past Hermione. "Your hair actually looks really good that way. It's kind of like you just played a really rough game of Quidditch. Or maybe just got back from a really wicked shag,"

Neville's ears went red, but his eyebrows rose. "…Really?"

"Yes. Total shag-me hair. Wicked hot," she said with a wink. Hermione looked from one face to the other…maybe Ginny wasn't going to miss Harry as much as she had thought….

"She's right, you know," came a soft, dreamy voice. They looked up to see Luna Lovegood smiling serenely. Hermione almost spit out her drink, but somehow kept it in her mouth, (Ron didn't manage this particular feat) though she nearly choked.

"Um, Luna," Ginny said. "The summer treated you well," she said.

Luna cocked her head to the side, then looked down. "Oh! You mean my breasts," she said, and smiled sweetly at them. "Yes, I do believe I went through a small growth spurt over the summer,"

"S'nothing small bout those," Dean Thomas muttered under his breath.

"Loon- Luna!" Ron managed to choke out. She smiled at him, and much to Hermione's shock, blushed, and fidgeted with the odd assortment of rings on her left hand.

"Hello, Ronald," she said softly. "How've you been?"

"Er…great," he said, and Hermione scowled as his eyes drifted down to Luna's, er, bountiful bosoms. "Um, how bout you?"

"Well, me and daddy went on vacation to America for a few weeks," she said. "New York has a whole magical community behind this little café on Wall Street! It was amazing…Did you know they actually read the Quibbler there? We had a bunch of people asking about Snorkacks! I've never seen so many people so genuinely interested! Daddy was so pleased!"

Hermione snorted, earning her an elbow in the side from Ginny, who had a bright smile on her face, her blue eyes twinkling up at Luna, who in turn was beaming at Ron, who was nodding, looking as though he had never seen her clearly before. She glanced over at Neville, who had his robes suspiciously piled on top of his lap and his face buried in his hands.

"Well, look at the naughty school girl," came a husky, playful voice in her ear. She yelped and jumped, causing Sirius to laugh. "Oi, Mione, I'm just playing!" he said, holding his hands up to defend himself as she swung at him.

"Ms. Granger, please refrain from assaulting teachers," came McGonagall's stern voice. "No matter how painfully annoying they may be, they are your professors,"

"Minerva, perhaps new professors should keep to the staff table, where they belong, so as not to…encourage such behavior," Remus said. "And perhaps new faculty would do well to remember that they are no longer students,"

"Oh, Remus, he was just saying hi," Hermione said, grinning at the werewolf.

"Ms. Granger, I would appreciate it if you didn't address me in such an informal manner," he said sharply. She felt a pang. What was his problem?

"Of course, Mr. Moony," she said, a cheeky grin shining on her face. He shot her a look that wiped any good emotion right off of her face.

"You will address me as 'Professor Lupin', or you will have detention faster than you can say 'library'," he said. He looked at Sirius, who looked just as dumb-struck as Hermione.

"Oi, Lupin, what's the matter?" Ron asked, looking up from his conversation with Luna.

"Mr. Weasley, mind your own business." He said, and moodily stalked off to the Head's Table.

"What the hell was that about?" Ron demanded.

"He…he's worse than Snape…" Neville said quietly.

"Don't you dare compare Remus to that bastard," Hermione snapped. "He's just…having a bad…er, day…" she looked helplessly at Sirius.

"What…what about you? Am I to refer to you as professor, as well?" she asked.

"I thought you said that I'd have no respect if I didn't have students refer to me formally," he said, but when she frowned, he continued, "Which I really don't give a damn about."

"So I can still call you Siri?" she asked, hope in her voice.

"Course you can, sweetheart," he said, and with a wink, he sauntered away to join the rest of the teachers. Hermione smiled and turned around to see Ginny smiling at her, and Ron frowned briefly, but since he had Lavender on one side of him and Luna on the other side (she hadn't returned to her own table just yet) he was a bit too distracted to say anything.

"Hermione," Parvati Patil stage whispered from the other side of Neville. "Am I seeing things, or was that ridiculously handsome teacher just flirting with you?"

Hermione gave a very un-Hermione-ish giggle and blushed. "Er, of course not. He's Harry's godfather, you see," she said.

Parvati looked skeptical. "That wink sure as hell wasn't 'fatherly'," she paused. "Harry's not coming back this year, then?" she asked, and glanced at Ginny, who shrugged and looked away.

Hermione, much to Neville's obvious discomfort, leaned over him to be closer to Parvati.

"He's been really very busy with, well, you know," she said.

The other girl nodded. "I know. I mean, it's been all over the news," she said.

"He reckons after last year it wouldn't be safe for him to be at Hogwarts. He says he doesn't want to put the rest of us in danger, which he believes we would be if he were here."

"It won't be the same without him," Parvati said. "I mean, it must be much harder for you! You were so much closer to him than I was. And Ginny," she added in a whisper.

Hermione, not wanting to engage in girly gossip with the girl, and immensely thankful she didn't have to share a dorm with her anymore, shrugged, and turned her attention to Dumbledore, who had suddenly appeared at the Head's table without anyone noticing his arrival.

He clasped his hands together and smiled down at them. "Now that the sorting is done," he said, to Hermione's surprise. She hadn't even noticed. "To those of you are returning, welcome back! To our new students, welcome! It is always a pleasure to see fresh faces among the old," he paused, and his gaze focused on the Gryffindor table. "Mr. Potter sends his regards and best wishes to his friends and classmates and had this to say to the Gryffindor Quidditch team: 'Flatten Slytherin this year for me,' Of course, these are his words, not my own, though I do wish the team the best of luck. I would like to introduce your new teacher this year, Professor Black, who will be covering the potion's post, and I would like you to welcome back Professor Lupin, who will be resuming his post as your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I know those of you who had him before will be happy to have him return," he paused. "Mr. Potter also wished for me to inform you that anyone found misbehaving in either of their classes will most likely find that itching powder will have found it's way into their drawers,"

Hermione, along with most of the students in her year, laughed at this. She raised an eyebrow as Sirius stood, and looked questioningly at the headmaster, who, gave a slight bow and took his seat in between Professor McGonagall and Hagrid.

"Er, Hello," Sirius said. "I just wanted to clear a few things up…who here read the article about me in the Prophet, eh? Come on, now, honestly, show of hands," he said.

Every single hand in the Hall went up.

Sirius gave a small, rather nervous chuckle.

"I see," he said. "And how many of you actually believed it?" he asked. No hands. He laughed again. "Oh, come on now. Be honest."

Half of the hands went back up. No one at Hermione's table raised theirs, though.

"Well. I can assure you, I am not a murderer. Nor am I after the DADA post."

"Then why were you in Azkaban for twelve years?" an obnoxious Slytherin sixth year shouted.

"Ms. Adders!" McGonagall shouted.

"Now, now, Minerva," Dumbledore said. He looked at Sirius. "Professor Black, an explanation is not exactly necessary, though perhaps-"

"No, it's not." McGonagall barked. She stood.

"Professor Black was tried and found innocent of all charges. He was tried under veritaserum, and still found completely innocent. Another man, Peter Pettigrew was the one actually responsible for the deaths Professor Black had been accused. He is now at large, and has even admitted to several witnesses. Disrespect towards Professor Black, or any other teachers, for that matter, will not be tolerated. As students, you have no business in questioning his, or any other teacher's personal life."

"Well, I was only going to explain about how an old friend betrayed me and I was in no way responsible, but thank you, Minnie."

"Black-"

"Well, now, please, let us begin our feasts!" Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together once more. Hermione caught Sirius's eye and smiled at him, and looked to Remus, who to her surprise was standing up and making to leave.

She stood and walked to Ernie, who looked up in surprise. "Hey, Hermione, we don't have to-"

"Ernie, I feel rather ill, could you get a prefect to show the first years to their dormitories?" she asked. Ernie looked at her sympathetically.

"Of course," he said. He reached up and felt her forehead, and she smiled; he was a muggle born, too, and he still resorted to feeling her forehead for a fever.

"You do actually feel a bit warm…you should go to madam Pomfrey before you go to bed,"

"I think I will. Thanks. I'm sorry I-"

"No, Hermione, it's fine! If YOU of all people are skiving off Head duties, something must be seriously wrong. I don't want you to hurt yourself," he said, with a smile. She smiled back, feeling a tad guilty, and wandered off to follow Remus, who was just leaving the hall.