Chapter 11: Friends Part 1

A/N: A million thanks to my new beta Adari.

Disclaimer: My country is way to cold to be England.

(Hermione's POV)

After a long, but successful day at the library with Luna, Hermione was more than happy to go back to the Loony Den* to share her discovery with her male friends, who for some mysterious reason –Luna had suggested a Tliug invasion – had barricaded themselves all day, going as far as skipping dinner and supper.

Though her friends' absence nipped at her all day, today's discovery had her on cloud nine. She had found a reference to Nargles as real creatures in an old dusty tome, hidden on the top shelve of an obscure corner of the library who had seemingly been surrendered to spiders and dust. She now had solid evidence that her friends weren't completely insane – which was indeed quite reassuring. Though the book was ancient by anyone's count, it was written in a style and manner that clearly indicate the intellect of its writer giving it comforting credibility.

So it was with a bounce in her step, and a dusty old and heavy tome in her arm, that Hermione entered the Loony Den on that first Friday night at Hogwarts. She took a few more enthusiastic steps before being hit by the strangeness of the scene before her. Brush or wand in hand, Harry and Draco were going over the motifs on the walls, adding relief and color. They were presently going over the top part of the walls, and had taken to walking on the ceiling as a means to complete their task.

Though this casual defiance of the Newton's law of gravity might have baffled the bookworm prior to her encounter with the wizard world, she had now spent enough time in the Loony Den to be only mildly titillated by the violation of one of the major laws of physics.

Her current bafflement stemmed from the oppressive gloom that clung to the boys.

Now, standing alone on the marble floor, she wished that Luna had come back with her. The melancholic mood that radiated from the boys was battering her mind from every angle. Some corner of her mind just knew that had Luna been there she could have dissipated the dark.

But Luna had left to chase after the scurrying rat, and so she stood here - alone.

Taking a few tentative steps into the room, she opened her mouth to inquire about the unusual melancholy that had taken hold of her usually cheerful friends.
Seconds later, silence still resonated in the room. Hermione had closed her mouth, muffling her worried words before they ever came to existence. Taking a tentative step towards her friends she gulped nervously, before opening her mouth to speak. Only to have her words stifled as they surfaced, forced back down her throat by the voices. Stumbling forward she tried again and again to form the words, yet each time the voices clenched her throat, silencing her words.

/…have you seen her hair? And those teeth!/

In her mind the voices of dozen of schoolmates of old were whispering deafeningly.

/…she's so… Pushy… what a teacher's pet./

/…know-it-all thinks she's so smart… she can't even use a hair brush!/

The voices she had tried to ignore through elementary school were breaking through to the surface of her mind. Attracted by the bleak despair that encompassed the room.

Dizzy, she clumsily made her way to her bed, closing the drapes around her. Pulling a blanket up to her neck she sat, shivering, desperately trying to push away the voices. They weren't there anymore. She had friends. She had Harry, Draco and Luna. It didn't matter if they weren't That close yet. It Had only been a week. Of course, she didn't know much about their past. She could be expected to know every tidbits of information about them.

She knew that Draco was an aristocrat from the old and prosperous Malfoy family. She knew that Harry the boy-who-lived and lived with his muggle aunt and uncle. She knew that Luna's father owned the Quibbler. See, she knew things about them.

Of course those were all public facts. Even Weasley knew that.

/…she's weird mom. I don't want to play with her./

A quivering arm reached blindly for the bed side table, grabbing hold of her copy of Hogwarts a History before quickly retracting, clenching the book to her heart.

They're my friends right? Harry said he wanted to be my friends. They all said they wanted to be my friends.

Friends ask friends what's wrong, right? I'm just being silly. They're different from Them. They're my friends, they're nice.

But aren't they nice to everyone. They're even nice to Weasley.

But… they said they were my friends.

They also said that there was a Revelc nest in Slytherin.

So they're a bit different. That doesn't make them less my friends!

But the fact you know Nothing about them, and that they never told you how they met. You know they were all friends before you right? It so obvious the shared looks, the synchronized movements…

Clenching the book tighter to her, she squeezed her eyes shut. They were wrong, and so was It, they were her friends. It had only been a week, it was normal that she didn't know much or anything about their past.

She just had to wait.

But just how long would it take?

They were her friends. She could wait. She wouldn't ruin this. She wouldn't be pushy.

But just how long will it take?

HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS

A week had passed, during which Hermione watched her friends carefully waiting for some kind of information on their past. She would have been satisfied with anything from a deep dark secret to learning about their last crush. But for all her careful waiting, she got nothing.

She told herself that she had not waited long enough, that there was no reason to worry. After all, everything else was going great. In class, she was earning points and seemed to be doing well despite her lack of magical background. Outside of class, she was always with her friends who amused her with original theories and bizarre humor. Better yet, they were willing and happy to go to the library with her where they ended up spending a considerable amount of time. Yet… no. She stubbornly pushed the issue aside as she entered the great hall with Draco and Luna.

Hermione was picking at her pancakes when the Great Hall started to buzz. Curious, Hermione looked around; all around her students were wearing expressions of a diverse degree of incredibility on their faces, mouth hanging open, while a few fell to the ground. At the staff table, Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling with amazed mirth, while McGonagall appeared to be digging her nails into the table, next to her Snape was pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

At the root of all the stares was Harry, who was skipping his way to their table. Trailing behind happily in his wake was a small wild looking cat. The creature was bouncing, to all appearances trying to imitate the boy's skip. Identifying the cat, she finally understood the cause of the hall's incredulity. It wasn't just any feral looking cat that Harry had managed to befriend, but Mrs Norris. According to the rumors, she was a vicious, vindictive snitch whom most of the school – including most members of the staff – had wished to kick (or bite**) at some point or another.

Watching the supposed menace now, she couldn't help thinking that this was just another case where the wizard world was prejudiced. Undoubtedly the cat looked a bit scruffy, but if one looked past the wild exterior, it was easy to see how sweet the little kitten really was. As soon as Harry reached the table, she picked the Mrs Norris up, and started petting her. Taking out her wand she cast a soft cleaning spell on the cat's fur and was delighted when it took on a healthier, softer appearance. As she ran her hand into the cat's coat, she missed the triumphal look that passed between her friends.


* The Loony Den was an epithet given to the boy-who-lived dormitory by the other member of the snake house. The designation had taken after numerous students had found themselves hanging upside down or colored strangely after trying to enter their dorm. Though none of the other snakes had ever been granted the honor of a reception like the one given to Parkinson and Nott, they had learn to stand clear of the bizarre door, engraved with unknown motifs.


** The 15th of November 1988, Minerva had finally snapped while in her animagus form and bit the cat.

Minerva had had a bad week. She was out of her favorite blend of tea. Her students' essays were pathetic. The school was horrifyingly deprived of prankster, which meant utter and complete boredom after so many years teaching the same material. And the bloody, annoying cat was marking her territory, parading as if it owned the place. Everyone knew that this was HER castle. … And then… it had done the unpardonable; it had sneaked into her catnip reserve and stolen it.

So she snapped. Ran through the whole castle chasing the caretaker's cat, to finally corner it on the third floor, and bite it into submission.

It was HER castle, and HER catnip.


A/N: This chapter was written for my lovely reviewers as their nice comments encourage me to continue writing, and more specifically for . whose review convinced me to write this chapter despite a complete lack of motivation and author's block.

As always Reviews and Flames are welcome.

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