I don't own Harry Potter at all

A/N: I got this idea from several sources, meaning many other stories that I've read. So I want to thank all of them for giving me this idea. I'm sorry that I can't actually remember them though to give them their proper thanks. Good Dumbledore in this one.

Why Me?

By: Sheltie

Eleven-year-old Harry Potter had only about two months of magical training when he needed to put all it to use for the first time. It was Halloween and Harry was enjoying the feast along with his first friend Ron Weasley. But the joyous atmosphere was shattered when professor Quirrell came bursting in shouting about a troll in the dungeon then fainted after he announced the news. Orders were given and soon students were evacuated to their dorms. But Harry remembered one thing. Hermione. Hermione was crying in the bathrooms because of the mean comments Ron made about her.

Now Harry may not know Hermione very well and thought of her a bit annoying and a know-it-at-all at times, but she needed to be warned. He remembered what McGonagall told all first years before they were sorted. Their house was their family and Harry took those words to heart mainly since Gryffindor house was a millions times better than the Dursleys.

"Ron, Hermione, she doesn't know about the troll" Harry said.

"Forget about her, we got to go" Ron said.

"No Ron, we can't" Harry said firmly.

"But Harry" Ron whined.

"You go, I'm going after Hermione" Harry said.

He then ran off ignoring Ron's calls.

/Scene Break/

Harry made it to the girl's bathrooms and heard a scream. He rushed in and found Hermione cowering in the corner with a big ugly smelling creature looming over her. Harry assumed it was the troll though he had never seen one before in his young life.

"Hey! Hey you, over here. Over here!" Harry shouted trying to get the troll's attention.

It didn't work.

Harry picked up a piece of debris of one of the stalls that the troll had smashed up and chucked it at the troll's head. It took several pieces to get its attention since a troll's brain is very slow to pick up anything. It then turned and roared at Harry for being an annoyance.

"Great, now what do I do?" Harry mumbled to himself.

He then saw as the troll was about to turn back to Hermione and knew he had to do something fast. It didn't look like Hermione was going to move and she'd be crushed by that club the troll dragged around. So he whipped out his wand without even thinking began to focus his magic. He just wanted to stop the troll from hurting Hermione.

A loud boom was heard that echoed off the tiled walls of the bathroom. Harry fell on his butt from the sound as he skidded back into the way from the force. His wand was smoking and when he looked up after adjusting his skewed glasses he noticed a huge hole in the middle of the troll's back and a big chunk of the tiled wall was gone too.

"Wow, what happened?" Harry asked stunned as he just stared at the hole in the troll and the hole in the wall.

The now dead troll's body swayed then fell forward. Hermione screamed and Harry jumped up and ran over with speed he never knew he had. What he didn't know was he was pumping magic to his muscle to give him speed. He grabbed Hermione and pulled her way before so could be smushed by the troll carcass. Hermione held on to Harry tightly even though he was shorter than her. She had her head buried in his shoulder.

Once clear Harry put Hermione down, but held her to his side since she was shaky on her feet. Harry wasn't very stable on his feet either, but that was because of all the magic he just did. It took a lot out of him.

"Are you okay Hermione?" Harry asked tiredly.

"I-I-I th-think so" Hermione stuttered out.

The two looked at the dead troll.

"Harry" Hermione said.

Harry turned to Hermione. She then kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you for saving me" she said softly.

Harry blushed since he had never been kissed before.

What neither of them knew was what had just begun. That simple act of Hermione thanking Harry by giving Harry a small kiss would change both of their lives. Neither noticed a light that radiated around themselves for a few moments before disappearing signifying a bond between them had been made. The sound of multiple footsteps was heard and soon a group of professors entered the wrecked bathroom.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger" McGonagall said stunned as she looked at the two first years and the dead troll.

Harry and Hermione looked at the professors.

"What happened here?" McGonagall asked.

"It's all Ron's fault" Harry blurted out.

This stunned everyone.

"Please explain Mr. Potter" McGonagall said sternly.

Harry then explained how Ron's mean comments caused Hermione to be in the bathroom crying and thus to be in danger by the troll. How he went to save her and even tried to get Ron to come with, but the redhead refused.

"Mr. Potter, why didn't you tell a professor?" McGonagall asked.

"You were all too busy" Harry said.

"And the prefect?" McGonagall said.

"Percy, he wouldn't listen. He doesn't listen to any of us first years. He doesn't even really help us when we need help" Harry said.

McGonagall's lips were thin hearing this.

"Mr. Potter, did you do this to the troll?" Flitwick asked as he examined the troll carcass.

"Uh yeah, I tried to distract it, but it didn't work. I knew I had to do something or Hermione would be dead" Harry said and he felt Hermione squeeze his arm tightly.

Flitwick looked over and murmured a few spells under his breath.

"Unbelievable" he said with pure astonishment in his voice.

"What is it Filius?" Professor Sprout asked curiously.

"If I am reading this right then this wasn't done by any spell, it was done by pure raw magic" Flitwick said.

This had the professors look at Harry for an explanation and Harry felt his throat go dry.

"I-I-I didn't know any spells that could take down a troll so I just concentrated in stopping the troll from hurting Hermione. I didn't know that would happen" Harry said honestly.

"Be that it may. Mr. Potter, what you did was very foolish" McGonagall said sternly.

"I agree Minerva, though I must inject that even though it was foolish he risked his life to save a fellow classmate. I am not sure there are many others would do that, especially at his age" Sprout said.

"So we're going to award points to Potter for his dunderheaded accomplishment" Snape sneered.

"Mr. Potter may not have come in with a plan Severus, but there's something admirable in risking ones life for another" Sprout said.

"I quite agree Pomona. And no other first year could take down a fully sized troll" Flitwick said.

"Fine. Ten points removed for foolish behavior" McGonagall said.

Harry and Hermione winced at this.

"Twenty points to Mr. Potter for not only risking his own life, but also saving one of his fellow classmates" McGonagall said.

They were then dismissed so the teachers could get rid of the troll carcass. They walked down the hall with Hermione still holding Harry's arm. Neither said a word as they walked. What was there to say really?

/Scene Break/

It was after the troll incident that things changed. Harry started hanging out with Hermione even though Ron tried to budge in many times. Harry gave Ron the cold shoulder and even announced to the entire lion's den an edited version of the troll incident. With the story focusing on how Ron's mean comments led to Hermione almost losing her life to a troll.

This didn't help Ron any since the entire house was against him even his twin older brothers were displeased with him. They even threatened to send an owl to their mom if Ron didn't stop his whining.

Hermione helped Harry find a good balance in doing his homework and getting it done and not procrastinate like he did with Ron. But this worked both ways. Harry forced Hermione to calm down and relax.

"Hermione, I know you want to prove yourself, but you come off as a snotty know-it-all" Harry said honestly.

Hermione hung her head letting her long bushy brown hair veiled her face.

"It's not totally bad, but you just need to relax and have fun. There's more to do than just homework and studying" Harry said.

"But Harry, our grades" Hermione argued.

"Will be fine. We shouldn't work ourselves to death either" Harry said sagely.

"I guess you're right" Hermione said as she nibbled her lip.

"Of course I am right, I am Harry Potter" Harry said with a playful smirk.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Harry found that with Hermione he could relax a bit more and even have fun with his fame since she didn't care about it at all. She saw him as 'just Harry', which was alright with him.

/Scene Break/

A few days later Harry was walking around the castle. His homework was done with and he hadn't really explored the castle much. He first made sure Hermione wasn't studying and took away all of her books to make sure she couldn't. He even banned her from the library for the day. Hermione pouted about it, but would stick to Harry's commands since Harry was just looking out for her.

As he walked he heard a sound and his curiosity got the best of him. He headed towards the sound and found two older students ganging up on another student, this student was female. She struggled to move, but she was in a body bind.

"Quit struggling, you'll enjoy this" the first guy said.

"Yeah, by the end you'll be begging for it" the second said smirking.

Harry's blood boiled as he watched this. He may be young, but he had a feeling whatever these two were doing wasn't good and he could never look away from something like this.

The girl's robes were gone and her skirt was hiked up so you could see her panties. Her blouse had been unbutton enough to show her bra. There was slight fear in her eyes, but there was also fierce stubbornness in those eyes too. She wasn't going to give these two what they wanted from her.

Harry knew he had to act. Though he knew he was only a first year and didn't have the experience to take on the two older students and would most likely lose. He couldn't just sit back and do nothing and he knew if he went for help then it would be too late. The girl needed help now. So Harry burst into action.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" he shouted.

The two boys looked up.

"Oh look, a little firstie" the first boy said.

"Heh, he thinks he can play hero wearing those colors" the second boy said eyeing Harry's Gryffindor colors.

"Let her go now" Harry ordered.

This made the two boys laugh.

"Look kid, just scurry off" the first boy said.

"Yeah, unless you want to watch us take this sweet thing" the second boy said as he leered at the girl.

Neither of the boys even recognized that it was Harry, but that didn't matter to him. He pulled out his wand and going through the motions of how he took down the troll though he didn't want to kill the boys, just knock them out. A blast of magic erupted from his wand knocking him down on his butt. He had to adjust his glasses as his wand tip was once again smoking.

Both boys were on the ground unconscious.

This pleased Harry and he crawled over to the girl.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

The girl tried to nod, but she was still magically bound. So Harry removed the spell by just thinking it and letting his magic do his bidding. He didn't even know he was doing it really.

"I am fine, thank you" the girl said now free.

Harry then saw how close he was and where his eyes were. He was staring down into her open shirt and her hiked skirt. He blushed bright red and turned away. The girl couldn't help, but find a bit of humor in the situation and then pushed her skirt down and buttoned up her shirt.

"I am decent, you can look" she said.

Harry nodded with still red stained cheeks.

/Scene Break/

Harry was in the hospital wing with the girl. He found out the girl's name was Penelope Clearwater and she was a fifth year and a prefect for Ravenclaw house. She was in the wing to get checked up by the school nurse, madam Pomfrey. With them was three heads of houses, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin. Ravenclaw since Penelope was the one attacked, Slytherin since they were the ones who attacked Penelope and Gryffindor since Harry was involved. They had gotten the entire story from Penelope and Harry.

"Again Potter decides to play hero" Snape sneered.

"And I am proud of him for doing so. Miss Clearwater would've been raped if it weren't for his intervention. I owe him for saving the life of one of my house" Flitwick said firmly as he glared at Snape.

"Yes, but why didn't Mr. Potter go find a teacher?" McGonagall asked eyeing Harry. Sure, she was proud of Harry for risking his life once again for saving a fellow student, but she had to act stern.

"There was no time professors. I knew if I left then Penelope would've been harmed. I did what I thought was best" Harry said.

Penelope smiled and took Harry's hand squeezing it in thanks.

McGonagall was also pleased with this answer, but had to hide it since she had keep up her stern act.

"So we're going to reward points for breaking the rules again" Snape spat.

"We are since I am going to the headmaster to have these two boys severely punished if not expelled" Flitwick said furiously.

"I agree, this kind of behavior is not tolerated in Hogwarts" McGonagall said firmly.

Snape gave one last sneer and then walked out of the hospital wing with his robes billowing.

"Mr. Potter, I give you 100 points for saving a student" Flitwick said.

"And 50 more for coming to aid for a student in need" McGonagall said.

Sure the two meant the same thing, but it's the wording that made it different and Harry gained 150 points in one fell swoop. The two professors left knowing that their next stop was the headmaster to argue their case since they knew Snape was already going there so he could weave his own tale.

"Thank you again for saving me Harry" Penelope said.

"It was nothing Penelope" HaarryHrry said.

"You can call me Penny, all my friends do and I now consider you a friend" Penny said.

"Okay, Penny" Harry said.

Penny, who was still holding Harry's hand, pulled him closer and kissed him on the cheek. Unnoticed to them they were surrounded by a golden glow signifying a bond.

/Scene Break/

More things changed with Harry's life now with Penny added into the mix. The first that happened was Penny and Percy breaking up though Harry wasn't the main cause of this really. Well, it depends on what side you take.

"He should've gone to get a professor, that's the rule" Percy said firmly.

"I would've been raped Percy if Harry did that. Rules aren't everything" Penny said.

"I can't believe he was awarded points for breaking the rules. He should've been punished" Percy said.

Penny was angry. When she told Percy what had happened he should've been worried and then relieved that she was alright. But no, what he latched on was Harry breaking the rules and how Harry should've been punished for actually doing something right. Well Penny wasn't going to let that happen. Harry had saved her life and she was going to protect him even if it was from her boyfriend. Or possibly ex-boyfriend with the way this was going.

"So you think people should be punished for doing the right thing even if it means breaking the rules?" Penny asked.

"Yes, we have rules that must and should be followed at all times. As Prefects that is our duty, we are here to maintain order in our houses" Percy said with his nose up in the air.

"No, a Prefect's job is to help the younger students adjust to Hogwarts and to help them whenever possible. Yes, we need to enforce the rules, but only when there's just cause" Penny said.

"Penelope" Percy said in a condescending tone, "I know you're traumatized by everything that has just happened, but as Prefects we are here to enforce all rules and to obey the professors and headmaster to the letter."

Penny was angry.

"If Harry followed the rules then I would've been raped. What Harry did was quite courageous and shows why he was selected in Gryffindor. He showed more courage than anyone I have ever met and he is only eleven. You, on the other hand are a pompous stickler for rules. What I saw in you to begin with I have no idea, but I am glad we never got any further. It's over Percy" she said and then walked away.

/Scene Break/

Percy was enraged as he stormed into the lion's den.

"YOU COST ME MY GIRLFRIEND POTTER!"

Harry was sitting with Hermione playing hangman. Harry looked up confused.

The rest of the common room was quiet and holding their breath waiting to see what would happen next. They watched as Percy marched over to Harry and yanked him out of his seat.

"You cost me my girlfriend Potter" he spat.

"Um, yeah. I got that, but how?" Harry asked very bewildered.

"It doesn't matter Potter. You lost me my girlfriend and now you're going to pay" Percy snarled then threw Harry to the floor.

Harry winced hitting the floor, but he had a high pain tolerance due to living with his relatives. His eyes widen when Percy pulled out his wand, but he never got a spell off because Hermione had her wand out and she hexed the prefect in the back. Percy gasped and fell forward and then Hermione stunned him making him crumble into unconsciousness. She then dashed over to Harry.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah" Harry said.

McGonagall soon appeared and got the full story for the entire house, which was pretty much the same except Ron's. His version was quite colored against Harry and Hermione. She was displeased by these events and snatched Percy's Prefect badge right off his stunned body and pocketed. She didn't even want Percy as a Prefect in the first place. She thought he was too Slytherin for her taste to be in Gryffindor. She didn't want a bootlicker in her house. She then took off 175 point for Percy's behavior and then took him to the hospital wing. She didn't take any points off Hermione since she was only protecting Harry.

/Scene Break/

Dumbledore sighed as he sat back in his chair. He was thinking of how the year was going so far. Harry Potter wasn't really the boy he thought he was. Sure, he looked like his father James, but his personality was very Lily like. So many things have changed and he had to change with them or not survive. He watched as Harry got close to two girls, muggle-borns if he remembered correctly. Now he had no problem with that since he knew that the wizarding world needed new blood to sustain their lives.

New families like muggle-borns and half-bloods marrying into pureblood families would strengthen the bloodlines. It sadden him how so many old families were dying out trying to stick to the old ways of marrying only purebloods. The Potters weren't like that and that's why they've survived and always produced strong magical off-spring.

But putting that aside Dumbledore knew there was something going on with Harry and his friendships with the two girls, but he didn't know what it was. He needed to do some magical scans and tests, but to do it. That was the question. Popping a lemon drop into his mouth he ruminated this problem. He then decided he had to go with the truth. There wasn't any other way around it.

/Scene Break/

Harry, Hermione and Penny stood in the headmaster's office unsure why they were here. Dumbledore smiled at them with his blue eyes twinkling.

"Is there something you need sir?" Hermione asked.

"Yes Miss Granger there is. You and Miss Clearwater are needed for something important" Dumbledore said.

"What is it sir?" Penny asked.

"It involves Harry here" Dumbledore said.

Harry gulped now feeling like he was in trouble.

"You're not in any trouble Harry, I assure" Dumbledore said reading Harry's mind. It wasn't hard and Dumbledore didn't need to actually use Legilimency. He could read it plainly on Harry's face.

Harry relaxed a tad.

"What I need is you to help me and go through some simple tests" Dumbledore said.

"Tests sir?" Penny asked.

"Yes, nothing invasive mind you" Dumbledore said.

The three looked at each other then came to an agreement.

"We'll do it sir" Harry said.

"Excellent" Dumbledore said.

So Harry, Hermione and Penny had several magical scans done on them. Dumbledore would wave his wand over their bodies as they stand muttering something under his breath. He did his first scan on each of them individual then with all three at once, then again them holding hands. He also had them hold certain colored crystals and the way they glowed he jotted down in his notes.

Hermione was quite curious as to what was going on and wanted to ask questions, but wasn't sure how really. Plus, she didn't want to interrupt Dumbledore at all.

"Alright, I thank you for your help. I'll look at what I have and then hopefully have the results" Dumbledore said.

"Will you let us know what they are sir?" Penny asked.

"Yes, of course. These are about you all meaning you should know the results" Dumbledore said.

The three left and Dumbledore excused them.

Now it was time for the real work.