Hello readers! Sorry about the delay, I'm juggling a college schedule, work, and sleep which leaves me with very little time to write out chapters. A couple of people noted that Hermione learned about Lupin being a werewolf from Snape and were frustrated that I changed it, and in my own defense this story clearly isn't meant to be an exact copy of the actual books. Of course, I greatly appreciate the feedback and sometimes I learn from it, but other times what I write is completely intentional. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I know that it is rather short, and the chapters will be for a little while, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

"Shall we call you a bat now too?" Ron picked lazily at a piece of buttered toast and avoided Hermione's glare. She was sitting in the great hall with her friends, Neville sat on her right, Ron across from her, and Harry on Ron's left- she had decided to break the news about her apprenticeship to them that morning, and after her announcement Ron grew particularly annoyed. It seemed his hate for the professor immediately made her an enemy, though this was a long time coming, as Ron already seemed alienated by her abilities as a witch. Hermione ducked her head and picked at her food, Neville shuffled awkwardly next to her and Harry gave Ron's shoulder a good shove. "What the bloody hell was that for?" Ron whined. Apparently, Ron had also discovered and fell in love with the term "bloody" over the summer break, and couldn't go through a conversation without saying it at least once.

"Hermione is our friend, she's nothing like the bat so don't talk about her like you talk about him." Harry gave her a sympathetic look and Ron mumbled an apology. "Why are you his apprentice?"

"Potions." Of course, that wasn't the only reason why she was his apprentice, the professor could teach anyone how to brew a potion, and he likely only chose her as an apprentice to dissect her questionable skills. However, to her own luck the professor would teach her how to make wolfsbane. Harry rolled his eyes in response.

"I know for potions, but why. You don't have to be his apprentice, I bet you already know more than what he can teach." Neville nodded on agreement, and even Ron hummed in response.

"That's highly unlikely, the man is a master in his field and I am but a mere third year who hasn't brewed anything extraordinary yet." The boys chuckled and Neville shook his head.

"You sound like Dobby when he speaks to Harry." At that he dramatically mocked the house elf causing the other two boys to laugh, Hermione ignored his antics and glanced up at the head of the hall where the professors took their meals. Professor Lupin was by himself, snacking on whatever was on his plate, Hermione narrowed her eyes. He looked like a normal man with a normal life, his mop of dirty blonde stubbornly fell in front of his face, from where she sat she could see the smirk that tugged on his lips as he ate. He stopped what he was doing, and looked up, meeting her eyes with his sincere brown ones. For a second Hermione expected to hear his thoughts, but a picture of a girl invaded her mind: She had long red hair like fire, wide green eyes, and a carefree smile. She was beautiful, but with her image Hermione felt loss, she forced herself to look away.

"Hermione do you want to go?" Her friends were looking at her expectantly, she blushed and bit her lip guiltily.

"Go where…"

"By Merlin Hermione, must you always disappear in that head of yours?" Neville joked. "Harry wants to go out to the black lake to relax before classes start tomorrow, Ron wants to play wizard's chess so he won't be going, what about you?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "I don't see why not, though I did want to study my syllabus for this year, and later I have to speak to professor McGonagall about my schedule…"

"Great, let's go!" Harry was already up and down the hall by the time Hermione got up from her seat, she glanced over her shoulder at professor Lupin, his head was ducked and his shoulders sagged, as if he were carrying the world on his back.

Neville didn't last very long on their black lake journey, as soon as they exited the castle the water of the black lake shifted, and one giant tentacle broke through the surface. Upon seeing this Neville turned an odd shade of green, shrieked, and stumbled back into the building. Harry chuckled at the sight, while Hermione watched as the tentacle slowly submerged itself back into the inky depths of the lake. The giant squid meant no harm to any of the students, so it didn't scare her, but something about the bottomless depths of the black lake left her feeling unsettled, though she couldn't imagine a situation where she would ever have to be in the lake.

The duo trudged down to the shore and sat down amongst tiny pebbles and sand, Harry took off his shoes and inched his feet into the cool water, Hermione opted to curl her legs under her. For a moment, they sat and stared at the water in cold silence, Hermione felt her mind go blank, and for a second the fluttering wind sounded louder than what it was.

"Do you reckon that someone is going to try to kill me again this year?" Harry said mildly, his voice was dripping with sarcasm, but Hermione could see the nervousness in his eyes.

"I can't say for sure, but of course I'm hoping that we get a break this year." Hermione commented. "If something does happen, I think we're experienced enough to handle it."

"I think we have more luck than experience, and I think that I have had enough with dragging everyone into my problems." Harry sighed and tossed a pebble into the lake. "Neville has a scar on his head now, Ron gets nightmares about being chased by giant spiders, and you…" Harry glanced at Hermione's legs. "You can't tell me that your legs aren't in constant pain, I see the way you walk now."

"I'm not going to lie and tell you that they don't hurt." Hermione started, "But it was my decision to go down to the chamber of secrets."

"You were there because of me."

"Thinking back on it now, I'm sure that you would have been just fine without me." Hermione argued, Harry sighed in defeat and kicked his feet around in the water.

"I want to leave you guys out of it this year, so that you're all safe by the end of the year." Harry declared. "If you think that I could have done it by myself last year, maybe I should handle the rest of my issues by myself."

"Don't use my own words against me Harry Potter, we started this line of issues in our first year, and quite frankly I believe that you're stuck with our help for the rest of your life." Harry chuckled at this and shook his head.

"Out of all of us you are the most stubborn."

"I'm not going to deny that." Hermione smiled at her friend and looked out at the black lake, as the silence slowly crept up, another tentacle rose out of the water and came down with a splash in the distance.

"Do you ever wonder how that giant squid got here? Ron says that it's actually Godric Gryffindor in his Animagus form." He looked on at the water in amazement.

"Could be, but I always thought that Hagrid smuggled it into the school. Since he named a three-headed dog Fluffy, I reckon he's named the squid something along the line of "Swimmy" or "Bob""

"Bob?" Harry raised an eyebrow at Hermione. "Of all the names in the world, you think its name is "Bob?"

"I'm just speaking from Hagrid's point of view." Hermione threw up her hands in defense and grinned, Harry met her eyes and she caught a glimpse of how ridiculous he thought the name was, causing her to chuckle. He turned his face back towards the lake.

"So tomorrow we start classes." Harry noted solemnly.

"Yes, we do."

"Do you know how to open Hagrid's book without getting eaten alive?"

"Nope."