A/N: To those commenting/wondering about why Dumbles didn't try to talk to Harry after the trial, I went with Dumbledore being more scared of Harry's connection with Voldy than wanting to try to bring Harry under the control of his minions for a measly two or three weeks. Same reason in the book he never visited Harry at Grimmauld Place, ran away from Harry at the trial, etc. He's playing the long game.

A/N 2: And Toad only spoke after Dumbles brought up Voldemort and accused the Ministry, which imo were ill-advised, political moves in what was supposed to be a trial about Harry, so I used Harry to keep the trial actually on track, so she never had a reason to speak.

The last two and a half weeks of summer were the best summer weeks Harry could ever remember.

He was with Hermione the whole time, Tonks whenever she wasn't working or keeping abreast with the goings-on of the Order, and in his own house away from both his relatives and the Weasleys. He wouldn't have minded inviting the twins over, especially to practice Quidditch with them, but it was too much of a risk that the Matriarch could drag Harry's location out of them somehow, and anyway, he and Hermione would see them again as soon as school started.

But even though it was just the two and three of them (not including the house elves, who weren't really big on playing Quidditch) in a giant Manor on a large estate, Harry was never bored. Hermione kept him busy learning spells she thought they would be learning that upcoming year or she just thought would be useful to know, or teaching him what she knew about the reasoning behind why potions were brewed the way they were, so Harry would have a deeper understanding of the subject that would hopefully help him become a better potioneer than just being able to follow instructions written on the board. Harry kept Hermione busy flying around the grounds with him and throwing golf balls they had bought at a muggle shop in London for him to catch as seeker practice. And Tonks kept them both busy with stories of her own pranks she'd played while at school, telling them anything important she heard at Order meetings, and giving them beginning auror training to better prepare both of them for whatever Voldemort encounter seemed likely to occur at some point that year based on the previous four, along with joining in with Quidditch practice and flying whenever she could.

And so as the first day of term quickly drew closer, for the first time in his life Harry was actually sad to see summer end. He was looking forward to the new school year for sure, but he knew he was going to miss the freedom he'd had over these last few weeks of summer.

The day before everyone was set to return to Hogwarts aboard the Hogwarts Express, the booklists were finally delivered.

Harry and Hermione were laying in bed together languidly kissing when there came the light knock of a house elf on their bedroom door, who quickly opened the door and hurried over to the edge of their bed as soon as Harry called him in.

"Mail for the Lord Potter and Missy Hermione from Hogwarts," said the elf bowing, holding out their letters to Harry.

Harry took them both and handed Hermione's over to her, thanking the house elf before opening his letter. Inside he found the normal two sheets, the booklist and the reminder that the train departed at the same time on the same day from the same place as it had time immemorial.

"Short booklist," commented Harry as he looked over the list of two, one of which he'd had since one of his first trips with Hermione to Diagon Alley before she was kidnapped, since they were always assigned The Standard Book of Spells for the upcoming grade, so they had gone ahead and got it to be reading over.

But Hermione had been too busy looking at the third sheet that had been included in her letter to have gotten to the booklist yet. Glancing over at Harry she noticed that there didn't seem to be a third sheet in what he was holding in his hands, and she didn't see anything lying in his lap or looking like it was still in his envelop, either.

So she asked, "They did give it to you, didn't they?"

Harry looked over at her in confusion. "Give me what?"

"Prefect."

Harry's eyebrows rose, having completely forgotten that prefectships were given out that year. Quickly flipping through the two sheets he'd received in his letter, he finally said, "I don't see anything about being a prefect."

Hermione took the envelope from Harry's lap and turned it upside down, but Harry's prefect badge resolutely refused to fall out.

"How could they?!" she exclaimed, as much to herself as to Harry. "You clearly deserve it!"

"I guess McGonagall, or whoever picks, thought otherwise," shrugged Harry. "I mean, aren't prefects supposed to be leaders, and probably not students who have broken just about every school rule ever written?"

But Hermione had stopped listening at 'McGonagall'.

"That's it!" she exclaimed, leaping out of bed. "I'll write to her and get this all sorted out!"

But she had barely made it over to her desk when there came a knock on the door, and Tonks' voice saying, "Hope you're decent, cause I'm coming in!"

As Tonks pushed open the door a second later, Hermione rolled her eyes at the older girl and said, "Harry and I are dating, not married."

"Doesn't mean you can't make out a little," replied Tonks, before hurrying on before Hermione could point out that they made out quite often, thank you very much, "But that's not what I came here to tell you. I was at Grimmauld in the kitchen talking with Lupin, when Mrs W burst in practically squealing about how her precious ickle Ronnie was prefect — her words, not mine. So I came over here to warn you two that the redhead will probably be even more insufferable than before. He's finally got the limelight he's been wanting for years."

"Ronald?!" gasped Hermione in shock, and a tad bit of horror. "But he's the laziest person I've ever met! He'll never do a single prefect duty the entire next three years! Not to mention the fact he's done absolutely nothing to deserve it, and certainly not compared to Harry!"

"Wait — does that mean you got the girls'?" asked Tonks. "I thought maybe they'd snubbed both of you with all the shenanigans you guys have got into over the years."

Hermione held up the badge that had come in her envelope.

"Okay, that's just ridiculous, then," continued Tonks. "I mean, they are aware you two are dating, right? Which yeah, technically doesn't automatically mean you should both get it, but — it's you two!"

"My thoughts precisely," growled Hermione. "This is a travesty, and Professor McGonagall's going to hear about it."

Professor McGonagall was sitting in her office looking over her lesson plans for the upcoming year, when there came the tap of an owl on her window. Opening it up, she found a letter from her best student, Miss Granger. But the letter she found inside was certainly not what she would have ever expected from said student.

~.~

Professor McGonagall,

I would try to make this polite, but as school resumes tomorrow I quite frankly don't have time.

I refuse to do prefect duty with Ronald Weasley. He is lazy, rude, abrasive, abusive, and we both know he won't perform his duties as prefect without being drug out to do them, and even then he will only do them half-way. To be perfectly blunt, he has not earned, and does not deserve, the privilege of being a prefect. Additionally, he and I are no longer friends in case that somehow escaped the notice of the entire staff last year, due to his refusal to believe that Harry Potter did not enter his name into the Goblet of Fire. And despite having been locked up in the same house as him for three weeks earlier this summer, I cannot, and utterly refuse to, work with him.

In fact, the only boy I will be prefect with is Harry, since he is clearly the best choice for the position out of the five boys in our year. So I am sending back my badge in this letter, and if you decide to change the boys prefect to Harry, I will gladly accept it back. Otherwise, I refuse to be prefect.

Good day,

Hermione Granger

~.~

McGonagall stared at the letter for the longest time, stunned that anyone, let alone the girl who'd been aiming for prefect and then head girl ever since the moment she'd stepped foot into their hallowed halls four years prior, would turn down such an honor. Though after several more minutes, she began to actually think about the fact that Ronald Weasley had apparently been named the fifth year Gryffindor boys prefect, and she did have to wonder how that decision had ever been made.

While the redhead had always managed to be somewhere around the middle of at least Transfiguration his first three years at Hogwarts and the first couple months of his fourth year, if perhaps more often slightly below center than above, he had barely scraped by with a passing grade for the rest of the previous year. Which had registered as slightly odd to her, as the redhead and Potter's grades had always been relatively comparable up until then, Potter always better but not by a large amount and generally fluctuating about the same, and yet the previous year Potter had indubitably become the second best student in fourth year Transfiguration behind only Miss Granger herself, who was always first, while the redhead's grades had plummeted to Crabbe and Goyle levels. But as failing a Weasley stood slightly less chance of ever occurring than the wizarding world starting to call He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named by 'Voldemort', she hadn't had any reason to pay all that much attention.

And yet here, now, the redhead had somehow apparently been picked by Dumbledore to be the Gryffindor Fifth Year male prefect over Potter. But unfortunately, it appeared to have already been done, setting it in stone. The only way a prefect could be changed was if the current prefect voluntarily handed over their badge, like Miss Granger was doing, which even she had her serious doubts that the redhead would be willing to do.

And speaking of Miss Granger, the star pupil of the castle, the brightest mind she had ever seen walk those hallowed halls, guaranteed Head Girl in two years, refusing to be prefect? That was less probable than He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named digging up his father's bones and using Harry's blood to regain a body and return to wreck havoc on the world once more — or whatever it was Dumbledore had said He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named did in the graveyard. But as much as she wished she could write back a letter saying it would all be taken care of, that Potter would of course become the other prefect and life around the castle would be perfect again, she couldn't. So instead, she did the next best thing —

She begged.

~.~

Miss Granger,

I implore you to reconsider your decision. Once another prefect is named in your position, you will not be able to become prefect again, which will greatly reduce your chances of making Head Girl, as Heads are practically always picked from the seventh year prefects.

And I understand your desire to have Mister Potter as your fellow prefect, I know you two were able to spend a lot of time together last year and you being prefect and him not would cut down on that amount of time you would have being friends, but unfortunately that is out of my hands. Once the badges have been sent out, the only way one can be taken back is if the recipient voluntarily hands it back. You of course are more than welcome to ask Mister Weasley to return his, in which case Mister Potter would logically be next in line to receive it, but as school starts tomorrow and prefectships are set in stone for their three year term when everyone goes to bed on September first, you will need to act fast.

If you do change your mind, I will have your prefect badge waiting for you when you arrive at the castle from the Hogwarts Express tomorrow evening.

I hope you have an enjoyable final day of summer vacation, and look forward to seeing you again tomorrow,

Professor McGonagall

~.~

Professor McGonagall sealed up the letter and attached it to the snow-white owl's leg, and sent it back out the window into the cloudless azure sky.

A few miles away outside Hogsmeade, Hedwig flew down to Zizi, and the house elf apparated them both back to Potter Manor as soon as Hedwig touched down on her arm. Arriving in the Potter Manor kitchen a few seconds later where Harry, Hermione, and Tonks were enjoying breakfast, Hedwig flew off Zizi's arm and landed in front of Hermione, ruffling her feathers to shake off the post-apparation feeling — she really hoped her masters didn't ask her to travel like that very often, as she much preferred flying.

Hermione took the letter off of Hedwig's leg and read it, sighing as she did so. She had expected something like this, but it was still disappointing to find it out for sure.

Looking over at Harry, she shook her head and said, "No luck, sorry. Professor McGonagall says the only way to get you your rightful prefect badge is for Ron to voluntarily give up the badge they sent him, which we all know isn't happening."

"You really don't have to do this for me," insisted Harry for not the first time that morning. "I know you've been wanting this since first year."

"And I'd rather steal a nesting mother dragon's pre-born baby through a maze in a graveyard at the bottom of the Black Lake than do anything with Ronald," replied Hermione with a roll of her eyes. "We're not discussing this, Harry. I've made my choice, and that's you, and I don't regret in the least not being prefect with that lazy, abusive, now-gloating git."

Harry simply nodded, knowing better than to say anything more about it.

Meanwhile, at Grimmauld Place, Ron was jumping up and down in celebration.

He had originally been stunned silent as he read the letter from Hogwarts saying that he was prefect, as had everyone else after that who'd heard that he'd been made prefect, but quickly enough he'd convinced himself that not only did he deserve it, but that he was obviously the only choice for it, and was now going around flaunting his badge and new position exactly like he'd complained about Percy doing in years prior. Mrs Weasley had of course been even worse, even going so far as to essentially disown the twins by saying that Ron being named prefect meant that all of her children so far had been chosen as prefects.

But as part of Ron being named fourth prefect in a family of six to have reached fifth year so far, the Matriarch promised to buy him a new broom when she went and got all of their new school supplies, which she immediately set out to do. Now, Hermione, Harry, and Tonks had made a similar decision to go buy the one last school supply they didn't already have — Defensive Magical Theory, by Wilbert Slinkhard — since it was the only day left in the summer to go get it before school started and they would have to have it, since Hogwarts had waited until literally the last moment to tell all of its students what books they would need for the new school year.

So Mrs Weasley hadn't been rushing through Diagon Alley all alone for very long — since it was clearly much safer for her to shop alone than to bring any of her children who had numerous years of Hogwarts training — before she ran across Hermione, Harry, and Tonks strolling down the street enjoying post-breakfast ice cream sundaes, chatting away merrily.

"And what exactly do you two think you're doing here?!" she scolded loudly at Harry and Hermione as she stepped into their faces. "You could be—!"

She suddenly realized what she was about to say loud enough for anyone to hear it, and leaned in to whisper harshly, "You-Know-Who could attack you!"

Looking back up at Tonks, she resumed her loud screeching with, "And you! Letting them come all alone!"

"You do realize the pure stupidity of that last statement, don't you?" replied Tonks dryly. "They clearly aren't alone — they're here with me. An Auror. Member of the sacred Order you've put all your faith in to solve the problem of Voldemort's return. So if there's anyone who shouldn't be here right now, it would actually be you, since you're here without any protection, a known Dumbledore sympathizer, and to the best of my knowledge have absolutely zero war training or experience, unlike myself and Harry, respectively. And Hermione's a genius, she can take care of herself."

Mrs Weasley stared at Tonks in shock and outrage at being called out, until Tonks finally said, "Shouldn't you be getting on with your shopping? Four students to buy everything for, and time's a ticking. Goodbye."

And with that she set off down the street again, Harry and Hermione quickly following with her.

"Still trying to control us, even though we haven't lived in her house for almost a month," said Hermione once they were out of earshot of the woman. "Or I haven't, at least — Harry never has this entire summer."

"She will be who she is," replied Tonks sagely. "Can't help herself. Now where do you want to go first?"

Diagon Alley quickly became crowded with all the Hogwarts students and their parents coming to buy their books and other school supplies for the year, so the trio soon headed back out into muggle London to get away from the crowds. After spending the afternoon walking around muggle London, Tonks led them back into Diagon Alley, where she treated them to a fancy dinner at the one nice restaurant in Diagon Alley, as a going away gift since Harry and Hermione would be departing for Hogwarts the following morning, and she wouldn't be able to see them again for quite a while.

But eventually they made it back to Potter Manor, where Hermione packed up their last remaining book in each of their trunks, and made sure everything else had been packed up neatly as well, so they didn't have to worry about packing at all the following day.

Finally they went to bed, excited for the start of the new school year.

A/N: I don't know if or when this will be continued. It was my original goal to write 5th Year, but I haven't even started it yet, and I have other works I'm more into writing right now than this. So theoretically this will one day be continued, but I've said that on other stories I haven't continued, so I'm certainly not going to be making any promises.