AN Here is another chapter for you guys, thanks for all of the support and keep it up! Thanks for the feedback as well and I hope you are all enjoying this story. Not much else to say other than leave a review when you're done.

They approached the typical lion table and she took it in. Dinner was a bustling time for the school, people studying furiously while others piled food onto their plates with a flurry. Except Harry's table was different, it crossed the typical house lines in unprecedented ways. First, she noticed the hair of one Ronald Weasley… her former bully for lack of a better word. He was stuffing a drumstick in his mouth while his girlfriend chatted away with one of the Patel twins.

Next to him was Neville Longbottom who forked a mouthful of salad before staring up at her. He looked at her oddly before turning to Harry. The boy nodded at Harry before going back to his plate.

Then there was Luna Lovegood of Ravenclaw house… her house. She seemed comfortable at the table, in a way she was confused about. Nobody around her seemed to show any surprise about the blonde Ravenclaw among the house of lions. She flipped through her father's magazine… if you could call it that The Quibbler.

"Hey mate! We're you been?" Ron asked between bites. He smiled large until his eyes found her then they scowled.

"I was down talking to our favorite git in the dungeon! I'd also like to introduce you guys to Hermione." Harry said pointing to her like a show host to a new car. D

She felt herself shrink down and bring her bag closer to her chest and clutching it.

"Oy! I know who that is! It's that bookworm who made fun of me in my first year!" Ron said angrily

"Made fun of you? More like pitied you for your dreadful spell work!" She shot back without thinking.

She saw his face drop and his mouth open but before he could retaliate the howling laughter of Harry filled the air.

Ron looked at his best friend while Neville looked confused while Harry just continued to laugh.

"Sorry mate but it sounds like you!" Harry said between laughs.

"It's true mate! She poked her nose where it didn't belong!" Ron retaliated.

"Doesn't sound like her mate," Harry said while he finished his laugh.

"Is this where you've been since term started?" Neville asked curiously.

"Yeah. We got paired for the Spellcraft and we've been working on it together." Harry replied making his way to the table. He cleared a spot next to Neville and then motioned for her to sit on his right which she did after a brief hesitation. She felt Harry reach over and take the books from her arms and stuffing them into her bag.

"Oh okay, that makes sense," Neville said.

Harry got himself a plate while she eventually helped herself. She could feel Ron glaring at her but she tried to pay it no mind. Neville and Luna chatted about something while Ron mumbled between his stuffed face at his girlfriend. She got a plate and filled it with food while Harry ate in silence.

"So Hermione, do you know Luna?" Neville asked.

"Oh no… I mean I know of her because she's in my house and she's friends with Harry but no I don't know her personally." Hermione replied.

"What kind of spell are you and Harry working on then?" Neville asked politely.

"Oh we're working on a spe-"

"No. It's a secret." Harry replied with steel.

"Of course it is." Neville laughed. "Sorry, Hermione I knew he wouldn't tell me."

Harry chuckled before taking another stab at his dinner.

"Ready for the first game Harry?" Dean Thomas called out from down the table.

"Of course!" Harry replied with a wide smile.

He turned back to his food and they continued eating. She tried to let herself calm down, this had to be better than eating dinner at the end of the table by herself right? She wasn't sure now, it felt awkward but not… bad.

"We should be practicing twice a day Harry. Games only a week away and we can't afford to lose." Ron called out.

"Not right now Ron," Harry said.

"But Harry! We've been slacking!" Ron retorted.

"We've been practicing four times a week and doing weekly meetings!" Harry called out.

"I know but we should be meeting twice a week and practicing six!"

"Yeah, Ron… sure. It's not like I've been captain for three years now and we've won two cups in that time. And we're about to win another." Harry retorted annoyed.

Ron huffed but stopped responding and Hermione found herself smiling. Her guess that Ron hadn't changed had been correct.

None of them seemed phased by Harry not being in class the last month. At least they didn't show it. From here she could see Professor Lupin eying them and she was pretty sure she knew why. Everyone knew that the man was an uncle to Harry and was a very close friend of both of his parents. Why he let the boy skip his class in his final year she didn't know.

Speaking of which she saw the man rise from his seat. His robes were a little worse for wear but she knew that he had them for quite some time which explained it. The man's face was scarred but he remained youthful in the face and he was known for almost always having a smile on his face. He was one of the school's finest young professors.

He made his way to the table, students gawked at him and avoided his gaze. She could see why a professor coming down to a table during dinner was nothing short of weird.

He came to them. Making her shrink in her seat. She knew he wasn't there for her but it still made her uneasy.

"Harry. You've been quite hard to reach lately. Do you mind stopping by my office after dinner?" The man asked softly.

She could tell Harry pretended not to see him coming. He did, she caught him eyeing the man in the corner of his eye on his way over but he turned around in surprise.

"Oh of course Moony! I'll see you then!" Harry replied cheerily.

The man looked at him oddly before nodding and making his way back to the staff table.

When he was out of earshot Neville spoke.

"Oh, you're in for it now! Have you really been skipping class just to work on the Spellcraft?" Neville asked.

"Yeah. I want to win." Harry replied simply.

"Do you think Professor Lupin will tear into you?" Neville asked.

"I'm not sure. I can't remember him ever raising his voice at me even." Harry replied.

They finished lunch without issue and Hermione had even spoken some to Neville and Luna as well as Harry. He was much quieter than she anticipated but he had also just gotten in trouble with a teacher. Even if he didn't see it like that.

"See you in the common room, Harry." Neville said as he stood.

"I'll be back late I think. Don't wait up on me." Harry replied.

"I'm going to go talk to Moony. You can come by and wait then we can go to the room to get to work. If that's okay with you?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, that's fine."

They departed from the table and made their way to the DADA classroom. Remus had already left the table some time ago.

They walked side by side in silence but it wasn't an uncomfortable one.

Soon they were outside the defense classroom.

"I'll be back in a minute," Harry said before he entered the classroom.

She bounced on her heels and looked around the familiar hallway. Defense wasn't her favorite class, although there wasn't a class she hated… well except divination but she had only lasted for a week before dropping it. She loved magic and she respected what she would call a self-defense class but she found that charms and arithmancy had far more applications.

"Harry we just want you to finish your education!"

"What do you mean! This is all child's play you know that! I'll be fine for the exams!"

"That's not the point Harry!"

"What does that even mean!"

She felt wrong listening so she decided to take a few steps away so they were out of earshot.

A few minutes later Harry emerged looking more than a little frazzled. There were a few beads of sweat rolling down his forehead and he looked upset.

When he spotted her he smiled, although it didn't meet his eyes.

"Okay let's get on it then." He said as he took the lead towards the room.

What did Moony know? He was a great man and a good wizard by all means but it wasn't the same. All of this? It just bored him! Dumbledore would understand of course but it wasn't up to him. He liked going to school, of course, all of his friends were there and a lot of his family too but he knew he didn't… need it.

Moony had lectured him, his parents had written to Moony with concerns but there wasn't any need. He had already mastered most of the material years ago and now he just needed to take the actual exams to make it official what everyone already knew. He was a prodigy.

They sat down in the regular spots after Harry pulled the chair out for her. His mum and dad would have a fit if he forgot his manners, probably more than him "forgetting" he had classes to go to. Which was fine, they'd be mad then it would all blow over. Especially when their spell was done… it would change the wizarding world!

He did sort of miss being in class with his friends and causing mischief. But he knew it was a waste of time for him. He would gain fat more by taking more private lessons with Dumbledore. The headmaster has spared him his time over the summers for a few lessons as well as assigning him material but it wasn't enough. He understood though, the man was busy and an important part of their society. He probably hardly had time for his own life with the ministry, the world, himself, and Hogwarts all pulling in his direction.

"Was it weird then? Sitting with my friends?" Harry asked, looking up from the book he had been ignoring.

She looked up at him. Her eyes shone in the light of the candles that illuminated the room. They were such a warm brown that it reminded him of the feeling of a warm fire. She brushed a lock of hair from her face and looked at him before replying. She was quite beautiful.

"It wasn't too bad. Thanks for shutting Ronald up though." She replied.

"Oh, it's not a problem. I've been doing that since we were eight. He's always had a… big mouth I guess." Harry chuckled.

"What have you learned about the dementors?" Hermione asked.

"Everything I think. I've read all the books I thought would be useful and then some. I've read about encounters with them and I've even looked at some court records. I think I know all too much about those monsters." Harry replied sullenly.

"Well, I feel pretty good. I've read as much as I can about Spellcrafting and one book, in particular, made it understandable." She said flashing a book to his gaze.

Of course, it was his mother's book that had been published only two years ago. He couldn't fault her though, his mother was brilliant.

"Good. I think we can move on then. We can start thinking of ways to destroy them. From there we can work out how possible it may be and how we may accomplish it." Harry said closing the book.

He wasn't sure that they were ready but he was sure he was done reading about dementors. It was foul reading and he had done it in excess. He had also scanned through his mother's book but resisted the urge to owl her and ask for assistance. If she could find a way to destroy dementors… she would've by now. Maybe they were tackling something too large? He didn't know but he knew they had to win.

He might even get another Order of Merlin for this. Of course, he was astounded that he had one already but he knew he hadn't earned it. But he had it, and he was honored. He could get Hermione one too? Which would be great, if only to see Ron's face!

"Okay. I'll let you go first then since you're an expert on dementors." Hermione said closing her book and grabbing her notepad.

"Well, I've been thinking. Dementors need to feed on happiness and emotions to live. Which means they don't have them, and they have no way of creating them. They can also absorb souls which has led a lot of researchers to theorize that they do not possess a soul. As far as what dementors are made out of we don't know because we can't kill them or trap them and get close enough to examine them. So happiness is their food, and it keeps them alive. So I think if we could seal them away from you know… happiness and feeding on it they would starve. The only thing I'm concerned about is that they wouldn't die in a timely fashion." He explained.

She scribbled away as he talked and then she leaned back in her chair and stuck the pen in her mouth and lightly caressed it between her teeth.

It was his only idea. They fed on happiness and if they couldn't get it they would presumably die? They would have to create a spell that trapped them inside and also stopped them from feeding. As far as how they fed he wasn't exactly sure. They'd have to figure that out themselves because nobody was sure. Unless she had a better idea.

"That's not a bad idea. I have one too if you don't mind." She said softly.

"Of course not go ahead." He replied excitedly. The more ideas the better, he wouldn't be surprised if someone else had sat down and said the exact words he had. If they had more ideas to try out and more things to theorize they would have a better chance of doing it. The last thing he wanted to happen was the day to come and they not have anything.

"They feed on happiness. So what happens if you eat too much? Your stomach will hurt and then eventually you will throw up. I don't think dementors can throw up. So what would happen to them if they were overloaded with happiness?" She said.

He looked at her in surprise. He never thought about giving them what they wanted. It was interesting though and he liked it.

"You should be writing that down too. I think we can try both and see what happens. There is more that we have to do of course but it's a good start." He replied.

She smiled and then scribbled down her idea.

"I think the only way we'll learn then is if we get a dementor. Although I'm sure for your idea we could figure out how to flood it with happiness beforehand. But for my idea, we don't know how they suck the happiness out of people. It'll be like creating a force field like in the movies." He said.

They spent the rest of the session researching happiness. It was an odd thing to look into magically. But they did know that anger intensified magic so they knew it did play a part in it. They devised that the key for the spell would be to find the formula for happiness. It wasn't impossible, wizards had been able to find parts of the formula but there were missing links to the solution. If they wanted Hermione's plan to work they'd need to solve them. They decided to look into the cheering charm and see if that could help them.

They worked a little later than usual. Both of them were excited to get going on the actual spell. They worked into the dark but when the yawns started coming in waves they decided to call it a night.

They exited the room and Harry led the way back towards Ravenclaw's common room.

He was surprised that Hermione wasn't also bored by their classes. She was a smart witch, very clever, and seemed to know everything about magical theory. He had seen her perform magic in class too and while her spells were never particularly powerful but they all came out perfect and to the book's description. He didn't see her in the dueling club, which didn't surprise him. It was easy to see that she wasn't very social and the dueling club was just that, a club.

She could be social though. She was shy but she was nice to talk to. It was a different experience, for the most part, she didn't seem to notice him in the same light. Her eyes weren't star-struck, she wasn't very confident in herself but that was okay. When she did speak, what she said was normally right and in a lot of cases it helped him further understand what they were doing,

She was right when she said they weren't friends. They hadn't known each other that long and then he had screwed up and made her mad. Which probably hindered any chances. When just before when they started hitting it off. But he did think they could be friends in some weird way. She was a lot different than any of his friends, maybe she was most like Neville because he was a quiet boy. He had confidence about him though and he was in his opinion the second-best dueler in all of Hogwarts. They had fought many times during the years in the club and he was good. Of course, he never came close to even landing a spell on him but he got as close as anyone did. One day with enough practice he might even land one. He'd have to see if Hermione wanted to duel and see what she could do.

"You should come by my table for breakfast and hang out with us." He suggested.

She looked up at him but didn't meet his gaze before she replied.

"Ok." She replied softly.

Something about her shyness he just found… cute? He wasn't sure. He didn't think of her like that but he wasn't blind. He could see she was a young and beautiful woman.

"Okay cool. I'll see you tomorrow then Hermione." He said with a smile.

She went to her common room and he returned to his.