Chapter 1 : An Acknowledgment

Author's Notes

I do not own Harry Potter. This is merely a work of fan-fiction.

Harry explores the Chamber of Secrets at the end of his second-year and finds a portrait of Salazar Slytherin. Secrets are discovered earlier than in canon and while Harry remains 'good', he does become more focused, ruthless, political and delves into some obscure branches of , though many canon events are observed. Minor bashing. Pairing - HP/DG.

Harry will be a 'greyer' character in this story. While he will not become completely cold, he will not shy away from using more dangerous spells and even killing, if necessary. Harry is the main character and will go on to become an all-time great, however, he will not be perfect and will have his own flaws like any other character.

I will try to include romance, however that is not my strong suit.

Harry and Daphne will become as subjects of a marriage contract finalized by Lucius Malfoy, who officially functioned as the Black family Regent, the heir of which was Harry, and not his son. Lucius' Regency will be valid, however (will be explained in detail later), and the contract will stand enforceable.

Sirius will play a major role in the story, and will act as a father-figure/mentor to Harry.

Dumbledore will be minorly bashed in the story, and will be portrayed to someone who is obstinate and has made subtle attempts at manipulation. But ultimately, he will be a 'light-side' character in this story and someone who will assist Harry on his path to triumph over Voldemort once and for all.

Harry and Hermione will remain friends (sorry if that bothers anyone) but will have ups and downs in their relationship. There will be some very light Hermione bashing.

The Weasleys will also remain on good terms with Harry, however they will have a decreased role than in canon, and there will be bashing at times, like after Ron leaves Harry's side during the TwT.

The concept of 'ancient and noble houses' will exist, however I will try to limit the role they play. While Harry will hold both the Potter and the Black lordships, and they will give him influence, they won't provide a fast ticket for Harry to take over the government.

The population of wizards is much higher than in canon.

Special thanks to the authors of the stories I took inspiration from!

'Power, Freedom and a French Flower' by Mori99

'Heart and Soul' by Sillimaure

'Serpentine Advice' by ubiquitouslyverbose

Enjoy!

15:17| Gryffindor House Common Room |Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry |June 10th 1993

Hermione and the rest of the petrified students had woken up last night, and Harry had spent almost every waking moment with his now revived bookworm friend. He had missed her immensely. He had heard of the saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" many times before, but now he truly understood it. It wasn't just that she provided conversation that went beyond food, quidditch or chess, over the course of a year and a half, he had gotten used to her presence and enjoyed her companionship, even if their interaction was sometimes limited to 'Professor McGonagall this', 'Professor Flitwick that' and discussing homework. He snickered at how different his two friends were, privately wondering if they even had something in common except being friends with him.

During the days everyone thought him to be the Heir of Slytherin, her support had been invaluable. Despite being muggleborn herself, the people he was allegedly trying to kill, she had stood beside him steadfastly, and fervently defended him whenever people accused him of being a dark wizard or a killer. His mental state had been extremely fragile, and he was positive he would have emotionally collapsed had it not been for her. She had always been there for him, pulling him out of his funk, be it making him open up whenever he was brooding, or being a sounding board whenever he would throw a tantrum, listening to him complain about each and everything under the sun.

Her absence had made him aware how dependent he was on her for his schoolwork, as was evident from his grades in the first few assignments after her petrification. As horrible as her petrification was, it had a silver lining.

Harry had started pulling his own weight in classes, the loss of his crutch had forced him walk on his own, and he was better off for it. He was at a higher standing now than he was before her petrification. He had developed the habit of self-dependence fairly early in his life, whatever little help Petunia would give him had disappeared after it became evident that he was much smarter than "her precious Dudders", though that wasn't exactly hard if he was being honest. This was lost after he came to Hogwarts.

There were multiple factors that led to his solid, if unremarkable standing in his class. The biggest was of course, his dependence on Hermione. While she could make corrections or small additions in his lethargic work for him, this wasn't the same as him understanding the concepts or the methods, and this led to a fringed understanding of the material. Also, 'Pureblood' and 'Halfblood' students had the advantage of having received previous instruction in magic, so, at least for the initial years of his schooling, he started behind a considerable number of his peers, some of whom he was yet to pass, Malfoy being one of them, much to his disappointment. Then the problem was his best friend (one of them), Ron. He felt a great sense of gratitude towards him, his first ever friend of his own age, and so loyal and concerned for him, and whose family had given him his first real Christmas presents, and not only rescued him from his "relatives", but also took him in during the summer. Keeping Ron happy was a priority, he didn't really have many friends and in any case, he genuinely couldn't bear to lose as close to him as Ron. So, if doing what Ron wants meant he had to sacrifice his studies a little, that was an ok deal in his book, especially since Hermione was there. That changed. His grades just after Hermione's help (or charity really) ceased were rather embarrassing if he was honest with himself, especially a P he got in potions, something Snape was kind enough to remind him on more than one occasion. Being forced to put in the effort into his work (ignoring quips about him "slowly turning into Hermione" from Ron) made him find a new appreciation for the girl. She would work so hard, almost always putting out near perfect work, all that effort she would put in and then he would shamelessly ask her to improve some of his, because he couldn't be bothered to work hard himself (Ron was even worse, straight up asking to copy an entire inch or two of work). And she had helped. Every. Single. Time. In the preceding weeks he had felt extremely irritated when Ron had asked to copy some of his work or made him proof read… Hermione had done this for months, and never once had she complained. If they were going to do school work together, it was going to be a two-way street from now. In any case, she wouldn't be there to correct him in the finals or tests, would she?

She was truly a wonderful friend, and it was about time she was appreciated for it.

Harry watched Hermione enter through the portrait and make her way over to where he was sitting. She had been summoned to the staff room to discuss how to make up for her lost lessons, eventually settling on fast-paced lessons till the end of the session and a self-study plan extending into the summer. Other petrified students, however, were less fortunate. Colin Creevey and Justin Finch-Fletchley had been petrified for too long, and Penelope Clearwater had material too advanced and ample to be covered in a short span of time or with self-study. They would also be instructed till the end of the term, but their lessons would continue into the summer.

As she made her way to the corner he was seated at, writing an essay on the fire-making charm, "Incendio", he noticed that they were alone for the first time since she had woken up; Ron was playing exploding snap in the courtyard with Dean and Seamus.

Deciding there was no time like the present, he stopped writing and started to speak.

"Hermione?"

"Yes Harry?"

"I-I don't know how to do this; I only have one chance and I really want to get it right."

"Get what right? The last Charms assignment of the term?", Hermione said, gesturing to the parchment lying on the table between them. "Don't worry about it Harry! I'm sure did enough for an O, or at least a high Exceeds, by the way, I'm so happy that you've gotten serious about your schoolwork, I've always said your grades were beneath your calib-"

"No Hermione, that is not what I'm talking about."

"Oh?".

"What's going on Harry?" Hermione said when Harry didn't reply.

"Thank You."

Hermione looked at him, a little confused. But before she could say anything, he started to speak again.

"Thank you, for….everything. You're amazing, you know that? Ever since we became friends, you've done so much for me, you would push me to work so I didn't miss deadlines, you would even make corrections before I turned the parchment in, but it goes beyond that. Whenever I feel down or anxious, you're always there – before my first quidditch game, at Halloween, after Snape would say mean things about my father, when I was being secluded this year…and you would try to comfort me or cheer me up or just be there…When you got petrified, your absence made me realize just how lucky I am to be friends with you. You're an extremely intelligent, supportive, selfless, kind and caring person and I am so glad we're friends."

Without warning, Hermione launched herself into Harry and pulled him into a rib-cracking hub, he let out "oomph" as he was momentarily winded, before he proceeded to return the gesture. Harry got the feeling she was crying and once they separated, he saw she indeed had shed a few tears. He hadn't upset her, had he? She wouldn't have hugged him if that was the case-

"Don't be alarmed Harry, it's just that…. that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me, you know? And oh don't worry about it! What are friends for? Also, I'm happy to see how mature you've become, this year has been tough, and just plain crazy at times, I mean honestly, a giant 50-year-old talking spider! And don't even get me started on Snake Medusa! But really, you've grown up a lot this year.…. even if you are one of the shortest boys in our year." Hermione ended jokingly.

The both of them shared a laugh at that, though Harry inwardly hoped he would hit a growth spurt over the summer.

"I owe Ron a big 'thank you' as well, he's stuck by me this whole time too… Really, you and Ron are the absolute best friends I could have ever asked for." said Harry, meaning every word of it.

"And you're the best friend I could have asked for.". Here Harry noted she had left out Ron's name, and he was pretty sure it wasn't a mistake.

"Well, I haven't exactly been doing a good job as a best friend have I?", Harry added a dejectedly.

"What! Harry you've been nothing short of an amazing friend and don't let anyone tell you otherwise". She raised her hand to stop him interrupting and continued to speak.

"Really, after we became friends after that….…let's call it that 'episode', I noticed how you would try and get the other Gryffindors to be nicer to me, or at least not mean. I may never have spoken about it, but I know you requested the Quidditch team to befriend me, even if they initially found me repulsive, so to make me feel accepted and comfortable, and then there were the small acts like silent gestures pleading others not to make any remarks towards me when I had irritated them, giving me a shoulder to cry on when I missed my parents too much…if you hadn't become my friend, I don't think I would have continued at Hogwarts.". Hermione once again signalled him to stop, before he could object to her statement. "No, understand Harry, this was the first time I had ever left my parents for more than a day, and I missed them terribly. I hadn't adjusted to life at boarding school and thought if I going to remain friendless, the muggle world would be better, because at least I would still have my parents with me. Magic is such a wonderful thing, and being muggleborn, I would have had all my memories of it taken, I would have had my magic taken…well that's actually incorrect, you see they don't "take" your magic, they just bind it and hide it inside you, so they aren't technically taking anythi- Oh Not a word you!" exclaimed Hermione, at Harry's amused expression. "Like I was saying, you saved me from losing something so special, and gave me something I'd never had but always wanted, so you've done really well at this best friend thing as far as I'm concerned."

Harry gave her an appreciative smile. Then, he moved his arms around Hermione, and pulled her into a hug, momentarily stunning the bushy-haired girl. This was the first time EVER that Harry had initiated physical contact. Getting over her shock, she returned the hug whole-heartedly. They stood like that for a few moments, in complete silence, before Harry whispered, "I've missed you, Hermione."