Disclaimer:

I do not own Harry Potter. Obviously...

Summary:

Ever since first year, Harry's had a problem.. He's just to darn photogenic and no matter what he seems to do there's always a photo the next day in the newspaper calling him the next merlin.

This fic is slightly au and will get increasing au as the story progresses.

The great hall of Hogwarts was bursting with warmth and merriment. It was a fine Halloween evening, and the festivities and feasting were well under way. Ronald Weasley was currently attacking a chicken leg when his shy roommate Neville leaned over to ask him a question. "Hey Ron, have you seen Harry? He's missing the feast?"

"Oh Harry" Replied Ron "He went looking for Hermione he said he wanted to talk to her."

"Hermione? Why?" Neville asked with a confused look on his face.

"Because she has been crying all day" Lavender cut in from across the table "she was very upset after charms."

"Yah" added Parvati "She locked herself in the girl's bathroom on the 6th floor and has refused to come out since, she even missed her afternoon classes."

"Ohh" Neville replied, "And you didn't go with him Ron?"

"I offered to!" Ron said defensively "but he said I would probably just make her more upset."

"Probably right I reckon. Anyway not that it matters, but he went to look for her an-"suddenly he was cut off as with a mighty bang. The great hall doors crashed open as professor Quirrell came running through clearly in deep panic and began to shout.

"TROLL IN THE CORRIDOR, THERES A TROLL IN THE CORridor… Thought you ought to know."

Before collapsing pathetically in the middle of the hall.

Students began to panic and scream jumping up from their tables. Before things could get further out of hand Dumbledore stood from his chair and in a loud magically amplified voice spoke. "SILENCE… Do not panic. Prefects shall gather their tables and lead them back to there common rooms. Teachers will follow me and we shall remove this threat at once."

As first the teachers and then students marched out of the hall and towards the grand staircases a young first year student with bushy hair came running down the stairs with tears in her eyes. Upon seeing the teachers she shouted "Professors you've got to help Harry! He's fighting the troll! He was trying to save m-"

Just then she was cut off by a piercing scream and a roar from above. As the crowd all looked up as one in horror and watched as a big grey blur crashed right down in the middle of the atrium. The floor shook as the stone beneath the beast splintered and cracked under the immense impact and weight of the troll. A brief flash went off as one student clutching their magical camera in panic accidently took a picture. Only then did the small, robed boy clutched to the beast's chest roll off onto his knees. As the boy stood shakily the crowd realised it was Harry Potter!

Half an hour earlier….

Tonight, was Harry's first Halloween at Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry. A wonderful feast filled the great hall where all the students would surely be chatting, feasting and admiring the many great magical decorations. Well.. almost all the students because instead of attending the festivities young Harry was climbing up the empty stairs towards the 6th floor bathroom in search of a very upset classmate. Earlier in the day during charms class Harry's friend Ron had insulted the resident class know it all Hermione Granger.

After finding out from Lavender how upset she was and that she was not coming to the feast Harry became worried for her. After splitting up with Ron on the way down to the feast he began walking up the stairs toward the 6th floor when he bumped into a teacher.

"Mr-r Potter.. wha-what are you doing ou-out here a—at this hour?" asked professor Quirrell in his incessant stuttering. "oh hello professor, I'm sorry but I'm trying to get my classmate Hermione, I heard she's been crying all day."

"o-oh is that ss-so" replied the professor with an odd glint in his eye. W-where is this upset, ss-student then?"

"Well, I heard she's in the bathroom on the 6th floor professor, I was hoping to get her to come out and go to the feast if that's alright?" Harry asked nervously hoping he wouldn't get detention or sent away without helping the girl.

"T-that is Awfully nn-nobel of you Mr. Potter, I g-guess we can make an exception just this once but do h-hurry I don't want either of you to miss the f-feast." As the professor turned back towards the 3rd floor he quickly added " A-and 5 points to G-Gryfindor for helping a f-fellow student."

Relieved at avoiding punishment and even earning some points Harry quickly made his way up the remaining staircases.

As he approached the girl's bathroom on the 6th floor, he began to realize a critical flaw in his plan... he couldn't very well go into a girl's bathroom.

As Harry stood stumped outside the girl's bathroom, he decided to listen to the door to see if he could hear Hermione. Maybe he was lucky, and Hermione had left straight from the bathroom and was at the feast after all. But as he placed his ear to the door, he could hear a soft weeping sound from the other side. Damnit.. looks like he would have to say something after all.

After gathering all the courage he could muster he knocked on the door and called out loudly enough so that she could hopefully hear him. "Hello, H-Hermione are you in there? Its Harry?" after a moment or two with no reply or sound and feeling very awkward he tried again. "Hermione its Harry… I know your in there… can you please talk to me?"

"GO AWAY" a rather husky voice called back obviously rough from hours of weeping.

Both glad to know it really was Hermione and stumped on how to continue he decided an apology might work.

Speaking loudly enough so that she would hear but also trying to sound as truthful and earnest as he could Harry said "I'm really sorry your so upset Hermione. I know you were just trying to help Ron when he said those mean things" Continuing on he said, "I know he didn't mean to hurt you he was just frustrated."

"But he's right! don't have any friends" she then continued on as her voice cracked "No one likes me here, no ones ever liked me, I'm just a nosey little know it all…" she said as her voice got quieter and quieter. "I thought Hogwarts would be different…"

"I'm sorry Hermione I know what that's lik-"

"How would you know!" Hermione suddenly shouted angrily Everyone Likes you! Your world famous and you have tons of friends!"

"That's not true Hermione" said Harry "Not everyone likes me, Snape hates me! And Draco and the Slytherins too!" as he continued desperate to end this awkward situation and help Hermione to the feast he continued. "Before I came here, I didn't even know I was famous! My whole life I lived with my aunt and uncle, and no one liked me at school. My cousin would always pick on me and whenever I tried to make friends, they would always avoid me because of him."

"Your just lying to make me feel better" she said with an accusatory tone.

"I'm not! I swear Hermione, please just open the door and come to the feast"

"NO! I'm not going there! If you know I've been crying, then they all do! I don't want them to make fun of me!"

Harry wanted to tell her she was wrong but that was probably a lie, it had only been two months but he already new of Hogwarts legendary rumour mill and if lavender knew then he doubted the rest didn't know either.

"Hermione please open the door and come out" as he was about to continue a peculiar and rather unpleasant smell hit his nostrils.

As he took another whiff he thought perhaps the bathroom was leaking sewage, but no the smell was coming from down the hall. As he looked down the corridor, he began to hear the tell-tale sound of steps… but not the regular steps of a person but large steps with heavy foot falls. As the steps approached Harry hoped for a moment that it might be his friend Hagrid but then "IT" came around the corner.

Now Harry wasn't entirely sure what "IT" was. Whatever "IT" was this creature was huge! Easily 13 feet tall with greyish green skin, large muscles and a bulbous belly. In its huge arms it carried a large wooden club and it wore only a leather shirt and loincloth.

Whatever this creature was harry certainly knew one thing. He did not want to be any wear near it. Carefully so as to hopefully not attract the attention of the beast he pressed himself up to the bathroom door and spoke only as loudly as he dared "Hermione open the door Now!"

"No, Go away" she replied clearly unaware of the danger that now faced him.

"Hermione Open the door there's a monster out here please!" He whisper shouted at the door.

The beast continued to make its way down the corridor

"Do you think I'm stupid Harry!? I'm not going to fall for that now go away!" she yelled

Unfortunately for Harry her loud shrill yell caught the creature's attention and it turned and faced the bathroom door. Its eyes were not particularly intelligent looking but even they seemed able to lock onto Harry's form pressed against the bathroom door down the hall. It started to walk with purpose lumbering towards him.

Desperate Harry turned and began to kick and shove at the door banging on it with his hands and screamed "HERMIONE OPEN THE DOOR ITS GOING TO KILL ME!"

Just as he thought he was doomed, and the creature was mere moments away Hermione opened the door clearly angry and about to chew him out. She didn't have time to as her shocked eyes locked onto the large creature charging down the hall towards Harry and thus her, Harry tackled her into the bathroom just in time as the beast slammed itself into the corner of the door before it could correct its trajectory.

As the creature stood up Harry grabbed Hermione and helped her up / pushed her deeper into the bathroom and yelled "GO GO RUN!" the two however quickly realized that in their panic they had forgotten an important fact. The bathroom only had one door and the hulking creature standing in it did not seem inclined to let them pass.

As they pressed them selves at the back of the bathroom against the sinks the monster began to march in on its terrified prey.

Hermione quickly ducked under the sink as harry threw himself towards an opposing stall as the troll lashed out with its large club.

*CRASH* the sinks above Hermione exploded as the large club tore them from the wall. Luckily the troll had missed its target of Hermione and as the pipes to the sinks were now exposed gushes of water shot out and splashed the beast in its eyes causing the creature to step backwards and cover its eyes.

The momentary reprieve let Harry stand up and as he looked, he saw the monster was no longer blocking the door! He could run out and escape! But as he looked back, he saw Hermione stuck in the corner soaking wet and staring at the monster in horror.

If he ran Hermione, was a goner. Frozen in place with this realization the troll regained its footing and began to raise its arm ready to bring it's mighty club down on the poor girl and surely kill her. Without further thought and only knowing he had to help Harry charged the troll from behind.

Not really knowing what to do he yelled "HERMIONE MOVE!" and jumped at the troll.

Now Harry would never say he was an unathletic kid. He certainly wasn't fat like his cousin Dudley but he had never been much of an athlete either. So you can imagine his surprise that in his panicked state he jumped not just onto the trolls lower back but jumped all the way up to the beasts shoulders. With no time to process this feat he instead did the only thing he could think of in his panic and grabbed the things ears and pulled as hard as his small arms could manage.

The troll shocked first by the yell and the sudden child ridding its head stumbled forwards and bashed its head on the wall. Hermione suddenly shocked out of her terror bolted for the door stopping at the door and looking at Harry riding the troll. Harry looking at her from his perch yelled "Run!" glancing back Hermione yelled "Ill get help!"

The troll quickly recovered and began to shake its head trying and succeeding to knock the boy loose who hit the ground with a thud.

As Harry slowly got up stunned by the fall he saw his wand on the floor in front of him having fallen loose from his robes in the struggle.

He grabbed his wand and as he looked up saw the troll turning and raising its club once more.

Harry not sure what else to do flat on his back quickly rolled and crawled under and into a stall just in time for the tiles where he had been to be smashed by the club.

He quickly began to crawl from stall to stall trying to inch closer to the exit. The troll confused by the lack of smashed prey lashed out in the direction of the stalls sending bits and pieces flying further into the bathroom.

With his cover now removed Harry quickly stood and bolted for the door with the beast hot on his heels.

As he ran down the corridor wand in hand he desperately tried to think of any spell he could use for help.

Desperate he quickly sent a tripping hex Ron twin brothers had shown him over his shoulder at the troll, but the spell seemingly bounced right off its thick hide and had no effect. As he continued to run down the empty corridor the trolls long legs were telling as it began to gain on harry.

As they reached the slight bend leading to the staircase the troll reached out and grabbed harry by the back of the cloak. However, the troll only had a moment to savour in its triumph as it had picked up so much speed and was so focused on Harry that it was unable to stop in time.

Its large legs hit the banister and as the large beast began to tip over the railing both the troll and Harry clutched to its chest screamed and tumbled over the staircase to certain doom…

*CRASH* The whole world shook and for a moment everything was black. Suddenly the large appendage gripping him towards the large fat belly slid off and Harry felt himself starting to roll off the creature's belly. Harry couldn't believe it he was alive! Trying to control his decent he rolled off and onto the ground with his right knee on the ground and his other bent and with his wand still grasped firmly in his hand out to the side trying to regain balance. He then stood and it was only then that he saw the whole school staring at him in shock. Dumbledore though standing at the front of the crowd was the quickest to recover and eyes twinkling asked.

"Nice of you to drop in, Mr. Potter. I trust the trip wasn't too perilous?"

Then as one the crowd began to cheer as Harry was enveloped and the teachers did there best to regain control.

The next day Harry woke in an unfamiliar stiff bed. As he laid there his mind became more aware of his memories from the previous day. Of the troll incident, the rush of the cheering crowd and then that of the teachers brining him and Hermione to the hospital wing to be checked out as well as to give an explanation. As Harry opened his eyes the world around him was blurry and white and smelled a lot like antiseptic. As he searched around for his glasses a blurry figure reached out and handed them to him. As he placed them on he saw the resident healer Pompey Pomphrey who he had met the previous night. "Good morning Mr. Potter. How are you feeling today?" she asked in a friendly yet curt tone.

"sore" he replied, "But I'm okay."

"Ill be deciding that Mr. Potter. Fighting a troll what were you thinking?!" she said in a huff

"but I had to save Herm.."

"Oh I'm well aware of that Mr. Potter. You certainly made that clear in your explanation last night." As she said this, she was waving her wand in complicated movements all over Harrys body.

"Well your diagnostic is clear but if you feel any pain or symptoms you are to report right back here is that understood?" she asked in a firm tone that brooked no argument.

"yes Madam Pomphrey" he replied in as a sincere tone as he could manage.

"Excellent and I do hope you don't make it a habit of ending up here… goodness knows James certainly did."

As the healer walked away and Harry sat further up in bed, he noticed that Hermione was sitting up in her own hospital bed next to him quietly reading a news paper. As if sensing his eyes or more likely having overheard Madam Pomphrey and himself speaking, Hermione looked up at him.

She appeared nervous to speak at first and it seemingly took her several attempts before she was able to decide what to say.

"H-Hello Harry, How are you feeling?" she said with a slight stutter.

"I'm okay…. Just a little sore.. and you?" he responded a bit awkward.

'I'm also okay.. thanks to you.." she finished a little lamely clearly unsure of herself. She then continued.

"I'm so sorry Harry its all my fault you got hurt.. I was just so upset and I didn't believe you an-"

Hermione's voice cracked and after taking a moment Hermione took a deep breath and seem to gather herself and then much more calmly and earnestly continued.

"Thank you for saving me Harry and staying when you could have left me behind, that was very brave of you."

Her eyes were looking right at Harry showing how truthful and thankful she was. Unuse to receiving such heartfelt praise and thanks Harry blushed a bit before running his hand through his hair and replying awkwardly.

"Your welcome Hermione" as they finished this little exchange they shared a shy smile before Hermione seemed to remember something. She gathered up her news paper before getting up and walking over to Harry reaching out to hand it to him.

"Oh you should see todays news paper, you made the front page." She said with a smile.

Confused Harry looked at the cover and was shocked to see a moving image of himself. Or rather himself and the troll. The moving magical image would start with Hermione staring horrified from the lower staircase as the large creature came crashing down to the ground and only a moment later as the creature arm fell aside he was revealed rolling off the creature into what could only be considered a "heroic" or as Harry thought a very goofy pose. He then stood up and looking to the crowd with a very serious face right before the image would loop again.

At the top of the image in big bold letters was "Boy Who Lived Saves The Day Again"

And a sub heading below read "Harry Potter saves the school and a young damsel in distress, see pg 4 for more on our top story."

OH noo..

How embarrassing, how would He ever live this down…

Authors note:

Hello everyone,

As you can probably tell this is my first fanfiction. I'm hoping to continue this story over the coming months but cannot give any sort of time schedule. I did my best with editing and grammar but I will be the first to admit that I find it challenging. If you want to offer yourself up as a beta reader for future chapters feel free to DM me. I look forward to hearing your comments and hopefully helpful criticism. A big thanks to Dina-M for her helpful suggestions and to the Kholdone for a witty Dumbledore quote suggestion.