Hermione

Author's note: I really, really want to thank Siria Snape for her idea for this specific pairing. Who? I'm not telling! Hermione and someone…you'll figure it out by the end of this part. Ok, now, where was I? Oh yeah.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. It's all JK Rowling's. All of it.

Please, please, please!! Review! If you don't like who or what I'm writing about, tough cookies. I'm writing it. =) Anywhoo, on with the story!!

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"Why haven't they gotten here yet?"

"Ron, why do you care about the first-years?"

"Hermione," Ron said, "when they get here, they'll be sorted. When they're done being sorted, we get food!"

"Yeah!" chimed Harry, who was going through a growth spurt (finally).

All three heads snapped up as the doors to the great hall burst open, spurting a stream of eleven-year-olds. The first-years were watching the faculty table with great interest. Dumbledore was gazing out into the crowd, his blue eyes twinkling, deep in thought. Snape was sneering at the new students, most likely trying to figure out which ones would be evil enough to be welcome in his house.

The new students were led by Professor McGonagall, who directed them to the front of the hall while Professor Flitwick brought out the sorting hat. He set the ancient hat on a stool and stood to the side, ready to read names off of a scroll.

"About time!"

"Harry!"

Just as Hermione said this, the sorting hat opened its mouth and sang. (A/N- I'm no good at writing songs, sorry! Just imagine) When it had finished, the whole hall started cheering. Professor Flitwick started going through the list of names, and Hermione's two companions simultaneously moaned with hunger.

"Blackman, Kylia," rang Flitwick's squeaky voice. A small black girl with her hair in hundreds of tiny braids, ornately arranged on top of her head stepped up.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat screamed.

"This'll take forever! Ohhh, I need sustenance," Harry whined.

"Damn it, Harry, you'd think the friggin' Boy Who Lived could handle a few minutes of hunger!"

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the sorting was over. Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet, saying, "I rise only to say I'll make announcements after dinner! Eat up!"

Harry and Ron cheered as they filled their plates with fried chicken and mashed potatoes.

"Mmm, Hermione, I needed this…Oh, gawd…I'm in heaven!"

"I'm glad to hear that, Ron. It's great that you didn't starve to death in the half hour you were away from food," she replied sarcastically.

"You know, Mione, you domt habe to be so mean," Harry said through his dinner. He swallowed, and continued, "Growing men need food."

She sighed, and shook her head. Once more, the headmaster rose, made a few small announcements, and sent everyone to their dorms. As Hermione was a prefect, she led the new first-year Gryffindors to their dormitory.

When they got to the painting of a grossly obese woman in a pink dress, she turned to the first years and said, "Ok, this is the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Just tell this nice lady the password, and she'll let you in." The painting beamed, and Hermione told her the password, which was "Razzmaspaz."

The portrait swung open, and the seventy or so witches and wizards in Gryffindor slowly made their way through the tunnel. Once inside, Harry, Ron, and Hermione collapsed into fluffy chairs by the fireplace.

"So, Harry…have you heard from Sirius lately?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, we write pretty frequently…he's been staying at Lupin's house," Ron sniggered.

"What? Anyway, he's been doing good, and hasn't been too much of an annoyance, as far as telling me what to do."

"That's good," said Hermione. "Sirius was always one of my favorite people to talk to. So experienced with the world."

"Hermione…you don't…fancy Sirius, do you?"

"RON! No, of course not! Eww, he's what, twenty years older than me? That's just wrong."

"Yeah, sure…whatever. Hey, I'm going to bed, 'kay? I'll see you guys in the morning. You coming Harry?"

"Yeah, Ron, I'll be there in a minute," Harry called after him as Ron ran up the stairs to the sixth-year boys' dorm. Harry looked back at Hermione.

"You know, Sirius likes talking to you too." And he ran upstairs.

Hermione watched his retreating back before turning and marching up to her own room. Changing into her pajamas, she sighed and collapsed on her bed. "Goodnight…" she whispered to no one in particular, and fell asleep.

[]^The Next Morning^[]

Hermione groaned as she slapped her offending alarm clock. "Why, oh why, does school have to start so early?" she asked Lavender, another girl in her year. Lavender just shrugged and left the room, heading for breakfast. Hermione rose and threw on her robe, hoping to take a shower before classes started—she always liked being alert.

She trudged her way to the girl's bathroom and dropped her robe. Sighing, she stepped into the hot shower, smiling at the feeling she got from the warm water on her bare flesh. She shampooed her hair quickly and got out, drying herself with a charm.

Soon enough, she was ready to face the day, and wandered down to the Great Hall. Harry and Ron were already there, heads bent in conversation, both with stupid grins on their faces.

"Morning you two!" she said cheerfully, as she handed out the schedules given to her by Professor McGonagall.

"Looks like we start the day with Defense against the Dark Arts. That'll be fun!"

"Huh? Did you say something Hermione?" Ron looked up stupidly.

Harry apparently hadn't even noticed her presence.

"Oh, hi…um, I mean, good morning, Mione!"

"Wow, Harry, Ron, you guys are either really tired, or something's up."

"Oh, it's nothing," Ron replied, a little too quickly.

Luckily for Ron, the morning mail came just then. Both Hermione and Harry got copies of the Daily Prophet, and Pigwidgeon simply came to visit Ron. He sat, twittering, on top of Ron's head, much to his annoyance.

"Hey, Ron! Check this out!" Harry exclaimed.

"What is it? Is You-Know-Who finally dead?"

"No, but there's an ad for self-defense courses! Let's sign up, then we'll know more curses and blocks and stuff for the next time we go head-to-head with Voldemort!" Harry was obviously excited, and both Ron and Hermione winced at the Dark Lord's name.

"That's a great idea! Sign me up!"

"I don't know you two," Hermione interjected. "Do you know who teaches it?"

"Umm…no, it doesn't say. It says you'll get all the information once you've signed up." Harry took out his wand and, using a severing charm, cut out the ad. He then said, "Engorgio!" and the ad was enlarged.

Self-Defense Lessons

-Do you fear the wrath of

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?

Are you a Muggle-Born who's

afraid of Dark Wizards?

Do you just want to learn

to have more fun dueling?

Self-Defense Lessons are for you!

Send reply owl to Daily Prophet, Ad #743

"Wow, Harry, sign us both up! I'm going to be able to kick your ass in dueling finally!" Ron was overjoyed.

"I still have bad feelings about this…" Hermione started, but Harry interrupted her.

"Hermione, what would be bad about this? But if you don't want to be signed up, we won't enroll you. Okay?"

"Fine."

Harry whipped out a piece of parchment and a quill, and replied to the ad.

To Whom It May Concern:

Please enroll Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in the self-defense courses. Any information may be sent directly to Harry Potter, it will be given by him to Ron Weasley. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley

He rolled up the parchment and called his owl, Hedwig, to his side. He tied it to her leg, and telling her where to deliver it, sent the owl on her way.

"Come on, you guys, let's get to class…I want to see who's our new teacher! No one was in the DATDA spot last night at the feast…"

"Yeah, Hermione, that's a good idea. Let's go," agreed Harry, so the trio rose and started down the corridor to the classroom. Harry reached the door first, and opened it gingerly, fearing Snape might be there. But a friendly face greeted him.

"Professor Lupin!" cried Hermione when she saw his face. "What are you doing back?"

"Oh, Hermione, Professor Dumbledore owled me when he couldn't find a new teacher. It turns out, after your third year, he actually got letters from people that said I should stay. I guess they remembered me from when I was at school, and figured I wasn't too dangerous." Professor Lupin grinned evilly at them as he said this, and they all ran to his desk.

"So, professor, what are we going to be focusing on this year?" Ron inquired.

"Well, I was thinking we'd start out with basic identifying tips for Voldemort's supporters, you know, other than the Dark Mark. Reasons to be even slightly suspicious, since you never can be too careful. Then, maybe we'll work on some more Dark creatures."

"Oh cool! Are we finally going to learn about werewolves? I mean, in depth?" Harry was quite curious about his favorite professor.

"Yeah, professor," Hermione added, "you could start that section with, 'Now class, for your werewolf lesson, I'd like you to all meet me here at sunset.'"

The rest of the class finally started filing in, staring at the four people laughing at the front of the room. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all took their seats, and Professor Lupin began.

"Hi! I'm back! Today, we're going to be studying the identifying actions of Dark wizards." He turned around and started drawing a crude picture of a skull with a snake entwined around it.

"This is a really bad drawing of the Dark Mark. Every Death Eater has this burned into the flesh of his or her left forearm, so you obviously, would be able to tell if you saw that. So if you know someone who never wears short-sleeved shirts, or never allows you to see their left arm, that could be a reason. I'm not saying that your best friend might be a Death Eater without your knowledge, but it has happened in the past." He looked at the three best friends sitting in the front row, and frowned slightly.

"Another thing to remember about followers of the Dark Lord is that they're usually willing to do ANYTHING to help Him along, being as his wrath is much, much worse than the punishment of any other."

The class of eighteen (it was a double lesson, Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs) all bent down over their desks, scribbling notes as Professor Lupin lectured about the dangers of getting involved in Dark sorcery.

All too soon, the bell rang, signaling the end of the class, and the students split up.

"I'll meet you guys in the common room after lunch, okay?" Hermione called to her friends, who nodded and sped off together, towards their next class. Hermione dug her schedule out of her bag, and checking it, saw that she had Arithmancy next. She desperately wanted to skip it, since she wasn't in any sort of mood for that, but as a Prefect, she was in no position to blow it off.

After lunch, Hermione went to the common room, looking for Harry and Ron, but to no avail. They were nowhere to be found. As she sat, waiting, in one of the soft armchairs, Harry's owl, Hedwig, came soaring through the window, carrying a letter addressed to Harry. Hermione relieved the owl of her burden, and Hedwig perched herself on the girl's shoulder, affectionately nibbling on her ear. Hermione saw that the letter was from the Daily Prophet, a response to Harry and Ron's enrollment in the self-defense classes. Looking around her and seeing no one, she decided to open the letter. She was curious, after all.

Dear Messrs. Potter and Weasley,

Thank you for enrolling in the Self-Defense Course. Classes will be held at 752 Kampburn Ave., Hogsmeade every Tuesday evening from 8:30-10:30. Cost of enrollment is 3 galleons and 4 sickles per person. Classes will be taught by a Mr. Michael Blake and a Ms. Natalie Hatch. Bring your wand.

Sincerely,

Michael Blake

Natalie Hatch

"Why's it so late? You'd think they could have it on Saturday morning or something…" she wondered aloud to Hedwig. She folded the letter up neatly and stuffed it in her pocket, to give to Harry once she saw him. Heading up the stairs to her room, she realized she was genuinely worried about Harry and Ron, so went back to the common room and sat at a table. Taking out a piece of parchment and a quill, she started a letter.

Dear Sirius,

Hello, it's Hermione. Um, I don't really know what to say, considering I've never written to you before. But I think it's important. I'm worried about Harry and Ron. They found an advertisement in the Daily Prophet for some Self-Defense lessons, and enrolled. That's not too bad. But they got the information about the class today and the class is late at night. I'm probably worrying about nothing, but I've got a bad feeling about this. Write back, please!

Your Friend,

Hermione Granger

PS~The classes are taught by a Michael Blake and a Natalie Hutch…those names sound familiar. Oh well.

Goodnight!

HG

She sighed, and read over her work. Nodding, she folded it in a neat package and headed for the Owlery to mail it. She found a brown barn owl to send her letter, and securing it tightly, sent the owl out the window. She watched it fade into the sunset, and walked back to the common room.

[]Across the country, the next afternoon[]

Sirius Black was sitting on a couch watching television when he heard an owl tapping on the glass. Getting up, he realized he didn't recognize the brown owl that was giving himself a concussion on the glass of the living room window. Sirius rushed to the owl, relieving it of the small burden it carried. Setting it down, he unfolded the letter. It was from Hermione. "That's odd," he thought, seeing as he had never gotten a letter from her before. "Something must be really bugging her."

As he read it, he started to get suspicious himself. "Michael Blake…Natalie Hutch…I know those names from somewhere…" he wondered aloud. "Where though?"

Once he sat down to write his response, though, he realized that he had no idea what to write. Chewing on the end of his quill, he decided he'd better talk to her in person.

Dear Hermione,

I recognize those names you told me, but I can't figure out just yet where I heard them. Meet me in Moony's office on Friday night at nine-we can talk then. I'm sending him a letter telling him the plans, but he won't care. Thanks for alerting me.

Sincerely,

Sirius Black

He sent it back with that same owl, and resumed his position on the couch.

[]back at Hogwarts[]

Hermione woke up from a nap to see Harry and Ron climbing through the portrait hole, still with those stupid grins on their faces. They spotted her and ran over to where she was propping herself up on her elbows.

"Hey you guys, where have you been?" she asked them.

"Ah, nowhere. Just wandering, trying to torment Malfoy as usual," Harry answered with a superior tone to his voice.

"Suuuuure. I'll believe that one," she retorted.

"Oh, before I forget…" she continued. "This came for you yesterday, Harry. I took it so Hedwig wouldn't have to sit here waiting for you to arrive, and I forgot to give it to you this morning. I never saw you guys last night."

Harry and Ron looked at each other and burst out laughing. Hermione looked at them questioningly, but decided she'd rather not know.

"I'm going to the library, you guys, okay?" But they didn't even answer.

Hermione had no intention of going to the library. Instead, she headed towards Professor Lupin's room, hoping to talk to him. She had just received her reply from Sirius that evening, and was anxious to find out if they had Lupin's approval to meet there.

She went to knock, but before she even touched the door, it opened, and Professor Lupin stuck his head out.

"I saw you coming on the Map, Hermione," he said, smiling at her. "Care for some tea?"

"Yes, please, professor!" she replied, entering and sitting on the couch.

He quickly conjured up some tea, which he set between them.

"So, what are you up to tonight, Hermione?"

"Well, I just got a letter from Sirius. He wants to talk to me."

"Ahh, yes…we talked today. Says you're worried about Harry."

"Yeah, though I don't know why. Ever since term ended last year, he's practically ignored me. I mean, he still talks to me and everything, but we never do anything anymore. He and Ron are always going off doing stuff together, with stupid grins plastered on their faces." She stopped when Lupin sniggered.

"What?" she asked, defiantly.

"Oh, nothing. Forget that I laughed…That just brings back memories."

"Um, ok…" she said, with a curious look on her face.

"So," she continued. "Can we use your office? Sirius and I really need to talk."

"Yes, of course. He's using my whole house now, surely one evening in my office won't be too bad."

She smiled at him. "Thank you, professor."

He smiled back. "You're welcome, Hermione."

The next few days flew by, and before she knew it, Friday had arrived. At eight-thirty, Hermione left the common room (she hadn't seen Harry or Ron since dinner two hours earlier) heading for Professor Lupin's office. Turning the corner before his classroom, she was surprised to see a large, shaggy black dog sitting in the middle of the corridor. When he saw her, the dog got up and plodded over to her. Together they walked into Lupin's office.

Thanks again to Siria Snape for this idea. (Figured it out yet? Hint…the doggy will soon be really good friends with a certain know-it-all) And once more, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!! *bows, and skips away*