A/N: Notice the perception in the story changed from Harry to Hermione. Maybe it's just me, but it's not just Harry that makes the books great, it's also his friends Ron and Hermione (And his enemy Draco). I decided it might be interesting to do each Chapter from either Harry's, Ron's, or Hermione's perception, gives it a more 360 degree feel. Hope you guys like it as well ^_^.

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Chapter 2: A Long Ago Enemy (Hermione)


Hermione was very excited to be at Diagon Alley to grab her books. Professor McGonagall had given her special permission to take Advanced Alcemetic Studies, but couldn't get to Advanced Incantations in time. So instead she had to settle with Intermediate Incantations with Ron and Harry. That wasn't so bad really, at least it was a fair trade, she would get to be her friends after all. She only had two classes with both of them the entire semester, it was going to be very different not being in every class with her two best friends.

All three of them quickly got the books that they needed and took off for other stores to shop in. Hermione had worked with her parents in the dentist office and had made enough money to last her quite a while, especially since she was quite good at picking stocks and had managed to triple her money. Most of it had been converted to Wizard money and was now residing in the Gringott's bank. It was nice to know that she didn't have to worry about money for a very long time and looked forward to going shopping for some new robes, since her old Hogwart's one just wasn't going to cut it anymore.

"Do you like the lavender robes or the green ones?" Hermione asked the boys, holding them both up to her so they could compare.

"I don't know Hermione, get both of them." Ron whined as he sat on the bench holding his bags of books and his own set of new robes. Ron had also gotten a job over the summer, he hadn't spent a dime just so he wouldn't have to worry too much about money. He looked positively ecstatic about buying brand new robes for practically the first time. The way he was smiling when the cashier rang him up made her very happy as well. She always did like it much better when Ron was happy, it always made her happy as well.

"I think your right Ron." She smiled at him, "I'll get both."

"Thank Goodness, are we done now?" Harry asked her, "I want to go to the Joke shop before we get back."

"Alright." Hermione relented and grabbed the two robes (Plus a black one and a sapphire blue one that just happened to catch her eye) and went to ring them up. They just didn't understand what it was like to be a girl, even though she would rather read or do homework, there were times when she just liked to shop like a normal person. It was one of the cons of being best friends with boys and it made her wish she had gotten a little closer to some of the girls at school. Sure, she wrote to them every once and awhile, but none of them were as close to her as the boys were. If they were, she could go shopping with them and not hear all the whining when she wanted to go shopping for some clothes. Automatically, her mind went to her roommate. Oddly enough, she still hadn't met her yet, they just kept missing each other. Even when Hermione came back from talking in Harry and Ron's room, her roommate had already fallen asleep. Of course, usually she did end up getting to her room rather late because of the boys. She vowed that when classes actually started she wouldn't let them distract her.

After she got her new robes, all three of them began walking to the Joke Shop as their last stop of the day. Hermione was extremely tired however, and the joke shop really didn't appeal to her so instead she decided to leave early. They all said their goodbyes and Hermione Apparated back to Widdlewall. She was extremely proud of herself that she was so good at it, she pretty much had it down to a science really and already had her license. Widdlewall did allow people to Apparate on school grounds, unlike Hogwart's, but students and faculty could only Apparate to one room on the entire grounds. The person's name even appeared behind them on a board, to let the staff know who was going in and out. It was all rather exciting to Hermione, who thought all this stuff was rather interesting. When she finally appeared in the room (It seems like a longer trip than it really was, and it always made Hermione a little dizzy), she couldn't help but look behind her. Hermione Granger, Student ID: 108654, First year. was sitting on the board and the painting that was always on guard in the room gave her a thumbs up to let her know that she could leave. The whole thing made her perk up a little bit, it was so interesting to see all the enchantments on the school at work.

She quickly walked out of the main building and toward her dormitory. So many people were walking around, talking about their wands or trying to find their classes. It made her wonder who around here she would get to know and who would remain strangers. She knew she would join a study group of some kind, hopefully she would meet people who actually liked to study as much as she did. Harry and Ron were great and they would always be her best friends (Well, Ron was in a totally different category, but she never really admitted it) but she wanted a few friends that had the same interest in learning that she did. It wasn't just something she did to pass the time, it was a big passion for her, something that she really liked to do. It kind of annoyed her that they didn't see that.

When she finally got to her room she let out a heavy sigh and collapsed onto her bed. There was still one more day until school actually started and she could barely contain herself. After all her first class of the day was going to be Advanced Alcemetic Studies, which she was looking forward to very much. Hermione really liked the scientific aspect of magic very much, she was already considering a career in that field, even though Ron and Harry might be happier if she were an Auror or a Quidditch player

"One whole day..." She groaned out, "What am I going to do until then?"

"Hello?" A voice came from the bathroom. She shot up and looked to the left.

"Um... Hello?" She responded a little cautiously. An Asian girl with dyed blonde hair stepped out of the bathroom, her hair newly wet and matted against her head, and looked at her with wide, round black eyes.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked. The bathroom was connected to another dorm room so it probably was one of the neighbors.

"Are you Heru-me-owniegh Garunjur?" The girl asked, having a lot of trouble pronouncing Hermione's name.

"Yeah, I think I am..." Hermione answered, making the girl smile widely, "How do you know my name?"

"You are my roommate." She replied and sat down on her own bed. As soon as she sat on it, the bed looked a whole lot bigger. The girl was very small, only about 5'1 and maybe 100 pounds. She barely looked old enough to be gong to a college honestly, "I'm Watanabe Ayumi."

"Watanabe? That's a strange name." Hermione wrinkled her nose in confusion.

"What? No..." Watanabe Ayumi laughed, "Watanabe is my surname. I'm sorry I forgot... see in my culture it is customary to say your surname first. My name is Ayumi."

"Oh!" Hermione suddenly got very excited. It was clear her roommate was from the Far East somewhere, which was a completely different culture of Muggle's and Wizards She had so many questions for the girl suddenly pop into her head, but all that popped out at first was, "Where are you from?"

"Japan." She answered, "I went to school in Tokyo."

"Oh, how exciting!" Hermione exclaimed, "Well, not for you, of course, because you grew up there, but I've never been to Japan and..." She quickly realized she was talking to much by the look on Ayumi's face, "What made you decide to come to school here?"

Ayumi began to laugh, "You are very funny Granger-san".

Granger-san? She had only heard that once in a Karate Kid movie, it had to mean Ms. or something by the way Ayumi was using it in context, "You can call me Hermione."

Ayumi looked at her rather strangely, "Her-my-oni... Hehr-myowny," Ayumi's brow furrowed as she tried to pronounce her name right, "Her-my-nee?"

"Close enough."

"You're name is spelled much differently than it is pronounced."Ayumi sighed in frustration.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." She mumbled, thinking about everyone who pronounced her name Hermy-own, "Anyway, you didn't answer why question, why did you decide to come to school in Britain?"

"Something new," Ayumi shrugged, "Widdlewall is one of the best school in the world and Japan is very small, I had already seen a lot of it."

"Britain isn't much bigger."Hermione smiled.

"True, but I have never seen it." Ayumi answered with a somewhat serious tone. Hermione could tell already that she was going to like this girl. The two talked for a very long time and, even though Ayumi seemed a bit on the different side, she really got along with her. Both were interested in each others cultures and both were taking a few advanced classes this semester. The next thing Hermione knew it was dark outside, making her wonder if the boys were back yet or not.

"Hermione, we're ba..." Harry walked into her dorm room and looked straight at Ayumi, "Hello."

Ayumi giggled slightly and sat up a bit straighter, "You are Harry Potter-san," She pointed to the scar on his forehead, "I have wanted to meet you for long time."

"Thank you," Harry smiled slightly, "What's your name?"

" HARRY! I told you to wait for me!" Ron ran into the room, panting rather hard like he had to chase Harry down, "You know I want to see Hermione too!" Ron then noticed the pretty Japanese girl and seemingly forgot all about Hermione, "Whoa... who're you?"

"Ron, you're drooling". Hermione snapped at him, he quickly shot his attention right to her.

"I am Ayumi." She bowed a little bit, "Who are you?"

"I'm Ronald Weasely," Ron bowed back, making Hermione scowl at him.

"Nice to meet you Weasely-san." She giggled, "I think that you and Hermione are boyfriend and girlfriend, right?"

Both Hermione and Ron blushed at the question. She didn't even know what Ron was to her. They were much more than just friends, but they weren't really boyfriend and girlfriends either. Luckily, Ayumi didn't wait for an answer to the question.

"I think that is wonderful. Love is very important in my culture, it's nice to see you two have found each other." She then looked over to Harry, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"I..." Hermione noticed Harry blushing a little bit. That was funny to see, considering he hardly ever blushed, "No, I don't have one."

"Well, maybe that will change while you are here." Ayumi's statement was said purely from innocence, with no hidden meaning what-so-ever, but it still made Harry turn an even darker shade of red.

The boys joined in the conversation after that, Hermione only hoped that Ayumi would like them. They were going to be around a lot after all, and it would make things easier if they got along. It seemed like that was the case after awhile, they all talked about things like Quidditch ( I was on the team in Tokyo, Ayumi told them, and Harry got very happy at that statement), their schedules ( We have Transfiguration 101 together, Ayumi Ron beamed, looking at Ayumi. Hermione smacked him for that.), and their families back home. Harry said out of the conversation about families though, Hermione felt like switching the subject every time she looked at him. He never did have the best home life, his Muggle family weren't very understanding about magic at all. It made her very grateful to her parents, they were very interested in everything magical and even supported her in her decision to go into a magical career field. She felt very blessed to have parents like them really, but it also made her feel very sorry for Harry. Ever since she met him she had always wished there was something more she could do for him than just give him sympathy.

When the boys finally left, Ayumi changed into her pajamas and quickly got into bed. Hermione, on the other hand, picked up one of her school books and began to read it. It never hurt to be prepared for the first day of school, who knew what kind of things they would throw at her

"Hermione?" Ayumi's voice made her look up from her book, Have you ever been to Diagon Alley?

"Yeah, I was just there today, why?"

"Oh... I have never been there..." Ayumi mumbled, "I was going to ask if you wanted to show me around... but you have already been there..."

"I'll go with you!" Hermione said a little too excitedly. She cleared her throat and calmed down quickly, "I wasn't there that long, I would be happy to show you around."

"Okay, good. I didn't want to go there alone." Ayumi smiled, "Good night." She quickly drew the hangings on her bed so that Hermione couldn't see her anymore. Finally, she thought to herself, a girl who I ca go shopping with Not only that, Ayumi was very smart, maybe they could join a study group together. She was quite relieved that her roommate was so likable, she had heard many horror stories of really bad roommates. She smiled to herself and began to read again, maybe this year wasn't going to be that bad.


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Ayumi and Hermione flew all over Diagon Alley the next day. Ron and Harry had decided to stay behind and practice Quidditch, which meant that it was just a girl's day for the both of them. They went to The Leaky Cauldron for some Butterbeer and food, and then went straight to Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. Ayumi was dressing herself in all the robes she could find, like she had never seen a robe in her life.

"The robes back home look more like Kimonos, I'll have to show you mine when we get back." Ayumi explained while she pranced around in a pink rob with embroidered flowers along the bottom, "I've never seen western robes before."

"It looks very pretty on you." Hermione told her while checking herself out in the mirror. She was wearing a deep maroon robe that had gold trim along the edges and even had it's own hair clip so girl's could put there hair up.

"There are so many pretty ones, I can't decide which one I want to buy." Ayumi sighed loudly. That made Hermione laugh, that was exactly how she sounded yesterday.

"Go with the pink and teal, those looked best on you I think." Hermione told her, making Ayumi smile widely.

"Oh! Thank you! I will!" She bowed a little bit and grabbed the teal robe, then began walking to the check out stand. Madam Malkin looked very happy to see Ayumi so excited about buying a few of her robes. While Ayumi was paying for her new clothes, Hermione quickly put away the maroon one and walked out of the store. Diagon Alley wasn't really all that crowded strangely, which would make it easier to just go window shopping. That was something she had never done, it was about time she just took a look around.

"What do you think?" Ayumi's voice exclaimed behind her, making her turn around. She was wearing the teal robe, which suited her complexion perfectly. The girl was flawless, it made Hermione a little jealous, "Malkin-san said I could wear them out of the store. That was nice of her."

"Yeah it was. Where do you want to go now?"

"I still need to get some books." Ayumi looked down at her hand, on her palm was Japanese symbols that Hermione didn't even dare read, "I guess I should get them before I forget."

"Oh great! Flourish and Blott's is just right over there! It's my favorite store, they have so many books." Hermione grabbed Ayumi's hand and led her toward the book store and it wasn't long before they had all of her books all picked out. Hermione also decided that she was going to pick up The Widdlewall Enchantments Guide, Know What Spells Are On Your School before they left. Ayumi decided to wait outside while Hermione ran in and got it. There was only one copy from what she could see, maybe there were others who were interested in learning about the school. She hoped that she would meet them eventually.

Checking out quickly, she ran back outside so Ayumi wouldn't wait long... but she was nowhere to be found. Hermione looked all around her, but didn't see the girl anywhere.

"Where could she have gone too?" Hermione asked herself, then shrugged. It's not like Diagon Alley was all that big, she would probably find her eventually. Just as long as she didn't go down to Knockturn Alley Ayumi should be okay. Hermione shivered at the thought of that place, it really gave her the creeps. It was a favorite place for all Dark Wizards when Voldemort was rising in power again. She hated going down there, people were still really scary.

Maybe Ayumi went to the Owl Emporium, she thought to herself. It was a favorite of most wizards after all. There were all kinds of animals in there and that's where she had gotten Crookshanks. She missed her cat, but he was sick when she left for Widdlewall and he would have to come down to the school once he got better. Maybe Ayumi would want a cat for a familiar, though she didn't know what kind of familiars they had in Japan, she would defiantly have to ask. However, after seeing a lot of different animals, Ayumi wasn't anywhere to be found. That made her a little frustrated and she decided to wait for her down at The Leaky Cauldron. Eventually she would have to go back there.

Once there she ordered herself another Butterbeer and sipped it slowly. It was her favorite drink, so it was very hard to drink it that slow, but she figured the slower she drank it, the more likely Ayumi would show up during this one glass. Soon, though, it was almost empty and she had still not come into the Leaky Cauldron. Maybe she had gone out without her, decided she was boring or something. She really hoped that wasn't the case, she really didn't find herself all that boring.

"Heru-myowny?" Hermione looked up and saw Ayumi standing by the entrance.

"Ayumi!? Where were you?" Hermione jumped up and ran to the girl, who looked a little flushed.

"I was waiting for you to buy your book, and I was going to go look at a robe in a shop window... but I couldn't find my way back." Ayumi sighed, "I got lost and ended up at a place called Knockturn Alley. It was very scary."

"Oh! Are you okay?" Hermione asked, "I really don't like that place, it's full of Dark Magic."

"Oh yes, a nice boy from our school helped me find my way back here." Ayumi pointed outside, but there was a quite a few people outside so she didn't see who she was pointing to.

"I don't see him, where is he?" Hermione asked, making Ayumi grab her hand and lead her outside.

"You must meet him. I was telling him all about you and he seemed very interested." She exclaimed and began looking around. Hermione began looking around too, but still didn't see anyone who looked their age.

"Granger..." A male voice said behind her. She felt a small tinge of panic in the back of her neck, like her body recognized the voice almost instantly, yet her mind couldn't place it. She turned around, and she was suddenly staring into the cold, grey eyes of none other than Draco Malfoy.

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A/N: Yeah, Draco's back. What can I say, I like him ^_^. Makes for an interesting story doesn't it? I think it does. Hope you liked this Chapter as much as I liked writing it.