Disclaimer: I do not own any HP characters except for Akira Yamamura, and other than that nothing else but the plot.

Ab Imo Pectore

(From the Heart's Depth)

Chapter One

Harry Potter awoke to the sounds of laughter. He opened his eyes a crack to see Ron clutching his stomach.

"Whash that?" He grunted. "Why are you guys so happy….

"Well! Finally! Look at this, Harry!" He gestured to the mini figure of Snape wearing women's clothes, waving at them.

"Fred enchanted it to bend and shake his booty too!" Ron laughed, wiping tears of glee from his eyes.

Harry propped himself on his elbows, smiling at them. The sun shined brightly through the cheap windows in the Burrow.

A knock came on the door and without pause Hermione walked briskly in, shooting Ron a disgusted look as he snorted.

She turned to Harry.

"Well, Harry, seeing as you're awake, Mrs. Weasley sent me to ask you if you were prepared?"

She said as she sat beside him on his bed. Then she saw the mini Snape and smiled. Harry crinkled his eyes and yawned.

"Yeah, yeah I'm all ready." said Harry, sinking back into his bedcovers. Hermione gave him one last look before getting up and going out. Ron cocked his head.

"You better get dressed, mate. We're leaving in half an hour."

Harry bolted upright and glanced at his watch. He groaned. In five minutes he was up and ready, dragging his suitcase down the rickety staircase, with Ron at his heels. Hermione met them downstairs as Mrs. Weasley greeted them a good morning, and Fred and George chorused. Mr. Weasley passed by carrying a steaming mug.

"Morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione." He said without even looking up from the paper he clutched.

Harry greeted him back and stuffed pancakes into his mouth. Eating the delicious, mouth watering pancakes, he was reminded of a girl back in Privet-drive, of whom everyone called the Pancake Girl. Oh that one really loved eating pancakes no matter what time of the day. Like her, he preferred just butter with his pancakes.

"Come on everybody. Better get a move on." Mrs. Weasley announced from the doorway. "Wouldn't want to be late, now, would we…"

Shortly after, Harry eased himself in the pillar separating the muggle trains from platform 9 3/4. The platform was filled with many people, either waving goodbye or kissing their children tearfully. Hermione walked back and waved to her parents' a goodbye, while Mrs. Weasley was beginning her tradition of crying while hugging them.

"Ginny! Ginny you be good now! Remember, don't do… oh you know what I mean!" She tearfully squashed her daughter against her as Ginny's eyes went wide. Fred and George exchanged wondering glances. Ron and Harry shrugged.

"You Harry! Oh! Take care!" She did her turn on him. Pretty soon all of them were seated comfortably on the train as Ron waved a final goodbye to his mom and dad.

"Well! Glad that's over!" He sighed. Harry echoed him while Hermione got out a book to read.

"What are you reading, Hermione?" Ron asked absent-mindedly.

"'Teenage Parenting' by world renown physician Katrina Rodriguez." replied Hermione

"What? Did I hear you right?" Ron straightened.

"It's a muggle book, Ron." Replied Hermione nonchalantly

"Well… it's not that.." Ron spluttered, his ears going red.

"Er…. Why are you reading that?" Harry said questioningly.

Hermione finally looked at them and shot them a it's-not-your-business-so-drop-it look. But then she smiled.

"I'm a bit worried, is all. Ever since me and Viktor-"

"Oh we don't want to hear that, now do we Harry!" Ron practically shouted while Harry felt his mouth drop open. Ginny snickered.

"Oh just shut it, won't you? It's just a joke!" Hermione laughed. "I'm reading 'Seventeen.' It's muggle."

Ron spluttered, his ears still red. Harry cleared his throat. Well! He thought, running his hands through his hair. Then he turned his head as the compartment door slid open.

"Well, well, well." Draco Malfoy drawled, his blonde hair slicked back. "If it isn't Potty and his faithful side-kick, Weasel Boy. Oh… and what does that make these two girls here? Hmm? Groupies?" Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly behind him.

"Shut it, will you, you freaking fairy!" Ron made as if to stand when Hermione's hand shot to restrain him.

"What are you doing here, Ferret Boy?" Harry said, his voice hard.

"Really now. How rude. What is that stink, by the way? Too poor to afford water to bathe, Weasleys? Probably. Or is it the Mudblood? That you can do nothing about." Draco crinkled his nose distastefully as he shut the door. Ron snarled and stood while Harry's hand tightened on his. Ginny eyes were frost, but rimmed with red.

"He's just provoking you! Stop it! Just… just ignore him. He's not worth it..." Hermione's voice shook with suppressed rage.

"Yeah? And we're just supposed to accept all his insults with a smile? Give him a cookie in return!" Ron gestured angrily towards his sister, where Ginny was hunched back into her seat, staring icily out the window. Harry shot Hermione an angry look.

"You can't just expect us to take everything lying down, now, can you Hermione…"

"You're going to get in trouble! I'm only worried about what's going to happen to you guys!" Hermione shot back, her face going red.

The room was quiet as Ron sat back down, and Harry tried to calm his breathing down.

The food trolley came, and the lot of them brought food. Then, before Harry knew it, they were disembarking and he saw Hogwarts again. The sun shone brightly against the castle, making it look majestic, in all its glory for all to see. This was it.

They were entering into their sixth year. He glanced back behind him, just in time to see Ron lift his suitcase across his shoulders. We've all really grown so much... He thought as he watched Ron walk toward him, lanky legs carrying him easily.

He was tall, with bright red hair and freckles splattered on his pale face.

Hermione came behind him, long lithe legs flashing underneath her robes. Her hair wasn't even frizzy anymore. Harry surmised it must have been done the muggle way, in a salon somewhere, during summer. Her hair was beautiful. It was lush and shiny.

Straight on top, then curling as it reached near the end, near her waist. It reminded him of Goldilocks and at the same time reminded of a Japanese cartoon he once saw. Hermione caught his eye and smiled. Her eyes were very captivating, he decided. She's actually very pretty!

Harry suddenly realized, and blinked rapidly for several seconds.

"Something in your eye?" Hermione asked when she got to him.

"Er.. nothing. I just realized something." He said, clearing his throat. Hermione nodded, and her eyes scanned the crowd. She frowned. Harry turned to follow her eyes. Draco was standing between his two buffoons, and in front of him was a pretty blonde girl, her back pressed against the wall. She was scowling at him, muttering something. Harry didn't need to hear to know that she was cursing him. The girl's face was getting redder and redder as Malfoy said things to her, leering and shooting looks at her chest and legs. Then Draco's hand shot toward the girl's stomach, his hand sliding down. The girl looked stunned, her mouth dropping open.

Beside him Hermione growled and stalked off toward them. It took Harry a second to shake himself and follow her, Ron at his heels.

"Is he bothering you, miss?" She said as she got to them. The girl glanced at Hermione in surprise, then slowly nodded.

Hermione turned to Malfoy.

"You know, If I were you, I'd better get out of here before a teacher sees me. I might just report you for sexual harassment."

She said frostily.

"Why can't you ever mind your own business, you filthy little Mudblood bitch!" Draco spat.

Harry felt his chest tighten as he raised his hand towards Draco's face, with Ron's mouth opening in anger as he too raised a fist towards Draco. They were so fast, Draco had not even realized yet. Then Draco was sprawled back, and before Harry knew it, he had gotten out his own wand and Crabbe and Goyle were also down. With a shriek, Hermione and the girl quickly dragged them away as people turned to look at what the commotion was all about. They still hadn't seen Harry and Ron.

"What do you guys you were doing! You could have gotten into serious trouble!" Hermione demanded, her face red.

"Er… I had to help her get you guys away. She's right you know." The girl said, nodding her head to Hermione. Then she held out her hand towards her.

"I'm Kerrigan Mandragoran, by the way. Thanks a lot for saving me and all. That Draco's a real prat…" She said, her face going tight.

"Yeah….Hermione Granger." Hermione replied, shaking her hand. Harry and Ron introduced themselves in turn. Then Ron turned towards her. He opened his mouth once, but then Harry stopped him, shooting him an drop-it-she-doesn't-want-to-talk-about-it look. Hermione felt her throat tighten. Was Harry trying to be discreet? She thought sarcastically. She didn't want to talk about it. Beside her Kerrigan cleared her throat, but before she could say goodbye, Hermione rounded on her.

"What year are you? How come I've never heard of you before?" She asked.

"Well… sixth year." She said, eyeing Hermione. "Slytherin."

"Oh." Harry breathed, while Ron simply looked blank. Hermione stared.

"Uhm… not everyone in slytherin is like Malfoy you know…" Kerrigan said, then turned away. Harry watched her walk away before speaking.

"Well.. she does seem nice." He said.

"And really pretty too." Ron chimed in. Harry and Hermione turned to look at him. "Well, she really is!" He shot defensively as a smile tugged at Hermione's lips. Ron was getting redder so Harry decided to save him.

"Come on guys, let's get a move on. We're practically the only ones left out here." He said, then they went inside Hogwarts.

The Great Hall looked majestic. Harry, Hermione and Ron hurried over to the Gryffindor table where they were greetedcheerily by their fellow housemates. From up front, Dumbledore cleared his throat, and the doors burst open to reveal little first years hurrying towards the Sorting Hat. Harry smiled. All of them were so little. Surely he wasn't that tiny and scared looking when he first came inside the Great Hall. Then decided that he was. The Sorting Hat sang a new song as his stomach grumbled, then he smiled as Ron's echoed his. Hermione shot them a disgusted look. Pretty soon the sorting ended. Ron looked eagerly at the table for the food to start appearing. Harry waited for Dumbledore to finish his little speech. When the end of the speech was near, Harry too looked eagerly at the table, but Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"This year, however, we have an exchange student. I can't remember the last time we ever did. Maybe this was never done before." His eyes twinkled. Harry's head shot up, as was Ron's. Hermione was quietly listening, hands on her lap.

"From the finest magic school in Asia, let me welcome Akira Yamamura!" Dumbledore clapped his hands vigorously, and pretty soon the Great Hall was alive with the smattering of hands. A cloaked figure hurried towards the Sorting Hat. Sleek, shiny black hair swung gently as a girl swung it to her head. Then the Great Hall was devoid of all sound except a cough here and there.

"SLYTHER-" The Sorting Hat abruptly stopped, and Harry saw Dumbledore shift. Hermione grunted. This never happened before.." Harry thought as he frowned.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The Sorting Hat bellowed. The Great Hall was deadly quiet. The Gryffindors weren't too pleased that someone who was almost a slytherin was put into their midst. Then angry mutters were heard from the slytherin table.

Dumbledore started to clap, and soon everyone followed politely. Akira gently replaced the Sorting Hat on the stool, then started uncertainly towards them.

"Congratulations!" Hermione gestured to the empty spot beside her. Her voice was unnecessarily loud. It took Harry a second to "dig" her, then he followed.

"Yeah! Come sit here with us!" He gestured wildly to the seat in beside him. Ron looked blankly at them, then he too waved to her. And before Akira could sit by Hermione, a dozen other Gryffindors had offered her to sit beside them. When the gryffindors realized that the slytherins were muttering angrily beneath their breaths, their greetings were more loud and enthusiastic. Harry grinned at Akira. Hermione introduced them. When the noise had died down, Dumbledore once stood up then made a little speech, ending with "now here's the grand Hogwarts welcoming feast!" Harry didn't hesitate to gobble down food. He was too hungry. Beside him, Ron was stuffing mountains of food on his plate, grinning sheepishly at Hermione and Akira, who were eyeing the both of them.

"So Akira," Hermione turned to her. "I think it's quite obvious, but let me hear it from you. Where are you from, exactly?"

"Japan. Erohim School of Magick." Akira replied. Her voice was cool and melodious. It was coolly serene, Harry decided. It distinctly reminded him of bells chiming.

"Well, welcome to Hogwarts." Harry said through a mouthful of pudding. Hermione shot him a disgusted look, then turned to her own plate. Ron was grunting something through his mouth, gesturing at Akira. Harry didn't even bother to try to decipher.

He watched Akira from the corner of his eye take food from this platter and that, eating in small bites, her back erect, hands graceful. He decided she was a pureblood from the way she moved. It reminded him of Draco Malfoy, and he briefly wondered, since Akira almost made it to slytherin…

He started to study her. Her face was heart-shaped. It was small with the white complexion that the Japs tended to have. Like Cho, he though. Her hair was near to her waist, like Hermione's. But where Hermione's curled at the bottom, Akira's was sleek and shiny all the way. She was very pretty, like Cho Chang, but in a very different way. And he remembered her walking toward him earlier. She was tall too. Probably halfway between him and Hermione. That was tall, for an Asian, Harry thought, comparing her to Cho. Bleh! Let me eat! Harry thought, turning his attention back to the food. From across him, he heard Hermione and Akira talking. He was tempted to look up, but then decided against it. Shortly after, he was following Hermione back up the Gryffindor tower. Hermione was gesturing here and there, pointing this and that to Akira.

"Oh, that's Peeves, the poltergeist. He's a pest really.." Hermione pointed to a flying Peeves, jeering and laughing manically above them.

"Er… Hermione, aren't you a prefect? The first years?..." Harry said.

"Nah, McGonagall herself told me to show Akira around." She said without turning around. Akira, however, turned her head to study him. Then she smiled abruptly, and Harry felt himself smile in return. She's really pretty….He thought vaguely.

"Roasted Roaches." Hermione said to the Fat Lady, and they swung inside. Inside, it was warm. Students here and there were talking animatedly to friends, telling each other about their summers. Ron came huffing up behind him.

"Those first years are a bunch of stuck up gits!" He exclaimed, his face red.

Harry grinned, and Hermione shot Ron a reproachful look. Akira was busy studying her new surroundings.

Hermione turned her attention back towards her and took her hand. She's so comfortable to be with. I feel as if we're good friends already. Hermione smiled to herself. Her hand was cool, but it quickly warmed-up. Akira smiled at her, and Hermione led her to the Girls' Dormitories, introducing her to her people.

"Oh hi there!" Lavender somewhat squealed while Parvati solemnly shook Akira's hand. Harry watched their backs as the door closed, Lavender and a couple of other girls following closely behind. Harry turned to Ron.

"What?" He said as he noticed Ron's expression.

"Nothing. They seem to go on pretty well, the lot of them." He said, plopping heavily into a couch near the fireplace. Harry followed suit. He smiled.

"You don't like her taking away Hermione?" He grinned. Ron shot him a look.

"No." He said vehemently. "Well… Hermione would have been here beside us by now, talking about her summer..."

"She'll be back. She's our best friend." Harry reassured Ron. He didn't understand why he felt something tug his stomach at what Ron mentioned. He felt suddenly queasy. The door to the Girls' Dormitories swung open, and Hermione walked to them, then plopped down beside Harry. He felt warmer just by her presence…

"Ah, everyone's keeping her. Can't even talk to her with a crowd like that, though she tried to capture my attention a few times. I can tell she doesn't like the attention." Hermione put a finger to her lips. She seemed thoughtful. Harry saw Ron visibly relax, and he felt himself grin in response. Together, the three of them talked, talked and talked. They were once again Gryffindor's Golden Trio, but for how long, nobody knew.

End of Chapter