Find Alice McKinnon/Longbottomand Amelia Bones in this chappie. If you'd like to hazard a guess at Harry's soon-to-be girlfriend, be my guest.

"Have you got all your books?" Lily asked Hermione the next morning. Ginny laughed into her pillow, knowing exactly what the scene that followed would look like. Her mother and Hermione had gone through it the summer before her second year—Hermione's third.

"I—think—so," she gasped out, shoving her other Ancient Runes textbook into her overfull bookbag. She counted them.

"Advanced Defense, Advanced Potion-Making, Advanced Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, A Study of Runeology, A History of Magic, 1,000 Magical Herbs and Fungi, Advanced Transfiguration, A Tome of Healing—they are not joking, that is a tome—Standard Book of Spells, Grade Seven— Where did that Muggle Studies textbook go? It was just here!" She'd decided to resume Muggle Studies. NEWT classes didn't overlap, so she didn't need a Time-Turner to make them all.

"Merlin!" Alice McKinnon exclaimed, emerging from the bathroom with her blonde hair still damp. She'd only just met the girls last night. "Will you have time to sleep, Granger?"

"Maybe," she hedged. "And it's Hermione."

"Has no one told you Hermione is capable of being inhumanly overworked and underfed and still being her vibrant annoying self?" Ginny said matter-of-factly, clasping the collar of her robes. "Trust me, she was born a workaholic and she's going to die a workaholic. And everything will be more than perfect and on time when she does die."

"Ginny!" Hermione screeched.

"Reckon the boys are up yet?" Ginny said innocently, ignoring her friend's screech.

"Remus will be," Lily said knowingly.

"So will Harry. Though if he's still having nightmares, I'm going to look up that nightmare-free charm in the Library."

"What does he have nightmares about?" Lynn Andersen asked, dragging a brush through curly dark brown hair.

"His godfather died two years ago, and one of his friends the year before."

"Oh," Alice whispered. "Was it—him?"

"Death Eaters," Hermione disagreed. "Both times." She looked at Alice directly. She could see traces of Neville in his mother's face. It made her remember—very well—the day they had traveled to the Ministry and the horrifying way things had turned out.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked tentatively. "You all right?"

"Sorry," she apologized. "Staring into space."

"I know what you mean. What do you have first?"

"Umm—Defense, how about you?"

"Same, obviously. Who've we got it with?"

"The Ravenclaws, of course," Lily said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, right."

"Put your books away, class," Professor Rowena Blackthorne said as she strode up to the teacher's desk. Her black hair had one brilliant white streak that encompassed one eighth of her hair, and it splayed and pulled back together as she walked up the aisle. "Today we will have a practical lesson to gauge what you know overall."

"Good," Harry murmured. "I love this class—and a competent teacher, too." Ginny poked him and gave him a look that screamed "Shut up!"

"Everyone pair up," she commanded.

James and Lily paired up rather reluctantly, Hermione and Sirius, Remus and Ginny, Ron and Peter, and Harry was left to flounder around looking for someone willing to partner him.

"Would you be my partner?" a female voice said behind him. He whirled around to see a tall girl with almond-shaped green eyes and long curly brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. "I'm Lynn, Lynn Andersen. Gryffindor."

"Harry, Harry Potter—Gryffindor too. Sure, we can be partners."

Harry soon found that this girl was almost his equal in spell casting—they could hold a duel on for ten minutes straight before someone won.

Remus was surprised at Ginny's agility and talent. It rivaled—was possibly better than—his. He sent a Stunner her way. "Protego!" she shouted, effectively repelling his spell. Immediately after, she shouted, "Expelliarmus! Petrificus Totalus!" Remus was caught by surprise. He keeled over, stiff as a board. Ginny caught his wand deftly. Professor Blackthorne walked by. "Very good, Miss—?"

"Weasley, Professor. Ginny Weasley."

"Very good. Not only did you disarm him, you remembered that every human is born with four weapons—their feet and hands. The Body-Bind would effectively save you from a Dark wizard when coupled with the Disarming spell—or even when not."

"Thank you, Professor," she blushed, before performing the counter-curse on Remus and handing him his wand back.

"And you doubted you would make seventh year?" he said, astounded. "You could probably take NEWTs and pass."

"Well, I never took sixth year anything, so watch me fail in Potions today or something. He'll be a git all year about it—hold on, I'm thinking Snape. Slughorn's not that bad."

"I suppose he's a basket of roses compared to Severus as a teacher."

"Well, yes, actually." She looked around the room for their friends. She laughed as she saw Harry stunned by a brunette a few yards away. Ron was beating Peter like nobody's business. James and Lily were sending hexes and jinxes at each other at lightning speed. She would see how they would have been able to 'defy' Voldemort three times. Especially considering who they were. The fourth duel, however, really caught her eye.

Hermione was getting the jump on Sirius. "Stupefy!" he yelled.

"Protego!" she replied. "Impedimenta!" Sirius was thrown to the ground for a moment. Just a moment.

"Expelliarmus!" he yelled. She blocked it effectively.

"Expelliarmus!" Her responding jinx caused his wand to fly straight into her hand. "Stupefy!" she finished with a triumphant grin as the jet of red light took Sirius through the chest. He fell in an arc, slumping to the floor. She could see Harry falter for a minute on the other side of the room. She signaled Hermione, who blushed guiltily.

"Excellent, Miss Granger."

"Thanks, Professor," she smiled. "Ennervate," she said softly. Sirius stirred and woke up completely.

"Bloody hell, Hermione," he said with a dog-like shake of his head.

"Language," Hermione tsk-ed. "Sorry, Harry," she mouthed in his direction. He just shrugged.

Harry helped his brunette partner up as Hermione helped Sirius up. "Good Stunner, Lynn. It just missed me."

"Well, that wasn't a bad Body-Bind on your part," she smiled. "Nice working with you. The lesson's about to end."

"Class!" Professor Blackthorne called out. "No homework for today—excellent performances. Mr. Pettigrew, if I may speak to you after class?"

"Yes, Professor," he squeaked, looking more than a little afraid of Professor Blackthorne.

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Miss Andersen, don't forget your bookbag—Mr. Potter, I saw that, do you want a detention?" she called as James trip-jinxed the doorway.

"Sorry, Professor," he said nonchalantly, before removing the jinx.

"Thank you. See you all tomorrow."

"Wow. Great lesson," Ginny said as the group of nine left Transfiguration. "I thought for sure I was going to make the bird smoke or something—but it actually turned into the fork on the third try!"

"Good job, Gin," Ron said glumly—his raven had simply turned into steel just before the bell rang.

"Sorry, Ron, but you were saying the incantation wrong," Hermione said carefully. "It was Argentum, not Airgentume. Argentum—it's Latin for silver—well, silver's chemical symbol comes from it, anyway. And they used that because—"

"Hermione, we don't need to know spell theory on every single spell there is—really, we don't," Harry said pleadingly.

"Fine!" she huffed. "I don't care if you all fail your flippin' NEWTs! You can all be sewer-cleaners for all I care."

"Aw, Hermione, you can't be that hard-hearted," James whined. "We need your assistance if we're ever to get into the Auror program at the Ministry!"

"And how did you get in when we hadn't shown up?" Hermione wanted to know. Harry looked a little shocked.

"We did?" Sirius said in wonderment. "We actually made it in?"

"Yes, you did. Harry, I know Sirius told you about that—he didn't?" she asked when he shook his head sadly. "Why not?"

"We hadn't had much chance to talk before he died. I think the last thing he ever said to me was 'Harry, take the prophecy, grab Neville, and run!'" he replied soberly.

"Well, talk to me now!" Sirius said loudly. Really, it only caused the whole hallway to turn and stare at him.

"Well," Harry said just as loudly. "Why don't we go to dinner?" he said pointedly. The group automatically rushed toward the Great Hall.

"Right," Sirius said, flushed red.

Did I mention that Sirius is ditzy? Oh well. You'll get used to it. Er, I hope. Luv, LysPotter