The Boy-Who-Squibbed Chapter 5: Hogwarts Year 2, a harry potter fanfic

Hermione sighed as she made her way out of the entrance hall and began walking toward the greenhouses for the second-year herbology final. At her side strode her friend Neville Longbottom. He hadn't changed much since their first year in school. He was still slightly shorter than her and on the heavier side with straight blond hair which he kept short. He had, however, started to walk a bit more upright than he did in their first year. Hermione and Padma had worked tirelessly trying to convince their friend to be more confident, and he was finally taking their advice.

Neville could be very intelligent and he had been able to flourish more thanks to his association with the two smart young witches. His speciality was herbology but he could hold his own in any of the subjects they studied at the school. His performance in classes was also greatly improved by him acquiring a wand of his own. Near the end of last year, Hermione had asked him where he got his wand trying to better understand what was holding her friend back in his practical abilities with regards to spell casting. He had confided in her that he was using his father's wand as a way to remember him by. The comment inspired her to look deeper into wandlore, and after reading about wand ownership she began to worry that even though the wand had been his father's there was a chance that it hadn't accepted him as its owner and was therefore hampering his abilities.

She had approached him about his wand after their finals were completed, not wanting to distract him during his testing. Neville had listened to her reasoning but after she was done he walked away from her without saying a word. For the next week, he avoided her. Eventually, Padma approached Neville herself and they had a short conversation. When Padma came back to Hermione, the bookish Gryffindor was close to tears with how nervous she felt, thinking that she had lost one of her best friends.

"He says he needs time," Padma had explained, "He isn't angry with you because he knows that you are trying to help but the wand is one of his only links to his parents so your suggestion to not use it has upset him."

"Did you tell him I'm sorry? He doesn't have to get rid of it if he doesn't want to, I just was trying-" Hermione's words were cut off by the Indian witch giving her a hug.

"He knows 'Mione," Padma said comfortingly, "You didn't lose your friend, he just needs time."

Hermione had been slightly calmer but she was still nervous until on the very last day, as they were boarding the train, Neville finally approached her.

"Thank you for worrying about me enough to try helping," Neville had said quietly, "I am sorry I have been distant but I needed to come to terms with what you said."

"So are you keeping your father's wand?" Hermione asked, then realizing that may push him away again she quickly added, "Because that is fine, wonderful even, it is great that you keep it around to stay connected to them really."

"I haven't decided yet," Neville said simply, then went silent.

The entire ride back to London was quiet and somewhat awkward, but Hermione had been happy to be with both of her friends regardless. As they separated they all promised to keep in touch then each had gone to their families. Hermione's summer was mostly spent at home, she told her parents about the school and her new friends. She was somewhat upset that she wouldn't be able to show her parents any of the magic that she had learned thanks to the statute of secrecy, but she couldn't do anything about it. When Professor McGonagall had first met with Hermione and her parents she had warned her that breaking the statute was grounds for expulsion and removal of her rights to own a wand. She had accepted it but a part of her was unsatisfied that this newly discovered part of herself would have to be suppressed to such a degree. Those same feelings resurfaced as she was faced with the challenge of trying to describe the wonders she was now capable of. Luckily Hermione didn't have long to dwell on her problems because within the first week of vacation she had received an owl from Padma telling her about the other girl's summer.

Padma wrote telling Hermione about the time she was getting to spend in India with her extended family and complaining about the childishness of her twin Parvati who wanted to spend all their time going to the market and looking for new clothes and accessories rather than spend any of it going through the extensive magical libraries that were curated by their ancestors. The Patil line was very prominent in Indian magical circles and had produced many scholars who collected magical wisdom throughout their years. Hermione burned with jealousy as Padma described her plans to look for differences between the magical ideologies in ancient India and the concepts they had touched on during their first year. Hermione wrote back how much she wished for the opportunity to share in the experience and wrote about her woes at being so separated from the magical world, though she did write about some of her own families more mundane plans for the vacation of touring some of the castles that dotted the land. She also wrote that due to Padma's letter, she now planned to see if there might be any hidden magical history amid the ruins and hoped that they would get the chance to compare notes soon. Her letter written, she happily sent the reply off with the owl that Padma had sent.

As nice as it was having her regular letter communications with Padma, after nearly a month with no contact from Neville, she once again grew nervous that she had somehow damaged their relationship. She began to lament not having an owl of her own so that she could initiate a conversation. Her parents had remarked how much she was acting like they had during the school year, constantly waiting to see an owl outside their window. Her father had said how at one point an owl had landed on the tree in their backyard and the neighbours had caught him trying to coax it down to see if it had a letter from her, but it ended up just being a mundane wild animal.

"I wish that there was an easier way to identify the owls you sent dear." Her father had said with a chuckle.

Finally, her long wait ended when she was surprised one evening by tapping on the window from a large eagle owl. It was not the owl Padma usually sent, which Hermione had learned was a mountain scops owl, so she started to get excited that it might be from her other friend. Opening the window Hermione waited for the stern-looking owl to lift its leg where a letter was tied. Upon breaking the seal she was elated to see the handwriting of her only close friend from Gryffindor. Neville's letter was simple but heartfelt. He told Hermione about his summer, and that he had been late in sending her a letter because his grandma had monopolized their owls since he had gotten home. Apparently, as a member of the Wizengamot, she was very busy dealing with everything that was going on with Harry Potter's sudden reveal as a squib, Sirius Blacks escape from Azkaban, and now the Minister of Magic starting to make claims about how he would lead the country through these uncertain times.

"Honestly," Neville had written, "it finally took me standing up at dinner and demanding she let me send one letter for her to give me permission to use Veneration, that's the name of the owl. If you could please send him back presently I wouldn't want to upset my grandmother further."

Hermione was a little surprised that Neville would demand anything, especially of his grandmother who he had always spoken of with fear in his voice, but she was glad he did. She had then quickly written a response saying she was grateful to receive his letter and that she hoped he had a good summer. Closing up her reply she approached the stately bird who looked at her, looked at her letter, then begrudgingly held out his foot.

The rest of the summer was fairly uneventful, she continued trading letters with Padma and enjoyed the castle tour she went on with her parents. It had ended with a visit to Glastonbury and getting to see the supposed tomb of King Arthur. The tour guide they had been with talked about the supernatural feats of his knights and how some were supposedly incredibly strong and skilled. Hermione now knew that Merlin was a real wizard so she wondered if some of the feats attributed to the knights might have been caused by enchantments or charms that the famous wizard used.

As August came to a close Hermione was once again treated to the arrival of her school letter detailing the materials she would need for the following year. In her latest letter, Padma had lamented that her family planned to stay in India until just before the beginning of the year so they wouldn't be able to meet up for school shopping and sadly Neville had only had the opportunity to send one other letter throughout the whole of the break making trying to meet up with him impossible. She would be venturing into the magical side of London with her parents without the help of a guide. They were all nervous about the prospect but at the same time Hermione was kind of excited to dive in without a chaperone guiding them, it would be a chance to explore and see more of the wonder that the new side of her life had to offer.

So with September only two weeks away, her parents cleared a day in their calendars and searched through their address book for the location of the Leaky Cauldron that Professor McGonagall had given them a year previous. Hermione kept a tight grip on both of her parents as they approached, keeping them from turning away from the building that they were headed to. Once they were through the door her parents seemed slightly disoriented but it wore off quickly and they were able to make their way to the back garden where the wall was already open as another family exited Diagon Alley.

Making their way inside, the Granger family took a moment to stare around at the alien environment around them. This was only their second trip to the magical side of the city so nearly everything was still new. Hermione was the first to recover, being the member of the family with the most exposure to magic, so she grabbed her parents hands once more and began to lead them toward Gringotts where they would be able to exchange their money. Her parents quickly regained their wits at the touch of their daughter and refocused on their plans.

In short order, the small family was entering the stately white marble building that housed the wizard bank. Through sheer force of will, Mr and Mrs Granger did not stare at the goblin guards standing by the door, their modern sensibilities not allowing them to do something so rude. Once inside they looked around they took note of the many teller booths which all had long lines of robed individuals waiting to be serviced. Off to the side, however, was a single separate desk with a much smaller line that they remembered as being the desk allocated for the exchanging of muggle to wizard money.

As her family approached the desk Hermione was surprised to see a figure she recognized as Madam Hooch, one of the professors from Hogwarts, standing in line next to an excitable father and son pair. The two were excitedly pointing at things around them and whispering to each other. The Father also had a camera around his neck and would occasionally snap a picture. The professor was standing nearby watching the two with an expression that was a mix between amused and embarrassed.

"Hello Professor," Hermione said as they took the place in line behind the woman.

Madam Hooch turned around and gazed down at Hermione, her yellow eyes widening in surprise before she smiled.

"Why hello Ms Granger, what a pleasant surprise. Here to get your second-year books I bet," the professor responded in a jovial tone.

"Yes," the girls responded, before motioning to her parents, "My parents and I are taking care of it now, we don't want to be in a rush at the end of summer break."

"So these are your parents eh?" the professor said looking at the adults, "I must congratulate you, your daughter has only been in school a year and already she is making waves among the professors as one of the brightest students Hogwarts has had the pleasure of receiving."

"Thank you," Hermione's mother commented, "Hermione has always been a gifted student and we couldn't be more proud."

"And what subject do you teach, if I may ask?" Hermione's father added curiously.

"Oh, I would hardly call myself a teacher if I am being honest," the grey-haired woman replied, "I only teach flying lessons to the first years, most of my time is spent organizing and acting as an official to the school's inter-house quidditch league."

"Flying?" Mr Granger said curiously, "You never said anything about learning to fly dear,"

"Oh," Hermione blushed as he focused back on her, "I am not very good, and I didn't really enjoy it so it must have slipped my mind."

"Oh don't say that," Madam Hooch said genially, "you were a bit shaky but you were nowhere near the worst I have seen from a muggle-born's first try on a broom. I am sure with some practice you would be taking to the sky like a natural."

Hermione smiled wanly at the encouragement but her dislike of flying stemmed mainly from the disastrous first lesson they had gone through. Neville had lost control of his broom and ended up injuring his arm. As Madam Hooch had been carting him off to the hospital wing, she hadn't noticed that the boy had dropped the remembrall that he had received that morning in the post from his grandmother. Unfortunately, it didn't escape the sight of Draco Malfoy, one of the vilest people Hermione had ever met, the boy had grabbed the marble-sized ball and begun disparaging her friend. Luckily all four houses of first years were receiving the lessons at the same time so Padma had been there with her to confront the boy, but he had laughed nastily in her face and told her not to speak to her betters.

Surprisingly, aid had come in the form of another Gryffindor boy, Ronald Weasley. Ronald and she did not have a friendly relationship. He had in fact been the one to give her the moniker of Ms Know-it-all, but he apparently did not approve of Slytherins taking the same liberties with people of his house and had stepped forward to confront the boy. Their short verbal back and forth quickly degenerated into fisticuffs which were broken up by the arrival of the caretaker Mr Filch who had been in the area. He had physically separated the two boys and both had wound up in detention. Luckily, during the melee, her friend's bauble had been dropped allowing her to recover it to return to him later. When she had tried to thank Ronald later the boy had given her the cold shoulder and dismissively said,

"I didn't do it for you Ms Know-it-all, I just don't like snakes."

From that point on she had decided to stay away from both boys and began spending most of her time in the library, somewhere neither of the two bullies frequented.

Her parents continued to speak to the professor until the pair she was accompanying reached the front of the line. At some point in their conversation, they had been introduced and Hermione learned that the boy was another muggle-born starting school that year. She had greeted him and offered to help him if he needed anything during the school year. Eventually, the Grangers had their turn at the counter and were able to exchange some pounds for a bag of gold, silver, and bronze coins.

"Makes me feel like I am back in the middle ages," her father muttered as he fiddled with one of the coins.

"Stop that dear," Mrs Granger said, giving him a light slap on the arm as they made their way out of the bank building.

As they joined the flow of traffic outside the small family made sure to stick close together so that they wouldn't be separated in the crowd. Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded list she had received only a few days earlier.

"My robes are still fine but I need to refill some of my potion supplies. I will also need more parchment, quills and ink,"

"I still don't understand why you can't just bring some spiral notebooks and pens," Her father grumbled.

"You remember what Professor McGonagall said, Dad," Hermione responded, "I don't want to stand out."

"No one accomplishes great things by not standing out," her father rebutted.

"My grades will stand out," Hermione said, "I will be known as the smartest witch in my class, not as the weird muggle-born girl that happens to do well."

"Fine," her father relented, "but don't forget that before you were a witch you were a Granger, and Grangers never settle, we go for the gold."

"Yes daddy," Hermione said with a smile.

Her mother rolled her eyes slightly at her husband but smiled fondly at the interaction between father and daughter. Together the family moved through the magical street and found the needed supplies for Hermione's second year. The trip was mostly uneventful aside from run-ins with a few of the students she was familiar with at school. For example Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones, two Hufflepuff students from her year that she had friendly conversations with whenever their houses shared a period. Other than these moments, it was not dissimilar to any other shopping trip she had experienced.

After finishing their time in the book store they were passing by another shop and a flash of white caught her eye. Looking over she became entranced by the sight of a beautiful snowy owl sitting in a cage in the window of a shop they were passing. Thinking about the experiences she had earlier in the summer she tugged on her father's sleeve.

"Dad, how many galleons do you have left?"

"Hm?" he grunted questioningly then looked into the bag, "About 18 with a few silver and bronze ones as well. Why do you ask?"

"Well, remember how you said that you wish it were easier to know when I send a letter? What if we got an owl that was easily recognizable so you would know for sure that it was from me." As she spoke she motioned to the window and her parents looked and saw the white bird looking back at them.

"Well it certainly is a beauty," her father said as he considered the animal. Then, after a moment, he said, "What's the harm in asking about it?"

The three entered the store and approached the counter.

"Excuse me," Mr Granger said kindly, "We were thinking about buying an owl to help us better keep in touch with our daughter while at Hogwarts. How much for the white one you have in the window?"

"Oh, caught your little girl's eye did she?" the salesman said from behind the counter, "Yes sir that bird right there is a beauty, only one of its kind that we have in stock, highly intelligent and well trained. A bird like that will run you a pretty sickle, but seeing as it is for such a lovely young lass I would be willing to cut you a deal. 25 galleons and I'll throw in a bag of treats."

"25?" Hermione's father said in outrage, "The highest price on your sign says 15." As he spoke he gestured to the sign behind the man displaying prices.

"Indeed it might," the salesman said, "but that is the price for a more ordinary bird. That white one there is the best we have in stock, I couldn't sell it for a price as low as the rest."

Mr Granger ground his teeth in frustration but stopped when his wife placed a hand on his arm.

"Allow me, dear," she said as she stepped forward.

"Sir, if I may ask how long has that bird been in your window?" she said, letting a small amount of concern enter her voice.

The salesman's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion at the question, "Why are you asking?"

"Well I am worried for its health you see," the woman continued, "don't you see how lethargic it is, how dull the plumage has become. Snowy owls like that one are native to much colder climates that we have here in London, so it is no wonder that you may not know the best way to treat such an animal. And if you claim that is the best one you have in stock, why, I fear for the health of the rest of your birds."

As Hermione's mother spoke, her voice got subtly louder so that the other patrons in the shop could hear her. They all started whispering and worried glances at the animals around the interior. The shopkeeper started looking about nervously as his customers began drifting toward the door. Mrs Granger smirked as the look came over his face then lowered her voice as she continued to speak.

"Tell you what, why don't we take that bird off your hands for 18 galleons, you are still making a good profit I am sure, and you won't have to worry about such a delicate creature."

The shopkeeper grit his teeth but in the end he relented,

"Fine, 18."

He went and grabbed the cage, placing it in front of the family. Mr Granger handed over the money and as soon as it changed hands Mrs Granger looked into the cage and said loudly.

"Oh I must have been mistaken, this is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. You must tell us how you take such good care of your birds."

The tension in the shop dissipated and the shop owner shook his head ruefully,

"It's been a while since anyone got me that good madam. It was a pleasure doing business."

Spending the remainder of their wizard money on treats for the newest addition to their family, the Grangers exited the store with Hermione happily carrying the cage of the beautiful bird.

"That was amazing Mom," The girl gushed.

"Of course," Her mother said, "you don't think you got your smarts from your father do you?"

Hermione giggled and her father lagged before saying,

"Those smarts are why I married you,"

Their shopping completed, the family exited the alley and made their way back home. Hermione spent the last weeks of the summer enjoying her time with her family and getting to know her new owl. Her first order of business was naming the owl. She poured through her books and finally ended up deciding to name her after a witch in A History of Magic, St. Hedwig, apparently during the middle ages the witch had sacrificed herself to protect muggle-born children under her care from a dark lord who was trying to rise to power. Hermione had been inspired by the story and when she told it to the newly named Hedwig the owl had seemed to puff its chest in pride at the name. It was surprising how intelligent the animal was, for the first few days after getting it, the owl would not let Hermione's mother come near it until Hermione suggested that she apologize for saying the things she did to lower the owl's price. The woman told the owl she was sorry and that seemed to settle things so Hedwig allowed her to pet her plumage.

Finally the first of September rolled around and Hermione woke early to make sure everything was in order. Soon she was again in Kings Cross Station and hugging her parents goodbye before she made her way through the barrier and onto the platform. After looking around she heard someone call her name and turned to see Padma coming to greet her. The girls shared a hug and began swapping stories about summer. In the middle of Hermione telling her about one of the castles she visited Padma interrupted the girl and pointed behind her. When Hermione turned she saw Neville approaching them, a smile on his face.

"Hello," he said in greeting.

"Hello Neville," Hermione said back, "I missed you."

"Yeah," Padma added, "two letters for the whole summer break was not enough."

"I know," the boy said shyly, "I am sorry about that, but the summer really was crazy for Gran, she was almost constantly on a floo call or sending out letters. I spent most of my time over the summer in our greenhouses. It was quite peaceful, though I was sad I couldn't talk to you both more."

"Well," Hermione said, "hopefully that won't ever be a problem again because I got something over the break. Allow me to introduce you both to Hedwig."

With a flourish, the girl pulled back the cover exposing the white bird, who hooted quietly in protest at being woken from her nap. Hermione's two friends peered into the cage and both offered appreciative noises at the sight of the beautiful owl.

"Wow," Padma said, "she is very impressive."

"You are practically Athena," Neville added, "you are incredibly smart and now you have a pet owl too."

Hermione beamed at the response. She was so happy to be reunited with her two friends again. They eventually made their way onto the train and found an empty car. When they had settled down Neville spoke.

"I actually wanted to show you both something I got over the break as well."

Reaching into his robes he pulled out a thirteen-inch wand with a twisted grip at the base. Hermione's breath caught at the sight of the unfamiliar length of wood.

"Neville, you…" Hermione was lost for words.

"I talked to my grandmother about it and she agreed to take me to Ollivanders," He reached in again and this time pulled out the familiar wand that he had used throughout their first year. "I was sad that I wasn't able to use my father's wand to its fullest potential, but I never really knew what I was missing. Now that I have an actual connection to a wand I feel a sense of completeness that I never had before. I will still keep my dad's wand to remember him by, but now I feel like I can live up to his reputation." Smiling, he met Hermione's eyes, "Thank you for helping me Hermione, I don't know if I ever would have been willing to make the change without your help."

Hermione's eyes stung but held in her tears and grabbed the boy in a fierce hug.

"You're very welcome," She said to him.

"Aww, that's so sweet," Padma said before a hand from Hermione reached out and pulled her into the hug as well.

"I really missed you guys," Hermione said once more to her friends.

The emotional start of the year had filled Hermione with excitement at the thought of going back to Hogwarts, but once again she had arrived at the end of the year and some part of her that yearned for adventure still felt unfulfilled. The most exciting thing that had happened all year had taken place just a few weeks ago when a Ravenclaw sixth-year had deduced that Professor Lockhart was lying about the escapades that they had been required to read that year. The story was that the Ravenclaw student suspected that the teacher was using the memory charm to cover his tracks so they had left a note for themselves in their room in case it happened to them. While the rumours varied, the fact of the matter was that a team of aurors had shown up in the middle of dinner and hauled Professor Lockhart the students' hopes, the finals schedule remained unchanged, even with the loss of another defence against the dark arts professor. So here Hermione was, walking into the greenhouse for her herbology exam, and at her side walking calmly into the greenhouse was her friend Neville.

The connection with his new wand that he had talked about on the train was readily apparent in his increased casting ability in charms and transfiguration. Though he still struggled in potions, thanks to the pressure he was always under due to Professor Snape's demeanour. Hermione did her best to encourage him, but even with all of his improvements he still had shaken with nervousness as they walked into every final exam so far. However, herbology was to Neville as water was to a fish. He thrived in the greenhouse, able to identify nearly every plant inside at a glance. His ability to recall information about flora was spectacular, beating out both Hermione and Padma when they studied together. As the thick smell of vegetation washed over them, Neville seemed to stand a little taller and a smile found its way onto his face. The happy moment of seeing her friend enjoy himself was ruined however by a voice behind them.

"Ugh, these finals are killing me, and this one doesn't even require any spell casting. How does herbology count as magic anyway?" Ronald Weasley said loud enough for her and Neville to hear.

This year, just like the last, Hermione had avoided the boy by spending as much of her time as she could in the library with her friends. Unfortunately, she was still forced to be in his general vicinity during classes. She could hardly wait for next year because then she would be able to take elective courses letting her enjoy some of her class time without having to deal with the boy's boorishness.

"The only one who actually likes this class is Longbottom," He continued, "Which makes sense because without this class he'd be failing everything." He laughed at his own joke and his two friends Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan chuckled along with him.

The trio weren't the worst bullies in the school, after all, they never went out of their way to be cruel but they would often make crude or disparaging remarks about their classmates. Hermione couldn't hold in her annoyance anymore so she turned around to face the boys that had chosen to sit in the seats directly behind her and Neville, she would have to make sure that she and her friend took extra care to cover their answers just in case. Catching his eyes, which was easy because he had apparently been watching them for their reaction, she made her feelings known.

"Ronald Weasley, I know for a fact that you were tied with Neville in your scores last year and that this year he has made marked improvements in all of his subjects while you have chosen to wallow in mediocrity. Maybe you should work to improve yourself instead of just trying to tear everyone else down to your level."

The boy's friends sniggered at her comeback and Ron's mouth shut. His ears started to turn red with embarrassment and Hermione felt slightly better for speaking out. Until Neville placed a hand on her arm.

"Hermione, he is only saying those things to try and get your attention. You responding in that way is just giving him what he wants."

Hermione looked at her friend puzzled by what he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about it," Neville said calmly, "Just know that if you want him to stop just ignore him. It usually works with bullies who only use their words."

"Watch what you say, Longbottom," Ron said angrily.

He looked like he was about to continue but, any further retaliation was halted when Professor Sprout entered the room. All students knew that acting out during the final exam was a good way to put your entire semester grade into jeopardy, so nothing else was said until the test had been finished.

When the test was complete and all the papers had been collected the students were excused. This had been the last final of the day with only transfiguration, charms, and astronomy left for the second-years to complete tomorrow. Hermione and Neville planned to meet up with Padma and do some last-minute studying then hopefully make some plans for the approaching summer break. As Hermione and her friend exited the greenhouse however they were stopped by Ron.

"You insulted me in class Longbottom, I demand satisfaction." The redheaded boy said.

Neville's head tilted in confusion, Hermione was surprised that he was standing his ground but he still must be riding high from being in the greenhouse.

"What do you mean Ron?" Neville asked back.

"You called me a bully and nearly revealed things that are no business of yours," Ron said back, his eyes flashing briefly over to Hermione.

"What do I have to do with it?" Hermione thought.

"My family may not be rich like your's but I am still a pureblood and you insulted my honour."

"Are you saying what I think you are?" Nevill asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Ron said back.

"You have no right," Neville said calmly, "According to the Code Duellum Magica Only the initially offended party has the right to demand satisfaction and you were the one to insult me first with your comments about my performance in classes. If you were to try and attack me you would be unjustified. In addition, neither of us is a legal adult so those statutes aren't available to us. You are speaking about things you don't fully understand."

Ron flushed in embarrassment and anger at the other boy's words. Neville watched him and his lips dropped into a frown.

"Ron," Neville said seriously, "If you want to get what you're reaching for you will need to act more mature. The way you are now you will only push people away."

Neville then turned to Hermione and motioned with his head and the two friends continued walking toward the library, the redheaded boy staying in his spot.

"You know," Hermione said, "I have studied a little Latin so I have an idea what the Code Duellum Magica must be. I can't believe Weasley would try to challenge you to a duel."

"He's not a bad guy," Neville said quietly, his soft-spoken tendencies returning as they got farther from the greenhouse, "He is the youngest son in a big family, all of his brothers have made a mark in their time at Hogwarts, so he is just trying to find his place."

Hermione could somewhat see Neville's point but couldn't fully accept it.

"You may have a point but that doesn't excuse the way he treats others. If he truly wished to make a mark then he should be kind. Even though his brothers all have their quirks, be they pranksters or sticklers for the rules, they are all kind to others."

"You're right," Neville agreed, "But it's only the second year there is time for him to grow up."

Hermione shrugged noncommittally as they entered the library. Looking around they spotted Padma as she waved them over to a table she had claimed. Hermione felt excitement bubble up in her stomach, the three of them had already talked about meeting up during the break and apparently with magic it would be easy for her to come too. Today the three friends were going to finalize their plans. Hermione could hardly wait for the coming summer.

Special Thanks to ACreativeMindAtWorkHere for beta reading the chapter.