Chapter 13

When Hermione and Neville got back to the common room later that evening, the place was buzzing with excitement. Harry's name kept getting tossed around but Hermione couldn't catch why. Something about a 'seer' or a 'seeker' or something kept popping up, but she couldn't make sense of it.

Neville seemed to know what everyone was on about, though.

He made a beeline toward Potter as soon as he spotted the boy's messy head of hair. "Is it true, what everyone's saying, Harry? McGonagall made you the team seeker?"

Harry grinned and nodded, scrubbing a hand along the back of his neck subconsciously. "Erm, yeah. Malfoy threw your Remembrall earlier and I sort of...caught it right in front of McGonagall's office window."

Ron piped up from his spot next to Harry on the settee. "I thought for sure he and Malfoy were going to be expelled! Instead, she takes him up to meet with Oliver Wood and gets him a spot on the house team! 'Youngest seeker in a century,' she said!"

Hermione was frustrated by the way Harry had been rewarded for breaking the rules, but he'd done it to help Neville, so she decided to let it slide and attempt to make another friend. "Congratulations, Harry!"

He still looked embarrassed but glowed under all the praise. Glancing up to meet her eye, he simply said, "Thanks."

XxxX

After dinner, Hermione was leaving the Great Hall with Harry, Ron, and Neville when someone stepped out of the shadows.

Ron looked disgusted and spoke for all of them. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Just wanted to congratulate you on your new place on your house team, Potter. Looks like everything worked out for the best after all."

Ron guffawed. "Showed your sorry arse up, didn't he?"

Draco bristled. "About that. I was rather hoping for a chance to redeem myself." He stood to the full extent of his short stature, staring down his nose at them as best he could and drawing on his aristocratic upbringing to level them all with a cold, controlled look. "I formally challenge you to a wizard's duel in the trophy room tomorrow night. Do you accept the challenge?"

Neville stood staring stupidly at Draco, but Ron was fuming.

Hermione, ever the voice of reason, was the first to speak. "Just leave it, Harry. You have no obligation to fight him."

"It doesn't work like that in the wizarding world, Hermione! He has to fight to defend his honour. Otherwise, he forfeits." Ron disagreed.

"That's absolute rubbish!"

"It's true, Hermione," Neville piped up. "The laws for duelling go back thousands of years. Gran made me read all about them growing up."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief, feeling the embarrassment of being wrong and fury at the unfairness of it all. She felt distinctly disadvantaged for her first time at Hogwarts. All of the children from wizarding families had a big advantage that she could never hope to learn from a book - growing up immersed in the magical community.

Deflating in defeat, Hermione turned to Harry and said, "Do what you feel you need to." She turned and swept off down the corridor.

XxxX

Despite her reassurance to Harry that she was on his side about the whole thing, Hermione secretly hoped that he would call the whole thing off before they had to sneak down to the trophy room for the duel.

It was not to be.

It was just before midnight, and well past curfew, when she and Neville followed Harry and Ron down the winding staircases to the third floor. When they entered the dimly lit trophy room, Malfoy stood at the far end, flanked - as usual - by Crabbe and Goyle.

The blond boy stepped forward as the Gryffindors came 'round the corner. "I thought you might have decided not to come."

Ron nearly growled in frustration. "Fat chance, Malfoy."

Draco was just about to ask who Harry had picked as his second when a mangy tabby cat stepped into view and glared daggers at the lot of them.

Neville groaned. "Not Mrs Norris! She finds me every time I get lost. If Gran hears that Filch has caught me one more time I think she'll come up to the school and charm a map onto my hand so I stop getting into trouble. Actually, that's not a bad…"

"Neville!" they chorused. Everyone was looking around in a panic, but they all knew there was only one escape route.

The forbidden corridor.

Draco led the way, absolutely certain that his parents would hear about him getting caught if his Head of House had anything to say about it. He grimaced at the thought, knowing that his mother would be as distraught as his father would be furious if he got into trouble.

They sprinted down the hall, torches flickering to life as they ran past, lighting their way. At the end of the corridor was a lone wooden door. Harry had somehow caught up to Draco - fast little bugger - and tried to open it.

"It's locked!"

"Idiot," Draco muttered under his breath, just as Hermione said, "Let me try."

As one, they brandished their wands and cast, "Alohamora!" The door burst open from the force of the combined spell, and their gazes locked together for a stunned second before they opened the door the rest of the way and dashed inside. Crabbe and Goyle were the last to get in and hurriedly shut the door behind them.

The group stood facing the door, panting loudly, until Neville turned and said, "Erm...guys?

The quavering of Neville's voice sent a shiver of fear down Hermione's spine, and she slowly turned to see what had him sounding so nervous.

She kind of wished she hadn't.

She wasn't sure how she'd missed the smell or the sounds of the enormous, slumbering three-headed dog before them, but she chalked it up to the fear of getting caught and the heavy smell of dust in the normally unused classroom. Neville sneezed, proving her thoughts had some merit.

"Achoo!" The sound echoed off the stone walls. All seven sets of eyes were riveted on the cerberus, hearts hammering and breath stuck in their throats.

A low rumble sounded from the mountain of black fur, and Hermione felt it in her bones. Its eyes blinked open slowly, one set at a time, as if it was confused to have visitors at this time of night. It raised its heads and clambered to its feet, still growling.

Hermione's wolf was commanding her to run, but she was rooted to the spot.

Draco had heard of cerberi and had zero intention of becoming this one's midnight snack. He yanked the door back open and fled out into the corridor once more. Crabbe and Goyle weren't far behind their fearless leader.

Hermione swallowed her anxiety and ushered her friends through the classroom door, slamming it shut behind them and using her wand to lock it once more.

Neville chuckled an awkward, glad-to-be-alive laugh. "Guess we know why this corridor is forbidden now, eh?"

Harry simply nodded, green eyes still blown wide with terror. Ron shook his head. "Who keeps a bloody thing like that in a school? Doesn't matter if they say it's out of bounds. There are children here!"

They all heartily agreed.

They slowly made their way back up to Gryffindor Tower, creeping around corners lest they be spotted by Filch, Mrs Norris, or Peeves - the castle poltergeist. Hermione whispered, "Did you all notice what was on the floor beneath it?"

The boys looked at her in shock. Neville managed to respond, "I was a bit too busy praying we wouldn't get eaten."

Ron nodded emphatically. "The three heads seemed a bit more interesting than its feet. Three heads, bloody hell…" he trailed off, speaking the last part mostly to himself.

Harry's interest was piqued, though. "What did you see?"

"A trapdoor of some sort. I think it's hiding - or guarding - something."

He frowned, brow lowering in thought. "Maybe this has something to do with what was in the paper this morning…"

XxxX

The morning came far too early. They had stayed up for another hour after their misadventure on the third floor discussing what the creature could be hiding - and why, exactly, it was hidden at Hogwarts.

Hermione had a few ideas but knew she'd need to spend some time in the library over the next few days before she could venture any solid guesses.

She'd tossed and turned all night, thoughts riotously flipping through the possible circumstances that would necessitate having a three-headed dog guarding something in a magical school. She knew, from her research before school began, that Professor Dumbledore was one of - if not the - most powerful wizard of their day, and it made sense to her that he should be the one in charge of protecting...whatever it was.

But what could it be?

XxxX

Draco stared at his bacon and eggs, shoving them around with his fork but not really eating much. His tired eyes drifted occasionally to the Gryffindor table, where Granger, Potter, and their sidekicks looked as exhausted and concerned as he felt.

A part of him wanted to go over and ask what they thought about the dog - if it could even be called that - and whatever was beneath the trapdoor beneath it - but thought better of it.

It was probably safer not to know.

Now he just had to convince his rebellious thoughts that was actually true.

XxxX

Hermione didn't think she'd ever studied so much in her life. She had spent the past week poring over obscure texts to figure out what the three-headed dog might be guarding, but she had had only managed to compile an excessively long list of things that were rare, highly-sought-after, or extremely expensive (or some combination of all three) in the wizarding world. Cross-referencing those with her list of things that could be potentially harmful in the hands of someone with impure intentions gave her a much shorter list to go on, she supposed, but they really still had no idea what was beneath that trapdoor. She had been up until well past midnight the night before, trying to narrow down the possibilities further, when she had fallen asleep in bed with a book on her face.

As much as she loved the printed word, she was not a fan of waking up to find drool and ink smudged all over her cheek.

Her face burned with embarrassment until she realised that her bed curtains were tightly shut. She opened them a crack and was relieved to see that her roommates had already left for the day. She quickly fixed her book as much as she could, looking up spells for cleaning and drying charms and trying not to feel disappointed when some of the drool damage couldn't be reversed. When the book was safely hidden away once more, she hurried to shower and dress. She didn't want to go down to breakfast with wet hair hanging around her face - or deal with the mushroom cloud of frizz it was sure to become as it dried during the day's classes. Instead, she pulled it back into a pair of french braids and allowed herself a moment of homesickness as she remembered how many times her mum had braided her bushy curls back away from her face over the years keeping it out of the way during countless hours of reading and projects.

Her eyes stung with tears, but she blinked them back, not giving in to the temptation to mope.

After all, it was her birthday.

Deciding her appearance was as presentable as it was going to get while running on so little sleep, she made her way down to the common room. It was fairly empty, and she didn't see Neville. She knew she'd slept in a bit later than usual after staying up so late reading and assumed he'd gone down to breakfast already. Sighing, she made sure she had everything she needed for class and slipped out through the portrait hole.

The walk to the Great Hall was unusually quiet, save for the occasional passing of fellow late-comers or those already headed to class early. She was normally part of the latter, but she knew there was still plenty of time for breakfast and tried not to worry.

When Hermione finally arrived at the Gryffindor table, she quickly noticed that Neville was already happily seated between Dean and Seamus. Her heart sank, and she immediately felt silly for being disappointed. After all, it wasn't like Neville knew it was her birthday. She hadn't brought it up for fear that it would cause a rift in their easy, comfortable friendship if he felt obligated to buy her a gift or celebrate her big day when their friendship was so new.

Sitting down on the other side of the table a few seats down, she suddenly wished she had.

She was just putting the finishing touches on her pancakes - indulging in berries and whipped cream on top for the special occasion - when owls started swooping into the room with the post.

"Mail's here!" Seamus chirped.

Bird after bird swept down from the opening in the rafters, owls of all shapes and sizes filling the air with the sounds of fluttering wings, affectionate hoots, and indignant squawks. Hermione's eyes were instantly up and searching for Sirius' dark wings and distinctive yellow beak. After her second glance around the vast vaulted ceiling, her shoulders began to slump.

Had her parents...forgotten?

As the impossible thought crossed her mind, a bedraggled and exhausted Sirius made his way through the window. He beelined it straight for Hermione and cooed his hello as he plopped onto the Gryffindor table. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of the small mountain of gifts attached to the bird. "Mum and Dad should have split this into two trips for you!" He hooted his agreement before his eyes fell shut. Hermione gently stroked his head as he ruffled his feathers to get more comfortable. She giggled at the sight of her familiar sleeping amidst the trappings of a busy Hogwarts breakfast but felt that he more than deserved a nap after bringing her gifts all the way from home.

When she was certain he was asleep, she turned her attention back to the gifts in front of her. She took a moment to savour the love that the presents represented, feeling her eyes grow damp for the second time that morning - this time for a much happier reason. Swiping away a tear, she set to work.

The first few gifts were easy to guess, as familiar as she was with the way a book looked and felt wrapped in paper. She skimmed through the first few pages of each one, her heart lifting at the prospect of new things to learn and new worlds to explore. Books never seemed to get old to her, and she relished the joy that came from having parents who knew her well enough to exclusively buy her titles she didn't already own.

The next oddly-shaped package was a thrown together heap of chocolate of all types and sizes, tied together with a bundle of string before being wrapped haphazardly in paper. Hermione was certain this gift had been wrapped by her father, and though the gift wasn't much to look at, her heart glowed with the warmth of knowing just how much her father adored her. She knew he hated wrapping gifts - because he was absolutely pants at it - and the fact that he had done so for her gave the gift extra meaning.

The last gift of the bunch was small, and she wasn't sure why she'd saved it for last, aside from the fact that it was the most mysterious of the lot. She opened it to find a beautiful red velvet jewellery box and gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. As she started to lift the lid open, a small note fell out. She hurried to read it before she finished opening the box.

To our girl, on your special day,

Know that we miss and love you. Home is too quiet without you and your zest for life.

Love,

Mum and Dad

P.S. We've always thought wolves were our favourite animal, but a little bird told us that you might have a thing for lions now.

She inhaled sharply and snatched the jewellery box back off the table. Flipping the lid the rest of the way open, she peered inside.

A dainty, golden lion was nestled in the box's velvet interior, attached to a thin golden chain. Hermione felt a giddy grin steal over her face as she remembered her previous letters discussing her new house and the animal that represented it. It was just a few weeks into the school year, but she was already proud to wear scarlet and gold.

"Ohhhh, that's beautiful!" The voice startled Hermione out of her reverent admiration of the beautiful necklace her parents had sent her, and she looked up quickly to see Lavender and Parvati staring at the gift from a few seats away. Hermione smiled at them, feeling a slight kinship for the first time with the obnoxiously girly witches that shared her dorm.

Lavender returned to her breakfast, rambling on about her latest birthday and the pair of amethyst earrings her parents had given her, explaining, "Because the stone looks lavender, you know?" Parvati smiled at Hermione before finishing her own breakfast.

Something in her chest unclenched just a bit at the girls' approval, even though Hermione hadn't realized she was seeking it.

She took the necklace out of the box and fitted it around her neck, taking a moment to decide whether she wanted it on top of or underneath her shirt. She tucked it into her collar for the time being, as close as possible to her heart. She found she would rather keep it hidden than share the special bond it signified with the rest of the school.

As she was tucking the last of the chain beneath her collar, she glanced up to see Neville looking at her oddly. His brow was furrowed, and his usual look of confusion was tinted with sadness. He finished talking to the friends seated on either side of him and said his goodbyes, making his way around the table to take a seat next to Hermione. She smiled shyly at him, suddenly feeling awkward about the gifts and pile of discarded paper scattered on the table in front of her.

Instead of remarking about the gifts of the mess, Neville simply said, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Hermione glanced back down at her breakfast, fiddling with her silverware, and suddenly felt like she had done something wrong. She shrugged. "I didn't want to make a big deal about it."

Neville scoffed gently, a smile finally coming to play at the corner of his lips. "'Course it's a big deal. There are too many hard days in life to not celebrate the good ones when they come."

He looked like he wanted to say more, and she tilted her head in question, hoping it would be enough prompting to convince him to speak. He looked unsure of himself. "We're friends, right?" he asked.

Her eyebrows shot up. "Of course!" she answered emphatically, nodding her head.

He nodded once, decisively. "Then we should tell each other things like this. Friends are there for each other."

Impulsively, Hermione threw her arms around her friend. "Honestly, just being my friend is all the gift I could ask for." She smiled sheepishly, hoping she hadn't embarrassed him further.

He laughed and shook his head. "I'm sure I can do better than that. Let's meet up after class tonight, yeah? I'll see you in the common room."

She nodded in agreement and finished her last few bites of breakfast before they swung their bags up onto their shoulders and headed off to class.

XxxX

The day's lessons went by quickly. After dinner, Hermione spent an hour in the library, then finally trudged back up to the common room, hoping to find Neville for a round of cards or just some time to sit and chat by the fire. The common room was full when she arrived, but a quick glance around the room showed that Neville was not there yet - or that he'd already gone up to bed.

She sighed, feeling bad that she hadn't prioritized spending time with her friend as he'd requested that morning.

She was about to head up to bed early herself, hoping to catch up on sleep, when the portrait swung open again behind her. Someone bumped into her back, nearly sending her tumbling out into the common room.

"Oh!" Neville's startled cry came as Hermione spun around. "Sorry, didn't see you there..." his voice trailed off as he realised who he had bumped into. Hermione smiled at him, and they both made their way further into the common room, away from the portrait hole and any potential encounters with others seeking entrance into the room.

Neville was holding something slightly hidden behind him, which kept him turned at an awkward angle away from Hermione as they tried to find a place to sit. When she had finally plopped down on one of the sofas, setting her bookbag on the floor beside her and turning to face him, he blushed, grinning sheepishly. "I would have found something better if you'd told me sooner," he explained, but this was the best I could do on short notice."

He pulled the hidden bundle from behind his back. Hermione was shocked for the second time that day by the gift she was given.

Neville held out a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Hermione recognized some of them from the hours she'd spent tending her mother's flower garden over the years but thought a few of them looked more like something out of a fairytale. One large bloom, in particular, was lazily twirling its petals to and fro, and Hermione sat mesmerized as she stared at its graceful dance. There were budding yellow roses scattered throughout the bouquet, and the symbolism of new friendship was not lost on Hermione. Her exhaustion must have been catching up with her, because she felt herself tear up again.

"Thank you, Neville. These are...perfect."

He smiled, clearly pleased that she liked them. They sat and chatted for a while longer until Hermione was yawning more than talking. Neville laughed and ushered her off to the stairway that led to the girls' dorms.

She used a large jar from her potions kit as a home for the flowers, smiling at them every so often as she readied for bed. When her head finally hit the pillow, she smiled sleepily and held the little lion charm of her necklace between her finger and thumb as she drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Thank you all for waiting so patiently for this update. My betas and I had some real life stuff come up, and it gave me a chance to catch up on some other stories that I'm hoping to start posting soon. (I already have about 12 chapters for one of them, so I'm pretty stoked!) Anyway, I thought posting Hermione's birthday chapter on Hermione's canon birthday would be brilliant, so here we are. :) I hope you love it. I think Neville is just the cutest. I hope you like the chapter! Let me know what you think and what other parts of first year you're hoping to see in this version of the story. I love hearing from you guys. :)

I hope you like the chapter! Let me know what you think and what other parts of first year you're hoping to see in this version of the story. I love hearing from you guys. :)

Beta thanks to my girl, Mahawna!