JK Rowling owns Harry Potter
Hermione Granger felt miserable, it was her 12th birthday and nobody cared. Her parents had sent a card and a few impersonal gifts, but she had no friends. Again. None of her housemates liked her, Ron and Lavender made fun of her hair, her teeth, and the way she spoke. And they were all mad at her because she told McGonagall when Ron and Dean left the tower after curfew to look for Ron's missing rat. They became even angrier when the rat was never found, which was completely irrational; she hadn't stopped them from looking for the rat (though she tried) she just told McGonagall about it later.
She'd really hoped - McGonagall had said her house would be like her family, and Hermione had always wanted siblings - but now, after three weeks Hermione was convinced she'd never have any friends. She was too smart and different, and she would never play along when someone did something wrong. Hermione cried in a bathroom after her first class, but then she determinedly got up. She didn't want to be friends with them anyways. They were boring, they didn't like books and they constantly broke the rules. Hermione washed her face and marched to the library to find something to read. Books were the right way to celebrate her birthday.
She'd only been reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for twenty minutes when she heard a chair being pulled out from her table. Looking up she saw Harry Potter standing there. Hermione thought he was weird, she'd seen him once undo a transfiguration that was perfect and replace it with a worse one. She'd already known he could use really advanced magic, they met on the train and Harry found Neville's toad using a spell which Hermione hadn't read about. When she looked it up it turned out the spell wasn't taught until fourth year. And Harry never raised his hand in class, but when a teacher made him answer a question he always got it right. If he knew the answers why didn't he want the teachers to know?
Hermione also felt sorry for Harry. When she met him on the train Hermione told him about all of the books that described his defeat of You-Know-Who, and he looked like he wanted to cry; which made Hermione realize it had been insensitive, his parents had died. People shouldn't constantly bring it up. Harry was very nice when Hermione apologized and she had hoped they might be friends. But Harry was sorted into Slytherin, while Hermione was a Gryffindor. All of the Gryffindors had been very surprised to see the boy-who-lived sorted into the house for dark wizards. Especially since both of his parents had been Gryffindors.
One day before potions Hermione overheard Draco and Pansy talk about Harry. "Our new celebrity refused to talk to me again," Draco said, "He's so stuck up, he thinks because he is famous that he is better than a Malfoy. He'll learn better someday. I've told my father about him."
Harry read books while eating and Hermione had never seen him talk to anyone at the Slytherin table. Half the time he didn't show up to meals at all. Hermione wondered if maybe he wasn't stuck up, but just shy. Neville didn't talk much, and he certainly wasn't stuck up. But Harry tried to annoy Snape in their potions class, and always answered teachers with a clear confident voice. So maybe he was stuck up.
And here he was now, standing next to the red chair he'd pulled out. "Do you mind if I sit?" Harry quietly gestured at the chair. Hermione was too surprised to do more than nod and watch him sit down. Harry looked like he was about to say something, but instead stopped and looked at the wooden table with a scowl. Hermione's excitement at being approached by a fellow student slowly faded as he sat there.
Harry didn't have a book, or any papers, so he probably wanted to talk to her, but it had been almost two minutes. And she'd been enjoying her book. As Hermione stared at him she noticed something, and finally spoke, "Was there something you wanted; also did you know, your robe is a bit stained?" Hermione gestured at his sleeve.
Harry looked up with a bright smile, and Hermione looked through his glasses into his clear green eyes for a moment before he spoke, "ah well, yes - years of dirty living conditions and all, always forget to use cleaning charms. I - well I noticed you don't have any friends."
Hermione felt like she'd been kicked. A Slytherin, who not only didn't have any friends either, but who apparently didn't even talk to anyone, wanted to rub it in. Anger warred with tears - how dare he come to her refuge and do this.
Harry's face took a horrified expression, "No, no, no - I, I didn't mean it like that, I mean I don't have any friends either - no - that's not better, I - I think you're brilliant and would like to be your friend. Uh…"
There was something humorous about how he sat there, blushing and rubbing the back of his head while he looked away from her, trying to find something better to say. And caught between tears and a giggle Hermione felt a blossoming of hope.
After a moment Harry turned back to face her, "I'm an idiot, but I really do want to be friends."
"Why?" Hermione replied in a shaky voice, she'd been on the edge of tears and it wasn't completely gone.
"Well, you like to read, and I like to read, and you - you seem like you will be a very brave and loyal friend, I know once you care for someone, you will always be there for them and that you are a wonderful brilliant person." Harry paused, "And it really isn't any fun to be alone."
There was something about the way Harry leaned forward and held her eyes that convinced Hermione he was serious - somehow he saw that in her. The thought that she would be a brave and loyal friend made Hermione blush brightly, and made her want to be what he saw in her. And there was something terribly sad about how he spoke his last sentence - as though he had been alone in vastly deeper way than she could imagine. And it made Hermione want to reach out and hug him.
Hermione nervously wrung her hands while looking down for a moment before she asked in a squeaky voice "Do you really not have any friends?"
"Nope, you're the only one." Harry's assumption that they were friends made Hermione feel warm inside, like a spring of happiness was bubbling up in her chest.
"You don't have any friends in Slytherin? The houses are supposed to be our families at Hogwarts." Hermione then asked, suddenly feeling protective of Harry "They haven't treated you meanly have they?"
"Nothing like that, I just don't like Slytherins" Harry replied with a wince.
"But you are Slytherin."
His pained expression grew, "I know. Doesn't mean I have to like them." "Besides," Harry continued in a whiny voice "they are all terribly immature."
Hermione giggled. And Harry flashed her a bright smile. "So, friends then?"
"Friends", Hermione reached across the table to shake his hand.
There was a short pause "So what is your favorite thing about Hogwarts so far?" And with that question Harry proceeded to draw Hermione out, letting her talk about her books, and what she found most interesting, and how she worried about homework. It was wonderful, her parents never had time to just listen to her, and she'd never had a close friend.
Hermione had only ever really talked to teachers, and not since she'd come to Hogwarts. McGonagall was too imposing for her to approach. Hours passed excitedly before Hermione became brave enough to ask her own questions, like where Harry was when he didn't eat in the Great Hall, or why he never raised his hand in class despite knowing the answers, or why didn't he like Slytherin.
The next day Hermione woke up scared, perhaps it had been a dream, or Harry was playing a vicious prank on her; did she really have a friend? He wasn't in the Great Hall for breakfast but he often wasn't. Hermione looked for the kitchen Harry told her about the previous day, and on the walk Harry found her.
"Hullo Hermione, are you looking forward to Snape today - want to share a table in potions? - anyways have you had breakfast yet, I'd love to introduce you to the house elves, friendliest most wonderful creatures in the world."
Hermione responded with a wide smile "I'd love to meet them, are you sure it is okay to just eat in the kitchen?"
And so they went, comparing class schedules, joking and meeting house elves.
Hermione talked more than Harry, she'd be interested in something, and he'd ask and then listen. Hermione had never had a friend who would let her talk for hours. But when Harry did talk he was brilliant - far smarter and more knowledgeable than even Hermione. That was also wonderful and new, to have someone who wasn't a teacher who could understand the things she cared about.
One day Harry showed Hermione his broom. Hermione looked at it shocked, "That's - that's against the rules Harry - they'll expel you for it. You - you need to get rid of it."
Harry smirked, "No the list of offenses you can actually be expelled for is very short - I checked - and while I can be whipped for having a broom, I can't be expelled."
Hermione was briefly torn from her shock to respond, "Harry if you'd just read Hogwarts a History you'd know they stopped whipping students when Armando Dippet became headmaster in 1913." Hermione paused, and looked between the broom and Harry's smirk, "Goodness, you really snuck a broom into Hogwarts." Hermione asked in a small voice, "They really can't expel you for this?"
Harry nodded with a neutral face.
"Then - then I'm going to tell McGonagall - you shouldn't have a broom as a first year, its against the rules." Hermione though watched Harry instead of marching off as part of her felt she should.
"Do you really think you should?" Harry asked quietly.
Hermione's stomach clenched, as she looked rapidly between the broom and Harry, he would abandon her if she told on him. As Hermione started to work herself into a panic Harry touched her arm and said sharply, "Hermione."
She looked at him wide eyed, and Harry held her eyes with an intent gaze, "Nothing you can do will make me less your friend. I will always be there for you no matter what. You should always do what you think is right, and I will never be angry if you do. Do you understand?" Hermione looked at his serious face for another minute, but when he spoke in that tone Hermione always believed Harry. The panic that had gripped her dissolved and was replaced by a feeling of warmth towards Harry. He wouldn't hate her if she did the right thing and told on him. Hermione looked back at Harry who now smiled at her; she didn't think he'd even be bothered.
It was almost unbelievable, that someone would be okay with her snitching on them to the teachers. That thought gave Hermione a moment of epiphany, no wonder Ron and Dean were so angry at her. She wouldn't like it if she did something she thought was right like searching for a missing pet and then somebody told the teachers.
Harry said after a minute, "What I meant to ask is are you really sure the right thing to do is to tell the teachers about my broom."
There was something about how Harry spoke which felt familiar. Why was he even showing her the broom, he knew how she felt about breaking rules, he knew she'd told McGonagall about Ron and Dean. If he'd been testing her to see if she would break the rules for him it would make sense - but Hermione smiled as she felt a rush of affection for Harry, she now knew he would never do that. So why show her? 'Are you really sure that is the right answer?' - it sounded like something a teacher would ask when they were pushing her to think harder about the material in a class.
Hermione's mouth fell open as she realized what Harry was doing. She stared at her friend incredulously for a minute, "You're weird."
"I suppose -"
"No I mean really, really, really weird." Hermione smiled widely as she watched Harry's mouth settle into a twisted expression that couldn't decide if it was supposed to be a frown or a smile, "Goodness, you are the weirdest person I've ever even heard about - literally no other first year in the entire world would show a friend a broom they'd smuggled into the castle because they thought she needed an ethics lesson."
Harry had a very sheepish expression as he rubbed the back of his head, "Yes - well. Back to the question."
Hermione said with certainty, "The rules are the rules, and you aren't supposed to break them."
Harry nodded, "Well, suppose there was an evil snake wandering around the castle petrifying people, and you thought Draco might be controlling it, would you steal a book from the restricted section to learn how to brew polyjuice, steal the needed supplies from Snape, and then brew the potion in the bathroom Moaning Myrtle is haunting, so you could sneak into the Slytherin dorm rooms and find out if it actually was Draco?"
Harry was awfully enthusiastic about his hypothetical, and it was a bit odd, "Honestly, have I mentioned that you are weird? Also if someone was controlling an evil snake from the Slytherin dorm rooms, it would obviously be you."
Harry got that pained frown he always had when his presence in Slytherin was mentioned, "Anyways, the point is if you are trying to stop evil snakes it is okay to break the rules - uh really think about what you would do in that situation, if you knew the teachers weren't taking your warning seriously."
Hermione tried to. What would she do? Suppose she really was convinced Draco was petrifying students, and - suppose Harry was one of the petrified students. Imagining Harry hurt gave Hermione a sick feeling; she knew if Harry was petrified and she didn't think the teachers were doing their best to find the culprit she would break any rule to help him. "Oh," Hermione said in a small surprised voice.
She looked at Harry's broad smirk, and snapped "Yes, I suppose I would break the rules then. But your broom is a toy - don't look hurt, I don't care how expensive it is, or that it is a Nimby whatever - its still a toy."
Harry laughed, "I suppose it is," then he added seriously, "It is a completely different situation from the evil snake,. you wouldn't break the rules to entertain yourself. But the question is should you tell McGonagall that I am."
Hermione frowned as she thought about it, why did she tell the teachers anyways? It wasn't like she'd been asked to tell every time other students broke the rules. But usually there were good reasons for the rules. A lot of the time when students broke the rules they were bothering other people. And brooms were dangerous, she remembered how Neville fell off his broom during their first flying lesson; he wasn't hurt because Harry caught him with a wingardium leviosa, but still brooms were scary and dangerous. Though Hermione had seen Harry fly. They weren't dangerous for him.
As Hermione thought, she realized the real reason she'd always told was because she wanted to be liked by her teachers, and was annoyed when other students weren't like her. People were supposed to follow rules and she would do her best to make them. But - Hermione didn't need approval from teachers anymore. She had Harry - and obviously expecting everyone to act like her was stupid.
After spending several minutes thinking Hermione finally turned to Harry and said seriously, "Alright, but if I ever see you doing something which I think is dangerous I will tell McGonagall."
Harry gave her a smile which made Hermione feel warm and cared for, "I wouldn't want you to do anything else." He then slapped her on the back, "Now would you like me to teach you how to fly her?"
Hermione squeaked out "No - I can just watch you."
Harry had an odd - was friendship the right word? - with Ron's twin brothers. He constantly pranked the famed troublemakers. Even before Harry befriended Hermione she would see them suddenly sporting Slytherin colors and black hair - and one time they had Snape's voice for a day. Several times they had 'kick me' signs on their backs, that stayed put even if they changed shirts.
It was two weeks after Hermione became friends with Harry that he told her he was the one doing it. Hermione had found Harry laughing while the twins staged an impromptu karaoke performance with Snape's voice. It was another month before the twins figured out who had been pranking them.
When they did they caught Hermione in a corridor between classes. It was frightening at first to have the much taller pair surround her, but then they started to talk. "Miss Granger," the one Hermione labelled 'twin on the left' began, before his brother continued, "It has come to our attention,"
"that your friend, the remarkable, extraordinary, Harry Potter"
"Is in fact the greatest pranking mind in Hogwarts today."
"Could you help us meet him?"
Hermione's eyes bounced between the twins as they took turns in this odd conversation, before finding at the end two pairs of adorable puppy eyes begging her to help. "Wait a moment, - you finally figured out it has been Harry all along - and now you want to be friends?"
The twins looked at each other for a moment and then both turned to her, and shook their heads up and down, "yep".
"You aren't angry … or planning to get back at him?"
"Well..." twin on the right drawled.
"We certainly aren't angry", twin on the left finished "but…"
"We do want to get him back."
"And maybe you could help!"
Again they adopted that pleading expression, and Hermione responded with a stern voice, "Why would I help you prank my friend."
The two looked at each other again, and after a moment turned back to her and said together "Because he deserves it!"
Hermione opened her mouth to reply, and then shut it. Goodness, Harry really did deserve it. And he'd enjoy it, "Okay, I'm in."
When Hermione tagged Harry with the sticker they gave her that switched his robes to the Gryffindor colors and turned his hair red he laughed for a full minute. And this started his friendship with the twins. They'd share ideas - which mostly involved Harry pointing out things they did wrong when trying to stop his pranks or when they tried to sneak something onto him. But the biggest part of their friendship was a constant prank war. Hermione occasionally helped both sides, and even more occasionally was targeted herself.
"Its all good fun" Harry explained when Hermione asked. "And its also good practice. The two are so good it would be a shame to let them just face the weak opposition Hogwarts naturally gives them, and you can't learn Constant Vigilance without someone giving you a really good reason to be paranoid."
"You are trying to make Fred and George paranoid?"
"Yes! Exactly - or, ummm, it will be good for them?"
"Have I mentioned that you're weird?" Hermione asked before walking off shaking her head with a smile.
Hermione knew Harry wasn't normal. Normal first years were not vastly better at pranking than a pair of third years who'd practiced for years. Normal first years didn't make their transfigurations too good when they made mistakes. Normal first years didn't spend two hours exercising every single day. Normal first years didn't know enough about runes and magical theory and charms to safely modify a Nimbus 2000 to fly faster. And of course there were other things, like showing her a banned item to teach a lesson.
He seemed too mature - sometimes when Harry tried to give her advice about how to deal with Ron and Lavender she felt as though it was an adult giving those little tidbits of wisdom that would supposedly help but really just showed that the adult was clueless. But Harry's games with the twins, and his childish delight in getting her to complain about him breaking minor rules was not mature at all.
The question was why, Hermione tried asking a few times - but Harry never gave a serious answer. Though she did learn things about Harry with some of her questions "Were you actually trained by Dumbledore for years and only interacted with people over 70 during your entire childhood - is that why you're so weird?"
Hermione expected Harry to smile at her teasing, instead he smacked the table with an angry scowl "Dumbledore is useless - completely useless - he'd never train anybody if he could just give them useless trivia and send them to die pointlessly."
Harry paused for a moment as he tried to calm himself, "I think most of the deaths during the war were his fault - he could have done more, and should have done more - if he'd not been such a fool my parents would be alive. Sirius would have received a trial, and we wouldn't live in a world where You-Know-Who's political ideals are being passed into law. The man inspires belief - and people live up to what he wants from them and then they die without achieving anything that matters. I hate him, I really, really hate him, I hate him more than You-Know-Who."
As Harry spoke he leaned towards Hermione as his face became redder and she shrank back. Hermione was shocked - she'd never seen Harry angry before. Nothing ever seemed to perturb him - but Harry sounded vicious when he talked about Dumbledore.
When he finished Harry looked at her, and then deflated. "I'm sorry Hermione, I shouldn't talk about this - there are things that almost no one is aware of - I shouldn't speak of it, and won't. But no, Dumbledore never trained me at all."
Ever since she'd read about him in Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts Dumbledore had been one of Hermione's heroes. Harry had become another, she didn't know the details, but she had a deep confidence that beyond simply defeating You-Know-Who as a baby Harry was someone great and special. So it was shocking to discover that one of her heroes despised another. Hermione wondered why Harry was so angry - clearly he blamed Dumbledore, unfairly of course, for what had happened to his godfather Sirius Black. The Daily Prophet talked about it for weeks when it was discovered in September that the man Sirius had been accused of killing was still alive, and had in fact been a death eater himself.
However obviously there was more to Harry's dislike of Dumbledore than just that - perhaps he knew something about why You-Know-Who attacked his parents. Hermione thought there must be a deep tragedy or misunderstanding behind a wonderful person like Harry despising Dumbledore.
Hermione had a girlish crush on Harry. Brilliant, caring, brave, adventurous and her friend. He always helped her, and he always knew what to say to make her feel better. And, despite his ill fitting clothes and being very small, he was cute. With his glasses framing bright green eyes and his confident posture. And when Harry was serious there was a presence about him and his eyes would flash and you had to listen. And he gave her great ideas about what books to read, and then would listen to her talk about them. And he taught her valuable lessons. And Harry believed in her in a way no one, not her parents and not herself ever had before. Harry was basically perfect.
However any time Hermione tried to hint about how she felt, he'd withdraw, or change the subject, or even once he avoided her for hours. He claimed he'd needed to think about something - but it convinced Hermione that Harry didn't like her. However after a cry, Hermione decided it was okay. She wasn't pretty, and what mattered was that Harry was her friend - and after the day he showed her his broom she knew deep down he'd always be there for her no matter what. It hurt, but it wasn't important that he didn't like her like that. Besides Harry was, though Hermione often forgot, younger than her. She'd read that boys matured slower than girls, so maybe he would notice her when he was older.
About a month before exams, on May 2, Harry didn't show up for classes. Hermione hadn't seen him that morning, which happened occasionally, but missing potions didn't. And then she couldn't find him in the kitchen at lunch time, he never came by the library, and when she saw Theodore Nott he told her no one in Slytherin had seen Harry all day. So Hermione spent the afternoon searching for him.
The entire time Hermione's sense of anxiety built, driven stabs of terror that maybe his broom hadn't been safe, and he was splattered somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. During dinner she went to the staff table and tried to convince McGonagall to look for Harry. Dumbledore became very serious when she said Harry was missing, and took her to his office. But then Dumbledore looked at a weird object and said Harry was fine.
This helped, but - he was Harry. If he wanted to spoof whatever system Hogwarts used to make sure students were safe she was sure he could. So Hermione continued to look for him, with her anxiety levels slowly increasing again as it became darker. It was shortly after curfew that Hermione found Harry. He was in an unused corridor on the seventh floor next to a tapestry with trolls attempting to dance. There was a bottle of fire whiskey that Harry drank directly out of while the Bloody Baron floated next to him looking sadly at the boy.
When he saw her Harry stumbled up and laughed to the ghost, "it seems I'm done - you can have the rest," Harry said magnanimously gesturing at the bottle.
Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him towards the dungeons while rapidly speaking, "Harry, how dare you get drunk in Hogwarts - where did you even find the alcohol - if it was Fred and George I will kill them. Don't you even care that alcohol is bad for you; you'll get sick and won't grow right. And, and you shouldn't have disappeared - I was so scared that you'd killed yourself. Are you listening to me Harry?"
He'd been stumbling along behind her, but had paused and when Hermione turned to look at Harry he clutched his stomach for a moment, before throwing up on a suit of armor. As Hermione watched in disgust Harry tried to use scourgify to clean the mess, but only succeeded after three tries.
It took five more minutes for Hermione to drag Harry to the Slytherin entrance, while maintaining a disapproving silence and stiff frown she hoped spoke louder than words. But there was also an undertone of hurt and fear - couldn't he tell her what was bothering him? Didn't he realize that she'd do anything for him? What could lead Harry to do this?
When they reached the entrance Hermione turned to go, but before she could walk more than a step Harry caught her sleeve - in the darkness she could barely see him, but he seemed far more sober than he had, "I'm sorry Hermione, I shouldn't have scared you by disappearing. But it just - I've always been too busy to think on the anniversary. But this time -" Harry paused for so long Hermione thought he was done, but then he continued this time in a sad voice that broke her heart - "all of them are dead, she is dead. And I thought - I thought I'd let her go and was done mourning but -" Harry paused this time to wipe his cheeks, and he had tears in his voice, "memories can creep up on you and, and…." After a final pause Harry walked over and gave Hermione a tight hug, and whispered into her ear - "thank you for hunting me down, and taking care of me - and thank you for being here for me, you have no idea how lonely I'd been for so long before I met you."
Then Harry stepped back and held her at arm's length and said "Alright, goodnight Hermione - do you want me to help you dodge Filch?"
Hermione paused for a long moment choked with a desperate desire to help Harry be happy, "Harry can't you - couldn't you tell me about them? Wouldn't it help if you shared? You know you shouldn't hold things in - and you know I care for you more than anyone and would do anything to help you."
Harry squeezed her shoulders and then let go and stepped back, and said with a sad smile, "I can't - when you know my secret, when you know what I really am you will hate me. No," Harry said with that completely confident tone that Hermione always believed "when you find out you will hate me Hermione. And that is the way it should be."
Hermione started to speak but, Harry silenced her with his hand - "I've already said more than I should. So, good night."
After Hermione nodded he turned to open the door to the Slytherin common room, but before he could Hermione called out - "Promise me you won't ever do that again - disappear like that."
Harry looked at her and said seriously, "I promise - never again."
After that Hermione stopped trying to figure out Harry's secret. She didn't believe him, not really, but his seriousness when he promised she would hate him, scared her. So whenever bits of the puzzle floated through her mind she subconsciously refused to think about it.
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