The first few months after Christmas Break went by quickly for Sixth-Year Hermione Zabini. Hermione knew she still had a full year and 9 months until she, Harry, her brother and their friends would be graduated, but she decided that she could wait.

News spread around the school like a firestorm the first day back that Harry had gotten betrothed to a Slytherin. Even is she used to be a Gryffindor, they could only see her for what she was now and that hurt her. It hurt her that her friends could just start hating her because she found her true family and was no longer subject to the horror that was Albus Dumbledore.

Many Gryffindors still refused to believe that their once beloved headmaster could have done something so evil. Mainly Ronald and Ginevra Weasley were at the top of the list, pushed by their parents not to believe what they were being told by the Ministry and professors.

But some Gryffindors were starting to believe that Dumbledore was responsible for the crimes he was jailed for. Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas were usually very jovial, but they seemed more down trodden after the break. Hermione learned that they had called the Weasleys liars on the Express and now all of Gryffindor was shunning them, as well.

Dean and Seamus were slowly but surely welcomed into the Slytherin group and they even got girlfriends, who were in Slytherin.

Dean began dating a young woman in their year named Amanda Dolohov, daughter of former Death Eater Antonin Dolohov. Antonin Dolohov had defected at the end of the First Wizarding War in order to raise his daughter all by himself, after her mother died during childbirth. Amanda looked just like her father, with pale skin, dark brown eyes and black hair. She was a half-blood and didn't care that Dean was a muggle-born and knew her father wouldn't either, cause he changed for the better after the war.

Seamus also began dating Death Eater's daughter, Mira Lestrange. She was the daughter of Rabastan Lestrange. He was still imprisoned for his crimes against the Longbottoms, so her aunt and uncle, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, raised Mira. She had dark grey eyes and her hair was pitch black. She stood just an inch shorter than Seamus' 6'3, so she was tall, like her dad.

Hermione was happy to she 2 of her friends find love and it added to others happiness too. People could see that Slytherins were not prejudice against muggle-borns because they welcomed Dean at the Table to sit beside Amanda, almost every other day.

Harry also learned that he would rather go join his betrothed at her table than sit with his fellow lions and hear them mock, criticize and say scathing things about the people who he regarded his closest friends.

"Hey Harry,"

Harry looked up and saw Blaise sitting across from him in the library.

"Hi Blaise. What's up?" Harry asked his friend.

"I just wanted to know how bad is things getting in Gryffindor?" Blaise asked, concern evident in his voice.

Harry sighed. He knew Blaise would eventually ask him that. People could not hold their tongues no matter who heard or got offended by what they heard.

"The remarks and rumors are getting worse and more scathing. Ronald and Ginevra are at the head of them. But people are not shy about letting their feeling be known. I feel that Hermione does not just have to worry about Ginny, but every other girl in Gryffindor as well. By the way where is she?" Harry said.

"Her, Violet, Pansy, Daphne, Jackie, Astoria, Amanda, and Annabeth are all down by the lake, trying to get some studying in, along with enjoy this nice weather. Why?" Blaise informed him.

"Is there anyone else with them?" Harry asked, concern starting to enter his voice.

"No," Blaise said, before he realized what Harry meant, and the 2 boys took of running leaving their stuff behind and rushing to see if anything had happened to the girls.

By the lake, Hermione and her girlfriends were enjoying a peaceful relaxing afternoon when suddenly it was about to be disturbed.

"Oh, look who it is. The Slytherin scum," Hermione heard a very familiar voice say and she sighed and looked at her friends.

"Just ignore them, they'll go away," Hermione said and they nodded and they all went back to their work.

"Hey, we're talking to you," another familiar voice sounded and Hermione turned to face her confronters.

There in front of her stood Ginevra Weasley, with Lavender Brown, Parvati and Padma Patil, and Ronald Weasley.

Hermione stood up to her full height, which was just under 6'0 and looked at them straight in the eye.

"We're trying to work here. What do you 5 want?" Hermione asked, annoyance evident in her voice.

"I want you to give me Harry back," Ginny said snottily.

Hermione looked at the girl, as if she had gone mental and as she turned to look at her friends, she saw that they had stood up and came to stand next to her.

"He doesn't belong to anyone. Don't you get it Ginny, he chose me because he loves me," Hermione said in a calm voice and prayed that no violence would occur.

"YOU'RE WRONG! YOU HAVE HIM UNDER A SPELL!" Ginny screeched and Hermione sighed.

"No, I don't, he loves me for me," Hermione said again, but this time Ginny pulled out her wand and pointed it at Hermione.

"NO HE DOESN'T," Ginny said, furry painting her face a violent shade of red.

"Ginny put the wand down," Violet said, trying to defend her best friend.

"Stay out of this you slimy Slytherin," Ginny yelled.

Suddenly Harry and Blaise appeared, and Harry yanked Ginny's wand from her.

"NO, GIVE ME MY WAND BACK HARRY!" Ginny screeched.

"No you tried to hurt my fiancée and her best friends, that's not excusable," Harry said calmly and Blaise held the other 4 under his wand.

Headmistress McGonagall had heard the disturbance and had rushed to see what was happening. She found Parvati Patil, Ronald Weasley, and Lavender Brown held beneath Blaise Zabini's wand. She saw Hermione Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Violet Nott, Astoria and Daphne Greengrass, Amanda Dolohov, Jackie Flint, and Annabeth Lestrange standing off to the side, while Harry Potter was restraining a frantic Ginevra Weasley.

"What is going on here?" she shouted and Ginny immediately stopped fighting.

"He attacked me headmistress," Ginny feigned innocence.

"No, she attacked my fiancée and her friends when they were not doing anything wrong," Harry defending his girlfriend and his actions.

"Miss. Zabini why don't you tell me what happened," McGonagall said to the younger of the Zabini twins.

"Well Headmistress, it was such a lovely day, so my girlfriends and I decided to come down to the lake to work on our essays and get our homework done, but then those 5 came along and started to harass us. Ginny started saying stuff like give me Harry back and you have him under a spell and then she pulled a wand on my friends and me. If Harry and Blaise had not arrived she probably would have hexed us," Hermione recounted her story and McGonagall glared at the youngest Weasley.

"I have never been so ashamed of any of my students in all my years of teaching and I taught the Marauders and Fred and George. Ginevra, you are hereby expelled from Hogwarts and can no longer come back," McGonagall said and Ginny shrieked in fury, as her eyes blazed at Hermione.

"I'll kill you, b**ch," Ginny said, and McGonagall grabbed her arm.

"And I'll be calling the Aurors to take you on charges of attempting to hex a fellow students and threatening that student's life," Minerva said, as she looked Ginny dead in the eyes.

"You can't send me to Azkaban, I don't belong there. They wont send me there," Ginny fought.

"They sent Dumbledore there didn't they," Minerva narrowed her eyes on Ginny before pulling out her wand.

Ginny tried to back away, but the Headmistress' grip was too strong.

"Petrificus Totalus," Minerva said, and Ginny fell to the ground.

"You can't do that to my sister," Ronald shouted from where he was trapped under the threat of Blaise's wand.

"On the contrary Mr. Weasley, you should be grateful, I'm not expelling you, Miss. Brown, and Misses Patil for not stopping your sister's actions. Warnings will be sent home that if you ever threaten another student again or hurt another student again, you'll all be expelled, no questions asked, am I understood?" Minerva said, as she glared at the 4 students.

"Yes, Headmistress," they said in unison.

"Now off you go to your respective dorms," she commanded and they left without question.

"I am terribly sorry for what happened Hermione."

"Don't be professor, this is what Dumbledore sowed not you," Hermione thanked her before she left with her brother, her betrothed, and her best friends to return to the Great Hall for Lunch.

Minerva meanwhile took Ginny off Hogwarts grounds and apparated to the Ministry. There Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, greeted her.

"Minerva, what can I do for you?" he asked, not seeing the frozen Ginny she held.

"I have petrified a student and I need to press charges against this student," Minerva said and Kingsley gasped when he saw who it was.

"Ginevra Weasley, what did she do?"

"She almost hexed a fellow student and threatened to kill that student, right in front of me," Minerva said, sounding totally appalled.

"Let me guess, Hermione Zabini," Kingsley said and Minerva nodded.

"Potter loves her more than anything and I think Dumbledore made Ginny believe that Harry is in love with her, but is under a spell by Hermione," Minerva theorized.

"I'll see what I can do, but I don't know many people who want to prosecute the daughter of a respected light supporting family," Kingsley started before being interrupted by Minerva.

"The same family that still swears Dumbledore didn't kill Antonio or terrorize Hermione last year. They honestly believe that and it's false but they still try to convince people that the Ministry got it wrong," Minerva argued.

"I'll do the best I can," Kingsley promised.

With that promise, Minerva apparated back to Hogwarts to face whatever new challenges might emerge with her students.