Chapter 25! Perfection! It's Hermione's time to shine and i think you will all agree it is about time. I hope you enjoy this chapter for it's almost the last one. Review before i whither away.

Hermione had received her letter first. She had read it with tears in her eyes and with shaking hands. All of those odd things she had noticed about her friend were coming up and glaring at her. Why hadn't she noticed? Wasn't it strange Harry was glad not to go home for Christmas? Wasn't it strange that whenever he was injured he would always shrug and say 'I've had worse.'? An overwhelming feeling of guilt was filling her. Harry was even afraid. It took her a moment to figure out why.

He was afraid of their rejection. If they thought he was weak and rejected him it would kill him. She could imagine Harry now sitting biting his bottom lip and worrying about what their responses would be. Her family had just gotten back from a trip and her parents were resting. She looked at the clock. 5pm. She could get to Hogwarts right? One of the many pamphlets she read had spoken of Wizarding Travel. Floo was not an option since her parent's fireplace wasn't connected, She had no adult to apparate her and no portkey. There was just one other option.

The Knight Bus. It would cost some of her wizarding money but it was more important to help Harry understand that she thought he was brave and strong than saving up for books. She began calculating out how much she would need to go to the Burrow, pick up Ron and then go straight to Hogwarts. She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote out a note to her parents.

Dear Mom and Dad.

I know you'll be furious when you read this and realize I've gone out without your permission but I promise it was really important and it just couldn't wait. You know my friend Harry Potter? I just got a letter from him. He was really scared and I need to tell him it is going to be okay. His uncle nearly killed him and has abused him for all his life apparently. I just found out in the letter I just got from him. Harry is out of that house and at Hogwarts under the care of a professor. Harry was scared to tell me, he didn't want me to think he was weak and then reject him.

A letter wouldn't be enough Harry doesn't believe anything he reads he only believes actions and he is going to be worrying about this until he sees me and I give him a big hug and promise him I don't think he is weak. I left to go to Hogwarts I should be back pretty late you can punish me when I return.

Your Daughter.

-Hermione

After placing the note on the kitchen table she got a backpack that had her wand and other wizarding basics inside. She didn't bother putting on robes and just walked outside and waved her wand around. Within moments a purple bus appeared.

"Hello Welcome to the Night Bus. My name is Stan Shuntpike."

"Hello. I would like first a ride to the Burrow, the Weasley's residence and then a ride for two to Hogwarts."

"We can take you to the town near Hogwarts and then its about a ten minute walk up to the castle." Stan said.

"That should be fine."

"Alright. That'll be 15 sickles and 3 knuts for the whole journey."

Hermione pulled out the money and paid for it. She sighed she could've bought a book with that money, maybe even two. No this was more important. She had barely sat down when the bus had rushed off. Hermione would admit to being scared while riding a broom and terrified of the whole philosophers stone incident but she had never been more afraid of magic than when she was riding that bus. The driver obviously had no concern with not getting everyone killed and Hermione just held on tightly hitting her head a few times during the ride.

After what seemed like a terrifying journey that lasted an eternity they stopped outside Ron's house. She shakily got up.

"I'll be right back just wait here for me please."

"Alright miss. We'll wait." Stan promised.

Hermione jumped off the bus and tried to get back a sense of direction as she walked up the hill that held a crazy looking house. She saw a makeshift Quidditch pitch in the backyard. Now how to get Ron out of there? She saw the twins and she called out to them.

"Fred, George! Come here."

"What are you-"

"Doing here Hermione?"

"I need to speak with Ron it is urgent could you get him please."

"Sure." Fred said.

They both ran off. Not wanting to argue with the bookworm who looked liked someone had died. In a few minutes Ron came out holding a letter identical to Hermione's own. He had a pale face but his eyes were full of anger. He marched up to Hermione.

"Who would do this to Harry?" He demanded. "Why didn't I notice?"
"Ron. His uncle did this and his uncle is a despicable human being. I didn't notice anything was off either. I came here to bring you to Hogwarts with me."

"Why do we need to go to Hogwarts?"

"To comfort Harry! We both know how insecure he is. He is probably biting his lip and worrying about our responses now." Hermione explained. "He won't believe anything we write. We need to show him."

Ron stared at Hermione a moment before nodding.

"Alright how are we going to get there?" He asked knowing if anyone had a plan it would be her.

"I have the Knight Bus waiting for us. Get your wand and let's go. Don't waste any time, the sooner we see Harry the sooner we can get back."

"I'll get the twins to distract mum for me." Ron said. "Do you think we should tell anyone else what was in this letter?"

"No if the media got a hold of it then it would be all over the daily prophet tomorrow." Hermione said. "Harry wouldn't want that."

Ron nodded and ran back into his house. How he got his wand and convinced the twins to cover for him was beyond Hermione but at 6:34 pm they both climbed onto the Knight Bus and took another harrowing trip. This one was much longer. During the time when things were slightly less terrifying Ron pulled out a piece of parchment.

"Hermione. When I told the twins that Harry was somewhere in Hogwarts but I wasn't sure where they gave me this. It's a map of the whole school and it shows where everyone is. It won't work until we are at Hogwarts though." Ron said.

"Excellent. I wasn't looking forward to roaming the dungeons looking for Harry.

Ron's whose face was a little green merely nodded. The whole ride lasted about an hour and both children were very glad to be off of the bus once they got there. There was in fact a town called Hogsmeade near Hogwarts. Ron pulled out the map and said the phrase George and Fred had taught him.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He said with a wave of his wand.

Hogsmeade appeared and it showed quite a few secret passageways back to the castle. They were near the shrieking shack but no one wanted to be let out near the whomping willow. There was another one that led from the basement of Honeydukes to the school. Ron had heard about that store it was apparently the best candy store in the world according to his older brothers.

The store was still open when they got there. Magically they were able to sneak into the back room and down into the basement without being seen. Then they found the opening with a little difficulty. Both knew that they couldn't use magic so they walked in the tunnel close together in the darkness. After what seemed like a slimy eternity they came out behind a statue into the familiar halls of Hogwarts.

Hermione checked her watch it was 7:49 pm. Harry should be in his room by now right? They checked the map. It showed Harry and Severus Snape together in the same room in the dungeons. They began the trek down there trying to avoid being seen by any faculty it would hardly do to be sent home before they had a chance to even see Harry. This of course required them to hide in classrooms whenever they thought they heard something. It took them ten minutes to get down there. They stood outside the door and Ron hide the map in his back pocket.

"So what do we do now Hermione?" Ron asked.

"We could just knock and ask to see Harry." She suggested.

"Won't he ask how we got there, take a thousand points and then just firecall our parents?" He demanded.

"Well then we could trick him." Hermione said. "It would be pretty bad but if we are quick we will at least have a minute or so to tell Harry that everything will be fine."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Knock when he opens the door just rush in. Run right into him so he falls down it will give us enough time to see Harry at least."

"Sounds good."

So they knocked on the door and waited. The moment the door opened to reveal the confused face of Severus Snape the two children charged. They ran straight into the room knocking Snape onto his bottom and saw Harry sitting on the couch.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted.

"Hermione? Ron?" Harry asked confusedly. "How did you guys get here?"

"Never mind that we got your letter." Hermione said. "Harry I am so sorry."

With that sentence she dive bombed and caught Harry in a hug. Harry stiffened a moment before returning it. Ron moved over and joined in the hug too. Hermione seemed to have the right idea.

"Harry. Are your really so stupid as to think we would abandon you over this?" She demanded. "We are much better friends than that."

"Yeah mate. Besides it wasn't your fault anyway." Ron added.

Hermione finally let go when Snape came into the room and glared at them. Hermione trembled a little under the stern glare of the potions professor. The man had been very cruel. He looked at them until his eyes finally rested on Harry. The glare ended suddenly and the man sighed.

"Harry when I told you I really couldn't handle any more surprises from you. That did include your friends barreling uninvited into my quarters pushing me into the ground in the process." He said.

Ron and Hermione were stunned. Where was the anger and rage? The man normally would've been spitting fire at them by now. Instead he just looked amused? Harry smiled at the man.

"Well it was a surprise for me to Severus. I hardly expected them to come all the way here." Harry said.

"Very well. I suppose I can't complain if we are both surprised." Snape said. "I suppose that will just be 200 hundred points from Gryffindor and a summer's worth of detentions then."

Ron's jaw dropped. The school year had not even started and they were already in the hole 200 points. Hermione felt equally disappointed until she looked up and saw that Snape and Harry were both smiling. Then it hit her. Severus Snape resident grumpy bat was joking. She elbowed Ron and whispered.

"He's joking."

Ron just blinked. He looked over at Harry who just nodded at him. Snape merely rolled his eyes and motioned for them to sit down.

"I am going to get some tea for all of us when I return I expect you to be seated and ready to tell me why you trekked all the way to Hogwarts." Snape said.

So the three friends sat down on the couch one on each side of Harry. When Snape left they turned back to him

"Are you sure you are okay Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Yes Mione. I was healed a couple of weeks ago."

"Just because your body is better doesn't mean you are." She pushed.

"Yeah. Are you having many nightmares?" Ron pushed.

"Nightmares?" Hermione squeaked.

"Yeah I get them sometimes but the past few times Severus has woken me up and helped me out."

"That's great mate." Ron said. "Hermione, Harry's nightmares could get pretty bad. He woke me up one night accidentally. He told me that they weren't a huge deal but I noticed he had them pretty often. I'm glad there someone who can wake you up from them. Every time I tried you would hit me."

"You tried to wake me up?" Harry asked amazed.

"Yeah! No one should have to sleep through those kinds of nightmares. I could never figure out what they were about but they looked terrible." Ron said.

"Harry." Hermione said. "Were they about your uncle?"

"Yeah. Sometimes it would be other things but usually they would be about my relatives." Harry admitted quietly.

"Ron! Why didn't you get an adult when you saw that Harry was having a huge nightmare?" Hermione demanded.

Before Harry could open his mouth to argue Ron came to his defense.

"That would've been really embarrassing! No one but me and Harry knew about them and he told me it was fine. If I told an adult then the whole school would find out and then everyone would make fun of him."

"As enjoyable as this conversation is I do believe you two owe me an explanation." Snape said.

Both runaways jumped a little at the sound of his voice. Snape sat down and motioned for them to take whatever they wanted from the refreshments. Ron hardly the kind of boy to ever turn down free food grabbed a few biscuits while Hermione composed herself.

"Well sir we both received Harry's letter. I had just returned from a vacation and my parents were resting. I knew a letter wouldn't ease Harry's worries at all. He doesn't believe anything he reads. I had read all about wizarding travel and the only way I could use was that horrible Knight Bus. I nearly died." Hermione said. "I picked up Ron and we came here and then made our way down here to talk to Harry."

"Do either of your parents know you are here?" Snape asked.

"No sir." Ron cut in. "Hermione left a note for her parents and I convinced my brothers to distract mum until I could get back."

Hermione sat still as Snape sighed. The men placed a hand on the bridge of his nose and looked honestly confused about how to proceed. Harry spoke up.

"Well. It's pretty late now. I know Ron could get back to his house really easily but Hermione can't use the floo." Harry began. "If you send them away in a huff they'll just sneak back to make sure I'm okay too. I think it would be better if they just stayed the night. I mean you wouldn't want Hermione to ride the Knight Bus all by herself would you? I mean you can't apparate her home since you've never been there before."

Hermione opened her mouth in shock. No one spoke to Professor Snape like that. Ron choked on air in his surprise. Instead of a verbal tongue lashing however the man looked thoughtful. Finally the man came to a decision.

"Very well but they are staying in your room and I don't want to hear a peep from you all night. Is that clear?"

"Yes Severus."

Hermione squeaked in fear. Harry was doing things that were basically a death sentence. Instead the man did nothing and merely called out a name. Then the strangest creature appeared. It had large floppy ears and giant eyes.

"Klangly. We have two unexpected visitors for Harry. I need two beds to be set up and for some clean sets of pajamas and toothbrushes to be brought up into Harry's room."

"Yes sir."

The creature popped out of existence and Hermione turned wide eyed to her friends. She grabbed Harry's hand to get her attention.

"Harry what was that?"

"It's a house elf, his name is Klangly. House elves like him work at Hogwarts and keep everything running. You didn't think the teachers cooked the food did you?" Harry said.

Hermione frustrated that she had never read about those creatures before shook herself. She questioned her friends quickly about them and learned some things she didn't agree with.

"Harry how can you support what is practically slavery?" Hermione demanded angrily.

"Hermione." Harry said calmly. "Do you think House Elves are stupid or unintelligent?"

"No." She said.

"So you think they are smart enough to make the decisions that work best for them?"

"Yes." She agreed slower this time almost unsure with where this was going.

"So if House Elves are intelligent and can make decisions that work best for them then they must get something out of it. Or else there would've been a house elf rebellion somewhere in wizarding history."

"What could they possibly get out of that kind of an arrangement?"

"Magic. Hermione. Magic." Harry said. "House elves who are not bound to a master have very little magic but those that are can do incredibly impossible things. The elves here can apparate within Hogwarts which is something no wizard alive can do. House Elves are capable of such amazing magic but only when they are bound to a wizard."

"But what if they are mistreated?" Hermione demanded.

"That happens a lot more often than it should and because House Elves are considered magical creatures instead of citizens then they have no one to turn to. There are problems with the system but the House Elves are happy with it for the most part. They like helping wizards and they like being able to use their magic to its fullest extent. I don't think you should try and stop them." Harry said.

The conversation continued on for a while before Hermione had to agree with Harry that the House Elves ultimately benefitted from the arrangement. They weren't slaves they were workers who were paid in power instead of money. Workers who loved their job. After that Ron steered the conversation into quidditch and Hermione tuned it out. She jumped when the Professor spoke to her.

"Not a fan of quidditch?" He asked.

"Not really. I think it's all a big waste of time. I mean why waste your time flying on a broom when you could be studying magic?" Hermione answered with a sigh.

"Hermione, you're just jealous that you can't fly more than a few feet in any direction without falling off." Ron said.

Hermione blushed and stuttered wildly about to defend herself when Harry came to her rescue.

"Now you know that isn't true Ron." Harry lightly scolded. "I saw Hermione go forward ten feet before falling off one time."

So much for rescue. Ron was now laughing openly at Hermione's beat red face. Harry was merely giggling though. He calmed down quickly enough and sobered at the hurt look on his friend's face.

"Sorry. Hermione. I know how much you hate it when we make fun of you but I can hardly help it." He said looking contrite. "You are like good at everything. It's only right that you be bad at something."

Hermione blushed wildly at the compliment feeling it extremely unfair that her friends were always able to embarrass her so. Luckily or unluckily Snape decided to intervene at that moment.

"As enjoyable as this evening has been I do believe you all must be heading off to bed." Snape said.

"Of course Professor."

Hermione dragged her friends off the couch by their ears. Harry yelped in pain and rubbed his ear with a glare. Hermione motioned for him to lead the way to his room. On the way out trying to get revenge she glanced at the potions professor and gave a light smile.

"Harry. I'm not good at everything and you know it. There is one subject in school that without your help I would be completely lost."

The message she sent was clear, at least she hoped it was. Harry is good at potions.

"Hermione you're not hopeless at that subject. I'm sure you and Ron could manage well enough in that class without me."

At that point he pushed her and Ron into his room. Which looked very clean and bright and nice. There were two cots one on either side of the bed and on each cot were the things they needed to get ready for sleep. Hermione used the bathroom first and then Ron and then finally Harry. When they were all seated on the bed again Hermione began her crusade.

"Harry. I am awful at potions the only reason I don't melt as many cauldrons as Neville is because I have you to walk me through each step right before class. I ask you for help with all of my assignments and it's been torture trying to write the summer one without you." Hermione pushed. "I don't have any kind of flair or intuitive knowledge about the subject like you do."

"I have to agree with her mate. You are really good at potions just not in class." Ron says. "I never got that. You're really smart outside of class but you play dumb with all the teachers."

"Harry, why do you do that?" Hermione asked surprised that Ron had noticed too.