Hyaci here! I'm sorry for the long wait, but I had a bit of writer's block. It's all fine now, so no worries!

Chapter 5: On the Subject of Trolls

Hermione sat in the library, her eyes rapturously absorbing every word that she could read. She was studying for a particularly difficult transfiguration essay that she had to write for extra credit, but she'd gotten sidetracked- by a book about the various magical plants and their uses. She was reading up about Gillyweed, when she felt a pair of hands snake around her face and over her eyes.

Her eyes covered, she tried to envision the person behind her. Her first thought was Cho- she normally did things like this to announce her arrival in an obnoxious and mischievous way. But, when Hermione thought about it logically, there was no way these hands belonged to Cho's. They weren't soft enough, for one, and they didn't smell like the noxious Dittany Perfume Cho was immensely fond of. In fact, when she sniffed the hand, it smelled like the round faced boy from the train…

"Neville?" she asked disdainfully.

"Not quite." Harry sounded disappointed. He slowly removed his hands from her face, and she turned around and looked directly at him. She noticed that his hair looked messier than usual, his face was flushed, his eyes were full of excitement, and he was slightly short of breath.

"Were you snogging Neville?" she asked in a horrified tone, her mind now forever tainted by the mental image she had just brought to mind.

Harry looked revolted. "No! There's no way I'd snog Neville even if I swung that way!"

"Then why do you smell like him?"

An adorable grin broke across Harry's face, and his eyes lighted up. "I joined the quidditch team!"

She looked at him suspiciously. "Are you… evading my question?"

He shook his head emphatically, began to make wild gestured with his head, and babbled incoherently. Hermione raised an eyebrow, and reached out and touched his arm to slow him down.

"You're talking too fast," she said amusedly.

"How much did you catch?"

"Nothing; you'll have to tell me again from the beginning."

So he did- he told her about how he and his friend Draco- who was one of her friends by extension, but he rarely interacted with her- after noticing each other's flying talents during the first class with Madam Hooch, conspired to steal and play with Neville's remembrall, and make a place for themselves on the quidditch team. The plan was put into use in the second flying lesson. Luckily Snape just happened to be around at the time (he'd been informed of their plans) while Harry made a spectacular save and caught the remembrall. Rather than punishing the two, he pulled strings to replace the current, incompetent seeker with Harry.

"Well, you certainly had quite a day," Hermione remarked, a little stunned that Harry was a bit more cunning than she'd expected. "But I can't say I'm surprised."

"You're not surprised?"

"No," she asserted. "It runs in the blood after all."

"It- what? Runs in the blood?"

"You didn't know?" Hermione asked, thoroughly surprised. "You're father was a chaser for the Gryffindor team back in the seventies. They said he could have gone on to play professionally- only he became an Auror instead."

"An auror? What's that?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sometimes, I forget that you aren't as well read as I am."

"Yeah," Harry said, "And I didn't have the prior learning that purebloods like you have."

Hermione involuntarily winced. Her lie still hadn't been outed, and she was extraordinarily nervous that whenever it was mentioned, it would be. She was on shaky ground.

"An auror is employed by the ministry to hunt down dark wizards," Hermione explained.

"Oh, I see," Harry nodded. "Doesn't explain how you know about my dad though."

"Common knowledge. At least, it is if you pass by the trophy room. Your father has a medal or two there, and a plaque."

Harry nodded in understanding, and slowly pulled out the chair next to her, before sitting down on it and peering over to look at her book. "What are you reading about?"

"Magical plants. It's really interesting."

"For herbology?"

"No," she said, shaking her head almost imperceptibly. "I got sidetracked. I was supposed to be working on my extra credit transfiguration essay." She grimaced. "There's a lot of theory behind the concept of it I find incredibly difficult to understand. Such as- what happens to the energy of an animal when you vanish it? According to muggle physics, energy can't be created or destroyed…"

Her companion nodded absentmindedly, looking at her intensely for a few moments. She started to feel a little apprehensive, and said, "Harry?"

He shook himself out of his trance. "Oh, what, Hermione?"

"I was just pointing out how muggle physics contrast with magical laws."

For a second, Harry studied her intently, then he said, "Hermione, aren't you a pureblood?"

"Yes." The answer came a little too quickly.

"How do you know about muggle physics?"

Hermione froze. A hole in her story- a hole she dug herself and subsequently fell into. She knew she slipped up, and could see that Harry's interest was piqued. Suddenly, her palm started to sweat. Should she tell the truth- that she didn't know if she was really a pureblood or not? That she'd read about physics in a muggle library? Would that alienate Harry? Possibly- and that, would, in extension, alienate her other friends. No, she had to come up with a story, and fast.

"My cousin," Hermione lied, trying to put as much contempt into the word as possible, "Is a squib, and she works in the muggle world as a physics professor. She bought me a textbook for my birthday, and as an avid reader, I couldn't help myself."

"A squib?"

"You know, a non-magical person in a magical family."

"No, I didn't know," Harry marveled. "I always learn something new about the magical world when I talk with you."

"Yes, well," Hermione said flustered, "You could probably learn the same things from Ron or Draco. It's common knowledge, nothing special."

Harry shook his head amusedly. "Anyway, since you know so much about transfiguration and how it fits in with the laws of physics, maybe you could help me with my essay."

Eager to escape the subject, Hermione was quite happy to oblige.

At the Halloween feast, Hermione was sitting between Cho and Marietta, cheerlessly looking at the piece of chicken on her plate. She had passed up the pumpkin pie and the giant candy corn, and had gone for the healthier food instead. After all, a healthy body made a healthy mind, and a fat body made the mind gluttonous.

Halfway through the meal, Cho got up. Somehow, the boy she had been talking to- a very handsome Roger Davies- had upset her. She ran off , through the hall doors, and off to who knows where. As if seeing the worried look on Hermione's face, Marietta leaned in, and said, "I'll go comfort her. She just needs a good cry in the bathroom." She got up and left before Hermione could volunteer her assistance, leaving her to her own devices.

Bored, she peered around the hall to see what each of her friends were doing: Ron was wolfing down various foods, some saliva dribbling hideously down his chin. She shuddered, and instead turned to the Slytherin table, where she saw Harry and Draco deep in conversation, their own plates only half eaten. Hermione narrowed her eyes in some jealousy- feeling rather possessive of her friend. But the feeling only lasted a moment because, rather suddenly, Professor Quirrell burst in. He'd been inconspicuously absent, but now every witch and wizard watched him as he sprinted up towards Dumbledore, and said in a rather smooth voice- unusual for him, "Troll- in the dungeons- thought you ought to know."

And just as suddenly as he had entered, he fainted, collapsing at the feet of the headmaster, a mess of robes and fabric. The entire student body waited for just a moment, for the situation to sink in, before bursting into an uproar. Hermione sneaked a glance over at the Slytherin table, where nearly all the students seemed white with terror. Their common room was situated in the dungeons.

Harry too was pale. However, his face was unreadable- if he was afraid, it did not make its way across his face. Beside him, Draco stared deeply into his hands, fear evident in his every action, if not on his features.

The loud sound of firecrackers was all that Dumbledore required to rein in the attention of the school. He spoke in an authoritative voice she hadn't heard him use since their first meeting: "Prefects, lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately."

As soon as he finished speaking, the prefects were up, and ushering the crowd out of the hall. Hermione sprang up, and made her way over to where Harry was standing. "Harry," she hissed loudly, fighting for his attention.

"Hermione?"

"My friend- she doesn't know about the troll!"

"Who?"

"Cho Chang! Asian girl, this tall, second year?"

Hermione could see an internal debate Harry was having with himself. Several emotions flitted through his face- fear, surprise, worry- before he steeled his features back to their usual blank state. He studied her for a minute, before protesting weakly, "She'll be fine..."

"You really think so?" she asked dubiously.

Harry opened his mouth silently, hesitantly, before shaking his head. "No."

"Then come with me! She's in the Girl's bathroom!"

She was afraid, truly afraid that she might lose Cho and Marietta- two of her few friends, two of the first few friends she had. She pulled Harry with her as fast as she could, red marks making their way onto Harry's right forearm, her nails biting into his skin. The rounded past the Hufflepuffs, before slipping into an empty corridor and sprinting for the girl's bathroom.

They had just made it to the end of the corridor when they heard loud, heavy footsteps behind them. Hermione groaned, and pulled Harry behind a large stone Griffin.

They stayed there, pressed against each other, Hermione slightly uncomfortable with the forced proximity. His green eyes trained on her brown ones, his hands slightly sweaty and grasping her wrist, his breath loud and warm in her ears, on her skin, damp and smelling slightly of pumpkin pie…

Slowly, she peered out from behind her hiding place, just to catch a billowy black cloak flourish itself, before heading to the third floor corridor.

"Snape- what's he doing here?"

"Beats me," Harry shrugged, his face slightly flushed.

Hermione nodded, then, remembering the task at hand, dragged Harry out and towards the girl's bathroom. Suddenly, she came to a halt so suddenly that Harry, carried by momentum, bumped into her back. "What the-"

In front of them was a very hideous looking troll, peering into a small room indecisively. As they watched, it had an epiphany, and forced its way in. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as Hermione looked on in horror.

"Harry- that's the girl's bathroom!"

Harry sucked in a breath, nodded, and prodded Hermione on. Gingerly, the two of them edged on, towards what was most likely impending doom. They nearly turned around when they heard Marietta's bloodcurdling scream, but the thought of Hermione's friends broken and limp on the floor had Hermione pulling Harry in with her.

Once they entered, they were immediately met with a spray of water, from a sink the troll had demolished with its club. They could see Cho cowering in the corner, with Marietta in front of her, shaking in fear, yet still holding a wand, determined to protect her friend.

"Distract it Harry," she hissed. He nodded, and ran towards the troll, as Hermione's feet propelled her towards the two Ravenclaws.

"Are you okay?"

Marietta managed to muster up a weak and ineffectual, "I'm f-fine," while Cho sat in a puddle of water, quivering in fear and pointing her finger at the troll.

After making sure they were okay, Hermione turned around, just in time to see Harry on the troll's shoulder, his wand jabbed into its eye, dripping with troll blood and mucus. Obviously, he had tried to poke it up a nostril, but it hadn't worked out.

Quickly, Hermione sent knockback jinxes at the troll, only to have them bounce off its skin without even leaving a mark. She then tried a Rictumsempera, but that didn't work either. She let out a frustrated yell, which caught the troll's attention. Quickly, it swung a club at her, which she quickly calculated that she couldn't dodge. She did the first thing that came to her mind.

"Flipendo!"

The club was thrown out of the troll's hands. Slowly, dumbly, and stupidly, he stared at his empty hand, not quite sure what to do. During this window of opportunity, Hermione began to plan what to do.

Think, think back to your classes! Transfiguration? No, the troll is too big to turn into a needle. Charms? I can't levitate something as big as the troll. Besides- Harry was on its shoulders. I could lift my friends to safety, but then the troll would notice, and reach for its god-forsaken club- wait! The club!

The troll seemed to have the same thought process, and slowly reached for the club, before it was yanked out of ranger by Hermione's hovering charm. While the troll was still wondering what was happening, Hermione tremblingly lifted the club- and gave it a twirl, before bonking the troll on the leg. Immediately, the troll fell to its knees, roared in angry pain, reached for its shin bone, and inadvertently flung Harry over to where the girls were standing, where he smashed into the wall, then fell down, limp, blood streaming down the side of his head.

Immediately, rage overtook Hermione. How dare the troll hurt her steady source of friends? Her never ending supply of popularity? Of acceptance? She stood coldly, now all emotions other than anger wiped from her mind, fueling her spell. The club danced with deadly precision, smashing into the troll over and over, making sure to avoid Harry's wand still stuck in the troll's horrendous eyes. A few minutes later, the club lowered itself onto the quivering mass of bloody meat that was once a troll.

Quietly, with Cho's and Marietta's eyes on her, Hermione strutted over to the troll, and yanked Harry's wand from the troll's eye. She cleaned it on her robe, before turning back, and placing it on Harry's limp figure.

Slowly, the emotions began to filter themselves into her mind, and tears began to form in her eyes. Was this the end of her acceptance? So far, many of her friendships were based on Harry. She had hopes in developing some of them into stronger bonds, but if Harry died, perhaps she'd never get the chance. Was this the end of her friendship with Harry? Something that brought her opportunities and smidgens of- satisfaction? Security? She couldn't name the feeling…

She sat numbly, not even noticing when Marietta left to get the teachers, or when she returned with them. She watched as Madame Pomfrey loaded Harry onto a stretcher and levitated him away. She trailed after them, looking intensely at Harry, trying to avoid the gaping head wound she knew she had been a cause of in several ways.

"Harry," Hermione begged, "Please be okay."

A/N: NO I AM NOT MAKING HERMIONE OVERPOWERED.

I just assumed that, after the first blow knocked out the troll, it would be super easy for her to mutilate it.

I tried my best on this chapter, I really did. Please read and review, reviews make me feel warm and toasty inside. I'll respond to all signed reviews, that's a promise.