Many thanks for all your reviews, and also for answering my question re: first year ages. I find the whole split year learning system very bizarre. Anyways, thanks again!

SEVEN: THE TRIO

For Hogwarts first years, the first eight weeks of term were definitely the hardest. Getting used to living away from their families, as well as keeping up with homework for six subjects was brutally difficult. Learning to share dorms with total strangers who had different habits, and different needs was challenging, and trying to become friends with your housemates was nerve-wracking.

For Harrison, his biggest challenge was in keeping his scar covered at all times. The constantly changing bandanas was the most effective method, and he'd learned that the only lesson he wasn't allowed to wear one was during potions. Still, having to use make-up with none of the others noticing had been hard. But not impossible.

Hermione had struggled to make friends in her own dorm room. Her two female year mates, Lavender and Parvati, were as different from Hermione as was humanly possible. Where Hermione had come to Hogwarts to be educated, the two other Gryffindor girls had seemingly come to socialise. Hermione had very little to contribute to their conversations about hair, makeup and boys, and thus, was mostly excluded from their conversations each night when room curfew was in effect.

After ten at night was when Hermione felt the most alone. She knew that she'd been lucky in finding a genuine friend in Harrison that first day on the train. And, judging from the way her two dorm mates teased her mercilessly, she knew that without Harrison to keep the boys (mostly) in check, her experience at Hogwarts could have been incredibly different.

Still, Hermione was keen for the room curfew to be lifted at six in the morning. The second it ended, she was out the door, and meeting a smiling Harrison, who would hold open the portrait door for her and gesture her through in front of him. She would never admit it, but she liked his old-world chivalry.

"Morning Hermione," Harrison greeted her. "Happy Halloween."

"And to you," she replied, stepping out of the common room and into the hallway. They made their way down the first flight of stairs, pausing at the lower landing to wait for a moving staircase that would take them on a more direct path to the Great Hall.

"Today should be interesting," Hermione said. "Halloween in the wizarding world is probably very different to the muggle world. Especially because of...Harry Potter defeating You-Know-Who."

Harrison scowled, and rolled his eyes. "I still don't Know-Who. Not a single bloody textbook in the library says his name. And the professors don't talk about it. I'd have thought History of Magic would've been a lot more interesting than it is."

Hermione grimaced at the mention of her least favourite subject. She too had been looking forward to learning History of Magic, but the teacher for the subject, Professor Binns, was a ghost, whose delivery of his subject was so dry that even Hermione, the self-confessed teacher's pet, had trouble following his lectures.

Hermione came to a halt in the middle of a staircase and put her hand on Harrison's arm to stop him from walking. A step below her, he turned and tilted his head up.

"Harrison, I...I don't know if it's really appropriate, but...I wanted to say I'm sorry," Hermione said. "About your parents. I know it can't be easy to hear people talk about them the way they do. To hear them talk about you."

Harrison shook his head. "I don't mean this to sound like I don't care, but...I don't remember them. Mum tried to tell me about them, but she didn't know much about my dad. Only that he was some sort of police officer. An auror, I've since found out. And my mother was working on a Charms mastery before she took time off to have me. I wish I could have known them, but...I don't regret the life I've had. I love mum."

"I know," Hermione replied softly. "And that doesn't make you a bad person. It's hard to miss something you don't realise you don't have. You grew up with a family that loved you, and that's what your birth parents would have wanted for you."

"I think so too," Harrison said. "You know, every Halloween, mum would take Dud and I to a church, and we'd light a candle for them. We never really went to church otherwise, except for Christmas and Easter, but...I hate having to miss it this year."

Hermione shook her head. "You don't have to. There's a chapel on grounds. We could go there now if you wanted."

Harrison nodded, a sad smile on his face. "I'd really like that."

Hermione quickly got her bearings, and steered them to the east corridors, heading to the fourth floor.

"I didn't know there was a chapel," Harrison commented.

"They do services on Sundays," Hermione replied. "A lot of kids with non-magic parents attend. Wizarding families don't really have religious beliefs."

"What about you? What do you believe?" Harrison queried.

"'There are more things on heaven and earth, Harrison, than are dreamt of in your philosophy'," Hermione quoted.

Harrison stared at her quizzically.

"Hamlet," Hermione replied. "My parents were big Shakespeare fans. Hence my name. Anyway, what I mean to say is that there is so much more to this world than we will ever understand. So, yes, I believe in God."

"I think I do too," Harrison replied. "I want to believe in heaven at least. The idea of meeting up with people we've lost is..."

"Comforting," Hermione finished for him. "When my granddaddy died, I was devastated. Mum took me to church, and we spent hours talking about God and heaven. Being able to think about granddaddy looking down and watching over me was about as comforting a thought as I could have."

They turned a corner and stopped in front of a room that said 'Chapel' about the doorway. They entered quietly, and approached a table of unlit candles to the side. They stood, side-by-side, in silent solidarity for a moment before Harrison took out his wand and carefully lit the wicks of two candles.

"For mother and father," Harrison whispered. "Wherever you are, may you be at peace."

Hermione wiped an absent tear from her cheek. She took out her own wand, and lit a third candle. "For granddaddy Granger. May you always be smiling down on me."

They stayed for a moment, staring into the candles, each of them contemplating those they had lost. Harrison reached down and found Hermione's hand, twining their fingers, giving her hand a comforting squeeze.

"Thanks," he whispered softy. "For bringing me here."

Hermione leant her head against his shoulder. "I think I needed it too. To remember that my family is still with me, even when we're a thousand kilometres apart."

They slowly drew apart, and Hermione wiped at her eyes, feeling the swell of sadness unclench within her.

"Breakfast?"

Harrison smiled, and gave a short nod. "Breakfast."

He slung an arm over Hermione's shoulders, and happily followed her lead back to the Great Hall.

It hadn't been the morning he expected, but it had certainly been one to remember.

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With the excitement of the impending Halloween Feast over-riding any sense of decorum for the bulk of the Hogwarts students, the teachers found themselves trying to teach extremely distracted students. Professor Flitwick, the tiny Charms Professor, found that his group of First Years were especially rowdy.

He clapped his hands, trying to get their attention.

"Alright, students, let's try something a little more practical," Flitwick said.

That caught their attention. Wand work was often the only way to get the students to concentrate on a word he was saying.

"Levitation. The ability to make things fly," Flitwick said.

Excitement fluttered over the classroom, and wands were pulled out of pockets and book bags.

"The incantation: Wingardium Leviosa. Your wand movement, swish and flick."

He promptly demonstrated the spell, using several books as an example, and then gently landed them on his desk. He pulled out a box of feathers that he kept for the first practice round of the levitation charm. Using the very spell he was going to teach them, he levitated a feather onto the desk of each of the students.

"Now, remember, pronunciation is especially important, so...without wands at first. Repeat after me: Wingardium Leviosa."

A burst of noise came from the First Years, and Professor Flitwick's trained ears picked up some very mangled words.

"Again; Wingardium Leviosa."

Flitwick fought down the urge to sigh. The problem with trying to teach such a large group was that he wouldn't have time to individually correct people's pronunciation.

"Alright class, wands out. Now, swish and flick. Swish on 'Wingardium' and flick on 'Leviosa'. Now you try."

There was much enthusiastic wand waving, and Flitwick hid a grimace as he noticed Ron Weasley seeming to conduct an invisible orchestra.

Hermione, having nearly been gouged in the eye with his wand, was quick to point out his error.

"Careful, Ronald, you're going to poke somebody's eye out," Hermione chastised. "And, you're saying it wrong."

Ron scowled unhappily. "You do it then, if you're so clever."

Hermione caught Harrison's eye, and he nodded at her encouragingly. She gripped her wand lightly, and visualised what she wanted her magic to do. With a swish and a flick, she incanted "Wingardium Leviosa."

Ron's frown became even more pronounced when Hermione's feather slowly raised into the air, her wand directing it above their heads.

"Well done, Miss Granger," Flitwick praised enthusiastically.

Ron tried again, "Wingardium Leviosahr."

"It's Levi-o-sa," Hermione corrected him. "Not Levio-sahr."

Ron huffed, and turned his back to her. Discouraged, Hermione turned to Harrison.

"Hermione, I'm a little confused on when to flick," Harrison said, trying to distract his friend from Ron. He knew that Hermione was at the breaking point when it came to putting up with Ron's moods. Redirecting her efforts was always safest.

"Alright, well, show me," Hermione said.

Harrison swished and flicked as he said the spell, but his feather refused to move. His pronunciation wasn't the problem, but his wand work was.

"Alright, that's nearly it," Hermione said. "But, this time, flick down on the 'o' in 'Leviosa'."

Harrison tried again, and whooped in triumph as his feather took flight. Hermione beamed at him proudly.

"Excellent, Mr Evans," Flitwick said.

This, of course, just seemed to make Ron angrier.

In the ten minutes remaining to the end of the lesson, only two other students were able to make their feather take flight. One was surprisingly Neville Longbottom, and the other was a Ravenclaw first year named Terry Boot. Strangely, they'd both been sitting directly behind Hermione Granger, and taking in every word of advice she'd given her fellow students.

As class let out for lunch, Harrison and Hermione were accosted by Ron Weasley.

"Think you two are clever, do you?" he sneered angrily. "You're both nightmares. It's no wonder you don't have any friends."

"Actually, Weasley," Harrison replied, pulling himself to his full height and staring sharply at Ron, "I think it's you who has no friends. And to make it worse, you wouldn't know magic if it danced in front of you in a tea cosy."

Ron's face went bright red, and he pushed past his fellow Gryffindor's.

Dean and Seamus moved closer to Harrison and Hermione. "He was bang out of order, mate," Dean commiserated.

"Yeah guys, don't worry about him," Seamus chimed in. "We think you two are great."

Harrison bumped fists with both of the boys, who quickly left, uncomfortable with the way Hermione seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Hermione breathed in shakily and looked to Harrison. He wrapped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer.

"He's a git," Harrison said. "You are brilliant, and the best friend anyone could have. He's jealous because you, my friend, are freakin' magic."

Hermione smiled shyly, her cheeks blushing a brilliant pink. She leant closer to her friend, and they happily wandered into the Great Hall for lunch.

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That evening before dinner, Hermione was struck with a bout of stomach cramps that left her doubled over and wincing in pain. Harrison gently touched her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Hermione pressed a hand to her abdomen. "I...I need to see the nurse."

Harrison nodded. "I'll walk you there."

"No!" Hermione yelled. "I...I can go on my own."

Harrison, however, wasn't having a moment of it. "No way. You can barely stand up straight. I'm not leaving you alone."

"But the feast is about to start," Hermione protested.

Harrison shrugged. "It's not like they've ever run out of food before," he replied nonchalantly. "It'll still be there in an hour."

Hermione cast about for another reason to have Harrison leave, but unfortunately could come up with nothing. She had a fair idea of what was wrong with her, and she didn't relish the idea of having to explain why she had such severe stomach cramps. Her mother had prepared her for this, but, unfortunately she hadn't been expecting for her period to start any time soon.

"A-alright," she agreed hesitantly.

She let him put his shoulder under her arm and support her up to the hospital wing. She, of course, gave him the directions, which he followed to the letter.

They made it up to the infirmary just as the nurse Madame Pomfrey seemed to be on her way out.

"What's happened?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

"Cramps," Hermione replied shortly. "Extremely bad cramps."

Madame Pomfrey exchanged what seemed to Harrison to be a significant glance with Hermione. His best friend nodded, and Madame Pomfrey shooed him away, telling him to wait outside.

"First time?" the nurse asked sympathetically.

"Yes Madame," Hermione replied. "Mum explained all about them, but I wasn't expecting it to be so painful."

Madame Pomfrey headed to her medicine cabinet and pulled down a vial of a purple potion. She handed it to Hermione who gratefully drank the entire dose. Almost immediately Hermione felt her guts unclench, and the knot that seemed to be tying her stomach together released.

"Oh, thank you so much," Hermione enthused.

Madame Pomfrey gave Hermione a quick run-down of the various spells that could be used during a witch's monthlies to maintain hygiene and keep the pain to a minimum. Hermione was a quick learner, and twenty minutes later, she happily met Harrison in the corridor.

"What did she say? Are you alright? Is there anything I can do?" Harrison asked rapidly.

Hermione laughed. "No, it's fine, honestly. I'll be just fine. Madame Pomfrey gave me a potion for the cramping, and the pains all gone."

Harrison breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin."

They headed down to the Great Hall, but Hermione stopped outside the girls bathroom. "I'll meet you in the Hall."

Harrison hesitated, but his stomach was growling loudly. "Alright. But, if you're not in there in five minutes, I'm going to come looking for you. Deal?"

"Deal," Hermione replied.

Harrison made his way into the Great Hall and took the vacant seat beside Neville, nodding a greeting to his fellow year mates. He didn't nod to Ron, however, and the red head seemed to be trying his level best to ignore Harrison.

"Where's Hermione?" Neville asked.

"Bathroom," Harrison replied.

"I uh...I meant to say earlier," Neville began hesitantly, "that you and Hermione are great. And Ron's got it all wrong about you guys not having friends."

Harrison smiled genuinely and clapped Neville on the shoulder. "Thanks Nev."

Before Harrison could even take a bite, the doors burst open and Professor Quirrell came running in. "TROLL!" he yelled. "Troll in the dungeon!"

Silence reigned as the students tried to take in what he'd yelled.

"Thought you ought to know," Quirrell said, and promptly fainted.

Pandemonium broke out at all four tables, screaming students standing and trying to climb over the bench seats. At the head table, Professor Dumbledore stood and bellowed "SILENCE!"

Everybody stopped in their places and stared in bewilderment as the headmaster quickly gave instructions to the teachers, the prefects and the students. The students were to follow their prefects to the dorms, quickly and quietly. Harrison looked around, trying to spot Hermione. He felt his heart drop as he realised Hermione had yet to come back from the bathroom.

Harrison stopped abruptly and Neville ran into his back.

"What's wrong?" Neville asked.

"Hermione. She's still in the bathroom," Harrison said.

Neville paled considerably. "She won't know about the troll."

"I'm going to find her."

Neville didn't have time to hesitate as Harrison took off in the direction of the girls bathroom. "I'm coming with you."

They broke off from the Gryffindors and raced to the bathroom that Hermione had gone into. A foul stench reached their nostrils, and they both winced, covering their noses with their sleeves.

"That's disgusting," Neville said.

"That's the troll," Harrison said. The floor shook ominously, and Harrison peeked around the corner, watching as the troll smashed open a door and ducked through the opening.

"It's going into the girls' bathroom."

"Hermione," Neville whispered fearfully.

A high-pitched shriek confirmed their worst fears. The two boys raced forwards, wands out and ran through the ruined doorway.

"Hermione!" Harrison yelled.

"Harrison!" she cried, terrified. "Help!"

"Distract it," Harrison directed to Neville.

Neville grabbed several pieces of debris from the ruined door and threw them at the massive troll. One of the pieces hit the trolls head, distracting it from Hermione's position, crouched beneath the sinks.

Harrison took a running leap and threw himself onto the trolls back. Once he was up there, however, he wasn't entirely sure what he should be doing. The troll shook him violently, attempting to dislodge the pesky passenger, but Harrison clung firmly, though his wand somehow ended up in the trolls nose, startling the troll as much as it disgusted Harrison.

Annoyed, the troll began swinging its heavy club, destroying the sinks that Hermione was trying to hide beneath.

"The club, Nev!" Harrison yelled. "We have to get the club."

Neville had no idea how to do that. Hermione, however, seemed to have a better idea. "Swish and flick!" she yelled.

Neville took a deep breath, and aimed his wand at the trolls club. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The club flew from the trolls' hand, and levitated above its head.

"Move Harrison!" Neville yelled.

Harrison jumped from the trolls' back and rolled onto the floor. Neville released the spell while the club was directly above the troll. It hit the creature's head, and the troll and club both smashed to the ground with a shaking thud.

The trio shared relieved grins, and Hermione slowly uncurled herself from her hiding spot. She hurried past the troll and grabbed Harrison into a hug. She then gave Neville a hug, much to his shock. The shy boy blushed bright red and kicked nervously at a piece of wood at his feet.

"You saved my life," Hermione said gratefully.

"You'd have done the same for us," Harrison replied.

Hermione nodded. "I would."

Harrison slapped Neville's shoulder. "That was some great spell work Nev."

"T-thanks," Neville replied.

"Let's get out of here," Harrison suggested.

Hermione was only too happy to leave behind the destroyed bathroom. Unfortunately, before they could leave, a quartet of Professor's turned up, drawn to the location by the smell and the trail of ruined artefacts leading up to the bathroom.

Professors McGonagall, Snape, Dumbledore and Quirrell stared in shock at the prone troll on the ground.

"What is going in here?" McGonagall demanded. "Explain yourselves at once."

Harrison could practically see the steam coming from the Deputy's ears and knew that the best way to contain this disaster was to try and shoulder the blame.

"We're really sorry, Professors," Harrison said. "Only, Hermione was in the bathroom when Professor Quirrell came running in about the troll. I only realised she was missing on the way to the dorms. I grabbed Neville, and we came after her to tell her about the troll. Only, it found her first."

"I'd be dead if it wasn't for them," Hermione said.

"How did three first years manage to incapacitate a fully grown mountain troll?" Professor Snape asked.

"Well, Harrison distracted it," Hermione said, omitting the part about him jumping on the troll. "And then Neville levitated its club above its head, and knocked it out."

The Professors seemed to be impressed with their ingenuity.

"You should have called for a Professor," Snape chastised. Harrison vaguely realised that there was a tear in the leg of the Professor's pants, and he seemed to be bleeding. Snape swept his cloak over the wound when he realised that Harrison had seen it.

"Yes sir," Harrison agreed. "There just wasn't any time. Nev and I wanted to make sure our friend was alright, and all the teachers were heading to the third floor."

McGonagall seemed to accept the explanation.

"Well then...ten points each to Gryffindor for maintaining courage under pressure. Well done, all of you. Next time, however, try not to take on something like this alone."

Harrison glanced between Hermione and Neville. "We weren't alone, Professor."

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A/N: And thus, a trio is born.