Disclaimer: Ang kahanga-hangang wizarding mundo at ang mga character (maliaban sa mga orihinal) nabibilang sa J.K. Rowling.

"Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery." – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Hermione was waiting for Ron and Harry to get changed and join her in the common room. She had spent the last twenty minutes banging on the door of the boy's dormitory, since she was not allowed in, waking up not only the two boys she was planning to go to breakfast with, but also the rest of the inhabitants. She had finally been ushered down by Anthony Goldstein, a Hufflepuff, who, like her, saw the benefits of early waking, but wanted to spare her from the wrath of all the other eighth year boys. After assuring her that the two boys were awake and in the process of getting dressed, he had left her to wait in the common room, leaving with Susan Bones to go to the Great Hall.

Finally, the two boys entered, hair in a mess and yawning.

'Seriously, you two,' Hermione chided. 'It's only the first day of classes!' Ron gave her the best glare he could while half-asleep, and Harry ruffled his hair absentmindedly.

'Relax, Hermione,' he said, stifling a yawn. 'We still have more than half an hour till classes begin. Besides, me and Ron both have a double study period this morning.'

'Well, I don't! I have double Muggle Studies. Speaking of which, I have plenty to tell you.'

The trio began their walk to the Great Hall, and Hermione filled them in on the details as they did – how Draco had asked to take up the extra subject, which neither of the boys believed at first, and how they had been assigned to be partners, which elicited exclamations of both disbelief and sympathy. She also mentioned that he had told her that he had not wanted to be a Death Eater during the war, which both Harry and Ron raised an eyebrow at skeptically.

'Well, we'll see how he acts this year,' Harry said as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. Ron and Hermione nodded in agreement, and they began to tuck into the small feast that had been set before them.

'Sofaz da – ' Ron began, his mouth full of eggs, then paused when he saw the looks of confusion on his friends' faces. Quickly finishing his mouthful, he swallowed before starting over.

'So does that mean that you won't be able to study with us anymore?' he asked.

'No, of course not,' Hermione assured them, and they looked relieved. 'Though I'll have to spend Tuesday evenings with Malfoy, of course, and I think I might see if we can have a session tonight as well, just to go over the coursework.'

'That's fine,' Harry said, wiping some syrup off of his face. 'Ron, want to fly around the pitch with me tonight? I'll see if Dean and Ginny are free, so we can have a little game.'

The boys made their plans, and Hermione looked around the hall. No sign of her Muggle Studies partner, perhaps he had slept in? Harry seemed to read her mind.

'I haven't seen Malfoy since the feast last night,' he informed her. 'He must have come in after we had gone to bed, and he was up and out before any of the others were awake.'

'My first instinct would have been to say that the bloody ferret must be up to something,' laughed Ron. 'But I seriously doubt that he'd be so obvious with his scheming, so he must just be an early riser, like this girl over here.' He looked pointedly at Hermione, and both Harry and Hermione chuckled.

'Well, I'd best be off!' Hermione said, glancing at her wristwatch. 'Class starts in fifteen minutes.' Harry rolled his eyes.

'Early bird catches the worm and all that, eh?' he said. 'Have fun!' Hermione beamed and left them to finish their breakfast. As she was walking away, she heard Ron ask Harry something in a puzzled voice.

'Wait, what bird?'

The Muggle Studies classroom was rather near to the Great Hall, and was adjacent to the one that Hermione had been in for the subject in third year, yet was rather different. This classroom had the tables arranged in pairs on either side of the classroom, leaving a corridor in the middle, with a teacher's desk in the front. There were power plugs and a whiteboard, she noted with interest, things that had not been present in the other classroom. While there were not any lights or light switches as far as she could see, the windows let in natural light, and there were no candles.

As Hermione was about to settle into her usual spot at the front, she noticed that she was not alone in the classroom, as she had previously thought. On a table in the far corner of the room, furthest from the door, the unmistakable head of Draco Malfoy was resting in his arms, apparently asleep. Hermione approached tentatively, quietly putting her bag down beside her as she sat next to him.

'Good morning.'

Draco's head snapped up immediately, and he blinked hard a couple of times. Unable to stop herself, she gasped in surprise, shocked at his appearance. Having never been so close to him, she was shocked to see that he had dark rings around his eyes, which were vaguely red, as if he hadn't slept for weeks, or as if he had been crying recently.

'Merlin, Malfoy, you look awful.'

'Thanks,' he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and looking away. Hermione blushed, frantically trying to smooth over her outburst.

'No, sorry, that's not what I meant!' she said. 'Did you sleep at all last night?' He looked at her, one eyebrow raised.

'I don't see how that's any of your business, Granger.' Hermione sniffed, mildly offended, and looked away. They sat in silence, both preparing for the lesson by setting out parchment and quills on their desks.

After a few minutes, other students joined them, and the room was filled with chatter. It was a small class, with the majority being seventh years, the only other eighth years being Hannah Abbott and Megan Jones, who waved at Hermione as they entered, but sat near to the front.

Precisely at nine o' clock, Professor Hope strode in, a rectangular basket in one hand, and a stack of papers and a wand in the other. A young woman with very short blonde hair that was swept to one side, the way she walked oozed with confidence and commanded the attention of the room, despite her petite stature. The room fell silent as she entered, and she set the basket and papers down on the table. Wand still in hand, she turned to face them.

'Expelliarmus!'

There were startled cries of protest as all the wands in the class flew from their bags and cloaks into the basket that the professor had placed on the table. Well, almost all of the wands – having been constantly vigilant for the entire previous year, Hermione had caught hers in time, and she noticed that Draco had managed to retain his as well. This, however, did not escape the notice of Professor Hope, and she brought the basket to them. Reluctantly, they surrendered the wands.

'Very good,' she said. The eyes of the class followed her as she slowly made her way back to the front of the room, wands held hostage. 'Welcome to N.E.W.T. level Muggle Studies. If you're here to get an easy Pass, you should leave now.' Having reached the desk, she set down the basket and turned to face the class once again.

'There will be no magic used in this class. When you enter the classroom, you all will surrender your wands, placing them into this basket that will reside on my desk. Here, you are all effectively Muggles. Understood?' The class nodded silently, and she continued.

'Now, I understand that last year none of you had a decent Muggle Studies teacher. As I highly doubt that you learnt anything of value last year, I will be covering the entire N.E.W.T. syllabus this year, many of which are simply O.W.L. topics explored at a higher level. The course is divided into theory and practical application – which I will explain at greater length in the future, and have outlined in a handout I will give you at the end of today's class.'

Professor Hope pulled out a large package from under her desk, and unwrapped it as she spoke, handing out the contents to the front row and indicating that they should pass them down towards the back. 'These are notebooks and pens. Each student is to take one notebook and two pens, and these are Muggle inventions that are to be used in place of your quills and parchment for note taking. These are only to be used for this subject, as the other teachers insist on quill and parchment, which is, if you ask me, rather draconian.'

Draco pushed aside his own materials, examining the strange book. It had two hard covers, not unlike the covers of a bound book, but had an interesting metal spiral down one end instead of proper binding. The paper inside had light blue lines on them, but it was the pen that fascinated him the most. Hermione leaned over to demonstrate how they were turned on; with a push on one side, a metal nib popped out of one side with a click. Another push, and the nib disappeared. Even better, the ink was inside the contraption, and it flowed from the nib wonderfully.

'Today, we will start off with some theory on the topic of how Muggles cope without magic, and we will have a practical demonstration in the second half of this double lesson. Alright, let us begin!' With that, Professor Hope took out what looked to Draco to be some sort of very fat pen, and, after removing the cap, began to write on the shiny white wall.

ELECTRICITY

Copying down this strange new word into this notebook, Draco was captivated as the professor began to explain how this Muggle discovery was not unlike magic in the way that it functioned, and in the way that it helped them to function. How fascinating, he thought.

At half past ten, the class ended.

'Class dismissed! Do collect a handout from my desk on your way out, and don't forget to take your wands, too!' she said. 'Oh, and could I please see the three students without their O.W.L. in this subject at the front?'

Draco and Hermione finished packing away their notebooks and pens, then joined Hannah Abbott at the front of the room as the others filed out of the class. The three of them claimed their wands and waited as Professor Hope put away the equipment she had used during the lesson. Hannah, Hermione remembered, had left Hogwarts after her mother had been killed by Death Eaters in their fifth year. She didn't fail to notice the way that Hannah was eyeing Draco suspiciously.

Having finished putting all of the things away, Professor Hope turned to address them.

'Ah yes, my three special students. Draco, Hermione and Hannah?' she said to them, facing each of them in turn as she confirmed their names. Receiving affirmative nods, she smiled. 'Now, the three of you especially must always ask questions when you're unsure about something. Hannah, as you've been working on the course through distance education, I'm not too worried – and Draco and Hermione, you two will be doing extra study together, is that correct?' They nodded again, glancing at each other.

'That's all very well, then. Check in with me any time if you have questions, alright?' she reiterated, before dismissing them. The three of them exited, Hannah running off with Megan, who had been waiting outside the classroom. Draco turned to Hermione, intending to ask if she wanted to go over the coursework handout with him that evening, but she beat him to it.

'Tonight at seven o' clock, in the library?' she asked, and he agreed. That day's lesson had left him with a sense of wonder like nothing he had ever experienced before, and he could not wait to learn more.

Having explained the basics of electricity and covered how it travelled through small metal tubes called wire, which were made safe to use by being wrapped in an insulator, working in systems of circuits, Professor Hope had shown them portable electricity called batteries, and then gone on to show them various Muggle appliances that were powered by electricity, including a box with a colourful photograph called a television, and an oval-shaped device that produced music, called a radio. He would have to ask Hermione, who had seemed rather bored during the lesson, more about them later.

As much as it surprised him to say this, he was actually enjoying Muggle Studies.

A/N: And there we go, the first lesson! Side note: I absolutely had to bring back Hannah Abbott to Hogwarts, as I have a good friend named Hannah Abbott in real life! Unfortunately she doesn't know much about Harry Potter at all. Such a pity, right? Anyway, thank you so much for your continued support - you guys are the best!