A/N: I looked back at the first few chapters and found that the extents of mistakes were quite large. So I got someone to beta the first four chapters for me. Loads of thanks and candies for Iris Luna for her wonderful job!

I decided not to write about the summer at the Bones' summer house. Let us assume it was fun and leave it at that. Now let's move on to second year. Oh, just so you know, Ginny doesn't have a crush on Harry.

Warning: Crappy chapter alert!

9. Second Year

"Harry!"

"Dear Harry!"

"We are proud to present-"

"Our dear little sister-"

"Gin-Gin-"

"Otherwise known as Ginevra."

The little red headed girl looked thoroughly embarrassed at being introduced to Harry Potter this way. Harry noticed this (and he was feeling a little uncomfortable himself) and said, "Hello Ginevra. Er... welcome to Gryffindor."

"Hi. Call me Ginny." She said in a shy voice.

"Right. Okay Ginny, see you around, and don't believe everything these two say about Hogwarts."

Fred and George faked identical looks of terrible offence. Fred said, "You wound us, oh Boy-Who-Jizzed! We are nothing but helpful to ickle firsties like our dear Gin-Gin-"

"-and for your unkind information, this little bugger here has enough experience with us to fall into our occasional harmless jokes." George finished. Ginny snickered at his brothers' antics. Harry just snorted.

"Okay Harry-"

"Pleasant as the conversation was-"

"We can't afford to hang around all day, because-"

"We are running late for Gin's introduction with Angelina-"

"And Alicia, and Katie too-"

"And Lee. So see, we are in a tight schedule-"

"Just get going already!" Ginny interrupted loudly and dragged the twins away from Harry.

"She better get some friends other than those two." Hermione said from the sofa. Harry looked at her, surprised. He didn't realize she was paying attention to their conversation.

"Why'd you say that? Those two are great, though a little irritating at times."

Hermione looked up from the book she was reading and put it aside. "Harry, they are troublemakers. They live for causing trouble. And while they are funny at times, is it really a good thing to have them as the role models of a first year?"

Harry sighed and looked at Neville. He nodded subtly. They had talked about their bushy haired friend over the summer. (Andromeda convinced Augusta Longbottom to let him come at Susan's. The old witch looked somewhat scared of her, though Andromeda was nothing but pleasant.) They decided to talk with her about her 'breaking rules are worse than murder' attitude. They understood that she had grown up in a respectable family who encouraged her to maintain all kinds of rules and regulations. As good a lesson as it was, she took it too much seriously. Tonks offered to talk with her, but Susan thought it would be better if Harry and Neville talked instead. Not that Tonks couldn't talk, but she insisted that it would be easier if it came from Harry and Neville, her first friends in Hogwarts. After a while, Tonks agreed that it was probably the best idea, and they trained the guys to talk with a girl, who might lash out, become emotional, or even report them to a teacher for encouraging her to the wrong path. Harry didn't believe she would do that, but Hannah said she wouldn't bet on it.

"Hermione, can we talk?" Harry asked gently, indicating to Neville, her and himself. An alarmed look crossed the girl's face, but she nodded.

Suddenly, Harry forgot all the possible starting lines the girls have taught him. He momentarily felt panic rising, but he kept his cool and decided to improvise.

"Hermione, why do you always insist on following rules?" noticing her offended look he quickly added, "I'm not saying it's a bad thing to do, but what makes you really want to follow the rules?"

Hermione looked shocked that someone would question on why rules should be followed. After a few moments, she realized that they were waiting for an answer, and for the first time in her life, she didn't have a good enough answer. "I... I don't know, I guess because it is the right thing to do?" she answered uncertainly. Neville spoke up.

"Do you really think all rules are right? Do you know there is a rule that says muggleborns can't be Minister of Magic. Do you think that is right?"

Without giving her a chance to reply, Harry took over. "It's wrong. What you have to realize is that the people who wrote the rules or laws are every bit human like us. Today's law is very likely to be tomorrow's joke. Sure, most rules around here are for our own good, but sometimes we have to think what is best for us for ourselves, rather than leaving it to the authorities."

Neville cut in, "Consider when Harry saved you from the troll in our first year."

Harry scowled at him, but Neville ignored him. When looking for pointers, Harry asked him not to bring it up. He considered it kind of emotional blackmailing. Apparently, Neville had other plans.

"What about it?" Hermione said in a small voice.

"Well, when that idiot Quirrell announced that there was a troll in the school, we were told to go to our dormitories. Now think what would happen if he decided to just report to a prefect, instead of breaking an express command from the headmaster himself."

Hermione was close to tears and Harry tried to cool her a bit. "Look Hermione, you are smart and you have a liking for rules. We don't want you to change yourself, it's just who you are. And it's a good quality too. What we are asking is to relax up a bit. Look around you. How would you feel if there were no Fred and George or no Peeves or if everybody lived by the rules? Think a bit before you answer."

Susan's training is working well, Harry thought. The bookworm was thinking hard, and after a while, she said in a small voice, "It wouldn't feel right. Hogwarts wouldn't be the same." The boys smiled and nodded at her. But she continued in the same small voice, "I just try to fit in. The magical world is new to me, and sometimes I feel I just... don't fit here. I want everyone to accept me as one of them. I figured if I always do the right things, they will accept me. It's not like I can go back from magic. That's why I try so hard to do well in class; I want to prove that I am not useless." She sobbed the last words. Tonks' training kicked in, and Harry went to sit beside her and put an arm around his friend.

"You don't need to prove that to anyone, Hermione. You are not useless, unless it's quidditch. You are the best in our year, above purebloods like Daphne Greengrass or halfbloods like Padma Patil. You are a great friend and a good human. If someone doesn't accept you after all these, they are the ones who needs to be removed from the world." Hermione gave him a watery smile and said, "Thank you Harry, and you too Neville. You have no idea how much it means to me. I realized that maybe I was being too pushy, and when you wanted to talk, I was afraid that you would say that you guys don't want to be around me. Thank you." She sniffed and hugged them both.

Neville said, "Look at Percy Weasley. He is the top of his year, prefect, and totally stuck up with rules and stuff. He might be perfect academically, but how many friends does he have? On the other hand, look at Tonks. She's always up to something stupid or mischievous, but most people love her. And before you mention, her grades are good too. She has three 'O's and four 'E's in her OWLs, and that's not very easy to get." Hermione looked genuinely surprised at Tonks' result. She had pegged the older girl to be carefree and not having any great future, but it seemed she was wrong. Maybe she shouldn't judge so fast.

"Okay, I'll try to loosen up, but it might take some time." She said, with a hint of pleading in her voice. Harry and Neville smiled at her.

"Thank you, Hermione." Neville said.

"That's what we asked for." Harry finished.

"You're a parseltongue?" Tonks asked, shocked. Harry looked confused. Tonks clarified, "You can talk to snakes?" Harry just nodded. She stared at him for a long time, before she tightly hugged him and whispered, "You are not going to like this, Harry. But I'll be here for you, don't worry." Harry was more confused than ever. He wasn't going to like what? And why was Tonks acting like someone died? She released him after a whole minute and when she did, she said in a constricted voice, "Try not to go anywhere alone. Tell you what, I'll teach you the shield charm and some basic hexes. You need to learn to defend yourself. Meanwhile, ignore if people point at you or act weirdly. They aren't worth giving a fuck. Now take out your wand..."

As it turned out, Harry could handle mutterings and nasty glances better than Tonks. And it was very helpful that Harry had friends in Hufflepuff. Ernie Macmillan had been trying to convince his housemates that Harry was Slytherin's heir and he was after all the muggleborns in the school. He overheard a conversation between the first year Puffs in the library.

"I bet you anything that Potter is behind these attacks. He's a parselmouth, for crying out loud!" Ernie was saying.

"I'll take that bet." Susan replied coolly. Ernie wasn't discouraged b her tone. "Look Susan, we know that you are friendly with the guy, but consider this, if he isn't dark or powerful, how could he defeat You-Know-Who when he was an infant?"

"The same way you can change a pig to a goat, magic." replied Hannah. Ernie was not impressed.

"You two are sticking up for a Gryffindor over your own house?" he asked angrily.

"Believe me Ernie, there's no one I'd rather stick for where Harry is concerned." Susan said in a dangerous voice and Harry could feel the power in her tone.

"So shut up and keep your ideas to yourself." Hannah supplied.

"Yeah, stop bitching around Macmillan, it's a girl thing. And as they said, keep your opinion to yourselves if you don't want to become eligible for bitching. Don't get it? Keep talking and I'll vanish your balls. Not a great loss on your part, if you ask me." Tonks said, appearing out of nowhere. Thoroughly intimidated, Ernie backed off in a hasty fashion and disappeared quickly.

"Hey Tonks." Susan and Hannah said in unison. "Hello ladies." She replied with a grin.

"Hey." Harry stepped out from behind the shelf and faced the girls.

"Hey handsome!" Tonks winked at him. Quite used to her flirty nature, he winked back before addressing all of them. "Thanks for being there for me, guys. It means a lot to me."

"Shut up Harry. We are Hufflepuffs. Our loyalty sets us apart from others. You can count on us for being there for you."

Harry wondered what on earth had he done to have friends like these.

Harry was happily sitting on the sofa with Andromeda, watching the television, while Tonks was over at some friend's house.

"She usually hangs around her friends' place on Christmas holidays, and by friends I mean a lot of friends. But she spends around one hour on each place, so you'll have her back by dinner."

Harry smiled. "It's okay Andromeda. I like to spend time with you too. And thanks again for the gift. It's my best gift ever." Andromeda presented him a photo album of his parents when they were at Hogwarts. He didn't know any of the friends those were in the photo with them, but he was so busy drinking in all the details of Lily Evans and James Potter, he hardly asked any questions about them, and Andromeda didn't complain.

"No problem dear. I thought you would like that. Want some more treacle tart?"

"Are you serious? If I had another drop of water, I'll burst." After a little pause, he said in a quiet, softer voice, "Thanks Andromeda. Thanks for everything you did for me. I never met my mother or father, but if all the things I heard about them are true, they would thank you too." Andromeda gently put an arm around him and squeezed his shoulders.

"Tonks is back, fellas!" Tonks announced her arrival from the fireplace.

"Oh dear, we are talking about you in third person now?" her mother asked, feigning exasperation. Tonks stuck out her tongue at her and Harry chuckled.

"Enough laughing, mister. Come on. You're going with me."

"Er... where?" he asked, a bit nervous. "Edward's place." She replied.

"Why? You go on, I'll just intrude and sit around awkwardly."

"Hey, no one likes a smart arse. Yeah, sorry mother. Edward wanted me to bring you, so get ready in a minute if you want your-" she was silenced by Andromeda, whose wand was going back to its place.

"I don't appreciate swearing in my house, Dora. And I sure don't appreciate my daughter swearing like a sailor. Now go on and bring him back by nine." She cancelled the charm and walked away.

"So why did Edward want me to come?"

"We are playing football."

A/N: Yeah, I know. Crappy and useless chapter. I just wanted to get over with second year as third year is going to be an important and long (chapter-wise) year. Hope you didn't hate it too much.

And thanks to Fulgrim for the help. Those are corrected. Thanks again mate!

Eid Mubarak!