A/N: I know it's been a hot minute - I haven't forgotten - I promise - but I just wrapped up another piece called Bookworms. If you like this one, you might want to take a peek at Bookworms, as that focuses on Hermione and a Norwegian-American farmboy named Kellen, who bond over their mutual love of (you guessed it) - books!

Hermione and Kellen meet as firsties on the Hogwarts Express, and Hermione is a bit shocked to learn that a non-British student can get into Hogwarts, but Kellen explains that he got in through a bit of a loophole - his mother is a native Londoner, and he also has a blood relative named Desiree that's a second-year Ravenclaw student, so therefore Kellen was given a choice between Hogwarts and Ilvermorny, the North American wizarding school.

In this piece, Hermione, personality-wise, is similar to, but not identical to canon. She has a slightly sweeter personality, and is portrayed as more self-conscious here - she is aware of her gifts but she really doesn't want to make the wrong first impression again as she was known as a 'teacher's pet' at her old Muggle school. She was initially taken aback by Kellen's intellect - his faculties certainly blow hers out of the water - but she's also comforted by the fact that he's incredibly kind-hearted, generous, and patient - he even shares his grandmother's native language (Norwegian) and his Norse culture with her.

He truly looks at her as an equal and does not see her as competition - quite the opposite, in fact. He sees that she's also very bright, and only wants to help her realize her potential. And also somewhat different from canon, Harry and Ron also see her potential and tell her that it's okay to be bright - if there's a chance to get house points, she should take them! Kellen isn't the only smartie in Gryffindor, after all!

Although "KelMione" is the main focus throughout, Harry and Ron are very instrumental to this piece, particularly in later chapters, and the four understand that they're at their best when working as a team, but they also each have certain unique gifts (Kellen's protective instincts and supercomputer of a brain, Hermione's own book-smarts combined with a healthy helping of common sense, Harry's natural leadership qualities, and Ron's loyalty and Wizard's Chess prowess) that help them overcome the various obstacles in order to secure the Stone.

It's a simple and sweet retelling of the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone, with a few twists! If you're into fairy tale endings (i.e. Brothers Grimm), you'll love the conclusion of this piece! If anything, the ending might be even more satisfying than the original!

Harry and Lilah had just gotten back to the castle, perhaps just a few minutes after nine o'clock. And just like last time, Professor McGonagall was waiting for the children by the entrance to see how the date went.

She smiled at the happy "couple". "Good evening, Mister Potter. Good evening, Miss Darling. I trust you both had a good time at the Three Broomsticks?"

"We did, Professor," Lilah replied. "It was good to get out of the castle for a bit. The butterbeers were delicious, by the way. Thanks for giving us permission to go."

"I'm glad to hear that," trilled Professor McGonagall. "And again, I appreciate you both returning to the castle in a timely manner. Perhaps sometime after the Christmas break we can explore the possibility of another such night out... perhaps a group outing if you'd like?"

"That would be terrific, Professor," Harry said. "I can't wait."

Professor McGonagall chuckled. "Did you sing Lilah her song, Harry?"

Lilah beamed. "He did, Professor. He sang it wonderfully. I couldn't help but choke up a bit."

"Well, I have a little something for you, courtesy of Professor Burbage, if you'd like to follow me to the Gryffindor common room," purred the Professor. "I placed it there while you were at Hogsmeade Village, and I figured that the both of you were going to come back to the common room to spend a last few minutes together before light's out."

Harry and Lilah followed Professor McGonagall back to the Gryffindor common room to see what she had in mind.

As they entered the room, there was hardly a soul in there, but on one of the bookshelves, was a vintage Muggle turntable and speaker, probably from the early 1970s.

"Since you're Muggle-born, Miss Darling, and you were Muggle-raised, Mister Potter, do you recognize that device?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Lilah beamed. "That's a record player. My father has one in his workshop rather similar to that, he got his back during his college years."

"Very good, Miss Darling," trilled the professor. "This is a record by a Muggle soul band called the Temptations... they're a bit before your time, but I would have to imagine that you're familiar with some of their songs - particularly you, Miss Darling."

"I've heard of them," confirmed Lilah. "I'm not really into oldies music, but they were definitely talented."

Professor McGonagall nodded. "Indeed they were." She looked at Harry. "Well, young man, aren't you going to ask this lovely young lady for a dance?"

Harry blushed. "Wow, Professor... I, erm, I've never really danced before. I'm not sure I know what to do."

Lilah giggled. "Don't worry about it, Harry. Just follow my lead, okay?"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Lilah, I'd be delighted if you'd have this dance with me."

Lilah's ears and cheeks turned pink. "I'd be delighted to dance with you, Harry."

Professor McGonagall smiled. "Well, I suppose that's settled then. Miss Darling, as you're our guest this evening, you may stay a little past curfew if you wish. I will escort you back to your own dormitory when you are ready. Does that sound agreeable to you?"

"Perfect, Professor," beamed Lilah. "Thank you so much for letting me spend time in the Gryffindor common room. I'm really flattered you deem me trustworthy enough to let me spend time with Harry and Hermione in here, I'm sure there aren't many students outside of Gryffindor that get this sort of treatment."

"You're also not just any student, Miss Darling," replied Professor McGonagall. "Believe me, I wish you were in my house because you'd make a terrific Gryffindor. I look at you as if you were one of my own... I look at you as an... honorary Gryffindor, of sorts." She smiled broadly. "Professor Sprout and I do talk about you from time to time. She sings your praises without fail."

She then eyed both children. "What we're most proud of is how well the first-year Hufflepuff and Gryffindor students have been getting along. While friendships between Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors are fairly common as there is a healthy relationship among all three houses, the number of friendships forged by our first-year students is the most we've seen in quite some time. Slytherin has always marched to the beat of their own drum, but there are honest witches and wizards in that house... it just takes one student from either side to reach out. It's always been a goal of mine, and Professors Sprout and Flitwick, for that matter, to have our collective students be able to forge genuine, lasting friendships with Slytherin students. It's difficult, but hardly impossible."

Harry cocked his head. "Are you suggesting something, Professor?"

Professor McGonagall shrugged. "It's a possibility, Mister Potter. If I remember correctly, you were considered for Slytherin by the Sorting Hat, were you not? I would have to imagine that you'd be a prime candidate to try and reach out. Not everyone in Slytherin bites, you know."

Harry nodded. "I s'pose you're right, Professor. It's a little daunting though, because it's Malfoy's house, and his ilk. With all due respect, I just don't see him and I ever seeing eye to eye."

"Nobody ever said you had to reach out to Mister Malfoy," Professor McGonagall clarified. "Between you and me, he's a bit of a... lost cause, anyway. Which is too bad, because his father is cold and callous... he could be a sweet, well, at least more charming lad if he was raised primarily by his mother. But there's more to Slytherin than just the Malfoys, you know." She gave Harry a knowing look. "If you want to try befriending someone in Slytherin, you might want to try someone who's a bit more... diplomatic. I have a couple of suggestions for you - Miss Tracey Davis and Miss Daphne Greengrass."

Harry nodded. "I know of them, but that's about it. I've never really said anything to them, and they've never really said anything to me."

"They're both rather quiet and reserved, and they're both sweet-natured young ladies. They're also fairly open-minded for Slytherins, and neither have a lot of friends outside of each other. To my recollection, Miss Greengrass very nearly became a Gryffindor herself, but thought Slytherin would be better because she didn't want her family to be ashamed of her... which is a load of bollocks," added Professor McGonagall. "Her family would have been shocked, yes, but they'd have gotten over it and accepted that fact in time. Miss Davis is a half-blood, if I'm not mistaken, so she doesn't belong to one of the Noble Houses, but like Miss Greengrass, she isn't the quintessential Slytherin. She also has qualities that would have made her a candidate for other houses - she could have been a Hufflepuff."

"If you think that I should be the one to reach out, I'll do it," replied Harry. "But I might need some help... Lilah, since you're from Hufflepuff, I think you'd probably be the one that would make the most sense because I want to prove to them that I'm not just some gung-ho Gryffindor git, and that I do have friends from other houses."

Lilah nodded. "I'd be delighted to help, Harry. It's going to take some stones to reach out, even to fairly benign Slytherins like Miss Davis and Miss Greengrass, but like the Professor said, someone needs to take that first step. Why not be us?"

"And be persistent," replied Professor McGonagall. "They might not seem interested right away, but they will really appreciate the fact that you're taking the time to reach out, and want to get to know them a bit better. Be sincere and concise, they'll be more likely to appreciate your efforts that way than if you sounded like you had an ulterior motive."

"I'll give it a shot," Harry said. "Wish me luck, Professor."

"Good luck, Harry," chuckled Professor McGonagall. "If going to the Snake Pit at lunch is too scary, you can approach them after one of your shared classes, like Potions for example."

"Maybe after our Potions lesson," reasoned Harry. "I don't know if reaching out to a Slytherin in the Potions classroom for anything other than class-related purposes would sit too well with Snape."

"Professor Snape, if you please," corrected Professor McGonagall. "I know he's curmudgeonly and all, but he's still paid his dues."

"Apologies. Professor Snape," Harry replied as respectfully as he could.

Professor McGonagall nodded approvingly. She then smiled at the children. "Thank you for your consideration. I sincerely hope this works out, and that you both will have picked up a couple of valuable friends from a house that's not known for making many friendships outside their own. If you stick with it, I promise your efforts will have been worth it."

She then pointed her wand at the turntable on one of the bookshelves in the corner of the common room. "Well, that's enough from me for one evening. I think it's high time you two enjoyed your dance." The speakers crackled for a moment, followed by the familiar deliberate opening bass line of "dun-DUN-dun, dun-DUN-dun" of the Temptations' signature hit, My Girl.

Lilah smiled at Harry. "Come here, Harry. Put your hands on my waist, like this," she murmured as she placed her hands on Harry's shoulders. "You don't have to do anything special, just follow the beat like this..."

Harry smiled at Lilah, his ears turning rather pink. "Wow," he whispered. "I've never done this, but I like it."

"You're doing a terrific job of keeping up, Harry," Lilah said with a soft giggle. "I wish tonight would never end..."

Harry grinned like the schoolboy he was. "You and me both, Lilah."