Chapter One

Hermione's third year was finally over. It had not gone well, believe it or not, she would rate it even lower than the year previous where she spent half of it either with fur over her face and or petrified laying in a hospital bed.

Hermione had gone out of her way to ensure she could as many classes as she possible could with the help of the time turner. She regretted it every time she thought of it. How much time had been wasted, running from one classroom to the next, ensuring she didn't bump into her past self and trying to make sure she slept enough.

No. Hermione thought to herself, she would not be doing this again. Her hair had become even less manageable and to be completely honest, Hermione was a day away from a breakdown but that didn't matter. She was heading home tomorrow. She was heading home to her parents, Sammy and her freedom.

Hermione loved learning, but she knew she had burnt herself out this year and knew this was something she could not continue to do. Despite what the other students may think, she had other interests besides learning and she had promised herself to take her reading lightly this summer. Hermione had also discussed dropping Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid and Professor McGonagall. She was sorry to not see Hagrid as much, but Hermione could not see any future where she would be working with animals. So why waste the time.

Hermione had decided she was very much looking forward to catching up on her fictional reading - that had taken a significant backseat throughout the last year. Tomorrow she would be travelling home on the express and get picked up by her parents before having two weeks in the sun in Spain with them.

Hermione was close with her parents despite what her friends thought. Daniel, her father, was a squib who had been exiled from the wizarding world at an early age. He wouldn't speak of his family and a Hermione knew not to ask. This didn't stop Hermione from being curious and wanting to find out. Over the last summer holidays, her father had found her reading a book on old pureblood lineage causing a large argument between the two of them.

Hermione believed it was her right to find out where her magical core had come from however her father argued that it shouldn't matter. If the family were willing to throw him out, they would not want to claim Hermione as one of them.

Jean Granger was a different kettle of fish. Jean had been Hermione's biggest supporter in schooling, attending every single parents evening, helping her with homework and ensuring Hermione knew every minute of every day, just how proud she was.

"Hermione!" a voice broke through Hermione's daydreaming "Hermione! Are you alright, you said you were going to be gone an hour. That was over 4 hours ago." Harry called out to Hermione, walking towards her down the hill from Hogwarts. "There's no point thinking about schoolwork now."

Hermione had been sat underneath a tall willow tree that sat at the shore of the Black Lake. Hermione loved this spot as it was very rarely visited by other students. To her, this meant it was perfect to get away from the noise and business of the school whilst she could sit and watch the squid and other animals in the grounds of Hogwarts. She hadn't managed to visit often this year as she was either in class, the library or sleeping.

Earlier in the year Hermione had confided in Harry, sharing this spot with him. "Hey Mione," Harry said affectionately as he sat down next to her. Hermione leant her head on Harry's hard shoulder. "You've been working out?" she mumbled to Harry as she took a deep breath out. Hermione and Harry sat for a few seconds, looking out across the lake at the sun slowly sinking towards the horizon. Hermione realised the sun was a lot lower in the sky than it had been when she first arrived at her spot.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't realise that time had flown. I just got so caught up in my thoughts." Harry chuckled. He was used to Hermione going missing for hours on end. "You know you don't have to apologise to me. I decided had to get out the tower as well, the twins are trying to sneak potions to sleeping students and Ron's off with Dean and Seamus. He's determined to learn the rules of football, No matter how long it takes him."

"You know," Hermione pondered, "I think this must be the first time Ron has really actively put time and effort into learning something new" Harry snickered at this but could not find anything to say in disagreement.

Despite the incident with Harry's broom earlier that year, which had been sent by Sirius. Hermione and Harry were closer than ever. Harry had taken it upon himself since the fateful night at the Willow, to ensure Hermione ate and cared for herself. He was often sending her up to bed and confiscating her books to make sure she would sleep. Despite having known her for 3 years, Harry had only properly began to see Hermione for what she really was. Family.

Harry hadn't had a family growing up, so he'd be damned if he let anything happen to his one and only family member.

"I'd been thinking about the last year and this summer. I can't wait to see Mum and Dad again." Hermione admitted. "I think we can write off the school year and focus on the fact we saved Buckbeak and Sirius" Harry started smirking, bumping into Hermione's shoulder, "we're also going to see the World Cup this summer" Hermione started laughing, barging Harry with her shoulder, "Are we? I don't think any of you guys mentioned that," she retorted. Harry gave a wolfish grin to Hermione in response.

Harry chuckled at Hermione's sarcasm. "Hey, at least you have a nice holiday before then. I have to listen to the Dursley's for the first few weeks before I can relax." Harry said this with a smile on his face but there was no way he was fooling Hemione.

"Oh Harry, I'm sorry." Hermione started, "I honestly am. You know you were so welcome to come with us this summer. Mum was ready to buy your ticket the other week." "Dumbledore says I have to go to the Dursley's until the world cup. There has to be a reason, i'm sure of it. Dumbledore wouldn't just send me to the Dursley's if he didn't have to." Hermione had noticed, over the last year particularly, Harry was starting to grow a form of Hero Worship for Dumbledore. It was as if Albus Dumbledore could do no wrong and he would never be questioned for any decisions made by him. Naturally, this did not sit well with Hermione who was used to asking any question that came to mind.

The pair sat on the bank of the lake for a short while longer. "Right, it must be dinner time, last one there had to sit next to Ron on the train!" Harry cackled as he shot off away from Hermione. Harry knew he had an advantage over Hermione. He did not expect to have Hermione racing past him and overtaking him as they came across the bridge towards the front courtyard. Hermione ran as fast as she could towards the door of the main hall. There were students filing past calmly, so she had to be very careful not to knock into them. Harry arrived at the doors a few seconds later. "I can't believe I've managed to make sure I'm sat next to Ron for the train. What have I done?" Harry exclaimed, deep breaths punctuating his words.

The pair entered the hall, heading over towards the Gryffindor table. Ron was already sat down, with Dean on one side and Neville on the other. Ginny was sat opposite Neville, leaving enough space for Hermione and Ron, opposite Ron and Dean.

"Where have you been?" Ron asked the two as they sat down. "I think I finally understand the rules although now I'm even more confused about why it's so popular." Ron started rambling on about football to the pair, either not noticing or not caring that Harry and Hermione clearly didn't care about the offside rule.

Hermione stated looking around the hall. Students were happily sat chatting with their classmates. She then dared to let her eyes wander across the professors table. A pinch of sadness struck through her at Professor Lupin's empty chair. She started to feel guilty as she remembered that if it hadn't been for Harry and her, Lupin would probably still be sat there at the head of the table and Peter probably would be dead in the Shack still. Despite the war of emotions taking place inside, the atmosphere across the Great Hall was happy and joyful.

The professors joined the festivities in the Hall. Dumbledore for some reason decided to forgo his speech in preference of simply stating that he had tried Pizza for the first time the other week and that he hoped the students also enjoyed it as much as him.

Gryffindor were presented not only with the Quidditch Cup, but somehow also the House Cup. Dumbledore winked at Harry as he announced this however, causing both him and Hermione to look down at their hands. "No need for a further 50 points to be awarded to me for saving padfoot I see" he muttered to Hermione after the announcement. Hermione couldn't help but chuckle, Harry had certainly started to make more jokes since the fateful night.

After an excellent feast, leaving all the students feeling satiated and incredibly sleepy, the Gryffindors started making their way up the stairs towards the common room. Percy was at the front, providing the password, Unicorn Hair, to the portrait. Very few students waiting in the common room, the majority of them opting to go straight upstairs and clamber in, allowing sleep to take over them.

Hermione was one of these students. She laid on the bed for a few minutes, telling herself she would get changed in 5 minutes. The next thing Hermione knew however, was that she was waking up, fully dressed with a pitch black room. As Hermione groggily sat up and looked around, she saw a short elf like figure stood by her trunk. A tiny squeak proceeded to fall from her lips, very quietly but it was loud enough that the figure heard her, because the outline quickly turned around, facing Hermione.

A POP was heard and the figure disappeared. Hermione, still groggy from sleep, reached for her wand and whispered "Lumos". She was shocked to see that her neatly packed trunk was wide open with her clothes spewed everywhere. Hermione however straight away noticed something missing. Her diary. "Shit" she said aloud as she realised what this could mean.

A/N please be nice. This is my first fanfiction I have written. Any and all feedback is gratefully recieved