Thank you to all of my brilliant supporters, with a shout out to sam, Jimmy Adams, Jo Daviz, LegendaryWasabi, Optimum Prime and Jack Schriner. I would really struggle to keep this up without the support you guys give me.

pat re on supporters already have access to chapters 5 and 6 add /Lowten to the sight URL to find the page.

Chapter 4

Harry and Hermione got to King's Cross early, and after stashing their trunks in the Prefect compartment they returned to the non-magical side of King's Cross. When Harry and Hermione had helped Professor McGonagall with the shopping trip for the first-generation first years, they had agreed that they would wait outside the platform until ten minutes before the train left to help any of the first years who were nervous about running into a brick wall. They stayed at their posts for almost an hour, checking off the names of the first years when they saw them. A few parents came up to chat once their son or daughter had passed through the barrier, and about half of them handed Harry or Hermione a note, another idea Harry had had.

It was easy to lose track of writing home at Hogwarts, and the parents who had given Harry a note were giving him permission to run a little club for their kids. Once a week, he would get them all together and they would write a letter home. Harry was also going to send an owl to their parents a few days before their birthday so that their parents could send them something if they wanted. According to Hermione, Charles Dickens had written about something similar in his autobiography; however, that was run by the teachers of the boarding school he attended and was used more to make sure the school looked good, as the teachers would read through the letters before they were put in envelopes. If there was something the teachers didn't like, from bad spelling or grammar (which made them look like bad teachers) to complaints about the school, they would make the students rewrite the letter again and again until they were happy that it showed the school in a good light. Harry, of course, didn't care what they put in the letters they were sending home. All he cared about was that they didn't lose contact with their families.

At fifteen minutes to eleven, the last of the first years they were watching out for had passed through the barrier, so Harry and Hermione made their way back onto the train and into the Prefect carriage at the front. Harry had idly wondered what was in the Prefect carriage ever since he had heard Percy Weasley mention it four years ago, but it turned out it wasn't much different from the other train cars. Three compartments had been combined to form a large meeting room, but apart from that the only difference was that the Prefect car was less worn than the others, making it slightly more comfortable. The real treasure, however, was that this carriage was quiet. Without all the students rushing up and down the corridor excitedly looking for their friends, rival Quidditch teams mouthing off at each other, and clueless firsties, the Prefect carriage was almost peaceful.

Harry and Hermione were the last to join the Head Boy and Girl, but it was still ten minutes before they had to be there so they weren't late. They both looked around to see who the other fifth year Prefects were as they sat down. Hufflepuff had Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ravenclaw had Padma Patil and Michael Corner, and Slytherin had Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini. It was interesting to see the people Professor McGonagall chose for the job now that she was the headmistress.

"Right, Potter and Granger are here so we can begin." The Head Girl said. She introduced herself as Gemma Farley, from Slytherin. "We have a few things to cover. Potter, you were the last one in so you can hand these out to everyone." She handed him a stack of what looked like time tables and he started passing them out without complaining. "Now, the castle is split into four sections; each House's Prefects are responsible for patrolling one of them each night for students out of bed. There is a map on your time tables, but it's basically the quarter of the castle your common room is in. Each night at least two prefects will patrol for an hour after curfew. You are big boys and girls, so you can work out with your fellow House Prefects a workable schedule. You can come to me if one of your Prefects is not doing their fair share, I can and will recommend you lose your badge if you shirk your responsibilities. Year Five Prefects, you will be responsible for showing the new first years…no wait, we have more students joining this year than just the firsties. You will be responsible for showing all the new students sorted into your House the way to the common rooms tonight and the way to breakfast tomorrow morning."

The Head Boy stood up and introduced himself as Steve, not bothering to give a last name. He was from Hufflepuff and Harry didn't recognise the guy. "I have a message from Headmistress McGonagall. She expects that the new students who suffer with lycanthropy will probably be targeted by some students for bullying. We are to watch out for this and to come down hard on anyone bullying them. I can understand that some of you may have reservations about werewolves in the school, but just like House rivalry you need to set it aside. That being said, don't forget to watch them as well for dangerous behaviour. There will be a lot of problems if a werewolf hurts someone and even more if someone gets bitten. The werewolves are to be taken to the front gate two hours before moonrise on full moon nights, and a Prefect from each House is to remind each of them individually of the full moon the day before, the day of, and to make sure each werewolf from your House portkeys away with Professor Lupin. The last thing we need are werewolves running around the castle because someone forgot what day of the week it was." Harry thought about what was said about checking to make sure the werewolves leave the castle and noticed that the Head Boy didn't say those were orders from the headmistress. But at the same time, he had trouble falting the idea. As much as they were people, they were extremely dangerous when transformed, and as long as the Prefects didn't use it as a way to harass those who were suffering from the curse then Harry wouldn't say anything.

The rest of the meeting was simply going over procedure: when you could give a student detention, what parchment work you had to give to your Head of House if you gave a student detention, what you could and couldn't have a student do in detention, the rules for the Prefects' bathroom, and the rules for patrolling the train.

-ϟϟϟ-

During Harry's and Hermione's first patrol of the train they saw just how bad it can get. The two of them were more the type to stay seated in their compartments cuddled up and either riding silently or just chatting to a few friends. However, there were students who were the complete opposite. Some were running up and down the corridor, some were standing in groups shouting their conversations over the background noise, and some were trying to cause mischief. Between the two of them, they had to tell eight students to stop running, help the younger years locate five lost objects with summoning charms, and break up two arguments that were close to a fight, one with purebloods picking on a first generation student and one where the victim was being called a werewolf because the others didn't recognise them and the student was supposedly too big to be a first year.

Of course, they also ran into the Weasley twins, who looked to have a box of sweets they were offering to people. Both of them were smart enough to know that they had been spiked with something to prank anyone that ate them and refused them when offered. They considered confiscating them but compromised by getting the twins to agree that the first and second years were off limits, or not only would they confiscate the sweets but they would make sure the twins didn't have the time to make more by keeping them in detention as much as Professor Babbling, the new Head of Gryffindor, would allow. The third years and up should really know better than to take something from the twins already and be better able to tell that it's a practical joke and not an attack. And if the twins went too far, most third years and up know a few good hexes.

The two new Prefects were glad to finally get back to their compartment, where they sat on one side of the compartment with a mirror that they had attached to the wall on the other side. The mirror was one of six that the two had brought with them this year, they were a gift from Sirius. Each mirror was paired with another, and once you say the mirrors' password the two linked mirrors become more like windows, allowing you to see and hear what was going on around the other mirror. Harry and Hermione had three each, with one each that paired to each other, but those were left in their trunks as they doubted that they would need them much. Harry had one where Sirius was carrying its pair. Hermione had one that, much to Hedwig's displeasure, let her talk to her parents. And they each had one linked to the two mirrors that were carried by Fleur.

It was Hermione's mirror connected to Fleur that was currently stuck to the wall, as the three of them tried to gather the emotional closeness they were able to enjoy now that physical closeness was not possible. Fleur had returned to France five days before, she needed to return to her last year at Beauxbatons to get her qualifications and also needed to go shopping for her school supplies.

"So what's happened between the two of you?" Fleur asked. Harry and Hermione could see flashes of the Beauxbatons corridors as Fleur walked its halls; Beauxbatons didn't use a train like Hogwarts, instead the students Floo'ed in either from home or from a public Floo in their nearest city or large town. Fleur had just finished unpacking and was now going to get some lunch, with France being an hour ahead of Britain.

"Nothing's happened. Why do you ask?" Harry was genuinely confused as he asked Fleur that.

"The two of you are sitting apart rather than on top of each other." Fleur pointed out. It was true, Harry and Hermione had a gap of about a foot between them, whereas they would normally be touching at least a little. They didn't know if it was the bond between the three of them or if it was just Hermione's insurance on the relationship, but they always felt more comfortable if they were close together, with physical contact being the most comfortable. So whenever any of them were sitting together, there was nearly always a little bit of contact, even if it was just shoulder to shoulder or one of the girls' legs touching Harry's knee.

Hermione answered for them. "We just didn't want to rub it in that you weren't with us."

Fleur giggled as she said. "Non! I want to see you touching like you normally do." Harry and Hermione slid together on the seat and Harry put his arm around Hermione. "Good, now kiss for me," Fleur was still giggling to herself as she said that.

Harry grinned and leaned in, and and after waiting a second to give Hermione an opportunity to say no,, he pressed his lips to hers. There was a cheer through the mirror from Fleur, and when Harry broke the kiss he could see that Fleur had a big grin on her face.

-ϟϟϟ-

The sorting was only slightly more exciting than normal, with the 18 students who were not first years mixed in for their sorting. Everyone knew exactly what they were and there was some whispering at the tables. Harry felt for them, but his time at the school had taught him there was nothing you could do about the whispers and the gossiping. The lycanthropic students were sorted first, going from the seventh year first down to second going year by year. They were fairly evenly split, with Gryffindor and Hufflepuff each getting five and the other two houses getting four each. One of the five that was sorted into Gryffindor was in their year. Her name was Kathryn Caddel, a very thin and nervous girl who accepted when Hermione slid up the bench closer to Harry to make room for her. Hermione's ears and tail probably made her a less threatening target.

Hermione told Harry she was sure that there were one or two lycanthrope sufferers in the first years as well. Harry agreed, but wondered if it was a good idea for them to keep quiet. Their dorm mates would know on the first full moon, and if they weren't told beforehand they could end up feeling like the kid was lying to them, and that could make a tense situation worse.

Professor McGonagall stood up at that moment. "Welcome, everyone, to a new year at a new Hogwarts. There have been a number of changes to the staffing this year, and I have a few announcements to get through. First, as always the forest on the school grounds is out of bounds to all students unless you have a signed permission slip from both myself and your guardian." That was a slight change to the rules, and Harry supposed it was because there are a few legitimate responsibilities to go into the forest, like he and Hermione had to last year to find the hawkshead moth cocoon they needed for their Animagus potion.

"Second, as many of you will have heard, the school is now accepting students who suffer from lycanthropy. I will state the rules here and now so there is no misunderstanding. Those students who suffer from this curse are to be treated like any other students at all times where they are not under the effect of the full moon. They will not be anywhere near the school during the full moon. Any student found preventing a student with lycanthropy from leaving the school during a full moon will be expelled on the spot. This rule goes for all students, regardless of if they are a sufferer or not." It was a harsh punishment, but it made it clear that Professor McGonagall wasn't playing with safety.

"Third, we have a number of staffing changes. As many of you will no doubt be happy to hear, we have a new History of Magic professor, one who will not tolerate you using his lesson as a napping opportunity but who will without any doubt provide a much more engaging lesson. Welcome back Professor Lupin. Professor Lupin, as a fellow sufferer, will also be the faculty adviser to the students suffering from lycanthropy." Harry was the first to stand up and start clapping for their returning professor, but he wasn't the last. About half the students in the hall joined him; plenty of people hadn't wanted him to leave after their third year. And for more than a few others, they were just happy to be rid of Binns.

"Thank you." Professor McGonagall settled the crowd, but she had a smile on her face, glad to see so many of the students happy to have a professor return. "As I was saying. Professor Flitwick has been given a promotion and is now the Deputy Headmaster. Professor Sinistra has been given a promotion and is now the Head of Ravenclaw. Professor Babbling has been given a promotion and has taken on my old position as Head of Gryffindor. Professor Vector has also been promoted and is now the Head of Slytherin." All of the professors stood as the headmistress said their names so that the newer students could identify them. Ths Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students looked proud as their former Heads of House were promoted. The Hufflepuffs clapped politely along with everyone else. But a number of the Slytherin students, Malfoy and his friends among them, looked shocked at their change in Head of House. Harry was sure it was because Professor Vector, the strict professor of arithmancy, wouldn't let them get away with things the way Snape had.

"And finally, before we eat, please give a warm Hogwarts welcome to Professor Shacklebolt, who after an injury that is going to have him unable to take to the field as Auror for a year, has agreed to take that year to cover our Defence Against the Dark Arts position." A tall black man with a shaved head wearing what looked like a cross between wizarding robes and a dashiki stood up with the use of a walking stick. There was a polite applause for the man before he sat down again.

Professor McGonagall finished her announcements and started the feast. Despite the things that had changed so much, under Professor McGonagall the feast was just as excellent. Harry used a serving fork to grab himself a chicken quarter and followed that with a scoop of chips. He passed Hermione a platter of salmon that was on his left, just out of her reach. Hermione gave him a smile in thanks before adding two fillets to her plate. While she did that, Harry added about a handful of cheese to his chips and then poured some gravy over the top of his meal. He was just about to dig into his meal when he heard choking from down past Hermione. The new girl, Kathryn, was choking on a bit of food. Harry started to pull his wand, but Hermione had gotten there first. This was probably a good thing, as Hermione vanished the bit of food that the poor girl was choking on, whereas Harry (who wasn't as good at Transfiguration) was going to just summon the food from her throat. Effective, definitely, but messy. Once the girl was breathing again Hermione leaned in and had a whispered conversation with her. Harry considered trying to listen in but decided against it; if he needed to know, Hermione would tell him.

-ϟϟϟ-

After the feast, Harry and Hermione led the first years and other new students up to the common room. It was weird taking the grand stairway for them now, as they both had found much faster routes to get where they needed to go, but those other routes were confusing and difficult to remember so it was better to not take the eleven year olds along a route that they wouldn't remember. As they walked, Hermione gave the new students facts about the castle she had read in Hogwarts, a History. Harry tried to talk to them as well, but the magically-raised were shy of him because of his fame and the few first-generation Gryffs were starting to copy them. Sighing, Harry knew he would have to talk to them and get them over this, but it was late now and he had to get the firsties to bed before one of them fell asleep on their feet. The few older student werewolves looked better off but they too looked tired. Harry wasn't surprised, he remembered the night before he left for Hogwarts the first time he had barely slept at all due to his excitement. It wouldn't surprise him to learn that some of them had been awake for 18 to 20 hours now.

They introduced the first years to the Fat Lady and gave the portrait the password. "Leones deinceps." Hermione took the girls up to their dorms and Harry showed the boys their rooms. Once the first years and the new students were settled in, Harry made his way up higher in the tower to the fifth year dorms and chatted with his dorm mates for a few minutes as they changed for bed. They each gave Harry a hard time over being made the Prefect but it was all light-hearted and in fun. Harry, who was quite proud of being given the Prefect badge, gave it a quick shine and put it on his bedside table, causing Ron to laugh and accuse him of acting just like Percy had with his badge. Harry laughed, seeing the truth in the statement, before climbing into bed and closing the curtains.

Hermione finished showing the girls to their dorms before showing Kathryn to the dorm they would be sharing for the next year. There was a quick round of introductions, but none of them had the energy for a full gossip and catch up session. Tomorrow was actually a Saturday, so there would be no lessons for the next two days and they would probably sit and find out how everyone's summers were then. After they were both ready for bed, Hermione went and sat on Kathryn's bed next to her. She shut the curtains with a flick of her wand and put up a bunch of charms to prevent anyone from listening in.

Kathryn looked at Hermione with a look of resignation and determination, then said, "So is this the part where you make sure the werewolf knows her place, or the part where as a fellow part-human you warn me who to avoid?"

Hermione was surprised by that, she had a very different idea for this conversation in mind. Though when she looked at it from the other girl's perspective, she realised how it looked. "Ah no no, nothing like that. I mean yes, there are more than a few bigots in the school to watch out for, but I'm guessing you know that already. And I have no problem with werewolves as long as they take reasonable precautions during the full moon. No, I wanted to talk because I noticed how thin you are."

Kathryn suddenly lost all of her look of resignation and became instantly defensive. "I'm fine, just leave it."

"Kathryn, I don't want to pry into your home life if you don't want me to. I just need to make sure you're okay, are your parents mistreating you because you were bitten?"

Kathryn obviously wanted to tell Hermione to butt out, but for some reason Hermione didn't know she decided to open up. "No. I never knew my father, he died during the war. My mum is a werewolf as well. We were both bitten at the same time. Gold isn't easy to come by for werewolves, but we get by, and the last-minute opportunity for me to come to Hogwarts is amazing. However, covering the tuition last minute necessitated some sacrifices, like food."

Hermione gave the girl a quick hug, which surprised the werewolf girl, and Hermione realised she must not be used to people hugging her. Probably all ignorant fools who thought that they could catch lycanthropy. "I will keep this conversation to myself. But I recommend you speak to Harry Potter, the other fifth year Prefect. He has experience getting his diet back to normal after being starved."

"But he's Harry Potter. I can't just walk up and talk to him."

Hermione couldn't help it, she burst out laughing. "Trust me, the best way to deal with Harry is to completely forget that he is famous. Harry hates his fame and just wants to be treated normally." The conversation quickly devolved into Kathryn asking about the other celebrities in the school, which was mostly Hermione and Harry, as the other Triwizard champions in the school who had been paraded through the media last year had left. Hermione was surprised to learn that she had quite the fan base among young werewolves, with her appearance, the fact that she was a Triwizard champion, and betrothed to the Harry Potter despite her cat side being openly displayed. Apparently it gave the young lycanthropes a bit of hope. The conversation was brought to an end when Hermione heard a voice calling from inside her trunk. Knowing what it was, Hermione said goodnight to her new dorm mate and went and pulled two of her communication mirrors from her trunk. Harry was in one and Fleur was in the other, both waiting for her.

Hermione almost dropped her mirrors when she looked at them and found that she was looking down on the two of them in bed. Hermione worked out what the two had done and, while blushing, grabbed a completely different set of sleepwear than the one she was wearing. After closing the curtains around her bed, she quickly changed her clothes, then cast a couple of quick resizing charms on the mirrors and a sticking charm to attach them to the underside of the canopy over her bed. Now, when Hermione laid in bed and looked up, she saw both her betrothed looking down on her from their own beds. Harry was just wearing a pair of boxers, and Fleur was wearing a pale pink baby doll that hid almost nothing and was a match for the pale blue one Hermione now wore. She could see that her betrothed were both a little excited and quickly put up every privacy charm she knew around her bed before smiling at the two of them and joining in. Fleur may be hundreds of miles away, but they weren't going to let that put a damper on their relationship.

A/N

After learning what being super thin meant for Harry's home life, Hermione had to check on Kathryn. Luckily it's nothing like what Harry went through.

So I have had a few people who were concerned that the relationship with Fleur could suffer from the separation, and while it won't be problem free, I hope you can see how the mirrors will be a big help. But a warning - DO NOT DO THIS IN THE REAL WORLD OVER THE INTERNET IF YOU ARE UNDER AGE. This is set in the year 1995, before the majority of people understood how problematic stuff like this could be, and they are using two way mirrors that can't be recorded, intercepted, or screenshotted.

Also for anyone who cares remember it's Harry Potters's birthday on Sunday.