Chapter 4 - Year 1, part 2

Christmas had gone on almost as it always did. She and William had spent the night with their parents and Grandma eating way too much food before playing board games.

This year though, there had been so much more talking than normally.

Hermione had had so much to tell, but it felt like there was so little time to do it. She only had a week after all. She had to tell all of them about her classes, and professors, and books, and homework. Oh, and the library. How could she not tell them about the library? It was HUGE and there were so many places where one could sit down and be left alone for the reminder of the day.

"Oh, I bet you're loving the flying lessons!" Mom chimed excitedly on one of the first night's home, looking at her with pure you and excitement as she sat on Hermione's bed that night.

"Yeah, I-," Hermione started, feeling the excitement of everything else she had been telling her mum about, disappearing the instant she fully realized what she had said. "No. No, I'm not loving the flying lessons." She slowly said, looking down at her lap where she started picking at a loose thread from her pajama pants.

"But… why not?" mum asked slowly, scooting closer so she could embrace her daughter.

"Well… You remember the situation from my first class, right? The one where I was pushed?" Hermione asked, still fiddling and refusing to look up.

"Yes, I remember." Her mum acknowledged. Hermione had written home and told them about the episode, but apart from that, her parents had also been notified that there had been an accident and that their daughter was in the hospital wing. "But your professor said that you would be fine. No lasting damage."

"They told me the same and I don't think there will be. But… but I haven't actually… managed to get back on a broom… since." Hermione stammered out, feeling tears pressing on. When she felt one of the treacherous tears making its way down her cheek, she furiously dried it off with her sleeve.

"Have you... tried, getting back on it? Or refused because you thought that you would fall?" Her mother inquired, using her thumb to remove another tear from her cheek.

"No, I've tried. I've spent hours and hours trying to get back on, but anytime I come close to it I just… Panic? I don't know. I start to shake really bad, and it gets hard to breath and then my head starts to hurt. But then I back away from it, and then it disappears."

"Oh, my darling." Mum cooed at her and embraced her fully. "So, what's next?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, moving a bit out of the embrace and dried her eyes and cheeks as her tears started leaking.

"I mean; What's next? You can't fly like you love, so what are you going to do about it?" Hermione eyes her mum, who was sitting there in all her grace and doctor-like professionalism and asking about what she was going to do to solve her issue.

"Well, I've made a deal with Madam Hooch; for now, I don't have to come to classes, but I will meet up with her once a month to try again. If we succeed, then I will get back in class again."

"That sounds like a fair compromise." Jean said with a soft smile. "That way you won't get a chance to just be scared of it." Sometimes her mum knew her a bit too well.

"Yeah, I think so too. But I don't think I'll end up playing quidditch anyway." Hermione shrugged with a sad smile.

"Maybe not darling, but luckily there are other things in life than Quidditch." Mum then tugged Hermione properly into bed, kissed her forehead and left for the night. Hermione didn't even remember the door closing before she had drifted off to sleep.

Hermione eyed the castle as she once again arrived, this time by carriages that pulled themselves. It was like Magic.

She was sitting with Neville, Daniel and a couple of Hufflepuffs she didn't know the names of. Just behind them, was a Carriage with Harry, Ron, Lavender, Parvati and Padma. Except for some candy she had received from Harry as a Christmas present, she hadn't heard a word from him. It was starting to get to her. But only just. Harry had been allowed to celebrate Christmas with the Weasley's, which really wasn't an issue to her. What was an issue on the other hand, was the fact that none of his other friends or Daniel for that matter, was suddenly good enough for him. everything centered around Ronald Weasley.

Ron says this, Ron says that…

Someone had to excuse her while you went to vomit. It was disgusting.

"Did you finish your Herbology essays?" Neville then asked, dragging her from her petty thoughts. They talked back and forth about what they had written and in what Lengths, before moving on to their other homeworks. It appeared that all of them had had extra time on their hands.

Two weeks later she was walking out of Potions, just behind Ron and Lavender. Again.

How lucky could she be?

"I'm telling you, If she as much as opens her mouth near me, I'm going to scream. She just as well stabbed me with those gigantic front teeth in there. How can she even stand to walk around in public with those? I'd be so embarrassed." Lavender said loudly to Ron and Harry, laughing as she did.

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks and covered her mouth with both hands as a loud, involuntary gasp emitted from her.

She felt numb.

Stabbing her?

Embarrassed?

"Not here, Sweetpea. Not here." Someone whispered to her right, just as she felt an arm grab around hers and pull her quickly to the right and out of the hallway. Shocked at the intrusion and the fact that all of this happened in one fluid motion, she barely recognized the face of Theo Nott before he had pulled her into an empty room and released her again.

"What on earth-" She began, eyeing the boy in front of her as he closed the door they had just come in through.

"Yeah, sorry about that. But having a meltdown in the middle of the hallway with a bunch of Slytherins is a really bad idea." The scrawny boy said sheepishly while his sky-blue eyes shone with concern.

"Having a… With a…" She looked at him as the puzzle pieces started to line up. "Oh." The room was in complete silence for a moment before she spoke again. "But you're a Slytherin too. Aren't you supposed to bully me senseless like the rest of them?" She looked at him skeptically.

He chuckled a bit before sending her a dashing smile. "I might be a Nott, but I'm nothing like them, Sweetpea." She was still eyeing him with a proper amount of suspicions. This wouldn't be the first time someone had fooled her into thinking that they would be friends.

"Oh, don't look at me like I'm going to bite you. That's so unhygienic." He made a face like she had just asked him to taste the ink from his inkwell. Then his face suddenly changed completely, like all of his pieces started fitting together, then he facepalmed. This full emotional shift looked so funny she found herself giggling. "I forgot, sorry. Draco also asked if I would mind keeping an eye out for you after our classes today. He didn't say what for, but I think the circus out there pretty much explained itself."

"Yeah," She declared while hugging herself, "it's like that a lot. But, why would Draco ask that of you? I don't understand." Why on earth would Draco tell anyone to watch out for her? She could damn-well take care of herself. Also, she thought that no one was supposed to know that they were friends… so why did Nott? And who else did? She hadn't told anyone about him other than her family.

"Potter is an ongoing topic in our common room, which means that you, Longbottom and Black are as well. And since you're a muggleborn, it makes Draco a bit nervous." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh." She repeated her earlier words.

Draco was nervous for her?

"Which is the reason that Draco is kind of, sort of, keeping an eye out for you. But he's been down with a stomach thing since last night, so he asked me if I would mind. And I said I'd do it if he paid me in cookies the next time his mum sends some."

"Is he alright?" Hermione asked instantly, feeling very concerned for her friend and completely ignored the fact that he had bribed his friend in cookies. She wrung her hands slightly in discomfort. "Does he need anything?" It was just a stomach bug, right? It was nothing serious, hopefully.

"Snape says it's nothing serious, don't worry." He assured her with mirth lacing his voice and features. "He got a hold of some kind of sweet and started… Ehm… throwing up, within a few minutes. Madam Pomfrey made him stay for a day until his stomach settled completely. Snape says he'll be back again tomorrow." He said and smiled at her.

Hermione made a look of disgust and shook slightly from a sudden rush of goosebumps, at the prospect of vomit. Eww. "Well as long as he gets better." She said, shrugging casually while trying to hide the slight shaking, before continuing; "But you telling me this… Does that mean that you don't hate me? You're the part of the world that doesn't loath my very existence? Or should I be running right now?" She asked, pointing her finger to the door, while making sure that she had a comfortable hold of the bag on her shoulder. In front of her, Nott chuckled.

"No, I don't hate you. We're good." He said, again smiling brightly at her. Could he do anything but smile or laugh? Could he even be a Slytherin with those dimples? Merlin.

"Then I guess introductions are in order." She said and stepped a bit closer to him, holding out her hand. "Hermione Granger."

Nott quickly stepped forward and shook her hand, "Theo Nott, Jr.." He then let go of her hand and took a step back again, before continuing with a wrinkle of his nose, yet a casual and lighthearted look on his face; "Junior being a very important word. Trust me, you do not want to have anything to do with Senior; He's a psychopath through and through." Hermione's eyes widened, and her mouth hung open in a mixture of confusion and dismay at the way this boy was talking about his (possible?) father. She was about to inquire when he beat her to it. "No, seriously. He killed my mum by pushing her down the stairs, in front of me, but somehow managed to not be sent to Azkaban. He was also a full-on minion of The Dark Lords-" Without much thought, Hermione took a careful couple of steps in the direction of the door, putting her in a better position to flee if she should feel the proper need. He didn't look like he had noticed. "-and has been properly disappointed in me more times than I can count at this point. 'you're a disgrace to the family', 'you're too soft like your mother' and so on. He's a right maniac." Nott shrugged, before chuckling, "You can leave if you want, Hermione, there's no need to sneak out on me. It's a free world and all that." he waved towards the door like he was giving her pointers. Hermione though, had ceased her moving, and was instead looking at him as she slowly felt her face grow hotter and hotter, she quickly covered it with her hands before it got too embarrassing. "I'm so sorry, this is so awkward. I don't mind you but your father is… Well... Kind of…" She trailed off as she was trying to think of a way to tell him that she never ever, in her lifetime, wanted to lay eyes on the man.

"An asshole?" He inquired.

Hermione thought about the adjective for a second, as she moved her head from side to side, her lips pursed as she thought. "I was going for something between a raging lunatic and a fucking madman… But I guess an asshole could cover it pretty nicely." In front of her, Theo gasped, and his hand came up to rest on his chest in an obvious display of fake indignation.

"Hermione Granger! What language!" His features quickly contorted into a full-blown smile and a mischievous look in his eyes.

She moved her head to the side as she took in the sight in front of her. Why was he so surprised? Other than the fact that he didn't actually know her. "Well, I don't care as long as my mum doesn't hear it. Or Grandma. Definitely not Grandma either." She added with an afterthought. "I have a brother two years older than me - I don't get why people are still so surprised."

"Oh my, I can't wait to tell Draco - he'll be so shocked!" He said, doing a couple of small jumps in quick succession while he clapped his hands.

"You're so weird. Has anyone ever told you that?" She asked while regarding him. How on earth had he ever been sorted into Slytherin? This guy belonged in Hufflepuff with his little bunny jumps. She then happened to take a look at her watch, "Anyway, I gotta go if I want to catch some lunch before charms. It was nice meeting you!" I think. She gave him a small wave and a smile before exiting the room and made her way to lunch, where Ron was for whatever reason, not sitting with Harry.

Harry, instead, was sitting with Neville and Daniel who had saved her a seat beside him.

"What happened?" She asked in the general direction of Harry, "Did Ron get tired of kissing your ass?" She was having some serious trouble with hiding the pettiness.

Harry responded by loudly snorting his pumpkin juice all over his (luckily) empty plate. Without looking up, she handed him a napkin from the table with one hand, while she filled her plate with the other.

She vaguely noticed Ron staring at her out of the corner of her eye.

"No." He said, followed by a slight cough while he dapped his face clean. In front of him, the table was suddenly as clean as ever. "No, I just didn't care for his shit-talking of my friends."

"Really? Why now when he's been doing it for so long?" Hermione said, feeling annoyed at how long it had taken Harry to catch on.

"What? It has?!" He's head whipped to the side to look at Ron, who on the other hand had the audacity to act like someone who wasn't just listening in on their entire conversation. "Today is the first time I've heard about it! What, did you think I would just let him talk that way about my friends, without me saying anything to it?" Harry inquired, looking offended at what Hermione had been saying.

"Yes, Harry." Hermione answered with a lump in her throat. She quickly felt Daniel putting an arm around her before giving her a quick squeeze at her obviously being hurt and sad about the situation. Further down the table, she saw Ron, Dean, Lavender and Parvati leaving the table.

"That day with the troll?" She continued, "I was in the bathroom because of Ron and Lavender ridiculing and shit-talking me. Apparently, Lavender has really been struggling with not cutting off my hair in my sleep. They do it more or less every time we leave a class where I've earned us points." Harry looked like he had been slapped. "Also, whenever the two of us have been talking, he always comes and pushes me out of the way like he's more important or something, and you've been letting him. He's coming between us, Harry - so don't you dare sit there and act all innocent, when you've been acting like an arse yourself." In her sudden burst of anger, she stood from the table and left to go to charms.

Fifteen minutes later when she was sitting in charms waiting for the class to start, Daniel slid into the seat beside her. Under the table, he grabbed her hand and held it until the class would later on force him to let go. She was cherishing the comfort of a friend when Harry and Neville arrived and sat down at the table beside her. Just as Flitwick arrived, Harry subtly slid a note under the corner of her book.

Without letting go of Daniels hand, she quickly took it with her free hand and opened it under the table.

Astronomy-tower tonight after dinner. Please.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Harry watching her and gave a small nod. She saw him sag a bit as they both drew their attention back to Flitwick.

At 7.20 that night, Hermione was slowly making her way up the stairs to the Astronomy tower. With shaking hands, she put on her thick outer robe and clasped it. There was no way she was getting a cold from being outside in the middle of bloody January.

She took the last couple of steps and found herself in the empty tower. On the other side of the railings, the snow was slowly and peacefully falling from the sky, muffling out all sounds beyond it. She hadn't really thought much of this place outside of their classes, but she could really see why Harry had asked to meet her here. It was gorgeous. She went and leaned against one of the pillars holding up the roof, and waited for Harry while she took in the scenery. Since they hadn't agreed on a specific time to meet, it might be a while yet before Harry showed up.

She didn't have to wait long, though, as Harry arrived a couple of minutes later.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to deal with something." He said, tugging his robe closer as he walked up to her.

"You're not late, Harry. You just said after dinner." She reminded him without looking at him.

"Right. Well, I just wanted to apologize - and I really like it up here, so..." He said, trailing off a bit. She decided not to say anything so as to let him work out his own words.

"I just… You're right of course. I'm sorry, I let him come between us." He said, rushing out the words. "But I didn't know that he had been talking that way about you until today. I swear, I haven't heard anything." He said quickly. She was glad that he was doing all the talking at the moment, as she was too mad to find any proper words right now.

"I just… I mean… You've all been so excited to come here, and I didn't want… to go. I wanted to stay with Siri and aunt Em. But then I met Ron, and he was so excited to meet me, and then we were in the same house, and the same dorm, and he loved Quidditch, and he wanted to know everything about… me." He said, looking up at her from where he had been pacing in circles in front of her. He suddenly looked like someone who had taken one too many bludgers to the face. He sat down hard on the exact spot where he had stopped and put his face in his hands. "He wanted to know everything about me. About mum and dad. About Voldemort and… and that night. He talked like I ought to remember everything into the tiniest detail even though I was only a baby." He said slowly, sniffing a bit. "Anytime I mentioned something one of you guys had said or done he would just… talk about something else, and I just… let it happen… I didn't get what he was doing…" He stammered out in quick succession.

Hermione slowly walked to him, and sat down in front of him. "He wanted the boy-who-lived… not Harry." She sighed and she could see the devastation in his face when he looked up at her and nodded slowly, eyes shining with unshed tears.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione. I didn't… I wouldn't… How could I…" He stammered out as the tears started flowing. Hermione didn't know what she could say to help the situation. That it was alright? That would be lying, seeing as she had been hurt so badly. But she also knew that he hadn't tried to purposely hurt her. It wasn't like he had gone straight up to her face and told she wasn't good enough to be friends with him. She knew that.

"Did you know…" She started, trying to find the right words herself, "Did you know, that I felt so relieved when I started talking to my friend last year?"

"N-no?" He said, drying off some snot on his sleeve.

"I was so relieved, and so happy, to have someone new to talk to. He knew stuff that I didn't, that you guys might not know, or knew stuff from different angles - and it was so… refreshing. New discussions, new perspectives…" She looked at him trying to see if he was catching on, she thought he had but decided to continue a bit anyway. "There's nothing wrong with getting new friends Harry, just don't be a prick to the ones you already have. Yeah?"

"Yeah… I'm really sorry, Hermione."

"I know you are. Come on, let's go beat Daniel and Neville in Gobstones." She said as she stood and held out a hand for him to take after having brushed off her robes. He gave her a large grin, and together they left the Astronomy tower.

As so many times before, Hermione was sitting in the library with Draco. Even since her 'meeting' with Theo, he had been with them a lot as well.

"- among other distinctions of the vampires, are the fact that they are allergic to garlic. Allergic reactions range from slight eczema to anaphylactic shock. Anything else?" She asked after having read a small part of her essay out loud, that she was having doubts about.

Draco tapped his lip with his quill deep in thought, while Theo scribbled on his own essay. "No, I think you got it all. I don't remember anything else, anyway." He shrugged and rolled up his own Defense Against the Dark Arts essay.

"Great. All done, then." She said and pulled another book up from her bag. It dropped heavily onto the table in front of her, and opened on the page she had been reading before classes that morning.

"I didn't think we had any more homework." Theo said, and even without looking up she could already see the frown on his face. He really was too predictable.

"We don't. It's personal research." She said, reading along the names of famous witches and wizards through the ages.

"What kind of research?" Draco asked slowly. She could hear the apprehension in his voice as he leaned over the table to look at what she was reading.

Was she hearing the tiniest bit of excitement as well?

She didn't answer him, but instead stopped reading. She looked up at Draco as he neared her, and she found herself having a bit of difficulties with looking away from his eyes.

"I-," She began as she lost her train of thought.

Theo cleared his throat beside them and she realized in horror that she had stopped talking and was just staring.

What In Merlin's name?

"I'm looking for a guy named 'Nicolas Flamel'. Does that name ring a bell to any of you?" She asked, this time focusing really hard on the book in front of her and the words coming out of her mouth.

Nothing was said for a couple of minutes while she remained focused on the letters in front of her. Were they always swimming around on the pages?

"Isn't it…" Theo started, and Hermione looked up to see him looking quite focused. "Something with potions? I think I've heard Father talking about him… Draco?" He asked his best mate, giving him the oar.

"Yeah… Potions definitely. something about some sort of jewel, maybe? I'm not sure. Have you looked for alchemists?" He asked, looking at her intently.

"No." She started, but got up to find a book that might help her. "I didn't know what to look for." She walked silently along the rows of bookshelves while the boys did the same, looking at spine after spine.

It must have been a good fifteen minutes later when she finally found something that might help her - which didn't lure her into The Restricted Section. When she returned to her seat, she saw that the boys had cleaned up their stuff and was sitting with what looked like miniature brooms, flying a couple of centimeters over the table.

Oh, how she missed flying.

"Let's see if I found something useful…" She said while she flopped down into her chair 'Alchemy, Potions and other substances' lading on the table in front of them. she opened the book and looked quickly through the index list, muttering to herself as she did. "...Ancient Magics...Immortality…Life or death…Modern Alchemy…muggle plants…Panacea…Spagyric…"

"Wait, wait, wait…" Theo said and held a hand out to the book to get her attention.

"What? Panacea?" She asked in confusion as she pushed the book over to him, moving over to look over his shoulder.

"No." He said frankly as he wifted through the hundreds of pages. He stopped at page 495 and the headline 'Immortality'. She looked on as confused as ever, as he drew his forefinger slowly down the page.

"Aha! 'Nicolas Flamel-.'" Theo started excitedly and looked at both Hermione and Draco, before he continued reading; "'- is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's stone which produces the elixir of life that keeps the drinker immortal.'" Theo looked up as Hermione gasped loudly, covering her mouth quickly while she looked at him in horror.

"That's it." She whispered after having carefully removed her hand from her mouth, "He's after the stone! Does it say anything else?"

Theo was silent for a while, while he read further down the page. "Apparently there have been a lot of stones through the past many hundreds of years, but this one is the only one that remains." He read on a bit, "He uses it to keep himself and his wife alive while they reside in a secret location in France. Also, the stone turns any metal into gold, which Flamel made several experiments and alchemy projects to specify, with his most recent partner, a guy named Hector.

"Well, gold is great and all… But it doesn't seem important at the moment. Does it?" Draco added with a thoughtful look. "If he's after the stone, then it has to be for immortality." Theo and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"But he still has to get into the castle, and then he has to get past the dog." She said, while she grabbed the book and read the page more thoroughly.

"Dog? What dog?" Draco asked, looking at Theo in confusion like he might have the answer. He was left disappointed when Theo shrugged.

"Oh, there's a giant three-headed dog guarding a trap-door on the third floor." She said off-handedly while reading.

"There's a WHAT?!" The boy's exclaimed in unison, one looking more agitated than the other.

"A dog. Three heads - one body. Cerberus, if you like." She said matter-of-factly with her head deep in the book, still not realizing how upset they were.

"Why are you so casual about this?! How long have you known?!" Draco shout-whispered, trying to not get on Madam Pince's bad side.

"Since the beginning of December." She answered frankly and looked up at them. "What?" She asked, confused at seeing the looks of pure disbelief on their faces. Draco had just a tiny bit of fright in his eyes as well, though he hid it well.

"How in Salazar's name, do you know that there's a three-headed dog on the third floor?" Draco shouted-whispered again, apparently very confident that Pince couldn't hear him. He stood from his chair and leaned in over the table towards her, both of his hands on the table as he did so. "And why didn't you tell me?!"

Hermione looked at him. Why was he so upset? Irritation then hit her like a flood wave and she crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in her chair. "I'm sorry - I didn't know I had to tell you everything." She seethed. She definitely didn't have to tell him anything.

"You -" He started fast, but then halted and looked at her, with confusion written all over his features. His cheeks colored slightly in embarrassment as he sat down hard in his chair. "I'm sorry, of course you don't have to tell me anything. I was just… worried. It seems that one of my friends has met the dog guarding the underworld. That's not normally a good thing. Please forgive me." He finished, with his head bowed slightly.

Though her irritation was still at the surface, it was now more of a simmering than boiling. Being worried she could understand, confusion made sense. But he better not assume that she would tell him everything just because they were friends. She hadn't even told Wills. Merlin, he might actually owl mum and dad if he knew. She could already see the parties that she would be forced to endure from her living room couch, back home, instead of being holed up in her comfy armchair. "You're forgiven." she eyed him as he carefully looked up at her. "Neville, Daniel and I went exploring on the third floor and found the dog. We shut the door, and ran. There's nothing more to it." She said after having looked around, making sure that no one was snooping nearby. This was certainly not something she would be comfortable with getting caught doing.

"Longbottom? How did that go?" Theo asked with a raised eyebrow and a snicker. Everyone knew that Neville was having issues - it was quite obvious. Unfortunately, it had given a great amount of people something to bully the poor boy for.

Like he hadn't struggled enough already with his parents being in St. Mungos and all.

"It went quite well if I have to say so myself." She said with a shrug. There was no need for them to know how much Neville had been against going up there, and how he had reacted afterwards. She knew that Theo and Draco weren't exactly bullies, but she didn't know who they normally talked to, and she didn't need for other people to have extra reason to bully Neville.

She had never seen Draco or Theo bully anyone other than each other, but sometimes people say stuff to other people, unintentionally. She didn't want to be the reason why Zabini somehow got new bullying material.

"Huh." Theo said, surprised, scratching his chin. "I would have guessed for him to be the first one backing out."

"Nope, no one was backing out." She lied. She then stood from her chair and packed up her things, including the book she had found about alchemy, intending to bring it back to the tower to show Harry.

"He's probably taken one spell too many to the face." Daniel interjected, laughing loudly as they made their way down the hallway, having just finished Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Poor Professor Qu-qu-quirrell." He mockingly stuttered.

"I think he's creepy." Hermione muttered, tugging the strap of her bag closer to her chest as chills went down her spine.

"But, why?" Neville asked, clearly surprised at her admission.

"You know how Aunt Em always talks about having eyes in the back of her neck?" The other nodded promptly knowing exactly what she meant. Really, how could they not when taking into consideration all of the times they had been caught doing one thing or the other. "It feels like that… He comes across as this… bizarre person, and really, it'd be less creeped out to find out he had a vampire hidden in his closet. I wonder if he'll get better the longer we have him, or if he'll stay this way."

"Maybe he's just nervous about us, because we're first years? Like, he doesn't know us but he's had the others for more years." Daniel reasoned as they made their way through the entrance hall and towards the Greenhouses.

"But that's the thing - this is his first year too. Haven't you heard? The post as DADA professor is supposedly haunted." Harry laughed with his hands up by his face, imitating a ghost. Daniel laughed and high-fived him while Hermione only snickered.

"Haunted?" Neville asked on the other side of Harry, looking at him in confusion.

"Yeh, Fred and George told me the other day - they said that the DADA professor only ever lasts one year, and then another takes over. There's a rumor that someone wanted the position and then cursed it when they were rejected." Harry gushed like it was gossip about some quidditch player. But then again, the day that Harry wasn't amazed by the prospect of mystery and adventure would be the day that hell was freezing over.

"That's a bit… much… Don't you think? Cursing an entire position because they were rejected. Someone really needs a spoonful of extra sugar in their morning tea." She finished with a low snort as they arrived at the greenhouses though the last bit of snow left behind by the remainder of winter.

"Soup sounds great. I've got corridor rounds tonight with the prefects, so I'm not home till… 11 I think." A voice sounded from within. Hooch?

"That's fine, love, I'll put it on a stasis." A voice that sounded very much like professor Sprout answered. But 'my love'? She would have never thought them to be a couple. Maybe she had heard wrong.

A shadow behind the frosted glass came closer, and the children stepped back so as not to be in the way once the door would inevitably swing open. The door handle was grabbed and the door opened softly-

"Oh, I almost forgot." A sound that sounded suspiciously like a kiss to a cheek or forehead sounded, "See you later." The door swung open quickly, revealing that it was in fact Madam Hooch. Though she looked surprised to see the squad standing in front of the door.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there." She smiled brightly at them before focusing her eyes on Hermione, "Do we still have an appointment tomorrow?"

"Yes, Madam Hoo-"

"Oh, come in, come in - no need to stand out there in the co-" Professor Sprout said enthusiastically from inside the greenhouse, her voice growing louder as she arrived at the door. "Oh, I'm so sorry for interrupting Rolanda."

"No worries," Madam Hooch – Rolanda - answered with a smile and a dismissing wave of her hand. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Granger." Hermione nodded in agreement and Madam Hooch left again, the children this time turning towards Professor Sprout who happily let them into the tropical atmosphere of the greenhouses.

What she had failed to inform her friends of, though, was that she had bribed Fred and George to try and knock the damn turban off of Professor Quirrell's head with snowballs, at the next given time. They would be receiving 5 sickles for each time they succeeded, and she was happily looking forward to losing some of her savings.

"Is that Chocolate?" Harry asked as he stood by the Gryffindor table in front of her.

"Mmh." Hermione agreed and took a bite of her chocolate covered toast.

"But you hate chocolate…" Harry said, finally sitting down at the table but still looking at her in absolute disbelief like she was some kind of alien.

"Mmh." she agreed again, taking yet another bite.

She could feel the eyes of Daniel and Neville on her, as they took their seat by her and Harry.

"What's wrong?" Harry then asked, concern written deeply all over his face. She didn't know how or what to answer him though, so she shrugged and took another bite.

"What's wrong?" He tried again. taking his hand out drawing it across the table where he caressed her hand that was slumbed beside her plate. For some reason, she reeled back a bit at the touch even though she had clearly seen what he was doing. When she drew her hand back, she involuntarily dropped the rest of her toast on her plate when she tried to cover her hands with one another.

"Sorry!" She gasped out, her eyes as big as a doe caught in the headlight. "I- I have to go. I can't right now. I can't." She whispered, flung her legs to the other side of the bench before she grabbed her school bag and rushed from the room, curious eyes following her from both the Lion- and the Snake table.

She barely made it out of the door before she felt tears leaking from her eyes. "What is wrong with you?!" she hissed at herself. He's trying to help, you daft bint.

The day had started out like shit and it continued in the exact same way. In each class, one of the guys tried talking to her which would result in her either moving to another table that was unoccupied or she would sneer at whomever to just leave her alone. Apart from that she had also ended up skipping both lunch and dinner, and she felt horrible.

Not horrible because she was hungry, because she wasn't. But she knew that she had behaved really badly towards her friends when they had only tried to help her, and she had pushed them away instead.

At 7.30 that night, she found herself sitting in the common room with her back to the portrait, trying to catch up on homework. They had been bombarded with homework this week, as they were nearing the end of the school year, and even though they didn't have any exams the teachers still did their duty with making them feel like they had. Her current Astronomy exam had been staring her down for the past 30 minutes, and it didn't look like it was planning on letting go of her. The rest of her school-mates were at dinner at the moment, but she simply couldn't. Her appetite had been absent for the entire day, and she was finding it difficult to understand why.

She ignored the others as she heard the portrait opening. Students slowly littered in; some to sit in the couches and chairs, some going upstairs to their dorms, and then others sitting by the tables - all of them ignoring her and her table in the far side, by the window.

Why the hell was Astronomy so difficult all of a sudden?

After some time, she felt a couple or arms close around her shoulders and she tensed instantly. "I refuse to let go before you tell me what's wrong." Harry said calmly right by her ear. Her head sagged against his, in fatigue and exhaust. A sandwich was put in front of her and she looked up to see Neville walking by and sitting down in a chair, followed by Daniel who grabbed her homework, drew three lines, and then rolled up the parchment and put it to the side. "There. Fixed." He said, and smiled at her leaning forward onto the table and resting his head on top of his folded arms.

Hermione covered her face with her hands and broke down, "I don't know. I really, honestly don't know. It's just… too much. Everything is too much. Everything hurts. Everything sucks. I just… I just want to sleep." She sobbed into her hands and angrily swiped at her cheeks to remove the tears. She felt Harry's arms squeeze her a bit tighter, before letting go of her and sitting down beside her.

"What is too much? Are we too much?" Daniel asked in front of her. She could hear the awkwardness in the way he was having trouble finding the right words.

"No, not you…" She mumbled through her tears that were slowly beginning to dry up. "Just… Everything… It's either too hot, or too cold, or I'm too happy and then too sad... there's nothing in between, and I don't know what's wrong with me!" She said angrily, clenching and unclenching her hands in overwhelming frustration. "I'm just so exhausted…" She sighed sadly.

"Why don't you blow your nose and then come back down? We'll help you with your homework while you eat? I don't like you not eating…" Harry said, concerned. "I couldn't care less for the homework right now, but it matters to you…"

Hermione nodded absentmindedly and left them to find the bathrooms upstairs. She blew her nose and splashed some water into her face, already feeling herself wake up a little bit more.

"Might as well…" She muttered to herself, and made her way to the toilet stalls. She went in, closed the door and went to pull down her panties to sit down, only she couldn't. Well, she could, but it was a struggle she hadn't had before. "What in the…" She gasped as she managed to pull down the panties and saw that they were sticky with blood. Dark, red, sticky, clumpy blood.

Panic hit her like lightning. "Blood. There's blood! I'm bleeding!" She gasped out anxious and scared, feeling tears welling up in her eyes once more. In an attempt to find out why she was bleeding and where it was coming from, she pulled up in her skirt and looked down beneath. It was everywhere in her lady area. She grabbed some toilet paper and started drying off, trying to remove it but it didn't seem to stop. Every time she put a new piece of paper down, it would come back soiled.

She stopped for a second to think of what to do, but then stopped as realization hit her. "I'm bleeding… Is it…?" She whispered to herself. "McGonagall… She'll know what to do." Not having any lady products of any kind, she took a large amount of toilet paper and wrapped it around her soiled underwear. Before she left the stall, she made sure that there was no sign of what had occurred in there, she then washed her hands and went down the stairs.

She went beet-red in the face as she remembered that there were three boys waiting for her. She slowly went over to them, trying to seem as normal as ever. "Umm... I need to go find Professor Mcgonagall. Something's happened, and I need to see her. I'll talk to you in the morning." She said, and turned around to go.

"We'll come with you!" Daniel said quickly, and stood from the table, the others following his que.

"No!" She exclaimed, and covered her red face once again, "No, it's alright. It's probably better if I go by myself." She said just as quickly. She was embarrassed already, no need to make it worse.

Harry snorted. "As if. Come on." He said, grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the portraithole.

"I really think -" She started,

"- that we'll come with you. Great idea, Hermione." Daniel Continued, knowing exactly what she had meant. She scowled at him which he answered by sticking out his tongue at her.

"Suit yourselves…" she whispered and led the way to Professor McGonagall's private quarters. Once there, she softly knocked on the door, and stood back so as not to impose too much when the door would swing open.

It did so quickly, and in the door stood their Professor, surprise shining in her face which then changed to surprise when she looked at the group in front of her. "What are you doing out of the tower so late? Are you all alright?" She looked each of them up and down, and ended on Hermione just as she opened her mouth to talk.

"I need your help, Professor, and the boys wouldn't let me go alone. I'm not sure who else to go to." She said nervously and embarrassed, wringing her hands in front of her.

"Come on in." She said and opened the door fully, when Harry, Neville and Daniel went to follow Hermione in, McGonagall stopped them; "You may wait out here, or go back to the tower. We will only be a moment." She finished and then shut the door softly behind her as she turned around to focus on her student.

"So how may I help you Ms. Granger?" She said, not wasting any time with pleasantries. "Has something happened to you?"

"I… Umm… I'm… bleeding." She stammered out, still nervously wringing her hands. She had found a small swirl in the flooring by her feet, where a branch had once been, and she was doing her absolute best to look at nothing else. "And I… don't know what to do."

"You're blee-" Her head of house started, but then stopped as realization dawned on her. "Oh, Hermione." She turned around and opened the door, revealing the three boys, anxiously waiting for their friend. "Longbottom, Black, Potter. Please return to your common room for the night, and Ms. Granger will be meeting you for breakfast tomorrow morning." The boys looked confused to one another. "I Promise you, she is just fine, but there are some things that need to be taken care of. Good night." She said finally, then shut the door once again.

"How much do you know about the menstrual cycle and female puberty?" Her professor asked softly, after she had asked Hermione to take a seat which she had quickly rejected by a shake of her head. McGonagall must have understood what was going on and quickly called for a house elf, asking it to please fetch a pair of Ms. Granger's underwear. Instantly a pair appeared and McGonagall slowly showed her how to put in a pad.

"What happened?"

"Are you okay?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Did you get detention?"

The questions tumbled from her friends the instant they saw her arriving at the breakfast table the following morning. She stood by the table looking at each of them, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"Why would I get detention?" She asked, unsure and uncomfortable. She had spent the majority of the evening and morning trying to figure out how she should tell her friends what was going on. She felt like hell, yet she somehow had to live with this…

"Well-," Daniel started, but stopped and looked at her with his brows furrowed, "I don't know, actually." He said, shrugging, and moved his attention to his bowl of porridge in front of him.

"Why aren't you sitting down?" Harry asked, looking at her curiously, "Are you alright?"

"Oh." She said, realizing that she was in fact still standing. She sat down beside Daniel, hoping and praying that no one would notice how carefully she did so. Thankfully she wasn't in any pain anymore, having received a pain potion from Madam Pomfrey before she left the Hospital Wing that morning, but that didn't stop her from feeling weird and uncomfortable in her own skin.

Pads weren't exactly comfortable to wear.

She didn't say anything more but decided on just eating a bit instead. After some time, once the boys had finished most of their food, she decided on breaking the information to them. She could already feel the blood rushing through her body and her cheeks coloring deep crimson at the embarrassment. "The thing is; I'm not sick. Not even the slightest actually." She said, bringing their attention to her.

"So what is it?" Neville was the first to ask, as Harry and Daniel just looked at her with confusion written all over their faces.

"What… Do you know about the female body?" She asked slowly, taking Madam Pomfrey's advice to heart; 'Not everyone knows what's going to happen, how or why.' She had told her the night before.

"Well, we know you, and mum." Daniel said, his eyebrows drawn so close to each other that they resembled a monobrow.

"Yeah." Both Harry and Neville agreed.

"Great… So," She said, taking a deep breath, looking down at her plate and using her hands to smooth out the fabric of her skirt. "The female body is, among other things, 'made' (she used her fingers to make quotation marks) to carry and birth children, and to prepare for this, the body… Bleeds. Once a month." She said slowly, trying to be as accurate and proper as possible. Surely, they didn't need to know all the details.

The boys looked at one another, trying to put the pieces together without acknowledging that they didn't know shit about what she was saying.

"Bleed…?" Neville asked, looking at her in a mixture of confusion and anxiety.

"Mmhm." She agreed, her lips drawn tight together and her face coloring even more. she raised her finger, and held it just above the table while she pointed it downwards.

"OOHHHH!" Daniel gasped, as his eyes widened as he remembered something about his mum being extra moody from time to time. "Does that mean you'll throw plates after us, too?" He asked, suddenly looking very horrified.

"No. I'm not Aunt Em and neither one of you is Sirius." She laughed; the tension broken instantly as the others laughed along by the hilarious memory.

"So… You're, okay?" Harry asked once again, when they had all started breathing properly again without succumbing to laughter or chuckles.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I have a list of things for mum to add to my next care package, but that's it." She said, smiling warmly at him.

"Great…" He said, giving her a large smile, "By the way, we finished your homework for you last night. It's in your bag." Harry finished and pulled up her school bag that had been resting against the table.

"Oh, I don't deserve you. You guys are pure perfection." She sighed as she took the bag from Harry.