Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

...

Hermione had had no idea what Harry had planned for the two of them. Unless he stated otherwise, until the end of the day she was his to do so as he wished.

Remaining in the library had been the last thing she could have thought of.

With the Harry Potter Collection pushed to the side of the table, Harry had asked Hermione in finding him some tomes on Runes, and more specifically Pressure Runes. At first she had been curious as to what he had meant by that, and he had chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. For further explanation he had basically told her to imagine an Indiana Jones based trap where putting pressure on object 'A' it would cause effect 'B' to occur.

Hermione had giggled at Harry's poor terminology but thankfully, having had a father who had a man crush on Harrison Ford, she roughly knew what he had been talking about. A few minutes later and they had amassed a small collection of relatable knowledge which they were now plowing through at a moderate pace, taking a good deal of notes as they did so.

Hermione glanced up at her paper and watched for Harry for a moment. She hadn't even known the boy for a week other than what she had seen in classes and on the Hogwarts Express. Of course she had read about him in many of her books and he effectively was a celebrity in and of his own right. Heck, he had even managed to get the entire fictional collection sitting next to them for nothing more than a signature.

The main thing was though that he hadn't intended to go there and merely pick up the books. He didn't flash around his reputation as a means to get through school work and he didn't use it as a social aspect. Word was already spread that he had refused a few of the second and third year students who had wanted him to join their friendship circle because he had believed that they just wanted the Boy Who Lived, not Harry Potter.

It seemed surreal in a sense; any other eleven year old would practically be abusing such authority to their whim. The only reason she was submitting now was because of a bet she had made with a fellow student. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Everything alright, Hermione? You've been looking at me for a while now," said Harry without turning his gaze off his book.

"How did you..."

"I haven't heard you turn a page in eighty seven seconds, well below your average," answered Harry as he scribbled down a note on the parchment next to him.

Hermione felt her cheeks go red as her eyes shot back down to the book in front of her. She didn't know whether he was serious or not about the whole eighty seven second thing, but the fact that he was paying attention at all was nerve tingling. It wasn't long into her study that she found her eyes drifting once more to the boy in front of her. Harry somehow seemed to sense the eyes on him and shifted to meet her gaze.

"Yes?"

"Harry, what are you thinking about?"

"That's a very vague question."

"Well, I mean you seemed like a different person on the train when I met you," said Hermione causing Harry's eyes to squint ever so slightly. "You had no real clue of what was happening and didn't even know a spell to fix your glasses. Then over the next week you study like there's no tomorrow, and now you've asked me to look into something that we won't remotely begin to study for years. So, what are you thinking about?"

Harry bit at the inside of his lip as he contemplated his answer. True, he had been studying more than he had been last time round, but the textbooks he was looking over were in fact books he had borrowed from the library with an illusion charm cast over them. "Well," he said slowly as he put down his quill. "This world just came at me out of nowhere, if you know what I mean. I didn't find out how my parents died until a little over a month ago and was told that I was a wizard. It was crazy! I think it was during the Sorting Ceremony I began to realize that this was my life from now on. I mean right now I'm studying runes with a magical girl."

The deep shade of red that encompassed Hermione's features easily dwarfed the previous, but while Harry spotted it he didn't comment as he continued his spiel. "So in regards to your question earlier, Hermione, what am I thinking about, the answer is nowhere near as simple as it should be. I'm thinking about why I was taken away from this world when I was just a kid as I was not Muggle-born. Arguably I may have been safer there considering who I am, but I was treated like dirt by a family that didn't love me. I'm also thinking about what I can do now that I have discovered just who I am. Also, I'm thinking about what the world has in store for me and whether or not these books here could potentially become nonfiction. Finally, I'm thinking about the intelligent girl in front of me and how grateful I am for her in sticking to our agreement and helping me now. I think that about covers it wouldn't you say?"

Hermione didn't respond as she slowly lifted up her book to cover her face, a cheeky grin crossing Harry's face now that he was out of sight. He imagined it would be a while before Hermione had composed herself to return to the task at hand.

Thankfully for Hermione, a distraction was at hand. It was not a good one however.

"What do we have here, lads?" said one Draco Malfoy as he, accompanied by the ever present Crabbe and Goyle, stopped by the table where she and Harry sat. The blond-haired Slytherin picked up one of the many books. "What is all this rubbish?"

"That would be the complete collection of all of my adventures, I've yet to organize them in chronological order however, so it's a bit of a mess," stated Harry as he looked up from his work. "You're more than welcome to borrow one but I expect it to be given back to me in pristine condition, meaning that your two drones can't put their chocolate covered mits on them."

Goyle seemed to take offence to that as Crabbe bashfully put his hands behind his back. "Shut it Potter," declared Malfoy as he tossed the book to the ground. "Don't go picking fights you can't win; I doubt in any of this filth you overcame three on one odds."

"Three on two," corrected Harry.

"Please, I don't even consider the Mudblood to be on our level."

An elongated sigh escaped Harry's lips as he closed the book that he had been reading and pushed himself up from the table. With purposeful strides he walked around the furniture and caught Hermione's eyes on the way past. He could tell that she was pleading with him not to do anything he'd regret. Harry couldn't care and as he closed the gap and pulled his arm back, consequences be damned.

...

Dumbledore looked at the two students standing in his office. Without a doubt word had spread regarding the incident and he didn't doubt that word would even spread to parents and potentially even the press. Ever since his return to the magical world there had been a buzz about Harry Potter, mostly he blamed Hagrid for practically shouting in the Leaky Cauldron that he was accompanying Harry Potter of all people.

Subtlety was not Hagrid's forte.

Dumbledore gazed at Harry, the boy in front of him showing no compassion for the other student in the room. Considering the environment that Harry had grown up in he pondered whether the boy knew what compassion was. The boy needed to be taught that violence wasn't necessarily the answer. The Headmaster however would deem fit whether Harry's actions were justified momentarily.

Looking at Draco Malfoy, the boy had definitely seen better days. The blood splashed on his robes looked as if they had come directly from his nose, which Albus had been informed was the result of the breakage that Harry had made with his bare fist. Before having come to be before him, one of the professors had managed to both fix the broken nose and stop the bleeding, but it was clear that the young Malfoy was intimidated by the boy next to him.

Dumbledore could only sigh with the knowledge that he would soon be hearing from Lucius.

"Now, tell me very clearly what happened," Dumbledore said slowly.

"He attacked me!" shouted Draco. The blond-haired boy looked as if he was going to elaborate when Harry looked in his direction with cold eyes that made the boy flinch. Dumbledore couldn't help but scowl as he looked at those eyes, there was no remorse for his actions and it looked as if the circumstance called for it he would repeat the act once more.

"Harry, please tell me what happened," said Albus.

"It's true," said Harry as he turned to look at the Headmaster, his eyes still cold and venomous. "I punched Draco in the face and broke his nose, had it not broken the first time I likely would have punched him again in order to ensure that it was broken."

"And why did you assault Draco?" asked Dumbledore.

"He called Hermione Granger a mudblood."

Dumbledore's glare shifted to Draco Malfoy who suddenly seemed to become even less comfortable than he already had been. He suddenly could understand the hostility that Harry was radiating was indeed warranted, but either way punishment needed to be handed out. "Both of you will serve detention tonight and I will have twenty points removed from each of your houses," declared Dumbledore.

"Why am I being punished?" asked Draco.

"Other than the fact you insulted my friend with the most venomous word in your vocabulary," said Harry, glaring at Draco once more.

"Mister Malfoy, you called one of your fellow students a title unbefitting of this school," announced Dumbledore. "I trust after tonight we will have no more instances of such language being used in Hogwarts. Now, I expect you two in the Great Hall at Nine where Professor Flitwick will observe your detention. You're dismissed."

Malfoy was first to leave, not wanting to be in the office for a second longer than he had to. Harry remained rooted to the spot however as he looked at Dumbledore. "Just so we're clear, if he steps out of place again I won't be so gentle," declared Harry.

"I would advise against that," stated Albus.

"And I would neglect your advice in that situation," said Harry. "I don't have many friends Professor, but I'll be damned if they get assaulted in front of me, physically or verbally. This was just the first lesson, I hope I don't have to give another."

Harry turned and moved towards the exit pondering what the Headmaster truly thought of his actions. On one hand he had clearly defiled the rules of the school by assaulting another student; were his actions justified? He thought so, but in the eyes of the Headmaster it was likely a different story. He also had the scolding from McGonagall to look forward to.

Joy.

Upon exiting the office, Harry wasn't surprised by the fact that Hermione was waiting for him alongside the massive collection of Harry Potter Adventure books. He was however taken back when he found that Hermione wasn't alone. "Hey Susan," he said politely.

"Harry, I heard what happened, are you alright?" asked Susan.

"He's fine, Malfoy's the wounded one," said Hermione as she crossed her arms. Harry assumed that Hermione had been repeating that answer for a while now since Susan looked less than convinced.

"Mostly I think I hurt his pride, the nose was just an added benefit," said Harry. "Don't imagine he'd actually ever been struck before, considering how much he cried."

"Are you in trouble?" asked Hermione.

"Twenty points taken off and detention tonight, considering I got a good hit in I'm not too upset," said Harry with a shrug of his shoulders. "I take it you two know each other."

"We sat together on the train, and don't change the subject," said Hermione.

"I thought the subject had finished," said Harry casually, trying to ease the tension somewhat. "He had it coming and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Why'd you do it?" asked Susan.

Harry noticed Hermione glance towards her feet and he felt that he shouldn't go over the top in front of his friend. "He just said something he shouldn't have said, something that pushed me over the edge. I'd suggest just leaving it at that."

Susan nodded in understanding as she looked at the collection of short novels by Hermione's side. "Are these what I think they are?" she asked standing next to the books which stood nearly three feet in height when stacked upon one another.

"I imagine they are," said Harry.

"Do you have Harry Potter and the Night of the Druid?"

"…Excuse me?"

"It's the only one I haven't read," said Susan before realizing what she was saying.

"Here you go," said Hermione having already pulled it out of the pile. Susan quickly took it and started walking away with it.

"Give it back to me on Monday," said Harry which only seemed to make the Hufflepuff student walk away quicker. He turned to see Hermione pouting at him. "What?"

"Couldn't you see she was embarrassed?"

"Couldn't you see I was ensuring that my book got returned? Anyways, we should head back to the tower. Can you give me a hand?" Harry asked gesturing towards the stack of books.

"Sure," said Hermione as Harry picked up half a dozen books, not wanting to show off too much in regards to magic by making them float behind him. Hermione added her assistance by putting several books on top of his pile, followed by a few more. Then a couple more. The some more again.

"Uhh, Hermione?" said Harry as he found his view obstructed by the entire collection blocking his view.

"Come on now, I'll direct you where to go," said Hermione as she started walking away. Harry, seeing no other option, gave pursuit. Hidden behind his pile of books his smile was hidden from view and he couldn't help but feel that this was Hermione's own way of punishing him. Considering he had done this walk more times than he could remember he was quite familiar with the route from Dumbledore's office to the Gryffindor common room, so it wasn't that terrible. He played with the idea of tripping over his own feet and asking Hermione why she had caused such an accident but opted not to.

Their march to the tower went uninterrupted and the only real words that were spoken between them were Hermione giving instructions to turn left, right and to be careful of the stairs. Things were going smoothly however until upon one flight of stairs everything began to move. "Hermione, what's happening?" he asked.

"The staircase is moving," stated Hermione as she gripped at the railing. Harry meanwhile had gone still as he knew exactly what staircase they were on and exactly where it would lead. As it came to a halt, Harry waited for Hermione's instruction. Surprisingly, she seemed to know where they were as well. "Harry, what should we do?"

"Wait it out," said Harry. "The stairs have got to move back eventually and the roundabout way will take about ten minutes, provided the stairs that go that way are in the right position." Putting down his stash, Harry was taken back by the fact that Hermione had not put the entire collection into his arms but rather had taken a few for herself. Upon further inspection however he discovered that those tomes weren't of his personal collection, but rather the runes books they had been looking through earlier. With a sigh he sat down next to the books and picked off the top one.

"What are you doing?" asked Hermione.

"What better way to wait out the time then learn about my adventures with the Nargles…Nargles?" repeated Harry as he reread the title of the book.

"Something wrong?" asked Hermione as she took a seat next to him, putting down the books she was carrying as she did so.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," said Harry as another sigh escaped his lips. This was not going to be a fun read.

...

Sunday morning Harry found himself out of bed at an earlier than normal hour, the rest of his dorm well and truly enjoying the blissful sleep they were in. Even Ron was quieter than normal. Dressing himself in some shorts and a shirt that he had taken the time to purchase in Hogsmeade before going to the bookstore, Harry entered the common room and stretched his arms above his head, a satisfactory click ringing out from his shoulders. Rolling his head from side to side he headed to the exit and started his walk down to the castle grounds.

Once his feet touched the grass he took off at a moderate pace, jogging to the sound of a song that had yet to be written. Heading down the hill he pondered the route he should take before finally opting to head down to the lake. It was the scenario in where he had saved the life of Fleur's sister if the pre-match stipulations were to be believed. Whether or not the chosen beneath the water were actually in danger during the tournament was hard to believe, but Fleur's sister (whose name he couldn't recall for the life of him) was part Veela, which Hermione had later informed him were fire elemental magical beings. Being under the water for such a long period of time would have been dangerous even if their safety was assured.

If not, would he have to go through the tournament again in order to rescue her once more? Shaking his head from side to side he figured that these were questions for another time.

Upon reaching the lake he paused to catch his breath, his hands collapsing to his knees as he inhaled deeply. He had gotten used to the small form he had found himself in yet before absorbing himself in Wood's ever familiar Quidditch practices and the intense games themselves he wasn't the fittest of kids. Even during the opening feast he had eaten only the barest minimal as his stomach wasn't adjusted to the huge quantities available to him; hence due to the lack of energy entering his system he was unable to perform at his peak.

As he looked over the lake he felt the urge to steal one of the school broom's and soar inches above the surface so that his toes barely scraped the water. They would have their first flying lesson tomorrow after Neville would have his Remembrall sent to him by his grandmother. He would then fall from his broom during class but Harry highly doubted that Draco would have the courage to steal Neville's gift without fear of the consequences that would come.

That in turn likely meant that Harry wouldn't get the chance to show off and impress Professor McGonagall. Biting at the inside of his lip he turned his attention back to the castle. He only got onto the Quidditch team because of his fluke first time round. He figured if things were to change then there would be tryouts for the position and unless Wood was desperate then first years wouldn't be permitted to try for the vacant Seeker.

This wasn't the problem in and of itself, Harry wasn't too fussed about joining the Quidditch team straight away, and the amount of time Oliver had him training was absurd at times. The more troubling thing was Professor Quirrell's blatant attempt at murdering him during his first match. If the Possessed Professor...

"Possessed Professor, posethed profether poth..."

Harry gave up on his new found tounge twister.

Back on track, Harry figured that Voldemort had given Quirrell instructions to kill him without making it too obvious. Why he would try to do so in front of an audience where several members of the staff and even most of the students could probably cast a levitation charm and prevent him from crashing to his death. The thing though was whether or not the terrible excuse for a teacher would try something else if he wasn't able to catch him flying. Just how more vigilant would he have to be when the turban wearing professor was around?

Harry scratched at the back of his head, knowing that he was probably over thinking things. Still though he had to contemplate the possibility. Unfortunately without the power of Divination he would have to wait and see what would happen. With a sigh he braced himself as he battled his way back up to the castle. Was it wrong that he hoped that Wood would be desperate.

...

Harry watched as Neville tumbled from the sky and crashed to the ground, his body bouncing awkwardly along with the distinctive crack signalling the breakage of his wrist. It caused many of the students around him to wince back but it was to be expected, they were only eleven years old after all. Considering the amount he had seen in the years to come, a broken wrist was not that big of a deal.

Madam Hooch shouted at everyone to remain grounded until she returned and Harry intended to do just that this time. Instead he took the opportunity of the confusion to locate Neville's Remembrall, picking it up before Malfoy contemplated the idea of stealing it. Harry doubted Malfoy had the courage, but he hadn't pushed for any more intimidating during the detention they had served together, opting to spend the time questioning Professor Flitwick about dueling tactics. While the diminutive Professor had been taken aback, Harry had eventually spent most of his 'punishment' having a casual chat.

General murmur started breaking out amongst the students as they waited for their flying teacher to return. "That was bonkers, wasn't it, Harry," said Ron shuffling himself closer to the scarred boy.

"Could have happened to anyone," he said with a shrug of the shoulders. "Hopefully it won't discourage him further down the track."

"What do you mean?" asked Ron.

"Well he just had his wrist broken," said Harry. "Even if it can be fixed in a few minutes it's still going to weigh heavily on his mind. Heck, look around at everyone else and you can see that they're shaken by what happened."

"Well I'm going to be fine," said Ron brashly. "My brothers have been flying since I was a kid, no way am I going to fall off."

Harry said nothing as he was simply going to watch and see if Murphy's Law took effect.

Instead seeing that a few of the other students had overheard Ron and were coming over for flying advice. Harry took this opportunity to slink back in the crowd to where Hermione was, the girl practically hugging her broom for dear life. "Nervous?" he asked. Hermione could only manage a timid nod of the head. "Don't be, it's just like riding a bike."

"I never had a bike."

"Neither did I, so forget about that and think of walking," said Harry wondering if this was a better comparison. "At first we fell on our arse over and over again, but we kept trying because it was in our nature as a human. Now, if you were back home your parents may have gotten you a bike. Again ,you would fall over and over after you got rid of your training wheels. Instead of a bike, we have brooms, and trust me, there are no training wheels."

"Doesn't that make it more dangerous?" asked Hermione.

"It does," said Harry casually putting a reassuring hand on Hermione's shoulder. "We will fall and we will get back up and at the end of the day we will have cuts, bruises and all manner of injuries. But you know what?"

"What?"

"We're going to have a hell of a lot of fun doing it and when you're soaring above the ground, the wind in your hair you're going to love every minute of it."

"You mean that?" asked Hermione as the class spotted Madam Hooch returning from the infirmary.

"Find out for yourself."