Edited 9/4/22

Chapter 4

When the four friends had returned to the common room Hermione had gone to write a letter to her parents, the letter read

"Dear mum and dad,

My first week at school has come to an end and I've been having a lot of fun, on the train I've made a friend, his name is Harry Potter, I first met him when I saw him practice a spell and after I surprised him he invited me to join him. Harry is someone who wants to practice casting spells and is excited to learn too, I've been learning more spells from him, even some the school doesn't teach. I'm grateful he became my friend and I always look forward to practicing with him. On the train I also met a boy named Neville Longbottom, we met him when his pet toad named Trevor hopped into our compartment and Harry caught him midair, it seems that Harry and Neville's mums were friends since Harry asked Neville about her. Neville joined us and became our friend but he seemed to be pretty shy but after a while he became comfortable around us, he explained some stuff about the wizarding world I didn't know about and even though he struggles to cast a spell at first he's someone who's willing to work hard too, I'm hoping we can figure out soon why he struggles with spells so we can help him. On the train we also met a boy named Ron Weasley, he has three older brothers that go to Hogwarts, he seems to really like playing games since he got Harry and Neville to play a few rounds of chess with him but I noticed he usually looks bored whenever I talk about what we might learn. I've tried to get him to focus on his homework and classes but he usually gives an excuse or does very little, I think he's even asking Harry and Neville if he can copy their homework, he doesn't seem like a bad person but he can be a bit rude sometimes.

I ended up being sorted into Gryffindor, the way we are sorted is that a magical hat looks into our minds and decides which house we'd do best in, it considered putting me in Ravenclaw but I asked it for Gryffindor since it's a great house and Harry wanted to go there. I ended up rooming with four other girls, their names are Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Fay Dunbar, and Sally-Anne Perks, I've only had a few conversations with them though. Lavender and Parvati seemed to have quickly become friends since they share a love for makeup and gossip, Fay doesn't talk much and prefers to stay to herself, Sally-Anne seems nice but we haven't really talked so I don't know much about her, I'm hoping to make friends with them soon.

My classes have been going well, so far I've really enjoyed transfiguration and charms the most, Harry told me he liked those classes a lot more than the others, Professor Flitwick teaches charms and he makes the class fun for many, Professor McGonagall focuses more on the lesson and trying to help the students understand the subject, her class has been my favorite so far. Herbology is really interesting since we get to work with plants I never knew existed before, Neville is a natural when it comes to herbology, he's kept us from making mistakes with some of the more dangerous plants and he's helped us understand better what we need to know about the plants, I think Professor Sprout chose Neville as her favorite student. History is interesting but the teacher is a ghost who manages to speak in a way that puts everyone to sleep, I kept having to wake Harry up in that class until he decided to read the book instead.

Defense has been interesting but so far we haven't gotten to practice any spells in that class, Professor Quirrell seems to be really jumpy and stutters a lot so he's hard to understand. Potions is an interesting subject but the professor seems to favor Slytherin more, he asked Harry a few questions and after Harry answered them all correctly he took points away, he seems to dislike anyone that isn't in his house and he makes many of the students nervous, Neville even melted his cauldron because of him and Professor Snape blamed Harry for it. I've only had one class in astronomy, we got to review charts of the moon and stars and tonight we get to use our telescopes, I'm looking forward to it.

I'm really glad I came to Hogwarts and I'm glad I've made some friends, even though not all the students are friendly I'm glad I have those I can talk to and study with. That's everything I wanted to tell you, the owl delivering this letter belongs to Harry and she's really friendly, her name is Hedwig and I'm hoping she'll wait around for you to write a letter back, she likes being complimented and given treats, I'll look forward to your letter.

Love, Hermione."

While Hermione was writing her letter Harry and Neville were sitting in the common room where Ron managed to get Neville to play a game of chess with him, as they played Harry watched their game for a while until he noticed Fred and George quietly talking. Harry wondered what they were talking about so he sat near Neville, who was closer, and tried to listen in "We don't need to pick the lock, a simple unlocking charm opens it up but we don't know how to deal with the Cerberus inside."

"Trying to petrify it was a bad idea since they're more magically resistant so it did nothing but make it mad."

"Filch almost caught us because of that so we need to make sure he's not anywhere nearby."

"Maybe we can try and feed it so while it's eating we can sneak to the trap door."

"Which head though, even if we distract one the other two will keep watching us."

"True, plus I doubt the elves will just give us enough meat to distract it."

"Harry!"

Harry jumped at Ron's voice before refocusing on the match "Sorry, what?"

Ron repeated "I said Neville just lost, do you want to play?" Harry agreed but as he played he wondered what were Fred and George talking about.

The rest of the day passed and when midnight came Harry and his friends went to the astronomy tower, once again Harry saw all the classes were there but he noticed Malfoy was glaring at him more than ever. Harry was amazed once again by the night sky since there was little light pollution so he got to see a beautiful star filled night sky. Thankfully nothing happened during class but Harry felt like someone was watching him, he'd glance around the classroom from time to time but he didn't see anyone watching him. Harry didn't notice two girls watching him, one was a blond from Slytherin while the other was a red head from Hufflepuff.

The next morning Harry, Neville, and Hermione were eating breakfast but all three still seemed tired from their late-night astronomy, Harry and Neville gave up on trying to wake Ron up so they came down for breakfast and just decided they'd save some food for him. Soon the owls flew in and Harry heard "Harry!" Looking up Harry spotted Hedwig with a letter attached to her leg, Hedwig landed in front of Hermione and gave her the letter before saying to Harry "I made my first delivery, Hermione's parents were really nice and gave me some food and water." Harry smiled and offered some food to Hedwig while Hermione read the letter from her parents, she was happy they were able to write to her and thanked Hedwig for the delivery.

Hedwig left after she ate and when breakfast was done Harry and Hermione got up, Hermione wanted to head to the library and Harry agreed to go but Neville said he was going to head back to the common room to write a letter to his gran. When Neville got back to the common room he started on his letter

"Dear gran,

first I want to say thanks for sending me my Remembrall, I'm keeping it safe so you don't have to send me another one. I've been having a lot of fun here at Hogwarts, I met Harry Potter and we became friends, he asked me about mum and told me our mums were best friends and wanted us to continue what they started. Harry has been a big help along with a girl named Hermione Granger, she's a muggleborn and she's the most brilliant girl I've met, she's been helping us a lot so I haven't been struggling too much. Harry has gotten Professor McGonagall to give us a dueling room to practice our spells during our free time and Harry and Hermione have been helping me a lot, we finish our homework quickly and spend the rest of our time in there practicing although I feel like I'm holding them back since they usually help me first with the spells I'm struggling with. I'm doing my best in my classes so I can make you and mum and dad proud, herbology has been a lot of fun and I've gotten to see a few plants we don't have at any of the greenhouses.

I've been helping Harry and Hermione try to understand the wizarding world better since they grew up not knowing much about magic but I can see the two of them are eager to learn. I've also made another friend named Ron Weasley but he's not someone that wants to learn, he usually gets in an argument with Hermione about homework and class, he does seem a bit lazy but he's not that bad, we've played chess and exploding snap a few times so it's been fun. Overall I've really enjoyed my time here and I've made some great friends who have helped me a lot, I'll do my best to make my parents proud and I'll help out my friends. Harry has let me use his owl to deliver my letter, her name is Hedwig and she's been kind and friendly to us, if you can, please give her some owl treats when she delivers my letter.

Sincerely, your grandson Neville."

Neville waited for the ink to dry before heading up to the owlery to ask Hedwig to deliver his letter, while he did Harry and Hermione were sitting in the library reading some books. Hermione wanted to find some more spells they could practice in the dueling room while Harry was reading over a potions book, he liked the subject but hated the teacher so he intended to try and teach himself. The library was mostly empty since most students didn't want to show up on a Saturday, they saw a few Ravenclaws but other than them it was empty. Harry and Hermione were continuing to read until they heard someone say "Potter." Looking up they noticed two Slytherins were standing there, one was the familiar blond he'd seen a few times while the other was a girl with dark brown hair.

The two girls approached but he noticed the brown-haired girl was glancing around as if she was expecting someone to see them, the blond spoke "My name is Daphne Greengrass, this is Tracey Davis, we were hoping we could talk to you."

Harry glanced at Hermione and after she shrugged her shoulders Harry said "Sure, have a seat."

The two girls sat down before Hermione decided to introduce herself "My name is Hermione Granger, it's nice to meet you."

Daphne nodded and shook her hand then Tracey did the same before Daphne then spoke "I was wondering, did you really mean what you said about wanting to make friends with Slytherins even though our houses hate each other?"

Harry nodded "Of course, I know some keep saying all Slytherins are bad but I prefer to judge the person themselves instead of judging them based off a few."

Daphne and Tracey looked at each other before Tracey spoke "Alright, we would like to be friends with you but first you need to know something, we can't be seen together."

Hermione asked "Why not?"

Daphne explained "Slytherin is different from the other houses, most people in our house prefer to make alliances with each other but when they see a chance to achieve more they will gladly stab each other in the back to get what they want. Yesterday when you dueled Malfoy and won you showed everyone he's weak so he's lost some face in Slytherin but because his family is rich and his father is close to the minister of magic he still holds some power in that house. The houses of Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, and Parkinson are close to the Malfoys so that's why they follow him, if you come from a house that doesn't hold much power or respect the best you can do is try and keep your head down and stay out of other people's way, being friends with someone from a rival house will only cause you trouble."

Hermione and Harry were stunned to hear what Slytherin was like, Harry then asked "Then why do you want to be my friend if it means you could get in trouble with your house?"

Daphne answered "The house of Greengrass does hold more power and respect than most so for the most part I'll be left alone, during the last war our house was neutral but from what I've been told we were close to forming an alliance with the house of Potter. The Potters have money and power so my family wanted to form an alliance with yours but before we could your grandparents were killed then shortly after your parents were killed."

Harry was surprised by this, Tracey then spoke up "The house of Davis is a minor house so things could have been bad for me but Daphne and I have been friends for years so I have the protection of house Greengrass, we're hoping we can become your friends and build an alliance from there then once our alliance is strong enough we won't have to worry about others finding out we're friends, until then we can't really talk in public, that's why we waited till now to try and talk to you."

Harry tried his best to understand what they were saying, he spoke "I would like for us to be friends but I have to admit I don't know much about alliances or houses, you see I grew up with my muggle relatives and didn't know magic was real until recently."

Daphne and Tracey looked at each other before they nodded and Daphne spoke "Well we can help you, if we can meet up and talk we can explain more to you about the wizarding world so hopefully you'll understand better."

Harry smiled "I'd like that."

He extended his hand and shook hands with Daphne, Hermione spoke "I think a safe place for you to come see us is the dueling room."

Daphne and Tracey seemed confused and repeated "Dueling room?"

Harry explained "It's a room on the seventh floor Professor McGonagall set up for us to practice casting our spells, we've been using it since Monday." Both girls seemed interested and agreed, Harry told them where it was and the two girls promised to meet them there after lunch.

Before they left though Daphne told them "We do have another person in Slytherin you can trust, her name is Lilian Moon, she comes from a minor house but she's nothing like Malfoy and his group, we aren't sure yet about Blaise Zabini or Millicent Bulstrode yet since their families aren't exactly light or neutral but they aren't on the level as Malfoy is so be cautious around them."

They thanked them and watched the two girls leave before turning to each other, Hermione asked "What do you think of what they said?"

Harry thought about it before answering "I think we should trust them, she doesn't seem like a bad person and I could see she was being genuine when she said she wanted to become friends, she knows how Slytherin works better than we do so it'll be good to have someone who can help explain it to us."

Hermione nodded "I understand, the wizarding world is different than how I first thought and even though Neville has been helping us it seems like she knows more than he does."

The two later met up with Neville and asked for his opinion on what happened to which Neville said "The Greengrasses are neutral but they've never supported the darker families so I think they can be trusted."

Nodding, Harry and Hermione agreed to trust Daphne and Tracey, wanting to pass the time Harry suggested they go visit Hagrid. During the visit they met Hagrid's boarhound Fang, at first Harry was nervous considering his history with dogs but he soon relaxed when he saw Fang was, as Hagrid described, a big puppy that wanted to be petted. Hagrid asked about their classes but as they explained Harry noticed an old newspaper sitting on the table talking about a break-in at Gringotts, Harry noticed it was on the same day as his birthday. Harry asked about it and pointed out the vault he emptied that day but he saw Hagrid was trying to avoid the question, Harry remembered what Fred and George talked about earlier that day and wondered if the Cerberus was guarding whatever was in the vault, Harry asked if that was why the third floor was forbidden only for Hagrid to make up an excuse to be busy and to send them back to the castle.

Once back at the castle the three friends decided to spend the rest of their time in the common room where they finished any remaining homework they still had, while the three of them were working on homework Ron was in the dorm writing a letter back home, the letter read

"Dear mum, dad, and Ginny,

I have been having a lot of fun at Hogwarts, I got to meet Harry Potter and we became best friends, he's a lot like he is in the books Ginny reads. Just yesterday Malfoy was causing trouble so Harry challenged him to a duel and beat him easily, he's been helping me with my homework and we've gotten to play chess a lot but I always win our matches. Harry and I have been having a lot of fun here and we hang out with two other students, one is Neville who has been nice enough to play chess with me but the other is a girl named Hermione who is really bossy, she keeps trying to get us to do nothing but study so she's been really annoying. Our classes are ok but Fred and George were right potions is the worst, I'm glad it's the weekend and we don't have to worry about our classes. I'll make sure to write to you again next week, take care.

From, Ron."

Ron had quickly sent off his letter before returning to the common room and after seeing that Harry and Neville weren't busy he got them to play another round of chess with him. It wasn't long until lunch started and after the four ate they started to head back upstairs, Harry, Hermione, and Neville decided to head to the dueling room while Ron had convinced Dean to play chess with him so he returned to the common room. Soon they arrived at the dueling room where Harry decided to pass the time by teaching Neville and Hermione how to cast the slipping spell he used on Malfoy. The door soon opened and they saw Daphne and Tracey showed up. The two girls looked around surprised by the room, Harry greeted them and the five started talking, Daphne explained that the room was good to use since most Slytherins never come up there and Harry offered to teach them the spells they knew.

Harry was showing the spells they knew already when the door opened and Ron came in asking "Hey Harry do you have the homework for-" He stopped when he saw Daphne and Tracey were there then he seemed to turn angry and said "What are those two snakes doing here?!"

Harry spoke "They're my friends and I invited them here so we can talk."

Ron glared at the two and said "But they're filthy snakes, you can't trust them! Why did you bring them to our dueling room?"

Harry seemed annoyed at that response, Ron rarely came to the dueling room since he thought going there meant doing extra work, Harry noticed the two girls seemed uncomfortable so Harry said "I invited them because they are my friends, Professor McGonagall said I can invite my friends here if I wanted to."

Ron didn't seem to calm down as he continued "But they're snakes, they'll just stab you in the-"

Harry cut Ron off "Ron! They are my friends so I can invite them if I want, just because you're my friend that doesn't mean you get to decide who I'm allowed to be friends with, I'm allowed to decide who I want to be friends with, if you feel that uncomfortable around them then you don't need to be around them, you hardly come here so you won't see them that much."

Ron seemed shocked at Harry's response but he simply glared and said "Fine!"

He stormed out and slammed the door behind him, Harry turned back to the girls and said "I'm sorry about that, he really doesn't like Slytherins."

Daphne and Tracey nodded and Daphne said "I guess you can't really blame him considering what happened to his uncles."

Harry was confused "What do you mean?"

Daphne explained "In the last war a lot of the people who followed you-know-who were from Slytherin, there were two brothers named Fabian and Gideon Prewett, I don't know what exactly happened but I think they fought a group of death eaters to the death before they were killed. They had a younger sister and she's Ron's mum so I can see why he doesn't trust any Slytherins."

Harry was surprised to hear this, he understood but still saw it was wrong to blame every Slytherin for what a few did. Harry hoped Ron would see not all Slytherins were bad but he wasn't sure if he would. The five friends continued to practice and talk until it was getting late and Daphne and Tracey had to leave, before they left Daphne turned to Harry and said "Thanks for trusting us, I wasn't sure if I should have approached you but now I'm glad I did."

Harry smiled and said "I'm glad you did too." The three Gryffindors returned to their common room where they saw a still upset Ron playing chess with Seamus, when the day was over and they were about to go to bed Harry decided to offer Ron if he wanted to see his homework, despite still being upset Ron accepted and thanked him.

Time continued on and after a while Ron decided to stop being angry with Harry but now he rarely came to the dueling room. Daphne and Tracey started to visit a lot more and the five of them would do their homework together before practicing a few spells. Harry decided to look up spells that help with dueling and found a disarming charm in the journal and started to practice casting it in case he ever needs it. Harry had gotten a long package during breakfast and after taking it back to the common room he opened it to see a brand-new nimbus 2000, Oliver approached Harry later telling him when practice would start. At the first practice Harry met the rest of the quidditch team and got to watch how they played, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie were great chasers who were able to work well together. Fred and George were the perfect choices for beaters since the two seemed to know what the other was thinking and work together to send the bludger where they needed it to go. Oliver was the keeper and the chasers made sure to push him when they tried to score, Oliver didn't just focus on flying though as he encouraged the team to do some basic exercises to help keep them in shape. Harry was able to improve his friendship with Ron by asking him about quidditch and Ron was more than happy to talk about his favorite sport to Harry.

One Sunday morning Hedwig flew in carrying a letter for Hermione but Hedwig turned to Harry and spoke "Harry I heard something I think you should know."

Glancing at his friends Harry focused on the bond and asked "What is it?"

Hedwig spoke "When I went to Hermione's home to deliver her letter I heard her parents talking, I know you don't want me to eavesdrop on anyone but I think you want to know this, they talked about how sad they were they wouldn't be able to spend her birthday with her this week." Harry was surprised to hear his friend's birthday was coming up, he thanked Hedwig for letting him know before she took off.

When they were done eating Harry and Hermione decided to go to the dueling room while Neville decided to go to the greenhouse to study some of the plants, Ron got up and convinced Seamus to play chess with him and so all the friends left. Harry was trying to think of a way to ask Hermione when her birthday was without it seeming out of nowhere but then he got an idea, later in the common room Harry wrote a letter and asked Hedwig to deliver it and the next day he got back a response. That Thursday Hermione woke up and even though she was ready for the day she couldn't help but feel a bit sad that it was her birthday and no one knew about it. She didn't want to make her friends think she was trying to get them to get her gifts so she kept quiet about it. She got ready for the day but when she came downstairs she found Harry and Neville waiting for her, Harry and Neville saw her and looked at each other before offering to go down to breakfast with her. Hermione was confused since they never woke up first before she did but agreed, as the three sat down for breakfast she noticed Hedwig come flying in carrying a big package and a small one.

Hedwig landed in front of Hermione and dropped off the packages before moving to her and nuzzling her, Hermione asked "Hedwig what is this?"

Harry smiled and said "I think she's telling you happy birthday."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock as she asked "How did you know it's my birthday?"

"I decided to write a letter to your parents asking when your birthday was so I could surprise you but I didn't expect it to be so close so it was all last minute." Harry pulled out a wrapped package and told her "Happy birthday." Neville did the same and Hermione looked stunned, she noticed Hedwig push the packages closer to her as well.

Hermione opened the big one first and saw it was gifts her parents got her along with a letter from her parents wishing her a happy birthday and telling her to thank Harry and Hedwig for them. She opened the smaller one and saw it was a feather made into a quill and she noticed it was one of Hedwig's feathers. She opened Neville's next and saw it was a pot full of flowers he said came from the greenhouses back home, last was Harry's and when she unwrapped it she saw a book called The Complete Autobiography of The Hogwarts Founders.

Harry noticed Hermione's eyes start to tear up, quickly he said "I'm sorry if you don't-"

He was cut off when Hermione threw her arms around him and hugged him "Thank you, thank you, this is already one of my best birthdays, thank you!"

She noticed Harry seemed to flinch and tense up when she hugged him so she quickly let go before turning to her other side and hugged Neville thanking him as well. She thanked the two boys and gave Hedwig extra bacon as a thank you for her new quill. Hermione was happy for the rest of the day and started using her new quill, she placed the flowers Neville gave her next to her bed and started reading the book Harry gave her.

Time continued and Harry and his friends continued to use the dueling room to practice, Harry was able to learn how to cast the disarming charm and managed to cast another prank spell, according to the journal the spell was described as an invisible spray paint spell so the caster could write whatever message they wanted and only the caster can see it unless they cast the second spell to let anyone see it. The journal talked about enchanting some glasses to let the wearer see any message but Harry wasn't at that level yet so he focused on learning the second spell, according to the journal the message will only last for two days before vanishing. Thanks to the dueling room Harry and Hermione were already practicing spells they would learn later in class, however Neville was still struggling so they kept helping him, soon Halloween had arrived.

The four friends left another boring defense class where Quirrell kept lecturing them without teaching them any spells, the only thing Harry found more annoying than his stuttering was that in that class his scar would start to hurt. Harry could see how excited the other students were for the Halloween feast but he wanted the day to be over already, Harry had learnt this was the day his parents were killed and while everyone celebrated the day Voldemort was defeated they were also celebrating the day his parents were killed. Harry tried to get his mind off that and focus on his training, he has learnt how to cast a spell silently when he managed to cast frictionless without opening his mouth, he hoped by the end of the year he can cast the spell wandlessly.

The students had arrived for charms where Professor Flitwick paired them up to practice the levitation charm, he had gone over the spell earlier in the week so he paired students who could cast it with those that couldn't so Harry was paired up with Seamus, Neville was paired up with Dean, and Hermione was paired up with Ron. Harry was writing down the proper incantation and having Seamus practice saying it, Harry saw Seamus had a talent for setting things on fire so after the last time when he set the desk on fire Harry decided to make sure Seamus knew the proper wand movement and incantation first before casting. Just before Seamus could try they heard Ron snap and tell Hermione to cast the spell if she could, Harry told Seamus to pay attention and they saw Hermione easily raise her feather into the air. For once Seamus was able to get through the class without setting anything on fire and he was able to levitate his feather, once class was over Seamus thanked Harry for his help before leaving.

Harry had just exited the classroom when he heard "She's a bloody nightmare, she's just an annoying, bossy, know-it-all bookworm, it's no wonder no one wants to be her friend, I bet even Harry is starting to see pretending to be her friend isn't worth getting good grades!"

Harry heard Hermione gasp at what Ron just said before her lip started to tremble, it got worse when some of the Ravenclaws chuckled at what Ron just said. Harry tried to reach out to her but Hermione ran off while wiping away a few tears that escaped. Harry stood there frozen for a moment as he watched Hermione run off in tears before she vanished from his sight, suddenly Harry turned to Ron in anger and yelled "Ron!" Ron turned back and saw Harry before Harry yelled "Why did you say that, you know she heard you, you just made her cry!"

Harry didn't care that many of the students stopped to watch what was happening, Ron said "So what, it's true, she's annoying and-" Ron was cut off when the last person everyone expected shoved him knocking him to the ground, everyone saw an equally angry Neville shoved Ron.

The normally shy Neville yelled "Hermione is an amazing girl, I'm glad to call her my friend, she's kind and she helps me even though I struggle to use my dad's wand!"

Everyone was stunned at what Neville just did but Harry continued "Hermione is brilliant and is eager to learn, something I like about her, she may be a bit pushy but it's only because she cares about helping others do better, she's my best friend and I won't forgive you for making her cry! I hate bullies Ron and if you really see nothing wrong with making a girl cry then go hang out with Malfoy and his group, I'm sure you'll fit right in!" Harry stormed off and said "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find my friend."

Neville walked up next to Harry and said "I'll help you." As the two boys walked away Ron got up and noticed many of the Gryffindors frown at him before heading to lunch.

Harry and Neville walked to Gryffindor tower to try and find Hermione, they asked an older Gryffindor girl if she could check on the first years' dorm but she told them it was empty, Harry and Neville spent all of lunch looking around for Hermione but they couldn't find her. They arrived last to history hoping she would show up but when they looked around the classroom they saw Hermione wasn't there, they noticed Ron was sitting alone and he tried to wave them over but the two boys simply frowned and sat somewhere else. Harry and Neville couldn't focus on class since they were both worried about Hermione, when class was over the two continued their search of the castle hoping to find her. The time for the feast came and they weren't able to find her, as the two were about to head to the feast they stopped when they heard a girl call out "Harry, Neville." Looking over they saw Susan Bones and her friend Hannah Abbott.

The two girls approached before Susan said "I heard what happened after your charms class, have you found Hermione?" Harry and Neville shook their heads before Susan continued "I figured, I know it's probably none of my business since we haven't really talked but I heard Hermione crying in the girls' bathroom on the first floor."

Harry and Neville were surprised but grateful and thanked Susan for her help, before they left Harry said "Susan, I'm hoping we can become friends, I'll talk to you after we go and get Hermione."

Susan smiled "I'd like that, go help her and we'll talk afterwards."

The two boys thanked her and left, as they walked to the bathroom they both felt their stomachs growl so Harry asked "Neville can you go to the great hall and save some seats for us?"

"I want to go make sure Hermione is ok."

"I know but she cried because Ron said she thought I was pretending to be her friend, I'll make sure she knows you care about her too, I'll bring her back to the feast but if we don't make it back in time can you save us some food so we can have something to eat?"

Neville thought about it then said "Alright Harry, I'll be waiting for you guys, go make sure she's ok." Harry thanked him and went to the girls' bathroom to look for Hermione.

Harry arrived at the girls' bathroom and listened before hearing what sounded like sniffling, hoping Hermione was the only one in there he walked in and saw it was empty except for one stall where the crying was coming from. Walking up Harry knocked on the stall door and called out "Hermione?"

"Harry? What are you doing here?"

She sounded like she had been crying so Harry said "I came to find you."

"Just go away, you don't have to pretend to keep being my friend."

It sounded like she was going to cry again so Harry spoke "Hermione I am your friend, Ron had no right to say those horrible things as if he was speaking for me."

"Why would you care, you already have other friends who aren't nightmares, why would you want to become my friend when I'm just a bossy know-it-all bookworm?"

Harry could hear she started crying again, he knew Hermione needed to know how much he cared about her so taking a deep breath Harry spoke "Hermione, you're not just my best friend, you're my first ever friend." Harry placed his hand on the stall door and continued "My relatives hate magic so they've never been kind to me, they often told people I was just a delinquent so most would avoid me. My cousin Dudley was a bully and he enjoyed beating me up along with his gang, when we went to school I thought maybe I could make a friend but whenever someone tried to be my friend Dudley would beat them up, even if someone was nice to me he'd beat them up and because of that most would avoid me but some even insulted me, they called me a freak just like my relatives did."

Harry didn't notice Hermione stopped crying, he continued "I never had a friend, everyone thought the worst of me, I was all alone, I thought the worst feeling in the world was having no friends but then I came to Hogwarts. I met an amazing girl on the train and we became friends, she was kind, helpful, and I felt happy to have finally made a friend but then someone made her cry and I didn't say anything before she ran off, I always thought the worst feeling in the world was having no friends but that's when I realized the worst feeling is being a bad friend." Harry felt his eyes tear up as he spoke "I'm sorry I didn't stand up for you sooner Hermione, I'm sorry I didn't chase after you, I'm sorry I was a bad friend."

There was silence for a few seconds before Harry heard the stall door open up, stepping back Hermione opened the door and Harry saw how red her eyes were showing she had been crying. "Hermione, I-"

He was cut off when Hermione pulled Harry into a hug, she felt Harry flinch and tense up again but she said "You aren't a bad friend Harry, you're my best friend too, I never had a friend before, growing up most would only talk to me to try and get me to help them with class but after it was all over they'd act like I didn't exist or insult me, I was always made fun of for being excited about learning, I was scared thinking you were only pretending to be my friend."

Hermione felt Harry was still frozen so she was about to let go but then she felt Harry slowly lift his arms up and wrap them around her, this was the first time Harry hugged her back, Harry spoke "Hermione it doesn't matter to me if you're the brightest student in the whole school or someone who's on the same level as Crabbe and Goyle, I want you to be my friend." Hermione smiled and hugged Harry tighter, Harry continued "You've been helping me and I've been helping you too, you've made me a better wizard so let's keep helping each other and make each other better."

Hermione buried her face in Harry's shoulder and nodded and said "Yeah let's make each other better."

They didn't know how long they stayed like that but Harry was the one who broke the silence "You know it's not just me, Neville also sees you as his friend, he shoved Ron to the ground when he made you cry." Hermione was surprised but couldn't help but chuckle lightly at that, Harry continued "He's saving a seat for us at the feast so let's go see him." Hermione nodded and the two finally separated and smiled at each other.

The two friends decided to head to the great hall but then they both smelled a horrible smell. Turning around they both froze when they saw a twelve foot tall mountain troll arrive in the bathroom holding a tree branch it was using as a club. The troll noticed the two kids and turned towards them and Hermione let out a yell just as the troll raised its club to swing at them.

"Hermione!"

Harry quickly pulled her away from the stalls as the troll destroyed them, turning his back to the stalls Harry tried to shield her, he felt some of the destroyed stalls hit his back but thankfully it didn't hurt too much. Looking over Harry pulled out his wand in case he needed it and saw the troll was standing closer to the wall opposite of the exit, Harry yelled "Run!"

Harry ran as fast as he could and got past the troll as it was focused on the destroyed stalls, Harry reached the door and was about to leave when he realized he only heard his own footsteps. Turning back around Harry saw Hermione was frozen with fear as she stared at the troll, the troll now focused on her and was about to raise his club to attack her. Harry didn't hesitate and ran up to the troll as he yelled out "Hey ugly!" Harry jumped onto the troll's back and managed to climb up before it started thrashing around to try and throw Harry off.

Harry wrapped his arms around the troll's neck and held on tight as the troll kept trying to throw him off, Harry yelled for Hermione to run as he thought of an idea to hurt the troll and make it focus on him, Harry still had his wand in his hand and tried to aim for the troll's eyes. Harry lifted his wand and felt it go up the troll's nose, at least he knew this would still hurt it, Harry cast "Incend-"

Harry was cut off when the troll turned hard enough that Harry couldn't hold on anymore and went crashing into the wall next to Hermione. Harry could feel his back was in pain as he slid down the wall but he still managed to stay on his feet. Seeing this finally made Hermione snap out of it as she saw the troll focus on Harry and lift his club up.

"Harry!"

Hermione ran and grabbed onto Harry and jumped out of the way just as the club came down destroying where they were just moments ago. The two kids fell to the ground and Hermione had her arms wrapped around Harry, she was terrified and had her eyes closed, Harry looked up and saw the troll turn to them and lift his club up again, his wand was still stuck up the troll's nose. Harry didn't know what to do, he needed to think of something quick otherwise they were dead, Harry was about to try and cast wandlessly when he noticed Hermione still had her wand in her pocket.

Quickly Harry grabbed her wand and raised it, he didn't notice when he grabbed her wand he felt a small spark, raising the wand Harry yelled out the first spell he thought of "Wingardium leviosa!"

The troll swung down with full force expecting to crush the two kids but then he noticed he no longer had his club. The troll stared at his hand wondering where his club went when he decided to look up and saw the club was floating above him. Harry, not caring how much magic he put into the spell, swung down with as much force as he could and made the club come crashing down on the troll's head, the sound echoed in the bathroom as Harry dropped the club and the troll fell backwards on the floor.

Harry didn't know how much magic he used in the spell but he felt a bit tired after that, he told Hermione "Hermione it's over, the troll is knocked out, come on we need to find a teacher." Hermione still felt terrified but was able to let go, the two got up and saw the troll laying there on the ground unmoving.

"What's going on here!?" They both jumped at the voice and Hermione reached for Harry's hand, turning the two saw McGonagall and Flitwick showed up. McGonagall rushed forward and quickly checked them over and said "Thank Merlin you're both ok, after your friends told us you weren't at the feast we rushed here to get you, what happened?"

Harry spoke first "How did a troll get in here?"

McGonagall decided to answer "During the feast Professor Quirrell came into the great hall saying a troll was loose in the dungeon so the students were sent back to their common rooms, Mr. Longbottom came to us saying you two weren't at the feast. I asked why weren't you there and Mr. Weasley confessed he said some horrible things that made Ms. Granger cry so it was his fault, we came here right away to get you, now explain what happened here."

Harry and Hermione were surprised to hear Ron told the truth, Harry decided to be the one to explain "I came here to make sure Hermione was ok and after she was ok we were about to head back when the troll showed up and destroyed the stalls, I got past it but Hermione froze up so I jumped on the troll's back to distract it. I stuck my wand up the troll's nose to cast incendio but the troll threw me off before I could, it nearly crushed me but Hermione saved my life then I used the levitation charm to knock it out with its own club."

Flitwick had checked on the troll while Harry spoke and said "The troll isn't knocked out, it's dead." Harry's eyes widened at that, he hadn't meant to kill it, Flitwick approached and said "Don't feel too bad about this Mr. Potter, the troll was trying to kill you and your friend so in a moment of desperation you did everything you could to save someone important to you, you have managed to do something most adults would have struggled with, you have impressed me Mr. Potter, I'd say this earned you fifty points to Gryffindor."

McGonagall spoke next "I must take away fifteen points, five for missing the feast and another five for skipping a class." Hermione looked worried at that before McGonagall spoke "And I'd say ten points to each of you for looking out for each other." Hermione and Harry smiled at that, McGonagall spoke again "You two should head back to your common room, the feast is continuing in there." The two nodded and after grabbing Harry's wand and cleaning it they quickly left.

When McGonagall and Flitwick were alone Flitwick asked "Minerva you said those two were using a dueling room to practice, right?"

McGonagall nodded and Flitwick continued "I think I will have to pay Mr. Potter a visit and give him a few lessons, ever since the duel he had with Mr. Malfoy I have been keeping an eye on him and I think he has what it takes to become a great dueler."

McGonagall was surprised and said "I didn't think you'd look for a student to teach how to duel, I thought you were done with dueling after you became a teacher."

Flitwick nodded and said "I am done with dueling competitions but that doesn't mean I can't help young talent like Mr. Potter, besides I like to see it as me helping the grandson of one of the few people to defeat me in a duel, I was planning on speaking to Mr. Potter around Christmas but this just confirmed what I already thought."

The two kids were walking through the halls back to their common room, they were still shaken from having survived a troll attack, Harry gave Hermione back her wand but since the two were still shaken she didn't notice the spark she felt when she took it back. The two realized after a while they were still holding hands but they felt it was giving them some comfort after what just happened so they didn't say anything. Once they made it back to the portrait of the fat lady they entered the common room and many turned to see them.

"Harry!"

"Hermione!"

They heard a few people yell before approaching them, Harry saw it was the rest of their year mates along with the entire quidditch team.

"Are you guys ok?"

"What happened?"

"There's a troll out there!"

Many of them spoke at once but Neville was the one who managed to get their attention "I'm glad you guys are safe, I was scared the troll might have gotten to you so I told Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick you two were gone."

Harry and Hermione explained what happened with the troll, everyone was shocked to hear they faced the troll and killed it but mostly they were glad they were ok. A nervous Ron stepped forward and said "Hermione I'm really sorry for what I said, you were just trying to help me but I let my anger take control and I said many hurtful things I shouldn't have said, I'm really sorry for what I said and I hope we can still be friends."

Hermione let go of Harry's hand and crossed her arms and said "What you said really hurt me, I understand you were mad but you hurt me when you said Harry was only pretending to be my friend, that's not something that's easily forgiven Ronald."

Ron looked ashamed and said "I know, when Harry called me a bully and said I would fit in better with Malfoy I realized what I said really hurt you, I'm sorry and I hope I can fix my mistakes and still be your friend."

Hermione stayed silent for a moment before speaking "I'll forgive you this time but if you do something like that again then we won't be friends anymore."

Ron nodded and said "I promise, Harry I hope we can still be friends too."

Harry responded "Like Hermione I'll give you another chance but you can't be mean to my friends like that, and I mean all my friends, I want us to be friends Ron but not if you are going to be mean to my other friends."

Ron nodded and promised he wouldn't make the same mistake again. Ron apologized to Neville and Neville decided to give Ron a chance as well since his other friends decided to give him a chance, once everything was calmed down Harry and Hermione joined the feast but while they ate Hermione was approached by Fay Dunbar "Hey Hermione, you don't mind if I sit here, do you?" Hermione shook her head and Fay sat next to her and spoke "Listen I know we haven't really talked that much since school started, I usually like to keep to myself but I realize I want to make some friends here too so I was hoping tomorrow I can sit with you at breakfast."

Hermione was surprised but smiled "Of course you can."

Fay smiled "Thanks, I hope we can become friends."

"Me too."

Hermione was able to talk to the girls she's rooming with and they were now going to try and make an effort to become her friend, the ten first years enjoyed talking to each other until it was time to head to bed. Harry and Hermione were the last to leave but before they did Hermione hugged Harry and said "Thank you again Harry, for coming to find me, saving me from the troll, and for being my friend."

She still felt Harry tense at her hug but once again he hugged her back and said "Of course Hermione, thank you for being my friend too and saving me from the troll." Harry felt himself relax as he thought "I didn't know hugs were so warm, I think I can get used to them." The two friends separated and went to their dorms to hopefully get a good night sleep.

Please comment and let me know what you thought of the chapter.