Five years. It had been five years since he first became a problem. Dudley Dursley was easily the bane of Harry's existence. Everyday he found new ways to torment him. Now that they were in middle school, it was even worse.

Parents had been called to the school for many meetings. Petunia and Vernon were no walk in the park either. Harry scoffed as he walked.

Hermione was the only saving grace of school really. They'd been separated for three years now, only seeing each other at lunch and after school. He had made a few other friends of course, but most other kids stayed away from him because of his everyday assailant.

His mother had taken the day off and asked him to walk home that afternoon, something about a "surprise" waiting for him at home. He usually would have been glad to walk, but the day had been awful.

It started off fine; he met Hermione early to review for a math exam, went to his morning classes and even got a hundred on a project. It was lunchtime when it all went wrong.

Dudley had taken to using some backwards tactics to get under Harry's skin, methods that were a lot harder to trace back to him. He'd leave notes or send other kids to make insults or mess with his things. Today though, he took it too far.

Harry had sat in his usual lunch spot, waiting for Hermione to join him. He was thumbing through a book she'd let him borrow, not paying attention. Minutes went by and he started wondering where she might be, it was so unlike her to be late to anything.

Of course, he decided to check on her, but as he walked to her last class before lunch, he heard the pounding of Dudley's tennis shoes behind him.

"What do you want, Dursley?" He had called out behind him, trying to remain civil.

"What do you think, scar head?" Dudley laughed, coming up beside him.

"Scar head", the nickname Dudley and his friends started calling him back in elementary school, he thought it was lame. Still, he'd gladly take being called names over Dudley being physical.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Dudley smirked.

"If by girlfriend, you mean, my friend Hermione… I don't know." Harry sighed

The patience Harry had developed from dealing with this kid rivaled most adults, so he supposed he could at least thank him for that. For a ten year old, Harry had quite the mature outlook on life. His parents made sure of that. When his mum married Nick, he had become a great role model in his life. It was his wisdom that had inspired Harry's usual approach to these situations.

"You're not going to find her where you're looking scar head…" Dudley said, stopping slightly behind him.

Harry turned sharply, facing him with wide eyes. "What?"

Dudley shrugged. "Bella is with her."

Bella Mourne, a girl who followed Dudley around because of their father's business. If Dudley bothered Harry, he didn't know what to call it when Bella "bothered" Hermione. She had been her cruelest critic since they started being grouped together in the second grade.

Harry grit his teeth and spun on his heels, a new location in mind. His pace quickened and he could feel a nervous sweat breaking out.

The gym came into view soon, and with Dudley still behind him he burst through the doors. At first glance it appeared empty, but he knew where they would be.

"Hermione!" He called, just in case.

No response. So he stalked over to the locker rooms, noticing the closed doors. Muffled arguing could be heard inside. He pounded on the door.

"Hermione, let's go!" He called.

The arguing stopped, interrupted by a sharp cry. Harry glared at Dudley, who had the decency to look mildly concerned.

"I'm coming in." Harry reached for the door handle.

"You can't go in there Clarke, that's the girl's locker room!" Dudley swatted at his hand.

Another pained cry came from inside the locker room. Harry narrowed his eyes, warning the boy. Dudley backed off.

He pulled hard at the handle, slamming the door open. Bella wasn't particularly strong so he knew it would just be a matter of getting Hermione away from her to fix the current situation.

As he rounded the corner where he heard the original commotion, he felt his heart stop.

Hermione sat on the ground, a glaring red mark on her cheek. Her hair was messed up and her book bag was dumped out all around her. Bella stood above her, laughing and pointing. Another girl held Hermione's shoulders down, cackling with her. One last girl stood to the side, looking at Harry guiltily.

All he felt was anger. For as many talks his parents had with him about accidental magic and keeping his emotions in check, he didn't take a single one of those times into account when he threw his hand out in rage. Bella was flung backward, toppling over a bench and smacking her head in the lockers, hard.

The other girls screamed and ran, looking for a teacher no doubt, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He picked Hermione's things up off the ground, knowing she'd lecture him for fighting her battles for her later on. He couldn't make eye contact as he threw her bag over his shoulder and offered his hand out to help her up. She grabbed his hand gratefully and stood, trembling slightly. He looked at her then, worried.

"Harry…" she whispered. "You used magic on her…"

"I know. I didn't mean to, but I saw you there on the ground and I just…freaked out I suppose." Harry shook his head. "Are you okay?"

Hermione looked down at the ground, her shoulders tensing. Harry reached for her, pulling her in a hug. She clung to him, burying her head in his arms. He patted her back absentmindedly, trying to calm down.

When she finally let go, they turned to find Dudley waiting awkwardly by the door.

"A teacher came looking for you…" He started, wringing his hands. "I didn't know she was going to do all that to her."

Harry frowned, was this his attempt at an apology?

"I told the teacher what happened. They still want to talk to you, but you're not in trouble. Not for coming in here at least. I don't know what happened to Bella." Dudley glanced at the floor where the unconscious girl was.

"Thank you, Dudley." Harry said, surprising everyone in the room, including himself.

"Forget it. And um, I'm..I'm sorry Hermione." With that, he left, fleeing from the reality of his apology.

"Well, that was interesting." Hermione said. "Do you want to walk to the front office together?"

"No." Harry shook his head. "We need to talk to my parents."

He led Hermione into an empty classroom, heading straight for the phone.

"Harry-" Hermione hissed. "We're going to get in even more trouble for being in here!"

"Only if we're caught." He insisted, punching in the numbers to his home phone.

The phone rang for a moment, Nick answered.

"Hello?"

"Nick, it's me. I accidentally used magic on someone." Harry's voice trembled slightly, his fear evident.

Hermione put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"Alright. Are they hurt?" Nick's voice was firm but calm.

"Yes." It came out in a whisper, his guilt radiating off in waves.

Nick went quiet for a moment. "Okay, is there anyone around you right now?"

"Just Hermione, why?" Harry glanced around, confirming his statement.

"Where did this happen?" Nick asked.

"The gym."

"Perfect. Meet me there in two minutes." A click sounded, he ended the call.

The two glanced at each other, what did he mean? There was nothing to do but hurry back to the gym. Harry still had both of their bags, and Hermione still lagged behind slightly, clearly more hurt than she was letting on. When they opened the door to the gym, Nick stood underneath the bleachers, holding up a finger to signal their silence.

He pointed around the room questioningly, asking where it happened. Harry pointed to the locker room and they all entered once more.

"Geez kid, how'd you manage this?" Nick breathed once they were inside.

A still unconscious Bella laid on the floor, unmoving. She didn't even look like she was breathing. Harry shook with fear, had he killed her?

"Don't worry little man, she's not dead. Your magic stunned her." Nick glanced at him and offered a smile. "Rennervate."

Nick waved his hand over the girl a few times, healing minor injuries with practiced skill. When she came to, he helped her up and ushered her out of the room. Harry and Hermione stood back, terrified she'd remember the whole fiasco and lash out, but she just clumsily walked out without even a glance at them.

"She'll be fine." Nick assured. "She doesn't have any injuries, she'll just be slightly confused for the next hour."

"Thank you, Nick." Hermione said, a wide smile on her face.

Hermione had, of course, shown signs of magic early on, much like Nick had originally suspected . When he first met the girl's parents, they had played the respectable, middle class, entirely ordinary family well; but, he could tell the way they watched their daughter that things had happened before.

It was at their third meeting he decided to bring it up to them, asking about her behavior and if she had ever done anything particularly "strange". He elaborated, mentioning "moving objects without touching them" or "suddenly having something she couldn't have gotten on her own" and his favorite thing that Harry had done, "accidentally moving herself to places she should not be…like the roof…"

Their response was defensive, of course, demanding to know what he meant by that and why he was accusing their daughter of such behavior. He had said nothing, choosing to hand them a book written for muggle parents of magical children. They had looked at him strangely for a while after that, but quickly came to him and Elise with their many questions and concerns. It was there that they had formed a friendship with the older Granger couple, guiding them through Hermione's bouts of accidental magic and helping them get the resources they needed to help her prepare for a life in the magical world.

Naturally, he had a fondness for the girl. She was smart as a whip, kind, respectful, and eager to learn. She reminded him a lot of himself, if he was being honest. So, when he took a look at her to discover her bruised face and messed up hair, nothing short of rage rose from his stomach.

"What happened to you?" He seethed, his eyebrows knit with concern.

Hermione shifted uncomfortably. "Well…"

"Some girls ganged up on her because Dudley told them to. He didn't think they'd go this far though, and I had to step in to stop them. That's why that girl was hurt. I'm sorry." Harry rushed to explain, waving his hands around wildly as he spoke.

"Sorry? For protecting your friend? Come now Harry, we raised you better than that, you did the right thing." Nick patted him on the shoulder appreciatively. "Hermione, drink this." He waved his hand and a vial appeared, he held it out to her.

Hermione's smile was present once more. Magic had fascinated her from the very beginning, and any chance she got to witness it, she found herself loving it more. She took the vial gratefully and downed it in one sip. Her bruise healed in an instant, and the soreness from being flung on for the ground faded as well, she felt much better.

"Thank you!" She said, handing him the vial back.

Nick nodded, pocketing the vial. "Now, off to class with you both, and not a word of this to anyone. Understand?

The two nodded, scurrying off. Nick glanced around the room once more, casting a few spells to erase all evidence of the kids' scuffle. With that, he had left.

So, the worst part of the day had been resolved quickly, and relatively painlessly, but it still left Harry feeling nothing but rage. He didn't understand Dudley's obsession with him, and much less the torment to Hermione "on his behalf". Did they think he was capable of standing by while they hurt his best friend? They couldn't have been more wrong.

It was this anger that fueled the speed of his walk home, his angry footsteps echoing off the sidewalk as he practically stomped his way home. The reason for his walk had been long forgotten as he rounded the corner to the walkway of his home, tearing open the door aggressively.

"Hey hey Bolt, nice to see ya." The unmistakable sound of his aunt's voice rang through his ears.

"Aunt Jackie?" He looked up, anger momentarily forgotten.

"That's me!" She stood above him, arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"What are you doing here?" He exclaimed, throwing his arms around her.

"Well I couldn't miss your big day, now could I?" She ruffled his hair and gestured behind her. "We're waiting on you, so let's go!"

Harry blinked in confusion. It wasn't his birthday, or any particularly memorable day as far as he remembered. So just what was he missing?

He followed close behind her, peeking out to see his grandparents, uncle, and even Hermione's family, all sitting at the dining room table.

"Alright, what's all this about?" Harry asked, a smile forming on his face.

His mum walked in then, carrying a letter. "We have some exciting news for you. Two pieces of news, really." She tapped his nose.

Harry took the letter she held out to him, opening it carefully. Inside were several documents, and while most of it was long paragraphs detailing things he couldn't even begin to describe, one thing was incredibly clear. The top paragraph was labeled something to the effect of "official adoption form". He glanced up at Nick.

"You're adopting me?" Harry grinned, eager to be officially recognized as the man's son.

"Yep." Nick stood and walked over to him, taking the letter and placing it on the table. "If that's alright with you, of course."

Harry flung his arms around him, and his family took that as response enough. Cheers and clapping sounded as Nick patted him on the back.

"That's not all though, your mum has something for you too." Nick pointed to a small bag in Elise's hand.

Eager chatter erupted as Harry opened the small present, pulling out a shirt. He looked at it questioningly, turning it over to read the print. "Big brother" was scrawled across the red shirt in gold ink. He blinked twice.

"What?" Was all he could say, but that was quickly cut off by his grandparents leaping up to hug his parents.

Hermione came over to him, tracing the hand along the shirt excitedly. "You're going to be a big brother soon!"

"I am?" Harry looked hopelessly lost, and the adults couldn't help but chuckle at him.

"Yes, little man. In just about 7 months, you'll have a new brother or sister." Elise tapped her stomach.

Harry stared wide eyed, a huge grin on his face. "Wicked!" He announced, throwing his arms around his mother this time.

The small party continued after that, with dinner being served as a celebration. Harry got to eat cake and talk about what he would get to help with as an older sibling. As the night grew later, the two kids found themselves curled up on the couch watching movies, both trying hard not to nod off.

It was well past 9 by the time Hermione's father carried her out to their car, his daughter fast asleep in his arms. Harry was sent up to his room, barely awake himself. He went to bed wearing his new shirt, all anger of the day long since forgotten