Chapter 1

"What can I do for you, Miss Granger." Professor Dumbledore said and motioned for her to come forward.

"Sir." She said stiffly and sat nervously in the chair before his great desk.

"Miss Granger?" he said mimicking her tone.

"Harry." She started but then clamped her lips closed and looked down.

"Miss Granger, I've sworn to not pry into your mind for information on Mr. Potter, but you asked to speak to me." He said gently.

She sighed and looked up. "Yes, Headmaster, thank you again. I'm rubbish in a fight. Harry needs someone who can help him when spells start flying."

Instead of answering he took a lemon drop from the bowl on his desk, popped it into his mouth and leaned back in thought.

She waited patiently, having presented her predicament. Harry's inclusion in the Tri-Wizard Tournament had highlighted her own deficiencies just as much as Harry's. They needed serious help or one of these years they would be killed.

Several minutes later he cleared his throat. "I believe you spent much of your third year in the company of a certain Slytherin?"

She opened her mouth, but the Headmaster held his hand up and she sat back in her chair.

"I will discuss this with Padfoot and see if an arrangement can be made."

"Yes, Professor, thank you." Hermione said and stood, not quite understanding how Sirius Black could be of assistance in this.

"Miss Granger." He said and waited for her to face him again. "I believe you are selling yourself short, but I do agree that a skilled combatant would be an advantage. I recommend you dedicate some of your attention to Poppy's profession, as well as focusing on defensive spells."

He walked around his desk, clasping his hands behind his back. "What I am about to say, I say with a bit of trepidation, yet I feel it must be said. In all magical couples, if there is a great disparity in magical power, the weaker one becomes subordinate to the stronger. The fact that you are still your own person indicates to me that your magical abilities are well above the average. To add another to this delicate balance you have achieved will be difficult, yet I believe the witch in question is capable of it."

She was only mildly surprised by this revelation. She'd delved deep into magical theory, spending hours with Professors McGonagall and Vector, attempting to understand how magic really worked. "I've never heard it stated that way sir, I suppose it makes a certain sense. We've felt our magic interacting, feeling out the balance you mentioned. I do trust her, Headmaster, thank you again." Hermione said and left. Leaving both of them in deep thought.

}-{

Harry Potter was extremely pissed off as he sat wasting his time on Privet Drive. With Voldemort's resurrection he knew he had to be ready to fight him as an equal. That wasn't going to happen if he spent every summer doing the chores on Privet Drive. He had managed to get into better shape, by running every morning and even visiting the local pool to swim laps. Since Hermione had taught him how to swim for the second task he'd discovered he actually liked it. Even his school books had been re-read and useful spells or strategies noted down in his new spiral notebook.

He picked up Hermione's most recent letter, like everything he'd received all summer it was much of nothing. And that was the reason for his anger. Not even Hermione would tell him anything!

He tossed it on his bed and lay down beside it closing his eyes in thought. Several minutes later, when he had calmed down he looked at the letter again, this time two words jumped out at him: no good.

Perusing the letter a bit more carefully he found up and to in a straight line down the right edge of the page.

"No way." He said in a hushed whisper and snatched his wand from under his pillow.

Pressing the tip of his wand to the letter he said, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." A broad grin finally split his face as the letter reformed to a much longer one in his friends tiny script. She had written him!

Harry,

I do hope you figured this out quickly, it was the only way I could get a real message out. Mrs. Weasley is monitoring everything!

Yes, I'm with them, but at Padfoots. Professor Dumbledore promises me you will be picked up on the night of your birthday to come here.

Now, as to what has been going on. The Daily Prophet is ridiculing yourself and the Headmaster for your stand on Voldeshorts. Madam Bones and Madam Longbottom seem to be the only prominent politicians in our corner, but the Headmaster says he is calling in favors, some over a hundred years old, to get others to side with us against the Minister.

The Weasley's are trying to hide it but none of them are happy that you and I are together. They treated me normally until it came up in conversation, now they all look at me like I've stolen you. In spite of that, things were fairly quiet until a few days ago, then another girl showed up. I'm sorry I can't name her, but even here I don't think it would be a good idea.

I did tell the Headmaster at the end of the year that we needed help, this seems to be his way of providing that.

Officially Padfoot did something and that triggered something else, and she is here waiting to speak with you.

The Weasley's, especially Ron are not getting along with her. You will recognize her immediately, but please give her a chance. I do know her and she has my trust.

In fact I've switched from sharing rooms with Ginny to sharing with her to get away from the constant bickering of our red headed friends.

Remember what I told you Harry, I'll never leave you.

Love Hermione

PS, yes I mean it, of course I love you Harry.

Before he could even touch his wand to the note to give the counter it crumbled into a fine dust. He brushed it off of his bed and onto the floor, thinking about the contents of the letter. What kind of help had she asked for and what had Sirius done to cause a girl to be waiting for him?

And Hermione trusted her. Who precisely were his girlfriend's friends? The only one he knew outside of their house was Padma Patil from Ravenclaw, but she wouldn't cause such a reaction from the Weasleys, unless she tore into Ron about the Yule Ball?

He shook his head, no that couldn't be it. He wished he could re-read the letter, but that wasn't an option so he had to use his memory. Hermione trusted this girl enough to share a room with her, instead of with Ginny. That told him she was a very close friend indeed.

"Guess I'll just have to wait and find out on Tuesday night and I really need to learn who Hermione's friends are." He said to his snowy owl who gave a soft bark.

Harry pulled all of Hermione's letters from the drawer and looked through them for the same telltale words. They were not on the first two, but were included on the next four. Damn, she'd been sending him real messages since the first two!

Sudden tears came to him and he wiped them away furious with himself now. She had been loyal to him. She had not ignored or abandoned him. He had not trusted her enough to believe in her brilliance.

He would try not to make that mistake again. She had handed him some extra books when they were on the Express, he'd flipped through them but not really bothered to try and understand them. With renewed energy he decided to focus the rest of his time on them, she knew what he was up against and likely the books were part of her strategy to assist him.

The first book: Understanding Wandless Magic sounded daunting. Everyone said it was nearly impossible, but he knew Dumbledore could do some, it was likely Voldemort could as well. Even if the book didn't teach him how to do it, if he understood it that could help.

The second book: Occlumency for Self-Awareness did not make much sense. What was Occlumency to begin with? He gave a mental shrug at his own stupidity and opened the book to find out. An hour later he stood and stretched, pondering what he had just learned.

"Boy! Take the garbage out!" Aunt Petunia screamed up the stairs.

"Sure." He replied, just loud enough for her to hear. What was she thinking? All of the windows up and down Privet Drive were open.

He stuffed an old ball cap on his head and began collecting the cans from around the house. So Occlumency was the name for a large branch of self-centered mental magic. Everything from defending your mind from external influence to organizing your thoughts to better retain information or solve mysteries. The book his thoughtful girlfriend had given him focused on the latter part of that, learning to organize your mind, ignore the distractions to see the truth in the clues you do have and understand what they meant.

If she had been using this for years it was no wonder she was a walking encyclopedia. One of the games she'd played back in second year was having all of the first year students ask her questions about any of their classes, trying to stump her, they hadn't been able to. The game had not happened in third, because he and Ron were fighting with her and she'd spent most of her time in the Library. In fourth year she had joined him in being school pariahs.

Once the trash was on the curb, and all of the cans were washed and back in their proper locations, he made a quick sandwich in the empty kitchen and took it, with a glass of water, up to his room to continue the book.