The rest of the year felt practically humdrum once Norbert wasn't on their minds anymore. Well, it wasn't that he wasn't on their minds so much as he was no longer a constant source of curiosity and concern.

Finals were terrifying, of course, since there were rumors that if someone did too badly on them that they'd be kicked out, which for the students from muggle families was a rather terrifying concept. Well, for most of the students from muggle families ("Minnie, it's not like we'd not be able to learn more magic if we got kicked out. We'd just have to be smarter about it, that's all," said Rosalina).

Their D&D group met as often as they normally did, but more and more of what they were doing now was studying together for finals rather than playing the game. Crabbe and Neville were both nervous wrecks ("I'm going to fail out, I just know it!" they'd lamented to her at separate times), but each time she'd spied them studying together they seemed to know what they were talking about, so she wasn't very worried for them.

She got the sense that the inter-house nature of their group was still odd in the eyes of the other Slytherins but she didn't care anymore. Fred and George certainly didn't care about the odd looks they were getting from the other Gryffindors for teaching her how to be a beater.

In fact, after Christmas all of the Weasley boys had warmed up to her. It wasn't exactly like they were going out of their way to be friendly, but they were treating her like any other student at Hogwarts, rather than as "one of those Slytherins." Which was nice.

It was doubly nice when she had one more person to wince with when the first years all learned that it was going to be none other than Hagrid who was going to give them their very first, school official, sex talk ("And none 'o this nonsense about birds an' bees. Never made sense to me, all that, so you're going ta learn facts," said Hagrid).
_

Hagrid was effective in a very blunt and brutal sort of way. He took each house's first years out to the sheep and the rams and lifted them up to show them the various parts of the animals ("Don't have any diagrams, wouldn't make sense anyway, practical is much more helpful," he'd said). He didn't divide them up by boys and girls either, he gave them all the same talk.

So the boys got to learn about bloody periods ("Some folks' periods are more painful than others, don't be afraid ta go talk to Madam Pomfrey if it hurts") and the girls got to learn about erections ("They can happen whether you want them ta happen or not, best not ta think about 'em. They'll go away when they go away"). It was all very informative.

"Most important thing you can learn about is that whatever you're feeling now, you're not the first person ta ever feel that way. You're not odd or strange just because you grow faster or slower than your peers. It happens when it happens. And if you do feel like everything's wrong, or that your body just isn't right, well don't be afraid to come talk to Madam Pomfrey or me. She's here ta help you be healthy and I do know a thing or two about being the odd duck," said Hagrid, and everyone chuckled.

Well, almost everyone. Rosalina saw Draco nodding along, as if this was something that nobody had ever told him before.

"And 'fore you go, there's one last thing you need ta keep in mind," said Hagrid, and everyone leaned in closer.

"There's always talk about love potions and how much a part of wizarding culture they are and how everyone uses them," said Hagrid, and there was a general sea of nods and sounds of agreement.

"Well I am here ta tell you right now that love potions are about the darkest magic you can do. No matter how much you like someone, love potions take away your freedom, your will, your everything, and if I catch anyone with them then detention will be the last thing you worry about," said Hagrid, a scowl flashing across his face for a moment. "But you seem like bright young lads and lasses, so that shouldn't be a problem!" he added, smiling once again.

Pansy Parkinson raised her hand, smirking all the while.

"Yes, Ms Parkinson?" said Hagrid, pointing over to her.

"If love potions are so bad then why hasn't the ministry banned them?" she asked. Everyone around her moved away just a hair.

"Because the ministry," began Hagrid, his face flushing red. Then he stopped and took a deep breath. "Because the ministry is run by bureaucratic dudderheads who wouldn't know a good idea if it came up and bite 'em."

Draco burst out laughing at that, and the Slytherin first years all relaxed ("I don't know why that's so funny but it's so true," said Draco between wheezes).

The rest of the day was practically smooth as silk after that, everyone having had their eyes more or less forced wide open about what the next few years would be like for them. Well, for their bodies, at least.

It certainly made their finals not seem nearly as horrible when they finally came. Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Flitwick drove them hard, but the image of Hagrid holding up a sheep ("Come 'ere and take a look at this one, Draco!") just made them not seem nearly so bad as they'd thought they'd be.

Rosalina had expected their Defense Against the Dark Arts final to be as tough as the other finals had been, no matter how shifty she thought Professor Quirrell was, but he'd been more distracted than ever, only giving them a wave of his hand when they said that they were done.

The most dramatic part of finals didn't even happen until the beginning of the week after they were done, when strange rumors began to abound around the school.

"Harry Potter tried to steal some of school's hidden treasure!"

"Professor Quirrell got his face burned off by the monster that Dumbledore locked away in the 3rd corridor!"

"You-Know-Who is back!" was the most ridiculous of them. How could a dead man come back to life?

Tensions were high, sure, but Rosalina would have just brushed them off as more silly nonsense ("Honestly, he was just a regular person like anyone else, and dead stays dead") if not for the fact that Harry had been deposited comatose into the hospital wing just as they were starting up.

The general response of the student body, other than rumor mongering as to what exactly had happened to him, was to buy him loads of 'get well soon' gifts. Some of them were cards, or clever bits of magic, but quite a bit of them were sweets. Many of them were sweets. Well, most of them were sweets, if she was being honest with herself ("Minnie it's not like he'd miss it if I took one. It's a massive pile!").

More stories came out once he woke up. Giant chess sets, huge, monstrous plants, deadly riddles, all sorts of crazy things, each more wild to believe than the last. There were even a few new rumors going around about the Bloody Baron being able to be in more places than one at the same time. Not that it made any difference, there were so many different crazy things about him out already ("I heard that he died trying to find the Gray Lady and that he's not even a wizard! He's a muggle ghost!").

The one solid part of the rumors was that Hermione and Ron had also been involved in whatever had happened, though they both professed to know nothing about what had gone down with Harry. Or if they did know, they weren't talking about it ("Minnie, sisters don't keep secrets from sisters!" "I can't, I promised Dumbledore himself!").

Even at the final feast after they awarded the House Cup to Gryffindor Dumbledore didn't say a word about it. He just congratulated them all on a year well done and hoped that no one got into trouble over the holidays.

On the train home Crabbe, Daphne, Heidi, and Rosalina all pegged Neville with questions about it ("You're in Gryffindor, you have to have heard something") but he professed to know as little about it as they did. ("Really, I don't talk to them that much except on occasion"). So they spent the rest of the ride playing D&D, ending that year's adventure with a grand opening to the next great endeavour.

"We should all meet up over the summer, do a few sessions, or hang out, or something," said Crabbe as the train pulled into King's Cross Station.

"Yeah, could be fun!" said Heidi, nodding along with him.

"I'm not sure how my gran would feel about it, but I could ask!" said Neville. They'd heard him talk about his gran and while everyone assumed she meant well, she did come off as something of a terror.

They agreed to try, at least, and many cheerful hugs were had once they got off the train before they met up with their parents.

Hermione was still shaking her head when they ran into their own parents, and both girls had a mix of surprise and delight when they saw that Miss Felicity had come to greet them at the platform as well.

"He's going to get himself expelled one day," Rosalina heard Hermione say as they walked back over to their parents.

"Who, Ron?" asked Rosalina, waving at them.

"Harry. He's decided to prank his cousin while he's at home this summer," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"Sounds wicked! I'll write and ask if he needs help. Dad! Dad, they loved the whole game and they want to meet up this summer!" said Rosalina, rushing over to give her father a hug.

"Sounds like we'll have quite the busy time of it this summer, then," he said, grinning down at both of them.

And with that, they headed back home, and thus ended Rosalina and Hermione Granger's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Author's Note: Hey all! As you might have guessed, this is the last chapter of Year One. The Golden Trio kept things pretty well under their hats this time so our gang of students didn't find out about what was happening until the tail end of it all.

I hope you'll all take a look at the next part of the Granger family adventures, Year Two, "Harry Potter and the Diary of Tom Riddle" which you can find here:

s/13497255/1/Harry-Potter-and-the-Diary-of-Tom-Riddle

Remember to like and review this, and thanks for reading!