A/N: To the guest reviewer, and anyone else, who doesn't know that OBHWF means One Big Happy Weasley Family - the bane of HHr shippers existence. I hope from last chapter this isn't coming off as a 'Saint Hermione' fic, but we tend to think the worst of ourselves, don't we? At least I think that Harry does. Warning - potion cliches ahead.

Disclaimer: JK Rowlings owns Harry Potter

Chapter 2

Albus Dumbledore apparated out front of the Burrow, intent on talking to Molly Weasley about shifting their plans around. He was greeted with the usual warmth from the Weasley matriarch as she shuffled him in the house, inviting him to take a seat at the table. She made idle chat as she cooked him up a plate, Ron and Ginny were upstairs, Arthur was still busy at the Ministry, and the twins were over Lee Jordan's house.

"Miss Granger has withdrawn from the magical world by her parents," Dumbledore dropped the ball before he took a bite of the delicious food.

"Oh dear," Molly sighed, before shaking her head. "Well, we'll just have to set Ron up with someone else."

They were really only putting Hermione and Ron together because it would get the girl out of the way for Ginny, and Hermione was the best Ron could ever get. Now, Ron could settle down with a respectable pureblood girl, Molly really only tolerated Penny because she was like Granger - intelligent.

"He's talked about that Lavender Brown in the past, she's also a pureblood. She would be able to breed quite well," Molly said, mentally making a note to brew some amortentia for Ron to slip into the girl's drinks.

"We'll have to shift some things around, I'm going to go over to Headquarters after this, I suggest you pack up and bring everyone over there. It'll be much safer," he said in his grandfatherly voice that he knew melted everyone's hearts.

"When will you bring Harry?"

"The blood wards at Privet Drive are keeping him safe while there are guards monitoring the neighborhood. He won't be touched there," Dumbledore said with a decisive nod, knowing exactly what kind of people his relatives were, 'the worst type of muggles', but it was for the greater good and his protection that he stay there.

Unfortunately, it never crossed Albus Dumbledore's mind that since Harry's blood was used in the ritual and Tom could now walk across the wards without them so much tickling him.

"Albus, what about the potions?"

"They will stick in his system all summer until we bring him to Headquarters and can administer more. Do not fret, Molly, he and Ginerva will grow closer this year," Dumbledore said with a smile, placating the red-head just as the Floo sounded, signalling Arthur's arrival home from work.

The two youngest Weasley children listened to the whole conversation through their brother's extendable ear.

Ginny Weasley was used to getting what she wanted. Being the only girl in a family of boys, she was the one who received new items - clothes, robes, and the like. She knew she was the apple of her parents eye and favored among them. Her brothers knew it to, hence their drive to excel in their areas of excellence - Bill, former Head Boy, cursebreaker; Charlie, former Quidditch captain, dragon tamer; Percy, former Head Boy, working at the Ministry; Fred and George, master pranksters and popular among peers.

Ron was the black sheep of the Weasley males.

He was was inherently lazy and felt somewhat entitled to succeed just because his brothers did. His mother and Headmaster used alluring words such as fame, fortune, and girls which sealed his approval and compliance with anything they wanted him to do. Slip potions in his best friend's drinks? You got it. Separate Harry from Hermione and keep him humble? No problem. Marry Granger and have lots of Weasley children who will inherit their mother's 'brainy' genes? Why not.

He was indifferent to Hermione leaving the magical world. His grades weren't really an issue to him, he was planning on becoming an Auror after Hogwarts anyway. She wasn't the prettiest bird anyway. As his mother mentioned Lavender, the budding buxom blonde, his mood definitely brightened.

He knew that their whole plan to integrate Harry Potter into their family had started after that fateful Halloween.

Ginny had grown up on stories about the Boy-Who-Lived and her mother always said that she would marry Harry Potter because he would be in Hogwarts with her when she was older. It was conditioned into Ginny by her mother, but Ginny wanted Harry more than she wanted anything, which only grew when she first laid eyes on him at King's Cross.

"Act shy, I'm sure he'll love that," her mother had told her. If there was one thing Ginny was not, it was shy. She had been described as fiery and feisty, just like Lily Potter herself. Then her gallant knight had saved her from Tom Riddle, they had fought Voldemort together! They shared that experience

"Wouldn't that just be perfect? It would be like James and Lily!" her mother had commented last year, everyone agreeing thoroughly. Everyone agreed it would be best for Harry, no one taking in Harry's opinion of this. It was no matter what he thought, because after all, they knew best for him.

When she heard that Granger had been pulled from the magical world by her muggle parents, a wide smile crossed Ginny's face. It seemed that every time she tried to get close to Harry, Hermione was there, thwarting her efforts. She knew that she was starting to develop the Prewett curves as her mother had called them and knew that Harry would find them attractive. The lust potion was already working through his system and she knew it was only a matter of time. It was all Granger's fault anyway that they weren't together yet.

Finally, Granger would be gone and out of the way. Harry, as much as Ginny hated to admit it, would be torn up which gave her the perfect opportunity to step in and offer a shoulder to cry on.

She and Ron snuck back to their rooms and she sighed as she laid on her bed, gazing at the Harry Potter pictures cut out from her children's book that hung above her bed. 'Come this year, life will be very good.'

Sirius Black was more than a bit peeved. He sat in the library at Grimmauld Place, alone, nursing a glass of firewhiskey as he thought about his godson.

He was pissed at Dumbledore that he was stuck with those muggles when he could be here, perfectly safe under the Fidelus. Voldemort would have to go through him if he wanted to touch his godson and Sirius would massacre the son of a bitch if he even tried to touch Harry.

He was also a little disappointed in the girl who helped save him. He thought that Hermione would have rather cut off her hand than abandon Harry, but it was probably more of her mum and dad's decision. They were muggles and this world was someplace that they couldn't follow their daughter extensively too. Sad, but true. They were within their rights to panic about a Dark Lord who hated everything their daughter was. He was more concerned about Harry and just hoped that he wasn't that torn up about it. He knew that the two were close and wondered if he had as big of a crush on the girl as she did on him.

He chuckled, the poor girl had fallen for the Potter charm, just like Lily had...or was it that Harry followed his father's - and grandfather's - example in falling for the best witch in his year. Sadly, he wouldn't know. Hermione was now a muggle.

Then there was Albus, who was restricting everyone from contacting Harry. Everyone of course agreed with the old Headmaster, the 'leader of the light'. If Sirius heard the phrase, "for the greater good" one more time, he was going to scream.

He was tempted to transform into his animagus and go check on Harry, no one knew that he was an illegal animagus except for the ones on his side. So what was stopping him? He didn't know. Every time he tried to stand up to go to Privet Drive, he couldn't move. His mind would wander to another idea - saying that it wasn't a good idea and that he should stay hidden. That it was the right thing to stay hidden and that Harry needed to be left alone. And he listened to it, because it was right...at least, that's what it told him...

The damn voice in his head was the reason he was drinking, to make it shut the hell up. He supposed it was side effects from being in Azkaban, isolated, with only the Dementors as company.

He knew that he also couldn't afford to make any more mistakes, especially after his near fatal one on Halloween of 1981. He vowed to be there for the most important person in his life, his godson. He vowed to keep him safe no matter what, so he would listen to the old coot, for now.

If only he had remained the secret keeper, none of this would have happened. He would have taken the location to his grave and died happy knowing he kept his friends safe.

He winced as his sip of firewhiskey burned his throat, before the welcomed warmth spread in his belly.

"Bring this to Ron," Harry told Hedwig, who bobbed her head before flying out of the window. Harry watched her go, wondering if she would be able to track Hermione.

He had heard from his brainy best friend once when he had wondered about the owls that they can track witches and wizards through a magical signature. His thoughts turned gloomy since he figured that because her magic was taken away, she didn't have a magical signature anymore. But, Hedwig was incredibly intelligent and would remember where she had delivered her letters. He wished he could just talk to her, to someone!

He sighed, as he watched Hedwig disappear from sight, before walking over to his desk. He picked up the copy of Mansfield Park and opened it to 'Chapter 2', seeing the riddle for him to solve. He had been trying to think about it all day, to no avail.

What gets broken without being held?

He had heard this riddle before, but for the life of him, couldn't remember the answer. Broken without being held? He absentmindedly thanked the sorting hat for not even considering Ravenclaw, considering they had to solve a riddle to get into their tower.

What gets broken without being held...

"A bone?" he tried, but the book didn't glow like it did last time. He sighed in frustration, running his hand through his hair and pacing the room. Broken without being held...

'Come on, Hermione, you should have known I'd be rubbish at this,' he grumbled in his mind, picturing his best friend rolling her eyes with her hands on her hips.

"Boy! Get down here!"

'Great,' Harry rolled his eyes and placed the book on his desk. He only took a step out of his room, before he was shoved back inside by a what looked like a baby whale. He landed on his arm with a yelp, glancing up to see the sneering face of his cousin.

"Watch it, Potter," he spat, smirking at his 'physical prowess'. Dudley had taken to bullying small kids around the neighborhood with his band of bumbling baboons. He had also taken to being called 'Big D', emphasis on the big.

"Arsehole," Harry grumbled as he picked himself off the floor, walking downstairs to see Petunia fawning over the pig in a wig. He rolled his eyes at the display before turning to his uncle who was sitting in his sofa chair.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon?"

Vernon glanced over with his beady eyes. "Dinner," he barked, raising the paper once more. Harry walked into the kitchen, pulling different ingredients out of the shelves. His felt his arm starting to become sore from Dudley's shove and silently promised himself that the pig in a wig would be the victim of a very powerful hex, as soon as he was of age.

He paused his cooking, 'Wait...promise...what gets broken without being held...a promise.'

Harry smiled.

As soon as he was done cooking for them, he grabbed his plate and raced up toward the room. He walked over to his desk and opened the book, "A promise."

He took a bite of his sandwich as the book glowed and the text was replaced by Hermione's scrawl.

Hello again, Harry.

I can't tell you how glad I am that you decided to trust me, but I'm sorry. I cannot tell you everything just yet.

He groaned at this, disappointed. He also felt a flash of annoyance with the bushy haired witch that she was being so discreet, before remembering what his new decree was - trust Hermione.

The reason I cannot tell you anything just yet is because you're still vulnerable for information. I know this sounds like a ridiculous spy movie, but it's true. You need to do one more thing before I tell you what is going on.

The potion you took is completely safe, I tested it on myself first to make sure I did it right and it did work for me.

The next thing you need to do is pull the large black tome from the box.

Harry glanced in the box and took out the aforementioned book, seeing that it had a blank cover but the inside was filled with small script and his face immediately scrunched up his face at. Reading was not his favorite pass time and he wondered how Hermione always became so interested in it.

It is a book on Occlumency, which will block Legillimency - mind reading - attacks. Read it and study hard. This will take about a month to do and unfortunately, you have no one to test your shields so you need to be extra diligent in this. No complaining, Harry, this is important so take it seriously. Please.

Until you read the book and your shields are built, I can't tell you anything. So, that should be some incentive to satisfy your curiosity.

Also, I've given you my Ancient Runes and Arithmancy notes at the bottom of the box. I want you to try to teach yourself, I'm very detailed in my notes so you should be able to learn quite easily. Don't doubt yourself, you're smarter than you think!

Though, if you had just taken these classes instead of Divination, we could skip this step! I won't say I told you so, but I told you so.

Again, I'm giving you the option to back out if you want. I really hope you don't, though, because I want to see you again. I miss you already. I'm sure I miss you then too, even if I don't know it.

Good luck.

- HJG

Pulling the box out from under his bed, he opened it and found the notes in another manila folder. One glance at the equations and shapes, he groaned, knowing that it was not going to be fun and looked incredibly difficult. Glancing over to the desk, he saw the picture of the the two of them he had kept out. They were in second year, smiling widely in their Hogwarts robes while waving at the camera.

'To see her again and to know what is going on,' he thought, which immediately lit the proverbial fire under his arse. He placed the notes on his desk and put the box back under his bed.

He grabbed the Occlumency book and laid down, opening it up to the first page. He wasn't a big fan of reading, probably because he was never given sufficient reading material besides the directions in a cookbook growing up, but this was important; if it was important to Hermione, he'd make it important to him.

He knew that he hadn't been a terrific friend to Hermione over the last couple of years, not that she hadn't gotten on his nerves or had been completely perfect, but she was an all around great person.

Yes, she nagged him about homework because she cared enough to do so. Yes, sometimes she was pushy to the point of annoying, because sometimes he needed a swift kick to the arse. Most of all, she looked out for him more than anyone had ever done before, even Ron. She stuck by him through everything, believed him when no one else would. He reckoned he wouldn't have another friend like Hermione Granger.

He had fun with Ron, he could talk about things with him that he couldn't with Hermione, but given the choice, he would choose his brainy best friend. As he thought about it, he didn't know if that answer would have been the same the month before and that confused him a bit. It was like he finally got a good night of sleep after a couple of days of meagre sleeping time.

His brain seemed more active, his thoughts processing faster. Whatever the cause for this was, whether the potion or something else, he just hoped that Hermione had an answer for him.

But first, "Occlumency - the magical defense of the mind against external penetration..."

It took a week and a half for Harry to fall into a routine.

The days were full of frustrations, cursing, and empty threats. Wake up, cook his relatives breakfast, complete his chores, cook lunch, Arithmancy while eating his lunch, read Occlumency between breaks, cook dinner, Runes while eating his dinner, read Occlumency and meditate before bed.

Repeat.

After not receiving any post from Ron, especially after three more letters, all but begging for an answer, he was starting to get concerned and a little ticked off. He had written Fred and George, Neville, even Ginny. Just trying to get someone to answer him.

He was starting to feel the loneliness creep into him. He supposed that it was because of Hermione. Every time he thought about a non-magical Hermione who had no thought of him, and wasn't missing him, it hurt.

He practically threw himself in reading the black book, mostly to keep his mind occupied. Fortunately, it did and he started to find some peace, especially while meditating to build up his shields. The book had said that while meditating, you needed to place your subconscious in a place where you found the most comfort. He had some trouble with this at first.

He first imagined himself at Hogwarts, just idly walking through the Great Halls until he thought about Quirrel, about the Basilisk, about the Triwizard tournament and it kind of just shut down on him, costing him his concentration. He then tried thinking about Quidditch, the feeling when he caught a snitch, the feeling of flying around it, until that tied into Quirrel cursing his broom, the bludger from Dobby, the Dementors, flying from a dragon that was trying to barbeque him.

Then he thought about the air. He thought about flying and then he got rid of the broom. He was just flying in the air like Superman and he found his center. He then imagined himself just levitating in the air, eyes closed, legs folded, completely at peace in the air where nothing could touch him.

Arithmancy and Runes were a different problem all together.

At first, he had no idea how to start and it all looked too complicated for him to understand. He cursed his own stupidity, he cursed Hermione giving him this crap to learn, he even cursed whatever reason she had for him to learn it, important or not. During one curse filled tantrum, he threatened to throw it all out and forget about it, but this was all out of frustration and isolation.

All he had to teach himself with was Hermione's detailed notes. The whole time, he kept beating himself up for not taking the class and following Ron's lead. Like Hermione said, if he had taken the classes, they could have skipped this and he would have only had Occlumency to study.

He felt busier than he ever had in his life, not one minute of free time to just relax.

By the end of the one month mark, he was exhausted.

A couple of days before his birthday, a little over a month after Hermione's last 'assignment', Harry felt that it was time and opened up the book, flipping to the third chapter.

Feed me and I live, yet give me a drink and I die.

Maybe it was because of all the brain exercise he was receiving, but he was able to get this answer quickly, "Fire."

The book glowed and he smiled, seeing her writing appear. It was a link to her, she was helping him when she wasn't here, even when she had no idea who he was.

By now, I assume that your Occlumency shields are in place and strengthening each day, but keep reading and practicing! Naturally, it takes years for someone to become a strong Occlumens, but I believe that your mind is strong enough to block a passive attack. An active attack would need a wand, but I believe you could get the jump on anyone who tried.

It's time to finally tell you what is going on.

He smiled, feeling a jolt of relief and excitement. He settled back into his bed, ready to hear what he had been preparing for for the last month.

It started on November 1st. You know that I had been in the library after dinner, trying to find a way for you to get out of the tournament. I had lost track of time and almost missed curfew, but I think that it was a blessing in disguise.

I was sneaking back to the tower when I heard Professor Dumbledore's voice and panicked. I hid in an alcove so I wasn't caught and given detention...or worse - expelled...anyway, I heard him talking to Snape.

He said that he had 'the potion placed in his pumpkin juice'. I caught something about 'the Potter brat' from Snape's mouth before he then mentioned something about more compulsion and loyalty potions that he was brewing. There was also Mrs. Weasley's name mentioned and a 'lust potion', but that was all I could hear. I had to sneak away before I got caught by them.

Harry, I'll just be blunt - Dumbledore has been slipping you potions.

A number of emotions ran through Harry at this - anger, confusion, hurt. At first, he just wanted to deny it. He wasn't exactly agreeing with any of the Headmaster's actions, but feeding him potions? That seemed a bit extreme, but then he actually thought about it. Why he was questioned the Headmaster, but went along with it anyway. It just...made sense.

Yes, I know. At first, I didn't want to believe it because you know how I admired Dumbledore. Considering, not only your, but my behavior all year, it gave me the proof to learn a detection charm from Madam Pomfrey, "for educational purposes." Thankfully, she chose to satisfy my curiosity.

I found a couple of compulsion charms along with a loyalty potion in your system. From the strength of them, they had been in your system for a while and you were continually fed them. The potion that I had you take flushed it out, but it won't keep them from being administered and I could only make enough for you and myself.

It might sound crazy, and believe me, I didn't want to believe it at first. I felt the urge to go straight to Dumbledore and report this. That was what got me thinking - my instinctive reaction to tell Dumbledore, not McGonagall, not even you.

A detection charm on me showed there was a loyalty potion in my system along with a lust potion.

It was easy to deduce who the potion was keyed to considering I only had romantic thoughts about to two boys. The lust potion was having me think romantic thoughts about Ron. Ron, for God's sake! Can you imagine what kind of disaster relationship that would be? As soon as I flushed all the potions out of me, those thoughts and feelings were gone and all I felt while thinking of Ron Weasley was annoyance, irritation, and exasperation.

It seems that love and lust potions are common in that family, though since Mrs. Weasley once mentioned to Ginny and I that she used a love potion on Arthur before. I think that they were planning on setting you up with Ginny. Have you had any romantic thoughts about her this year that confused you?

Thoughts of Ginny and him being romantically involved made him sick to his stomach and he was worried he would throw up for a second. For Gods sake, he considered the girl like a sister! He was having weird thoughts about her at odd intervals but they would disappear quickly. Just the thought that Dumbledore, someone he trusted, was dosing him made Harry sick to his stomach.

Ironic how I was being accused of making lust potions for you, only it was the people we were supposed to trust dosing us!

However, if you're still doubting me, think about your behavior.

How passive you were. Harry, you're a very easy-going guy, it's one of the things I love about you, but last year was even more so than normal. How you forgave Ron for his abandoning you after that pathetic apology quicker than you forgave me for the Firebolt, how you let everyone Dumbledore lead you around your nose.

I'm not saying this to insult you, Harry, that's the last thing I ever want to do, but you've been tampered with. I found, too late mind you, that if you had sat out of the tournament, the person who entered would have lost their magic, not you.

Think.

Harry frowned but did as the letter said and he realized that she was right. Initially after his name came out of the Goblet, he was panicky but then Dumbledore showed up and he felt like he just needed to listen to what his Headmaster said, to continue on with the tournament as bait, knowing that his Headmaster would take care of him. 'Bloody good job he did,' Harry thought bitterly. His trust had depleted severely in the last month, especially as he meditated and was able to think. Now that he knew the truth...he didn't know if he could trust the Headmaster anymore. He didn't really know who he could trust besides Hermione...and maybe Sirius...

Thoughts then switched to Ron. Harry didn't forgive Hermione until his Firebolt was returned to him by McGonagall, the thought making him wince. 'You bloody idiot, is your friendship with her worth less than a bloody broomstick?' Harry felt like he was just kicked in the stomach and he had to lay back on his bed as dizziness overcame him. He had neglected Hermione, just like Ron had this year. He had made her feel like she was less important than a Firebolt, because she was suspicious of it.

He then thought of Ron and Hermione being romantic together and a coil formed around his heart. His fists clenched, his brow furrowed, his teeth ground together. Just the thought of them together made him miserable, for a reason he couldn't identify. She would be miserable, he wouldn't treat her right. They would yell at each other, him belittling her, her getting upset and screaming back. 'She deserves better,' he thought.

With a frown, he glanced back at the letter.

I can neither confirm nor deny whether Ron or Ginny had any idea about the potions, but Ginny had talked to me about wanting to date you and how 'perfect' you two could be together and how she was planning on getting your attention this summer. Ron is just a prat and the only reason I tolerated him was because of you.

I threw myself into researching how to remove the potions. I was also worried that they were using charms on us, which would be harder to remove, but, thankfully, it was only potions.

I found that using a potion was the easiest way to get into our system without any glaring effects, but also sticks in the system longer. You can't measure a charm and I suspect Dumbledore knew I would notice, it would also wear off over time. I also think that they were weaning the potion into our system, bit by bit - my guess is probably around Christmastime of last year. That's when we started acting different from my dream.

His eyes widened. Did she have a similar dream like he did about the movie theatre?

The quickest way I found to remove the potions was through a very potent flushing draught. I checked out a book from the restricted section and it took some time to brew in Myrtle's bathroom - bless the ghost for helping me guard it. I tested it out on myself to make sure it was safe before giving it to you.

I know you are probably upset that I didn't tell you this year, but it took some time for me to really come to grips with it. I'm really sorry, Hary, but I knew that I couldn't just tell you until we were away from the school.

I'm also sorry about what you had to go through with the potion, but it was necessary. Remember in January when I said I had the flu?

I wrote to my parents and we started planning. Unsurprisingly, they were angry when they found out about the impressions being placed on you. That anger rocketed to furious when they found out that I was being tampered with, so agreed to help me plan all of this. They ordered the Occlumency book and some other books from Flourish and Blott's, thanks to Hedwig. She's such a clever girl!

Listen to me, Harry - I know that this will sound bad, but I'm not sure if we can talk to Sirius about this. Now, while I know your anger is probably flashing because I'm asking you to keep something from your godfather, your family, but I PROMISE he will find out soon enough. He might be placed under the same influences we were, so until they are flushed form his system, we can not fully trust him. I'm going to need to make a potion for him too, just in case.

I cannot tell you everything in this simply because it would be too much to write and I'd rather give you more reasons to want to see me.

It's why the next thing you need to do is very important - take the dagger that I gave you, there is a sharpener in their if you need it. What you're going to do is carve the sketch of runes at the bottom of the page into your wand. I've made a diagram to follow.

I'm sorry to say this, but you need to be precise, so I'd suggest practicing first on a stick if you can find it. If you even mess up one rune, you could ruin your wand. I have complete faith in you, though. Just take your time and be as precise as you can.

When you are done, your wand should glow gold.

"No pressure, huh, Hermione?" he snarked sarcastically, before seeing the next line.

Don't be a smart alek, Harry.

"Know-it-all," he said, a large smile on his lips as he gazed at the paper. Whenever he thought Hermione couldn't get even more brilliant, she does something like this.

Good luck.

- HJG

Hedwig was not a very happy owl. She was very concerned for her lonely wizard, knowing that he missed his bushy haired companion, but knew that the witch was trying to set things write among the betrayers. She had grown quite fond of the witch who loved her wizard so dearly

She grew angry when she had delivered the letters to the Burrow, seeing the white-haired one there with the red-headed shrew - the plump one, to be exact, considering both Weasley women were of the harpy variety. She didn't trust the younger one as far as she could throw her, and she wished she could throw her into the Black Lake to keep the Squid company. She was trying to bewitch her Harry. No way if Hedwig had anything to say about it, and she also knew that her Harry's Hermione would be very angry as well.

The bird actually thought a confrontation between the two witches would be most entertaining. The red head was fiery, but Hermione would walk to the gates of hell if it meant defending Harry.

She was well aware of the witches and wizards guarding the home around the neighborhood, thought they seemed like the most incompetent ones. She was sure that she could protect Harry better than they could.

She flew from her perch and landed on Harry's shoulder. If Hedwig could smile, she would be beaming as she saw the mind magic book open on his desk while he meditated. The clever witch was helping him, and needed to start thinking how she could push the two to admitting their feelings. Well, first they needed to get Harry away from the prison and she would help anyway that Hermione needed. She gave a joyous hoot and Harry turned to Hedwig with a fond smile.

"Do you miss Hermione, girl?" Hedwig nodded her head to the question as her wizard rubbed her head. "Me too."

She fluffed out her wing and gently touched her wizard's shoulder in comfort, seeing that he was hurting from her absence. All she could do now was offer her comfort as she patiently waited for the witch's plan unfolded.

A fifteen year old girl in Kent sat at her desk in her bedroom, enjoying her favorite pass time - reading. She had went to the local bookstore she frequented and picked up a new copy of her favorite book, Mansfield Park. She couldn't, for the life of her, remember where her other copy was.

This was one of the first 'serious' books she had ever read when she was seven years old. She had always found comfort in the fictional land of books, submerging herself in the characters. When she was younger, she found a friend in Fanny Price, the shy, timid girl and offered her own friendship in return. She created her own world where no one bullied her and everyone accepted her for her, faults and all.

She knew that she was bossy and a know-it-all, which were the main reasons why she didn't have friends. She also had uncontrollable bushy hair and fairly large front teeth giving her a beaver effect. She was plain looking while all other girls her age were developing curves and beauty. She still felt like she was in that awkward stage, teetering on the edge of puberty and adolescence, even at fifteen years old. All that seemed to change about her was that she had grown into her teeth and her hair had calmed a bit.

Perhaps she was just a late bloomer.

She absent-mindedly twirled her small ruler in her hand as she read, but groaned and rubbed her eyes as the words blurred on the paper.

She hadn't been sleeping very well over the last couple of weeks and always seemed to be lost in her thoughts. She kept having a recurring dream about a large, beautiful castle. It wasn't very clear and she couldn't remember much when she woke up, but what she could remember was that the place made her feel safe.

She could also recall the most important part of the dream - a boy. She thought fondly about his handsome face as he smiled at her, those striking green eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses and unruly raven hair. His smile did funny things to her insides, melting them into a pile of goo. She had no idea what his name was, but knew that he didn't judge her for being a bookworm, or because she was smart, or because she had bushy hair. He liked her for her and she desperately wished that he was real.

The idea itself was laughable that a handsome boy would ever be near her. Whenever boys were around, especially ones her age, Hermione seemed to freeze up and to not make a fool of herself, she adopted her usual air of bossiness to put them off right away. It was better to keep them at a distance, and less painful when they figure out what a bore she was.

She picked up the ruler, leaving her open book on her lap, and twirled it around in her fingers. Another thing about the dream was the weird words popping into her head.

"Wingardium Leviosa," she murmured quietly, before looking behind her to see that her door was still closed. Straightening up her posture, she pointed her wand once more and with swish and flick - a movement that felt oddly natural to her - she exclaimed, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Sweetheart?"

Hermione startled and dropped the ruler on the floor in surprise, turning to see her mother opening her bedroom door with a concerned look on her face. "Did you say something?"

Hermione smiled tightly and shook her head, trying to act casual. It was a bit embarrassing to be almost caught waving a ruler around and talking gibberish. "No, mum."

Anna looked skeptical but dropped it and smiled at Hermione. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes," she said, before walking back out the door. The young girl listened to her mother's footsteps, making sure she was downstairs before picking the ruler off the floor.

'It's Leviosa, not Leviosa,' she heard an exasperated and bossy young girl's voice in her mind. She straightened up once more and pointed the ruler at her desk lamp.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Hermione exclaimed in a quiet voice, flicking her ruler once more. What she was expecting to happen, she didn't really know, so nothing happening was not a disappointment. She felt incredibly silly suddenly and just shook her head, laughing at herself.

"I really need to get more sleep," she said to herself as she placed her book next to her ruler, walking out of her bedroom.