I just want to point out that this story is AU. This will be a Harry Potter / Hermione Granger pairing. Yes, I will answer your questions if you leave them but if you flame me, I will just flat out block you. This is my first story in the Harry Potter world. Just an FYI

I am dedicating this story to my friend who just passed away from Cancer. In her memory, I will finish this story so that she'll have something to look forward to.

Hermione still remembered that very day when she received her Hogwarts letter. She had just gotten home from school and there it was, just sitting on their kitchen table addressed to her. For an eleven year old girl, this letter held promises of a brighter future. One that would be filled with adventure, knowledge and most importantly, friends.

Fast forward six years and here she was, on her first day of her seventh and final year at Hogwarts but yet, Hermione found herself unfazed by the whole ordeal. While most of her classmates were engaged in conversations with each other, she was sitting alone and away from the rest of her peers.

She spent close to a decade of her life at this school and the only thing that she has to show for it was the knowledge that she gained while studying. It was just unfortunate that the only friend that she made during her tenure here was a boy whom she met during her first year and even he stayed away from her. It broke her heart but deep down inside, she knew that just because the environments changed, the results remained the same.

Hermione Granger was not meant to have friends.

Hermione shook her head a little. "Don't give up now Granger." She muttered to herself. "It's just one more year… One more year and you can finally leave." She push those bitter feelings away and concentrated on the headmaster's speech.

Dumbledore's voice continued to echo through the Great Hall and Hermione once again found herself listening to the rules set for this year. While the headmaster was many things, originality wasn't his strong suit. The rules were the same throughout her years at Hogwarts but the only thing that changes is their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. They went through six in the last six years.

"Lastly, I just want to announce that Mr. Potter will be joining us later tonight. He ran into some unforeseen circumstances that prevented him from joining his fellow classmates on the train this evening but I want to assure everyone that everything is alright." Dumbledore's voice echoed throughout the Great Hall.

Her interest was peaked with this information. Usually the headmaster wouldn't announce something so personal so what was the purpose for this? She pondered on this for a bit.

"Whose life did the boy who gets people killed ruin now? Is there nothing that can be done to stop the plague that is Potter!? How many of our own did he injure during his crusade?"

Hermione looked up and saw Draco Malfoy standing up and looking around. "Come now, we need to protect ourselves against Potter! Everyone that he gets close to dies! Why is he even still at Hogwarts? Does our lives mean so little to our headmaster?"

"That is enough Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore answered with a stern expression on his face. He tried to quell the chatter but the damage was already done.

Everyone started to pick up on what Draco started and Hermione should see the blond sitting back down, with a small smirk on his face. The rest of his house continued to fuel the rumors that Draco started.

Hermione returned her attention to her meal until she saw Lavender coming towards her.

"Did you hear that Granger? People are saying that Potter's on the loose but I guess you have nothing to worry about. You must be so relieved. I guess being a bookworm finally paid off. You're probably the last person on his radar. Wait, does he even know you exist?"

Hermione just stared at her like she grown two heads. Deciding that it wasn't worth it, she ignored the earlier jab. "You know that I don't indulge in rumors Lavender." Her voice soft. "And besides, we have no concrete evidence that Harry was even involved in any of those things."

Lavender rolled her eyes. "I don't even know why I bother with you. How can you even defend Potter? You of all people should be ready to burn him for what he's done to you."

Hermione bit her bottom lip, choosing not to comment. Lavender wasn't wrong but she wasn't going to give the girl the satisfaction of know that. "What do you want Lavender? You usually don't talk to me unless there's something that you need."

"We're going to take a little trip tonight and we want you to come with us. It's our last year together as roommates and a few of us decided that we should make the most it. We want to leave behind something so that we're not forgotten when we graduate next year."

Hermione gave Lavender a questioning look. "And what kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? Are you lot going to see if you can find the entrance to the chamber of secrets?"

Lavender snorted and shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous. Everyone knows that Potter made that all up. We're going to sneak into the Forbidden Forest."

"No." Hermione replied. "I am not doing that. First off, that's a mistake if I ever saw one and secondly, I don't care about leaving behind a legacy."

"What? Don't be daft." Lavender asked. "Come on Granger. Just once in your boring life, why don't you take a chance and come out with us? I'm extending you an invitation so just take it instead of spending your lonely nights in the library. I'm pretty sure you don't want to look back at this when you're old and wish that you took this adventure with us."

Before Hermione can reply, she felt her other roommate, Parvati, come up from behind Lavender and gave her a little nudge on the shoulder. "Did you convince the bookworm to come with us?"

Hermione winced at the nickname. "The bookworm is sitting right here you know." She quietly muttered. "And stop calling me that."

Since her first and only friend decided that he wanted nothing to do with her, she spent most of her time alone in the library. It was a lot harder to make friends when you constantly have someone like Draco Malfoy ruining your life. The rest of her academy career was spent concentrating on her studies and reading the books that was available to her. In the span of six years, most of the books there has been devoured by her thirst for knowledge but the lack of social life has granted her that particular nickname by her peers. It stung at first but Hermione quickly learned to numb out that pain.

Parvati and Lavender shared a quick look between the two of them and nodded. "Look at it this way Granger. We can't force you to come with us but we highly recommend that you come." Lavender added some emphasis to her suggestion. Parvati nodded in agreement.

This definitely feels like a mistake and every fiber of her mind and body was screaming no but for some reason, Hermione dared herself to hope that if she went along with them, maybe they would leave her alone this year.

"What time?" Hermione whispered. Instead of an answer, all she saw was two gleeful smiles staring back at her.

Later that night, Hermione walked through the school grounds with a few girls including Lavender and Parvati. She heard snippets of the conversation when Lavender was bragging about how her boyfriend, Ron, was getting ready to try out for a position with the Chudley Cannons as their new Keeper but at that point, Hermione lost interest. For some reason, she couldn't get rid of this nagging feeling that plagued her as she walked. She silently cursed herself for leaving her wand behind on her bed.

If this was another prank, Hermione was going to be ready for them. Over the years, she was a victim of their childish pranks that ranged from taking her personal belongings and hiding them to locking her in the bathroom without her wand. She slowed down her pace to fall behind the group and continued to stay vigilante. The girls have now crossed over into the Forbidden Forest, strolling forward as if it was just a normal day in the park.

Hermione, on the other hand, was taking her time to watch where she was going. One thing that she noticed was that the deeper she went, the more her surroundings melded together. Hopefully they would be able to find their way out without running into any of the inhabitants that live in the forest.

"Hurry up Granger!" Lavender shouted, waving her hand. "We found this spot that overlooks the center of the forest and it looks great under the moonlight."

Despite her nagging feeling, she followed them up a small hill and what she saw took her breathe away. Lavender was right, the sight before her was gorgeous. Instead of the dark and gloomy feeling that you get when you're looking at it from the outside, there was a sense of serenity only available to the ones that make it this far into the forest. Taking a few minutes to just enjoy the scenery, Hermione closed her eyes and took everything in. It was in this moment that she finally was at peace with herself but that moment didn't last long.

As quickly as Hermione stood there, she felt several hands grab her from behind and she let out a scream. "Let go of me!" She struggled for a bit but was overpowered quickly.

Hermione's eyes widened as she realized that this was the entire reason why they took her out here. It was another prank all along. "Why...?" She asked. "Why are you doing this? Why couldn't you just have left me alone? This was going to be our last year!" Tears now falling from her eyes. "I've never done anything to you girls so tell me why!"

"It's because you thought you were better than us. Oh look, I have no social life so I'm going to read every book and make everyone else look bad." Parvati replied in a mocking tone. "You did this to yourself Granger." The girls held on tighter and they dragged her closer to the edge.

"See you back at the castle bookworm. If you make it back."

That was the last thing Hermione heard before she felt the girls push her off. She could feel her body being scrapped by the broken branches and rocks and by the time her body reached the bottom, she was slightly bleeding from those scratches. Even though it stung, she swallowed her tears and pushed herself backup.

As Hermione looked around, she couldn't recognize the clearing anymore. The moonlight that was once providing vision was now being blocked by an overhead of clouds. Hermione felt the panic rising in her chest as she pulled her arms together to keep herself from shivering.

"Don't panic Hermione. You've been through worse. This is nothing." Hermione whispered to herself. "Except that there are creatures that would find you very delicious... and wouldn't mind a late night snack."

Nothing could have prepared her for this but she wasn't going to give up. She was going to make it out of this forest. As Hermione slowly trekked through the forest, she could hear rumblings and weird sounds but whenever she turned around, there was nothing there. Walking a little bit further, she bumped into something solid and fell to the ground hard. It felt like she just walked into an invisible brick wall.

Still seeing nothing, Hermione blinked twice and then heard a screeching sound echoing throughout the forest. Not knowing what it was, she steadied herself as she got up and looked around. Her eyes detected nothing but her ears heard thunder. Like really loud thunder coming towards her.

Her heart started beating faster and faster and the sound just got louder and louder. Just where is this noise coming from? Hermione continued to look around but as every second passes, that panic was leaping up from the pits of her stomach to her throat. Before she could let out a scream, she felt a force slam into her as her body automatically rolled to the ground. With her eyes closed from the impact, she could feel the wind rushing past her face but her body was still tensed.

"Are you mental? Why would you wander into a Thestrals nest of all places!?" A hoarse voice spoke up. "What were you thinking Hermione?"

Hearing her name, Hermione finally opened her eyes and for that brief moment in time, she forgot where she was. Her mouth felt like sand as she tried to say something but nothing came out. When her brain finally registered the person in front of her, the first thing she did was to hug him.

"Harry?" Hermione all but shouted. "Wh-what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here! Dumbledore explicitly told us that this was off-limits! You could get into so much trouble!"

Harry sighed and shook his head. "You haven't changed one bit Hermione and for the record, I don't care about what Dumbledore has to say. What are you even doing here? I never pictured you as the outdoor adventure type. You should be inside the castle where it's safe for someone like you."

Despite being the victim of a cruel prank, she never expected Harry, of all people, to be standing there and judging her. It was at that moment that Hermione realized that she was tired. Tired of being bullied. Tried of having no friends. Just tired of everything that was Hogwarts! "And how would you even know that Mr. Potter? You were the one who decided to end our friendship like it was some kind of cheap novelty item so do not even begin to talk to me like you know me! Just don't!"

Harry's eyes widened after hearing Hermione raise her voice at him. That took him by surprise. He didn't recall a time when she yelled at him before. Even if it was for a brief moment in time. He took a step back in return, not wanting to incur more of her wrath.

"You wouldn't understand. No one would understand."

"Then make me understand! What happened to the curious boy who I met on the train all those years ago? What happened to him?" Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and forced him to look at her. "What happened after our first year Harry?"

Harry didn't answer but instead, he pulled his hand away from her. "Your exit is ten minutes due North. I hope that our paths never cross again Hermione."

"Answer me Harry! After all that's happened, I deserve to know. You owe me at least that much."

"I don't owe you anything." Harry coldly replied. "You shouldn't have come into the forest Hermione. This place is just as dangerous as being outside Hogwarts with those death eaters. Neither will care if you end up dead. If Dumbledore cared for anything else than his greater good propaganda bullshit, he would have the sense of actually warding off this place."

Hermione felt the need to defend herself but her eyes lingered on Harry. "I didn't even want to come here in the first place…"

"Then do something about it."

With that said, Harry waved his hand in front of Hermione and the next thing she knew, she was flying past Harry and in the direction that he pointed earlier. Towards the exit of the Forbidden Forest.

You know what I just realized? After reading these stories for the past few years, I finally know why Hermione's parents were named Dan and Emma. Yeah I'm slow on the uptake. Leave me be.