Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Harry Potter.

A short fourth year au with a spot of fluff, a pinch of Ginny bashing and probably a touch of cliché. The only warnings it probably needs is that it hasn't been betaed and ignores quite a bit of canon.

Summary: When everyone turns against him, after his name came out of the Goblet, Harry turns to an unlikely trio. Hermione, Neville and Luna, Hogwarts trio of outcasts, accept him when no one else does.

New friends

With a stifled scream Hermione bolted upright in her bed which was located in the fourth year Gryffindor girl's dorm. Relief at awaking from the worst nightmare of her life coursed through her body when she dropped back on her mattress.

Her married to Ronald bottomless pit Weasley for nineteen years? No sodding way! Kids with that idiot? No no no no no. The only person she would wish that fate on was Draco Malfoy and even then she would probably feel sorry for the bastard.

Slowly the shivers left her body and Hermione rolled her eyes at herself. She must have eaten something really weird to dream something like this. Maybe the Weasley twins had slipped her some nightmare producing candy or something. Yes, that was the only explanation. Not even her genius level brain could produce such a nightmare scenario on its own.

Grinning evilly in the darkness of the dorm room she decided the twins would get theirs and soon. The twins were friends but there was a bit of a rivalry going on between them. As she finally drifted back to sleep the thought that her friends, Luna and Neville, would get a good laugh out of this, crossed her mind.

o0O0o

Harry Potter angrily stomped through Hogwarts hallways. It wasn't fair! He hadn't put his name in the Goblet but now he had to participate in the stupid tournament. He had done nothing, yet once again the entire school was against him. Every where he went people sneered at him and nobody talked to him unless it was to throw an insult. Even his so called best friend did not believe him and deserted him.

"Some friend," Harry muttered angrily as he reached his destination. Hopefully in the library he could find some peace and quiet under the watchful eye of Hogwart's librarian madam Pince. It was almost funny how the place he and Ron tended to avoid vigorously now seemed a likely refuge.

After entering Harry quickly made his way to rear of the library pretending not to notice the withering stares everyone sent him. Thankfully there was no one there giving him the first bit of peace since that thrice cursed Goblet spat out his name. Sighing he took out his transfiguration homework. Maybe now he would get a chance to actually finish it. Something he could not in the Gryffindor common room because people would not leave him alone.

He had made some decent progress on his essay when his peace was interrupted. He tensed, immediately expecting the insults to start up again. To his surprise nothing of the sort happened. This could be explained by the fact it was Neville, Granger and the third of the trio of misfits as they were commonly referred too. Not only did they refrain from insulting him but Neville and Granger acknowledged him with a friendly nod and the blonde accompanying them, Luna he believed her name was, smiled serenely at him.

After the trio settled on a near by table they ignored him. It was easy to see they were friends and he could see they had their routines down pat. He continued to observe the odd threesome and he felt a big stab of jealousy as he saw them quietly enjoy each other's company. Hard at work but joking and softly teasing each other all along.

Harry sighed – not so long ago he had that kind of closeness with Ron. He had been good friends with Dean, Seamus and his Quiditch team as well but now they had all banded together against him.

They might be known as misfits but somehow Harry really believed the three of them would not betray the others if one of their names had come out of the Goblet. They had proven time and again how fiercely loyal they were to each other. Being who they were Neville and Hermione Granger had gravitated towards each other, really because they had no one else. They were treated badly by everyone-even by members of their own house. Until late in their second year they were joined by their third member and apparently Granger had had enough.

Every time someone bullied, insulted, cursed or pranked one of the trio something equally bad or worse happened to that person. It did not take long for people to figure that out. Complaining to the teachers, even Snape, proved to be useless because no one could ever prove a thing. It was obvious to everyone Granger's mighty brain was behind it all and when the rumours started she had teamed up with the Weasley twins nobody but a few die hard Slytherins messed with the so named trio of misfits. They were pretty much ostracised by the rest of the school but Harry felt they honestly did not care about that. At least not anymore. Harry admired them for this but at the same time he almost petulantly concluded they at least had each other.

He did not know how long he had been looking at the occupants of the table in front of him but suddenly he was looking directly into the eyes of the blonde Ravenclaw girl. She smiled that serene smile of hers before surprising him. "Perhaps it would simpler if you joined us, that way you won't get crossed eyes from staring."

o0O0o

It had been three weeks since Luna had invited Potter to their table and since then he'd become a regular fixture there. Hermione still wasn't sure how she felt about it. However Luna had offered him a place at their table and neither she nor Neville would ever gainsay their friend. As if she could refuse after seeing Harry's look of gratitude when he looked at both herself and Neville to see if it was really all right. Of course they had agreed. All too well she remembered how she had been treated at Hogwarts before she started to fight back.

Besides he was the boy-who-lived. It would be sooner rather then later when people would forgive him and she and her friends would be back to being the familiar trio of misfits. So while being friendly enough with him, she also kept her distance.

Speaking of said boy, there he was again sitting at 'their' table. His attention was focused on a large tome from which he did not look up when she sat down across from him. It wasn't a book she was familiar with but even though curiosity nearly got the better of her she refrained from asking what he was reading. She hated it when someone interrupted her while studying. Starting on her charms work she quickly became engrossed in her own books so she was rather startled when Harry slammed his book shut in frustration. She started to berate him but the desperate look on his face shut her up.

o0O0o

Yea Gods. The woman made McGonagall look like a friendly taskmaster. To say she was driven was an understatement. However he appreciated it. None of the teachers were allowed to help him and his friends still were not talking too him.

Hermione Granger though, spent every minute of her free time helping him learn potentially useful spells, hexes and curses. It was good to have someone so firmly on his side. Right now they were working on the summoning spell - Accio. He was having unusual difficulties in mastering it but after learning he would have to face a dragon during the first task of the tournament, being able to summon his broom seemed a rather useful skill to have.

"Come on Harry, you can do it!" Hermione encouraged him again.

Somewhere during the last few weeks she had gone from being Granger to Hermione and from being simply a familiar face to being his friend. He found he rather enjoyed her company even though she could indeed be rather bossy, like now.

He was exhausted. "I need a break Hermione."

It seemed like she wanted to comment which she bit back after looking at her watch. "It is nearly curfew; we should head back to the tower soon. Try one more time and then we call it a night."

"All right." Harry focused his magic and once again tried to summon his Firebolt. It flew straight into his hands.

"You did it!" Hermione enthusiastically jumped up and gave him a spontaneous hug. "I knew you could do it and you did!"

No one had ever hugged him before and he briefly tensed. Noticing this Hermione immediately let go of him. Her face turning rather red as she mumbled an apology.

"It all right." He waved off the apology and in order to change the subject her followed with an enthusiastic exclamation of his own. "I did it, didn't I?"

When they were walking back to Gryffindor tower the one thing which dominated his thoughts was how nice it had felt to be hugged.

o0O0o

There he was again. He was starting to give her the creeps. Why did that Bulgarian Quiditch player keep staring at her? He had enough groupies surrounding him-couldn't he stare at one of them and leave her alone?

As if she didn't have enough things to worry about already? First she had to helplessly watch as Harry had faced a dragon and nearly ended up killing himself. Then Ginerva Weasley had trotted up to her for a 'friendly chat' to warn her to stay away from Harry since he was hers.

Hermione snorted. As if she was worried by Weasley's famous bat bogey hex. Not only was she better at spell work, she also had a far superior working knowledge of obscure curses. The thought of being threatened by the third year was more amusing than anything else but it annoyed her nonetheless. Harry had become a friend of hers and Ginerva's claims, ludicrous as they were, angered her for him. If Harry was Ginerva's as she claimed where had she been all this time? Why hadn't she helped him?

Hermione wondered if she should bring it up with her new friend. Maybe it would do him some good to know the girl cared for him? Now why did the thought of this make her feel so uncomfortable?

"Excuse me?" Someone with a very foreign accent interrupted her musings. "Mayh I zit here?"

Damn, the Quiditch guy.

o0O0o

"Hello Ginny."

"Luna, what are you doing here? This is the hallway to Gryffindor, not Ravenclaw."

"I was waiting for you."

"What for?"

"We were friends once. Now you don't have to flinch, our paths were always meant to divert but because we were once friends I've come to give you one warning."

"About what?"

"I don't like it when someone threatens my friend and Hermione is my friend. Don't think about trying that again."

"You think you can intimidate me? If that girl comes between me and Harry she'll..."

"She'll what?"

"Harry!"

"She'll what Ginny?"

Luna walked away, content that things had gone exactly as foreseen. Leaving an angry Harry to deal with her one time friend. Now all future paths were open for her dearest friend and her newest friend. Now all she had to do was convince Neville to take her to the ball. She so loved to dress up. The fact that the ball would not be announced for another week did not faze her at all. Neville needed a bit of work in advance.

o0O0o

"A ball, an iffing Yule ball." Harry moaned, "and I have to open it too. I can't dance." It took all his self control not to bang his head on the table.

"I love balls." Luna responded dreamily.

"But third years can't go unless they are asked by older years." Neville pointed out to the younger girl.

Harry turned his head towards his dorm mate. Looking at him as if he were an idiot while two girls looked at the boy expectantly. "Neville mate, even I know what is expected here."

Faced with three people staring at him Neville blanched but he soon caught on. "Uhm, Luna, would you, maybe go to the Yule ball with me?"

With a happy squeal Luna jumped up and hugged her friend. "I would love too."

Seeing Neville's success and the genuine smile with which Hermione regarded her friends Harry suddenly decided he knew who he wanted to be his date. Someone who obviously cared for others and someone who he liked very much. His face suddenly turned red and he briefly wondered if someone had cast a warming spell on him. How else could he explain the sudden rise in temperature?

Should he?

"Hermione would you… I mean would you if you want to that is… maybe want to be my date for the ball?"

It was rather obvious how surprised she was at being asked and it was rather cute how the normally confident girl suddenly turned red. "I don't know Harry. Me and balls… I don't know. And surely you can find someone better to go with."

"But I want to go with you." And even he was surprised at how much he meant it.

o0O0o

Hermione was looking in the mirror in desperation. Her gown was beautiful and made her feel like a storybook princess. –Silly sentiment as it was, it was still true.-

However her hair was another matter all together. What could she do with it? For once it mattered and it mattered a lot!

"What's taking you so long Granger, there are others who'd like to use the bathroom you know."

Hermione turned to face her dorm mate, who took pity on her when she saw the expression on the older girl's face. Every girl needed their dream ball and their usual animosity was put aside to make sure that they all got their dream night.

o0O0o

Harry briefly forgot to breathe as his date descended the stairs. Hermione was a picture to behold. Nothing could ruin this night.

o0O0o

And it was everything Hermione had hoped the night would be. They had opened the dance along side the other champions and it went beautifully. Their practise sessions had really paid off.

Even her 'introduction' to Ron Weasley had gone smoothly. He and Harry had recently settled their differences and Ronald was on his best behaviour. This was mostly thanks to the fact that Harry had been very clear about one thing. Hermione was his friend and he would not tolerate any bullshit. It was as if he'd put Ron on some kind of probation. She had to admit she liked this side of Harry. The one who remained loyal to her and the other misfits even when the other Gryffindors had 'forgiven' him.

One thing she was curious about was Ginevra Weasley though. Every time she came near them, for she had found an older year boy willing to take her, either Luna or Harry would glare at her rather effectively. She would have to remember to ask them what that was about.

o0O0o

All his worries had been for nought. The night flew by without a hitch. Even his dancing went flawlessly and it seemed Ron got along with his new friends. For he wasn't about to give them up and the red head could either accept that or piss off.

The only negative point, but it was a nuisance at best, was Ginny who tried to catch his attention. He wasn't interested though and he had made that very clear. It was funny to see her reactions to Luna's looks though. No, she wasn't his any more then he was hers. No if he was going to be interested in anyone it would be someone who would stand by him even when things got rough. Someone like…

"Here's your drink Harry"

…Hermione.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that? It's the drink you ordered, isn't it?

Harry had gotten his epiphany.

o0O0o

It had been an eventful year. A lot of things had happened, not the least of which she now went home being someone's girlfriend.

It had been a surprise when he'd asked her out after the Yule ball. In fact she had believed he was having her on. So she declined… until she saw the honest look of disappointment on his face.

Their first date to Hogsmeade had been awkward, their second one less so and now there was no more awkwardness between them. She honestly believed she could not ask for a better boyfriend.

As they were about to board the Hogwarts express together she did realise the one downside of her new relationship. She had to be civil to Ron Weasley. So far she had managed it just like Ron had after he had learned Harry would not accept any criticism about her. It would be long train journey to platform 9 3/4 but with a few snog sessions with her boyfriend it should be fine.

Speaking of Weasley… she recalled the dream she had at the beginning of the school year. The previous night she had a similar one only the boy involved had been her raven haired boy. This time when she woke up there were no shivers. Instead she woke up all warm and happy. Now they were still young but this dream could come true. Who knew what the future would or could bring.