Chapter One

AN: Okay, so a few things before we begin. This is my first fanfic...ever...so I am just gonna go ahead and apologize for, well, everything. I'm not entirely sure how my writing style is so this could either be amazing or extremely terrible. Next thing is, if you see any mistakes, please let me know! This is basically a writing exercise for me and I am relying on you guys to let me know how I'm doing. So, all that said, hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I am not rich and famous as I do not own Harry Potter. That belongs to J. K. Rowling.

-xXx-

The day she got her acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the best day in young Hermione Granger's life. This finally explained why she was so different from her classmates, why she had trouble making friends with other kids, and of course, why strange things kept happening around her.

Her parents, whom had always been a little wary of young Hermione since her first bout of accidental magic, remained skeptical of the authenticity of the letter until they saw Professor McGonagall change into a cat and back again.

Then they were terrified.

They became even more afraid when Hermione's father took her to Diagon Alley for the first time; her mother had refused to go. While Hermione had been in awe of the, very obvious, magical beings and stores around her, Dr. Granger looked around the place as if he was going to be attacked at any moment.

After less than a half hour of being in the Alley, Dr. Granger had had enough of the strangeness going on around him and forcefully dragged Hermione out of there. Once back in the safety (normalness) of their own home, Dr. Granger informed his wife about Diagon Alley and they both reached a decision. Hermione was to never go back to that strange world. Ever.

This was the first time Hermione disobeyed her parents.

A few weeks later, armed with the letter Professor McGonagall had given her and a purse full of money she had been saving up from birthdays, holidays, and her monthly allowances, Hermione skipped school one day (she cringed and grimaced and worried the entire way to London) and went back to Diagon Alley; alone.

The moment she stepped into the Alley (Tom the Barkeeper was nice enough to let her through), Hermione felt all of the tension and worry melt away. Her parents had been harsh with her since that first fateful trip into the Magical World and she was beginning to feel like an outsider even in her own home. Here though, she was surrounded by people like her! People who understood the strange things that happened when she felt an emotion too strongly. People who could help her control and discover this mysterious thing she once thought was only in fantasy books. This thing called magic.

The day she spent in Diagon Alley could only be described as magical (Hermione laughed quietly every time she thought of this). Most everyone had been helpful to the obviously lost Muggleborn First Year. Shopkeepers answered her naïve questions about the world they lived in and helped her obtain the items she needed to attend her first year at Hogwarts. Hermione was even able to afford a backpack that had something called an Extension Charm on it (she squealed when it was explained to her) in which she was able to place all of her purchases. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to open an account at Gringotts (lack of parents and what not), but the goblins had been able to exchange her Muggle money to Sickles and Galleons, for a small fee of course.

The only strange thing that had happened the entire day was when she went to get a wand. Mr. Ollivander was very strange to begin with and only got stranger with each ill-matched wand he gave her. As time went on and the pile of wand boxes got larger, Hermione began to doubt herself. Were her parent's right after all and she didn't belong in this world? Was this the way she was going to find out that she wasn't magical or special in anyway?

Right as she was about to give up, Mr. Ollivander presented her a beauty of wand. "Ten and three-quarter inches long, made of vine wood and a dragon heartstring core." He had said proudly (as he had done with all of the other wands), "I have a good feeling about this one." When Hermione took the handle, she felt a warmth swell from within her chest and move along her right arm towards the wand. However, before it could reach the handle, the warmth immediately died and Hermione was left dazed by the sudden cold that replaced it. When she recovered, she noticed Mr. Ollivander was talking to himself while picking up the boxes of wands. "Yes, I knew I had a good feeling about that wand. Very picky vine wood is so be careful of who you let use it. Very finicky. Of course I should've tried it earlier on…"

Hermione shook her head to rid herself of the remaining daze, paid for her wand, and left. She didn't mention the weird rush of warmth she felt to Mr. Ollivander and he didn't seem to notice anything was different. Hermione soon forgot about the weirdness of the moment as she set back out into Diagon Alley to finish her shopping before she had to head home.

Her parents never knew about her secret outing to the Alley. They never entered her room anymore, they had become too scared to be around her longer than they had to, and so she was able to hide her purchases easily. With nothing better to do and no more chores to be done (her parents had told her she didn't have to do them anymore, just remain in her room), Hermione read her new magical course books and all the history books she had picked up. If this was going to be the world she lived in, then she was going to learn everything about it that she could.

Before long, the fateful day came, the 1st of September, the day she could go to Hogwarts. The night before, Hermione sat her parents down and told them she wanted to go to the Wizarding School. She brought up pros and cons of her going, hoping that a scientific approach would warm her parents more towards the idea.

They, of course, did not cave easily.

For almost two hours they argued, back and forth between her parents' blatant fear and Hermione's need to be amongst people she felt would understand her. Finally, her parents sent her to her room, tired of hearing her pleas. While she was upstairs, crying herself to sleep, the two dentists gave each other a look and a decision had been reached without need of words.

The next morning, Hermione was surprised when her father told her to pack her things, that they would drive her to King's Cross Station. With a squeal of joy, Hermione hugged her father briefly and began to make the final touches to the already packed trunk.

Within an hour the Granger family was heading towards London.

-oOo-

Her First Year at Hogwarts did not go exactly as she thought. In her excitement to prove that she did, in fact, belong in the Magical World, Hermione rushed to answer every question the professors asked and to share her knowledge of the world to anyone who would listen. Unfortunately, Hermione soon found herself alone, again. Just like in the Muggle world, she was labelled 'bookworm' and 'know-it-all' by her peers. She knew her parents had only sent her to Hogwarts to get her out of the house so there was no asking to go back. Rejected by both her family and her classmates, Hermione spent most of her time at Hogwarts crying.

At least she did, until that fateful Halloween night when a troll entered the bathroom she had been crying in. As Hermione stared up at the ugly, stinky thing, she found it hard to care whether it killed her or not. No one would miss me anyways, Hermione had thought bitterly to herself.

That was when Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley came bursting into her life.

Somehow, through shear dumb luck as McGonagall had put it (and Hermione agreed), they had been able to knock the troll out and save Hermione's life. This marked the start of an amazing friendship.

For the remainder of First Year, Hermione helped Harry and Ron with their coursework and, in return, Ron taught Harry and Hermione about the Wizarding World. Of course, they also had to deal with the mysterious and dangerous Third Floor Corridor.

After seeing Fluffy for the first time (Hermione stilled shuddered at the thought of those teeth), the trio went to Hagrid for information on the giant Cerberus. Of course, Hagrid was more helpful than he intended to be and let slip the names Nicholas Flamel and the Sorcerer's Stone. Hermione soon found herself back in the library, with Harry and Ron this time, desperately trying to find information on this unknown Nicholas Flamel. Before they could figure it out though, Christmas had come and Hermione found herself back on the Hogwarts Express heading home.

Over Christmas break, Hermione still found herself at odds with her parents. In fact, they seemed even more distant than they did before she left for Hogwarts. She spent most of the time up in her room reading. The only time she came down for any long period was during a surprise visit from her grandmother. It was only then that her parents showed any warmth towards Hermione, but she knew it was just for her grandmother's sake. By the end of the break, both Hermione and her parents were ready for her to go back to Hogwarts.

Eventually, the trio were able to figure out who Nicholas Flamel was and that Fluffy was, in fact, guarding the Sorcerer's Stone. All was relatively normal for them after that, as normal as a magical school could be at least, until Dumbledore flew to London one night. They were all determined that Professor Snape, their prime suspect, would try to get the Stone then. Of course, Hermione had doubts about the whole thing.

"Who would fly to London in the middle of the night? It doesn't make any sense." Hermione whispered anxiously to Ron and Harry as they made their way to the room Fluffy was in.

"It doesn't matter," Harry stated matter-o-factly, "its Dumbledore! He must have a good reason." Ron nodded in agreement.

After making their way past the slumbering Fluffy, through the Devil's Snare, and caught the flying key, the trio found themselves on the enchanted chess board.

"Ron, you're the best at chess." Harry turned to Ron, who had puffed out his chest in acknowledgement, "think you can direct us here?"

"Harry," Hermione said, desperately trying to get the boy to listen to reason, "these tasks are too easy. There is no way any of these protections would stop a full grown wizard!"

"Hush Hermione." Ron stated while eyeing the board, "Now, here is what we do…"

After beating the chess board, where Ron sacrificed himself and got knocked out by the White Queen, Harry and Hermione made their way past the unconscious troll and found themselves in front of a potion riddle. Harry turned to Hermione with a desperate look in his eye, "Hermione, you're the smartest of us. Surely you know how to figure this out?"

Hermione looked at the riddle in front of her, looked at the potion vials, and then back to Harry. "Please Harry, rethink this." she begged him, "This entire thing doesn't make sense. Let's go get Ron to the Hospital Wing and inform another professor. Surely someone will believe us."

Harry shook his head, "No, we have to do this. We don't have time to go back. Snape will have the Stone by then."

Hermione looked at him sadly, but pointed to one of the vials. "We need to drink this one. It will get us past the flames."

"But there's only enough for one…" Harry looked at her.

"Who's going to go through then?"

They both looked at each other, not wanting to abandon the other to face Snape alone. Finally Harry took a deep breath and took the vial. "Hermione, go back. Get Ron and go find a professor. Also grab Hedwig. Send a message to Dumbledore, I'm pretty sure we will need him. I'll try and hold Snape off as long as I can."

Hermione frowned at the thought of sending for Dumbledore, whom she was slowly starting to doubt, but still nodded her agreement. "Be careful Harry." She gave him a quick hug and dashed back towards Ron.

By the time she got to him, Ron was slowly coming to. Hermione dragged him to his feet and together they raced off to the Owlery to get Hedwig and send an urgent message to Dumbledore. On their way to Professor McGonagall's office, they figured they would try her again since she was their head of house, they bumped into Professor Snape in the hallway. Ron and Hermione stared at him in horror and quickly told him about Harry defending the Sorcerer's Stone from somebody ("We thought it was you!" Hermione squeaked out). Hearing their rushed tale, Snape turned and ran towards the Third Floor Corridor, ordering Hermione and Ron to get McGonagall.

Once they found her, Hermione and Ron told Professor McGonagall about Harry and Snape. They were then told to go to the Hospital Wing ("And stay there!" ordered McGonagall as she rushed out) to get checked out by Madam Promfrey. After being given a clean bill of health, Hermione escaped with nothing but a few scrapes and bruises while Ron had a mild concussion which was easily fixed, they had nothing to do but wait. Fortunately they did not have to wait long as Dumbledore soon entered the room with an unconscious Harry floating behind him.

"Is he dead?" Hermione gasped, her hands going to her mouth in fright.

Dumbledore looked at her behind his moon glasses, his eyes twinkling, "No my dear, his magic is just depleted. He will be ok in a few days." Hermione did not question this diagnosis, just happy her friend was safe.

Soon the true story of what happened was leaked and the entire school knew about Quirrell and Harry's fight. No one was told about the Sorcerer's Stone or what happened to Quirell though, they all assumed he was shipped off to Azkaban.

Harry made a full recovery and Gryffindor celebrated their surprising victory of the House Cup ("This isn't right." Hermione whispered to Ron and Harry as they, along with the rest of Gryffindor house, were celebrating. "Who cares, Hermione," Ron shouted at her, "we won!"). Eventually, it was time to pack up and board the Hogwarts Express to return home for summer break. Everyone, even Hermione and Harry (who were both dreading going home and seeing their families), were excited for the long break from school.

-oOo-

Platform Nine and Three Quarters was bustling with activity as students exited the Hogwarts Express and rushed off to meet up with their families. Shouts of joy and laughter could be heard throughout the platform and Hermione, Ron, and Harry could barely hear each other over top of the noise. Spotting the signature red hair of his family, Ron dragged both of his friends towards them to try and escape some of the crowd.

"Mum!" Ron shouted towards Mrs. Weasley as they all approached. After a trying year at Hogwarts, he was looking forward to lazing about at home and eating his Mother's cooking.

"Look, Mum! There he is, there he is!" Ron's little sister, Ginny Weasley, excitedly pointing towards their little group, but of course it wasn't Ron she was pointing at. Hermione saw this and nudged Harry in the ribs who turned a lovely shade of red and ducked his head.

"Famous as ever, Harry." Hermione laughingly told him. The poor Boy-Who-Lived had gotten even more famous after his fight with Quirrell.

"Not where I'm going," Harry said, "not sure if that's a good or bad thing though." Harry grimaced as he thought of his horrible Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin and how much he was dreading going through the barrier and seeing them again.

Hermione patted his shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry Harry, I'll write you all the time. I won't forget about you."

At this time, Ron came back to them from talking to his family, "Yea mate, me neither. In fact, you should come over sometime this summer." Ron quickly glanced in Hermione's direction, "Both of you should! I'll send an owl."

"That'd be awesome Ron," Harry said with a smile, "I'll definitely need something to look forward to." Hermione smiled her agreement.

Mrs. Weasley came over at this time and placed her hand on Ron's shoulder. "Are you ready to go Ron dear? We must be getting dinner on the table."

Ron smiled up at her, "Yea Mum, I'm starving! Bye guys." With a wave over his shoulder, Ron walked back over to where his family was waiting by the Floo.

Mrs. Weasley turned back to Harry and Hermione, "Will you both be ok going through the barrier?" "Yes, Mrs. Weasley." They both stated. Giving them a parting smile, Mrs. Weasley joined her family and one-by-one, they were gone.

Harry and Hermione walked through the barrier of Platform Nine and Three Quarters and was immediately greeted by the hustle and bustle of Kings Cross Station.

"They really need a better location for this," Hermione said under her breath as some man almost knocked her trolley over. Harry smiled at this, but quickly grimaced as he saw his Uncle Vernon coming towards him.

"We haven't got all day boy." Uncle Vernon wheezed out, his face already gaining a purplish tint to it, "Let's go!" Harry glanced back at Hermione, gave her a final smile that did not quite meet his eyes and rushed after his uncle.

Hermione stared after them, wishing there was something she could do for Harry, who was obviously not happy with his living situation. Her eyes narrowed as she saw Harry and his uncle meet up with some horse faced woman and a very obese boy, obviously his aunt and cousin, both looking terrified at Harry as if he would lunge at them any minute. Honestly, the nerve of some people, Hermione thought angrily.

As Harry and his family, if one could call them that, began to walk away, Hermione started glancing around the station for her own parents. However, as the crowd slowly dispersed, she could not find them anywhere. Hermione saw a bench close to the barrier and decided to sit and wait for them. "Traffic must be worse than I thought," she quietly said to herself.

Sitting there quietly scanning the crowd eventually became boring. Hermione soon pulled her favorite book, Hogwarts: A History, out of her trunk and began to read, occasionally glancing around herself to see if her parents had shown up.

Thirty minutes became an hour and not even the book could hold Hermione's attention as she became worried for her missing parents. "Calm down Hermione," she told herself as she began to pace in front of the bench, "something could have happened. Maybe there was a wreck on the way and traffic got backed up." But what if they were the ones who wrecked? Her brain said. Hermione quickly shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts. "I must remain positive," she muttered to herself.

An hour became two and a nearby police officer, who had been watching Hermione for quite some time now, came over and asked if she was lost. "No sir," Hermione stated as politely as possible, "my parents just seem to be a little late picking me up. I'm sure they'll be here in no time." The officer gave her an unsure look and looked around as if he didn't know what to do. Really sir," Hermione said, slowly becoming desperate that he didn't take her to the station to wait for them, "they'll be here any minute. They must've not been able to close the office till later today." The officer finally wondered off with a promise to Hermione that he would be back if they still hadn't shown up.

Two hours became three and Hermione followed closely behind a family after she saw the officer make his way back towards her. She followed them to the lobby of Kings Cross and found another bench to sit on, this one close enough to the front doors so she could see her parents immediately, but hidden enough that no officer would see her without looking. It was slowly becoming dark outside and she was becoming very worried.

Three hours became six and it was completely dark now. Hermione had her knees drawn up to her chest, her face buried into her legs, tears slowly staining her jeans. Quiet sobs wracked her body as her mind fretted over where her parents were. Her twelve year old mind, even as mature as she was, could not imagine where her parents had gone, why they weren't there. She expected them to burst through the doors any minute, worried themselves, and apologize for being so late. Her stomach growled, making her realize that she hadn't eaten since leaving Hogwarts, but she could not find the will to get up and buy something from the nearby café. I'll eat when I get home, she thought to herself, when my parents come.

Hermione jolted upwards as a gonging noise resided throughout the, now nearly empty, lobby of Kings Cross Station. Must've fallen asleep, she thought with a yawn. Hermione rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and glanced up at the clock which was still chiming.

12 o'clock. Midnight.

She felt tears spill over her cheeks again as she looked at the clock, willing it to be wrong. Unconsciously, Hermione drew her legs up to her chest and rubbed her now, strangely, aching right wrist. With a slight hiccup, she buried her face into her knees once more, only one thought on her mind. They're not coming.

-oOo-

At the same time, down in the south of France, a young girl, no older than fourteen, bolted straight up in her bed. She was breathing heavy, a cold sweat covering her body. She brought her hand up to her heart, thinking that she would find blood from some sort of wound. Her heart was hurting terribly, it felt like it was being ripped out and torn into tiny pieces. As spots were beginning to cloud her vision she screamed. "Maman!"

-xXx-

Thanks for reading!