It was still dark when Harry woke up, but as tired as he was from his Astronomy exam the night before, he didn't want to go back to sleep. Knowing the rest of the boys that shared his room at the tower of Gryffindor, he would be the only one awake for a long time, especially considering their exam from last night. Harry always hated Astronomy, he didn't see any use for the subject. It wouldn't help him learn any magic and the only subject Astronomy could help with was Divination, and Harry hated Divination way more than Astronomy, something he didn't think possible only a year ago.

But at this point he was sure that Divination had overtaken Astronomy for the worst class he was taking. He didn't even know why he chose it. Well, he knew, but it definitely wasn't worth the hassle of being a free O.W.L if every class he had ended with his death being prophesied. At this point it was worth putting the minimum amount of effort in another class just to be free of Divination, he knew he could do it, he was sure that if he applied himself he could get an Outstanding in any class.

It wasn't that Harry didn't enjoy the subjects, he was fascinated with most of them and loved learning new things about magic constantly, he even enjoyed Potions, a class where he's constantly targeted by Snape due to the hatred he has for his father. But the amount of work the professors usually gave them made it very hard for him to enjoy the classes, especially when just paying attention in class usually guaranteed him an Acceptable and in some cases an Exceeds Expectations, so he didn't put much effort into his homeworks or studying sessions.

Harry was what some people could consider smart but lazy, when he put his mind into something, he usually got it done rather perfectly. He proved that by learning the Patronus charm when he was 13 years old, and that's a N.E.W.T. level charm that even most adults can't do. And it's not like he had many happy memories to work with, everything he went through with the Dursleys, his confrontation with Voldemort in his first year, his fight against the basilisk during his second year and the near death experience that accompanied it were just a few examples of his not so happy memories, but he made do with what he had and was rather proud of himself that he was able to do it. Especially when he casted it while in the middle of a Quidditch game and without losing sight of the snitch in the process.

Today was the last day of exams and with that came the feeling of melancholy as usual

On one hand he was happy that exams would be over and he didn't have to work anymore. He could spend the rest of his days at Hogwarts with his 2 best friends and enjoy the wonders of Hogwarts without his piles of homework.

On the other hand that meant that there were only 4 days before he would have to return to the shithole called Number 4 Privet Drive. He honestly wasn't up to another summer filled with chores and the loneliness that accompanied being away from the wizarding world, from Ron and Hermione, his best friends, the only two people in the world Harry was sure that cared about him.

Knowing that he had his Divination exam today, Harry didn't even bother with a quick review of the subject. The best thing he could do is go ahead and predict his own gruesome death in front of Trelawney and he would probably get an Outstanding. So he went and showered quickly before anyone else woke up. He loved taking long hot showers, they would help him relax and prepare him for the rest of the day.

After showering and changing he went to the common room where he knew he would find Hermione, probably studying for Ancient Runes or Arithmancy. And just as he predicted there she was, still in her nightgown with a large tome of Ancient Runes, Maybe I won't do too bad in my Divination exam after all Harry thought to himself and chuckled inwardly.

"You do know you can take a small 20 minute break to sleep once every couple of months, don't you?" Harry said cheekily at Hermione who continued to stare at her book but Harry was sure she was tempted to glare at him.

These days Hermione could explode by any little inconvenience, to say that the stress of finals had reached her would be a considerable understatement.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny Potter. I'm dying of laughter over here." Hermione retorted without looking away from her reading.

"Well I haven't heard you laugh since before Christmas, so maybe you just lost the ability altogether." Harry teased her.

But it was true, ever since Harry and Ron abandoned her for the better part of 3 months because she turned in his firebolt to McGonagall Harry hadn't heard Hermione laugh, and the only time he saw her smile was when the trio finally became friends again. He didn't like seeing her like this, she looked incredibly tired, she had deep black bags under her eyes that betrayed her lack of sleep and the constant frown on her face showed how much she's having trouble with keeping up with her heavy course load.

He missed his best friend who, while was always studying and working, always laughed and smiled at him. He was really regretting being horrible to her earlier in the year and was sure he'd find a way to make it up to her. After all, she was more important than any broomstick and he didn't want to throw away his friendship with her for such a stupid fight, she deserved better than the way they treated her during the year.

"I do laugh, I've just been busy with all the homework and exams. And if you must know, I slept earlier here in the common room but woke up half an hour ago." Hermione said in her usual matter-of-factly way that Harry always loved. "Anyways, what are you doing up, it's barely 7:30. I would have thought you would be sleeping after last night's Astronomy exam."

"I've been up for hours, Hermione. I couldn't really sleep."

Hermione stared at him with concern in her eyes but Harry didn't see her, for he was looking at her Ancient Runes book. He was about to mention to Hermione that it looked fairly interesting but Hermione talked before he could.

"Why couldn't you sleep, Harry?" Hermione asked with the concern in her voice that she used exclusively for Harry.

Harry always loved to hear that concern in her voice, nobody had ever really worried about Harry as much as Hermione had, and it was something that he always loved about her. How she always made time for her friends, and often prioritized them over her schoolwork. Something that Harry was sure Hermione would deny, but he knew it to be true.

"No reason." Harry answered nonchalantly.

He didn't want her to know about his fears of having to go back to the Dursleys, or about how lonely he always felt during the summer. "Now, back to you, what you need is a big breakfast and a quick break from all the studying you've been doing. Come on." Harry stood up and started to walk towards the portrait hole.

"Harry no, I'm not going with you, I'm staying here to study." Hermione pouted but Harry knew better. He knew if he just continued down to the Great Hall, Hermione would follow him. She always did Harry thought fondly.

"Whatever you say 'Mione." Harry said absentmindedly without realising what he had called her.

And while he walked out of the portrait without looking back, he failed to notice Hermione's blush that came from Harry's nickname. Harry walked from Gryffindor Tower all the way to the Great Hall and was surprised that there was a relatively large number of people awake and having breakfast at this early hour, with most of them also studying for their respective exams. It made the Great Hall uncommonly quiet.

As he took his seat at the Gryffindor table Harry began to wonder if he was wrong about Hermione, he really thought she'd follow him even if she wanted to stay and study. But his question was answered 15 minutes later when he heard the sound of running from outside.

Then a recently showered and robed Hermione stepped into the Great Hall and began walking towards Harry while sporting a glare on her face. When she huffed and sat down Harry couldn't help but tease her.

"What happened with 'I'm not going, I'm staying here to study'." Harry teased with his best Hermione impression.

"I don't speak like that, and you forced my hand by leaving the common room." Hermione pouted and Harry just laughed, she was so cute when she pouted.

Hermione glared at him for laughing at that just made it worse. Harry ended up laughing for a full minute before calming down.

"Well, for a second I thought you were going to abandon me here after you didn't show up while I was making my way to the Great Hall."

Hermione huffed. "Well I wasn't coming down in my nighty now was I? That would've been a really stupid thing for me to do."

Then, she pulled out her large Ancient Runes book and Harry thought this would be the perfect opportunity to see what Ancient Runes was all about and at the same time make Hermione take a break for what most likely was the first time during the whole year.

"What do you think you're doing?" Harry asked Hermione but before she could answer him Harry took the book from her hands and put it in his lap under the table, that way Hermione wouldn't be able to take it back the same way Harry did, for Harry knew what Hermione was capable of when someone to away her precious books, but at the same time he was sure she wouldn't cause a scene in the Great Hall. "I thought I told you that you needed a break from studying to have some food before going to your exam."

"I can read and eat at the same time Harry, besides, it's not like you're going to read it so just give it to me so that I can get back to studying."

"As a matter of fact, I am going to read it, if that's what it takes to get you to take a break then I'll gladly read it." Harry responded, he didn't want to let Hermione know he was interested in Ancient Runes, he'd never hear the end of it, especially since she recommended him to sign up for Ancient Runes instead of Divination.

He wouldn't give her the satisfaction. Hermione huffed and grabbed a plate while Harry opened the book in his lap and started reading it. Immediately he was engrossed in the reading, Harry found the subject very useful and incredibly interesting with a huge potential to use it to learn more magic. While translating runes was not something Harry would be completely fond of doing, he wouldn't mind it. He was interested by how runes were used to read and potentially learn about old forgotten magic, but the aspect that caught his attention the most were the defence and attack runes.

Harry loved Defense Against The Dark Arts and the fact the Runes had a connection to DADA and other branches of magic was the aspect that made Harry fall in love with Ancient Runes. He couldn't believe that he wasted his time with Divination while he could have studied Ancient Runes, and the thought of having one more class with Hermione would be something he found himself enjoying but for whatever reason he couldn't put his finger on the reason.

While Harry kept reading the large tome, Hermione didn't fail to notice how Harry seemed to be really interested in the book. She had tried to start a conversation with him because she thought that him reading her Ancient Runes book was an excuse so that she would eat her breakfast without reading, but after the third time he didn't answer she knew that Harry was reading the book. Actually reading, not like when he just stared at the book and drifted to his thoughts and pretended to read like he often did while she tried to force him to study.

Hermione knew about Harry's great potential, but she often saw how little he cared about his school work and the fact that Harry was reading an academic book out of pleasure instead of a necessity was something she thought was so unlike Harry, it was like watching Snape be nice to a Gryffindor.

When she finished breakfast she just watched Harry read, she liked this new side of Harry that he'd never showed her before. But when 5 minutes passed and he still kept reading the book and was wasting her precious study time hours before her final exam, she became a little annoyed.

"As much as you're enjoying my book, I really do need to keep studying Harry." Hermione said a bit louder and a little harsher than she probably should have, but she thought this was the only way to break Harry out of his trance.

And she was right, Harry practically jumped when he heard her voice and then blushed a little before giving her her book back. "Sorry," was all he could say before he started grabbing some food and began eating it.

Hermione tried to get back to studying but she couldn't shake Harry's unusual behaviour, first he teased her all morning, something he usually never did. He also called her 'Mione, something he had never called her. She always hated when people tried to shorten her name, but for some reason she didn't mind when Harry did it, and now she was sure he didn't even notice he had said it. Then he began to force her to take a break from studying and made her eat breakfast.

In their relationship, Harry usually didn't pay much attention to what Hermione was doing or how she was feeling, but she could tell Harry knew just how tired she felt and was making an effort to help her. She was usually the one that tried to help him, but she quite liked that Harry began to be concerned about how she was doing, she couldn't put a finger on what she was feeling but she knew she didn't want him to stop. And there he was just now, reading a book about a subject that he didn't even have.

Something had definitely changed with Harry, but right now was not the time to think about that, she pushed all thoughts that were not related to Ancient Runes to the back of her head and began reading. She didn't know for how long but she was pulled out of her reading when Harry threw a piece of bacon at her head.

"Oi! Exams start in 15 minutes, come on let's go." Harry said in a somewhat rushed tone.

Hermione started to panic, how could exams start in 15 minutes, it had been about 8:00 am when she started reading and her exam wasn't until 11:00 am, but then she looked up at the Great Hall, it was almost full, with most people packing their school bags to go to their exams, she saw Ron and Harry also packing their things in their respective bags and she began to panic more. She was about to be late to her exam. She quickly began packing her things while she snapped at Harry.

"Why didn't you warn me before, I'm going to be late to my Ancient Runes exam, I should have been there ages ago."

"Sorry Hermione, I got a bit umm… distracted. I'm sure that you'll get there in time."

Hermione huffed and started to walk with haste towards the door of the Great Hall when she heard Harry jogging towards her and then reached for her arm.

"Good luck Hermione, you'll do great." Harry beamed at her and Hermione began to blush.

"Thanks Harry, good luck on Divination as well." said Hermione before she started jogging towards the Ancient Runes classroom.

While she was making her way there she couldn't stop thinking about Harry, he was acting really weird, not in a bad way, it was a good change in her book, but she was really curious about his sudden change in behaviour. While she reached the Ancient Runes classroom with 2 minutes to spare she began scolding herself for not being focused on her Ancient Runes exam. She began reciting everything she could remember about the subject while she waited for Professor Babbling.

The Ancient Runes exam turned out to be easier than she expected, mind you it was still hard but Hermione studied way more than was needed for the exam. When she finished checking her exam she handed it over to Professor Babbling but as soon as she left the room she began to become anxious, and thoughts sprang to her head, wondering if she had missed something or remembered incorrectly a rune or confused a translation.

She didn't know why she was surprised by this, every time she left an exam she would begin panicking and it wouldn't stop until she received her score. She decided that she needed to find a way to distract herself from her thoughts and she realized her biggest distraction today was Harry, if she could find him she knew she would forget all about her worries about her Ancient Runes exam, and maybe find what had changed with Harry and why it happened. So she set off to the North Tower to try to find Harry before he left the tower. While she was ascending the spiral staircase of the North Tower she found Ron descending it.

"Hey Ron," Hermione greeted Ron while he neared her. "Is Harry already finished as well?" Hermione asked Ron.

"No, he just got in, we were sent in separately and Harry was the last one there." Ron answered back before he made a confused face. "Why are you looking for Harry?"

Hermione started blushing before she could answer Ron. "Well, since we're done with exams I thought that we could all go to the library to clear our heads from them."

"Hermione, we just finished exams and you want to drag us back to the library! No thank you, I think I'm going to the common room where I will actually clear my head. I doubt Harry wants to go to the library but you're welcome to try." Ron answered Hermione with a bit of disgust in his voice as to the thought of going to the library after exams had finished.

"Fine, I will, I'll see you later Ron." Hermione snapped back before huffing and continued ascending the spiral staircase.

She always hated the fact that Ron acted with disdain about her love of going to the library. It wasn't that he didn't understand Hermione that always made her angry at Ron, it was more of the fact that he never made an effort to try to understand her. She always tried to help Ron and be there for him, always tried to be empathetic, while Ron never made an effort with her. But before she could continue her train of thought she was interrupted by the sound of the trapdoor opening.

Before Harry could continue to ponder about what had happened with Trelawney, he saw Hermione waiting for him near the bottom of the trapdoor and completely forgot about everything. Harry knew something had changed, especially breakfast in the Great Hall where he couldn't stop staring at Hermione, for some reason he just couldn't stop and if it wasn't for Ron, Harry would have forgotten about his exam and just continue to watch her while she was reading.

He thought she looked rather cute while she was studying and completely forgot about the world around them. For what felt like a second only he and Hermione were in the Great Hall. But what felt like a second was more like 10 minutes of uninterrupted staring until Ron brought him out of it by telling him that they were going to be late for their exam.

"I'd never thought that Hermione Granger would make her way back to the North Tower. Are you going to ask Professor Trelawney if you can also take her exam? It would be the only thing missing to complete your collection." Harry teased as soon as he got to the ground next to Hermione.

"It would be a tempting offer since it's a free Outstanding, I'm pretty sure all you would need to do for it would be to predict your gruesome death and add a grim or two to the mix." Hermione replied cheekily.

"Well Professor Trelawney is still there, maybe I should yell at her to come and visit her favourite student." Harry retorted with a smirk.

"Don't you fucking dare Potter or I'll make sure your firebolt meets the Whomping Willow!" Hermione replied while trying to feign anger but she couldn't keep a small smirk from creeping to her face.

"Mmmmm, I still think it would be worth it." Harry replied, his smirk turning into a full grin

Hermione huffed, turned around and started walking down the spiral staircase with Harry following her close being while trying not to laugh. When he finally calmed himself enough to talk he went beside Hermione.

"So how was the Ancient Runes exam? I'm pretty sure you crushed it but knowing you, you probably think all your answers are wrong and want to compare every one of your answers with your notes."

By the look on Hermione's face Harry realized that he read the situation correctly.

"I don't think all my answers are wrong," Hermione replied with an indignant look on her face. "But there's just so many answers I gave that could be wrong. I mean, what if I remembered a translation wrong or what if I forgot something or-" But before Hermione could spiral any further Harry stopped her by gently grabbing her arm.

"Hermione calm down, let's just go to the library and you'll realise that you nailed it and you don't have anything to worry about."

But before Harry could continue walking, Hermione gave him her signature bear hug, Harry leaned in and hugged her back. He usually didn't like other people touching him, but Hermione was the only exception, after all, she was the first person that ever hugged him and Harry didn't like to admit it but he loved whenever Hermione hugged him, even though he could feel his ribs getting crushed most of the times it happened.

When they parted Harry could see a substantial grin in Hermione's face. Then, she proceeded to grab him by the arm and dragged him toward the library. While at the library Harry was able to comfort Hermione by helping her realize she answered everything correctly, and by the time they were finished she seemed really happy, unfortunately that didn't last as Ron entered the library with a note.

"Where the fuck have you been!? I've been looking for you for hours, look." said Ron, looking incredibly pale, as he passed the note to Hermione, when Hermione finished reading it she looked like she was about to burst into tears. Harry hated seeing her like this so he did the only thing he could think would help her, he hugged her. And the moment he hugged her she started crying on his shoulder while he was whispering soothing words to her.

He still didn't know what had happened, but for now he didn't care, he just wanted to be there for Hermione. It was at that moment that he realized that this was the first time he initiated a hug, not just with Hermione, but with anyone really. He didn't know what to think about it and was interrupted when Hermione broke the hug and spoke up.

"We have to go there to be with Hagrid when it happens, I don't care what he wrote, we won't let him face it alone."

And that was the moment it finally hit Harry, today was Buckbeak's appeal, and by the looks of it he had lost and was going to be executed soon. Hermione must have noticed what Harry's expression betrayed because this time it was her who hugged Harry. But Harry wasn't about to cry, not because he wasn't sad, but because his anger against the Malfoys was far more powerful than any sorrow he felt.

"Those fucking bastards!" Harry said in a low cold tone barely above a whisper that showed his rage far more than any yell would have. "We need to do something, we can't let him die, we need to save him."

Hermione broke apart from Harry and looked at him in the eye with pity sprayed across her face. "Harry, we already tried every appeal we could to save Buckbeak's life. I don't think there's anything else we can do."

"We can break him out, he can fly far away from the castle and they wouldn't be able to get him." Harry responded, with a tone in his voice that sounded like a plea.

"If we do that they'll just blame Hagrid and then he'll get sacked, maybe even removed from the grounds altogether."

"Hermione's right, Harry." said Ron, joining the conversation after watching his best friend's reaction to the news. "The best thing we can do is be there for Hagrid."

Harry knew they were right, but a small part of him wanted to believe that they weren't, that there was a way to save Buckbeak while making sure Hagrid or anyone else didn't get the blame. But if there was a way Harry couldn't think of it. So the three of them agreed to use Harry's invisibility cloak that he recently retrieved from the passage of the one-eyed witch to go down to Hagrid's Hut an hour before sundown, an hour before Buckbeak's execution was scheduled for.

Since there was still 3 hours until sundown they decided to go to the Great Hall, since Harry and Hermione skipped lunch, and started having dinner. After that, they went to retrieve the cloak from Harry's trunk and they set off to Hagrid's hut, it was close to sundown as they lost track of time during dinner.

While they neared Hagrid's Hut Harry could see Buckbeak tied to the fence in the pumpkin patch. He looked blissfully ignorant, unaware of what was going to happen in less than an hour. It took Harry all of his willpower not to rush to Buckbeak and set him free. He knew that could only cause more harm than good, but he didn't really care at the moment, he didn't like to stand idly while he could do something to help his favourite Hippogriff.

When they arrived at Hagrid's Hut they knocked on the door and a rough looking Hagrid opened the door. It looked like he had been crying for hours, his hands were shaking and he had a haunted look in his eyes that made it seem like he hadn't slept in days even though the appeal was only earlier today.

"Hagrid, it's us, let us in." Hermione whispered to Hagrid.

"Hermione, Ron, Harry? What're yeh doin'ere? I told yeh to stay in the castle. I don' wan' yeh ter see this." At the same time Hagrid said those words he went inside and left the door open, taking that as their invitation they entered and shut the door behind them. It looked like it was less than half an hour until sundown and Harry was sure that Fudge and his executioner would be here any minute now, which meant they didn't have much time.

"Hagrid, we're really sorry. We should have helped Hermione more with research for the appeal for Buckbeak we're really sorry." Ron began, clearly feeling guilty about all the time wasted on fighting with Hermione instead of helping Hagrid.

"It wouldn'tve matter'd anyway, ever since Lucius Malfoy was set on k.. killin' Buckbeak there wasn't anything we could've done." Hagrid began crying and Hermione went to his side to pat him in the arm to try to comfort him.

"Isn't there anything Dumbledore can do to save him Hagrid?" Harry asked, this time he didn't bother to hide the plea in his voice. He was sure that if anyone could save Buckbeak it could be Dumbledore.

"No, there isn't anything anyone could've done. Dumbledore's already helped enough fer me ter keep my teachin' position." Hagrid responded between sobs. Harry couldn't believe this was happening, it wasn't fair for Buckbeak to die because of Malfoy, just like it wasn't fair for his parents to die because of Black's betrayal.

Harry was so angry that he lashed out and kicked a lone chair against the table and caused a milk jug to fall from the table. Harry thought he was hallucinating when he saw Scabbers come out of the jug of milk and then immediately turned back inside his refuge.

"Ron, it's Scabbers, he's inside the milk jug." Harry said and instantly Ron leapt up from the chair where he had sat down as they entered the hut and picked up the milk jug, turned it on its head and Scabbers fell into Ron's hand.

"Scabbers, you're alive!" Ron beamed happily at his rat which he immediately put in his pocket.

"I think that means you owe someone an apology." Hermione stated coldly at Ron, clearly having held a bit of resentment for being blamed for the Scabbers's "death".

"Right, when I see Crookshanks, I'll apologize." retorted Ron

"I meant me you twat" Hermione snapped back at Ron, clearly enraged by his inability to apologize for his actions throughout the year.

Whatever Ron was about to respond back to Hermione was lost when Harry looked out the window and saw Fudge, Dumbledore, and the executioner nearing Hagrid's Hut and snapped at them.

"Shut it you two, we have to go now."

As soon as he said it Hagrid looked out of the window and saw the committee approaching. He quickly grabbed the invisibility cloak and gave it to Harry.

"Lets go." Harry motioned to Ron and Hermione and they quickly got under the invisibility cloak and left through the backdoor to Hagrid's Hut. They moved towards the nearest entrance to the castle, but it was still a long way to go, Harry decided it would be for the best not to look behind when Buckbeak was executed, he didn't want to have the image of a headless Buckbeak ingrained in his memory.

As they started moving, Harry could hear Scabbers squealing and Ron fidgeting with his pocket. When they reached open ground while the sun had finally started setting and darkness started to creep up on them.

Ron started jerking violently trying to stop Scabbers from moving while Scabbers started squealing more violently. Ron began to whisper threats to Scabbers, what they were Harry didn't know, he didn't bother to pay attention to them, he was more preoccupied with what was about to happen to Buckbeak than to be interested in the fight between Ron and Scabbers.

"Ron stop moving around like that, you're going to -" Hermione couldn't finish what she was saying because Ron jerked so violently that Harry's cloak fell to the ground and they were no longer hidden. Ron continued to move around violently while Scabbers was getting more desperate

"Stop moving Scabbers you dumb rat. OUCH! He bit me, stay still you-"

But Ron stopped, because at that moment, even through the rat squeals and Ron's yells, the distinct sound of an axe crashing against something was heard. It was then that Harry knew what had happened, Buckbeak had just been executed.

A/N: First of all, this is a Harmony (H/Hr) fic, if you don't like it, too bad. Secondly, this is a fic that will try to stay as close to canon as possible, but still have new aspects. It's an M rated fic for language, violence, and much later in the timeline, smut. This fic will also see Harry go down a dark, yet realistic path, considering the situations he is placed. He will kill people as time goes on but it will be out of necessity instead of wanting. He will kill during battle, not just out of the blue. Harry will experience several mental disorders such as PTSD and Survivors Guilt. There won't be any relationship angst, Harry and Hermione won't break up or date other people throughout the course of the fic. I always hate it when Harry and Hermione break up for stupid reasons and generally don't like them seeing dating other people so that won't be in any part of this fic. But there will be personal angst, especially with Harry's character. I feel that this is necessary due to all of his experiences he's had by this point and everything he'll experience later. Hermione will be his rock and will eventually help him overcome his issues, and Harry will learn to live with the events that happened and are going to happen with her help. I'm trying to make a slightly darker and more realistic take on the characters and a large part of this fic will be about saving Harry's soul as much as killing Voldemort. Everything in this A/N (Except for my comments about relationship angst) could potentially change as I only have a rough outline of how the story will go on and I'm sure I'll have to change some of the ideas I'm partial to for the good of the story. On a final note, this is my first fanfic, so I expect that I won't have a great writing style at the beginning, but I hope it will improve as I start writing more. But don't go easy on me just because it's my first fic, if you have some thoughts about how my writing can improve or just generally hate an aspect of my story leave it in the comments. I'll try to take it into account. Thank you in advance for reading this, I hope you like it!

Beta-Read by HHrPie