The Twins-Who-Lived | Harry Potter Fanfiction

4 - Unexpected Friendships

Harry's friendship with Hermione started in a very unconventional way. 

About halfway through October, the school work was piling onto most of the students, and many students, although mostly fourth years and above, were heading to the library. 

As Hermione Granger was heading to the library, she was afraid that there wouldn't be any empty tables where she could sit by herself. As she arrived, she noticed that her fear wasn't unfounded. 

She looked around the library to see that it was packed to the brim, which was surprising considering how early it was in the year. Most of the students were Ravenclaws, none of which that Hermione knew, and she only saw one other first year in the whole library; Harry Potter. 

Hermione knew who Harry Potter was for several reasons. 

Reason one was that Harry and Alex Potter were mentioned in just about every book that covered recent history or the history of dark lords. She had read so many books that mentioned them that she felt as if she already knew them, although she would never say it out loud.

Reason two was was that Alex Potter was in her house, and he was loud, confident, and not particularly smart. He was better than some, like Ron and Seamus, but he could definitely afford to be taken down a peg or two. She had heard Alex talking about how he and Harry were both really great fliers, and she heard him bragging about how smart his brother was. Hermione wasn't so sure. After all, how smart could he be if he was the twin brother of Alex? He was not a name that came to mind when she thought of smart people. 

Reason three was that all of the other Gryffindor girls were always talking about him or Alex. About how they were the cutest boys in the year. About how Harry was so cool *insert Lavender's swoon as she held the most recent copy of Witch Weekly with Harry's face plastered over it to her chest*. Hermione hated to admit it, but even she could admit that Harry was nice to look at.

She was particularly hesitant to approach the boy, because what if he was just like his brother? There was no way they would get along, and their altercation would probably end with Hermione running out of the library because Harry had insulted her teeth. 

Hermione took a deep breath in as she walked towards Harry, who was sitting alone at a table looking calm and collected while reading through a textbook, before hunching over and writing on a very long piece of parchment. 

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Hermione asked, her voice squeaking slightly as she clutched her books to her chest tightly. 

Harry looked up, not a hint of surprise showing on his face, as he nodded cooly. "Sure, I don't see why not."

Her eyes darted to his essay as she sat down across from him. He was working on the History of Magic essay that she had come here to start, even though it wasn't due until next week. Something inside of her lit up as the words of her housemates saying, "Why are you starting that now? It's not due for a while, you have time," rang through her head. 

She looked back up to Harry, and noticed that he was looking at her curiously, and she blushed before apologizing profusely and introducing herself, "I'm Hermione Granger, it's very nice to meet you!"

Harry smiled a little bit, before reaching out a hand and saying, "Harry Potter, nice to meet you too."

She blushed, and the whole situation overwhelmed her as she began to speak quickly, "Oh, I know who you are! I'm in Gryffindor with Alex, and I must tell you, you two seem very different."

"Yeah? What makes you think that?" Harry asked, cocking his head to the right in curiosity. Of course, he knew they were very different, but he found Hermione very intriguing and wanted to understand her thought process.