day like it was yesterday that she had sat in the common room by herself, doing her homework while she watched the other first years mess around and make friends. She stood by her belief that her work should come first, but inside she still yearned for a friend, just one friend, who she could sit with.

She had glanced over at Ron and Harry over by the window, ignoring their unfinished essays and throwing Chocolate Frog cards at each other. They were surely going to fail and Hermione had wanted to shout at them for disturbing her, but instead had just watched them laugh with each other.

A week later, she too had been sat at the window as they started flicking ink at one another and she hadtold them off for disturbing her. They had apologised, picked up their essays again and began fumbling through them with frowns of concentration on their faces. A few minutes later, Ron had kicked her under the table to get her attention and point out a blob of ink Harry had on his cheek that he hadn't noticed. Even though it was immature and she definitely didn't approve, Hermione had found herself chuckling along with Ron.

It was the first time Hermione had realised that she had friends, real friends, and that Hogwarts wasn't going to be so bad.

Looking at them now, Hermione could still see the lanky boy with dirt on his nose and the scrawny one with glasses, but they had changed so much, changed her so much