Hermione Granger always considered her brains to be her main attribute. Therefore, she always did her best to excel in that area because she knew all others were an effort in futility. Thanks to this, she was the perfect student and daughter, not to forget the ostracized child who the bullies targeted and the other children avoided during school. Despite of this, no one could dispute her intelligence.

This situation had lasted until the day she arrived at Hogwarts. The magical school was her greatest illusion and it had nothing to do with the new world she was introduced to. No, Hermione hoped to find people similar to her and, hopefully, have her first friend. As always, plans never went as she wished.

The only person that accepted her in a compartment was a chubby and shy boy, who she immediately knew would be at the bottom of the social pyramid. Perhaps those movies she saw had influenced her young mind because she was far too scathing with the boy in an effort to act like the 'cool kids'. After that, Neville Longbottom avoided her like the plague... How ironic, the unpopular boy became a member of the elite clique of Hogwarts while she remained the shunned nerd.

If that was not enough, she met the bane of her existence that same evening.

Harry Potter. The hero of the wizarding world. The handsome boy who had the majority of the girl's (and many boys) drooling. The boy who had the gall to best her in every single subject despite her best efforts. The popular student with an entourage of friends and was treated like a king in the school. In summary, the kind of person she always wanted to be.

Through the years, Hermione studied without respite, yet, she was bested by the boy who barely paid attention to classes. Harry Potter stole her place as the best student and as the teacher's favourite without the slightest effort and that fact made her blood boil.

The worst part of everything is that he didn't even seem to care!

If that was not enough, fate had a cruel sense of humour by always putting him on her path.

Ginny and she had agreed to meet in one of the cafés in Diagon Alley. The youngest Weasley was ecstatic because she earned a bit of pocket money by helping her eldest brother to do his paperwork, which meant she would finally try one of the famous new places. The day was meant to be a great outing with her friend. But of course, Harry Potter had to also ruin this!

The boy was sitting in the reserved section of the café, having a date with one of those basic pretty girls. Ha! She knew he had the playboy reputation for a reason!

To her great shame, Hermione admitted almost ogling Potter during the Yule Ball. To her defence, and great mortification, she was amongst the fifty percent of the student population who had done just that. The other half was too occupied ogling his date. Together, they eclipsed the attention for the whole event.

Many students busted into tears because they were unable to compete against that exotic beauty for Potter's attention. There were rumours of her being his fiancée and even more ridiculous ones about that girl being a royal. However, the whole student body reached a unanimous conclusion: Harry Potter was dating her.

Hermione almost itched to tell Lavender and Parvati how that boy was dating another girl at the same time... If her memory didn't fail her, thing that never happened, it also happened to be Viktor Krum's date. What a bastard! He didn't even respect his friend's dates!

"Hermione, what are you looking at?" Ginny asked, poking her arm in order to gain her attention.

"Potter is having a date," she almost barked, glaring at the couple.

The black-haired beauty was making faces at him as she tried to feed him a spoonful of some kind of dessert. The boy was rejecting the treat until she whispered something in his ear, making him smirk and accept the sweet. Potter then proceeded to take the girl's hand and plant a chaste kiss, looking with fondness at the smiling girl. Hermione huffed at the ridiculous display and looked at her friend in order to distract herself, almost grimacing at how dejected the younger girl seemed. Right, she forgot Ginny had a severe crush on that odious boy.

"I thought he was dating the girl from the ball," Ginny whispered once she noticed her stare. "It seems he only likes pretty girls from wealthy families."

"He is a player," Hermione told her downcast friend. "Besides, you are pretty."

"But not pretty enough," Ginny sighed, glaring at the table. "Of course, he will never settle for anyone less than him."

"Ginny, she is not better-"

"Look at her clothes, Hermione!" the younger girl hissed, trying to keep her tone even. "Look at the jewellery she's using... She's so pretty. I know he will never look at me the way he looks at her, but I can't stop hoping."

"Don't waste your time on him," she almost pleaded, but gave up when she noticed the longing in Ginny's eyes. "Let's go, your mum said that your brothers will be arriving early for the family dinner."

The redhead followed her without a word and the self-deprecating thoughts could almost be heard, Hermione was about to berate her friend when she crashed into someone. She felt her cheeks heating up in shame and was about to apologize when she noticed those vivid green eyes that haunted her for countless nights were far too close for her comfort. A firm, yet gentle hand helped stabilize and she recoiled as if she was slapped instead. She looked up only to find Potter staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I apologize; I was not looking where I was going," that annoying honeyed voice said and the owner of it had the nerve to look concerned.

"Obviously," she snapped, unable to suppress her sneer and ignoring how Ginny grabbed her forearm in an attempt to calm her down.

"You know each other?" the petite girl asked, judging Hermione with her gaze.

"I will do you a favour," Hermione said, unable to control the irrational spite that bubbled in her core. "Don't date him,"

The girl's sole reaction was raising an unimpressed eyebrow and snaking her arm around Potter's waist, closing the minimal space between them and smirking at her.

"I don't see how my personal life affects you," Harry said as his hand travelled to his companion's shoulder.

"Let's go," the girl whispered, ignoring their audience. "When we arrive at the castle I will give you what I promised... I am sure that we will enjoy what remains from our day."

Potter huffed and the couple left, not even bothering to look back. Hermione was left open-mouthed at such a blatant display and, as her brain processed the information, her cheeks heated in mortification. She allowed Ginny to drag her out of the café, only to see the lovebirds in a compromising position. Potter had his arms around the girl, one on her lower back and other on her neck, while his victim was burying her face on his chest. This remained until a strange creature broke them apart and they disappeared inside a store. She would research the creature later.

"I told you he is a playboy!" Hermione told her blushing friend and was about to rant when she noticed her companion's teary eyes. With a sigh, she decided the matter go for the moment, "come on, we have to find an empty floo terminal and arrive on time unless we want your mum to kill us."

She promised to ruin Potter's reputation with this information, only to wince at imagining how Ginny would react. Once again, that boy won without even trying.

Though Hermione swore to herself to best him and wipe that cocky smirk out of his face, sooner rather than later.

"Bloody Merlin, that was so embarrassing," Elizabeth whimpered once they left the cafe, her cheeks were tainted a fiery red.

"You didn't have to do that," Harry said gently, hugging his distressed sister.

"I couldn't let that girl speak to you that way."

"I don't mind. Though all the rumours when I go back to school will be annoying. People will think that I am some kind of playboy," Harry sighed. Life was definitely unfair.

"Sir!" Cleo, one of his elves, exclaimed, looking a bit distressed. "The kids are having trouble controlling their magic again."

Harry only sighed. Having elf toddlers in the family was a blessing, despite of all the messes they made when they began learning how to use magic. Sadly, he had to take care of it in person as he was the person giving them the magic.

"Let's go then."

To his surprise, the elf led them to the back of the clothing store. Needles were fighting against each other, some being daring enough to try to impale them when they entered. Fabric was flying around, changing colours and patterns. The mannequins were doing... Only Morgana knew what.

Yes, this was definitely going to be a long day. His only consolation was the promise he managed to rip from his sister in exchange of taking a bite of that overly sweet ice cream she enjoyed. She will be joining him for a lesson with aunt Eleadora and Flitwick. Those two sadists together, enough said.

He dodged a pair of scissors that threatened to cut his hair off and sighed. At least he was not the only one to suffer, Elizabeth was valiantly battling a mannequin, using a large wooden ruler as a sword.