Paper Shards

Chapter 1 – You're An Idiot, Harry

Another glance. Another look. Still nothing. The bushy-haired girl sighed, pushing the food around on her silver plate. Where were they? They hadn't been on the train, and now they weren't at dinner. She wondered what had possibly happened to them.

"Did you hear? Someone crashed into the Whomping Willow."

Her head whipped around, her brown eyes landing on Neville.

"What?!" she exclaimed. "Where did you hear that?"

The round-faced boy shrugged. "It's going around. I don't know who it was, but they're pretty lucky to still be alive. Bet they're getting expelled, though."

The girl glowered. She knew EXACTLY who it was. But how in the world did they get a car? And manage to crash it into the Whomping Willow? The girl waited impatiently for dinner to be over before marching through the crowd, heading for the common room. They had to be around here somewhere. Or at least packing their bags. And suddenly, there they were. They both looked beat up, but both smiled when they saw her.

"Hermione!" the green-eyed boy exclaimed, grinning. But his smile vanished when he saw the look on her face.

"Don't you 'Hermione' me, Harry Potter!" she screeched.

Harry looked quite guilty. "So...you've heard what happened. I knew it'd get out."

Hermione crossed her arms. "But WHY?"

"The barrier was blocked." the redheaded boy helpfully added.

"I wasn't asking you, Ron." Hermione snapped. "And I got through the barrier just fine. So how was it blocked? And just for you two, it seems."

"We don't know." Harry replied with a sigh, running a hand through his already messy hair. He always did it when he was nervous. Just another one of his quirky habits.

"And you somehow didn't get expelled?"

"Luckily, we didn't. We only got away with a detention."

Hermione scoffed. "That's not nearly enough punishment. Oh, and Ron? Ginny got into Gryffindor. Just thought you'd like to know."

Ron looked slightly happier after hearing this, and the three of them walked off toward the common room.

Harry and Hermione slowed a little bit to walk behind Ron, mainly because Hermione wanted to talk to Harry.

"Are you sure you don't know why the barrier was blocked?" she asked him in a hushed tone.

Harry rolled his eyes. "No, Hermione. I don't know." he said exasperatedly. "I just know that I was an idiot not to use Hedwig to contact the school."

Hermione giggled a tiny bit. At least he realized his mistake. Ron, on the other hand, didn't seem to care at all.

"Hermione?" he asked from up ahead. "What's the password?"

"Pickled pumpkins." Hermione answered, stepping back as the portrait hole swung open.

Immediately, Harry and Ron were swept into the crowd, being given congratulations and pats on the back. Harry gave Hermione a stupid grin, and Hermione shook her head. Idiot.

"I'm going to bed." she said loudly over the crowd, but nobody seemed to hear her. She sighed and climbed up the stairs to the girls dormitory, going inside and shutting the door tight. What she didn't expect to see, though, was a certain redhead girl.

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes wide. "What are you doing up here?"

Ginny looked up from her trunk, which was resting on the fourth four-poster bed.

"Oh! Hi, Hermione!" she chirped, smiling. "The second year dormitory was full, so McGonagall moved me up here with you guys."

Hermione nodded, opening her own trunk and pulling out her nightgown.

"That's good, Ginny." she replied, yawning as she pulled off her uniform and pulled her nightgown over her head. "What's that old book that you've got?"

Ginny flushed, crawling under the covers with her quill and the old book in question. "Oh. Umm...it's diary. I got it while we were at Diagon Alley." she said, sinking all the way under the covers and refusing to say more.

Hermione raised an eyebrow but said nothing, sliding under her own covers. She had to get to sleep. Classes started tomorrow, and she didn't want to be exhausted.

"Night, Ginny," said Hermione, flicking off the lamp on her bedside table and turning over on her side.

"Night, Hermione," came the muffled reply from the other side of the room.

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes, immediately falling asleep.