Chapter 1: Recalling the Past Without a Penseive – The Sorcerer's Stone
On the smooth ride back to King's Cross after an amazingly interesting first year at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hermione shuffled in her seat uncomfortably. She tried to find a spot in which she could reread "Hogwarts: A History" without dealing with the excessive amount of snoring coming from her red-headed classmate sitting across from her.
In the short time that she had spent with Harry Potter, the infamous boy who lived, she hadn't only gained a friend, she gained a famous friend. People looked in her general direction more often, though of course it was only due to the fact that he was standing next to her. He would talk and talk about how good the food was during dinner in the Great Hall and Hermione was barely listening – she was paying too much attention to the amount of people staring at them. She couldn't say she hated the attention but it wasn't exactly the most welcoming feeling. What with the whole school learning of Voldemort's return at the end of the year, people's admiration for Harry had unfortunately turned into fear and disdain. Harry sat next to her, silently eating a chocolate frog and Hermione thought not to say much to him because he was finally calm.
On the other hand, a certain Ronald Weasley snored so loudly that she had read the sentence about the introduction of house elves to the Hogwarts staff about six times already. Harry laughed when he noticed that she was annoyed, she very obviously slammed her book close. Ron stirred in his sleep and woke up suddenly.
"Bloody hell, why are you being so obnoxious with that book? Can't you stop reading for one second?" Ron snapped after wiping the drool from his cheek. Harry widened his eyes at Ron's slight cursing and got up.
"I'm going to the bathroom." He slid open the door to the cabin and basically ran out. Of course, boys practicing avoidance, Hermione thought to herself.
"I'll have you know Ronald…that I DO more than just read!" Hermione retorted. She flipped her hair and instinctively opened her book again.
"See? SEE THAT? You're reading again!" Ron began laughing and soon he was laughing so hard that he was holding his side. Hermione was angry at first but as Ron's face turned a deeper shade of red from the fact that he was laughing so hard, she started to laugh too.
"Well, what can I say? I really love to read. Perhaps, I should have been reading in my room instead of being in that bathroom! I have horrible timing – if it weren't for you and Harry, I'd probably be dead." She looked down, slightly bashful. It was slightly embarrassing admitting that she was in the wrong place in what was most definitely the wrong time. It was doubly embarrassing that she had to admit that she needed saving. She may be 12, but she refused to be a damsel in distress. From what she did know about fairytales and fables, those types of women didn't demand much respect. She wouldn't be like that.
"Erm, it was nothing really…" Ronald fiddled with his fingers and sat up a little straighter.
"No really! That wingardium leviosa you did was quite impressive. You got the hang of it, I see." Hermione figured that he needed to know that she was at least grateful though.
"Oh…I don't know…you taught me how to do that anyway…"
"And you did fantastically! Thank you…anyhow." Hermione tried to reach some sort of finality to this awkward conversation.
"Yeah. Sure. It'll probably be good to have you around for next year." Hermione's eyes widened dramatically. She swore Ron was completely miffed by her existence. Suddenly, the door slid open and Harry plopped down on the seat.
"So what's going on? I can't believe we're already so close to being back." Harry stated, oblivious to the fact that his friends were both red-faced and awkward.
"Oh nothing, just discussing trolls and how absolutely pleasant they are." Hermione said. Harry and Ron smiled and laughed and Hermione laughed too, letting go of a heavy weight on her chest. They really didn't hate her. She happily looked down at the book and continued to read. Across from her, Ron laid his head back on the windowsill and fell back into a deep slumber. After a couple of minutes he began to snore again and instead of feeling annoyed, Hermione just smiled.