AN: Yeah, I'm ignoring Book 6 AND 7. Oh the power of fan fiction… 'tis a beautiful thing.

Chapter One

The train tooted his horn as it left Kings Cross. The Hogwarts Express was used to this route, as it had been transporting the students of Hogwarts to-and-from school for so many years it was hard to keep track. Hermione Granger, who was also used to this familiar train-ride, gently sat in an empty compartment with her luggage neatly tucked away. It was her seventh year at Hogwarts – her very last year. She came to the train station this morning with mixed emotions. Seventh year was supposed to be the best. But life without Hogwarts seemed hard to grasp. Unfortunately, she knew that the weeks would quickly turn into months, and the year would be over before she was ready to leave.

"Seventh year," Ron sighed happily, taking a seat beside Hermione and draping an arm around her shoulder. "It's gonna be great!" he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze and releasing her. "Let's not ruin it like Percy did with worrying about school work and exams."

As if! Hermione thought. Seventh year may be fun, but school work can be fun, too… Or maybe she had tricked herself into thinking that for so long that now going to the library just seemed like something all the cool kids were doing. Anyway, worrying about exams was something she did best. After all her work from previous years, she was not going to throw it all away because Ronald Weasley wanted to have fun during his last year at school. No sir.

But Harry Potter wasn't worrying about exams or zits, or any other teenager things. There were more important things to worry about. Lord Voldemort was still at large, and Harry knew he had to be the one to out him. He knew that this year wouldn't be like other years, in which he tried and failed to stop Voldemort. This year would be the year. Now that Dumbledore and Harry figured out how to finish him off, it wouldn't be long until he was gone for good.

Harry didn't expect Ron or Hermione to leave school with him, nor did he want them to. He wanted them to stay at Hogwarts where it was safe. He wanted their lives to be normal and carefree. Honestly, he wished, for their sakes, that he had never met them.

Ginny joined them soon after they arrived. She took a seat next to Harry and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which made Ron tense and Harry relax. "Oh, Ron, chill out," she said as she saw his fists form. They had been going out for nearly a year, so you'd think Ron would get over it. Apparently not.

Hermione rested her hand on Ron's fist, attempting to calm him down. They were had been going out, too, but only for the summer. Immediately he reacted, lacing their fingers together and giving her a grateful smile. At this moment, she really did feel like she was in love with him. He was her Ron, no matter how infuriating he may be at times. She wanted him since first year. Now that they were together she could almost hear a choir singing with praise and joy.

And at that instant their compartment door was abruptly thrown open, causing all four of them to jump.

"Granger," said an unwelcome yet horribly familiar voice. Draco Malfoy leaned coolly against the doorway, examining everyone in the compartment with a look of disgust on his face as if he were looking at rats in a bin. But his face scrunched up even more when his ice blue eyes reached Hermione's hand laced with Ron's.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron said too defensively. His hand tightened around Hermione's protectively, as if Draco had intentions of stealing her away. Which he did, but not in the way Ron was thinking of.

"Down boy," Draco said nonchalantly to Ron. Facing Hermione he said, "We're supposed to be helping the first years find their robes and compartments. So don't get too cozy."

"Why do you have to do that?" Harry asked rudely.

"Why else, Potter? I'm Head Boy and Granger is Head Girl."

Ron's jaw nearly hit the ground as Draco said this. Lord knows what was going through his mind! Knowing Ron, he was likely thinking of how Hermione and Draco would be sharing a common room, and how much time they would be spending together, which, in reality, they didn't have to spend any time together at all.

"Okay," Hermione said unhappily. "See you guys later, I guess." Ron let go of her hand as she stood up and watched her leave.

"Don't try anything, Malfoy," she heard Ron say. Draco simply smirked, but only to get a rise out of Ron. He closed the compartment door and quickly followed Hermione before Ron could chuck something at him.

"So you and the Weasel finally made it official," Draco said in an amused sort of way.

"Yep," Hermione said as she knocked on a compartment door lightly and poked her head in. "First years?" she asked them, giving them a smile to let them know that she came in peace. The three boys that sat inside all nodded.

Hermione turned to Draco and asked him if he would kindly retrieve three robes from a drawer outside of the compartment, which was closest to him.

"Do it yourself, Granger," he said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

"Oh, don't tell me I have to do this all on my own!"

Draco smirked, but said nothing and stood still as Hermione attempted to get past him and to the drawer. She grabbed three black robes for the boys and had to get around Draco all over again.

"Here you go," she said handing each boy a robe. "You'll want to change into this before we get to school."

"Can I ask you something?" one boy asked, eyeing both Draco and Hermione.

"Sure."

"What house are you in?"

"Gryffindor," Hermione answered with a proud smile on her face. "What house do you want to be in?"

The boys exchanged looks, their faced tinting red. "I want to be in Gryffindor."

"Honestly!" Draco said, grabbing her arm and closing the compartment door. "We don't have time for small talk. I'd rather be elsewhere."

"Then why don't you run along? I can do this a lot easier without you standing in my way." She knocked on another compartment door filled with young kids, "First years?" When they confirmed, she got a few robes out.

"Because I'd never hear the end of it from McGonagall if someone – oh, like you or your little friends – decided to tell her that I didn't do anything. Plus, that woman has spies everywhere."

Hermione grunted. "I guess that means I'm stuck with you." She gave the kids their robes and closed the compartment door.

"You're stuck with me? Reverse that, then it will be right."

Draco did start helping, but he basically threw robes into compartments. Once these girls yelled back, "We're not first years!" He told them to go find first years that needed robes. As if he cared. He was Draco Malfoy. Caring would give him wrinkles.

They finished just before the train came to a stop, and departed without saying a word to each other. Just as it should be.

Ron, Harry, and Ginny waited for Hermione by a carriage. "Look, Ron, she's alive," Ginny said jokingly.

"Why does Malfoy have to be Head Boy?" Ron complained.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You keep asking that. We still don't know."

"He's the smartest boy in our class," Hermione offered. "Some people think smart and responsible go hand in hand. Unfortunately they are wrong. Malfoy hardly did anything today. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year will be like…"

"I've lost Trevor, again!" Neville complained as he approached the carriage, which took off as soon as he got on. "This is going to be like first year all over again! I just know it."

"Hey Neville," they all said in unison.

"Um, Neville," Harry said cautiously. "Look in your left pocket." He was trying not to laugh to save Neville from the embarrassment.

Trevor the toad was indeed in Neville's left pocket of his robe, just hanging out. When Neville took the toad out, he groaned, "Exactly like first year…"

The carriage ride was filled with words of encouragement for Neville's sake. "This year will be great," Ginny offered. "You'll see."

Once they got to the castle, they all headed for the Great Hall. Hermione was starving since there was no time to get any food from the trolley on the train. She hadn't eaten since breakfast. Unfortunately, she would have to wait for the first years to get sorted into their houses before she could eat anything.

Soon after arriving in the Great Hall, the first years piled in. They all looked frightened and amazed at the same time. Some gazed up at the ceiling, wondering how it looked like the nights sky. Some watched the older students watching them. Others stared down at their shoes, too afraid to look at anything around them.

Professor McGonagall began reading the names of the new students, each one different in size and figure. The first little Gryffindor to be sorted was called Tom Barry, who was the boy who told Hermione that he wanted to be in Gryffindor earlier that day. When he sat down, Hermione smiled and congratulated him.

Professor Snape's eyes searched the Great Hall for no one in particular. He saw familiar face after familiar face, regretting that some students chose to return for their seventh year (Neville Longbottom, for example). He was unpleased to see the unhealthy number of new students Gryffindor had gained this year, but also thankful for it meant more chances to deduct house points. It irked him that Miss Granger welcomed them all with a smile on her face, as if being a Gryffindor was the best thing ever.

His scowl party was interrupted when Dumbledore stood up to give his annual first-day-of-school speech. How unfortunate, for scowl parties were his favorite type of party.

"Welcome first years and beyond," Dumbledore began. "Before we start eating, I would like to remind you that the Forbidden Forrest is still forbidden. Any student found sneaking in or out of the forest will have to suffer the consequences…."

Every year the speech was the same. Hermione didn't usually tune it out, but this year she felt that, after hearing it six times prior, she was entitled to this luxury. Her eyes began to explore the Hall, looking for faces that she had been deprived of for three months.

Though he was sitting, Hermione could tell that Dean Thomas had somehow gotten taller. How much could one boy grow? Seamus Finnigan looked exactly the same, and he waved at her when their eyes met. Parvati and Lavender were whispering in each others ears. They were most likely informing each other of their summers.

Now for the teacher's table: Hagrid looked far too pleased to be there, possibly already drunk. Trelawney looked shaky, as per usual. Snape looked the same; same old black, greasy hair, same old hook nose, same old clothes.

Snape felt as if he were being watched, and he followed the sensation back to Miss Granger. As soon as she saw his eyes lift up towards hers, Hermione ducked her head and darted her eyes elsewhere in embarrassment. Strange girl, Snape thought. He smirked at the satisfaction of embarrassing her. How he wished to call her out on the fact that she clearly wasn't listening to Dumbledore's speech. But then again, neither was he.

Finally, Dumbledore said, "Enough talking. You all look ravenous! Let's eat." And food appeared on the table, just like magic.