****10/05/17 Chapter One- Trains and Trouble****

A/N I have wanted to write this for a long time, and I have finally worked up the courage to turn my ideas into a Harry Potter fanfiction. I have another fanfiction still ongoing based on the Sisters Grimm series, another of my favorites, so check that out too. Review please, and enjoy.

Disclaimer- I do not own the magical world that is Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.

-Hermione

The war was over, but its effects on the survivor's lives were not, and never will be. People were lost, good people who gave everything they had to offer for the hope that Voldemort and the darkness he infected into the wizarding world would one day be vanquished.

Hermione Jean Granger chewed her bottom lip softly as she jotted these thoughts into her dark-brown leather notebook. She hoped to write a book one day to commemorate the people who had given their lives for the greater good. She wanted to make certain that they would never be forgotten. It was her way of coping with the survivor's guilt she felt weighing her down when she looked at the people she cared about who had lost so much. Little Teddy Lupin who would never know his parents. Sweet, brave Neville whose parents were even worse off than Teddy's. She knew questioning why she had lived was a dangerous thing, but she lay awake thinking about it most nights anyway.

The train compartment door slid open loudly, jolting Hermione from her thoughts as she hastened to stuff her book into her bottomless bag. She looked up to see her two best friends in the world, and her heart lightened instantly.

"Mione, you can't possibly be studying yet! We haven't even got there," Ron complained, a goofy grin stretching over his freckled face.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's comforting to know that even in our last year at Hogwarts, you still haven't got your priorities straight, Ron," Hermione said with a teasing half-smile, her expressive brown eyes dancing with mirth at her reference to that long ago night when they had met Fluffy the three-headed dog.

Ron stuck his tongue out childishly and flopped his bright red hair out of his eyes. It had gotten quite long over the summer, but he refused to cut it.

"Haven't you learned, Ron, there is always something for Hermione to read," Harry said, pulling the shorter girl in for a hug. Her head barely reached the bottom of his chin, to Hermione's chagrin. Her boys had gotten tall.

The boys unceremoniously plopped down on the compartment's two-seater across from Hermione. This would be one of the last times they rode the Hogwarts Express train together, and melancholy tinted the excitement for the beginning of the end of their time as students at Hogwarts.

The three close friends chatted about the upcoming year, and when the snack tray came around, Harry and Ron of course bought four of everything, as they had every year. Hermione, on the other hand, was always too nervous to eat before the first day of school, and she doubted that would ever change.

- Draco

Draco Malfoy dragged a hand over his face. Pansy was driving him nuts, talking about nothing and yet still making more noise than a room full of giants. It really was a gift. Breaking up with her was a bit difficult when you couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Blaise looked up at him, eyes laughing at his ordeal. As Draco's best friend, he knew exactly what he was going through, and was enjoying watching his normally cool, unfazed friend turn an aggravated shade of red.

"So Draco, on the first Hogsmeade trip, assuming they will still do that this year, with the war and all being over, do you think we could stop by Madame Leid's Dresses? It's this new place that's supposed to be, like, telepathic. It knows the dress you want before you do! And I will need a new dress for the Hallow's Eve ball in October, and I only accept the best, so-"

"Pansy," Draco drawled in an exasperated tone, "You won't need my permission to go to Hogsmeade, because I have no intention of going on another date with you. Ever again. So do whatever the bloody hell you want."

Pansy blinked. Draco sighed, and waited while understanding slowly dawned in the dull girl's eyes. Lord, it was like watching the fucking sun rise! She was pretty enough, but Draco liked a girl who could keep him on his toes intellectually as well. And Pansy could barely keep up with a first year.

"But Drakey, our engagement was what your father wanted before-"

This was the last straw. Draco pushed the girl none too gently off his lap and moved towards the compartment door with an icy look that stopped the tearful witch from whining anymore. "Don't ever mention Lucius again. This is your warning." With that, the silver-blond wizard was exited the cart.

Draco supposed he could stretch his legs for a bit, see what other classmates he could mess with. Maybe Weasley, he was always fun to mess with. But Draco knew who he really wanted. Hermione Jean Granger. Bookworm, know-it-all, and Princess of Light. She was the brightest witch of their age, and he was the brightest wizard. He just didn't feel the need to show it off every class by sticking his hand permanently to the ceiling like some people. He had been tied with her in schoolwork for years, or at least only a point behind. She really was a bloody genius, but he was no idiot either.

Draco's hungry eyes fell on the compartment the Golden Trio always occupied, since first year, and he checked his watch. And waited. Three, two…

The door slid open as Hermione shuffled out with her bundle of robes in her hand. She always changed before everyone else, exactly thirty minutes before the train was scheduled to arrive.

Draco pushed off the wall and just as Hermione was opening the bathroom door, he slammed his palm into the frame, forcing it shut and effectively backing the girl against the wall with no escape.

Hermione's breath caught, her brown eyes flashing. Draco noted the gold laced into the warm brown. He could read her emotions so easily, just with one glance at those eyes. It made her weak, showing Draco exactly where her head was.

"Granger, how utterly predictable you are. Changing into your robes already? Afraid the men's loo will be full later?" Malfoy smirked, watching the familiar fire ignite in her eyes.

"Well I know you like to take your time in the ladies room with your shag of the week, so I was just being proactive," Hermione shot back.

"Shag of the day, darling, shag of the day. They're clingy enough as it is- imagine what would happen if I gave them a whole week?"

"You're right- they'd run away screaming and then when you crawled back for seconds they wouldn't want you. Good thing you don't make that mistake."

Draco kept his carefully structured facade intact, but not without difficulty. On the inside he was stuck between laughter and the urge to strangle her.

"There is one thing you should know about me by now, Granger. No woman would ever not want me once they've had a taste. Just ask one of your Gryffindor friends. I've fucked most of them once or twice by now." To Hermione's dismay, she shivered at his vulgar words. Draco smirked, knowing he had won, and pushed off of the door. He took his time walking back to his compartment. He was in no rush to get back to Pansy, and besides, he knew Hermione was watching him walk away with the last word.

This year was going to be fun- no Lucius and no Voldemort, just the normalcy of going to school with his mates and messing with the infuriatingly good girl. His favorite pastime since first year when she walked into his potions class with her buck-teeth, bushy brown hair, and insatiable curiosity. At that point, he hadn't believed that anyone could be inherently good, but after watching her for a few months, he realized hat was exactly what she was. A good person.

When Lucius raised Draco, he tried to teach him that purebloods were better, and mudbloods were dirt. What Lucius didn't count on was Narcissa. She never believed in that crap, and she made sure that Draco didn't either. Lucius wasn't a father to Draco. No, Lucius was just someone who liked to beat his little boy when he was bored.

Narcissa taught Draco how to survive in his divided world by pretending and keeping up pretenses, but she never allowed him to fall in the abyss that Lucius had long ago. Lucius made his decisions in the war, and in the end, he was barely family. He was an imprisoned man who had sold his son to the Dark Lord. Narcissa was Malfoy's only family, and he loved her fiercely for it.

Blaise met him outside his compartment wearing a smirk. "Having fun with the bookworm?"

Draco smiled innocently, a look he pulled off with frightening ease. "Who me? I would never."

Blaise shook his head in wonder. "I could never understand what's so bloody interesting about teasing the goody. Potty and Weasel are much more fun."

Draco's lips lifted up at the corners with dark humor. "That's where you and I disagree, mate."

- Hermione

Hermione hated him. She hated his smirk, hated his unruffled attitude, and most of all hated it when he bested her. It was only about half the time, as the pair were pretty evenly matched, but it killed her to watch him walk away with the last word.

He was no longer a ninny about the origins of her blood, though, which made things more interesting. He now had to rely on his wit to best her, instead of just reverting back to that meaningless insult of 'mudblood.'

Hermione had to wonder if he ever had truly believed that it was her blood that made her inferior. He definitely made use of the insult, but his eyes never flashed with cold truth when he said it. It was like a second thought, not his first choice of insult. He usually resorted to it when there were people around, or if she was winning.

When he really did best her, based on his own merit and not the tired insult, his shrewd gray eyes flashed like knives, pooling with silvery light. That's when Hermione knew she wouldn't win. He was like something out of a story, not from this world. His magic oozed from every pore, lighting him from within in a way that made the casual passerby take a second look, wondering how a person could look so extraordinary while being so real at the same time.

Hermione angrily finished changing into her robes and walked back to her compartment. Looking through the clear door, she saw her two best friends eating chocolate frogs and comparing their cards. Harry's green eyes were still lit with the excitement and wonder that Hermione too, had felt when she first came to Hogwarts.

She was close with both boys, but Harry understood how she felt about the wizarding world more than Ron. Sometimes she felt like she would wake up and it would all have been an amazing, but fantastical dream. That she would go back to her life of mundane, human things, with her parents pushing her to be a dentist like they were. Harry had expressed the same sentiments, not wanting to go back to his little cupboard under the stairs.

"Hey boys. Have you decided to get in your robes yet?" Hermione asked, hoping to gently prod them towards changing without being too bossy. It was a work in progress.

"Yeah, we should probably go, mate," Ron said, slapping Harry on the back.

"Hermione are you alright? You look a little flushed," Harry said, noting the pink tinge to the girl's golden skin tone.

"Oh, I'm alright. I'm just hungry, and I won't be able to keep anything down until after the sorting ceremony," Hermione replied, feeling the heat in her cheeks lightly with the back of her slender hands. "I'll just stay here and catch up on some reading while you boys go change."

Harry shrugged, and Ron shuffled out after him, robes in tow.

Hermione sighed, and leaned back into the chair. Her book was in her bag, but she just wanted to close her eyes for a while. She was feeling a little out of sorts, and Draco's words kept her thinking. They rang true when he said them, and she wondered just how many of her friends had slept with the Slytherin Prince.

Suddenly, her compartment door opened again, and she sat up, not expecting the boys back so soon. Instead of finding Harry and Ron, she found herself facing a very angry. Pansy Parkinson.

The girl sneered at Hermione, contorting her pretty features into a decidedly ugly expression. "I don't know what you're thinking, mudblood, but there is no way you are getting my fiancée. Do you understand?"

Hermione's eyebrows knitted together. She wasn't scared of Pansy, but she was confused. Why would she possibly think that Draco would ever… that she would ever… "How dense can you be? Pansy, what-"

"Don't call me dense, like I dn't see it! I don't know how you got him to dump me, but I saw you talking to him by the loo, so you can't deny it. I bet you spelled him or something. Drakey would never even look at the likes of you. An ugly little bushy-haired bookworm. That's all you are." Pansy looked like she was reassuring herself more than Hermione.

Hermione responded coolly, upset that Parkinson thought she would stoop so low as to spell a boy into liking her. "I may be a bookworm, but it sounds like your only prospect just dumped you. I doubt you could get a job after school with your marks in class. Instead of worrying about me, you should really decide what you're going to tell Mummy and Daddy when they find out you were dumped by your financial security blanket."

Pansy gaped open-mouthed at Granger, her blue eyes glittering with unshed tears. "You stupid bint! I hope he fucks you and dumps you like everyone else, maybe that would teach you your lesson!" Pansy fumbled with the door and left in a hurry, carefully dabbing at her eyes to remove evidence of weakness before heading back into the snake pit.

Hermione shook her head slowly. Harry and Ron came back in with Ginny following behind, holding Harry's hand.

"Hi Hermione, do you mind if I join your compartment? I can only handle the twins and Lavender for so long. And was that Pansy I just saw?" The stunning redhead was looking at Hermione quizzically.

"Of course, Gin! Sit on my side. Pansy was just being her usual dim-witted self, drawing outrageous conclusions she thinks actually make sense."

Ginny happily sat across from Harry in the empty seat next to Hermione as the train chugged closer and closer to the lake. The female redhead looked at Harry like he was her world, and he was obviously just as taken with her.

At one point, Hermione thought that she and Ron would have the relationship that Harry and Ginny did, but they were just too different. Hermione wanted more adventures, and someone to explore life with before really settling down. Ron was ready for a stable job and a stay at home wife for the many kids he wanted to have. It really wasn't his fault, and Hermione had made peace with it long ago. He wanted what his parents had, which was great. Hermione just wanted more.

Finally the students had reached the lake, and Hagrid stood waiting for them. Everyone was taking the boats this year, something McGonogall thought would be safer.

The four went straight to Hagrid with big smiles, excited to see their giant friend. They would be attending his wedding in September, planned by Madame Máxime.

"Oh, 'Arry, Ron, 'Ermione! 'Ow are you! And Ginny, o' course. Last year fer the Golden Trio 'ere!"

The half-giant crushed the students to his massive chest, and they all hugged him back while trying to remain breathing.

"Hi Hagrid, how are you?" Harry asked, smiling warmly at his first wizarding aquantaince.

Hagrid grinned, scratching his head. "With the wedding coming up and all, I ne'er sleep anymore! You four go get yer selves a boat and have a nice ride. I'll catch up with you all later."

The four complied, walking towards the black lake. Hermione always marveled at the reflective quality of the black water. She could see the friendly lights of the castle reflected in the bottomless depths of the lake, its warmth contrasting with the leeching qualities of the mysterious body of water.

She looked around, spotting old friends coming back for their last year together at Hogwarts. There was Seamus, Nott, Neville, Luna, Malfoy, the Patil twins, Lavender, Daphne Greengrass, and many more. The first years around them were looking around with wide eyes, transporting Hermione back to her first time seeing the expansive view.

What she remembered most was the feeling that she finally fit in, something she never felt at muggle school. She always knew there was something… different about her. When she first received the letter, the puzzle pieces snapped together for her. Her parents, on the other hand, took more convincing. They thought that it was some sort of elaborate prank, or scheme for money. But they let their darling girl go anyway, loving her enough to put aside their fears.

Hermione blinked hard, stopping the sting of tears that had caught her off guard. The girl missed her parents, who didn't remember her and lived in Australia. And it was her fault, just more guilt clouding her conscious.

She turned to her friends, all of them headed for their last year. They had grown and matured over the years, especially with all they had gone through. Picking sides for a war waging within your school, tearing the student body in half, was something that made you mature quickly.

Hermione was thinking this as they made their way through the blackness to the glittering castle that was to be their home once agin for the next year. Though she was with her friends, she felt oddly alone, and a chill had slipped under her skin, causing goosebumps to rise.

She missed the spark that used to drive her to be the best while she was at Hogwarts. She still wanted to be the best in her classes, but there was no purpose anymore, no Voldemort to defeat. Just safe, normal school. Albeit with magic, but missing the adrenaline rush she was used to growing up alongside. It was a friend she missed dearly.

Though neither knew it, a curly-haired brunette and a silver-eyed blond both squared their shoulders at the same time, on different boats, preparing for their last year at Hogwarts. And both hoped for the spark they craved so dearly.

A/N Please review, and I will continue to post/write. Does anyone else love the fall weather that's starting up again? It's my favorite season, and I'm always more inspired in this weather. Review and it really will help. Thanks loves ;)