Harry and Ron quickly made their way through to Platform 93/4. They were late, as usual, for the Hogwarts Express. They were entering their sixth year and still, neither could keep track of the time. Though they didn't act it, they were both excited about returning to school for the new term.
It was their usual routine of finding an empty compartment on the always crowded train. They were so relieved, in fact, to have found one, that they immediately let go of the sliding door and dropped their bags. They turned around just in time to see the door slam, unexpectedly, in front of Ginny's nose.
"Sorry, Gin," Ron apologized after Ginny had opened the door, struggling with her luggage.
"I'll take that." Harry took her trunk from her right hand.
"Thanks." Ginny replied, pushing her long auburn hair out of her face, hitting Harry slightly in the process.
They put all their trunks and bags in separate corners and compartments and sat down to wait for Hermione. Ron looked slightly tense, Harry noticed. Ginny must have as well for each time Ron put his hand through his hair to fix it, she would roll her eyes as if his actions were utterly pathetic.
Hermione finally arrived outside the compartment door, waving through the glass. Ginny opened the door and the two hugged as if they hadn't seen each other in centuries, never mind a few weeks back for Harry's birthday.
With some difficulty, Hermione picked up her luggage and moved it to one corner of the compartment. Harry could see the small beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Ron lit up at the sight of her.
She motioned to Harry, her arms outstretched.
"Harry," she started, "I missed you so much!" She moved to Ron. Ginny took a glance at Harry. They were obviously thinking the same thing. Everyone in the whole of Hogwarts was thinking the same thing, but Ron and Hermione were too blind to see their attraction to one another.
As soon as Hermione and Ron started to hug, Harry saw the relief on Ron's face. He closed his eyes and the muscles in his arms relaxed. Ron and Hermione were awoken from their rendezvous by Ginny's loud, and fake, coughing. Harry at first glared, then couldn't help but smirk at her.
Hermione broke away form Ron and the feeling in the room slowly relieved itself of awkwardness.
"It's so good to see you, Ron." Hermione said casually. There was something different about her, Harry noticed. The ball of frizzy hair that sat on top her head seemed somewhat less frizzy and Harry thought he saw a bit of makeup caked on her face.
"Ah," she sat down, "So how have you all been?"
"Well," Harry said, "Everything's been smooth up until today."
"It's just hard, you know," Ginny chimed in, "getting everyone packed, out of the Burrow, and to the train in time."
"I can imagine," Hermione replied. With that, the train began to move and everyone turned to the windows to wave goodbye.
Sitting back down, Harry and Ginny continued to steal glances at Ron, who apparently, had not said anything since his encounter with Hermione. They settled in, giving up hope that Ron would say anything more. Harry watched as Ron played Ginny in chess. They were both at equal levels of competition and Harry would have been surprised if the result of the game wasn't an infamous Weasley row.
A while later, Hermione got up from reading her book and stated that she was going to change into her robes since they were close to an hour away from the school. Ginny said she'd go with Hermione, as she didn't want to wait until the last minute. As she left, she whispered in Harry's ear: "Talk to him!" and left.
Ron was staring out the window and didn't seem to realize the girls were gone, as Ginny had finished their chess game a few minutes before.
"So, Ron," Harry started, "what's wrong? You don't seem yourself."
"It's nothing," he replied, "It's just that, erm, Harry? How do you tell if a girl really likes you?" He asked. He had never been this upfront about Hermione with him before.
"Well, I guess," he replied, "she laughs when she's around you and you make her happy." Ron looked perplexed.
"You know Ron, I think she feels the sa- ," He was about to tell Ron that he thought Hermione liked him too, but was stopped mid sentence by Ginny and Hermione's entrance. He would have to continue his conversation with Ron later.
Ginny looked so beautiful today, Harry noticed. Her hair matched the leaves on the trees and shone in the autumn sunlight. She really had grown, not just in height, but in the chest… What was he thinking? This was Ron's little sister and he was acting like some pervert!
As if Hermione could read his mind, he looked up to her smirking at him. Still smiling, she whispered, "Harry, Professor Trelawney might be a "seer"," she said this in a completely unbelieving voice, "but I think I see something other than a tragic death in your future."
Only then did he realize how he had been staring intently at Ginny the whole time.