Hermione Granger couldn't wait for the new school year to start. It was 7th year, her last year. Thinking about what this year would be like was bittersweet- she was both excited and disappointed. It was her last year; she was excited about what she could learn, but sad thinking that she would never return to Hogwarts again. They would be full-grown witches and wizards, she realized, and off into a world without homework and teachers, and starting their own lives as adults.

Harry, Ron, and all her other 7th year friends would be grown up this year, possibly more mature. Maybe, she thought, she could have serious conversation with Harry and Ron, about our plans for the future. She thought about how they both wanted to be Aurors, and how they wanted her to be one with them. But Hermione wasn't sure she could follow them down that path…she felt as if she was destined to be something else, it seemed like her fate-

She snorted. She was thinking like Trelawney- she shivered at this. 'I've got to try to stay away a bit from Lavender and Parvati. Fate, yeah right!' Being a practical, sensible girl, she didn't believe in all the dreamy predictions of love and happiness that Lavender and Parvati giggled about incessantly. They believed that their one "Prince Charming" was out there somewhere, having been "Destined" for them at the birth of their girly, annoying, bodies. 'Don't forget about their brains filled with gossip and hot air', Hermione thought with a smile. She did like those two, but could only bear them for a few hours at a time.

She was thinking all this while her parents dropped her off at Platform 9 ¾ in their cramped blue car. Her mom was crying, and her dad looked sad, just like they did every year. Hermione hated to see them like this, but she had to go.

"Mom! Dad! It's not as if I'll be gone forever! I'll try to visit you during the vacations okay?" Hermione said this with a falsely bright smile. Her parents knew her smile wasn't real, because it didn't reach her eyes. Hermione always got very sad when she left, but she tried not to show it-it would make it harder for them. She hugged her parents tightly, promising to write every week, and then waved at them as they drove away. She waved until they were a tiny blue circle in the distance, kept on waving until they were a tiny blue speck, and waved until she could not see them at all.

Forcing herself to let the picture of her parents' sad faces out of her head, and chasing away the melancholy that seemed to engulf her after saying goodbye, Hermione instead focused on the task at hand-Getting through the barrier. Hermione pushed her trolley fast as she ran towards the barrier, still a tiny bit nervous, after all these years that she would crash into a solid brick wall. She made it through the wall and pulled her trolley over to the side to catch her breath. She looked around and smiled at the sight of many familiar faces. There was Angelina Johnson, talking to Alicia and Katie. Hermione saw Neville and his grandmother. It looked like he lost something again. And over to the right, she saw her two best friends, Harry and Ron, talking. 'I'd go over, but I'm too tired right now', Hermione thought. She watched them instead.

"So then Dudley said, 'I'm not afraid of you' and then I looked past him and said 'Hi Hagrid! Still got that pink umbrella?' Then Dudley squealed like a pig-mind you, he already is a pig, so he sounded like himself- and ran down the block. He knocked into his disgusting friends on their bikes, and he's so fat that he made them all fall. They fell into this puddle of muddy water, and Dudley hit his head on the sidewalk. So then he had to walk home covered in mud and with a bruise on his forehead! Of course, I got blamed and punished for this, but it was worth it just to see it!" Harry started laughing, and Ron started laughing too. Ron slapped Harry on the back, and Harry was so surprised he fell on the ground. They were silent for a moment. Then they looked at each other, and started laughing hysterically again.

'What was I thinking before? That they'd be more mature this year? Have a "serious" conversation?' Hermione rolled her eyes as she watched Harry and Ron act like fools- mind you they already are fools, so they acted like themselves. 'Honestly, Harry's still on the floor!' She pulled the trolley over to them.

"Hi guys," she said, giving them a huge smile. Harry jumped up at the sight of her.

"Hermione!" Harry and Ron screamed. They hugged her tightly.

"You…guys…are…SQUISHING me!" She tried to pull away, but they had a firm grip.

"Sorry Hermione!" they said, releasing her.

"So, what did you guys do this summer?" She asked. Ron raised his hand. "Ooh ooh, pick me, pick me! I did a lot of cool stuff!" He danced around, waving his hand in the air. Hermione stared.

"Don't mind him; I gave him some muggle chocolate bars and some sugary candy I found in Dudley's secret stash underneath his bed… I didn't know he'd get so… hyper." Harry said, glancing at Ron sheepishly.

"Hey HARRY! Do you have anymore of that chocolate stuff? That stuff is AWESOME!" Ron yelled this in Harry's ear.

Harry winced. "Ron, you ate it all. Why don't you tell Hermione what you did this summer?" Harry said slowly, as if he was very young. Ron nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, this summer, me, Ginny, Fred and George played Quidditch."

"Ron, you do that every summer." Hermione said impatiently.

"I know! Isn't that so cool?"

Hermione sighed. "I'll talk to you later, when the sugar wears off."

"Yeah! Later!" Ron said jumping up and down. As Ron ran around the platform, bumping into people, Hermione turned to Harry.

"Harry? How was your summer?" Harry's face changed at once, looking more grim at the mention of his summer. Hermione felt like slapping herself-for a minute there he seemed to be pretty cheerful, but now he looked sad. But the look seemed to pass as Harry shook his head, as if to clear his mind of any thoughts of Sirius' death.

"How it is usually. Avoided my Aunt and Uncle, annoyed Dudley whenever possible, and walked around at night. What about you?" "Well, I had a lot of work to do, essays, homework, studying, reading books. How it is usually." Harry smiled, apparently glad to have the topic switched to her. "I guess we all had pretty uneventful summers. At least we know Hogwarts won't be as dull."

Hermione shook her head. "There's never a dull year there. We'll probably-oh it's time to get on the train!" She tried to lift her suitcase out, but it was too heavy for her.

"Here Hermione, I'll get our luggage and you get Ron." Harry lifted her suitcase out, struggling to pick it up. "Your suitcase is really heavy Hermione! What do you have in here?" "Books, naturally," Hermione said looking at Harry as if he asked if the sky was blue or green. "Yeah, well, go get Ron before he hurts himself" Harry panted, dragging her suitcase over to the train.

Ron was still running around the platform. He stopped when he saw her. "Hey look, it's Hermione!" he said, pointing at her. He grabbed a 1st year Hufflepuff boy that was passing by and pulled him over to them.

"Please don't hurt me!" cried the boy, cowering. "Look, it's Hermione!" Ron yelled to the boy, who was trying to escape with little success.

Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him to the train. Ron still was holding the sleeve of the Hufflepuff boy, so he got dragged along too. She saw Harry sitting and pulled Ron and the boy inside the compartment.

"Hi Harry!" Ron yelled. "Who's that?" Harry asked, pointing at the small boy. "Oh him? That's Ferenzonaba," said Ron. "My name is Paul!" said the boy. "Oh, sure it is, Paul…" Ron said loudly. "Poor kid, he doesn't know what he's saying right now. He's obviously out of his mind," Ron whispered to Harry. "I agree completely Ronald. He's obviously out of his mind," Hermione said looking directly at Ron. Ron nodded. "I know! It's quite sad, actually. Poor Ferenzonaba." "That's right Ronald. It's very sad." Hermione said, still looking directly at Ron.

"You know what guys? I'm kind of sleepy…" Ron fell back on the seat and began to snore loudly. Hermione shook her head, lead Paul out of the compartment, and began to read a book. They stayed like that for the rest of the ride to Hogwarts, the only sounds were Ron snoring, the turning of pages in Hermione's book, and the crinkling wrappers of Harry's chocolate frogs and other candy he bought.

Hermione woke Ron up when they arrived at Hogwarts. She slapped him hard on the face. He screamed and jumped up. "Why'd you do that for?" he yelled. Harry burst out laughing. Hermione glared at Ron. "You were drooling all over my robes," she said, gesturing to her wet robes. Ron blushed. "Hermione, I swear I'll never eat muggle candy again." Ron glanced at the wrappers sticking out of Harry's pocket. "Hey Harry, is that muggle candy? Can I have some?" Hermione slapped him again. "Ow!"

As the three of them were making their way outside, they passed by Paul, who was dragging his oversized trunk slowly past the compartments. He looked up at them and froze. "Hey kid, could you move please? We're trying-"Ron said, but was cut off by Paul. "Ahh!" Paul yelled, abandoning his trunk and running out of sight. Ron turned to Harry. "What's his problem?" Ron asked staring at the space where Paul stood. Harry didn't answer. He pulled Paul's trunk to the side and ran after him. " Paul, wait!" Ron stood there with his mouth open. "What-Who-Where-Hermione?" He asked, turning to her desperately. Hermione rolled her eyes and continued walking toward the exit. "You're on your own Ron". Ron stared at her, and then turned around. "Wait Harry! Who's Paul?" He shouted, running after Harry.

On her way out of the train, Hermione bumped into Malfoy, her least favorite person at Hogwarts. She tripped over Ron's suitcase, which he had left in the hallway after chasing after Harry and the mysterious Paul. She fell forwards onto Malfoy, who was knocked down to the floor. Hermione landed on top of him. She stayed like that for a moment. Then she realized she was sitting on Draco Malfoy, and she blushed deeply. She jumped up as quickly as she could and began brushing off her robes.

"Granger, I know you can't resist me, I don't blame you because no girl can, but you better get the hell off of me! These are new robes and I don't need your dirty mudblood self dirtying them!" he said as he stood, glaring at her. She glared back.

" I already am off of you, you idiot! For your information Malfoy, I don't like you, and no girl in her right mind would. Except for Pansy, who can't be considered a girl, because she looks more like a dog. As for your new robes, congrats. You now have Ronald Weasley's drool all over them." And it was true. Malfoy's formerly clean, black robes were now covered in the nasty substance that was Ron's drool. Silently Hermione thanked Ron for drooling on her-the look on Malfoy's face when he saw his disgusting robes was definitely a Kodak moment. She wished Colin was here. She gave him a smirk to rival his own. He looked at his robes in disgust.

"You stupid mudblood!" He made to grab her, but then stopped. " I don't have time for this now, but assure you Granger, I'll make your life hell later. I'll have plenty of opportunities, with us being Head Boy and Girl; I'll be around you pretty often. It would do you good to know your place-in the dirt, with all the other mudbloods. " He was red from anger and disgust.

Hermione paled. Malfoy smirked at her. "Oh, didn't know did you? Of course I would be Head Boy. Who else would be better suited?" He looked amused at her pale face. "See you later, roommate" He laughed and went out the door. Hermione went out too, still a bit shocked. 'I should have known though. It would have to be him, if Snape and Malfoy Sr. wanted it that way. How I despise him…' She continued to curse Malfoy out in her head as she walked to the carriages pulled by the Thestrals.