A/N Helllooooooo! I am BACK! And for some people, that's actually a GOOD thing! XD. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy my K+ story! Yeah!
Disclaimer: Boy, have I done THIS too many times! Hee hee! Harry Potter isn't mine. You'd think people would get that by now…
Hermione stalked past the usual faces and onto Platform 9 ¾. Things had not gotten better over the holiday. They had stayed in a straight line, going neither up nor down in excitement.
She plopped down in a compartment next to Ron and Harry. Hermione managed to get a smile on her face when she saw that the boys were staring at the compartment door intently, not noticing when Hermione entered. Harry had a ten-pound note in his hand. Ron… had his sandwiches. They were, Hermione noticed, crushed and on the seat opposite the duo.
The candy cart. Harry and Ron had gotten almost obsessed with sugar by the time sixth year had ended. Apparently killing the Darkest wizard of all time and dealing with the best wizard in history's death took a toll on your blood sugar.
Once again the compartment door slid open. In walked Ginny Weasley, her fiery red hair standing out seemingly even more than usual. "Hermione, something has definitely gotten them. Harry has never ignored me walking past before," said Ginny, faking her worry.
"I know, Gin. I can't believe Ron didn't even look up when I entered… I think they have finally become possessed by the candy monster," replied Hermione jokingly.
"Oh, I don't know. They don't seem to be blacking out… I should know…" Ginny's tone was suddenly grave. Hermione realized that her friend had never really gotten over what happened that terrible year when Tom Riddle's diary possessed Ginny.
"Ginevra Weasley, you have to forget about that for right now," said Hermione fiercely. "Riddle is dead, and all his Horcruxes destroyed."
"But for such a price, Hermione? I would never have guessed that Fred… of all people… and George, too…" Ginny broke down in sobs. Hermione had never, ever seen Ginny cry. It had simply never happened.
Ginny was closest to Fred and George out of all her family (not counting Molly). When the two of them had gone missing during the War, it was all Ginny could do not to break down every time anything remotely related to them was mentioned. They used to call her Ginevra as a joke all the time, just to get her fired up.
Hermione hugged her friend. This was terrible, what the war had done to these innocent people. Hermione herself was in pain so terrible she could hardly keep from crying out every minute of the day.
Hermione's parents' memory charm had broken, and they had suddenly entered the fray. Before Hermione could run over and tell them to get out of there, a Killing Curse hit the both of them, and they were down.
A funeral had been held for every single dead person in the War, which also included Mr. Weasley. Percy had killed the Minister of Magic himself, and always loved himself for it.
So among the known dead of the deadly War, there were Fred and George, Mr. Weasley, Collin Creevey, Denis Creevey, Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, and many, many others. They each had a separate grave, a separate mourning. Except, Tonks and Lupin were buried together, the Creevey brothers were as well, Fred and George and Mr. Weasley, too.
But enough of this sadness. The candy cart eventually came, and the ten-pound note was spent on everything in the cart. Soon enough the compartment was littered with candy wrappers, crumbs, four full students, a cat, and a plastic bag of crushed sandwiches, which no one cared about.
Finally, Hogwarts was in view. It got closer, closer. Then the train screeched to a sudden halt. Everyone boarded off the Hogwarts Express. Hermione gazed fondly at it when outside.
The Hogwarts Express was a bright, cherry red steam engine with huge, shiny black wheels. There was excess smoke rising from the top, and a whistle was blowing. Hermione heard the joyous shouts of children running around, trying to find their friends and walking inside the magnificent Hogwarts Castle. Hermione heard also the calls of, "Firs' years, firs' years o'er here!" from Hagrid.
Yes, Hagrid hadn't been lost in the War. That was one of the good things that had happened in the outcome. The Golden Trio plus Ginny ran up to the half-giant and hugged him.
"Hermione! Harry! Ron! Ginny! How are yer?" asked Hagrid happily.
"Great, Hagrid. And you?" replied Ginny.
"Oh, I'm fine. Grawpy really catchin' on with the whole 'don't eat students' thin'. How about comin' down ter my hut after breakfast tomorrow morn' and havin' some tea? I'm sure Fang'd love ter see you guys!"
"We'll be there," said Hermione, Ginny, Ron, and Harry at the same time.
"Great! See yer tomorrow then!" said Hagrid, and herded the four of them off to the general direction of the Castle, and turning back to the First Years.
"Well, I'm glad tomorrow's Saturday!" said Hermione briskly, and everyone made their way up to the Great Hall.
When everyone was finally seated, Professor McGonagall got up to give her speech:
"My dear students, last year was a hard year, I know, for anyone and everyone in here that is not a First Year. And, actually, it has affected some First Years. Professor Dumbledore is dead, along with many others. Among those others, though, includes Voldemort. Yes, Lord Voldemort is dead." At this, everyone cheered, even the Slytherins. Even Draco Malfoy. "But, to lighten the mood, I have wonderful news:
"The Hogwarts Professors and I have come up with a spell that will allow Muggle technology to work on school grounds. You will each be given a phone. That is a device that, upon dialing a number, you can hear someone else's voice on the other end. But we won't do it that way. You will have only three options on your phones: record videos, take photos, and go to the chat room. When you click on that, there will be options to go into separate chat rooms: Main Chat, Slytherin Chat, Gryffindor Chat, Hufflepuff Chat, and Ravenclaw Chat.
"Once in the chat room you type on the keys what you want the screen to say, and then press send, and it will appear in the chat room. You can also upload videos and pictures to the chat room, and everyone in the chat room at any time can go back and upload it. You may use the phones in class, but if you're doing a test, you may not ask older students for the answers. Of course, you may share notes, as you can take a picture or video of them and post that.
"Everyone gets to choose their own username and password. You may change either of them at any point in time. If this is your last year, you may keep the phones after you graduate. Oh, and no phones at graduation! That is all. You may eat," finished Professor McGonagall, and food magically appeared on the plates in front of everyone as usual. But along with all the food, a single Alias phone appeared on everyone's lap, including the teachers and people in the hospital wing. The phone actually appeared in everyone's hands that were within school grounds.
Everyone started talking quietly and excitedly while eating. Ron was, for once, not eating, but staring at his phone. "Why is it all black?" he asked.
Hermione sighed and leaned over to him. "Press the red End button for about ten seconds," she said. He did.
"Oh. I get it. Now how do I click the picture button?" Ron was touching the screen with his hands.
"You use these arrow keys. When the picture button is highlighted, press the okay button. It will take you to the camera. When you find something you want to take a picture of, press the okay button again. Then press that right button there to save it if you like it, or the left button there to delete it if you messed up," replied Hermione slowly, like she was teaching a five-year-old that hitting was not nice.
"Alright. Here I am. Hermione, smile for me please." She did. Click! went the camera, and Ron showed her a picture of herself smiling. He pressed the right button, and on the screen appeared, in red print, PICTURE SAVED. GO TO PICTURE LIBRARY or TAKE MORE PICTURES? Ron clicked the option to TAKE MORE PICTURES and took a few more of Harry, Ginny, Hermione again, himself, the food, the fools people were making of themselves while they tried to work out the phones.
"Let's go to the Main Chat, guys, and see who's there to chat with!" said Ginny.
"Okay!" replied the Golden Trio, and everyone created an account and clicked on Main Chat. It looked like:
The Chosen One has logged on.
Miss Weasley has logged on.
Weasel has logged on.
Muggleborn has logged on.
The Chosen One: Hey guys, anyone here?
SlytherinKing: Yeah, me and a few others. I can guess who you are, Potter!
The Chosen One: You don't say, Malfoy?
SlytherinKing: How did you know?
The Chosen One: Oh, I don't know. Who ELSE would call themselves the king of Slytherin other than YOU?
Miss Weasley: Would you guys STOP IT? Harry, I wouldn't believe this of you.
Muggleborn: Seriously? Miss Weasley?
Miss Weasley: Well, Hermione, I don't see YOU putting a lot of thought into YOUR name.
Muggleborn: Yeah… Oh well. Bye!
Miss Weasley: Bye.
The Chosen One: Bye.
Weasel: Bye.
SlytherinKing: Bye.
Muggleborn has logged off.
Miss Weasley has logged off.
The Chosen One has logged off.
Weasel has logged off.
SlytherinKing has logged off.
Everyone stared at each other, then started eating.
A/N Hope you liked it! R&R please!