The first thing Hermoine noticed as she stepped through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾ was the two handsome young men waving at her. Her two best friends had grown up a lot since they had last seen each other leaving the platform after their 5th year at Hogwarts.
Harry had had a major growth spurt and was now just under 6'3". He had gotten a Muggle job over the summer loading and unloading trucks resulting in his now muscular appearance. The job also paid him enough to afford contacts, which accentuated his beautiful eyes.
Ron had also grown leaving him only an inch taller then Harry. Not much else had really changes except that he did look a bit stronger then the previous year and that his nicely combed hair was now cut short and gelled up into little spikes.
Hermoine herself had also changed a bit. She has grown to about 5'6" and had transformed into a beautiful young girl. She had straightened her hair and has acquired a deep rich tan from her summer stay in Africa with her uncle.
Hermoine ran up to the two boys and hugged them both with such enthusiasm that Harry and Ron had to take a few moments to pry her off of them.
"Wow Hermoine you look amazing," Harry told her.
"Yeah Hermoine, what happened?"
Hermoine playfully pushed Ron and said, "Nothing happened. I just had a great summer. You both look pretty good yourselves. I missed you guys."
"Thanks Hermoine, we missed you too. Why don't we go get some seats on the train and we can talk some more about our summers," Harry replied.
The whole train ride was spent with everyone excitedly talking about their summers. Harry had stayed with the Dursely's all summer working while Ron had played Quidditch practically non-stop and helped out at Fred and George's joke shop. Hermoine had stayed with her uncle all summer in Africa and helped at his animal refugee center. The trip to Hogwarts was only disrupted a few times, once by the lady with the trolley, and other times by groups of friends such as Ginny, Neville, and Luna and Seamus and Dean.
"You notice how not once did Malfoy stop by to make some rude remark," Hermoine inquired.
"Maybe he knows better now or maybe he's stopped going to Hogwarts and decided to become a Deatheater," Ron said hopefully.
"Yeah right, to good to be true."
And Harry was right. Just as they had stepped off the train to head to the carriages Malfoy and his two goons Crabbe and Goyle approached.
"So Pottyhead, I see you survived the summer. Too bad your luck won't last. I see your still hanging out with Weasel and the Mudblood. Guess you couldn't find anybody civil to be friends with."
"You wouldn't know what civil is. The closest you've come to it is the dirt on the bottom of civilized peoples' shoes," retorted Hermoine.
With that the trio pushed through Malfoy and his bodyguards but Malfoy grabbed Hermoine's arm roughly pulling her toward him.
"You better watch your back this year Mudblood," he whispered to her releasing her arm and pushing her away.
