As she stepped off of the train that had brought her to King's Cross for the last time, Hermione Granger was deep in thought. Walking towards the brick column that served as the bridge between her two worlds, she nearly walked off the platform. Smiling at her absentmindedness, she crossed the barrier and was soon faced with the silhouette of the magnificent Hogwarts Express. Leaving her trunks with an attendant, Hermione took Crookshanks and went looking for Harry and Ron.
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were, at that moment, running towards the barrier with a heavily panting Ginny Weasley in tow. The train was due to leave any minute and if they didn't hurry, they wouldn't make it, much less get a compartment for themselves.
After searching all the compartments with no luck, Hermione was slightly worried. However, her face broke into a wide smile when she heard a loud crash of carts that could only signal the arrival of her best friends. Running towards them, she broke into peals of laughter at Ginny's scowling face. Harry and Ron were grinning guiltily, their possessions spread around them in disarray. When they saw Hermione, they jumped up and Hermione was suddenly smothered in her favorite Harry/Ron hug.
Two hours later, Ron and Harry were talking animatedly about Quidditch, a huge pile of chocolate frog wrappers surrounding them. Ginny and Hermione looked at them withwith barely suppressed affectionbefore going back to their conversations about the latest Order secrets Ginny had managed to scroungeup at Headquarters over the summer.
At the sound of the compartment door opening, Hermione looked up with a scowl. She already knew who it was. Every year at exactly the same time, he would enter their compartment for the first exchange of harsh words of the school year.
"Ahh… Malfoy, always a pleasure. You're looking awfully twitchy this year."
Malfoy growled at her, disliking her reference to his brief fourth year state as a ferret. Then, as he grinned suddenly, Hermione braced herself for an insult.
"Granger, you're still alive. So all those rumors I heard about your death at the Ministry were just wishful thinking. Oh well. So Potty, what's it feel like not to be a hero for the first time ever? Huh? Huh?" asked Malfoy mockingly. "I also heard it's thanks to you that a rebellious relative of mine is gone for good, so I suppose thanks are in order."
Ginny and Ron grabbed Harry to prevent him from giving Malfoy the beating he deserved as Hermione shoved Malfoy out of the compartment with a swift kick in the shins.
"Well that went well." Hermione said, brushing her sweaty hair from her face, finally ready for her last year at Hogwarts.