By Sierra
Chapter 1: The Sorting
" Bye Mom, bye Dad! See you next summer!" Hermione Granger ducked through the barrier to platform 9 and 3/4 to board the Hogwarts express, her trolley dragging along behind her. "At least I wasn't stupid enough to take as many subjects as last year," she muttered to herself. The wicker carrier perched on top of her trunk shook as the large ginger cat inside of it thrashed wildly. "I'll let you out on the train, Crookshanks," she murmured, her eyes scanning the crowd. "Where are they?" she muttered. Suddenly, she caught a flash of red hair out of the corner of her eye. "Ron!" she called, waving and pushing her trolley over to where he stood. "Where's Harry?" she asked. "I dunno," he replied, shrugging. "He'd better get here soon, though, the train's going to leave." He turned around to look at the barrier.
"Let's put our stuff on the train and come back to wait for him," she said reasonably. They stowed their trunks, Crookshanks basket, and Ron's minute owl (a gift from Sirius) in an empty compartment and went back out to wait for him. At about 10:59, one minute before the train was scheduled to depart, Harry came stumbling through the barrier, panting.
"Where were you?" Hermione exclaimed as they pushed his trolley towards their compartment door.
"Yeah," Ron said. "Those muggles trying to make you late?"
"Yup," Harry replied, frowning. "You'd think they'd be happy to get rid of me. They hate me after all.
"At least you got here on time, barely," Ron said, pushing Harry's trunk onboard.
"Thank goodness," Hermione exclaimed. The train's whistle sounded and they got on and shut the door as the train started to move.
"So," Hermione said once they had sat down. "How was your summer, Harry?"
"It was weird, I mean, nothing happened! The Dursleys wouldn't let me out of the house, except when I left to get my school supplies. When I told them I had a godfather who was a convicted murderer on the run, they didn't talk to me either. Other than that, nothing happened!"
"Maybe this means we'll have a nice, normal year for once," Hermione said.
"NO WAY!" they both cried, grinning.
"Ohhhh," she groaned. "Why do you always get in trouble?" They just grinned.
"It's too bad the World Cup got postponed until next year. Who'd thought that the whole team would get sick!" Ron exclaimed.
His complaining was cut short by the smiling witch with the food cart. They all crowded around to get something. After settling back down, they started discussing their summers again. Just as Hermione was about to say something, the compartment door slid open and there stood none other than their sworn enemy, Draco Malfoy and his pea-brained sidekicks, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Hermione couldn't help but notice something seemed to be upsetting Malfoy. "Good," she thought to herself.
"So," he said in his usual drawl. "It's the wuss team; Potty, Weasel, and the mudblood." Crabbe and Goyle snickered.
"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry said, all three of them standing to face the three Slytherins.
"Oh, nothing," he replied, "Just to let you know there wont be any dementors around. You don't have to worry about fainting." He smirked. "Though it did make a nice show."
Harry pulled out his wand and advanced, but before he could do anything there was a loud hissing and the top of Crookshanks basket flew open. The large cat leaped out and flew straight at Draco, attaching itself to his robes. Draco let out a scream and flung the cat away, then the three hurried out.
"Good Crookshanks," Hermione murmured, picking him up and stroking his ginger fur.
The rest of the trip passed uneventfully. When the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, they got and climbed into on of the awaiting carriages, stopping only to wave to Hagrid, who was directing the 1st years. Once inside Hogwarts, they followed the crowd into the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table.
"Do you know," Harry said, leaning over to her and Ron, "This is the 1st time I've ever actually seen the sorting?"
"Maybe if you stayed out of trouble, you would more often," she said, smiling.
"I can't help it," he replied, grinning back.
A hush fell over the hall as Professor McGonagall set up the stool and sorting hat in front of a line of scared 1st years. After it's song, each student tried it on and went to sit down at their designated table. After they were done, Professor McGonagall stepped up and announced "We have one more new student, a new 4th year, Celeste Drexel from Dovehart Academy of Witchcraft in New Hampshire, USA." The girl standing behind the Professor had shoulder length silver-blond hair, piercing gray eyes and a small, pointed face. As Hermione watched, the girl stepped forward and sat down, placing the hat on her head.
"SLYTHERIN," it bellowed, and she stood up and went over to the Slytherin table.
"Does she look familiar?" Hermione whispered to Harry and Ron.
"Yeah," Harry said, looking puzzled. "But I can't figure out where I've seen her before."
"Oh well," she said, and began to fill her plate with the food that had appeared on the table.
After they had sung the school song, they followed the other Gryffindors to the common room. After walking into her dorm room, she realized how tired she was. As she changed and sank into bed, all thoughts of the mysterious new girl left her head.
A/N: Well, here's part 1 of my first fan fic! Please review, I'll get part two up depending on whether I get good reviews on this part. So, do ya like? I hope so!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and any other possibly mentioned characters are property of J. K. Rowling, not me. Don't sue me! I don't have anything you'd want anyway. Celeste Drexel and the Dovehart Academy remain my property. Don't take them without my permission, blah, blah, blah.