the three sat on the train, their compartment dimly lit and flickering, and no one speaking. hermione was picking a hole in her skirt. it was a nervous habit she was trying to stop, but figured there was no point in stopping, she could fix it later with a simple charm. ron was cleaning his fingernails with a scrap of metal he now seemd to always have in his pocket. harry was just staring out into the rain, tracing circles on the foggy glass of the window. it was the beginning of their sixth year. the whole summer, they had barely spoken a word to each other, except occasionally, though they had all lived at Grimauld Place the entire time. Luna seemed a far away thing to them, having moved to Tokyo with her father on a new story near the beginning of the summer. Ginny and Neville had since become more and more attached, and now it was uncommon to see them not engaged in some sort of messing around or another. for harry, ron, and hermione, however, it was far different.
harry had taken on an apathetic, empty sort of persona. he didn't care about anything that went on around him, including anything to do with ron or hermione. he was usually locked in the room with the painting back at Grimauld, and when he was obligated to be around everyone, he was never paying any attention. making circles on window fog had become a favorite passtime.
ron had become more and more angrily distant. every time he and harry talked, harry would be indiferent, so ron would get angry, and it would turn into a fight. their fights had been growing more numerous, louder, and less coherent as time had gone on. ron's knuckles were always scabbed now, since when he couldn't get anything out of harry, he'd get frustrated and punch a hole in the nearest wall. he always wore long sleeves now, too. harry didn't notice that, but hermione did, and she was pretty sure of the reason behind it. that may have been the source of her incessant nail-biting.
hermione had by far changed the most. she didn't boss the boys around anymore, she wasn't pretentious in any subject of conversation, like she had been since they'd known her. she took to reading more books, and reciting excerpts from less, and now had short little fingernails she always painted black, to hide the fact that she'd chewed them down to scabby stubs. since barely anyone was talking to her lately, she'd been experimenting more and more. her hair was black on top and red underneath now, since she'd needed something to take her mind off things one day over the summer, and had distracted herself with hairdye. she didn't sleep much anymore, because of harry and ron's fighting (or at least her worrying about it), so she lined her eyes with heavy black liner to look like they were dark around the edges purposely. but for as much as she'd changed, no one noticed.
ron took some headphones out of his duffle bag, and put them on his head. he swung his legs up onto the seat next to him (no one was sitting there, since harry wanted to avoid conversation, and hermione wanted to avoid being in the way of nearby wall.), then closed his eyes. hermione could hear his music playing ; it was always really loud these days. she was alone now. again, neither could hear her, whatever she could say, so she took out a muggle book she had just begun reading: Catcher in the Rye. after a few pages from where she'd begun, however, she found it to depressing for the present circumstances, and took to picking at her skirt again.
"you're ruining it." said a voice at her side, quietly.
"what?" she replied, startled at the sudden sound of someone actually talking to her.
"i said," said harry, turning to face her, "you're going to ruin your skirt."
"how'd you know i was picking at it?"
"i was watching your reflection." he said, turning back towards the window.
she knew that was the end of the conversation, so she took out a notepad and started drawing. she didn't know what it would be yet, and she didn't care. she felt something banging against the wall behind her, and heard the light fixtures in the next compartment making twinkly noises as they shook around. then she remembered that it was ginny and neville in that one, and she couldn't tell if she was glad or depressed that at least someone was having a good time.