Prologue

Well this is my new story, I know that I should be finishing Heroes Again but this story has been stuck in my head for months and I couldn't get out, but don't worry I will definitely get Heroes Again done, I am off next week for a full week so I intend to get it done then.

This is just the prologue, so the actually chapters will be far longer, but I would really like to know what you think of it. It will be much better than Heroes Again, it is all planned out and has a much, much, much better plot because I am not really happy with the way I done Heroes Again but I learned a lot. Sorry for the long Author's Note. Please leave a review.

The thud of the rain vibrated off every inch of the aeroplane, the fog outside the windows creating the illusion of a late night flight, yet the bright beams of light that busted through every so often showed that it was, in fact, quite early in the day.

As the muggle stewardess walked down through the aisles of the plane, she stopped abruptly at the sight before her. Seven friends, four gathered around the other two's seats. Four men, three women. The stewardess almost told the standing customers that they ought to be in their seats, and yet she couldn't bring herself to open her mouth and announce her presence.

There was something about these people, she decided. They were not a set of people that she would have put together, as friends, because everything about them screamed opposites. There seemed to be a large age range, the eldest (a man) looked to be in his mid-thirties, while the youngest (a woman) looked about 20. It wasn't just that, though, that struck the stewardess as odd.

It was that she could see a story bubbling under the surface, a darkness, a troubled past and she couldn't make herself turn away.

The first man looked about 28. He seemed effortlessly cool. His hair was brown, sticking up in all directions, and his eyes were a calm blue. He seemed very comfortable in his surroundings, completely transfixed on his friends but he would glance around him every couple of minutes, like he was expecting an attack.

The man beside him was around the same age, but nothing alike. The stewardess thought that they looked like the popular kid in school, and the geek standing alongside each other. This man had a dirty blonde coloured hair, he seemed smart, book smart, but his posture was so stiff and straight, a person still unsure of himself.

The next man, however, was definitely sure of himself. Black curly hair, big brown eyes and dimples only added to his cheeky, boy like charm. He was the youngest of the men, maybe the middle age of the group (around 24), and had that cute, infectious smile that made everyone around him laugh. He was closest person to the two in the seats, and reminded the stewardess of her brothers, protective and endearing.

The last man was definitely the eldest of the friends. He had brown hair, although his hairline was definitely receding, and had eyes that had seen a lot. He was wise and inviting, the stewardess wondered how a man of his age came to be traveling with a group in their twenties, for it was easy to tell that none of them were related.

The three women were quite similar in age, and yet everything about them seemed to clash.

The first, the youngest she had noticed earlier, had sleek black hair that reached half-way down her back. She was average looking in looks, very unassuming and had a shy posture. She didn't look smart, but definitely not stupid. She was to the edge of the group, but it didn't seem to bother the young woman that she wasn't in the thick of the action. She was observant, taking in everything around her, particularly her friends. The stewardess noticed the secret smiles the black haired girl was sending to the person she had dubbed the "geek" earlier.

This was in complete contrast to the second woman. This woman had vibrant green eyes; she was curvy and had straight, blonde hair, which reached her shoulders. She seemed bubbly, the kind of person that would have sat at the back of the classroom and laughed at everyone, and everything but definitely not in a mean way. She had an optimistic aura. She was interacting with everyone in the group, she seemed to draw attention, but not in an intentional way. She was one of the two in the seats.

The third woman intrigued the stewardess the most. She had brown hair, styled in a pixie cut that seemed so popular amongst the young people today, and yet the stewardess knew that this wasn't intentional. She seemed to run her hands through her short hair frequently, in a way that suggested she was used to having a lot more hair. She had brown eyes, intelligent and kind, and yet somehow empty looking. She was beautiful, in an effortless way. Despite how forward the girl beside her seemed, the stewardess knew that it was this young woman that the group were listening to, the reason why they were gathered around the two seats. She seemed to be able to command the attention of a room without even trying. She had been talking the whole time, quite seriously, and the group hadn't uttered a word when she was speaking, she got the kind of respect one only got when they were surrounded by people who loved them.

Individually, they all looked quite normal. But when they were all beside each other, there was just something about them. They were people that you could tell had done things that the stewardess could only imagine. They were so in sync, all dressed in black clothing that looked just a little too big for them. They were intimidating, and yet when the stewardess looked at them she felt like she wanted to be a part of their group.

They looked quite cheerful at the moment, but something seemed a little too forced. Like there was more to this journey than met the eye.

"Ella!"

The stewardess jumped at the sound of her name.

"Oh, um, yes?" She said, trying to compose herself.

"We're almost at London, can you go up and help Chantelle?" Her manager said, "What are those lot doing?"

Ella followed her line of sight and realized she was talking about the group of friends.

"No idea," she answered.

"Excuse me? Could you all please return to your seats please, we will be landing shortly?" Ella's manager said to the group.

They all looked quite irritated at having to move, particularly the curly haired, dimpled one, but they did move back to their seats. Ella reluctantly walked away from the people that intrigued her so much, her mind whirling with the possibilities of what their stories were.

oo00OO00oo

Hermione looked out the window distractedly, as her traveling companions scattered back to their seats. She fingered the ring that hung on a chain around her neck, her friends' company had been a distraction but now, that they were gone, she felt her nerves rushing back to her.

"So," Beth said, pulling Hermione from her thoughts, "How you doing? You haven't said much, except when bossing us around there now."

Hermione smiled at the gentle teasing she had grown accustomed to from Beth,

"Well, I can never get much in when you're here, can I?"

Beth grinned back at her, but quickly became serious again.

"Weird, isn't it? That we're going home. I mean, I know we always said we would get home, but…it's mad that it's actually happening, you know?"

Hermione nodded, she knew exactly what Beth meant, somewhere in the back of her mind she had never really believed that she would come home again.

"Yeah, I know." Hermione said, "How are you then, excited?"

"Of course," Beth smiled sadly, "I suppose I'm a little scared too, though. On one hand, I can't wait to see everyone again, but on the other hand…it's been four years and things change, I just hope that they haven't changed too much."

Hermione nodded, once again placing her hand on the ring around her neck. Beth followed this action with her eyes,

"I'm sure he'll be delighted to see you, I bet he missed you massively." She said comfortingly.

Hermione laughed a little, mostly to hide her doubt. He may have missed her, but she knew him, and she very much doubted that he was going to welcome her home with open arms. It had been 4 years.

The girls were silent for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Home. They were going home. Hermione smiled at the thought.

She wrapped the black zip up hoodie more tightly around herself as the plane began to descend. She had always hated this part of the flight. So close to the end, and yet not quite there.

"I still think we should have apparated. I hate these flights." Beth muttered, her eyes closed and her head leaning back on the seat.

"I don't think I have the energy to apparate to the front of the plane, never mind across countries." Hermione grinned wryly.

"I know, right? It's like the moment the mission was over, I am suddenly feeling knackered." Beth laughed. "I think that's what I'm most excited about, a nice long sleep in my own bed."

"I've definitely missed having a decent bed."

"Not the only thing involving a bed I've missed." Beth said.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and then they both burst out laughing. Leave it to Beth, Hermione thought. Their laughter was interrupted by the feeling of the plane landing on the ground; Hermione felt the butterflies in her stomach increasing as the plane slowed down.

"That was horrible!" Beth exclaimed, "I can't wait to get off this thing!"

"Then it will be a piece of cake right?"

Beth rolled her eyes,

"Don't be so pessimistic, it'll be fine." She dismissed.

The flight ended, Hermione noticed Beth let out a sigh of relief as they were told they could leave the plane, and she hide a small smile.

"Do you think we should wait on the others?" Beth asked, stretching on her toes to look over the heads of the crowd of people rushing to get off the plane.

"No, we'd never get out," Hermione answered, "Let's go down and get our baggage and then we can find them."

"Sure, let's go get the baggage that we could have fit in our pockets." Beth muttered.

Hermione ignored her, Beth just didn't grasp that a group of six traveling together with no luggage would seem suspicious.

The two descended the stairs leading out of the plane, Hermione briefly noted how the fear of heights had long subsided. She would never have thought that she would miss the busyness of London so much but Hermione found herself feeling very at home in the hectic airport, even the rain thrashing against the windows seemed comforting.

The duo made their way over to that baggage section as quickly as possible, Hermione found herself feeling slightly overwhelmed at the sheer mass of people, it had been a while since she was in a crowd of this size.

Hermione spotted her friends easily amongst the people searching for their baggage. They looked extremely out of place. She smiled a little as she watched them try and figure out what to do, Jake seemed to be taking charge and Hermione was surprised to see that he knew what to do.

"Coming?" Beth called to her, as she made her was to their friends.

Hermione quickly followed her, as she reached them she noticed that there seemed to be some kind of debate going on,

"-just think that we should do this properly." Jonathan was saying, ruffling his blonde hair as he did so.

"The hell with that! I haven't been home in years! We can do that tomorrow." Nate exclaimed, his black curls bouncing as he spoke.

"Chill, guys," Martin said, in his usual fatherly voice, "We will decide together, what do you think Hermione?"

"Oh, um, sorry Nate but I have orders to follow. We're supposed to go to the ministry first." Hermione answered, leaving out the part where she was glad that she had to go to the ministry because it cause her more time, before she had to face what she had left behind.

Nate looked crestfallen, but accepted her answer. Hermione smiled warmly at him, he had told her all about his large family and how much he had missed them.

"So, how'd you know how to work all this muggle stuff, then?" Beth asked Jake, clearly trying to change the subject.

"I dated a few muggle girls," Jake said, shrugging it off in his usual, blasé manner.

Ally rolled her eyes, flicking her black hair to the side,

"Of course," she said conversationally, "You know, I really feel sorry for those girls."

"How'd you know they didn't break my heart?" Jake demanded jokingly. Everyone laughed a little, the tension gone as they went into the familiar routine.

"So," Jonathan said, "Are we allowed to apparate to the ministry, or do we have to do that the muggle way too?"

"No, no, we can apparate." Hermione said, wishing that they could put this off a little longer.

All she really wanted to do was go back to her small, cramped flat that they had bought after saving for months and lie down. She wanted to see him, and just be with him and they could forget the fact that she hadn't been there in four years. She wished that she could just go home and things would be like they were before. But they wouldn't. He probably sold their little flat.

"It'll be fine," Nate said, swinging a brotherly arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah, let's go." She said.

Her fingers clasped tightly onto the ring around her neck. It would be fine. It had to be. She had waited, too long, for this moment. It couldn't go badly. She had missed Ron something terrible, after all.

Songs for this chapter: "Home" by Phillip Phillips