Boys do what they can
The summer had set on them, their lives returning to the castle and their studies much to the dislike of Ron who was trying to hold onto the summer as much as possible by attempting to persuade Harry into irresponsible boyish antics that could land them into deep water with McGonagall. And their last disciplinary visit to their head of house didn't end in a good note as their punishment earned many good laughs from their peers. Harry had every intention of avoiding such a punishment again, he wanted a normal year without the hassle of any dark forces to fight but sometimes even he knows that's not in his cards to play. But speaking of normal Hermione wasn't at the Burrow as she normally was so neither of the boys got to see her as she went on holiday with her parents out of the country.
Harry's mind was running with thoughts about what she could have been up to or what she was doing currently while he thought of her. His thoughts brought him to his most recent memories of her as they arrived in King's Cross station to depart for the summer.
He had been looking out the window as a distraction from the back and forth argument that his two friends just had in their compartment. Ron stood his ground proudly arguing that Quidditch was worth more of anyone's time than reading Shakespeare or any other dead man's books. "And for your information Ronald his name is William Shakespeare not Shakesby, you have him completely mixed up with Jay Gatsby from the Great Gatsby."
Ron rolled his eyes and groaned loudly stating his annoyance of being corrected and not caring about what the tosser real name was. "What makes him so great? With a name like that he should own a joke shop but no one can compete with Zonko's of course. Fred and George bought a whole lot last time they might as well have bought the entire store it was mental but wicked." Ron's grin grew at the thought of being able to have full access to a joke shop with all the fun things he can play with.
"Of course you would stray off topic Ronald, just admit it reading is much more time worthy than your obsession with the Chudley Cannons." Hermione stated crossing her arms awaiting his answer. Ron seemed to scowl back at her as he leaned forward almost raising a finger at her "The Chudley Cannons were going undefeated this year if it weren't for those Irish so I had every right to be invested in my team."
"A little too much if you ask me." Hermione snapped back at him making him groan frustrated, he turned to Harry who had been quiet ever since they started to back him up on the Quidditch superiority. Looking between his friends he wasn't sure at first on what he should say, he certainly knew where Ron was coming from but Harry had a past with books longer than Quidditch so after thinking it through he had his answer made up. "I'd have to side with Hermione on this one Ron, reading is much more interesting sorry mate but the Cannons were great this year."
He added the last bit to stay in some good terms with Ron after shooting him down like that but just like most arguments he was the final say and the winner of this match was Hermione. Harry looked to Ron cautiously as he looked up and crossed his arms not liking having lost, he pressed his lips together unsure if he should say something or just let him vent it off. Tearing his eyes away from Ron he saw Hermione who was beside him wearing a smile on her face. The ends of lips raised her cheeks so high they looked like pink balls under her eyes; Harry could feel himself smile back at her as if showing her he had no regrets with his decision to take her side.
Without warning a weird sensation filled him as her eyes continued to pour onto him, his body reacted by shuddering and moving his eyes away from her. Scrunching up his eyes he mentally questioned himself on what that could be about but decide to brush it off. The countryside moved past them out the window telling Harry that he had a long way to go before heading back to muggle London so he decided to rest his head against the window and nap till they got there knowing that they would wake him. The side of his head felt the vibrations of the track against the wheels but the sight of the moving countryside made him drowsy pulling him into a slumber.
The conductor yanked on a nearby lever making the horn blare out the familiar sound that signaled that they arrived at the platform. The loud sound of the horn moved throughout the train waking the others or causing some of the students already between carriages to move faster with their belongings. Harry tore away from the window as he awoke and found something weighing on his shoulder. Looking over he saw that it was Hermione who had fallen asleep on his shoulder; he smiled at her as she looked so peaceful against him. He didn't want to wake her but they had to get going their guardians would be looking for them in the station, looking about for anything he could use to prop her head on allowing her to sleep a bit longer so he could get their stuff ready but he found nothing.
Seeing there was no way around it Harry turned to her and slowly shifted his shoulder enough to stir her to wake up. "Mione… time to wake up." he whispered to her softly not wanting to wake her up harshly, looking to her for any signs of her getting off his shoulder Harry saw that she smiled once again and nuzzled onto his shoulder "Just five more minutes…." she said mid yawn as she pulled Harry's arm closer to her chest. A warm feeling filled Harry at the sight of his best friend practically clinging to him; he could feel his heart flutter but cursed himself for thinking such thoughts about Hermione. "But Hermione we've arrived at King's Cross."
With his last words Hermione snapped awake lifting her head from Harry and letting go of him in one swift motion. Harry looked at her sheepishly hoping she wouldn't fuss about what she had just done but it seemed as if she totally forgot about doing it and instead went to tend to her things. He couldn't help but keep his eyes trained at her both relieved and surprised to see her act as if nothing happened. Thank Merlin Ron was asleep otherwise he'd be giving Harry about fifty questions on what happened and most of them he had absolutely no answers for.
That was a few months ago, Hermione went with her parents and Harry went with the Dursleys for a few weeks until he was picked up by Fred and George and taken to the Burrow for the rest of the summer. And like he mentioned at the beginning he hadn't seen Hermione all summer which made him both anxious and curious at where she could be. Seemed like most students had already filled the Great Hall and the few empty spots were students who went ahead to unpack their things at their dormitories. But the question still remained where was Hermione?
Dean and Seamus smirked at Harry who kept snapping his head from his plate to the doors that led to the Great Hall. They whispered words to each other and shook hands, each of them filling their thoughts with heavier pockets. Ron on the other hand had been seduced by the new pastries that the elves made and thanked magic for existing every time another one appeared from the spot he had taken before. Harry sighed to himself, knowing Hermione there was no way she would miss class so she's bound to show up sooner or later. So he did the most logical thing to do after putting that aside which was to finish eating.
His fork came down onto his plate with a clank, he quickly grabbed a nearby napkin to wipe down the sauce from his face. Sipping some pumpkin juice to help the food go down his throat he looked at the empty plate before him and just started drifting off again. His mind wandered off to who knows where, often ending in trying to decide whether to stay and wait for Hermione a little while longer or head to the dormitories to get ready for class.
He poked at the crumbs on his plate with his fork as he leaned on his wrist, with every passing minute the choice of heading up kept getting better but in his loyalty or stubbornness he stayed. He thought to himself Hermione would definitely do the same for him, "She totally would…" his voice came at a whisper not caring if anyone heard him.
A couple of minutes had passed and it seemed like Harry was about to pass out on the table right in front of everyone. That was until he felt several gentle taps on his shoulder, the edges of his lips burrowed to his cheeks thinking it was Hermione. He turned around as fast as he could ready to engulf her in his arms but his arms could not rise as intended as the person who had tapped him was Ginny. She fidgeted around in front of him and she spoke in a nervous tone, so much so that it was hard to hear her past her ums.
Suddenly out of nowhere, unexpected sounds could be heard coming from the entrance to the Great Hall. Unexpected and clearly inappropriate as the sounds turned out to be wolf whistles and hollering from boys calling out to someone near them. Poor girl hurried her pace as she hid her face from the boys who drooled at her, behind her girls started gossiping about her to each other. Mainly asking each other if that was who they thought it was, the girl in question seemed to blur past the other students standing about the tables. But it was incredibly distracting the crowd that emerged behind her, Harry couldn't see what the commotion was about because Ginny was in front of him.
But the sounds kept getting louder and closer to him and his friends, maybe he catch a glimpse and see what all the fuss was about. He looked up from his seat to see Ginny still talking but Harry couldn't hear her it was as if she was miming her words. When all the commotion go close enough for Harry to make out the words that were being said the ones he heard made him scrunch his face in confusion. "Is that Granger? Really that's Granger? No way! She can't be…" Granger? So the girl who was making all this fuss was Hermione? Harry stood up from his seat to be able to look past Ginny and what he saw left him with his jaw on the floor. Ron curious as well looked and he dropped his fork onto the table, both of the boys were speechless.
A/N: I'm trying to get back to my old writing groove so this might not be the best so I might edit it later on. Also a possible next chapter is up in the air if there is demand. Anyways, thanks for reading guys and have a good one!