There were many things Hermione Granger prided herself on. Her ability to retain information after months on end, the fact that she was one of the smartest, if not the smartest girl in her former school, and the fact that she was a witch. She didn't like to brag too much, she'd never been a fan of self-indulgence, but she was very capable at solving problems other people couldn't. In fact, there wasn't anything she couldn't solve if she actually put her mind to it, which is why when a sandy haired boy named Neville came into her compartment and asked if she had seen his toad, she immediately jumped on the chance to help him. She considered herself a kind and patient person, which is why they took their time searching each compartment and asking everyone they could if they had seen a toad.

Well, it was more like she did the talking, because Neville would usually stutter and blush his way through a conversation, which made progress rather difficult. So, like the person she was she took charge of the conversation and steered it in the proper path. Unfortunately, no one had seen the toad, which lead to a few unpleasant encounters with certain students. This led her to believe that the majority of the students attending Hogwarts would be exactly like the ones back at her own school. They seemed to be the kind of morons who had probably never cracked open a book, or live in the 20th century period, in a time where technology was rapidly beginning to improve, and where information was close at hand, she didn't understand how people could still be so wrong.

Oh well, it wasn't as though she expected more from people who didn't know the first thing about proper search methods. Eventually the two came upon the last compartment of the train, and she opened the door to see a dark-haired boy with glasses and a scar on his forehead sitting next to an unremarkable red-haired boy. She recognized the boy with the scar, how could she not? She'd read up on every bit of his legacy he had left behind after he had defeated You-Know-Who as a baby. He must know plenty things about the wizarding world, and there were so many questions she wanted to ask him.
But then she wondered if it was okay to casually talk to a hero like Harry Potter. Would it seem rude if she just addressed him by his first name, should she address him in a certain fashion. He was a lord after all, at least that's what her research told her, so should she call him Lord Potter? Then again he was in a casual setting, so she didn't think he'd mind it all that much if she called him by his last name, maybe she should throw in a 'Mr.' just in case.

She began to play out the scenario in her head, in an attempt to figure out how she should approach him. The scenario was...

Positive

"Ah excuse me Sir...er Potter..um." Hermione stumbled over her words as Harry Potter and the red head kid stared at her. Sweat began to pool down her forehead, and she felt her ears burning in embarrassment. "You see I...um..."

"Say no more," Harry Potter said as he stood up from his seat, "I can tell that you're having issues in deciding on what to address me by."

"You see, there is no need for such formality my lady," He continued, "I much rather prefer to be called by my first name, Harry."

"You want me to call you Harry then?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, just Harry is fine, after all that's what all my friends call me by."

"Wait f-friends?" Hermione asked, "If you want me to call you Harry does that mean..."

Harry nodded, "You see my fair maiden, when I first saw you walk into the room, I could tell you have refined tastes," he said. "Your pose, your manners...all of it showed how dignified of a person you are."

"You think I'm refined?" Hermione asked as she smiled, a blush rapidly made it's way onto her face. "That's very kind of you, Harry."

"Well since I consider you a friend, would you mind telling me your name?" he asked.

"I-It's Hermione, Hermione Granger."

"Well then Hermione," Harry then got to one hand and kissed the back of her hand, "I hope we get to know each other better this year."

Hermione couldn't contain her excitement, a situation like this was wonderful, it was amazing, it was...

...stupid. Hermione promptly ended the simulation and berated herself for coming up with something so stupid. This was real life, things that happened in her books wouldn't happen in real life, plus no one talked like that nowadays. She managed to pull herself together and focused on getting what she wanted out of Harry Potter and the red-haired boy.

She cleared her throat, "You see Sir Potter I was-"

Harry blinked in confusion, "Why are you calling me 'Sir Potter'?"

"Um, never mind forget I mentioned that!"

Hermione coughed as she frantically tried to cover up for her mistake, that stupid simulation was throwing her off her game.

"Anyway have you see Neville's-this is Neville by the way- toad?" she asked the two of them.

"Um, no I haven't seen any toad, have you Ron?"

"Nope, we've been here the whole time and I haven't seen a toad."

Unfortunately, neither boy had seen the toad at all, which meant that trying to find it had just gotten harder. She sighed but lit up in excitement as she saw the boy with red hair, who was name was Ron, pull out a wand.

"Oh you're doing magic?" Hermione asked, "I wasn't sure we were allowed to do that on the express..."

Ron had reddened after he tried to perform a spell to turn his rat yellow, which Hermione knew was the wrong spell because she had spent hours upon hours reading about everything the wizarding world had to offer. She politely informed him that he wasn't even using a spell, which resulted in him flipping out at her, which caused her view of him to drastically lower. She'd left the compartment after that, and she and Neville had searched for his toad, and had eventually found it. After that they had gotten off the train and into some boats that would take to Hogwarts, and during the boat ride she couldn't help but wonder how people were sorted into houses.
Nothing she had read had prepared her for the revelation that they were to be sorted by a talking hat that sang rather poorly. Surely the sorting had to be more thought out than using a hat, there must be something hidden that they weren't talking about. As Hermione thought about this, she ran a few scenarios in her mind...