Hermione Granger and the Amulet of Yendor
Chapter Two - The Hogwarts Express
"That was hardly the worst mistake you'll ever make... That wasn't quite as comforting as it was meant to be." -- Giles (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the TV Series)
Hermione felt more at ease at the train station than most Witches did. She had travelled on trains before she had ever heard of Hogwarts. As long as she was in the station, among the mix of Muggles and Magicals, she felt in her own element. It was only after she got on the train that she would feel totally out of place again. She knew that it would be worse this year, as she was not looking forward to seeing Ron again.
Hermione almost wished that she had just told him how she felt in a letter, instead of waiting until they were face to face to talk things out. She knew Ron well enough to know that would be pointless, however. He'd either get angry, or be repentent, but either way, it wouldn't make him open up and tell her what was going on. Now, she was dreading seeing him and having the talk that she had threatened in her letter.
She said good-bye to her parents well before going down to the Platform, giving her mother a circumspect hug, and her father a peck on the cheek. She had been up late the night before packing, with her parents giving her a number of special gifts to take with her. She was most amused by the cricket bat that her father had provided her, "in case you run into any more monsters." Somehow, she didn't think that a cricket bat would do much good in her hands, whatever results might be found if it was in Ron's. A good book on charms or curses probably would have done more good in the end, but she wasn't going to send her father into Flourish and Botts looking for one.
As a result of her packing fury, some of her clothes were poking out of the sides of her trunk. She hadn't thought through the problems that could cause until a pair of Muggle women stopped, staring, and she realized that a portion of her school robes had ended up in plain view, her Gryffindor badge where anyone could see, with the word Hogwarts emblazoned above the colorful logo.
One of the women walked up to her timidly and asked, "Excuse me, could I ask where you got that badge? My boyfriend, Ben, would love something like that." She had Eurasian features and a very high pitched voice.
Hermione tried her best to be nonchalant. She really didn't want to make a scene. If the Ministry of Magic heard that a Muggle had seen a Hogwarts emblem, they might decide that it was some kind of breach of security on her part. Perhaps she was just being oversensitive to be worried about it, but she wouldn't put anything past the Ministry right now.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said, trying to cover her nervousness, "but it was a gift. I don't know where the person got it."
"Oh, that's too bad," the woman said, frowning.
Her friend walked up to her, "Kei, if you really want something like that, we can probably just have it made back home."
Kei nodded, "I guess so. Thanks for your time," she said, looking at Hermione. Her friend grabbed her hand, and they walked off. Hermione quickly shoved the badge into her suitcase before making her way straight for the barrier that protected Platform 9 3/4, where she wouldn't have to worry about running into those women again.
She felt rattled by the meeting, and it bothered her. She had faced the Dark Lord, outwitted Umbridge, and otherwise proven herself in countless ways through the years. What was so bothersome about a pair of women in the train station?
She realized that the summer had been bad for her in more ways than she had thought. Sitting alone in her parents' home had drained her of her confidence. She had felt so utterly powerless and out of control. Now she thought she understood Harry a little better, since that was how he spent nearly every summer. Thinking about that made her furious -- what right did Voldemort have to do this to them both, to make them virtual prisoners in their own houses?
"Close call there, Granger," came the last voice that she wanted to hear right now. She looked over her shoulder, and saw Draco Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. "You could get in a lot of trouble over that."
Hermione's lower lip trembled, but he seemed to mistake it for fear, rather than the anger that it was. "Nothing happened, Malfoy. Besides, what makes you think that anyone will care a whit for whatever it is that you have to say?"
"I think they will," he said confidently. He reached into a pocket, and pulled out a shiny badge, which simply said "Head Boy". "If they didn't care what I had to say, would they have given me this?"
"They probably gave it to you just to shut your mother up," she said spitefully.
"Possibly," he said, "but at least they know who she is. Get used to it, Granger, without someone powerful behind you, there's no way you'll ever see something like this."
She smiled, and pulled her own badge. "Really? Is that how it works? Then I suppose I should be happy that there's someone out there working on my behalf."
Draco looked dumbfounded. "Pansy Parkinson was supposed to have that badge. How did you get it? Resorted to attacking mail owls, Granger?"
"Parkinson? Head Girl? That's preposterous, Malfoy. Next you'll be telling me that Moaning Myrtle is a new Prefect."
"Laugh all you want, Granger. We'll get this straightened out, and you'll probably lose your Prefect's badge for impersonating the Head Girl. By the time I'm through with you, you'll be working in the kitchen with the House Elves."
"You know, Malfoy, I think I'd prefer that to seeing you walking around with that badge on." Hermione was furious with him, and she wasn't really aware of how the other students were reacting. They had gathered something of an audience already, from among the others that had arrived at the train early. The Weasleys, of course, were not there. She expected to see them arrive just before the train pulled away. That didn't mean that there was no one there that she recognized, though. Blaise Zabini of Slytherin was standing by, his arms crossed, and a frown on his face.
Blaise had started to grow his hair long, almost as long as Draco's, but it was pulled back in a ponytail instead of being allowed to fall freely. His face was lightly covered with stubble, which made him look more scraggly than intimidating. He saw Hermione meet his eyes. Hermione saw a strange gleam in Blaise's eye, something a little familiar, but she didn't recognize it. Blaise stepped forward, his hands out slightly between the two of them. "Head Boy, Head Girl, I think you're both scaring the new crop. You wouldn't want them all to get the wrong impression of Gryffindors and Slytherins, would you?" Blaise raised one of his eyebrows, and he seemed to be having trouble keeping his frown in place.
Hermione looked at him skeptically, "You don't think they'll figure it out eventually anyway?"
Blaise looked at her, and through gritted teeth, said, "ouryay aringscay the unchkinmays. ixnay."
Draco looked confused. "Was that some sort of spell, Zabini? Are you trying to make things worse?"
Hermione figured it out, though she had to wonder where a Slytherin had learned Pig Latin. As far as she knew, it was a purely Muggle innovation. She stepped back, shrugging, "I guess we'll talk more about this in the Prefect's meeting, Malfoy. Don't be late."
She turned, and with her nose high in the air, marched towards the front of the train, pulling her trunk behind her. She boarded the Prefect's carriage, not giving Malfoy the chance to say anything more to her, and trying her best to ignore him.
The Ravenclaw prefects were already there, as usual. They were always the first ones into the meetings, unless one of the Slytherins was up to something. The Hufflepuffs would be last, other than Ron, since they always hated to leave home. Ron, assuming he remembered that he was a Prefect, would probably show up last. She hoped that he could separate himself from Lavender long enough to show up at all.
A few minutes later, Draco showed up. Hermione saw Crabbe and Goyle waiting out in the hallway, but she didn't say a word to him or his goons, and Draco kept his silence towards her as well. Each talked with some of the other Prefects about things like Quidditch, who would be discipline problems in the coming year, and who they expected to be the Dark Arts teacher this year.
The train started to move, and Draco smirked. "No Weasley this year, eh, Granger?"
"I wouldn't know," she snapped back. "Where's Parkinson?"
Draco looked around, as if he hadn't noticed that he was missing a Slytherin Prefect. He looked almost genuinely concerned. "I'm not sure. Did you do something with her?"
Hermione scowled back at him, "No, I have enough problems keeping my eyes on Gryffindors without worrying about Slytherins. Why would you even think that I had anything to do with that?"
The door swinging open interrupted Draco's response. Ron walked in, and he grinned hugely when he saw Hermione. "Hermione! I was worried that you had missed the train!"
One of the Ravenclaw's snickered, but Hermione missed which one. "Where were you?" she demanded.
"You know," he shrugged, "helping our friends get settled in. I'm not too late, am I?"
"No," she said shortly, "we haven't started yet. We're still missing our faculty advisor."
On cue, the door opened, and Professor Snape walked in. He had a sour expression on his face, as usual. He didn't make any small talk, but launched directly into his speech. "Good morning. As you may be aware, this is a very important year for Hogwarts. Not only is it the last year for one of our celebrities," he made a bitter face, as if tasting a lemon, "but we have agreed to host an exchange program with several European schools, in order to increase European unity. This program has been put forward by our own part-time faculty member, Professor Delaceour. I know that you will all work to put your best foot forward on behalf of Hogwarts, especially those of you who have been trusted with special authority."
Snape continued, "This is also a time for increased vigilence. I expect all of you to be on the watch for any rule-breaking on the part of students, or anything that may breach Hogwarts security. If you find anything of the sort, I will expect you to report it to the Hogwarts staff immediately. I will expect this no matter who the offender may be." Snape's eyes burned into Hermione's face. She blushed, looking down, and thinking of all the things that she had ignored since becoming a Prefect. Ron seemed oblivious, however. That wasn't a huge surprise.
Snape finished up the meeting with a few closing notes, and then, looking at Ron with disapproval, indicated that they were free to return to the other cars, should they wish to visit with other students during the remainder of the trip. Ron was standing before Snape had finished his last sentence, and he quickly marched out the door, ignoring Crabbe and Goyle as he walked past.
Hermione quickly hurried behind him, not wanting to face Snape or Malfoy without him as backup. As soon as they had placed a car between them and Snape, Ron turned abruptly and looked at her. "I missed you so much this summer, Hermione. Are you alright?"
His sudden concern took her aback. She snapped back at him, "Am I alright? What do you care, anyway?"
It had surprised Hermione how much Ron had matured last year. She realized, though, that it had only been in one dimension. He had gotten much better at not jumping to conclusions about what was going on in people's heads, and not shouting quite as much when he didn't know what was going on. He would occassionally mutter something about a hammer, but was otherwise fairly quiet. However, he didn't seem to have gotten any better at actually considering other people's feelings. That probably explained a few things about the missing contents of his letters, assuming it wasn't just because he didn't share her feelings.
Ron's jaw opened, and then shut. There was a stubborn look on his face, which made him resemble a mule. "Never mind... I guess I shouldn't have bothered." He turned around and marched back towards the rear of the train.
Hermione immediately felt guilty for having said anything. She hurried after Ron, but had trouble keeping up with him. When Ron wanted to move quickly, he could. Entering a carriage, she saw him leaving on the other side, but the woman with the refreshments cart blocked her way. "Any sweets, luv?" she asked.
Hermione shook her head, and tried impatiently to get around her. The woman stepped left when she stepped left, then right. Finally, Hermione just stepped back into the end of the car, where the corridor widened, and let the cart past.
Hermione jogged into the next car, and saw Ron at the end. He had stopped, and was talking to Blaise Zabini. Blaise saw Hermione, and he shook his head slightly before pushing past Ron. Ron started to say something, but then he saw Hermione, and shut his mouth, moving again towards the rear of the train. Hermione threw decorum to the wind and ran after him.
She caught up with him just in time for him to step into a compartment. She jumped in after him, and wasn't too shocked to see most of the usual crowd there, although she was disturbed to see that Lavender had apparently joined their usual crowd in the compartment. The seats were already taken - Harry, Ginny, Luna, and Lavender took up just about all of the room. Lavender moved over slightly, though, leaving just enough room for Ron to squeeze between her and Luna, who was absorbed in reading a copy of the Quiddler sideways.
Ron sat down. He didn't look up at Hermione, instead just staring at his shoes in sullen silence.
Ginny looked at him, and then up at Hermione. "What happened?" Ginny asked quietly, "Trouble with Malfoy?"
"Nothing new," Hermione said.
"It's nothing," Ron said, "I just found out I was living in a nightmare is all."
"What's wrong?" Harry said, abruptly becoming interested.
"Just drop it," Ron said, flatly. His face was dark, betraying only his pain. "It's nothing that concerns anyone else."
"So, no news from the Prefect's chamber?" Lavender asked brightly. Hermione wasn't sure if she was forcing her brightness to try to change the subject, or if she was really as clueless as she came across.
"I wouldn't say that," Hermione said. "There were a few tidbits. For one thing, there's going to be a student exchange."
"A student exchange?" Harry asked. "With who?"
"With Beaubatons and Durmstrang," Ron said. "Did you notice how irked Snape was with the idea?"
"He was probably upset it wasn't his idea," Hermione said.
"Maybe," Ron said doubtfully, "but I think it might have been something more."
"What do you mean?" Lavender asked, beating Hermione to the question.
"Well," Ron thought aloud, "he didn't seem upset at Fleur for the idea, he just seemed sour about it. I wonder if he suspects something's going to happen."
"What could happen because of an exchange?" Lavender asked.
Hermione looked at her, amazed at the question. "Well, for starters, who knows who the students will be? They could be Death Eaters in training, or security problems in their own rights."
"Oh, of course," Lavender replied, looking chastened. Hermione felt a little like she had just kicked a puppy.
"So, did you find out who the new Head Girl is?" Harry asked, looking at Hermione with an open question on his face.
Hermione, still standing just inside the doorway, pulled her badge out of her pocket. She felt embarassed at putting herself on display.
"I knew it," Harry said. He stood up and hugged her briefly, before sitting back down next to Ginny.
"It had to be you," Ron said, looking up at her, his pride overriding his anger. "I just knew it would be."
"I wasn't sure at all," Hermione said. "Malfoy said that Parkinson was supposed to have gotten it, as if he knew ahead of time who it would be. I almost thought for a minute that me getting the badge was some kind of mistake. I mean, given who they chose for Head Boy, anything could have happened."
Everyone froze, except Luna, who Hermione could hear softly humming in the sudden silence. Something was horribly wrong, she could sense that, but she couldn't see what it was.
After a moment, Ron said, in a sort of strangled voice, "So, you know about that, do you?"
"Of course I do," Hermione said. "Malfoy couldn't keep his mouth shut about it. Personally, I thought it was some sort of joke. It was one thing making such a stupid git a Prefect, but Head Boy?"
Ron stood up, his face ashen. Something fell from his side, hitting the ground with a thud, and he pushed his way past Hermione, and out into the corridor. Static electricity was filling the air around her, she could feel her already wild hair starting to stand up. Ron was channelling an immense amount of wandless magic. Why was he suddenly so bothered by this? And why did everyone else look so angry at her?
Her gaze dropped to the ground, and she saw what Ron had dropped. "Oh, dear," she said softly, suddenly realizing that she had dug herself a hole worthy of a Weasley.
Ron had dropped a Hogwarts Head Boy badge on the ground. He thought that she was talking about him.
Coming soon... Chapter Three - Open Mouth, Accio Foot
