Chapter 1

Hermione glanced around as she stepped off the Hogwarts Express. She had spent most of the trip hiding from Ron and Harry; she really didn't feel like talking with them. Her summer had been rough as usual and to hear them talk about how great there summers had been would have been too much.

Down the platform, she could see them just as they were hopping off the train. Grabbing her bag, Hermione began to hurry along the platform, as far from Harry and Ron as she could go. Thankfully, she had found a cabin near the front of the train and there for was one of the first to reach the carriages.

Glancing to make sure no one saw her, she walked up to one of the thestrals, a mare named Sandra, and gently pet her on the head a few times. The thestral reacted like a horse and nuzzled her lightly. Giggling, Hermione slipped a small piece of meat to the mare which it devoured very quickly.

As Hermione was turning to leave, a large shadow began to approach her location. Slipping behind the carriage, Hermione opened a door on the opposite side and climbed inside. She held her breath as the shadow, which she had now identified as Hagrid, passed the window. Only after he had left did she release her breath. She had relaxed only a moment before the handle to the other door of the carriage began to rattle.

'Oh god, please don't let it be Harry and Ron,' she though 'Please, anyone but them…'

The door swung open to reveal none other then Harry and Ron along with Ginny Weasley and Cho Chang.

"Oh, hullo Hermione," exclaimed Ginny.

"Hermione!" cried Harry and Ron, who both jumped in the carriage and tried to give Hermione a hug, though she pushed them both away, which caused a surge of confusion and concern to pass through the other 4 occupants of the carriage.

"Hermione, is something wrong?" asked Harry.

'Of course something's wrong you baka!' cried Hermione's mind, but physically she smiled. "No, nothing's wrong," she lied. 'Again with the lies! Tell them the damn truth for a change!' But Hermione ignored the voice in her mind, screaming at her for acting as she was.

"Are you sure?" asked Harry "because if something's wrong then you can tell us you know." Behind Harry, Ron nodded eagerly, his eyes wide at the thought of a secret.

For a second, Hermione contemplated telling them. After all, all they wanted to do was help. But she couldn't and she knew it. Telling them would break their hearts. They could never find out her secret. So she smiled instead.

"I'm fine, really," she said in an attempt to reassure them.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other with uncertainty, but shrugged it off as a girl thing.

As the carriage began to move forward, everyone grabbed a seat. Ginny and Cho sat on the same side as Hermione while Harry and Ron took up the opposite side of the carriage. As the boys began to talk about their Oh so great summer's, again, Hermione took the time to examine them both. Ron had grown another inch or so over the summer and his red hair was cut and brushed for a change. He looked like he had been working out; a lot of muscles were now visible which had not existed last year.

Her eyes then wondered over to Harry. He was still skinny, no obvious new muscles, but he had definitely shot up several inches. His hair was still a mess, even though he had obviously gotten it cut and his glasses were cracked, again! Can't that boy go for a summer without breaking his glasses? Hermione had tried on numerous occasions to teach him the oculius repairo spell, but he never seemed to get it. Harry may have been a fabulous Quidditch player and a good wizard, but he still had a long way to go before he was anywhere near trying to beat something stronger then Voldemort.

Hermione was off in her own little world and didn't notice Harry was calling her name.

"HERMIONE!" shouted Ron, who was tired of being ignored.

"Nani?" asked Hermione, naturally falling into one of her 2 native tongues. "What happened?"

"Nothing really," said Cho in annoyance "we've only been trying to wake you from la-la land for the last 5 minutes!"

Hermione sighed in relief. She thought one of her spells might be fading. She had had to weave them quickly that morning to reach the platform on time and it was too dangerous for her to re-weave them while on the train, someone could walk in and see her for who she really was.

"And what does nani mean?" asked Ginny. She was surprisingly smart for a wizard, especially considering who her brother was, but her natural curiosity help with that. Hermione just wished she wasn't being curious at the moment.

"It means what in Japanese," explained Cho instead. Hermione just suddenly seemed to remember that Cho was Chinese and would most likely be able to understand some Japanese as well.

'Mental note to self: never say anything in Japanese I don't want others to hear or understand while Cho is present.'

"Do you speak Japanese Hermione?" questioned Cho as she turned back to the bushy haired girl.

"Only a little," lied Hermione. 'How many more times am I going to have to lie today?'

"Where did you learn Japanese?" asked Harry, this was something he didn't know about his friend.

"From my Uncle," replied Hermione. 'At least that wasn't a total lie.'

"You have an Uncle?" asked Ron, apparently intrigued by the thought.

"Yes, I have an Uncle." 'Along with a psychopathic mother, a dead father, and several deranged cousins who are either following Voldemort, in mental asylums or Azkaban.'

"Really, you never mentioned him before," stated Ginny. "Is he nice?"

"Yeah, he's really cool."

"What does he do for a living?" asked Cho.

"He's an archeologist," answered Hermione. It was the first thing she could come up with. 'No he's not; he's an ex-slayer from Japanshouted her mind in protest.

"That's cool," commented Harry.

"Um…what's an archeologist?" asked Ron.

"It's a person who solves mysteries about the past," explained Harry.

"Like, who killed someone?" asked Ginny.

"Well, kind of," started Harry.

As Harry went about the process of explaining what an archeologist did, Hermione began staring into space again.

'Lying, that's all I ever do. Why do I always have to lie? Why can't I tell someone the truth for once in my life?' She continued to mentally berate herself until the carriages stopped in front of the school and everyone began to climb out.