A/N
EDIT 10/1/2021: Some people have already asked me how long this story will be. I started planning this story when I abandoned my previous one nearly seventh months ago. Ever since then, I have been working on this one. I have roughly 170k words that have been mapped out in various plot points, chapters etc. but unedited. The projected word count for the complete story ended up roughly at ~500k mark, but that number will most certainly change with time. So to alleviate any concerns that if this one is going to get abandoned, don't worry. It will not :)
Welcome!
This will be one of two A/Ns that will happen through this story so I'll keep this one concise and short.
This is a full series rewrite that will span from the first year till sixth (PS to HBP) most likely a seventh and then the epilogue. This project will most likely span out over two years, depending on how much time I can devote to it.
I want to make something clear from the very start. This is an HHR fic through and through. They won't be a couple until later in the series, but Harmony will be the leading ship from start to finish. I also despise Angst so that I will keep to a minimum, unnecessary relationship angst out of the blue just for the sake to cause drama, is also out of the question.
This does not mean that everything will be roses and rainbows for everyone involved; you'll see what I mean.
A question that will most likely come up pretty soon is if this story will bash Ron/Dumbledore. The answer is No.
I won't treat them nicely, but I am not going to bash them. I will simply use the characterisation that's kindly provided and established by JKR.
Harry and Hermione are going to be the main focus throughout the whole story. There will be side-characters that will play a vital part as the story progresses, but the spotlight is on our two favourite characters and how their friendship evolves over the years into something more.
If you recognise similarities in this story with other fics that are out there, this is intentional. This is my way to give them a little nod and my gratitude for providing us with these incredible stories that have made our days brighter, or in some cases, our lives.
I will provide a list of all Authors and Fanfics I have referenced in the final chapter in the closing A/N.
WARNING:
If you're somehow allergic to Fluff, then I recommend that you close this story immediately before you go into anaphylactic shock, because this fic will contain Fluff.
A. Lot. Of. Fluff.
Consume with moderation.
(If you at any point find inconsistencies, contradictions, etc. in the story. Let me know, and I'll change it, or I'll explain my reasoning otherwise.)
Without further ado, make yourself a delicious cup of warm chocolate and grab a cosy blanket and snuggle in.
Enjoy :)
Chapter 1 - Rewrite The Stars.
Harry looked dismayed at his crinkled ticket, Platform Nine and Three Quarters. No matter how much he stared between platform nine and ten, there was no such thing as Platform Nine and Three Quarters.
He was lost at what he should do, trying to somehow get back to Privet Drive was out of the question, he doubted that his relatives would welcome him with open arms, considering how eager they seemed to dump him here and drive away.
He had asked a passing guard if he knew anything about Hogwarts; not only did he not know anything, he seemed to think Harry was mental.
Suddenly a group of people passed just behind him, and he caught a few words of what they were saying.
"- packed with Muggles, of course -"
Harry swung around. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like his own - and they had an owl.
Harry pushed his cart after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.
"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boy's mother.
"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand. "Mum, can't I go..."
"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."
Harry moved slightly to the left to get a better view, and in doing so, a passerby walked straight into him from behind, causing Harry to stumble to the ground.
"Watch it!" someone huffed angrily and stalked away, muttering something that sounded like "Bloody kids."
Harry felt like he was at his breaking point, a day that was supposed to be a liberation had so far turned into a nightmare. Nothing was going the way it was supposed to.
Hedwig hooted loudly in the background, attracting even more attention to them.
A rush of footsteps approached him from behind, and he had no energy left to get out of the way. So he waited for them to pass or to step on him, it was whatever.
To his surprise, someone put a hand under his arm and very carefully picked him up from the ground till he could stand comfortably on his own, "Here you go." Someone said kindly, "Are you alright?"
Harry looked up to see a man smiling with concern at Harry with a woman next to him, which he presumed were his wife.
"Oh dear," said the woman with concerned eyes before Harry could say anything, she took hold of both of his hands and turned them face up. The skin had been nastily scraped off when he used his hands to soften the fall.
She wrinkled her nose in sympathy, "Ouch." She said and started to search through her handbag; looking for something, "Ah, here we go." she took out a what seemed a skin moisturizer.
"Hands out." She said in a bossy tone; he did so without arguing.
She bent down, thus revealing someone who had somehow managed to remain completely invisible up to this point; a girl who seemed to be close in his age. The woman applied the cream gently over the scraped skin until there was an even layer over it.
"Now let it rest, and your skin should hopefully be good as new by tomorrow." She said with a friendly smile.
Harry looked surprisingly at his hands, and the pain had already dulled as the cool cream set to work, "T-thank you, ma'am."
The woman waved his gratitude away with a slight frown, "None of that ma'am stuff, you make me feel old." she laid a hand on her daughter's shoulder, who shied away when Harry looked at her.
"Forgive my manners," The man suddenly said, "I haven't even introduced us! My name is Jim Granger, and this is my wife Miriam, and this is my," he pointed to his daughter with a smile of a proud father, "daughter, Hermione."
Hermione gave him a small polite smile and lifted her hand slightly in greeting. He noticed that she and her mother shared the same long frizzy hair that seemed to have its own life.
Hermione desperately tugged on her mother's jacket, who leaned down, and Hermione whispered something in her ear.
"Oh dear," The mother said and turned to look at the big clock that hung by the entrance, "Jim, if she is going to have a chance to catch that train then we really need to get going," she said hurriedly.
Jim threw Harry an apologetic smile, "It was nice meeting you; take care of yourself now."
Harry looked at the clock and saw that there were only five minutes left until the train would leave for Hogwarts. He looked desperately for the family he had spied on earlier, and he could feel the panic starting to overwhelm him when he couldn't find the sea of heads with flaming red hair that had stuck out like a sore thumb a few minutes prior.
Then something hit him.
The guard earlier had told him that there was no train leaving this station at eleven o'clock, which could only mean one thing.
Hermione had to be a witch, and she was going to Hogwarts, which meant they were the key to find the elusive Platform nine and three quarters.
"Wait!" Harry nearly shouted, flushing a little when a passerby looked at him with an agitated look. He ran up to them, and before they could protest, he practically shoved the ticket into Jim's hand.
Jim raised his brows as he accepted at the outstretched piece of paper, "Do you know how to get to this platform?" Harry asked with hope.
Jim quickly looked around them, "You're going to Hogwarts too?"
Harry nodded quickly.
Jim turned to his wife with a raised eyebrow, and she nodded. He looked back at the clock, "Alright, we're going to cut this very close, grab your cart and let's go."
Harry didn't have to be told twice and followed the Grangers with a brisk pace. They were heading to the spot where the other family was. They were walking straight towards the barrier between platform nine and ten, and he threw a nervous glance at Jim, who somehow didn't seem nervous at all.
Harry hesitated only just for a moment when they were just a few metres away, and Miriam gently laid a hand on his back and pushed him forward, preventing him from stopping. The barrier was coming nearer and nearer, Hermione in front of him walked confidently, but that didn't calm him down at all.
They were past the point of stopping, and he closed his eyes ready for the crash when they were just a foot away, he kept walking and walking... and the crash never came.
He hesitantly opened one eye only to find himself somewhere else entirely. A scarlet engine train was waiting in front of him, but he didn't have time to marvel at its beauty because Miriam was still pushing him firmly forward.
Jim quickly loaded the trunks onto the train while Miriam held Harry and Hermione back, "Hermione," she said quickly, "Could you make sure that he finds a seat?"
Hermione eyed him, and he was sure that she would protest, but she nodded to her mother.
Miriam smiled proudly at her daughter and turned to Harry, "You take care of yourself now, OK? And take care of those hands."
Harry nodded, "Thank you, ma'am, for your help. And you sir," he added when Jim walked to stand by his wife.
"None of that I said." Miriam said, frowning, "You make me feel so old. Call me Miriam, and my husband, Jim."
The train whistled, and Miriam gave Hermione a quick hug before ushering them over the train's threshold. The train lurched forward, and her parents slowly followed the train, waving at them until the platform ended and they at last faded out in the distance.
Hermione tapped her fingers against the handle of her trunk, "So um, you wanna find a seat?" she said as she tucked a strand of hair to behind her ear.
Harry nodded, and they set off to find an empty compartment, weaving through students. They passed a crowd that was surrounding a boy with dreadlocks, "Give us a look, Lee, go on." and as they crossed to the next carriage, they heard yells and shrieks coming from the crowd behind them.
It started to look like a hopeless task since every single compartment they had looked inside, was packed with people. They arrived at the last one at the very end of the train, and to their surprise; it was empty.
"You need help with that trunk?" Harry asked politely when he saw she struggled to get it up on her seat.
He could see that she was about to turn him down before changing her mind at the last second, she nodded and stepped away slightly to give him more room.
Harry rubbed his hands together; he saw Jim lifting it onto the train effortlessly so there shouldn't be any problem. He grabbed the handle and pulled, and he realised there was going to be a problem.
The trunk refused to budge from the ground.
With a huffed breath, he had to strain every muscle in his body to lift it off the ground and somehow without breaking his back; he miraculously managed to heave it up on to the seat.
"Christ." Harry panted, "I'm sorry, but do you collect rocks or something?"
Hermione blushed, "No, it's my books."
"Books?" Harry panted with a grimace while holding his hand over his heart, wondering if he had a heart attack after that exercise, "You like to read?"
Hermione nodded eagerly, her hair bobbing up and down.
While still heavy, Harry lifted his own trunk that was considerably lighter and less prone to kill you. How Jim managed to lift these without breaking a sweat he didn't know.
"I like to read too," Harry said as he slumped into his seat rather ungracefully, wiping off sweat from his brow with his sleeve.
That seemed to brighten Hermione up, "Oh?"
Harry smiled and nodded, he opened his trunk and rummaged through until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a copy of Hogwarts: A History and held it so she could see, "This one is my favourite."
The first genuine smile broke out on her face, "Mine too!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.
Harry grinned and thought for a moment before asking, "Did you know that Hogwarts is hidden to Muggles-"
"-because If a Muggle looks at it, they see an old ruin with a sign saying: "Danger, do not enter, unsafe." Hermione finished with a grin of her own and sat down on her seat, opposite to his. She narrowed her eyes a little as she swung her legs back and forth, "Did you know that Wizards and Witches cannot Apparate-"
"-Or Disapparate to, or from within, Hogwarts." Harry finished with a laugh, and Hermione giggled. She looked heavenward and tapped her chin as she tried to come up with something to outsmart him with.
Little did she know that he had read the book, front and back several times. Little did he know, she had done the same.
Hermione looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes, thinking that she had him cornered "In 1792-"
"-A cockatrice went loose during one of the Triwizard Tournament tasks, the heads of the three schools, including one from Hogwarts, were injured by the deadly creature," Harry repeated perfectly word by word from the book.
Hermione looked at him with a slightly parted mouth, and he smiled triumphantly back at her. She crossed her arms "In 18-"
"Nu-uh," Harry said, shaking his head, "My turn!"
Hermione huffed and motioned for him to continue.
"Muggle technology-"
"-such as mobile phones and laptops, cannot be used within the grounds of Hogwarts," Hermione said confidently, nodding to each word as she read the book in her mind and then lifted a brow that seemed to say, That's all you got?
Harry leaned forward and rested his chin on his clasped hands, "Boys cannot-"
"-Enter girl's dormitories; if they try to enter the stairs turn into a slide."
Harry laughed and threw up his hands in defeat, "Ok, it seems that you have read it thoroughly as well."
Hermione ducked her head and muttered something that he couldn't catch, "I'm sorry?"
She looked up and smiled sheepishly, "I've read it through four times."
Harry held up his hand, showing three fingers with an embarrassed smile of his own. Hermione's brows shot up in surprise before ducking her head again and smiling at her lap.
"You never told me your name." She said quietly after a few minutes of silence.
It had been intentional. From his visit to Diagon Alley, he had learned a valuable lesson to be careful to whom he says his name to.
He was in a bit of a pinch because he liked her, and they seemed to get along well so far, but ultimately, he decided the truth was the best course of action, "Harry Potter."
Hermione parted her mouth slightly, exposing her somewhat large front teeth. With a dejected sigh, Harry lifted his fringe.
Her eyes widened, "Y-You're Harry Potter." she slowly repeated.
"Yeah..." Harry said, looking at his lap, feeling a bit disappointed that she reacted the way he expected her to.
"I know all about you!" Hermione exclaimed gleefully, "Of course, I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."
"am I?" Harry said, feeling dazed at knowing people had written things about him, things that he didn't know himself.
"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione, "What is it?" she asked in a small voice when he didn't respond.
Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "It feels strange, people knowing stuff about me that I don't even know myself."
Hermione frowned in thought before her expression softened, "Yeah, I can see how that could feel a bit weird."
Harry snorted, "That would be an understatement." and then told her what happened at the Leaky Cauldron.
Hermione grimaced and then smiled a bit sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I realise that I did act a little like those who you encountered."
Harry gave her a half-hearted shrug and smiled, "It's fine."
It was quiet for a few minutes before Hermione opened her trunk and pulled out a plastic bag containing two sandwiches, she bit her lip and looked at him, "You want to share?"
Now it was Harry's turn to look at her with an open mouth; no one had offered him food before! At least not willingly. He flushed a little when he realised he still hadn't responded, "If you're sure..." he left it hanging, giving her a choice to decline the offer still.
She didn't hesitate and pulled out the sandwiches, she moved over to him and offered him one. Instead of moving back to her seat, she sat next to him.
For the next few minutes, neither of them said a word. Harry found himself staring at Hermione at times, and without realising; she was doing the same when he wasn't looking. They, at last, caught each other's eyes and she smiled widely at him, and he couldn't help but reciprocate the smile.
"You have a nice smile," Harry blurted, his eyes widened when he realised what he just had said and promptly took a bite out of his sandwich with a bit more force than he had intended.
When a few seconds had passed without a response, he risked a glance. He was sure that she was staring at him mortified and about to bolt, but instead, he found her looking at her half-eaten sandwich with a bright smile, and her cheeks were rosy.
"You have pretty eyes," she said so quietly, that he barely heard her.
"T-thanks," Harry said awkwardly, why did it all of sudden become so hot in here?
There was another round of silence before Hermione broke it, "So what house do you want to be in?"
Whichever House you are in was the first thing that popped up in his head. Harry cleared his throat and ignored the fact that his cheeks were getting increasingly hotter, "I-I don't know." he said in a slightly cracked voice and took another bite out of his sandwich to have something to do.
Hermione didn't seem to pay any mind to his state of discomfort and happily babbled on, "I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Hufflepuff does not seem to fit me although-"
Harry frowned in concentration as he tried fervently to keep up with the speed of the words that were pouring out of her mouth. Oh my god, how is it possible for anyone to speak that fast?
"- And it would certainly not do if I would get sorted into Slytherin, because given their reputation-"
Harry had completely forgotten whatever it was left of his sandwich as he listened to the girl next to him get into a whole rant about Slytherin. Does she ever get out of breath?
Hermione quieted and pondered for a moment, racking her brain before turning to him with an expression that told him that she was interested in his opinion.
Harry nodded quickly and confidently, "Yes, I agree." Although he wasn't entirely sure what he agreed to, it seemed to work since Hermione brightened with a satisfied smile and finished her sandwich.
Shortly after, they fell into a long-winded conversation about the differences between their introduction into the magical world. Hermione explained how the Deputy Headmistress Professor McGonagall had knocked on their door the day after her eleventh birthday with a letter of acceptance.
"I had a few cases of accidental magic happen during my childhood, so my parents weren't overly shocked when McGonagall told them I was a witch." Hermione explained and then started giggling, "My dad shrieked when she turned our coffee table into a living pig."
Harry chuckled at the image and then told her his side of things. Hermione frowned when he said that Hagrid never told or showed him how to get into platform nine and three quarters.
"Now it makes sense," Hermione said when he was done talking, "Why you looked so lost when we found you. I can't believe how he could forget such an important detail!"
She then explained how McGonagall had personally shown the Grangers which barrier to walk through, and Harry couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at the gentle giant.
The discussion continued and spun from topic to topic. He was reluctant to share anything of his childhood with the Dursleys; he was surprised that she also seemed not to keen to reveal anything about her childhood either, so they both dropped the subject rather quickly.
"No way, really?" Hermione gasped when he mentioned about the dragon that was supposed to inhabit the lower levels in Gringotts, "A dragon? Like, an actual dragon?"
An older witch with a kind smile knocked on their door before Harry could respond. The older witch held a trolley filled to the brim with all different sorts of colourful candies. Harry and Hermione eagerly started picking out whatever caught their interest, and before Hermione had a chance to protest, Harry paid for both of them.
She wanted to pay him back, but he refused, arguing that she had shared her sandwiches with him and that it was only fair for him to give something back.
Hermione turned her eyes down and smiled sweetly, "Thank you."
Harry returned to his seat, and Hermione sat next to him again, she looked guiltily at the bag placed on her knees.
Harry tilted his head, "What is it?"
Hermione bit her lip slightly, "My parents are dentists. I'm not usually allowed to eat sweets, or at least, not this large amount."
Harry looked warily at the Chocolate Frogs he bought before turning to Hermione with a mischievous grin, "Neither am I."
He could see in her eyes that she was in a fierce debate with herself before her shoulders slumped, "You're a bad influence on me." she said flatly before unwrapping a piece of candy.
Harry laughed and unwrapped one of the chocolate frogs, which suddenly jumped away from him.
"They're not really frogs, are they?" Hermione said worriedly as the frog jumped around in their compartment. Hedwig hooted, apparently seeing it as potential prey.
"I... don't think so," Harry said, unsure and looked at the card that followed with it. It had a picture of Albus Dumbledore, a different one in Hogwarts: A History.
Hermione popped in a bright yellow candy in her mouth before shifting closer to him and peered over his shoulder, "Albus Dumbledore," she said and continued, "Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel."
Harry turned the card over when she was finished, and to his astonishment, Dumbledore's portrait had disappeared.
"That's strange," Hermione said as she put another piece of candy in her mouth.
Harry nodded and shook the card little to see if that would make him come back. He gave a little shrug when he didn't and put the card away.
They were idly chatting as they slowly worked through their stack of candy. Harry had bought a box of colourful beans, and he had a nasty surprise when the first one he tried tasted like earwax. It must have shown on his face because Hermione was struggling to contain her laughter.
Harry dared her to eat one, and it took some convincing before she dared to put one in her mouth. He watched her expression closely, but to his disappointment, she seemed to enjoy it.
"Raspberry," She said with a smug smile, and she took the box of beans from his hands and held it in front of him, shaking it a little to give him the idea, her eyes had a challenging glint to them. They spent the next hour laughing at each other's horrified expressions until they were down to the last very last bean; which had a sickly green colour.
And it was Harry's turn.
Hermione was biting her lip, trying desperately to not laugh at his misfortune, she shook the box tauntingly in front of his face.
Harry sighed in defeat and grimaced at the bean who laid so innocently at the bottom of the box. Before his courage failed him, he took the bean in a swift motion and tossed it in his mouth.
His face immediately twisted into disgust as his taste buds got hit in full force as soon he bit into the bean, "B-boogers." Harry said, with great difficulty.
"Oh no," Hermione rocked back on her seat, her hand flying to her mouth to try to stop the uncontrollable laughter that bubbled through, peals of her laughter bounced in their compartment as his face turned more and more green.
"Oh my," Hermione said, wiping her eyes from tears as she hiccuped with laughter, "That was fun."
Hermione sighed happily as she leaned back on her seat, Harry, on the other hand, was desperately trying to get rid of the disgusting taste.
"I have an idea," Hermione suddenly said with a manic gleam to her eyes that made Harry wary. She hopped down and pulled her own copy of Hogwarts: A history from her trunk and sat down, she narrowed her eyes, and her smile grew, "Let's settle this."
She quickly explained what she had in mind; they would pick a random page in the book and pick a subject; the other would have to quote it from memory.
Harry, not one to back down from a challenge, agreed. She didn't waste any time and flipped to a random page and started citing out loud, "In 1592-"
A few hours later, their sleeves were rolled up, their books held upright on their knees, and there was unwrapped candy paper littered all around in the compartment. They had even used the bean-box as a trash can where they had tried to toss the candy paper into from their seats.
"Alright," Said Harry, peering at Hermione over his book with narrowed eyes, "Who was the Headmaster for Hogwarts between 1902-"
"Phineas Nigellus Black!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly, like every other time she knew the answer before he could finish the question.
Harry let out a very drawn out sigh and threw down his book on the seat, "You win," he said with an exaggerated dejected face, "I hereby proclaim you smarter than me when it comes to Hogwarts and its history." and did a little bow of defeat.
Hermione jumped out of her seat and held her book up high, "Yes! Yes! I win! You lose!"
Harry couldn't hold the smile back at her vicious competitiveness. The only reason why this had gone on so long was that she absolutely refused to admit defeat. He laid his head on the headrest and glanced towards the window; the sun was already halfway down. Something else came in view that made his eyes grow comically large.
"Hermione, look!" Harry said, interrupting her victory dance, and pointed towards the window.
They had arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Hermione moved over to him and followed his gaze, "Wow." she said in awe.
The train started to slow down, and they quickly threw their school robes over their muggle clothing. When Harry lifted down his trunk to the floor and was about to exit their compartment, Hermione cleared her throat.
"Hmm?"
Hermione not-so-subtly nodded to her trunk that laid so innocently on her seat, waiting for someone to lift it down.
Harry looked at her desperately, and she shrugged with a smile.
"Next time," Harry said with a mock glare, "Don't pack so many books."
This seemed to take Hermione aback, and she looked down at her clasped hands, "Are you saying that there will be a next time?" she said carefully, her voice filled with hope.
Harry awkwardly scratched his neck and motioned with his other hand, "Yeah, if you want to that is."
Hermione was still not looking at him, but she nodded eagerly.
Harry smiled and stuck out his hand, "So, what do you say? Friends?"
Hermione's head snapped up so fast that he was afraid she would get whiplash, "You- you want me to be your friend?"
Harry nodded and held out his hand a little more, to remind her to shake it to seal the deal. She looked a bit disbelievingly at the outstretched hand before she looked up at him and her face brightened considerably,
"Oompf!" Harry breathed, his lungs suddenly out of air. It took a moment for his brain to register that Hermione had closed the distance between them and currently had her small arms wrapped tightly around him.
Hermione mumbled something he couldn't hear, "Sorry, didn't catch that?"
"I'd love to be your friend." She repeated with a cracked voice.
Hermione eventually let him go, and he was startled when he saw that her eyes were misty. He debated whether he should say something but decided it had to wait because the train had stopped moving.
Harry brought down her trunk clumsily, causing it to hit the floor with a loud thump. He smiled sheepishly at her as the books scrambled loudly within. She closed her eyes and gave her head a little disappointed shake.
A voice echoed through the train: "Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."
Harry shut his eyes and muttered, "Are you serious right now?" and he heard some muffled laughter next to him.
The corridor was packed with people trying to exit the train, and they had to wait for what seemed like an eternity before they found an exit.
Harry shivered as the cold night air hit him. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"
Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. Harry waved back to him.
Hermione gently poked him with her elbow and nodded towards the giant in front of them, gathering the newcomers.
"That's Hagrid I told you about." He said quietly, and he could see the realization dawn upon her.
"C'mon, follow me - Any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" Hagrid boomed with his voice.
They slipped and stumbled as they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path, Hermione held on to his arm tightly to not lose her balance. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there.
"Sod off, Malfoy!" Someone said loudly behind them, followed with laughs and guffaws.
The round-faced boy who was next to him groaned, "Can't they just stop." he complained, "They have been at each other's throat all day."
Harry threw a glance over his shoulder to see two students arguing with each other, "Who are they?" he asked.
The round-faced boy startled, apparently surprised that someone had heard him, he cleared his throat, "That one is Draco Malfoy," He pointed and moved to the other one, "And that is Ron Weasley."
Now Harry saw them more clearly, and he recognized them both, Malfoy he had met at Madam Malkin's robe shop during his trip to Diagon Alley with Hagrid. The one who had strongly reminded him of Dudley.
The other boy, Weasley, was with the family that had passed him earlier that day at the platform.
"I'm Neville, by the way." The round-faced boy said and stuck out his hand.
Harry shook it, "I'm Harry, and this is Hermione."
Hermione gave her head a slight nod in greeting, and Neville did the same.
As they walked along the path, he thought back with his afternoon with Hermione, and he realized something; he couldn't remember last time he felt so free. It was a strange but a powerful feeling to have someone to talk to without being afraid to be shunned.
He had also made his first friend, which meant more to him than anything else in the world.
"You know," Harry said with a newfound appreciation, "I'm really happy that we met."
Hermione smiled sweetly and squeezed his arm, "Me too."
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "Jus' round this bend here."
As soon they had rounded the bend, there was a collected gasp among the first-year students at the mighty sight; The majestic castle in all of its glory stood in front of them across the lake.
Harry stared at the castle with renewed awe. He had seen plenty of pictures and drawings, and they did get a glimpse of it as they pulled into the station. But it was nothing compared to actually seeing it with your own eyes and up close.
Hermione shifted closer to him, and she was just as mesmerized by the out of the world-looking castle as he was. She turned to face him with a wide smile, his face responded in kind.
Harry stuck out his arm, "What do you say, ready to start an adventure?" She smiled cheekily back at him and accepted his offered arm.
A mischievous glint could be seen in her eyes, and she said, "Let the adventures of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger begin."