Although Harry was glad to Sirius and Professor Lupin again, he hated to leave the Weasley family and the Burrow. He was worried about Ron and what he might do. Harry worried about Hermione and her parents as well, but he worried for her as a friend, with Ron it was different.
Ron and Hermione had never said anything, but Harry and Ginny both knew that given the opportunity, Ron and Hermione would be an item. Ginny had become Hermione's closest female friend during the previous year at Hogwarts when Viktor Krum had taken a likening to Hermione. Krum's presence and attention to Hermione had made Ron extremely jealous, though he never openly said it to anyone.
Professor Lupin's home was as Harry expected; a little house with an overgrown garden and simple furnishings. The walls were hung with plenty of wizard photographs; every where Harry looked, his parents and a younger Sirius and Lupin waved at him. He did notice however, that photos that must have contained Peter Pettigrew had been enchanted so that his face was blurred.
As Sirius had to be careful not to be seen by the witches and wizards living near Lupin, he was mostly in his dog form, except for when indoors. But even then, the curtains were mostly shut. Because of Professor Dumbledore's request that Harry stay at the house, Professor Lupin traveled to Diagon Alley to replenish Harry's potion stocks and buy his new school books. Harry felt a pang of sadness when he thought of the year approaching; Hermione would not be there unless she and her family were found soon. Dumbledore sent frequent updates to both Harry and the Weasleys, and although Ron showed no interest in the letters when they arrived, his mother made sure they were lying around so Ron could read them when the family were not in the room.
The day of Harry's departure arrived. He, Lupin and Sirius in dog form traveled to London by taxi; the driver was extremely nervous around such a large black dog and checked with Lupin at least twenty times on the way to London that Sirius was restrained.
They collected a trolley and wheeled over to the barrier on Platform 9. While Lupin bent over to pretend to check Sirius' leash, all three leant slightly against the barrier and materialised on Platform 9 ¾.
The first things Harry saw were several flashes of red: the red of the Hogwarts Express and the red hair of several Weasleys descending on him.
'Oh, Harry!' Mrs Weasley wrapped him in a large hug, and Harry felt the breath drain out of him.
Fred and George were grinning widely at him, and while their mother wasn't watching, they showed Harry some of their latest creations for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Ginny stood back from her brothers and gave Harry a shy smile. When he returned her grin, she blushed and hurried to check the lock on her trunk.
Harry looked around for Ron. He saw him looking blankly at the train. The vacant expression that had been on his face when Harry had told him about Hermione was still there.
'Ron, hey.' Ron turned around slightly and gave a weak smile. He then turned back and stared at the train again.
Harry sighed.
'He's been like that for the last week' whispered Ginny in Harry's ear.
Meanwhile Mrs Weasley and Professor Lupin were in deep conversation. Harry noticed that Mrs Weasley still kept slightly away from Sirius, but she was getting more confidant.
The train suddenly blew a large puff of steam and the Weasleys and Harry all hurried to get onto the train.
'Be careful, Harry' Lupin's grey eyes looked concerned and Sirius wagged his tail slowly.
'I will. Don't worry.' He patted Sirius on the head and waved at Lupin and Mrs Weasley.
The twins rushed off to find their friend Lee Jordan, while Harry and Ginny went in search of Neville, Dean and Seamus with Ron trailing behind.
They found them in the last carriage. The others had been chatting loudly, but stopped abruptly when Ron entered the carriage. He didn't seem to notice however, and sat himself next to the window and with his chin resting on his knuckles, he stared out the window.
Neville and Harry exchanged glances, but didn't say anything.
Harry placed Hedwig's empty cage in the luggage locker. She hadn't been back for almost a week and Harry suspected she was with the handsome snowy male that had delivered Krum's letter.
The train slowly departed Platform 9 ¾. Harry waved at Lupin, Sirius and Mrs Weasley and then turned to his friends.
Seamus and Dean were trying to engage Ron in conversation.
'So, are you worried about Hermione, Ron?' asked Dean tentatively.
Ron stared blankly at Dean.
'What? I wasn't listening.'
'Never mind.' Dean turned back to Seamus and began talking in a low voice.
About ten minutes into the journey the door to their carriage opened and Draco Malfoy walked in flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.
'So, the mudblood's missing. Looks like someone did something right.'
Harry, Dean, Seamus and Neville jumped up at the mention of mudblood, but Ron did nothing.
'Get out Malfoy. Before something happens.' Seamus stepped forward threateningly. Unfortunately so did Crabbe and Goyle; Seamus stepped back.
Malfoy had noticed Ron sitting by the window.
'What's the matter Weasley? Missing your girlfriend?'
Ron didn't turn around. Draco laughed loudly.
'Looks like Weasley's got a broken heart,' he motioned to Crabbe and Goyle 'Come on, let's leave him to pine for his sweet mudblood.'
Harry turned angrily to Ron.
'Why didn't you do anything?'
'What for? There's no point.'
Harry would have liked to have shaken Ron then, but luckily for Ron the witch bearing the food trolley suddenly appeared in their carriage.
A few minutes later they were all stuffing themselves with cauldron cakes, chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Except for Ron, of course.
It didn't take long for the others to all ignore him after he didn't answer their questions. Ginny shot knowing looks at Harry, but neither said a word.
They soon all changed into their robes, and not long after the train pulled into Hogsmeade station.
As Harry stepped off the train he saw Hagrid and he and Ginny raced over towards him. Hagrid turned briefly away from the first years and talked to them.
'How's Ron? I bet yeh he's missing Hermione a lot.'
Harry and Ginny exchanged glances.
'Hagrid, that has to be the biggest understatement of the year.' Harry grinned at Hagrid, who grinned back.
'But, yeh're all worried. I am too. But, at the moment I gotta get the first year's across the lake.'
Harry and Ginny returned to the carriages that would take them to Hogwarts and settled into one with Neville and Ron. Neville seemed glad to see them. He'd tried to talk to Ron, but all he'd been greeted with was blank looks.
They traveled to the castle in silence. Harry looked out the carriage windows to see the familiar turrets of Hogwarts Castle and his heart leapt.
They traipsed into the entrance hall and saw Professor McGonagall directing student into the Great Hall.
She noticed Harry and called him over.
'Potter, I heard about Miss Granger. But believe me, the Headmaster is doing everything in his power to find her and her family.'
Harry thanked her and followed the other students into the hall.
He sat at the Gryffindor table and looked around. He saw Malfoy and his cronies at the Slytherin table and scowled. The Hufflepuff table was a friendlier sight. He waved to some friends and turned his attention to the Ravenclaw table. Cho Chang was sitting with her friends and she saw Harry. She smiled warmly, making Harry blush, but he couldn't help but notice that her eyes were incredibly sad. She obviously still felt a lot about the loss of Cedric Diggory.
While Harry had been gazing about the room, Professor McGonagall had led the first years into the hall for the Sorting. After the hat had sung its song, the first years were sorted one by one. Gradually they all found their place at the house tables and Professor Dumbledore stood up.
'Welcome to another school year!' He smiled warmly at all the students, but his eyes settled on Harry.
'As you can see, we have a new member of staff-' Harry hadn't noticed. He looked along the staff bench and saw an attractive youngish witch with long black hair and dark brown eyes. She grinned at Dumbledore.
'Professor Hawkes will be our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and I hope we will make her all welcome.'
'You can bet on that,' whispered Fred Weasley to Harry, grinning wickedly.
Harry grinned back. 'You do that, Fred.'
He looked at Ron to wink at him, but Ron was staring up at the enchanted ceiling.
Dumbledore finished his speech and the plates in front of the students suddenly filled with delicious food. Normally Ron would fill his plate to the brim and not say a word until it was cleared, but tonight he picked over his food, which Fred and George noticed.
'Come on Ron, we haven't seen you eat this slowly since…well, we've never seen you eat this slowly!' George punched Ron on the arm, but Ron continued to pick at bits and pieces and said nothing.
In fact, the entire Gryffindor table was quiet. Other students looked down at Ron and Harry and wondered where Hermione was, but none of them asked.
As they sat eating, the enchanted ceiling began to change. Clouds had been building up since their arrival, but it know began to rain.
Harry shivered slightly and took a welcome swig from his goblet of pumpkin juice. Suddenly the door of the hall opened slightly and a cloaked figure ran across the hall to the Gryffindor table.
'Sorry I'm late! We only got back this afternoon and I had an awful job getting here.' The figure spoke rapidly and while they were talking, pulled off the cloak. Harry gasped.
It was Hermione.