Disclaimer: *Sarcasm*Yes! I own Harry Potter even though my name is Elizabeth Collier, not J.K. Rowling. I own Harry Potter, and I don't give a damn what you all say! I OWN HARRY POTTER!!!! That's exactly why I am writing a fanfiction on fanfiction.net.*End Sarcasm* Sorry 'bout that. Had to get that out of my system! Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter, so don't sue me. [If you sued me, the only thing you'd get in some pocket lint, because I'm broke.]
Author's Note: I've decided to start another fanfic, but I am going to finish Everything Changes. This might just end up to be a one-chapter thing, who knows? I sure don't. Anyway, I am going to see how I do with first person. So, here goes. Oh, and I would just like to say something concerning my other story: I haven't read many fics on here, so if there is another story that has someone named Cressida Malfoy, it is entirely coincidental. When I was trying to come up with a name, I asked my best friend Kelsey, and she gave me that name. I don't even have any idea where the name came from, or how she thought of it, so I hope that explains it. *Big grin*
============
Chapter One: Seeing Each Other Again
Hermione"Harry!" I ran over to Harry Potter and flung my arms around his neck. I rained his cheeks and neck with little friendly pecks, and grinned into his shoulder when he returned the hug. "I missed you so much!"
"Well, that's a nice hello," said Harry, chuckling lightly.
Last year, I wouldn't have been so ecstatic to see Harry, but this year—our sixth year—was different. My parents and I had summer vacationed in the United States, which meant, obviously, I hadn't gotten the chance to visit the Burrow like I usually do. I had not seen Harry, or my other best friend, Ron Weasley, since the end of our fifth year.
Finally, I let go of Harry and just looked into his big emerald green eyes. It was so nice to see his eyes sparkling again. "Where's Ron?" I asked, suddenly noticing that tall, red-headed Ron wasn't there.
Harry grinned down at me. "He's coming right now."
Sure enough, Ron rushed over and scooped me into a big hug. I laughed. "Happy to see me?" I asked playfully.
"Hell yes!"
It's a well-known fact around the sixth-year student body that Ron has a crush on me. It has been a well-known fact for quite sometime. I've tried and tried to let him down gently, even going to the extreme measures of saying I liked somebody else, but he didn't get the picture. My best girl friend, Chloe Peterson, (a girl that came as an exchange student last year, whom Harry and Ron don't like very well) encouraged me to just go along and flirt with him. So, stupid me, took her advice. Now, I have Ron practically doing anything I want on any given command. And I don't like it!
I laughed again, and Ron let me go. I could tell it was a little reluctantly. "Did you guys have a good summer?" I asked. They didn't answer, so right away I knew that Harry's summer with the Dursleys was awful, and Ron's summer with Percy, Bill, and Charlie back at home was awful too. "Well...my summer wasn't that great either," I lied, crossing my fingers behind my back. The truth was, I had actually had a wonderful summer in Virginia visiting family. I met a lot of my cousins—distant cousins, but nonetheless cousins—as well as some aunts and uncles. I got to see my mom's dad and mom, my grandparents, and I went shopping in a lot of Muggle malls and such. But I wouldn't tell Harry and Ron, because the looks on their faces looked like they had been put through living hell.
"HERMIONE GRANGER?! IS THAT YOU?"
I spun around and faced the direction the shrill voice was coming from. I was immediately looking at Parvati Patil, one of my roommates. "Hello, Parvati," I said with fake friendliness.
"Hola! Que tal?"
Harry, Ron, and I all gave Parvati a strange look. "Uh, what?" I asked.
"It's Spanish, silly!" Parvati said, giggling. "I learned it over the summer, because my sister visited Mexico, and she had to learn the basic Spanish stuff! It means, 'Hello! How are you?'"
Oh, yippee. I just remembered why I try at all costs to avoid Parvati Patil—her perkiness at all hours of the day, during any situation, in any class, including Potions with Professor Snape. (As if you can be cheery in that class!) "Oh, well, how about we just stick to regular ol' English?" I suggested.
Parvati's face fell. "Well, I just wanted to show off my Spanish skills, Herm," she muttered. "I guess I'll go find Lav. I'm sure she'll appreciate my new language skills."
I watched the dark-brown haired girl retreat, and then I turned back to Harry and Ron. "Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?" The boys grinned. "Hey, look. We better go get on the train, before it leaves us." The three of us walked over to the long red train that had 'Hogwarts Express' written on it. We boarded, and found our usual compartment, the one we had shared ever since second year. (The same one I found Harry and Ron sitting in while I was looking for a toad in our first year.) It's sort of a tradition to sit in that same compartment now, because that's where the three of us together first met.
It was a good fifteen minutes before we had everything just right. Harry sat beside of me on one of the benches, and Ron sat across from Harry. Our stuff was all piled in Ron's seat, and it kept falling over onto him. As usual, I had some books stacked and ready for me to read, and Ron had a game of Exploding Snap ready in case Harry wanted to play. Now it was sort of a ritual for me to read while Harry and Ron played either wizard's chess or Exploding Snap. Then, we'd buy some bags of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and test them out, to see which of us would get the nastiest flavor first. (Ron always loses.)
This year was different, for some reason. Harry just sat there, Ron looking at him expectantly. I didn't start reading any of the thick books I had ready, because it didn't seem right to begin reading until the boys began playing. So all of us just sat there, in a weird silence.
"Isn't this fun?"
We sat in silence for a few minutes, until somebody started pouding on the compartment door. I opened it, and there stood none other than Draco Malfoy, a Death Eater's son, who everybody knows and loves (to hate). His goons and "friends", Crabbe and Goyle, stood on either side of him, as if they were his bodyguards. His lips twisted up into his trademark smirk, and his icy grey-blue eyes held no emotion. Malfoy was wearing a pair of baggy khakis, and a black wifebeater, a Muggle outfit. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, Malfoy looked good. I would even go as far as saying that he looked sexy. If it was anybody but Malfoy, I would say he looked hot.
"Why...if is isn't Potty, the Weasel, and the Mudblood," he said, sneering at us like we were inferior.
"Just go away Malfoy, and don't make trouble," I said, a hint of warning in my voice. "I want to start this school year off without any fights involving you."
Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Granger just doesn't want her little boyfriends to get hurt," he told Crabbe and Goyle. "Granger's afraid if we fight, I'll hurt Potty and the Weasel, and then they won't be able to follow her around doing little 'tasks' anymore."
"Er...yeah," Crabbe and Goyle agreed, nodding their heads forcefully. This caused them to go stumbling backwards from dizziness, and when they regained their balance, they plastered stupid looks on their faces. Then they started laughing, and Malfoy gave them a look that plainly stated, 'You're stupid'.
Ron jumped up and lunged at Malfoy. I caught his arm and pulled him back. "Don't. Do not sink to their level, got it, Ron?" I narrowed my brown eyes at Malfoy. "I'm not afraid of you, and I think your threats and names are immature and stupid. I refuse to let Harry, Ron, or myself sink to your level, which is the lowest of low, might I add. So, could you please leave and go screw with someone else's mind? I'm sure Pansy Parkinson would love the attention."
At the mention of Pansy Parkinson's name, Draco's face turned from amusement at my standing up to him, to a look of pure and utter disgust. "Do not mention that wench around me again, got it Granger?"
"Yeah, Malfoy, I got it," I said. "Now, if you don't mind, could you please leave. Or maybe I should tell Pansy that you're looking for her..."
"I really have to go..." Malfoy said, backing away. "Come on, Crabbe, come on, Goyle." They walked away, and I could see Malfoy's blonde head shaking, as if he could hardly believe he just walked away from a fight.
"That was too simple," Harry stated, looking at a dazed-looking Ron. "Malfoy is not one to walk away from a fight without the last word."
Ron nodded. He stood there a moment, and then returned to his seat. "I have a feeling that's not the last we've seen of Draco Malfoy." His face turned cheerful, and then he turned to Harry. "Wanna play Exploding Snap?"
With a sigh, Harry agreed. Since the boys were playing their usual game, I figured it was time for me to read. I selected a small paperback I had in my stack, much to my surprise (as well as the boys'), because I'm more of a fan of thick hardbacks. I looked at the title: The Summer of Friendships and Lovers, and I instantly could tell that it was a mushy romance novel. Perfect. I settled back into the cushy seat, and began reading. Everything was back to normal.
============
"They look so scared," Chloe Peterson said, pointing at the large group of new first years, who were standing at the front of the Great Hall, ready to be Sorted. "When I was first Sorted, it wasn't quite a big deal, because I came in fifth year, not first." She giggled, a screechy laugh that was starting to annoy me to no end.
"Well, of course they look scared. This is their first year in a school of witchcraft and wizardry," I said, pushing some hair behind my ear. I turned to Harry, who was sitting on my right side. I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again, and just watched him. He had a content look on his face, his emerald-green eyes sparkling as usual. I just admired how cute Harry looked when he just stared into space...then it hit me. Oh my God. I'm falling for Harry Potter. And the truth was, I was falling. And I was falling hard.
============
"Hey, Herm..."
I looked up and found myself staring into the big green eyes that were so familiar to me. The eyes of Harry Potter. Harry stood towering over me, a look of confusion on his handsome face. "Yeah, Harry?" I asked, a surge of hope rushing through me.
"Um...well. Ron wanted me to ask you...if you'd go out with him?" He fidgeted nervously, tugging on the bottom of his baggy shirt that had probably once belong to Dudley, his cousin.
I looked down at the book in my hands, the same one I had been reading on the train. "Damn. I don't know what to say," I said, sighing. "Why does he keep asking me out when he knows I don't like him?" I hadn't meant to say that out loud, but I had. I could have been imagining things, but I think I saw a look of relief wash over Harry's face when I said I didn't like Ron.
"He said that he thinks you like him now. Because you were sending vibes off on the train or something. I dunno..." Harry's voice trailed off, and he looked expectantly at me. "What do you want me to tell him?"
I glanced over at Ron, who was sitting in front of the fireplace. (There wasn't a fire burning in it yet, either.) "Tell him I said I will consider it," I said. I didn't want to hurt him. "Harry, I really don't like him, but I don't want to say no."
Harry smiled at me sympathetically. "Okay...well. I'll tell him. And hopefully he'll understand." He turned and walked off towards Ron. He obviously told Ron what I had said, because I could see a look of renewed hope crossing over his face.
I sighed. "What have I gotten myself into?" I asked myself, barely above a whisper so that no one could hear me.
============
Author's Note: That's the end of the first chapter. I'll most likely add a few more chapters to it, while I'm working on my other fic. (Which you guys have to go check out! It's D/Hr!) So, for now, I've gotta go! Read and review, and please leave constructive criticism! Oh, and if you guys can come up with any title better than 'To Love One Another' PLEASE let me know. I can't think of one! Tell me in your reviews! Love, Elizabeth.
