A/N: I know, I know! Another chapter! I'm so proud of myself right now ;-)
Disclaimer: Do I really have to do another one…?
~***~
"When do you think we'll reach Hogwarts?" Ron asked, looking up from the game of Exploding Snap he and Harry were in the middle of playing. Harry shrugged, his mouth full of Pumpkin Pasties. Ron had lost his appetite when he popped a mouldy cheese flavoured Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans, so Harry was left to finish the rest of the snacks.
Ron looked to where Hermione was, "Hey Hermione, what do you think?"
Hermione finally tore her eyes away from the prefect package she was reading, "What do I think of what, Ron?"
"When we'll get to Hogwarts," Ron repeated.
"Probably very soon, I would think. Most likely, in the next few minutes," she answered, frowning a little trying to calculate the time that had passed by. Ron shrugged, and continued playing his game with Harry while Hermione tried to finish reading. She didn't get too far, however. She glanced at Ron and Harry and sighed a little inside. She knew everything was great right now, but she wondered when was the next time one of them would blow up at the other. She was realistic enough to know that they wouldn't be able to go along without arguing sometime this year. Especially her and Ron. Even though she and Ron seemed fine right now, she knew that they were still avoiding a lot of things. She told him that she wasn't interested in Viktor, but she never explained anything. It was the same during the Yule Ball. They yelled and waved their arms in front of the other's face, and then decided to leave it as is. It works well for the short-term, but neither of them forgets about it, and it ends up hanging over them like a dark cloud.
Hermione sighed once more, and looked away from the two of them. She wasn't ready to deal with it though, not yet. She twisted around her seat to take a look outside the window.
"Hey guys! I can see the station! We're almost there!" Hermione exclaimed. The three of them got ready stuffing their books, food, and game in their bags and pockets and got ready to disembark.
~***~
"All righ', Harry?" Hagrid yelled to him when the three of them got off the train. Harry smiled broadly and waved his arm. Hagrid had already called the nervous first years, and Harry figured he would be able to talk to him later on rather than trying to wade through the pool of students.
Hermione, Harry, and Ron clambered into one of the horseless carriages that would lead them to the place they would live for the next ten months.
"So, what do you have to do as prefects?" Ron asked curiously.
"They didn't really tell us much actually, other than to be good role models, and not to be mean to the other houses, like Slytherin," Harry answered.
"Takes away all the fun of being a prefect, doesn't it" Ron said disappointedly.
"Being a prefect does not mean we get to make sure that Slytherin doesn't win the House Cup, Ron," Hermione said, straightening up in her seat. "It means for us to be responsible, mature –"
"And we also know what our password is," Harry interjected much to Hermione's annoyance.
"What is it?" Ron asked eagerly, leaning forward.
"Harry, you can't tell him yet. All Gryffindors will find out when we get to the port-" Hermione tried to stop him.
"Butterbeer," Harry said, not listening to his fellow prefect, with a grin on his face.
"Wicked!" Ron said smiling.
"Harry!" Hermione said bossily, not looking pleased at all.
"Yes Hermione?" Harry finally turned to her looking innocently with his eyes wide open.
"Never mind," taking one look at him. She saw the two of them exchange winks, and couldn't help but laugh. "You two are hopeless, you know that?"
They didn't bother to grace her with a comment, but laughed with her instead.
~***~
When the carriage pulled up to the Entrance Hall, the three stepped out and ran up the stairs to the Great Hall. They sat down near the middle of the Gryffindor table and watched as the rest of their school file in.
Hermione let her eyes roam the Head Table. She saw Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Flitwick. Well, she could barely see Professor Flitwick, even though he appeared to be sitting on five heavy books. There was Hagrid, Professor Vector, Snape, Sprout, and Sinistra as well. There was also a witch with long, thick black hair that she didn't recognise.
"Hey guys, I guess we have our new DADA professor," Hermione remarked.
"Who?" they both asked. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"If you look at the Head Table, you would notice the new teacher," Hermione said.
"You don't know that for certain. She could be our new potions professor, and Snape could be the DADA professor," Ron said trying to irritate his brainy friend. Unfortunately, this did not prove to be a wise decision. Hermione ended kicking his ankle under the table while glaring at him, while Harry was choking on the food he hid from the train exclaiming how that would ruin his favourite subject.
Before Harry could express himself intelligently, the Sorting Hat was brought in, and Professor McGonagall opened the door to admit the trembling first years.
Hermione felt a sudden pity for them. She remembered how she felt, before she realised that all she would have to do would try on a hat!
The Great Hall suddenly went silent, as they realise it was time for the Sorting Hat.
In a time long ago,
Four wizards came to be,
And with them came this magical school
That you all do now see.
They gathered children left and right
To teach them all things new,
But when it came to sorting them
They knew not what to do.
All four wizards valued qualities
Different from each other,
And so they created the Sorting Hat (that's me!)
To choose one student from the other.
To Gryffindor went the students
Who could fight brave and true,
And so they set their path
By making it straight and true.
Those who went to Hufflepuff
Knew they were loyal and just,
And kept their hard-working ability
As they knew they must.
Witty and clever were the students
Who wound up in Ravenclaw,
And those who passed this test,
Studied with them as the rest of us saw.
The last house that came to be
Slytherin was its name,
And those who were ambitious and proud,
Came here to claim their fame.
So try me on, and let me see
What the future holds for you,
I will tell you which house you belong in
Until you bid "Adieu!"
(A/N: Sorry, I couldn't think of any other way to finish this last stanza smiles apologetically for any cringes that just occurred on her readers' faces)
The entire Hall burst into applause and cheers, and Hermione watched as the new students looked at each other in slight relief.
The three of them duly cheered for any new Gryffindor, and after Hermione gave a venomous look to her friends, they stopped hissing at any new Slytherin student.
Finally the sorting was finished, and everyone grabbed their fork and raised his or her eyes to Professor Dumbledore knowing the food was about to come very quickly. However, instead of the Headmaster allowing them to eat, he cleared his throat, and started speaking.
"Before we start on our dinner, I would like to wish congratulations on our newly sorted first year students." Everyone clapped politely alongside their Headmaster.
"We still have a few more students to sort, and I'm sure you will extend a gracious welcome to our new students," Dumbledore continued.
"What's he talking about?" Ron whispered. Hermione and Harry looked just as confused as the rest of the students. The first years were sorted, so who was left? Hermione glanced around before nudging Ron and Harry. There were three students dressed Hogwarts robes standing inconspicuously in the far corner. They all had black cloaks over them, and had the hood pulled up hiding their faces in shadows.
Dumbledore graciously swept his hand ushering them to where the Sorting Hat was placed. No names were called, and the entire school seemed breathless. The first student placed the Sorting Hat on their head (Hermione couldn't tell if they were female or male due to the robe and cloak) and eventually they all heard, "Sixth Year! Hufflepuff!" People clapped, but the student did not sit down at the Hufflepuff table. He stood in front of it instead, keeping the hood raised.
A murmur began to race down the tables, but quickly was shushed down as the second and third students were placed into Ravenclaw (Seventh Year) and Hufflepuff (Fifth Year). They too kept their cloaks on and stood in front of their respective tables.
All eyes were placed on Dumbledore expectantly.
"As you know, times are troubled, and we at Hogwarts extended any safe refuge that students wanted. These three students accepted this offer and are placed now in Hogwarts in the year and house the Sorting Hat deemed best." Dumbledore nodded to the three students in front of him, and they hesitantly raised their arms to lower their hood.
There was one girl and one boy placed at Hufflepuff, but Hermione wasn't paying them much attention at the moment. Standing in front of the Ravenclaw table was none other than Viktor Krum, and he was staring right at her.
Oh no…
She couldn't dwell on it much longer, because she soon became aware of another person staring at her.
"Hermione," Ron growled at her, looking angrier than ever.
~***~
(A/N: I was going to leave it off here, but I decided to be nice an continue on ;-))
Hermione turned slightly to meet his gaze, "Before you say anything Ron, I swear I didn't know he was coming to Hogwarts! He never said one word to be about this before. I'm just as surprised as you are."
It seemed to work, slightly. She finally figured out that if she wanted Ron to see reason, she would have to jump right in before he could get into a tirade and come up with some unbelievable thoughts.
Ron looked at her warily before turning to Harry with a questioning look.
"I believe her Ron. She couldn't fake an expression like that," Harry answered to his unsaid question.
If she wasn't rocked by the fact that Viktor was in their school, she probably would have laughed with or kicked Harry. Right now, she was just happy that she had one of her best friends on her side and she smiled at him gratefully.
Dumbledore finally introduced the three new students. Of course everyone was already buzzing about Viktor Krum, as they had done when he came for the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
"The two students newly sorted into Hufflepuff are Amelie Bégin and Gregor van den Bosch, and the student in Ravenclaw is a returning friend –" Ron hmmphed at this "- Viktor Krum."
Everyone in the Hall once again clapped as the three sat down at their respective table, although Hermione noticed that Ron did the action rather sullenly. She decided not to make an issue out of it though.
"I think I will save the rest of the speech after dinner, so Bon Appetit!"
On that cue the food appeared in great heaps all along the table. The older students now being used to this grabbed platters immediately, while the new ones "ooohh"ed and "aaww"ed at the sight.
"Why do you think he's here?" Harry asked. Hermione knew exactly whom he was talking about.
"Dumbledore did invite the Durmstrang students to come, especially as Karkaroff left," Hermione reasoned. Ron just grunted into his food, but at least he was listening.
"Where do you think Karkaroff ended up going?" Hermione wondered, and trying to change the topic at the time. Ron looked up this time.
"I don't think there's many places you could hide from You-Know-Who," he shrugged. This time it was Harry who didn't look up from his plate. Ron and Hermione glanced at each other and fell silent. In the end, the three of them ate the rest of their meal quietly.
When everyone was finished, Dumbledore once again stood up, and waved his wand to clean the tables.
"Before you all leave to the comforts of your bed, let me introduce you to your Defence Against Dark Arts Professor, Professor Andsware," and he started clapping leading the rest of the school to follow. Professor Andsware nodded her head graciously to the Headmaster.
"Let me also remind you that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden as always. Also, in a couple of weeks, there will be Quidditch tryouts for positions that are not filled. Please ask your Head of House for the details." Dumbledore smiled at everyone, "I can't think of anything else to say, so goodnight and sleep tight!"
The student body rose and prefects could be heard telling the first years to follow them. Harry, Hermione, and Ron started to move to the Gryffindor first years, but the next thing she knew, she was crushed against Ron, and his lips were on hers.
"Mmmmph" She managed to push him away, glaring at him. "What are you doing Ron?!"
But his eyes weren't on hers. She turned around and saw that Viktor had come to where they were standing to say hi to her.
"Viktor," she said a little weakly.
"Herm-own-ninny," he replied a little abruptly. Ron was still looking at him with a look that she didn't want to face at the moment.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming here?" she asked taking a deep breath.
"I vanted it to be a surprise," he said, "but maybe I vas the vone who vas surprised." With that, he turned his back to her, and walked back to his fellow Ravenclaws.
She spun on her heel to face Ron.
"Ron Weasley, what were you thinking!!!" she managed to say between clenched teeth, resisting the urge to slap him. Harry just ogled the two of them unable to say a word, while Ron's ears and neck started to turn a bright shade of red as he looked down at her.
~***~
A/N: So what did you think? Not exactly a romantic moment between Ron and Hermione, but they did kiss! And did you like the fact that Viktor's now a Hogwarts student? I didn't know if he graduated, so I let the Sorting Hat decide that he should be in 7th Year (didn't learn all the stuff in Durmstrang, or something – cheap way out, mais c'est la vie! ;-))
And what did you think of my Sorting Hat Song? I'm not much of a poet (at all, actually), so don't flame me too much!!
Rally-as-Twiddle's: Finals stink, don't they? I have mine in April. I should start studying for them!
Ginny Potter: Thank you so much! Sorry if I seem to drag the 'spark' between the two of them, but could you really imagine them getting together right away? No way, they have too many personality conflicts!
Bluetreeleaves: Sorry that there's no Fred and George in this chapter. There'll be some in the next for sure. I haven't seen the 'scumbag' (I like the name!), but I have class with him tomorrow. Ugh!
Madison: thanks so much for the compliments! I don't think Rowling will let these three separate in the end, no matter what happens in the middle, so that's the angle I went with.
MusicalRose: I was a prefect in my high school (no badges, but we did have to wear ties that symbolised us being prefects), so I had an idea of what a prefect meeting would be like. Of course, there were no rivalries between Gryffindors and Slytherins!
HermioneM: Again, they kissed in this chapter, even if it wasn't romantic. Be patient…it'll come…eventually ;-) And hey, you didn't have to wait 4 long days at all. Aren't you proud of me??? Lol!
Please review, as I appreciate all comments!
shal