Disclaimer: I don't own any of the following except for the plot. Don't sue me. I'm too poor.

Chapter one: So new

Harry jumped the last five steps of the Dursley's staircase in his eagerness to be out the door. it was September 1, and the Hogwarts Express was leaving platform 9 3/4 in an hour. It had been such a long summer, staying with the Dursley's, Ron had been in Egypt for the past 2 months, and he had just seen Hermione last week in Diagon Alley. She'd been looking great, and he had surprised himself by thinking of her more and more as the first day of school drew nearer.

Uncle Vernon was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, pleased, obviously, that he wasn't going to see his unwanted nephew for another 10 months. Harry's trunk and cauldron had already been in the car since the night before.

"Get a move on now; I've got things to do, other than driving you to the station. I'll just be happiest when you've left this house for good, you and your bizarre ideas, and we all can finally live a normal life." Mr. Dursley had gotten very little sleep the night before; he wasn't in the most passive of moods. Ignoring him, Harry went to pick up Hedwigs empty cage (she was off sending a letter to Sirius) and left through the open door to the car.

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Hermione's trunk was loaded on a cart from the station, and with all her extra books; she worried if it would fit through the barrier onto the platform. Her parents had dropped her off just outside the station, leaving to go to the airport and to their long-awaited vacation in America. The cart swayed, unsteady, as she moved towards the platforms 9 and 10. As she went, she thought about Harry, how tall and lean he had seemed when she had seen him at Diagon Alley only a week before. He had changed so much since she had first seen him, small and nervous, in the train compartment next to Ron. Now he was stronger, capable, not afraid anymore. And she should think not, as he had now faced Voldemort 4 times and come out alive. She was viewed as his best friend, along with Ron, but she wasn't sure it would last on just those terms anymore.

He had changed all right, and she felt something for him, more than ever.

Through the crowd, Hermione glimpsed what appeared to be a movable bush of shocking red hair. The entire Weasley family, with the exception of Mr. Weasley and Percy, was heading to the barrier between the platforms. Taking care not to knock over Crookshanks' basket or slide her trunk off the cart, she manipulated her heavy load through the hundreds of muggles to the Weasleys. Ginny sighted her first, and hugged Hermione tightly.

"How was Egypt? You look like you were painted red." Hermione laughed. Ron answered her, "It was just fine, and while we were being painted, you must have been at the hair salon. It looks different."

"Yeah, for my birthday, I decided to change the look a little" she smiled.

Her hair was longer, and she had gotten a curly perm to it, big, cute curls, and something else that helped calm her hairs bushiness down, making it sleek.

"Oh Hermione! How are you? Hurry along dear, we don't want to miss the train now do we? Let Ron help you with that." Mrs. Weasley insisted.

Ron moved up to the cart, to help steer it with the cheap straining wheels veering out of control. The barrier loomed up in front of them, the solid brick wall, undistinguishable from the other barriers just like it, only with much more amazing abilities. Lining them up, Mrs. Weasley smilingly led them through one by one, appearing magically at platform 9 3/4, the great scarlet steam engine surrounded by students of all ages in black swirling cloaks. There were another 10 minutes until the Hogwarts express was scheduled to leave, and everyone was rushing to find an empty compartment. Hermione and Ron searched through the compartments, and finally found an empty one near the end, empty except for Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage, stored in the corner. After loading their own trunks, and saying goodbye to Mrs. Weasley, they entered the compartment to find Harry sitting inside.

"Harry! Its so good to see you? So you survived the Dursleys did you? "

"Yeah," He answered Ron, smiling widely, "and you look like you've gotten a little sun. Was Egypt fun?"

"Incredible, like the last time, only more fun, Percy wasn't there."

Harry turned to Hermione, and hugged her tightly. She felt his long, hard body against hers and the warmth from his embrace seeping through her body.

"Sit down, we've got a long ride ahead of us."

The whole way to Hogwarts, they talked and laughed, regaining lost memories, creating the prologue to this years adventures together. Harry bought a pile of Cauldron Cakes from the lady with the cart, and for a while they simply were together in happy peace. Draco Malfoy didn't even come, finding them on the train as he usually did, and Ron mentioned this,

"Draco hasn't come to piss us off, I wonder if dad was right..."

"What about?" Hermione asked.

"Dad said something about Draco Malfoy not coming to Hogwarts until October, I think it was something about an extended vacation, Mr. Malfoy bragged about it to everyone of course. I didn't really understand the whole thing, but that means a whole month without Draco!"

"That'll be a relief all right." Harry said. "He doesn't give us much free air to breathe when he's around, does he?"

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That night Harry, lying in his bed, felling extremely comfortable with a full stomach from the feast, thought about her again. Hermione, with her now flowing, curled hair, and her large, deep brown eyes, the long lashes that brought them out. Her complexion was as smooth as new fruit and Harry couldn't help but think that she was beautiful. He loved her laugh, her smile, her quizzical looks at him, the way that she would twist the material of the sleeve of her cloak when she was nervous. He realized that he loved talking to her too, she was so interesting and intelligent. Harry liked making her laugh, making her smile; just being with her made him happy. He wanted her to be happy. Listening to Neville's soft snoring, Harry wondered if he could ever get up the nerve to ask her out. Hernione probably just thinks of you as a friend, nothing more, he said to himself, feeling his heart sinking. When could it change into something more?

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Please review! I'm trying to make this interesting, just bear with me. Second chapter will bring in some more, just review. Please! Thanks- Weber