"Hey Herms! Long time no see!"
Hermione cringed at the sudden noise and turned her head to face an out-of- breath Ron, chest heaving.
She grinned. "You know, you'd think that you would get tired of seeing me by our sixth year, Ron. Besides, you're only giddy because Lavender finally asked you out at the train station!"
He crossed his arms and his freckled ears reddened. "How did you know?"
"Overheard," she shrugged, smiling inwardly. Now everyone was paired up, it seemed. Harry with Ginny, Ron with Lavender, and even Colin Creevy with some fifth year Hufflepuff.
Hermione sighed. As much as she was happy for her best friends, she wished that she could relate. She rested her head against the cold train window and stared at the beautiful but mundane landscape, unseeing. As much as she loved her studies, there was a small hole in her heart that not even an A+ in Advanced Potions could fill. She buried her face in her hair and muffled another wistful sigh. Maybe this year would be different, she mused. Maybe someone would see past the waves of thick chestnut hair (which wasn't that bad anymore thanks to Ginny, she thought to herself) and the look-at-me-I'm- invincible-because-I-do-my-homework-a-week-in-advance attitude to the girl inside - a lost, little girl craving for attention and companionship.
She spun back around just in time to see Ron re-emerge with his hand snaked around Lavender's waist, with Harry and Ginny not too far behind. Hermione shoved her thoughts to the back of her mind and tried to smile at the happy couples.
"Well aren't you two just soooo cute!" she cooed, earning a swat from Lavender and a disgusted look from Ron, which turned into an embarrassed but proud smile when Lavender tucked her head under his chin.
"Sod off, 'Mione," he joked, to which she pulled out her camera and took about 10 pictures of the new pair.
Harry chuckled as he and Ginny sat across from them in the train compartment.
"Hey Herms! I think there are some photogenic moments in the making over HERE!" he laughed, causing Hermione to turn in time to see him plant a sloppy kiss on Ginny's cheek. "Haaaarryyyyy! EEEWW!" *Click*
"That's one for the grandkids," Hermione laughed, pocketing her weapon of choice.
Of course, with Harry and Ron together, the subject soon fell to Quidditch and Hermione decided to stretch her legs around the train for a while. She grabbed her wand and her favorite book, Hogwarts, A History and started to wander.
Chuckling to herself upon reading the origin of the Whomping Willow and remembering Harry's and Ron's "incident" at the start of their second year, she nearly ran head on into one of her fellow students.
"S'cuse me," she muttered, continuing on her way.
"You should be saying that more often, Mudblood. In fact, you should be apologizing to everyone daily for having to work with filth like you."
Hermione squeezed the edges of her book so tightly that it cut into her palms. She tried to focus her eyes on the paragraph she was reading, only succeeding in reading the same sentence over at least a dozen times, not getting past the first words.
The Whomping Willow was conceived by the clever innovator-
"What's the matter, Granger? All out of smart-ass remarks?"
The Whomping Willow was conceived by the clever innovator-
Hot tears threatened to spill from the corners of Hermione's eyes. She didn't know why she still let his insults bother her after all these years. One would think that she would have learned to ignore them by now.
"My, my, my.little Miss Know-It-All seems to have swallowed her tongue. You know what? I don't think I want to work with you as a prefect anymore. I mean, your tolerance just takes all the fun out of it. Now, come along, Granger - isn't there something you'd like to say to me?"
She turned to face his smirk and took long strides until her face was only a few inches from his. She turned her head up to meet his eyes defiantly. She almost shuddered to look into his eyes - empty pools of silver; unfeeling.
"And how did you make prefect, Malfoy?" she spat in an icy whisper, "Did your little Daddy hire all his death eaters to vote? Just stay out of my way."
He stared hard down at her, and she almost detected a hint of admiration behind the hatred in his eyes - little tints of blue. She grinned to herself - maybe he wasn't used to her actually standing up for herself. And she had to admit, it felt pretty good. She was about to follow up with another clever retort when his face twisted back into his notorious smirk and he turned on his heel, stalking away.
Hermione watched his robes billow out as he retreated into the distance. Maybe this year won't be so bad. Now it was her turn to smirk.
Hermione cringed at the sudden noise and turned her head to face an out-of- breath Ron, chest heaving.
She grinned. "You know, you'd think that you would get tired of seeing me by our sixth year, Ron. Besides, you're only giddy because Lavender finally asked you out at the train station!"
He crossed his arms and his freckled ears reddened. "How did you know?"
"Overheard," she shrugged, smiling inwardly. Now everyone was paired up, it seemed. Harry with Ginny, Ron with Lavender, and even Colin Creevy with some fifth year Hufflepuff.
Hermione sighed. As much as she was happy for her best friends, she wished that she could relate. She rested her head against the cold train window and stared at the beautiful but mundane landscape, unseeing. As much as she loved her studies, there was a small hole in her heart that not even an A+ in Advanced Potions could fill. She buried her face in her hair and muffled another wistful sigh. Maybe this year would be different, she mused. Maybe someone would see past the waves of thick chestnut hair (which wasn't that bad anymore thanks to Ginny, she thought to herself) and the look-at-me-I'm- invincible-because-I-do-my-homework-a-week-in-advance attitude to the girl inside - a lost, little girl craving for attention and companionship.
She spun back around just in time to see Ron re-emerge with his hand snaked around Lavender's waist, with Harry and Ginny not too far behind. Hermione shoved her thoughts to the back of her mind and tried to smile at the happy couples.
"Well aren't you two just soooo cute!" she cooed, earning a swat from Lavender and a disgusted look from Ron, which turned into an embarrassed but proud smile when Lavender tucked her head under his chin.
"Sod off, 'Mione," he joked, to which she pulled out her camera and took about 10 pictures of the new pair.
Harry chuckled as he and Ginny sat across from them in the train compartment.
"Hey Herms! I think there are some photogenic moments in the making over HERE!" he laughed, causing Hermione to turn in time to see him plant a sloppy kiss on Ginny's cheek. "Haaaarryyyyy! EEEWW!" *Click*
"That's one for the grandkids," Hermione laughed, pocketing her weapon of choice.
Of course, with Harry and Ron together, the subject soon fell to Quidditch and Hermione decided to stretch her legs around the train for a while. She grabbed her wand and her favorite book, Hogwarts, A History and started to wander.
Chuckling to herself upon reading the origin of the Whomping Willow and remembering Harry's and Ron's "incident" at the start of their second year, she nearly ran head on into one of her fellow students.
"S'cuse me," she muttered, continuing on her way.
"You should be saying that more often, Mudblood. In fact, you should be apologizing to everyone daily for having to work with filth like you."
Hermione squeezed the edges of her book so tightly that it cut into her palms. She tried to focus her eyes on the paragraph she was reading, only succeeding in reading the same sentence over at least a dozen times, not getting past the first words.
The Whomping Willow was conceived by the clever innovator-
"What's the matter, Granger? All out of smart-ass remarks?"
The Whomping Willow was conceived by the clever innovator-
Hot tears threatened to spill from the corners of Hermione's eyes. She didn't know why she still let his insults bother her after all these years. One would think that she would have learned to ignore them by now.
"My, my, my.little Miss Know-It-All seems to have swallowed her tongue. You know what? I don't think I want to work with you as a prefect anymore. I mean, your tolerance just takes all the fun out of it. Now, come along, Granger - isn't there something you'd like to say to me?"
She turned to face his smirk and took long strides until her face was only a few inches from his. She turned her head up to meet his eyes defiantly. She almost shuddered to look into his eyes - empty pools of silver; unfeeling.
"And how did you make prefect, Malfoy?" she spat in an icy whisper, "Did your little Daddy hire all his death eaters to vote? Just stay out of my way."
He stared hard down at her, and she almost detected a hint of admiration behind the hatred in his eyes - little tints of blue. She grinned to herself - maybe he wasn't used to her actually standing up for herself. And she had to admit, it felt pretty good. She was about to follow up with another clever retort when his face twisted back into his notorious smirk and he turned on his heel, stalking away.
Hermione watched his robes billow out as he retreated into the distance. Maybe this year won't be so bad. Now it was her turn to smirk.
