Disclaimer:  Again, I want'em, I love'em, but I don't own'em, k?  Get the picture?  Good

A/N:  To Princess*n and KAOS, thanx for pointing that out to me.  As the afore mentioned said in reviews, (yea, I love reviews) Hermione would've had to call 999 in England, not 911, so, my bad, I don't know anything, so if I royally mess up, please let me know and second of all, Hermione is OOC, at least right now, so bear with me, and it's just a story, so I may not necessarily make her in character, so that's just to clear some stuff up.

Chapter 3

The Train Ride

            Saturday morning rolled around a lot quicker than I would've liked.  I had been up late the night before making sure I had everything ready and packed for the train.  My dad and I ate breakfast in silence.  I think we were both a little upset about having to leave, but my dad had a lot of friends from work, so I knew he'd be okay.  After cleaning up the dishes, I took one quick run through the house just to make sure there wasn't anything else I wanted to take.  A picture on the fire-place mantle made me stop.  It was of my mom, dad, and I on a cruise earlier in the summer.  We were all dressed up because we had just gone to the captain's farewell dinner, and as we left the room, we stopped to get our picture taken.  Seeing it brought a few tears to my eyes, but I willed myself not to cry. 

"Dad, is it okay if I take this picture?" I asked him.  I had never taken a picture to school before, since I always knew I'd see them again, but with all that had happened, I wanted to take one.

"Sure thing sweetie,"

"Thanks," I said, giving him a hug.

            After packing it carefully in my suitcase, it was time for my dad and I to leave.  Upon arriving at the station, my dad and I said our good-byes quickly, so we wouldn't start crying.  I grabbed my trunk, and with one last wave, I stepped through the barrier to platform 9 ¾.  As soon as I did, I looked around quickly.  Not many people were here yet, so I quickly took my trunk to the baggage car, and climbed on the train to find a compartment.  

            I picked one of the end compartments, just like I've done every year with Harry and Ron, but this year, I was nervous.  Since my mom died, I had avoided them, not wanting to see anyone, even though they're my best friends.  Right now, however, I knew that they'd be arriving soon, and I still didn't want to see them, know I'd be bombarded with questions about why I avoided them and the like, so I decided to do something drastic and out of the ordinary for me.  I had finally started to change over the summer.  I had grown taller, so that helped me to thin out.  I was now 5'6", and I only weighed about 120 pounds, so I was looking very good.  My boobs decided to finally grow, so I've actually got a chest now, and not a bad one either.  My hair was still the same brown, but it was sleeker ever since I had gotten a special hair treatment at a hair salon, so it now falls in soft waves, halfway down my back.  Back to the drastic decision I had just made.  I decided I would use a few color-changing charms to dye my hair blue.  (A/N:  remember, she's OOC here, so work with me, k?)  I also changed my dark blue eyes to an almost silvery blue color.  I used some make-up charms to make my lips a bluish color, and I gave myself blue eye-shadow also, since I knew these charms from hearing Lavender and Parvarti use them so many times each morning.  Since we didn't need to put our robes on till we got closer to the castle, I decided to change the outfit I was wearing also.  I had currently khaki pants, sandals, and a white t-shirt.  Typical clothes for me, preppy and professional looking.  With a wave of my wand, I was in black platform sandals, a black mini-skirt, and a tight-fitting black t-shirt that had a blue Chinese dragon on it.  And the blue dragon matched my hair.  When I went to look in the mirror, I was so shocked.  I looked so different, but it was a good different, cause I looked hot!  No one in a million years would recognize me. 

"Wow, this is so weird," I said.  Oh my gosh, I thought, what about my voice, they'll recognize it too. 

            My voice is very unique to me, but of course, who's isn't, so using another charm, I changed it so that it was higher sounding, nothing like my usual lower voice.  That being finished, I decided to go back to the compartment.  No one was there yet, but I was glad, cause I still didn't know what I would tell all the Gryffindors, especially Harry and Ron.  They (the Gryffindors) are very friendly, so they would naturally be curious as to who I was.  So I needed a plan, at least for a while.  They would find out at dinner who I really was, since Professor Dumbledore always introduces the new Prefects.  I had declined last year, wanting instead to focus on my studying.  But this year I had accepted.  My thoughts were interrupted by a clamoring outside the window, on the platform.

            I saw all the Gryffindors outside greeting each other (and by all the Gryffindors, I meant the 6th years) and talking about their summers and who they had met and all that stuff.  I knew that they'd be coming in soon. 

            "Oh my gosh, what's my name?"  I said aloud to myself.  I had just realized I couldn't very well tell them my real name, but I didn't want to lie, so I decided I'll use my middle name, which no one knows.  Angelina.  My mom had picked it out, since it means little angel in Spanish, and she always loved angels and things associated with angels. 

            The sound of the door opening brought me out of my daydreaming about my mom.  I looked up to see all the Gryffindors traipsing in, laughing about something, just as the train started to move.  They had all come in, and still hadn't noticed me, when suddenly Dean Thomas looked up.

"Woah…" was all he said, causing everyone to look in my direction finally.

            I almost burst out laughing, all the guys were looking at me, some with their mouths open, and the girls too.  No one who had ever come to Hogwarts had looked like I did.

"Who are you?" asked Ron in an abrupt manner.

"Ron, she's obviously new, be nice," whispered Harry, elbowing Ron in the ribs.

"Well yeah, obviously,"

            Oh if only you knew, I thought, I'm one of your best friends.  Everyone had started talking to me at the same time, and to each other, asking if anyone knew who I was, and what was I doing there.

"Um, if you'd like to know something, maybe you should try asking me," I finally spoke up, causing everyone to go silent.

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Harry, speaking for everyone.

"It's fine.  My name is Angelina, you can call me Lina for short if you like.  I've transferred here after being homeschooled, and I'm a 6th year Gryffindor," I said without thinking.

"You're a Gryffindor, but how can that be if you're new?" asked Lavender.

"Oh, I was pre-sorted when my dad and I went to see Professor Dumbledore about my transferring.  He said it was up to me if I wanted to go ahead and be sorted or if I just wanted to wait, so I went ahead."

"That's cool.  We're all Gryffindors too," said Seamus, motioning to the group, "And we're all in 6th year, same as you, too."

"Great, thanks for letting me know."

            Before he could reply, the compartment door slid open, revealing Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and some other Slytherins.

"Well, well, if it isn't Potty and Weasel, where's your beaver girl friend?" said Draco with a drawl and a smirk.

            I sat in my seat observing them, Draco not having noticed me yet, I decided to, introduce myself, and I was going to say something to shock everyone.

"Well, well, if it isn't a Malfoy.  I'd know one anywhere, that drawl and smirk are enough to make one gag," I said, imitating perfectly his drawl and smirk.

            He turned at the sound of my voice, and when he saw me, his jaw dropped to the floor.  He seemed to have forgotten who's company he was in, because the next thing he said was,

"You're hot."

"Well thank you dear, you're not so bad yourself," I said, walking over to him and placing my arms around his neck.  "But you know what?" I said, leaning my face in towards his.

"What?" he said, also leaning his face in, till our lips were almost touching.

"I think I'd prefer the company of a Weasel and a Beaver, to the company of a snake," I said, pulling out my wand.  "Now, if you would be so kind, I think it's time for you to leave."

            And shockingly enough, he and his goons left.  After the door closed, I turned back to the group.

"Well, that was fun.  Is he always like that?" I asked.

"Damn girl, that was priceless," said Dean Thomas.

"I don't think I've ever seen him speechless before," said Harry.

"That was good, but something Malfoy said reminded me, where is Hermione?  I haven't seen her at all today so far, and we're almost to Hogwarts.  Usually we've seen her by now, even if she did have other people to talk with." Said Ron, concern showing on his face.

"You're right, I wonder if she's okay." Commented Harry.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be arriving at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in five minutes time, school robes will not need to be worn, seeing as this is the weekend still, thank you." Came a voice on the overhead.

"Well I guess we'll see her at the school during dinner." Said Seamus.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," agreed Ron.

            And with that, everyone got all their things together.  When the train came to a stop, Harry, Ron, and Dean invited her to go in their carriage with them, and she of course agreed.  The whole carriage ride there, she was silent, thinking about what everyone's reaction would be when they found out her real identity. 

A/N:  Okay, that's it for this chapter.  It's 1,811 words long, I'm so proud.  I'm trying to make them longer.  So, I'd love it if you'd review, if you don't wanna, that's cool too.  So, I'll update soon hopefully, but I've got a lot of projects in school right now, so we'll just have to see how much time I have.