Disclaimer: Don't own anything that's not mine.
A/N: Here's chapter 2. I hope you like it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! That's the most reviews I've ever gotten for the first chapter of a fic. (Actually, it's only 2 less than the most reviews I've gotten for a fic.) Anyway, please keep reading!
Chapter 2
The Train
Harry woke up at 7:45 am on the day he was supposed to take the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts. He got dressed and then took his trunk, Firebolt, and the cage containing his sleeping owl, Hedwig, downstairs. Hermione and her parents were already downstairs eating breakfast.
"Good morning!" Hermione said brightly.
"You can put your stuff in the back hall," Mr. Granger said. Harry took his stuff to the said location and came back into the kitchen.
"I think Ron'll probably be down in a few minutes," Harry said. Sure enough, in less than five minutes, a very sleepy looking Ron Weasley came downstairs. He, too, put his stuff in the back hall, and sat down to eat breakfast.
"Morning Ron!" Hermione said. Ron nodded sleepily and reached for the box of Coco Crispies. Harry laughed and put another spoonful of the cereal into his mouth. All of them were eating the same kind, and after three bowls of the chocolate yummy-ness, Ron looked a little more alive.
After they finished, Ron and Harry helped Hermione wash the dishes. Then they went into the living room and watched The World Wizard Network, until they left at 8:45. Mrs. Granger had to go to work, so Mr. Granger was taking them. It was pouring rain, so he didn't put the top down on the convertible. In the car, Ron slept in the front seat, while Hermione read a book. Harry, however, after trying to watch the scenery fly by outside the window, found himself studying Hermione. She seemed a lot different than before. She didn't seem like the little girl who criticized their every flaw; or the girl who got petrified outside of the library; or the girl who signed up for two many classes and had to use a time tuner to get to the all; or even the girl who organized the House Elf Liberation Front. No, there was decidedly something very different about Hermione. Sure, Harry had noticed before. In fact, he'd seen the change in her as soon as she knocked on the door to pick him up earlier that summer. He had begun to wonder if, perhaps, he wanted to be more than friends. Deciding not to broad on it, he turned back to the window.
Hermione looked up from her book. She had seen Harry watching her out of the corner of her eye. Honestly, she didn't care. If she'd wanted to be brutally honest, she'd have admitted that she liked it. After all, she did. She supposed that she'd always liked him, but it had taken Rita Skeeter's stupid article to get her to see it. Unfortunately, she knew that Harry liked Cho Chang. She had seen how he looked at her, too. She had hoped that Harry would like her after she was with Viktor Krum. However, looking back on it, she realized that this plan had been childish, and it was cruel to Viktor. She glanced at Harry again. He was very handsome. Sure, he'd always been good looking, but now, with his slightly muscular build, due to Quidditch, and his roughed up hair. As Harry turned back away from the window, Hermione turned her attention to her book.
After the hour-and-a-half long drive, they reached King's cross. Mr. Granger was running late for an appointment, so he helped them load their stuff onto trolleys, said good-bye, and drove off. As they entered the station, the clock read 10:15. The place was bustling with Muggles, so they had to be careful getting through the barrier. They walked towards it while laughing and talking, and, as soon as the coast was clear, they went through. However, as soon as they cleared it, they realized something was horribly wrong.
"Where's the train?" Ron asked.
"Maybe we missed it," Harry said. However, looking around, he spotted many other Hogwarts students. "Or maybe it's just late."
"Just late? It's never been late! It says so in Hogwarts: A History! It has arrived promptly at 6:55 am every year since the invention of the steam engine!" Hermione said.
"Well, it's probably just a fluke. I mean, the train is pretty old," Ron said.
"Hey Ron!" Fred said. He had just come onto the platform with George. They both stopped dead however, when they saw the absence of the Hogwarts Express.
"Where's the train?" George asked. Hermione was about to answer when there was a crash of metal. Fred and George hadn't bothered to move out of the way of the barrier, and Ginny had crashed into them when she had come through with their parents. They all tried to help them pick up their stuff, and they moved slightly away from the barrier. Ginny left to talk to some of her friends.
"Why did you stop right in front of the barrier?" Mrs. Weasley asked testily. Then she, too, saw the missing train. "Arthur! The train; it's not here!" Mr. Weasley looked at the tracks.
"Well, that's odd. It's never been late before. I wonder if the Ministry knows about this," Mr. Weasley mused. He turned to his wife. "Molly, I think we should apparate over there and ask." Mrs. Weasley nodded. Then, as if an idea occurred to her she turned to the twins.
"Don't get into any trouble!" she ordered. Then she smiled. "Have a good year, dears." She apparated away, as did Mr. Weasley.
"Now do we ever cause trouble?" Fred asked innocently. They all laughed.
"Of course not!" a girl said from behind them.
"Hi Angelina!" Fred said, giving his girlfriend a hug.
"Don't I get one?" Katie asked George. He obliged and added a kiss on the cheek.
"Honestly, you guys!" Alicia said as she walked up.
"Oh, you're just jealous because Lee isn't here yet!" Angelina declared.
"I am now!" Lee Jordan said. "Hello, Alicia!" He gave his girlfriend a peck on the cheek.
"There, now we're even," Alicia said. They all laughed again.
"Are you all ready for another Quidditch season?" Oliver Wood asked as he joined them.
"Of course Wood!" the Weasley twins exclaimed.
"You know it!" Angelina, Katie and Alicia said.
"Harry?" Oliver asked, turning to Harry. "We need our Seeker to be ready, too."
"I am," Harry declared.
"And I'll be providing the best commentary yet!" Lee Jordan determined. Then he noticed something. "Hey, how come the train's not here?"
"We dunno," Fred said.
"Has it ever been late before?" Angelina asked Hermione. Hermione was, after all notorious fro knowing everything about Hogwarts.
"No, it hasn't," Hermione said, shaking her head.
"Not ever?" Alicia asked, sounding slightly alarmed. Hermione shook her head again.
"Well, that's not good," Katie said.
"Don't worry, though. Our mum and dad just apparated over to the Ministry. They'll no doubt have the problem fixed," George declared.
"Well-" Oliver Wood began. However, he had unfortunately made the same mistake as the twins: he'd parked his trolley right in front of the barrier. And, at that moment he was leaning on the trolley, which was locked in place. Now, granted, if someone had been walking slowly through the barrier, they might have been able to stop before running into him. Unfortunately, the person who just came through wasn't walking. She was running top speed., and she had just crashed into Oliver's trolley. She was worse off, however, because, at the last second she had tried to turn her trolley, resulting in hers flipping onto it's side, dumping all of its contents, and causing her to trip, while Oliver's had just skidded in a 90° angle making his broom fall off, and him almost lose his balance.
After recovering from the shock, Oliver looked at the girl.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"Yeah," she got up and righted her trolley. "I'm sorry I ran into you," she said sheepishly. She looked like she was probably his age. She had long dyed dark strawberry blonde hair, which was pulled back in a partial ponytail. She was wearing dark sunglasses.
"I shouldn't have been blocking the path," Oliver answered, his eyes never leaving the girl. She sighed and bent down to pick up her stuff. Oliver picked up his broom and replaced it on his trolley. Then he bent down to help her. As he picked up a paper and handed it to her, her sunglasses fell off, revealing eyes that were exactly the same color as Sirius's only not as haunted or sunken in. As he looked into her eyes, it clicked with Oliver who she was. She obviously realized that he knew, because now the only emotion in her eyes was fear. She hastily put her sunglasses in her purse.
"I'm Oliver Wood," Oliver said, extending a hand. The girl shook it.
"I'm Mara Black," she said quietly. She was wearing the forced smile that looked real except that it didn't reach her eyes. "Thank you for helping me."
"Oh it was no trouble at all," Oliver said. "These are my friends by the way. That's Fred Weasley, Angelina Johnson, George Weasley, Katie Bell, Lee Jordan, Alicia Spinnet, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger." He pointed to every one of them as he said their name. Her eyes flashed in comprehension as he pointed to Harry. Harry wondered if she'd heard from her father, but he wasn't going to ask.
"It's nice to meet you," she said. She looked like she was getting more comfortable. However, she suddenly spotted someone behind them and she paled. "Um, I have to go get on the train." She hurried off.
"But it's not-" Hermione said. However, as they turned around, they saw that the train was there.
"Weird," Hermione said. The conductor stepped out of the train.
"So sorry for the hold up!" he said. "We ran into an obstacle in the tracks. Now hurry up and load the train!" The students scampered to get on. Harry, Ron, and Hermione got into the last compartment. It was later, as the train was finally pulling out of the station, at 11:36 no less, that they had the chance to discuss the events that had just occurred. Ron, unfortunately, was sleeping again.
"Harry," Hermione asked, noticing Harry's silent attitude. "What's the matter?"
"I was about to ask her why her father never told me that he had a daughter. She's gotta know!"
"Harry-" Hermione tried to say.
"But she suddenly took off! I bet she knew I was going to ask."
"Harry-"
"That's gotta be why she took off!"
"Harry!" Hermione virtually yelled. Ron sleepily opened one eye.
"Could you keep it down?" he muttered. Then he returned to sleeping.
"It wasn't you she was running from," Hermione said quietly.
"What do you mean? It had to be me," Harry said, looking slightly confused.
"Harry, she saw something," Hermione said. "Or more, likely, someone."
"Who?"
"I don't know!" Hermione declared. She sighed. "It was probably someone who she wasn't expecting. Or maybe someone who reminded her of someone she wasn't expecting."
"So you think she's hiding something." It was a statement rather than a question.
"No. Maybe. I don't know! I just think that she was scared. I mean, you saw her. She looked scared after her sunglasses slipped, but then, after Oliver introduced her to all of us, she seemed to calm down a little. She was probably afraid we were going to dislike her because she's Sirius's daughter. It wasn't until just after that that she looked even more scared than before."
"She was looking behind us," Harry mused. He tried to think who was there. "Wait! What did she say in that interview on the World Wizard Network? About her ex-boyfriend." Hermione bit her bottom lip in concentration. For a second, Harry forgot about his problem as he thought that she looked really cute like that.
"She said that he was a Slytherin, that his parents had been Death Eaters-" her eyes lit up. "And so was his uncle!"
"Draco was behind us!" Harry declared. Hermione began to rummage through her stuff. "What are you looking for?"
"This!" she exclaimed, holding up a copy of a Muggle teen magazine with Mara on the cover. Hermione rapidly turned the pages until she reached a picture of Mara and her ex in a scene from Witches of England. She gasped and showed the picture to Harry.
"He looks a lot like Draco," Hermione commented. Kevin Edwards was a pale looking young man with really light blonde hair. However in the picture he looked nice. He was smiling at Mara. Hermione got out another magazine.
"Now, look at this one," Hermione said. In this picture it showed Kevin in a fighting stance. He looked ruthless.
"Now that is more Malfoy-ish," Harry commented. Hermione took the magazines and put them away. "So you think that Mara saw Malfoy and thought that he looked like Kevin?"
"Well, wouldn't it be spooky for her to see someone who's probably related to her ex? After all, he wasn't the nicest guy, obviously," Hermione stated.
"I guess," Harry said. Suddenly, the lights went out and Harry was reminded of the incident in third year with the Dementor. Then the train jerked to a stop and Hermione was thrown across the seat, onto Harry. Ron fell on the floor, and the lights came back on dimly. Ron looked up at Harry and Hermione.
"Well, don't you two look snug?" he teased. Hermione blushed and tried to stand up. However, her foot was caught under some luggage so all she managed to do was turn around and land sitting on Harry's lap. Harry put his arms on her waist to steady her almost as a reflex. As soon as he realized what he'd done, he they were both blushing. Ron snickered.
"Ron, can you just move the dang trunk!" Hermione said, sounding testy. Actually, if she hadn't been so embarrassed, she'd have rather enjoyed the position she was in. Harry found himself liking it too. He hadn't removed his arm from her waist yet. When he realized this, he did remove it though. Unfortunately, just then the door to the compartment slid open.
"Well, well, don't you and the Mudblood look comfy Potter?" Draco said. Earning a glare from the blushing Hermione.
"Oh, shut up Malfoy!" Harry said. "The train stopped just a second ago and-"
"She was thrown onto you. How convenient for you," Malfoy said, still sounding as sleazy as ever. They heard other sniggering in the background. Crabbe and Goyle had obviously followed their leader here.
"Well, we'll just leave you here then. Weasley, were you about to give them some privacy? Because I'm sure Lavender Brown would love for you to visit her in her compartment." Still laughing, Malfoy and his minions left.
Ron kicked the trunk out of the way, and Hermione sat down next to Harry. Ron sat across from them.
"You know, you two were funny until he thought that it was," Ron declared.
"Ron, what was he saying about Lavender Brown?" Hermione asked. She was still blushing and wanted to focus the attention elsewhere.
"Well-um," Ron stammered. "Lavender lives close by and well, I ran into her in town the other day. She came over and played Quidditch with me, Fred, George, Angelina, and Katie."
"Oh really," Harry said, raising an eyebrow. "Is that all?"
"Well, she stayed to dinner, too, and she came over a couple of times after that. I don't know how Malfoy found out though," Ron said, looking uncomfortable.
"You know those Malfoys always poking their noses where they don't belong," Hermione said. "Hey we're moving again!" The train had started to slowly move onward and the lights returned to their full brightness. Ron yawned.
"Well, I'm going back to sleep," he said, promptly laying down. Hermione rolled her eyes, and looked at Harry, only to find that he was looking at her. Only it wasn't his usual "friend" look. It was though he was seeing her differently. For some reason, Hermione felt uncomfortable. Luckily, just then, the door opened, and Fred, George, and Oliver came in.
"So how are you children doing?" Fred said, doing his best Percy imitation.
"Oh just great," Harry said. "Do you know why the train stopped?"
"Nope. We're in the next car up and all that we know is that it created a very tight moment in our compartment. Lucky for Wood, he was off trying to find-" George was stopped mid sentence by Oliver jabbing him in the stomach. Harry raised an eyebrow. However, he pretended to ignore the last part of the phrase.
"Tight moment?" he asked.
"Well, we had six people in our compartment because Oliver was off searching, so we were all kinda thrown together," Fred explained.
"Well, some of us were kinda close before the stop, but after it all of us were all one jumble mess," George added. He looked around the compartment. "From what Malfoy was yelling it sounded like you had the same predicament." Hermione blushed again.
"Guys why are you here anyway?" Harry asked. He'd seen how Hermione was blushing.
"Well, Lee went to go see what had happened and so the girls decided to change. They threw us out. Then we met Wood in the hall," George said.
"He said that he was looking for a certain movie star who's on the train," Fred said, earning a glare from Oliver. "And so we said that we'd come ask you if you'd seen her."
"No we haven't," Harry said.
"Sorry," Hermione added.
"You like Mara Astri?" Ron asked. He'd obviously had just woken up. "You guys make more noise than Pig!" he added angrily, referring to his hyperactive owl.
"Yep, Wood-" Fred was once again silenced by Oliver.
"Well, we'd better be leaving then. We've still gotta change. You should too," Oliver said. Then, half dragging the twins out of there, he left.
"That was funny. And it definitely beats you two out. I don't think I've ever seen Wood have a crush on anyone!" Ron declared, chuckling. "Speaking of Snuffles' daughter, why did she hurry off?"
Harry and Hermione quickly explained about why they thought she had left. However, as soon as they finished, the lights went out again. Ron cursed.
"That's it! I'm going into the lavatory and changing," Hermione said testily. While she was gone, Harry and Ron put on their robes over their clothes. However, when Hermione came back, the lights were still off, and the train was still stopped. However, after about another five minutes, the lights turned back on, but the train was still stationary.
"What's gotten into this train?" Harry asked testily. "I know it's old but this is ridiculous!"
"I know what you mean," Ron said. The lights dimmed. "That's it! I'm going back to sleep!" He laid down again.
"I'm going to go see if anyone knows what's going on," Harry said, standing up. "Wanna come?"
"Sure," Hermione said. They left the compartment carrying their wands. All of the doors in their train car were closed. However, when they reached the second car they heard an argument coming from the second last compartment. It was right next to Fred and George's, which was obvious because they were obviously listen in.
"Who's fighting?" Hermione asked.
"We don't know. We don't even know who's in there. We thought that it was only one person, but obviously someone else is paying a little visit," George said. Hermione and Harry stepped closer to the door.
"I told you before! I am never going to go out with you again!" a girl shouted.
"You will! I told you, my uncle will kill your Mudblood mother and your escaped convict father if you don't!" a boy said.
"Oh no! Uncle Lucius is going to sick his fellow Deatheaters on them! He wouldn't! He doesn't even know where they are!" the girl, who was now clearly Mara, yelled. "Oh I'm so scared. And you're obviously a coward because you can't fight your own battles. If pure blood means anything in Slytherins, it means they're stuck up sons of-" Suddenly, the sound of a slap was heard. Hermione gasped. There was silence.
"You don't know what you're talking about you stupid girl. I'm the best guy you'll ever get!"
"Ha! Yeah, right. I'm sorry, but even if that were true, I'd rather be single forever than go out with you!" Another slap followed this declaration.
"Shut up you-" he followed this statement with two not so nice words.
"I won't! What are you going to kill me? I dare you! See what happens to you then!"
"Listen, girl! You're just a little actress," the boy, said with a laugh. "I won't kill you yet, but if I ever see you talking to another boy like you were earlier, you'll be sorry."
"You don't run my life!" Mara declared. This obviously wasn't the best thing to say, because at this point, a series of blows could be heard.
Just then, they noticed Oliver Wood. He had came out of the door at the other end of the car, and had obviously heard at least part of the argument. He charged up to the door and pushed it open. A very interesting sight met their eyes. In the compartment were Mara, and her ex-boyfriend Kevin. Although it seemed that the slaps had been delivered by Kevin, for Mara had a horrible red mark on her face and a couple of bruises forming on her arms, Kevin seemed to be worse off at the moment. As the door opened, Mara issued a well-placed punch to his nose, followed by one to stomach and a kick to his groin. He already had a black eye. As he keeled over in pain, Mara pushed him into the hall. It was then that she noticed the spectators to her little scuffle.
"Um, hi," she said, with a nervous laugh.
TBC…
A/N: Well, that's chapter two. I hoped you liked it. I'm sorry there wasn't a lot of Harry and Hermione, but I can't have them suddenly kissing and stuff. After all, they're just realizing that they like each other more than they thought. I also had to pair Ron off because he's a good kid and well, I didn't want him to have to hard feeling about the whole Harry/Hermione thing. Thank you again to peppermintpatty, Alexis-Lee, Lyssa, Damia, MissLexiRe, Micadimackidimoo, and HexWa. You're great and if I had cookies, I'd give them to you. Please continue to read! More things to come.
