3. King's Cross Station and Hogwarts

The final three weeks of the summer passed agonizingly slowly as his lessons with Tonks, Moody, and Snape were wrapped up and Harry packed to return to Hogwarts.  His books and supplies had been purchased for him, as he was not allowed to visit Diagon Alley.  Again.

"Oy Harry, are you about ready to go," Harry heard someone call from downstairs, as he finished packing his trunk. Grabbing Hedwig's empty cage, Harry went downstairs to find his guard detail: Remus Lupin, Tonks, Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt.  Greetings were exchanged as Remus helped Harry with his trunk while Tonks grabbed Hedwig's cage.

"Smaller guard detail this year," Harry observed. "How are we getting to the station?"

"After what happened last year at the Ministry, they've agreed to provide some cars to keep you safe," Kingsly replied.  "Since the ministry's cars are one of the safest modes of transportation, we won't need as many people." Harry nodded in understanding.

The trip to King's Cross Station was uneventful.  The cars provided by the Ministry seemed to travel on the same principle as the Knight Bus, just much more smoothly as it jumped from place to place.  After waving goodbye to the others, Harry found himself on Platform 9¾ with plenty of time to spare.

Harry wasn't sure what to do.  Should he wait and look for Ron and Hermione, or should he find a spot on the train?  He wasn't sure if his two best friends had already arrived and were on the train, or if they were running late as usual.  Harry decided that he would wait; after all, he expected they'd do the same for him. 

Harry stood off to the side for a while, exchanging waves and greetings with the students he knew and trying his best to ignore the usual looks and whispers he received being the Boy-Who-Lived.  Eventually the station started emptying as students boarded the train.  Glancing at his watch and taking one last look around the station for red or bushy brown hair, Harry shrugged and boarded the train.  He stood in the doorway with his trunk, still hoping to spot his friends, but soon the train started moving, and Harry knew he had to find a spot.

Dragging his trunk down the corridor, he looked for a compartment that had room for one more.  Harry passed full compartments, waving at people he knew, but he still couldn't find Ron or Hermione anywhere.  They were probably upfront in the Prefect compartments, attending a meeting.  If so, there's no way for him to tell where they had stowed their things, so he found a seat in a compartment with Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville Longbottom, catching up on a summer's worth of Quidditch news.

As the train sped along, Harry was surprised to find himself at peace for once.  Although Neville knew of the events at the end of last year, and Seamus and Dean read about it, none of them knew the full story, his relationship to Sirius, or anything about the Order.  Harry was able to participate in a normal conversation, free of Dark Lords and death threats.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed as she opened the door to the compartment.  She and Ron entered the compartment, their prefect badges shiny on their chests.  Hermione approached Harry with arms raised in a welcome hug, but stopped awkwardly when Harry didn't stand. 

"Hi Hermione, Ron," he said coolly, still sitting in his seat.  "Was afraid you two missed the train, I didn't see you out there and I waited for 10 minutes," Harry said, the rebuke evident in his voice.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a worried look.  Hermione visibly chose her words carefully, hoping to avoid an outburst like the one that greeted them at 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Um, Ron and I got to the station 15 minutes early.  Er, we waited for you, but when we didn't see you we boarded the train to attend the prefect meeting."

Harry nodded.  Although her answer didn't satisfy him at all, he didn't want to draw more attention to himself by giving in to his emotions.  "Ok then.  Well, I guess I'll see you guys when we get to Hogwarts," he said, turning his attention back to Neville's description of his latest plant.  Ron and Hermione stood uncertainly, then realizing Harry wasn't going to say more, said their goodbyes and left.

The three roommates exchanged glances, noticing the odd behavior of Harry towards his two best friends.  But they silently agreed to ignore it, and they returned to their talk about Quidditch, girls, and guessing about the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

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Finally they arrived at Hogsmeade station.  Harry was especially pleased, for somehow he managed to avoid an encounter with Draco Malfoy.  Harry followed the others as they disembarked the train and was disappointed when he saw Professor Grubbly-Planks herding the first years together, rather than Hagrid.  Harry exchanged greetings with his fellow Gryffindors (including a few awkward hugs with Lavender, Pavarti, and Ginny), and then followed his roommates to a carriage, first giving the thestral pulling it a friendly pat on the head.  As Harry watched Hogwarts appear in the distance, he realized he didn't have the same sense of anticipation and happiness he usually felt when returning to school.  In fact, a sense of foreboding to come over him, as he thought about what happened in the past and what he could expect this year.  Surely Voldemort will launch another scheme to kill him, and he wondered who would join Cedric and Sirius in dying simply because they knew Harry.  He pushed his thoughts aside and tried to concentrate on the conversation in the carriage.

The Great Hall looked as spectacular as ever as Harry and the other filed in.  Harry spotted Ron and Hermione already in their usual seats, with a spot saved for Harry.  As he made their way to the Gryffindor table, Ron and Hermione waved him over, and Harry took his normal spot.

"Listen Harry," Hermione began, "we want to apologize for not waiting for you at the station." 

After a second of silence, she gave a pointed look at Ron, who appeared startled then cleared his throat. "Er, yeah.  That's right Harry.  We weren't even sure if you were going to take the train.  The Order never said," he whispered.  "When you didn't show up we thought you took a different way and boarded the train. We're really really sorry."

Harry looked at the two of them.  It was clear to him they had worked out what they were going to say in advance, and seeing the contrite looks on their faces, Harry resolved to not take out his anger on them as he did last year.  He gave them a small smile.

"It's ok.  I had a nice chat with Dean, Seamus, and Neville," he said to a very relieved looking Ron and Hermione.  Then he lowered his voice.  "How was your summer?  Did you guys spend it at, er, you-know-where?"

Hermione nodded.  "It was much like last year over again, cleaning up and trying to listen in on the meetings.  Oh Harry, we're so sorry we couldn't tell you anything.  The only way we could send you letters is through Tonks or Moody, and we were sure that they read them to make sure we didn't say anything they didn't want you to know."

Harry's face drew into a scowl, and Ron and Hermione braced themselves for an outburst.  But Harry wasn't angry with them.  His anger was directed at the Order for keeping him in the dark.  Taking a deep breath, he reassured them there were no hard feelings, then turned his attention to the head table.

"Do you guys know anything about Hagrid?  About why he's not here?" Harry asked.

Hermione scanned the head table then shook her head.  "We haven't heard anything.  He's probably taking his brother," she added with a shudder, obviously remembering their last encounter with "small" giant.

Harry nodded, then tried to pay attention as Dumbledore gave his usual opening speech and watched the first years as they were sorted.