Hello all! Long time no see huh? Well I'm back! Marching season is over and I can now resume my writing. :) Thanks to ShortySC22, TKDgirl, Yaika, Xirleb70, Eriador, PixieStix6, Sam, White Raven1813, rachel m., Hello, the kath, Ash, jess, SnOwAnGeL27, Ezmerelda, Adeline Wood, Anarchy Star, Tri Gemini, littlespeedy225, and lady-sanctuary for reviewing! So, this chapter is a little short, but it's mainly a transition chapter, so what do you expect? I hope you enjoy it nonetheless, and give me some feedback okay?

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JK does.

Chapter 10:

The familiar scent of burning coal and the sight of the scarlet steam engine as she walked onto Platform 9 3/4 made Hermione smile more than ever. She couldn't wait to get back to school. She like staying at Draco's and all, but she loved Hogwarts very much.

She looked sideways at Draco, to see that he had already gone off and reacquainted himself with his usual gang of Slytherins. Hermione sighed. Just an hour ago she was with him, laughing and joking like friends....like more than friends....and now it was back to the way it was. At least, to the outside world.

She was confused beyond belief. She couldn't decide on whether or not to break it off with Harry. Plus, she was having regrets about what she had said a few days ago. Thank Merlin he didn't hear her. She glanced at him again. He was laughing; oh how she missed his mischievous smile, the way his eyes danced when he did. But then she saw Crabbe nudge him in the shoulder, and her thoughts immediately vanished from her mind when she saw his smile turn into a sneer. She quickly looked away, slightly taken aback. This wasn't going to be as easy as it had seemed.

"Hermione!"

She turned around to see Ginny Weasley running toward her, arms outstretched, red hair flying out behind her.

"Ginny! Oh, I missed you!" she exclaimed as the two hugged. "What have you been up to all summer?"

"Not much really. Fred and George are earning loads from their joke shop. It's amazing what they've come up with so far. Charlie and Bill came to visit. Bill brought me a fanged necklace back from Egypt. I'm not really sure what exactly the fangs came from, though they look like vampire teeth to me...I don't wear it much," she added with a grin. "What about you? I was really sad when you couldn't come to the Burrow this year."

Hermione stopped. She wanted more than ever to tell Ginny the truth about everything: how her biological parents showed up on her birthday and turned out to be Death Eaters, how she had to stay at the Malfoy's part of the summer, how she had an Element...

"Well, my parents took me white water rafting in the States. We were gone for a while."

"Wicked! You'll have to tell me all about it later." Ginny glanced down at her watch. The train was going to leave in 2 minutes. "Come on, let's go find Ron and Harry. They're already inside."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"What the hell does she think she's doing, staring at you like that?" asked Blaise Zambini when he and the bunch of Slytherins had caught her.

"Who knows how those filthy mudbloods work?" Draco replied flatly. It was slowly eating at him treating her like that, but then again he was a Malfoy, and was taught very well how to hide his feelings. Snorting, he looked away from Hermione and back to Blaise. "Let's go. The train's about to leave."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Hey Mione," said Ron as she and Ginny walked into the compartment on the train that Harry and Ron had picked.

"Hey," she replied, plopping down next to Harry. He smiled at her. "So what did I miss this year at the Burrow?"

Ron, Harry, and Ginny all grinned evilly at each other.

"We can't tell you right now, but I promise we'll tell you later," said Ginny.

Slightly disappointed, Hermione smiled and nodded her head understandingly and looked out the window. Harry's arm wrapped around her and pulled her closer so that she was now resting against his chest. He smelled absolutely delicious.

"Harry, are you wearing Curve?" she asked him. Curve was her favorite scent by far.

Harry blushed slightly. "Erm, yeah. Aunt Petunia bought it for Dudley, but it wasn't the one he wanted. He started shouting and threw the bottle at my head. Thank Merlin my quidditch reflexes kicked in and I caught it right before it smashed into my forehead. And well...I thought it smelled good..."

Hermione smiled. "It's my favorite cologne."

"Oh really?" he smiled mischievously.

She nodded.

"Well I'm glad you like it then."

She grinned and turned to look at the passing scenery outside. Ron and Harry had started a conversation about quidditch ("There is no way that Scotland is going to win against Bulgaria this year"). Their arguing voices, the soft sound of Harry's breathing, and the warmth of his body against hers as Hermione leaned against it made her fall asleep. Everything was back to normal...or so it seemed at least.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A half an hour later the door to their compartment slid open to find Draco and Pansy standing on the other side.

"What do you want now?" Ron sighed heavily.

"Prefects meeting with the heads in the front compartment on the right of the train. Sorry Weasel, they don't allow rodents in," Draco sneered.

Ron got up to go after Draco, but Harry was too quick for him and pushed him back down. "Calm down Ron. Don't let him get to you." He glared at Draco, who smirked in return.

Pansy looked down at Hermione and rolled her eyes. 'What the hell is her problem?' Hermione thought, glaring straight at Pansy. "Come on Harry, Ginny. Let's get this over with." She grabbed Harry's hand and looked straight at Draco; he cringed slightly, but Hermione was the only one who noticed it. She pushed straight past him and Pansy and walked to the front compartment with Harry and Ginny.

With one last glare at Ron, he slammed the compartment door shut and headed back up to the front.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A short while later Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and the rest of the Prefects were sitting in the compartment at the front of the Train.

"All right, Dumbledore has asked that we go over standard rules and procedures for before, during, and after the Sorting Hat Ceremony tonight," Draco began, passing around pieces of parchment with everything written down on it. "Returning Prefects will already know what all goes on this evening, but the newly appointed ones will not. Just read over this list I've come up with and you should be okay."

Hermione sat there with her mouth slightly open watching Draco give instructions to the Prefects. It was odd for her to see him acting this......non-power hungry.

"Granger, would you kindly close your mouth and act more like Head Girl?" Draco whispered sharply in her ear.

Hermione shook out of her stupor and turned to Draco. "Sorry, I just thought you'd be more controlling and less agreeable with your Head Boy powers."

"I have to act this way otherwise we'd get nothing done. Speaking of getting nothing done, I'm surprised you haven't jumped right in with a speech on how honored you are to have become Head Girl." He smirked.

Hermione shot him an evil glare before looking about the room. "Does anyone have any questions?"

Everyone looked at each other; no one raised their hands.

"Make sure that you welcome the first years warmly, yet set a firm ground on the rules. Meeting adjourned." With that, the Prefects began standing and filing out of the room.

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**Emerald Smoke