Disclaimer: see Chapter One

A/N: Hello again! Here's Chapter Two, hope you like it. Remember: reviews are friends.

Shenzee: Thanks for the first review I've ever gotten :)

WolfAxe: Thanks for your review as well. This chapter will be longer (hopefully) than the last.

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Chapter Two: Return to Hogwarts

Hermione slipped through the barrier to Platform 9¾. Every year it got easier for her to leave the Muggle world behind. She wasn't quite sure whether this was a good thing.

The first thing she saw on the platform was Harry sulking, his face beet- red from yelling, with Ron trying to calm him down. Neville, Luna, and Ginny were standing near to the two boys speaking to each other in hushed voices.

Hermione groaned and hurried forward as quickly as she could with a heavy trunk and an unhappy cat. "What is it, Harry?" she asked as sympathetically as she could without seeming too much so.

Harry turned his glare unto her, but Hermione didn't waver. Instead, she stared Harry right in the eye waiting for his response. "Lupin's going to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year," he growled.

"Oh, Harry, that's wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry intensified the glare as the rest of the group looked at her in shock. "Why is this not wonderful?"

"HE NEVER TOLD ME HE WAS COMING."

"oh."

"I just found out last night when he appeared in Mrs. Figg's fireplace. I was staying there while the Dursleys were 'out'. If he's watching out for me so much and is supposed to be my latest father figure, WHY DIDN'T HE TELL ME?" Harry exploded, drawing the attention of quite a few other students. Hermione had never seen him get so angry over such a small matter.

"Okay, that probably wasn't the best thing he could've done, but he'll still be there. He can help us prepare in case we ever face Voldermort- stop whimpering, Ron!- and his death eaters again, right?" Harry didn't respond. He just turned away from Hermione and kept on sulking.

"What'd you do that for, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"I was trying to help, Ronald. I don't see why he needed to get so angry."

"He has a right to be angry, Hermione," Ginny interjected.

"Yeah!" Neville added.

Hermione expected Luna to join in, but she just got out a copy of The Quibbler and read more about Crumple-Horned Snorlacks. She and her father hadn't caught any over the summer break.

Hermione managed an apology. The rest of the group seemed to accept it and they started to talk about the upcoming year some more, being careful not to bring up Lupin or Sirius.

"All aboard!" The conductor called them all onto the Hogwarts Express. The group took their usual seats in their usual compartment. Several minutes into the journey, Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Ginny left for the first prefect meeting of the year. It was very uneventful and pretty much the same as the previous year. In no time at all, the train arrived at Hogwarts.

The usual carriages (pulled by 'invisible horses' that really were thestrals) were waiting for them outside of Hogsmeade Station. Ron, Harry, Luna, and Neville took one carriage, Ginny ran off to join Dean, Seamus, and Justin's carriage while Hermione was forced to sit alone in the last carriage.

As soon as the thestrals moved forward, an owl landing opposite Hermione after depositing a letter in her lap. Hermione didn't recognize the hand- writing, but still opened the navy blue envelope, took out the parchment inside, and read the note inside.

Don't worry about them; they'll come around. You can handle everything.

The letter wasn't signed. Hermione ripped off a spare bit of parchment off one edge of the letter and wrote a short note on it:

Thanks. I needed that.
--Hermione Granger

"Can you take this to whoever sent you?" she asked the brown owl. The owl gave a small nod, took the parchment, and flew off into the night. If Hermione had looked up at the castle, she would've seen someone in a candle- lit room watching her.

Hermione's spirits were greatly lifted by the letter. Although she wanted to know who sent the letter, she was able to spend the rest of the journey doing something she very rarely did anymore: rest.

Hermione's carriage stopped next to Harry's in front of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry got out and faced Hermione. "I'm sorry, Hermione," he said, looking her in the eye. "I just, I don't know, something about me changed after what happened at the end of last year."

"I understand, Harry," Hermione replied, although she truly didn't. Yes, the death of Sirius was sad, but Harry needed to learn to move on.

The group banded together again and trooped up the stairs to the Great Hall.