A/N: I own none of these characters. This chapter's a little short, sorry!

Chapter 7: The Gift of Sight

The four friends settled into their compartment together. Ginny and Ron began arguing loudly the second the door closed.

"I'm going to sit by you, Hermione," Ginny declared sweetly, dropping her bag on the seat next to Hermione.

"Hey!" yelled Ron. "I was going to sit there, Ginny!"

Ginny rolled her eyes in disgust. "Does this seat have your name on it, Ron? I don't see it anywhere. Sit by Harry. It's not a big deal."

"Well, I want to talk to her!"

"You can! It's not like you're separated by the Continental Divide or something!"

Harry intervened, "Guys, don't argue over such a stupid thing. Ron, she was there first, just let her have the seat." Then, under his breath, he mumbled, "Blimey, sometimes I don't know how their mother puts up with it."

The oddest thing of all was that Hermione hadn't responded to this little spat at all. She sat gazing out the window of the train, watching the rolling green hills go by. Normally, she would have reprimanded Ron for being such a prat, but something wasn't quite normal.

Ron sat, disgruntled, in his seat, and opened the packet of sandwiches his mother had given him on the platform. His lip curled in disgust upon further inspection of the sandwich.

"Urgh! Corned beef, like always!" he groaned, stuffing the sandwich back into its wrapping. "Why can't she just remember that I don't like corned beef? It's not that hard, is it? I mean, come on-"

"Oh, Ron, would you please just stop complaining for once?" Hermione exclaimed suddenly. Ginny jumped about a foot in the air. "Practically all you've done since we got on the train is complain. Is there anything perfect enough for you? At least you have someone that cares that much about you."

With that, she stood up. "I'm going to go find Luna. I haven't talked with her in ages; I wonder how she's doing." She walked out, slamming the door loudly behind her.

Ginny glared angrily at Ron. "She's completely right, you know, so don't even start your 'Did I say something wrong?' act, Ron, because no one's going to fall for it."

She followed Hermione out the door, leaving Harry and Ron in a silence that seemed to buzz in their ears.

Ron groaned and rested his forehead on his knees. "They're right, Harry, they're all right! I am complaining way too much."

"Well, then, don't." Harry seemed to think that would solve the problem. It wasn't that complicated…was it?

"It's just so…hard, you know? This 'trying to win her over' business, it's so complicated. I never know what'll make her mad."

"I understand that. You just have to listen and take cues from her. The more tense she seems, the less joking she'll probably put up with." Harry felt surprised by the advice leaving his mouth. Wow, when had he become such an expert on women? He really wasn't sure.

Ron, on the other hand, seemed to believe this advice, and added, "Yeah, she seemed really…I don't know, jumpy, maybe? She isn't acting like herself."

"Well, one of her relative did just kick the bucket, you know…"

Just then, Ginny returned to the compartment, her face paper-white. She sat in her seat, pulled out a book, and pretended to read, but she stared at the same page instead.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron demanded. "I have to apologize for being such a stupid git."

"Just leave her alone for a few minutes," Ginny replied shakily.

"I really want to say I'm sorry."

"Give her a couple minutes, and she'll probably come back," she answered, sounding as if she was also trying to convince herself of this.

Hermione, however, did not appear until the very end of the train ride when she came back to gather her belongings. Upon returning, she looked at Ron and smiled wanly. "I'm sorry, Ron, I've been out-of-sorts these last couple days, and I didn't mean to get so angry."

Ron, looking surprised at being the recipient of the apology, said, "It's alright; don't worry about it."

The train came to a sudden stop. At once, all the students scrambled out of their compartments and made their way off the train, toting cats, frogs, and owls. Harry and Ron grabbed their things and headed to the nearest carriage with Ginny. They turned around upon hearing a sudden, startled gasp from Hermione.

"What's up, Hermione?" Harry inquired.

Hermione was gaping at the carriages. "I can see…" she whispered to herself.

"What? What can you see? They're just carriages," blurted Ron, craning his neck, trying to get a better look.

Hermione was silent for a moment, as if she was trying to think. Then, she said, business-like, "Nothing, Ron. Go ahead, get in the carriage. We haven't got all day."

A/N: Okay... review if you're totally excited about the HP movie!!! Ready, set, go!