A/N: : : : : : : okay, sorry you guys, but I might be a while till the next one, and it's going to be kind of short (although the fifth chapter is going to be twice as long as this one). I was recently walking home in the rain (don't ask..), and I stupidly forgot to put my story out of harms way. So, not all my papers are wet! Luckily I had this typed up already, but this was about all. So, it's going to be a while until the next chapter is put up. Okay, for all of you who are wondering, "god, when are they going to travel back in time?!?", well, soon. In the sixth chapter I'm sure. You'll see. I think it's pretty good, but I won't know what you think unless you review...SO PLEASE REVIEW!!! Okay, it's mandatory that you read the author's note for the fifth chapter. Very important!! Alright, in this chapter Harry finally sees Ron and Hermione after months apart, but is that what he wants?

Chapter 3 : Hello Again, Ron and Hermione

"Out of the car boy," said Harry's uncle as they pulled into the train station. It was September first, which meant that it was time for Harry to go back to Hogwarts.
Dudley pushed Harry out of the car and onto the floor, which seemed to put Harry's fat cousin into hysterics. Vernon ignored his son's laughter and grabbed a large hooded jacket from the front of the car, pulling if over Harry's head.
"Now listen here boy," whispered Vernon venomously, "I want you to wear this until you can do your magic shit, then you can make it so that people can't see what you really look like. If they do, there will be consequences."
Harry didn't need to be told twice. For one thing, he didn't want to get beat more than he had to. But he also wanted to conceal his appearance because of his reputation. He could see the headline now:

The boy who lived abused by muggles? How could he defeat the dark lord if he can't even stand up to some fat muggle?

He could see the looks of pity on his professor's faces. He could see his friends scorning looks. He could see the people he cared about, lying on the floor dead, their eyes wide open, much like Cedric's were . . . .
His uncle, who had thrown Harry's school things at him, hurting his already cracked ribs, quickly brought Harry out of his thoughts. Not only that, but bones were sticking out because he hadn't eaten for a few months (A/N : : : yes, a few months. He didn't eat much during the school year as it was, but a month or two before he went home for the summer, he stopped eating out of anticipation and because he knew that the Dursley's rarely gave him anything to eat). His uncle kept throwing things to Harry, though, despite the look of pain on Harry's face.
Once everything was taken out of their car, the Dursley's took off without so much as a word to Harry. So Harry found a trolley and went through to platform 9 ¾. He was very early, so nobody really noticed or cared when he got onto the train. He found the compartment where he and his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, usually met, and opened the door.
"Harry, how –"
Harry quickly shut the door and walked down the empty, narrow hallway. He could hear his name being called, but he didn't stop. He felt like a complete idiot! He should have known that his friends would be there early. The Weasley's were very involved with the Order of the Phoenix, a group of people intent on stopping the dark lord, Voldemort, form coming to power. They were probably on important business and had to drop Ron and the rest off early. And Harry had a feeling that Hermione had stayed with them during the summer because she was in danger. She probably wouldn't be a target if Harry hadn't dragged her to the department of mysteries, where he also got his godfather, Sirius Black, killed.
But Harry didn't have time to think about that now. He closed the doors that separated different sections of the train behind him, hoping that he could lose his friends long enough to put on decent concealing charms. He turned suddenly, walking into a compartment, shutting it quickly, and locking himself in. Harry didn't have much time. he could hear his friends calling for him, opening compartment doors to see if he was in any of them. He started working on the concealing charms, but it wasn't long before Hermione was knocking on the compartment door that Harry was in.
"Harry?"
Harry worked faster.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, trying to open the door. Of course, she couldn't get in. Harry had put a very powerful locking charm on the door. Only a skilled wizard could open the door. Harry, hearing Hermione's futile attempts to unlock the door, couldn't help but smile. He had grown to be a very powerful wizard, and he was sure that his parents and Sirius would have been proud of him.
"Alohomora, alohomora, aloha – oh, damn it! Ron, come help me."
Harry frowned. He knew that neither of his friends alone could open the door, but together . . . . . . . . .
"Ready Ron? On the count of three. One . . . ."
The door flew opened just as Harry had taken off his jacket. Harry was thrown to the other side of the compartment, his head hitting and breaking the glass of the window.
"Shit," He muttered as he slid down the wall.
"Oh my god, Harry!" he heard Hermione shriek after finding Harry crumpled on the floor. Harry could barely see Ron and Hermione through the black specks that were dancing around his eyes. He tried to open his eyes, but when he did it made his eyelids feel very heavy. He opened them again, forcing himself to stay awake. He felt dizzy, and everything was moving. He could see tears forming in Hermione's eyes, and behind her a concerned Ron.

"Oh Harry, we're sorry, we just saw you run off . . . . . . .Ron, go get some help."
"No!" yelled Harry, trying to get up, but failing miserably. "Look," he said calmly, gaining control of his emotions (another thing he learned to do better over the summer), "I'm fine. Just help me get up, okay."
Hermione looked at Ron, who just shrugged, not really knowing what to do. So, reluctantly, both of them helped Harry to his feet. When they let go of him, he swayed a little, but managed to stay balanced. He walked out of the compartment closely followed by his friends, leaving his jacket on the floor. Hermione was just about to leave when ton stopped her.
"Ron, what-"
"Hermione, look . . . . " said a very pale Ron in a low whisper.
Hermione gasped. There was a trail of blood leading from the window to where Harry had been sitting moments ago.

A/N: : : : : : okay, so that was the third chapter. I hope everyone liked it. Like I said, I know that it wasn't very long, and I was planning on making it longer, but due to my recent "accident", I won't be able to do that. So yeah, I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, I plan on making the others about twice as long as this one.

Review replies:

Bluetiger94 – yeah, well, I feel bad for Harry too, but it has to happen. If it doesn't, then . . . . . well . . . . then things just won't happen.

ferokeroberos – yeah, sorry about the length again. I really am trying to make the chapters longer, but they're going to be pretty short until the 5th chapter. Thanks for the date. I just felt that I had to get the date right at the beginning of this chapter.

Iluska – thanks. I really do like your story.

All right everyone, until next time (I always try to update around the same time every month, but I'm going to be busy on the twentieth).

-Sami

word count : 1,398