Chapter 2- Returning to Hogwarts
"Harry!" She exclaimed as she ran over and threw her arms around him. He smiled and straightened his glasses.
"Good to see you Hermione! How was summer?" Harry asked.
'It was okay. A bit dull, but better dull than having dementors running down my street." She added gloomily thinking of how bad the war with Voldemort might get. He clapped a hand on her shoulder and she sighed but her face light up again when she saw Ron walking over.
"Hey mate!" He said shaking Harry's hand, "Harry, you should have been there! We saw an Iceblaster when we were in Diagon Alley. It was bloody brilliant! Some Ravenclaw prat bought one, and is trying out as seeker! He's going to be hard to keep up with."
"Iceblaster?" Harry asked confused.
"It's the latest model broom. Don't tell me you didn't know about it!"
"No, er- muggles don't follow Quidditch."
"Oh, well it's amazing! Same line as the Firebolt of course, but they say it's far better! I just hope your Firebolt is a match for his Iceblaster. With that broom he's sure to make the team. Of course hardly anyone at Hogwarts even has a Firebolt though, so that does give us a bit of an edge."
"He wasn't a prat." Hermione cut in, tired of all the Quidditch talk.
"Anyone with an Iceblaster is a prat, Hermione. A very, very, rich prat."
"Oh, shut up Ron, your just jealous!" Hermione threw at him. Ron blushed. He was always easily embarrassed about not having a lot of money, "Sorry… we'd better go find a compartment or they'll all be full."
"Right." The two boys said as they made their way onto the Hogwarts Express. They found an empty compartment and all three of them sat down. Ron and Harry had returned to the topic of Quidditch. Hermione groaned silently, frustrated with their lack of interest in anything but the stupid sport. She sat silently zoning out of their conversation when the train started to move. 'Here we go,' she thought.
"Ron, we should probably head up to the prefects compartment…" Hermione realized.
"And leave Harry alone?" Ron stated like the idea of leaving was completely ridiculous.
"No, go on, I'll go see if I can find Neville." Harry said trying not to care that he wasn't a prefect because Dumbledore didn't think he could handle it.
"You sure?" Hermione asked sounding concerned.
"Yea." and with that they left Harry to make their way to sit with the rest of the prefects for instructions on what to do. They sat down in the compartment to see Malfoy was already there. Ron groaned.
"Nice of you to join us Weasel. You too mudblood." He said shortly not bothering to look up. There was no teacher in the compartment yet. "Honestly, they'll let anyone be a prefect these days-"
"Yea, they let you." Ron laughed.
"Shut up Weasel. Your not good enough to shine my shoes. Whole ruddy Weasel family is a disgrace." Malfoy spat coldly.
"Better a weasel than a ferret." Hermione chimed in to keep Ron from getting mad about the crack on his family. Ron was pratically on the floor laughing at that. Malfoy's face turned a bright shade of pink, recalling the incident where Mooney had turned him into a ferret in his 4th year.
"Well, don't sit near me Granger, I don't want to get any of your flees. Then again who knows what else is growing in that beast you call your hair. Reminds me of one of those bloody monsters that giant, stupid bloke Hagrid is always showing us." Hermione tried to keep her cool and not let his insult to Hagrid get to her. But truthfully her hair was not that bad. She'd actually become a bit more concerned with looks from the previous years. She'd usually been just concerned with her studies, but she'd decided if she wanted to catch any boy's attention ever she'd have to see that her hair wasn't a frizzy mess. Although, she had managed to get Krum to like her. Krum still wrote her but she just didn't have feelings for him. Unfortunately, even though she had taken care of her hair a bit, Ron still didn't seem anymore interested in her.
Luckily before a full fight could break out Professor McGonagall came into the compartment.
"I am glad to see all the prefects are already here, now find a seat." she commanded firmly. "This year at Hogwarts we have decided to make a change. Prefects, now will each get a separate bed room that will connect to a prefect common room. We decided this due to the abundance of new students this year."
"So we have to share a common room with Malfoy?!" Ron whispered to Hermione, horrified at the thought. Hermione rolled her eyes realizing this would be a long year.
"I hope everyone can learn to put their differences aside, and handle the situation as a prefect should." the Professor said shooting Ron a glare, obviously overhearing his statement. Ron rolled his eyes at Hermione, and she refrained from giggling. Ron was really rather cute and made funny comments and faces through the rest of the Professor's speech. Hermione of course kept a straight face and appeared to be hanging on McGonagall's every word.
They finally stopped at Hogwarts and everyone changed into their robes. They all cheerfully filed off the Hogwarts Express to the boats and Ron and Hermione met with Harry. It was a bit cold and Hermione pulled her cloak tightly around herself as they got into a boat. They made it to the great hall and sat down with each other, discussing how little the first years looked, and that they better get a good set or they would never win house cup. Seamus Finnigan sat down near them smiling.
"Ron, where's your sister Ginny?" He asked looking around.
"She'll be along, probably didn't get a boat right away. Why?" Ron asked.
"I, er- just didn't see her here." Seamus covered his ears turning a bit pink. Hermione suspected he fancied Ginny a bit. She'd have to let her know later.
"Can you believe all the first years here? How are they going to have room?!" Harry asked looking at all the first years pouring in. Ron and Hermione exchanged an awkward glance.
"What is it?" Harry sighed realizing something was up.
"Well, they sort of decided to put all the prefects in separate rooms but sharing one over all prefect common room. So we won't be in the Gryffindor common room anymore." Hermione blurted out quickly as if it would make it less upsetting if she said it fast and got it all over with.
"What? You mean we won't be in the same room anymore?!" Harry shouted.
"We're really sorry mate… I'd rather be on your end of this though, we have to share a common room with Malfoy." Ron said Malfoy as some people would say the word Manure, or vomit. Harry smiled at his friends attempt to cheer him up.
"And we'll still be in class with you and all. And it's not like we can't hang out in the Gryffindor common room. You'll know the password, so we can come and hang out still. We just won't actually be staying there." Ron offered. Harry smiled and before they could say another word on the topic they had to quiet down for the sorting to begin.
It took quite a while longer than usual to sort the large amount of first years. Gryffindor seemed to get a good group of cheerful excited first years. Hermione had punched Ron's arm rather hard because he kept pointing and laughing at this one huge first year who was sorted into Hufflepuff.
"He does look a bit like that cousin of yours," Ron whispered to Harry.
"That's horrible Ron!" Hermione whined.
"Yea, there really shouldn't be more than one kid on earth who looks like that." Harry laughed. Hermione sighed giving up on the argument. Finally everyone was sorted though and Dumbledore came out to give his yearly speech about not going into the forbidden forest, welcoming new faces, and recognizing old ones, blah blah blah…
"He really could use to change up his routine a bit." Ron laughed obviously thinking the same thing as Hermione. "Hope this doesn't go on too much longer, I'm starved!"
Once Dumbledore finished the speech the food appeared on the tables and they all dug in furiously chewing and tasting every delicious food on the table. Ron had gotten food all over his face and was currently eating a lemon cream pie.
"Ronald, you could at least try to be civilized!" she suggested.
"But I'm sooo 'ungry!" He said accidentally spitting food out of his mouth as he talked. They finished up eating the last of the deserts and were all exhausted and full. A 5th year prefect was assigned to take everyone to the Gryffindor common room and tell them the password before coming to the Prefects room. Hermione and Ron however got to go straight to their rooms. They said goodnight to Harry and walked up the stairs to find their new home with the rest of the prefects.
They entered the common room and went up the stairs to see all the individual doors to their rooms had a plate with each of their names engraved on separate door.
"This is really posh." Ron said amazing looking at his name on his very own door, which he found was right next to Hermione's.
"Like you would know Weaselbe, it's not like you've seen any better than this in that hell hole you live in." Malfoy sneered walking into his room, which was on the other side of Hermione's. Ron jaw clenched and he managed to say goodnight to Hermione and walk into his room without attempting to beat Malfoy to death.
Hermione walked into her room and saw Ron was right, it was posh. It was decorated in Gryffindor colors, and there was a huge canopy bed in the center of it all. Her luggage had already been brought there and without another thought Hermione fell onto her bed, asleep instantly.
"Harry!" She exclaimed as she ran over and threw her arms around him. He smiled and straightened his glasses.
"Good to see you Hermione! How was summer?" Harry asked.
'It was okay. A bit dull, but better dull than having dementors running down my street." She added gloomily thinking of how bad the war with Voldemort might get. He clapped a hand on her shoulder and she sighed but her face light up again when she saw Ron walking over.
"Hey mate!" He said shaking Harry's hand, "Harry, you should have been there! We saw an Iceblaster when we were in Diagon Alley. It was bloody brilliant! Some Ravenclaw prat bought one, and is trying out as seeker! He's going to be hard to keep up with."
"Iceblaster?" Harry asked confused.
"It's the latest model broom. Don't tell me you didn't know about it!"
"No, er- muggles don't follow Quidditch."
"Oh, well it's amazing! Same line as the Firebolt of course, but they say it's far better! I just hope your Firebolt is a match for his Iceblaster. With that broom he's sure to make the team. Of course hardly anyone at Hogwarts even has a Firebolt though, so that does give us a bit of an edge."
"He wasn't a prat." Hermione cut in, tired of all the Quidditch talk.
"Anyone with an Iceblaster is a prat, Hermione. A very, very, rich prat."
"Oh, shut up Ron, your just jealous!" Hermione threw at him. Ron blushed. He was always easily embarrassed about not having a lot of money, "Sorry… we'd better go find a compartment or they'll all be full."
"Right." The two boys said as they made their way onto the Hogwarts Express. They found an empty compartment and all three of them sat down. Ron and Harry had returned to the topic of Quidditch. Hermione groaned silently, frustrated with their lack of interest in anything but the stupid sport. She sat silently zoning out of their conversation when the train started to move. 'Here we go,' she thought.
"Ron, we should probably head up to the prefects compartment…" Hermione realized.
"And leave Harry alone?" Ron stated like the idea of leaving was completely ridiculous.
"No, go on, I'll go see if I can find Neville." Harry said trying not to care that he wasn't a prefect because Dumbledore didn't think he could handle it.
"You sure?" Hermione asked sounding concerned.
"Yea." and with that they left Harry to make their way to sit with the rest of the prefects for instructions on what to do. They sat down in the compartment to see Malfoy was already there. Ron groaned.
"Nice of you to join us Weasel. You too mudblood." He said shortly not bothering to look up. There was no teacher in the compartment yet. "Honestly, they'll let anyone be a prefect these days-"
"Yea, they let you." Ron laughed.
"Shut up Weasel. Your not good enough to shine my shoes. Whole ruddy Weasel family is a disgrace." Malfoy spat coldly.
"Better a weasel than a ferret." Hermione chimed in to keep Ron from getting mad about the crack on his family. Ron was pratically on the floor laughing at that. Malfoy's face turned a bright shade of pink, recalling the incident where Mooney had turned him into a ferret in his 4th year.
"Well, don't sit near me Granger, I don't want to get any of your flees. Then again who knows what else is growing in that beast you call your hair. Reminds me of one of those bloody monsters that giant, stupid bloke Hagrid is always showing us." Hermione tried to keep her cool and not let his insult to Hagrid get to her. But truthfully her hair was not that bad. She'd actually become a bit more concerned with looks from the previous years. She'd usually been just concerned with her studies, but she'd decided if she wanted to catch any boy's attention ever she'd have to see that her hair wasn't a frizzy mess. Although, she had managed to get Krum to like her. Krum still wrote her but she just didn't have feelings for him. Unfortunately, even though she had taken care of her hair a bit, Ron still didn't seem anymore interested in her.
Luckily before a full fight could break out Professor McGonagall came into the compartment.
"I am glad to see all the prefects are already here, now find a seat." she commanded firmly. "This year at Hogwarts we have decided to make a change. Prefects, now will each get a separate bed room that will connect to a prefect common room. We decided this due to the abundance of new students this year."
"So we have to share a common room with Malfoy?!" Ron whispered to Hermione, horrified at the thought. Hermione rolled her eyes realizing this would be a long year.
"I hope everyone can learn to put their differences aside, and handle the situation as a prefect should." the Professor said shooting Ron a glare, obviously overhearing his statement. Ron rolled his eyes at Hermione, and she refrained from giggling. Ron was really rather cute and made funny comments and faces through the rest of the Professor's speech. Hermione of course kept a straight face and appeared to be hanging on McGonagall's every word.
They finally stopped at Hogwarts and everyone changed into their robes. They all cheerfully filed off the Hogwarts Express to the boats and Ron and Hermione met with Harry. It was a bit cold and Hermione pulled her cloak tightly around herself as they got into a boat. They made it to the great hall and sat down with each other, discussing how little the first years looked, and that they better get a good set or they would never win house cup. Seamus Finnigan sat down near them smiling.
"Ron, where's your sister Ginny?" He asked looking around.
"She'll be along, probably didn't get a boat right away. Why?" Ron asked.
"I, er- just didn't see her here." Seamus covered his ears turning a bit pink. Hermione suspected he fancied Ginny a bit. She'd have to let her know later.
"Can you believe all the first years here? How are they going to have room?!" Harry asked looking at all the first years pouring in. Ron and Hermione exchanged an awkward glance.
"What is it?" Harry sighed realizing something was up.
"Well, they sort of decided to put all the prefects in separate rooms but sharing one over all prefect common room. So we won't be in the Gryffindor common room anymore." Hermione blurted out quickly as if it would make it less upsetting if she said it fast and got it all over with.
"What? You mean we won't be in the same room anymore?!" Harry shouted.
"We're really sorry mate… I'd rather be on your end of this though, we have to share a common room with Malfoy." Ron said Malfoy as some people would say the word Manure, or vomit. Harry smiled at his friends attempt to cheer him up.
"And we'll still be in class with you and all. And it's not like we can't hang out in the Gryffindor common room. You'll know the password, so we can come and hang out still. We just won't actually be staying there." Ron offered. Harry smiled and before they could say another word on the topic they had to quiet down for the sorting to begin.
It took quite a while longer than usual to sort the large amount of first years. Gryffindor seemed to get a good group of cheerful excited first years. Hermione had punched Ron's arm rather hard because he kept pointing and laughing at this one huge first year who was sorted into Hufflepuff.
"He does look a bit like that cousin of yours," Ron whispered to Harry.
"That's horrible Ron!" Hermione whined.
"Yea, there really shouldn't be more than one kid on earth who looks like that." Harry laughed. Hermione sighed giving up on the argument. Finally everyone was sorted though and Dumbledore came out to give his yearly speech about not going into the forbidden forest, welcoming new faces, and recognizing old ones, blah blah blah…
"He really could use to change up his routine a bit." Ron laughed obviously thinking the same thing as Hermione. "Hope this doesn't go on too much longer, I'm starved!"
Once Dumbledore finished the speech the food appeared on the tables and they all dug in furiously chewing and tasting every delicious food on the table. Ron had gotten food all over his face and was currently eating a lemon cream pie.
"Ronald, you could at least try to be civilized!" she suggested.
"But I'm sooo 'ungry!" He said accidentally spitting food out of his mouth as he talked. They finished up eating the last of the deserts and were all exhausted and full. A 5th year prefect was assigned to take everyone to the Gryffindor common room and tell them the password before coming to the Prefects room. Hermione and Ron however got to go straight to their rooms. They said goodnight to Harry and walked up the stairs to find their new home with the rest of the prefects.
They entered the common room and went up the stairs to see all the individual doors to their rooms had a plate with each of their names engraved on separate door.
"This is really posh." Ron said amazing looking at his name on his very own door, which he found was right next to Hermione's.
"Like you would know Weaselbe, it's not like you've seen any better than this in that hell hole you live in." Malfoy sneered walking into his room, which was on the other side of Hermione's. Ron jaw clenched and he managed to say goodnight to Hermione and walk into his room without attempting to beat Malfoy to death.
Hermione walked into her room and saw Ron was right, it was posh. It was decorated in Gryffindor colors, and there was a huge canopy bed in the center of it all. Her luggage had already been brought there and without another thought Hermione fell onto her bed, asleep instantly.