"Mum, are you up yet?", Hermione's voice sailed up the stairs to her parents bedroom, "We have to go to the train station, and I don't want to be late"

Hermione was sitting in her ancient but stunning kitchen, eating breakfast and going over all the things she needed for seventh year in her mind. She didn't want to leave anything behind, in a few hours she would be leaving on the brilliant scarlet train, The Hogwarts Express. She wondered how her friends were, they hadn't owled much, being part of the Order of The Phoenix, their letters were written while under complete supervision by Mrs. Weasley, which meant they couldn't really say what they wanted and they found it too annoying. So Hermione only received letters every two weeks. She missed them so much but she knew it was partly her fault. She didn't want to join the order, it was a last minute decision that she regretted. She had backed out because of the dangerous position she would be in. Voldemort was still gaining power and Dumbledore suspected there was a spy in the Order that was personally handing information to the Dark Lord, and so Hermione felt it was safer if she just watched from the sidelines on this adventure, she had been in too many life-threatening situations already in her life and she was only seventeen. Hermione had instantly regretted it because she had never cowered out of anything, she was brave, and she was a Gryffindor. She knew she would be allowed to join the order after she came of age but she had the same opportunity Harry and Ron did to join on their seventeenth birthday.

"Honey, It's 6:30" Said her mother tiredly walking over to the fridge. Hermione jumped she hadn't realized her parents had got up, "The train doesn't leave until eleven"

"Mum, I only have 3½ hours till the train leaves, and I want to triple check I have everything" Hermione replied.

"Then why do I have to get up so early?" Her mother inquired.

Hermione didn't even answer; sometimes her mother was so annoyingly lazy. Hermione finished her breakfast and headed upstairs to check that she had packed everything. Satisfied dragged her trunk downstairs to the front door. She then fetched Crookshanks from the backyard and fed him, before settling herself on the couch with the 'Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7'

----- ----- ----- -----

"Draco, get your arse out of that bed" Yelled a voice from outside an exquisite door. Draco stirred and got quickly out of his King sized, four-poster bed. If he was to slow he would have to go through another beating like that of last night. He had simply refused to marry that ugly pug-faced Parkinson. She was a horrible excuse for a female and Draco wouldn't go near her with a six-foot pole, but now it was likely that he would be betrothed to her, just because of the stupid Malfoy tradition, he was to marry shortly after Graduation. Life was so unfair for him; everything was already planned out for him. He was to receive the dark mark shortly, and then after graduation he would marry and impregnate who he was betrothed to. He would produce an heir to the Malfoy name. He had also found out recently that his child would be Voldemort's heir. He had hated the enslavement of the Malfoy name and he was sure he couldn't bring a child in this world to know his father, let alone be an heir to Voldemort. He had despised Voldemort with all his might ever since he was a child. It was his fault that he didn't have a normal upbringing with a normal family that did normal things.

He was still slightly sore as he dressed into casual clothes, wincing when he put his shirt on. He couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts for several reasons. The first and foremost reason was to escape his father, and maybe not think about his pre-decided future. The second was that he could do magic again, and he desperately needed to use some healing charms, he was sure his father had cracked at least one rib while 'teaching' him last night. The third was that this year would be very different from other years as he would be sharing a dormitory with who ever the Head Girl was. It would most likely be Granger; he couldn't see any of the other prefects beating her to the position. He disliked Granger, not because of his father's petty reasons although he pretended that it was the reason, she just simply irritated him. He wasn't use to people being better than him at anything and she had beaten him every year at his studies.Quite the contrary to what people thought, Draco studied hard for his results. Maybe his father would lay-off if he became Valedictorian of Hogwarts.

He went down to breakfast feeling extremely happy that soon he would escape his father and his beatings, he didn't deserve them.

----- ----- ----- -----

Hermione stepped onto the familiar platform 9¾ to see the scarlet train, standing there as solid as ever. She smiled this was it, her last year of Hogwarts, she would soon be released upon the world.

Hermione suddenly felt the wind knocked out of her as she felt two tall figures crashing into her in an attempt to hug her.

"Hey 'Mi" Said the vivid redhead, Ron Weasley.

"Hey 'Mi" Repeated the raven haired boy, Harry Potter, "How were your holiday's, we have so much to tell you"

Hey guys, Ohhh, I've missed you so much; alright tell me on the train, I have to go to the prefects carriage.

"Oh, I have to go there as well, later Harry"

"Yeah bye, I'll, uh, go find Ginny"

----- ----- ----- -----

"Bye" Said Draco, walking away. He didn't expect a big farewell from his parents, but he thought they could have at least seen him onto the train. But Draco should've expected the less than warm farewell from his parents.

'Don't they have any emotion at all?' He thought to himself, 'I hate them!'

When platform 9 ¾ materialised in front of him, he strode off to find his friends before heading to the prefect carriage.

----- ----- ----- -----

Hermione and Ron moved along the train to the very front where the prefect's carriage was situated. When they entered they saw that they were the first there and so sat themselves down on the comfortable seats and waited.

They didn't have to wait long before there were five more prefects sitting in chairs around the carriage. Five minutes after that all twenty-four prefects were situated in the carriage.

"Ok everyone, first on the agenda, I'd like to congratulate the new fifth year prefects, I'm sure you can do a lot for the school" Said Hermione starting the meeting.

"Second, We have a meeting with Dumbledore tomorrow night at seven o'clock don't be late" Said Draco cutting Hermione off. She gave him a quick deadly glare and he flashed a smile at her. She shrugged it off then continued.

"Thirdly...."

----- ----- ----- -----

Hermione and Ron stumbled as they walked back through the carriages looking for Harry and Ginny. They found them about half-way along the train in a compartment with Lavender, Parvati and Padma.

"Whoa Harry, talk about being a ladies man" Said Ron smiling before sitting down opposite Harry who was squished between Parvati and Lavender, both of whom were looking at Harry in awe.

'Well he certainly has gotten hot' Thought Hermione, 'Ron too'

Ginny however was sitting beside where Ron had sat and was looking as though she distinctly hated both of them for sitting so close to him.

"I guess now wouldn't be a good time to tell me what's been happening with you guys then" Hermione whispered as she squashed up next to Ron.

"Apparently not" Said Ron quietly.