The day before she had to catch the train at King's Cross, Hermione rolled out of bed. It was 10 o'clock in the morning, and the sun was shining through her blinds. She rubbed her eyes and yawned before pattering across the hall to take a shower.
When she finished, she toweled off, and pulled on a black miniskirt and a red tank-top, both a part of her new wardrobe, courtesy of Kelly, as well as a pair of flip flops. She grabbed her car keys and her bag, and went downstairs.
"Hey, mom, I'm going to Diagon Alley today. I'll be home around dinner time," said Hermione.
"Ok, honey, have fun," her mother said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Hermione popped out the door, and hopped in her car. She started the engine, and backed out of the driveway.
As she drove to London, she wished that she had called Harry or sent him and Ron an owl. She felt weird going to Diagon Alley on her own, and she hadn't seen them all summer. She chewed her lip as she pulled into a parking garage down the street from the wizard alley, and parked. She got out of the car and locked it. She walked to the Leaky Cauldron, the entrance to Diagon Alley, and entered the small, dingy pub.
She strode towards the back exit, past a table with a tall, lanky redhead sitting at it with a muscular black-haired boy sitting across from him. She didn't notice, but they noticed her.
"Geez, who's that and why haven't I met her before?" asked Harry.
"Hey, I thought you liked Hermione!" said Ron. "Anyways, she'd like me better."
Hermione turned around at the mention of her name. "Ron? Harry?"
"Shit, Hermione!" said Harry. "Did you hear all of that?"
"Yes, good to see you too," she said, pulling up a chair next to Harry.
"Uh, well can we pretend you didn't hear that for now?" muttered Harry.
"Yeah, fine, no worries man. So how's your summer been?" she asked, turning to Ron, who was speechless. He was so surprised by Hermione's appearance.
"Oh, uh, it was pretty good. We were just at the Burrow, you know, and we were buying our stuff today," said Ron, snapping out of his trance.
"Cool. Harry, no more weird summer happenings?"
"Nope, I went to the Burrow after a month of hell. It's been fun since then," he said, looking at Ron.
"Oh yeah, loads of fun," said Ron. "How was your summer?"
"I was in Cancun for most of the summer," she said.
"That explains the wicked tan," said a voice from behind her.
"Ginny! Oh I've missed you so much!" said Hermione, suffocating her friend in a hug. "I did find a replacement for you this summer. She did this to my hair."
"Well," said Ginny, checking out her friend, "she's not too bad. Especially for a muggle."
"Hey! I've known her since I was 5 years old, thank you very much," said Hermione in a mock angry voice.
"Ok, so I have to go get my stuff. Are you guys going home soon?" she asked.
"Yeah, we have to get back for lunch, sadly," said Ron. "Mum's making a...well, I don't know what she's making, but she'd murder us if we weren't there in time."
"Oh, cool, sorry I couldn't come to the Burrow this year. We didn't get back from the beach until 2 days ago," said Hermione.
"Don't
worry bout it," said Ginny. "See you on the train tomorrow,
then!"
"Don't count on it," said Hermione, causing Harry,
Ron, and Ginny to stop dead in their tracks. "I forgot to tell
you, I got Head Girl. So I have to do all those stupid things."
"Oh that's too bad. We'll at least see you at the feast, right?" asked Harry, looking sad.
"Of course! I would never pass up a chance to spend time with you guys," said Hermione. "I'll see you later!"
"Bye!" chorused the Weasleys and Harry.
Hermione pulled her bag up farther on her shoulder and left the pub. She tapped the bricks on the wall in the back alley, and they opened to reveal Diagon Alley in all of its greatness.
She had finished shopping for the day, with all of her new school supplies, as well as a fancy new set of dress robes, and decided to stop at the ice cream shop for some ice cream.
"One mint chocolate chip, please," she said to the woman at the counter.
As the woman scooped Hermione's ice cream, a tall blond-haired boy walked up next to her. "Mint chocolate chip," he said to the woman. He then turned to Hermione and opened his mouth to say something, but did a double take and blinked really hard.
"Granger?!" he said.
"Malfoy," she replied, calmly, taking her ice cream and paying for it.
Draco Malfoy regained his cool. "Stupid mudblood." Kind of.
She just turned around and walked away, unaware of Draco's eyes following her swaying ass.