Dumbledore's Speech
When Hermione reached the front of the train, she saw Professor McGonagal entering a compartment. She realised this must be where she was supposed to be, so she hurriedly slid in before Professor McGonagal had time to shut the door. She spotted Ron, who, she instantly realised, was looking much happier than normal. He smiled and waved, so she took a seat next to him. "Right then!" said Professor McGonagal, giving a little clap of the hands.
She was wearing a funny little hat, which had what looked like a real birds nest, perched on top of it. Two little brown, beaked heads popped up and stared at Hermione. She gave a little jump. She turned to look at Ron, who had obviously been staring at the same thing, because the expression on his face was somewhat mixed with surprise and disgust. Professor McGonagal, however, seemed not to notice, and carried on.
"First of all, I want to congratulate you on gaining the priority of being Head Boy and Girl. Secondly, I want to ask you a favour." Hermione and Ron exchanged puzzled looks. This wasn't what they were here for.
"I know, I know, I should be telling you your duties, and I will! Just a quick favour first. It's just, well, Harry's had a bit of a hard summer, and I was wondering if you two could keep an eye out for him, and, you know, keep him out of trouble this year. I mean, not that you wouldn't try to keep him out of trouble anyway," here she added a sly little smile, "But I think it's best if he laid low for a while, you understand?" Hermione and Ron nodded, their faces full of concern. Hermione wondered for a second why Harry had had a hard summer, but then decided this was Harry's business, and it didn't matter.
"And I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention anything to Harry about this." Professor McGonagal finished off. "Right, ok, so let's get on with the duties!"
Ten minuets later, Hermione and Ron joined Harry and the others in the compartment, and they all decided to have a game of Exploding Snap. Meanwhile Harry took Hermione to the side, and asked politely if he could talk to her outside. She said yes, but she knew what was coming. He led to an empty compartment in the train, and sat her down, taking hold of her hands. "Have you thought about what I said?" He asked, his green eyes boring right into hers. He looked so different now. His glasses were long gone, and he wore contacts. His hair had been cut and spiked, with what Hermione could only guess was gel. He had gotten a tan, and his lightening scar was not so visible anymore. She had to admit it – he was hot!
"Yes, I have." She said, smiling. This was not a lie. She'd thought about nothing else all summer.
"And?" said Harry, also smiling slightly. She didn't answer straight away. "I really like you, Hermione." He said, his voice a little pleading now. "You know I do. And I know you like me too." Hermione let out a little laugh. This was true. She'd liked him ever since second year. So what was stopping her? She allowed the silence to remain for another couple of seconds.
"Think about it." Said Harry, looking disappointed slightly, and he started to make for the door.
"Harry?" Hermione called out. He stopped in his tracks. His hand was still on the door handle.
"Yes?" he said, without turning round.
"I've thought about it." She squeaked, hardly believing she was saying this. Her heart was beating about ten times faster than it normally would in her chest. Harry turned around to face her, his eyes so warm and gentle. "Yes." Said Hermione. He bounded across the room in one swift movement. Before she knew what was happening he was upon her, kissing her hard and fast. She didn't pull away. She started to kiss back, remembering how long she'd waited for this. He eventually pulled away, and the both gasped for breath. He smiled and hugged her. She didn't want him to let go; she wanted to hold onto him forever and ever, but obviously that couldn't happen, and he pulled away.
"Come on," he said, giving her a peck on the cheek. "Let's go and tell the others!" Hermione smiled. She was glad this was happening. And he was such a good kisser! She took his hand and let him lead her to the compartment.
By the time the train had slowed down and pulled up at Hogwarts, Hermione had gotten changed. She couldn't help smiling. She had sat on Harry's knee while he had told everybody the good news. There was one slight problem though. Ron. He seemed a little upset by the news. But Hermione could understand. He might feel like he's just lost his two best friends. She made a mental note to self to be extra nice to him, and to not boss him around this year. She had snuggled into Harry, and fallen asleep for the rest of the journey, her head resting on his chest.
Harry had woken her up, and told her they had arrived. Hermione and Ron took out the list of duties that Professor McGonagal had written for them, and Hermione saw that she would be making sure that she would be making sure that the first years all made it to the lake, and the second years knew they would be riding in carriages. When she had done this, she returned to find Harry and Ron waiting for her. She beamed at them, and they all jumped into the last carriage. Harry put his arm around Hermione, and they all chatted as normal. Hermione was pleased to see that Ron had cheered up a little. The sky was bright and the sun was streaming through the clouds. This lifted everyone's spirits. They made their way through the Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall, where they took their usual seats at the Gryffindor table.
When everyone was seated and calm, Professor Dumbledore stood up. Hermione noticed he looked very tired and suddenly older, and mentioned this to Harry. Harry explained in a whisper that after what had happened at the end of last year, he couldn't have had a good summer either.
He now patiently tapped the side of his goblet with his golden spoon, waiting for every head in the Hall to turn in his direction. This didn't take long.
"Welcome, Hogwarts. Welcome back to another year." He had still managed to maintain his friendly welcoming smile.
"Now those of you that aren't first years," he started, looking down upon the nervous little children huddled in front of him waiting to be sorted, "should all know of the trouble that some students and this school went through last year. And the year before that actually. The fact that we are still up and running as a school, is all down to one boy." Hermione saw Harry go very red next to her. She gave his hand a little reassuring squeeze under the table. This seemed to help a bit. "And so," continued Dumbledore, "That is why this year, we are going to do things properly. We are going to show Harry Potter that we are grateful entirely, and that him risking his life for us does not go unnoticed. We are going to make the best of this year, and no matter what happens, we are going to carry on and learn, and do what we're here to do. I wish everyone good luck for this year, and that's all I have to say about it."
As Dumbledore sat down, quite a lot of people clapped. Hermione grinned and hugged Harry, and they watched the sorting, and then ate until they could eat no more.
Hey, just to say I know that Fred and George shudn't be there strictly speaking, but i chose to ignore tht fact :) because i think they're cool :)