Ah...here they are...the ineveitable shout-outs (a small incentive to keep people reviewing). It's not much...but it's all I have to give!

Muzzy - I'm glad you think I've improved...unless that's a nice way of saying I sucked before...um...then I guess I still thank you lol. You always read my stuff...and you review! So you're awesome in my book -)

tennisprincess - You're still reading! lol...I get so excited when I have multiple reviews from one person (I realize how sad that is).

Slytherin-girl - Yay! You still like it! I really wish I was online at the same time as you one of these days lol. Grr...stupid school and work. Oh well, thanks for reading!

fanjimmy and Falron - Thanks for being such faithful readers and reviewers...it makes me grin -)

Derek - You didn't review, but I'll forgive you because you flattered me so much tonight lol. You're my favorite deli worker too!

Thanks all! Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! I don't own HP characters, blah, blah, blah.

The Expressly Wrong Trip

The rest of the week after the Hogsmeade trip passed by rather uneventfully and finally it was time to go back to Hogwarts. Mrs. Weasley had woken Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny up early in the morning and they all took Mr. Weasley's new car to the train station where they would catch the Hogwarts Express. Of course, they were ready to leave right away, seeing as how Mrs. Weasley had them pack their things a few days beforehand.

"Now, Ron, don't forget to send a letter with Pig every once in awhile. And do let Ginny borrow him to send letters as well." Mrs. Weasley stopped and looked at the teenagers with tears in her eyes. "It seems like yesterday you lot were just starting at Hogwarts…and now…this is one of the last times I'll be putting you on this train!"

Ron struggled to get out of his mother's bone crushing embrace. "Mum, really! We have two more years to go…get off me!"

She looked at him sadly and turned to the others, "He just doesn't understand. You can't possibly understand until you have children." She sighed, "Well, you had best be getting on the train. You don't want to miss it."

"Goodbye, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said as she gathered him up in her arms. "Thank you again for letting me stay this summer."

"Not at all, dear, not at all! And take care of yourself, Harry." She let him go and turned to Hermione. "Hermione, it was a pleasure having you this summer break. Arthur and I certainly enjoyed it, and I know Ginny was happy to have another girl around."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasly. I had a great time," she said, smiling. Harry couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked when she smiled. He felt him restraining himself from going over and kissing her - Mrs. Weasley still wasn't in on their little "secret".

"Ginny, dear, just owl home if your brother gives you any trouble," Mrs. Weasley warned with a menacing look at Ron. He gulped and turned towards the scarlet colored engine. "We won't be seeing you at Christmas because of the ball, but we'll be here to pick you up at the end of the year!" With that, she gave each of them a final hug and left them to get on the train.

As they walked down a corridor of one of the cars, Harry and Hermione could hear Ron still mumbling about his mother and were stifling their laughter. Ginny had found Luna sitting in a car by herself and stopped to sit with her. The otherscame to a stop outside one of the compartments and Hermione said, "I can't believe we found an empty spot." Harry and Ron agreed that it was odd but they went in and sat down, regardless.

Hermione immediately buried her nose in The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 6 while the two boys played exploding snap. The trip was going rather peacefully - much more so than it had the last few years. A few students from Gryffindor poked their heads in and said hello, but as of yet, no one dared to disturb the sanctity of the trio's compartment by coming in and sitting down. Hermione looked up from her book after about a half hour had passed. "Do you think it's odd that no one has sat in our compartment yet? Usually they're all packed, and somehow this year we've got one to ourselves."

"I wouldn't worry about it, Hermione," Ron said through a mouthful of chocolate - Harry had bought an immense amount of treats from the trolley, as usual - "You act like it's a bad thing we're not all crammed in here like sardines."

"I don't know," Harry piped in, "We haven't even seen Neville yet. Usually he's come around looking for something he's lost before this amount of time has passed."

Ron shrugged, "Must be with Seamus and Dean. Want to find them and go say hello?"

Harry nodded affirmatively and reached his hand out to Hermione. She waved him away, having started reading her textbook again. "I have to be prepared for the first day. I would say the same for you two…but I guess that's probably out of the question."

Ron turned red and started to open his mouth but Harry saw the warning signs and decided it was probably best to just leave. He kissed Hermione on the top of the head, at which she didn't look up, but he saw a small smile play around the corners of her mouth. "C'mon, Ron, let's go then." To his great relief Ron followed him out of the compartment rather than starting another war with Hermione.

They walked down the corridors until they heard laughing that sounded familiar coming from a compartment they were passing. "Sounds like Ginny is having a good time," Harry commented. "Want to say hello?"

"Might as well…can't seem to find Neville anywhere."

Ron was quite wrong about that. They had found Neville at last…with Ron's sister in a somewhat compromised position. She was practically sitting on his lap when they first opened the door, though she quickly jumped up when they did. "Ron!" she screeched, "Have you ever heard of knocking!"

For the life of him, Ron couldn't seem to figure out what he wanted to do first. He just stood staring open mouthed at Neville, then his eyes flickered to Ginny.

"It isn't how it looks, Ron…uh, Ginny was um, we were…she wanted to know about Herbology in fifth year! So I was telling her…and then, well…ah…" Neville stammered.

"Just back off, Ron! I like Neville…and I think he likes me, too, so don't go scaring him off like you try to do to every boy that shows an interest in me!"

Harry stood behind Ron in disbelief. Neville! Neville Longbottom? he kept thinking in his head. It was the last person he would think of seeing Ginny draped all over…or any girl, for that matter.

"Right…" Ron muttered, almost as if to himself. "So, I'm just supposed to sit here and give you my blessing, am I?" he asked a little louder. "I can't believe you, Ginny! Pretending to be little miss innocent!"

"I haven't even done anything wrong, Ron!" she interrupted.

"And you! Taking advantage of a girl a year younger than you…are you trying to piss me off intentionally, Neville? Because if you are, it's working!"

"Ronald," they heard from behind Harry. "I suggest you listen to them before you judge them. What did we talk about in Hogsmeade?" Harry turned around to see Luna standing there. "Excuse me, Harry. I just needed to use the ladies' room. Now I must get back to my reading."

She slid gracefully past Harry and sat down next to Neville, picked up her Quibbler, and began reading it upside down, as was her natural tendency.

Harry's eyes bulged when he heard what Luna said to Ron - he had not heard about her excellent work on him in Hogsmeade from Hermione as of yet. He thought Ron was going to blow up at her, but then he did something rather unexpected. "Oh, hello to you, too, Luna. Er…good to see you. C'mon Harry, let's get going." He threw one last disdainful look at Ginny and Neville but started walking away, nonetheless.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked curiously.

"Shut up."

"Do you fancy Luna!"

"Shut up."

Harry grinned. He knew Ron had been acting strangely since they came back from Hogsmeade. He had been sending Pig off with letters every day - now Harry suspected he knew who they were being sent to.

"I wish these bloody train rides weren't so long," Ron complained - trying to change the subject, Harry thought. "They seem longer every year we go."

They didn't notice a compartment door slide open as they walked by it, until suddenly they heard, "There's the orphan! And Weaselby, too. But where's your little mudblood girlfriend, eh, Potter?"

Harry turned around, shaking with anger. "Watch your mouth, Malfoy. Don't you dare call her that!"

Malfoy's eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of Ron and Harry standing before him. Surprisingly, he was without Crabbe and Goyle. Harry briefly wondered where they had gotten to - they didn't seem to do anything without direct orders from Malfoy first. "So what if I don't, Potter? What then? You and Weasley going to take me on? I started my training this summer, Potter…you don't want to mess around with me."

Ron stepped forward in front of Harry. "What do you mean, your training? I suppose your father has been showing you a thing or two about the dark arts…that's why my father says your family is a bloody disgrace - purebloods or not."

"I'd be careful if I were you, Weasley. Just because your father is the minister now doesn't make you - or him, for that matter - untouchable. You don't even want to know the things that are planned."

Harry watched the two pairs of eyes flashing at each other. "Shove off, Malfoy. Your fight was with me, not him."

"You're right, Potter. However, I have more important things to tend to than worrying about the love affair between you and Granger. Though someday soon, that may not be the case. Watch yourself…and more importantly, you had better watch her." He slammed the door shut in Harry and Ron's faces.

The two boys stared incredulously at one another. "That…that complete…and utter…git!" Ron yelled.

Harry sighed. "It's no use, Ron. He's been trying to get the best of us for years - we're sixteen years old now - it's time to stop egging him on"

Ron looked at Harry as though there were a large, disgusting spider on his forehead. "What! Have you gone mental? What has having a girlfriend done to you?"

Harry didn't feel like telling Ron he was afraid to provoke Malfoy for reasons of his own. He feared not for his own safety, but for Hermione's, whom he placed above all others. "Just…you wouldn't understand, Ron. Forget it."

Harry stalked off in the direction of their compartment to find Hermione and see if she could provide him with any consolation and a better mood, but as soon as he saw her sitting on the seat reading innocently, he knew he couldn't tell her about what had happened. It would just cause her to worry, and he only wanted to make her happy.

It had turned into a rather dismal train ride, after all. His first inclination was to tell her what he found out about Ron, but thinking of him reminded him of their fight, which was due in part to how he felt about her. The last thing he wanted was for her to think she made him unhappy.

"Hey there, beautiful," he said as he plastered a huge, fake smile on his face.

Hermione pretended to look around the compartment they were in. "There's nobody here who answers to that name, Harry. Maybe you're in the wrong place."

He smiled again - for real, this time - and went to sit down next to her. "I'm still reading, Harry. Don't think you're going to get your way and make me stop, because it's not happening."

"That's okay," he replied. "I just wanted to be near you, is all." She grinned and gave him a kiss on the nose. He grabbed her hand gently and sat quietly stroking her fingers until it was time to change and get off the train, still with no Ron in sight.