Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of its' characters, names, or settings.

Chapter 7- Riding the Hogwarts Express

Thanks for the reviews…

nay and Hannah. And…

GEmory: Thanks a lot buddy! You wrote me some awesome reviews that actually gave me some ideas for how I am gonna improve the plot. Thanks a lot, and I'll try to update more often. I was just having a little writer's block but I'm back on track!


'UH OH!' thought Hermione, panicking. 'Just walk away!'

She stared to back away from him, but Harry, who finally recognized her, said in a shocked voice, "Hermione? Is that really you? Wow, you've changed so much… it's amazing!"

With all her effort, Hermione avoided eye contact with him and remained silent. Instead of looking up at him, she looked over his right shoulder in an attempt to avoid his eyes, but was met with the sight of the retreating back of a tall blonde guy who was leaving a compartment behind Harry.

'Who is that guy?' Hermione asked herself, as she started to walk past Harry to get to the mysterious boy who was making his way down the corridor. 'How come I've never seen him before? Maybe he's new here.'

Hermione's thoughts were shattered when she felt a hand grab her arm, stopping her from walking any further. Turning around, she remained avoiding eye contact.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Harry asked feeling annoyed. "Why are you ignoring me? What's your problem?"

Hermione felt a sudden rush of anger coursing through her blood. She furiously thought to herself, 'What's MY problem? He's actually asking me what MY problem is? How can he act like he did nothing wrong and that everything is the same between us? Oh, he has some nerve to even talk to me like that!'

Before Hermione could even think, she spat out, "GO TO HELL WHERE YOU AND RON BELONG!"

As she walked away, Harry was left feeling speechless and confused. However, when he suddenly felt Ginny linking her arm through his, turning and pulling him away, all thoughts of Hermione left him.


Hermione knew that she had to find him. She didn't know exactly why, but she thought that it was curiosity that forced her to want to find out who he was and why she hadn't seen him before. She felt like she needed to find out if he was new to Hogwarts or not. She didn't understand why she HAD to know everything, but that was Hemione for you, and she had long ago accepted it.

The loud whistle of the Hogwarts Express startled her, as noises of last minute boarding and farewells could be heard from outside on the station's platform.

As Hermione walked down the train corridor, it seemed like a lot more people took notice of her. Calls of "Hi Hermione!", "Looking good!", "It's good to see you again", and even "I've missed you so much!" all came as a surprise to her.

'Wow… I actually feel better that I'm not with Harry and Ron anymore,' Hermione thought happily to herself. 'I mean, now that I think about it, every time I was with Harry, people were too scared to talk to me. All they ever did was point and whisper. I feel like I'm so much more respected now. I wonder why that is. I'm still the same person, except a lot more independent now.'

But Hermione was just too modest and selfless to realize that people had always respected her because of her wonderful intelligence, kindness, and respect for everyone. She had helped almost every passenger on the train with some kind of schoolwork or problem, and she was well appreciated by the houses of Gryfinndor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.

She continued to walk in search for the blonde haired boy, searching through the rows of Hogwarts students that had just boarded the train. It took her a while before she finally realized that she had been searching for him for over 15 minutes now.

Sighing in defeat, she thought, 'Oh great! I've defiantly lost him. I'll just have to give up and look for him later. I might as well search for Luna & Neville now.'

As if on cue, Hermione whipped around when she heard the dreamy voice of Luna calling her from behind.

"Hermione! Is that you? Over here!"

Neville was Hermione's fellow Gryfinndor 6th year, and Luna was a Ravenclaw entering 5th year at Hogwarts. They were both standing outside an open compartment door waving her over. Hermione grinned at the sight of them as she made her way towards them. She gave both Luna and Neville a large hug before they entered the compartment together.

"Oh, it's so nice to see you guys again!" Hermione exclaimed as she set her trunk down on the rack. Holding Crookshanks in her arms, she walked over to the seats and plopped herself down in-between Neville and Luna.

"It's good to see you too," replied Luna. "How was your summer? Did you meet with Harry and Ron as usual?"

A dark look passed Hermione's usual cheerful face in response to this question. Catching this, Luna and Neville exchanged surprised looks. They both suddenly had a feeling that they knew exactly what was bothering her.

When she remained silent, Neville said quietly, "Hermione, it's okay. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to. Don't worry about it."

"Yah," Luna agreed nodding her head, which made her blonde curly locks bounce. "If you don't want to talk to us about Harry and Ron, then that's okay. You can tell us when you're ready. And you don't need them anyways. We've noticed that you look a lot happier without them."

Hermione, who couldn't help the feeling of gratitude that she now felt, replied, "Thanks so much you guys. I really appreciate it. I just don't think I can ever talk to them anymore."

However, the conversation soon turned a lot cheerful as the train chugged along through the land. The three of them talked about their summers and about what they were going to look forward to for the new school year. As they began to discuss the dress robes that appeared on their Hogwarts supplies list for this year, Hermione suddenly looked down at her watch. Realizing the time, she jumped up from her seat.

"Oh my gosh! I have to meet in the prefects' compartment. Oh dear! I also have to meet with the Head Boy! I'm so sorry you guys, but I have to leave. I'll be sure to talk to you later!"

And with that, Hermione rushed out of the compartment and raced down the corridor. She said to herself out loud, "Silly me! How could you forget? You're supposed to be Head Girl! You're supposed to be on time to the meetings and the duties! Do you even know what they're going to think about you now?"

However, she slowed down when she approached a closed compartment door with a golden plate nailed to it that read 'Prefects Only'. She opened the door slightly, and peeking her head through the door, she found that everyone was already seated and waiting for her.

Blushing slightly as she walked in, she said apologetically to the faces that smiled up at her, "Sorry for being late. I got held up."

"Oh, good day 'Mione!" Ron happily welcomed her.

However, even though he walked right up to her, Hermione kept her promise to herself and ignored him. Instead, she turned up her nose before setting off to sit beside a Ravenclaw prefect. Ron, who looked confused, followed her and asked, "'Mione, what's your problem?"

Feeling everyone's eyes on her, Hermione knew she had to say something in order for him to stop taking to her. She replied in a cold, dry voice, "I am NOT talking to you, so don't even bother trying. If I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut, unless you want to visit Madam Pomfry on your first day back!"

Looking confused, Ron said nothing and turned away.

'Serves him right,' Hermione thought, as the meeting resumed.

She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she was completely unaware of her mysterious blond haired boy sitting in the very same compartment. She was also unaware that he had watched the whole incident, and that he remained watching her with his piercing gray eyes.