The REAL Me!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to J.K. Rowling except my own copies of her books and movies!!! LOL!!!

Ch. 3 Old and New Friends

I had arrived on the platform about half an hour before the train left. I was already wearing my uniform. Changing on the train just didn't seem very appropriate. I loaded my trunk just like everyone else and decided to walk around the train a little bit. Nothing interested me. I found an empty compartment and took a seat. I pulled out a book that my dad had given me, he said it was my mother's favorite, and picked up where I had left off. It was ten minutes before the train left that people decided to show up. I was so nervous. As more and more people found themselves on the train I was almost in a state of panic. 'How is this supposed to work? I have never been so nervous in my life' I thought to myself.

Just then a short, stubby boy with huge ears had walked through the door. "Can I sit here?" he asked, "My Grandmother told me to sit as close to the front as possible and the other compartments this close are full." "Sure," I said thankful for someone to talk to, "I'm Hermione…ah…Granger." That was close. "Neville Longbottom" the boy replied. "If you don't mind me asking, why does your grandmother want you to sit at the front of the train?" His ears had gone a little red, "She thinks it is the safest place on the train. She worries to much about me."

"Is this your first time to Hogworts too?" I asked. I wanted to keep the conversation going. "Yep, I almost didn't get to come. My family thought I was a squib for the longest time." "A squib?" "Yea, you know, someone who has both magic parents but no magic themselves," I was starting to understand but was still a little confused so he continued, "It's the opposite of a muggle-born, a witch or wizard with muggles for parents." "Oh, right" There was a pause "Oh no! Trevor is gone" "Trevor? Whose Trevor?" I asked. "Trevor is my toad! Can you help me find him? Gran is going to kill me if I loose him again." "Er—sure. Don't panic, he probably hasn't gone that far"

So after we searched the compartment that we were in with no luck, the two of us got up and went in opposite directions to search other compartments. Neville went towards the front and I went towards the back for obvious reasons. I went to every compartment looking for him. The first one I went to held a few older students who were in what looked like a deep conversation. "Excuse me, have any of you seen a toad? There is a boy who has lost his." I asked. They all shock their heads and got back into their conversation.

The next room held a bunch of first year girls. Two of them were almost identical. When I had asked them they, thought I was looking for my toad and started to laugh at me. Apparently, owning a toad was "not in style." I left that compartment in a worse mood then when I had entered. 'Just the way to start off my first day!' I thought as I checked a few more compartments. There were a lot of people on the train and I was still nervous but I was also getting aggravated. How many times did I have to tell people it wasn't my toad?

I was thinking that I should have just stopped there. 'Maybe,' I thought, 'Neville has already found him. Oh, but I would feel awful if he hadn't. Alright just a few more and then I'll go back.' So I started towards the next compartment. When I got there I had opened the door and said with a sigh, "Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost his." I was showing how frustrated I was. I had my arms folded at my chest and I had rolled my eyes when I spoke.

When the three boys and the girl that were in the compartment started to answer is when I looked at them for the first time. There he was. My best friend, Draco Malfoy. I turned my head so it didn't look like I was staring. Dumbledore's words were running through my head, "If he ever recognizes you, you must bring him straight to me." 'Dumbledore is at the school; he isn't here. Maybe if I leave quickly he wont notice me.' I thought and started to leave.

I got a few feet away when a felt an arm pull me back and into a storage compartment. "Excuse me," the owner of the arm that held me back said, "What is your name." 'Oh, crap!' I thought, 'What do I do now? I guess I can tell him the truth and talk to Dumbledore later.' So with that in mind I answered. "Hermione."

He looked at me as if he was going to hurt me. "Very funny, who sent you?" 'What? What does he mean who sent me?' "I am afraid I don't know what you are talking about," That's it! I'll just play dumb. "Is this some kind of sick joke? And don't play dumb with me whatever your name is!" I knew that wasn't going to work. "But I already told you Draco, I am Hermione." Oops! "How do you know my name? I don't ever remember me telling you. Again I ask, who sent you?" There was only one thing I could do now, "Draco, its me."

Draco went whiter then he already was. He obviously was still clueless. I had no idea what to say. He was the first to speak in the awkward silence. "Why are you doing this? Hermione is not real. I don't know how you found out about her but the joke is over. You can tell however sent you that the damage they wanted is done." I was shocked. They told him I wasn't real. So that is what Dumbledore and my dad meant by, "When he finds out your real…" What could they have told him to make him believe that? I had to know.

I answered the best I could, "You must know more then one Hermione cause I am as real as they come. Who is the Hermione that you know of?" "What makes you think I would tell you? If you want to know, ask the person who sent you, cause they must know. I must say you look a lot like her; they are getting better." "First of all, I was not sent by anyone," My frustration was really starting to show, "So, if you wont tell me who Hermione is, I will just come to my own conclusion and use it against you." I know, that was very immature of me but I was only ten. That, and I knew that he was talking about me. "Fine," he said with anger starting to show in his eyes, "I tell you." He took a deep breath, assured me that if I told anyone it would be the last thing I ever did, and began his tale on the girl Hermione. "Well…er…Hermione was my…ah…my…my… myimaginaryfriend." "Your what?" I asked. I couldn't understand him. His words were running together.

"I said that she was my imaginary friend. There, does that make you happy? It was along time ago and I never wanted to believe that she wasn't real. One day she just left and my mother told me that she wasn't real so I shouldn't get too upset. The sad part was that my mother and my uncle played along with it. Every picture I had of her disappeared the day she did. She may not have been real, but to me, she was. She was my best friend, the only one I had. I have heard other people's stories about their imaginary friend but they all were different. Theirs' disappeared when they didn't need them anymore. I needed mine. I don't believe that she was fake at all. She was too real." He looked up and you could tell by the look on his face, that he felt like he said too much.

I couldn't help but laugh, "That's what the told you!" "Don't laugh or you you'll wish you had never been born," he said with a face that said he meant it, "My father would beat me for talking about her. He said 'Malfoys don't have an imagination' and the only way to get me to understand this was by beating her out of me. Do you think it is funny now?" I stopped laughing. He was beaten as a child because of me. 'Now what do I do?' I thought.

Again, he ended the silence, "Now, what is your name really?" 'Oh Lord help me!' I had no idea how he would react, 'Oh well, here it goes.' "I told you, my name is Hermione." 'Please believe me' "It must have been a coincidence that you had the same name." That was as close as an apology that he ever came to. Even though he had no reason to be sorry.

"Hang on, you still haven't told me how you know my name?" "Because Draco," I paused, "Its me. I am the Hermione that you grew up with." He almost hit the floor with shock. You could tell that he was battling with himself on whether or not to believe me. "Prove it." He said. "What?" "You heard me. If you are who you say you are, then prove it." "How?" "Well, lets see, how about you tell me your whole name." "Hemione Lillian Snape." There was another long pause. He kept staring at me. "Look Draco, you have got to believe me. I don't know what else to do to prove it." "Why?" was all he said, or asked rather.

I had no idea what he meant by "Why?" so I answered the best I could, "You have to believe me because I…." I was cut off. "I do believe you are who you say you are but why, after all these years, have you decide to show your face now? Why was I told that you did not excised? Why did you leave me?"

I told him, what my father told me. Which, of course, had nothing to do with Voldomort being my father. I didn't know at that point in time. I told him how his father wanted me killed because I was a Potter, and how his father didn't know that my mother was a Potter at first and that is why I lived with them. I told him how his father's memory was altered and about me being given up for adoption. I told him about how just recently I had been brought back into this world. I told him how he had to promise not to tell anyone, and how my life would be in danger if any of the old death eaters were to find out. I told him that my name was changed also. I ended with telling him how sorry I was but that I couldn't control it. I told him that I hoped one day we would be friends again.

At that, he looked into my eyes for the first time. "Don't worry Granger, I wont tell anyone about your little secret. As for us being friends again…I hate you too much right now. How come Uncle Sev couldn't alter my memory like my father? I wouldn't have had to hurt so much both emotionally and physically. That pain was all your fault."

I was almost in tears. He was being a little selfish but he had a point. He might have been overreacting just a little, but now that I think about it, he was only eleven. I think he took the news very well for his age. I guess living with his father he had to grow up fast. Part of me was glad to have left his house. Who knows what would have happened to me if I had stayed? "Please just pretend you don't know me. That is all I ask of you." He had said as he turned around and walked back to his compartment to join his friends. I stood there and watched him leave. 'I don't need him.' I thought to myself and I straightened up and continued on my search for Trevor the toad.