Gray

The rain was still falling, the sky a beautiful yet dark mosaic of grays. Harry and Ron were still in the Quidditch shop, fawning over broomsticks, and accessories that they wanted but knew that they didn't need. Hermione was wandering on her own, through Diagon Alley, finishing her book purchases. She had arrived after the two of them, and still had to buy most of the things on her list. She hadn't told them yet. She knew for a fact that Harry wasn't Head Boy. Ron seemed to be carefully avoiding the subject; perhaps Harry was still feeling let down. His father had been Head Boy…It didn't really come as a shock to Hermione, that she was Head Girl. It was rather a given. She had worked hard for it, and she had succeeded. Yet, there was still an unfulfilled feeling within her. Perhaps because her parents couldn't really understand the extent of it. Sure, they understood that Head Girl was a wonderful accomplishment, yet there was so much that they couldn't be a part of. But this was her last year, and then, well she wasn't sure. She was sure that she wanted to live life as a witch, but there was a nagging sense of guilt, that after Hogwarts, she would be leaving her parents for good. There wouldn't be much going back. She wasn't sure that she wanted to be an auror, healing never really appealed to her. But life would be incredibly unfulfilling if she didn't stick with magic…

With a sigh, she realized that she had been wandering aimlessly, forgetting the task at hand. The weather seemed to match her confusion, her excitement, yet her sadness, all in one massive downpour. Normally, she would have cast a charm to protect her from the rain, but she rather felt like letting it wash over her. If only all of the stress of seventh year could just wash over her in the same way.

She looked back at her list; she had finished buying everything, except for dress robes. She still had a few hours; she could pick up her robes, and then go browse the bookstore before meeting Harry and Ron again.

Madam Malkin's was a rather tiny looking shop from the outside, but behind the school robes section, was a wide expanse of racks filled with dress robes, and other sorts of robes in every color, fabric, cut, and style introduced to wizardry. Hermione wasn't the type of girl to obsess over clothes, but even she liked to shop occasionally. Yet again, she felt a wave of sadness hit her. She couldn't really ask her mother to come and shop with her. Shaking her head with frustration over her muddled emotions, she went over to the first rack. She wrinkled her nose slightly, the robes were all gaudy and bright…and far too expensive. Most of the robes were also far too big. Hermione was 16 (a bit young, but her birthday was fast approaching), but she was still small. Her stature was similar to her mother's, in that she was petite, only 5'3", and her structure was similar to her father's, very slender. Finding robes that didn't hang off her figure was a feat in itself. After walking around for a bit, a flash of grey caught her eye. It was sticking out amidst a rack of green robes. Pulling it out, she gave a small smile of satisfaction. Perfect. The dress was slim, and a blend of grays (that had to be magical), that shimmered with every movement. It wasn't shiny, just shimmery. The dress had a bateau neck, showing only an inch of her collarbone (Hermione despised girls who wore overtly low necklines; besides it wasn't as though she had anything to show for a low neckline). The back however was cut into a V, going halfway down her back, but she could live with that. Each sleeve was slit up to the elbow where a silver tie tied it together, and then flowed out in a large bell. Having paid for the robe, Hermione checked her watch. Surprisingly, she only had 10 minutes before she had to meet Harry and Ron. So, she hastened back into the rain, towards the Leaky Cauldron.

Hermione fixed her collar, and the small burgundy ascot tie that the girls had to wear. She checked to make sure that her grey pleated skirt was smoothed down. Her stockings were neat, and her Oxford shoes were tied. She neatly folded her Hogwarts Robes into her bag, and brushed a few stray curls off her face. And then her treacherous mind reminded her that this was the last time that she would be preparing for school, and that her parents couldn't even enjoy it with her, due to new Ministry rulings. Muggles, even parents of muggle-borns were no longer allowed in any magical places, as they were still main targets of the Death Eaters, and Voldemort. Sometimes she really felt like going up to Cornelius Fudge, and giving him a nice kick in the rear end, perhaps followed up with an Impediment Jinx. However, she strongly suspected that this wasn't the sort of behavior that was becoming of a Head Girl. So she picked up her bag, and started pulling her trunk out of the door. She strongly hoped that no one was in the hallway; her uniform skirt was only so long….

As she stepped into the hallway, she felt a poke on each shoulder. Startled she straightened up, confused as she saw no one.

"Right behind you." Said a rather familiar voice.
"Fred, George! What are you doing here!"
"Well, its Ickle Ronniekins' last train ride to school, of course. Couldn't miss that!"
"They mean that they're looking for a place to open up here, for their joke shop!" Harry's amused voice piped up from the end of the hallway.
"Shh! Not so loud, Miss Perfect Head Girl might hear!"
Hermione shot a quick glance at Harry, but he didn't seem particularly perturbed. Maybe he is Head Boy?
"I'm not going to tell your mother…"
"Oh, all right then! Well you see…"
"Fred, Harry just about summed it all up, now move so we can take her trunk downstairs!" Ron's voice piped up near Harry, as he rubbed the back of his head, his red hair already quite mussed up.
"Hey, I'm perfectly capable of carrying a trunk!"
All four of them looked at her, each of them roughly 8 to 12 inches taller than her. She looked down at her feet.
"Well, I am!"
"We didn't say that you aren't…" Fred muttered with laughing eyes.
"Ugh, just take the trunk downstairs", with a roll of her eyes, she followed with Ron and Harry, as the twins carried the trunk downstairs, making exaggerated noises as to how heavy it was, and how charmingly strong they were.

After a hurried breakfast, Mr. Weasley flagged down the Knight Bus, and everyone piled in with their trunks. Again, Fred and George insisted upon carrying Hermione's trunk, and again she rolled her eyes but complied.

Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Harry took benches facing each other, while Fred and George went over what to say to their prospective landlord. Conversation between the four soon turned to the new DADA teacher. The DADA professor for the last year had seemingly disappeared.

"D'you think Tonks might teach DADA this year?" Ron queried.
"It is possible, she has been rather secretive about something…" Hermione answered thoughtfully.
She looked at both of them, and it suddenly struck her that they both were 17, and rather good-looking. Harry's hair was just as messy as ever, his bright green eyes changing shade with every emotion. He was taller now, but not quite as tall as Ron, who Hermione suspected was well over 6'. Ron had grown his red hair out a bit, and it hung in his eyes, in a rather adorable fashion. (Hermione suspected that he wished for other girls to find it adorable as well.) His eyes were strikingly blue, and he was still always ready to make a joke. Both were lean, but strong as any avid Quidditch-playing teenage boys ought to be.

In less than 5 minutes, the Bus had arrived at Kings' Cross Station, and they all hopped out with their trunks and bags.

"Well, I'm going to have to sit in the Head's Compartment" Hermione said, as she pinned on her badge.
"Aw, Hermione. Can't you skive off of your duties for once! We'll be so bored without you!"
Ginny laughed. "Actually Hermione's lucky she's leaving, she won't have to listen to you rant on about Quidditch! There's really only so much that a person can take."
Harry, pretending to ignore her, took the other end of the trunk, and helped Hermione shove it onto the train as the whistle blew, signaling that they had only 5 minutes until the train departed.
"I really do have to go find the compartment; I'll see you at the sorting!" Hermione waved and walked off, checking each car, for the words "Heads' Compartment" in gold lettering on the scarlet background of the car. She finally found it, at the very end, just as the whistle blew, signaling that the train was leaving. The wheels started to move, and she quickly grabbed onto the handrail and hopped into the car, just as the train began to pick up speed, and the doors began to close. She gave a small squeak and stepped back quickly, as the doors began to close on her fingers. Unfortunately, she had just stepped on the toe of a rather expensive looking shoe. Already at her limit of bad surprises (almost missing the train, having to jump on, and nearly losing an appendage weren't good surprises in her opinion), she turned around, ready to vent her frustration…

…When she realized that she had to look way up to do so. And, of course, who else but Malfoy to be the source of her proverbial last straw.

"And I was really hoping that we'd be able to leave you behind for once." His condescending remarks were matched with an equally condescending smirk, that made his otherwise attractive (she really didn't want to admit it, but it really was the truth) face seem rather cruel. Seventh year had apparently done him well as well. He had outgrown his chubby face, and gelled hair, and instead had a very angular face, with loose white-blond hair that rather resembled a very masculine Veela (Hermione would never, ever, not even under the influence of Firewhisky (not that she had had any) or Veritaserum admit this to anyone). However, she was not one to go weak at the knees for anything really (save giants that weren't very gentle), and he was no exception.

"Likewise, Malfoy. Wait…" Suddenly, a gleaming badge on the front of his shirt caught her eye, "You can't honestly be Head Boy!"

"Why else would I be in here?"
"Well…you're not really one to follow rules"
"Likewise" Hermione had the decency to look at least slightly abashed, as she rolled her eyes, and walked past him into the compartment. They sat opposite each other, and Hermione began to mentally go through the letter that she had received, stating that she was Head Girl. It mentioned that they had to take turns doing rounds of the train, and that every night, they had to do rounds of the school together.

Standing up, she said, "So, I suppose I'll take the first shift…" She trailed off, as the lights flickered and went off. She rolled her eyes, as she heard multiple girls shriek. "Honestly, it's just the lights…" Malfoy chuckled, genuinely, as he pictured her exasperated expression. Suddenly, the train gave a great lurch, and she gasped as she pitched forward, only to be caught by Malfoy, whose hands found themselves at her waist, holding her up. She carefully put a hand on the wall behind the seat, and sat down next to him, pulling her wand out of the pocket sown into her sleeve.
"Lumos" she whispered, followed by a rather small thanks, as she mentally cursed herself for getting into such a predicament.

"We should probably make sure that everyone's okay…" she started again, as the compartment door slid open, revealing two figures, shrouded in black, looking suspiciously like Death Eaters.

A chill gripped Hermione's heart, as she tightened her hand around her wand and leapt up again. Her reflexes kicked into gear, and she sent a Stunning Spell straight at the slightly shorter figure to the left. Her spell hit its mark, and the figure began to fall, but the one on the right caught the other. She raised her hand to strike again, when Malfoy grabbed her from behind; her tiny wrists captured by his larger hand. "Granger, as much as I'd love to see you expelled, look!" The hoods fell off, just as the lights flickered back on. The train lurched again, and this time everyone managed to hold their ground. Hermione followed her wand to the face of the taller individual, only to find that it was Professor Snape.

"I knew it, I knew-" Hermione trailed off again, as the she saw a flash of bright pink. This time both Malfoy and her chorused bewilderedly "Tonks?" As the picture of Snape holding someone up, ensuring that they didn't fall, slowly set in, and seeing that it was Tonks, Hermione really couldn't help herself. She snorted rather ungracefully, as a small smirk (that was rather reminiscent of a certain blond-haired grey-eyed jerk) graced her lips. As quickly as it appeared, she erased it from her face, and kept it carefully blank as she repocketed her wand.

Tonks quickly was up again and gave Hermione a rather exasperated look.
"Now what was that for?"
"You looked like-" Hermione glanced at Snape, and then at her shoes, "Never mind, I was wrong…Sorry."
"Well, now that you are done being a typical Gryffindor and randomly breaking rules, such as the specific one about attacking teachers; both of you can come join us as we check the train for students needing aid. The questions about what happened and why will be answered later."
"Thank you Professor" Malfoy replied with a sneering smile. Hermione rolled her eyes and proceeded out. As she passed Tonks, she gave her an apologetic smile, but also noticed that both Tonks and Snape looked rather worse for the wear. Shrugging, she continued outside as Malfoy passed her, to look after the students. She could hear Malfoy muttering about 'stupid blighters who ought to be able to look after themselves'. Shaking her head, she started knocking at the doors, ensuring that all of the children were alright. She was sure that Harry and Ron were already doing the same, without complaining, although they were only Prefects.

The train finally pulled into Hogsmeade Station, with the lights back on, and everyone calmed down at least a little. Hagrid led the first years to the boats, as the older students took the familiar path to the carriages. Hermione waved goodbye to her friends again as she made her way to the Head's Carriage. This routine seemed to be getting all too familiar. She sincerely hoped that it wasn't a prediction of the year to come. The year hadn't officially begun, and she already was seeing less and less of Harry and Ron. Harry's green eyes looked rather sad as he waved. Hermione cast her eyes downward, and her brown loose curls fell around her face.

The carriage was lined with plush grey velvet. Malfoy wasn't in the carriage yet, and so Hermione quickly sat down and stared out through the window. She was rather excited for the classes to begin, and especially to start learning everything in her NEWT level classes. The other carriages had already started to roll away, when Malfoy finally strolled leisurely into the carriage. He was smirking widely about something, and Hermione, frankly, didn't want to know what. Both eyed each other with glares as the carriage silently made its way to Hogwarts Castle.