Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to JK Rowling. Either that, or you're hallucinating. Or it's déjà vu. Because everything else is mine. Mine. MIIINE. cackles madly
A/N: Thank you to my beautiful betas: Amanda (The former Lady Cyllan), Nicole (who remains anonymous), and Julia (whose pen name I am unaware of)! Any grammar mistakes, rambling, awful wording, and spelling errors are completely my fault.
Chapter Three: Kings Cross
Hermione leaned against her upright trunk, which was embellished in gold and maroon, and subconsciously fiddled with the buttons on her new, bleached jean jacket she'd acquired two weeks ago on vacation in Wyoming with her parents. She was overjoyed when she found it was the same color as her white jean pants, and immediately paired the two together. She instinctively checked her pocket to make sure her head-girl badge was still there, not realizing that it was the twelfth time she'd done so in the past three minutes.
Her eyes strained as she tried to find her friends in the mass of students eager to get on the train, and their parents who didn't want to let them go. One woman was sobbing as her eleven-year-old blushing daughter boarded the train for her first year at the school. She shook her head slightly and told herself that she'd go over and help out if the woman didn't stop in a few minutes. Then, as her eyes were once again scanning the crowd, she thought she'd seen a tuff of familiar messy, black hair, but when she blinked he was gone. She squinted her eyes, but she couldn't find him again. Sighing, she leaned back onto the trunk and began fiddling with her buttons again.
The minutes ticked by slowly, and Hermione began to worry. What if the two of them missed the train again? She shuddered slightly as she remembered second year… oh, how on Earth could the two of them have been so stupid? Well, she could see Ron overlooking things, with his usual optimistic view and incomplete understanding of how things worked and the rules behind them… Oh, the rules. Why didn't they get that concept? Harry, on the other hand, why did he always agree to these schemes of Ron's? He ought to be the one holding him back. If only she'd been there…
Hermione was ripped from her thoughts as she saw a mass of messy black hair step through the brick wall. She blinked. Yes, he was still there this time… but the boy- no, he wasn't a boy any longer- the man- must've been six feet tall! That couldn't be Harry… but with another glance, she saw the glasses, the attempt at hiding the scar, the way he carried himself, and corrected herself, smiling broadly. It was definitely Harry.
She jumped up and started running towards him, her smile illuminating her face and her eyes dancing with joy as she raced towards her best friend. The crowd before her parted as they saw her racing across the platform. They looked on first in confusion, and then annoyance, but when they saw her final destination- the tall boy with messy hair- small smiles played upon their lips as if they shared a secret.
Harry was trying to calm his snowy owl, Hedwig, when sudden motion caught his eye. He looked up just in time to see a fury of wavy brown hair in white clothes come barreling toward him. As she got closer he recognized the smile and bright eyes, and his face immediately reflected his friend's emotions.
"Hermione!" He greeted, and as she collided with him he swept her into a big hug and spun her around in a complete circle, lifting her feet off the ground. Hermione laughed as she was spun in the air, and hugged him tightly.
"Harry! Oh, Harry, it's so good to see you! You have no idea how much I'd missed you these past weeks while I was on holiday!" Hermione and Harry had been sending Hedwig back and forth like crazy over the summer, and had become so much tighter, strengthening their friendship through secrets, dreams, hopes, and stories of the past. They had started a game where each person had to say one thing about themselves that the other didn't know, and an explanation of some sort behind it. Of course, if the other person sent you something you already knew, you had to send two things back to make up for it. It started out with simple things like favorite ice cream flavours, but turned into something much greater. Now it wasn't just Harry meeting her at the station, but a whole new person.
"I missed you, too, Hermione, so much."
"You've grown way too much, Harry."
"I have?" Harry asked, as if growing were a bad thing.
"Yes," Hermione said, with a small smile on her face. "It'll be much harder to scold you two when you're that much taller than I am."
Harry laughed at the comment. That was Hermione for you. "And you! You've done some growing, too."
"Not enough, apparently," the head girl joked, looking at their height difference.
"You managed to tame your hair, though," Harry said, picking up a strand.
"Oh, boys," Hermione let out a laugh. "You hadn't noticed when, at the end of the year, it started to stop frizzing up so much. Now all it takes is a blow-dryer, some product, and a styling brush, and I'm good to go." Of course, Harry didn't understand much of that, but smiled all the same.
"How were the Dursleys?" Hermione asked in more of a parental tone than anything. She didn't like the Dursleys with the way they'd treated Harry. She learned a lot about them over the summer with the game of hers and Harry's.
"Not too bad, they're more leaving me on my own now. You know I got that job at the bookstore, right?"
"Yes," Hermione affirmed, "Did it go well?"
"Yeah. Great pay, too."
"Any word from Dumbledore?" She asked. She hadn't heard anything, but that didn't mean much, seeing as she wasn't going to be the one fighting off Voldemort in the future.
"No, no," Harry shook his head, "It's quite weird, he usually owls me once a month at least. Must be something big going on."
"Wouldn't be surprised," Hermione commented.
She opened her mouth to say something else, but quickly shut it. Needless to say, she did a very good impression of fish-out-of-water. Harry saw her gaze over his shoulder at the same time he heard a flurry of squawks and yells, and turned to look, smiling at what he saw.
Ron and Ginny had just tumbled out of the wall, the last of the Weasley family to go to Hogwarts, and Ron's owl, Pidwidgeon, had decided to cling to Ron with his toes and try to bring him with as he flew towards the ceiling. Being small as he was, all he was capable of doing was making a commotion. Ginny, too, seemed to be having pet troubles. A familiar orange tabby cat was clinging to the front of Gin's pale green coat, hissing at the disillusioned owl.
Hermione and Harry had gone to Diagon Alley this summer in order to pick up the tabby at a pet shop. The cat was very nice, tamed, and could follow orders if you used the right words. She was unusually playful and made for a great companion for Ginny while she was stuck in the Burrow with all her brothers. The only hitch was that the cat, Kala, was overly protective of her mistress, and saw even the flurry of wings known as Pidwidgeon to be a threat.
Ron managed to get a hold on Pidwidgeon, who stopped his flapping and started sulking as he was unceremoniously stuffed into the cage he'd apparently broken out of. The redheads both let out sighs of relief and nervous smiles as they calmed their pets down and moved from the entryway to the platform.
Harry glanced down at Hermione, and stepped back as she broke into another run. Thankfully, there weren't any crowds in the way this time, since they were already so close to the entrance. He smiled as she first attacked Ron, sending Pidwidgeon into another flapping session, then Ginny, who was slightly more prepared and had let Kala down before she could get squashed in the greeting. Harry could only guess at what Hermione was telling them before she dragged them away towards him.
"Harry!" Ginny called as she saw him, waving furiously.
Harry smiled broadly as she came towards him before dumping her things on the floor and enveloping him in a huge hug.
"Hope the Dursleys weren't too bad," Ginny said in that same caring voice Hermione had used moments ago.
"Nope. They just ignore me mostly. It's kind of nice," Harry said with a small smile as she shook her head slightly. It was funny how girls all thought alike, he thought to himself.
"I don't like them."
"I don't think anyone does," he replied, earning a small laugh out of her.
"Hey, mate!" Ron said, arriving by Harry's side. "How were the hols?"
"Boring, of course," Harry said rolling his eyes. "At least I had Hedwig to send you guys letters."
"Come on, you three! Let's get on the train before all the compartments fill!" Hermione said, starting off towards the Hogwarts Express without them.
"Oi, Hermione!" Ron called, dragging his trunk. "Wait up!"
Harry and Ginny smiled at her brother's antics as he tried to balance everything and catch up with Hermione at the same time. As it turned out, he wasn't so good at multitasking. His trunk turned over in his haste, spilling half his things and leaving Ron in a state of momentary despair before Hermione flicked her wand and repacked it.
"I really ought to learn that spell," Ron muttered to himself before following Hermione onto the train.
"Well, this should be an interesting year," Harry thought as he heaved his trunk onto the train and turned around to help Ginny. Sparks emitted from his hand and his heart flip-flopped when his hand touched hers as he heaved the trunk aboard.
Meanwhile, Ginny was thinking the same thing as she detected a small blush on Harry's face at the physical contact. Yes, it would definitely be an interesting year. She could tell.
The two of them, having encountered a traffic jam in the train's hallway, had lost sight of their companions, and made a point of looking in each compartment to check if they were there. Halfway down the train, the two very tired students found their prey. Ron and Hermione were sitting with Neville and Luna in an otherwise empty booth. Harry opened the door and stuffed their trunks callously into the above compartment, quite sick of them and the space they managed to take up in the train's hallway.
"Hey Neville, hey Luna," Ginny said, which all-in-all was a much better greeting than the grunt Harry gave them while trying to fit all the trunks in along with the bird cages and other various things people thought they might need for the new year.
"Hello," Neville said at the same time as Luna, and they both immediately looked at each other and laughed nervously.
"Does anyone know who the head boy is?" Hermione asked, just remembering her current status.
"Oh!" Ron shouted, and, by taking everyone else by surprise, made them all jump slightly, although not one of them would later admit to it. He dug deeply into his pocket and pulled out a small package, wrapped in a scarlet colored velvety cloth.
He uncovered the cloth with a triumphant smile, his eyes foretold the pride and excitement before he could express the emotions in words as he unfolded the velvet covering, revealing the shining silver badge.
"Mum was so happy," he said, gazing fondly at the metal scrap that meant so much more.
"Oh Ron!" Hermione stood up and gave him the second hug of the day, turning him a faint shade of red that no one but Ginny seemed to notice. She, of course, had seen that shade appear on Ron's face many more times than the rest of them.
"This year will be so exciting!" Hermione let go of him and sat back down as she started rambling off the things that they could do as head girl and boy, and was just getting to the point of reminding him not to abuse his status as the door to their compartment opened.
"I see the Weasel and Mudblood both got their wishes. Pleased Mum, did it Weasel?" Draco said upon opening the door and seeing the flash of silver in Ron's hands. Although the trademark smirk was flittering on his face, he couldn't help the feeling of disappointment in himself, wishing he bore the badge that Ron was holding so fondly.
Ron glared at Draco and his lackeys, and seeing as Draco was waiting for a response, replied with a brisk "Yes".
Hermione watched the interaction, wand at the ready in the case that she'd get a reason to hex the boy into oblivion as they had at the end of fifth year. She noticed suddenly that Harry, Ginny, and Neville also had their wands out. Luna was looking up from another magazine, and Ron's eyes were filled with loathing as he anticipated the flurry of words that would no doubt hurt his pride again. They'd done nothing but that for the past six years, he had no reason to think that this would be a different case.
Seeing the circumstances, Draco surprised not only himself, but also the rest of the room, when he nodded his head and said, "Congratulations." He realized his mistake and wondered what could have brought it on, and quickly set upon redeeming himself and his pride.
"Not that it would be hard thing to do, pleasing your mum. After all, your father managed to do it."
With a whoosh of robes, Neville had stood up and whipped his wand out, pointing smack dab in the middle of Draco's face before any of them realized what had happened. Draco stiffened noticeably as he realized the wand in his face.
"Out." Neville spoke clearly and confidently. "Get out."
Draco took a small step back, and Neville quickly swung the door into his face. The compartment was silent at this outburst of confidence of Neville, and the only sound in the room was the quiet click that was amplified by the silence.
Neville lowered his wand, his back still turned to his friends.
"Did… did I just do that?" This time his voice lacked all confidence. He turned around to face the room, and upon seeing their faces, concluded that he must've. Either that or he'd suddenly sprouted a tail and a pair of ears. Running a hand through his hair, he assured himself he had neither.
Hermione was the first to break into a huge smile, and was quickly followed by Ginny and the rest of the cabin. Applause quickly filled the room, and died out as Neville turned pink.
"Great job, Neville," Harry said, clapping the disbelieving boy on the back.
"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron said ignoring the look he gained from Hermione for his choice of language.
As the room settled down into its usual noise level and occasional laughter, Hermione surveyed the scene. She couldn't help but notice the glances Ginny and Harry kept shooting each other, and the blush that crept quickly onto Harry's cheeks when Ginny caught him staring. Her gaze then drifted to Neville and Luna, who were in an intense conversation led by Luna on the predicaments a Red-Tailed Quibbin could cause, Neville drinking it all up. Her eyes finally rested on Ron, who was half listening to Harry and Ginny's quidditch conversation, half gazing at his badge. He didn't feel Hermione's eyes on him, and she was slightly glad. He had gotten over his long-term crush on her, as had she, and she didn't want him thinking she had another one on him. She cringed internally at the thought of him having another crush on some poor girl again this year. No, he was like a brother to her, as was Harry, despite their differences and yearly feuds.
She smiled at the thought of a new year, and recollected herself before sitting on the edge of her seat to join in the conversation and wait for the food trolley to make its way down the isle.
A/N: Once again, thank you to my betas. Also, thanks to my reviewers: Elise Bentwin, Krystal, and Whitedragoness. Please, if you've read this and you aren't one of the preceding people, pleasepleaseplease review! This is my first fic, and I want to know what you all think of it. Sorry about updating so late: I just got back from camp a couple of days ago, and haven't had much time to write. Chapter Four is ready, but Chapter Five at least has to be done before I post it. Wish me luck! Lots of Love:
.:The Scarlett Secret:.