We Belong Together

Chapter 2: Head Girl and Head Boy

Mrs. Weasley greeted them at the door, almost knocking Ron over in her attempt to reach Hermione.

"Dear! Hermione, dear! How are you? How was your summer? Are you hungry? I have dinner all ready." she said as she swept Hermione into a motherly hug.

"I'm fine, thank you Mrs. Weasley. My summer was brilliant, how are you? I'm famished though, can't wait for dinner!" replied Hermione as she watched Harry go through a painful hug by Mrs. Weasley.

"Well come on dears, go get washed up, set your things down in your rooms and we'll see you down in the kitchen soon." she said politely to Harry and Hermione, and then turning around, "Ron, Ginny, go get Fred and George and then set the table out in the backyard!" she snapped, while stalking off to the kitchen.

"Come on guys, let's go," said Harry turning around and heading up the staircase with Ron, Hermione and Ginny on toe. After settling their belongings in the appropriate rooms, and finding Fred and George, they all headed downstairs to help set the table.

"So what did you boys do this summer?" Hermione questioned Fred and George, seeing them huddled together at the back of the line-up.

"Oh, you know. Same ole, same ole. Managing in a joke shop isn't as easy as it may look-" said Fred.

"-Especially when you invent all the jokes yourself-" continued George.

"-But we manage-" smirked Fred.

"-And have fun too!" finished George as he looked at Fred and grinned, then said "So what did Miss Granger do? By the looks of it, you were out in the sun-

"No way! I would've thought you'd spend your whole summer indoors, locked up in a library somewhere, reading! I would never have guessed that you would like the sun!" mocked Fred with a raised eyebrow at Hermione.

"Well actually, I went to Greece if you must know. I had fun and I only touched a book a few couple of times." she said, but then seeing the faces of the twins she rushed on, "No really! I decided that it's my last year, and I need to be a little laid back. The war is over, Voldemort is dead and as much as I want to do something with my life, I also want to have fun this year and not be so up-tight."

"Well that's news! Nice to hear it 'Mione!" sighed George, trying to hold back a laugh at Hermione's hurried explanation. He believed her, but it was hard and he still found it funny. So did everyone else, though they succeeded in stifling their giggles.

After they were all seated outside and the food was brought out, Hermione noticed two extra unoccupied places at the table, but figured that it was probably Charlie and Bill joining them, like they did back in her fourth year. She decided to ask but just as she opened her mouth, 2 loud pops were heard as two figures appeared beside Fred and George. They were women and they appeared to be about the same age as the twins – 19 on the verge of 20. They looked almost identical and Hermione figured that they were twins. One of them had dark brown hair highlighted with electric blue that hung at shoulder-length and blue eyes to match her hair streaks. She wore black baggy capris, a blue tank top, and black sneakers. The other one had short, dark brown hair that was tied up in a messy pony-tail with some natural curls falling down over the side of her face. She had bangs that fell down to her eyebrows and her eyes matched those of her sister perfectly. She wore dark denim jeans and a red tank top that clung to her curvaceous figure along with red flip flops.

"Hey Brooke." said Fred walking over to the girl with blue streaks in her hair and kissed her on the cheek.

"Christina! Hey sweetie." said George as he walked over to the other girl and gave her a kiss on the cheek as well, before both girls walked away towards Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to greet them. When they returned, Fred and George introduced Brooke and 'Tina' to Harry and Hermione. After all the greetings took place, everyone dug into the delicious dinner set out before them.

'This is great… Being back with everyone. I missed them all so much. I really cannot believe this is our last year… no romance yet. I hope Ron is okay.' Thought Hermione. 'This is getting too hard. I need to tell them soon. I can't hold it inside me forever. They deserve to know. Soon…' as she ate, Hermione's mind wandered. She needed them to know. She was going to break down soon, she could feel it coming. It was too much emotion for one person. Too much of a burden for one person to carry alone. She needed her friends to be there for her, to help her, before she went insane, and she could feel insanity coming straight for her.

After dinner, everyone went to bed. They all needed to wake up early if they wanted to make it to platform 9 and ¾ on time, and find an empty compartment.

The next morning was extremely hectic. Just like every other first day of school. Hermione didn't have any time to settle down and let her mind wander to troublesome thoughts, she was too busy getting dressed, packing up all the last minute books, quills, robes and clothes she had lying around into her trunk and go down for breakfast.

As Ginny and her appeared downstairs in the kitchen, they found the rest of the family down there having cereal, eggs and bacon, toast and waffles. All but two boys, two best friends of hers. She ran back upstairs to their room and started yelling and shaking them to wake up.

"You're late! Wake up already! Ron, Harry, get up! Ron! Harry! RON AND HARRY GET UP THIS INSTANT!" she bellowed at the two of them.

"What the bloody hell are you on about now 'Mione?" snapped Ron, rubbing his eyes. He looked like a 5-year-old waking up in the middle of the night on Christmas trying to see Santa.

"What am I on about? How about that you two are an hour late in getting up and we're leaving in another hour and you still have to make sure you have everything, eat something and get ready so we can leave! That's what I'm on about, Ronald Weasley!" she yelled quickly. "You too Harry Potter! Now, GET UP!"

"Alright, alright, I'm up! Gees!" shouted Harry, getting up and putting on a shirt and jeans. Ron followed suit and they soon headed for the stairs, Hermione right behind them, fuming.

Once downstairs, they each grabbed a plate with eggs and bacon and started eating, Ron going back for seconds and thirds. Just as they were about to get up, an owl flew down and a letter landed right in front of Hermione. She quickly untied the parchment from the owl and before she could give it a treat or money it had already flown off again. Hermione tore the letter open and scanned it quickly, her eyes getting wider as she read each word.

"What-" Ron started.

"I'm Head Girl! Head Girl! Oh, this is absolutely brilliant! I'm so excited!" she screamed as she bolted up from the table, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley giving her hugs.

"That's great, 'Mione! I was wondering when that was going to arrive." mused Ginny as Ron and Harry nodded, each of them giving her a hug. "Does it say who the Head Boy is? I wonder…" continued Ginny.

"As long as it isn't Malfoy, I'll be fine. But can you imagine if it was? I'd kill him in a day… downright kill him!" Hermione said as everyone laughed at her remark. "But seriously, imagine… I'd have to live with the git! Oh, please Merlin don't let it be Malfoy!"

Half and hour later, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were standing in between platforms 9 and 10, having a normal conversation as they silently passed through the barrier allowing them onto platform 9 and ¾ without being by any of the muggles. The Golden Trio stood in awe before the Hogwarts Express, remembering the past 6 years, all the adventures, hardships, and fun. This was their last year, their second last ride on the train, and they couldn't believe it. They quickly snapped out of their trance when they saw Ginny staring at them, tapping her foot impatiently. But what did she have to worry about? She still had one more year after this one. They ran onto the train, found an empty compartment, loaded all their belongings inside and stuck their heads out the window to wave goodbye to Mrs. Weasley.

"Be careful! Don't get into trouble! Have fun and I'll see you next summer!" cried Mrs. Weasley as the train started moving. She kept waving, and so did they until the other was out of eye-shot.

Sitting back down in their compartment, Harry turned his attention to Ginny, who had been staring at him, her eyes sparkling again. He had a certain twinkle in his eyes too… there was a spark between them.

'They're in love' thought Hermione. 'I wonder if I'll ever find love again. After Ron…' she sighed heavily. She didn't want to remember their break-up. She had loved him, but they knew what they were doing was for the best. They didn't want to lose each other, and they didn't want their friendship ruined, so they had decided that breaking up was the best solution, and they were right. But Hermione still felt lonely, she missed the comfort of a boy, the feeling of being protected. Of course she was still safe, she had her best friends in the world surrounding her, but she didn't have a special someone. Someone to talk to for hours on end, someone to tell all her secrets and horrors to, someone to love. Love...

'Snap out of it, Hermione! Love isn't the only thing. You have great friends, a loving family… oh no… family…' she thought. She didn't want to think about her family either. It was too painful and she didn't want to remember them either. Sighing once again, she looked at her watch. 12:30pm. 'What time was the Head meeting again?' she wondered as she glanced at her parchment that held all the information of being Head Girl. 1:00pm. 'Great, you still have another half hour.'

Looking around, she noticed Ron wasn't in the compartment, and Harry and Ginny were making out, not having a care in the world about anyone seeing them. 'They look like wild rabbits going at it' she thought disgusted.

"Hey guys, not to umm… break up anything important but where did Ron disappear to? Not that I'm surprised. I wouldn't exactly like to see my younger sister and best friend in that particular position!" she said laughing. Harry was on top of Ginny, lips never leaving each other, with Ginny pulling on Harry's shirt trying to get him to come closer to her. Realizing what Hermione said, they sprang apart, embarrassed. Ginny was going as red as Ron's hair and Harry looked uncomfortable, scratching the back of his head, with a good 4 feet distance between them. Hermione started laughed even harder, if that was possible, as she rolled off the seat and onto the floor.

"Sorry guys, but you should have seen your faces with the mention of Ron's name!" she said trying to calm herself down, failing and having another laughing fit.

"Sorry 'Mione. We didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anything. Umm… Ron? I have no idea where he went. Probably to get some sweets from the trolley. I gave him a few Galleons incase he got hungry or something." Harry said as his cheeks turned pink.

"It's okay guys. I know you just can't keep your hands off each other." she replied smirking. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that my meeting is in 15 minutes, just so you wouldn't worry, but clearly you're in your own little world, so it's okay." She grinned widely. "Just tell Ron, so he knows. Okay, well, I have to go get changed now, so I'll talk to you guys later!" and with that, she stalked off to change into her school robes.

She appeared at the Head Compartment, fully dressed in her robes and with her shiny Head badge pinned to her chest, glistening in the sunlight streaking through the windows. The room was large. It was… huge. No. More than huge.

'This is bloody brilliant!' thought Hermione. 'It's twice the size of my room back home!' She stood there standing and looking around, in awe. The room was furnished extravagantly. The floors were hardwood and the big windows were draped in an off-white ruffle curtains that were being held together at each end of the window. There were two large couches at either end of the room, each surrounded by two smaller ones on either side, facing each other. The couches were of black leather and quite comfy. There was a coffee table in the centre of the two chairs, with a plush carpet underneath. There were racks of shelves along the ceiling for the luggage to be placed. The walls were wallpapered in dark red, green, blue and yellow stripes. Hermione was in shock. It was beautiful.

Just as she was about to sit on one of the leather couches, Professor McGonagall walked in swiftly and took a seat opposite Hermione.

"Hello, Granger. Glad to see that you are early. We'll just wait a few more minutes for the Head Boy to show up. Please, sit down dear." said Professor McGonagall professionally.

"Yes, professor. May I ask who theHead Boy is?" questioned Hermione, hoping that it wasn't Malfoy.

"Granger, so good to see you. May I answer your question? It's quite simple really, one word, two letters. Care to guess?" asked a drawling, sarcastic voice behind Hermione. Hermione knew that voice, and as it spoke, she froze solid. Her head turned around quickly, coming face to face with none other than Draco Malfoy himself. "Me." Malfoy continued simply.

'Egotistical git!' thought Hermione, fuming.

a/n - I know i know, it's really boring right now. The last chapter especially, sorry! Please do bear with me though, we have a long way to go and it's just the beginning. It'll get more interestng, TRUST ME! haha. anyhoo... please read and review. I'd much appreciate it. Thanks :)