Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, except the OC that comes in here pretty soon. Don't sue me, because all you will get is rummages in pockets seventeen cents and a staple.
A/N: This chapter was kind of difficult for me (I'm not very good at writing dialogue.), so please forgive me. Believe me, the story will pick up here in the next few chapters. The story is nowhere near done! With that...here we go!
Chapter 8
The big day had finally arrived! The trio of friends was going back to Hogwarts at last for their sixth year. After everyone had safely made it through the barrier at King's Cross train station onto platform 9 3/4, all of the students bid a quick farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Weasely. After a long search, they found an empty compartment near the back of the train. Of course, Harry and Hermione sat together on one side of the three-seat bench, and Ron and Ginny sat on the other side. They were finally settling into the compartment when someone knocked on the door. Luna Lovegood's head appeared in the doorway.
"Hello Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny. I don't suppose that there's a free seat in there anywhere? Everywhere else is full"
Harry glanced at the others before nodding and saying "Sure Luna. You're welcome to sit in here with us. Make yourself at home!"
With that, Luna grinned, flopped down next to Ginny, near the door, tucked her wand behind her ear for safekeeping, and opened a beat-up copy of "The Quibbler" (upside down of course) to a random page, seeming to be immersed in it immediately. (A/N: I know that that is from OotP, but I just love that image in my head)
"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Hermione to no one in particular as soon as the train had left. "I totally forgot that Ron and I are supposed to meet with the rest of the prefects in the front compartment. I'm sure it won't take very long, but we're already late. Let's go Ron!" She left Harry stunned as she and Ron hurriedly left the cabin, headed to the front of the train.
Seeing as Luna was still absorbed in her newspaper, Harry decided to try to start up a conversation with Ginny, who was absently staring out the window. He cleared his throat and said, "So, Ginny, er, what's going on in your life? Anything interesting happen this summer?"
She blinked. "Umm, there's not really much going on. I haven't been at home a lot. I spent most of the summer with my boyfriend and his family. You remember Ernie Macmillan, don't you?" She waited until Harry nodded. "Well, he wanted his parents to get to know me, so he invited me along with them on vacation. And guess what!? We ended up driving through Romania for some odd reason, and Ernie started asking about Charlie and what he did, and his parents picked up on it. So they had me owl Charlie, and after some finessing, we met up with him at his camp and we got to see one of the dragons that his group had captured!"
Harry's eyes widened. "Wow that really sounds like a lot of fun!"
Ginny grinned. "Oh it was! We really had a lot of fun on vacation. But look at me, just talking about myself! I bet I know what you want me to tell you about. You want to know about Ron, don't you?"
"Well, I was kinda figuring that since you're his sister and all, you would know how he feels about, um, Hermione and I." he said guiltily, glancing at Luna, who seemed to be taking no notice of their conversation.
"Well, Ron and I had our share of heart-to-hearts while we were all staying at Grimmauld Place. For a while they were just about Ernie and I... don't look at me like that, Ron can play the big brother role when he wants to, but after he kind of awkwardly found out about you and Hermione, the subject of our talks shifted a little."
Harry put his hand up. "I know I want to hear the whole story, and I'm sorry Ginny, but since I don't exactly know how long it's going to be before they get back from the prefect meeting, could you just tell me how Ron really feels about Hermione and me?"
"Whoa that was kind of harsh!" came a voice from the corner of the cabin. Harry and Ginny turned to see that Luna had spoken from behind her copy of "The Quibbler". "But continue, don't let me butt in. I won't tell."
The two just shook their heads and kept going. "Well Harry, if that is really that important to you, I guess I'll just tell you. Ron was kind of grossed out at first by you two, but now he's OK with it as far as I can tell. But the thing that he keeps saying is that all of the PDA action makes him really feel like a third wheel."
"Yeah, I was kind of getting that from him whenever..." Harry's words abruptly cut off as the compartment door slid open and the two prefects returned.
"Hey guys, hope we didn't miss anything important." Ron said. They took their seats again. Luna, having finally put her newspaper away, challenged Ron to a game of exploding snap, and all of the others started taking sides, and then putting down wagers of Chocolate Frogs one the kindly witch with the cart came by.
Once the game was finished (Ron lost horribly, but didn't seem too disappointed about it, as he and Luna were now immersed deep in a conversation about 'that dratted Umbridge woman'), everyone settled down to their Chocolate Frogs. As Harry opened his, he noticed that the card was one that he hadn't seen before. On it was an older witch with long, straight, white hair and the light blue eyes. "Hey, Ron, Hermione, look at this. I've never seen her before."
Hermione took the card and read what was on the back aloud. "Jennifer Timpton is quite possibly one of the most influential witches of recent history. Not normally known for her work, she single-handedly tracked the movements of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during his uprising and the war that ensued. Ms. Timpton, now retired from her previous profession, is now pursuing her dream to inform people about the threat from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Everyone looked stunned. "Wow Harry did you ever hear about her from any of the members of the Order?"
Harry shook his head, but he didn't have time to say anything more as the train was slowing down. They had arrived.
A/N: This chapter was kind of difficult for me (I'm not very good at writing dialogue.), so please forgive me. Believe me, the story will pick up here in the next few chapters. The story is nowhere near done! With that...here we go!
Chapter 8
The big day had finally arrived! The trio of friends was going back to Hogwarts at last for their sixth year. After everyone had safely made it through the barrier at King's Cross train station onto platform 9 3/4, all of the students bid a quick farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Weasely. After a long search, they found an empty compartment near the back of the train. Of course, Harry and Hermione sat together on one side of the three-seat bench, and Ron and Ginny sat on the other side. They were finally settling into the compartment when someone knocked on the door. Luna Lovegood's head appeared in the doorway.
"Hello Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny. I don't suppose that there's a free seat in there anywhere? Everywhere else is full"
Harry glanced at the others before nodding and saying "Sure Luna. You're welcome to sit in here with us. Make yourself at home!"
With that, Luna grinned, flopped down next to Ginny, near the door, tucked her wand behind her ear for safekeeping, and opened a beat-up copy of "The Quibbler" (upside down of course) to a random page, seeming to be immersed in it immediately. (A/N: I know that that is from OotP, but I just love that image in my head)
"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Hermione to no one in particular as soon as the train had left. "I totally forgot that Ron and I are supposed to meet with the rest of the prefects in the front compartment. I'm sure it won't take very long, but we're already late. Let's go Ron!" She left Harry stunned as she and Ron hurriedly left the cabin, headed to the front of the train.
Seeing as Luna was still absorbed in her newspaper, Harry decided to try to start up a conversation with Ginny, who was absently staring out the window. He cleared his throat and said, "So, Ginny, er, what's going on in your life? Anything interesting happen this summer?"
She blinked. "Umm, there's not really much going on. I haven't been at home a lot. I spent most of the summer with my boyfriend and his family. You remember Ernie Macmillan, don't you?" She waited until Harry nodded. "Well, he wanted his parents to get to know me, so he invited me along with them on vacation. And guess what!? We ended up driving through Romania for some odd reason, and Ernie started asking about Charlie and what he did, and his parents picked up on it. So they had me owl Charlie, and after some finessing, we met up with him at his camp and we got to see one of the dragons that his group had captured!"
Harry's eyes widened. "Wow that really sounds like a lot of fun!"
Ginny grinned. "Oh it was! We really had a lot of fun on vacation. But look at me, just talking about myself! I bet I know what you want me to tell you about. You want to know about Ron, don't you?"
"Well, I was kinda figuring that since you're his sister and all, you would know how he feels about, um, Hermione and I." he said guiltily, glancing at Luna, who seemed to be taking no notice of their conversation.
"Well, Ron and I had our share of heart-to-hearts while we were all staying at Grimmauld Place. For a while they were just about Ernie and I... don't look at me like that, Ron can play the big brother role when he wants to, but after he kind of awkwardly found out about you and Hermione, the subject of our talks shifted a little."
Harry put his hand up. "I know I want to hear the whole story, and I'm sorry Ginny, but since I don't exactly know how long it's going to be before they get back from the prefect meeting, could you just tell me how Ron really feels about Hermione and me?"
"Whoa that was kind of harsh!" came a voice from the corner of the cabin. Harry and Ginny turned to see that Luna had spoken from behind her copy of "The Quibbler". "But continue, don't let me butt in. I won't tell."
The two just shook their heads and kept going. "Well Harry, if that is really that important to you, I guess I'll just tell you. Ron was kind of grossed out at first by you two, but now he's OK with it as far as I can tell. But the thing that he keeps saying is that all of the PDA action makes him really feel like a third wheel."
"Yeah, I was kind of getting that from him whenever..." Harry's words abruptly cut off as the compartment door slid open and the two prefects returned.
"Hey guys, hope we didn't miss anything important." Ron said. They took their seats again. Luna, having finally put her newspaper away, challenged Ron to a game of exploding snap, and all of the others started taking sides, and then putting down wagers of Chocolate Frogs one the kindly witch with the cart came by.
Once the game was finished (Ron lost horribly, but didn't seem too disappointed about it, as he and Luna were now immersed deep in a conversation about 'that dratted Umbridge woman'), everyone settled down to their Chocolate Frogs. As Harry opened his, he noticed that the card was one that he hadn't seen before. On it was an older witch with long, straight, white hair and the light blue eyes. "Hey, Ron, Hermione, look at this. I've never seen her before."
Hermione took the card and read what was on the back aloud. "Jennifer Timpton is quite possibly one of the most influential witches of recent history. Not normally known for her work, she single-handedly tracked the movements of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during his uprising and the war that ensued. Ms. Timpton, now retired from her previous profession, is now pursuing her dream to inform people about the threat from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Everyone looked stunned. "Wow Harry did you ever hear about her from any of the members of the Order?"
Harry shook his head, but he didn't have time to say anything more as the train was slowing down. They had arrived.