Chapter Two:
Captivated
Outside the slightly dusty Hogwarts Express windows, the country pastures flew by, creating a mesmerizing blur of greens and browns. Harry watched for several moments before turning to Hermione and Ron who were settling down into the compartment.
"Can you believe it?" he smiled, though his voice was sad. "This is our last year. Ever."
"Well, if you say it like that," Hermione said, falling back on the seat next to Ron.
"But think about it." Harry sat on the bench across from them. "This will be the last year we have for the Great Feast. And for Christmas at Hogwarts."
"And for finding all the secret passages…"
"And visiting Hogsmeade…"
"And nicking food from the kitchens…"
"And seeing the ghosts…"
"And seeing our teachers…"
"Wait a second," Ron said with a wide grin on his face. "Our last year of Snape."
"And Filch."
"And McGonagall."
"And Snape."
"And Malfoy."
"And Snape."
"And Trelawney."
"And Snape!"
The three went on for several more minutes discussing things that they would both ache from the bottom of the heart for and dance with joy that they would finally be rid of.
"Anything from the trolley, dears?"
The kind trolley lady was standing in the aisle with her large assortment of treats that made Harry's mouth water.
"Oh, thank God. I need some Bertie Bott's," Ron said as his stomach growled. "Hermione, have you got a sickle on you?"
She nodded and got a box for herself too. "Getting anything, Harry?"
"Yes…" he said, searching his pockets for his wallet. "I just can't find my money…"
"Well, if you find it, dear, I'll be at the other compartments," the trolley lady said with a smile as she closed the door.
Harry was now on the ground, looking underneath the seats. "Damn it, where did it go?"
"Is it in your trunk?"
Harry glanced up at the heavy trunk on the shelf above. "It's not worth it. I'll just wait until the feast."
"Here," Hermione handed him a sickle. "Go get something. I heard your stomach growling as well."
"Thanks, Hermione," he smiled, taking it from her. "I owe you."
He opened the compartment door and looked to his left and saw the trolley two compartments down. Several Ravenclaws that looked to be around his year were buying some pumpkin pastries. He really just wanted a Chocolate Frog.
"You found your money, dear?" the trolley lady asked with a smile as she moved for him to reach for the sweets.
"Yes, ma'am," he replied, searching for the Chocolate Frogs.
He spotted the pile of purple boxes with gold lettering that the girls were currently taking from. Once their hands pulled back there was only one left. He smiled at his luck and reached for the box, but instead his hand landed on another smaller, softer hand.
"Oh, sorry." Harry looked up and saw a girl with blue-green eyes. Her long blonde hair was pulled up in a loose pony tail and several strands had fallen out and were pushing behind her ear. Harry didn't recognize her by name, but he had seen her in the halls several times. Hermione had pointed her out once or twice as one of the smartest witches at Hogwarts, which was probably why her face stuck in his mind. There were not very many people, witches or wizards, who were smarter than Hermione.
"You can have it," the girl said, blushing slightly, turning back to follow her friends and pulling her bag up over her shoulder.
"No, you had it first," Harry said, handing it to her. "I'll just have some—"
What it was that Harry was going to have some of instead was never heard because at that moment, the train gave an awfully large lurch. Loosing his balance, Harry fell flat on his back and heard several terrified screams along with another few people hit the floor. Trunks seemed to have fallen off the selves above in the compartments because there were many loud clunks from inside the doors.
The train seemed to be back on track now and continued chugging down the railway. Harry looked around him and saw spilt boxes of Bertie Bott's, Drooble's Gum, and Ice Mice, but also several books, a quill, a smashed bottle of ink, and a compact. It wasn't until Harry stood up that he realized that the Chocolate Frog girl's bag had spilt its contents onto the floor when the train had lurched.
He began to pick up the thinks that he saw, muttered "Reparo!" at the broken bottle of dark green ink, and turned to hand them to the girl. She was kneeling on the floor gathering several sheets of worn paper with notes on them, the blush creeping up her face. He knelt next to her and handed her the things that he had found.
"Here. These are yours?" he asked gently.
"Oh, yeah. Thanks. You didn't have to…" she trailed off, taking them from him, not quite meeting his eyes.
"You're welcome," Harry said, wishing that she would look at him. For the split second that she had looked at him when he held her hand over the Chocolate Frog, he felt something wash over him, even stronger than it had when he had looked at Cho or even Ginny.
"That damn train," the trolley lady said, as she picked herself up. "Got to clean this up now…"
"Wait," the girl said, straightening up. "Tersus," she pointed her wand at the trolley cart which was on its side. The cart gave a small shudder and then popped right up. The unopened candy jumped back onto the cart, while the spilt candy disappeared from sight. "Handy little spell," she smiled, catching Harry's eye for a second before she continued picking up her belongings.
He looked around for anything else to give to her, hoping that he could catch her eye again. He groped around on the floor and then he did a double take as he spotted something.
"How the bloody hell did this get out here?" he wondered to himself, as he picked up his wallet.
Harry stood and turned to try and talk to the girl again, but to his disappointment, she had already left.
"Do you still want anything, dear?" the trolley lady asked, rubbing her arm with a small scowl.
"No, ma'am," Harry said, trying to crane his neck to look into the different compartments. "No, I'm alright."
He turned and headed back to his compartment.
"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked when he came back. "Did anything fall on you?"
"No, but the trolley cart fell over. What's wrong with Ron?" he asked glancing at his friend whose eyes were screwed up in pain.
"He's hurt his foot. My trunk fell on it," she added in a sheepish tone.
"It wouldn't hurt so bad if girls didn't pack so many bloody things," Ron said, pulling his foot up to him, rocking back and forth.
"Oh shush," she said, blushing more. "It would have hurt anyway."
Harry's mind had temporally left the compartment and had followed the blonde girl into her compartment. He was sitting in with her and her friends, and he had just told a rather funny joke that they were all laughing at. She was laughing the hardest, though not an obnoxious, loud laugh. Her long hair fell from her shoulders as she put a hand to his chest. His arm was around her shoulders—
"Harry, are you quite sure you're alright? You look flushed."
He jerked himself out of his daydream to find Hermione looking at him with her eyebrow raised.
"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I'm fine."
Hermione looked as if she didn't believe him, but turned from him anyways with one of those all-knowing expressions. She would corner him later and drag it out of him. That was Hermione's specialty.
The rest of the train ride was uneventful. It was just filled with talking, laughing, and enjoying being together again.
Parvati Patil knocked on the compartment door earlier to tell them that they should change their robes as they were almost there. Hermione excused herself when she had pulled out her robes to change with the other Gryffindor seventh year girls while Ron and Harry changed in their compartment. Neville Longbottom came in several minutes later, followed shortly by Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.
The train finally pulled to a stop, and after collecting their things, the loud, chattering boys unloaded rather unorganized from the train.
"Bloody hell, it's great to be back here," Seamus sighed as picked up his trunk and loaded it into a carriage. "Shame it's our last year."
"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked anxiously, standing on his toes, making himself even taller than normal to look for her.
"We'll meet her when we get to the castle," Harry said. "And if you keep going that way, you're going to bump into the Thestral."
Ron gave a small yelp and jumped back from the creature that he was about five inches from. Harry pushed him into the carriage with Neville, while Seamus and Dean took another.
After about ten minutes, the outline of the Hogwarts castle could be seen through the misty fog in the cool night as the carriages approached. Harry couldn't help but smile and feel as though he was coming home for the last time.
A/N: Ok, so there were no reviews for the first chapter. It's partly my fault because I'm new with this whole way of uploading stories. But I mean, if you read it… leave a review. You know as much as I do that authors thrive on reviews. Say anything. Let me know what's going through your mind. Things pick up even more in the next few chapters. If you want to see them, review.
