Chapter 3 – An Unexpected Meeting
At last the Dursley's all left King's Cross station, all three of them laughing like maniacs at Harry's predicament.
The platform written on his ticket was not there. How was he supposed to get onto the train to go to his new school if he couldn't find it?
He thought to himself for a moment, and finally decided he should listen to see if anyone else was talking about the platform. He listened for a moment, and finally he heard a family, all with vivid red hair, all going on about the platform. He wondered if he should follow them to get to the platform, since to him, he believed that would be the easiest way to get on to the platform.
The first one of the family to go rushed at the barrier, and then was blocked from Harry's point of view by passing travelers, and he was gone. Harry could not believe his eyes.
Two more of the red haired children also performed the same vanishing act, and then there was nothing Harry could do but ask for help.
A chubby, kind faced woman told him to run at the barrier. That was all that was needed to get through the barrier on to the platform.
Hermione had already dressed in her new school robes, and was playing with her half of the heart shaped locket, and wondering if she would ever see Harry again.
She knew she was worried, but she wasn't quite sure if she would ever see Harry again.
"Have you seen a toad anywhere," asked a chubby little boy, who had a kind face. "Trevor's gone off on another adventure," he said, smiling sadly.
"I'm sorry, but I haven't," Hermione answered, "but I'll help you look for it.
Harry sat in a compartment at the back of the Hogwarts Express, completely alone, like he had been for his whole life, except for Hermione, and she was now farther away than ever, miles away, probably in the heart of London by now.
Harry watched as people walked by the compartment in little groups. They all seemed to have their friends, but Harry, like always, would be alone at his new school. He didn't know how he would be able to handle being away from Hermione for nine months, but he knew he could write to her.
All of a sudden, the compartment door opened, and a red haired boy asked him if he could sit down in the compartment, since everywhere else was full.
It felt almost like having a real friend that Harry agreed at once, and the two of them started talking, and a friendship was formed.
The red haired boy, who had introduced himself as Ron Weasley asked Harry about the locket piece, and Harry answered that his best friend had given it to him on their last day together before school.
"I take it, she is special to you then?" Ron asked bluntly.
"She is very dear to me, and if she weren't, would I be agonizing about whether or not I'll ever see her again?" Harry asked.
Hermione and Neville had checked in almost every compartment of the train, however they were not able to find Trevor. There was only one compartment left to check, and they were sure it had to be the one in which Trevor lay hidden.
All of a sudden Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. She saw there were two boys in the last compartment. One appeared to have flaming red hair, of which Hermione secretly disapproved of, and the other had their head down, but there was no mistaking that the other had messy hair. His hair's just like Harry's, she thought to herself. She was sure that he couldn't be here, simply because the Dursley's would never allow Harry to go to a school which taught magic, but all the same, Hermione, determined as she was, was going to help Neville.
"Excuse me… have you seen a toad- ?" she started after she opened the door to their compartment, and then she just stared. Sitting across from where she was standing was Harry. She couldn't mistake him for anyone else. He was the one to whom she had given her heart so long ago.
"Can we help you," the red haired boy asked, not noticing what was going on.
"Ron, this is Hermione." Harry stated. "She is my life, my best friend, my heart and soul.
"Oh, so this is the girl you were talking about earlier," Ron said, oblivious to everything that was going on. Harry and Hermione had locked eyes, and for them, they knew it was fate. How else could it have happened they both get a letter to attend the same school?
They hugged, and Hermione gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek, and Harry also did the same to Hermione.
They both knew that they were now truly inseparable, and held hands for the rest of the trip. The toad lay forgotten as Ron rambled on about Quidditch, but Harry and Hermione only had eyes for each other.
A while later, Hermione said to Ron, "Who are you?"
"I'm Ron Weasley, and why are you still here? Find that toad yet?
Hermione jumped as if she had just been scolded, and went off to help poor Neville, who was feeling lonely and unwanted in the corridor.
"That wasn't nice," Harry muttered, but Ron didn't notice, as he was now taking Harry through what the balls of Quidditch were, and what they were used for.
Hermione passed by the compartment a moment later, and upon seeing Harry, she smiled. She now knew he felt the same way about her as she did about him.
She asked him to join her in the corridor for a moment, and asked him to be her boyfriend.
Harry accepted at once, and that was all Hermione had needed. She fainted right into his arms.