Disclaimer: None of the characters, settings, etc. belong to me.
"So, excited for school, Hermione?" Oliver asked about a week before school started.
"Do you not know me at all? Of course I'm excited! I'm going to go to—" she cut her enthusiastic reply short when she realized what she had almost said, but recovered quickly. "I'm going to go to math happy. Surely I can't get horrible teachers four years in a row."
It wasn't saved quick enough to escape Oliver's notice. "Don't be too confident. That's a recipe for disaster. But you'll probably get a good one this year," he said, while wondering if her almost slip-up had anything to do with Hogwarts.
"I thought I was the one who was supposed to tell you not to be too confident? Remember the soccer game?" She asked, referring to the one game that summer in which Oliver had gotten hurt. Coincidentally, that was also the only game Hermione hadn't told him not to be too confident.
"That wasn't half as bad as when I fell during the championship… basketball game at school," Oliver responded.
Hermione wondered why he had taken such a pause as she asked what had happened. As Oliver stammered out a reply, she became more suspicious, connecting things in her mind.
Oliver was too worried coming up with a 'normal' answer that he didn't notice that Hermione was no longer paying attention.
Finally, the day Hermione had been awaiting both impatiently and nervously arrived. September first. Her bags had been packed for days, and she had gone to bed early the night before. She forced down a slice of toast for breakfast and got into the car.
The ride to King's Cross was silent and short. Hermione was too nervous to say anything, and her parents had no idea what to say to their daughter, who would be completely different the next time they saw her.
Hermione was relieved when they made it to the station a full hour before the train was to leave. The relief quickly diminished when she realized how big the station was. It was utterly destroyed when her father stopped and asked her where, exactly, platform 9 ¾ was.
"Oh, no! I have no idea. I thought it would be here, but it's not!"
"Well, we'll figure it out soon. I bet that man knows," Her father comforted her, pointing to a nearby guard and walking towards him. He came back shaking his head.
Hermione walked over to a nearby barrier, still holding onto her cart, fully intending to either learn against it and cry, or bang her head against it. She never quite made it. Or rather, she made it, but couldn't lean against it, because she fell right through and found herself staring at a sign saying "9 3/4" and hearing an engine puffing into the station.
On the other side of the barrier, Hermione's parents saw her fall through, and followed worriedly.
By the time they got through, Hermione had scrambled to her feet and was staring at the cheery train, which proclaimed itself "The Hogwarts Express." Hermione looked at the clock. She still had half an hour.
"Well, I suppose you'd better get settled on the train. Wouldn't want to get stuck with people six years older than you," her mother suggested with tears in her eyes. They exchanged appropriate farewells, and Hermione boarded the train.
Most of the compartments were empty, so she had no trouble finding a place to sit. About ten minutes before the trains was to leave, a chubby, scared-looking boy stepped timidly into her compartment and asked if he could sit with her. She discovered that his name was Neville, he was also a first-year, and he had a toad named Trevor.
Shortly after that, they were joined by two other first-years. Justin Finch-Fletchley was constantly smiling and was unusually tall for an eleven year old. Lisa Turpin wore glasses, and the frizziness of her hair almost resembled Hermione's.
Soon, the train began to move. Hermione, who had rarely been out of the suburbs, was amazed by the scenery. The food trolley passed by about halfway through their trip. Neville and Justin both bought chocolate frogs. Neville was halfway through his second when he realized his toad was missing.
"Trevor! Guys, have you seen Trevor? Oh, no, he's gone missing again! Gran'll have my head at Christmas if I've lost him!" Neville cried out.
"Don't worry, Neville, we'll find him" Hermione comforted the boy, who was nearly crying. "Neville you look in the compartments to the left. I'll go to the right," Hermione commanded, immediately going into "boss" mode. "Justin, Lisa, stay here. Look through everything that a toad could possibly get into."
Hermione walked through the train, asking everybody if they had seen the toad. Nobody had. She and Neville both came back with the same result. Justin and Lisa hadn't seen him, either. Eventually, they decided that they would go out again, Justin and Lisa to the right and Neville and Hermione to the left.
Three cars down, Neville and Hermione met Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Hermione didn't think Harry quite lived up to his reputation, hanging out with a boy who couldn't even change his rat's color.
By the time they made it to the last compartment, they were both despairing of ever finding Trevor. Hermione opened the door, but the question died on her tongue when she saws the occupants of the compartment.
ok, I know it's short... but it's up!
Thank you to all my lovely reviewers!
I might have another chapter up by the end of the week, but if i don't there probably won't be one until mid-late august.