Rest in peace Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

I don't own Harry Potter.

Today was the day that they were going to head to Hogwarts. The last few weeks had passed quickly for Harry and Hermione. They were getting along wonderfully, and it was as if they had been living together all of their lives. Draco had already come over a few times and although Draco was typically a stuck-up snob to everyone, Harry and Hermione's presence had softened him a little bit. He could still be quite rude and condescending, but he was getting easier to talk to.

They were currently about to leave to go to King's Cross Station to meet Hermione's parents and the Malfoys. It was 10:30. Severus was standing impatiently by the front door. They had been ready to go 5 minutes ago...but then Hermione forgot the cloak that she was going to wear on the train. Then Harry forgot his owl treats.

"Harry Potter, I'm leaving in one minute if you do not get down here!" Severus bellowed up the stairs, startling Hermione, since he had been silent for the last 5 minutes.

Harry dashed down the stairs, breathing hard.

"Here, Severus," Harry said, breathing heavily and putting the treats in his trunk.

Severus shrunk the trunk and placed it in his pocket. He held out his arm.

"I will be quite short at the station. Do not take it personally. Now hold onto my arms and do not embarrass me by falling," Severus said.

They quickly grabbed onto his arms, and he apparated. Neither child fell, and Severus was pleased. They found themselves in an alleyway next to King's Cross. He grabbed their arms and pushed them towards the station. He muttered directions to them as they went along. Eventually, they got to a barrier between platforms 9 and 10 where they found the Granger's standing there.

"Mum! Daddy!" Hermione said, running towards them.

Severus rolled his eyes, although he felt a pang in his chest. He was Hermione's father, he secretly wanted that title to be his. However, he pushed his emotions down and shook his head. In reality, this was a trick to get the Granger's on the platform. Hermione would run at them and push them through the brick wall to get to Platform 9 ¾. This trick had worked. The Grangers and his daughter had gotten onto the platform without issue and without anyone noticing. Once Hermione and her parents were through, Severus began walking with Harry, appearing deep in conversation. Severus stopped at the barrier, placing his hand on it and using his other hand to help express the nonsense he was muttering to Harry. He glanced quickly around the platform, making sure that no muggles were watching as he pushed Harry through the barrier and followed quickly behind him.

At last, the scarlett engine was sitting there, steam rising from it. Harry's mouth dropped open.

"Don't stand there gawping like a fish, Potter. Move away from the barrier and I'll unshrink your trunk and Hermione will help you get it on the train," Severus snapped.

Harry's mouth clamped shut as he turned toward Severus. Severus took out his and Hermione's trunks and enlarged them to normal size. Harry glanced nervously at Hermione. He didn't want to interrupt the happy moment that they were having. Severus looked at Harry and seemed to understand his dilemma. There was a look of jealousy crossing Harry's face. Severus understood why. Harry didn't have a family to send him off like the Granger's for Hermione. Instead, his father had to act cold and distant towards him, when he'd rather do anything but that.

"Granger," Severus drawled. "Can you pull yourself away for a minute to get your trunk on the train?"

"Yes, sir," Hermione squeaked, then whispered to her parents, "Don't worry he's never like this when he's at the Manor."

Hermione and Harry carried each of their trunks onto the train and into an empty compartment. They quickly spotted Draco and although they didn't wave at him, he nodded his head at them, acknowledging that he saw them and he planned to sit with them. His trunk and owl were on a trolley, which had been taken

"Draco, do try to stop associating with filth," he drawled before stepping over to Severus.

Hermione, Harry, and Draco all lugged Draco's trunk up to the compartment they were planning on sharing. Hermione raced out to her parents again, hugging them and promising to write letters. Draco was conversing with his father about classes. Harry was standing silently and awkwardly by Severus. Soon, it was time for Harry to board the train for good. The train was leaving in ten minutes. Severus turned to Harry.

"There is a surprise in each of your trunks waiting for you. You can use it to get a little snack on the train ride over to Hogwarts. I must take my leave now, as I have to be at Hogwarts at noon. Do behave yourself on the train. I do not want a report of you misbehaving. Am I clear?"

"Crystal clear, sir. I'll see you at Hogwarts," Harry said, before watching his dad turn towards Hermione to say the same thing.

Harry climbed onto the train as he made eye contact with Severus. Severus winked and gave a short nod before disappearing through the wall. Hermione, who had finally said goodbye to her parents, climbed aboard the train. Draco joined them shortly after. Hermione had stuck her head out the window, waving goodbye to her parents while Draco and Harry shut the compartment door and got comfortable. It was a long train ride up to Hogwarts, so Draco immediately pulled out Exploding Snap and a Chocolate Frog for each of them.

"Father gave them to me to share with you," Draco said.

Hermione opted out of playing Exploding Snap and instead brought out Hogwarts, A History to read. She was on her 5th time through the book, but she found it so interesting that she didn't mind reading it over and over again. Little did she know that Severus was pleased that she was reading the book so much.

"Ugh, I got Dumbledore again," Harry said, attempting to be funny. "Oh look. Blah blah blah he's old. Blah blah blah he's worked with another old person. Blah blah blah another old person is famous because he made the Elixir of Life."

Hermione giggled.

"Harry you may not like him, but you gotta admit he's done some great things," Hermione said, still giggling.

Harry opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a witch with a Trolley full of sweets down the compartment. Harry scrambled up and got Bertie Botts Every Flavor beans and a pack of licorice wands. Hermione politely asked for a pumpkin pasty and thanked her for it. Draco had managed to pick up yet another Chocolate frog and a cauldron cake. They thanked the trolley witch profusely as she shut their door and moved to the next compartment. They were enjoying their sweets and laughing and talking when the door to their compartment suddenly opened. Standing there was a tall, gangly, red haired kid with two other boys behind him.

"Hi," Hermione said tentatively.

"Hi," said the boy. "I'm Ron Weasley. This is Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan. We want to get sorted into Gryffindor. The best house, obviously. Who are you? What houses do you want to be in? Maybe we can be friends"

"I'm Hermione Granger. I found out I was a witch a month ago and I'm really quite interested in everything in the wizarding world. I've been reading Hogwarts, A History and I've read everything there is to know about the Hogwarts houses. I don't think I could fit into Hufflepuff. Maybe Ravenclaw or Slytherin. I don't think I'm courageous enough to be in Gryffindor. I love my books and I am very resourceful. "

"Uh-huh," Ron grunted, not seeming very interested. "Who're you two? What houses?"

"Harry Potter," Harry said, raising his hand. "And probably Slytherin or Gryffindor."

"Malfoy," Draco said with a smirk. "Draco Malfoy. And definitely Slytherin."

Ron sniggered.

"You know Harry, I'm surprised that you're hanging out with these two. The Boy who lived deserves to be friends with better people than this. A know-it-all muggleborn who creepily knows too much about our world. And a Malfoy, who will treat you like the scum on his shoe like he does to anyone who isn't a pureblood. And I'm surprised that the muggleborn is hanging out with Malfoy. Called her a mudblood yet Malfoy?" Ron said, as Hermione looked down at the floor.

Hermione's head snapped up. Draco's brow crinkled in fury as Hermione and Harry gasped. Hermione was gripping her book so hard that her knuckles were turning white. Tension was hanging in the air. Hermione wanted to speak but didn't want to make matters worse for herself

"For your information, Weasley," Harry snapped. "These two have been my closest friends for the past month and they have been nothing but nice to me. And second of all, you are treating them like scum on the bottom of your shoe, when the worst they have done to me is beat me at Gobstones."

Ronald Weasley raised an eyebrow. "We'll see what happens when you get sorted into Gryffindor like me. Then you'll come running back to me and begging me to be your friend when those two abandon you."

"Oh, boo hoo," Hermione sneered, looking oddly like Severus. "Our lives, our choices. And our choice is for you to leave."

Hermione pushed them out of the compartment. Ron shrugged his shoulders, smirked, and started walking away.

"You'll regret this, Granger," Ron said, turning back around to face Hermione.

"You've got dirt on your nose by the way, Weasley, did you know?" Hermione yelled down the corridor.

Hermione slammed the compartment door closed behind her as she re-entered.

"Damn, Hermione," Malfoy said, a shocked expression on his face. "Remind me to never make you mad."

"Never make me mad, Draco," Hermione replied with a smirk.

They had decided to change into their Hogwarts robes shortly after. Hermione had made certain that the boys were dressed properly and weren't slacking on their uniforms' appearance. The remainder of the trip was uneventful, except for the loud pops that were coming from the floor where Draco and Harry were playing Exploding Snap and rumpling their robes. Before long, they had arrived at the Hogsmeade station and people were filing out of the train.

"Do we leave our trunks?" Hermione asked, unsure.

Draco nodded.

"The train attendants get them off the train and onto some carriages where they go up to the school and house elves take them to Hogwarts and to our new rooms. Really Hermione, I would've expected you to know this," he said teasingly.

"Oh, shut it," Hermione said. "Where are we supposed to go now, exactly?

She had her answer before Draco could open his mouth.

"First years! O'er 'ere!" A loud booming voice called.

Harry, Hermione, and Draco turned in the direction of the voice. Standing there with a bright lantern was a very, very tall man. He was at least 11 feet tall and had a scraggly beard and long tangled, bushy hair. Hermione's and Harry's mouth dropped open.

"How is he…" Hermione said.

"...so tall," Harry finished.

Draco smirked. "Honestly you two. It's not polite to stare."

The trio walked over to the large man, who they found to be called Hagrid, patiently waiting for instructions. Ron Weasley, however, was walking around and talking to various people. His tie wasn't tied and his shirt was untucked. His robes were not fastened either and the smudge of dirt remained on his nose. Draco leaned over to Hermione and whispered in her ear.

"He's such a mess, aren't you glad you're friends with more put together people?"

Hermione nodded. Soon, Hagrid led them over to the boats, telling them that only 4 could fit in a boat. Hermione, Harry, and Draco all got in the same boat. The fourth person who fell into their boat and had been clumsy the entire walk down to the lake, was a boy named Neville Longbottom. Neville seemed pretty nervous as they crossed the lake, and Draco, who had been sitting next to him, had to grab onto his sleeve 3 or 4 times so he wouldn't tip the boat and put them all in the lake.

Their first glimpse of Hogwarts was absolutely breathtaking. Sitting on top of a stone hill was a large castle. It's towers were raised high on top of the castle, and the stained glass windows were shimmering in the moonlight. The lake was calm as the large group of first years crossed it. The first years were talking excitedly in their boats, and together as a group when they exited the boats. Time seemed to be moving quickly for them all. They were so enthralled by the castle, that it didn't register that they were actually inside it. As they made their way up a large set of stairs, they were met by a severe looking witch with a pointed hat.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" Professor McGonagall said, smiling.