Chapter 21 – Going Home
HG
Hermione was packing her trunk in her dormitory with Katie, humming along the songs that played on the record player, her AC/DC plate on constant repeat. Katie pulled her head back from under the bed and looked at Hermione who bopped her head on the music. She grinned as she sat down on her bed, watching her best friend dance.
"I thought you didn't dance?" Katie chuckled.
Hermione stopped dancing, snapping her head to her. "I do dance sometimes; I just like muggle music better." She shrugged.
"That's obvious." Katie chuckled and stood up. "I like it too."
They both started dancing on the music, bopping their heads, twirling each other around laughing.
"No stop signs, speed limit. Nobody's gonna slow me down. Like a wheel, gonna spin it, nobody's gonna mess me around." Hermione sang along, turning up the music.
Neither of them saw that they had gathered a crowd as the music blared loudly. Angelina and Alicia were leaning against the door frame grinning. Even a couple of older kids looked in the room curiously before heading up or down the stairs.
"I'm on the highway to hell." They both finished and Angelina and Alicia clapped loudly. Both girls spun around, and Hermione clutched her heart from fright. Hermione turned the record player off before turning to the two girls.
"I thought you two were packing?" Angelina grinned.
"We were."
"And then we weren't." Katie grinned.
"Who were you listening to?" Alicia asked, stepping in the room. "Never heard that song before."
"That's because it's a muggle band." Hermione grinned, handing over the cover to Alicia.
"Never imagined you as an AC/DC fan." Angelina said, hopping on her bed.
"My parents listen to it non-stop, so I practically grew up with them." She said taking the last clothes from her closet.
"Guns 'n Roses, Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones, Merlin Granger, you have quite a collection." Angelina gasped, flipping through her albums. "Next time there is a party we're doing it muggle style." She grinned as she passed Hermione the last albums to put in her trunk.
She put the record player in her trunk before closing it and glanced at the empty room, sitting down next to Angelina on her bed.
"It's going to be weird, going back. I miss my parents but..."
"I know what you mean." Katie said from her bed. "This feels like a second home."
The others nodded in agreement, and tears started to fill Hermione's eyes.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Angelina asked concerned, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"It's nothing, it's stupid." She wiped her eyes.
"Hermione." The three girls chimed.
"I'm just... happy that I met you guys. I never really had any friends before."
"I still don't know how that's possible." Katie said. "But you were my first friend here, my best friend."
"We are all your friends." Alicia jumped up, and the three girls pounded on her, engulfing her in a group hug. Hermione's heart filled with love for those girls, her past experiences with so called friends already forgotten.
HG
"We really need to put an extension charm on the compartments." Lee huffed as they tried to fit in one compartment together. Hermione got up from her squished seat against the window and walked to the door.
"This isn't working." She huffed looking around the compartment. "I'm not sitting here cramped up for the next couple of hours."
"We have room-"
"On our laps." The twins said, patting their legs.
"No, thank you. I will just go see if Charlie has some room."
"But... Hermione." The twins wined.
"I'll be back later. Charlie is leaving, You. Are. Not." She smirked at the twins. "Big babies." She muttered under her breath.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Katie asked.
"No, you stay here. You can all talk about quidditch when I'm gone." She turned back to the pouting twins. "Hey, pouty mouth. Can you grab me my book." She pointed to the rack above.
"No." They pouted even more, crossing their arms over their chests.
"If you don't have your book, you can't leave." Hermione rolled her eyes before she walked over to the twins and went to climb on George's legs. "Alright, alright. We give up." George laughed, standing up. He reached for her trunk and pulled out the first book he could find.
"Thank you." Hermione said smugly and turned back to the door. "I'll see you guys later."
HG
Hermione walked through the train slowly, reading her book. Passing the full compartments without giving them a second glance. Suddenly she heard someone call out her name. She tore her eyes away from her book and looked to her right. Cedric was grinning at her from his seat next to the window, two other boys sitting across from him. She closed her book and leaned against the door frame.
"Hi."
"Why are you wondering about on the train?" Cedric asked.
"The compartment got a little crowded." She grinned, putting the book under her arm.
"I can imagine." He grinned back. "Do you want to join us for a bit?"
Hermione looked form Cedric to the two other boys. "If you don't mind?" She asked them, both of them shook their heads and gestured her in. She took her place next to Cedric.
"I guess you haven't met, did you?" Cedric remembered. "Hermione, this is Gavin and Matt."
"We heard a lot about you." The boy named Matt said.
Hermione raised an eyebrow as she looked to Cedric. "Really?"
"Yeah, ever since he's been disappearing on us. It started on the way back to Hogwarts this Christmas."
"Talking about how smart you are and such, nothing bad, promise." Gavin grinned. "You are friends with the Weasley twins, aren't you?"
"You can say that."
"Those guys are hilarious."
"They have their moments." Hermione shrugged, smiling to Cedric. "They are actually starting to invent their own joke products."
"I didn't know that." Cedric said intrigued. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"They are just starting out." She turned fully to Cedric. "Still keeping it on the down low. I caught them when they toyed around with some muggle jokes." She snickered, before turning back to the others. "How come I've never seen you two in the library with Cedric."
The two boys grinned simultaneously. "Cedric doesn't like to study with us."
"It's because you two never shut up!" Cedric cried out, making his best friends fall in a fit of laughter. Hermione chuckled at Cedric's reaction. They talked a while about their summer plans before Hermione started to doze off from the movements from of the train. She already had taken of her shoes and curled her feet up on the bench before she leaned against Cedric, letting her head fall on his shoulder. The three boys didn't pay much attention to the sleeping girl as they talked a little quieter among themselves.
HG
"Hermione?" A familiar voice nudged her. She blinked up her eyes and stared up to a certain redhead. She turned her head and saw that she had fallen asleep on Cedric's shoulder. She muttered an apology under her breath, but he waved her off.
"The twins stopped by a little while ago, but they didn't want to wake you."
"I told them I would check up on you." Charlie said leaning back against the door frame. "I think they were afraid to wake you." He chuckled.
"Afraid? They do remember how I wake them up, don't they?" She grinned.
"That exactly why, I think their afraid you wake up all moody, and take it out on them." His smile wide, and he looked to Cedric. "Better not fall asleep around her. I still think I have a bruise."
The boys chuckled as Charlie rubbed his arm. Hermione muttering under her breath about the Weasleys being big babies as she stood up. She turned to Cedric behind her. "I'll come say goodbye at the platform."
"Sounds good, Granger."
"Bye, Diggory." She smiled to the others. "Gavin, Matt." She gave them a nod, receiving one back and followed Charlie out of the compartment.
"I'm glad you took Bill's advice and became friends with Diggory." He said as they walked through the train.
"Me too. It's nice to talk to someone a little less..." She contemplated how to say the right words. Charlie snickered next to her. "You know what I mean." She smiled up at the future dragon tamer. "I can study with him in silence or have a conversation without getting a headache."
They stopped a few meters away from the loud carriage, the twins' voices already reaching the hall. "Maybe you shouldn't head back in then, or you might get a migraine in there." Charlie laughed. "Do you want to go back to Diggory?"
"No, I was looking for you actually before I stumbled onto Cedric's compartment."
"Me?" He puffed he chest proudly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "The great Hermione Granger wants to sit with me?"
Hermione snickered and slapped his chest as they walked quietly passed the loud compartment. "You're leaving." Hermione said quietly as they reached and empty compartment. She sat down and Charlie slides up next to her. "And I 'm going to miss you. You're like my big brother, always looking after me."
"I'm going to miss you too." He wrapped her in a hug. "But we'll see each other again, I promise. And we'll write." A grin formed on his face. "I'm going to miss seeing you scold the twins."
Hermione laughed, still tucked under his arm and wrapped her arms around his waist. She kicked off her shoes and curled her feet up on the bench, once again. Charlie leaned against the far corner, against the window and transfigured a wad of paper into a pillow and placed it behind his head, pulling Hermione closer to him as she laid on his chest, one arm still firmly wrapped around her. And for the second time today she fell asleep against a boy. And once again, a Weasley boy fell asleep against her.
HG
A flash of light woke the sleeping duo up. They squinted their eyes as they looked around the compartment. In front of them sat the twins, George quickly putting something in his pocket. Katie smiled from the doorway as they sat up and stretched.
"What was that?" Charlie asked with a yawn.
"What was what?" The twins asked innocently. Katie rolled her eyes from her position.
"Who are you planning on sleeping with next, little Granger?" Fred teased, avoiding Charlie's question.
"First Freddie, then me. Now Cedric and Charlie in one day!" George said in mock shock, clutching his heart. "What will people say?"
"I only fall asleep with the ones I trust. And weirdly yes." She added as the twins raised their brows. "That includes you two."
The twins recovered quickly and grinned back at her. "So, you only trust us boys?" Fred looked at Katie in the corner of his eye.
"Nope, you know I share a room with Katie right." She looked at the girl in question. "We've fallen asleep together more than once."
Katie grinned as she walked in, flopping down next to Hermione. "I've seen you sleeping against, Alicia and Ange too."
"So, we're not so special." The twins pouted, making the other three roll their eyes.
"What are you doing here anyway?"
"Charlie was supposed to go get you, but neither of you came back. So-" George started.
"We went exploring. And found you two snuggled up together."
"And took a picture of us." Hermione stated with a raised eyebrow. The twins didn't expect her to say that; they thought she didn't notice that, they thought they were subtle. But as always Hermione saw right through that.
"Don't know what you are talking about." George shuffled a bit in his seat.
"You need to work on your lying skills, Georgie."
"I love it when you call me Georgie." George teased.
"Don't try to change the subject, Weasley." She pointed to the pocket the camera was tucked in. "It's Angelina's, right?"
Fred muttered something inaudible as he pulled out the small camera from George's pocket. "How does it work?"
"Do you know how your camera's work?" She asked.
"No." The twins said, looking up from the disposable camera.
"Then you don't understand how this one works. If the camera is full, you deposit it at the store, and they develop it for you."
"How do you know it's full?" George asked, taking the camera out of his twins' grasp, squinting at it.
"Here." She said as pointed at a tiny hole on the camera. "Two left."
"Brilliant." The twins jumped up and wiggled themself between the three of them. "Wait." George picked up Katie, while Fred picked up Hermione and placed them on their laps. "That's better."
George held out the camera and held it in front of them. "George, wait." Hermione said and looked to Charlie. He nodded and took out his wand and waved it to the camera, making it float in front of them. They all readied themselves and smiled.
"Everyone ready?" Charlie said. "One, two, say-"
"Merlin's saggy left ball!" Fred called out. The three Weasley grinned, while Hermione and Katie looked at each other with raised eyebrows, before laughing and turned back to the camera and the flash went off.
"One left." George said plucking the camera out of the air.
"Oh! We can take a group picture on the platform." Katie said excitingly as she stood up with Hermione from their laps.
"It looks like we are already here." Charlie said standing up and peered out the window. The others followed and the twins glued their faces against the cold glass. And indeed, the train started to slow down as you saw the platform grow bigger and bigger as they neared. "Let's get our things."
HG
Charlie went to the prefect compartment to retrieve his trunk while the others went to the overcrowded compartment to get their stuff. Katie already saying to everyone, to not run off so quickly because they wanted to take a picture of everyone before they left. When everyone agreed, they pulled their trunk from the racks above them and walked down the hall as the train stopped. George picked up the end of Katie's and Hermione's trunk as he helped them off the train, sending them a wink.
The platform was stacked with parents, sister, brothers. All waiting for their family to come home for the summer. The famous red hair of the Weasley family stood out and you could spot them immediately. And of course, right next to Arthur were her parents. Her father laughing at something Arthur said. Hermione shook her head laughing as they made their way to their family.
Her mother smiled wide as she ran over and wrapped her arms around her tightly. When her father noticed that his wife had disappeared and popped up next to them and engulfed them both in a hug. Molly was already fretting about her boys, when Bill popped up next to Charlie.
Hermione pulled away from her parents and heard Charlie ask. "Bill, what are you doing here?"
She heard Bill whisper. "I thought you could use a hand telling mum."
Before Charlie could answer, Katie's voice called out above the noisy platform. "PICTURE TIME!"
She grinned as she saw Katie standing on the end of the platform, waving her hands to the others. She looked around and saw Angelina and Alicia say something to their parents before walking towards Katie. Lee was already standing next to her, waiting for the others. She turned back to her parents.
"Give me a sec?" Her parents nodded and looked curiously as she dragged the three Weasley boys to Katie. Hermione looked around as her friends gathered, she saw Cedric pulling his trunk of the train.
"Hey, Ced!" She called over. Cedric turned to the sound of her voice and walked closer, dragging his trunk behind him. "Picture time." She grinned.
"Oh, Hermione. Maybe we can ask your mum or dad to take the picture?"
"Yeah, sure." She looked through the crows to find her parents. "Mum?" Hermione called over the crowd, beckoning her over.
"Yes, dear?"
"Can you take a picture of us?" George stepped closer pulling the camera out of his pocket. Her mum smiled wide, seeing her daughter surrounded by her friends, real friends and she took a step back and instructed everyone to scoot closer.
"Say cheese!" Her mum called. Hermione and Angelina replied, the others looked at each other surprised before following their example.
"CHEESE!" The group called out together as another flash blinded their eyes. Hermione felt overjoyed as she saw her friends beside her, grinning like fools for the camera. Her life has changed so much over the past year, and she has never felt so alive before.
.
So, this was it! The end of year one. I hope you all enjoyed it! I certainly did writing it :)
I'll post an update on this story to announce Year Two for the ones who aren't subscribed to my profile :) But it will get a seperate story.
And I promise you, you won't have to wait too long! ;D
I have a few others stories on my profile if your interested in the meanwhile.
One is WIP with Fred/OC, completly different that this but that's what got me real excited about it.
Seeing Fred: s/13966337/1/Seeing-Fred?_cf_chl_jschl_tk_=Uy7Yra8H58LVtSJvyuq8iQS.1KMc3emMhzi8dUceKnU-1638477511-0-gaNycGzNCT0
.
Here is a little snippet from year two! ;)
Hermione's plan was in action. She was sitting at the breakfast table with her eyes focused at the two particular Ravenclaw girls. She didn't tell anyone what she had planned, not Katie, not the twins, not anyone. But she knew the girls had to pay for what they did to Fred and George. She contemplated to ask Darla for help but decided against it, she didn't want the elf to get into any trouble. Her glare was fixed on the girls when the others arrived at the table.