AN: thank you all so much for reading, following, reviewing, and even favoriting! I decided to start this on a whim, and now I'm extremely excited to see the results! I'm trying to update weekly, but it might not happen because of my busy life. I've outlined my whole story but I still have to fill in all of the gaps. Hopefully you like this chapter! Same warnings. Nothing's mine, except for the mistakes. And without further ado, I bring you the next chapter.

Chapter 3

Platform 9 and 3/4 was bustling as always. Parents were telling their children goodbye. Children were seeing their friends. And if you looked, you almost couldn't see the war's impact. But the sad faces of the students who would never see their friends again, or parents that were only telling some of their children bye, even students wishing their was someone to see them off littered the platform. Tight hugs that lasted much too long. Parents struggling to see their children board the train. Strained smiles on everyone's face. At first glance it looked like a normal September 1st morning, but everyone there understood.

Draco quickly boarded the train and almost ran into Blaise Zabini.

"Oi! Malfoy!"

"Sorry." Draco responded with his head tucked down.

"You fine, mate?"

" Yeah. Good to see you Zabini."

Draco scurried off to find an empty compartment. Hopefully everyone would just leave him alone.

Hermione Granger arrived an hour early to help the other students load their trunks. A few students asked her questions, but Hermione tried to stay away from the crowds. Suddenly she heard her name being called behind her on the platform. Ginny came running up to her.

"Are you excited?"

"Well I suppose so."

"Ron's got us a compartment already! Mum just left to check on George in his shop. She said to tell you bye since she couldn't find you."

"Oh! Um... Well... I'll be there shortly. I have to go to the Head's compartment first to meet the Head Boy, and the prefect's meeting will start shortly after we depart, so I'll join you all once I take care of that."

"Alright! See you seen, then!" And Ginny hurried off.

Hermione knew the train would be departing soon so she made her way to the Head's compartment. Blaise Zabini was putting his trunk above the seats when she entered. The compartment was larger than she expected, but she understood why once she remembered that the other prefects would have to join them for the meeting here.

"Well, Granger, I can't say I'm surprised."

"Hello to you, too. Welcome back, Zabini."

"This is going to be an interesting year."

"I agree. I already have a schedule drawn up for the train patrol and the first week. Want to see?"

"Sure. Looks good to me. How long until our meeting?"

"Oh. About twenty minutes."

"Okay well I think we should make one patrol to make sure everyone's set."

"Good idea! I'll take the north cars and you take the south?"

"Sounds reasonable. See you soon, Granger."

They parted ways and began checking the compartments. Hermione didn't see Ginny and the boys as she patrolled. She guessed they were sitting in the other part of the train. Blaise passed most of the returning seventh years. As he made it to the last compartment, he heard yelling from inside.

"Draco Malfoy! You listen here!"

Oh no... Pansy. Blaise found Pansy standing over Draco with the rest of the returning Slytherins.

"Oi! Malfoy! Need you out here. Now!"

Draco quickly stood and exited the compartment, closing the door behind him. "What, Zabini? Here to take a go at me too?"

"Shut it, you prat. I was going to ask if you'd want to come sit with me in the Head's compartment to get away from these tossers, but if you'd like to stay and listen to Pansy, be my guest."

"Oh... I guess I'll join you. Thanks."

Hermione saw him before he saw her. Why did he look so gaunt? And really, why did she care?

"Sorry Granger. We'll have a guest. Saved him from Parkinson's wrath."

"That's fine. I'm supposed to go sit with Ron and Harry after our meeting anyway to catch up on a few things before we get to the castle. I'll just leave you two be. Ready to start his meeting?"

The meeting went swimmingly. Some of the prefects openly leered at Draco, but Blaise stopped them by saying he was just visiting and the prefects needed to keep their opinions to themselves. The meeting began running long when one of the Ravenclaws started discussing the benefits of Hermione's schedule and comparing it to studying schedules. There were many questions for the heads to answer, most concerning if Hogwarts was still the same or if anything had changed in the castle.

Hermione couldn't answer all of their questions, but she assured them things would be fine. The older students looked at her skeptically, especially the ones that fought.

Suddenly a red head barged into the compartment followed by a boy with messy black hair. "Oi! Mione! What's takin' so long?"

"Come on, Ron, they're still having their meeting."

"Oh sod off, Harry! Hurry up Mione!"

Harry finally pushed Ron back out if the door. Hermione was furious. "Well, anymore questions? Nope? Okay, you're dismissed. Don't forget to follow the schedule! First shift starts now!" And with that said, Hermione scurried off to find the stupid git.