As it always was on the first of September, Platform Nine and Three Quarters was packed with students and their parents. Hermione hadn't been sure if as many people would return to Hogwarts given what had happened at the end of the previous year, but the place seemed as packed as normal. The muggle entrance was also getting it's usual amount of use, so clearly not too many muggleborns had chosen to leave the wizarding world behind.

"Things seem exactly the same," Harry remarked to Hermione as they made their way through the crowds of people, with Voldemort at their side since Beth was up at Hogwarts preparing for the start of term.

"Not everything," Hermione replied, gesturing to where Molly and Arthur stood at the other end of the platform with Ron and Ginny.

The four redheads were watching Harry and Hermione, and despite how far away they were, it was obvious they were all looking at the pair in disgust. Although both Harry and Hermione were amused to find there was also a bit of fear in their expressions. Clearly they hadn't expected to see Voldemort at the platform. Although, judging from the wary looks most people were throwing his way, it was a shock all round to see The Dark Lord doing something as domestic as dropping his daughter and grandson off to catch the Hogwarts Express.

"Who cares about Weasleys?" Harry snorted as his attention turned to finding Draco and some of the other Slytherins.

"Are you two ready?" Voldemort asked, ignoring the curious stares he was receiving.

"I can't see anyone," Harry moaned. "Where are they all?"

"Who are you looking for, Harry?" A feminine voice asked from behind him, and when Harry turned around he found Daphne standing with her sister, Astoria, and their parents behind them.

"Daphne," Harry cried happily, his face breaking into a wide smile at the sight of the girl he fancied.

"Hi, Daphne," Hermione greeted her friend as her father greeted the Greengrasses.

"Hi, where is everyone?" Daphne replied.

"They have to be here somewhere," Hermione said. "Why don't we get on the train and find them."

"Good idea," Daphne said.

Daphne and Astoria said goodbye to their parents, while Hermione and Harry said goodbye to Voldemort. The foursome then hopped onto the train, with Astoria heading off to find her own friends right away. Halfway down the train they found Blaise and Theo settled in one of the compartment while Greg and Vince were stashing their trunks overhead.

"Hey, we thought you lot weren't coming," Harry remarked. "We didn't see you on the platform."

"I was here early, Father had an important meeting at the Ministry he had to get to and Mother wasn't feeling very well," Theo explained. "I've been sitting on the train for over half an hour."

"Luckily he had me to keep him company," Blaise added with a grin. "My Mother was busy packing to go away on holiday, and her port-key was due to leave at half ten, so she dropped me off on the way."

"Has anyone seen Draco?" Hermione asked with a frown as she peered out of the window to look for her boyfriend.

"Did I hear someone mention my name?" Draco's voice called from one of the train doors.

Spinning round, Hermione smiled widely as her boyfriend approached her. "There you are. Where have you been?"

"Did you miss me?" Draco asked as he pulled Hermione into his arms.

"I might have done," Hermione replied, wrapping her arms around Draco's neck and leaning in for a kiss.

"Sick," A disgusted voice sneered from behind Draco just as the pair's lips touched.

At the exclamation, Hermione's attention flicked over Draco's shoulder and her face distorted into an annoyed frown when she spotted Ron and Ginny entering the train. Even though she was expecting to run into Ron and Ginny sooner rather than later, she hadn't thought either of them would have had the guts to be the ones to approach her or Harry. Especially considering last time they'd seen the pair, they'd both been left crying in the Great Hall.

"Do you have something to say, Weasley?" Hermione asked as Draco swivelled his head to take in the two redheads who had interrupted them. At the same time, Harry had poked his head out of the compartment when he'd heard Hermione mention Ron's name.

"It's bad enough I have to read about you two in my morning paper, complete with hideous pictures, but now I have to witness it first hand," Ron spat. He was referring to the splashy pictures and story that had appeared in the Daily Prophet several days ago, and had been rehashed several times since then.

"No-one's forcing you to watch, Weasley," Draco replied. "If you don't like seeing me with my girlfriend, then go and bugger off."

Turning back to Hermione, Draco gave her a wicked grin before he connected their lips in a searing kiss. Melting into the kiss, Hermione pressed herself closer to Draco as she eagerly returned his affection. Idly she was aware of Ron's mutterings as he and Ginny set off in the opposite direction while her and Draco were still embracing. By the time they parted for air, the Weasleys were long gone and Harry had pulled his head back into the compartment.

"So where were you this morning?" Hermione asked as the train began to move and their friends re-emerged from their compartment to wave to their parents.

"Father was having second thoughts about leaving Mother behind," Draco explained with a grimace. "She had to reassure him that they would still have plenty of time for each other."

"And how did that result in you being late to the platform?" Hermione asked warily, wondering just what Draco's parents had been up to.

"The breakfast table was otherwise occupied when I arrived for breakfast," Draco replied. "Although, funnily enough by the time it was free, I wasn't very hungry."

"I bet you weren't," Hermione laughed as she gave her father one final wave before the platform disappeared from sight.

Turning back to the compartment, Hermione, Harry and the Slytherins trooped inside and settled down. Once everyone was settled, Hermione opened Crookshanks's basket and let her cat out. When Crookshanks first emerged, he stood watching the Slytherins in curiosity. Ever so slowly, he began to poke around at the strangers. Ten minutes later, he'd sniffed everyone and rubbed himself up against them all, giving them his seal of approval. He then squeezed himself in between Harry and Daphne, and curled up and went to sleep.

"That is one odd cat, Hermione," Theo remarked with a chuckle.

"He was just deciding if he liked you or not," Hermione replied.

"And what did he decide?" Blaise asked.

"You would know if he didn't like you," Harry said with a laugh. "Crookshanks hates Ron, and he's always hissing when he's around. No-one got hissed at, so I would say he likes you all."

"Well we are a pretty spectacular bunch," Blaise boasted with a grin.

With amused chuckles all round, the group sat back to enjoy the ride up to Hogwarts. For a while they chatted happily, but then the door opened and a frowning Pansy stood in the doorway.

"Here you all are," She announced moodily. "I've been looking for you since we left London."

"You can't have looked very far, we've been here all this time," Theo said with a snort.

"I'm in a compartment down the end, does anyone want to join me?" Pansy asked, looking hopefully between Draco, Theo and Harry.

"Sorry, we're nicely settled here," Draco answered from where he was sitting with his arm wrapped around Hermione.

"You could always join us though," Harry offered, earning him a glare from his aunt. Even though he knew Hermione and Pansy hadn't taken to one another, and Pansy had been a bit over the top at the party at the manor, he felt slightly sorry for the Slytherin girl and he didn't want her to get pushed out just because Hermione could now openly be together with Draco.

"Thank you, Harry," Pansy said, giving him a dazzling smile as she entered the compartment.

Pansy made a beeline for the seat beside Harry, and when she spotted Crookshanks in the seat, she pushed the ginger cat down and sat where he'd been lying. Crookshanks immediately hissed and swiped a clawed paw at Pansy, as Hermione swooped down and picked her precious feline up.

"Don't you dare touch my cat again, Parkinson," Hermione warned as she settled Crookshanks on the seat beside her and Draco.

"I didn't realise the fleabag was yours," Pansy sniffed. "Most self respecting witches have owls for pets."

"Most witches with a brain know not to piss off the daughter of The Dark Lord," Hermione retorted darkly. "You need to remember who you're dealing with, Pansy. I'm not someone you want to make an enemy of."

Giving Pansy one final glare, Hermione got to her feet and excused herself to use the bathroom. When she emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, she almost stepped on a toad that was hopping about the corridor.

"Trevor," She cried, picking up the amphibian. "Let's go and find Neville, he'll be worried about you."

Hermione found Neville in a compartment with Dean and Seamus. The second she entered the compartment, it was obvious they were looking for Trevor. Neville was kneeling on the floor, peering under the seats, while Dean and Seamus were peering into bags and down the sides of the chairs.

"Are you looking for this?" Hermione asked.

"Trevor," Neville called happily as he looked up and found his pet toad safely in Hermione's hands. "Thank you, Hermione," He said as he plucked Trevor from Hermione's hold.

"I found him hopping down the corridor," Hermione replied as Neville placed Trevor back in his tank and shut the lid.

"He keeps escaping," Neville confided with a sigh. "The lid of his tank is loose. Gran said she would fix it over the summer, but she forgot."

"Do you want me to help fix it?" Hermione questioned. "We wouldn't want you to lose Trevor."

"You would do that for me?" Neville asked warily.

"Why wouldn't I? We're friends, aren't we?" Hermione queried.

"Yes, but I wasn't sure if you would still want to be friends after last year. You know when Gran and I stood with the Order. Not that I wanted to, and Gran says we should be neutral now," Neville jabbered.

"I still want to be friends, Neville," Hermione reassured the obviously nervous wizard. "In fact, I'm hoping we can all still be friends," She added, looking over at Dean and Seamus who had been watching things curiously.

"You won't get any problems from me, Hermione," Seamus said. "It might have been different if the Ministry wanted to obliviate my Dad, but since he and Mum are married and we're a family, he's allowed to keep his knowledge of the wizarding world."

"What's the situation like with your Mum, Dean?" Hermione asked carefully. She was pleased to hear that Seamus's family wouldn't be affected, but since Dean's mother was a muggle, she was guessing she'd been told she would be obliviated once Dean left school.

"She's going to be obliviated at the end of next year," Dean replied. "But she's okay with it. In fact, she's just met a new bloke and she reckons it'll be easier to keep my secret once she doesn't know about it. It'll make things easier for them, and it won't affect how much I see her. All I have to do is keep quiet about my magic."

"So you don't hate me?" Hermione checked.

"No-one hates you, Hermione," Dean answered with a small smile. "You can't choose your parents. Besides, maybe your father isn't as bad as we've always been told. He's not exactly going around terrorising anyone these days."

"My father doesn't want to hurt anyone," Hermione said. "He'll only fight if he has to, and he won't be going after anyone. We can all live in peace."

"Peace sounds good," Seamus replied.

Hermione gave Seamus a smile, before she refocused on Neville. After securing Trevor's tank, she taught Neville the spell to fix his lid just in case it came loose again. She then left the boys to enjoy the rest of their trip up to school, while she rejoined her friends.


C.O.T.D.


Harry wasn't sure if the start of term feast would be different with his father in charge, but things pretty much ran the same. First came the sorting of the first years, and once they were settled Severus got to his feet and gave a brief speech, welcoming the new students to Hogwarts and greeting the returning students. He then introduced the three new Professors, before sitting back down and letting the feast begin.

"Talk about short and sweet," Hermione chuckled to Harry as her brother delivered his start of term speech in well under half the time Dumbledore had been known to take.

"It's better than sitting for hours like we had to do with Dumbledore," Harry replied, as he eyed up the food that had appeared on the table.

Hermione and Harry were sitting with Neville, Dean and Seamus to eat their meal. Ron and Ginny had been sitting nearby when the pair had first entered the Great Hall, but once they realised that Hermione and Harry were still sitting with the Gryffindors, Ron had jumped up and he'd dragged Ginny down to the other end of the table. No doubt, Ron would later make his mouth go about Hermione and Harry still being in Gryffindor, but for now Harry was enjoying the peace away from the redhead.

Sadly the peace didn't last that long as all too soon the feast was over and it was time to go up for Gryffindor Tower for the first time that year. Almost the second they were in the common room, Ron stalked over to Harry and Hermione and started demanding answers from them about why they were there.

"We're here because this is our house common room," Hermione replied evenly.

She was aware that most of the Gryffindors were watching Ron confronting her and Harry, and she suspected how they reacted now would affect how people treated them over the coming year. If they lashed out at Ron, as she so desperately wanted to do, chances were people would turn against them. However, if they kept their cool and were non-threatening, people would trust them and see that they had nothing to fear from them, even if they did have dark wizards and witches as their family.

"And why haven't you joined the snakes?" Ron demanded. "That's where Death Eater scum like you two belong, down in the dungeons with the other monsters."

"We're Gryffindors, not Slytherins," Harry replied, sounding just as calm as Hermione. "We've always been Gryffindors, and we always will be."

"Gryffindors are loyal, not cheating back-stabbers like you two," Ron spat. "And Gryffindors are not thieves."

"Thieves?" Hermione frowned in confusion, not sure where Ron was going with his latest insult.

"Yes, thieves like Potter," Ron snarled, glaring at Harry. "He's been stealing from the Potters vault for years. He's nothing but a common criminal. The Potters vault had millions in it, before he got his filthy hands on it."

"Firstly, my name isn't Potter, it's Snape," Harry said. "And secondly, I'm not a thief, and I can prove it."

Leaving everyone wondering how he was going to prove his innocence, Harry turned and jogged up to the boys dorms. When he returned, he had a pile of parchment in his hands. Laying it out on a nearby table, he invited Ron, and anyone else who was interested, to have a look.

"These are all the withdrawals I made from the Potters vault over the last five years," Harry explained. "Withdrawals I only made when I had to, I might point out. And this is a recent receipt from Gringotts where I made a deposit in the Potters vault." Harry's fingers stabbed one of the pieces of parchment, drawing Ron's attention to it. "As you can see, I've repaid every single galleon I took from the Potters vault. I might be many things, but a thief isn't one of them."

"These could be faked," Ron pouted.

"Why would I fake all this?" Harry asked with a snort. "I never wanted the Potters money, I just had to use the vault to keep up my cover."

"Or you could have just been truthful from the beginning," Ron spat.

"If it wasn't for Dumbledore, we would have been," Harry replied with a shrug as he gathered up his receipts. "He was a danger to our family, and we couldn't be ourselves until he was gone."

"The only danger in this world is your family," Ron snapped at Harry and Hermione. "And if anyone here as any sense they would have nothing to do with you," He added loudly, looking around the room for support.

Unfortunately for Ron, no-one leapt up to agree with him, so he stalked off to the boys dorm in a huff. Surprisingly, even Ginny didn't agree with her brother and Harry could have sworn she gave him a small smile before she also headed off to her dorms. Obviously, Ron was going to be their biggest detractor this year, and luckily for them he alienated people who might support him by his reckless accusations and angry insults. All they had to do was keep calm and keep their darkness under control, and Ron would be the one looking bad in people's eyes. As long as they played their cards right, Ron would be the one left on his own, and Hermione and Harry would have the support of the majority of the students of Hogwarts.