-1Disclaimer: All the Characters and places (except Charmed of course) come strictly from J.K.R.'s mind. If they were mine, I wouldn't be typing this on my computer at home. The plot strictly belongs to me, that's it.
Chapter 14:
A Ride Down Memory Lane
"Oh of course" Hermione said to herself as she looked out the window of her bedroom. A small gale was raging a war against London outside. "Well, it's never really a ride to Hogwarts unless you get so wet that you won't feel properly dry for weeks" she thought. Ron was coming to get her in an hour so that they could arrive at King's Cross early enough to greet all of their guests. McGonagall had arranged it so the students from Hogwarts would arrive at nine that morning. Hermione and Ron would arrive at ten and hopefully the train would pull out of the station at eleven.
Hermione quickly showered and changed. She was extremely nervous and kept fidgeting with her hair. Ron came through the door not a moment too soon. Hermione ran to him and threw her arms around his neck.
"You ready to do this?" he asked her.
Hermione nodded and together, they set out in the pouring rain. It was extremely windy outside and Hermione wished she had thought to pack an umbrella. When they finally reached the platform, the Hogwarts Express was ready and waiting. All of the students were already gone.
Hermione and Ron didn't have to wait very long for guests to arrive. They were barely there two minutes when all of the Weasley's and Hermione's parents came through the barrier. Mr. And Mrs. Granger looked extremely dumbfounded as they had never walked through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾ until today. Hermione and Ron were passed from one family member to another. Ron was clapped on the back by each of his older brothers. Fred and George even winked at him as he described Hawaii and all of their plans for the Honeymoon.
Harry arrived shortly after the Weasleys and after him; enormous amounts of guests came flooding through the barrier.
"Excuse me!" Ron said with a magically magnified voice. "Thank you all for coming to celebrate with us. In a few short moments, we are going to start boarding the train and loading our luggage on. Mr. Harry Potter, the best man, will be waiting to check your name off of a list as you get on the train. Enjoy the ride and the feast afterwards! I won't bore you again until we are all fed properly. Thank you!"
"Arthur, Hurry up we want to get good seats! I haven't been on this train for years!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she rushed towards Harry with her husband running along after her. It took about another hour to get everyone situated and ready to go. Harry strode over to Ron and Hermione and showed them the list. Everyone who had said they would be riding the Hogwarts Express had shown up and now they were ready to leave at about a quarter past twelve. McGonagall and all the invited professors would be waiting for them to arrive at Hogwarts. Hagrid was eagerly anticipating their arrival as well.
Hermione gathered up all of her luggage, and she, Ron, and Harry made their way towards the prefects' carriage where Ginny, Luna, and Neville were all waiting for them.
"Are we ready to go then?' Ron asked them all looking over especially at Hermione.
"Yes" she nodded her head and Ron left to tell the conductor to leave.