Hyaci here!

I just wanted say once again that nearly ALL the information in here is taken from the Wikia and the book series. Even the stuff about Merlin.

Stuff in bold are directly from the book.

Here's chapter 2. I hope you guys like it 33

Chapter 2: Compartment Rendezvous

Hermione Granger walked along Platform Ten at King's Cross Station, her untamable bushy brown hair trailing behind her. She had buried her face into one of the books she'd bought, determined to learn as much about the wizarding world as she possibly could. A few steps behind her was a cart she had rented that was magically enchanted to follow her as she went.

Dumbledore hadn't had the time to escort her to buy her materials. He'd merely given her handful of coins which he'd been sure were more than sufficient to buy whatever she needed. And he was right, by the time she'd ticked off all of the items from the list, she still had quite a few of the large gold coins- galleons, he'd called them- left.

Her wand- vine wood, 10 and ¾ inches, dragon heartstring- was her favorite purchase. It had cost her only seven galleons- seven measly gold coins in exchange for a permanent entry into the wonderful world of magic. She was excited to find that the wand worked well for her- she had tried some simple spells, and had been able to cast most on her first and second tries.

Magic, it appeared, was largely methodical. Wand motion, incantation, and a thought of intent were all that was necessary to cast most spells. Of course, some spells required more power than others to cast, and some had different procedures, but a large part of their first year curriculum was comprised of standard spells.

After her shopping spree at Diagon Alley, she'd received directions- and a ticket- from Dumbledore, in order to reach the platform nine and three-quarters. Now, she stood at the threshold between two distinctly different worlds, nervous, but determined to overcome her anxiety. Dumbledore's instructions had been simple- walk straight into the barrier between the platforms nine and ten. She'd thought nothing of it then, but now, her logical mind was rejecting the very idea of it.

She turned around, and grabbed her rented cart by the handle. She closed her eyes, and pushed forward, with brave, tottering steps, bracing herself for an unpleasant impact. An impact that never came.

Instead, when she opened her eyes, she had emerged into a whole different train station. It seemed as if everything had a sepia tint to it, from the faded red steam engine, to the sign overhead that read "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters". With a smile, she unloaded the entire contents of the cart into her trunk, and attempted to close it- something it just wouldn't do. Giving up, she lugged her trunk onto the train- where her ticket was collected- and into the first empty compartment she could find.

Quickly, she unloaded her trunk onto the seat across from her. Sorting through her things, she pulled out a simple non-magical padlock, and used it on the compartment door. She then grabbed the first book that caught her eye and began a reading session that was guaranteed to go uninterrupted.

She'd managed to finish nearly every book the night before- memorizing the course books by heart- and now was rereading A History of Magic. Although the author- Bathilda Bagshot- had a tendency to condense important information, and to ramble on and off subject, Hermione found it an interesting read. She was in the middle of reading about Harry Potter, when she heard a knock on her compartment door.

Hermione looked up, ready to tell her intruder off, when she came face to face with a tearful round-faced boy. Still, her anger overtook her concern, and she flashed him a cold look. He tearfully ran off, leaving her in silence once more.

Sometime afterwards, Hermione felt the urgent need to go to the toilet. She momentarily glanced at the number of the page she was on, closed the book, and undid the padlock. She was walking down the hallway towards the restroom, when she saw a ginger haired boy with a wand out, pointing at his rat. Another boy, with darker hair and eyes sat across from him, also staring intently at the rat.

Suddenly, she felt excited. She threw the door open, causing the two boys within to jump in surprise, and forced her way in. She brushed the darker haired boy out of the way, and took his place across from the boy with the wand out.

"Are you doing magic?" She asked, excited. At the boys' curt nods, she smiled. "Let's see it then!"

The boy across from her nodded, and she couldn't help but notice the smudge of dirt on his face as he looked down at his rat, and began to chant a phony-sounding spell. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.

"Are you sure it's a real spell?" Hermione asked dubiously.

"'Course it is," he said irritably. "Fred and George said it was."

She looked at the ginger haired boy, thinking to herself that he was a bit… gullible. Shaking her head, she smiled, and said, "Well, it's not very good is it? I've tried a few spells myself, and they've all worked for me." Hermione put extra emphasis on the word 'all'. "I suppose I could teach them to you…"

The darker haired boy nodded eagerly at her offer. She smiled, and turned to him. "My name's Hermione Granger. What's yours?"

"Harry Potter."

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, and she spoke in an awed tone. "Are you really? I've read at least a dozen books about you."

The boy who called himself Harry Potter nodded, as if that would affirm his identity. Then, he lifted up his jet black bangs so that Hermione could see the lightning shaped scar, slightly off center in the middle of his forehead.

"I suppose you don't need my help then, you probably know loads of magic." Only she noticed the slight jealousy mixed in her tone, apparently, because as she got up to leave, Harry grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving.

"Well, even if you don't want to teach us, you could stay and talk…" He offered.

She debated her options in her head for a moment, and then nodded. Slowly, she sat back down, a cool smile plastered on her face. She looked at the ginger-haired boy uncertainly for his approval- although she would have stayed with or without it. The chance to befriend Harry Potter was just too much to miss.

For the longest time, Hermione had been an outcast. She hadn't had a single friend until Julianna had come to the orphanage, and because of that, she'd always felt a little lonely. Now, she imagined that if she befriended Harry- the famous Harry Potter- she could become popular- or at least, accepted- by association. She felt a little guilty for planning to use him like that, but she shoved that guilt into the back of her mind.

"That's Ron, by the way," Harry said, pointing at the ginger haired boy that sat across from her, who gave her a curt nod.

The three sat in an awkward silence for a few moments, before Hermione broke the silence with a question she'd been dying to ask.

"Do you know which houses you're going to be in?"

Harry merely shrugged, but Ron began to talk excessively: "Oh, I'm definitely going to be in Gryffindor. My entire family did, you know, my mother, my father, my cousins and brothers, my-"

She made a mental note to make sure the sorting hat did not put her in Gryffindor. She'd wanted to be in that house originally, but after Ron's display… She turned, and could tell that Harry too was put off a bit by this display.

"I'll probably just go wherever they sort me," Harry said. "As long as it's not Slytherin." Ron nodded in agreement. Hermione, however, frowned.

"What's wrong with Slytherin?" she asked.

Harry and Ron exchanged looks. "Well, you see-" Ron started.

"Hagrid told me that all dark wizards were in Slytherin," Harry finished.

Hermione shook her head in amusement. "Not everyone in Slytherin is bad," she stated. "Or at least, it's highly unlikely. It's just that the qualities that House stands for fit into the equation for a dark arts practitioner- cunning and sly. I'm sure there are plenty of heroes that fit that description."

Ron raised an eyebrow. "I dunno. Never heard of a bloke from Slytherin that was a good guy.

"Merlin, Ron." Hermione shook her head. "Merlin was a Slytherin."

"Blimey, was he really? And I thought he liked muggles too…"

"Ron," Hermione said bluntly, "He did."

"Oh."

Harry snickered, and handed him a chocolate frog card that featured Merlin. "Maybe you should read them instead of just collecting them?"

Ron's freckles vanished into his face as he reddened, and he began to mutter under his breath. Hermione thought she heard the words "show-off" and "smart-arse", and raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, the compartment door opened again, and three heads snapped towards it. Hermione had expected to see the round faced teary boy, but surprisingly, found herself face to face with what appeared to be a blonde boy and two extraordinarily ugly troll-human hybrids. It took her a moment to realize that they were in fact, people.

"Is it true then?" the blonde boy addressed Harry, a little venom in his voice. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter was in this compartment. Is it you then?"

Harry gave a curt nod to the boy, and Hermione thought she saw a brief look of dislike flash over his features, but as soon as she blinked, his face became unreadable.

"Yes."

"My name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Hermione quickly recognized that name. "Very prestigious and famous pureblood family," she recited without thinking. "The Malfoys are related to the Lestranges, the Blacks, the Greengrasses, and the Rosiers."

Malfoy whipped his head over to see who had spoken. He smirked approvingly. "You did your research I see. Are you one of us?"

"One of us?"

"Purebloods."

It took Hermione only a split second to answer. If this was what it took to be accepted in the wizarding world, she'd take it.

"Yes," she lied without a second thought.

"Which family?"

"Dagworth-Granger," Hermione said, naming an extinct family. She once again began quoting her studies. "My great-uncle founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers."

Malfoy nodded approvingly, before eyeing the third member of the group. "No need to ask who you are," he sneered. "Weasleys. Red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."

He turned back to face Harry, and held out his hand. "You might want to be choosier about who you hang out with, Potter. She," he gestured at Hermione, "Is okay, but Weasley is a blood-traitor. They're nearly as bad as mudbloods, in my opinion."

Harry's expression was inscrutable, but he nevertheless shook the other boy's hand. At the sight of this, Ron seemed to sink into his seat.

"I expect we'll be seeing more of each other," Malfoy smiled. "Good day, Potter, Granger."

And as quickly as he came, he left. The compartment door slid shut, and the trio sat in silence.

Then, Harry spoke up. "If it means anything, Ron, I'd rather hang out with you than Malfoy any day."

Author's Notes: Again, everything is sourced from either the book series or the wikia.

Anyway, I drafted two versions of this chapter, and decided to use this one since I figured it'd be boring to read about Hermione buying her wand. This chapter, I hope, shows just how badly she wants attention and acceptance- two things she lacked at the orphanage.

No, I am NOT changing Hermione's blood heritage. She's just lying about it, is all. In fact, she doesn't know her heritage herself, so technically it's only a half-lie.

So you've read, and now, please review! I'll try to respond to every signed review. I pwomise!