Hey guys. I realized I didn't include this in the first chapter, so...: I DO NOT OWN THESE AWESOME CHARACTERS OR THEIR FABULOUS WORLD. THEY ARE ENTIRELY OWNED BY THE SUPERMEGAFOXYAWESOMEHOT J.K. ROWLING. So there.

Chapter 2

Harry sighed as he sank into the bench of the Hogwarts Express train compartment. Part of him could barely keep his eyes open from lack of sleep, but he was still too excited to even consider taking a nap. Instead, he settled for flipping through the Daily Prophet. Harry regretted this instantly, seeing his face (once again) on the front page.

CHOSEN ONE LASHES OUT AT PRESS
-
Held back by pregnant girlfriend

Rita Skeeter

He threw the paper in the seat next to him, not bothering to read the article. Harry thought back to the day in question. Leave it to Rita Skeeter to make the paparazzi the victims of the story.

Harry and Ron stepped out of The Leaky Cauldron with Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley, ready to go school-shopping. But as soon as they emerged into Diagon Alley, they were met by a crowd photographers and reporters.

"There he is!"

"And he's with his girlfriend!"

"Has dating Ginny Weasley put a strain on your friendship with her brother, Mr. Potter?"

"Do we hear wedding bells in the future, Mr. Potter?"

"Where have you been all summer, Mr. Potter?"

Harry stepped in front of Ginny, shielding her from the reporters firing questions at them. He shot a dirty look in what he thought was their direction, but he wasn't sure; he was momentarily blinded by the flashbulbs. The group hurried into Flourish and Blotts, desperately wanting a reprieve from the swarm of paparazzi. After finishing their business in there, Harry was dismayed to find that the gaggle of reporters had not forgotten their mission, and was waiting just outside of the shop, ready to ambush the group as soon as they left the store. This continued all day, until, after stepping out of Slug and Jiggers Apothecary, Harry had finally had enough.

"Oy! Yeah you, the slimy gits that have been following us around all day. Beat it, alright? Give us some some peace, for Merlin's sake!"

"Mr. Potter, we – "

"' – apologize profusely and will never follow you again.' Took the words right out of your mouth, didn't I? Now I better not be bothered by you anymore, or I might just be disposed to hex you into the next millennium."

"My, my, my, Mr. Potter. Whatever will your lovely little admirers say about your little tantrum? Wouldn't want any bad publicity, now would we?" Harry looked up and saw none other than Rita Skeeter sauntering towards him, her signature Quick Quotes Quill poised and ready to sensationalize anything it wrote.

"I think they'd say a restraining order sounds like a good idea, don't you think?" Harry met her gaze unwavering.

"I think they'd say that your little girlfriend here looks like she has a baby bump. Might wanna get that checked a St. Mungo's, hm?" Rita's quill was scribbling away furiously of its own accord as she adjusted her cat-eye glasses.

"Why you dirty little –" Harry reached in his pocket and whipped out his wand. It was one thing for the press to bother him – he'd certainly given them enough to talk about – but attacking Ginny was crossing the line.

"Levicorpu –"

"HARRY!" Ginny was suddenly in front of him, yanking his wand away from him. "Don't you dare," the look Ginny was giving him was enough to make him pause. "She's not worth it."

"I'm certainly not. Imagine what your child would think of his father, hexing an innocent observer." Rita smirked at Harry, who lunged at her, but was grabbed by Ginny and Ron. She strode away confidently, her heels clicking against the cobblestones that paved Diagon Alley. She had won this battle.

"Harry, are you quite alright?"

He jolted out of his recollection to see a pair of concerned chocolate eyes gazing at him: Hermione.

"I'm fine, Mione. Just thinking about yesterday, I suppose." He took his glasses off to clean a particularly stubborn smudge.

"Don't worry about it, mate. The whole thing will blow over in no time!" Ron patted Harry's shoulder awkwardly. He had never been good at consoling others. He was thankful when Neville and Luna entered the compartment, easing the tension.

"Hello there," Luna greeted them in her dreamy voice. As they sat down, Harry was shocked to see Neville reach for Luna's hand tentatively. He almost said something, but Hermione's pointed glare convinced him to do otherwise.

"I saw that article in the Prophet, Harry. But I, of course, don't believe a word of it. Ginny told me exactly what happened, and I think it was very brave of you, standing up to Rita Skeeter. She seems to be plagues by the distinctively vicious cousin of the Nargle, the Dabberblimp. Father and I have been researching them extensively." Luna continued on as Neville stared at her with a combination of awe and slight confusion.

"Oh, Harry. I almost forgot! We're supposed to assign duties to Prefects in Compartment E. I suppose we'd better hurry on. Make a good impression, you know."

"Right, right Hermione. See you, I guess." He waved half-heartedly to the compartment's other occupants. Harry was not looking forward to instructing the Prefects.

When Harry and Hermione entered the compartment, a cheer rose from most of the waiting Prefects, much to Harry's embarrassment

"It's the Boy Who Lived!"

"Way to go, Harry!"

"Tell us how ya did it, Harry! Tell us how ya defeated him!"

"Now, now, everyone," Hermione sought to calm the group. "You'll have plenty of time to pick Harry's brain for war stories later. Right now, I think we should focus on the task at hand."

Once everyone got on track, the meeting was as boring as Harry expected. As he scanned the group of about two dozen teenagers, he recognized a few faces. Ernie Macmillan was there, and so were Padma Patil and Hannah Abbott. Harry was also dismayed to see Malfoy and Pansy lounging across the seat furthest from him. Pansy sneered at Harry and Hermione, while Malfoy gave them a curt nod.

Before long, Harry's wish had come true and the meeting was coming to a close. He and Hermione were the last to leave, held up by a nervous fifth-year Hufflepuff. Finally, they were able to assure him that he would perform his duties just fine and that he had nothing to worry about. The poor new Prefect left eventually, still seeming oddly fidgety and anxious.

Slowly but surely, Harry and Hermione made their way back to their friends' compartment. The pair stopped several times, catching up with old acquaintances and every now and then being stopped by admirers, which embarrassed both of them greatly.

"Hey Mione," Harry nudged her. "Why are Malfoy and Pansy in our compartment?"

Hermione didn't have to answer. By this time, they were close enough to hear what Pansy was saying.

"When are you and Harry gonna be blessed with your little bundle of joy? I'm sure you're very excited, but what will your parents think? What a surprise, Ginny Weasley knocked up at 16. Tut tut tut…" Pansy wasn't so much as batting an eye under the death glares of Ginny and her mates. Malfoy, however, looked a bit nervous when Neville reached for his wand.

"Pansy, dear, I really think we've –"

"Dear, eh?" Harry, feeling he might have his anger under control a bit better now, finally stepped in. "What ever happened to Pathetic Parkinson? That's what you and Blaise used to call her in sixth year, wasn't it? I sat right behind you in that class, if you recall," he smirked before turning to Pansy. "It seems your affections weren't properly returned. In fact, I wonder if they were returned at all."

For someone who spent all her time manipulating others, it was shocking just how gullible Pansy could be. She slapped Malfoy and ran out of the compartment in tears. Malfoy made a very obscene gesture at Harry before following after her.

"Harry, that wasn't very tactful, you know," Luna pointed out as Harry and Hermione finally sat down.

"Sure it wasn't tactful, but it was bloody brilliant, mate!" Ron grinned at him. "Who knew that Parkinson would get so upset about Malfoy? I would've been glad to find out he didn't like me, scrawny little git he is."

"And I suppose you were gonna let her abuse poor Ginny like that? What kind of big brother are you?" Harry punched him lightly on the arm.

"Harry…" Ginny interrupted their squabble. "Do I… do I really look pregnant?" she asked sheepishly. She wasn't one to be overly self-conscious, but Ginny wasn't sure she could deal with being called pregnant right and left.

"Of course not, love," he kissed her tenderly on the forehead as he put his arm around her. "A tiny little bird like you, pregnant?" Harry said. "It's ridiculous for it to even be a question! Pansy over there looked more pregnant than you do." He pecked her softly on the lips, which was met by Ron clearing his throat conspicuously.

"Honestly, though, didn't she seem a bit bigger to you?" Hermione asked Harry. "Maybe it was just me, but Pansy seemed a bit rounder in the face or something."

"And she did get quite emotional when she thought Malfoy didn't love her. Maybe he knocked herup!" Ron chuckled. "Nah, Malfoy's to responsible for that to happen. He'd rather be murdered than 'ruin the precious family name.'"

The group continued to jabber about their classmates, discussing who they had seen and who had lost family during the war. Harry didn't participate in the idle chatter, though. He simply hugged Ginny close to him and watched the Scottish countryside roll by. Harry was just glad to finally be going home again.

A/N: Last line sappy much? Yeah.

So I'm gonna try to update this story about once a week, but we'll see how that goes after school starts in a couple of weeks. I am determined to stick with it, though.

Love it? Hate it? Stalk Tom Felton? (WOW. Me too!) Let me know in the comments.