Hermione's time at Grimmauld Place gradually got more frustrating as the week progressed and she was immensely relived when it was time to head back to school. After the initial burst of information she received on her first day she soon discovered that the adults barred the younger people in the house from attending meetings. Hermione, Harry and Ron had to watch as people came and went, all the time never knowing what was going on.
By the end of the week the only information Hermione had to pass onto her father was the location of the Order Headquarters and the people she knew were members of the Order. She had no idea what they were planning or even how much they knew about her father. All in all the week had been a big let-down, she hadn't even found anything interesting in the library as Molly had locked the dark books away.
"I'm so pleased to be out of there." Ron grumbled as the trio settled into a compartment on the train. "It was getting so annoying the way they never let us hear anything."
"I know." Harry grumbled in agreement with Ron. "Anyone would think we were five not fifteen."
Hermione settled back in her seat and watched the view from the window as Harry and Ron continued to gripe and moan about being banned from Order meetings. While Hermione shared the duo's frustrations she remained silent, not wanting to encourage even more complaints. Luckily the complaining dwindled off within half an hour and it was just like a normal train ride.
While Harry and Ron ate sweets and played exploding snap, Hermione curled up with her book. All the time she kept an eye on the time and when it was nearly time for the prefect's meeting she put her book away and stood up.
"Come on Ron, we need to go." Hermione said, looking at Harry warily. The prefect situation hadn't been mentioned since she arrived at Grimmauld Place, but Harry seemed okay with things now.
"Hopefully we won't be long." Ron said to Harry as he stood up.
"I'll be okay on my own for a bit." Harry replied. "You two better get going before you're late."
At the mention of being late Hermione frowned and practically dragged Ron from the compartment. Hermione led the way to the Prefect's carriage and when they entered they found the prefects for Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were already present. Shortly after the two Gryffindors had taken their seats the doors opened again and the two Slytherin prefects entered the compartment.
"You've got to be kidding me." Ron grumbled to Hermione. "How did he get to be a prefect?"
The 'he' Ron was referring to was Draco and in all honesty Hermione was surprised that Ron was shocked by his role. After her Draco was by far the best student in their year and was a natural leader amongst the Slytherins. What surprised Hermione more was the female prefect for Slytherin, Pansy Parkinson. Pansy was a loud-mouthed, horrid, girl and Hermione failed to see how she was prefect material. In her opinion Daphne Greengrass would have been more suitable, Daphne's grades were better than Pansy's and she didn't look down on everyone outside of Slytherin like Pansy tended to do.
As the two Slytherins settled down in their seats, Hermione watched them and wondered if her opinions on Pansy weren't based slightly on jealously. Pansy was all over Draco and he had his arm casually draped over her shoulders as she cozied up to him. When Draco leant down and whispered something in Pansy's ear, causing her to giggle, Hermione looked away in disgust.
"Sickening, isn't it?" Ron whispered, also observing the two Slytherins. "The pug and the ferret, ugh. I suppose they are perfect for each other, but we don't need to see such gross displays of affection."
Hermione clenched her teeth when Ron mentioned Draco and Pansy being perfect for each other, but she had to agree the display of affection was horrible. Luckily she didn't have long to dwell on the two Slytherins as the Head Students entered the carriage and began to address the new prefects.
For half an hour the Head Students talked to the prefects, laying out their duties and passing the patrol schedule around. Hermione wasn't sure if she was relived or disappointed when all her patrols were with Ron. Part of her had been hoping that patrols would be mixed between the prefects and she would get to do the odd one with Draco, but then again since he thought she was a worthless muggleborn the experience wouldn't have exactly been a pleasant one.
When the meeting was dismissed, the eight prefects all exited the carriage and Hermione and Ron found themselves heading in the same direction as Draco and Pansy. Falling into step slightly behind the two Slytherins, Hermione tried not to stare at the couple. Unfortunately her eyes seemed glued to Draco, who still had his arm around Pansy and kept whispering to her. When the Slytherins reached their compartment Hermione winced as Draco's hand slid down to Pansy's backside as he ushered her into the carriage in front of him.
"Do you think they're shagging?" Ron asked Hermione as they passed the Slytherin compartment.
Hermione felt a surge of anger at the possibility, but she channelled her anger into a scathing look she threw Ron's way. "Honestly Ronald, it's none of our business."
Storming away from Ron she marched back to their compartment and practically threw herself in the corner. Harry raised a questioning eyebrow at Hermione, before turning his attention to a sheepish looking Ron who followed her into the compartment.
"I'm sorry Hermione, I didn't mean to upset you." Ron said, sitting down as far away from the brunette as he could get.
"You didn't upset me, I just think it's crass to discuss other people's sex lives." Hermione retorted, grabbing her book and effectively ending the conversation.
"Whose sex life were you discussing?" Harry whispered to Ron.
"Malfoy and Parkinson." Ron whispered back. "They were all over each other in the prefect meeting and on the way back to their compartment."
"Malfoy's a prefect?" Harry yelled in outrage. "That's not bloody fair."
"Tell me about it." Ron said, heartily agreeing with his friend. "I mean who in their right mind would let that git be a prefect?"
"The same person who thinks I'm unworthy of the position." Harry whispered sadly.
"I'm sure that's not the case." Hermione said, placing her book down. She'd been listening to the entire conversation and while she didn't want to defend Dumbledore she knew that's what she would do if she was really Harry's friend. "I'm sure Dumbledore has his reasons for not picking you as a prefect. In time I'm sure everything will become clear."
"Do you really think Dumbledore has some sort of plan regarding me?" Harry asked, deciphering Hermione's words in his own way.
"Yes." Hermione nodded, fighting the urge to roll her eyes at how easy Harry was pacified when it came to Dumbledore. Just the slightest inclination that the headmaster had a reason for his actions had Harry forgetting all about the cold shoulder he'd been receiving for the last few months.
Suddenly Harry's mood brightened again and he turned to Ron and began a conversation about Quidditch. Leaving the boys to their talking Hermione gathered her school clothes and headed off to the bathroom to change. By the time she returned the train had nearly reached Hogwarts and Harry and Ron were pulling their robes on.
Once the train stopped the trio quickly disembarked. After a quick hello to Hagrid, the three teenagers made their way to the queues for the carriages. In line they found themselves behind Ginny and a dreamy, blond girl she introduced as Luna Lovegood. When they reached the front of the queue, Hermione and Ron climbed up beside Ginny and Luna, before Hermione realised Harry was rooted to the spot, staring at the front of the carriage.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, looking around for something that could be bothering Harry.
"There's something strange pulling the carriage." Harry said, pointing at the skeleton like horse he could see.
"There's nothing there, mate." Ron said, looking at Harry as though he was mad. "The carriages are pulling themselves, like always."
Harry took a second look before climbing into the carriage with his friends. He knew he was right, but if he argued the point he would only risk appearing crazy and he didn't need anything else to help fan the rumours of his madness.
"I can see them too." Luna whispered to Harry once the carriage was moving.
"Really?" Harry asked. "How can we see them and no-one else can?"
"I don't know." Luna shrugged. "I've always been able to see them."
From her seat Hermione listened to the conversation between Harry and Luna before turning her attention to the front of the carriage. She couldn't see anything pulling the carriage, but she knew Harry wasn't crazy. If he'd seen some strange creature pulling the carriages then some strange creature was pulling the carriages. Idly she wondered if her father knew what pulled the coaches, she had to remember to ask him next time she wrote to him.
When they reached the castle the group alighted the coach and Hermione watched Harry as he stared at the front of the carriage again. However with the constant stream of students arriving at the castle he didn't have long to look at the strange creature as they were swept along with the crowds. Entering the school they followed the crowds to The Great Hall and took their seats at the Gryffindor table.
"I hope the sorting is quick." Ron grumbled. "I'm starving."
"You're always starving." Hermione retorted with a roll of her eyes.
Ron grinned at Hermione and shrugged his shoulders, causing Harry to laugh quietly beside him. Hermione shook her head at the two boys, but managed to shoot them a small smile before she started to look around The Great Hall. Everything seemed the same as it was every year and Hermione was actually surprised there wasn't still some residual grief over events at the end of the previous year. However things seemed fairly cheerful and looking around the room you wouldn't think a dark wizard had just returned to full strength, clearly the majority of people believed the papers and believed Harry and Dumbledore had concocted the entire story about Voldemort.
Hermione's attention finally turned to the front of the room, once Dumbledore had stood up and called for silence. The sorting that followed was quick and boring and Hermione was relieved when it was over. When Dumbledore stood up to begin his start of term speech, Hermione smiled as Ron audibly groaned in dismay that his meal would have to wait a bit longer still.
However Dumbledore had barely started speaking when a stout, little witch he'd introduced as Professor Dolores Umbridge interrupted him. The fact that Dumbledore had been interrupted created interest amongst the bored student body and they all turned their attention to the Professor's table.
"Bloody hell, she was at my hearing." Harry hissed to Hermione and Ron. "She works for the Ministry."
"What's she doing here?" Ron frowned.
"Maybe if you two would shut up, we'd find out." Hermione said with a glare, before turning round and listening to Umbridge's speech.
Umbridge's speech was incredibly long and incredibly boring and by the end only Hermione was really listening. While the speech had been long and boring to most people, Hermione found it most intriguing. In a nutshell the Ministry were saying they didn't trust Dumbledore and Umbridge had been sent to check he was doing his job correctly. During her speech, Hermione had heard Harry telling Ron that Umbridge had accused him of lying about Voldemort and had voted against him returning to school. Hermione just hoped that meant that Umbridge would be against Dumbledore and with any luck she could find a way to rid Hogwarts of its foolish Headmaster.