A/N: Okay guys. Sorry it took so long, but I'm afraid there will be an even bigger gap between the next several updates. I'm going away for college tomorrow and have spent most of the last month packing and buying shit. It was hard enough for me to set aside some time to type this up! Anyway, Harry and Hermione make a new friend, and get off on the wrong foot with a certain pair of gingers.

Chapter 6

"Harry, are you positive you don't need any help with your trunk?" Hermione's father asked as the small boy made his way to one of the many train doors.

"Oh, no thank you Mr. Granger –"

"Doctor Granger, Harry. My parents are dentists!" Hermione quickly stated as if it really affected anything.

Hermione's fath- Doctor Granger scowled his daughter while Harry looked uncomfortable, thinking he had done something wrong. Misreading his expression, the female Dr. Granger apologized for his daughters behavior. "Please forgive her, dear. Hermione is a very smart child, therefore facts are very important to her."

Harry nodded in response. "I understand, ma'am. I myself like knowing the facts. I've read all my textbooks and some others."

The brunette girl perked up at this. "As did I! I found the History texts intreging. And Transfiguration sounds exciting along with Charms and Potions!"

"I know, Potions sounds like cooking to me. I love to cook, so I hope to excel in that class."

Hermione's parents interrupted the two. "Alright children, you best be getting on the train before the compartments all fill up." Sure enough, as the time of departure was drawing near, the hidden platform was quickly becoming crowded.

Harry looked around before adjusting his luggage and cages. "Well, I'll go get us a compartment, Hermione. You know, give you and your parents some privacy to say goodbye and stuff." The young boy smiled at his new friend, who looked on the verge of tears.

Saying his own farewells to the Granger's, Harry hauled his things onto the train and quickly found an empty compartment. He set his belongings down and looked out the window, seeing Hermione. The child opened the window and leaned out, catching the girls attention. "Hermione!" Harry called. "Third door to the left!"

The brunette nodded before yelling back. "I thought you were giving my parents and I some alone time!"

Harry laughed as he shut the window. Opening the cat carrier, he pulled Holly onto his lap, beaming. "I must say Holly, I love having human friends my own age!"

The platform was packed when James and Leanne finally staggered through the Floo Network at 10:55. "Honestly," James grumbled. "We're even later than the Weasley's."

Leanne looked around slowly, completely ignoring her father. Said father knew exactly what his little girl was looking for. "You know love; they never let the press onto the platform, unless they are dropping off their own children."

The child glared at her father and grabbed her trunk. "Couldn't you have at least shrunk this stupid thing? It's so big!"

The man sighed, checking his watch. "Well, just be glad that it's light. Now hurry up. The conductor doesn't give a damn if you're the girl-who-lived; the train leaves at exactly 11 am no matter what. You have two minutes; get on the train, now!"

The girl looked up tearfully at her father. "But, Daddy?" She asked tearfully. "Won't you miss me?"

Wether it was the crowd of people on the platform or the tears in Leanne's eyes, James' hard shell cracked. "Oh, sweetheart. Of course I'll miss you! I know I won't be sitting around thinking about you because I have to work all day. And you will have so much fun at Hogwarts, I bet you'll barely think about me! Just remember I love you so much and I'll write to you every chance I get, okay?"

By now, James had his own tears in his eyes. Everything hit him at once; for the first time he can remember, he will be alone. No parents, no Lily, no kids, no friends, only the dozen or so house-elves. Leanne on the other hand had stopped "crying" and was now looking around in horror. Paparazzi or not, her father was crying in public! "Daddy?" She said softly, grabbing his arm in what hopefully looked gentle to bystanders. "Daddy, please don't cry."

The girl glances around the crowded station. With less than two minutes before the train left, nobody was paying any attention to the Potters' and for once Leanne had no problem with that. She could not leave her father alone close to tears in the middle of the platform! He had to pull himself together or they would look bad; at least that's what Uncle Al always said about showing emotions in public. Leanne tightened her grip on her father and hissed, "Dad! Oh my God, just stop!"

James pulled back and gaped at his daughter, who quickly grabbed her luggage and raced onto the train without a backwards glance. As the clock struck 11, James meet the disappointed eyes of Molly Weasley.

Once Hermione joined Harry in their compartment the two continued their conversation about the subjects. "Honestly," Harry exclaimed. "Everything sounds so fun, it doesn't even sound like school!"

The girl scoffed. "Well, I don't know about that! We're here to learn, Harry, not to have fun!"

The dark haired boy rolled his eyes. "I know, Hermione. Trust me, I'm not here to fool around. I'm just saying, as we were both raised by Muggles, some of this seems like fun hobbies. You know, like learning to play an instrument or to bake or draw. Not only are we learning skills and having fun, but if we're really good we can use those skills to make a living. In the Wizarding World, we learn Charms and Potions and Herbology. To the kids raised in this world, it just seems like school work, but to kids like us, it's new and fun!"

Hermione thought for a moment. "That does make sense in a way. To them, it may seem like the equivalent of a Muggle student going away for math or English classes; but for us Muggle-raised children, it's like going to a summer camp, or an American child going to Scouts!"

"Exactly." Harry agreed as the compartment door opened. Both children turned to see a nervous round faced boy with a toad in one hand and a trunk in the other.

"Hello. Er … may I sit here … please?" The boy asked shyly, already preparing to move on to another compartment.

Harry and Hermione exchanged a look and smiled kindly at the shy boy. "Of course! I'm Hermione and this is Harry."

The boy was clearly in disbelief as he sat across from the two. Eventually the shock wore off and he addressed them with little more confidence than he had the first time. "Oh. I-I'm Neville."

Harry smiled reassuringly at Neville. "So were you raised in the Wizarding world?"

The chubby boy adjusted the toad. "Er … yeah. I live with my grandmother in my family … manor."

The other two looked surprised. "Do many wizarding families live in manors?" Hermione asked in awe.

Neville blushed. "Well, only the really old ones. The Potters, the Malfoys, the Notts, my family the Longbottoms, and plenty of others."

Harry was looking at Neville wide-eyed. "Wow. Hermione and I were both raised in the Muggle world. The only people with manors are extremely rich!"

The other boy nodded. "That's pretty much how it works here, too." There was an awkward silence before Neville changed the subject. "So, you're both Muggle-borns?"

Hermione smiled. "Well, I am. My parents are dentists." Seeing the confusion on Neville's face, she added. "They tend to people's teeth."

Harry looked out the window to compose himself before sharing his story. "My mum was Muggle-born and my father was an American half-blood. They were killed in a car accident when I was a baby. I live with my Muggle Aunt and Uncle and their son. My family, though, doesn't … approve of magic."

The small boy turned away from Hermione's pitying looks and instead turned to the other boy, who was nodding in understanding. Neville then shared his homelife with the other children; about how his parents were … ill, therefore unable to care for him, about his grandmother who raised him for ten years, but neglected him emotionally, yet her disappointment in her only grandchild was clear. He ended his history with his Great Uncle Algie, who dropped him out a window to force him to perform accidental magic.

His companions gaped in horror at that last one. "Oh, Neville! That's terrible! And your grandmother allowed that?"

Neville looked shocked by Hermione's reaction. "Well, yeah, but she seemed thrilled that I bounced. You see, she and the rest of the family thought I was a squib."

The girl blinked. "A what?"

"A squib," Harry said, causing the others to turn to him. "Basically the opposite of a Muggle-born. You know, someone born to wizard parents but can't do magic. My neighbor, Mrs. Figg, is one. She's the one who taught me about the wizarding world after I turned her cat blue." Holly gave him a glare at the mention of the incident that still haunted her.

Hermione nodded curtly at the dark haired boy. "Okay, anyway Neville. In the Muggle schools they teach children about child abuse and what to look for among each other. I'm telling you Neville, your story fits the image of child abuse and neglect!" The girl leaned closer to the heavier boy. "You should tell someone about what's happening at home."

Neville paled at the end of Hermione's speech. After several silent minutes, the pudgy boy turned to the smaller boy. "So, what's your cats name, Harry?"

Ignoring the disapproving looks Hermione was giving them, the boys fell into a lengthy conversation about their familiars. After a moment, Hermione caught a word that she hadn't read in any of her books. "What's a Kneazle?"

Neville turned to the girl, happy she was finally talking about something other than his home life. "Well, it's basically a magical cat. They look just like any other domestic cat."

"Sometimes," Harry added, "they mate with ordinary cats. The results are cats like Holly. Most Kneazles are brown or gray, but by breeding with ordinary cats, you can get all sorts of breeds, like a Siamese for instance."

The boy held out his Siamese mix to the girl to examine. Hermione eagerly took the cat and cuddled her. "She's beautiful!" The child breathed, and then giggled as Holly licked her cheek at the complement. "And smart too! But what about Trevor?" Hermione added, gesturing to the toad.

"Oh, he's just a toad. No Kneazle in him." Harry replied with a straight face while Neville snickered.

Neither Hermione nor Holly were impressed. "Don't get cheeky! I meant will Holly hurt him?"

"No," Neville said, much more relaxed than earlier. "Kneazles can recognize familiars and don't hurt them unless they are a danger to their owner; like if someone's owl always bit Harry, Holly would chase it away. Trevor is perfectly safe."

Apparently, Trevor didn't get the message, because the second Neville held out the toad to the cat, he took off.

"Trevor, no! Come back!" Neville yelled as the candy lady opened the door a crack to offer the children snacks.

The children chased the toad out into the corridor. Harry took Holly from Hermione and put her on the ground. "Come on Holly. Help us find him."

The cat ran off, followed closely be the children. She led them to the last door in the corridor, where they could hear a girl shrieking. Racing in to the compartment, the three children saw a red-headed boy clutching Trevor and trying not to laugh at the screaming child, who turned out to be a very familiar red-haired girl. Neville ran forward to reclaim his toad while Hermione went to help the girl down from her seat, leaving Harry in the doorway, laughing. "Can't wait to see that headline; 'Girl-Who-Lived: Terrified of Toads!'"

Hermione gaped at Leanne in recognition while the two gingers glared at Harry and Neville, who were both snickering.

"Oi!" Ron snapped. "You can't talk to Leanne Potter like that! Who the ruddy-" The boy stopped short, taking a good look at Harry. Ron turned to Leanne, expecting to see the same expression of shock and disbelief on her face, but all he saw was hatred.

Ron shook his head, there's no way this is just a coincidence; that scrawny boy looked too much like James Potter. Ron has never been very smart; he would be willing to admit that, but he knew that something was strange about the black haired boy who just entered his compartment. However, this was his first year, he didn't need to be deemed a nutter by sprouting out conspiracy theories like the Quibbler. So for now, Ron would keep quiet and wait until someone else called attention to it.

By this point, the bushy haired girl had begun sprouting out everything she had ever read regarding Leanne Potter while the other two boys stood by the door with a glazed look in their eyes. Leanne herself was rummaging through her trunk. "What's your name?" The girl rudely interrupted the other.

"Oh!" Hermione stated, taken aback. "Hermione Granger. I'm sorry, I don't mean to ramble. I'm Muggle-born, you see."

Again the famous girl cut Hermione off. "Yeah, okay. Here you go!" She exclaimed with a fake smile, thrusting a signed head-shot into the flabbergasted girl's hands.

The three newcomers stared at the Girl-Who-Lived in disbelief. Finally Harry spoke up. "What the hell makes you think she wants your autograph?"

Leanne turned to him slowly. Her father had warned her to be careful around hecklers. Many children had Death Eaters for parents; who knows what those kids have been taught! "And who are you?"

The boy arched an eyebrow. "Harry Jameson." Misreading Ron's expression, he added, "My father was American."

Relieved that this was just another fan like Ron and Hermione, Leanne signed another head-shot. This she could deal with; jealous first years. "Alright! And you?" She turned to Neville.

The larger boy scowled at the ignorant celebrity. "We've met before."

Now Hermione joined her friends in giving Leanne dirty looks as Ron whispered in the latter's ear. "Right. Of course!" She said brightly as she signed another photo. "Oh, and this is Ron." The girl added half-heartedly as she passed the boys their signed photos (Neville's was made out to someone named Nathaniel.)

There was a very awkward silence broken only by a tearing noise. Harry had torn his picture in half, while Hermione crumbled hers. Neville simply shoved his into his pocket. "Actually," Hermione said cooly. "We just came in to get Neville's toad. I think I speak for all of us when I say we don't give a damn about who you are."

With that, the three left, slamming the door behind them while the gingers did what they did best and flushed furiously.

A/N: Oooh, where do I begin. So Neville is out of character, in a way. I've always had a hard time believing that he could be so awkward in the beginning then become the badass we see in the last book/movie. So here, I wrote him as you kind of see him in Order of the Phoenix; kind of shy, but starting to come out of his shell. As for Leanne's ignorance to who Harry really is, well, I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say she only sees what she wants to see (and she's not very observant.) Anyway, review with issues, questions, general comments (I'm sure there might be some due to the following!)

OH! Very important! If you leave any form of critique or flame, LOG IN! I haven't gotten any in this story, but I got a review on one of my stories for Les Mis, where the person just bitched about my drawn out descriptions or something. As you can possibly tell, I didn't really read it. But anyway, if you have a problem with my story, do one of the following:

Log in so I don't have to waste everyone's time again

Suck it up and keep reading (Sorry. That's kind of harsh, but that's what I do if I have an issue with an otherwise well-written story.)

Stop reading (Again this is what I do if I have an issue with a story.)

PM me. I'll be happy to clear anything up or to take your suggestions. No need to leave a comment that everyone can see just because I got some facts wrong or something like that.

Seriously, I'm not trying to be a bitch, it's just that I hate when half a new chapter has to be clearing things up when I could simply just message the person with the answer. I get it if you don't have an account, that's fine. It's just that some people with accounts just complain about stupid things or tell the author their story sucks and then we get authors notes like this.