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Hemione was early for the train as usual, it wasn't in her nature to be late for anything if she could help it and she couldn't wait to be back at school with her friends. Her parents dropped her at Kings Cross with her trunk a full hour before the train was supposed to leave and she was a bit saddened when they didn't stay to see her off, but she wasn't surprised.
She was relieved to be going back to school. She loved her parents but keeping what had happened the previous year to stop her from writing to them regularly from them hadn't gone down well with them. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk about it, she could have used the opportunity to talk it over and sort out how she felt about everything. The only thing stopping her from telling her parents what had happened, was the knowledge that she wouldn't be allowed to return to school if she did.
They were so upset with her that they threatened to remove her from Hogwarts anyway, and had signed her up to take the placement exams at the private school nearest their house. Hermione had been upset and angry at being forced to sit those exams but she had done her best. She was horrified how poorly she had done on those exams, she who had always been at the top of her class didn't even qualify to be placed in the class with her old classmates, she would not only be in the class below she would also have to take some remedial classes over the summer to catch up with the lower level classes in math and science. Thankfully between the potential embarrassment to her parents and her fervent begging they'd agreed to let her return to Hogwarts.
Hermione had been so busy stewing over the last argument she'd had with her parents that she barely noticed that the compartment she'd entered already had a sleeping man in the corner. She pulled out her Charms book and lost herself in her reading. She looked up in shock when the train started to move while she thought she was still alone in her compartment and realised that she was sitting with a total stranger, too old to be a student. She was about to leave and find a new compartment when Ron and his sister Ginny entered a moment later, visibly out of breath from having to run to catch the train before it left without them.
"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Dunno, I thought he'd be here with you," Ron said throwing himself into his seat.
"We didn't see him as we walked along. He wasn't with his other roommates," Ginny added.
Hermione thought about going back to look for him but, decided that he was probably looking for them and it would be silly to both roam around looking and miss each other. She and Ron chatted catching each other up on the news and Hermione pressing for information about the magical district in Egypt. Harry's absence kept jarring in the back of her mind as being odd but she figured that he was probably holed up somewhere reading his muggle books and didn't want to listen to her opinions about it, so it wasn't until hours later when the train came to an early halt that she began to worry about him. If there was trouble on the train, he was sure to be in the thick of it somehow.
-o0o-
Elsewhere on the train Seamus and Dean were missing their friend. "I understand why he felt it was too dangerous but it's not going to be the same without Harry," Dean said.
"Without Harry?" Neville asked, having opened the door to ask whether he could sit with them.
"Come on in Neville," Seamus greeted him.
"Where's Harry, isn't he coming back to Hogwarts?" Neville asked.
"He didn't get on the train," Dean said.
"You know more than that, he could have got on earlier or something," Neville said astutely.
"This is a lousy beginning. Harry didn't want anyone to know we knew," Dean said.
"Know what. I'm sure Harry's just got caught up with Ron and Hermione and not been able to get away," Neville said nodding. "I can't say I blame him after last year's shenanigans."
"No, I'm surprised that we were allowed to come, my sister wasn't. She's gone to the Irish school in spite of getting a Hogwarts letter, but the train still seems full," Seamus said.
"There have been Longbottoms at Hogwarts for as long as there's been a Hogwarts," Neville replied, before changing the subject. "I wonder who they will get to teach defence this year?"
"Who knows! Anyone sensible would run a mile from taking a job cursed like that," Seamus said.
"You got that right!" Neville agreed, as they were joined by Lavender and Parvati and talk turned to what they'd done over the summer. The three boys were sad that their friend would not be joining them, but they knew better than to say anything about it in front of the two biggest gossips in their year level.
-o0o-
Everyone was shaken by the Dementors search of the train, which didn't make any sense. Surely nobody believed that there could be a grown man hiding on a train full of curious teenagers. Seamus and Dean felt their amulets warm as the Dementors came near and were the least affected, but Neville was a lot more affected than the girls. The two boys remembered what Mrs Finnegan and her friend had told them and plied him with Honeydukes chocolate.
Neville was embarrassed but Seamus and Dean were matter of fact about it forcing him to take the chocolate and explaining why it might have been worse for him once the gossip queens had gone to find out what was going on. "The Dementors force you to relive your worst memories. Dean and I had happy childhoods, the girls did too," Seamus said.
"I'm sorry that your worst memories are so terrible, and we're not going to pry into what they were. That's your business if you want to tell us or not. I'm only glad that Harry wasn't here to relive watching his mother be murdered," Dean said.
"He remembers that?" Neville asked in horror.
"Not really, he was too young to remember much, but he remembers enough to know he saw it, he remembers the green light hitting her and then hitting him," Seamus replied.
-o0o-
Remus was awoken from a nightmare by the pervasive chill making the windows ice over and the occupants of the train start to shiver and try to cast warming charms. He recognised the source of his worst nightmare and leaped up as a creature started to open the door, casting his Patronus as he physically put himself between the Dementor and the three students. Once he had chased it away he quickly pulled out some chocolate and handed it to the older girl. "Share a bit of this. It will help. I'm going to lock you in here safe and go and help the other students," he said hurriedly.
He stopped in at the other doors finding them all shut and locked tightly, knocking on each and telling them not leave their compartments or open the door to anyone until he came and told them it was okay. He reached the end of the train and raced back the other way but the Dementors had left the train. The chill had dampened the fire in the boiler but after a bit of Remus precious chocolate the drivers soon got it going again and the train resumed its journey.
Arriving at the station to find even more Dementors lurking around the platform was a nightmare.
Casting a sonorous he addressed the students. "Stay in groups and go straight to the carriages. Look after your friends and the younger students. The Dementors shouldn't attack you if you're not doing anything wrong or threatening them but they may if you give them an excuse so be careful not to approach them."
Remus was so busy trying to make sure that the students were all safe and transferred into the carriages and away from the Dementors that he didn't notice that his best friend's son, the student he most wanted to meet wasn't among them.
-o0o-
Madam Pomfrey stood in the entryway watching students arrive, trying to get to and help the worst affected. She was furious that the ministry thought Dementors around a school in close proximity to the children was anything other than total insanity. She was keeping a close eye on the students she knew had a troubled past and therefore was the first professor to be aware that Harry Potter was not among the students pouring out of the carriages and being rushed into the castle by anxious prefects and senior year students. He was on the list of those she was concerned about so when his friends and dormmates had all arrived without him it raised alarm bells in her mind.
Poppy flicked a quick Patronus to Minerva as his head of house informing her that she'd noticed one of the Lions missing, and to Flitwick who as a part goblin was less susceptible to Dementors asking him to join her.
She cornered Hermione first. "Did you leave Potter on the train?" Poppy demanded.
What? No, he didn't sit with us. I haven't seen him at all today," Hermione stammered realising that she'd missed him when transferring to the carriages and couldn't see him now either. "Why do you think that he would've stayed on the train?" she asked curiously.
Filius arrived at her side. "What's the fuss that you're delaying the feast? The children need to get fed and into their beds," he asked.
"I'm worried about Potter. I haven't seen him, and with the memories of that Halloween he will be one of the worst affected. Granger said she hadn't seen him all day," Poppy said. "I don't want to draw attention to him being missing until we're sure."
Filius pulled out his wand and silently cast the point-me charm. As luck would have it, Hogsmeade station was almost due south of the castle and the charm pointed him in that direction.
"I'll go and look for him," he said sighing.
"Would the spell still work I he has been …" Poppy began, but couldn't bring herself to finish the question.
"I'm afraid that I don't know," Filius replied subdued. He hurried to the edge of the wards and apparated to the station before casting the charm again. This time it pointed away from the train and back down the tracks towards London. He walked along to the end of the train to be sure but the boy was definitely not there. He breathed a sigh of relief then decided to walk through the train. Just because Potter was the only missing student Poppy had noticed, didn't mean he was the only student missing.
The train was empty and Filius considered apparating towards London in search of the boy. It would certainly be better to report to Dumbledore that the boy was located rather than missing, but he was hungry and the smell of the feast cooking had permeated his office all afternoon. He wasn't about to miss it now for a runaway or truant. Potter wasn't here on the station and was in no danger from the Dementors.
The hidden dog watched the elderly Charms Professor leave, wondering if he too had been looking for Harry. If so that meant that he wasn't safely in the castle. Had he run away from school? Or perhaps just missed the train? He wondered also why the Professors hadn't done more to ensure the safety of the students, it would be way too late for Flitwick to have done anything now, why did he bother coming? Had he gone after Harry to bring him back to the school?
Padfoot decided to get into the castle and try to take out Pettigrew and hopefully while he was there, he'd get to see Harry, or at least to learn something about his whereabouts.
-o0o-
Meanwhile, Minerva got the message that Potter hadn't been seen among the students arriving at school and sighed. Surely there was some ridiculous explanation or excuse why he hadn't been able to get onto the platform again or something. She didn't have time to do anything about it now, she had to greet and calm down the first years who were no doubt traumatized from their experience with the Dementors, before they could go in and be sorted before the start of year feast. She was going to give Potter at least a week's detention for wasting everyone's time.
-o0o-
Dumbledore watched the students enter the great hall with concern. Several of them seemed shaken from their encounter with the Dementors. He was furious with the ministry for putting the students into this position but also a little relieved that the students encountered the Dementors already in a large group instead of one or two students out on the grounds coming a little too close. It would add fuel to his arguments for their removal, and would make the students take his warning more seriously. Hopefully it would save the lives of the few troublemakers who regularly snuck out into the Forbidden Forest or down to Hogsmeade.
He trusted Poppy and his heads of house to alert him to any missing students or problems arising from the encounter with the Dementors so he wasn't paying much attention to the arriving students who were still milling around chaotically catching up with friends and talking over the incident instead of taking their seats. Eventually they settled down and he was able to look over the tables. There were more second year muggleborn students who had been withdrawn than usual and Albus wasn't surprised or particularly concerned with this development but was honestly surprised that Colin Creevey wasn't one of the students removed from Hogwarts. A scan of the tables showed that all the other petrification victims had also returned. He admired their bravery and determination. He looked over the Gryffindor table again. the youngest Weasley boy was sitting next to Hermione ranger, Longbottom, Thomas and Finnegan were a couple of seats away as normal. But there was no sign of Harry. Poppy must have taken him to the infirmary?' Albus thought frowning. He didn't want the boy coddled like that. He needed to be strong and stand on his own feet and keep going no matter the suffering if he was to defeat Tom Riddle. He knew that reliving watching his mother's murder would be difficult for Harry but he needed it to ignite his determination to fight the monster who had killed his mother. The last two years in a row he'd had to be manipulated into fighting him and that had to change if their world stood any chance of Tom being vanquished.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.