A/N: Ok, first off I want to apologize profusely for not getting this chapter out sooner. I have been meaning to write it for a week now, but work has just been so hectic! But, the next chapters will come a lot sooner I promise! I updated my other story, Trying Times with Chapter Five. I hope everyone likes it. I don't know how long this story is going to be, right now I am just going to run with it and see where it takes me. I am also working on another little short fic, kinda for Halloween. It was just something I had in my head, so I thought I would write it. That one is not going to be as long as my other two. Alright now that that is done, I would now like to think each and all my reviewers!! Y'all are what make me want to hurry and get the next chapter out!!! So thanks again! Last but not least a Happy Halloween to everyone!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter! Got it! Good! He He!
Planes, Trains and Harry Potter?
Chapter Two
Hermione Granger sat with her feet propped up on the opposite side of the train compartment reading her new Potions book for the year.
She was already boarded on the Hogwarts Express, patiently waiting for her two best friends to arrive. She had gotten there a little earlier this year and decided to go ahead and save a compartment.
As she continued to read, her thoughts trailed from the words and were clouded over by miscellaneous things. She was made Head Girl along with Justin Finch Fletchley, who was head boy. She had secretly hoped it would be Harry, and of course, maybe Ron, but that didn't happen. She figured that Dumbledore thought Harry had too much on his shoulders right now to have to deal with Head Boy responsibilities, which of course, she completely agreed with. Ron, well, he just wasn't cut out for Head Boy material.
She peered out the window and noticed everyone rushing around trying to board the train, tearful parents waving goodbye to their little ones that were starting their first year, and friends talking amiably about the upcoming year. Life seemed, well, normal; at least for now anyway. They hadn't heard anything about Voldemort, which was something good, yet something bad. Hermione didn't want to have to be bothered by Voldemort, but she still knew he was out there and if he wasn't making his presence known, then he definitely was up to something. Hermione shivered at the thought and tried to push it far away. Luckily she didn't have to dwell on that thought for long because a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Hey there, Hermione!" the voice called out.
Hermione turned to see Neville Longbottom standing in the compartment door. He was still his clumsy old self, but that didn't bother Hermione at all. She actually had grown quite fond of Neville, as a friend only, of course.
"Hey Neville, how was your summer?" Hermione answered as she turned her attention from the book to Neville, but keeping it perched on her lap.
"Well, it was ok. How about you?" Neville said still standing up. He was moving his feet around a little bit, and Hermione could tell he was nervous about something.
"Good, Neville," Hermione decided to ask. "Is something wrong?"
Neville's cheeks turned bright red and he turned to Hermione and said, "Well I wanted to ask you if you have seen Ginny yet? I have wanted to speak with her."
Hermione smiled, she always knew that Neville had a soft spot for Ginny and she thought they were rather cute together.
"Oh, Neville, no I haven't seen her yet. Matter of fact, I haven't seen Ron or Harry either, which is strange because the train will be leaving in fifteen minutes. I didn't think they would cut it this close," She was mostly talking to herself at the end, pondering on why Harry, Ron and Ginny hadn't arrived yet.
"Well, if you see her, tell her I need to talk to her," Neville said.
"Sure," Hermione replied. They waved their goodbyes and Neville went on his way.
Curious as to why Harry and Ron weren't there yet, Hermione decided to get up and investigate. She walked quickly down the aisle, trying to make her way through the frantic first years and babbling groups of older kids. She reached the front of the train, but still no sign of them.
Hermione made her way back to her compartment and slipped inside. She then noticed that her trunk was opened. "That's odd; I know that it was closed when I left."
An odd feeling swept through Hermione's veins, but she didn't have time to contemplate it, as she suddenly heard the loud voice of the one and only, Ron Weasley.
"Thank God we didn't miss the train! I was certain we would have if dad hadn't of installed that booster switch on the car!" Ron admitted as he stepped into the compartment, followed by Harry, who was chuckling at his comment.
"Hermione!" Ron said as he lunged forward and wrapped her in a bear tight hug. He was so tall now; he towered over her 5'4 frame. He must be at least 6'2 by now, Hermione thought.
"Hey Ron," she said as she released herself from the hug and stared at him. He hadn't changed that much over the summer, still had bright red hair and freckles galore on his face, but his shoulders were broader and his face took more of a shape now. He looked more like a man. He will be drawing the ladies attentions this year, Hermione thought to herself. Ron stepped back and let Harry pass by.
"Hey Hermoine," Harry said as he too wrapped her into a hug, but his was less forceful and more gentle. "It's good to see you!"
"It's good to see you too, Harry!" She said while still embracing him. For some reason, it was a little harder for her to let him go. She did so reluctantly, when it seemed they had lingered in their hug a bit too long, and she stood back to take in the sight of him.
He had grown a little, but still hadn't quite reached six foot yet. His hair was a ravenous mess atop his head and his glasses still covered his eyes, but she could see the bright green gleam of them as clear as daylight. They pierced through her like a suns rays and she almost felt like covering her eyes so she wouldn't be blinded. Those eyes conveyed everything to her, and in them, even though his outside had clearly grown, she could see the quiet, shy, young boy that she knew he still harbored inside.
"So what happened?" Hermione said, finally breaking her stare from Harry and turning to Ron who had already lounged himself out on the bench.
"Well, it's a long story, but it involved the twins, me, Harry, the dursleys, and some good ol fashioned pranks…." Ron began.
Finally arriving at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione ventured out of the carriages, laughing and reminiscing about old times, to make their way up to the castle for the last time. Hermione knew that they too, were feeling the loss of knowing this was their last year at their "home".
They made it into Great Hall and took seats at the Gryffindor table. As the first years were sorted and everyone had sat down to begin the feast, Dumbledore stood.
"First I would like to welcome everyone back for another year here at Hogwarts. Congratulations to all the new first years. Now, as a reminder the Forbidden Forest is completely out of bounds and no one should go there under any circumstances. Now, on another extremely important note, I want everyone to be very cautious this year. As you all should know by now, Voldemort…" several gasps could be heard around the room as Dumbledore said his name so nonchalantly. "-is still out there and just as much a threat as he has ever been. It has been quiet lately, but that does not mean cause for celebration, it means everyone needs to be on their guard. We have plenty of safety precautions already set up and myself and the staff are ready for whatever my come, but I would like everyone to make sure they travel with another companion; do not walk the halls alone. Now, I am sure everyone is famished, so let's eat!"
They dug into the wonderful food, but Hermione couldn't help but think about Dumbledore's speech. For some reason, she got the feeling that he knew something he wasn't letting on. Harry had finally told them last year about the prophecy, but there was something else. She didn't speak to Ron and Harry; they were engaged in excited Quidditch talk, so she was free to run these thoughts through her mind.
When they were finished, Hermione waved goodbye to Harry and Ron, and set off for her meeting with Professor McGonagall about her duties.
She reached the classroom and Justin was already there.
"Hey Justin," Hermione said as she took a seat beside him.
"Hey Hermione, how are you?" Justin asked turning and smiling at her.
"Good. So where is Professor McGonagall?"
"Sorry I'm late," Professor McGonagall said as she walked into the classroom.
"Ok, well your duties are fairly simple. You are allowed to deduct points from a student's house for their misconduct. I will need one of you to patrol each night, so you may rotate. The prefects will also be patrolling, but they will go in an hour earlier then you. You need to patrol till 12. The teachers will also be around the school, so you have nothing to fear, I just want to make sure that any students caught after curfew are caught. Times are too dangerous for that stuff right now,"
"Yes Professor," Hermione replied. The meeting lasted a few more minutes as McGonagall explained who the prefects were.
She left the room and headed back to the common room. It was a little passed nine, and she wasn't tired, so she figured she would read a little bit of her book.
She reached the fat lady and gave the password and stepped through the portrait hole. Inside, the common room was completely deserted except for on person sitting on the couch facing the fire. Hermione looked a little closer and realized it was Harry. What could he be doing sitting here all by himself, she thought to herself.
She walked over to the couch and said, "Harry?"
He jumped a little and turned to see who called his name. He gave a smile and said, "Hey Hermione."
"I didn't mean to scare you," Hermione said as she took the seat beside him. She looked over at him and she couldn't help but think he looked so cute sitting there. For some time now, she had started to notice things about Harry. She found herself over the summer thinking of him. She was always excited when she received a letter from him, and she couldn't wait to come back to school so she could be around him again. She always thought it was just her love for him as a best friend, but now she was starting to wonder if it was something more. But he will never see me that way, to him, I am just the best friend, she thought to herself.
"You didn't scare me, I was just thinking," Harry answered as he continued to stare into the fire.
God, I wish I knew what he was thinking, it would make things so much easier. "Do you want to talk about it?" Hermione asked timidly. She didn't want Harry to think she was prying, she honestly wanted to help.
"I just can't stop thinking about Voldemort. I know something is coming, I wish I just knew what!" Harry admitted as he turned to face her. She could see the confusion and thoughtfulness within his eyes.
"I know what you mean. Something is coming," Hermione said, thinking the same thing as Harry, and then a thought hit her. "Harry, you haven't had any nightmares or your scare hasn't been hurting lately, right?" She hoped that he wasn't. She couldn't stand the thought that he wouldn't tell her something that important. He was always quick to tell her and Ron everything, but lately he seemed more distant. I hope he isn't hiding anything.
"No, not lately and that worries me. Everything has been too normal lately, I mean, as if nothing has happened," Harry said as he moved himself to get a little bit more comfortable on the couch, turning his feet toward Hermione.
Hermione curled her feet under her and looked Harry in the face. "It's weird isn't it, all we wanted was a normal year, and now it feels like we may get one, and look at us, we're still on edge, because normal for us isn't normal," The thought to Hermione made her start to laugh a little and Harry did too.
"Yeah, that's so true!" Harry said through his laughter. Hermione loved his laugh and how his faced lit up when he smiled. It made her feel all warm inside.
"Ok, well let's talk about something else. So, did you have any proposals for marriage today?" Hermione asked trying to lighten the mood.
This made Harry laugh again and he said, "No, not today. I saw Colin and he took my picture about a thousand times again and a few first years were whispering like always, but that's about it. And what about you, had anyone asking you out lately?"
Hermione felt her cheeks go red and she shook her head no. "Harry, you know as well as I do, that the last date I have been with was Viktor Krum in fourth year," Hermione looked down at her hands. She didn't like discussing this and now she was mad at herself for starting this conversation.
"Oh come on Hermione, I am sure guys are throwing themselves at you," Harry said.
"Ha ha, I wish. No one wants to date a plain old bookworm like me. All I am good for is schoolwork," Hermione admitted still staring at her hands. She hadn't changed all that much, her hair was still bushy, but she grew into her figure more. She still didn't wear making, seeing there was no need to, and she wore baggy clothes under her robes.
She suddenly felt a hand on her own and she turned to see Harry sitting directly beside her. "Hermione, why do you say things like that? You have a lot of things to offer and any guy would be so lucky to have someone like you. You're smart, funny, clever, pretty…" Hermione couldn't help but start to feel the tears come to her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. If any guy would want me, then how come you don't notice me?
"Thanks Harry, for being the best friend anyone could ever have," Hermione said. She leaned forward and gave him a hug. She looked at him and he smiled his big smile at her.
"Well, I think it's time we go to bed, we have an early start tomorrow," Harry said as he helped Hermione up from the couch. Hermione didn't want to let go of his hand, she loved the feel of it.
"Ok, goodnight Harry," Hermione said as she made her way to the staircase to go up to her room, which was a single because she was head girl.
"Goodnight Hermione," Harry said and he did something he never did before. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and shot upstairs to his dormitory.
Hermione opened her door and walked in with a daze. She placed a finger on the spot where Harry's lips had just been. Harry kissed me, I can't believe it. She fell back on her bed, not even bothering to change. Her head kept replaying the kiss in her mind. Ok, it's official, I have fallen for the boy who lived. Hermione turned over and sighed to herself, Oh boy! Why me? And she fell fast asleep with the Harry's face mounted in her brain.
The first week of school passed quickly for Hermione, and still nothing relatively important happened. She took up her Head Girl duties on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, while Justin had Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Her classes were going smoothly and she was of course on top of her game.
It was Friday night, and she was out on patrol. While she walked through the corridors, which were vacant, her mind clouded over with images of Harry. Ever since she finally realized that she truly had fallen for Harry, she couldn't get her mind off of him. Whenever he was close, she felt her cheeks redden and she blushed. She found herself getting jealous when a girl would talk to Harry, but she tried not to let it show. So far she was pretty sure that Harry had no idea about her feelings, otherwise he would show some sort of interest in her, but he hadn't. He was still the same old Harry she knew from first year. I wish he would just notice me, what is it going to take? No, he probably wants some pretty little popular girl, not someone like me.
She checked her watch, and it read 11:45pm. Alright, time to head back to get some rest. Hermione made her way to the Gryffindor tower, when she suddenly heard hushed voices coming from around the corner. She walked slowly, trying to get an idea of who it was. She wanted to catch them for being out of bed, and if they heard her approach, they would take off.
She crept around the corner, and saw the profile of someone standing in the shadows, obviously talking to someone.
"Yes, I put it in her trunk. She has no idea that she has it." The voice said.
"Good, now all we need to do is…" the second voice started to say, but was cut off by Hermione.
"Excuse me, what do you think you are doing out of bed?" Hermione said walking over with her hands on her hips and a stern face.
The figure turned around and Hermione immediately recognized him, "Malfoy!"
"What do you want, mudblood?" Malfoy sneered as he hid his hands behind his back.
"Twenty points from your house Malfoy for being out of bed, and another Twenty for using foul names, and to the Head girl at that!" Hermione called back as she raised her wand and pointed it at him.
"Oh, is that supposed to scare me?" Malfoy smirked as he walked closer to Hermione.
"Who else is here? I heard you talking to someone else," Hermione said as she looked over Malfoy's shoulder for the other person.
"There is no one here, Granger; you must have been hearing things!" Malfoy said as he stood in front of her.
"There was too someone else here, I heard you talking!" Hermione said. She watched as Malfoy's face turned into one of concern, then if faded quickly.
"Well you were mistaken. I would watch your back, Granger. You will get what's coming to you," Malfoy said as he turned and started to walk away from Hermione toward the dungeons.
"Is that a threat, Malfoy?" Hermione stated in a rather loud tone.
Malfoy turned around and with a smirk on his face said, "Heed it as a warning!" And then he was gone.
The next morning, was the first Quidditch match of the season. Harry was the captain and he had the team out early that Saturday morning for practice.
Hermione ate her breakfast in silence and retreated back tot eh common room to finish some of her homework before she left for the match. Her mind kept wandering to the encounter with Malfoy. Something was up. She didn't bother telling Ron or Harry, she figured it wasn't of utter importance. Malfoy was just being Malfoy, or was he?
Before she knew it, it was time for the match to begin. She filled into the stands and took a seat beside Lavender.
"Hey Lavender," Hermione said.
"Hey Hermione," Lavender answered.
Hermione watched as the team's name were called out and the players flew out the field. This first match was against Ravenclaw, so Hermione figured Gryffindor would probably win.
"Hermione, can I ask you a question?" Lavender asked.
Hermione turned toward her to give her, her attention and nodded her head.
"Is Ron seeing anybody?" Lavender said this as she looked down at her shoes. Hermione could see a tinge of pink fill her cheeks and Hermione couldn't help but smile.
"No, not that I know of, why?" Hermione figured she already knew why, but asked anyway.
"Well, do you think that Ron would want to go out with me?" Lavender said still not meeting Hermione's gaze.
"Lavender, I think Ron would be ecstatic to go out with a beautiful girl such as yourself!" Hermione exclaimed. She watched as Lavender's face grew into a huge smile and she turned her face up to Hermione's.
Just then the crowd went wild and Hermione turned to see what she had missed. Gryffindor scored. She looked through all of the people flying and spotted Harry. She could tell that he was in complete concentration trying to find the snitch.
Suddenly a bright light caught everyone's eyes. Hermione turned to the right and her eyes went wide as saucers. Two people, male and female, appeared out of no where. Hermione shot up from her seat and made her way through the crowd and down the steps. She watched as Harry flew down to them and suddenly the girl collapsed. Hermione ran over to meet Harry who was kneeling over the girl.
"Harry what happened?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know, she said my name, and then fainted," Harry said in confusion.
Hermione turned her attention to the boy, who was standing in front of her, but he wasn't looking at her, rather he was looking at the sky toward everyone flying on brooms.
"Are you ok?" Hermione asked the boy.
He didn't turn his head, blink or anything. He continued to stare upward as he raised his finger to point to one of the players, "There are people in the sky, on brooms," the boy choked out, still not blinking.
"Yeah, so?" Hermione asked, not understanding what the problem was.
"They are up there and there are no strings holding them up, right?" the boy asked again.
Hermione was now confused. She shook her head and said, "No, is there a problem?"
The boy finally turned to face Hermione and with his finger he poked her in the shoulder. Hermione immediately scrunched her face and put her hands on her hips, "Why did you do that?"
"You're….You're…You're real!" The boy exclaimed with wide eyes. His mouth hung open slightly.
"Excuse me! Of course I am real!" Hermione answered, getting annoyed at the moment.
Just then Hermione felt someone land beside her and she turned to see Ron standing there.
"What the bloody hell is going on here? What happened to them?" Ron asked as the pointed to the boy then the girl still on the ground.
"We don't know, Ron," Harry answered.
The boy Hermione was talking to was staring at the three of them.
"Maybe he needs a glass of water," Harry answered.
"He bloody needs his head examined is what he needs, he looks as if he never seen wizards in his life!" Ron said.
"Ron!" Hermione scolded him for his comment.
Hermione took out her wand and muttered an incantation, suddenly a glass of water appeared in her hand.
"Here," Hermione said as she held the glass of water out for the boy. She watched slowly as he looked from the glass of water, to her wand, then to Hermione and his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the ground.
"Oh no!" Hermione shouted as she kneeled beside him. "He's fainted too," She looked up to Harry and Ron who were standing there bewildered.
"Bring them to Madam Pomfrey, I think there are explanations in order here," Dumbledore exclaimed as he made his way over to the three of them.
Hermione levitated them and they made their way to the hospital wing. Hermione was wondering what type of explanation Professor Dumbledore had for this one!
Hope everyone liked this! Sorry it took so long. There will be more action sooner, I promise! What does Dumbledore have to say? Will Hermione ever admit her feelings for Harry and will Lavender get a date with Ron? All those questions will be answered sooner or later, I promise!!!
Make sure to Review!