[A/N: Sorry about this first chapter being so cliche, with the whole Hermione filling out/Draco visiting compartment/Head Boy, Head Girl deal. I promise it won't be this boring as the story moves on.]
"Harry!"
Hermione Granger, a seventh year Gryffindor student, nudged her way through the crowds of people at King's Cross to envelope Harry Potter in a friendly hug. Having not seen the tall, raven-haired teenager for the entire summer, the following words came out in a rush.
"How was your summer? Did your aunt and uncle give you too much trouble? Where's Ron?"
Harry laughed, pushing his glasses up his nose. His green eyes sparkled as he held out a hand, signaling for Hermione to slow down. "My summer was boring, the Dursleys were a bunch of morons like usual, and I haven't seen Ron yet."
Hermione grinned sheepishly. Every summer, she looked forward to seeing her two best friends at the beginning of school more than anything. Seeing as this was their last year at Hogwarts, she wanted to make the best of it, and figured that a good start would ensure a good school year.
"Hey guys," a low voice interrupted from behind Hermione. She whirled around and issued a squeal of delight when she saw her gangly redheaded friend standing there with a grin on his face.
"RON! How have you been?"
"Pretty good...nice to see you too, Hermione. And Harry."
"Yeah, same," Harry replied, grinning back at his best friend.
Just then, a loud voice came up over the speakers at the train station. "10:55 AM. Trains at platforms 1, 4, 5, and 8 will now be leaving."
"10:55!" gasped Hermione, double-checking her watch to make sure. "We have five minutes to catch the Hogwarts Express! Come on, let’s go!"
Without waiting for the two boys, she grabbed her trolley and started pushing her way down to platform 9. Upon arriving there, Harry and Ron pulled up behind her, panting for breath. The three of them went one after another through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, hurrying to climb aboard the train after making it through to the other side.
"Mum's gonna be mad at me for not saying good-bye," Ron said, rolling his eyes once they had gotten onto the train. Hermione smiled inwardly. Still the same old protective Mrs. Weasley.
Surprisingly enough, the three students quickly found an empty compartment and settled themselves in it for the long trip to their beloved school.
"So, Hermione...how have you been?" Harry asked.
"Oh...I've been great," she answered brightly.
"You look...different."
Hermione blushed. Over the summer, she had changed - her aunt had come to visit and convinced her that she was old enough to start concentrating on her looks as well as education. That morning, she had straightened her hair and even put on some makeup. Her eyes shined with a light that was unfamiliar to Harry, and matched her shiny "Head Girl" badge.
"Yeah. My aunt came this summer; she told me I had to start working on my appearance more."
Ron raised an eyebrow at this and laughed. Hermione would still be the same pretty but plain bookworm he had known since first year.
"You two have changed too," Hermione added, sticking her tongue out.
It was true. Harry and Ron had both grown a good few inches taller, and their bodies had become more manly than boyish over the summer. Hermione knew perfectly well that many girls would be chasing after the two of them this year, and was prepared to jokingly defend her friends from them.
Before Ron could make a smart-aleck response to this, the compartment door slid open and Draco Malfoy stepped in with a look of contempt on his face. "Well then; looks like the famous trio is having a little meeting."
"What's this? Without your buddies, Malfoy? What a shame...who's going to defend you now?" Ron shot back.
Draco remained unfazed, and simply raised an eyebrow coolly at the other student. He looked around, and his slate-grey gaze fell on Hermione. His eyebrow, if possible, raised even higher until it was but a thin line centimetres away from his hairline.
With a smirk, he said, "Back again, Granger?" Then he paused, and added, "Oh look, you're even Head Girl. How...sweet."
"Yes, I am, Malfoy," Hermione responded composedly. "Don't be jealous, I'm sure Dumbledore would have made you Head Boy if you had some brains."
"Actually," the Slytherin responded, "I AM Head Boy. So I wouldn't open that little mudblood mouth of yours until you know for sure what you're talking about."
Draco was rewarded with the looks of shock on all three of the Gryffindors' faces. Ron's reaction in particular was quite satisfying; his face had turned bright red and his mouth was hanging open.
"Now, now, Weasley, you might want to compose myself before I take points away for being disrespectful," Draco said with a icy smile on his face. With that, he turned around and walked out the door, sliding it closed with a thunk behind him.
"I can't believe...he...oh the NERVE," Hermione said, fuming. "How could Dumbledore make such a prat Head Boy?"
"Obviously he can," Ron mumbled, crossing his arms and sliding down in his seat.
Harry shook his head in disbelief. "Merlin...he's going to be torturing those first years."
Nodding her agreement, Hermione sighed. She reached into her bag and pulled out her summer reading, a book called Advanced Student Charms and Potions. With that, she turned away from her friends and began to read.
The rest of the train ride passed by in silence. Hermione was engrossed in her reading, and Ron and Harry occupied themselves with quiet games of gobstones.
At last, they reached the Hogwarts grounds. Hermione stepped off of the train before her two friends, and immediately began looking around for Hagrid. She spotted him a few feet away, yelling at the first years to follow him.
"Hagrid!" she called out, hurrying over to the half-giant.
"'Lo there, Hermione!" he said, smiling down at her. "'Ow was yer summer?"
"Pretty good, you?"
"Ah, I've got no time to talk right now, I've gotta go deal with these firs' years. I'll see yeh in the castle later."
"Okay, bye!" As she said these words, Harry and Ron came up behind her just in time to wave to Hagrid.
"Lets go find some carriages and get inside already, I'm freezing," Harry said.
His two companions nodded, and hurried over to the line of carriages and (now visible after the summer before's happenings) thestrals awaiting them. Most of them were full by now, so Hermione was forced to go find her own due to the fact that there was no more room left in the one Harry and Ron had climbed into.
After searching for non-full carriages without any luck, she finally reached the second to last one in the line. This one was empty save for one person - Draco Malfoy. Biting her lip, Hermione stood for a few seconds contemplating her choices. Either get in and suffer five minutes alone with the monster, or have to spend more time in the rain and cold looking for another carriage. She chose the first choice, and climbed in.
As she stepped in, Draco looked up. His face twisted into a look of disgust. "What are you doing in here, Granger?" he asked viciously.
"There weren't any carriages left," she answered matter-of-factly.
"So you think you can just get into mine?"
"Stop being selfish, Malfoy, I'm not going to wait outside until Hagrid can come get me."
Rolling his eyes, Draco moved as far away from Hermione as possible, and resumed his staring out the window.
Hermione sighed and settled into the seat, resting her head on the window nearest to her. As she did so, she spotted something shiny on the floor of the carriage. "What's that?" she asked aloud.
"What's what?" Draco said lazily, not bothering to turn around.
"That...shiny thing on the ground."
This caught the other boy's interest, and he turned to look in the direction she was pointing in. Reaching down, he picked it up and examined it in the dim light of the rising moon.
"Looks like a chocolate frog wrapper," he said, throwing it back on the ground carelessly.
Something about it caused Hermione to pick it up again, and on closer inspection, she noticed that there were words written on the backside of it. She pointed this out to Draco, and was answered with a bored shrug.
"It says... 'Ostendo Posterus'. Do you know what that means?" She expected no response from the Slytherin, and was right as he continued to ignore her.
Rolling her eyes at his back, she took out her wand and uttered the words, tapping the wrapper. She shrieked when it began to shimmer and melt into a pool of what appeared to be water...water which didn't wet her hands, and did not spread. It simply slid out of her hands and onto the seat between her and Draco.
Whipping around at her sudden scream, Draco's eyes widened at the sight. "What the bloody hell did you do?!" he asked her frantically. "What in the world is THIS?"
"I-I-I don't know," Hermione stuttered. "I said the spell on the wrapper and then this thing appeared."
Then, to her shock, the pool of liquid began to twist and whirl around, until an image was formed on the turbulent puddle. This time, it was not only Hermione who screamed; Draco also uttered a yell of surprise.
"Oh my GOD!"
[A/N: Ahhh, sorry about the cliffie :) Don't worry, I won't be long in updating]