Disclaimer: Much as I would like to, I do not own Harry Potter or any of its canons.

Author's Note: This is my first real fanfic. I really hope you like it. I'm really sorry to everyone who is going to hate me because I make Nevile look like a selfish pig.

Chapter One :: Welcome Back

There were very few people on the train at this hour of the morning. One of the few was Hermione Granger. Never one to be late, she had insisted on arriving at the station three hours early, to ensure that she had ample time to load her things onto the Express and reserve seats for Harry and Ron. Instead, it had taken her all of ten minutes to stow her luggage, and now she was in for a long wait. She wouldn’t have minded this so much, if only she hadn’t packed all of her books in her trunk to guarantee that she would have them at Hogwarts.


Somewhere close by a bell tolled the hour, now she only had one hundred and twenty minutes left until the arrival of Harry and the Weasleys. Resigned, she sighed and turned back to stare out the window.


The worst thing about the wait was that as each minute passed, a new worry popped into her head. Had she remembered to pack all of her robes? Was her inkwell capped, or was it spilling out all over while she continued to twittle her thumbs? She groaned loudly, trying to push these worries from her mind. Instead, she found herself thinking of people. Who would be different this year? Would Harry be the same? Would Ron?


A noise behind her startled her out of her thoughts. Turning around, she realized that it was Neville Longbottom. Hermione had always liked Neville. He was funny and good at Herbology, second in the year behind her, in fact.


“I’m sorry to have startled you,” he said, “I was just wondering if I could sit with you.”


“Of course Neville,” she said, grateful for the company, “you should know that you didn’t even have to ask me.” That was Neville for you, always polite, always meek.


“Gran raised me to always be polite to a lady,” he said, “you look and act a lot like a lady, so I thought that it applied to you.” He blushed, realizing that in his eagerness to explain himself, he had been a tad too blunt.


“I mean…” He trailed off, knowing that to say more would lead him into very deep water.


“That’s alright.” Hermione said, hiding her confusion and her embarrassment. “Just know that in the future, you can always sit next to me without asking. I won’t eat you if you just want to talk.”


“Talk about what?” Without Hermione or Neville realizing, Harry and Ron had entered the cabin. Harry looked the same as he had the last time Hermione had seen him. Ron had added more height and was growing the beginnings of a moustache. Hermione thought it looked very handsome on him, though she knew better than to comment. If Ron was one thing, he was vain. Take for instance the time she had commented that yellow was not his color. If Professor McGonagall had not been nearby, Ron would have screamed vile things at her. As it was, his ears turned a nasty shade of red and he had refused to speak to her for the rest of the day.


“We were talking about how Neville doesn’t need to treat me like a lady.” She said, hoping to lead the conversation away from something that would make anyone in the cabin uncomfortable. “I was telling Neville how I don’t mind it when people sit down next to me without asking.”


“But you are a lady.” Ron blurted out, then reddened. Hermione turned away from him; it wasn’t his fault that Neville had said the exact same thing. What was the matter with everyone? She was Hermione Granger, the same Hermione Granger that she had been since the day she had started at Hogwarts. To make up for his remark, Ron handed Hermione a chocolate frog. Hermione shook her head; she wasn’t hungry at the moment.


A whistle sounded and everyone jumped. It was the whistle of the Express, Hermione recognized, though she had not expected it for some time. With a start, she realized that it was eleven o’clock. Where had the time gone?


Just as the train began to move, Ginny entered the compartment.


“Can’t stay long,” she said, “Percy’s chasing Fred and George around and I want to make sure he doesn’t kill them. They are, after all, my favorite brothers, aside from ickle Ronnykins here!” She laughed and left the cabin, the door slamming shut as Ron’s ears,
already red, developed a fuchsia-like color.


“Idiot little—“ He mumbled furiously under his breath.


“Who’s up for some Bertie Bott’s?” Harry asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had spread across the cabin. Immediately, Neville reached for some, and as he did so he knocked over a stack of chocolate frogs.


“Oh bollocks.” He swore and bent down to clean them up. Hermione couldn’t help it, she giggled. Hoping that Neville hadn’t seen, she covered her mouth with her hand until she was certain that she could control herself. All the same, she was sure that Neville had heard, as he was now glowering at the floor. She had upset him; that was clear. What she didn’t understand was how a few harmless chuckles had warranted such a reaction from easygoing Neville. It seemed that Ron was not the only person who had changed.


She was going to have to be careful with what she said from now on. She didn’t want to upset Neville, not when he had such low self-esteem. She tried to give him a smile, but the facial movement felt wrong, like she was grimacing instead. This only seemed to make matters worse as Neville jumped up and ran out, the door closing with a sharp clash.


“I’m going to go apologize to Neville,” she said, getting up. She exited the cabin and almost walked smack into Neville.


Neville glared at her, as if it were her fault that they had nearly crashed. Once she had fully regained her balance, he took a few steps backward, as if to avoid some unpleasant thing. Hermione look around the corridor until she realized that he was avoiding her. Now that was uncalled for.


“What is the matter with you?” she hissed, her teeth clenched in frustration, “you’re acting as though I’ve committed some heinous crime, when all I did was… well, nothing!”


“Yeah, because that’s what you always do… nothing!” He accused, his voice raising.


She was stunned by his sudden outburst. To be fair, he looked ashamed of himself, but he just turned on his heel and walked farther down the corridor, leaving her alone and bewildered.


Now what was that about? She wondered. She went back into the cabin still confused and explained to Harry and Ron what had just happened. Instead of offering even a smidgen of advice, they just looked as baffled as she was. Annoyed, she grabbed a chocolate frog and at it slowly while thinking of ways to convince Neville that she was sorry.

Author's Note: Did you like it? Was it terrible? Please, let me know.