An unexpected Turn

Lauther was audible; it was an unfamiliar sound. Standing at Kings Cross Station in front of track 9 ¾, Hermione, Ron, and Harry hugged each other. Children were running and playing. The older ones seemed shy, unsure how much joy was appropriate to show after everything that happened.

The sun shone upon them. She felt warm and comfortable. Hermione sighed. Fidgeting with her fingers, her luggage was leaning against her leg, she looked at her best friends. "I think I have to go. You'll write me?"

"We'll be only gone for a couple of weeks," Ron said giving her a peck on her lips.

Hermione chewed on her lips, "Are you sure, you don't want me to come with you?"

"We're fine. We need a bit of boy-time, also you need to go back to Hogwarts," Harry said.

She nodded trying to not look disappointed. "We could always travel to South America over Christmas."

"You need to board the train," Ron said. They hugged each other one last time.

She didn't really understand why they couldn't travel together. Maybe the just needed some time to think about their lives. But why couldn't they do so at Hogwarts? Harry and Ron seemed to think that just because the newly appointed Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt had offered them an Auror-position, without the necessary NEWTs since they had thought in the Final Battle and have proven their skill, that education was redundant.

Hermione boarded the train. Before anyone could see her she put on her uniform. She pinned her Headgirl-badge on and smiled at it. Wanting to look proper before briefing her prefects, she stroked over her skirt and repeated her speech in her mind.

Since she hadn't grown an inch in years, Hermione had no reason to suspect that her uniform wouldn't fit perfectly. But she was almost nineteen and had grown more womanly curves. Unlike Ginny who was muscular and proudly showed her six-pack, Hermione had gotten a bigger butt and breasts.

She felt uncomfortable, having trouble closing the upper two buttons of her blouse. The skirt was rather short and ended mid-thigh. Luckily, at least the socks still fitted like they used to and ended just above her knees. Touching her Headgirl-pin she felt strong and made her push the thoughts of how much weight she gained since the end of the war aside.

Taking a deep breath and entered the wagon. The new prefects quickly gathered around her, excited to meet a war-hero whereas the older students didn't move a bit. They looked tired. She gave them a nod that was returned.

She almost hadn't seen him. Only his platinum blond hair lurked out from above the leather seat.

She gave the prefects her speech. She had spent weeks practicing it. Hermione spoke fast, the words flowed out of her mouth. Everyone listened carefully to the Headgirl's words. She sent them off to their friends and slowly walked to Draco.

He didn't even look up when she approached him.

"I'm just here for my NEWTs, you won't have to see me. Both of my parents insisted on my finishing my education, probably the only thing they've ever agreed on," he spat.

Hermione sat quietly down opposite of him.

"Why are you still here? Shouldn't you be with your friends?"

The Gryffindor thought about it. She honestly had no idea why she was still here. She was looking forward to sitting with Ginny and Luna but for some reason, she also didn't want to leave Draco alone.

They sat there in silence for over an hour. "I'm sorry about your parents' divorce," she said.

"What do you know about my family?" he shouted.

Hermione raised her body ready to shout back. Instead, she took a deep breath and sat down. "My parents are still disappointed because I obliviated them. I just wanted to protect them." A single tear ran down her cheek. "I don't think they want to return to England. They now have a life in Australia, my dad told me," she said, looking out of the window.

Another long moment of silence followed. Hermione didn't know why she told Draco about the problems with her parents, she hadn't even told her friends about it.

"It's Father."

"Hm?" Hermione asked startled after being torn out of her trail of thoughts.

"My father, he's drinking too much. With Mother gone and me at Hogwarts… I don't know if he'll manage," Draco explained still looking out of the window.

She had a hard time suppressing her laughter. It seemed absurd that Draco would be worrying about his old mighty father. She did nothing. Hermione thought that she was supposed to say something nice, words of encouragement but in all honesty, she thought the Deatheaters got what they deserved.

The Hogwarts Express slowed down signaling the end of the journey. Arriving at Hogsmeade station, they watched the younger students leave the train. They were excited laughter filled the air. The prefects lead the first years to the boats. Hagrid stood out from the crowd.

Reluctantly the two 'eighth' years stood up and made their way to the carriages. Too many of the older students took their time to take a good look at the Thestrals. The horse-like creatures with their bat-wings were overwhelmed with all the attention they suddenly received.

"Hermione! Here you are. We've been looking for you," Ginny said after arriving at the castle and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, I've been…" Hermione said absently.

"Wracksprouts?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, probably," she replied having long given up on proselytizing Luna.

They said bye to the Ravenclaw before walking to the Gryffindor-table. It was awkward to be here without her friends. Hermione even missed Lavander at that point. Ginny introduced her to the students in her year. This was a weird situation as Hermione already knew the students by face and some even by name but had never properly talked to them before.

She was glad when dinner was finally over. Saying 'goodnight' to Ginny, she slowly walked to her new rooms. Draco was already there. Had he skipped dinner? They looked at each other and went to bed without saying a word.

Arriving at her small room she let herself fall to the bed. Hermione sighed. She should probably write a letter to her parents and her friends but she was too tired to do it. Unlike the previous years, she didn't feel excitement rushing through her system. She didn't even bother to unpack her belongings.

She should have taken the time to talk to the first years, giving them handy hints to survive the first couple of weeks. And she should have unpacked and made herself at home here, and she should have talked to Draco. They were roommates now, they should be at least civil, especially as Headboy and Headgirl.

She wondered how he got that position in the first place. Normally she would say it was his fathers doing but according to Draco, he wasn't himself right now. Staring aimlessly at the ceiling she didn't know how much time passed before sleep finally claimed her.