Harry stepped through the barrier at Platform 9 ¾ and back into his world. He could feel the magic all around him, the air charged with energy, and he seamlessly became a part of it again. When he was in the muggle world, he always missed the magic in the air. He caught sight of a sea of red hair which could only be the Weasley clan, but didn't immediately make his way over to them. He and Ron had been growing apart a little over the past year, and hadn't seen each other all summer, and there would be awkward pauses and forced laughter. His eyes scanned the crowds for Hermione.

"Looking for someone?" A familiar voice asked from behind him. He turned, and stopped breathing for a moment. The girl standing there was almost as tall as him, with long, wavy hair, and dancing brown eyes, wearing a muggle t-shirt that showed off a perfect figure. Harry gaped for a moment before schooling his features back into a blank expression. Hermione laughed.

"Well, you look different." He pulled her into a hug. "Good summer?"

"Yeah, it was alright. I'm glad to be back though." She looked up at him, smiling. "You've changed quite a bit yourself. Still shooting up like a weed I see."

"And either you've grown more than I have, or you've taken to wearing heels."

"So I got sick of straining my neck to talk to you."

"Are you saying I'm a pain in the neck?" He smirked as Hermione groaned. "So, shall we go meet up with Ron?"

"Ok. And then we should find a compartment before they're all taken." They started walking, dragging their trunks on carts behind them, and Hermione couldn't resist teasing him about his reaction to her appearance. "So, ‘different' is a good thing, right?" Harry stuck out his tongue at her, and they both laughed.

"Hey, Ron!" Harry called, waving. Ron made his way through the crowd, grinning.

"Hey Harry, hey Herm..." Ron's voice trailed off as he stared at Hermione. "Wow, er, you look... like a girl. I mean, not that you didn't before, just..." She sighed and grinned at him.

"Hi Ron. How was your summer?" Hermione asked.

"Good. What about you guys?"

"Ok."

"It was fine."

"That's good. Er..." Ron looked from Hermione to Harry as the silence stretched on.

"So, you guys want to go grab a compartment?" Harry asked a bit too cheerfully. At this, Ron bit his lip and looked at the ground.

"I kinda... well, I told Seamus and Dean I'd sit with them, you see," he muttered, avoiding eye contact. Hermione looked sad, knowing that this was inevitable. Ron really had a lot more in common with the other boys: the only thing he had in common with her was shared memories, and only that and a love of Quidditch with Harry. Harry seemed to realize it too.

"That's fine Ron. See you later, then?" He attempted a smile.

"Alright. See you at Hogwarts," Ron replied gratefully, before disappearing in the crowd. Harry and Hermione boarded the train and walked until they found an empty compartment. They stored their trunks and Harry collapsed into a seat.

"I've got to go check in, since I'm a prefect, but I'll be back in a couple minutes. Can you behave that long?"

"Yes Mum," Harry replied, making a shooing motion with his hand. Hermione gave him a dirty look before leaving the compartment, to which he responded with a mock glare. When she was gone, he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. He was tired, unable to sleep more than a couple hours each night because of the nightmares. His parents, Cedric, Sirius and hundreds of faceless ghosts pointed accusing fingers at him. And then they had faces; Hermione, the Weasleys, Hagrid, Remus Lupin, his classmates... Harry opened his eyes to banish the images.

Just then the door slid open and a figure ducked inside, closing the door quickly behind him. Harry found himself face to face with Draco Malfoy, who was crouching right inside the closed door so that people passing outside couldn't see him through the window.

"I thought this compartment was empty," he said, then, catching himself, sneered and added, "If I had known Scarface was in here stinking the place up, I wouldn't have come in." But he made no effort to leave. And Harry noticed the sneer had lacked any real malice. A couple seconds later, Harry realized why he was still there, when Pansy Parkinson passed by, stopping and peering in through the window. Harry smirked at Malfoy, then got up and opened the door a crack.

"What do you want, Parkinson?" he asked.

"I'm looking for Draco," she replied, her high-pitched whiney voice making him wince. Ok, no matter how much he hated Malfoy, handing him over would be too cruel.

"So you think the ferret's in my compartment? That we're just sitting here chatting like the best of buddies we so obviously are?" He asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. She glared at him before turning on her heel and flouncing away. Harry closed the door and sat back down to see Malfoy sitting on the floor and looking at him strangely. "What? I wouldn't wish that on Lord Moldywart."

"Fair enough." Malfoy smirked. "So, Potter, good summer?" He was examining his nails, obviously not caring about the answer to his question, but not ready to venture outside yet.

"Lousy," Harry answered honestly. Malfoy's head shot up, curiosity piqued by that answer. Harry smirked again. "Yours?"

"Potter, you put my father in prison, and you have the audacity to ask me how my summer went? Wouldn't the answer to that be obvious?" Harry frowned, thinking. Even if Lucius Malfoy was a complete bastard, he was still Draco's father. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Malfoy cut him off. "It was the best summer I've had in years." It was Draco's turn to smirk. "Now, why was yours lousy?"

"Why was yours great?"

"I asked you first."

"Fine. I don't get along with my relatives. Especially my uncle."

"I don't get along with my father." They stared at each other, both wondering what the other meant by ‘not getting along'. Harry thought about all the horrible things Draco had said over the years, and wondered if perhaps it was as much an act as the goofy, reckless persona Harry wore in front of teachers and most of the other students. That was what people expected, a James Potter clone, so it was simple for Harry to let them believe that's who he was. Hardly anyone knew the real Harry, so they always underestimated him, which gave him an advantage. He knew there was a reason the Sorting Hat almost put him in Slytherin. Malfoy, though, he would need a mask to protect himself from his father, and to fit in with his housemates, if he disagreed with them. Suddenly Harry was struck by a thought.

"The Sorting Hat, did it want to put you anywhere else?" Draco looked surprised at the question.

"Ravenclaw," he admitted softly. "But everyone in my family has been in Slytherin, so the conversation went something along the lines of, ‘Hmm, keen mind', ‘I want Slytherin', ‘Maybe Raven', ‘No! Slytherin, you ruddy hat!' ‘SLYTHERIN!' Why did you ask?"

"Hat wanted to stick me in Slytherin. I said no." Draco raised an eyebrow. "I had just made my first friend ever, who desperately wanted to be in Gryffindor and informed me that the guy who murdered my parents had been in Slytherin, along with many like him. I wasn't keen on joining the club."

"No, I guess not. You know, Potter, you're not half as bad when you're not around the Weasel."

"You're not so bad when you deflate your head a little and lose the mountain trolls."

"Pansy's not that horrible. I always thought more banshee than troll." They both laughed.

"The world is ending, isn't it? Either that or I'm going insane." Hermione stood in the doorway looking back and forth between the boys, obviously having heard a good part of their conversation. She sat down next to Harry, pulled out her wand, and summoned a pack of muggle gum from her trunk. She gave a piece to Harry, and offered a piece to Malfoy, who took it warily. She grinned. "Don't worry, it's just Juicy Fruit. It isn't hexed."

"And I should believe you why, Mud... Granger?"

"I'm not in a ‘hex Malfoy into a wriggling puddle of goo' mood." She decided to ignore the fact that he started calling her "Mudblood". Actually, she was pleasantl surprised that he caught it and bothered to correct himself.

"That's what I can't figure out. We've all hated each other for five years now. My aunt killed your godfather, Potter. You hate my father, and everything he represents, with good reason. Granger, my family hates you and everyone like you, and I've called you some pretty horrible things. How are you two just fine with me sitting here?"

"Wow, he's right Harry, let's kill him," Hermione said looking over at her friend. She looked back at he blond slytherin boy. "But seriously Draco, the worst you have ever done to us is call us names and try to get us in trouble. Most siblings do worse to each other than that. And I don't think either of us is inclined to hate you because of your family."

"Besides, I still don't like you; can't stand you really. I only saved you from that cow because I have a hero complex." Harry smirked at him, and Draco laughed. Hermione looked confused, so they filled her in on the escape from Pansy, and then they ordered everything on the snack cart and spent the remainder of the ride insulting each other good-naturedly. As they slowed, approaching Howarts, Draco left the compartment to join his Slytherin classmates.

"Got to keep up the image," he said, checking that the coast was clear before stepping out into the aisle and walking away. Hermione shook her head and smiled at Harry. Draco was a pretty good guy when you got to know him, but she had always suspected that. What surprised her was that Harry saw it, since he had always had a fierce, blind hatred towards Draco. Or maybe that was another front that he kept up? She knew he was a lot more intelligent than he let on, and even when he didn't seem to, he knew most of the class material and a lot more. She also knew that despite what he let people believe, he wasn't prejudiced against all Slytherins, but he really disliked both Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape. No, she didn't think that was an act.

"You've changed a lot, haven't you?" she asked suddenly. "I mean, not just your appearance, but the way you look at things, the way you think about things?" Harry looked up at her, and nodded.

"I was actually thinking somewhere along those lines myself. A little more than a year ago, I would have hexed Malfoy out of this compartment the moment I saw him. Now I actually thought about it first. I guess after Cedric died, I grew up a little, and after what happened last year at the Ministry, when Sirius, you know, and... I feel like the whole world's been flipped upside-down. I keep questioning my beliefs and my assumptions. And I can't stop feeling like if I had only learned Occlumency, it would never have happened."

"It wasn't your fault, Harry. Lestrange killed him, and Voldemort set you up. Sirius knew what he was getting into when he went to the Ministry."

"I know all that, but it doesn't change the fact that if I hadn't been so bloody stupid, he might still be here. I did practice Occlumency this summer. Too little, too late, but it might help later on. And I made a lot more progress with the book I bought than with Snape's teaching methods." He banished his glumness and grinned mischievously at her. "And..." He stopped talking as the train came to a halt and students filled the aisle. "I guess we'll talk later."

They climbed off the train and waved to Hagrid, who was gathering the first years for their journey across the lake. He waved back, and the turned to make their way over to the carriages, joining Luna and Neville for the ride back. All of them studiously avoided looking at the thestral that pulled the carriage, or, rather, Neville, Harry, and Hermione avoided it, and Luna seemed too absorbed in The Quibbler to care.

"You know what I want?" asked Neville as they pulled up to the main entrance. They all looked at him. "I want this year to be really, really boring." They laughed and made their way into the great hall for the opening feast.