Going Back to Hogwarts
The next morning was a complete rush for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Hermione stormed into the boys’ room first thing in the morning and yelled at them to wake up. After letting out a surprised yelp, Ron threw the sheets over his bare upper body. The only person he was comfortable with seeing his post-operation scars was Harry. He feared Hermione would see him as less of a man or view him differently.
“Bloody hell!” The red-headed male narrowed his eyes at Hermione. “Have some decency and knock, woman!”
Hermione rolled her eyes, not caring to respond to such an outburst of emotion. “Get dressed, both of you.” She sneered. “Make sure you’re all packed, too. We’re leaving for the train in half an hour.” With a dramatic hair flip - at least in Harry’s opinion - the brunette girl bossily marched out of the bedroom.
“We should get a sign on the door,” Harry commented, grabbing his glasses off the nightstand and looking over at Ron, “a sign that says No Girls Allowed!” All he needed was to hear that laugh from his best friend; it made his day.
“I don’t think even that would keep Hermione at bay.” Ron chuckled, getting off the bed and walking to his dresser.
While Ron got changed in the bathroom, Harry rummaged through his trunk and found his neatly-folded Gryffindor robe. The only reason he had the energy to fold it was because it was new and he did not want to walk into school with a wrinkly robe. Sure, magic could fix it, but still. He also took the diary he had been gifted from the Weasley twins last night and shoved it underneath their clothing in the trunk.
Thinking of all the opportunities that laid ahead of him this year both excited and terrified Harry. These last two years have been nothing but traumatizing for him: first, he gets into a tournament that he did not sign up for and almost loses his best friend. Second, he loses his godfather. Third, Voldemort possessed his body. “Now what?” Harry said aloud, to himself. How worse could this year possibly get? He tried to focus his thoughts with the ever so evident, blossoming pinning between Ron and Hermione, and how good the Quidditch team turned out to be last year. He had beaten his rival, Adrien Pucey, in multiple matches. Hence all the Gryffindor parties last year; now those were wild. Harry’d been asked many times as to why he never hooked up with anyone after the parties. The answer was simple: no one really attracted him in that way. Maybe the answer was a little more complicated—he was a virgin as well and just didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of a pretty girl. Or guy, definitely wouldn’t want to in front of a pretty guy either.
It was lonely, being Harry Potter. He has all the fame the wizarding world has to offer, but no one to share genuine love with.
He shook the thought from his head and got dressed into the standard uniform outfit: a white uniform shirt, black trousers, black shoes, a Gryffindor robe and a Gryffindor tie. “You ready?” He called to the closed door, which held his best friend behind it.
“Ready!” Ron called back, stepping out of the bathroom and approaching the brunette. “You packed? We should get ready.” He took ahold of his trunk’s handle and rolled it out of the room. “I rather not be a victim of Hermione’s bossy morning flare.”
Harry chuckled to that and nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.” He then grabbed his trunk and brought it with him out the room.
The two boys met with the two girls, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley downstairs. Harry snatched a quick breakfast, while Ron opted to get something on the train. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley bid their children a farewell, knowing that they were old enough to go to Kings Cross themselves.
Soon everyone was on the train. Ginny sat with Dean, Seamus and Neville, while Ron, Hermione and Harry sat together.
“Well, happy six years to us!” Ron suddenly exclaimed, startling the two brunettes staring out the window.
“Huh— oh!” Realization spread across Harry’s face. “Yeah, happy six years!”
“Funny to think six years ago we were literal babies.” Hermione giggled, tucking a curly brown strand of hair behind her ear. “Then I came in, asking if you guys knew anything about the whereabouts of Neville’s toad.”
“And you seemed super infatuated with me in the beginning.” Harry grinned. So did everyone when he first came to Hogwarts; it scared him a bit. A bit? Okay, a lot.
“Oh, shush.” She snorted and shook her head. “All I needed was to see this to know it was you,” She reached over and gently brushed away his hair from the red lightning bolt scar on his forehead. “With You-Know-Who still on the loose, do you find your scar hurting at some points?”
Harry shrugged to the question. After the incident in the ministry in fifth year, he hadn’t been bothered that much. Sure, a few nightmares popped up here and there, but other than that, not really. “Not really,” he reiterated his thoughts aloud and gently rubbed his arm. “It used to a lot last year and fourth, but it hasn’t over the summer.” He then added in a softer voice, “Praise Merlin for that.”
The rest of the ride was filled with conversation, laughter, and reminiscing. A couple of hours later, the train arrived at Hogwarts. Multiple voices and scuttling of feet permeated through the hallway of the train. Harry, Ron and Hermione were amongst the first ones to get off. They quickly weaved through the crowd of first year students and headed straight to the Gryffindor Common Room.
“I’m going to get situated with Ginny and the others in our dorm, I’ll be back for dinner.” Hermione commented with a smile, spending a short moment to take in the aura of the common room once more. Another year of this, she thought with a small and happy sigh, couldn’t think of anywhere else to spend my time. A pause. Actually, maybe the library. She chuckled to herself and walked to the stairs that led to her shared dorm with three other girls.