Go Home
Go To Fanfiction
Go To Harry Potter

Goodbye's Aren't Forever

By SurferChick

D/C: I don't own anything in this story except the plot. JK Rowling, Scholastic, and people who are luckier than me own everything else.

~*~*~

Hermione Granger was in the car with her mother to King's Cross Station after the winter holidays. It had been a silent ride so far because Hermione wasn't on speaking terms with her mother, Patricia Granger. Not that Patricia wanted this silent treatment from her daughter-she'd been trying to make conversation since they left, but she got no answer from Hermione.

"Are you going to tell your friends?" Patricia asked. Hermione simply nodded. "Don't worry, honey. It won't be as bad as it seems. You'll be safe when we move to America. No more You-Know-Who." This still had no response from Hermione except for tears starting to come out of her eyes.

Why do we have to move? Hermione thought. One little rumor that You-Know-Who was back and her parents freak out. Except this time they freaked out so much that they decided to move. To take her away from all the fun wizarding things like spells and flying and Quidditch and magic. To take her away from her two best friends in the world, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Hermione's tears started to fall down her cheeks. She would especially miss them. Above all, Ron. She had found herself with somewhat of a crush on him over the years at Hogwarts. Oh, how was she going to tell them she was going to move away at the end of the school year?

"We're here," Mrs. Granger said. She parked in a free parking spot near the platform nine and three quarters. Hermione got out and got her luggage from the trunk. "Goodbye, honey. See you in a couple months." She leaned over to kiss her daughter. Without as much as a goodbye, Hermione entered the platform. She got into her usual compartment on the train, took out her book, and read for the journey to Hogwarts, her beloved school. Her reading was only interrupted once when Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville Longbottom came in.

Dean noticed something was bothering Hermione. "What's wrong?"

Hermione looked up from her reading. "Oh, nothing. Just sad that the holidays are over," she lied.

Dean didn't ask her any more questions, to Hermione's relief. She felt like she was going to cry again. "Want to play Exploding Snap?" asked Seamus.

Why not? thought Hermione. It's probably more fun than this book I'm reading. "Sure," she said.

They played Exploding Snap all the way until they arrived at Hogwarts. The got off the train and loaded the carriages and finally got to the doors of Hogwarts. Hermione went straight to the common room to find Ron and Harry. She found them, Harry in an overstuffed armchair and Ron lying down on a couch. Her heart leapt when she saw him.

"Hi Ron! Hi Harry!" she said. They turned around. Their faces broke into smiles when they saw her, and Ron sat up.

"Hi Hermione!" they said. She took a seat next to Ron on the couch. "How was your holiday?" Ron asked her.

"Um…" Should I tell them now? Hermione thought. No, I'll wait. "It was very eventful. How about yours?"

"It was great," Ron said.

"Yeah, thanks for all the candy," Harry said. "It was awesome!"

"Thanks for the books, you guys," Hermione said. She grinned. "How'd you know I'd like it?"

"Let's just say it was a lucky guess," Ron said. "Thanks for the candy."

"So, did anything happen while I was gone?" Hermione asked.

"No, not much. Just another ordinary Hogwarts Christmas," Harry said. Hermione felt sad again because she knew she would never be able to celebrate another Hogwarts Christmas.

Ron noticed her face fall. "What's wrong? You look kind of sad." His face was full of concern. "Did something bad happen over the holidays?"

Oh, Ron, if you only knew, Hermione thought. "No, everything was fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One thing Hermione wouldn't miss, however, was Potions. As much as she liked her classes, she grew to hate Potions and her slimy teacher, Professor Snape. He seemed to be even meaner than usual to them, if that was possible.

"Why is he being so hard on us?" Ron said, throwing down his bowl full of ladybug wings which Harry had just ground up.

"Maybe something bad happened to him over the holidays," Harry said. He then lowered his voice. "Or maybe he's scared Voldemort's coming back."

Ron winced. He hated hearing Voldemort's name. "Maybe, but I think something bad just happened to him. Or at least I hope so."

Hermione refrained from saying anything in Snape's defense. She was also sick of him yelling at any little mistake.

"Oh, well. Just think, the end of the year will come before we know it," Harry said.

That was the last straw for Hermione. Luckily, the bell rang just then and she ran out of the dungeon.

"What'd I say?" Harry said, looking confused.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione went into the common room later that evening. OK, this is it, she thought. I'm going to tell them tonight. She took a deep breath and walked through the portrait into the Gryffindor common room. She found Harry quite quickly, but Ron was nowhere in sight.

She took a seat next to him. "Hi," she said faintly. Harry didn't notice she was nervous because he was reading a Quidditch book. Doesn't he ever do anything except think about Quidditch? Hermione thought.

"Oh, hi Hermione," he said, putting his book down. It was then he noticed something was bothering her. "What's wrong?"

"Where's Ron?" she asked. Oh, smooth, Hermione, she thought. You don't sound as if you like him at all.

"He had to go to see McGonagall, something about extra help with Transfiguration," Harry said. "I told him he could just ask you, but he just said he'll go see McGonagall. So, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything."

Hermione hesitated. "My parents are really, really scared. About You-Know-Who coming back and stuff. Especially that he's killing Muggle-borns."

"Hey, tell them not to worry," Harry said. "Hogwarts is the safest place you can be, especially with Dumbledore here."

"Yeah, I know," Hermione said. "I told them that."

"But that's not what's bothering you," Harry said, seeing the trouble on her face still.

"They want me to be away from all the trouble. They…They want to move to America," Hermione blurted out. Harry was dumbfounded for a second.

"M…Move?" he asked after her words had sunk in. "Like…leave Hogwarts?"

Hermione nodded. Tears were streaming down her cheeks by now. "We…We're leaving at the end of the year." She brought up her knees to her chest.

"B…But Voldemort will get you no matter where you are! It doesn't matter whether you're five or five thousand miles away, he's still going to get everyone!"

"I know I tried to tell them that, b…but they wouldn't listen. T…They were just going on about h…how it's safer farther away from here."

"Have you told Ron yet?" Harry whispered. Hermione shook her head. "You should tell him soon. He'll want to hear it."

"Can't you tell him for me?" Hermione asked, although, of course, she knew Harry would refuse.

Just as she thought, Harry said, "No, I'm sorry, but he'd want to hear it from you more than me. I know he would." He looked up at her. "Ron cares about you a lot, Hermione. More than anyone I know. I know he wants to hear those words coming out of your mouth, not mine." Hermione nodded. She knew Harry was right, of course, but it was going to be so hard on her. A surge of hatred flowed through her. I hate Voldemort! She thought. Why can't he just be dead?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But she just couldn't bring herself to tell him. Every time she saw him, her stomach flipped and she was filled with dread with telling him. Not that he'd miss her any more than Harry, she thought bitterly. Why on earth would Ron Weasley like her more than a friend? He didn't go for the studious, bushy-haired, long-teethed kind of girls. He went more for the perfect looking ones. They were just friends. Hermione walked the familiar hallways to the common room. Again, Ron wasn't there, but Harry was.

"Have you told him yet?" he greeted her.

"Hello to you too," she said, pulling out her Charms homework. "And, no, I haven't."

Harry sighed. "You have to do it one of these days, Hermione. This school year isn't going to last forever." Hermione winced. Not like I needed to be reminded of that, Harry! She thought. "Please, just tell him. The sooner you tell him, the better."

"Harry, you don't get it!" Hermione said. "You…don't know…how it feels…"

"How what feels?" he whispered.

"I…I can't tell…" Hermione said, wanted to keep her crush a secret. "I can't…tell you…"

"Yes, you can," Harry said. "You can tell me anything. Now what is it?"

"I…I have kind of…kind of a…a…" Hermione stuttered.

"Kind of a what?" he asked, not troubling to keep his voice low.

"A…a crush on Ron!" she blurted out. She didn't know what kind of reaction she was going to get from him, but it certainly wasn't a grin, which was exactly Harry's reaction. "But you can't tell him, I'd absolutely die…"

"Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me," Harry said, still grinning.

"What?" Hermione asked. "Why are you smiling like that? Like you know something I don't know?"

"Well, I do know something you don't know."

"What? What is it? Harry, tell me!" Hermione pleaded.

"Sorry, I promised I wouldn't tell," he said, getting up. "Tell Ron. Tell him as soon as you can. Promise me you will."

Hermione simply smiled. She couldn't promise anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione walked down to the Great Hall the next morning for breakfast. She sat at her usual place at the Gryffindor table with next to Ginny and across from Ron and Harry. Harry glanced up at her and stopped talking. "Um, I think I'm going to go get ready for Potions. I don't want to get Snape mad first thing in the morning." He got up. "Care to come with me, Ginny?"

Ginny knew that Hermione was moving and also knew she had to tell Ron about it, so she took Harry's lead and left with him.

"What's up with those two?" he asked Hermione. She shrugged. This is it, Hermione thought. This is it. Don't ruin it. Don't mess up. Don't…

"I think I'm going to go get ready, too," Ron said, getting up and stretching. "You don't mind, do you?"

"N…no, not at all," Hermione stuttered. It's not as if I have anything really important to tell you that's changing my whole life, Ron! she thought as he left.

Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, Hermione's dorm mates, sat down next to Hermione. "Hermione?" asked Lavender. "Are you OK? You look like you're about to cry."

"Did Ron say something mean to you again?" Parvati asked. She obviously was remembering that time in first year when Ron made fun of Hermione's lack of friends, which sent her into the bathroom crying.

"No, no, it's not Ron," Hermione said quickly. "No, he's being nice to me. It's just…other stuff."

"What other stuff?" Parvati pressed.

Like I'm going to tell you! Hermione thought. I tell her, and the whole school's going to hear about it in less than three hours! It wasn't as if Hermione didn't like Lavender and Parvati. It's just that they were such…girls. Spending all that time fixing hair and putting on makeup…Hermione would rather study than put on eye liner. But still, they are nice and I should get some more friends who are girls, Hermione thought. But she didn't want to tell them. That would come later.

"Really, it's nothing," Hermione said, and left for the Gryffindor common room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione arrived at the common room later than usual that night. She had been in the library looking up some extra information for Potions. The common room had emptied except for one person, the one person that Hermione dreaded talking to most.

"Oh, hey Hermione!" said Ron.

"Hi," she said with a shaking voice. "What're you doing up so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Looking up extra stuff for potions," Hermione said, sitting down next to him on the couch. "I'm getting so sick of Snape calling the Gryffindors stupid."

"That's something I never thought I'd see. Hermione Granger saying something bad about a teacher."

"I never really said anything bad…So what are you doing up?"

"Harry told me to," he said. Hermione must have looked confused, because he said, "I don't really get it. He said you had something to tell me?"

Hermione shut her eyes. I am going to kill him! I seriously am! This is hard enough without having him nose in on everything…Her ideas for how many ways she could make Harry's death not look like a murder was interrupted by Ron's voice.

"So do you? Got something to tell me?"

OK, take deep breaths, this won't be as hard as it looks. Won't be as hard as it looks, my foot. "Well, as you know, my parents are Muggles, so they haven't really got a clue on what's going on in the wizarding world." Ron nodded. "So when they do hear something, it's usually really bad."

"Oh, don't tell me they've found out about You-Know-Who," Ron said, wincing.

"Yes, yes they did. They found out about him rising to power. And you know they get really scared at that kind of thing." Ron nodded again. "Well, they…they want to do something about it this time. They want to…to take me out of Hogwarts." Ron's eyes went as wide as saucers.

"T…Take you out of Hogwarts? But…But Hogwarts is about the safest place you can be!"

"I know," Hermione said, coming very close to tears. "I told them. But that's not it. Well, it's not all of it."

"Well, there can't be that much worse than taking you away from Hogwarts," Ron said.

If you only knew. "Yeah, yeah there is." She brought her knees up to her chest. She did that a lot when she was nervous. "My…My mum and dad…want us to move to America."

There was silence for a couple of seconds, although it seemed like an eternity to Hermione. She couldn't bring herself to look into Ron's eyes. "We're…We're leaving at the end of the school year," she finished. The tears that she had tried to hold back so hard erupted right then.

There was still silence from Ron. Then he spoke. "You…You're kidding. You're leaving. Leaving…" he trailed off. "Oh, come on, don't cry, it's going to be OK." He hesitated for a second, as if he wasn't sure if he should do something or not. But then he put his arm around her and pulled her towards him. That just made Hermione cry harder. "Shh, shh," he whispered, stroking her hair.

"B…But You-Know-Who's going to get me wherever I am, not j…just if I'm here and not in stupid America," Hermione sobbed into his robes. She was getting them all wet, but either Ron didn't notice or he didn't care. He just held her like that for quite a while. Finally, her sobs subsided and Ron let her go.

He held onto her shoulders and said, "You get some sleep, OK?" Hermione nodded. He smiled. "Don't worry, we're going to make these last few months the best you've ever had." Hermione smiled, too. He gave her shoulders one last squeeze and made his way upstairs. After a few minutes of processing, Hermione finally realized. Oh, my goodness. Was he…Was he hugging me? She smiled again and went upstairs to her room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last few months passed by too quickly for Hermione. It seemed like only a couple days before she was on the Hogwarts Express to go home for the holidays. Ron was true to his word. He and Harry made the last few months at Hogwarts the best Hermione had ever had. She couldn't let herself fully enjoy them, what with the thought of leaving them leaving herself feeling sad all over again. There was a break in the conversation in their compartment.

"I can't believe I'm not going to be able to graduate with you guys," she said. This was the first she had spoken of her leaving since she had told them. There was an awkward pause. "I mean, I always thought, ever since first year, I'd be able to…to stand by you when we got to be fully qualified wizards. I…I never thought…" her voice trailed off. Tears threatened to fall out onto her cheeks, but she held them back. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Me, neither," Ron whispered.

"Well, hey, you know, we can go and visit you, and you can visit us, after we pass our apparation test and even before that, on the holidays," Harry said, clearly trying to cheer them up. They all knew, though, that it was going to be nearly impossible that they would ever see each other again.

"It's not the same," Hermione said. "Everyone at my new school's going to think I'm just brainy, bushy-haired Hermione. I'm not going to make friends like you guys. And even if I do, it's for two years and that's it." The compartment was silent for a moment. Then it was broken by a very unwelcome visitor. Rather, three unwelcome visitors.

"Well, well, well," said Draco Malfoy. "Isn't this a sorry looking compartment. What's wrong, Granger? Is the little Mudblood sad? Not going to be able to go to classes over the…"

He was cut off by Ron flying at him. Malfoy screamed. Ron started beating him up with his fists before Harry and Hermione managed to pull him off.

"You never call her that again, Malfoy!" Ron yelled, seething with anger. "You just bloody stay away or I swear, I will kill you!"

Perhaps Malfoy thought that Ron was going to break away from Harry's and Hermione's grasp and hit him again, so he hurried out of the compartment. They set Ron back down and Hermione closed the doors.

"You should've let me at him," Ron said, still extremely angry. "Why do you always hold me back? I could've hurt him really bad."

"I think you already accomplished that," Harry said.

"Ron, I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but thank you," said Hermione. They both just stared at her.

"Hermione Granger, approving of fighting?" Ron said, bewildered. "I never thought I'd see that."

The train pulled into King's Cross Station just about then. Hermione, Harry, and Ron passed through the barrier. The three friends looked at each other.

"You are going to owl me, right? Tell me all about what's going on at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"Of course!" Harry said. "Every day, if you like." Hermione smiled. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she say the Dursley's. They didn't look happy at all, but Hermione had gotten used to it by now. "I'd better go," Harry said. He turned to Hermione. "Bye, Hemione," he said. She could see a tear in his eye, and her own tears were falling freely down her cheeks. She hugged him.

"Bye, Harry," she said, sobbing into his shoulder. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too," he said, pulling away. "But we're going to see each other soon. I just know it." He kissed her on the top of her head. Then he left with the Dursley's.

Hermione looked at Ron. He was crying, too. Hermione couldn't remember a time she had seen him cry. This is going to be hard, she thought. The rest of the Weasley family must have known that they needed some time alone because Mrs. Weasley said, "Ron, why don't you wait with Hermione for her parents and then meet us at the car?" Ron nodded. Hermione was grateful this wasn't going to be in front of everyone.

She walked a little ways over to the right. "They usually meet me here," she explained. Then, before she could stop herself, she hugged Ron as hard as she could. He wasn't awkard like last time she had hugged him, though. He gently put his arms around her.

"Hey, it's going to be OK," he whispered. "Like Harry said, we can visit each other, and owl each other. Don't worry," he said, stroking her hair. "And if any of those kids at your new school bother you, you just owl me and I'll come and beat them up like I did Malfoy." Hermione laughed.

"Thanks," she said. She pulled out of his embrace and they touched foreheads.

"Don't worry, everythings going to turn out OK," he said. They pulled away and looked at each other. Ron was looking at her in kind of a funny way. Why's he looking at me like that? Hermione thought. He looks like he's about to…kiss me! He moved his head closer to hers. Then a car honk interrupted them and Ron jerked his head up.

"Oh, that's my parents," she said, slightly flustered. "I've got to go." She stood on her tip-toes and kissed him on the cheek. He turned bright red, and by the heat rising in her cheeks, Hermione was certain she was tuning red, too. "Bye, Ron," she said, picking up her trunk.

"Here, let me help you with that," he said, picking up one end of it. He carried it to her car and her father helped him put it in the trunk. As her father got back in the car, Ron said, "Bye, Hermione."

She smiled, still crying. "If you don't owl me, I'm going to have to come back and hex you," she said. He smiled.

"Hermione," he said, the smile leaving his face. He looked as if he wanted to tell her something really important. "I…I…" He couldn't seem to get it out. "I…hope you have a fun time in America," he blurted out. Clearly, that wasn't what he was going to say, but Hermione let it go.

"I'll try," she said. "But now I really have to go. Bye." She got into the car. She looked out the back window, watching Ron wave goodbye until he was out of sight. She sighed. This was quite possibly one of the worst days of her life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione started at her new American wizarding school the day after holidays. She was worried. What if everyone treats me like Ron and Harry did in first year? As a big, show-off, know-it-all? But she stopped thinking like that. She missed Harry and Ron too much to think about them. They were her two friends in the world? How was she to get through this? Right now she hated her parents more than she ever had before. It was them who had done this to her! It was them who moved her away because of Volde-

No. No, it was Voldemort's fault, she thought. My parents were only concerned about my safety. She sighed. She was lying in her bed in her new room. It was a bit spacier than her old one, but she would rather live in a shack and be back at Hogwarts than have a mansion and be in this bloody country. Stupid United States! All the people here were different. They even talked different with their unfamiliar accent.

She looked over at her bedside clock. The brightly colored numbers showed 4 AM. Hermione sighed again. She decided to get up. In three hours a Muggle bus was coming to pick her up to bring her to the train station. Then she would take a train to her new school. It would never be anything like Hogwarts. Oh, well. She would study hard, and get good grades, and that's all that mattered, right? No, she thought, her tears threatning to fall. You need friends, too.

She went around the new kitchen, still a little bit unfamiliar with where everything was. She made herself some toast. She sat at the table eating it. There came a noise from the window. Hermione looked up to see a familiar owl hovering there.

"Pig!" she cried out. She quickly let him in and put him with the new owl mum and dad had gotten her this summer, whom she named Buckbeak after her favorite hippogriff. They had bought it for her, hoping that it would make this move a little bit easier. It hadn't.

Hermione took the letter from Pig's talons. She immediately recognized Ron's scrawly handwriting on it. Her hands trembled as she read it.

Hermione~

P.S. Everybody says hi. Ginny wants you to owl her, too.

Hermione's tears finally fell. I can't believe I didn't tell Ron how I felt before we left! She thought. I missed my chance…and now I might never see him again. She sat there for a couple minutes before writing her response to Ron.

Dear Ron,

Well, I didn't tell my parents that you wanted me to come back home, because I know what their response would be. "Oh, it's dangerous in England, you'll get killed by Voldemort, we're doing this for your own safety, blah blah blah…" And yes, I do miss you. Harry and Ginny too. And I haven't been to school yet. It starts a little bit later than Hogwarts, on the tenth.

I'm so glad that the twins finally got to open up their shop! I'd love to come visit it sometime, when I come to visit you and Harry. I'm really happy for them, and you can tell them I said that.

Ron, on a more serious note, I don't know what it's going to be like here at my new school. I mean, think about what you thought I was like when you first met me. A bushy-haired know-it-all, right? Well, that's how I think everyone's going to see me here. My British accent doesn't really help, either. They've got these horrid accents here. But, what if nobody understands me like you and Harry did? I don't think I'm going to fit in here, especially in the beginning of my sixth year. Everything's changing, Ron. I want it all to be the same. I want to be back at Hogwarts with you and Harry.

Well, I won't go off babbling about how bad it is here. Tell everyone I say hi. Also, tell Ginny I'll write to her as soon as I have something to say. I miss you a lot and of course I'm going to keep writing to you, you thickhead. How else would I be able to cope being here?

With love from,

Hermione

I wonder if it's too sappy, she thought.Oh, well. It's not as if I have to see his face when he gets it. She waited until Pig had had a nice drink of water, then fed him an owl treat and attatched the note to him. He hooted happily before taking flight again. With nothing to do for the last hour and a half before the van was coming, she played solitaire on her computer. Her parents came downstairs.

"Hey, honey," her mother said, ruffling her hair. "How long have you been up?"

"Not long," Hermione lied. "I just came down here for breakfast, and then you came down."

"Your first day of school, eh?" Mr. Granger said. After taking one look at his daughter's face, he quickly said, "I'm sure you'll do fine here, honey. I mean, you're all wizards and witches there. Everything will be fine." Hermione scoffed. Her mother frowned.

"We could use without your attitude, Hermione," she said. "It's not helping any."

That was the last straw for Hermione. "Well, I'm so SORRY about my attitude problem!" she yelled. "Maybe I left it in Britain along with my only friends in the world and the only school I'm ever going to enjoy going to! And I'm also sorry that I'm not helping any, maybe it would be better if I just disappeared, is that it, Mum? Do you just want my life to be miserable so I would act like I disappeared? Because let me tell you, you did make my life miserable!" She ran up the stairs to her room. Her parents stood in shock still in the computer room.

I'm acting more and more like Draco Malfoy every day, Hermione thought, crying into her pillow. I never thought that I'd say this, but I even miss him. I miss everything back home, I'm never going to fit in here. I'd take being Malfoy's best friend before being here any day. And that's saying something. She cried into her pillow a bit more, until her parent's yelled up the stairs, "Hermione! Your ride's here!"

She quickly dried her eyes and looked in the mirror, thankful that her face almost never turned red. Hermione walked down the stairs to see a middle-aged woman who reminded Hermione of Mrs. Weasley. Just thinking about the Weasley's just made Hermione sad again, and she had to fight to keep back her tears.

"Hermione?" said Mrs. Granger nervously, as if she was afraid that Hermione would crack again. "This is Mrs. Goodwin, she drives kids to Pliffent Academy, the wizards and witches school." Mrs. Goodwin stuck out her hand for Hermione to shake. Hermione took it nervously.

"Hello, dear," Mrs. Goodwin said. "I hope you'll enjoy your stay here in America, it's really not as bad of a place as everyone else in the world thinks." Hermione smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. "Well, we'd better be off if we're going to be back in time for the introductory speech. Goodbye, Mr. and Mrs. Granger. It was a pleasure meeting you."

"You too, Mrs. Goodwin," said Mr. Granger.

"I'll bring your suitcase out to the car, Hermione," said Mrs. Goodwin, leaving Hermione alone with her parents.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," said Mrs. Granger.

"Guess so," Hermione said, not really caring that much if she ever saw her parents again. "'Bye, then." And she walked out the door just like that. Mrs. Granger made a move to go after her, but Mr. Granger held her back.

"Let her go," he said. "It'll be all right."

Hermione got into a blue van that was parked in her driveway. There were only two more kids in there, a boy and a girl about her age. "All right, are we ready to go?" Mrs. Goodwin said, getting behind the wheel. The three nodded, all of them rather unenthusiastic. She pushed a button on the steering wheel, and the car disappeared from the driveway.

A second later, they were parked in front of a castle that looked very similar to Hogwarts. Hermione was surprised, but figured that the car could apparate. She had taught herself from day one in the wizarding world not to let anything surprise her anymore. "Here we are," said Mrs. Goodwin. The three got out of the car. "Have a good year, everyone!"

"All right, Mom," said the boy. "She's my mother," he explained to Hermione, as if she couldn't get that from him calling Mrs. Goodwin Mom.

"I figured that," she said. To her surprise, both the girl and the boy laughed.

"That's funny," he said. "You're funny. My name's Joe, and that's Angela," he said, gesturing towards the other girl.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Hermione."

"Yeah, you're the new girl, aren't you?" Angela said. "The tranfer from England?" Hermione nodded. "Oh my gosh, this is so cool! I hope you're in my house, I'm in Hamlet."

Joe noticed Hermione's blank look. "We have four houses: Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and Coriolanus. The founders of our school were obssesed with Shakespeare."

"Oh," said Hermione, nodding. "Which house are you in?"

"I'm in Macbeth," he said. "And, by the way, Angela, our house is going to beat your house at the house cup this year!"

"Oh yeah, Goodwin?" she said, giggling. "You know, that's what you said last year, and look at who came out on top."

"I hope you get into one of our houses, Hermione," he said. Hermione cringed. Whenever someone pronounced her name with an American accent, it sounded so…weird.

"Yeah, me too." They walked into the castle. "Here, there's Professor Handsley, she's the deputy headmistress," Angela said. "She'll probably want to see you before the start sorting the first years." And with that they left her standing there. Some friendly people they have here, Hermione thought. And to think Angela and Joe would have been my friends here. She walked up to the staff table.

"Um, excuse me," she said in a very small voice.

"Yes?" said a stern looking woman. She reminded Hermione a bit of Professor McGonagall. "What do you want? Students are to sit down once they get here."

"Um, I'm Hermione Granger, this is my first year here," she said with a little bit more strength in her voice this time. "I'm supposed to be in sixth year."

"Ah, yes!" said a cheery looking woman. "You're the girl from England, aren't you?" Hermione nodded. "Welcome to Pliffent Academy, Hermione." Hermione cringed again. "Come with me, I'll get you sorted." She took Hermione's hand and dragged her to the corner of the hall where a bunch of younger kids stood, waiting to be sorted. They all look so scared, Hermione thought. She remembered when she had gotten sorted at Hogwarts, and a wave of sadness washed over her again. "Just wait here, and we'll sort you first." She left Hermione standing with all the first years. One of them looked up at her.

"You look too old to be a first year," she said.

"I just moved here," she said. "This is my first day here, too." The girl gave her an odd look, and she walked away to join a group of other girls. Hermione sighed. She stood there waiting for about five more minutes until the professor who had brought Hermione over to this corner stood up and moved to the center of the room.

"Hello, students, and welcome to another year at Pliffent Academy!" she said. All the students cheered wildly. "Now before we sort our first years, there is one special student here today. She transferred here from England, and she's starting her sixth year here. I'm sure you'll all make her welcome her here. Hermione, could you come up here please?"

Hermione, with bright red cheeks, walked up to the professor, who she guessed was the Professor Handsley Angela had told her about before she abandoned Hermione. "All right, Hermione Granger is going to be the first one to try on the sorting hat!" There was another round of applause, although not as loud as the last one had been. "Put it on, then, Hermione!" she said enthusiastically. Hermione sat down at the stool and put the hat on her head, stopping to wonder if there was a sorting hat at every school.

"Let's see here," the hat said. "I see you've already been in a house in England, Gryffindor." Yes, that's right, Hermione thought. "You do have a lot of courage," the hat continued. "Also very smart. A very useful combination. Why don't we put you in OTHELLO!" it said, shouting the last word out for the whole hall to hear. Hermione walked over to the Othello table, thankful she wouldn't have to face Angela or Joe again. She sat down next to a girl who looked about her age. The girl smiled at her, then turned back to her friend, who was sitting next to her. Hermione noticed her friend had red hair and slightly resembled Ginny. Geez, I've got to stop thinking about Hogwarts, thought Hermione. All the first years got sorted, and the feast arrived. It was almost exactly like the Hogwarts feast, except with different foods that Hermione guessed were American.

Hermione finished her food, and walked up to her dorm with three other sixth year girls. Two of them seemed to be like Lavender and Parvati, talking about boys, makeup, boys, clothes, and boys. The other girl seemed to be a little like Hermione. She was reading a book. Her bed was next to Hermione's. She put her book down when Hermione sat down and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Jill," she said. "You're Hermione, right?" Hermione nodded. "Thank goodness you came here. I was getting so sick of sharing a dorm with these two," she said, rolling her eyes at the two other girls. Hermione looked at the names that were engraved on their beds. Summer and Kelly.

Hermione stifled a giggle. "That bad, huh?" Jill nodded.

"So, you went to Hogwarts?" she asked. Hermione nodded again. "Was it fun there? I mean, being in the same year with Harry Potter and all."

"Um…" she said, not quite knowing how to respond to that. "Yeah, it was great."

"Is he as nice as people say he is?" asked Jill.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, he's really nice to everyone. Well, except to one kid, Draco Malfoy. But Malfoy was always really mean to him."

"Did you know his best friend, Ron Weasley?" asked Jill. "He seemed really nice from the article I read about him."

"Where'd you read an article about Ron?" asked Hermione.

"One of Summer's magazines, Teen Witch. Had a big article about Harry in there, and Ron was mentioned in it. Said he had a bit of a temper, though."

Hermione smiled. Wait till I tell Ron he's in a magazine! She thought. "Yeah, he has a huge temper, actually. Got really mad at me when we were partners in Charms in first year. Just because I got the charm right and he didn't."

"So you were friends with him?" asked Jill.

"Yeah," said Hermione. "Really good friends." Deciding to change the subject, she asked, "What book are you reading?"

"Oh, this?" she said, gesturing towards her book. "It's not actually a published book. My cousin just printed out one copy of it. Anyway, it's called Love Story. Creative, huh? Well anyway, it's about this girl and this guy who are best friends, and they really love each other, but then the girl moves and the guy never sees her again. And they never tell each other how they feel. Pretty intense."

Hermione froze on her spot on the bed. "Um…yeah, really intense. I think I'm going to turn in now. Long trip for me and everything." She put on her best smile, turned over, and fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life was horrible for Hermione. In the sixth year, everyone always has their own friends and they don't want to break out from them. Hermione hung out with Jill and her small group of friends, but they weren't the same as Harry and Ron.

The only consolation Hermione got was from the letters she got daily from them. Harry's started out long, but got shorter as time went on because he didn't have as much to say. Ron's, however, stayed long.

Hermione also continued her daily subscription of "The Daily Prophet." It cost her a little more because it was so far out of England, but Hermione paid the extra charge to keep track of Harry. "Just making sure he isn't doing anything stupid out there," she said to herself.

"Hey, Hermione," said Keith, one of Jill's friends. He sat down next to her. "What's the news in Britain?"

Hermione sighed. "Nothing much. I just wish You-Know-Who would be destroyed so I can go back home."

Keith nodded, not really listening. "Yeah," he said. "Hey, are you going home for the holidays?"

"The holidays!" said Hermione, hitting her head with her hand. "They're coming up soon, aren't they? I've lost track of time. No, I'm not going home. How about you?"

"Yeah," he said. "All of my family comes over to our house on Christmas Eve and we cook a big feast and everything. How come you're not going home?"

"I asked my parents if I could go back to England," Hermione said. "They said no, so I'm not speaking to them at the moment."

"That stinks," said Keith. "You're going to be almost the only one here, though. Jill and me and everyone are all going home."

"Great," said Hermione.

"If you want," said Keith, his voice growing softer, "you know, you can always, um, come visit me."

Hermione's eyes shot wide open. "Sorry, Keith, I can't do that," she said awkwardly.

"Oh, OK," said Keith, bright red.

Hermione smiled at him. "Let's work on our homework, OK?"

Keith breathed a sigh of relief. "OK."

Hermione sighed. Ron makes me feel guilty, even if he is thousands of miles away. No, I'm not thinking about him. It will only make me miss him more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione spent the first couple days of the holidays in misery. There was no one that would talk to her, so she spent her time immersed in her studies. But she finished all of her homework on the first day. Then she read, but the library was so small that she finished reading all the books she hadn't read before on the second day.

Hermione was overcome with tears. She had never thought that being lonely would be so cold, so empty. What she wouldn't give to have Ron standing there with a chess board in his arms, or even just to hear him and Harry argue about the Chudley Cannons would be a comfort.

She dashed into an empty classroom, not caring who saw her. She collapsed into one of the desks and started sobbing.

"I can't believe this!" she wailed. "It's Christmas, and where am I? In an abandoned classroom crying my eyes out! Alone…Why did I have to move? Why did I have to leave home, and Harry, and Ron…" Her voice trailed off. She was sobbing so loud she didn't hear someone enter the room. "Ron, I loved you so much," she said, sniffling. "I just wished you had felt the same. But I was always the brainy little Hermione who you just copied off homework from. You never looked at me as more than a friend. And you never will."

"That's not true."

Hermione lifted her head off of the desk and turned around. "R-Ron?" she asked in a whisper.

Ron was leaning on the doorframe, but now he got up and walked to her. "It's me, Hermione." He put his arms on her shoulders. "It's me."

She threw her arms around him. "Ron!" she exclaimed, sobbing into his shirt. He gently stroked her hair. Then she jerked out of his embrace. "How long have you been standing there?" she asked, suddenly fearful.

"Long enough," he said. "Did you really mean all that?"

Hermione nodded nervously. "Good," he said. His head moved down towards hers and their lips touched. After a couple seconds, she pulled away.

"Wow," she said, giggling. She kissed him again. "But how did you get here?" she asked after a couple more seconds.

"Well," said Ron, pulling away for a second and rubbing the back of his neck, "I was kind of hoping you wouldn't ask."

"What did you do?" asked Hermione.

"Charlie…he, um…"

"He what?"

"He taught me how to apparate," Ron blurted out.

"What?!" said Hermione, shocked. "You apparated…"

"Yeah," said Ron, uncomfortable. "I knew that you wouldn't really approve of it, but I had to see you. I was going crazy."

"You broke the wizard law to come see me?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I guess," said Ron. "Are you mad?"

"Come here," said Hermione, kissing him again. "How could I be mad? After all you almost killed yourself for me."

"So when are you coming home?" asked Ron.

"Ron," said Hermione. "You know I can't come home until You-Know-Who is gone. Destroyed. Whatever. When he's not a threat to me and my family…"

"Haven't you been reading "The Daily Prophet"?" asked Ron.

Hermione thought back. "No, actually. I've been too busy studying."

"Geez, I would've thought the news would've reached your ears by now," said Ron. He was grinning.

"Ron, what's going on?"

"He's gone, Hermione," said Ron. "Dumbledore…he destroyed him somehow."

Hermione was shocked for the third time that evening. "Dumbledore…"

"He's gone. You can come back now."

Hermione threw her arms around Ron again. "I can come home now!" she exclaimed.

"I missed you so much," said Ron. "Have I mentioned that?"

"I got the impression," said Hermione. "Come on, let's go tell my parents."

Hermione and her family moved back home to England, where Hermione finished her sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts. As for Ron and Hermione…Well, I'll let you draw your own conclusions from them.

FIN

Go Home
Go To Fanfiction
Go To Harry Potter