Three Hallows' Eve || Harmione & Jily

Chapter 16.1

Chapter Sixteen - The Sinking Feeling

Quite true to character, Neville had found them a compartment in the rearmost carriage of the train, away from everybody else. It had turned out to be quite the journey making their way all the way down there, Harry and Hermione each taking one end of her inexplicably heavy trunk and struggling past seemingly hundreds of groups of students crowding the hallways as they reunited after a summer apart, or trying to find a compartment empty enough to squeeze everybody into.

Reach the carriage they did, though, just as the train began to pick up speed as it cleared the outskirts of London. Harry stopped Hermione just before they walked into view of the compartment window and raised his finger to his lips conspiratorially, offering no explanation when she regarded him with a puzzled look. He peeked around the window ever so slightly and, as expected, found Neville sat alone, engrossed in reading something in his lap. He grinned as he turned back to Hermione and silently signalled for her to stay where she was for a moment. The questioning expression on her face hadn't abated, but she nodded all the same.

He crept forward, ducking underneath the window of the compartment, only standing up straight once he was sure the door frame would hide him. Slowly, he reached forward for the door handle, giving Hermione one more smile before sliding the door open with an almighty BANG, and boisterously shouting, 'DIDYA MISS ME?'

Neville leapt about a foot into the air, startled, sending the contents of his lap flying onto the bench opposite him. Harry laughed loudly as his friend clutched at his chest. 'Blimey, Harry. Don't do that.'

'Sorry,' Harry replied, though the apology was somewhat undermined by the laughter which he hadn't yet managed to stop. 'Couldn't resist.'

'Bet you could have,' came the grumbled response.

Harry grinned broadly but sobered up as the sound of a quiet clearing of the throat caused both boys to turn their attention to the compartment door. 'Oh! Hermione, this is my best friend Neville Longbottom. Nev, this is my newest friend Hermione Granger. She's starting this year too, and I've invited her to join our compartment, if you don't mind?'

Neville looked consideringly at Hermione's blushing face for a moment. 'Are you going to make me jump too?'

'Oh, heavens no!' Hermione responded in an instant. 'I didn't even know Harry was going to do that, I swear!' Harry chuckled sheepishly at the accusing glare she sent his way with that last comment.

'Then you're more than welcome. I don't need anybody else ganging up on me. Nice to meet you,' Neville beamed, and stretched out his hand for her to shake.

She took his hand with a pleasant, 'You too,' before her attention was drawn away by a loud chirp from the cage beside her. 'Oh! Is this your owl?' she asked, dropping to crouch in front of Hedwig's cage.

'No, she's mine,' said Harry.

'She's beautiful. What did you call her?'

'Well, it wasn't really me who named her at all. When I bought her, the shopkeeper said that she rarely responded to people, but she'd flown down to see a girl a few days earlier. Obviously, that girl didn't buy her but had called her -'

'Hedwig,' Hermione interrupted quietly, and the owl chirped again.

Harry looked at her with wide eyes. 'Yeah. That was you then?'

'It'd be a mighty good guess if it wasn't,' Neville chimed in with a snicker and Harry shoved him in the shoulder.

'Bugger off,' he mumbled, but Hermione was too busy petting Hedwig through the bars of the cage to notice.