Decode (Dramione)

9. Lie to me

Hermione spent the rest of her Christmas with her parents back in the muggle world, where she spent it catching up but then mostly to herself. She pondered on the new information she was given, and the words found in her journal played in her head all day as she tried to find the meaning behind them.

Someone had sent her a message, a riddle, a puzzle to solve. Why her? Why did they address it as en granger od? What was the meaning of it all? These are the questions that ran through her mind until the time came to go back to Hogwarts. Most wizarding families had access to a Floo Network which took them on a one-way trip to Hogwarts, established by the Ministry of Magic. Hermione's family was in the muggle world, they didn't possess a magical fireplace or a secret cabinet to apparate Hermione back to school, so she took to more traditional methods. The school still provided the option of boarding on the train, so this is where she could be found that morning. Her parents waved goodbye just before she entered the platform, Hermione held back the rush of emotions as she waved back. They knew so little of the realities that she would've to face upon going back to school, the pressures of the things that she has come to know, although coming upon them unknowingly.

Few other students boarded the train with her, but not many seeing as there weren't many muggle-born wizards, but enough to allow them access to the train back nonetheless. Hermione pulled her hair back into an updo with a claw hair clip, she wanted her mane out of the way today and she couldn't be bothered to tame it by means of hair products or straightening it. Her muggle clothing consisted of a white tank top, a sweater that clung off the shoulder, and a pair of jeans that were tight in all the right places. She looked like she was going to a sleepover at a friends, but she couldn't find it in her to present herself as formally as she usually did. She would resume her usual appearances when the new term began, she thought. For now, she would choose a cart on the train, read over the riddle, ponder and stare out the window for the hour.

The blaring horn of the train rattled the window to the compartment she was in, she resorted to sitting in a cart alone, not seeing a face she knew. Her belongings were messily arranged around the seats surrounding her, not expecting any other students to occupy the space. Students could still be heard rushing about outside the door of the compartment, the sound of their footsteps being drowned out by the sound of the steam machine at work just beneath them. She settled in, her head fell to the wall behind her as she sat with her legs crossed, she felt a chill come over her.

There was a knock at the door, the window to it had a blind to which she had already pulled down, indicating its fullness. Whoever knocked had clearly no prior cart-manner knowledge, she thought. Rolling her eyes she shouted out, "it's full!"

There was a silent moment and she thought the intruder had taken the hint to find a new room. Then there was a jangle of the door handle, her heart pounded at the sound. She was on edge with the recent events so the violent rattle of the metal made the hairs on her neck stand like the ones on a cat. She remained silent as the door slid open, her eyes wide as she looked to see her new cartmate.

Cassian stood flustered, his hair a curly mess, and his clothes looked lazily picked just as hers was.

"Hermione! I thought that was you. You cant get rid of me that easily you know?" he gave a wide grin, it warmed her. Then images of the night she was drunk at the party began flashing through her head, her cheeks reddened.

"Cassian, hi." She greeted, smiling back shyly. She didn't know why she felt so embarrassed, she had only been herself with Cassian, perhaps that is precisely why she felt so vulnerable, out of fear that he may not have liked what he saw. "I'm not avoiding you, I've just been caught up in my studies is all," Hermione explained after Cassian made his way into the compartment with his luggage, shutting the door behind him. She swallowed hard at the thought of them being alone, perhaps for the very first time ever.