You and Me, Forever - Romione

005. Hours

Hermione stared out at the passing fields, trying not to let the tears fall. A prefect from Ravenclaw had just walked past her compartment announcing that they'd be arriving shortly, which should've made Hermione happy. Instead, it just about broke her heart. The pity in the prefect's eyes as she saw Hermione sitting alone certainly didn't help.

She had already spent the first hours of the train ride coming to terms with the fact that her friends had ditched her. She didn't need some prefect rubbing in Hermione's face just how pathetic she was.

She had wrestled with the idea of trying to find Harry and Ron but ultimately decided against it. She didn't need to be humiliated further. She and Ron had specifically said to meet in the same compartment they'd ridden in on the journey home last year, and Hermione arrived at King's Cross Station an hour early just to make sure she was able to save it. As other kids—mostly first and second years—asked to sit, she'd proudly told them that, sorry, those seats were saved.

It wasn't until the conductor gave the five-minute warning that Hermione saw the first Weasleys pass by the compartment—almost late, as always. Hermione waited eagerly for her friends even after the train pulled out of the station. She tried to convince herself that the boys were just catching up with their other friends, or maybe they forgot which cabin to go to and were looking for her.

After an hour, though, Hermione knew they must've found other people—cooler people—to sit with. She could understand why Harry might've had reason to ditch her, being the Boy who Lived and all, but she couldn't even begin to comprehend why Ron would do that to her. They'd been writing all summer, he'd arranged to meet her at Diagon Alley, and he was the one to suggest meeting in this compartment so they'd be able to find each other right away.

She found herself almost wishing Ron and Harry were in trouble somewhere—nothing serious, of course, but to the point that they couldn't be on the train for some reason. That would be easier to think about than the idea that she'd finally, finally, managed to make friends, just for them to drop her a year later.

And not that she'd ever admit it to anyone, but seeing Ron's name at the end of his letters had started to stir butterflies in Hermione's stomach. She thought, or maybe hoped, that he felt the same way, but, well. . . he clearly wasn't interested.

She changed into her robes at the last possible second, bracing herself for another friendless first day.

This one's a bit different, but I came across that text post and knew I wanted to write about it. Sorry for the lil mood change :,)