Lifelines (Draco X Hermione)

Chapter 3 THE TRAIN TO HOGWARTS

HERMIONE GRANGER started wide eyed at everything around her. Her parents had bought her all the books about this new magical filled life she was about to experience, and she had spent the last nights devouring everything. Even after spending the last many nights reading about what Hogwarts was and what magical people were, she felt her body fill with constant anxiety and panic. Her fellow classmate had most likely grown up around magic their whole lives, so she felt like she really needed to catch up on a whole lifetime of knowledge. If there was one thing young Hermione detested most, was feeling behind.

She could see that everyone was already bunching together and so not to intrude on anyone, she found herself a quiet spot and pulled out Hogwarts a history from where she left off. She was just reading the chapter on the moving staircases when a sharp voice started yelling in the hallway. "Anything from the trolly?" Feeling her stomach grumble at the thought of food she stood and watched the other students swarm around the cart. The woman was calling out all sorts of food stuffs that Hermione had never heard of. What in the world where Chocolate Frogs? or Pumpkin Pasties? She wondered surveying the cart curiously. There were no Cadbury chocolates or Kinder eggs in sight. Yet another reminder of how behind she was.

"You never seen confectionery before?" A voice asked behind her. Turing around Hermione met the gaze of a pale skinned, white-haired boy. Even he did not look like the children of her world.

Biting the side of her check in annoyance for finding herself in a foreign situation she mumbled reluctantly, "Not this sort, no".
"Try a pasty then" he added before ordering a bucketful of snacks. Hermione waited for the others to finish their orders before the round woman smiled at her and asked what she wanted.

"I'll have a pastie thank you" she added before handing the coins over and collecting the parcel. Retreating to her compartment she took a bite and was surprised by the flavour. A new announcement at the door brought her out of her reading once more, to see a boy looking worried "Hi, I am Neville, have you seen my toad?" Hermione had

remembered reading the part about bringing pets, she remembered recalling how surprised she was at the full list.
"No, but I can help you look if you like?" she asked, closing her book and following him out. They called the toads name and asked ever single compartment. At one carriage she saw a redheaded boy leaping after what looked like a brown frog. His mouth was already smeared with chocolate and his seat littered with crumbs. Her noise rose in distaste before continuing her exploration. After a short while they found it sitting beside a suitcase. The toad was not the most attractive of creatures, but she was glad that the boy had found his friend. She retreated to change into her new uniform.

With her previous compartment taken, she joined a group of girls who seemed nice enough. It appeared that two were twins, and the third held a strong accent. "May I join you?" Hermione asked after mustering up some courage. The girls nodded and cleared a space. "I am Hermione Granger, a pleasure to meet you" she started.
"Nice to meet you, Hermione, I am Cho and these two are the Patil twin's Parvati and Padma" the conversation continued naturally, and the Minister looked back at Medera with confusion.
"Surely you have not brought me here to listen to idle gossip" he stated. She shook her head with laughter.

"Well as you have seen. Granger is fully emerging herself in her fate. Here we can see that she strives for knowledge. In the Potter timeline, she meets Harry Potter and decided that she wants to be brave and embrace the magic, like Harry. Mind you, both Hermione and Potter grew up in the muggle world, and so she takes comfort in their friendship. That is the key distinction, for if we go to the Sorting, the hat will pick up on her fate. Her fate is no longer intertwined with that of Mr. Potters you see." The Minister of Magic did not see. Shaking her head, she brought her to wand to the sky and began to rotate it around. Water like ripples formed before the Minister found himself in the great hall of Hogwarts during the sorting.