 Chapter 2
BAM!
Hermione jerked out of her sleep. Crookshanks yowled and leapt underneath the swinging bed. She glanced out the window.
The countryside was zooming by at an alarming pace. No wonder Crookshanks was frightened. She tried to soothe Crookshanks as best she could, and was finally able to coax him from out underneath the bed. He crept out, eyes huge, and whisked himself into Hermione's lap, shivering. Stan was reading the paper.
"Almost there, 'Ermione." Stan said, unmindful of the jerky shifting. "Wut wuz that place yous wuz gonna go to again?"
"Um..." Hermione dug into her pocket. She pulled out the crumpled letter. "Hidehollow School of Magical Learning."
"Oh." Stan said, and didn't say another word. He buried himself back in his paper. Hermione shrugged her shoulders.
Soon, a small shack loomed in the distance. Hermione looked at it queerly. She questioned Stan about it.
"Oh, that's your school, that is." Stan looked at the shack. Hermione remembered about Illusion Charms, and her mind was at ease.
*****
Hermione's things were sent up to her room at once. By conversing with students walking towards the shack, she learned that she was to be sharing a room. With whom, she didn't know. She walked into the shack with a trembling resolve.
"Wow..." That was all she could say at first. Hidehollow wasn't just a school. It was an underground fortress. The shack was simply one of the ways to get to the underground school.
"Watch where you're going!" Hermione was rudely shoved aside. A girl with her head bowed tried to manuver past Hermione.
"Oh, I'm sorry." The girl who pushed her looked up.
"That's ok. I'm just in a hurry, that's all. I'm always late for everything. My name's Ashley. What's yours?"
"Hermione. Hermione Granger."
"Ashley Dursley. Nice to meet you."
"Dursley?" Hermione took a double take at the slim girl before her. She had bright green eyes and long, black hair.
"That's right." Ashley gave Hermione a queer look. "What are you staring at?"
"N-nothing. Only that...well, my best friend Harry Potter-"
"Oh, YOU know Harry?" Ashley asked. She grinned. "Well, that explains everything. Yea, we're cousins on my uncle Vernon's side."
"Harry's never mentioned you before." Hermione said eagerly. Now, this was someone she could make friends with.
"Yea, well, I don't see him much. And when I do, I'm not allowed to talk about or to him. Cause he's magic."
"But, you-"
"Yea, I'm magic too. But the Dursley's are very anti-magic. So we're not allowed to make contact with each other."
"Understandable. They don't like any of Harry's friends." Hermione walked with Ashley down the stairs into the fortress. "So...what year are you in Ashley?"
"I'm in my seventh year. What about you?"
"Me too. I was supposed to be finishing up and Hogwarts, but...because of some events..." Hermione couldn't continue. Ashley put an arm around her.
"Ok, we won't talk about it. Hey, look! Another exchange student. Wow, he's a hottie, isn't he Hermione?"
Hermione looked to where Ashley was pointing. Ashley...was pointing at...Draco Malfoy?
Katie
__________________  And someday, when the night is over and the dawn arrives, we'll reach up to the sky withour eyes turned toward our Lord, and all will become good and whole
Last edited by LyonLover417; 05-14-2007 at 01:44 AM.
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