Hermione Granger and the Sixth Year Makeover

During the summer, Hermione had taught herself to Apparate, and even though she was underage, she Apparated to Platform 9 ¾. She found herself standing next to Draco Malfoy, already in his school robes and wearing his Prefect's badge.

Malfoy turned to sneer at her. "What are you - " He stopped and stared at her. "Granger?"

"In the flesh," she quipped, puffing up her chest a bit. She'd never noticed before that Draco's eyes were so... silvery.

Flipping her smooth purple-and-black hair over her shoulder, Hermione turned away and moved to board the Hogwarts Express, making sure to swing her hips as she went. She was aware of Draco's gaze following her but barely noticed that all other heads turned as well.

On the train, Hermione located Ron and Harry, who were saving her a seat. They gaped at her.

"Hermione? Is that you?" asked Ron. "You look completely different!"

"I feel different," she said with a smile. "I'm even thinking of using a different name. Maybe Aurora, or something punk like Xtina..."

"There's already a new transfer student named Aurora who goes by Xtina," said Harry. "How about a color? Maybe Indigo or Cerulean? Or Violet? Or an animal, like Cat or Sparrowhawk? Or, I know, a season! Summer, Autumn, or Winter."

"I think those are all taken too," said Ron.

Hermione sighed. "Well, I'm certainly not going to go by 'Spring.' I didn't want to go with the obvious, but I think I'm going to use Harmony. It's way cooler than Hermione but close enough that I won't get confused. You can call me Harm for short."

"Isn't that a 'Buffy' reference?" asked Harry.

"Sure, but almost no one here will know that; most of them don't have televisions, and besides, that show hasn't premiered yet."

"Oh. All right," Harry said doubtfully.

"Hey, her - uh, I mean Harm," said Ron, "Are you a prefect again this year?"

"No, I'm Head Girl," she answered, trying not to sound smug.

"In only your sixth year? Wow! Do you know who the Head Boy is?"

"No; I'm supposed to go see McGonagall when I get to school, and I expect she'll tell me then."

"Probably Malfoy, if old Snape has anything to say about it," muttered Ron.

Thinking of Professor Snape, their sour-faced, greasy-haired Potions master made Hermione cringe, but she just said, "Draco's only sixth year; he can't be head boy."

"You're only sixth year too," Ron pointed out.

"Yes, but I -"

"Hey," Harry interrupted, "Where's Crookshanks?"

"Who?"

"Your cat. You know, the one that was always trying to eat Scabbers..." Ron trailed off as he recalled who Scabbers had really been.

"Oh, him," said Hermione. I mean Harmony. "I had to leave him in England when I went to Chicago. I'm sure he's fine.

"What were you doing in Chicago?" Ron demanded.

Harmony gave them an abbreviated version of her story, in which she had spent the summer in Chicago "just for the experience."

"Wait," said Harry, "If you Apparated directly to Platform 9 ¾ from Chicago, when did you get your school books? You couldn't have Apparated to Diagon Alley too, or the Ministry would have come down on you for underage magic."

"I ordered them by Owl Post," she explained, "but I'm sure the Ministry is far too busy right now to worry about me."

"You found an Owl Post Office in Chicago?" asked Ron.

"Well, there they mostly use Canada geese..."

And so much of the trip to Hogwarts passed in discussion of urban wildlife.

Upon reaching Hogwarts, Harmony went directly to McGonagall's office. As she tapped on the door, Harmony suddenly remembered that McGonagall usually took the first year students in to the Sorting. McGonagall answered the door, though, so whatever she had to tell Harmony must be more important than that. She also wondered who was escorting the first years. Hopefully not Professor Snape.

As she entered McGonagall's office, Harmony was surprised to see that Headmaster Dumbledore was present as well...

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A/N: According to the Harry Potter timeline, the Trio's sixth year is 1996-97, and BtVS premiered in the March of 1997.