Surely enough, the wards proved themselves useful less than an hour after the train left the station. Harry was listening to Hermione's stories of what they used to do during winter break before Hogwarts, and this would have been the first time Hermione had been back with her parents for Christmas since first year. A beeping noise came from the door as the identification ward detected someone they were specifically watching out for- Draco Malfoy. A few seconds later, Draco and his little posse, including Pansy, were standing right outside the door.
"Are you sure this is the one?" Draco asked.
"Of course. A few of the girls from Potter's fan club saw them go in by themselves. They shut the door behind them and haven't come out," Pansy told him.
Inside, Harry looked over to Hermione. "I have a fan club?"
Hermione nodded. "You didn't expect to be a national celebrity and not have fans, did you? A lot of little girls grew up hearing your name in bedtime stories."
"And you're okay with that? How come I've never met any of them?"
"Oh, it's not a real club anyways. Just a bunch of girls who like to get together and gossip about you. A bunch of them kept pestering me about how good a kisser you are."
"And what did you tell them?"
"I told them to mind their own business."
"And what would you tell me?" Harry moved closer.
"Practice makes perfect?" Hermione put her arms on Harry's shoulders.
"...and they're probably just snogging each other in there," they heard Pansy say outside.
"Are you sure that silencing ward is working properly?" Harry asked.
"Yes, and the locking charm, too," said Hermione as Draco fiddled with the knob. They heard him cast Alohamora to no effect.
Kicking the door in frustration, Draco said, "Come on. We can get them when it's time to leave the train." Crabbe and Goyle grunted and followed. Harry watched them walk to the end of the car, and just as they filed through the door to the next car, Harry opened the door to the cabin and quickly cast a basic tracking charm, hitting Goyle. He closed the door and locked it before Goyle could see him, if he had even noticed anything.
"What did you just do?" asked Hermione.
"Tracking charm. Since he's planning on ambushing us when we leave, I think a little pre-emptive strike is in order. It'll make it easier to find them all in their cabin, maybe an hour before we get to London, and then we can just lock them in."
"I like it. They won't even see us do it. I really have to wonder why he's so fixated on you, though."
"I think he considers himself my mortal enemy or something, but I've got bigger and eviler fish to fry." The subject of Voldemort brought the conversation to a grinding halt. They looked at each other in silence, unsure of what to say next. Harry tried to lighten the mood by saying, "Well, maybe we should be glad that Draco is offering himself up to be target practice for me."
For the remainder of the train ride, Harry and Hermione decided to practice their animagus training again. Without the room of requirement and with little space to move, they obviously couldn't do any swimming or duelling practice. It would be the only time they would have dedicated to training their animagi forms until the Trial of Water, since Hermione was determined to bring Harry to the swimming pool during the winter holidays, as well. Their shapeshifting would be put on hold to make sure Harry was as comfortable in a watery environment as quickly as possible.
Picking up where they had left off weeks ago, they were both capable of shifting their limbs. Harry could turn his arm from the elbow down into a slightly misshapen wing with light feathering, which he used to fan Hermione playfully. The rest of his body, however, seemed to be very unwilling. Hermione seemed to be running into the same problem. Transforming her extremities wasn't much of a problem, but changing the rest of her body, and her size, was proving to be difficult. Every time they tried, they would suddenly suffer a strange panic attack and back out immediately. It seemed an entirely foreign body was going to be very hard to get used to, on an instinctive level.
When the train passed by Northampton, they knew they were getting close. Practicing their sneaking skills, they cast silencing charms on their shoes and their best disillusionement they could muster. They carefully followed the tracking spell to the next car until Harry's wand pointed into a cabin. Moving slowly so their disillusionment wasn't as noticeable, Harry peeked inside to make sure they were all there.
"Looks like they're still plotting our demise," Harry whispered.
"Alright then. If they couldn't figure out how to undo the private gate charm, then the prison lock will really trap them. Claucerus!"
"Silencio!" Harry added to the door. "What? I can't just let them call for help that easily." They stayed there for a few more minutes, but it was obvious Draco and his little gang weren't coming out any time soon. "You know, as much as I'd like to see Malfoy's face as he struggles to get out of his cabin, I'd rather not be late in meeting your parents. Let's go."
The rest of the train ride was entirely peaceful until they pulled to a stop at King's Cross. Crossing the barrier to the platform, Hermione squealed as she ran up to her parents, hugging them both. Harry stood with the trunks, watching the love and cheer in the Granger family, until Hermione and Emma walked over and pulled Harry into their little family reunion.
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