Chapter One
Harry Potter woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. 'Mmmm,' He thought as he grinned slightly. He had just gotten to the Weasley's late the night before, just after the clock rang in 12:00 indicating it was finally his 17th birthday. He promised Dumbledore he would stay only until then, and even thought Dumbledore was now gone, he made a point to keep his promise. But now, he was free of horrible Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon forever, and he would never look back. He loved being at the Burrow; all the sounds, smells, and people there just felt like home. Now, the plates made clinking sounds as the table was being set for breakfast. He slowly pulled off the blankets and took a deep breath of the warm summer air.
He walked over to his best friend and shook his shoulder gently, "Ron, wake up: breakfast is ready." Ron groaned and rolled over putting the pillow over his head. "Did you hear me, Ron, I said breakfast" Harry said jokingly; he knew Ron would never pass up the offer of food.
At this Ron lifted his head, "What is it?" He was still half asleep.
"Bacon and eggs, I think."
Ron jumped up, almost knocking Harry over. Harry laughed. When he got down stairs Fred, George, and Ginny were already there. Ron had a full plate and was proceeding to stuff his face.
"Mum, I got a letter from Hermione. Is it all right if she comes a day early? Her parents are going to visit her aunt in Paris," Ginny said when she had finished.
"Of course, Dear."
"All right then, she should be here by 3:00."
Ron had finished also, and now had slipped into a daydream. 'Hermione…' he thought. He could picture her: She was walking toward him, her brown curls blowing in the breeze, she was smiling sweetly, she seemed to be just glowing. 'She is so…' he thought. "Beautiful," he accidentally said aloud in a dreamy sigh.
"Um, Ron?" said Harry, bring him back to reality.
"What's beautiful?" asked George.
"Yeah, and what's the goofy smile for?" Fred questioned.
Everyone was looking at Ron now. 'Oh no!' he thought. He could feel his face getting red. He didn't realize he was day dreaming out loud.
"And now, why are you blushing? Does it have something to do with Hermione?" Ginny asked with an I-think-I-know grin. Everyone else grinned too.
"Um…Nothing. It's nothing! And no, of course not! I mean…ugh," Ron said nervously as he got up to leave the room. He knew his face was as a shade to match his hair now.
Ron made it half way up the stairs before Fred got a comment out between his laughs. "I think ickle Ronny is going to need his bed sheets cleaned again, Mum," Fred said in his 'baby voice'. At this George and Ginny burst out in laughter, Harry tried his hardest to hold it in but he soon started laughing to.
"Fred!" said Mrs. Weasley sternly.
"I'm sorry, Mum, I couldn't resist," Fred said once he stopped laughing. Mrs. Weasley sighed.
Ron was fuming. "Urgh!" He yelled as he slammed his bedroom door. He laid down on his bed to cool down before he went back downstairs but ended up falling asleep.
He woke up again when he felt someone sit at the end of his bed. "Hey Ron, guess who's here?" Fred said
"Hermioneee!" George sang mockingly as Fred chimed in.
Ron turned beat red and pulled the blanket over his head when he noticed she was standing in the doorway with Harry. "Urgh!" he groaned. 'Now she knows!' Ron spent rest of the summer trying very hard to avoid Hermione without being too obvious about it, which accounted for many an awkward moment for the pair.
It was the last day of summer before they would return to Hogwarts; for Harry, Ron and Hermione it was both exciting and saddening as they looked forward to their final year. Ginny had spent another long summer trying to get Harry to notice her as more than his best friends little sister, while Ron tried to hide his feelings for Hermione (which was quite hard to do with brothers like Fred and George).
'This is it,' Ron thought sitting on a bench in Diagon Alley waiting for everyone else to finish their last minute school shopping, 'It's our last year. I have to tell her; she has to know how I feel about her.' He sighed resting his elbows on his knees, his face in his hands.
Harry joined him on the bench. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm fine." Ron straightened up and leaned back on the bench.
"Oh, come on, you've been acting odd for the past three weeks. What is it?"
"It's just- nothing," Ron answered with a sigh. 'If I can't ever talk to Harry about, how am I going to tell her?' He got up and walked toward Ginny, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley who had just emerged, bags of parchment and books in hand. Harry rolled his eyes and followed- what ever he was, he knew Ron was trying to avoid talking about it.
Every one went to bed early that night, the next day would be hectic making sure they had everything and made it to catch the train on time, except Ron who stayed up into the early morning- just thinking. He tried to plan how he would tell her, when he would tell her, if he even would tell her. He thought of what might happen to them when he told her: 'would she feel the same? Would she be glad she would never have to see him again once the year was through? What if she did feel the same? What if they never saw each other again? What if- what if…'
He finally dozed off around 2:00. His dreams were full of her. All he could see was her- him and her together…finally. He was so rudely awaked from these dreams by his mother: "Lets go! Everybody up! Don't want to be late for the train! Get moving everyone- we have an hour!" she said as she banged at the doors to his and Ginny's rooms. Harry was already shoving some things into his trunk when Ron rolled out of bed. He heard the thumping of Hermione and Ginny's trunks as they hurried downstairs. Harry, too, was bringing his things downstairs before Ron had ever begun to get ready.
Ron sighed and got dressed. "Ronald! Lets go!" Mrs. Weasley screamed a few minutes later.
"Oh, I'm coming!"
"Well hurry up; come down here and eat. You're going to make us all late!"
He hurried downstairs in time to see everyone heading out the door. "Thanks for waiting," he said sarcastically.
The arrived at King's Cross station and ran to platform 9 ¾. They said goodbye to Mrs. Weasley and went through the barrier on to the platform one by one just in time to hear the boarding whistle sound. Harry, Ron and Hermione boarded with a melancholy aura between the three of them all realizing it would probably be the last time they would all be boarding the Hogwarts Express together- all remembering the first time they met, on that same train.
