Hermione's POV

Up until a few weeks ago, I had been very much looking forward to my summer break. I had planned on visiting France with my parents for a week or two, and then coming back and staying the remainder of the summer at The Burrow with the Weasleys and Harry. Mr. Weasley had even managed to get his hands on tickets for everybody to go the Quidditch World Cup, and even though the sport itself held very little interest for me, I was looking forward to spending time with my friends.

But that had been before my parents had informed me that Carrie was coming to stay with us for a couple of weeks. It wasn't that I didn't want Carrie to come, because it had been several years since I had last seen my only and favorite cousin, but the timing of it all was terrible. I was worried about her finding out.

Carrie and I had always been the best of friends, although we lived on different sides of the world. When we were little, we would visit each other often, having sleepovers and talking all night, telling secrets and funny stories. But ever since I had started going to Hogwarts, I had only seen her twice, and spoken to her several times. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep my secret from her.

Not that she wouldn't believe it if I told her, because she most definitely would. When we were younger, Carrie and I had been polar opposites; I was the logical one, always trying to find reasonable answers for anything out of the ordinary. She, on the other hand, would simply shrug her shoulder and say that it must be magic. She had always believed in the mystical. I had been average height, with my bushy brown hair and brown eyes, a little too thin to be healthy and with large buck teeth. Carrie had been short, very chubby with the rosiest, most freckled skin I had ever seen, and she had had a large reddish coloured birthmark just under her right eye. She had curly black hair that her mother had always kept short, making her look like a small poodle, and deep, ocean blue eyes. She was loud and rambunctious, always laughing and joking, as where I was more reserved. She was my best friend when we were young.

"When is her plane landing again, Mum?" I asked impatiently as we waited at the airport.

"In about half hour," my mother replied, not looking up from her magazine. "Just sit down, Hermione; she'll be here soon."

I slumped into the seat opposite my parents and hunched forward with my face resting in my hands, thinking intently. My mother looked over top of the magazine and smiled, knowing that I was anxious about something. Apparently, she decided not to pry, and just let me speak when I was ready to.

"Mum," I said quietly. "Is there any way that I could leave for a day or two?"

"Hermione Jean Granger!" Mum looked at me, appalled. She finally put down her magazine. "Your cousin is flying in from Connecticut to see you for a couple weeks, and all you can think about is going to a silly sports thing with your friends. And what do you suppose; are you just going to leave her at the house all alone while you're out, gallivanting across the county?"

"I know, Mum," I said quickly, trying to appease her. "And I'm sorry for even thinking about it. But you know as well as I do that the Weasleys don't have a lot of money, and they already bought the ticket. I would feel bad if I let it go to waste."

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Dad said softly, laying an arm around my mother's shoulders. "But your mother is right. You haven't seen Carrie in almost two years. You can't just leave her at the house."

I slumped back again, defeated. I would just have to write when I got home to tell them that I couldn't go with them; I'm sure Mr. Weasley would understand. Heck, he would probably want to meet my Muggle cousin and interrogate her. I laughed quietly to myself, thinking of the types of questions that she would be bombarded with.

"Flight 346 from JFK has now landed," said a nasally woman's voice from the speakers overhead. "Passengers will be disembarking momentarily."

Mum and Dad got up from their seats, and I jumped up as well. Despite this ill-timed visit ruining my big summer plans, I was excited to see Carrie again. I walked with my parents down to the other end of the terminal to wait.

"There she is!" Mum squealed, pointing into the crowd of passengers.

"Where?" I asked. I couldn't see her anywhere.

"Right there, silly," Mum laughed, pointing again, to a girl with long, thick black hair, dressed in a blue sweater. I was about to argue, when the girl looked up, and I gasped. It was Carrie, but she was different. She had grown; she was almost as tall as I was now. And with her growth spurt, she had also slimmed down, a lot. She had grown out her hair, and it hung down her back in a long, thick sheet of ebony curls. Her skin was now clear and smooth, with no discolouration at all. I was amazed.

She looked around the room for a moment, a crease between her eyebrows as she searched the crowd. I stood on my tip toes and waved my hand. She saw me, and her face split into a huge grin. I could see that the gap in her front teeth had been fixed.

"Hi!" she ran across the terminal and to where my parents and I were waiting for her. My mother stepped forward and hugged her tightly, laughing.

"Look at you!" Mum cried, holding her niece at arms-length to examine her. "You're beautiful! And you're so grown up, too."

"Thanks, Auntie," she laughed, and her laugh was high and cheery.

My father stepped over to her and held out a hand, which she took in a mock-formal shake. "It's good to see you back in England, my dear," he stated pompously.

"It's lovely to be back," she replied, as graciously as she could.

The looked at one another for a moment, before Dad grinned hugely and pulled her into a bear hug. She laughed and hugged him back, hard. I couldn't help but smile. Carrie was my father's sister's only child, and they had always been exceptionally close.

Finally, Carrie turned and looked at me. "Hello, Hermione," he laughed, pulling me into a hug.

"Hi, Carrie," I replied, hugging her back with everything I had in me. I found that I had tears in my eyes. Until that moment, I hadn't realized how much I actually missed my cousin. I heard her sniff a couple of times, and I knew she was trying not to cry, as well. We hugged for several minutes, not saying a word, but trying to regain control of our emotions.

Carrie was the first to pull away, and I couldn't see any trace of tears on her face or in her eyes. She just grinned at me.

"Well, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" she said, pulling me towards the luggage carousel.

"Yes," I replied. "How long has it been? Two years?"

"Three, I think," she said, thinking. "You had just finished your first year of boarding school. How, by the way, is that going for you?"

"It's great," I said quickly. "Just lovely, I really enjoy it. How about you, are you still getting home-schooled?" I was anxious to get off the subject of my school, but Carrie seemed just as anxious not to talk about her schooling. Maybe she wasn't doing well; I had always been better at school than she was.

"It's great," she replied, looking around nervously. "Just learning the usual."

"Well, that's good."

We fell into an awkward silence then, waiting for her baggage. I didn't know what else to talk about, what I could talk about it front of her.

Finally, Carrie's bags came into view, and I laughed.

"There was no way that we would have missed those," I giggled.

"That was the idea," she grinned at me, reaching across to grab two bright orange, pink, green and yellow plaid suitcases. "I didn't want them to blend in with everyone else's."

"Well, they certainly don't," Dad laughed, shaking his head. "Do you want me to take one?"

Carrie handed the suitcase to my father, who seemed surprised by how light it was.

"I'm impressed," he said as we walked towards the exit. "Whenever I travel with these two, they pack just about everything."

"I just know how to pack light," Carrie grinned, as though she was keeping a very good secret. I frowned, confused, but decided to just let it go.

The ride home was entertaining, to say the least. Although none of us had seen Carrie in almost a full three years, she fit perfectly into the family. We laughed and joked the entire way home, and I was surprised at how comfortable I still was with her.

Like always, Carrie was staying in my room with me, as opposed to the spare bedroom. We hauled her bags upstairs, and dumped them into a corner, to let Carrie unpack later. I offered to help her, but she was quite adamant that she should do it by herself. I just shrugged, and let her have it her way.

"So, what do you have planned for the summer?" she asked, sitting on the edge of my bed. "Anything fun and exciting?"

I hesitated, wanting desperately to tell her all about going to the World Cup, but I managed to keep it to myself.

"Nothing special," I smiled. "What about you?"

"Well…" she looked at her hands folded in her lap. "I wonder if your parents would let me leave for a day or two. It's just that one of my friends is coming here at the end of next week, and she wanted me to spend some time with her."

I looked at her incredulously. "The end of next week?" She nodded, looking slightly anxious. I couldn't believe my luck. Carrie wanted to go for a couple days at the exact time of the World Cup.

"I mean, I could tell her no," she said, a bit sadly. "We were just really looking forward to exploring London together."

"I don't think that they would have a problem with that," I said, praying that they would agree. "As long as Aunt Jeannie is okay with it, I don't see why they would say no."

"Should I go ask them?"

"Yeah, for sure," I jumped up. "I'll come, too."

We ran down the stairs together, and into the sun room, where Mum and Dad were relaxing with a cup of tea.

"Hi, girls," Mum smiled. "What's got you two so excited?"

"I was wondering," Carrie said quickly, "if I would be able to leave for a couple of days. A friend of mine is coming to London for a visit, and she wanted me to look around with her."

"When is this?" Dad asked.

"At the end of next week," she replied, looking at him with her big, blue eyes. Mum and Dad exchanged a surprised look, and then looked at me. I just grinned, shrugging. "And we can call Mom first, if that would make you feel better about it."

"Well, of course, I will call your mother," Mum said. "But if she says that it's okay, I don't see why you can't go."

"Yay!" Carrie skipped across the room and hugged my mother. "I'll go call her now." She ran from the room, and into the kitchen to call her mother.

"So, Mum," I said quietly. "If Carrie's going to be gone for a day or two…"

"Yes, Hermione," Mum laughed. "If Carrie is going be gone with a friend, then I don't see why you can't go to the match. I just want you to be careful."

"I always am, Mum!" I exclaimed, hugging her tightly. "Thank you."

I ran from the room, passing Carrie as she walked back into the room with the cordless phone. She grinned at me, and I smiled back before running upstairs to the spare room, where Errol stood on top of the bedstead, waiting for me to reply to Ron's letter.

I snatched up a piece of fresh parchment, unstoppered my ink, and began to write:

Dear Ron,

I have just received your letter, and no, it is not acceptable to kidnap me from my home. I think my parents would be just a little upset with you. Fortunately, that will not be necessary, and I am able to come to the match. My cousin has made plans with a friend of hers to meet up in London for a day or two, at the exact time of the World Cup! Can you believe my luck? I know I can't. So, yes, I will meet you at the Burrow on the morning before we are to depart.

I shall see you all then.

Love from,

Hermione