When You Are Here
Chapter 1 Reflection
Hermione Granger hummed a tune as she sat at her desk, facing her large oval mirror early one July morning. She brushed her thick, brown hair and thought about her plans for the day. Her parents were taking her into London to shop for a new round of school clothes, and she wanted to visit her boyfriend, Harry Potter, and his godfather, Sirius Black. A few times she had received owls from the two of them, but in each letter there was bad news. Harry's health had declined a lot over the summer holiday, and he had been in and out of the hospital after a bought of bronchitis during the first month of the holiday.
"I wish you would get better, Harry." Hermione told no one in particular. Her large, ginger cat Crookshanks lay on her bed, his fluffy tail swishing back and forth. She smiled at the animal that she had bought before her third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hermione's other best friend, Ron Weasley, had NOT been pleased when Hermione had purchased Crookshanks, because the cat had attempted to attack an old pet of his: a rat Scabbers. However, the rat had turned out not to be what it had seemed, and Crookshanks turned into a hero.
"I wish you could come, Crookshanks." Hermione babied her pet as she walked over to him, stroking his fur. "But Harry's been sick lately. And you can't come into town with Mum, Dad and I anyway." She smiled as she felt the motion of the cat's purring under the palm of her hand.
The reason behind Harry's illness was not completely natural, of course; nothing ever was in the wizarding world. During their previous year at Hogwarts, their fifth to be exact, he had come down with a very bad flu that had threatened to turn into pneumonia. As a result, Hermione, Sirius, Harry and Ron had fled for Romania using a Portkey and lived amongst the dragon caves. Unfortunately, Voldemort, the most feared wizard, had been behind the severity of Harry's illness.
Lord Voldemort attempted to use the boy's weakness as an avenue to kill him, but once again, failed. In the midst of the battle between Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius and Voldemort, Ron's eldest brother Charlie had been killed. Hermione shuddered as she pictured the eldest Weasley brother lying as still as Cedric Diggory in the middle of a field, eyes wide open in terror.
"Hermione! Are you ready?"
Hermione jumped at the sound of her father's voice, and quickly kissed Crookshanks on the head before standing and checking her reflection in the mirror one last time.
"Coming, Dad!" She replied, grabbing her purse and hurrying downstairs. Her parents were in the hallway, making sure they had everything they needed for their outing and smiled when their daughter descended the stairs.
"You look georgous," laughed Mrs. Granger when Hermione joined them.
"Thanks, Mum. Say-can I visit Harry since we're going to be in London? He won't mind if I drop in I don't think."
The Grangers glanced at each other. They had heard Hermione sobbing at night over her boyfriend, and they weren't sure what to say.
"I suppose it won't be a problem." Mr. Granger told her. "Now lets go- I really would like to try and beat the traffic."
Hermione nodded and hurried outside into the stuffy summer air.