A/N: I was reading OoTP for the second time recently, and I stumbled over a sentence that got the fanfiction part of my brain running. It involves a certain Weasley and Hermione (and this story isn't on the Good Ship, if that's any help). Ok, ok, I'll give you a hint that should give it right away: he belongs to one half of Hogwarts' greatest pranksters. Have fun and always remember to REVIEW!

This chapter is mostly going to bring you up to speed with what's going on in the wizard world. All the good juicy plot parts are going to follow. I guess you could consider this a prologue of sorts, mixed with a little bit of chapter (with plot, storyline, etc.)

Also: check out my other fic, "You Live, You Learn" for some classic Good Ship R/H action.

The sun felt so good on Hermione's shoulder. Sipping lemonade on a lounge chair around the back of the Burrow, she realized that she had nearly forgotten how wonderful spending summers with the Weasleys had been. Work had completely taken over her life for the past three years, and she had barely talked to Ron or Harry. Catching up with Harry wasn't easy, since he had been training to become an Auror, but she had no excuse not to write to Ron. He was working for the ministry in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Discovering that he might not be the best quidditch player, he wasn't ready to write it off as a hobby. He was in charge of organizing the Quidditch Cup of England and Ireland and was rapidly advancing.

As for Hermione, she hadn't quite known what to do when she left school. She eventually decided on becoming a healer and traveling the world helping to treat MTDs, Magically Transmitted Diseases. She originally felt like she was making a difference, working in research centers all over the globe to find cures for magical ailments and going to third world countries delivering supplies. As of late, however, she felt so disconnected from her family and friends. She decided to take a post as a medical researcher at St. Mungo's. It combined the best of both worlds: her career, which was progressing very quickly, and the comfort of home. This summer she had taken off to write a book that would help raise awareness of less privileged witches and wizards. She was also in contract to write a book of practical household accidents and injuries and how to treat them/

She hadn't had time to look for an apartment in London yet, so Molly Weasley, the angel that she was, offered to have her stay there. It would give her plenty of relaxation to work on her book AND time to catch up with her best friend. Harry was even going to take some time off in a week to spend with the Weasleys and Hermione. Everything seemed to be falling into place.

"C'mon Hermione, play some quidditch!" Ginny called down from the sky. Hermione wrinkled her nose.

"I don't fare well with heights," she called back. Ginny spent most of her time on a broom these days. She was picked up right out of school to play for the Holyhead Harpies. The Nation Team was even in discussion to pick her up. Ginny could achieve her dream: playing in the Quidditch world cup. She was home for only a little while before the season picked up again in September.

Ginny just shrugged her shoulders and went back to tossing the ball around with Charlie. She handled it with such ease, it amazed him. The fact that her reflexes could impress even a star seeker told you something.

Charlie had gotten injured working with dragons (he no longer had three feet) and decided it was time to settle down anyway. He moved back to London with his longtime sweetheart, Linessa Robbins, and they were living in a comfortable apartment not far from the Burrow. They were even looking into buying property in Scotland and work on breeding rare animals.

"Hermione, Ginny! Come set the table for dinner," Molly hollered out the window into the back garden. Some things just never changed.

"Coming mom," Ginny replied in an exasperated sigh. Even at age nineteen and a half, she was still subject to being told what to do by her mother. 'As long as you live under my roof, you live under my rules' was Molly's mantra, and she stuck to it.

The two women walked into the kitchen. Arthur was reading the Prophet and muttering something about imploding light bulbs. The plates, knives, forks, and cups were all stacked and Molly was checking on some pot roast while having folden napkins float over to the dining room table.

"Mom, it's beautiful out. Why are we eating inside?"

"Because, Virginia, there are storm clouds on the horizon and I hate it when it rains in the middle of dinner," she replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Molly sometimes got a bit edgy these days. She had taken Percy's death very hard.

He had switched loyalties far too many times in the war of light versus dark and as a result was targeted. He took a stunner to the chest and fell on the spot. Painless, unlike many of the casualties, but still grievous. Hermione tried not to think about it when she could avoid it. She walked out of the kitchen. Just the thought of it made her sick.

Molly looked at her watch expectantly. The boys (Ron, Fred, and George) were all running late. It had become a Weasley tradition that all the Weasley offspring that were living in England make the trek back to the burrow every Sunday at six thirty for a home cooked meal. It was Molly's way of keeping her eye on all her sons and daughter and making sure she didn't miss anything like she had with Percy. She never again wanted to feel the regret of feeling disconnected from her child should anything happen to them. There were many witches in the world that didn't care about their kids once they were grown, but Molly was not one of them.

As if one cue, the front door burst open and the three missing boys charged into the door. George had Ron by the neck in a half nelson and was lecturing him on giving a proper noogie. Even at age 23, the twins still hadn't started acting any more mature. Fred was pinching George's ear and half dragging him into kitchen while singing 'Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head'.

"BOYS!" Molly shouted over the ruckus.

"Yes, dear mother?" George put on his most angelic face, which, knowing George, was hardly angelic at all.

Molly informed them that they were late for dinner and pointed them into the living room, but not before giving Ron a kiss on the head and asking how her good little boy was behaving. The twins proceeded to dance around the table doing their best imitations of Molly flattering Ron. Ron couldn't help but feeling that since Percy passed away, Molly had averted her attention to him, expecting him to fill his shoes. They were some mighty pompous shoes to fill.

Just as they were sitting down, Hermione came back into the room looking much more refreshed. Her hair was in shiny curly ringlets with pieces pulled off of her face with bobby pins. It was still a struggle taming her bushy hair, but with the aid of some spells and Madame Follier's Frizz Freeze potion, it was a struggle she was winning. She was wearing a loose fitting white skirt and a boat necked salmon t-shirt. Her cheeks glowed with a tan only attainable through desert sun. She had grown a few inches and lost some weight since she had last seen anyone in the Weasley family aside from Ginny and Ron.

Fred's jaw dropped. Hermione had DEFINITELY not looked this good when they were in Hogwarts. She was always pretty, but now she was stunning. The color of her shirt almost seemed to reflect off of her skin, making her look rosy and almost ethereal. It was extremely unusual for George to gape at any female, since he was quite good looking himself, but he just couldn't help it. He wondered how Ron hadn't shagged her senseless.

Even Ron was a little bit surprised. He had seen her a few times in the past few years, but she had never looked nearly this good. He smirked when he saw the expression of Fred's face. Fred, whose name was slowly becoming synonymous with "party boy flirt", looked as though he had just gotten slapped in the face. Even Ginny couldn't help giggling both at how awestruck her brother was and how oblivious her best friend was.

Molly was the first one to break the silence. "So, Ginny," she began, not sensing the moment that had just occurred when Hermione came in and sat down, "Did Harry mention the next time he'd be in town?"

Ginny looked up, surprised at her mother's random question. "Er, no, he hadn't. I wish he'd come back soon, though. There's a big gala announcing the female quidditch MVP and I really wanted him to come with me." She poked at her pot roast, obviously a little bitter about the whole situation. It wasn't easy to be dating a guy who flies around the world training to catch the most evil of wizards.

"Actually," Ron looked up from his plate, "He wrote me the other day and said he was coming into town next week."

Ginny looked furious. "How is it that you know and I don't?"

Color crept up into Ron's cheeks. "Er, I don't know, I guess he just..." The noose was tightening around his neck, he could feel it.

"So, Hermione, where've you been?" Fred asked in a feeble attempt to distract the conversation from Harry's whereabouts.

This launched her into a very intelligent and interesting conversation (the kind Fred typically hated) about how she traveled into parts of Africa and Asia delivering healing potions and supplies for sanitary living. She was proud of her work but also proud to be home.

Fred just stared into her deep brown eyes, hardly even listening to a word.

The girls were playing a game of wizard chess and the boys were on cleanup duty. Fred and George tried to enchant the dishes to wash and dry themselves, but all that had come of tha was an explosion of suds and bubbles and a few broken plates. Although it pained the four present Weasley boys, they had to do it the muggle way.

"So," George asked while scrubbing some dried gravy off of a serving platter, "Was Hermione always this hot or did I miss it?"

"Um, you have Katie," Fred said. He felt a tinge of anger at the way her brother was talking about Hermione when he was already taken by a girl who was very pretty herself.

"Yeah I know, but I still know when a babe is a babe." He made a face as he scraped some cold mashed potatoes into the garbage.

"She really did turn out to be good looking," Ron said. He had given up liking her in their seventh year. Learning to be content with only friendship wasn't easy, but it was worth it. They had become much better friends.

The conversation drifted onto the subject of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which was really doing well. They were really giving Zonko's a run for their money, especially since they installed a new premises in Hogsmeade next to the Hog's Head. Apparently Skiving Snackboxes had revolutionized the prank industry and were now the most in-demand product on the Hogwarts' black market (it had taken Filch all of ten minutes to add them to his list of forbidden objects).

"Did we tell you, little Bro?" Fred asked.

"Tell me what?" Fred took this as a no.

"About the new extension of WWW, of course".

"In Dublin!" George chimed in.

The twins had been planning this international extension for a while. They had been talking to Seamus Finnigan for quite a while about the competition over there, and there was hardly any. It just seemed like the right time to take their shop to the next level. They were careful not to make it a cheesy franchise by looking over every meticulous detail.

"When did you decide all this," Ron asked, "And why was I the last to know?"

"The only person we told was Charlie, ickle Ronnikins. Don't get your panties in a bunch," Fred replied.

"Well sor-ry." Ron still hadn't overcome his bruised ego.

In the living room, Hermione and Ginny were searching through the classified section of the Daily Prophet for apartments.

"I'm supposed to be moving in two weeks and I still haven't found a place yet!" Hermione cried throwing the paper down. She rubbed her forehead.

"You know you can stay here as long as you'd like," Ginny said meekly. She knew this wasn't the answer Hermione really wanted to hear, but she didn't have anything better.

Sure enough, she was right. "Thank's Ginny, I appreciate it, but your mum and dad have already done so much, I couldn't possibly..." Her voice trailed off. She'd been at the burrow for a week already and had planned on staying another week. It wasn't that she didn't love it here, she just felt that she was disrupting Molly's routine. She had become very fragile since Percy, and she didn't think it would be right to continue to burden her.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind..." Ginny started, but couldn't finish. She could see what Hermione was thinking and she was probably right. Molly wasn't the same since it had happened, and a guest could help for a little while, but might not be so good in the long term.

"Hey girlies!" The twins called from the kitchen, "Why the long faces?"

"Yeah," Ron said as he came in to the living room and sat on a chair opposite Hermione, "Gloom really doesn't suit you well at all. Spill it."

She shook her head as to say 'Oh no, I couldn't possibly', but Ginny wasn't about to let this one slip by.

"She can't find an apartment," Ginny said from behind Hermione, raising her eyebrows. Ron didn't pick up her hint, but the idea was already in his head so it didn't matter.

"Why didn't you say anything before? We'll be glad to have you with us for a while," he said nodding over towards the twins. Hermione had forgotten that Ron flatted with them. "I'm serious!"

George nodded from the doorway. "We have a really cushy place. We even have a guest bedroom which we would be glad to have you in." Hermione was taken aback at this information.

"No, really... I couldn't... I just couldn't—"

"You can, and you will," Ron cut her off. "Isn't that right Fred?"

"Absolutely." He was grinning ear to ear. This was going to be fun.

"Well, if you insist..." Hermione was pleased, even if the slightest bit hesitant. What was better than rooming with her best friend? She'd be closer to work when she returned in September and she would have time to catch up on everything she missed.

Ginny shook her head. Hermione obviously had no idea what she was getting herself into.

Flame me and die. Well, just waste your own time really.