Chapter 4: The Invitation
A/N: Not DH compatible, obviously. Also, Dumbledore isn't dead. Watch for a shout-out to a very special reader in this chapter!
Disclaimer: JK Rowling probably has central air…
A wet and bedraggled group was the group that staggered back into the Great Hall to finish what breakfast they could. Ron grumbled, examining his pruned fingers, and Hermione was casting the hot air spell over the three of them. After he had finished washing his robes, Ron had stood up, said, "Finally!" rather loudly, and immediately tripped over his own feet, dunking his head in the water and upending the washbasin, covering Harry and Hermione in warm, soapy water.
A large tawny owl was waiting for them as they sat down and Ron reached for a piece of toast. Upon seeing Hermione, the owl dropped a letter on her plate and took off. Not recognizing the owl, Hermione tore open the letter, frowning, and found a message from her mother scrawled on the piece of parchment in it. Dear Hermione, it read. I know it's a bit late notice, but how would you and your friends like to come back to our house for Christmas this year? You can all Apparate, right? I would love to have you home for Christmas for the first time in awhile. Please send your reply as quickly as possible – your father tried to catch an owl to send you the letter and was bitten. We're on our way to the doctor. Love, Mum.
Grinning, Hermione showed Harry and Ron the letter, both of whom warmed to the idea instantly. Hermione even invited Ginny along, seeing as how she and Harry had been together since September. They secured the necessary permissions from Dumbledore and McGonagall and sent their reply agreeing to the plan with the biting owl, along with some of Eeylop's Owl Antiseptic and a note to Mr. Granger reassuring him that magical owls were not rabid. At sundown, the four friends walked to just outside the gates of the school where two Aurors Apparated (or, in Ginny's case, Side-Along-Apparated), with them to the Granger residence in the town of Spahr-on-Sea.
***
As Hermione's body re-expanded, she smiled fondly at the scene around her. She, Ginny, Harry and Ron had all Apparated into a grove of evergreen trees behind the Granger house and, taking in a deep breath, she recognized the familiar smells of cedar, salt, mud flats, and rain. With a series of pops, Harry, Ginny and the Aurors appeared out of thin air beside her. No one appeared to be splinched, but her head count was off. Where was Ron? "Have you guys seen Ron?" she asked, and all four wizards shook their heads. "Ron!" she called out, when she heard a twig snap.
Whirling around, she trained her wand upon…a weasel? "Oh no," Hermione muttered to herself before the weasel opened its mouth and began to speak in Malfoy's voice.
"I'm a little weasel, and I'm too much of a prat to even hold up my side of a bet!" The weasel continued to shout insults about Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, Gryffindor tower, Muggles, Muggle-borns, and even managed to make some extremely lewd comments about McGonagall and Madam Hooch before Hermione managed to find a countercurse. Muttering a complicated-sounding incantation, she waved her wand at the weasel, who was Transfigured back into Ron with a bang and a puff of bright green smoke. Furious and with burning ears, Ron shuffled to the back of the group while Harry and Ginny roared with laughter.
"All right, you three," Hermione said, silencing their mirth. "You're about to go into my house and meet members of my extended family, members of my extended family who do not know I'm a witch. So with that in mind, here is the cover story I've been feeding them for seven years: I've been accepted to the Collins Academy for Boys and Girls, which is a school up near Glasgow. You three need to act like Muggles, all right? No loud exclamations over Muggle appliances or foods," she finished with a pointed look at the Weasleys. Satisfied that everyone would behave as they should, Hermione led the group to her back door. "Thank you, we'll take it from here," she said to the Aurors, who nodded and promptly Disapparated. Raising a gloved fist, Hermione knocked three times on the green, wooden door.
A/N: Okay, so I feel terrible. My first update in MONTHS and it's less than a page!!! Ridiculous! Well, I've set up the next part of the story, at least. Expect longer chapters to come, I mean it this time!!!