A/N: Thank you to my BETA DarklyDreaming and to Jessirose85 for the idea!
Chapter 4:
The group stayed at Grimauld Place until Harry's trial, just as Dumbledore had said, and on the day of the trial everyone woke early to wish him off. He hugged everyone and then left with Arthur to the Ministry. While he was gone, everyone was pacing and panicking. The questions ran through everyone's mind end to end; what if he didn't get to come back? What if they broke his wand? What if they sent him to Azkaban? Ok so that last question was a bit over the top, but it still existed as a possibility. No one knew what Fudge was capable of nowadays. These were mad times. Despite the fact that there were unanswered questions running through their minds, somewhere deep down they knew that Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen to the Boy-Who-Lived.
About six hours later, Harry walked through the door of the kitchen where everyone was waiting for him to eat dinner. As soon as he was seated, he looked at the group of eyes staring at him, all asking the same question: What?
"What happened mate? We've been waiting for word all day," Ron asked.
Harry explained the trial to everyone and then they all let it rest. He seemed awfully upset, so no one decided to push him. Dinner was in silence as most of their meals were nowadays. Soon enough, the group of students went to the library to do their homework. Well, Hermione went there to read, but that was no surprise. Everyone knew Hermione got her homework done within the first week of holiday. "Don't procrastinate and you'll have more free time for more pleasant activities," she would say.
Soon the trial was forgotten and tension once again diminished amongst them. The house was again silent, other than Mrs. Black's occasional scream due to Fred and George's random pranks. Life was simple again for just a moment. The children hung around the house entertaining themselves, and Harry got to bond with Sirius before he departed for school.
One day, Hermione was sitting there checking the boys and Ginny's work when they all came in with their letters. They handed Hermione hers and they tore into them together. They read it over and then hurried to Molly who was waiting for them to show her what they got. Hermione and Ron had gotten Prefects and in celebration Molly took the group out for ice cream and to go pick up their things.
They arrived to a group of adults looking rather flustered. "Where have you all been?" Tonks demanded.
"I tried to tell them, Molly," Sirius said.
"Ron and Hermione got Gryffindor Prefects and I took the group out for ice cream and to get the things we needed for the year."
"Congratulations, you two." Remus said smiling
"Thank you," they said together.
"Molly, that was stupid. What if something had happened?"
"Tonks, calm down." Sirius said trying to break everything up. "Everyone is safe and here, so let's all calm down and get some supper. I'm famished."
"He's right, I am starving, that ice cream wasn't very filling," Ron said rubbing stomach.
"Ron, you're always hungry," Ginny said flatly.
"I hate to agree with Ron, but he is right it wasn't very filling," Hermione said with her stomach growling.
"Why is agreeing with me so bad?" Ron asked as they entered the kitchen.
"Because," Fred answered.
"You're usually wrong," George finished.
"I am not!" Ron protested.
"Yes, you are," everyone retorted, laughing.
Ron pouted as they finished their attempt to help Molly with dinner. She ended up kicking the boys out because they were only causing her stress. Hermione and Ginny were the only ones that knew what they were doing anyway. Dinner was simple, spaghetti with meatballs and sauce with sides of green beans and mashed potatoes. Everyone dug in and left with a full stomach.
"That was very good, ladies," Remus said.
"Indeed," Sirius commented, "Not to tell you how to do things in the kitchen, Molly, but maybe you should let the girls help every once in a while. It's good to get some variety in the meals."
"None taken, actually I was thinking I might have the girls help more often when they are home for holiday."
"Gladly," Hermione and Ginny replied at the same time. They turned and looked at each other before they continued to laugh.
The group realized the late hour and the children headed off to bed. It was going to be another boring day tomorrow but they figured they could sleep in as late as they wanted. The girls left the group on the third floor while the boys continued up to the fourth. The girls got ready for bed and tucked, in turning off the lights as they did so.
"Ginny?"
"Yes?"
"Do you realize that in a week's time we will be back at school?"
"Oh, don't ruin it for me."
"Why, I thought you liked school."
Ginny smiled. "I do, but I like being able to sleep in sometimes."
"Me too."
"Are you excited?"
"I believe so. I wonder who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is going to be."
"I'm not sure. I'm quite surprised that Dumbledore hasn't said anything about it, to be honest."
"Me too. Maybe he hadn't discovered that one person to break the curse."
"Maybe so." Silence fell upon the room.
"Hermione."
"Yes."
"Are you worried about the war?"
Hermione thought for a moment. "Sure. I mean, I suppose."
"How are your parents fairing with all of this?"
"I don't know. They are nervous, I suppose. Their little girl going off to war under the age of 20 is a scary thought."
"But you will most likely be of age by then right?"
"I hope so."
"Then how is it so odd?"
"Well Ginny. put yourself in your mother's shoes. Do you think that she is happy about you and your brother fighting this battle at such a young age when you have so much life left to live?"
"I suppose not, but I also suppose that if it were for a cause like ours that it wouldn't be so hard to let them do their thing. My kids will be raised much like my brothers and I, a house of love teaching that everyone should be excepted for who they are no matter what their heritage."
"That was deep, Ginny."
"I know. Do you think that it will apply to Ferret-boy Malfoy?" Both girls looked in the direction that they assumed that the other was in the pitch black room and laughed.
"I don't know, but I doubt your brother would think so," Hermione said.
"Perhaps. Goodnight Hermione."
"Goodnight Ginny." The room fell silent for one final time that evening as the girls fell asleep.
The week flew by, to everyone's dismay; they had packed the night before so that they could be out of the house with plenty of time to spare. They rushed down the stairs, said their goodbyes to the house before following their escorts to the train station. When they arrived, they had twenty minutes to spare so they all took their walk through to the platform and took their luggage to the proper places. By the time that was all said and done, they had five minutes so they gave hugs to the group and boarded the train.
As the train pulled out they heard Molly call, "Take care! Keep each other safe and out of trouble!"
