Chapter 11: "Deep brown eyes"

"Even a fish wouldn't get into trouble if he kept his mouth shut." Author Unknown

"Ginny, Hermione, dinner!" cried Mrs. Weasley, her voice floating up the flights of stairs (not too loud tough, they must avoid waking Mrs. Black)

"Down in a minute" her daughter answered. Mrs. Weasley smiled, she could still hear the girl's laughter as she made her way out into the newly added garden. It had been charmed to be invisible to anyone who had not been told by the secret keeper of Grimauld place that it was there. The boys had been playing quidditch in it all day, and still didn't know that Hermione had arrived, Mrs. Weasley had wanted to surprise them. She called them in and sent them to get cleaned up. She entered the kitchen to find Ginny, Hermione, Sirius, Remus and her husband sat around the large table talking animatedly. She took her seat opposite Arthur just as the boys entered the room. At first they didn't even notice Hermione, it wasn't until she tentatively said

"Err... hi" that they noticed her. She smiled nervously at them. Their jaws dropped simultaneously just as Ginny had predicted, she had to stifle a laugh. Harry was the first to speak;

"Hermione? What are you doing here? You look really well!" He said blushing slightly, but none the less giving her a hug. Touched by his enthusiasm, Hermione smiled through her un-comfort as he wrapped his arms around her. Still she flinched slightly as Ron swept her into his arms, thank God they didn't notice!

"'Mione, we missed you, how've you been?

"Err, not to bad thanks," she lied, keeping her vow not to tell them about her ordeal.

"Sorry about you're folks" said Bill as he pulled her into a brotherly embrace. Charlie reiterated these sentiments and patted her on the back. Fred or George (she couldn't tell which) gave her a hug, while the other Fred or George enquired about her holiday. After all the hugs and greetings were over, they all sat back down to a lovely home cooked meal. It was the first time Hermione could remember feeling happy since that night four weeks ago. She was safe, and she felt happy, she was with the only "family" she had left. Overcome with all these emotions, not to mention fatigue, Hermione felt flustered and was distracted, especially by the constant barrage of questions from Harry and Ron about her holiday. If she had been more alert, she may have noticed that not all the people present were as happy as she was. Sirius Black sat moodily staring at her from across the table.

'My God, she looks so beautiful' he thought, 'Those bastards, how could they do this to her? They've changed her.' Sirius was pissed off beyond belief. He had been at Hogwarts when she'd arrived, and he had seen first hand the state she was in:- crying, battered, bleeding, drifting in and out of consciousness, screaming and flinching at the slightest touch, terrified. 'Hermione was never like that, she was always so, so in control, not any more' he thought bitterly. He was one of the few males at the table who knew the true extent of the horrors Hermione had faced. And the thought of it made him feel sick, those scum, kissing her, touching her, raping her. It made him want to hit something. He was just as protective over her as any of the boys were, and that scared him. He tried to convince himself that he would be just as protective over Ginny, but deep down he knew that that wasn't true. Sure, he would punch any guy who looked at either of them in the wrong way, but with Hermione it was different, it made him feel almost... jealous, as if she was his. Whoa , what was he thinking? He must've had way too much Fire whiskey. But there was something about those deep brown eyes...

A/N: Dun dun dun! Read the next chapter...