Because of the war, Hermione's summer with her parents was short. She told them Ron had asked her to stay with him and his family at the Burrow for the last month of the summer. And of course, Hermione and her parents had a huge argument over it.
"Hermione, you are always with those two boys! You go back to the wizarding world earlier and earlier each year! I don't get it; do you think that they're your family now?"
Her father's yells could be heard throughout the house, but Hermione prayed the neighbors didn't hear the word "wizarding".
"Dad, they've been my best friends for five years! There's a war starting, and they need me! All three of us know they'd be dead before their second year if it wasn't for me!"
"Hermione, if there's a war starting, I don't think I even want you back in that world!"
Hermione sighed. "You can't stop me! I'll be of age in a month, and then you can control me no longer!"
"Yes, but you won't be of age in this world!"
Before Hermione could retort, a third voice sounded through the room. "Alright, that is quite enough."
Mrs. Granger had been watching the feud from the doorway, but neither Hermione nor her father had noticed her presence.
She walked slowly into the room and stopped in front of Hermione. "Hermione, I'm sorry, but you cannot leave early this year."
"But – "
"No. Upstairs, if you please."
Hermione glared, then ran for the stairs, climbing the steps two at a time, and slamming her bedroom door hard.
They had no idea what she was going through! Didn't they understand that she needed to help Harry? Voldemort is probably planning to attack any day now, and Harry needed all the help he could get.
Hermione thought of something else. The number one reason she really wanted to go to the Burrow was because she really missed Harry and Ron. After she found out she was a witch, she knew the muggle world was not where she belonged. Anyway, after five summers of returning to it after going to Hogwarts, she still didn't have one friend in the muggle world.
Hermione stayed in her room for the rest of the day, and didn't even go downstairs for dinner. She fell asleep crying for reasons unknown to her, and when she woke up at two in the morning, she knew what she had to do.
An hour later, Hermione was wandering the streets of London while lugging her trunk behind her and going in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.
The streets of London were not the best place to be wandering at three in the morning. Every so often, Hermione saw a gang of frightening- looking people up ahead, and she did her best to avoid these people.
When she finally arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, she was exhausted. She had enough wizarding money to pay for a room, but she was sure Tom would give her a discount, especially since he knew she was a best friend of Harry Potter.
Hermione pulled out the letter she had received from Ron a week before, and read the last line for the millionth time:
We'll be in Diagon Alley on the fourth of August, and you can come home with us if you like. Harry will be there on the fifth.
She sighed. It was now three-thirty in the morning, and the third of August. She had a day to herself in Diagon Alley. It sounded perfect.
When Tom saw the tired Hermione, he immediately gave her a room, free of charge. But she insisted on paying with a few Galleons. She entered her room, and collapsed on her bed, falling asleep immediately.
Hermione slept most of the next day to catch up with the sleep she had lost the night before. When she finally did get up, she visited Flourish and Blotts to buy her new books. She spent the morning reading the textbooks for the new school year at Florean Fortescue's. At noon, she ate at the Leaky Cauldron, and then remembered something important.
Ron had told her in one of his letters that Fred and George had bought a shop in Diagon Alley. Hemrione struggled to remember the name they had called it…She knew it had "Weasley" in the name for sure…
She began to walk down the street, fighting to recall the name. Then she passed a store she just seemed to notice, despite the number of times she had been to Diagon Alley.
It was a joke shop. From the setup in the window, it looked just like Zonko's joke shop in Hogsmeade.
Hermione looked up at the sign, which read: "Weasley Wizard Wheezes".
This was definitely the place. Hermione pushed open the door to the shop and was greeted by the most gruesome, hilarious, awkward, and immature products she had ever seen. And she instantly fell in love with every inch of the shop.
She walked around looking at every product, feeling like each of them reminded her so much of life at the burrow. Then she saw two very familiar redheads at the back of the store.
Fred and George Weasley were showing a crowd of people one of their products, evidently called Edible Dark Marks.
"…so they're give you a temporary Dark Mark on your arm when you eat the candy. Three sickles a package!"
Fred stopped speaking as his eyes caught Hermione's face. She smiled.
"Excuse us, but a very important customer has entered our shop. Verity will show you all the rest of the new products." A mousy-looking woman appeared and shepherded the group away.
Hermione smiled at the twins. She never cared for their jokes and pranks before as much as she did at this very moment.
"So, if it isn't our clever Hermione Granger." Fred grinned at her. "How d'you like our little setup?"
"This shop is absolutely brilliant," Hermione answered honestly. "Where'd you get the money?"
"Just a loan from a friend," George answered simply. "But you know, Miss Granger, our little brother Ronnie has been talking about you all summer."
"Has he now?"
"Oh yeah. Anything we say he's able to –"
"- relate it to you, of course."
Hermione blushed. "I suppose he simply misses us – "
"What d'you mean by 'us'?"
Hermione looked confused. "Harry and I, of course."
The twins smirked. "Oh, but he hasn't been talking about Harry nearly as much as he's been talking about you. Ask anyone in the family and they'll tell you that you've been the main thing on Ron's mind."
Hermione gave a look of doubt, so the twins pressed on. "Come to think of it, you could probably ask Mum and Dad, and they would thoroughly agree."
Hermione was getting a bit angry. Surely Ron couldn't be talking about her that much…could he?
"Oh, come of it. Ron has never thought of me as more than a friend." Hermione insisted on this stubbornly, and walked away from the twins a few feet away to sit in a chair facing a window that showed the streets of Diagon Alley.
Immediately, the twins were behind her. They both faced her from either side of her face, so the only way to avoid their faces was for Hermione to continue staring out the window.
She heard Fred's voice from her right. "Come on, Granger. Everyone's waiting for you to make a move on our brother, because we all know he won't."
She then heard a similar but somehow different voice in her left ear. "You both are much too stubborn for your own good, and its not getting you two anywhere."
Together, they said, "Make a move before someone else does, Granger."
Hermione obstinately kept her eyes on the glass of the window, pretending to ignore the twins. But it wasn't working and they all knew it.
She felt the twins leave her side. When she was sure they were far at the back of the shop, she took her eyes off the window and they landed in her lap. She dropped her head into her hands and ran her fingers through her hair.
The feelings she had had for Ron for the last five years were about to burst with a mixture of confusion and excitement. Hermione had never hated someone with such viciousness, and loved the same person with such a passion, that she had not known what to do about it.
When she finally decided to get up, she realized the sun had begun to set. Fred and George were at the back of the shop again, too busy to bother her. She considered sneaking out, but decided the twins deserved better than that.
She started looking at products, and realized the twins' eyes were on her. She ignored them until she could no longer, for they had approached her with greater speed she had expected.
"Hermione, we know you're still angry, but if you want to buy anything, everything's half-price for you."
Despite her mood, Hermione smiled at the twins, who grinned back. They did sometimes have Ron's sweetness when they wanted to.
An hour later, Hermione left Weasley Wizard Wheezes with a bag full of products she believed she could use on Ron when he's being a prat. She had dinner at the Leaky Cauldron and fell asleep instantly after.
She awoke to the sound of someone calling her name. "Hermione…"
The same person was poking her arm. Hermione swatted away the arm, and refused to open her eyes.
"Hermione…"
Hermione groaned and opened her eyes. There was Ginny, sitting on the edge of her bed, her long red hair falling down her back and her freckles standing out more than ever before.
"Ginny!" Hermione embraced her friend, and Ginny hugged back. "How'd you get in here?"
"Tom let me in. He knows we're friends, and he trusts my family more than any other."
Hermione smiled. "How long have you been in Diagon Alley?"
"All morning. Mum dragged us here at the crack of dawn so she could get a few things, and now all we have to get is you." Ginny smiled. "C'mon, everyone's downstairs, and Ron's been dying to see you all summer."
Hermione ignored this last comment, and quickly got dressed. Ginny then led her downstairs, where Hermione could see the Weasley family from the top of the staircase.
She loved each of them in their own way. Mrs. Weasley, who cared and worried about everyone and everything. Mr. Weasley, a not-so-wealthy but good man. Bill, the cool eldest with a successful job. Charlie, a dragon-lover who had traveled more than anyone. Percy was not there, for he had turned his back on his family. How could he? Hermione thought. The Weasleys would always be the family she goes to when she has no one else, and she had trouble understanding why Percy was so crude.
Fred and George were sitting at the table with the family also. She was no longer angry with them; on the contrary, she was glad they had told her that Ron had been talking about her all summer.
Ron. There he was, talking to Bill. Hermione didn't pretend that she didn't hear her own name pass his lips a few times as he spoke rapidly, almost worriedly, to his elder brother.
"Where is she? D'you think she never got the message? She never wrote back; even to say she wouldn't be here! Honestly, this isn't like Hermione…."
Hermione started to approach Ron, but his back was facing her. She noticed his red hair had gotten redder, if that was even possible. His freckles stood out of his summer tan that Hermione loved to see every year. He had shot up again in height, now above six feet. She noticed Bill staring at her from over Ron's shoulder, who was still worrying verbally. She made a signal for Bill to be quiet, who didn't seem to be able to cut in on Ron's rant anyway.
"D'you think Errol messed up the letter somehow? Stupid owl, probably sent my letter to Australia…"
Hermione was directly behind him now, and tapped his shoulder. When he turned around, Hermione flung herself into his arms.
"Hermione!"
She ignored his gasp and kept a tight grip on his neck, while she felt him put his own arms around her waist. She didn't seem to realize how much she had missed him until she was in his arms.
They broke apart to find most of the Weasley family staring at them. Ron and Hermione both deeply blushed, and the family went back to talking with each other, pretending like they didn't see anything.
Hermione turned back to Ron. "Hi."
Ron grinned. "Hi. So, you got my letter? Or are just here by coincidence?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Yes, I got your letter. And I did get to see Fred and George's shop."
"Lucky! Mum says we're not going until a month from now, when we have to get school supplies. She's on a big "clean the house" kick and she only wanted to come here to get some things and pick up you. Now we have to go rushing back home to clean the house." Ron leaned in at Hermione a bit. "The muggle way."
Hermione gave a mock gasp. "Oh no, not the muggle way! What will you ever do? You must be permanently scarred for life!"
"Oi, shut it, you. I don't know how you do it. I guess it's not like I can use magic anyway, but still! Our house will never be acceptably clean, we have too many people who come and mess it up."
"Ron, I'll help you. You might not know how to clean, but I do it all the time at home. Besides, you need practice."
Ron frowned. "Why?"
Hermione smirked. "Doing things the muggle way builds character. And character is good for you."
She took a step closer to him and poked his chest with an index finger. "And you, Ron Weasley, are too lazy for your own good."
"Hey, I resent that!" Ron said. "I do my homework on my own…most of the time."
Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, sometimes," Ron gave in. "But that's how I appreciate you more, you help me with my homework."
"Uh huh," Hermione said disbelievingly. However, she did love it when Ron made up excuses for things. It was always entertaining.
At that moment, Mrs. Weasley approached the two. "Hermione, dear, where are your parents?"
Hermione hesitated. "Oh…er… they dropped me off at the Leaky Cauldron yesterday. They wanted to see you, but they just couldn't get away from the office today."
Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Well, we all hope their alright and that you all are doing fine."
"We are, thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione replied.
Mrs. Weasley looked as if she didn't believe her, but she covered with a quick smile. "We'll be leaving soon; we're Flooing to the Burrow, alright?"
"Right."
Mrs. Weasley walked away, and the moment she was out of earshot, Ron turned to Hermione. "You're lying."
"What? No, I'm not."
Ron gave her a knowing look. "Hermione I know you a bit better than that. Now what's going on?"
Hermione avoided his eyes. "I'll tell you later. Too many people around."
This was true; Hermione did feel as if the Weasley family had closed in on her and Ron.
She found herself in the Weasley fireplace only moments later. Someone was taking her hand and helping out onto the hearth, and she suspected it was Bill. Ron arrived only moments after her, stumbling out of the fireplace.
Before the rest of the family could arrive, Ron took Hermione's arm and led her up to his room.
Once inside, Ron closed the door and sat on his bed with difficulty, for like his entire room, it was a mess.
"Alright, what's going on?"
Hermione sighed and sat next to him. "Ron, why d'you want to know?"
Ron rolled his eyes and started playing with a hole in his sheets. "Why d'you think I want to know? I want to know because something's bothering you, Hermione. And you're not entirely yourself when something's bothering you."
He looked up and said softly, "and that bothers me."
Hermione blushed fiercely, and looked down. "I ran away. From home."
When Hermione looked back up at him, he didn't look angry or upset or sympathetic, he simply looked expressionless and blank. So Hermione continued.
"My parents wouldn't let me go to your house. I told them I needed to be with you and Harry because the war's starting, and Harry will need all the help he could get. Then they were going on about how they wanted me here because of the war. So I snuck out at two in the morning and left a note. I've been staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the last two days."
Tears were welling up in Hermione's eyes. "I suspect they'll be furious with me when I come home at Christmas, but I had to do it. I felt like I was suffocating in the muggle world, Ron! I know it's not where I belong."
Her tears were now running freely down her face. Ron quickly embraced her, and she squeezed him back. "I feel like such a delinquent."
Ron laughed. "Hermione, you're not a criminal, and you will never be, even if you tried. You just needed space, and you cracked."
Ron let go of her and looked into her eyes. "And you missed us. I can tell."
Hermione nodded. "You've no idea. It's only been a month, and now that the war's started, I feel that you and Harry will die without me."
Ron smirked. "We probably would. I'm glad you came back, Hermione, even if you weren't supposed to."
Hermione sighed. "It's strange. Once I first stepped into the wizarding world, I felt like the muggle world was just dragging me down. I felt like…like I belonged for once." She lay down onto his bed, and Ron followed suit.
"Because you do belong here, Hermione. You're a witch, and you belong here with me, and Harry, and at Hogwarts."
Hermione smiled, which made him smile his gorgeous smile. She was home.