CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Summary: Hermione has recently found out that she is a witch and is off to attend her first year at the prestigious Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Wizarding World. There she meets a strange family of red heads, the famous chosen one - Harry Potter, a tight nit group of pranksters and Quidditch players that don't feel quite complete, along with meddling professors and ghosts. What will happen when long kept secrets are finally revealed? Will the new bonds of friendship and love that develop at Hogwarts create the saviours that are needed?
Disclaimer: All canon/original characters, plot line and rights belong to the author J.K. Rowling. Non-canon events and characters belong to me. I am not making a profit from posting this story. Some of the characters may be OOC and the plot is a mixture of both canon and non-canon with some of the main events from Rowling happening differently to canon.
Updated: 19/09/18
Page count: 15
Romania: Dragon Reserve – Wednesday June 16th 1993
Hermione, Oliver, Lee and the Weasleys were currently staying at the dragon reserve in Romania, as they were visiting Charlie for the summer and it was all thanks to Hermione.
Before leaving Hogwarts, Hermione with the help of Professor Dumbledore had organized a port key to take them to Romania. It was a gift to both thank The Weasleys for everything they had done for her during the past couple of years and a wedding anniversary gift for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. When Hermione made the announcement that they would be visiting Charlie for seven weeks, they were ecstatic but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley took some convincing to accept the gift.
Everyone and their shrunken down packed trunks were gathered a couple of miles away from The Burrow and in the woods, where an old photo frame was lying on the ground waiting to whisk them away.
Mr. Weasley picked it up and everyone grabbed a hold of it. All of a sudden Hermione felt dizzy. She felt as though her body was being squeezed through a tube and spinning rapidly in the air, then she hit the ground landing on her back. She heard groans of pain around her; she obviously wasn't the only one who had landed uncomfortably. She looked up to see Mr and Mrs Weasley and Oliver walking in the air? Their feet touched the ground and they were chuckling at everyone lying down sprawled on the ground. Oliver walked over to Hermione and helped her up.
"It takes practice," Oliver said to her, answering the question she hadn't even asked yet. She raised an eyebrow at him and he smile in response.
When everyone was off the ground and had brushed themselves off, they walked in the direction of the dragon reserve until they came to the gates and were let in. Another dragon tamer escorted to where Charlie was currently working.
"Oi, Charlotte!" the dragon tamer yelled.
Charlie appeared to be finishing off feeding a Welsh Green when he turned around laughing, freezing when he saw his family -bar Bill- standing not far away from him and he walked towards them with a big smile on his face.
"Mum, Dad, what are you doing here?" he asked as he hugged them both.
"Thanks to Hermione here, we thought we would visit you this summer," Mr. Weasley said with a large grin.
"Seriously? That's great. How long are you visiting for?"
"Seven weeks," Mrs. Weasley replied. He smiled and he greeted and hugged everyone.
"Well you all won't fit in my apartment," Charlie said thoughtfully, as they all walked to his apartment on the reserve.
"Oh dear, we didn't think of that," Mrs. Weasley said frowning.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley; I already thought of that and took care of it," Hermione said. Everyone looked at her.
"You did?" Mr. and Mrs. Weasley asked in unison.
"Yes, a guest house has been reserved for us."
"Ah, so that's why the Opaleye guest house has been cleaned and closed off to everyone; it's because it was reserved."
"Apple what now?" Ron asked confused.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Opaleye, as in the Antipodean Opaleye. It's a dragon, Ronald," she sighed.
"It's native to New Zealand and it uncommonly tends to reside in valleys. It's uncommon because..." Charlie was cut off by Hermione.
"... Most dragons tend to live in areas that contain mountains and caves for them to dwell in. On average an Opaleye dragon can reach a height of..." Hermione was cut off by Charlie, and they continued to cut each other off throughout the whole explanation, paying no mind to the others listening and watching with wide eyes and surprised faces.
"... Forty feet and it's considered to be one of the most beautiful of the dragon breeds, due to..."
"... Its body being lined with scales that are the colour of pearls; it has multi-coloured eyes that sparkle and no pupils. The dragon eggs are commonly mistaken by muggles for fossils due to their pale grey colour. Their flames are also a vivid red colour..."
"... The Opaleye is generally not an aggressive breed as it only kills if it is hungry. That's why the Opaleye dragon is easier to tame and train than any other breed and the prey of choice for an Opaleye tends to be sheep, but it has been known to attack larger animals. During the 1970's there was a case of several kangaroo killings..."
"... It was thought to be caused by a male Opaleye that had its lair taken by a female," Charlie finished off.
During Charlie and Hermione's impression of Fred and George's twin speak; everyone was looking between the two, with their heads moving from side to side as each one of them spoke. When they had finished speaking Hermione and Charlie looked see the others with their mouths hung open and staring at them.
"What?" they both asked and everyone burst into laughter whilst gesturing towards them.
"What are they laughing at?" Charlie whispered to Hermione, leaning over so he was closer to her height.
"I don't know. Do you think they've lost their minds?" she asked him.
They looked at each other, then to their laughing family members in front of them and then back to each other.
"Yep! Definitely!" they both said, which only seemed to add fuel to the fire, and the laughter grew louder.
"Hey, it's the new us, Forge."
"Do you think they're trying to take away the title of The Weasley Twins from us, so they can have it for themselves, Gred?"
This only sent everyone back into another fit of hysterics. Charlie and Hermione were still stood and their staring at them worriedly.
"Yes, they've definitely lost their minds," Hermione said. "What is it?" she asked them.
Oliver finally managed to calm himself down enough to answer Hermione's question.
"Nothing, Lassie, let's keep walking."
Everyone had calmed down slightly as they continued on their way to Charlie's apartment, although Hermione could still hear some chuckles coming from the back of the group.
"So I see you read the book I gave you," Charlie said to Hermione. She scoffed at him.
"Of course I did, I've read it three times."
"So you liked it then?"
"Loved it! And I've decided to take care of magical creatures as an elective." Charlie beamed at her.
"Oi, are you two finished with the nerd talk?" Ron asked. Hermione turned around, glared at him and smacked upside his head.
"Ow, 'Mione!" he whined and everyone chuckled.
They finally reached Charlie's apartment, he gave them a tour and they stayed for a couple of hours before he took them to the guest house.
~000~000~000~
Romania: Dragon Reserve – Thursday 1st July 1993
It had been two weeks since they arrived at the dragon reserve and everyone was having a great time. She had spent a lot of time with Charlie, talking to him about dragons and other magical creatures as he worked, and keeping him company.
On his day off, Charlie and some of the other trainers on the dragon reserve showed Hermione and the rest of the family to a huge tree that was by the lake on the land. Upon her request, Charlie side-along apparated Hermione to a nearby muggle town where she bought a list of items she needed. When they returned to the lake where everyone was lounging around in the sun, she emptied the bags onto the ground as everyone proceeded to ask questions about the items she had bought, until she told them to just watch what she was doing, and they did.
Hermione climbed the tree with the rope she bought draped over her shoulder.
"Hermione, what are you doing?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Just wait a minute, Gin," she called from her perch on a sturdy branch.
She tied one end of the rope securely around an appropriate branch and allowed the rope to fall towards the ground, hovering a good few feet above it. She climbed back down the tree and took a hold of the rope and she began to walk backwards until the rope was pulled tight.
"Now what are you doing?" Fred and George asked together.
"I'm going to show you what muggles do when there is a tree, a lake, and the weather is sweltering hot like it is now. Just watch!"
Everyone watched on in curiosity and fascination as Hermione ran forward and jumped on the rope. When she was far enough over the water she let go and did a half somersault before landing in the water with a big splash. She broke through the surface to see everyone laughing and cheering.
"That was wicked!" the twins yelled and she laughed loudly.
"Me next!" Fred yelled, but when he reached the rope swing, Charlie pushed him out of the way and he fell to the ground.
Everyone was laughing at both Fred's misfortune and Charlie's childish behaviour, as he grabbed the rope and copied what Hermione had just done. When he was far enough over the water Hermione yelled, "let go," and he did.
He landed in the water with a bigger splash than Hermione's and everyone cheered and laughed. When Charlie resurfaced, he looked at Hermione.
"That was awesome!" he yelled at her through laughter. He turned around to face everyone.
"You have got to try that!" he yelled.
And everyone did multiple times. Including Charlie's friends who also had the day off from the dragon reserve, Hermione recognized that a couple of them were the ones she had met the night Norbert was taken in her first year. Even Mr. Weasley gave it a go after some persuasion from everyone. Mrs. Weasley, however, just watched from the sidelines, incredibly happy and taking pictures on the magical camera.
Hermione got out of the lake and walked back towards Mrs. Weasley, where she kneeled down next to her and emptied another bag onto the ground.
"What are you doing now, Dear?"
Everyone noticed that Hermione had left the lake and was now emptying the contents of another bag and they too left the lake and surrounded her, watching what she was doing.
"I'm just going to set up something else that we muggles like to do."
She grabbed the roll of black bin bags and unrolled them, breaking several off and opening them up before she ripped down the seams to completely open it up and create a flat plastic surface of which she placed on the ground.
"So what's this supposed to be, Love?"
"It's not finished yet Lee, here, everyone grab a bag and do exactly what I just did," she instructed and they did as they were told and when they had finished, Hermione placed each one on the ground until it made a path way that lead to the very edge of the lake. The pathway was a good fifteen feet long.
"I need someone to help me do this next part; it'll be quicker if we use magic."
"What do you need help with 'Mione?" Charlie asked.
She whispered in his ear and he nodded. He was confused, he didn't understand why she wanted him to cast that charm, but he did as she asked. Everyone also watched on in confusion when Charlie cast several Sticking Charms along the fifteen foot pathway.
Hermione noticed the looks surrounding her and she explained. "It's so the bags don't come away from the ground. If this is going to work they need to stay firmly in place."
"If what's going to work?" Ron asked.
"You'll see." Hermione went along the makeshift pathway and made sure that the bin bags were, in fact, stuck to the ground. "Okay, now Charlie, I need you to do something else for me," she said as she made her way back to the group.
"Okay, what?" she whispered the charm and he cast it.
"Make sure that the entire surface is covered, walk along the pathway a couple of times," she said.
"Why is he using the Aquamenti charm, Princess?"
"Like I said, Georgie, you'll see. Just hold your horses."
"What?" several people asked confused.
"It means wait, I promise it will be worth it."
"Okay. 'Mione, I've done it," Charlie said and she quickly walked along the pathway to make sure it was covered in water.
"There's just a couple more things to do and then we're ready to go."
"What is it?" Ron asked again. Hermione looked at him and Fred and George both smacked him upside the head.
"Ow!" he yelled and everyone laughed at him.
Hermione picked up a bottle of washing up liquid and she poured the bottle onto the plastic bin bags, walking up and down several times to cover the entire surface and she used the whole bottle.
"Alright, Charlie, this is the last one, I promise." She gave him instructions and he cast the Aquamenti Charm, once more walking along the pathway.
"Okay, done," he said as he jogged back to the group. Hermione made sure that everyone was stood at one of the sides so that the pathway was clear and she stood a few feet away from the start of the pathway.
"What now, Lassie?" Hermione smirked at Oliver.
She ran and just before her feet touched the start of the pathway, she jumped slightly forwards and landed on her stomach. She slid passed everyone at a fairly fast speed and was laughing as she reached the end of the make shift pathway and she flew into the lake.
When she resurfaced everyone was clapping and laughing and cheering. Of course Charlie was the first person to have a go of the homemade water slide, pushing George and everyone else out of the way. When he landed in the water and he resurfaced he was laughing loudly.
"You have got to try that!" he yelled, and they all did.
"What was that?" he asked.
"It was a make shift water slide. You've seriously never heard of one?" she asked and he shook his head.
"Well usually they're at water parks and..." Charlie cut her off.
"What's a water park?" he asked.
"A water park is an establishment that is based entirely on water and having fun. They have water rides, lakes, pools, splash pads, splash zones, water fights, water guns, water skiing, water boarding, canoeing and kayaking, peddle boats, water slides and that's only naming a few. There are tons more to do at a water park, I just can't think of them all."
"Seriously, all of that in one place?" he asked amazed.
"Yes and they can be both indoors and outdoors."
"So do they have water slides that are like the one you made?"
"No, the one I just made was something people would use in their gardens to occupy children during the summer. Water parks have water slides that are made out of plastic and are all screwed together with nuts and bolts and they're incredibly safe. They're usually over thirty feet tall. I believe the tallest water slide in the world is one hundred and thirty feet tall, and that you travel at a rate of sixty-five miles per hour so the ride only last about five seconds."
"You're joking," he said gob smacked.
"I'm not; they pump hundreds of gallons of water down water slides that allow you to travel incredibly fast. Some water slides are just simple but most are complicated, but they are all fun. They have built them in different shapes and sizes. They have water slides that are at an angle of one hundred and ten degrees, so you are basically falling through the air and you don't touch the actual slide until you reach the bottom" Charlie was speechless. As was everyone else who had stopped to listen to their conversation.
"They have water slides that are loops and that go upside down, ones that travel around the entire water park, they have ones that overlap other water slides, ones that are wavy and they also have ones that require you to use a rubber ring or a rubber dingy. They also have ones were several people can go down at once and race each other or they all get on the same rubber dingy. Oh, I almost forgot; they have water slides that are circular, like the shape of a bowl and there is a hole in the middle, and you basically slide around the bowl until you hit the middle and fall down the hole into the pool below."
She could see the confused looks on everyone's faces and thought of another way to explain it.
"You know when you flush a toilet and the water swirls around and then it goes down the hole into the pipe?" everyone nodded. "Well it's similar that. Sometimes you're just dropped into a pool beneath it and sometimes you are dropped into another water slide. It just depends on the water park and its design."
"Are there a lot of water parks in the Muggle World, 'Mione?" Ginny asked.
"Oh Merlin, Gin, there has to be thousands and thousands."
"Ye said tha' some af the water slides do loops an' go upside down?" Hermione nodded. "Well hoo do people not fall aff them when they're in the air?" Oliver said confused.
"The water slides that are built in that design are like tubes. There are no ways that you can get out until you come to the end of the slide and land in the water. You are effectively boxed in," she explained and he nodded in understanding. "How about one day, I promise to take you all to a muggle water park?"
Everyone cheered and applauded Hermione. 'I guess they liked that idea,' she thought to herself and she laughed when Charlie picked her up out of the water and chucked her backwards and she landed back in the water.
"Can we come too?" one of Charlie's friends asked.
"Of course, the more the merrier," she smiled.
"What?" several people asked.
"It means the more people there is, the happier the experience," she said to them and they nodded.
"Hey, Charlotte, I like this friend of yours," another of his friends said.
"She's not my friend. She's my new little sister! And I wouldn't make her mad if I were you. You've heard what the twins are capable of?" They nodded. "Well 'Mione is far scarier, even the twins are afraid of her," he said.
"We are not!" was the reply the twins shot at him. Everyone turned to look at them and Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe a little," they admitted and everyone laughed.
"See? Remember those pictures I showed you last year of the pranks that were pulled at my old school? Particularly the ones of the twins and Lee?" again his friends nodded. "Well 'Mione was the mastermind behind them," Charlie said proudly, as he put his arm around her and beamed. His friends looked at her slightly fearful. Charlie laughed.
"Now you're getting it!" he said and then he moved away from Hermione and he dunked one of his friends underwater. "And don't call me, Charlotte!"
Hermione and Ginny smiled and hugged each other tightly after Charlie's words, then Ginny dunked Hermione under the water which started off a water fight between the two.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sat on a blanket by the lake and they had watched and heard everything that had transpired, and they beamed with pride after hearing Charlie's speech.
"She's a miracle," Mrs. Weasley whispered. Mr. Weasley looked down at her and smiled. "She really is good for this family, look, even Percy is joining in and having fun with his siblings."
Mr. Weasley looked to the lake to see Percy, the poor sod, being jumped on and dunked under the water by Fred, George and Lee, but they were all laughing.
Everyone took turns of the rope swing and the water slide for the rest of the day. When it started to get dark they all got ready to head back. Hermione promised that she would leave the make shift rope swing and water slide for Charlie and the rest of the reserve to use in the future, particularly with the weather mostly being warm. She told him that he would have to buy more washing up liquid from a muggle town to keep the water slide working correctly and that he would likely have to replace the bin bags often. They headed back to their respective accommodations and they all dried off and changed, then they met at the pub on the reserve where they had dinner and talked for the rest of the night.
~000~000~000~
Romania: Dragon Reserve – Tuesday 17th August 1993
The rest of the visit flew by; they had been there for seven weeks now, and they would be returning to the Burrow later on that day.
As Hermione was packing the rest of her belongings into her trunk, she recalled some of her fondest memories from the trip. The days they spent at the lake, the days they went exploring in both the wizarding and muggle towns nearby, chats with the workers on the reserve, spending time with everyone, specifically her boys and pulling pranks.
One prank in particular stood out to her. Fred, George and Lee had tried to lock Percy in one of the dragon enclosures, but Mrs. Weasley had found out and put a stop to it. Hermione's ears still hurt from the scolding the boys had received, as she was stupidly standing nearby when Mrs. Weasley released her wrath on her sons. Although it had hurt her ears, Hermione had watched in amusement as everyone in the area winced, feeling sorry for the boys.
Everything was packed and she was ready to go, they all met near the entrance to the dragon reserve and they said their goodbyes to Charlie. Hermione hugged him, and when he made her promise to write him when she returned to Hogwarts she laughed at him.
Hermione had become a lot closer to Charlie over the summer and she was grateful, since she had technically been 'adopted' into the family and she didn't want to be an outcast in the tight-knit family that The Weasley's were.
Charlie had recently been forced in to a hair cut by Mrs. Weasley; he had escaped narrowly a few times by avoiding her with Hermione's help. She would give him subtle warnings when Mrs. Weasley was heading his way and he would disappear for a while, and it made her laugh. But unfortunately for Charlie, Mrs. Weasley had gotten her way a few days ago.
Every time Hermione looked at Charlie and his sulking form, she would laugh and tease him along with the twins.
"Well, look at it this way, Charlie, your friends have no reason to call you Charlotte anymore and now your hair is less likely to catch fire when a dragon decides it would be fun to use that flame thrower of a mouth on you," she would say to him after teasing him, to make him feel better.
Professor Dumbledore had sent ahead the port key that would allow them to return to The Burrow. They all grabbed a hold of the weird looking feather and they returned home.
~000~000~000~
Diagon Alley – Thursday 26th August 1993
They had been back at The Burrow for about a week, Lee had gone to spend the rest of the holidays with his Father and step-Mother and everyone had received their Hogwarts supply list. Percy had been driving everyone up the wall; he'd been made head boy. It made the twins seriously upset and annoyed that they had failed to lock him in a dragon's enclosure back in Romania.
They had received word from Dumbledore that something had occurred at Privet Drive - Harry's home and that he was staying in Diagon Alley at The Leaky Cauldron. Everyone packed immediately and where at The Leaky Cauldron and putting their things in their allocated rooms before anyone even knew what had happened.
When they all met Harry at The Leaky Cauldron, Hermione hugged him tightly and he laughed at her. Everyone had their greetings including Percy which was far too formal, and only set the twins off in their teasing ways.
Fred pushed Percy away from Harry and he bowed to him.
"Harry! Simply splendid to see you, old boy. -"
"- Marvellous! Absolutely spiffing," George said as he pushed Fred out of the way and he grabbed Harry's hand and shook it enthusiastically.
Percy scowled at them and Hermione giggled. She walked up to Percy, put her hand on one of his shoulders and leaned against him slightly. She had also spent a fair amount of time with Percy and they had become closer also; they spent a lot of time talking about their favourite books – Hermione muggle and Percy wizarding. After spending time with Percy, she realised that he was just misunderstood and she promised herself she would do what she could to help him, without him knowing it of course.
"Come on, Perce, you know they're only messing about!" she said to him, he sighed and nodded.
"Yes, I know Mia."
"You should be grateful that they tease and prank you," Hermione said softly.
"And why is that?"
"Because it's the twins' way of showing respect. I would be worried if they didn't prank you, if I were you."
"But they respect you and they don't prank you. And they prank the Slytherins at every opportunity they get," he said and Hermione snorted.
"They prank the Slytherins because they don't like them. But when they prank family members it's their way of showing respect. Look at Bill and Charlie, they prank them all the time - at least when they see them. You're one of their older brothers, of course they respect you. Although they would never admit it, but they do."
"Right, but what about you?" again Hermione snorted at him.
"They pranked me before in first year and I got my payback. Have you forgotten already, Perce?" she said with a smirk.
This time Percy snorted. "Not till the day I die."
"They don't prank me because they're afraid of me, and especially what I'm capable of when it comes to pranking."
"And rightly so, to be honest you scare me a little too," he said and they chuckled.
Later on that night everyone was sat around the tables that had been pushed together. They had chatted happily throughout dinner and they were now eating dessert.
Mrs. Weasley was talking to Harry about Percy making Head Boy and she was not subtle in showing her disappointment that the twins hadn't been made prefects.
"What do we want to be prefects for?" George said. "It would take all the fun out of life."
They continued to listen to Percy boasting and George turned to Harry.
"We tried to lock him in a dragon enclosure," George whispered.
"But Mum caught us," Fred spoke and Hermione and Ron chuckled, whilst Harry looked shocked before he too laughed.
"How are we getting to Kings Cross Station? Floo?" Hermione asked.
"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars" Mr. Weasley said. Everyone looked up at him.
"Why?" Percy asked intrigued.
"It's because of you, Perce," George said seriously. "And there will be little flags on the bonnets, with HB on them -"
"- For Humongous Bighead," Fred finished.
Everyone bar Percy and Mrs. Weasley laughed or snorted with food in their mouths. Mrs. Weasley gave Mr. Weasley a disapproving glare and he immediately stopped laughing.
Everyone looked at his guilty face and they laughed harder, Percy joined in with the laughter at the scolding of his Father. They heard a coughing and Hermione and Percy looked to see Ron choking on his deseert, they looked at each other and burst out laughing. They were leaning against each other and giving a full belly laugh. Mrs. Weasley couldn't stop the smile that spread on her face and then the laughter that escaped her. All traces of anger and disapproval gone.
~000~000~000~
Diagon Alley – Friday 27th August 1993
The next day they decided to get their school supplies. Hermione and the boys met with Oliver and they got everything on their lists. They dropped everything back at The Leaky Cauldron and then they went to the Magical Menagerie with Hermione to look for a familiar. 'Third time lucky,' Hermione thought to herself with her fingers crossed.
When they exited the shop twenty minutes later, Hermione had a skip in her step and was beaming. The boys were walking behind her happy for her, but slightly scared of the thing that she was carrying.
When they got back to The Leaky Cauldron everyone was sat down waiting for lunch to be served. Hermione sat down and placed her new familiar on the table.
"What the hell is that?" Ron exclaimed.
"This handsome little fellow is Crookshanks," Hermione said, as Crookshanks sat on the table in front of her and nuzzled his face against hers.
"Handsome? He looks like he's been trampled by a heard of hippogriffs, then been hit in the face with a beaters bat and then been carried away in a tornado with his fur sticking up at odd angles like that. That fur really needs a brush and to be sorted out. It rivals your hair."
Crookshanks looked at Ron and Ron looked fearful as the cat glared at him. 'Cats couldn't glare, could they?' he shook off his thoughts.
Fred and George looked at each other, then to the orange fur ball and back to each other, amusement evidently on their faces. Hermione watched and waited with Oliver for something to happen, and as always, her boys didn't disappoint.
Fred bravely picked up Crookshanks -he was slightly scared after hearing tales from the staff member at the Magical Menagerie about the cat's temperament and him not liking anyone- and held him up next to Ron's face. Fred and George had thoughtful frowns.
"Now that you mention it, Ronnikins -" Fred said.
"- He does look like you," George finished and they burst out laughing, those who had heard the conversation laughed along with them.
"Dinnae the lass at the counter say he was vicious, that he dinnae like anyone an' he always attacked the customers? An' tha's why he was at the shop fer ten years?" Oliver said, looking at Fred as he still had a hold of the cat with the squashed up face.
"Nonsense, My Crooksy is a big softy," Hermione said, as she scratched the cat's ears and speaking as though she were talking to a baby. "He just has a good judge of character; obviously he didn't trust anyone who walked into that shop. He seems to like you though, Freddie, since he's letting you hold him without him growling at you," she said.
Fred sat up straight and puffed out his chest, and a look of victory and pride filled his features. Everyone laughed at him for a good few minutes and he placed the cat back on the table and scratched him behind the ears. Hermione shook her head at him. Crookshanks walked over to his new owner and he nuzzled his face into her neck and she laughed as his whiskers tickled her.
When dinner was finally served, everyone ate heartily whilst talking and laughing. Crookshanks had somehow managed to sit on Hermione's shoulders and was curled around her as she ate. Every so often she would take a piece of food off her plate and feed the cat sat on her shoulders.
She had giggled a few times during lunch when Crookshanks' bushy tail would hit her in her face and tickle her nose. Fred, George and Oliver would smile softly at the faces she would pull when it happened; they thought it was adorable. At the moment, the cat sat on her shoulders seemed to remind Hermione of a mixture of a squirrel and a parrot.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been watching the boys' behaviour around Hermione and they smirked at each other when they saw the almost love sick expression on their faces.
'I can't wait to tell Minerva and Beth about this,' she thought.