A/N: Sorry, this took me longer than I said. I couldn't get into fanfiction the past couple of days.
Anyway, all is well, especially as CANADA'S WOMEN HOCKEY WON GOLD YESTERDAY!!! YEA!!! For you Americans, I'm sorry, but you won silver right? And hey, you beat Russia 3-2 to go to the gold medal round for men's hockey, which means you'll be playing us for the gold!
(Can you tell I'm an avid hockey fan? Hey, I'm a Canadian! What more can I say?! ;-))
Disclosure: Another chapter that really belongs to Ms. Rowling…
~***~
Hermione pushed her peas listlessly around her plate and watched them roll and bump into each other.
Mr. and Mrs. Granger glanced worriedly at each other. Hermione had told them all about her trip on the way from the airport, well, everything except for the kiss and all that related to it. Her dad would fly to Bulgaria and do who-knows-what to Viktor if he knew that his "baby girl" was kissing some guy. She knew her sudden change of mood ever since she came down from her room was probably confusing her parents.
Ron's reaction to her going to Bulgaria was to be expected. Although she couldn't believe he dared to still call Viktor "Vicky". After all they had gone through during the school year. She thought he had gotten that out of is system. Obviously not.
She speared a piece of carrot and bit at it savagely. They had carrots almost every night. Something about it being good for her eyes her parents always told her. But as she swallowed it, she had to admit to herself that she never did tell Ron about her trip. If she had broken it to him gently and told him her reasons, maybe he would have understood.
The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that she was partly to blame for Ron's over-reaction. With that thought, she decided she would go to the Burrow before heading to Hogwarts. Her mind made up, she finally finished off her dinner and headed upstairs to pack.
~***~
Waking up to a normal muggle alarm clock, she got up and finished packing all her books in her trunk. She needed to buy new Hogwarts' robes at Diagon Alley, so she didn't have to pack too many clothes.
Lugging her trunk behind her, she met her parents at the breakfast table. Her mum looked up from reading a journal article about a new technique on removing wisdom teeth.
"Oh, good Hermione, you're awake. I was about to go upstairs and give this letter that just came. It seems to be from Hogwarts."
"Thanks mum. It's probably the book list for this year."
Taking the letter, she opened it up and sure enough, there were the names of all the books she would have to read. Most of them were already familiar as she had borrowed Percy's fifth year books during her second year to read before going to sleep. After all, this was the year she was going to be taking the O.W.Ls.
She noticed that there was something else in the envelope. Pulling it out, she read,
Dear Ms. Granger,
We at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry are pleased to announce that you have been selected to be one of the 5th year Gryffindor prefects in this up-coming year. You will find enclosed your prefect badge, which we require you to wear whenever you are in your Hogwarts uniform, starting on the day you arrive at Platform ¾.
You will have your first prefect meeting on the Hogwarts Express in the prefect compartment where the Head Boy and Head Girl will inform you of your duties and responsibilities.
We know that you will do your best behaving in the utmost behaviour and being a stellar role model of what Hogwarts' students should strive for. We look forward to seeing you on the first day of school.
Professor Minerva McGonagall
"Oh my goodness!!"
She reached into the envelope and sure enough, there was a gleaming silver prefect badge. She picked it up, and pinned it above her heart (even though she was still wearing muggle clothes) grinning at her parents.
"This is going to be the best year at Hogwarts for me!" she declared to her pleased parents.
~***~
Since she was taking a cab to the outskirts of the village where Ron lived (her parents were still uncomfortable with all the wizards especially as they were muggles, and the taxi cab would not be allowed in the village), she regretfully took off the badge and stuck it in her trunk.
She said her farewells to her parents and, waving goodbye, got in the cab. She was surprised at how well they were taking this, especially as she just came back from Bulgaria. She assumed that her parents felt bad that she was cooped up in the house for the month of July.
Looking out her window after making small talk with the taxi driver, she started to ponder what exactly would she be saying to Ron Weasley when she sees him in an hour.
~***~
The cab started to slow down and pulled up to the corner that Hermione had indicated. The driver pulled her luggage out of the trunk and Hermione counted out how much she owed him. Her parents had gone to the bank and withdrawn money for her to pay for the cab ride, her textbooks, clothes, and supplies, and enough for Christmas gifts, birthday presents, and little odds-and-ends. She would need to stop at Gringotts when she goes to Diagon Alley to exchange it for wizard money.
She watched the cab drive off, sat down on her trunk, and waited for the Weasleys to pick her up.
Within a few minutes she saw a flash of red in the sky. Squinting in the sunlight, she managed to pick out the details. The Weasley children (Fred, George, and Ron) were flying on their brooms. She saw a flash of light, which she realised, was a reflection of the sun from a pair of glasses. Harry was flying in front of them all. It made sense of course, he had the Firebolt while the twins had Cleansweep 5, and, yes, there was Ron struggling with his Shooting Star. She only knew this after all the conversations Ron and Harry have had about brooms and Quidditch.
Harry landed first a few feet from her.
"Harry!"
Hermione ran the few remaining steps and hugged him hard, grinning she knew, like a fool.
"Hey Hermione!…umm, Hermione could you let go? I think I hear my ribs cracking"
"Ha, Ha", but she let go of him, after she poked him in his 'cracking' ribs.
Before she knew it, she was swept of her feet – literally. The twins had landed without her noticing, and picked her up and swung her around.
"FRED AND GEORGE! You let me down this instant!" She was trying her best to be angry, but even as she scolded them laughter kept bubbling through.
"Gosh Hermione, it's sure nice to see you again," Fred grinned at her.
"Yeah Hermione, Ron's been an awful git while you were gone visiting Krum. Hey, what's Krum like? Did he show you any Quidditch moves? Is he funny? Do you think he'd like some of our new products from Weasley Wizards Wheezes?" George was asking her without stopping to take any breaths in between.
Hermione had stopped paying attention to George in the middle of his greeting as she saw Ron land his broom and walk towards her. His face was turning a nasty shade of purple.
She wasn't sure if he was mad at being last because of his broom or because of her.
She turned to face him squarely, rose to her full height, and looked him straight in the eye.
Half of her brain was going, "Don't back down", while the other half kept repeating, "Uh oh."
~***~
~***~
A/N: More replies to you awesome, amazing, dedicated reviewers ;-)
Rally-as-Twiddle's: LOL! You're on! I've always wondered, what do you think Butterbeer really is? I mean, is it sweetened beer? Or is it a non-alcoholic drink, like gingerale? I mean, they were *13 * when they first started to drink the stuff, and they weren't even ID'd!
HermioneM: Nah, none of my reviewers could EVER be annoying. I was going to continue the chapter, but I thought the next one could be completely devoted to Ron. And yes, you are one of my most faithful reviewers, so thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Madison: Thanks so much for your comments! Although, I must admit it's sometimes hard to keep them IN character when I don't know all the English-English terms (vs. the Canadian-English terms…lol!) Using food as an example, what are mint humbugs, cornish pasties, black pudding, spotted dick (!), and treacle tarts??? They eat weird food! Just kidding. Please don't flame me for saying that! ;-) We have weird food too in Canada, such as whale tails and beaver tails (and no, they're not really whale or beaver tails!) Anyway, enough about food.
MusicalRose: Did you finish your English project? Those are nasty aren't they? I still have to finish a lab report. Sigh. You'd think I'd be finished considering I spent 3 hours in the library yesterday. Well, almost 3 hours. I stopped when the hockey game started, lol! Well, don't work too hard, it's the weekend after all! Yea!!