"So what do you think about staying here in the past?" asked Hermione, looking at all of them. They were seated, as before, in Hermione's room.
Fred & George were the first to speak. "It's not going to be for a long period of time, so I vote we make the best of it." They gave each other confidential winks. "It'll also give us some spare time to develop some items for 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' & there's the bright side too, no Snape!" They gave each other hi-fis.
Hermione looked at Ginny inquiringly.
"What about you, Ginny?"
"Doesn't sound that bad, I guess. As Fred & George said, I'm pretty sure we're not going to be stuck here forever. But since we're here now, we've got to make the best of it, & maybe it'll even prove to be an enriching experience." She cast a glance at Harry, as she said the last statement.
Hermione looked at Harry too, but for a different reason.
Harry shrugged. "I think I agree with Fred & George. We've got to make the best of this situation. Nothing else to be done. And on an optimistic note, there's the thought- No Snape!" "And no Divination too." He added, as an afterthought.
Hermione was astonished by their reactions. Was she the only one feeling this way? Was she the only one thinking about Ron & all their other loved-ones in the present, who would be care-worn at their disappearance? She felt a tug at her heart when she thought of Ron. Why hadn't she received his letter saying that he was off to Romania? And who had sent her a letter, signing it as Ron? The answers to those questions didn't seem very important, as an image of Ron popped into her mind. Red-haired, freckled & probably by now, at least 6-feet tall. What would he be doing now? She smiled involuntarily as she had an image of Ron, in leather trousers, feeding a dragon. She remembered their first year, when Hagrid's baby dragon Nobert had bitten Ron & his feeling of revulsion towards it. She didn't think that Ron had overcome his aversion towards dragons. She badly wanted him to be here. Even though they constantly bickered, she felt she could've handled anything with Ron beside her He was the only one who understood her perfectly, (not even Harry knew her like he did) & knew that that she was more than a bossy know-it-all. She already missed him, & they hadn't been in the past even for a day.
Harry's voice dragged her away from her pleasant reverie.
"Hello! Earth to Hermione." He said, snapping his fingers in front of her face.
"Huh? What?"
"We were just discussing how our 5th year at The Hogwarts of The Past is going to turn out, when we noticed a sort of glassy-eyed look on your face, as if you were in a world far apart from the rest of us & an amused smile. What were you thinking of?"
The amused smile again hovered for a moment on her lips, at the expressions she would see on everyone's face, if she were to voice her thoughts.
"I was thinking how handsome Slytherin is, how unlike the portraits of him which are hung at Hogwarts." She broke into a giggle at the last sentence.
"Hermione!" Harry pretended to sound scandalized.
Ginny threw a pillow at her, laughing.
"But seriously, don't you love that intense look on his face, his dark black hair, his flashing green eyes, his-" she broke off as she espied the object of their discussion standing at the doorway.
Fred & George were the first to speak. "It's not going to be for a long period of time, so I vote we make the best of it." They gave each other confidential winks. "It'll also give us some spare time to develop some items for 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' & there's the bright side too, no Snape!" They gave each other hi-fis.
Hermione looked at Ginny inquiringly.
"What about you, Ginny?"
"Doesn't sound that bad, I guess. As Fred & George said, I'm pretty sure we're not going to be stuck here forever. But since we're here now, we've got to make the best of it, & maybe it'll even prove to be an enriching experience." She cast a glance at Harry, as she said the last statement.
Hermione looked at Harry too, but for a different reason.
Harry shrugged. "I think I agree with Fred & George. We've got to make the best of this situation. Nothing else to be done. And on an optimistic note, there's the thought- No Snape!" "And no Divination too." He added, as an afterthought.
Hermione was astonished by their reactions. Was she the only one feeling this way? Was she the only one thinking about Ron & all their other loved-ones in the present, who would be care-worn at their disappearance? She felt a tug at her heart when she thought of Ron. Why hadn't she received his letter saying that he was off to Romania? And who had sent her a letter, signing it as Ron? The answers to those questions didn't seem very important, as an image of Ron popped into her mind. Red-haired, freckled & probably by now, at least 6-feet tall. What would he be doing now? She smiled involuntarily as she had an image of Ron, in leather trousers, feeding a dragon. She remembered their first year, when Hagrid's baby dragon Nobert had bitten Ron & his feeling of revulsion towards it. She didn't think that Ron had overcome his aversion towards dragons. She badly wanted him to be here. Even though they constantly bickered, she felt she could've handled anything with Ron beside her He was the only one who understood her perfectly, (not even Harry knew her like he did) & knew that that she was more than a bossy know-it-all. She already missed him, & they hadn't been in the past even for a day.
Harry's voice dragged her away from her pleasant reverie.
"Hello! Earth to Hermione." He said, snapping his fingers in front of her face.
"Huh? What?"
"We were just discussing how our 5th year at The Hogwarts of The Past is going to turn out, when we noticed a sort of glassy-eyed look on your face, as if you were in a world far apart from the rest of us & an amused smile. What were you thinking of?"
The amused smile again hovered for a moment on her lips, at the expressions she would see on everyone's face, if she were to voice her thoughts.
"I was thinking how handsome Slytherin is, how unlike the portraits of him which are hung at Hogwarts." She broke into a giggle at the last sentence.
"Hermione!" Harry pretended to sound scandalized.
Ginny threw a pillow at her, laughing.
"But seriously, don't you love that intense look on his face, his dark black hair, his flashing green eyes, his-" she broke off as she espied the object of their discussion standing at the doorway.