Harry went with Hermione up to the owlery to send the letter, asking if
Harry could stay for part of the Easter holidays.
"I thought if I only asked for part of the holidays they might be more likely to say yes," she told Harry as she tied the letter to Hedwig, Harry's owl.
"That makes sense," Harry replied, giving Hedwig an owl treat. Hedwig soared out of the window, disappearing into the clouds.
"Let's hope they're in a good mood when they get it," Hermione said as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room.
"Strawberry Soufflé," Harry said as the portrait swung back to let them in.
"Hey there you are!" Ron called to them as they headed for the sofas. Hermione sat herself on a cushion on the floor, and Harry sat next to Ron on the sofa. Lavender was sat at Ron's feet as he massaged her shoulders.
"Lavender's feeling tense," he told Harry seriously, but winking at him at the same time without Lavender seeing.
"I am tense," she replied hotly, "and I have good reason to be."
"Why, what's wrong?" Hermione asked slightly concerned.
"Her parents are going away over the holiday, so she might have to stay here," Ron replied for her, "But I've told her it's no big deal because I can just stay as well."
"Ron you know it's not that!" she replied angrily. She turned to face the others giving Ron an annoyed look.
"My parents are going away, as Ron said, but what he didn't tell you is that they were going to let me stay at home by myself," she told them, pausing to see their reactions.
"So?" Harry asked.
"So," she continued, "they changed their minds and are making me stay at school."
"Lav, I still don't see the problem?" Ron said shaking his head.
"Well, if they had let me stay at home, by myself, you could have stayed with me, on our own," she added looking at him knowingly.
"Ohhh," Ron replied, "I see what you mean now, we could have been alone for 3 weeks, and now we can't," he groaned.
"Now do you see why I'm so tense?" she said turning back to have her shoulders massaged.
"There must be a way of changing their minds," Ron thought aloud.
"Forget it Ron, it's hopeless," responded a defeated Lavender.
"Hang on," Harry said pensively, "Me and Hermione have the same problem."
"How'd you mean?" Ron asked.
"Well, I have to stay at school unless Hermione's parents let me stay at hers."
"Which is doubtful," Hermione put it.
"So, I'm sure we can come up with a way of us all getting what we want," Harry continued, his mind searching for a way out.
"I see!" Lavender replied excitedly, "Like, we could all stay somewhere together."
"Hang on," Ron said doubtfully, "Would that be such a good idea, I mean it is for 3 weeks."
"Yeah but we won't be together all that time," Harry told him.
"Harry I don't like the idea of deceiving my parents," Hermione said carefully.
"It wouldn't be deceiving, Hermione," Harry said, "Just, not telling them the exact truth," he grinned at her.
"So what are the options?" Ron asked them all.
"Well," Harry began, taking control, "Lavender has the free house, so if we can convince her parents that they'd be an adult staying there, would they let you stay?" he asked Lavender.
"Definitely," Lavender replied, "They even said that before; if there's a responsible adult in the house then I can stay."
"Where are we going to find a responsible adult who'll let us all stay there?" Hermione pointed out.
"We event one!" Harry said jumping up. "Ron, didn't Fred and George work the aging spell last year?" he asked, to which Ron nodded, "Well, all we have to do is make one of us older, then tell Lavender's parents we're the live-in housekeeper or something."
"Harry, that's blatant lying!" Hermione cried.
"Hermione, this is the only way we can be together?" Harry said quietly, to which she remained silent. She did want to be with Harry after all.
"Are we actually doing this then?" Lavender asked eagerly, "Because I'll need to send an owl to my parents if we are." The four looked at each other and all agreed to go ahead with it. Ron went with Lavender to send the owl, while Harry and Hermione remained in the common room.
"Harry," Hermione said quietly, so no one would overhear, "What will we tell my parents? I mean I still have to go home initially to see Faith off."
"I've already thought of that," he replied eagerly, "Go home as planed, while me and Ron stay at school, then tell you parents you need to stay at school after all; just say you have a project to do or something. I know it's lying, but it has to be done, for out sake," he added seeing the expression on her face. "Then we can all leave together saying we're going to Lavender's where she'll already be. The school won't know there's no adult there." Hermione considered the plan and agreed that it was the only way.
So she sent another owl to her parents, explaining what Harry had told her do. Within a day she'd received a reply saying that was fine and that they wouldn't have been happy with Harry staying anyway. Lavender also received a reply saying that if they met with a suitable adult, they'd let her stay.
"Hermione, it has to be you that goes," Lavender said decisively, "you're the only other girl."
"I can't!" Hermione wailed, "I'd give myself away."
"Actually Lav, that's true," Harry replied, "She'd be too nervous."
"Well who then?" Lavender demanded impatiently.
"I'd do it," a small voice said behind them.
"Faith! Have you been eavesdropping?" Hermione said outraged.
"Well you were talking kind of loud the other day in the common room," she replied in her own defence.
"Your dare breathe a word of this." Lavender said in a hostile tone.
"I won't," Faith replied, "But I can help you out can't I?" They all saw her point, but were doubtful whether to trust her.
"How do we know we can trust you?" Harry asked.
"Well, one of you could come with me, make sure I don't give you away," she suggested.
"That's not a bad thought actually," Ron answered, "That way we can make sure she convinces Lav's parents."
"I'll go," Lavender said determinedly, "I don't trust you with any of these," she added looking menacingly at Faith. Faith kept quiet but secretly wished it were Harry going with her.
They had only 5 days left till the beginning of the holidays, so they had to be quick. Ron acquired the aging potion from Fred and George, which he gave to Lavender to keep safe. Harry reluctantly leant his invisibility cloak to Lavender to use when they went to see her parents; and so the next day, Lavender and Faith slipped, unseen out of the castle. The three left behind waited nervously for their return.
"Where are they?" Ron said impatiently as he paced the floor. It was 1:00 in the morning and the girls still hadn't returned.
"What if something's gone wrong?" Hermione said worriedly, "You know how much they dislike each other."
"It'll be fine," Harry assured them, but secretly he was getting anxious too. The minutes ticked away and by 2:00 Ron was at his wits end; he was just about to go searching for them when the portrait creaked open.
"Get off me!" Faith yelled as they landed with a thud on the floor.
"Harry I don't know how you mastered walking with this thing over your head," Lavender complained as she threw it off.
"Where've you been?" Ron demanded running over to them. Faith was still lying on the floor, bruised from where Lavender had landed on her.
"It took ages for the potion to work didn't it?" Lavender complained crossly, "So we couldn't see my parents till this evening."
"Well? What did they say?" Harry asked impatiently. A grin broke out on Lavender's face.
"They bought it!" she squealed with glee. "I'm aloud to stay!" she screamed jumping into Ron's arms.
"Shh!" Hermione whispered urgently, "Keep quiet or else someone will hear us." Faith was standing a little way off from the group; the aging spell had worn off and she was back to normal.
"Don't we owe someone a thank you?" Hermione said pointedly, looking over to Faith. Lavender stared at her, not speaking and Ron and Harry mumbled a thank you.
"Don't mention it," Faith replied quietly, as she slipped past them upstairs to the dorm.
"That wasn't very nice Lav," Hermione said.
"Look, she knows I don't like her, and I doubt she likes me either," Lavender replied unashamedly. Hermione left it at that. They were all leaving the next day and she didn't want to argue with the person she'd be spending the next 3 weeks with.
"Come on," Harry said, "We better all get to bed."
"Harry," Hermione whispered, holding him back for a minute as Ron and Lavender went upstairs, "I'm glad we get to be together."
"Me too," he replied softly, kissing her lightly on the lips before heading to their dorms.
The morning of the departure came and Faith's bags were packed as she stood with Hermione waiting for the carriage. Hermione had packed her things also, even though she'd been coming back in a few days. Harry was looking out for the carriage further down the drive and Ron stood waiting with the girls.
"Lavender's already gone home," Ron said as they were waiting, "She did appreciate you doing this for us, she just didn't want to admit it," he told Faith.
"Yeah well, I didn't exactly give her cause to like me did I?" Faith replied.
"Guess not," Ron replied with a grin. He'd forgiven her deciding she was ok after all.
"The carriage is here," Harry called as he ran back up to help with the cases. Faith stood uncertainly facing the carriage; 'I'll probably never see Harry again,' she thought in desperation, 'but what can I do about it?'
"I'll miss you," Hermione told Harry as she hugged him, "But I know I'll be seeing you soon," she whispered as he kissed her goodbye.
"Yeah, see you soon," Ron called as Hermione climbed into the carriage.
"Bye then," Faith said quietly as she was about to climb in also.
"Hey, Faith," Ron said quickly, causing her to turn round, "No hard feelings eh?" she smiled back at him, and with one last glance at Harry she closed the carriage door behind her. Harry put his head to the window, which Hermione opened.
"It was nice meeting you," he said, smiling at Faith, "I'm sure we'll meet again sometime," he finished. "See you Hermione," he said gently, "I miss you already," he added as the carriage started to move off. Hermione leaned out to wave goodbye, but Faith couldn't bear them seeing the tears in her eyes.
"Sad to be leaving?" Hermione asked gently as she sat back down.
"A bit," Faith replied looking away. Hermione guessed it was because of Harry that she was upset, but she didn't want to embarrass her by speaking of it, so she just relaxed into the seat and thought about how great the next few weeks were going to be.
"Right then," Ron said as the carriage disappeared round the corner, "We better get out things packed, we've leaving in two days you know."
"Mmm," Harry replied as he followed Ron back into the castle. It was true what he'd said, he missed Hermione already; he could feel it in his stomach, like a persistent cramp or ache. 'Maybe this is what period pain is like,' he thought in amusement as he reminded himself that he'd see her again in a couple of days.
"I really can't wait till be get to Lav's" he told Ron as they sat playing wizard's chess that evening.
"Yeah I know what you mean," Ron replied enthusiastically, "I hope the girls get on though," he added, "You know how Hermione gets sometimes."
"It's not always Hermione!" Harry protested, "Lavender's not always the easiest person to get on with." At this the both burst out laughing.
"Come on, we can't start arguing now can we," Ron laughed as he destroyed Harry's Knight.
"Yeah we'll leave it to the girls," Harry laughed. He suddenly sobered up and looked wistfully out of the window. "You know, I miss her already," he told Ron quietly.
"Really?" Ron asked intrigued as to how Harry was feeling. They didn't talk much about their 'feelings', but now that Harry had mentioned his, Ron felt like talking about it,
"Yeah, I actually ache for her.physically I mean," Harry confessed, going red at what he was telling Ron.
"You really love her don't you," Ron stated seriously.
"Yeah, I do," Harry replied. "What about Lavender, I mean, you.you know, love her don't you?" Harry asked, embarrassed at what he was saying.
"Yes, I know I love her it's just that." he started to say.
"Just that what?" Harry prompted.
"Can you believe we're actually talking about this?" Ron joked, avoiding the question. "We're supposed to be macho men!" he laughed. Harry had to laugh at Ron who was now doing an impression of a weightlifter strutting about showing off his muscles.
"So, Faith, you'll ring us when you land won't you?" Hermione's mum was saying as Faith handed in her boarding pass at the airport.
"Yeah, and I'll say to mum and dad for you," Faith replied as she hugged them goodbye. Hermione walked with her to the terminal, while her parents waited by the window.
"Thanks for helping us out," Hermione said as they walked together, "I really appreciate it; we all do." Hermione knew Faith had been cruel over the past few weeks, but she guessed her heart had somehow been in the right place.
"You shouldn't be so nice to me," Faith replied, her voicing shaking a little.
"Look, we all do stupid things, don't worry about it, we all forgave you" Hermione said trying to comfort her.
"No, I don't mean that.I mean." Faith started to cry, and Hermione was distraught as what to do. What was crying about now?
"Faith, what'd wrong? What's happened?"
"Oh, I'm so s-sorry," Faith replied though huge sobs, "I'm r-really sorry, I know I'm awful.I'm sorry."
"Faith!" Hermione called as she headed down the tunnel leading to the plane, "What happened? What did you do?"
"I'm so sorry," Faith repeated looking back, "Just forget about me.I'm not worth it.I'm j-just s-so sorry for ruining y-your Easter," and with that she disappeared out of sight, leaving Hermione in a state of utter bewilderment. 'What was she talking about- ruing our Easter?' she thought to herself.
It was with a confused mind that Hermione travelled back to Hogwarts the next day. She couldn't figure out what Faith had meant; she'd helped them to have a great Easter, not ruined it. But as the carriage pulled up to Hogwarts and she saw Harry standing there all other thoughts were banished as she ran into his arms.
"We leave this evening," Harry told her once they were back inside. "Ron's got hold of some Floo Powder so we're travelling that way."
As Hermione waited with Harry by the fire place for Ron to arrive, she thought of telling Harry what Faith had said, but decided against it; she didn't want to spoil the beginning of the holiday for them by worrying about what she hoped was nothing important.
"Ready?" Ron said as he handed them each a handful of powder.
"Ready," Harry and Hermione said at the same time as one by one they each stepped into the fire to begin what would be a most interesting Easter holiday.
"I thought if I only asked for part of the holidays they might be more likely to say yes," she told Harry as she tied the letter to Hedwig, Harry's owl.
"That makes sense," Harry replied, giving Hedwig an owl treat. Hedwig soared out of the window, disappearing into the clouds.
"Let's hope they're in a good mood when they get it," Hermione said as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room.
"Strawberry Soufflé," Harry said as the portrait swung back to let them in.
"Hey there you are!" Ron called to them as they headed for the sofas. Hermione sat herself on a cushion on the floor, and Harry sat next to Ron on the sofa. Lavender was sat at Ron's feet as he massaged her shoulders.
"Lavender's feeling tense," he told Harry seriously, but winking at him at the same time without Lavender seeing.
"I am tense," she replied hotly, "and I have good reason to be."
"Why, what's wrong?" Hermione asked slightly concerned.
"Her parents are going away over the holiday, so she might have to stay here," Ron replied for her, "But I've told her it's no big deal because I can just stay as well."
"Ron you know it's not that!" she replied angrily. She turned to face the others giving Ron an annoyed look.
"My parents are going away, as Ron said, but what he didn't tell you is that they were going to let me stay at home by myself," she told them, pausing to see their reactions.
"So?" Harry asked.
"So," she continued, "they changed their minds and are making me stay at school."
"Lav, I still don't see the problem?" Ron said shaking his head.
"Well, if they had let me stay at home, by myself, you could have stayed with me, on our own," she added looking at him knowingly.
"Ohhh," Ron replied, "I see what you mean now, we could have been alone for 3 weeks, and now we can't," he groaned.
"Now do you see why I'm so tense?" she said turning back to have her shoulders massaged.
"There must be a way of changing their minds," Ron thought aloud.
"Forget it Ron, it's hopeless," responded a defeated Lavender.
"Hang on," Harry said pensively, "Me and Hermione have the same problem."
"How'd you mean?" Ron asked.
"Well, I have to stay at school unless Hermione's parents let me stay at hers."
"Which is doubtful," Hermione put it.
"So, I'm sure we can come up with a way of us all getting what we want," Harry continued, his mind searching for a way out.
"I see!" Lavender replied excitedly, "Like, we could all stay somewhere together."
"Hang on," Ron said doubtfully, "Would that be such a good idea, I mean it is for 3 weeks."
"Yeah but we won't be together all that time," Harry told him.
"Harry I don't like the idea of deceiving my parents," Hermione said carefully.
"It wouldn't be deceiving, Hermione," Harry said, "Just, not telling them the exact truth," he grinned at her.
"So what are the options?" Ron asked them all.
"Well," Harry began, taking control, "Lavender has the free house, so if we can convince her parents that they'd be an adult staying there, would they let you stay?" he asked Lavender.
"Definitely," Lavender replied, "They even said that before; if there's a responsible adult in the house then I can stay."
"Where are we going to find a responsible adult who'll let us all stay there?" Hermione pointed out.
"We event one!" Harry said jumping up. "Ron, didn't Fred and George work the aging spell last year?" he asked, to which Ron nodded, "Well, all we have to do is make one of us older, then tell Lavender's parents we're the live-in housekeeper or something."
"Harry, that's blatant lying!" Hermione cried.
"Hermione, this is the only way we can be together?" Harry said quietly, to which she remained silent. She did want to be with Harry after all.
"Are we actually doing this then?" Lavender asked eagerly, "Because I'll need to send an owl to my parents if we are." The four looked at each other and all agreed to go ahead with it. Ron went with Lavender to send the owl, while Harry and Hermione remained in the common room.
"Harry," Hermione said quietly, so no one would overhear, "What will we tell my parents? I mean I still have to go home initially to see Faith off."
"I've already thought of that," he replied eagerly, "Go home as planed, while me and Ron stay at school, then tell you parents you need to stay at school after all; just say you have a project to do or something. I know it's lying, but it has to be done, for out sake," he added seeing the expression on her face. "Then we can all leave together saying we're going to Lavender's where she'll already be. The school won't know there's no adult there." Hermione considered the plan and agreed that it was the only way.
So she sent another owl to her parents, explaining what Harry had told her do. Within a day she'd received a reply saying that was fine and that they wouldn't have been happy with Harry staying anyway. Lavender also received a reply saying that if they met with a suitable adult, they'd let her stay.
"Hermione, it has to be you that goes," Lavender said decisively, "you're the only other girl."
"I can't!" Hermione wailed, "I'd give myself away."
"Actually Lav, that's true," Harry replied, "She'd be too nervous."
"Well who then?" Lavender demanded impatiently.
"I'd do it," a small voice said behind them.
"Faith! Have you been eavesdropping?" Hermione said outraged.
"Well you were talking kind of loud the other day in the common room," she replied in her own defence.
"Your dare breathe a word of this." Lavender said in a hostile tone.
"I won't," Faith replied, "But I can help you out can't I?" They all saw her point, but were doubtful whether to trust her.
"How do we know we can trust you?" Harry asked.
"Well, one of you could come with me, make sure I don't give you away," she suggested.
"That's not a bad thought actually," Ron answered, "That way we can make sure she convinces Lav's parents."
"I'll go," Lavender said determinedly, "I don't trust you with any of these," she added looking menacingly at Faith. Faith kept quiet but secretly wished it were Harry going with her.
They had only 5 days left till the beginning of the holidays, so they had to be quick. Ron acquired the aging potion from Fred and George, which he gave to Lavender to keep safe. Harry reluctantly leant his invisibility cloak to Lavender to use when they went to see her parents; and so the next day, Lavender and Faith slipped, unseen out of the castle. The three left behind waited nervously for their return.
"Where are they?" Ron said impatiently as he paced the floor. It was 1:00 in the morning and the girls still hadn't returned.
"What if something's gone wrong?" Hermione said worriedly, "You know how much they dislike each other."
"It'll be fine," Harry assured them, but secretly he was getting anxious too. The minutes ticked away and by 2:00 Ron was at his wits end; he was just about to go searching for them when the portrait creaked open.
"Get off me!" Faith yelled as they landed with a thud on the floor.
"Harry I don't know how you mastered walking with this thing over your head," Lavender complained as she threw it off.
"Where've you been?" Ron demanded running over to them. Faith was still lying on the floor, bruised from where Lavender had landed on her.
"It took ages for the potion to work didn't it?" Lavender complained crossly, "So we couldn't see my parents till this evening."
"Well? What did they say?" Harry asked impatiently. A grin broke out on Lavender's face.
"They bought it!" she squealed with glee. "I'm aloud to stay!" she screamed jumping into Ron's arms.
"Shh!" Hermione whispered urgently, "Keep quiet or else someone will hear us." Faith was standing a little way off from the group; the aging spell had worn off and she was back to normal.
"Don't we owe someone a thank you?" Hermione said pointedly, looking over to Faith. Lavender stared at her, not speaking and Ron and Harry mumbled a thank you.
"Don't mention it," Faith replied quietly, as she slipped past them upstairs to the dorm.
"That wasn't very nice Lav," Hermione said.
"Look, she knows I don't like her, and I doubt she likes me either," Lavender replied unashamedly. Hermione left it at that. They were all leaving the next day and she didn't want to argue with the person she'd be spending the next 3 weeks with.
"Come on," Harry said, "We better all get to bed."
"Harry," Hermione whispered, holding him back for a minute as Ron and Lavender went upstairs, "I'm glad we get to be together."
"Me too," he replied softly, kissing her lightly on the lips before heading to their dorms.
The morning of the departure came and Faith's bags were packed as she stood with Hermione waiting for the carriage. Hermione had packed her things also, even though she'd been coming back in a few days. Harry was looking out for the carriage further down the drive and Ron stood waiting with the girls.
"Lavender's already gone home," Ron said as they were waiting, "She did appreciate you doing this for us, she just didn't want to admit it," he told Faith.
"Yeah well, I didn't exactly give her cause to like me did I?" Faith replied.
"Guess not," Ron replied with a grin. He'd forgiven her deciding she was ok after all.
"The carriage is here," Harry called as he ran back up to help with the cases. Faith stood uncertainly facing the carriage; 'I'll probably never see Harry again,' she thought in desperation, 'but what can I do about it?'
"I'll miss you," Hermione told Harry as she hugged him, "But I know I'll be seeing you soon," she whispered as he kissed her goodbye.
"Yeah, see you soon," Ron called as Hermione climbed into the carriage.
"Bye then," Faith said quietly as she was about to climb in also.
"Hey, Faith," Ron said quickly, causing her to turn round, "No hard feelings eh?" she smiled back at him, and with one last glance at Harry she closed the carriage door behind her. Harry put his head to the window, which Hermione opened.
"It was nice meeting you," he said, smiling at Faith, "I'm sure we'll meet again sometime," he finished. "See you Hermione," he said gently, "I miss you already," he added as the carriage started to move off. Hermione leaned out to wave goodbye, but Faith couldn't bear them seeing the tears in her eyes.
"Sad to be leaving?" Hermione asked gently as she sat back down.
"A bit," Faith replied looking away. Hermione guessed it was because of Harry that she was upset, but she didn't want to embarrass her by speaking of it, so she just relaxed into the seat and thought about how great the next few weeks were going to be.
"Right then," Ron said as the carriage disappeared round the corner, "We better get out things packed, we've leaving in two days you know."
"Mmm," Harry replied as he followed Ron back into the castle. It was true what he'd said, he missed Hermione already; he could feel it in his stomach, like a persistent cramp or ache. 'Maybe this is what period pain is like,' he thought in amusement as he reminded himself that he'd see her again in a couple of days.
"I really can't wait till be get to Lav's" he told Ron as they sat playing wizard's chess that evening.
"Yeah I know what you mean," Ron replied enthusiastically, "I hope the girls get on though," he added, "You know how Hermione gets sometimes."
"It's not always Hermione!" Harry protested, "Lavender's not always the easiest person to get on with." At this the both burst out laughing.
"Come on, we can't start arguing now can we," Ron laughed as he destroyed Harry's Knight.
"Yeah we'll leave it to the girls," Harry laughed. He suddenly sobered up and looked wistfully out of the window. "You know, I miss her already," he told Ron quietly.
"Really?" Ron asked intrigued as to how Harry was feeling. They didn't talk much about their 'feelings', but now that Harry had mentioned his, Ron felt like talking about it,
"Yeah, I actually ache for her.physically I mean," Harry confessed, going red at what he was telling Ron.
"You really love her don't you," Ron stated seriously.
"Yeah, I do," Harry replied. "What about Lavender, I mean, you.you know, love her don't you?" Harry asked, embarrassed at what he was saying.
"Yes, I know I love her it's just that." he started to say.
"Just that what?" Harry prompted.
"Can you believe we're actually talking about this?" Ron joked, avoiding the question. "We're supposed to be macho men!" he laughed. Harry had to laugh at Ron who was now doing an impression of a weightlifter strutting about showing off his muscles.
"So, Faith, you'll ring us when you land won't you?" Hermione's mum was saying as Faith handed in her boarding pass at the airport.
"Yeah, and I'll say to mum and dad for you," Faith replied as she hugged them goodbye. Hermione walked with her to the terminal, while her parents waited by the window.
"Thanks for helping us out," Hermione said as they walked together, "I really appreciate it; we all do." Hermione knew Faith had been cruel over the past few weeks, but she guessed her heart had somehow been in the right place.
"You shouldn't be so nice to me," Faith replied, her voicing shaking a little.
"Look, we all do stupid things, don't worry about it, we all forgave you" Hermione said trying to comfort her.
"No, I don't mean that.I mean." Faith started to cry, and Hermione was distraught as what to do. What was crying about now?
"Faith, what'd wrong? What's happened?"
"Oh, I'm so s-sorry," Faith replied though huge sobs, "I'm r-really sorry, I know I'm awful.I'm sorry."
"Faith!" Hermione called as she headed down the tunnel leading to the plane, "What happened? What did you do?"
"I'm so sorry," Faith repeated looking back, "Just forget about me.I'm not worth it.I'm j-just s-so sorry for ruining y-your Easter," and with that she disappeared out of sight, leaving Hermione in a state of utter bewilderment. 'What was she talking about- ruing our Easter?' she thought to herself.
It was with a confused mind that Hermione travelled back to Hogwarts the next day. She couldn't figure out what Faith had meant; she'd helped them to have a great Easter, not ruined it. But as the carriage pulled up to Hogwarts and she saw Harry standing there all other thoughts were banished as she ran into his arms.
"We leave this evening," Harry told her once they were back inside. "Ron's got hold of some Floo Powder so we're travelling that way."
As Hermione waited with Harry by the fire place for Ron to arrive, she thought of telling Harry what Faith had said, but decided against it; she didn't want to spoil the beginning of the holiday for them by worrying about what she hoped was nothing important.
"Ready?" Ron said as he handed them each a handful of powder.
"Ready," Harry and Hermione said at the same time as one by one they each stepped into the fire to begin what would be a most interesting Easter holiday.