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Another turning point

A fork stuck in the road

Time grabs you by the wrist

Directs you where to go

So make the best of this test

And don't ask why

It's not a question

But a lesson learned in time

*~* Greenday ~~ Time of Your Life

Chapter 2: First Impressions

Finally after waiting for days, Monday came and Harry began to pack everything he would need. Once he was done his trunk was a all packed and ready to go. All of his prized possessions were in there in including his Firebolt, Invisibility Cloak, Marauders Map and the pieces of the mirror that Sirius had given him. The Dursley's said that they had to go somewhere, but Harry knew that they just didn't want to be there for when Harry left.

At exactly 5:30 a maroon Astro van pulled up in the driveway. A man was sitting in the drivers seat. Harry thought that it was Hermione's dad. Then he saw Hermione get out of the van and come up the walk. The doorbell rang and he went over to answer it.

"Hi Hermione!"

"Hi Harry!" She gave him a quick hug and then walked in.

"Is your dad coming in?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, he got kind of mad about having to come, we should probably make this quick. Where is your trunk?"

"Upstairs, this way." Harry said as he showed her his room. They carried his trunk (with some difficulty)into the back of the van. Then Hermione walked around to the side.

"We have to sit in the back." She said as she opened the sliding door to let him in. Harry expected Hermione's dad to at least say something but he didn't. When Hermione closed the door, he growled a "ready?" and then pulled out of the driveway. It was a silent drive but every time Harry caught Hermione's eye she gave a sad sort of smile. Harry thought that maybe it was because her dad was mad. Then he wondered if her dad was always this mad. It sadden him to think that.

After a while they pulled into a beautiful house. It was two story and had large unlighted windows. Hermione was the first to speak.

"Home sweet home." She said to Harry as she helped him out of the van. Again her father didn't help but kept going on into the house.

Once inside Harry knew that Hermione's house was far more beautiful than the Dursley's. It was nicely decorated, but all of the windows had the blinds shut. They pulled Harry's trunk into the front room and left it there. Hermione's mom was in the kitchen, cooking.

"Mom, we're home."

"Oh Hermione, I'm glad your back. Was your father a pain?"

"Not more than usual." Hermione said in a small voice.

"Oh hi you must be Harry." Hermione's mom said as she extended her arm for him to shake. "My name is Marie, I'm sorry about my husband, he had umm . . .a rough day at work."

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Granger."

"Oh please call me Marie. Sit down you two and have some cookies." Hermione and Harry sat down at the table and began eating cookies and milk.

"Don't eat too many, dinner will be ready soon."

After they ate some cookies and had some milk Hermione and Harry lugged his trunk upstairs. On the second floor there were three bedrooms and a loft. Hermione's bedroom was the biggest one to the right of the stairs. The room that Ron and Harry were supposed to share was adjacent to it. There was an extra guest bedroom. The rooms were large and spacious. They were each painted a different color. Harry's room was a deep reddish color. There were two twin beds in there that had gold bedspreads. There was a set of boroughs and a large closet. Harry and Hermione set Harry's trunk at the foot of his bed and then they both went into Hermione's room.

Hermione's room was painted a beautiful light purple. Her bedspread was a violet color with deep purple stars. There was a huge bookcase in the corner of her room that was packed with books. A desk was set in the corner, and it was nice and clean but had any papers stacked on it. Hermione sat on the bed and told Harry that he could sit at the desk.

"So how do you like the house?" Hermione asked as she sprawled on her bed.

"Oh it's just beautiful. I really like it a lot." Harry said sincerely.

"Well there isn't much to do for now, but Ron is coming on Wednesday. I think that Fred or George is going to bring him." Hermione said.

Just then Marie called from downstairs, 'dinner!'. Harry followed Hermione downstairs to the dinning room that was in the kitchen. Hermione's dad was in there too.

"Did you really have to yell like that?" he growled to his wife.

"How else did you expect me to call them down here, Steven?" Marie replied sharply. Harry turned to look at Hermione and she gave a sad sort of smile. "Don't worry," she said. "When dad is reminded that we have company, maybe he wont yell so much."

When they entered the kitchen Steven looked at Harry. Surprisingly his expression didn't change. He was already eating and looked about 3/4 done. He looked over to Hermione.

"I thought you said that you have two friends coming. " He said in a piercing voice.

"Well, dad, if you had paid any attention when we picked Harry up, you would know that there was only one boy with me." Hermione replied.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me young lady. Don't ask me to do anything else for you then." Finally Marie came to the rescue of Hermione.

"Oh yes Hermione when is Ron coming?"

"On Wednesday. Are we eating at the bar?" Hermione asked her mother.

"Yeah is that okay? Come sit down." Hermione and Harry sat down. Harry was looking forward to dinner, but he had a bad feeling about Steven. Luckily Steven finished and left the room. Harry found it odd that he didn't pick up his plate. Marie quietly said to them, "Don't worry about him. Just ignore what he says if you can." Then she turned to Hermione. This was the first time that Harry had looked at her and he saw tears in her eyes. "'Mione, don't worry about him. You are going to have a great time."

With that said Marie served them. They were having grilled chicken with white rice and vegetables. It was very delicious. To drink they had some milk. Harry wasn't a big fan of milk but he drank up. The food was delicious and Harry was glad he was there. After they were done Hermione showed him what to do with his plate and then they headed back up to Hermione's room.