Harry awoke the next morning to see Hermione and Ron still asleep in the chairs they had fallen
asleep in. Ron was snoring loudly and had thrown his legs over the arm of the chair. Hermione
had conjured an ottoman, once more surprising Harry with her cleverness. She was resting her
head on the chair's arm and had a flannel blanket. Harry stared at his two best friends and
grinned.
Just then, Hermione opened her eyes a tiny bit and then all the way. She smiled at Harry sleepily.
"Good morning Harry." She said, suppressing a yawn. Ron, hearing the other two talking,
stretched his arms out wide and yawned with his mouth open very far. Harry and Hermione both
just looked at him and grinned.
"G'Morning." Ron said to both of them. They both responded, and made Hermione leave so they
could change. Both of the boys put on jeans and t-shirts while Harry tried to comb his hair down.
It wouldn't go down, so he did an imitation of his father and ruffled it ferociously. Ron was
smiling at him.
"New look?"
Harry just laughed. "Sure, Ron." He ruffled it further while Ron laughed. Then, there was a
knock on the door followed by the voice of Mrs. Weasley.
"Breakfast, boys!" They looked at eachother excitedly and raced down the staircase. When they
arrived in the kitchen, Hermione and Ginny were both already there, along with Remus, Molly,
Arthur, and Tonks. Hermione, Ginny and Tonks were all looking at Witch Weekly and giggling
while Ginny blushed a shade of crimson. Harry and Ron sat next to Remus while Remus beamed
at Harry.
"Harry, from a distance you looked just like your father." Harry smiled at this compliment. He
realized now that what his father had done to Snape was when he was young-similar to himself
and Malfoy. Snape probably had acted a lot like Malfoy too when he was younger.
"Thank you.." Harry replied, but was quickly cut off by Mrs. Weasley's presentation of breakfast.
She put a plate in front of Harry filled with bacon, scrambled eggs, two biscuits, two sausage
links, and a small bowl of Quidditch Crunch, a wizarding cereal with marshmallow Snitches ,
broomsticks, bludgers and other things associated with Quidditch.
"Wow! Kind of like Lucky Charms!" exclaimed Harry. The others all looked quizzically at him
while Hermione smiled and explained to Ginny.
"A Muggle breakfast..." She said while Ginny and Tonks nodded, as Kreacher limped through
the room muttering, "Muggle breakfast...the scum.."
"Mrs. Weasley.." Harry continued, "I really don't need this much.." She smiled at him.
"You're all skin and bones, Harry! Eat up now!" Mrs. Weasley commanded.
Everyone had a great breakfast, and near the end of it, Hogwart's letters arrived. The book list
was rather extensive this year, and to Mrs. Weasley's great joy Ginny had been made Prefect.
Hermione had been made Head Girl, of course, but neither Ron nor Harry had been named Head
Boy. It was a great mystery to them who could be the Head Boy of Gryffindor.
After breakfast, everyone helped Mrs. Weasley clear the table quickly, with their stomachs
feeling near a point of explosion. As soon as the table was cleared off, Arthur Apparated to work
and Tonks Apparated as well since she had to do some "work", but everyone else knew it was
something for the Order. Mrs. Weasley asked the rest if they'd like to visit the Burrow, and they
agreed. Lupin decided to remain at Grimmauld Place in case someone stopped by.
So, Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry set off for the Burrow. Once they arrived, It
was afternoon and quite a sunny day. The day reflected Harry's mood; he was happier now than
he had been in a very long time. The Burrow looked just the same as ever, except Harry observed
they had invested in some new shutters and painted the house.
"Do you like our paint job?" Mrs. Weasley asked eagerly. "Fred and George had it done for us!"
Harry told her it looked very nice, and smiled to himself. Indeed, the brown paint with green
shutters looked wonderful, but no matter what they did this was the Burrow- and to Harry, it felt
like home.
He went inside, following Ron and Ginny. Hermione kept nudging him in the ribs.
"What Hermione?" he finally asked.
"Just...I didn't really get to tell you over the summer...you've really grown up...a lot." She said ,
somewhat nervously. Harry wasn't really sure what to say.
"You too. And Ron! You both look great!" She smiled, but it was a bit weak as if that hadn't
been the response she wanted. Ron turned around and smiled at both of them happily. They all
entered the Burrow and looked around. It was still very cozy and homey, with quilts thrown over
chairs, hand woven rugs on the floors, and the clock with the Weasley's names on it. Harry
noticed however that Percy was no longer on the clock face. The four of them, Ron, Hermione,
Harry and Ginny, walked around outside in a small forest near the Burrow, with Ron carrying a
large basket on his arm.
"Ron, this is a great place! How come you never brought us here before?" Hermione was
questioning him. He shrugged.
"I guess I just never really thought of it.."
Hermione and Ron walked ahead while Ginny and Harry walked a few steps behind them. Ginny
was grinning.
"My brother and Hermione make a sweet couple.." She giggled. Harry grinned too.
"They really do..." He had to laugh. Ginny had become so observant about things like that. She
actually had been the one to set Fleur up with Bill by "accidently" hinting they were good
together. "I heard you're the one who got Bill and Fleur together."
Ginny smiled. "I like Fleur. She's much sweeter now than when we met her. Something has
changed in her...I just noticed her eyeing Bill all the time...hey," Ginny stopped talking about her
brother and smirked. "Are you still eyeing Cho Chang nowadays?"
Harry blushed a bit. Ginny had become so straightforward and clever too.
"She and I had a small...falling out last year..." Harry explained.
"I thought so.." Ginny said, "I heard that she and Roger Davies got together..."
Harry nodded. For a few more minutes they were silent, until Ron turned around. The group had
been walking now for a half an hour up a rather large hill and had reached the top.
"Here we are!" Ron said happily. Ginny was grinning.
"This is where we spent some of our happiest childhood memories!" Ginny explained. "Fred,
George, Ron and I came up here all the time. The others thought we were dumb..."
Ron was beaming. "We used to play Muggles..."
Hermione interjected, "I used to play Witches!" Ron looked at her strangely and continued
staring around the meadow. There was a huge tree in the middle with outstretched branches,
while the rest was grass. Some thistle and daisies also grew in the meadow. A small pond was
also in the meadow , but the only thing around the meadow's edges was forest. Ron grinned.
"Come here." He said waving his hand at them and walking towards the small pond. He pulled
some bread crumbs out of his pocket and handed some to Hermione and Harry. Hermione took a
pinch and threw it in the pond. After a few seconds, multicolored fish swam to the surface and
nibbled on the bread crumbs. The fish had prismatic scales that shone in various shades of pink,
blue, silver and purple. Harry followed Hermione's example and threw pinches of bread crumbs
into the pond. Ron was grinning.
"What'dya think of our fish?" he asked his friends proudly.
"They're great!" Hermione exclaimed. Everyone sat around the pond a few more minutes and fed
the fish, then Ginny and Hermione picked flowers.
"They're for mum," Ginny explained, while Hermione nodded. Harry and Ron sat under a large
tree and watched the girls while talking.
"So..Harry..." Ron began, "What'dya think of Mione?" Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"She's my friend...what do mean?" Harry asked, not comprehending what Ron wanted him to
say.
"I mean...she looks different now...she's still our Mione...but..there's something different. She's
not so obsessed with homework." Ron explained. Harry then grinned, understanding it.
"Ron...do you like Hermione?" he asked quietly, so the girls couldn't hear.
Ron's face turned a deep crimson red. "I think I do..." Harry smiled.
"Thought so."
Then Ron looked as though a terrible thought occured to him, "Am I...obvious??"
Harry shook his head. "No. What's going on with her and Victor?"
Ron looked a little upset at the mention of Victor's name. "I'm not sure...I was wondering
though..could you...er—find out for me?"
Harry thought about it for a few seconds, and nodded slowly. "I'll ask her."
After about fifteen minutes more Hermione and Ginny plopped down under the tree where Ron
and Harry sat, both grasping a huge amount of flowers. It consisted of daises and other
wildflowers.
"What are you going to put those in?" Ron asked curiously. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Honestly...you'd never think you're a wizard..." She pulled out her wand and conjured a clear,
blue vase with a smug expression on her face and placed the flowers in it.
Ron opened his mouth to argue, but looked as though he thought better of it, then pulled the large
basket beside him that he had brought with him. He opened the lid and inside were four
sandwiches and four butterbeers, plus some apples and bananas.
"Picnic!" Ron exclaimed, as everyone dug into the picnic basket. As Ron pulled his sandwich out
of the basket, his arm brushed Hermione's, who was reaching for a corned beef sandwich. Small
pinpricks of pink appeared on her cheeks as her eyes met Ron's, as she quickly grabbed the
sandwich. Harry grinned to himself at his best friends. He decided that night he would have a talk
with Hermione just as Ron requested.
asleep in. Ron was snoring loudly and had thrown his legs over the arm of the chair. Hermione
had conjured an ottoman, once more surprising Harry with her cleverness. She was resting her
head on the chair's arm and had a flannel blanket. Harry stared at his two best friends and
grinned.
Just then, Hermione opened her eyes a tiny bit and then all the way. She smiled at Harry sleepily.
"Good morning Harry." She said, suppressing a yawn. Ron, hearing the other two talking,
stretched his arms out wide and yawned with his mouth open very far. Harry and Hermione both
just looked at him and grinned.
"G'Morning." Ron said to both of them. They both responded, and made Hermione leave so they
could change. Both of the boys put on jeans and t-shirts while Harry tried to comb his hair down.
It wouldn't go down, so he did an imitation of his father and ruffled it ferociously. Ron was
smiling at him.
"New look?"
Harry just laughed. "Sure, Ron." He ruffled it further while Ron laughed. Then, there was a
knock on the door followed by the voice of Mrs. Weasley.
"Breakfast, boys!" They looked at eachother excitedly and raced down the staircase. When they
arrived in the kitchen, Hermione and Ginny were both already there, along with Remus, Molly,
Arthur, and Tonks. Hermione, Ginny and Tonks were all looking at Witch Weekly and giggling
while Ginny blushed a shade of crimson. Harry and Ron sat next to Remus while Remus beamed
at Harry.
"Harry, from a distance you looked just like your father." Harry smiled at this compliment. He
realized now that what his father had done to Snape was when he was young-similar to himself
and Malfoy. Snape probably had acted a lot like Malfoy too when he was younger.
"Thank you.." Harry replied, but was quickly cut off by Mrs. Weasley's presentation of breakfast.
She put a plate in front of Harry filled with bacon, scrambled eggs, two biscuits, two sausage
links, and a small bowl of Quidditch Crunch, a wizarding cereal with marshmallow Snitches ,
broomsticks, bludgers and other things associated with Quidditch.
"Wow! Kind of like Lucky Charms!" exclaimed Harry. The others all looked quizzically at him
while Hermione smiled and explained to Ginny.
"A Muggle breakfast..." She said while Ginny and Tonks nodded, as Kreacher limped through
the room muttering, "Muggle breakfast...the scum.."
"Mrs. Weasley.." Harry continued, "I really don't need this much.." She smiled at him.
"You're all skin and bones, Harry! Eat up now!" Mrs. Weasley commanded.
Everyone had a great breakfast, and near the end of it, Hogwart's letters arrived. The book list
was rather extensive this year, and to Mrs. Weasley's great joy Ginny had been made Prefect.
Hermione had been made Head Girl, of course, but neither Ron nor Harry had been named Head
Boy. It was a great mystery to them who could be the Head Boy of Gryffindor.
After breakfast, everyone helped Mrs. Weasley clear the table quickly, with their stomachs
feeling near a point of explosion. As soon as the table was cleared off, Arthur Apparated to work
and Tonks Apparated as well since she had to do some "work", but everyone else knew it was
something for the Order. Mrs. Weasley asked the rest if they'd like to visit the Burrow, and they
agreed. Lupin decided to remain at Grimmauld Place in case someone stopped by.
So, Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry set off for the Burrow. Once they arrived, It
was afternoon and quite a sunny day. The day reflected Harry's mood; he was happier now than
he had been in a very long time. The Burrow looked just the same as ever, except Harry observed
they had invested in some new shutters and painted the house.
"Do you like our paint job?" Mrs. Weasley asked eagerly. "Fred and George had it done for us!"
Harry told her it looked very nice, and smiled to himself. Indeed, the brown paint with green
shutters looked wonderful, but no matter what they did this was the Burrow- and to Harry, it felt
like home.
He went inside, following Ron and Ginny. Hermione kept nudging him in the ribs.
"What Hermione?" he finally asked.
"Just...I didn't really get to tell you over the summer...you've really grown up...a lot." She said ,
somewhat nervously. Harry wasn't really sure what to say.
"You too. And Ron! You both look great!" She smiled, but it was a bit weak as if that hadn't
been the response she wanted. Ron turned around and smiled at both of them happily. They all
entered the Burrow and looked around. It was still very cozy and homey, with quilts thrown over
chairs, hand woven rugs on the floors, and the clock with the Weasley's names on it. Harry
noticed however that Percy was no longer on the clock face. The four of them, Ron, Hermione,
Harry and Ginny, walked around outside in a small forest near the Burrow, with Ron carrying a
large basket on his arm.
"Ron, this is a great place! How come you never brought us here before?" Hermione was
questioning him. He shrugged.
"I guess I just never really thought of it.."
Hermione and Ron walked ahead while Ginny and Harry walked a few steps behind them. Ginny
was grinning.
"My brother and Hermione make a sweet couple.." She giggled. Harry grinned too.
"They really do..." He had to laugh. Ginny had become so observant about things like that. She
actually had been the one to set Fleur up with Bill by "accidently" hinting they were good
together. "I heard you're the one who got Bill and Fleur together."
Ginny smiled. "I like Fleur. She's much sweeter now than when we met her. Something has
changed in her...I just noticed her eyeing Bill all the time...hey," Ginny stopped talking about her
brother and smirked. "Are you still eyeing Cho Chang nowadays?"
Harry blushed a bit. Ginny had become so straightforward and clever too.
"She and I had a small...falling out last year..." Harry explained.
"I thought so.." Ginny said, "I heard that she and Roger Davies got together..."
Harry nodded. For a few more minutes they were silent, until Ron turned around. The group had
been walking now for a half an hour up a rather large hill and had reached the top.
"Here we are!" Ron said happily. Ginny was grinning.
"This is where we spent some of our happiest childhood memories!" Ginny explained. "Fred,
George, Ron and I came up here all the time. The others thought we were dumb..."
Ron was beaming. "We used to play Muggles..."
Hermione interjected, "I used to play Witches!" Ron looked at her strangely and continued
staring around the meadow. There was a huge tree in the middle with outstretched branches,
while the rest was grass. Some thistle and daisies also grew in the meadow. A small pond was
also in the meadow , but the only thing around the meadow's edges was forest. Ron grinned.
"Come here." He said waving his hand at them and walking towards the small pond. He pulled
some bread crumbs out of his pocket and handed some to Hermione and Harry. Hermione took a
pinch and threw it in the pond. After a few seconds, multicolored fish swam to the surface and
nibbled on the bread crumbs. The fish had prismatic scales that shone in various shades of pink,
blue, silver and purple. Harry followed Hermione's example and threw pinches of bread crumbs
into the pond. Ron was grinning.
"What'dya think of our fish?" he asked his friends proudly.
"They're great!" Hermione exclaimed. Everyone sat around the pond a few more minutes and fed
the fish, then Ginny and Hermione picked flowers.
"They're for mum," Ginny explained, while Hermione nodded. Harry and Ron sat under a large
tree and watched the girls while talking.
"So..Harry..." Ron began, "What'dya think of Mione?" Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"She's my friend...what do mean?" Harry asked, not comprehending what Ron wanted him to
say.
"I mean...she looks different now...she's still our Mione...but..there's something different. She's
not so obsessed with homework." Ron explained. Harry then grinned, understanding it.
"Ron...do you like Hermione?" he asked quietly, so the girls couldn't hear.
Ron's face turned a deep crimson red. "I think I do..." Harry smiled.
"Thought so."
Then Ron looked as though a terrible thought occured to him, "Am I...obvious??"
Harry shook his head. "No. What's going on with her and Victor?"
Ron looked a little upset at the mention of Victor's name. "I'm not sure...I was wondering
though..could you...er—find out for me?"
Harry thought about it for a few seconds, and nodded slowly. "I'll ask her."
After about fifteen minutes more Hermione and Ginny plopped down under the tree where Ron
and Harry sat, both grasping a huge amount of flowers. It consisted of daises and other
wildflowers.
"What are you going to put those in?" Ron asked curiously. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Honestly...you'd never think you're a wizard..." She pulled out her wand and conjured a clear,
blue vase with a smug expression on her face and placed the flowers in it.
Ron opened his mouth to argue, but looked as though he thought better of it, then pulled the large
basket beside him that he had brought with him. He opened the lid and inside were four
sandwiches and four butterbeers, plus some apples and bananas.
"Picnic!" Ron exclaimed, as everyone dug into the picnic basket. As Ron pulled his sandwich out
of the basket, his arm brushed Hermione's, who was reaching for a corned beef sandwich. Small
pinpricks of pink appeared on her cheeks as her eyes met Ron's, as she quickly grabbed the
sandwich. Harry grinned to himself at his best friends. He decided that night he would have a talk
with Hermione just as Ron requested.