CHAPTER 3 DISCLAIMER: If I said they were mine, I'd be lying, and have a bunch of lawyers on my back. So they're not mine, ok? Harry paced nervously in the Dursleys' lounge room, waiting for the minute hand on his watch to hit 12, when the fireplace would be connected to the Floo Network. (After the last incident, the Dursleys had decided to stick with a traditional fireplace.) He couldn't wait to see the Weasleys again, and Hermione of course. His stomach gave a bit of a jolt when she popped into his head. That wasn't a good sign. Harry was still concerned about that dream of his, and how he was going to act around her now. Harry checked his watch and realised he'd been lost in thought for quite a few minutes. It was time to go. Harry grabbed some powder out of sachet in his pocket, threw it into the fireplace, where the flames turned a violent shade of green, heaved his trunk and Hedwig's cage up and stepped in just as Dudley walked in in search of the biscuit tin, and yelled "The Burrow!" as Dudley fainted on the clean carpet. *** Hermione compulsively ran her fingers through her hair and bit her lip as she sat on an old, comfy armchair in the Weasley rec room. Ron was sitting by the table, reading the Daily Prophet and looking for news of Voldemort's rise. As Hermione tapped her foot on the swept floorboards, she glanced up at Ron, who seemed to be looking right back at her at that moment. She gave a weak smile, but Ron snapped his eyes away to focus on the newspaper spread out in front of him. Weird,Hermione thought. Boys. Just as she was about to ask Ron about the review of the 'Revised Hogwarts, A History' book she had been anticipating for what seemed like forever (A/N: resemble any certain books to you? *Cough*Bookfive*Cough*), a loud thump drew her attention to the fireplace, where Harry had apparently just arrived. His glasses were almost falling off the end of his nose, he was covered from head to foot in dust and soot, and he was sprawled out on the floor. Ron chortled, and went to give Harry a hand. Hermione sat there, a little speechless, taking the scene in. Dirty or not, Harry seemed a lot more... mature than last year. His hair had grown a little, and the way it stood up gave her a bit of an urge to go neaten it up for him (or mess it up even more, she couldn't be certain). His eyes had gotten darker, she could tell even from here, and whatever he had been doing over at the Dursleys, he seemed in pretty fine shape. Ron brushed some soot of Harry's jacket ("Better me than mum," he insisted) and Hermione finally got up from her armchair and ran over to them, where Harry enveloped her in a tight hug. Hermione noticed his hands were a little lower than usual but she put it down to the fact that she had grown about an inch over the holidays. After what seemed like forever, they broke the hug and looked each other right in the eyes. Hermione was sure Harry's eyes had gotten greener and sparklier. Must be the lights. "I missed you, Harry," Hermione said. And she meant it. She had thought about Harry for the past few weeks, nonstop. "Missed you back, 'Mione," was his reply. "'Mione?" He had never called her that before. Harry shrugged. "Yeah, why not." Hermione's cheeks went a little red at that point, and she looked over at Ron, who had an unreadable expression on his face. "Um.. Ron?" Ron wiggled his eyebrow, making her giggle. "I didn't see you giving me a hug." Hermione smirked. "Oh, Ronniekins is jealous is he?" Ron gave a mock scowl, and Hermione stepped over to him to give him a hug. After about two seconds, she started to pull back, but Ron seemed a little, well, resistant to letting go. Hermione overcame this by tickling his ribs. "Hey! Geroff me," Ron wheezed, clutching at her wrists. Hermione knew this was torture for him. Lucky for Ron, Harry suddenly joined in, grabbing Hermione around the waist and making her squeal. Ron wrenched himself free, clutching his sides a little. "That's it, Herm-own-ninny, you're doomed!" he threatened, not serious of course. "I'm calling for reinforcements!" Hermione knew he meant Fred and George. Ron marched out into the backyard, and out toward the field where they would have been practising their Quidditch moves. Hermione wriggled in vain, but Harry was holding her too tightly. So she did the only thing she could think of, and pushed him onto the floor, falling after him. Hermione managed to get her hands free and over to Harry's neck. She knew he was most ticklish there. Harry's shoulders hunched up in response, and her fingers got caught between his jaw and his shoulders. "Harry," she whined. Harry seemed to be focused on something behind her, and she twisted her head round to see what it was. "Gotcha!" Next thing she knew, she was flipped over onto her back, Harry laughing as he straddled her stomach and ticked her under her armpits mercilessly. Hermione grabbed around Harry's neck to pull herself up a bit and give herself a chance, but she ended up pulling Harry down. Consequently she found herself staring up at him, his face just 2 or so inches from her own. They were practically gazing in each others' eyes. And neither of them were laughing anymore. They seemed to stay like this for a few minutes, his brilliant green eyes locked on to her chocolate brown ones. The thud of the back door snapped them out of it soon enough; Ron had apparently returned. Harry seemed to realise where he was and jumped up as if he had been burned. Hermione sat up a bit, readjusting her top which had gone a little askew in the commotion, as Ron came charging into the room, declaring that Fred and George had thrown a Filibuster firework at him. Hermione giggled as she noticed a couple of orange sparks still shooting from his equally orange hair. He stuck his tongue out (something he rarely did), walked over to her and helped her up from the ground. "So, I see you guys finished off without me," Ron said. "What have I missed?" If you only knew, Hermione replied, only in her head though. She didn't really want Ron to know, after all. *** A/N: Whew! That one took awhile. I got a bit stuck. Feedback, please!