When Hermione finally arrived, Diagon Alley was so crowded she wouldn't have been able to see Harry or Ron if they were standing two feet in front of her and waving their arms around. Still dragging her trunk, she walked down the alley, glancing at new products in shop windows. She instantly realized that she had not set up a place to meet with Ron. Glancing at all the people hurrying down the alley, she did not recognize anyone.
After searching for the Weasleys for about forty minutes, unsuccessfully, she started to worry. Maybe they were supposed to meet tomorrow. "Am I going to have to stay here tonight?" she thought to herself. She started looking at all the people around her; they all looked nice and everything, but ever since Hermione was four years old, she'd had a phobia of strangers. The thought of staying at the inn with a bunch of people she didn't know frightened her.
"Hermione!" Recognizing Harry's voice, she turned quickly to see him and Ron running towards her, pushing people out of their way (quite rudely, in fact). Hermione instantly noticed that both Harry and Ron had grown considerably over the summer. Harry pulled Hermione into a tight embrace, and Ron stretched his arms around the both of them.
"It's been such a long summer," Hermione said with teary eyes. "I've missed you guys so much."
"I've missed you too," said Harry, straightening his glasses.
"So have I," Ron added quickly. Hermione smiled at him.
"Get off me, Ron!" Harry elbowed Ron in the stomach to get out of his arms. Hermione laughed, then putting her arm around Ron's shoulders, said, "Well, we'd best be buying our supplies now."
"You're right," Harry said. Ron merely nodded as he stood slightly hunched and grasping his stomach.
"Ron's parents are waiting for us at the ice cream parlor;" Harry said, "They told us to meet them there when we're through shopping."
Ron nodded again.
"We've been looking for you for almost an hour, Hermione," Harry said. "Where have you been?"
"Oh, I've only been here for about forty minutes," she answered. "I had to take a cab."
"Why?" Ron asked.
"I'll tell you guys later," she said.
After buying all the supplies on their lists, Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way through the crowd towards the ice cream parlor.
"Have you ever seen so many people here?" Ron asked as he ran into a witch carrying her baby, and stopping to apologize heartily.
"No," Harry answered, "It's insane!"
They finally reached the ice cream shop and went inside. Sitting at a table right next to the door sat Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George and Ginny. They all smiled as Harry, Ron and Hermione walked in.
"Hello, Hermione!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. She stood up and gave Hermione a quick hug.
"It's great to see you again, dear!"
"How was your summer?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Oh...it was fine," Hermione lied. She didn't want to upset the Weasleys; everyone seemed so happy. Glancing around at everyone sitting at the table, she saw Ginny staring at Harry, trying to hide her giggling, and Fred and George, wearing their expensive dragon hide jackets, were hiding a couple Canary Creams in their father's ice cream. Hermione felt someone's hand on the middle of her back, and when she turned around, she saw that it was Ron. She grinned at him and put her hand on his.
"Well," Mrs. Weasley said, "I think everyone's getting a bit tired, so we'd best be off home and I can make you all a nice lunch. We'll be traveling by floo powder, so we must to go to Flourish and Blotts to use their fireplace."
Everyone left the ice cream shop, and when they arrived in Flourish and Blotts, Mrs. Weasley went first, followed by Mr. Weasley, who took Hermione's trunk, then Ginny, and then Harry.
"We're going to apparate," Fred said to Ron and Hermione.
"Yeah," said George. "It's very handy. And a lot less painful, if you know what I mean."
Hermione laughed.
"So Ron," Fred said, "Be a gentleman; let Hermione go first, okay?"
And with two pops, Fred and George were gone.
"Finally," Ron said. He grabbed Hermione's arms and gave her a quick kiss. "I missed you."
Hermione kissed him back. "You know I missed you, too. And I'm so glad to finally be out of that house; I can't wait until we can move in together. I never want to see my family again."
Ron's expression changed a little. "I wish you liked your parents more," he said.
"Ron," Hermione started, "you have no idea what I've been going through all summer, and all my life. I am so glad that they're out of my life, finally."
Ron looked down at the ground. Hermione knew that Ron would never understand her situation and how she felt about her family. He had a big, loving family who took care of him and each other; he would never be able to relate to what Hermione had gone through.
"Well," Ron said, "you'd better be heading home. Everyone's going to think we got kidnapped or something."
"Yeah," Hermione said. She grabbed a handful of floo powder from the pretty little jar that sat on the mantle. She stepped into the fireplace, said "The Burrow" and threw the powder down, with her eyes closed. She felt a strong jolt behind her navel, and as she began to spin through the fire places she pulled her arms in to keep them from getting scratched.
Suddenly, she stopped spinning, and when she opened her eyes she saw that she was in the Weasleys' home. She ran her hands through her hair to get all the soot out.
"Oh, there you are!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "We thought you'd never be coming home!" Mrs. Weasley grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her out of the fireplace. "You'd better get out of there before Ron comes through, or..."
At that same moment, Ron appeared in the fireplace, covered in soot. He had a rip in his shirt, revealing a deep cut on his forearm.
"Oh!" Mrs. Weasley saw the cut and quickly fetched a wet washcloth and wiped the blood off Ron's arm. Ron didn't even wince as his mother continued to clean his wound.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked him.
"Yeah," he said dully. "I just didn't pull my arm in fast enough. Got scratched on a nail..."
Mrs. Weasley zapped the bloody washcloth away. "Well then," she said to Ron, "Harry's off with Ginny; said he wanted to show her his new school books. Why don't you show Hermione to her room?"
Ron nodded. "C'mon," he said to Hermione. She followed him up the many flights of stairs.
"Ron? What's wrong?" she asked finally after a long period of silence.
"It's just..." he started. "I don't understand how you can not love your parents.
Hermione sighed. "You have a great family, Ron," she said. "Everybody takes care of each other and actually care what happens to each other. I never had that with my family. My dad, especially, wanted a 'normal' baby, not a witch, you know? He hates me, and my mother wants me to go to a 'normal' school...they weren't supportive of me whatsoever."
"I never knew, Hermione," Ron said. "I'm sorry." He pulled Hermione into a tight hug.
"Thanks," Hermione said. "I needed that."
Just then, a door opened. Ron and Hermione quickly pulled apart, and right after, Ginny popped her head out of her bedroom door and peeked down the stairway.
"Oh...hey Hermione," she said, "you'll be sharing my room! You're stuff's already up here."
"Cool," Hermione said. She turned to look at Ron. "I'll see you later I guess, huh?"
"Yeah," Ron said, blushing. "Later."
Hermione went into Ginny's room, where Harry was sitting on a small cot that was squeezed in between the dresser and her giant trunk.
"Harry?" Hermione exclaimed. "What are you doing in here?"
"I was, I...just...showing Ginny my new, er, school books. Yes. That's all." Harry quickly got off the bed and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
Ginny must have seen the puzzled expression on Hermione's face, because she quickly changed the subject. "So. We leave for Hogwarts tomorrow, you know." "Yeah I know," Hermione answered. "I'm so happy. I never realized how much I missed Hogwarts until this summer."
"It's nice being able to get away from all my brothers," Ginny said.
"Your lucky," Hermione answered. "I wish I had a sibling...even a brother!"
Mrs. Weasley's voice was heard from downstairs. "Girls; lunch time! Get down here before the boys devour everything!"
Hermione giggled as Ginny rolled her eyes, and they walked down the long staircases together.