She paced nervously back and forth in front of her lit fire, blazing merrily. It had been specially connected to the Floo Network over the summer by Arthur Weasley, calling in a favor from his friend in the department (as he was more prone to do, now that he had been promoted to head of department upon Fudge's dismissal).

She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice when Mrs. Weasley's head appeared in the blaze, until she coughed loudly.

"Oh!" She jumped. "Sorry, Mrs. Weasley, I was, um, thinking."

"Yes, I could see that, dear." Molly smiled cheerily and knowingly, and Hermione had the unpleasant sensation that she knew exactly what about. "Are you ready to go?" She was interrupted before she could pursue that train of thought much further - thankfully.

"Yes, of course." Hermione passed her school trunk and collapsed cauldron through, and Mrs. Weasley held them as she suddenly vanished from the fire.

She took a deep breath, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from the mantle, and waved a quick goodbye to her Mum, who had come out of the kitchen to see her leave, before flinging the powder in the flames, and stepping into the roaring green column. "The Burrow!" She enunciated clearly.

On the other side, she was greeted with a rush of color and sound that couldn't be more unlike her quiet, ordinary house.

"Hermione!" Ron and Harry rushed up instantly to hug her bombarding her with questions, the most excitedly asked being Ron's "What've you got to tell me?!" She tried not to look at him - she was nervous enough as it was.

She blushed and pretended she hadn't heard, instead turning to the rest of the family and greeting them politely and graciously (but not without catching a smiling Harry's eye).

Ginny was nearly bursting with news and stories of their Hogwarts classmates, many of whom Hermione didn't bother to keep in touch with. Ginny however, was very social and always had someone writing with the latest gossip.

By the time Hermione had escaped from the landslide of words, she found herself face to face with Percy Weasel- er, Weasley. Despite Percy's full apology to the family, Hermione, the twins, Ron, and Ginny were very unwilling to completely forgive him. Harry, however, seemed to have forgotten Percy's belief of the slander the Daily Prophet had printed of him, and was simply not interested in holding grudges after the "bigger things" that had happened in the past year, and was even talking to Percy regularly now.

"Hello Percy." She said politely, about to extend a hand to shake when Percy gave her a hug instead. Ron gaped a little, but she managed to stay composed. "Nice to see you." She smiled a little more sincerely at him now. He seemed to be trying, at least.

"Likewise, Hermione. Have you read any good books lately?" He tried to imitate his usual pompous behavior, but was smiling a little, and she was reminded pleasantly of Percy before he turned into World's Biggest Git.

"Oh no you don't! You get her started on books and she'll never stop. Go do something boring! She's got news to share!" Ron pulled her away from Percy.

"Not now, Ron. Honestly, it's almost tea-time, and I'm covered in soot." She pulled her arm away, and in doing so caught a glimpse of Ron's irritated expression. She laughed inwardly.

"Have you no patience?" She asked, pseudo-serious. He pouted and she tried not to melt. "Really, though, I need to clean myself up. And I'm not telling you until Christmas Eve."

Harry grinned from over Ron's shoulder and mouthed something that looked suspiciously like "romantic." She shot him a quick glare.

"Aww, damn, Hermione, make a guy wait, won't you?" Ron sighed, exasperated, and Harry sniggered silently and she glared some more.

"Get used to disappointment, Ronald." She smiled sarcastically and turned to leave.

"It's just when you disappoint me that I care, Hermione." Ron muttered under his breath, obviously thinking she couldn't hear. She wavered so briefly that no one else would even notice, but inside her mind was shut down and she couldn't breath. She made herself keep walking even so, although she suddenly found she didn't know where to go. Harry appeared beside her and steered her to the stairs.

"Up and to the left, Ms. Know-it-all." He whispered in her ear, pushing her upwards. She nodded imperceptibly and went up.

"Ah hah, Hermione. Come to share some news?" She had just recovered her ability to think when Fred and George appeared in the hallway with a wickedly smiling Ginny. Oh, damn.