Chapter 1: The Invitation

It was a beautiful Monday morning where fifteen-year-old Hermione Granger lived; the trees were swaying in the wind, and the sun was shining down upon the yellow grass. It was a wonderful day to just lie around and do nothing, which was Hermione's exact intention. It had been exactly one week since the end of term, and all of the events of the past year were still fresh in her mind.

Bored out of her mind from staring at the pasty white ceiling, Hermione figured she had to do something before her brain decided to shut off completely. She slowly sat up and looked out the window. A tall willow tree sat in front of her window, its bright green leaves flowing about in the breeze. Hermione had come to appreciate this tree more in the past few years because it reminded her of the deadly willow tree that was located at Hogwarts. Her thoughts were still on Hogwarts as she stood up and walked over to the bookshelf on the other side of the room. Scanning the shelves, she took down her copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Hermione flipped through the pages incoherently, not really reading it, just looking at the illustrations.

Hermione was suddenly brought back to her senses by a light tapping at her window. Yes, finally! A letter from Ron, I've been waiting for forever, she said to herself. It hadn't been forever, just a day or two, but it felt like so much longer. She quickly untied the letter from Pig's leg an unfolded it as fast as possible and began reading Ron's untidy scrawl.

Hermione,

How are you? Everything's okay here, but dad is totally stressed out. Apparently the Ministry's having a little trouble fixing all of the stuff that was damaged, and returning back to business as usual. I just asked mum and she said that you could come over anytime you'd like, just tell us when it would be a good time to come and get you. Please come as soon as possible, the family's driving me nuts! Harry will be coming over in a couple of weeks, but I don't know if I can wait that long without one of you two here. Well I have to go, mum's having a fit that I haven't set the table for dinner yet, so I'll talk to you later. Hopefully I'll see you soon!

Ron

She sighed happily as she finished reading the letter. Then she suddenly snickered as she found a P.S.

P.S. Miss me yet?

She wondered if he missed her, just like she told him to. It was quite humorous to her, the way Hermione had said goodbye to him; she knew that it had shocked him. To be truthful, it had shocked her as well. It was quite startling that Hermione would do something as impulsive as to kiss someone, and for really no reason at that-In fact, it was one of the most un-Hermione-like things to do. She couldn't figure it out, so didn't linger on the thought.

Nevertheless, Hermione had kept her promise that she would miss Ron. She missed Harry too, of course. In fact she knew him better than Ron. If truth be told, she could usually tell about how Harry was feeling just by looking at him, or listening to him talk. Ron though, was very difficult to tell how he felt, and very, very hard to agree with; there was just some reason why he and Hermione kept nagging each other, though Hermione couldn't explain it. Maybe it was just with all that had happened at the Ministry that somehow made her feel more connected with Ron, because she did miss him more than usual this summer. That probably wasn't it, as Harry was there too, along with three other people. She didn't know, and she couldn't figure it out, it just...was.

She picked out her departure day as she shook the confusing thoughts out of her mind. "Mum," Hermione yelled down the hallway, "I'm going to Ron's house on Thursday." She didn't wait for her mother's reply to write back to him.

Ron,

I'm fairly well. It sounds hectic at your house, so I'll come to keep you company. I know it must be pretty unnerving having to live with so many people with no one to really talk to. You can pick me up at one o'clock on Thursday; I should be ready by then. See you very soon!

Love Always,

Hermione

She folded the letter and tied it to the owl's leg and sent him off. Thank God she would finally be able to go and see her best friends, instead of lying around in her pajamas all day doing nothing. And for some reason, she had a tingling sensation in her stomach that something new and different would happen during her visit this year.

It was about 8:00 A.M. on Thursday morning and Hermione was waiting patiently in the family room for Ron to arrive. Her bags had been packed for more than two days, and since it would be four or five hours until the Weasleys came to pick her up, she decided to occupy herself with cartoons. People said it was childish to watch cartoons at the age of 16 but why should she care? There was just something about a talking dog named Scooby Doo or a sponge that lived in the sea named Spongebob Squarepants that was just so appealing and entertaining to give up because people thought it was for children. So she watched the crime solving dog and the patty-flipping sponge until her mother called her for lunch.

She didn't eat much, since she was so excited. Mrs. Granger was almost to the point of shoving the food into her mouth; apparently she had gotten the idea that Hermione was trying to make herself skinnier, but stopped when they heard a clunking sound coming from the family room.

"They're here!" Hermione almost shouted with excitement. She ran into the room and nearly suffocated an ash covered Ron as she engulfed him in a bear hug.

"Hermione, I'm glad to see you too, but could you like-let go of me?" Ron asked with effort, as Hermione loosened her grip around his neck and dropped a few inches to the floor.

"Oh, Ron, I'm sorry, it's just that I'm so happy to see you!" Hermione said joyfully as she hugged Ron again, but with less force.

Ron almost looked surprised. "Are you really that happy to see me?" he questioned her as she clung on to him.

"Of course I am, what kind of a question is that? What, are you not happy to see me?" Hermione said pretending to sound abashed as she faked a hurt look on her face.

"I'm really very sorry to ruin your reunion," a voice said teasingly from near the fireplace.

"-But we should really be on our way back," finished an almost identical voice.

"Oh, hello George, hello Fred," Hermione said to the twins. She should have known that Ron wouldn't be by himself, and wondered why she hadn't noticed them before. "Well I guess you're right," she said as she walked towards her mother and father, "I'll see you at Christmas. I love you, and I'll write you at least once a week, like I always do. See you later."

Mr. and Mrs. Granger hugged her then she walked towards the fireplace and waved at them. Her mother waved back with tears in her eyes, as though she was moving far away. But a split second later the scene changed and she was standing in the fireplace of the burrow.