Note: Chapter complete! More soon.

Chapter 2: Ron and Hermione's Lives

The house was silent the entire day, much to Ron's surprise. He had spent the day lounging around in his room, not in the mood to be around people. He had been laying in the silence, when suddenly there was a loud CRACK from outside the door, followed by Mum's shrill yell.

"FRED! GEORGE! WHAT IN THE NAME OF DUMBLEDORE WAS THAT?!" Mrs. Weasley yelled.

"NOTHING MUM! GEORGE JUST PUT IN TWO TOAD EYE'S INSTEAD OF ONE, AND IT CAUSED A MINOR REACTION!" Fred called to his Mum.

"WHAT?! ONE OF THESE DAYS YOU ARE GOING TO BLOW A HOLE THROUGH THIS HOUSE!"

"IT'S FOR SCHOOL MUM!" George lied innocently, knowing that it was practice for the joke shop he and Fred were going to start. Ron heard her mutter something under her breath, then heard her padding back down the stairs, followed by another CRACK from the twins' room.

Things were never the same between Mrs. Weasley and the twins after what they did last year at school, which was supposed to be their seventh and final year. They had left before the last term was over, after wreaking hell to Professor Umbridge. Well, Mrs. Weasley wasn't having any of this, and she was making the twins repeat their final year, much to their annoyance. They claimed that they were of age and ready to start their joke shop careers, but Mrs. Weasley didn't even give one though to this idea. She threatened them into going back somehow, and Ron didn't know what exactly she did. But it worked. The twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was also being sent to repeat his last year because his family went nutter when they heard what he was up to last year.

Ron got off his bed, and peeked out of his room. He could see blue-colored smoke floating up the stairs, from the direction of the twins' room. His sister, Ginny, suddenly came jogging down the hall.

"One of these days Mum is going to kick them out and never let them back in…that is, unless they don't blow up the house first," she said breathlessly.

"Nah, she wants to keep an eye on them too much to actually kick them out," Ron pointed out.

"Good point."

"Where are you going?" Ron asked his sister, who had a slightly guilty look on her face.

"Oh. Um…you promise you won't tell Mum?"

"All right."

"Percy sent me an owl last night saying he was in town, and he wanted to see me. He is waiting in the trees behind the house right now," she said quickly.

"What?! He's here? Does he think he is actually welcome here anymore?!" Ron nearly shouted.

"Ron, shhh! Don't let Mum hear you…she's not supposed to know he's here, he doesn't want to talk to anyone but me. And besides, Mum will go absolutely crazy."

"I'm coming with you," Ron declared. "I want to tell him what a lying, son of a -"

"No Ron," Ginny interrupted. "Please? I promised him. And I promise I'll tell you everything he said when I come back." Ron looked into her pleading eyes and wondered what exactly the big deal about him coming along was, but he finally gave in. It's not like Percy had ever said anything bad to Ron, besides all the advice he was always muttering about school and Ron's choice of friends. He actually didn't say anything to him before he left. He was just gone the next morning when everyone was up for breakfast, with no note or anything. Every time a family member tried to contact him, he would send the letters back unopened.

"Okay, just don't believe everything he says, all right? He may be trying to get you to go against us all like he did. What if he's going to kidnap you?"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to fall for anything he may say along those lines. You know that….and don't be ridiculous, Ron."

"Yeah, yeah. I want a full report when you get back."

"Yes sir. You sound like Dad," she giggled.

"That's my job when he's not home," Ron acted like he was tightening a tie. Ginny kissed his check, and then hurried down the stairs, leaving Ron standing in the hall that was slowly becoming filled of smoke. He coughed, and then shut his bedroom door tightly. His Quidditch team posters were covering his walls, and he stared at them longingly. Photos on his dresser of Harry and Hermione from school last year caught his attention, and he picked one up. They all waved to him, with large grins on their faces. Hermione seemed to be looking exceptionally pretty in the picture, and Ron's stomach flittered at that thought. Since when was Hermione pretty? Since when was she something other then a friend? He quickly put the picture back down and looked over to Pig, who was sleeping soundly in his cage. A spot of red hair caught his attention from out the window. He hurried and looked out, and spotted Ginny running into the trees with a back pack on her back. Ron knew that she was up to more then just talking with Percy. She had to be doing something else…but what? Ron couldn't figure it out. He was tempted to run around and follow her, but she had already disappeared into the trees. There was a knock at the door.

"Ronnie darling, a letter arrived for you. It's from Hermione," Mrs. Weasley said from outside the door. Ron flew off his bed, and opened the door so quickly, it slammed into the wall, and almost came off.

"A letter? Where?"

"Careful Ronnie!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, stepping back as Ron almost tumbled into her. She held out the pink paper, and Ron snatched it so fast, it fell from both their grasps. Ron was about to shut the door, when Mum's hand stopped it.

"You're welcome."

"Thanks," he mumbled, closing the door all the way. He sat on his bed, and brought the letter to his face. He could smell the light perfume, almost a lilac scent. His name was printed neatly across in Hermione's cursive penmanship. He didn't know why, but his fingers were shaking slightly as he opened it, and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He began to read:

'Dear Ron,

How is your summer going so far? Are the twin's keeping out of trouble, or have they blown the house in yet? If I get a response, they I guess I'll know if you are okay, hehe. (Since when did Hermione go "hehe?" Ron thought) It's a bit funny to think that they are going to be back at Hogwarts this us again this year. How are things with Percy? Has he come home yet? My summer has been pretty hectic. Mum and Dad took me to France, were we stopped in Paris. The Eiffel Tower is magnificent, Ron, you have to go there someone. (With you, hopefully, Ron thought. Where did that come from?!) I picked something up for you and Harry, I'll give it to you on the train. That's actually the main reason I wrote you-I sent Harry a letter, and wrote that we should get together for the last week of summer. I am still awaiting his reply…I think the Dursley's may have intercepted that owl. Do you think we could come to The Burrow? I would invite you guys here, but you know how my parents are. I hope to get a reply from you soon. Enjoy the summer, and don't forget about your homework.

Love from,

Hermione.'

Ron finished reading with his eyes wide. Hermione had actually written to him. But then again, she'd written to Harry first…He pushed that out of his mind, and quickly grabbed a pen and paper to respond…

Hermione had just finished eating her dinner, when an owl crashed into the window. Her Mum jumped, and dropped her fork.

"What was that, dear?" she asked, staring at the spot where the owl had crashed, waiting for a sign of what it was.

"It must be a message from one of my friends," Hermione replied, jumping up and opening the window. Errol, one of the Weasley owls, jumped to her arm, and looked a bit knocked out.

"Do they not know of the postal service?" Mr. Granger said, a bit irritated.

"Dad, you know that's not how most of my friends send mail," Hermione replied impatiently.

"But can't they at least learn? I wonder what the neighbors are thinking right now!" He said in a tone that reminded Hermione of what one of the Dursley's might say to Harry.

"No one saw anything Dad, it's already getting dark outside," Hermione shoved the letter into her jeans pocket.

"Well, what does it say?"

"I'll open it later," Hermione took her dish up to the sink.

"Is it a letter from one of those boys?" Mrs. Granger said in an almost disgusted tone. "You really should find some new friends. Mrs. Tyler's daughters are very nice, and they live right down the block." Hermione held in a sigh. Usually her parents were okay with her being a witch and with her friends, as long as she didn't talk much about it. But sometimes they seemed to get fed up that her daughter was "one of them," while they were both normal muggles. It was times like this that Hermione really missed being at Hogwarts, where she was free to discuss anything she wanted.

"I'm going to my room," Hermione left the kitchen with Errol on her shoulder before either of her parents could reply. She lived in a modern, two-story house, decorated just like any other house on this block. Hermione's room was a bit different. She had her school books and wand and robes laying on her desk and dresser, and a few Quidditch team posters on her walls. Miniature Eiffel Tower statues that she had bought for Harry and Ron were sitting on her school trunk, wrapped already. Her cat, Crookshanks, was curled up in the corner. Hermione sat on her bed, and set Errol down on the edge of her chair, where he closed his eyes. The letter was from Ron, she could tell right away by the scribbled handwriting. She smiled for some reason when she realized it was him, and began to read:

'Hermione,

My summer is going fine, rather boring, the same as any other. The twins have been working constantly on new products for their joke shop, I don't think they have fully figured out that they are going to have to wait another year or so to open up a place. Right now as a matter of fact there is a blue steam traveling along the halls. Mum isn't too excited about that. It's funny that you mention Percy actually. I caught Ginny running out of the house, and she told me that Percy was here and wanted to talk to her. She has not returned yet, so I'm not sure what he wanted. All I know is that Mum can't find out or she will be really upset. It sounds like you had a good time in France, I can't wait to hear about it. I sent Pig with a letter to Harry, so that's why Errol has come to you. I hope he gets this to you, he's getting bloody old. We'll have to see if Harry responds to my letter. Maybe he hasn't gotten yours yet. I asked Mum, and she said she'd be delighted to have you and Harry for the remaining summer, so if it is okay with your parents, come on over. I'm sure Harry will find a way to get here too, if he ever gets our letters. Do you have any Floo Powder left, is that how you'd get here? Write back….and yes, I actually have all the homework done…well…most of it at least.

Ron.'

Hermione finished reading, and felt a huge wave of relief that she could finally be with her friends, instead of being alone all the time. She just hoped that Harry would be able to go as well. She suddenly felt slightly alarmed that her parents might say no, so she decided it was best if she just wrote them a note to find, and leave tomorrow when they were both at work. She wrote this down quickly in a response to Ron, and told him she'd be there sometime tomorrow afternoon. Errol looked slightly annoyed that she had another message for him, and flew out her window right after she'd got the letter on his foot with a tired 'hoot.' All of her books were out of place, so she quickly packed everything as neatly as possible, and didn't stop until her trunk was overflowing, and hardly closed.

As she lay in bed that night, she could hardly hide the excitement she felt about going back to The Burrow. It was a really homely-kind of place to be…Ron's family was nice, and Ron and Harry themselves were two people Hermione could always count on a laugh from. She sighed, and fell asleep, thinking about the three of them playing a game of Quidditch.