Chapter 3: The Letter

The dying sun shot its last few rays of light through the sky. The orange, red, and yellow streaked sky slowly faded into a dark blue as Hermione and Ginny made their way home. "It's pretty, isn't it?" Hermione asked as she walked beside Ginny.

"Yes, tonight is going to be beautiful," Ginny replied.

"You know it's too bad we don't have a house or a cottage by the ocean. Then we could go walking out on the beach at night. Have you ever done that?" Hermione said, their house was visible, which meant only a few more minutes of walking.

"Yes, when Harry and I went to Mexico for our honeymoon, we danced and walked at night at the beach by our hotel," Ginny said, remembering that night.

"When I get married I want to go to Hawaii for my honeymoon," Hermione said. Ginny noticed that she said 'when I get married' not 'when I marry Ron.'

"You know that's where Ron wants to go for his honeymoon too," Ginny commented, as they turned up the driveway to the house.

"Really?! Hawaii is a wonderful place to go of you ever get the chance. My parents took me there once," Hermione replied.

"Thanks, I'll remember that." Ginny unlocked and opened the door. They walked over threshold and into the house. It was a little dark so Hermione went into the kitchen and turned on the light. Ginny followed and got a bottle of cold water out of the fridge, while Hermione became interested in a letter lying on the table.

"Ginny, take a look at this," Hermione said, indicating the letter that was in her hand.

"There's nothing written on it," Ginny observed. She was right; the plain white envelope had nothing written on it whatsoever. "Open it."

Hermione grabbed the letter opener on the counter and ripped open the envelope. Taking the letter out she unfolded it and began to read. Ginny knew something was wrong when Hermione's face became paler as she read on. When she was finished, Hermione's limp hand fell to the table as the letter slid to the floor. One word escaped her lips that made Ginny dive for the fallen letter. "Shit."