Chapter Two: Leaving Home
Hermione woke up at a quater to six and smiled. She jumped up and crossed the room to turn on her light. She couldn't stop smiling (it was time to go to the Burrow today!) as she hopped over to her bed to make it for the last time in a long while.
It took her about 5 minutes to get her bed perfect, and another 5 to get dressed and tame her bushy brown hair. In the end, she just put it up in a big pony tail. Hermione then rushed to her trunk and flung open the top. She wanted to make sure she had everything, and with only three more hours to go before Mr. Weasley was to pick her up by the Floo Network, Hermione was beginning to panic. What if she forgot her Potions homework? Snape would surely bite her head off, quite possibly literally.
After another 15 minutes of frantically adding more socks and extra mittens, Hermione practically ran down the stairs, her trunk sliding down giving a dull, but loud, THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... as it hit each stair. She left the trunk in the living room and grinned sheepishly as she heard her father groan from upstairs.
Hermione rushed into the kitchen to prepare her breakfast. She reached into the cupboards and produced a small plate, a bowl, and a cup. In a draw near the sink, she pulled out a butter knife and a spoon. Hermione walked to the bread box and pulled out a piece of bread and popped it into the toaster. She let that toast while she poured herself some Cheerios and orange juice. Her parents always lectured her about how to have a nutritious breakfast (that would help grow strong teeth!).
"I'm not going to miss making my own food when I get back to school," Hermione announced to the empty kitchen.
"What's that, honey?" called a sleepy women's voice. Hermione's parents entered the kitchen in their robes.
"Nothing, mum! Just chatting to myself."
"Hi, honey," said Mr. Granger as he lazily walked to his only daughter and kissed her on top of her head. "You look pretty today."
"Thanks, dad. Don't forget, Mr. Weasley is coming for me at nine."
"How could I foget with you reminding me half a dozen times each hour?" joked Mr. Granger. "Do you have all your things packed?"
"Yes, dad," Hermione replied as her dad sat down to read the paper while Mrs. Granger got out some bowls for her and her husband's breakfasts.
"And you have enough toothbrushes and toothpaste?" questioned her mother.
"Don't worry, mum. I have enough of everything..."
Three hours later, Hermione was still having the same speech about the contents of her trunk with her parents. No one wanted Hermione to forget something. The last thing Hermione had to do was put Crookshanks in his cage. At percisely 9:09, Mr. Weasley burst out of the fireplace in a cool stream of fire while the Granger family stood back and watched. Hermione's parents both jumped, although they had witnessed this before. Mr. Weasley smiled as he stepped out of the hearth, tredding soot on the tan carpet.
"Hello there, Debbie, Bruce, Hermione," he said excitedly, looking around at all the Muggle artifacts. He could not keep the grin off his face.
"Hello, Arthur! It is so nice to meet again," Mrs. Granger replied as she gave a smile that twitched slightly as she stared at Mr. Weasley's feet.
"I just love your home! It's so full of excellent Muggle appliances," Mr. Weasley said as he eyed the television set.
Taking the hint, Mr. Granger said "Would you like me to show you how that works?" as he indicated the television.
"Oh, I would love to, but Molly would kill me if I took too long here. We're going to Diagon Alley today and -"
"I thought we were going tomorrow when Harry gets here..." Hermione said with a frown, thinking maybe she misunderstood Ron's last letter concerning her trip.
"Oh... Well -"
"If you can't stay," interrupted Mr. Granger, sensing a litting tension. "Then let me at least give you these." He picked up a small pile of mechanic magazines and handed them to Mr. Weasley. "Hermione told me how much you love cars."
"Oh! Thank you, Bruce. Molly won't be too happy, but she doesn't need to know," he added with a smile and a wink as he slid the magazines into an inside coat pocket that looked like there was too much space inside than there was material on the outside.
"Well, Hermione, I suppose it's time to go," Mr. Weasley said with a regretful look around the living room.
"Thank you so much for letting Hermione stay with you," said Mrs. Granger as she pulled her daughter into a hug.
"Oh, it's no problem at all. We have so many, I sometimes forget that Hermione isn't one of ours." Mr. Weasley smiled as Hermione went to hug her father.
"Be good, baby girl."
"I will, dad. Don't worry about me."
"Sometimes I can't help it. You're growing up so fast..." Hermione smiled at her father and crossed the room to stand by Mr. Weasley.
"Well, I think you should go first, Hermione. Why don't you take Crookshanks and I'll take your trunk."
"Alright," said Hermione. She walked over to Crookshanks' cage and picked it up in her arms. She walked to the fireplace and stood in there a minute, looking a little silly holding a cage in her hands.
"Are you ready?" questioned Mr. Weasley?
"Yes." With that, Mr. Weasley threw a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace. Hermione said in a clear voice that rang throughout the room "The Burrow."
Immediately, Hermione was zooming through the Floo Network, catching glimpes of other fireplaces until she was forced to close her eyes. A few seconds later, she fell flat on her face. She could hear many voices and soon she was surrounded by a mass of red hair.