'CHAPTER TWO: THE JOY OF SASSON'

Dudley gaped at Hermione as she led Ron down the stairs. It was as if he'd never seen a girl before. Harry reached over and closed his mouth, causing him to sputter and reel away from his cousin. Ron looked at him with disgust, oblivious to the fact that the fat blonde had just been giving Hermione the once over.

"Hello," Hermione said coolly. She had definitely noticed Dudley's gaze. The boy stood in silence, almost trembling. "I'm Hermione, Harry's friend from school." She stuck out her hand, which Dudley did not take. The knowledge of her magical powers had frightened him immensely.

Ron then stepped up in front of the witch, as if to shield her and spoke, "And I'm Ronald Weasley. Harry's other best friend...from Hogwarts." Dudley visibly flinched at the mention of the school's name. Ron, however, did not hold out his hand. He merely stared at Dudley as if he were an interesting science project that had gone wrong.

"I...I..." Dudley stuttered. He shook his head, turned around, and walked right back into the kitchen where he'd come from.

"Sorry about that," Harry told Hermione. "Clearly he's never seen a girl before."

Hermione waved him off and told Ron in a stern voice that she was 'perfectly fine' when he asked how she was doing. "I'm not ill, Ron," she said forcefully. "I'm a girl."

"I didn't like the way he was looking at you," Ron remarked.

Hermione scoffed. "No? I didn't like it much either. But it's happened before."

"What? McLaggen forget to close his big chin most of the time?" Ron questioned.

Hermione turned slightly pink, with anger or embarrassment, Harry was not sure. "Just because you don't find me attractive does not mean every boy doesn't, Ronald!" She folded her arms across her chest as the tall redhead stared at her uncertainly.

"Well...I..." Clearly, Ron was unsure of how to respond. Hermione huffed impatiently.

The argument came to a stop when the kitchen door swung open to reveal all three Dursley's staring at the other three as if they wished them to disappear immediately.

"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, these are my friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."

Hermione stepped forward and focused her eyes on Petunia. The two women stared at each other momentarily before the younger girl held out her hand to be shaken. Petunia took it cautiously.

"Thank you for letting us stay here for a couple of days," Hermione spoke in a forced cheerful voice. "I promise we won't be a bother."

"Just don't break anything," was Aunt Petunia's sharp reply.

"We'll try to remember that, thanks," Ron spoke up gruffly.

Uncle Vernon raised himself up to full height, which did not meet anywhere near Ron's eye level. "I suppose you know how to fix anything if they break, do you?"

"Well, I'm seventeen," Ron started, "so I can use my wand." He patted his pocket for good measure and Hermione, who rolled her eyes, stepped in.

"Both my parents are non-magical folk. I know what not to do with any electronics you may have around your home."

"Non-magical, you say? Is that possible? Are you magical?"

Both wizards snorted at the question. Hermione was the best in their year at Hogwarts. She was more magical than either of them!

"Yes, I go to school with Harry. But both my parents are dentists."

The Dursley's seemed to forget that the bushy-haired woman in front of them was a witch. Her parents' being dentists had definitely changed their opinion of her. Of course, the fact that Ron had no Muggle sense at all ruined some of Hermione's better chances of having the Dursley's okay with them being at Number Four. Within the next two hours, he'd gotten into another fight with the vacuum and vanished it (Hermione quickly brought it back, much to the Dursley's horror), pressed the 'power' button on the television in awe so many times Harry had to pull him away, and put his feet on Aunt Petunia's immaculate sofa in the living room. All in all, the Dursley's were very pleased when Harry announced that he'd show his friends around their area of Surrey for a bit.

"I didn't mean to vanish it, Hermione. It was just a reflex!" Ron scuffed his shoes on the concrete while listening to the girl rant.

"But, honestly, Ron! Why couldn't you just leave their things alone?"

"I'm sorry!" Ron exclaimed loudly. "I was just interested! Send me to Azkaban!"

A couple walking past them gave the tall redhead a look that clearly said they thought he was crazy when he mentioned the Wizard prison.

"Shh!" Harry silenced his best friends. "They already think I'm weird enough around here! Calm down, would you?"

"Sorry, Harry," Hermione said, biting her lip.

"Yeah, mate," Ron shrugged his shoulders. "It's just that I've never stayed in an all-Muggle home before. I mean, I've been to the Dursley's before, but this is different."

Harry nodded and asked if they'd like to see the park.

Ten minutes later, the trio was lying in the green grass, heads together and looking up at the sky. The Golden Retriever (whom Harry had brought with them) was running circles around them.

"What are you going to call him, Harry?" Hermione asked softly, not wanting to break the quiet feeling.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I can't keep him anyway. You can name him if you like."

Hermione sat up and beamed at the dark haired boy. "Really? How fun!"

Ron smirked at her enthusiasm. "Just don't name it anything stupid," he said.

They sat in silence for another ten minutes while Hermione thought of a name. She patted the dog's head and squealed when he licked her face. She looked up at the sky and nodded as if deciding something to herself.

"I think I've got it," she said.

Harry and Ron looked at her expectantly. "Sasson."

"What?" Ron said loudly.

"It means 'joy,'" Hermione explained.

"That's a pansy name then, isn't it?" Ron reasoned, looking at the dog that was rolling on his back a few feet away.

"Would you like something a bit more manly, Ronald?" Hermione asked scathingly. Ron nodded and was met with a glare that would have killed a lesser person.

"Fine then. What about Saxen? It means swordsman."

"That doesn't even make sense," Ron disapproved.

Hermione huffed, "You pick then, if you're so clever."

"I rather like Sasson, actually," said Harry, giving his thoughts. "'Joy,' you say? That describes him."

"It's Hebrew," Hermione spoke. Ron scoffed and then watched the dog again. It was now chasing its own tail.

"I suppose it is a happy little bugger."

It was settled. Harry's new dog (that he could not keep) was named Sasson, at least temporarily. Harry would have to give him to the Animal Shelter before the friends left for the Burrow.

"Oh, but Harry," Hermione cried when he told them this, "what if they put him down? That would just be awful!"

"What do you mean, put him down?" Ron asked confusedly. He patted the newly named Sasson on the head as it lay in his lap.

"Some shelters kill the animals if no one claims them within a certain period of time," Hermione explained, looking shaken just at the thought.

"Maybe Mum'll take him. Merlin only knows she needs more to do, now that us kids are all gone," suggested Ron.

Hermione beamed at him with big, brown eyes and Ron looked away embarrassedly. Harry, witnessing both of these reactions, smirked and laid back to watch the sky.

After walking around the town for a bit, Harry and his three companions decided to head back to Privet Drive for dinner. On the way, Harry explained to them everything he knew about the Horcruxes, everything he had yet to fill them in on.

"So Dumbledore said there are seven of those things?" Ron asked.

"No, he says there were six; one is Voldemort's body – oh stop it!" Ron still flinched at the sound of the evil wizard's name. "And there's only four left, I suppose. Counting the locket that this R.A.B. person already took. Because Dumbledore got the ring, and I destroyed the diary."

"What are the other three, do you reckon?" Hermione asked with bright eyes. She was most at home, trying to figure things out in her head.

"Well, Dumbledore figures that the snake, Nagini, is one of them. And he thinks Voldemort has something of Ravenclaw and the cup of Hufflepuff."

"I suppose that makes sense," Ron said with a nod.

Hermione agreed and spoke, "But what about Gryffindor? Shouldn't there be something of his?"

Harry shrugged. "The only known artifact left of Godric Gryffindor is the sword I pulled out of the sorting hat in second year."

Ron and Hermione waited as their other friend tied up Sasson in the Dursley's front lawn and then proceeded to follow him into the house.

"How are we sleeping?" Harry asked, scratching his head at the sight of his small room.

"No problem!" Hermione said, "I've already thought of this!"

She grabbed her wand and spoke an enlargement charm – much like the one Mr. Weasley had placed on his Ford Anglia – and then conjured a large sheet to hang in the middle of them room. "For privacy," she explained.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, glancing with a grin towards Harry. "Hermione, you don't trust us?" He held his chest in mock hurt.

Hermione, not missing a beat, retorted, "No, Ron, I don't trust you. Harry is a perfect gentleman."

Harry snorted when Ron threw a pillow and it hit Hermione right on her bushy little head. She stumbled with the force and sat on Harry's bed. "Merlin, you didn't have to take it so seriously. I trust both of you equally." She smiled at the both and stretched her arms above her head. "I'm knackered," she spoke.

"It's been a long day," agreed Ron. He placed the recently thrown pillow on his conjured cot.

"I'm going to change."

Hermione dawdled behind the curtain while Harry and Ron changed into their sleepwear. "I'm still thinking about these Horcruxes," she said.

"Figures," he heard Ron mutter.

"I just don't know what Ravenclaw would have had that could be so special to Voldemort."

"It could be anything," Ron groaned. He flopped himself onto the cot without hesitation just as Hermione stepped out from her shield.

"Ron!" she squealed in surprise.

The redhead gave her a look when they heard Uncle Vernon's voice yell up the stairs to be quiet. Harry yelled an apology and rolled his eyes at the other two.

Hermione sat on the edge of Harry's bed and said, "I suppose I'll have to research Ravenclaw when we get back to Hogwarts."

Harry looked up from his dresser in surprise. "I already told you I'm not going back there." His voice was hard and the normal person would have backed down immediately.

Hermione wasn't much in the way of normal. "Oh, but, Harry! What would you do?"

"I told you I'll be smashing up Horcruxes all over the place," he said grimly. "And then I'll kill Voldie." The conversation had quickly turned very serious.

Ron visibly gulped. "And we already said we'd do it with you, mate. Come back to Hogwarts. It's your home. We'll squeeze in these Horcruxes and You-Know-Who between N.E.W.T.S. and Quidditch." Hermione beamed at him, Harry saw out of the corner of his eye.

"Look, I'll think about it. But I'm not making any promises," he said quickly when Hermione got up to hug him. She did anyway and kissed his cheek.

"I'm off to bed then." She kissed Ron's cheek before closing off her half of the room. Ron fell asleep with a smile on his face.