Hello! I know I said I'd have this chapter up by Sunday, but I figure Tuesday isn't that far off.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone. The plot is mine, any song you see isn't. All characters and places you recognize belong to the fabulous J.K. Rowling. If I DID own any thing, it would be George, who is one of my fav HP characters...

Goodness Gracious! I just want to thank all of you a million times over! You have given me97reviews! Do you know how ecstatic I am! This is amazing. I honestly never expected it to be this popular. Here is chapter six!

- - -

Mrs. Weasley stared at her son in shock. Surely she'd heard him wrong.

"What?" She asked calmly, sure that she'd heard him wrong.

"You know. Hermione? As in Hermione Granger? Fred's Ex, Hermione? She is coming back!" He said gleefully.

All eyes were now on George, including Emily's.

George opened his mouth to say something, when Mrs. Weasley cut in.

"Hermione? Hermione, Hermione?"

George nodded.

"She is coming back?"

George nodded again.

"How did you of all people find out about this?" Mrs. Weasley looked at him skeptically.

Ron now interrupted.

"They've been in touch with her the WHOLE time." He said angrily.

George and Emily braced themselves; They were about to be yelled at.

Surprisingly, it never came.

"Thank goodness she kept in touch with someone. Arthur and I have been worried sick. We thought no one had heard from her. It's a relief to know she is safe."

George grinned. For once in his life, he hadn't been scolded. Ron narrowed his eyes.

"You're happy they knew! You're happy they didn't tell us!"

"Ronald Weasley! How thick are you? If they had told us and Hermione had found out-and let's face it, it's Hermione; she would have found out-she would have stopped talking to them too! Then we all really would have lost her."

Ron looked at her, eyes wide, for a minute, and then he sat back in his seat, which had been unoccupied for about ten minutes, and glared at the wall.

"Oh, Ron, come on now. Stop sulking." Harry said laughing.

Ron glared. "I am not sulking."

George sniggered, leaned over to Harry and whispered (loud enough for Ron to hear), "Yes Harry. He isn't sulking." George grinned. "He's pouting."

Ron glared at him but said nothing. Finally, Ginny spoke up, breaking the tense silence.

"So when is she coming?"

George smiled. "Her term ends at the end of the month. Then she's free. She can come home."

Harry now spoke up. "Any ideas where she's going to stay?"

"Well, I offered to let her stay with Me and Emily, but she said we'd figure it out when she got here."

Finally, Ron stopped sulking for a minute to join the conversation. "Anyone planning on telling Fred?"

- - -

Hermione sat in the parking lot, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She had made her decision. She was going home.

Hermione carefully pulled out of the parking lot she had pulled into, and made her way back to her apartment. She had lots of packing to do.

While she definitely felt better, she also thought she was going to be sick. She was going back home. Who was back home? Fred.

She was starting to get nervous, but she decided to shake the feeling off. She would not let cold feet keep her from coming home. She had to see everyone. Seeing him again was the only way to put the past behind her.

- - -

After the long hours drive, she finally made it back to her tiny apartment. She walked in and set her keys down on the counter. Walking towards the living room, she saw that her answering machine was blinking, saying she had a message.

Hermione pushed the button, only to find it was a message from work.

Hi, this is Torrie Gettle, from Locationing. I realize your last term abroad is to end at the end of the month, and at that point you will decide whether or not you would like to stay in the U.S. or return to England. However, we have recently encountered a problem. If your decision is to return home, I'm afraid you will have to leave by the end of the week. Due to forces beyond our control, such as complicated scheduling and conflicting times for the ministries, we need to know your decision by Friday. I do hope this is not too much of a problem. Please feel free to owl me. I was unable to send an owl because of the weather conditions, so I hope you don't mind me calling you. Thank you. Goodbye.

Hermione's eyes went wide. She had to go home. She told them she'd go home. Now she had a week to prepare. She sighed. It was going to be a long week.

- - -

The next morning, Hermione woke up exhausted. She hadn't slept. She had been worrying about packing up and moving. Was she just going to get up and go? She had sat down earlier that morning and written her reply to Ms. Gettle.

Dear Ms. Gettle,

I would just like to inform you now, that after much consideration, I have decided I am going to be going back home to England. I realize that this was such a wonderful opportunity, and would just like to say that this wasn't an easy decision to make. However, there are too many people and things in England that I miss, and while I am so thankful for this position, it is really time for me to go home.

Thank you,

Hermione Granger.

She read over it once more before deciding it was fine, and sent it off with her owl, Camilla.

She smiled as Mila, as Hermione called her, flew into the night sky. She had been a going away present from Harry and Ron. The pair had named the owl themselves. The owl had been named for her beautiful rich brown coat.

Unfortunately, Mila made Hermione always feel guilty about not writing to Harry and Ron. In fact, she was normally either used to write to George and Emily.

Soon, the owl was so far away she could barely be seen. As the owl finally disappeared in the distance, only one thought passed through Hermione's mind.

No changing my mind now.

- - -

Fred woke up Monday morning, his head throbbing. He hadn't gone to Sunday dinner, and he seriously doubted that he had been missed. So, if he had stayed in all night, why was his head throbbing?

He hadn't gone to sleep until 4:10. He had been devising and revising his plan. He would find her.

First order of business would be to get his act together; organize his thoughts. He could not get her back if he was still even the teeniest bit confused.

Next, he would have to find out where she was. This was tricky, mainly because it involved talking to several people who still wanted to strangle him. But he had to talk to them. They were the only ones who would know where she was.

After he had found out where she was, he would have to plan exactly what he would say and do. He couldn't just show up. He had to prove to her that he was good enough for her. That he wouldn't mess up again.

In theory, it was a fairly simple plan. Fred, however, knew it could take months. Better get a move on step one.

- - -

Hermione's week sped by. She had tied up loose ends at work on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. She had to do some paper work, and she had to fill out her transfer forms. Her co-workers had wanted to throw her a party, but she had been far too busy packing to do much of anything else.

Thursday was spent saying goodbye to the people and places she had grown to love. She visited her favorite muggle museums as well as her favorite magical land marks. She knew she had made many new friends in this new country, and she knew she would miss them. However, as she kept telling herself, if she didn't do it now, there would be no telling when she would get the courage to go home.

Her last two days were spent packing. She had so many things that she knew she wouldn't be able to part with. She also had to somehow make room for all of the going away presents she received. Her best American friend, Jenny Rose had been upset the day Hermione had told her she was leaving. She insisted on spending part of Friday with Hermione, even if she could only help her pack.

Hermione stared at the several boxes lying on the floor in exasperation. It was Friday night, her second to last night she had to pack, and she hadn't even made a dent in her possessions.

Jenny walked slowly, heavily weighted down by large box she was carrying into the room.

"What do you have in here? Rocks?"

Hermione smiled. "Books, probably."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

Jenny set the box down on the kitchen counter and walked back out of the room, apparently to get another box.

Hermione looked at the box and realize she didn't recognize it. That was not a box she had used for books.

She got up to examine the box more closely and she opened it.

Her eyes went wide as she saw the contents. She found herself staring at a dusty, leather-bond book.

Carefully, she pulled the book out of the box, and blew some dust of the cover. She opened the book to the first page, and was greeted by three smiling teenagers waving vigorously at the camera.

That was their seventh year. Those three teenagers were Harry, Ron, and herself. It had been taken sometime in February.

Hermione turned the page to find a picture of herself, lying on the ground in hysterics, Harry and Ron tickling her. She involuntarily smiled. She couldn't help it. She missed them.

She turned the next page to find a certain Fred Weasley covered in some colorful substance, and her standing in the background grinning.

She remembered that day like it was yesterday. Fred and George had been visiting the school on their birthday, no doubt to "do research," otherwise known as test their products on unsuspecting students. Of course, who was the first person they went after? Hermione, of course! She mentally shuddered. She had had pink hair for a week…

Anyway, as payback, she had given the twins their birthday presents a few days later. She apparently forgot to mention that once they opened it, spraying multicolored sticky stuff every which way.

Hermione had managed to prank the terrible twosome.

She turned the page one more time, to find a picture that shocked her. There she was, in Fred's arms, kissing him. By the look of their clothes, they were in their pajamas. The kiss was innocent enough, and when the two in the enchanted picture had finished, they pulled a part and waved to Hermione.

Suddenly, over her shoulder, Hermione heard, "Who is that?" Hermione turned to see Jenny smiling. "Is that your boyfriend?"

Jenny was Hermione's best American friend, but she didn't really know about her history with Fred. Sure, she knew Fred's name, and that he was her ex, but nothing else. Jenny didn't really like pressing things, so she didn't know exactly what happened; just that Hermione had been hurt in the process. And since Hermione never had a boyfriend or even a date in the states, Jenny used to joke that Hermione had someone waiting for her back home.

"That," Hermione managed to choke out, "Is someone I thought I knew."

Jenny now smiled sadly. "Fred?" She asked quietly.

Hermione nodded, but didn't offer any explanation; Jenny didn't press.

The two spent the rest of the night packing, Hermione's album stored safely back in its box.

- - -

Saturday, the day Hermione had been both dreading and anticipating, came soon. Hermione woke up feeling rather groggy. Her and Jenny had finished packing early and had gotten some pizza. They ended up calling Roxana, and they had a little going away party.

Hermione remembered, sort of, that Roxana and Jenny had had to leave. They were going to start training her replacement today. There had been lots of crying and hugs involved.

Hermione looked at her clock. It was 11:30. How late had they stayed up last night? She normally never slept past 8! She sighed and hopped off of the couch (the bed had already been shrunk and stored in a trunk). She looked around her living room to be greeted by hundreds of boxes. All she needed to do was shrink them.

With Jenny gone, she was free to pull out her album again. After a few seconds of turning, she found the page she had left off on. She turned the page fast, not really wanting to see herself kissing Fred.

The next page was full of group photos. In the top right hand corner was picture of Fred, George, Hermione and Emily. Emily and Hermione were jumping up and down, obviously excited about something, while Fred and George were grinning to each other.

The real Hermione smiled. That was the day George had asked Emily to move in with him.

In the left corner, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Ron's then Girlfriend Hannah, and Hermione were all laughing about something.

The real Hermione's smile grew wider. She missed laughing with them like that, as a group. Hopefully, she would get to do it soon.

Deciding she had plenty of time, Hermione decided to go grab a cup of coffee and some lunch. She headed down her apartment stairs, and exited her building.

She was now on Chicago's equivalent to Diagon Alley. She started making her way towards her favorite little coffee shop, The Coffee Bean.

After about ten minutes, she was walking back out of the shop, coffee cup in hand.

- - -

After running around the apartment a few times to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she glanced at her watch to see how much more time she had left to kill. It was now 4:27. She still had about a half an hour. She had spent the day shrinking her larger possessions and the boxes.

It had been a long, emotional day. She was leaving the place she had called home for two years.

Hermione sat down on the floor, her portkey in her hand, as her eyes scanned the room she would probably never see again. She was happy to be going home, don't get her wrong, it's just…. A huge part of her was here…. She was leaving people and places she loved. She'd miss her new friends, Jenny and Roxana. They'd been huge parts of her…of her life. She couldn't help it. Sitting here, the memories of times past passing vividly through her mind, she couldn't help it. She started tearing up.

Last night the three of them had counted, for the sake of having something to do besides pack, that there had been six birthday parties held in this apartment: her twenty-first and twenty-second, Jenny's twenty-second and twenty-third, and Roxana's twenty-first and twenty-second.

She looked over to the corner of the room where her couch used to sit. This brought more tears. She remembered how many movie nights she had had sitting on that couch. How many tears they had shed from the sappy movies, to how many sleepless nights after, from the scary ones.

Goodness, she would miss it here. She would miss it here. She checked the clock. 4:58. She checked her pocket, making sure she had all of her possessions stored safely. She grabbed her key off of the floor, and waited for a few seconds.

Suddenly, Hermione felt a familiar tug at her navel. She was traveling a long distance, so the trip would take a minute or two.

After a few minutes, she found herself looking at her new kitchen.

She emptied her shrunken belongs out onto the counter and looked around. She wiped her eyes and sniffed. It was very beautiful, but it would take some getting used to. She was thankful that the Ministry had been able to set up such a nice flat for her.

She noticed how dark it was outside. It must have been around midnight here.

She looked around, and decided she would set everything up and then turn in early. She needed to get lots of sleep tonight. She would need all of her strength tomorrow. It was going to be an interesting day.

- - -

Fred woke up on Sunday rather happy with himself. Last night he had done some real thinking. He felt better about where he stood. He had spent the whole last week mustering up his courage. He was going to pay a visit to the Burrow today. He knew his mother wasn't expecting him to come to dinner, but he would today.

He made himself breakfast, trying to figure out how he would spend his day before going to the burrow at four. He was rather excited about seeing the group again. He was glad he would be seeing George and Ron and Harry for the first time in ages.

Odd, isn't it? He had spent the past few years avoiding his brothers and Harry like the plague, and now he was hoping to see them. Strange, how the world works.

He decided he wouldn't just apparate into the Burrow. That would be in poor taste, considering he had been alienating himself from the other Weasley's for a little over two years. Instead, he decided to apparate onto the road in front of the Burrow, and walk from there.

He prayed they wouldn't kick his ass.

---

Hermione woke up on Sunday slightly exhausted but somewhat refreshed. This jetlag was going to kill her. She looked at the clock next to her bed. It was 8:45, which meant in Chicago it was only 2:45. She hadn't gotten to sleep until 2:30, so she had only gotten about 6 hours of sleep.

She was thankful the British Ministry had given her a month before she had to start work. She had to get rid of this jetlag.

She decided she would surprise the Weasley's. They all still thought that she was coming in three weeks.

She was going to surprise the Weasley's by coming to visit the Burrow today. It was Sunday, meaning there was the weekly dinner. Hermione didn't want to show up uninvited, so she would come early and leave before dinner.

She decided she would leave around three, but in the meantime she would finish unpacking.

- - -

Three o'clock came too soon for Hermione. Besides the fact that she was still dying of exhaustion, she was absolutely nervous about seeing everyone for the first time in years. She wasn't worried about seeing Fred; Emily and George told her he hadn't been to one since she left.

She looked at herself one more time in the mirror before deciding she looked fine. Her hair was curly, but not too bushy and frizzy. Her make-up was done rather naturally, and her outfit was pretty, but not flashy. She had on a black sweater with jeans, under a sky blue robe.

She apparated to the gate in front of the burrow. She pulled the gate open slowly, and began walking down the stone pathway she knew so well.

After what felt like hours (when reality it probably been about 5 seconds) she reached the door. She reached up to knock on the door and then stopped herself. Was she ready for this?

She was standing at the door contemplating, when all of a sudden she heard a shout from inside.

"Yes Mum, I am going to go de-gnome the garden for you." There was a pause and then, "I'm taking Emily with me!"

Hermione panicked. They must mean the front garden. Before she had time to even think, the front door opened.

Standing in front of her were George and Emily.

Emily's mouth hung open for a second, while George walked by her and said, "Hello Hermione." Emily stared after him like her was a mad man, but was still speechless herself.

After a few seconds, George turned around, realization obvious on his face. "Hermione!"

Hermione rolled her eyes teasingly. "Only George could do that. Walk right past someone you haven't seen in two years, why don't you."

Emily grinned and then squealed. "Hermione!" She bounded up to Hermione and pulled her into a hug. "You weren't supposed to be home yet!"

Hermione smiled and said, "I wanted to surprise you!"

Emily let Hermione out of her lung-crushing hug, only for Hermione to be swept up into a hug by George.

"You are a sneaky one…." He smiled. "I am so proud."

Hermione giggled. "Same old George," She said to Emily.

George let her go, dragged her into the house and into the living room.

"Mum! Harry! Ron! Ginny! Get in here right now!" George yelled in the direction of the kitchen.

"George Weasley! You were supposed to be de-" She stopped in mid-sentence as she reached the room.

"Harry, Ron, Ginny, get in here now!" Mrs. Weasley shouted in excitement.

- - -

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I am sorry to leave it on such a cliffy, but I had to do it. This chapter already turned out to be a little over 9 pages long, and I couldn't make it any longer!

IMPORTANT: I have this friend, Tiff, and she's just started a super cool forum where we can talk about Harry Potter. We can buy wands, and robes, and get jobs. There are cool games, and its lots of fun. I want you all to join. Here are the requirements:

-The person you are recruiting must put YOUR user name at the bottom of THEIR sorting quiz!

-The person you are recruiting must STAY ACTIVE and post often! They can't sign up and leave!

-If I find out you are using MULTIPLE email accounts to gain points for yourself, I WILL DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT!

-The person you are recruiting must be SORTED within 2 weeks of signing up!

If you are interested, let me know in your review!

That's all for today!

Love,

Monica