The start of Hogwart's one and only Hermione Granger's 4th year was nothing if not out of the ordinary. But the oddness of it started even before she got to Hogwarts, she'd gone to spend the remainder of her summer with Ron's family, and of course, Harry was going to be there. She'd arrived about mid-day on August 1st; not many of the family had been home; the majority were out in the woods doing god knows what. But Mrs. Weasley was there to greet her along with Ginny. Only because the boys wouldn't let her go with them in the first place. She was quite fond of Ginny; she was the little sister she never had and basically a built-in best friend. She was grateful she got along so well with Ron's family because they had become her surrogate family in the wizarding world. But as much as Hermione loved Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, she was excited to see her boys. She hadn't seen either of them since Hogwarts got out. Actually, she hadn't seen anyone since Hogwarts had gotten out. Not Luna, Fred, Neville, the Patil twins, Katie…. George. Nobody.
Just as Hermione was getting lost in her thoughts, the door burst open with loud, rambunctious noises coming through it. She turned around with just enough time to be tackled by Harry and Ron. "Hermione! God, we missed you! So bloody happy you're here!" yelled Harry and Ron together. She hugged them back with a fierce strength that she didn't know she had. Next came Fred with a semi-awkward side hug and a small smile. He moved over to the side, and a rush of emotion hit Hermione like a ton of bricks; she came face to face with George. Something felt off looking at him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it had he grown taller? Lost some weight and gained some muscle? She didn't know what it was. It irritated her.
Nonetheless, she went in and started to give him a side hug, but he turned last minute, and it turned into a full-frontal hug. After a few seconds, she jumped back, blushing slightly. She mentally scolded herself for looking so foolish, but thank god nobody seemed to notice. "Alright, then lunch is in the kitchen go on you lot dig in." Fred, Harry, and Ron raced to the kitchen, Ginny quietly laughing, went behind them. As Hermione went to go towards the kitchen, a hand went out and grabbed her wrist. She looked down and then up and saw it was George; he gave her a half-smile. "Happy to see you're back Mione; we missed you around here." And with that, he gave her waist a light squeeze, dropped his hand and walked past her into the kitchen to start causing a ruckus like usual. Hermione didn't follow immediately, needing a moment to calm down her heart and clear the weird thoughts in her brain.
Later that night, Hermione and Ginny were in the room the two shared, catching up on each other's lives. She found out Ginny liked Colby, a 3rd-year boy in Slytherin. Apart from the fact that she was in Gryffindor and he was Slytherin, once her brothers found out, that would be an utter disaster. "Firstly, Ginny, if this boy likes you at all, he won't worry about what house you're in! Don't worry, try and sit with him on the train to Hogwarts and have a conversation with him, and see where it goes from there! And as for your brothers… yeah, try and keep it on the down-low until it's something meaningful" Ginny had this relieved look on her face.
"Thanks, Hermione. You really do always know what to say." And with that, Ginny turned off the light, and they both went to sleep only to wake up early the following day for the surprise of their lives.