A/N: Since there's been a bit of a debate about the previous chapter — Hogwarts is Harry's escape. Mrs G is acknowledging that they have a difficult time there, but that even so it is still better than Privet Drive. Sorry if that was not as clear as I thought it was when I wrote it.
The following week, Hermione visited Harry twice.
Both times they went into London — spending the mornings exploring the city, Hermione showing Harry all of the sights he'd been denied seeing growing up with the Dursleys, and spending the afternoons wandering around Diagon Alley, checking out all the stores and just generally enjoying being around magic and other witches and wizards.
But on Friday morning, Hermione was sitting in her kitchen eating breakfast with her mum when there came a knock at the door. Her mum got up and went to see who was knocking that early. After a few seconds, Hermione heard talking, but it was too far away for her to hear what her mum and the visitor were saying.
But not long after, her mum called out, "Hermione, dear, you have some visitors!"
Wondering who it could possibly be, as she hadn't had any muggle friends before discovering she was a witch and certainly didn't now, and there weren't any witches or wizards who would have any reason to be visiting her in person without sending an owl first to let her know and Harry was of course forbidden from visiting any of 'his kind' over the summer, Hermione walked to the door.
"Hermione! How good to see you again!" exclaimed a voice far too saccharinely, and Hermione came face to face with none other than Mrs Weasley, who somehow had learned where she lived — she was blaming McGonagall or Dumbledore for that one, as they should have been the only people in the wizarding world besides Harry to know.
Ginny was also there, and Hermione supposed the Matriarch thought she was putting on a more friendly appearance by having another girl about Hermione's own age with her, though whether that was more for Hermione's benefit or her mum's, Hermione didn't know. She also didn't care — there was no reasonable reason for Mrs Weasley to be at her muggle doorstep without owling first, and there was pretty much no good reason for her to be there at all now that the only Weasleys she and Harry were friends with were the twins.
"Hi, Hermione," added Ginny brightly, but Hermione merely crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe staring at them, waiting for Mrs Weasley to get to explaining why she was there.
After several seconds of clearly expecting a much warmer greeting than she got, Mrs Weasley finally did start explaining. "Hermione, dear, a sizable number of us are gathering because of — you know — everything that happened at the end of last term. And so we came to bring you there with everyone as well," she said, cutting her eyes over at Hermione's mum when she hinted at Voldemort's return, as if thinking that actually saying what had happened at the end of the previous term would make Hermione's mum refuse to allow Hermione to return to the magical world.
"You mean, when Harry and Cedric were transported to an abandoned graveyard by one of our teachers, where Cedric was then murdered on Voldemort's orders by your pet rat and Harry's blood was used to give Voldemort a new body, and Harry defeated Voldemort in a head-to-head duel before bringing Cedric's dead body back to Hogwarts and informing Dumbledore that Voldemort had a body again? Is that why you're gathering?" asked Hermione rhetorically, since it was all information she'd already told her mum and dad the moment she got back from Hogwarts so they'd have an understanding of the war that was now going on in the shadows all around them, and she wanted Mrs Weasley to know that her parents knew everything. "And I'm guessing you have zero intentions of actually giving me a choice in whether I go or not."
Mrs Weasley just stared in shock at Hermione, as did Ginny. After a few seconds, Hermione realized that Ginny probably hadn't heard several parts of what she'd just said, as Dumbledore hadn't mentioned it all in his speech at the Closing Feast, and it didn't seem as though Mrs Weasley had told her either, assuming by this point that Mrs Weasley would have heard the entire story from Dumbledore if they really were finally gathering people.
Eventually though, Mrs Weasley composed herself enough from hearing Hermione say everything in front of her mum that Mrs Weasley had assumed Mrs Granger knew nothing about, and from hearing the forbidden word 'Voldemort' no fewer than four times in a single sentence, and said patronizingly, "I really must insist you come with us — it's for your own protection, dear. If You-Know-Who discovered that you have connections with those fighting against him, it could put you and your parents in serious danger. You'll be much safer with us."
Thinking it incredibly underhanded of the redhead to pull the 'it's for your protection' schtick, Hermione simply asked, "Is Harry there?"
"He will be soon," replied Mrs Weasley smoothly, as if she'd spent a long time practicing her obvious lie. "Dumbledore doesn't think it's best for Harry to come quite yet — but soon."
"Then send me an owl when he does get there," replied Hermione, knowing it would do no good whatsoever — Mrs Weasley had come to kidnap her away from her parents, and no power on earth was going to stop her, not even You-Know-Who himself had he been standing guard outside the door of the Grangers' house.
Once again, it took the redhead several seconds to be able to answer, clearly not used to anyone to challenging her orders.
"Dear, I'm afraid I really must insist. Dumbledore insists. This is for your own safety, along with that of you parents."
Hermione had no clue how her being at her parents or being with the Weasleys was going to affect her parents' safety, for if the Death Eaters or any other enemy could discover where she lived to begin with, it wouldn't matter whether she was actually there or not for them to murder her parents.
But she knew it would be hopeless at the moment to try to fight against the Matriarch, so she simply said with a roll of her eyes, "Let me get my trunk." Turning to her mum, she added, "Sorry, mum. Looks like I'm not being given a choice to spend my summer with you and dad, or even to say goodbye to dad before not being allowed to see you guys again for eleven months," before immediately heading towards her room, leaving her mum behind to glare at the older woman taking her daughter away from her.
Returning with her trunk several minutes later, Hermione gave her mum a hug and a kiss on the cheek, bidding her goodbye for another eleven and a half months, before turning and glaring wordlessly at Mrs Weasley.
Mrs Weasley turned and led her and Ginny down the walk and to the road. Then she stuck up her wand hand, and a second later the purple Knight Bus screeched to a halt in front of them. The three of them climbed onboard, and one rough ride later, they climbed back off in front of a little unkempt grass square in what Hermione thought was Islington based on the last few buildings they had passed on the bus's route.
As they walked through the square, Mrs Weasley handed her a slip of parchment, saying, "Read this, dear."
After Hermione had stared in confusion at the words 'The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London' for several seconds trying to figure out what it all meant and why Mrs Weasley was having her read it, Mrs Weasley pulled it back out of Hermione's hands and stuffed it back in her pocket, coming to a stop at the edge of the grass.
"Concentrate on what you just read, dear, as you look at those houses."
Hermione looked up at the houses across the street, and quickly noticed that the numbers skipped from eleven to thirteen, skipping over number twelve that the note had mentioned. But no sooner had she thought this, than the buildings seemed to expand, and a number twelve magically appeared between eleven and thirteen.
"What kind of charm is this?" Hermione asked curiously as the three of them walked across the street to the grimy, battered door of number twelve.
"Very advanced magic, that will keep you perfectly safe," replied the Matriarch cheerfully, as if she thought Hermione too young and not mature enough to be told the actual name of the charm.
Hermione rolled her eyes as Mrs Weasley tapped on the door with her wand to unlock it, making mental notes of everything that had occurred leading up to her being able to see the house, so that she could look it up on her own later to find out what the charm was.
As they stepped inside, the first thing Hermione noticed was how absolutely wretched the place was, even worse than the outside that looked like an abandoned dump heap in an already derelict neighborhood. It had a damp, dusty, rotting smell, the wallpaper was peeling, the chandeliers and gas lamps were cobwebbed over, and the entire place looked like it was coated in twenty years worth of grime and dirt. Why on earth they were assembling in a house that simply put, felt dead, Hermione had no clue.
"Go on and join the others, I'll get Hermione settled in," said Mrs Weasley to Ginny as they stepped inside, and the younger girl headed off up the creaky stairs.
"We're cleaning all the rooms to make this place a little nicer looking," explained Mrs Weasley to Hermione as she led them down the hall.