"The Burrow!" Harry yelled spoke into the fireplace and then green flames shot up at him and he vanished.
"The Burrow!" Ron yelled as he also disappeared into thin air.
"The Burrow!" Hermione said following Harry and Ron.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were already standing by the fireplace waiting on them to arrive.
"How did you know we were coming?" Ron asked with a dumfounded expression of stupidity on his face, "we were going to surprise you."
"My magical clock never lies Ron, you should know that by now." Mrs. Weasley said as she ran up and hugged all three of them.
"Well, how did it go? Did you find what you were looking for?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Yes, we found two Horcruxes. One was at my old house and one was at 12 Grimmauld Place. They were too easy to find, almost too easy." Harry responded to Mr. Weasley's question.
Harry had almost forgotten about the letter he found of Sirius's that was stuck up in his old closet. Harry went with Hermione to open the letter and read it in Ron's room while Ron went down to the kitchen to stuff his face with food.
He opened the letter that had been written by Sirius. He unfolded it and read it. It said:
James,
If you are reading this in time… I'm not sure what to think about our own friend Pettigrew. He just came over to my house and acted sort of strange, as if he had told about you and Lily, and Harry. I'm hoping he really hasn't or else you-know-who will have already started hunting for you. Please don't just think I'm joking around. I'm really serious James Pettigrew had this sort of pale face and he looked thinner than usual. He acted strange, like he was thinking of spilling his guts about everything. He was talking a lot but he talked so fast that I couldn't understand but two or three words that he said. They were like "He, will, kill, you, Lily, James, and all of us." or something… Please get out of the house and go to Dumbledore for protection. He is the only wizard You-Know-Who ever feared.
Sirius
Harry screamed at the thought of this letter. If only James and Lily hadn't just gotten this letter sooner, they would be here now with Harry.
"I'll kill him, I will kill him. Pettigrew is as good as dead." Harry screamed as he threw himself over to the window and started looking as if he could just die right then.
"Harry calm down." Hermione said as she walked over to him and started rubbing his shoulders. "We are together now. We will get him later. That is all that matters. Pettigrew will pay for all the troubles he has caused you in your life."
"I think I need a to go for a walk. I need to cool down a bit and to take some anger off." Harry said with tears in his eyes.
" Maybe you should go take a shower, that will cheer you up." Hermione said.
"Afterwards maybe you and I can go for a walk or something." Harry said.
"Sure that would be great. I'll go run you some hot water in the tub." Hermione said.
"Thanks Hermione. You have been so helpful to me these past few years. If you weren't here, I don't know what I'd do without you. I'm glad we have started going out. I really am. I have loved you since I met you, and now we are finally together." Harry said cheerfully as he took off his clothes and got into his robes, getting ready for his shower, Hermione was so busy talking that she hadn't noticed he had gotten naked right in front of her and then gotten into his robes.
"I have had a crush on you too, since before my first year at Hogwarts. I mean you were famous and I couldn't resist you. But then we became very good friends instead. I still wanted you more then just friends though. A few years went by and I had almost given up on the hope of being close and intimate with you. Now my dream has come true." She said as she started blushing because Harry had just taken off his robes for a split second to get in the tub, and the funny thing is, she had never seen a boy naked before. She didn't know how to react. "Harry, why did you do that? I was still looking. Just because we are going out, doesn't mean I automatically want to see all of you just yet. When we get a bit more serious, then maybe, but not yet.
"Sorry, I just thought you wouldn't mind. But did you like what you saw?" Harry said sarcastically as he had the biggest grin on his face.
"You did that on purpose didn't you? Ughh boys…" she replied.
"Was it that obvious?" Harry answered.
"Yes now hurry up and take your bath." She replied with a weird look on her face as Harry undressed and got into the tub.
"I've been trying to get closer to you Hermione. I'm have been ready to take our relationship to the next level. Are you not ready for more?" Harry asked her.
"Yes I am ready. But you showing me everything now, is just gross. We haven't gotten married yet or anything." She replied and ran down the stairs before Harry could reply back to her.
While he was sitting down in the bathtub thinking of where the next Horcruxe could be, Harry knew that since Dumbledore had died, that his portrait would be hung up in his office and that he should go and tell Dumbledore's portrait about the Horcruxes he found.
"That's it." Harry yelled at the top of his lungs. "Maybe if I tell Dumbledore about the Horcruxes we have found, he can give us advice to where the last one is."
Hermione came running in to the bathroom to see what he was yelling for. She had forgotten that he was still in the tub.
"Harry put on your robes and tell me what is wrong." Hermione said.
Harry hopped out of the bathtub and decided to take his time getting his robes on this time, just so Hermione would notice him.
"Hermione, Didn't you know that even though Dumbledore is dead that his portrait will be in his office now? We can go there and tell him about the Horcruxes we've found and maybe he will have some ideas about where we can find the last one." Harry said.
Hermione listened to what Harry said and then thought to her self, "How could I be so stupid? Why didn't I think of that?" But then she saw Harry naked again and she started to blush with a crimson red color and she turned around quickly as if she had never seen anything.
"Hermione, I know you saw me. I don't care that you are shy. But you need to break away from that and admit that you love me already. I have already confessed my love to you." Harry said.
"I do love you Harry. I'm just scared for us. I don't know what lies ahead of us. I didn't want to get too serious and then one of us die and the other one would be mourning for the rest of their life." Hermione said as she started to cry with tears rolling down her cheeks.
After Harry finished getting dressed, he walked over to her and hugged her tightly and whispered into her ears, "Hermione, you are with me now. Nothing will happen to you as long as I have a say in it, I promise you that. You don't have to be scared. If you are scared all the time, nothing will ever be between us, ever."
"Alright Harry lets go downstairs and we can tell Ron. Then we'll tell Mrs. Weasley that we will be going back to Hogwarts this year, at least until we figure out the whereabouts of the last Horcruxe." Hermione said as she wiped the tears away from her eyes and then turned around and kissed him. Then a loud bang occurred down in the living room, which broke up their kissing.
Harry and Hermione both whipped out their wands as they slowly and silently stepped down the stairs. Fred and George were sitting at the kitchen table just as Mrs. Weasley hit them with her spatula that she was cooking with.
"Why can't you show up and say hello? Do you always have to scare me like that? I never know when you are here and then you show up right behind me and scare the living daylights out of me," Mrs. Weasley screamed.
"Ouch!" Fred whimpered.
"Ouch woman, what the bloody hell was that for?" George screamed.
"For scaring the dickens out of me, that's why," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Oh Mom, stop your whining. Oh hi Harry, hi Hermione. When did you get in?" Fred said as he saw Harry and Hermione walking down the stairs.
"How was your trip?" George said following Fred.
"Er… it was okay, we found two Horcruxes. We don't know where the last one is. So we decided to come stay with Mrs. Weasley until we go back to Hogwarts. Once we figure out where the last one is, we will be leaving Hogwarts for good until it is destroyed," Harry said as he put his wand away. Hermione did the same as well.
"Why are you two here right now? Don't you two have a business to run in Diagon Alley called The Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Joke Shop?" Hermione asked Fred and George.
"Yeah but Fleur Delacour, Bill, and Charlie are down at the shop for a couple of hours. We just asked them if they wanted to run the store a while for half of the profits made, George and I just needed a break, we decided we'd come say hi to mum and dad," Fred said, "after all, the joke shop is stressful. We get about ten to fifteen people an hour that try to knick stuff from the store. We just decided one afternoon, to put an impenetrable charm on our doors. So if people try to walk out with stuff that hasn't been bought yet, they won't be able to take the items with them. People mainly try to steal dung bombs to try and throw them at Filch and his cat Mrs. Norris."
"Oh and by the way Mum, Bill and Fleur are going to write in a few days to tell you the news about their wedding arrangements." Fred said.
"So what are you two up to? Are you two going out? Ron might have mentioned it a while back. It is kind of obvious, isn't it?" George said.
"I asked her out last time I was here and she said yes. We have grown closer together but she is still really shy. She hasn't told any of her friends yet. The only people that know about us are your family and us. I want us to stay secret until we get to Hogwarts though, cause I want to ask her a really big question, if you know what I mean." Harry said.
"Oh, well if you need a little help with the love, come to our place and we'll give you an infatuation potion to slip into her drink or something. It will take her mind off of everything else, so all that she wants to think about is you." George said.
"No, I'll pass on that. I can do it on my own. Thanks any ways for the offer." Harry said.
"Anytime kid, anytime." Fred said.
"Well we've only got a few more minutes left to stay before Bill, Fleur, and Charlie get really pissed off." Fred and George said.
"Right, well, I'll see you later on my way to Hogwarts. I still have to get a few things for all of my classes. Did McGonagall ever find a new teacher for potions and another one for Defense Against The Dark Arts?" Harry asked.
"I'm not sure you'd better write Hagrid and ask him. I wouldn't write McGonagall, with her becoming the new headmistress and keeping up with her old teaching job, she is really stressed." George said.
"Oh, and by the way, when we apparated in earlier we saw a glimpse of Ron and Ginny out in the garden. I think he pissed her off and she put another hex on him again." Fred said.
Fred and George turned around to the fireplace and as soon as they got there they turned around and said, "Bye everyone, tell Ron and Ginny we said bye." They then turned back around and jumped into the fireplace one by one.
"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," Fred shouted into the fireplace as he threw the floo powder into the flames.
"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," George shouted quickly, throwing his floo powder into the fire, he then shouted as he was leaving, "I'm coming brother."
But right before they zoomed out of the fireplace, both of them dropped a little box on the ground. Harry decided to find out what they had dropped. He bent down over the boxes and picked one up to open. He stuffed it in his pockets and gave Hermione the other one. There had been a note attached to them that read:
Hey Harry, Hermione,
These boxes are called Free-Time-Boxes. When you are in need of time, just open it and it will disappear. It will stop time for about one hour. Only you and who ever is touching the box when it is opened will be able to move freely during your time. These are especially good for cheating on the N.E.W.T.S., We decided to make them during our last year at Hogwarts because we wanted to cheat so we could get out of there quicker. We used them to stop time, we had enough time to take our tests all the way back to the dormitory and look up the answers in our books. Then we would just go right back to our classes and sit back down as if nothing had ever happened, and we would turn our tests in and get awesome grades.
They are also good for escaping Filch and Ms. Norris.
Fred and George
P.S. Don't forget to come by the shop and visit us.
"So that's how they made all those good grades." Hermione said very annoyed and sarcastic.
"Hermione, this is what we need to carry with us when we fight Voldemort. If we are in need of time, just open it, and we could make a run for it for an hours worth of time." Harry said, "Best not tell Ron we have these."
"Oh we need to go see how he is doing in the garden, that is, if he is still conscious," Hermione said as she headed towards the door that led to the garden.
It was already dawn, Harry and Hermione stepped outside only to see Ron dancing very quickly, and Ginny standing ten feet away floating in mid air. Ginny was laughing as hard as she could; she had dropped her wand when Ron had hit her with a floating charm. Ron was crying so hard because he had been dancing ever since him and Ginny got into the argument that morning.
"Harry make it stop," Ron managed to spit out between tears.
"No, you deserve what you've got Ronald. Harry if you could just hand me my wand?" Ginny managed to speak for an instant.
"I'm going to leave you two like you are unless you manage to make up and promise me there will be no fighting after this." Harry said.
"Done!" Ginny said quickly.
"Ron?" Harry asked.
"Oh, alright. I promise," Ron said.
Harry and Hermione targeted the different Weasley siblings with their wands and both of them shouted, "Finite!"
As soon as they hit the ground, both of them started scrambling for their wands. Ron managed to find his wand half way in the ground. It was shoved into the ground tightly. He tugged at it for a few seconds and then gave up on it. He decided to wait until later to dig it out with a shovel. Ginny's wand was no where to be found. She searched for a few minutes and then decided to ask everyone if they had seen it.
"Harry, Hermione, did you by any chance see my wand fly anywhere? I can't find it anywhere." Ginny asked nervously.
"I think it flew out into the pond behind the garden. Hang on a sec and Harry will get it for you, won't you Harry?" Hermione replied as she turned towards Harry, wanting him to use magic to get it from the bottom of the lake.
"Accio Ginny's wand." Harry said loudly. At that very moment there was a splash in the pond and then something like a twig came soaring through the air towards him at lightning speed. It was Ginny's wand. He caught it and then threw it to her.
"You two go into the house and don't say a word to each other. I don't care what started it. Ginny, you should go to your room. Ron go to yours." Hermione said bossing them around.
Ron gave a whimper and put a frown on his face as he turned to walk away. He muttered "Yes Mommy!" under his breath, but Hermione heard him and decided to stick her foot out in front of him. He tripped and fell straight on his face. He stood up and started cussing.
"No, you go to your bedroom, now! Don't make me curse you. Besides, you got what you deserved for smart mouthing me." Hermione barked at him angrily.
"The nerve in those two!" Hermione said, as she swished her head around towards Harry so fast she almost decapitated him with her hair.
"Er… Hermione they fight like brother and sister… That will not change and you know it… It was the same with Dudley and I, It was fun to tease him about his weight, and about his goofy looking clothes. The best thing of all was making fun of my aunt and uncle around him. That really pissed him off. But he wouldn't dare try and do anything about it, cause I am a wizard after all." Harry said as he shrugged his shoulders.
"True." Hermione replied.
Instead of going back to the house, Harry and Hermione decided to go for a stroll down by the pond. It was nearing darkness and they still had not become tired yet. Harry decided to sit next to the willow tree and Hermione lay down next to him, resting her head on his lap, she stared up into his green eyes, as if she were dreaming of him. Harry noticed this and became very happy to know that she loved him like he loved her. They both stared into each other faces as if in a trance. Harry stared at Hermione's beautiful brown eyes and her curly brown hair. He occasionally took a glance at how she had grown in the chest, hoping she wouldn't notice.
Hermione gazed into Harry's green eyes and she started moving her hand all the way up to his forehead as she parted his hair and said, "How come you never asked me out sooner Harry?"
"I guess I was scared of being rejected. I have always had a crush on you since my first year at Hogwarts. There were always too many obstacles in our way though. The first year, We were all too busy learning about the wizarding world, and then Voldemort came back. I had to battle him one on one. The second year, I almost asked you, but then everyone turned against my being a parselmouth. You were petrified half of the term until we figured the whole plot with the basilisk. The third year, I almost turned into a murderer by almost killing my godfather. You helped me save him. There was too much stress then, with all of your nine classes and all of the Peter Pettigrew nonsense. In the fourth year, the whole school went berserk when my name came out of the Goblet of Fire. I had to figure out the clues. Then you went to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum. I had realized then that I had lost you for good. I also had to battle Voldemort once again. But then in the fifth year, I went the whole summer not speaking to anyone. I got into serious trouble with the ministry of magic. I almost got expelled. My godfather died. Yet I still didn't ask you then, when the time was perfect. I don't think I wanted to put you in any danger that particular year. During out sixth year, we both spent so much time tracking down Draco Malfoy and his followers that we didn't get much time together. Dumbledore died and now here we are sitting under this willow tree." Harry said as he leaned towards Hermione, He was now practically on top of her.
"Harry. I think we should go to bed, it is getting late. We do need to get up early and go by Diagon Alley tomorrow to get our school supplies. We still need to visit Fred and George too." Hermione said with a deep yawn as she stretched her arms, hitting Harry in the face, on purpose. She had a huge grin on her face, she was just playing around with him.
"What was that for?" Harry asked, even though he knew she did it to make him try to think of what she was thinking.
"What was what for? I didn't do anything." She said with a smirk on her face as if she had just knocked him unconscious.
"Alright, I'm going to bed already." Harry said impatiently because Hermione gave him the "I'm your mother, do as you are told," look.
The two headed up to their Burrow. Hermione decided to sleep in the living room, on the couch, because Ginny was still really pissed off at everyone, and she didn't want any trouble tonight. She went to take a shower before she got ready for bed. Harry realized he had just been with Hermione and didn't want to leave her, so he decided to make a cot near the couch, on the floor.
Harry thought to him self, "If I am ever going to take my relationship with Hermione any further, now is the chance." Harry decided to sneak up to the bathroom and take a peek inside. All he could see was the sink, the toilet, and a pile of clothes on the shelf near the shower, which Hermione was standing in, not knowing that Harry had walked in. He acted quickly and decided to run in and snatch Hermione's clothes so that she had to come out of the shower to get more clothes. She didn't notice him. He then decided to scare her into getting out quickly. He walked in the door and then shut it slowly and silently. He made no sound at all. He then remembered that Dudley had pulled a cool little trick on him before, He would run in and flush the toilet, which then made the shower water turn ice cold. Harry decided to give this a try. He walked over to the toilet and flushed it. Hermione screamed as ice cold water hit her naked body. Hermione jumped out quickly, slipped and landed directly in Harry's arms.
"Harry, that wasn't funny at all." She screamed, then her screaming turned into a laugh. Then she got angry again. "You did that on purpose didn't you?" she said as she quickly grabbed a towel and placed it around herself. Harry just laughed his heart out "Where are my clothes?"
"Nice rack, Hermione. I liked that view." Harry said as he handed Hermione her clothes back.
"You did, did you? Well since you pulled that little stunt, it won't happen again for a long time." Hermione said defiantly.
"I just wanted more from you, that is all." Harry explained. "All we have been doing is hanging out around the willow tree. I just wanted to see you, since you have already seen me."
"Oh. Well I guess it is alright then." She said as she walked over to him and hugged him.
Harry waited until she turned around then he whistled. She turned her head in his direction and started to pivot her hips a little bit. She then started to pull the towel off of herself, as she put her clothes back on. Harry just stood there in amazement. He had just got a glimpse of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.
"Hermione, you are so beautiful. You and I are the perfect couple. I love you more then anything you could ever imagine." Harry said, making Hermione blush.
"I know. I feel the same way too." She replied with a big smirk on her face, leaving Harry wanting more.
The two went back into the living room and lay down in their beds and fell asleep. Harry started to talk and move in his sleep. Harry had started fidgeting in his sleep. He was moving his hands as if though he were throwing curses around in his dreams. Hermione decided to let him sleep instead of waking him up. After all, they did have a big day ahead of them.
The next morning Harry woke up and turned over. Hermione was laying right next to him, with her arms around him. She had gotten cold and decided to move down to the floor with Harry to comfort him in his sleep.
Harry leaned up into a sitting position and wondered how Hermione got down there with him. He had turned to the table next to him and took his glasses and put them on. He turned back around and decided to tickle Hermione softly until she woke up.
"Good morning, sleepy heads. It's about time you got up." Mr. Weasley said as he walked past the living room into the kitchen. Mr. Weasley had already made breakfast for everybody. The kitchen smelled like bacon and eggs, and some pancakes to go with it. "Molly decided to go with you guys to Diagon Alley this morning. I have to work today, so I could at least make breakfast for everyone."
"Good morning beautiful." Harry said to Hermione as she started to lean forward and stretch.
Her hair was all messed up, no more than Harry's, but she had looked like she got into a pillow fight, and lost.
"Oh, Er… Mornin' Harry."
Harry and Hermione decided to go up stairs and change out of their nightclothes and get into something more comfortable. Hermione slipped into a pair of black pants and a pink shirt. She then put on a brown overcoat. Harry decided to put on the usual, the blue jeans and the red striped shirt. They came back stairs only after waking Ron and Ginny up. Ron and Ginny quickly got dressed and followed them down stairs for breakfast. Both Ron and Ginny ran out of their rooms so fast, they collided and hit the floor with a thud, they shook the whole house.
Mrs. Weasley woke up shortly after hearing the loud racket. She walked into the kitchen and decided to give Arthur a hand with breakfast.
"Dear why don't you sit down and eat, then you can take the kids to Diagon Alley with you. You can get some more floo powder from the Apothecary while you are out, since we are running low." Mr. Weasley said.
Everyone walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Everyone hurriedly ate their breakfast and then hurried to their rooms to get ready to go to Diagon Alley, they all needed to get their new school supply lists for Hogwarts.
Today, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny would probably need to stop by Flourish & Blotts for their new school books. They also needed to stop by Eeylops Owl Emporium to get some treats for Hedwig and Pigwidgeon, and the Magical Menagerie for some things for Crookshanks. Harry had to stop by Gringott's first, so he could make his stash of galleons, sickles, and knuts even smaller. Harry also wanted to stop by Fred and George's shop and see what the two were up to.