"It hurts so much to love you the way I do and then look at you and realize how much you don't care"

- Unknown

Passion Burns Deep Chapter Three

Hermione walked out into the yard and was surprised to see how many people that were going with them as guard. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Bill; even Fleur was coming along.

'She's probably curious to see what kind of people the Dursley's are like,' Hermione thought.

"Alright everyone, our destination is number 4 Privet Drive," Mr. Weasley said happily, bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement.

Ron, who had finally passed his apparition test, smiled nervously and Ginny took hold of her mother's arm. With that, all of them turned and disappeared.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked around, blinking in the bright sun after having her eyes closed tightly. She had never been to Privet Drive before, but she had heard enough from Harry to immediately know that she was in the right place.

The whole street looked like something out of a movie. Every lawn was cut, the grass a healthy green and every hedge was trimmed to the perfect shape. Each home seemed to be competing against its neighbor for perfection; white siding with hunter green shudders and shingles to match.

The house closest to Hermione seemed to be no different from all the others. On the outside anyway, but Hermione knew that the occupants of the house were nothing like the other people in the neighborhood. No matter how hard they tried, the Dursley's would never be like everyone else.

"Well," Mr. Weasley said, there was a hint of nervousness in his voice, "shall we go greet the muggles?"

They all nodded in answer. Mr. Weasley squared his shoulders, looked around once more and took the lead as the group followed him around the house, not knowing what to expect once they rounded the corner.

Harry Potter, dark, fly-away hair and the brightest green eyes ever, was standing on the front lawn with his trunk and other belongings sitting beside him. It seemed that he had grown a couple more inches since the last time Hermione had seen him, which surprisingly had been only a little over a week now. Hermione had to admit it though, Ginny did have good taste, but Harry was like a brother to her and she couldn't imagine things being any other way. In fact, she was absolutely jubilant about Ginny and Harry being together.

When Hermione saw him, she immediately ran to him and hugged him around the neck.

"It's nice to see you, too, Hermione," Harry managed to gasp, "but I can't breathe. The fate of the world lies in my hands right now, so you can't suffocate me just yet!"

Hermione quickly let go of him and stepped back. "Sorry," she said quietly.

Her eyes moved from Harry to Ron. She was shocked to see that there was pain in his eyes. Loneliness and desire, Hermione hoped that it had nothing to do with her.

She sighed sadly. 'I really need to tell him that things wouldn't work out between us,' she thought.

Hermione watched as Ron greeted his best friend. Her stomach turned over with guilt as she watched the two boys talking together. Then she realized that Mr. Weasley was speaking into the awkward silence that had fallen over the wizarding group and the Dursley's.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again," he nodded to the Dursley's. "We'll take care of Harry now, so there's no need to worry".

"Like they would," Harry muttered. Then more loudly he said, "Good-bye".

They all turned and walked back around the corner of the house. Leaving quickly had been part of the plan, it kept the chances of them being noticed down a little. Plus, none of them wanted to stay in company with the Dursley's for long.

Hermione watched amusingly as Harry and Ginny glanced at each other shyly then turned their gazes away quickly.

"Did you see that?" she asked Ron, who was walking slightly behind her. He just raised his eyebrow at her.

"I think the two of them just had a moment," she said straight faced.

Ron began to snigger and Hermione giggled. Catching her off guard, he seized his chance and put his arm around her, pulling her close to him.

"You know," he said boldly, "we could have moments, too. Maybe even hours, when the time comes that is".

Feeling uncomfortable, she quickly stepped away from him and turned on the spot, disappearing before he could say anything else.