Hopes & Dreams

Hermione saw only white for a few minutes before a vision came into her head. She was at the Burrow, but it had been redecorated for something...A party, maybe? There were tables and chairs everywhere, enough to seat fifty people. A large marquee had been set up near the pond, shielding the tables from the warm sun.

She walked towards the front yard, but before she could get to the door, the whole Weasley family came pouring out and was walking to the marquee, along with Harry, who was carrying a small boy in his arms. The boy looked just like Harry, except for his eyes-they were hazel. Was Hermione looking at her best friend's son? All the people here looked older than Hermione remembered, so she very well could be.

Why hadn't they noticed her yet? She walked up to Harry and waved her hand in front of his face, but there was no recognition from him. Hermione then presumed this was a dream, because her best friend would surely acknowledge her if she was there.

Next, she noticed George, just George, walking alongside Ginny. A beautiful blonde woman walked behind them, and she and Ginny were laughing at something George had just said. She recognised Bill Weasley walking beside the blonde woman holding the hand of what looked to be a young girl, only about one or two.

She watched as Mrs. Weasley directed orders to her children, only about half of whom were actually listening. The rest were talking and joking with the rest of the family. Mr. Weasley was right behind her, trying to relax her a bit, resting one hand on one of her shoulders and talking only to her.

Charlie Weasley was there, surprising, yes, because he only left Romania when there was a special family occasion he had to attend. He ran up behind the girl whose hand Bill was holding and poked her sides which made her squeal with surprise. He then proceeded to chase her around the group, swerving and dodging the rest of his family.

She saw everyone except for Fred. She couldn't help but wonder when he would show up, and where he could be that would keep him from his family.

What surprised her the most was the next arrival. She saw an older version of herself come out of the house. But she wasn't alone.

She was trying to corral a small boy while holding the hand of an equally young girl.

She heard herself call, "Thomas!" to the little boy as she tried her best to grab him while still holding onto the little girl.

George had heard her call the boy's name, and jogged back over to help Hermione get him. He scooped the boy up in his arms and swung him over his shoulder upside-down as Thomas giggled with delight.

"Tommy Boy, you have to listen to your mummy. So do you Rosie, but you're doing a very good job. What has Uncle Georgie told you about listening to your parents?"

The little boy answered, "To listen to them all the time, but only mind some of the time with Uncle Georgie."

He had said this as though this was routinely asked of him.

Wait...Those were her children? She had children? Who was her husband?

George chuckled and set the boy down next to Hermione. "That's a good lad. Now then, you want to sneak a peek at the hole in Uncle Georgie's head?"

What? What hole?!

Thomas clapped and laughed. "Yes! Let me see the head-hole!"

The little girl, who'd not spoken until now, chimed in, "Me too, Uncle George, me too!"

"Yes, Rose, you can see too." George laughed as he picked up Thomas, let him get a good look, and then swapped him for Rose.

Dream Hermione pursed her lips and shook her head. "Honestly, I don't know what they find so fascinating about that, George."

George was missing an ear? When did this happen? What was going on?!

George smirked at Hermione. "What can I say, Hermione, they're my niece and nephew, and they take after their father. Always looking for interesting and exciting things, even in the most unlikely of places."

Dream Hermione had a sad smile playing on her lips. "I suppose," she said. She paused for a moment before she said, "I really wish Fred was here. This is such an important day for the twins."

George's smile slipped from his lips at the mention of his missing brother. "Yeah, me too Hermione...me too."

She let go of the girl's hand and stepped forward to hug George.

Was she married to Fred? And they had twins? If so, then where was he? Dream George and Hermione said he was gone...but gone how?

So many questions were spinning around in Hermione's mind, and she had no way to truly answer them.

This was all she saw before a blinding white light pulled her away from this scene and back to reality.

When Hermione came to, she saw Charlie, the twins, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Mr. Weasley all crowded a over her. They were all very blurry at first, but they got clearer the more she focused.

She had a terrible headache, and there was a tremendous pounding at the front of her head. She didn't dare try to sit up, because she knew she would most likely be sick if she tried.

"Blimey, Hermione," said George after she had blinked a few times to focus her eyes. "We thought you were dead!"

"No we didn't," Ginny glared at her brother, "we just didn't think you'd be out this long."

Hermione's face twisted in confusion, but when she moved, the pounding got worse and she winced in pain and closed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

Mr. Weasley spoke up, "Well, you were stupefied times twenty, so it was a pretty bad hit, but it's been two days. We thought you would've woken up and just have been groggy for a bit."

"It's been two days?!" she exclaimed, immediately regretting that decision as she clutched her head in pain. "I'm so sorry, you probably wanted to leave right after the attack, and I made you have to stay," she groaned and covered her face with her hands.

"No, no, Hermione, it's alright, you couldn't help it," Mr. Weasley tried to calm her. "Besides, it gave us time to pack everything up and talk to the Ministry a little more."

"Yeah," George added, "nothing like walking by that Muggle bloke Mr. Roberts and having him wish us a Happy Christmas and shouting, 'God save the King!'"

Fred grinned. "We told him that he was the king. He looked so confused."

Hermione's head dropped back into her hands as Mr. Weasley turned to the twins to speak with them about being cruel to confused Muggles.

After Harry, Ron, and Mr. Weasley caught Hermione up with all the news about what had happened after she fainted, they decided that they should start heading home. Mr. Weasley had suggested staying one more day to let Hermione fully recover, but she insisted she was well enough to leave.

True to their word, the Weasley twins waved goodbye to Mr. Roberts, who waved them off with a vague, "Happy Christmas."

As most of the visitors had left a few days ago, there wasn't much of a queue for Portkeys when they arrived. Mr. Weasley had a quick discussion with Basil, the keeper of the Portkeys, and they were able to take an old rubber tire back to Stoatshead Hill, outside Ottery St. Catchpole, before the sun had really risen.

After they had made the journey by Portkey, Hermione was feeling less than great. She stumbled a little getting out of the spin of the Portkey, but the twins, who were next to her just for that reason, caught her before she fell.

"Are you sure you're alright, Hermione?" Fred asked with concern.

Hermione looked a little queasy, but answered, "Yes. Thank you, Fred."

Fred nodded, but still watched her, as she had gotten very pale the last few seconds. "Ok, but we'll stay by you just in case. You can always lean on us for support," he joked. "By the way, how can you always tell George and me apart? Even Mum and Dad can't do that."

Hermione had to think about it for a moment. How did she do that? It never really occurred to her; she just always knew which twin was which. She shrugged after a minute, "I don't know, really, I just can."

"That's odd." Fred smiled internally. When even his parents couldn't tell him and George apart, Hermione could. That was something.

"Yeah, she probably knows that it's me who's the more attractive one," George nudged Hermione gently, but she stumbled into Fred anyway. He caught her and shot George a look as he steadied Hermione. "She figures if you're not as good-looking, you must be Fred."

Hermione rolled her eyes as the three began to walk down the lane again.

As they rounded the last corner and the Burrow came into view, a cry echoed along the lane.

"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!"

Mrs. Weasley, who had evidently been waiting for them in the front yard, came running toward them, still wearing her bedroom slippers, her face pale and strained, a rolled-up copy of the Daily Prophet clutched in her hand.

"Arthur-I've been so worried-so worried-"

She flung her arms around Mr. Weasley' neck, and the Daily Prophet fell out of her limp hand onto the ground. Looking down, Hermione, the twins, Ron, and Harry saw the headline: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP, complete with a twinkling black-and-white photograph of the Dark Mark over the treetops.

To everybody's surprise, she seized Fred and George next and pulled them both into such a tight hug that their heads banged together.

"Ouch! Mum-you're strangling us-"

As Mrs. Weasley apologised to the twins for scolding them earlier, Hermione stared at the photo of the Dark Mark and skimmed the article underneath: ...Ministry blunders...culprits not apprehended...lax security...Dark wizards running unchecked...national disgrace...

The author of the article was a name that Hermione didn't recognise; a woman named Rita Skeeter.

Later, when they were all crammed into the tiny kitchen, and Hermione had made Mrs. Weasley a cup of very strong tea, into which Mr. Weasley insisted on pouring a shot of Odgens Old Firewhiskey, Bill handed his father the newspaper. Mr. Weasley scanned the front page while Percy looked over his shoulder.

Not wanting to sit still, all the kids stood around the table as Mr. Weasley read, waiting impatiently to hear what was written about the incident.

Mr. Weasley read a few word snippets from the article, and then, when he saw who wrote it, said with a bit of disgust, "Rita Skeeter."

"You know," Fred leaned in to Hermione's ear, "Rita Skeeter has been notorious for lying in her articles. Some people say she's written stories about Dumbledore, saying that he was involved with some Death Eaters early on. Not many people believed it, of course, because it's utter rubbish, but storied like that can't help but get some speculation from someone."

Hermione nodded in agreement as Percy complained loudly about Skeeter's criticisms of the Ministry.

"That woman's got it in for the Ministry!" said Percy furiously. "Last week she was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires! As if that wasn't specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the-"

"Do us a favour, Perce," said Bill, yawning, "and shut up."

I am so terribly sorry.

That is all I have to say for myself. I have tried to work on upcoming chapters as much as possible, but these past few months have been horrifically tough on me, my family, and my friends.

But now I should be able to focus more on writing, so that's good news!

All my love and wishes for a happy Thanksgiving,

B