The last days of the semester flew by in a blurry haze. Things were returning back to some semblance of normal. The educational decrees had been repealed and I did not want to go home for summer. Getting on the Hogwarts Express just felt wrong, like I was leaving home. On the one hand, I was really excited because I was going to get to see George eventually, but I didn't look forward to the confrontation with my mum and dad. They didn't understand my loyalty to Harry, and I did not want to tell them that a wizarding war was likely on the horizon. I could just imagine how well that conversation would turn out. I also was feeling tense. Hogwarts was probably the safest place to be at the moment and I felt like I was stepping out into the firing range by leaving it. It didn't help that my ribs were still really hurting either… It would be hard to pass that off to my parents as simple bruises. I couldn't tell them what had really happened, that I had nearly died from a curse, they wouldn't ever let me leave the house again.
I spent most of the ride reading snippets from the Daily Prophet to Harry, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and Luna. It was making me uncomfortable reading it, a constant reminder that everything would change.
"It hasn't really started yet," I said, sighing as I set the newspaper aside. "Everything is going to change."
Ron and Harry were sitting across from me. They were playing a game of Wizards chess which Ron was unsurprisingly winning. Luna sat next to Ron, reading the Quibbler upside down with her spectrascopes. Ginny sat beside me, also reading the Quibbler. Neville sat next to herby the window. He was holding Trevor in his hands, staring out the window with a solemn expression on his face.
"Hey, Harry," Ron said suddenly, nudging Harry in the ribs and pointing to the corridor. I looked over just in time to see Cho walk by.
Awkward.
"What's - er - going on with you and her, anyway?" Ron asked quietly, showing some sensitivity. "Nothing," Harry said carelessly, moving his pawn to take Ron's.
"I - er - heard she's going out with someone else now," I said, worried I would hurt him. Harry looked like he could care less.
"You're well out of it, mate," Ron said, knocking Harry's pawn over. "I mean, she's quite good-looking and all that, but you want someone a bit more cheerful." He gave Luna an odd look, but she didn't notice it.
"She's probably cheerful enough with someone else," Harry said with a shrug.
"Who's she with now, anyway?" Ron asked. Ginny answered.
"Michael Corner," she said, never raising her eyes from the Quibbler.
Michael - but –but you were going out with him!" Ron spluttered, not noticing Harry's castle attacking his pawns.
"Not any more," Ginny said indifferently. "He didn't like Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw at Quidditch, and got really sulky, so I ditched him and he ran off to comfort Cho instead."
"Well, I always thought he was a bit of an idiot. Good for you. Just choose someone - better - next time," Ron said carefully, looking at Harry.
"Well, I've chosen Dean Thomas. Would you say he's better?" Ginny asked, scratching her nose absently.
"WHAT?" shouted Ron, upending the chessboard. Crookshanks went plunging after the pieces and Hedwig and Pigwidgeon twittered and hooted angrily from overhead. I laughed at his indignation while Ginny smiled widely. Luna just smiled and picked up the pieces, handing them to him. He grabbed them, looking slightly calmer. The scene managed to distract Neville from the window and he actually cracked a smile, one of the first I'd seen him give.
We'd all smiled a lot less since the ministry. We'd all changed a little bit. It had been a real eye opener for me. I'd never doubted Voldemort was back; I always believed Harry about that. I had just never fully gotten what that had meant. I'd been so caught up in the hell that Umbridge had made at Hogwartsthat I had never stopped to think about how bad it actually could have been. How bad it was going to get. In a way, the experience had taken away the last little bit of childhood naivety and innocence I'd had left.
I thought it was the same way for everyone who'd fought. Ron had been more serious, joking less, and actually studying some. Ginny hadn't been as spunky or feisty as usual, she'd been quiet. Neville had hardly spoken at all, he spent lots of time looking at a picture of his mum and dad when he thought no one was looking. This experience had to have been really hard on him. He'd come face to face with the woman who had driven his parents insane, and been tortured the exact same way they had. He know knew what it had felt like, knew what they had gone through for him. Anyone could read the guilt he always felt on his face. Harry's parents had been killed, and he'd been hit with the killing curse as well, but he couldn't remember it. Also, he didn't see his parents on a regular basis. Neville was far stronger than I'd ever given him credit for. He really was a Gryffindor, no doubt about it. He'd proved that fact very thoroughly during that battle, and hardly everyone would ever really know the story, much less actually understand it.
I felt sorry for ever having yelled at Harry this year. I'd never understood how much that night in our fourth year had changed. I hadn't even had to witness someone die, I still couldn't see Thestrals, something I was grateful for every night. We'd come so close to dying, each of us. It's a terrible feeling, thinking you're going to die, and that nothing you can do will change that fact.
"Hermione?" Ron called, drawing me out of my dreary thoughts. I looked over at him to see him pointing at the floor by my foot.
"Would you pass me the king?"
A group was waiting for us when we got to Platform 9 3/4. Moody, Tonks, Lupin, Sirius, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Fred, and the one I most wanted to see, George. I ran to him quickly, grabbing him in a tight hug. He caught me and spun me around, laughing at my excitement. It was amazing to see him again - all my dreariness from the train disappeared at the sight of him.
Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry into a tight hug until he was gasping for breath.
"Let him down, Molly, you're going to suffocate him," Sirius said, laughing as he patted Harry's shoulder.
George set me down, pulling me to his side as I wrapped an arm around his waist. He was wearing a handsome green jacket that was made of some sort of leather. Ron was goggling at the twins, a look of shock on his face.
"What are they supposed to be?" he asked, pointing at the jackets.
"Finest dragonskin, little bro," Fred said, tweaking his jacket with a grin. "Business is booming and we thought we'd treat ourselves."
I smiled at that, fingering George's jacket. "It's very nice," I said, snuggling into it. I turned towards Fred and tilted my head. "Where's Angelina?" I asked.
He smiled happily, a sparkle lighting his eye. "She apparated home. She's moving to a flat in Diagon Alley near the shop," he said, his voice light with happiness. "Wanted to go ahead and get everything ready for the move."
"What are you all doing here?" Harry asked, grinning widely.
"Well," Sirius said with a broad grin, "we decided we'd have a little chat with your aunt and uncle before you left."
"I dunno if that's a good idea," Harry said quickly, looking worried.
"Oh, I think it is," Moody growled, his eyes flashing. "That'll be them, will it, Potter?"
I looked over and saw the three Dursleys heading our way. My parents were already heading over. Dad was looking at George with murderous eyes, and Mum was looking at me oddly. I reluctantly let go of George and walked up to them, feeling tense as I hugged them.
"Hey, Baby Girl," my dad said, giving me a hug. I smiled, well, I tried to smile, and hugged him back.
"Hey, Dad." He wasn't looking at me though. The Dursleys had walked forward and my dad tensed up at their obvious hostility.
"Good afternoon," Mr. Weasley said pleasantly to Uncle Vernon. Sirius walked forward and put his arm on Harry's shoulder. Mr. Dursley's eyes grew comically large as he recognized the supposed convict. Fred and George waved at Dudley whose eyes grew larger than his dad's when he recognized them. His hand went to his mouth as though on instinct and he backed up.
"We thought we'd just have a few words with you about Harry," Mr. Weasley said, still smiling.
"Yeah," growled Moody, "about how he's treated when he's at your place." Sirius glared at the group, making his face look long and terrible. It was hilarious watching the fear in Vernon's face rival with the anger at being told how to treat Harry.
"I am not aware that it is any of your business what goes on in my house – " Vernon started, his mustache twitching.
"I expect what you're not aware of would fill several books, Dursley," Moody said.
"Anyway, that's not the point," Tonks said. "The point is, if we find out you've been horrible to Harry–"
"-And make no mistake, we'll hear about it," Remus added pleasantly.
"If we so much as get a hint that my Godson has been or is being mistreated in any way, shape, or form, you will have us to answer to," Sirius hissed, leaning forward threateningly. It was amazing: all trace of his normally happy disposition was gone. He looked just as insane and dangerous as he had when I first saw him in the Shrieking Shack. I would have had no trouble believing he was a murderer. The Dursley's didn't appear to either judging by the way Petunia was shaking and Dudley was slowly inching his way back
Vernon twitched. He looked furious, but scared as well. After a moment he seemed to win some sort of internal battle.
"Are you threatening me, sir?" he said, glaring at Sirius.
Sirius smiled maliciously, leaning forward he stared right into Vernons eyes. "Yes. I. Am," he said slowly, annunciating each word. Dudley gave a scared squeak and made to move behind his mum.
"And do I look like the kind of man who can be intimidated?" Vernon questioned, his voice wavering.
"Well . . ." Moody said, holding Sirius back. He raised his hat and revealed his revolving magical eye. Vernon leapt backwards in horror and collided painfully with a luggage trolley. Moody smiled viciously. "Yes, I'd have to say you do, Dursley."
He turned away from Vernon to survey Harry.
"So, Potter . . . give us a shout if you need us. If we don't hear from you for three days in a row, we'll send Sirius to get you." The Dursley's looked terrified by the thought of Sirius coming for them. "Bye, then, Potter," Moody said, grasping Harry's shoulder for a moment with a gnarled hand.
"Take care, Harry," Remus said quietly. "Keep in touch."
"I'll be waiting for your Owl," Sirius said cheerfully.
"Harry, we'll have you away from there as soon as we can," Mrs Weasley whispered, hugging him again.
"We'll see you soon, mate," Ron said, shaking Harry's hand. I gave him a hug, swearing to myself that I wouldn't let anything stop me from getting back to him.
To all of them.
I only stayed with my parents until the first of July. They were livid when they found out I had snuck off with Harryf and broken into the Ministry of Magic. Dad was furious that I had a boyfriend and hadn't told him, or asked for his permission, and neither was happy that I flat out refused to stop attending Hogwarts. I told them that I was going to Hogwarts with or without their permission, and that I had already picked my side in the upcoming war. I was going to fight for Harry, and I was going to fight by his side.
Needless to say, it was a tense couple of weeks. I loved my mum and dad, but I couldn't stay home any longer. I told them that I wanted to go to the Burrow and they grudgingly let me leave, knowing how much I loved the place. It helped that they liked Mr. Weasley; he was always exceptionally friendly to them.
So I packed my bags and got ready for my parents to drive me to my second home. It was a quiet, tense ride. Neither of my parents spoke, and I didn't try to start any conversation. We arrived at the Burrow after about an hour of driving and I climbed out of the car. My mum came out after a moment and gave me a fierce hug.
"I'm sorry, honey," she said, brushing my hair away from my face. "We both love you, you know that right? I'm sorry we don't understand about the war, we just want you to be safe." She gave me another hug, and I returned it, feeling hopeful for the first time this summer.
"I'll owl you this summer, I promise," I whispered in her ear. "I love you both."
"I know, honey, I'll be waiting for your owl," she said. She gave me one last kiss on my brow before getting back in the car. I waved as they left, feeling as though this year just might not be so bad after all.
A/N: Thanks to a Ninja Goldfish for betain this for me :)