"Our Hogwarts letters came in!" I called up the stairs to Harry, Ron, and Ginny. Of course Fleur and I would be the only ones downstairs. Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen fixing breakfast.
"Excité?" (excited) Fleur asked as I opened my letter. I smiled over at her as I pulled the letter out of my envelope.
"Oui!" (yes) I answered happily. I read over my letter quickly while the boys and Ginny came running down stairs.
"Ils sonnent comme un troupeau d'éléphants." (They sound like a herd of elephants) Fleur mumbled as Ginny, Harry, and Ron grabbed their envelopes. I burst out laughing and Ginny looked surprised while Harry and Ron looked startled.
"You speak French?" Harry asked, sounding mildly surprised.
I nodded my head and smiled. "Ouais." (Yeah) I answered, smiling. Ginny was looking at me in shock.
Ron just shrugged and opened his letter. "Awesome!" he said suddenly smiling widely.
"Excusez-moi?" I said, and then shook my head and asked again, in English this time. "Excuse me? What's awesome?"
"We'll get to go see Fred and George's shop now," he was bouncing on the balls of his feet and grinning like mad. Was I the only one who had seen the shop?
"That's right!" Harry said smiling widely. "I can't wait to see it, I bet it's neat."
"What about you 'Mione, you excited to see it?" Ron asked, flipping through his letter.
"Umm, I've already seen it," I said quietly.
"What?" Ron exclaimed, looking shocked.
"How did you not know that?" Harry asked looking over at Ron with mild surprise. "She went last week, when we were playing Quidditch. Didn't you notice she was missing?"
He blushed a little, his ears turning a bright red. "Umm, no."
"That wouldn't have something to do with a Ms. Luna Lovegood now would it?" I asked, feigning nonchalance. Lucky for him, Ron was saved from having to answer by Mrs. Weasley's timely arrival.
"What's this?" Harry said as she came in the room, holding up a little badge. It was gold, in the shape of a broom and had the letters GQC engraved on it.
"Harry!" Ron exclaimed, snatching the badge with excitement. "You've been made Quidditch captain!"
"That gives you equal status with prefects!" I exclaimed happily as I jumped up to examine the badge. "You can use our special bathroom now and everything!"
"Wow, I remember when Charlie wore one of these," Ron said, still examining the badge with glee. "Harry, this is so cool, you're my Captain — if you let me back on the team, I suppose, ha ha. . . ."
"Well, I don't suppose we can put off a trip to Diagon Alley much longer now you've got these," sighed Mrs. Weasley, looking down Ron's booklist. "We'll go tonight. Your father said he'd be able to get the security…"
"Mum, d'you honestly think You-Know-Who's going to be hiding behind a bookshelf in Flourish and Blotts?" Ron asked, sniggering slightly.
Mrs. Weasley flared up in irritation. "Fortescue and Ollivander went on holiday, did they?" she asked, glaring at her son. "If you think security's a laughing matter you can stay behind and I'll get your things myself—"
"No, I wanna come, I want to see Fred and George's shop!" Ron said quickly, glancing at me in annoyance.
"Then you just buck up your ideas, young man, before I decide you're too immature to come with us!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily, snatching up the glasses Fleur and I had been drinking out of and tossing them into the sink. "And that goes for returning to Hogwarts as well!" she finished dramatically, stomping out of the room.
Ron turned and stared at Harry in disbelief as the door swung shut behind his mother."Blimey," he breathed out, "you can't even make a joke round here anymore. . . ."
"S'e as a point Ronald." Fleur said quietly, looking out the window. "Security ees no laug'eeng manner. We are on ze verge of war."
"Yeah, take her side," Ginny hissed. I rolled my eyes and cocked my head at her.
"Really Ginny? You were with us at the ministry last year. They don't care if we're underage. I saw Diagon Alley, it's practically deserted." I fingered my letter and sighed, feeling hopeless suddenly. "Everything's changed, Hogwarts is really the only safe place left."
"Still," Ron said sourly, "it was just a joke."
"Come on," Harry said placating. "Lets go play a quick game of Quidditch before we go out."
"All right," Ron said begrudgingly.
As they walked out Fleur rolled her eyes and looked over at me. "Les garcons." (Boys) I nodded my head and Ginny actually cracked a smile.
"That's the same in any language," she said softly before turning around and leaving the room. Maybe there was hope for her and Fleur after all.
Mr. Weasley came home at four, and we all got ready to leave. Bill, who was staying home with Fleur despite my insistence that she come, passed Harry bag full of money.
"Where's mine?" Ron demanded at once, clueless as ever.
"That's already Harry's, idiot," Bill said good naturedly. "I got it out of your vault for you, Harry, because it's taking about five hours for the public to get to their gold at the moment, the goblins have tightened security so much. Two days ago Arkie Philpott had a Probity Probe stuck up his ... Well, trust me, this way's easier." That was scary, every one was getting cautious about the war. If the Goblins were even getting worried, well, it didn't look good for our future.
"Thanks, Bill," Harry said, pocketing his gold with obvious embarrassment. Poor boy hated having so much money. He'd give it all to the Weasley's in a heart beat, just because they'd been such a family to him.
'"E is always so thoughtful," Fleur purred adoringly, stroking Bill's nose. I repressed a giggle at the sight. Fleur was a hopeless romantic. She'd always be one, it was part of her charm.
A special Ministry of Magic car, was awaiting us in the front yard when weemerged from the house, pulling on our cloaks.
Ron, Harry, Ginny and I all squeezed into the back quite comfortably in the wide backseat.
"Here you are, then," the driver said suddenly, speaking for the first time. "I'm to wait for you. Any idea how long you'll be?"
"A couple of hours, I expect," said Mr. Weasley. "Ah, good, they're here!" I glanced out the window to see Hagrid and Sirius walking towards us. A huge grin broke out on Harry's face and he climbed out of the back seat as quickly as he could. Sirius grabbed him in a big hug, and then Hagrid grabbed both of them in a hug.
"Glad ter see yeh Harry," Hagrid said, squeezing them tighter. Ron, Ginny, and I had made it out of the car by now and Hagrid let Sirius and Harry down to grab the three of us in a hug.
"Umm, you two are the security?" Mrs. Weasley asked, clearly not thinking they were terribly good 'security.'
"Yep," Sirius said, patting Harry on the back. "Dumbledore picked us himself," he added, giving Mrs. Weasley a significant look. She mouthed a little 'o' and walked towards the Leaky Cauldron.
"Very well then. Lets get to it," Mr. Weasley said, and off we went. We stopped at the entrance to Diagon alley and split up, Sirius, Hagrid, Ron, Harry, and I were in one group, and Ginny was with her parents.
"Okay, lets go to Madame Malkins," Sirius said happily. He looked so much better than he had last year. Freedom suited him well. The ghost of Azkaban was finally starting to fade and he was beginning to look like the handsome young man I had seen in Harry's photos. He led the way down the deserted streets, and going inside the familiar robe shop. It was nearly deserted, and we got our robe measurements done in a matter of minutes. I went into the Apothecary with Hagrid, while Harry and Ron stopped by Eylops with Sirius. We met back up with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny before stopping by the last shop, Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.
"We really haven't got too long," Mrs. Weasley said. "So we'll just have a quick look around and then back to the car. We must be close, that's number ninety-two . . . ninety-four . . ."
I led the way forward, skipping up the steps to the shop with a huge grin. I turned around in time to see the others' faces. They all looked starstruck.
Mrs. Weasley was gazing at the poster about U-NO-POO and looked horrified. "They'll be murdered in their beds!" she whispered.
"No they won't!" Ron said, joining Harry in laughing at the joke. "This is brilliant!"
We three ran forward, racing into the still overcrowded shop. Unlike last time I caught sight of George before he caught sight of me. I walked up behind him and leaned against an aisle, taking in the sight of him as he restocked shelves. He was stretching to reach the tallest shelf before bending down to grab more products. His body was incredible. He had strong arms, not overly ripped like some men, but well muscled. He was tall, not as much as Ron, but just perfect to me. He had a taut, finely honed body in short. His ginger locks had grown since last year, no longer as short as they had been. His legs were long, but not clumsily so. He was oddly graceful when he moved, seeming to never stumble. He was really perfect, and he was a lot of fun to watch. I had been standing there for about five minutes when George hesitated in picking up an item.
"You're staring at my arse, aren't you?" George said suddenly, turning around and winking at me. I blushed furiously and walked forward.
"Not that I could blame you, I've got rather a fine one."
"I was doing no such thing," I said, looking as innocent as I could. I had been doing just that.
"Riight," George said, dragging the word out like he didn't believe me for a minute.
"I'll have you know there are far more interesting things to look at in this store," I said in as pompous an air as I could. I'd reached him by now and he was laughing softly.
"I can't see anything in this store (more interesting?) than your arse," he said, smiling sincerely. I blushed fiercely and lowered my gaze. I hardly believed that my, well, that I was as nicely shaped as he was.
"You're doing it again," he said, lifting my chin and forcing me to look him in the eyes. "Don't doubt yourself, Hermione. You…Are…Beautiful…" He reiterated each word with a kiss, first on my cheek, then my nose, and finally on my hair.
The way he said it made me feel beautiful. The way he looked at me like it would actually hurt him if I didn't believe him. He was gently fingering my hair and had his other hand resting lightly on my hip. He leaned his head down and rested his forehead against mine. We stood like that for a few minutes, ignoring the other customers in the store. I took a deep breath and caught a pleasant scent.
"Mmm," I said softly, taking a deep breath. "You smell nice," I said, grinning against him. "Have you been working on a new product?"
He laughed and shook his head, standing straight but pulling me into his chest. "Nope, just the wonder witch products."
"Wonder Witch?" I asked, chuckling at the cute name.
"Yep, a non-joke line of products. Things like pimple remover, love potion, pygmy puffs." He pulled me tighter to him. "You don't need any of it."
"Really?" I asked, grinning. "I might could use the love potion," I said cheekily. He stiffened against me and pulled back looking down at me with serious eyes.
"About that…"
I didn't get to hear what he was going to say, though, because we were interrupted.
"Hermione!" Mrs. Weasley said, appearing out of nowhere. I jumped back from George as though I'd been burned, blushing furiously.
"Have you seen Ron or Harry?" she asked brusquely, glaring at George.
"No," I answered, instantly worried. "Have you lost them?"
"I can't seem to find them…" she trailed off, looking extremely worried.
Panic gripped me as I turned to George. "Have you seen him?"
He shook his head, looking amused. "I'll check with Fred," he said, pulling out his Galleon. He typed a message out while Mrs. Weasley watched us and then we waited for a reply. A minute later we had one.
He was in the back, can't find him now.
A/N: Happy Birthday Chico is a Turkey. I finished this chapter early so I decided to go ahead and post it. I might be a little late in posting tomorrow, but I'll try and have it up by usual. Keep reading and reviewing with your ideas/thoughts. i'm planning on changing quite a bit of Half Blood Prince, I hope no one minds. Ron and Hermione will have better attitudes and the whole Lavender thing is just not going to happen. I'm not going to say anymore than that right now, I don't want to spoil it :D
Thanks to Ninja Goldfish for betaing this for me!
Enjoy!