Disclaimer: I own nothing Harry Potter related. Those rights go to Jo Rowling and Warner Brothers. I just like to take the characters out and play with them once in a while.
Harry was a light sleeper, a skill born of necessity living with the Dursleys. If he wasn't the first one up, readying breakfast in the kitchen, there would be hell to pay, either in the form of a backhand from Uncle Vernon or locked in his room without anything to eat. So, it surprised him when he only woke to footfalls on the first floor landing instead of when the bedroom door opened. He concluded that Mr. Weasley and Percy must still be out or else they would have said something seeing him and Hermione sleeping on the sofa.
Tugging gently on the arm of said witch, Harry tried to wake her. "Hermione, you awake?"
"I am now," she whispered, shifting slightly.
"Mrs. Weasley is on her way down. Don't say anything about me, I have a plan for that."
"Wonderful, another plan."
"Hey!" Harry hissed back and flicked Hermione's ear before going still as Mrs. Weasley's footsteps hit the landing.
It was quiet for a moment as Mrs. Weasley must have been looking into the living room before the stairs creaked again.
"Hermione? Hermione, are you awake, dear?"
Sighing, Hermione pushed back the throw, effectively blocking Harry from view even if the Weasley matriarch stood at the edge of the couch, and rose wiping sleep from her eyes.
"I'm up, Mrs. Weasley. I just have to put Crookshanks in his travel basket." The cat looked at his mistress and with a flick of his bottlebrush tail, hopped onto her trunk and into his carrier. Hermione latched it before turning to Mrs. Weasley.
"Are you sure I can't stay? What will Ginny say when she wakes up and finds all my stuff gone?"
"Oh pish," Molly huffed as she bustled between the kitchen and living room, simultaneously trying to get breakfast prepared and shoo Hermione towards the fireplace with her things.
"I'll explain that I contacted your parents after what happened at the Cup and they wanted you close to them for the rest of summer."
"But , my parents aren't even…"
"Now, don't argue with me young lady, we spoke about this last night. I have enough children to keep an eye on and you have two parents at home that love you."
Sighing, Hermione rubbed her eyes again. "And Harry? What are you going to tell him? The same thing as the others?"
Startled, Mrs. Weasley finally looked directly at the muggleborn witch. "What do you mean 'what will I tell Harry?' why wouldn't I tell him the same thing as the rest of the family?"
Harry chose that moment to rise off the couch and step into view. "Because Harry knows that Hermione's parents aren't home at the moment, Mrs. Weasley."
Pressing her hand to her rather impressive chest, Mrs. Weasley took a step back at seeing the wizard get up from the same place the Granger girl was just sleeping.
"Harry! You startled me! What are you doing down here on the couch? You should still be in bed." She made to step towards him but Harry moved around the back of the couch to be closer to Hermione.
"Mrs. Weasley, please, just don't. After everything that happened, I just want to know, to understand, why you want to send my best friend away. Don't you think that we'd all want to be together after what happened?"
"Harry, dear, I know you're upset but it's really for the best. Hermi…"
Harry moved towards the woman without realizing it, he was that angry. "The best? The best? To send an underage witch back to her muggle home, where her parents aren't even there, which you would have known if you'd bothered to listen to anyone other than yourself, and with no way to protect herself without using magic!"
A tea cup exploded on the counter interrupting Harry's rant and making Mrs. Weasley jump.
"Harry?" Hermione whispered.
Breathing hard, Harry looked back seeing she'd gathered her trunk and cat carrier and was waiting near the fireplace.
"Let's just go."
Nodding, Harry turned back to . "Now, you'll have to make excuses for both of us because there's no way I'm letting Hermione go home by herself after the fiasco at the Cup."
"Harry, you can't go! What if you're found?"
Grabbing the trunk from Hermione so she only had to deal with Crookshanks, Harry glanced over his shoulder.
"That didn't seem to bother you very much before. Let the others know we'll see them on the Express."
He motioned for Hermione to go first.
"I promise I'll be right behind you."
She nodded, grabbed a pinch of powder from the mantle and tossed it into the flames, clearly stating "Granger home" before stepping into the green flames.
Moving to follow, Harry was just about to drop in the powder when Mrs. Weasley grabbed his arm. He glared up at her and she let go.
"Harry, surely you know you'll be safer here with us. What about Ron? Or Ginny? Don't you care what they think? And school shopping? How am I supposed to shop for you if you aren't here?"
Shaking his head, he turned back to the fireplace. "You don't seem to care what they'll think when they find Hermione gone. Or what I would have thought for that matter. I'm sure you'll come up with something, Mrs. Weasley. And I think Hermione and I can handle school shopping just fine. I did last year without any trouble."
He dropped the powder into the flames, "Please tell Mr. Weasley thanks for me. Everything up until the end was awesome." With a clear 'Granger residence', Harry disappeared into the fire leaving Mrs. Weasley to figure out what to tell her husband and kids about a missing Harry Potter. Hermione Granger was the last thing on her mind.
~O~O~O~O~O
Floo travel was not something Harry enjoyed. He hated being covered in soot and never could keep his balance. The trunk traveling with him helped ensure he at least ended up on his feet. Hermione was just a few feet away with a very unhappy kneazle. Harry looked around him curiously. The living room was lit by a small lamp and the sky out the large picture window was just turning pink. It looked comfortable with a large sofa and several armchairs. Extra blankets were piled in a basket next to the couch and books spilled from the overstuffed shelves to litter the coffee table. Nothing like the sterile and uninviting living room of the Dursleys.
"Harry, where is your trunk and Hedwig's cage? I thought maybe you were grabbing them?"
Hermione asked, brushing the soot off her face but not bothering with the rest since they would be going right back through the fire.
He smirked. "Believe it or not, I finally got the hang of the shrinking charm you taught us before we went to the Cup."
Shaking her head, Hermione laughed. "So it only takes me getting in trouble for you to learn a spell quickly?"
"Hey, now! I pick up things just fine!"
"Yes, yes, you do. Better than me sometimes." She looked around. "Should we get going? The only people that can apparate in are Mr. Weasley and Bill but I don't want to risk Mr. Weasley showing up in the backyard before we get out of here. I suppose i should be concerned with someone flooing in but i really just don't want to deal with that right now."
Harry nodded and saw a small bowl of floo powder on the mantle. "So they'll know we aren't here then."
"Well, I suspect Mr. Weasley will be sent for you. I doubt Mrs. Weasley will tell him the whole reason we aren't there, just something along the lines of me brainwashing you to come home with me. But, yes, eventually they will find out we aren't here. My house was only going to be connected to the floo network for the Cup but Mr. Weasley convinced the Ministry to leave it until we went back to Hogwarts."
Chuckling quietly, Harry nodded. "Poor Mr. Weasley. I have a feeling this morning is going to be very loud at the Burrow. Let's get going."
Dropping into the anteroom of the Leaky Cauldron, Harry and Hermione were greeted by Tom, the bald and toothless bartender and within minutes were shown upstairs to rooms next to each other. As Harry took out his trunk and returned it to regular size, Hedwig landed on the windowsill, tapping on the glass.
"That's my brilliant girl, Hedwig. You found me even though we had to change plans." The snowy owl hooted happily and rustled her feathers under his fingers as he stroked her chest. A knock disturbed his familiar and she glared at the door a moment before Hermione stepped into the room with Crookshanks on her heels. Hedwig trilled and flew to greet her.
Raising her arm for the bird, Hermione smiled. "Hello, Hedwig!" The owl rubbed her head against Hermione's cheek in greeting and then moved to perch on the headboard.
"You know, I'm beginning to wonder if Hedwig likes you better than me. She wasn't that happy to see me." Harry teased.
"It's just a girl thing. I think sometimes Hedwig likes to spend time with someone else who's female, regardless of the species," Hermione replied, looking around the room curiously. She'd only stopped briefly last summer and hadn't had the chance to really look around. Both rooms were similarly outfitted in dark wood, with a four post bed taking up the bulk of the space. A door leading to the loo was off to the side. Yawning, Hermione moved to perch on the bed watching Crookshanks bat dust bunnies on the floor and prowl under the bed.
"So, are we getting breakfast or do you have some other impressive plans that I don't know about?"
Harry eyed Hermione carefully while she was busy with their familiars. Both of them only had a few hours of sleep and from the stilted way Hermione was moving, he was sure fatigue was making her sore from being tackled the previous night. He could easily sleep another couple of hours but he wasn't sure he was ready to let Hermione out of his sight. It was only paranoia that had him thinking someone could find them here and that quickly, but paranoia had saved his arse a few times in the past three years.
"How are you feeling?" Harry asked, moving to sit on his newly resized trunk. Hermione glanced down at him, confused. "I mean, I knocked you to the ground and then pretty much fell right on top of you. You already have a bruise on your cheek, the rest of you must be black and blue. I'm lucky I didn't break your wand in half."
Raising her hand to the blemish, Hermione chuckled. "You're heavier than you look but I'm fine, really. Nothing worse than end of last year anyway." A black brow quirked. "Harry, I'm fine. Just bumps and bruises. If it bothers you that much we can stop at the apothecary later and I can pick something up. Mum and Dad gave me money for getting school supplies and some extra in case I wanted extra books, so I should have enough to spare." Stretching her legs out on his bed and reclining against the pillows, Harry watched as she closed her eyes and Crooksanks hopped up to curl into her side.
Deciding that sleep was the more appealing option, Harry toed off his trainers and moved to stretch out on the other side of the wide bed. Hermione cracked open an eye when she felt Harry tug off her shoes.
"Neither one of us slept well last night and it's still early. Nothing is really open yet so we might as well get a few more hours. Just stay here, there's more than enough room and then we'll decide on where to go."
Nodding, Hermione settled back against the pillows and let Crooksanks purrs lull her to sleep. Harry dropped his glasses on the bedside table and settled in to doze for a few hours, not realizing as soon as he closed his eyes, he dropped into sleep. His last coherent thought was the chaos the Burrow was going to wake up to and being glad he wasn't there for the show.
~O~O~O~O~O
Chaos was the theme of the day as the sun rose over the Burrow. Arthur Weasley returned home to find his wife in the kitchen preparing breakfast and a quiet house. That all changed when he asked a loaded question.
"Molly, are any of the children awake yet? I'd like to talk to Harry about what happened and the dark mark being cast."
"Arthur, dear, the children had a long night. Surely you don't intend on giving them any details about what happened. They're only children and far too young to be dealing with all that."
Grabbing a cup of tea from the table, Arthur sighed. "Molly, the dark mark was cast by Harry's wand. I know it wasn't him and the Minister is mostly convinced but I'd like to hear his side of things again."
Molly moved to set a plate of sausages on the table when they heard Ginny yell from upstairs. A minute later the redhead flew down the steps.
"Mum! Hermione is missing! All of her stuff is gone!"
The chair Arthur was sitting in crashed to the floor. "Ginny, what do you mean gone?"
"Now, Arthur, Ginny, nothing is wrong. I sent Hermione home to her parents after what happened. She was a wreck and I thought she would need her own mum more than being here." Molly turned back to the stove as if nothing was amiss.
Ginny just stared. "Mum, how did you send Hermione home? I heard her and Harry talking about her parents taking a holiday. Did they come back early?"
The other shoe dropped before Molly could come up with a good excuse. Ron and the twins tumbled downstairs in a heap, all three talking at once.
"Harry's not here! His trunk is gone! Do you think he tried to find the Death Eaters?" Fred and George righted themselves, then used Ron as a prop to stand up.
Ginny though turned to her mother with a glare that could rival her own.
"Mum, what did you do? What did you say to them?" She narrowed her eyes. "Why are both of them missing?"
Sighing, Molly moved the rest of breakfast to the table. She really would have preferred to have this discussion when Arthur was safely upstairs and napping but it couldn't be helped.
"Ginny, dear, I simply spoke to Hermione after you fell asleep. I wanted her to understand I have my hands full with all of you and that it was better for her to return home for now. After all, someone fired a curse at her! Any one of you could have been hit!"
Ron stumbled into the kitchen, for once not paying any attention to the food on the table. "Mum, it was Malfoy who tried to curse Hermione! If he could have, he would have done that to any one of us! You still haven't explained where Harry is?"
The twins, being quicker to catch onto their mother's latest scheme, decided to see how far they could press their luck.
"Well Feorge, it looks like mummy here didn't take into account something important before she talked to our lovely guest last night."
"Indeed, Gred. And by lovely guest, I'm assuming you meant the delectable Miss Granger and not our little Harrikins."
"So true dear brother. Harrikins is delectable but not quite as…"
"Will you two knock it off." Molly huffed. "What do you mean, I missed something?"
Fred and George grinned simultaneously. "That Harry will follow Hermione anywhere." The twins replied together.
Molly sputtered." That's ridiculous! Why would Harry care where Hermione went as long as I said it was fine?"
Ron was the one who answered. "Because those two go everywhere together. If I would have been up when they left, I would have gone with them!"
Arthur dropped into a chair and reached for the coffee. "So they're at Hermione's house then?"
His wife nodded. "That's where they told me they were going."
"I'll nip over after breakfast and collect them. Both of them, Molly."
She nodded hoping for her sake they stayed put.