Chapter One
Hermione arrived at the Burrow for the summer to find the house virtually empty. It was strangely quiet in the Weasley home, and it was beginning to make her a little worried. Fortunately, she eventually discovered the Weasley children in the back yard, huddled in a circle of red hair amongst the thin trees that were scattered around the garden. She had approached them tentatively at first, not sure if she was encroaching on a family meeting. When Ron spotted her, however, he grinned and motioned her over. Upon catching herself run a hand through her bushy brown hair nervously, Hermione shook her head with annoyance. It’s only Ron, she thought firmly.
Seeing the Weasleys all together like this, it was easy for Hermione to see the similarities between them—and not just in their red hair and freckles. Ginny was wearing a grin very much like the twins’, and Ron’s hair bristled out in the front like his brothers’ as well.
“We’re trying to decide what to do for Dad’s birthday tomorrow,” he explained after a quick hello.
George nodded. “It’s the big four-oh.”
“Over the hill,” Fred added.
“Past the peak.”
“In his prime.”
“Getting on—“
“Yes, we know!” Ginny interrupted, rolling her eyes at Hermione.
“Anyway,” Ron continued. “We’re having a bit of a disagreement. Fred and George want to take him to his favorite restaurant—“
Ginny made a face. “That place is older than Auntie Muriel.”
“—and Ginny and I want to just invite the family over for a party out here.” Ron gestured toward the back garden. “It would be easier, not to mention cheaper—“
“We always have parties here,” Fred complained. “We just figured we could shake things up for a change.”
“But now that you’re here, you can break the tie!” Ron grinned, obviously expecting Hermione to side with him.
“Someone let it slip this morning that we were planning something.” George glared at Ron. “Dad’s expecting something exciting. How would you like to be the one to disappoint him on his birthday?”
“So, no pressure or anything,” Fred winked.
“Um, well,” Hermione stuttered, taken aback. “I suppose we could always…”
“Stay here?” Ron cut in hopefully.
“Well,” Her eyes lit up with an idea. “For my dad’s birthday we went to a carnival.” Hermione shrugged. “And since your dad loves Muggles, he’d get a kick out of that, I’m sure!”
Four pairs of eyes stared at her in silence. “Or not…” Hermione said slowly.
“No, no! Hermione, you’re brilliant!” Ginny’s face split into a grin. “Dad will go nuts for all that Muggle stuff! What do you say?” She looked around at her brothers. They all nodded in agreement, talking excitedly.
“We’ll invite the whole family!” George said.
“—not to mention a couple things we’ve been working on,” Fred added. The twins’ faces both twisted into identical evil smiles. Fortunately, the others weren’t really listening.
“I’ll owl Bill and Charlie to see if they can come as soon as possible. Ginny, how about you go see if you can pull Mum into a place where Dad won’t overhear?” said Ron.
Ginny nodded and pulled Hermione along by the arm. “Come on, Hermione, we’ve got some catching up to do.”
Ron sputtered, watching the girls walk back into the house. “W-wait! Who’s best friends with who?”
“It’s ‘Who’s best friends with whom,’ first of all, Ron.” Hermione turned to face him. “Second of all, we’ll catch up later. Don’t you have a couple letters to send?”
The tall boy shoved his hands in his pockets and strode past them. “Fine,” he mumbled. “Don’t expect me to be hanging around, though. I’ve got plenty of stuff to do, you know.”
He slumped into the house, scowling as he heard giggling float up from behind him. Girls…
When Harry arrived at the Burrow the next day, the whole house was a flurry of activity. It had been a long last few weeks, and Harry was anxious to have fun with his two best friends, not to mention keep his mind off the recent death of his godfather. If he expected a warm hello like always, however, he was quite mistaken. He stood in the kitchen for a good ten minutes, watching people rush up and down the stairs without giving him even a second glance.
It wasn’t strange for Harry to feel unnoticed—he got enough of that at the Dursleys’. What was strange to him was the feeling of annoyance that came with being unnoticed. He didn’t know whether to smile or scowl at the sight of furrowed brows and distant eyes. Harry might have said something, but he could hardly get a word in edgewise, anyway. The others where hollering to each other from all parts of the house.
He watched Bill and Charlie stride through, talking quickly. Bill’s hair still hung loose around his ears, a sign that Mrs. Weasley hadn’t gotten to it yet. Neither had changed much from the last time Harry saw them. He could only catch snippets of what the men were saying.
“…and now Mum’s miffed that they didn’t plan this early enough…”
“…I sure don’t envy them once she’s calmed down a bit…” They vanished into another room.
“Hermione!” Ginny had just burst into the kitchen for the first time. “Where did you put my—Harry!” Her eyes widened as they fell upon his tousled black hair and green eyes. He had grown during the summer, she noticed—as if he needed to. His shoulders had long since finished filling out, although his face was still thin enough to invite a worrying word or two from her mother, when the time came. She jerked herself back the present. “When did you get here?”
“Erm, not too long ago,” Harry smiled sheepishly. “Where’s the fire?” He gestured feebly around at the house.
Ginny couldn’t help but give him a smile of her own. “It’s Dad’s birthday today. We’re taking him to a carnival!”
“A carnival?” Harry repeated, dumbfounded.
Ginny nodded excitedly. “But don’t tell Dad, will you? He won’t know where we’re taking him until we get there.”
“Sure! Um, is there anything I can do to help?” He glanced around. “When is your dad getting here?”
“In about ten minutes, which is why everyone’s a bit…mad,” Ginny chuckled. “Mum sent him out to deliver a ‘message’ to the Lovegoods. Why he thinks she doesn’t send an owl, I don’t know.”
“Oi, Ginny! I thought you were going to—Harry!” Ron appeared in the staircase. “Why didn’t you tell me you were here? Ginny! Why didn’t you tell me he was here?” He approached the two, looking very affronted.
“Slow down, thickhead, Harry has only just got here.” Ginny rolled her eyes.
“Hey,” Ron continued with enthusiasm, brushing off Ginny’s insult. “Hermione had this great idea! We’re going to take Dad to a—“
“—a carnival, yeah. Ginny told me,” said Harry. “That’s great!”
“Want to help me get the car ready?” Ron said. “Bill and Charlie have already charmed it to make it bigger on this inside. Now we’ve just got to pack the lunches and things into the trunk.”
“Well, you two have fun with that. Hermione said she would show me a thing or two about Muggle money.” With that, she climbed up the stairs.
As Harry watched her disappear up the hallway, he was dimly aware of her hair falling down her back, shining in the light. It looked…nice. He gave himself a mental shake. What was that?
“You alright there, mate?” Ron looked at him inquiringly. “You went all funny for a second there.”
“I’m alright.” Harry shook his head. “Let’s go pack those lunches.”
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