Ynunlle

Chapter I

Sunday July 27, 1997

Hermione Granger slowly stretched in her seat. The plane ride from Stockholm back to London was just under three hours long, and while it would be landing in less than ten minutes, airplane seats are not very comfortable. Not even for a shortish, average-built teen-aged girl.

She had spent just over two weeks with her parents, visiting Baltic beaches in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, and back for their summer holiday. Her parents had kept her firmly in the Muggle world -- not that Hermione was overly interested in much of the magical world this summer. She had especially managed to avoid looking for any Crumple-horned Snorkacks.

The previous school year had seen the climax of all the many worries that had afflicted her since the second half of her first year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Voldemort had reappeared just before the end of her fourth year, and she had helped the Order of the Phoenix the previous summer prepare to fight the threat. Hogwarts had survived a direct attack -- and then she had helped Harry Potter and two others kill Voldemort.

Sometimes, that thought haunted her at night.

Voldemort's forces were dividing even before the attack on Hogwarts. The majority would then try to rejoin the wizarding world, while a small terror wing attacked it. The 'political group' drove a hard bargain, making it slightly more difficult for the Muggle-born or raised, Half-bloods, and Mixed-bloods to get ahead in the future, and giving a slight advantage to 'Pure-bloods' like themselves. Many of the 'political group,' including the co-leader Lucius Malfoy, wound up falling anyways, betrayed along with the 'terror group' in early March by Regulus Black, so that he could control the Movement for Pure-Bloods.

Well before that, however, the Lestranges, leaders of the 'terror group,' had directed a dementor attack on the Hogwarts Express as it returned students back to school after the Yule holidays. Harry and his powerful cousin Edward Potter (the Runes professor) had led the two groups of students that had saved the students from the two-pronged dementor attack.

The three Lestranges had then attacked, killing five students before Harry and Edward had each killed one of the Lestrange brothers.

Five students, including Ron Weasley.

One of her two best friends. The boy Hermione had loved for over a year.

Ron haunted her dreams far more than her participation in Voldemort's execution. Ron's death had blighted part of her soul, and after more than six months, she was still not completely recovered.

That night, Hermione would be going back to the Burrow, to spend some time with Ginny and the other Weasleys. She liked the Weasleys too much to refuse their invitation. Harry was already in Ottery St. Catchpole, staying with his girlfriend of nearly a year, Luna Lovegood.

Hermione wanted to see Ginny, Harry, Luna, and the Weasleys. She would also have to visit Ron, which she both wanted to do, and dreaded. They would all go to see Neville Longbottom (Ginny's boyfriend) for his birthday on Wednesday, then move on to Potter Place for Harry's birthday Thursday and Luna's on Friday. The party would breakup on Sunday evening.

'It will be nice to see Neville and Luna,' Hermione thought, but she was even more interested in seeing Ginny and Harry. She wondered how Harry was coping -- he had been as upset at Ron's death as Ginny or herself, but the death of Voldemort had relieved him of a heavy burden. Hermione, of course, had remembered little gifts for all of them, including ones designed for her two younger friends, now that their O.W.L.s were completed. (Luna had scored 11, Ginny 9.)

The plane landed and taxied to the gate. A quick trip through customs, and then a long walk took them to the car park. And less than two hours later, thanks to fairly light traffic, the Grangers were home.

Hermione partially repacked her bags while her parents started the laundry and sorted through the mail. She went down to help, and two hours later brought her clean laundry to her room to finish packing.

Edward and Carole Potter had promised they would take the teens to visit Diagon Alley on Saturday. Hermione therefore did not take many books with her -- just two N.E.W.T. study-guides. She also took plenty of ink and parchment, and all her quills. Hermione had started three organizations that had chapters in a number of the smaller magical schools around Europe (the Inter-House Student Committee For Cultural Input was working on the newly-required courses in Magical Culture the Pure-Bloods were requiring for the Muggle-born and Raised, and Mixed-bloods; E.L.F., the successor to her earlier S.P.E.W., promoted the liberation of house elves; and R.A.W.W. -- Rights for Afflicted Witches & Wizards, promoted greater acceptance for registered werewolves and vampires). All her magical correspondence would have been building up at the Burrow since the end of school.

Hermione surveyed her luggage -- two medium suitcases, a knapsack, and two large paperbags of presents. As usual, Edward Potter had provided a piece of rope to act as a portkey, this one long enough to tie off all her luggage. At 6:30, her parents came up to her room to kiss her goodbye. Promptly at 6:45, Hermione was whisked away.

Hermione found herself standing in Ginny's room a moment later. Hermione had just enough time to see that the room still hadn't really changed over the five years since she'd first stayed there when Ginny shot through the door and embraced her best friend.

Hermione hugged Ginny back. The two teens were of very similar height, slightly under 5 foot 2, and of slim build. Hermione did notice Ginny had continued to develop a bit, and was nearly as busty as she was. Hermione was rather glad that she had stopped developing in that department herself -- medium leaning towards large was quite large enough for her, although she sometimes remembered how Ron had hoped for much more.

Ginny and Hermione had both let their hair grow after Ron's murder. Ginny's thin copper-red, slightly wavy hair was now half-way down her back. Hermione's nearly-famous brown curly bush now fanned across her shoulders and was almost as long as Ginny's.

"You look tan," Ginny commented.

"A week on nude beaches will do that for you," Hermione answered.

Ginny's freckles nearly disappeared as she blushed. "Really?" She swallowed. Only a few of the more obscure groups in the wizarding world went nude for certain rituals. Most of the community, especially in Britain, were still rather Victorian.

"What?" Hermione teased, "you and Neville aren't ready to cavort naked?"

"Not in front of everyone else!" Ginny hugged her friend again, and released her saying, "Come on, Mum's holding dinner for us."

Molly Weasley greeted Hermione with her usual near-crushing hug. Once released, Hermione asked, "Who else is here?"

"Just the four of us," Arthur Weasley answered from the kitchen table. "Shocking, isn't it?" he asked with a grin.

"The twins have started living over their store," Ginny told her. "Percy still has his apartment. . . ."

"At least he's seeing Penelope again," Molly said with a sniff, referring to Percy's Hogwarts' girlfriend.

"Charlie's still in Romania, and Bill and Fleur still are never seen outside of work hours," Ginny said.

"Ginny!" Molly scolded.

"And Harry?" Hermione asked.

"He and Luna were here for lunch yesterday," Molly said in a disapproving voice Hermione did not understand. Molly loved Harry as a son, and seemed to like Luna, a childhood friend of Ginny's. Nothing more was said about it, and Hermione decided it was likely Molly was merely upset because Harry was staying at the Lovegood's rather than with her.

"It's supposed to be nice tomorrow morning," Ginny piped up into the silence that followed Molly's remark. "I hope you don't mind, but we decided to meet with Harry and Luna at . . . Ron's at Nine-thirty."

Hermione bit her lip, but nodded her agreement. The quartet sat down to eat.

Monday, July 28, 1997

Ginny woke up a little after 7:00 the next morning. Hermione's cot was empty and barely looked slept-in. Ginny got up and threw on her light robe. After a quick visit to the toilet, Ginny went up to Ron's room.

Hermione was sleeping curled-up on Ron's bed. The room was still filled with vibrant Chudley Cannon posters, but somehow, they had seemed to sense their owner was gone. Within two weeks of Ron's death, the figures on all the posters had slowed down and finally stopped. Molly just had not had the desire to take them down, let alone rearrange or redecorate the room.

So Hermione lay swaddled in Ron's beloved Chudley Cannon bedspread, under the stilled Chudley Cannon posters. Ginny had gone through the room and Ron's things from Hogwarts earlier that month, sorting out clothes that could be passed on to others and which ones would have to be sent to the rag pile. She had saved out three Cannon t-shirts and Ron's beloved hat (a Christmas gift from Harry a few years before). Ginny had taken one shirt for herself, given Harry the hat, and would give the other two shirts to Hermione. Ginny decided she would also ask her Mum if she could give Hermione the bedspread as well.

When Hermione woke up half an hour later, she found her bags moved to Ron's room. There were two shocking orange shirts on top of them, with a note. Hermione smiled as she read it. She pulled on fresh undies, her favorite jeans, and the orange t-shirt. Carrying her trainers, Hermione went barefoot down to breakfast.

Hermione and Ginny (who was also wearing the Cannon shirt that she was keeping) left the Burrow a little after 9:00. They walked the mile to the small Muggle village of Ottery St. Catchpole. There was a small combination florist/stationary shop, and Hermione had sent in a post-order before leaving for Sweden.

"Got flowers to match your shirts, I see," the florist said with a smile. She knew the Weasleys by sight, although she merely thought them one of the more eccentric families who lived near the village. It was a shame the youngest boy had died in some kind of accident the previous year, she thought. That made two boys in just a year and a half.

Hermione carefully carried the dozen orange roses in their plastic vase. Ginny had three smaller arrangements, one of marigolds and two of sunflowers. It only took a few minutes to walk through the village to the small ancient cemetery, just past the small Saxon church. Hermione could see that a small part seemed to have some glamours over-laying it.

"This is the wizarding portion," Ginny explained as they entered the area. "It keeps Muggles from looking too closely, and it protects the bodies from being used for dark magic."

Hermione shuddered. She was not paying attention to the world around them, which is why a thunderous roar startled her.

Turning, Hermione saw a huge motorcycle, an American-style 'chopper,' pull noisily up to the cemetery. Two leather-clad bikers climbed off the chopper, their heavy boots crunching in the gravel, which made Hermione frown. The driver pulled off his helmet, and Hermione saw it was

"Harry!"

"Noisy, isn't he?" Ginny said with a sniff. The pillion rider pulled off her helmet as well, and Luna's long dark blonde hair streamed down past her small rear.

Hermione waited until she could finish hugging Harry to remonstrate with him. "What are you doing riding that thing! It's not legal until you pass your exam, and you can't take it until you're seventeen!"

Harry smiled. "Somehow, my license says I was born on the Thirtieth of June, instead of the Thirty-first of July. I'll have it fixed . . . next month."

Speechless, Hermione kissed Harry lightly and let Harry go, moving to hug Luna while Harry hugged Ginny. Harry and Luna both gave their friends light kisses on the lips, and then they all walked back to the tombstones.

Hermione saw Ron's grave was still covered by fresh-looking flowers, although she was certain many of them had been enchanted to stay fresh-looking. As she laid her tribute, Harry (who had been given permission to use under-age magic the year before), pulled off his right glove and took out his wand, putting a freshening spell on Hermione's flowers. They would last for many weeks. He did the same for Ginny's marigold tribute.

While Hermione and Ginny stayed by Ron's grave, Harry and Luna took the sunflowers over to another grave, and then the second to one further away.

"Cedric," Ginny said softly as Harry laid the first bunch and enchanted it. "Luna's mum," she added a few moments later.

As Luna and Harry hugged by Mrs. Lovegood's tombstone, Hermione asked, "When did they go all leather?"

Ginny smiled slightly. "The motorbike is Doctor Potter's non-enchanted cycle. He also has an enchanted one, plus Sirius'. Somehow, he arranged for Harry to get his license early. It's a new look, isn't it?"

"It certainly is."

"Doctor Potter outfitted them," Ginny told her. "They're charmed, too, so if they're thrown from the bike, they shouldn't be seriously hurt."

Harry and Luna walked back, hand-in-hand. "Did you want to stay longer?" Harry asked Hermione.

"No," she replied, looking at the gravestone and sniffling. "But what, where, are we going?"

Harry gave a small smile and led the three girls back to the chopper. A wave of Harry's wand, and a sidecar for two appeared. There were helmets and denim jackets inside it. "Climb in," Harry said.

Ginny immediately started slipping a jacket on, but Hermione looked doubtful. "He's a good rider," Luna said. "And the sidecar makes it even more stable."

Hermione sighed, and pulled on the other jacket. If Hermione had learned one thing in the nearly six full years she and Harry had known each other, it was that when Harry was set on breaking the rules, even she would go along with it. Luna helped Hermione adjust the helmet over her heavy hair. Harry gave Ron and Cedric a sincere salute, and started the huge machine. With a roar, they took off down the lane.

A few minutes before noon, the chopper roared down the dirt lane that dead-ended just past the Burrow. Molly could not help but hear them approach, and so was out in the side yard, watching the gnomes and chickens scramble in case the loud noise got too close.

Hermione had noticed, however, that while the chopper was very loud and powerful, Harry actually drove them safely, in fact at times almost sedately. She did, however, now fully understand Molly's disapproving attitude of the previous evening.

Harry killed the engine, and helped the girls in-turn to steadier ground. Harry was the first to have his helmet and jacket off, and he approached Mrs. Weasley with an ease Hermione had never seen in her shy friend before.

Seeing Harry without the jacket for the first time, Hermione noticed he had added several pounds of muscle in the short month they had been apart, although not really any noticeable height. Harry had grown over the previous year to an almost-average 5 foot 8, and it looked like he might stop around that height. Despite the added muscle, Harry was still lanky, and the helmet had done nothing to tame the wild thick black hair Molly Weasley was running her hand through as she scolded him gently for scaring the chickens.

Hermione turned to make that observation to Ginny, but she saw it was unnecessary. Ginny had been watching Harry, while Luna had been observing them all. Luna smiled her well-known gentle smile, tossed her jacket and helmet into the sidecar, and faced Hermione. She also seemed a lot more confident. Hermione saw that she seemed to have grown, or maybe she just remembered her clearly only from before Ron's murder more than six months before. She was only an inch or so shorter than Harry, and was fashion-model thin and, except for her odd eyes, fashion-model beautiful. Hermione jumped a bit when Luna winked at her.

Molly led Harry towards the kitchen, while Ginny broke up the silent communication between the other two girls by linking her arms with Luna and Hermione, leading them away, to give Harry and her mother some quiet time.

"Harry looks good," Hermione said.

"Most of the stress is finally off him," Luna said simply. "He still dreams about Cedric, Sirius, and Ron dying, and sometimes you can actually see the joy wash off his face when he thinks how much Ron or Sirius would have enjoyed something he's doing or seeing, but without that terrible burden on him, he's . . . happy. And with no Dursleys and no Dark Lord, he sees a future that he can really live in."

"That's good," Hermione commented, trying to take it all in.

"More than that, he's grown into his remaining responsibilities," Luna went on. "They no longer crush him." She smiled. "He's also happy to be near the Burrow, especially now that you're here."

"There was a terrible argument earlier this month, though," Ginny told Hermione. "Doctor Potter showed up. He and Harry had bought up the mortgage and they gave it to Mum and Dad. They were shocked, and not very pleased."

"Harry merely told them they had looked after him out of love, and he was doing that out of love as well," Luna said simply. "Granted, he was embarrassed to actually say it, but he did. He said the Potter Trust had paid off the Dursley's mortgage out of obligation, but that if the Weasleys really did consider him their foster child, then they should be willing to take from him as well as give to him."

"Did you coach him, or did Doctor Potter?" Hermione asked.

Luna smiled. "Carole, actually. He still meant every word, you know."

"I know," Hermione agreed. "He just needed help knowing how to say it."

"Exactly."

"So, with the mortgage paid off and only me at home, Mum and Dad can really plan for their retirement and start bugging Bill about grandchildren," Ginny said with a smile, leading them towards the back porch.

"He and Fleur are that serious?" Hermione asked, surprised.

Ginny shrugged. "Mum hopes they are, anyway. Charlie's a wash-out, living in that dragon commune, and the others aren't in serious enough relationships yet."

They entered the kitchen, and went to wash their hands. Waiting for Luna and Ginny to finish, Hermione saw the family clock. Ron's hand was forever frozen at 'Mortal Danger,' and now had a black border. Hermione saw there were two other changes. Harry now had a hand, and 'Potter Place' had been added as a location.

"Hermione, dear," Molly asked, coming over, "we have a hand for you. May we add you to the clock as well?"

Tearing up slightly, Hermione nodded yes.

"So," Hermione asked after lunch, "what's the program, if any, for the next two days?"

"It's supposed to rain later today, through early tomorrow morning," Harry said. "There's a tea room in the village. I thought we could meet there for lunch, and then I'm driving Luna back to Potter Place. We'll meet you at Neville's Wednesday for lunch."

"Sounds reasonable," Ginny said.

"Are we still visiting Diagon Alley on Saturday?" Hermione asked.

"I promise we'll get there!" Harry said, "although Ted said we might go Friday afternoon, instead."

Hermione and Ginny both frowned. "Did he say why?" Ginny asked.

"He said Dumbledore might be coming for at least Friday night and Saturday, if not earlier, and he thought we'd like to see him," Harry answered. "Tonks is supposed to be visiting Remus this weekend, too, and I don't think we'll see either of them much if we're not at lunch Saturday."

"Those two are getting serious?" Ginny asked.

Harry shrugged. "I think so," Luna answered. "Either way, you'll have your shopping trip. Are there any N.E.W.T. guides you haven't gotten already?"

"No," Hermione admitted. "But I want to see if there's anything new out. I just thought we'd have a little more time together before going to Neville's."

"Does that mean you've already caught up on all the spew-letters," Harry teased, "or weren't there many?"

Hermione gave Harry a dirty look, but admitted, "I have about forty to get through. You're right, though; better to do them now, so I can enjoy the time at Neville's and your place."

It was starting to cloud up, so Harry went and vanished the sidecar. Hermione noticed that he rode the chopper a lot faster without the sidecar.

"If he can't fly one way, he'll fly another," Ginny said, and Hermione could only agree.