Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place

Chapter One

An Owl

Hermione was awoken by a faint tapping on her window. She rolled over in bed - her own bed, not the one at Hogwarts - and opened her eyes. She missed Hogwarts, yet she didn't - she certainly didn't miss the noise, or Malfoy taunting her about being Muggle-born. But she did miss her classes (some of them, at least, especially Arithmacy) and Harry and Ron. All of a sudden, that last year, her emotions had become more powerful for Ron - whenever she looked into his bright blue eyes, she blushed. It was different when she looked at Harry than when she looked at Ron - Harry was more of a brother to her, not a boyfriend.

The tapping persisted. Hermione looked out her window and saw a tiny owl carrying a letter in its beak - Pigwidgeon! Hermione flung off her covers and hurried across her room, opening the window. Pig swooped in, hooting happily as he flew in circles around her head.

"Hold...still!" Hermione said as she tried to take the letter off the twittering owl's leg.

After much persuading, the little owl finally calmed down enough for Hermione to take the letter of his leg.
"Finally!" she muttered, exasperated. Pig flew around her room excitedly.

She ripped open Ron's note and read:

Hi, Hermione,

Mum and Dad want you to come with us to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, where the Order of the Phoenix headquarters is. I think the Order is like a bunch of people against You-Know-Who and stuff...Sirius and Buckbeak are living there right now, so we'll be able to see them, and a bunch of other people in the Order...send this back with Pig as soon as you can. We can pick you up on Saturday, and take you to the Burrow, and then we'll go to Grimmauld Place. Your parents will let you, won't they?

Another thing - we can't tell Harry anything that's going on when we're there, because Dumbledore reckons that he could do something stupid, like go looking for Voldemort, or whatever.

Hope to see you soon!

Ron

Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place? Hermione didn't know where that was, but it was probably in London, near Muggles. And the Order of the Phoenix...how could she not want to go? She would most certainly learn a lot....Would Harry be there? Probably not, she reasoned, as he was cooped up in his house.

Hermione checked her calendar - it was a Thursday, the Thursday after school had ended. And Saturday wasn't too far away....Surely she and Ron would see Harry sometime soon....She and Harry had been writing as often as they could, but there wasn't much going on, so their letters were short and mostly general.

"I'll have to check with Mum and Dad..." Hermione murmured, looking at her alarm clock. Its digital face read 8:52. Her dad would be gone at work, being the morning shift at the dentist's office, but her mum would be awake.

Hastily giving Pig a small dish of water out of her water bottle, she dashed downstairs, letter in hand, to find her mother reading the newspaper and eating a piece of toast. Her curly brown hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, and she was wearing her dentist shirt and jeans. When Hermione walked in, her hair messy and still wearing her short-sleeved pajamas, Mrs. Granger looked up from the paper and smiled.
"'Morning, Hermione," she said happily. "I'm surprised to see you up this early."

That was true - during the summer, Hermione usually woke up between 9:30 and 10:00. "Yeah," she admitted, "but I had a visitor. An owl, Ron's owl - you know Ron, you've met him. Tall, freckles, blue eyes, red hair, five brothers and a sister? Had me over a lot during the summer? Wizarding family?"

Mrs. Granger smiled. "Yes, yes, I remember, a very nice family. Very warm. And Ron's not too bad looking, either," she added, her eyes alight with amusement.

Hermione felt herself blush. "Well, I guess he's alright..." she said, staring at her bare feet. She finally realized that she was holding the letter. "Right, well he sent me an owl - a letter, his owl delivered it - and here's the letter. He wants to have me over during the summer."

Mrs. Granger took the letter and read it. "Where is...Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place?" she asked. Even though she was a Muggle, Hermione had told she and her father all about the wizarding world - You-Know-Who included. The Grangers understood perfectly that there were good wizards and bad ones, just as there were good people and bad people.

Hermione shrugged. "I honestly don't know, Mum." She thought for a moment, then said, "I assume it's in London."

Mrs. Granger nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, you can go. I know that you and his sister - Ginny, right? - are good friends, and you're good friends with Ron, too...and the Weasleys are very nice people, so you'll be well fed...yes, yes, of course you can go. Just make sure you pack well."

Hermione's heart did a somersault. "Great," she said, grinning. "Thanks a lot, Mum." She took the letter off the table, hugged and kissed her mother, and hurried back upstairs, nearly tripping over Crookshanks on the brown carpeted stairway.

Back in her blue-and-purple room, Hermione grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment - not Muggle paper, the kind she was used to, because Ron was used to parchment - and wrote,

Ron,

Mum and Dad say it's okay that you can come. I assume you're coming by Floo powder - you've done that every summer, and I will admit that it scared Mum and Dad out of their wits when you arrived last year!! Nearly gave Mum a heart attack!! You could have at least said that you were coming by Floo powder...but anyway, Mum and Dad really like your family - they think very highly of them, and they're glad that I have such good friends at Hogwarts.

Okay, I won't say anything to Harry, I promise.

Pigwidgeon seems over-excited, as usual. It took me at least five minutes for me to actually untie the letter. Hermione looked over at Pig, who was now hopping around her bedspread enthusiastically. Smirking, Hermione continued, Right now he's hopping around on my bed, having the time of his life - he tapped on the window so loudly I swear the neighbors heard him. He scared me half to death!!

I hope your summer is going well. Mine is - it's very hot, but we've gone swimming several times at the local pool. Of course, I've been working on school work, and I'm almost done with all of it - I plan to finish my History of Magic essay tonight. I found McGonagall's homework to be rather easy, but then again, I've been Transfiguring books into mice for quite a while now...but anyway, I do hope you're working on your school work so you can get it done and enjoy the rest of the summer.

I've been keeping in touch with Harry, and he seems to be having a horrible summer - he's been subscribing to the Daily Prophet, and he finds it a load of rubbish, mainly because he's looking for articles about You-Know-Who. You probably already know all this, because he's probably writing you, too.

Rita Skeeter is doing well. Hermione grinned at the little black beetle in the jar next to her bed. The beetle vainly tried to climb the wall of the jar. I told her I'd let her out sometime this summer - I guess that'll have to be before I go to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. I'd better start thinking about it...

I really hope to see you soon - it's not often that we have time by ourselves without Harry!

Love from

Hermione

Hermione re-read her letter, checking for any errors and making sure that it didn't sound like she was looking forward to having 'alone-time' with Ron and that it didn't sound like all she wanted to talk about was Harry...and, especially, she didn't want to give Ron the impression that she loved Harry. After re-reading it three times, she decided that it was good enough to send.

"Pig," she said, standing up from her desk, "can you hold still long enough for me to attach this letter?"

Pig looked at her quizzically, finally ceasing to bounce on the bed. But that moment didn't last - he started hopping around again, hooting loudly.

"Pig!" Hermione hissed, advancing on the tiny, fluffy owl, "please!! Stand still!"

He must have heard the urgency in her voice, because he stopped in mid-bounce, his wings flapping frantically. Hermione took this to her advantage and grabbed the owl, securing the letter by using the string Ron had used to attach his letter.

"Good owl," Hermione praised, taking an Owl Treat out of a bag on her nightstand - since she had been getting frequent letters from her friends by owl, she decided to buy a bag of Owl Treats as a reward for the owl.

Pig happily ate the Treat, hooting loudly again. Since everyone in her house was awake, there was no need for Hermione to snap at him. She stroked his beak affectionately, smiling at the owl. He looked eager, as always.

"Okay, send this to Ron," Hermione said, guiding the owl toward the window. The sun had fully risen a while ago, and it filled her room with a warm, comforting light.

She gently placed Pig on the windowsill and he took flight. Hermione watched him go, feeling anxious - what if Pig didn't reach Ron on time? He was so little, and Harry...what about Harry? What if he did do something stupid? What if she never saw him again? Hermione shook her head - no, she couldn't think of that. She sighed, putting her elbow on her windowsill, and watched Pig go, wishing that You-Know-Who wasn't alive, wishing that she could see Harry, wishing that Saturday could come earlier.