Hermione sat on the edge of her bed, with her head stuck in a book as usual. She was trying to stop herself from looking at the clock every five seconds, but it wasn't working. Ron had told her that he was coming to get her at two o' clock today, and it was now quarter to
Hermione sighed. It wasn't working. She shut An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe and threw it into her trunk. There were many unusual things inside her trunk. For example, a small pewter cauldron was sitting on top of her school robes, and next to it was a jar that was half full of powdered unicorn horn. This was because Hermione was a witch, and in just over two weeks time she would be returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for her forth year. She had dedicated the whole of the summer holiday to homework, as she knew that in their fifth year they would have their O.W.L.'s (wizarding qualifications, Ordinary Wizarding Levels) and she wanted to be as prepared as possible
That was, she was until two weeks ago, when she had received a letter from her best friend, Ronald Weasley, inviting her to his house for the last two weeks of the holiday. Since then she had spent her time checking every possible hiding place in her house for spare clothes and her school books. Adding more to her homework essays had completely flown from her head!
Hermione got up and looked in the mirror. A brown haired teenaged girl stared back at her. Hermione had never set much store by appearance, but now that Ron was due to arrive in under five minutes now, she felt rather embarrassed by her overly bushy hair and her rather large front teeth. She could easily do something about her teeth using magic, but as her parents were dentists they didn't think that 'teeth' and 'magic' should be put in the same sentence, and had forbidden her from doing anything about them
Hermione went downstairs to find her mum cooking in the kitchen. She had been able to get leave from work, though her dad hadn't, so Hermione had already said goodbye to him
"Mum, please can I do something about my teeth?" she begged
"We've already told you" said Hermione's mum "you're getting a brace over the Christmas holiday. You don't need to use magic"
Hermione sighed. The temporary brace she had on now was bad enough, and she could remember some of her classmates at primary school having to leave the classroom as their braces were hurting them too much. Besides, she could only imagine some of the bullying she would receive from Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl in her year
Hermione walked into the lounge and sat down in an armchair by the fire, staring unblinkingly at the clock above the unused fireplace and listening intently for someone knocking at the door or ringing to doorbell
Thirty seconds to go...
Ten seconds...
Five...
Four...
Three...
Two...
One...
Suddenly the fireplace sprung into life for the first time in who knows how many years. But that wasn't the weirdest thing about it. The flames were taller than Hermione had ever seen them, and they were bright green, almost the same colour as Hermione's other best friend, Harry Potter's, eyes
The cracking noise must have reached Hermione's mum's ears, as she came into the lounge and froze
"Wha-" she started
"They must be using Floo Powder" said Hermione "Wizards can travel by fireplace" she added, seeing her mum's confused look. Indeed, Hermione spotted a figure spinning in the fireplace and a couple of seconds later Ron stepped out of the fireplace as if it was the most normal thing in the world
Hermione noticed that Ron had grown quite a lot over the Summer, and his hair was quite a bit longer. However he still had his familiar grin on his overly freckled face. He had only taken a few steps when Hermione ran over and hugged him hard. By the time she let go of him, Mr Weasley had also appeared and was greeting Hermione's mum
Ron walked over to Hermione's mum and held out his hand
"Hello Mrs Granger, I'm Ron Weasley. Hermione might've mentioned me?"
Hermione was rather taken aback by Ron's politeness, but thankfully he wasn't looking in her direction
"Call me Jean" said Hermione's mum, taking Ron's hand and shaking it "yes, Hermione's talks about you a lot"
Hermione went red, but Ron didn't notice
"Have you got your trunk, Hermione?" said Mr Weasley, who also looked rather surprised
"Yes, it's upstairs. I'll go get it" said Hermione, who ran out of the room and jumped up the stairs two at a time. She quickly grabbed the trunk on her bed and the basket which contained her cat, Crookshanks, before going back down the stairs and back into the lounge
"Have you ever used Floo Powder before?" Mr Weasley asked. Hermione shook her head
"It's probably best if you're not holding anything then, if it's your first time" he said, taking Hermione's trunk "do you mind if Ron has your cat?"
"No, of course not" said Hermione, giving the basket to Ron, who eyed it apprehensively. Ron and Crookshanks had a long history together, and not much of it was positive
"Do you know how Floo Powder works?" asked Mr Weasley
"Well, I've read about it" said Hermione "so pretty much"
"Even so, Ron you should probably go first" said Mr Weasley "Hermione, watch what he does"
Ron stepped into the green fire, which made Hermione's mum jump, but he seemed fine
"The Burrow!" he said loudly. He started spinning very fast and then disappeared
"Ok, Hermione, your turn" said Mr Weasley "I'll come next with the trunk"
Hermione walked over to her mum and hugged her hard
"I'll miss you" she said
"You too" said Hermione's mum "have fun"
Hermione smiled and walked into the fire. It felt like standing by an oven, but no worse than that. She cleared her throat. She could remember what had happened to Harry when he hadn't pronounced his destination clearly
"The Burrow!" she said
She had one last look at her lounge, before she found herself spinning very fast through black nothingness. She kept her arms by her sides and her feet together, just like she'd seen Ron do. She caught glimpses of other fireplaces as she past them and once or twice she saw someone else zooming along above or below her. She hoped she wasn't going that fast
She felt herself slowing down and saw one of the fireplaces coming straight towards her. She closed her eyes and braced herself. She came to a sudden halt and opened her eyes. She managed to stumble a few steps before she collapsed... right into Ron's arms
YOU ARE READING
Hermione Granger and the Goblet Of Fire (Completed)
Fanfiction(Book 4) (completed) Hermione Granger never expected to have a normal year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. So far, she had set a teacher's robes on fire, been attacked by a giant snake and nearly had her soul sucked out by what are es...
