Darkness Falls

Twenty

1993 - Third Year

Hermione sat at the large table in the Leaky Caldron beside Mrs Weasley, listening to Ron talk about his trip to Egypt with his family. It had been weeks since she had seen any of the Weasley's and she found herself sitting listening quietly as she watched the hustle and bustle that came with the family. She couldn't help but feel like they were a second family to her and she smiled to herself at the various conversations happening around her.

As she glanced around the room, she noticed a certain younger Weasley was absent from the table. Finally, her eyes fell on Ginny who had hidden away in a booth to the side of her family. Pushing herself away from the table as discreetly as possible, she moved over to sit opposite Ginny.

The youngest Weasley looked up from her book at Hermione with a confused expression on her face.

"Something tells me your summer wasn't as great as the rest of your family," she deduced.

Ginny sighed and put her book to one side before examining her surroundings, checking that her family were fully occupied on their own conversations.

"Mum wouldn't let me out of her sight! No matter where I went, she was there," she started. "It was suffocating."

"She cares about you Ginny, you almost died. Not only are you one of her children, which would be heartbreaking in itself but you're her youngest and her only daughter. She is no doubt terrified of feeling that way again, feeling like she lost you," Hermione tried to explain, but Ginny shook her head and interrupted.

"'Mione, she doesn't want me to go back to Hogwarts, she wants me to be homeschooled," she whispered.

"What? No, she wouldn't do that... would she?" Hermione suddenly grew concerned for her friend, the thought of not being able to return to Hogwarts was very unsettling.

"Dad is trying to change her mind but he only has three days to convince her," she shrugged and sunk down in her seat.

"I think she will change her mind, things will be different this year. What are the chances of something like this happening again?" Ginny sighed and shrugged once more, she doubted that her mum would change her mind about her decision to not let her return to Hogwarts for her second year.

"Shall we go upstairs, PJ's and snacks in my room?" Hermione asked, causing Ginny to smile and nod. "I'll meet you in my room in ten minutes, I'm just going to say goodnight." Ginny stepped out of the booth and before she could move an inch away from the table, her mother turned to her.

"Where are you going dear?"

Ginny turned to Hermione and rolled her eyes, implying that was the exact behaviour from her mother she had told her about.

"I'm going to bed, I'm going to sleep in Hermione's room tonight. I'll see you in the morning mum," she told her before she turned and headed towards the stairs.

Mrs Weasley sighed and turned to Hermione, "I don't mean to be so controlling, I can see she is getting frustrated with me but I worry."

Hermione shuffled her way out of the booth and now stood in front of her. "I understand why you're so protective Mrs Weasley," she smiled at her and noticed her shoulders immediately relaxed. "I do hope you change your mind about her returning to Hogwarts in a few days. As you know, it's an amazing school and she has the potential to learn a lot, it would be a shame for her to miss out on the education and experience due to something that she had no control over." Hermione added before she hugged Mrs Weasley and excused herself.

Hermione crawled into bed beside Ginny, surrounded by food, they couldn't have been more content and she immediately noticed the difference in Ginny's attitude now that she was away from her family.