New A/N: What you are about to read is "Holiday at the 
Burrow, volume 2.0." After looking over it over my 
Christmas break I decided I didn't like it very much, and I 
made extensive edits. There were a lot of places where the 
meaning I was trying to convey wasn't clear, and the like, 
so I tried to fix all that. I hope I did okay.

Old A/N: This is just a short fic I wrote, it takes place 
during the holiday after the trio's fourth year at Hogwarts. 
Please R/R, flames if you feel necessary, just know that I 
am a R/H "supporter," especially after GoF, and nothing 
you say or do will change that. Beware, it contains spoilers 
from Goblet, so don't read this if you haven't read that, and 
don't want to be surprised.

Oh, and the date--well, in the fall of CoS it was 1992, so 
the holiday was 1993, and two years later (Goblet) would 
be 1995.
 
Holiday at the Burrow
By Lady Christina (christina@columbus.rr.com)
 
The date was August second, 1995, and the place was 
England. More specifically, the Burrow. Ron had invited 
Harry and Hermione to spend the holiday at his house. 
Hermione of course was coming, but at the moment she 
was visiting Viktor Krum, the world-famous Quidditch 
Seeker in his native Bulgaria. Harry was ready to come the 
day he got out of Hogwarts, but Professor Dumbledore, the 
headmaster of Hogwarts, had to make sure that Harry 
would be safe at the Burrow. He preformed a complex 
charm with the assistance of Professor Flitwick that 
ensured neither Lord Voldemort nor his followers would 
not me able to touch Harry in any way, shape or form.

A little over two months ago, the most feared wizard of all 
time had risen back to power. The wizarding community 
did not know, only a handful of underage wizards and 
witches that attended Hogwarts did. Harry could only 
imagine what would happen if they knew that Lord 
Voldemort had returned to power; the magical community 
still refused to even call Voldemort by his name, instead 
insisting to say "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "You-
Know-Who." Harry thought this was ridiculous, and he 
firmly believed what Dumbledore had once told him: fear 
of a name increases fear of the thing itself. He also 
remembered studying in primary school that a great 
American Muggle--a Minister?--one said "we have nothing 
to fear but fear itself."

Harry was safe, however, at the Burrow. There was no 
other place he would rather be at this moment. And he was 
safe. He had to keep reminding himself of this, because, 
deep down, he was worried. Worried about Voldemort, and 
what he could do--what he would do, given the 
opportunity. Harry was the only one who stood in his way 
of domination, and let's face it: if you were an evil wizard 
who wanted to control the world and the only thing 
stopping you was a fifteen year old boy you'd want to kill 
him off, right? The Dark Lord sure did.

Harry slept uneasily in Ron's room, but over the next few 
days, his fears seemed to disappear somewhat. Ron, Harry, 
George and Fred (Ron's twin brothers who were entering 
their seventh and final year at Hogwarts) passed the time 
playing Quidditch in the Weasley's very large back yard. 
Sometimes the garden gnomes would come out and watch, 
abandoning their homes and safety to watch the loud game 
above them. When they cheered, they reminded Harry of 
the leprechauns from Ireland at the World Cup last holiday. 

Fred, George and Harry were members of the Gryffindor 
team; there were two openings on the team: the Keeper 
(previously occupied by Puddlemere Reserve player Oliver 
Wood) and one of the Chasers (left vacant by Katie Bell). 
Ron wanted to play Quidditch more than anything, but his 
old Shooting Star just wouldn't cut it. The Weasley's had 
promised Ron that if they had enough money left over after 
buying school supplies for the three boys and their 
daughter, Ginny, they would buy him a new broom. Harry 
would have loved to buy Ron a new broom, partially 
because he had no idea what he would do with the large 
amount of gold in his Gringott's vault, but Ron wouldn't 
hear of it. He contemplated asking Fred and George to but 
him a broom with the Triwizard prize money he had 
recently given them, but decided against it. After all, it was 
their money and he had already had requested new dress 
robes for his ruffle-wearing friend.

The boys were outside playing Quidditch on the afternoon 
of the fifth when Mrs. Weasley shouted out her open 
kitchen window.

"Ron! Harry! Hermione just came through the fireplace, 
she's here!"

Ron immediately flew to the ground, dropping the apple 
they were using as the quaffle in mid-air. Gravity caused 
the ripe fruit to hit Harry on the head, temporarily stunning 
him. Seeming not to notice his momentary incapacitated 
friend, Ron started towards the back door. Harry flew to the 
ground more slowly, but still ahead of Fred and George, 
who seemed disappointed their makeshift game had been 
interrupted.



Wow! Harry thought, Ron must have really missed 
Hermione. He remembered very well the fight Ron and 
Hermione had midway through their fourth year. Ron said 
he was upset that Hermione was "fraternizing with the 
enemy", but it was obvious he was indignant that Hermione 
had the gall to go to the Yule Ball with someone other then 
him. He never actually mentioned this, but it was obvious 
to all. Especially after Harry had found an arm separated 
from Ron's Viktor Krum figurine.

Fred and George had obviously noticed their little brothers 
strange behavior.

"Ah, would you believe it, Fred? Our little brother has 
fallen in love?" George said, with a glint in his eye that 
Harry knew meant trouble.

"Ickle Ronnefinks in love! You know anything about this 
Harry?" Fred asked, matching his twins look.

"Not more then you know, really," Harry answered 
truthfully. "You saw how he reacted after the Yule Ball, it's 
obvious he fancies her."

The trio stepped inside, and nothing could prepare them for 
the sight

playing out in front of them: Ron and Hermione were 
standing in the center of the room, hugging, not as friends 
but as lovers. As if that wasn't enough, they were 
whispering silently to each other. Harry and twins looked at 
each other amazed, not believing what they were seeing: 
Ron and Hermione openly showing their affection for each 
other?! Molly and Arthur Weasley were off to the side, 
hand in hand, looking like this was the proudest moment of 
their lives. Their son was in love, or so it seemed, with a 
very nice girl, someone they both approved of. Ginny was 
with them, looking at Hermione as if she had some 
explaining to do. From the look on her face, she didn't seem 
to mind, as she loved Hermione, and wanted her brother to 
be happy. George and Fred had recovered from their initial 
shock, and looked as if the Ban on Underage Wizardry 
Outside of Class had just been lifted. Harry didn't know 
what to think, but cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Um, hi Hermione. Nice to see you," Harry said feeling his 
cheeks tinge pink.

Hermione immediately broke away from Ron, much to his 
disappointment. "Oh, hi Harry . . . hi everyone. Er, I didn't 
notice that anyone else was here." Hermione blushed 
crimson, and Ron went the red that was reserved for the 
Weasley family.

"Wonder why that was?" Fred muttered in the general 
direction of Harry and George, stealing a glance in the 
direction of his youngest brother.

"I'm so sorry Ron, Hermione. Are we interrupting 
something? Maybe we should go?" Mrs. Weasley also 
blushed the Weasley red, and started to move her husband 
and daughter towards the door, making frantic gestures at 
George, Harry and Fred to follow her lead.

"No, no Mrs. Weasley, everything is fine, don't worry about 
it," Hermione said, facing Mrs. Weasley, the blush receding 
from her cheeks. She then turned to face Harry. "Hello 
Harry!," she said, rushing over to him, "it is so nice to see 
you, I'm so glad that you're safe! I must confess I was very 
worried when I was in Bulgaria, because we didn't get 
much news from England. You know, they're ministries 
aren't too close, so a lot of things are censored from the 
public."

Harry let himself be hugged by Hermione, but did not hug 
here back. Instead, he glanced over here shoulder at Ron, 
shooting him a questioning glance. Ron just smiled back, 
looking the happiest Harry had seen him since he first 
received Pig from Sirius the last day of their third year.

==

The rest of the afternoon was spent by the three friends 
catching up on their separate holiday happenings. Harry 
told Hermione about his awful time at the Dursley's, and 
how he was rescued by Ron and his family with a well-
timed letter. At first, Uncle Vernon didn't let him go, but a 
quick letter from Sirius later, and they were all for it. Ron 
didn't have much to add to the conversation, for he had a 
relatively average holiday, and the only exciting part 
(Harry's rescue) had been told. He instead busied himself 
by staring "googly eyed" at Hermione. She told the boys 
about Bulgaria--she had, of course, learned a lot about 
foreign wizards, and seemed to have bought out an entire 
bookstore. Listening to her speak, Harry noticed everything 
that she saw seemed to be 'interesting,' 'fascinating' or 
'magnificent.' She didn't mention Krum, until Harry asked 
about him. Ron suddenly broke his glazed stare and looked 
up, interested. Hermione didn't answer at first, instead 
squirmed uncomfortably.

"Well, we spent some time together, and obviously got to 
know each other better. I thought we were having a 
wonderful time together--and we were--but then he told me 
that he was moving to America. It seems he was always 
interested in the way they ran their Ministry, not England 
or Bulgaria's, and he was offered the position of seeker on 
their Quidditch team. He has accepted, of course, and will 
be moving over seas soon."

"Did you break it off?" Ron said, looking more hopeful 
then probably should have been. After all, Viktor was 
Hermione's first boyfriend!

"Yes, it would be too difficult. Especially since I wont be 
able to apparate for another three years. He suggested I do 
it illegally and risk suspension from Hogwarts. That," 
Hermione said, looking positively scandalized, "was when I 
knew it wouldn't work out. However, Viktor did promise 
we would keep in touch, and he would visit me. Of course, 
since he can't apparate at Hogwarts, it would only be during 
the holiday. There really is no hope for anything more 
between us, unfortunately. It's really too bad, because I was 
starting to fancy him, as you have probably noticed."

"That's great!" Ron said, but when Hermione glanced at 
him, obviously hurt, he changed his tone. "Well, I mean it's 
horrible things didn't work out between you two, but at 
least you won't have to worry about him when he is so far 
away. You can be a lot more laid back now, not having to 
worry about what Viktor would think about this or that."

Before Ron and Hermione could put their sentiments in 
words, Mrs. Weasley called for the three to dinner. Harry 
couldn't have thought of a better time for an interruption 
himself. Truth be told, he wasn't looking forward to 
watching his two best friends proclaim their undying 
emotion to each other.

Dinner passed without event, unless you count Fred putting 
a Canary Cream in one of Percy's dinner roles, causing the 
older boy to sprout yellow feathers. As a punishment, Fred 
was made to clear the table and wash the dishes without 
magic. He grumbled all the while, mostly saying things 
along the lines of "this is something Snape would make me 
do!") The after-dinner game of Gobbstones. Ron begged 
his family to play a quick game of game of Wizard Chess 
with him, but they all knew better and refused. Finally, 
Percy relented, by saying "I agree, if for nothing more then 
to stop your incessant whining." Percy was much better 
then he had ever let on, though Ron still beat him 
decisively. When the game was done, everyone headed up 
to their rooms and prepared for bed.

It was then that Harry had a moment alone with Ron and 
had the opportunity to question him about the afternoon's 
events. He had no doubt Ginny was doing the same to 
Hermione. 

"So, Ron, is there anything that you want to tell me?" Harry 
asked, looking at Ron questioningly.

Ron squirmed nervously. "Well, um . . . What do you 
mean?"

"About Hermione, perhaps?"

"Oh, yeah, uh, that. Yeah, well, what do you want to 
know?" Ron was now looking extremely edgy.

"Like why you ran into the sitting room, hugged her, and 
wouldn't let her go?"

"Oh, Harry, I never thought I would feel this way, 
especially about Hermione. But you remember that night at 
the Yule Ball?" He glanced at Harry, who nodded. "Well, it 
was that night when I realized what I was feeling. I realized 
that I like her. A lot. That's what I told her today. Then 
guess what, you'll never guess--she told me she feels the 
same way! On the way back from Bulgaria I guess she was 
thinking a lot, mostly about what really mattered to her, and 
she had noticed I liked her that night too, but had chosen to 
ignore it, because of Krum. Since he's out of the way now, 
she realized she felt the same way about me."

"So you two haven't been having a torrid affair with her 
behind my back?"

Ron looked scandalized at the mere mention of an affair. 
"Harry, what hex did George set on you now? The "I-will-
not-trust-my-very-best-friend-even-though-I-know-he-
would-never-lie-to-me" jinx? Oh, no Harry! You are the 
best friend that I ever had. I would never, ever keep 
something from you, especially something like this. 
Especially after the Goblet incident." Harry frowned at the 
memory of a time when when the only person in all of 
Hogwarts that would speak to him was Hermione, save the 
professors. And even then, Professor Sprout was 
shockingly distant. Still, he nodded.

"Okay, well, I feel better. As long as you two are happy, 
then that's all that really matters."

"Thanks Harry. It means a lot to me to know that I have 
your okay with this. After all, not everyone would be 
absolutely thrilled with their two best friends discovering 
they have feelings for each other. Now what about you and 
Cho?" Ron asked, looking at Harry curiously.

"Er, well, she'll be a sixth year, and you know that's a year 
ahead of us . ."

"Well that never stopped you before!"

"I know, but this whole thing with Cedric . . . do you think 
that I should just give her some time to herself? After all, 
he did just die. Trust me, I was there. One moment he was 
alive, full of energy and all 'Wands out, do you reckon?' 
and the next he was spread-eagle on the ground next to me, 
the life snuffed out of him like you would a candle."

"You know that I am not good at stuff like this, but it 
probably is too early to do anything. I can't imagine what it 
would be like to lose Hermione, and we just found each 
other."

Harry rolled his eyes, and threw a pillow at Ron.

"Would you believe the way we are acting tonight? 
Gossiping and throwing pillows? We're acting like 
Hermione and Ginny, or worse, Parvati and Lavender!"

"Ugh. Let's just go to bed, and never say anything about 
this episode, shall we?"

"Sounds good to me Harry. Good night."

Harry was already balancing the line between 
consciousness ad unconsciousness, trying to decide 
whether or not to answer Ron.

Finally, he mustered a "Gumph Nach," which was the best 
he could do, considering he was laying with his face in a 
down pillow. Despite the immense planning and effort on 
Harry's part, Ron didn't hear; he had already fallen asleep 
and was snoring peacefully. Ginny and Hermione were in 
the next room, talking and giggling (more of the latter) 
until the early hours of the morning. Luckily the Weasely 
household had thick walls, because otherwise they would 
have kept Harry and Ron up half the night with their 
interesting confessions of love, lust and betrayal.

By three o'clock everyone in the Burrow was asleep, ready 

for whatever would come to them the next day. Or so they 

thought.