Two days into the summer holidays, Ron wrote to me and said Harry was on his way to the Burrow.

So, I said goodbye to my bewildered parents and skipped off to the Weasley's where I was furious to see that Fleur Delacour was also staying.

"Why is she here?" I hissed at Ginny, glaring furiously at Ron who had barely acknowledged my arrival due to not being able to tear his eyes away from Fleur's long shimmering silvery blonde hair and tall, curvaceous figure.

"Apparently she's engaged to Bill," Ginny muttered, looking thoroughly displeased about this news. "So he brought her here for the summer to 'meet the family'. Mum and I have had to put up with the boys constantly drooling over her and generally acting as though we don't exist."

She wasn't wrong.

"Can I get you a cup of tea, Fleur?" Ron called, pushing me out of the way when I asked if he was so far having a good summer. "A biscuit? Cake? I can bake you a cake. Anything you like!"

I tried not to let my hurt and jealousy show, but it was difficult to hold in. It's just the magic of the Veela, I kept telling myself over and over again. It's not real.

But it didn't stop me wishing Ron would just for once look at me that way.

I stayed in Ginny's room, which was probably just as well because I didn't think I could take listening to Ron moaning in his sleep about his sister in law.

"Look, Harry's arrived!" Ginny cried, waking me up in the middle of my first night. "He's with Dumbledore!"

I blearily opened my eyes, glancing up at the clock. It was quarter to midnight. Ginny was sat by the window, her beaming face glowing in the moonlight as she looked down into the garden.

"Huh," she murmured, her brow suddenly furrowing in puzzlement. "They've just gone into the broom shed. Why would they do that?"

"Um," I said, biting my lip and silently wishing we had a less weird headteacher. "I'm sure Dumbledore has his reasons."

Less than ten minutes later, they emerged from the little outhouse, with Dumbledore taking off his hat to shake away the spiders.

Ginny and I decided to go back to sleep and talk to Harry in the morning. I mean, we'd only seen him a couple of days previously and it's not like he'd have any news.

"I pulled this hot waitress in a cafe and I called myself a tosser!" Harry exclaimed at breakfast the following morning.

"Why would you call yourself a tosser?" Ron frowned, lowering his pumpkin juice.

"Why not?" Fred winked as he entered the kitchen, closely followed by George. "It's what us big boys get up to in the shower, after all."

"Boys!" Molly said in a shrill voice as she placed a big dish of sausages down onto the middle of the table. "No one wants to hear about that, least of all me - your mother!"

"Or your sister!" Ginny spat, her face quite pale with horror.

"Calm down, it's natural, girls," George chuckled, swooping in to give Molly a kiss on each cheek before taking a chair at the table. "And now it sounds like our dear little Harry is becoming a big boy too. So, tell us Harry, what was this little hottie's name and more importantly, does she have any sisters - preferably twins?"

"Uh- I never found out because Dumbledore turned up and dragged me away before I could give her my number. But I was totally in there."

"Well, he was quite right to do so," I said, haughtily buttering a freshly toasted muffin. "Harry, you really shouldn't be hanging out in cafes. There is a dark wizard who is-"

"I know, I know," Harry cut in, noisily drowning his breakfast in tomato ketchup. "Lord Voldemort wants to kill me. Bla bla bla. Yet everyone seems to forget I defeated him whilst still in baby-grows."

Harry either hadn't noticed or just didn't care when the entire room flinched at the casual way he used Voldemort's name.

"Anyway," he continued, pushing his glasses up his nose with a single finger and looking around importantly. "Dumbledore has found a new recruit, presumably to replace Umbridge. This one wasn't keen, especially upon learning of the fates of his predecessors. But one quick word in his ear, and I'm pretty sure I managed to persuade him with my complete awesomeness."

"Well, he'd be a damn fool not to take it!" Arthur bellowed as he poured coffee from a pot. "The safest place in the world is Hogwarts! Lucky bugger!"

"Yeah, tell that to Cedric," Ron muttered in my ear, quiet enough so that no one else heard (we didn't like to bring it up in case it upset Harry).

"Too right it is!" Harry agreed as he clinked his juice glass with Arthur's 'I heart Muggles' mug. "None of us have anything to fear as long as Dumbledore is here!"

*****

Only when we were alone did Harry explain to Ron and me what he had been doing in the broom shed with Dumbledore.

"He told me he's going to be giving me private lessons this year and that it's got to be our little secret." Harry said, wiggling his eyebrows as he lay back on Ron's bed, hands behind his head.

"Lessons doing what?" Ron said incredulously, his jaw dropping open.

"Dunno," Harry shrugged, "just said that they will be taking place during night time after everyone else has gone to sleep. Reckon it's gotta be some real dark shit, though."

His eyes were dancing in a mixture of wonderment and excitement as he looked up at the ceiling, clearly imagining all sorts of shenanigans.

"I don't know, Harry," I said, anxiously biting my lip. "This sounds a little suspicious to me. I'm sure it's not conventional behaviour for a teacher to-"

"Oh, shush, Hermione," Ron cut in, throwing me a dirty look. "Let Harry have his fun. He's had a hard year, you know, what with losing his godfather."

"Oh, yeah," Harry said at once, sitting up and looking all excited again, "I almost forgot, Sirius left me his house. I'm now a sweet homeowner!"

He went to high five Ron, but found he was left hanging.

"Yeah... sweet," Ron mumbled dully, his voice suspiciously sour. "Congratulations."

I had the feeling he was starting to feel a bit put out by Harry's little end of school year windfalls.

"Well, that's great, Harry." I said, trying to lighten the mood. "And have you thought about how you're going to pay Kreacher now that you're his boss?"

"Owner, Hermione," he snarled darkly. "I own him. And the only thing I'm going to be paying that little treacherous turd is a visit up his backside with a red hot poker!"

He got a two hour lecture on S.P.E.W. for that.

*****

When our O.W.L. results arrived, I had a breakdown when I received only ten Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations. How barbaric.

However, I was soon cheered up when we made our annual trip to Diagon Alley, the prospect of Fred and George's new joke shop to look forward to.

But first, Ron, Harry and I had to pop into Madam Malkins for some new robes where we bumped into a certain teenage boy with a pale, pointed face and white-blond hair checking himself out in the mirror as he modelled some new robes.

I found myself holding my breath as he looked up, his gaze meeting mine in his reflection over his shoulder. Ron immediately growled, pulling a protective arm around me and I noticed Draco's eyes narrow.

"If you're wondering what the smell is, Mother," he sneered, his flickering gaze never leaving mine, "a Mudblood just walked in."

My chest tightened, hating that it stung whenever he spat that word out. Ron and Harry both immediately withdrew their wands, with Ron pushing me behind him.

Narcissa Malfoy strolled out from behind a clothes rack, going straight to her son's side.

"Put those away," she said coldly to Harry and Ron. "If you attack my son again, I shall ensure that is the last thing you ever do."

"Really?" Harry scoffed, taking a step forwards. "Going to get a few Death Eater pals to do us in, are you?"

Madam Malkin, who had been helping Draco to measure up, squealed and clutched the tape measure to her heart, but everybody ignored her.

"I see that being Dumbledore's favourite has given you a false sense of security, Harry Potter." Narcissa smiled unpleasantly. "But Dumbledore won't always be there to protect you."

Harry gave a mocking look around the shop. "Wow... look at that... he's not here now! So why not have a go? They might be able to find you a double cell in Azkaban with your loser of a husband!"

I stifled a gasp as Draco made an angry movement towards us, but in his rage he ended up stumbling over his overlong robe, causing Ron to laugh loudly.

"Don't you dare talk to my mother like that, Potter!" Draco snarled, his face pink as he quickly tried to right himself.

"It's all right, Draco," Narcissa said, placing thin white fingers upon his shoulder. "I expect Potter will be reunited with dear Sirius before I am reunited with Lucius."

Harry raised his wand higher.

"Harry, no!" I implored, grabbing his arm and attempting to push it down by his side. "Think... you mustn't... you'll be in such trouble..."

Madam Malkin dithered for a moment on the spot, then seemed to decide to act as though nothing was happening in the hope that it wouldn't. She bent towards Draco, who was still glaring at Harry.

"I think this left sleeve could come up a little bit more, dear, let me just-"

"Ouch!" Draco bellowed, slapping her hand away, "watch where you're putting your pins, woman! Mother - I don't think I want these anymore-"

He pulled the robes over his head and threw them on to the floor at Madam Malkin's feet.

"You're right, Draco," Narcissa sniffed, her eyes sliding over to me, "now I know the kind of scum that shops here... we'll do better at Twilfitt and Tatting's."

My face grew hot and I looked down, just as Draco's eyes also met mine, oddly devoid of the contempt they had held for Harry.

There was a stiff silence as mother and son strode from the shop, with Draco taking care to barge into Ron's shoulder on the way out.

"See you in school, blood traitor." He snarled before slamming the door behind him.

Ron muttered swear words beneath his breath as he pulled me in for a hug, my heart racing wildly in my chest, feeling uneasy after that unpleasant exchange.

"I bet you twelve Grimmauld Place that he's a Death Eater." Harry declared out of nowhere.

"Harry," I reprimanded, "you can't just bet away your inheritance-"

"The Burrow says he's not." Ron talked over me.

"Ron!" I gasped. "It's not yours to-"

"Deal."

I was pushed out of the way as they shook on it.

Morons.

*****