That evening, the four of them booked four rooms at a local inn in the town. However, when the staff cleaned the rooms after checkout, they noticed that two of the beds had not been slept in.
The next day, after a two-hour flight, Harry and Hermione returned to England, where they were greeted by Sirius Black, who had, naturally, arrived in a brand-new car.
"Harry, where's Professor Dumbledore?" Sirius asked, leaning out of the car window with one hand gripping the frame, curiously peering behind Harry and Hermione as they emerged alone.
"Professor Dumbledore said he wanted to wander a bit longer," Harry replied, opening the car door for Hermione to climb in first before sliding in beside her.
"By the way, Harry, Hermione, we're not heading back to Godric's Hollow," Sirius said as he maneuvered the car through the bustling traffic. "With Voldemort's return, Dumbledore has reconvened the Order of the Phoenix, and my house is now serving as its headquarters. For safety, most of us, including you two, will be staying there. Dumbledore's even cast some extra enchantments on the place… Unfortunately, the Grangers weren't keen on moving in."
Noticing Hermione's worried expression in the rearview mirror, Sirius quickly added, "Don't worry, Hermione. Dumbledore's arranged round-the-clock protection for your parents."
"Sirius, so we're heading to… er?" Harry started to say the location of Sirius's ancestral home, but oddly, despite clearly remembering where it was, the words wouldn't come out. The address itself felt like a hazy, half-forgotten memory in his mind.
"Professor Dumbledore cast the Fidelius Charm on the place, with himself as the Secret-Keeper," Sirius explained with a cheerful grin, noticing Harry's confusion. "As long as Dumbledore's alive, even if we know the address, we can't speak it."
The car eventually pulled up in a dilapidated square. The three of them stepped out, and Sirius led them past rows of grim, rundown houses. They stopped at the gap between numbers eleven and thirteen.
Then, though Harry and Hermione weren't sure what Sirius did, they watched as a battered, crumbling house seemed to grow out of the narrow space between the two buildings. Remarkably, the Muggle residents on either side appeared completely oblivious to the sudden appearance of this new structure.
The trio ascended the worn stone steps. Sirius drew his wand and tapped it against the scratched, peeling front door. A silver, snake-shaped door knocker slithered across the surface, and with a series of metallic clanks and the rattling of chains, the door creaked open inward.
It had been a long time since Harry had visited Sirius's home. In his memory, the sprawling mansion reeked of decay. The entrance hall, if he recalled correctly, was filled with peeling wallpaper, threadbare carpets, a cobweb-covered chandelier overhead, blackened portraits lining the left wall, and a row of old-fashioned gas lamps on the right.
But now, everything was different. The peeling wallpaper was gone, replaced by vibrant gold-and-red patterns lining both walls. The tattered carpets had been removed, and the dusty chandelier had been swapped for bright, minimalist fluorescent lights. Even the old portraits had vanished.
"Surprised, aren't you?" Sirius said, watching Harry's reaction with a smug grin, hands on his hips. "You've no idea, Harry. I nearly drove myself mad renovating this place, arguing with Kreacher every day. But in the end, we found a compromise we could both live with…"
Before Sirius could finish, a loud crack echoed through the hall, and Kreacher and Dobby appeared before Harry and Hermione.
"Harry! Hermione! Welcome back!" Dobby exclaimed, enthusiastically hugging them both. Kreacher, far more reserved, merely bowed respectfully.
"Welcome back, young master and… lady," Kreacher said.
Just then, Mrs. Weasley emerged from a door at the far end of the hall. Harry noticed she looked much thinner and paler than the last time he'd seen her.
She hurried over to Sirius and whispered, "The meeting's already started, Sirius. Everyone's waiting for your report."
Sirius dashed off, and Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry with a warm smile, pulling him into a hug. "So good to see you both," she said, releasing him and hugging Hermione next. "Ron and the others are upstairs waiting for you."
Mrs. Weasley led Harry and Hermione to the second floor. "Harry, your room is the second door on the right. Hermione, yours is the first on the left. I'll come fetch you after the meeting."
With that, she hurried back downstairs. Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance before stepping onto the soft carpet and heading toward the right-hand corridor.
Before they reached the second door, Harry heard Ron's voice. He raised an eyebrow, ready to barge in and confront Ron about his cold attitude over the past month. But then Ron's words stopped him cold.
"Maybe Mum's right, George," Ron was saying. "Ginny still fancies Harry, but the way things are between him and Hermione, no one's getting between them. They'll be the Potters someday, and Ginny and I will have to find someone else to marry and start families with. Sure, we'll still be friends, but it won't be like before. We'll be separate families. I was such an idiot, arguing with Mum over those two outsiders… And honestly, going a month without talking to them? I've been just fine."
Ron kept talking, but Harry couldn't hear anymore. His hand, which had been reaching for the doorknob, fell limply to his side.
"Harry…" Hermione's arms wrapped around him from behind, her head resting gently on his shoulder. She whispered softly in his ear, "Let's go to the library in Sirius's house for a bit, okay?"
Harry nodded silently.
The two slipped away from the door without a sound.
The Black family library was vast, perhaps slightly less impressive than the brass wardrobe that housed the Potter family's collection, but it still held thousands of books. Harry and Hermione each grabbed a few volumes that caught their interest and settled at a desk in a quiet corner.
As the soft rustle of turning pages filled the air and the faint, familiar scent of Hermione's presence enveloped him, Harry's troubled thoughts began to settle.
They read in silence until hurried footsteps broke their focus. Mrs. Weasley burst through the door, relief washing over her face when she saw them sitting calmly at the desk.
"Thank Merlin," she gasped. "I thought you two had gone missing the moment you arrived!"
"Is the meeting over, Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked, offering a smile as he noticed the genuine concern on her face.
"Just finished," she replied. "I went to your rooms to fetch you, but you weren't there. Ron said he hadn't seen you either… I was so worried! Thank goodness Neville suggested Hermione might have dragged you to the library. I didn't actually expect to find you here, though… Oh, if only Ron were half as studious as you two. All summer, he's barely touched a textbook except to do his homework."
As they descended to the first floor, Mrs. Weasley rambled on. Then, with two sharp pops, Fred and George apparated right in front of them, startling her.
"I've told you two not to Apparate inside the house!" Mrs. Weasley scolded, still catching her breath. "You could crash into someone!"
"But we didn't, did we, Mum?" George (or possibly Fred) said with a cheeky grin.
"And we're practically adults now. Reliable ones, at that!" Fred (or possibly George) added, puffing out his chest proudly.
Mrs. Weasley shot the "reliable adults" a withering look. "Well, then, you two 'adults' can fill Harry and Hermione in on what's been happening. I've got to set the table."
She stormed off, muttering under her breath.
"Truth is, Mum's just sore that two house-elves have taken over her role," George (or possibly Fred) said, winking at Harry. "If you ask me, we should leave everything to the house-elves and enjoy their service. That's what they're for, right?"
"'They'?" Hermione's tone sharpened at George's (or possibly Fred's) words. "House-elves are intelligent beings, just like us. Why call them 'they' like they're objects?"
"Maybe because it's common knowledge in the wizarding world, and you, coming from a Muggle family, just don't get it?" he shot back, then turned to Harry. "Good to see you, Harry. Have a nice holiday?"
"Very pleasant," Harry replied, a small smile tugging at his lips as he recalled the previous night, when he and Hermione had tried to eavesdrop on the room next door.
Hermione, unwilling to argue with someone as stubborn as Ron, turned to the twins. "So, you two passed your Apparition tests?"
"With flying colors," Fred (or possibly George) said smugly.
"But Mum still won't let us join the Order," George (or possibly Fred) added, deflated. "Says we're not old enough. Otherwise, we'd know what Snape was going on about in the meeting…"
"If Mrs. Weasley doesn't want you to know, she has her reasons," Hermione said, trying to reason with them. "Besides, Professor Snape is on our side now."
Ron snorted. "On our side? Have you forgotten the way he looks at us?"
"Bill and Charlie joined the Order, though," George (or possibly Fred) said. "So even if Mum won't tell us anything, we can still get some intel—though it comes at a cost."
"Charlie's still in Romania," Fred (or possibly George) added. "Dumbledore wants to recruit more foreign wizards, so Charlie's been making connections in his spare time."
"What about Percy?" Harry asked. "Isn't he working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation?"
At that, George, Fred, and Ron exchanged a heavy, meaningful look.
"Don't mention Percy around Mum and Dad," Ron said nervously.
"Why not?" Harry pressed.
"Every time Percy's name comes up, Dad smashes whatever he's holding, and Mum bursts into tears," Fred (or possibly George) explained.
"Because Percy betrayed us," George (or possibly Fred) said grimly.
"What happened?" Hermione asked, puzzled. In her memory, Percy had always seemed like a decent person.
"Percy and Dad had a huge row," Fred sighed. "I've never seen Dad fight like that. Usually, it's Mum who does all the shouting."
George and Fred briefly explained Percy's situation, leaving Harry and Hermione stunned.
"Mum's been a wreck," Ron said. "You know, crying all the time. She went to London to talk to Percy, but he slammed the door in her face. I don't know what he does when he runs into Dad at work—probably pretends he doesn't see him."
"Maybe Percy's just confused," Harry offered, trying to console them.
Harry felt sorry about Percy, but soon the conversation shifted to other topics.
They entered the brightly lit dining room and took their seats. Harry glanced at Ron, a sigh catching in his chest. He'd meant to confront Ron about what he'd said in the bedroom, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized Ron wasn't entirely wrong. No matter how close he and Hermione were to the Weasleys, to them, they were still outsiders.
But no matter how many chances Harry was given, he'd never choose to give up Hermione.
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