Abused

The Letters

After Voldemort was defeated, the wizarding world seemed to be in chaos. And so was Hermione. She had the task of finding her parents and restoring their memories. As well as moving back into their old home. After all of that was done, Hermione decided that she needed a break and went to spend a few days with Harry and Ron at the Burrow. Of course, Mrs. Weasley didn't mind.

However, it wasn't as great as she thought it would be. When she got there, Ron barely even greeted her. And they were dating for goodness' sake! How rude. When she had asked Harry about it, he had said that Ron had been moody and distant all summer long. Harry suggested that it was probably just because of Fred's passing. Hermione had tried brushing it off, but it was nearly impossible. Ron started to be cold and almost mean towards Harry and Hermione. Hermione and Harry had discussed it on multiple occasions, wondering why Ron was acting the way that he was. After a few heated discussions, Hermione and Harry had come to the conclusion that Ron probably blamed them for Fred's death. And as sad as it made the both of them, they decided to both give him some space for a little while.

Though it was hard to stay entertained when your host seemed to hate you. Right now, it was late in the morning and Harry was helping Mrs. Weasley with some things while Hermione was reading.

"Hermione! Hermione, look!" Hermione looked up from her book to see what Harry was yelling about. She had a slightly annoyed look on her face that was caused from Harry interrupting her reading.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked, a slight smile now playing on her lips. No matter how annoying this brown haired boy was, she could never stay mad for more then a second.

"Look! The owls just brought letters. I was expecting them to be from one of our old classmates or friends. But they say that their from Hogwarts." Hermione perked up a little at the sound of her old school.

"Have you read them?" Hermione asked, trying to keep the curiousness from leaking into her words.

"I figured that we could read them together. You know. In case it's something important." Hermione held her hand out for Harry to place the letter in.

"Should we fetch Ron?" Hermione offered. "I know that we agreed to give him space. But as you said, it may as well be important." Harry nodded.

"Yeah. I'll go and get him out of bed." Harry turned towards the stairs to get Ron when Hermione spoke up again.

"He's still in bed?" Hermione asked with an unbelieving tone. "Isn't it ten o'clock?" Harry shrugged.

"He might be awake, but nobody has seen him yet," Harry stated. Hermione shrugged and let Harry go. She laid back and began reading again. Suddenly, a voice broke her out of her peacefulness.

"What was so bloody important that you had to wake me up?" Hermione looked up and saw Ron stumbling down the stairs, rubbing his eyes. When he reached the bottom, he looked up to see Hermione. Hermione thought that she saw Ron narrow his eyes ever so slightly but it happened so quickly that Hermione wasn't sure if she had imagined it.

"Ron, we have all received letters from Hogwarts. Hermione and I thought that we should open them together in case they are important." Ron nodded sleepily. Ron then took his letter from Harry.

"Alright, then. Let's open them. Shall we?" Ron muttered. And without waiting her an answer, he halfheartedly tore open his letter. Hermione was the first to have hers open. She read hers silently and quickly.

Dear Ms. Hermione Granger,

We are pleased to inform you that you are invited to finish your Seventh Year. Only a limited amount of students have been given the opportunity to return, though. So, we ask you not to mention this to anybody except relatives or other trusted guardians. Students who wish to return to finish their schooling will be called Eighth Years. You will have mostly separate classes, but some of your classes will be with the Seventh Years. You will have your own dormitory, but all of the Eighth year students will be put together. So no houses. As Eighth Years, each and every one of you has the ability to assign detentions to younger years. We expect you to use this power responsibly and respectfully. You may also deduct and add house points. Again, the staff here at Hogwarts congratulates you on this opportunity and we hope you will accept.

Sincerely,

Headmistress Mcgonagall

Hermione squealed. She stood up and began to hop up and down excitedly. Harry laughed.

"I guess it's something good then? And how did you read it so quickly?" Harry asked jokingly. Harry began reading again and finished a few moments later. Ron let out a deep sigh.

"Another year of schooling? I thought is was over with!" Ron complained loudly. Hermione laughed.

"It does say that it is optional. You don't have to return, you know?" Ron glared at Hermione.

"Have you even met my mother, Hermione? As soon as she sees this, she'll be so happy and force me to go. Don't you remember how upset she was when Fred and George didn't finish their schooling?" Hermione froze and the mention of Fred's name. That was Hermione's and Harry's guess of why Ron was mad at them.

Eager to get off the subject of Fred and George, Harry managed to sputter out, "Yeah, Hermione. You should've known that Mrs. Weasley would make him go." Harry let out a very forced laugh. Ron looked between the two of them.

"You two are weird." Ron stood up and walked towards the kitchen. Hermione let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

"I wonder why he doesn't seem mad anymore?" Hermione wondered aloud. Harry shrugged.

"I guess he seemed a little less distant. Maybe even though he doesn't want to admit it, he's excited about going back to Hogwarts. Maybe he'll become even less cold-shouldered when we get there," Harry guessed. Hermione shrugged.

"I hope so. I really do miss the old Ron."

~Author's Note~

Hey everyone! I bet you can tell that this is my first story. Yup! Sorry to break it to ya, but I have absolutely NO experience whatsoever. And I know that this chapter is short, but, again, I'm new and I need to get a feel of it. Future chapters will be longer, though. I promise. I also want to see how you guys respond to this. If it goes pretty well, I'll post probably ever week or so. But don't hold me to that! It's funny, this story is probably going to be read by no one and I'm wasting time on writing this. Well, might as well let the story speak for itself. Thanks to anybody who read this note and future thanks to anyone who decides to give this story a chance. I sure appreciate it. Kiss Kiss!