Grand Day Out

Harry smiled as he saw Ron and his dad pull into Privet Drive. It was nearing the end of summer, which meant he finally got to leave the Dursleys. With Rose's bag over his shoulder, he was ready to get out of that nightmare, and back to… whatever horrors awaited him at Hogwarts.

"At least I've got friends at Hogwarts," Harry muttered.

The small blue automobile pulled into the driveway and Harry walked quickly to the car, eager to leave.

"Headwig!" he called out to the sky.

His snowy owl circled overhead, descending through the morning sky to meet him. She landed on his shoulder as he climbed inside the car.

"Got everything, Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Right here," Harry replied, holding up his bag.

"Ah, I see you have one too," Mr. Weasley said as he started up the car. "Fascinating piece of magic. Typically, something like that would start to weigh more, but those don't have that limitation."

"Rose made them," Ron said.

"Yes, but how?" his father asked.

"Never mind that," Ron said dismissively. "How was your summer, Harry?"

"Better after Mrs. Perks scared Uncle Vernon senseless," Harry replied, grinning. "Between her and Rose, my aunt and uncle mostly left me alone."

"What?" Ron asked. "What happened?"

With a big smile on his face, Harry explained the events from a few weeks ago.

"That's brilliant!" Ron exclaimed. "How'd she do it?"

"Sally-Anne said her mum's got someone inside Grunnings," Harry replied. "How was Egypt?"

"Hot," Ron replied irritably.

Harry laughed.

"It wasn't all bad," Ron said. "I got Charlie to play chess with me for the first time since he left home."

"We saw Bill, too," Mr. Weasley added.

"Yeah, but he likes Ginny," Ron replied. "He never pays much attention to me when she's around."

"Bill's just looking out for his baby sister," Mr. Weasley said.

"Baby's right," Ron muttered.

"I'll trade you for Dudley," Harry said bitterly.

Ron frowned. "How bad were they?"

"Actually, this year wasn't so bad," Harry admitted. "Sure, Aunt Marge was a pain, but she only stayed the week, and like I said, after Sally-Anne and her mum terrified Uncle Vernon, he let me stay in my room until she left."

"Well, don't worry about it now," Ron said. "For the next week you'll stay with us, and then it's back to Hogwarts!"

"Speaking of Hogwarts, has there been any news about Sirius Black?" Harry asked.

"Afraid not," Mr. Weasley said. "The Ministry hasn't had any luck locating him. They did say they would be heightening security at Hogwarts for the year."

"That's good," Harry said.

"It's really not," Arthur whispered to himself.

Oh no, Harry thought. What is it going to be this year?

The Weasleys and Harry all set out for Diagon Alley not long after Harry arrived.

"I think I'm getting the hang of the flu network," Harry said after Ron stepped through the fire place.

"You got to the right place this time," Ron said.

"Where did I end up last year?" Harry asked.

"A shop called 'Drack and Luli's'," replied a Scottish voice, "in a city called 'Cardiff'."

Turning around, Harry saw Rose and Hermione, followed shortly by Hermione's parents.

"Thanks again for retrieving me," Harry said. "I'm still not sure how the network got 'Drack and Luli's'."

"That's why you've got to enunciate when throwing the powder," Mr. Weasley said. "Dan, Emma, a pleasure to see you both."

"Of course," Dan said, happily shaking the other father's hand.

"I see you've beaten us here," Wilfred Perks said as his family entered the Leaky Cauldron.

"I told you we should've left earlier," Sarah said.

"Yes, Dear," Wilfred said.

Together, the group maneuvered through Diagon Alley's maze of streets, following Rose, Hermione, and Mrs. Perks, all of whom had an excellent sense of direction. Rose, however, was voted out of leading them after spacing out and forgetting where she was going. Twice.

While they were walking, Ron suddenly stopped outside a shop called "Magical Menagerie".

"Is it alright if we stop in here for a moment?" Ron asked. "I want to get Scabbers looked at."

"Why not ask Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Why me?" Hermione asked.

"You know everything," Ginny replied simply.

"It's true," Rose said. "She does know everything."

"Ginny, I'm flattered, but I don't know the first thing about rats," Hermione said.

"That's only cos we haven't got you a book about them yet," Rose said.

"What about Rose?" Ginny asked.

Rose beamed.

"I like Scabbers in one piece," Ron said.

"Oi!" Rose exclaimed. "He'll stay in one piece! I can probably make him fly, and–"

"Turn into a bat or something, I know," Ron said. "I'll have the professionals look at him."

Rose frowned.

"You're no fun."

Rose, Hermione, and Ron walked into the small store. The store wasn't well lit, and cages lined either wall beside them. Not all of them were empty, but many of the cages had animals of some sort in them.

Ron and Hermione walked partway into the shop, where the shopkeeper, a witch in her late 20s, stood holding a broom as if it were a sword. Her eyes darted around the room, apparently searching for something.

"Hi, I'd like… to…" Ron's voice trailed off as he realized that the was ignoring him.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked the shopkeeper.

"Yeah," she replied irritably. "One of the cats escaped earlier and started hunting me. Every time I think I've got him, he gets away."

"Why not use your wand?" Hermione asked.

"Damn thing took my wand!" the woman snapped.

"Seven o'clock," Rose said, looking at a toad.

"What?" the woman asked.

From behind her, a cat lunged at Scabbers. Scabbers darted out of the way, climbing up Ron's arm, narrowly avoiding the cat's claw.

"Crookshanks!" the woman shouted. "You're mine!"

The woman dove after the cat, which nimbly sprung out of the way. It lept onto the top row of cages, where it curled up and eyed each of the occupants of the room.

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said, helping the witch off the ground. "Rose can catch him."

The witch looked from the bushy-haired girl to her crimson-haired friend.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Hermione turned to Rose, who was staring up at the cat.

The two stared one another down for nearly a minute, until Rose smirked.

"Ob, fetch."

An animated stick figure erupted out of the shadows and grabbed Crookshanks before the animal could react. The small, pitch black humanoid carried the squirming cat to Rose, but Crookshanks wriggled free at the last second.

Fortunately, Hermione quickly grabbed the cat before it could escape.

"It's alright," she said softly, stroking the cat's soft, silky fur. "It's alright, Crookshanks."

Crookshanks began to calm down, purring as he nestled into Hermione's arms.

"Finally," the woman huffed.

"Rose, what is that thing?" Hermione asked.

"It's a cat, of course."

"No, not Crookshanks," Hermione said. She nodded her head towards the stick figure. "That!"

"Obtenebar," Rose replied. "She's a furtive filcher!"

"Huh?" the shopkeeper asked.

"That's new on me too," Hermione said.

"It's okay, Ob," Rose said affectionately. "You did a good job."

"She doesn't make sense to anyone except Luna," Ron said.

Obtenebar scampered over to Rose and scaled the small girl until her head poked out from behind Rose's shoulder. The creature couldn't have been more than a foot tall, and was completely black except for its glowing, orange eyes.

"So sorry about all this," the shopkeeper said. "How can I help you?"

"It's my rat, Scabbers," Ron said, presenting the big rat. "Almost two months ago, he started acting strangely. I know there's something wrong with him, and I want it fixed."

"Settle down," the woman said, resting her broom on the wall of cages. "Let me take a look."

As the shopkeeper quickly checked over Scabbers, Rose inspected Crookshanks.

"It's alright, Crookshanks," Hermione said. "Sit tight, and I'll put you down later."

Despite Hermione's reassurances, Crookshanks didn't appear to have any issues with being held.

"Rose, why are you inspecting him?" Hermione asked.

"Making sure he's not a shapeshifter in disguise," Rose said. "Unlike some animals."

"What animals are– Never mind, not worth it," Hermione said.

"I don't see anything obviously wrong with him," the shopkeeper said. "Were there any recent changes in his environment?"

"My family went on holiday to Egypt for most of the summer, but he was acting strange before that."

"How old is he?"

"Let's see… I don't know. Ten years, maybe?"

"Ten?!" exclaimed the woman. "That's a long time for a rat, even a magical one. Typical life expectancy is three years, tops!"

"Oh," Ron said. "Maybe he's just old."

"Yeah, I would say so," she said. "If you're looking to replace him, I've got a lovely cat for sale."

"You don't mean that thing, do you?!" Ron asked, sticking his thumb over at Crookshanks.

"Oi!" Hermione exclaimed. "He's a cat, Ronald!"

"I'm never gonna get rid of him," the woman said. "He's been here for years, since no one will take him."

"Aren't kneazles supposed to make great pets?" Hermione asked.

"What is with you lot and made up words?" Rose asked.

"He's only half-kneazle," the woman replied, "so most people looking for a pure breed don't want him, even though he's just as much trouble as a pure breed."

"Sort of like you, Hermione," Ron said, laughing.

Hermione glared at Ron.

"What?" Ron asked.

"He seems fine to me," Hermione said, breaking her death glare on Ron.

"Would you like to buy him?" the woman asked, a spark of hope appearing in her otherwise sullen eyes.

"I'm not sure I've got the money," Hermione said. "It was hard enough convincing my parents to let me keep Rose, so I'm not sure how much help they'll be."

"You know what? Just take him. You're the first person to ever want him, and all he does is cause trouble around here."

"Thanks," Hermione said. "I'll need to check with my parents to make sure it's alright."

"Take your time," the shopkeeper replied, the sides of her mouth turning up in a grin. "I'll go get the papers to sign."

"I'll go get your parents!" Rose exclaimed.

A few moments later, Rose returned with Hermione's mum and dad.

"What's this about you wanting a cat?" Dan asked his daughter, eyeing the sleeping tiger kitten in her arms.

"Mum, Dad, this is Crookshanks," Hermione said. "The woman working here said no one else wants him. He's been here for years."

"We already let you keep Rose," Emma said, noticing the stick figure hiding behind Rose's shoulder, "and whatever this new friend of hers is."

"Obtenebar," Hermione said.

"What's it got in its hand?" Dan asked.

Hermione glanced over, and saw that Obtenebar was holding a wand in its hand. Hermione quickly checked her pocket and found that hers was still there.

"Have either of you seen my wand?" Ron asked.

"Ob took it," Rose replied.

"Why?!" Ron exclaimed. "Tell it to give it back!"

"Backing up for a moment," Dan said. "Cat."

"He's not a kitten, and he's part kneazle, which is a type of magical cat. He doesn't have any special powers, before you ask, but he is intelligent. That means he'll understand us better than a regular cat."

Emma glanced over and saw Ronald attempting to pry his wand out of the clutches of Rose's new pet.

"So training him will be easy?" Dan asked his daughter.

"Yes," Hermione replied.

"I've got the papers," the shopkeeper said, returning from the back room. "Also, I've got to put a price on him, otherwise I'll get in trouble."

Dan and Emma exchanged glances, then nodded to one another.

"Alright, but he goes with you to school, and he's your birthday present," Dan said. "Agreed?"

"Agreed," Hermione replied.

Dan turned to the shopkeeper. "We'll happily take the cat."

"Crookshanks," Hermione said.

She smiled and looked down at Crookshanks, who looked back at her with an analytical stare.

"Looks like us non-purebloods are gonna stick together," Hermione said.

"Ha!" Ron exclaimed triumphantly, having finally retrieved his wand. "Wait, what?! You're actually gonna buy that thing?!"

"I'd rather have Crookshanks than Scabbers!" Hermione snapped.

"Hermione!" her mum exclaimed.

After signing the papers, Hermione took Crookshanks and left. By then, Ron had already left, not wanting to be around Obtenebar or Crookshanks longer than necessary.

"Hello, Crookshanks," Sally-Anne said as Hermione approached them with her new cat. "It's nice to meet you."

Sally-Anne slowly offered her hand to Crookshanks, who inspected it thoroughly before deciding that this Human was acceptable.

Crookshanks wriggled free of Hermione's arms and hopped down onto the ground. He sat at Hermione's feet, waiting patiently for her to move.

"Are you sure it's alright to let him walk around?" Sally-Anne's dad asked.

"It's alright," Hermione said. "Kneazles are on par with border collies in terms of intelligence."

"What?" Ginny asked.

"He's as smart as your brother," Hermione said in a sickly sweet voice.

Sally-Anne sighed. "What did Ron do this time?"

"I didn't do anything! That thing attacked Scabbers!"

"Aren't kneazles supposed to be experts in detecting untrustworthy people and creatures?" Sally-Anne asked. "Maybe he doesn't like Scabbers."

"Or maybe he just wants to eat him!" Ron shouted.

"Alright, everyone, let's calm down," Mr. Perks said.

"There's no need to start a fuss," Mr. Weasley added.

"Still can't believe she's getting that thing," Ron grumbled.

After Hermione's parents left Magic Menagerie, the group continued on towards their last stop: Flourish and Blotts. While everyone was looking around inside, Sally-Anne approached Ron.

"Ron, what did you do?" Sally-Anne asked.

"I didn't do anything!"

Sally-Anne thought for a moment. Ron never realized when he said something insensitive, so he honestly didn't realize that he had done something wrong.

"What did you say?"

"The woman in Magical Menagerie said that Crookshanks was only a half-breed, and he didn't really fit in, and I commented that he was like Hermione."

That didn't seem so bad, but Sally-Anne wasn't sure how accurate Ron's account was. The way he worded it, it wasn't bad, but that was assuming that Ron's account was correct. Ron's memory wasn't too bad; in fact, he often remembered facts that even Hermione didn't know.

What if he was wrong?

"That wasn't exactly it," Harry said, startling both of them.

Sally-Anne often forgot how quiet Harry could be. Now that she thought about it, Harry was being quieter than usual.

Focus, Sally-Anne, she told herself. Hermione first, then Harry.

"What was it?" Sally-Anne asked.

"I couldn't hear it perfectly, but it sounded like the exact words were 'No one wants him'."

"So?" Ron asked. "She still overreacted!"

"Of course," Sally-Anne said. "I don't see the problem there."

"Thank you," Ron said.

"Like you said, I'm sure she's just overreacting."

"Exactly."

"I mean, you're only a knock-off of Bill and Charlie anyway, so why would it matter what you think?"

"I'm glad– WHAT?!"

Ron was taken aback. He had no idea how to respond to something like that. He couldn't believe it, especially coming from Sally-Anne; she wasn't vengeful like Rose, she was nice.

"Now you know how Hermione felt," Sally-Anne said. She walked off, leaving Ron to wrestle with her words.

"Now she's mad at me too!" Ron exclaimed. "Harry, mate, you're on my side, right?"

"You implied that no one wanted Hermione," Harry said. "Hermione nearly left Hogwarts after the troll attack because she felt like she didn't fit in. That's what Sally-Anne meant. She's probably still scared that no one wants her around, and you practically said it to her face."

Ron paled.

"I… I didn't…"

"You know what Rose would say?" Harry asked.

"That I've got one round to live?"

"That, and go apologize to Hermione."

"Thanks, mate," Ron said. "I'm glad you still make sense."

Harry let Ron's words sink in while he watched his best mate run off to find Hermione.

"Sense," Harry said. "I've got a dog stalking me this year, a murderer out to get me, and I keep getting this weird feeling that someone's right next to me. Last year I heard voices, and my magic scar burns for no reason."

"Why's a dog stalking you?"

"Rose, did you do something to something of mine?" Harry asked the girl that had once again appeared out of nowhere. "I swear I can sense people around me."

"Blindsight," Rose replied. "It lets you detect anyone within a 30-foot radius. Do you like it?"

"It's alright, but please warn me before you do something like that," Harry said. "I thought I was losing it again."

"Seriously, Scarface, why is a dog stalking you?"

"There's this dog that keeps following me," Harry explained. "Actually, I probably wouldn't have noticed it without the enhancements you keep making to my glasses, so thanks for that."

"No problem," Rose replied. "Have you considered that it wants you to take it home with you?"

"Rose, I'm serious!" Harry exclaimed.

Rose tilted her head, then scribbled something in her notebook.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"My notebook."

"Not the book, your note."

"Hermione said something about animorphs, or magic animals, or something that's this plane's version of shapechange," Rose said. "That dog could be a person taking the form of a dog."

"Spectacular," Harry said. "If it's not a blood thirsty snake, it's a maniac who can turn into a dog."

"I know," Rose said, grinning. "It's–"

"Not remotely exciting," Harry said, anticipating Rose's words.

On the other side of the store, Ron had succeeded in tracking down Hermione.

"What?" she asked irritably.

"I'm sorry," Ron said. "I didn't mean to say that no one wanted you around. You're one of my best friends, and… I'm just really sorry."

Hermione smiled. When she had first met Ron, he was insensitive and obnoxious. He was too full of himself to admit when he was wrong, so she never would've got an apology out of him. Now, he was growing, and becoming an alright person to be around.

"Apology accepted," Hermione said.

"That doesn't mean that I'm okay with that cat," Ron said in disgust.

After they returned to the Burrow, Rose quickly departed. She began racing across the fields that separated the Burrow from where she really wanted to be: the Rookery.

As Rose approached the giant, black chess piece, she hopped over the degraded fence that surrounded the property and ran along the zigzagging path that led to the door.

Once Rose reached it, she knocked gently on the door.

"Be there in a minute!" came the voice of Mr. Luna's Dad.

Rose grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waited. She glanced to her right and noticed several chalk drawings on the stone wall of the house.

The door opened, revealing a man with shoulder-length white hair. His clothes were all brightly colored, so much so that they were painful to see.

"You must be Rose," he said, a broad grin lighting up his face almost as brightly as his clothes. "Come in, come in."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Luna's Dad," Rose said, curtsying.

"The same to you, Ms. Luna's Friend," he replied as the little girl entered. "Luna has told me quite a lot about you."

"I deny everything," Rose said quickly. "You've got no evidence that I caused any of it, and no one can pry information out of me."

Rose looked around at the room in which she now found herself. It was a perfect cylinder, with a counter along the wall and a table not too far from it. The counter stopped at a sink, and cabinets were placed unevenly around the room. In the exact center of the room was a metal, spiral staircase that led up and out of sight.

"All good things, I assure you," Mr. Luna's Dad said, laughing. "Luna! Rose is here!"

"I know," Luna replied from the top of the staircase. "Int told me."

Perched on her shoulder was Intelligencer, his wings folded against his body. Even with Rose now in the vicinity, his ears stood up as he continued to listen for anything that might hurt his charge.

"Luna! Int!" Rose exclaimed. She dimension jumped to Luna, then swept up both the girl and homunculus in a hug.

"It's good to see you, Rose," Luna said, returning the hug. "How has your summer been?"

"Boring," Rose replied gloomily. "Despite a mass murderer breaking out of prison, nothing exciting has happened."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Mr. Luna's Dad said.

"But I'm bored," Rose whined as she jumped over the side of the stairs. "It's like the first few months of last term before anything exciting happened."

"It's a shame I wasn't allowed to study that book," Mr. Luna's Dad said. "Don't get me wrong, it was horrible what it did to poor Luna, but I still found it interesting."

"I'm alright now," Luna said.

"If you want something interesting," Rose said, "then I might have something for you."

"Really?" the man asked. "Luna's told me about many of your tools."

"Let's start with the basics," Rose said, removing the black hole charm from her bracelet.

Before Xenophilius's eyes, he saw the small charm grow to a large, black hole. It remained rolled up, but the crimson-haired girl spread it out across the kitchen table.

"This is called a portable hole," Rose explained. "It doesn't weigh anything, and it can carry up to about 282 cubic feet worth of items."

"Amazing," Xenophilius said. "Like Luna's bag, it doesn't gain weight?"

"That's right," Rose said, rolling up the hole. She replaced it on her bracelet. "Same with each one of these."

Rose explained her bracelet and each of the charms on it, and Mr. Luna's Dad became more excited with each charm.

"There are similar methods of storage I know of," he said. "But they become heavier the more they contain. There are ways of reducing it, mind you, but you can't just cut it off at some arbitrary number."

"Well, then, I feel special!" Rose exclaimed, beaming.

"Luna has the wildest ideas. And one day, I thought 'What if they were true?' Wouldn't it be amazing if such creatures actually existed? So I began to do research, and soon I found all sorts of exciting theories. The Ministry tries to keep them secret, but I found them."

Rose smiled at Luna, who returned the smile.

"Little Moon's quite special too, isn't she?"

Mr. Luna's Dad smiled, and for a moment, Rose recognized the look on his face. His eyes were dazed, and there was the faintest hint of a smile. He was lost in a memory of someone he loved.

"Sorry, just spaced out for a moment," he said, returning to the present.

"It's okay, I do that all the time."

"Me too," Luna added.

"Rose, would you care to join us for dinner?" Xenophilius asked his guest. "I've got quite the feast– Sorry, you don't eat, do you?"

"That doesn't mean I can't stay for dinner!" Rose exclaimed.

Back at the Burrow, Cedric had come by after seeing that the Weasleys were back.

"There's no one out here," he said. "Some times I think my parents picked it because we're so far out of the way. It's alright, but I get awfully bored."

"Can't you practice flying on your own?" Hermione asked.

"I can, but it's like anything else," Cedric replied. "You get tired of it after a while, and want to spend time with real people."

The boys and Ginny took to the air, once again with the Weasley boys on one team, and Cedric, Harry, and Ginny on the other.

Harry began to take full advantage of the new enchantment on his glasses. He immediately picked up when any of the boys were around him, and he could sense where Ginny and Cedric were during the match.

Ron was getting frustrated with receiving the short end of the stick once again. He couldn't figure out how Harry was getting around him so easily. Every time Ron thought he had Harry faked out, Harry would immediately pick up where Ron was and avoid him.

What was worse was how easily Cedric was crushing them. Between Harry and Cedric, the opposing team easily moved around the field, tossing the Quaffle between them as if they had rehearsed it.

After his team had been thoroughly beaten, Ron realized that both Cedric and Harry got to practice at school. Harry was Gryffindor's Seeker, and Cedric was the reserve Seeker for Hufflepuff.

"Not anymore," Cedric had said. "Starting this year, I'm the Seeker for Hufflepuff."

"That's great!" Hermione said.

"Congratulations," Sally-Anne added.

If it wasn't Harry, it was Rose, and if it wasn't Rose, then it was Cedric. Everyone got praise and attention except Ron.

Contrasting Ron's foul mood during dinner was Harry, who was happier than he'd been all summer. He loved flying, and he loved playing Quidditch. He couldn't wait to see what he could do when he could detect the Golden Snitch when it was 30 feet away.

As they all sat down for dinner, Ginny looked around the table.

"Where's Rose?" she asked.

"Did you just notice she was missing?" Hermione asked.

"She was probably lost in thought," George said dreamily.

"Staring at dear Harry," Fred added in an identical tone.

Ginny didn't so much as flinch, but instead asked, "Hermione, you're closer, would you mind hitting them for me?"

Hermione looked at each twin, whom she suspected were following Rose's orders by sitting on either side of her, then jabbed each one with her elbows.

"Thank you," Ginny said, smiling.

"Children, behave," Mrs. Weasley said. "That goes for all of you."

"Really, though, where is Rose?" Ginny asked again.

"She's at Luna's," Hermione said. "She took off the second we got back."

"I guess if anyone would make sense of her, it'd be the Lovegoods," Percy said.

"Percy, always good to see you out of your room," Mrs. Weasley said, just noticing that her eldest local son had joined them.

"I'm not up there all the time," Percy said.

"Yes, you are," the Twins said together.

Percy huffed, then took his plate and excused himself from the table.

"What is Percikins doing up there?" George asked Hermione.

"Why would I know?"

"You're Rose's best friend, and she must know," Fred replied.

"So that's it?" Hermione asked. "I'm just 'Rose's Friend'?"

"Rose's Best Friend," George and Fred corrected.

"I'm Bill and Charlie's Kid Brother," Ron said.

"The Girl Weasley," Ginny added, raising her hand slightly.

"Boy," Harry said.

"At least I'm not alone," Hermione said. "But no, she hasn't told me. She probably doesn't care, so it's something boring, like studying."

"I hope that's all," Mrs. Weasley said. "I'm worried that he's getting involved in something he shouldn't be."

Through the entire conversation, Sally-Anne continued to stay quiet. She knew that Percy was upstairs writing letters to his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, thanks to her pendant. Even though it might've helped her friends to know, she couldn't explain how she knew without explaining the pendant.

So Sally-Anne sat quietly and listened to the two conversations going on at the table. On one end of the table were the children, swapping theories about Percy, and on the other end were the adults, swapping stories about what they did for a living.

"Sally-Anne, I'm not sure I've asked, how's your summer been?" Hermione asked.

"You did at Diagon Alley," Sally-Anne said. "It's been alright. Nothing too exciting going on."

"How was the play?"

"Romeo and Juliet," Sally-Anne said, smiling. "One of my favorites. I know it's supposed to be a tragedy, and it really is, but some of the lines they've got are beautiful. It's just so poetic the way they talk about one another."

"I always thought it sounded cheesy," Hermione said. "What was it? 'What light through yonder window breaks?'"

"'It is the east, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, that thou her maid art far more fair than she.'"

During her recitation, the rest of the table had quieted down to listen. After she realized that everyone was watching her, Sally-Anne blushed.

Both of her parents smiled with pride.

"That's my girl," her dad whispered.

"How do you know that so well?" Hermione asked.

"It's one of my favorites," Sally-Anne said, her face still red. "Romeo is telling Juliet that her beauty shines like the sun, that she's so beautiful that the moon became sickly with shame. He goes on to say her eyes sparkle like the stars, but if they didn't, they would be put to shame by her flawless cheeks."

"Cheeks?" Ron asked. "Really?"

Ginny elbowed her brother.

"Do Muggles talk like that?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Not anymore," Mr. Perks replied. "They haven't for years, but William Shakespeare, the man who wrote those plays, wrote them hundreds of years ago."

"And they're still done today?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous," Mr. Perks began.

There he goes again, thought Molly and Sarah as their respective husbands began to discuss Muggle plays.

"Have you considered doing theatre work?" Hermione asked Sally-Anne.

"I've thought about it a few times, but I don't think I'd be good at it," Sally-Anne replied. "Besides, there's not much room for it in the Wizarding World, I don't think."

"Then make room," Ginny said. "Show people what they're missing! With Hermione and Rose helping you out, there's no way you can fail!"

"Thanks, Ginny," Sally-Anne said.

After dinner, the Perks and Granger families departed from the Burrow. Rose had returned from Luna's just as they were leaving.

"See you soon!" Sally-Anne called to her friends.

"Just a few days," Hermione said. "A few days and we're in our third year. Wasn't I just a first-year?"

"I still can't see why you want to go back," her dad said.

"Don't worry," she replied. "It's just one guy; no giant monsters this year. I've got Rose with me, and the Ministry is actually sending people to help catch him. We'll be fine."