A/N: I don't write angst usually, because well, it makes me unhappy (obviously), but this was kind of necessary, I guess.
The song up top is Better in Stereo, by Dove Cameron. Reminds me of the Weasley twins...
Okay, that's enough. Wouldn't want you to start sweating in your eyes before the chapter begins, now, would we?
Dove x

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Wednesday's meeting with Malfoy went quite well. Last night's approaching headache had thankfully stopped pursuing Hermione and she was able to focus on her work. The dreaded meeting was mercifully not a cause for another anger attack as they had managed to talk civilly and about pure business until the signatures were done and over with. Malfoy's eyes had held a vaguely familiar expression she couldn't quite place a finger on. Maybe it was respect or appreciation- then again, expecting something like that from that arrogant prat might be termed as wishful thinking. Anyhow, Hermione was sure it had been a trick of light.

The week flew by as normally as it could, i.e., counting Hermione's new client and the pressure on the Auror Department. Sunday morning saw her waking up after a long and peaceful sleep, feeling completely at ease. Tonight she had to go to the Burrow for their weekly family dinner. Actually, it was more of a reunion than just a dinner.

Frankly, she was delighted at the idea of meeting the whole family and catching up with them. Minus Charlie, of course, who was in Romania, tending to ailing dragons and trying to find the missing ones. It was almost suspicious; many dragons had been going missing lately. Some of them were found in other parts of the world, shrunken and dangerous because of the abuse they had been put through. Hermione had been furious and was ready to go exploring sites to find them when Ron had interfered, muttering something like, "...getting into that spew spirit again," and "...too righteous for her own good." Still, that hadn't been enough to make her back down. Only when Ginny threatened to never talk to her again if she went to find perilous dragons on the loose without any training whatsoever, did Hermione reconsider her decision. Even Charlie had agreed to that point and hence, here she was, enjoying the weather of London, while Charlie was the one trying to find the magical beasts and figuring out the mystery of their disappearances, Obliviating Muggles at every turn.

Percy Weasley was formally part of the family again. The War seemed to have stripped away his pompous nature and arrogance, though he still was upright and stern about many things. And truthfully, that made Ron scowl at him every oblivious moment. Having him back had been very helpful for them to be finally calm about Fred's death. Whenever someone mentioned him, there was just a dull throb in their hearts, all the raw pain and grief partly covered by heaps of hope and light around them.

George Weasley had been the one to be most affected by his twin's death. Fred was his other half that he could never be. The better half of him. The half he would always need. Needless to say, his heart had broken into millions of tiny fragments as hurtful as that of glass over the irreparable loss. That explained him often remaining isolated from the family. His wife, Angelina Johnson-Weasley, worried a lot about his behaviour. But she also knew that he needed time to mourn his loss. She was sure that he would never be able to produce a Patronus again. His happy memories had always included Fred and when he left, he became incomplete. Fred influenced his Patronus greatly and now that he was gone, George's Patronus had vanished.

Still, on hearing that the Potters and Hermione would be at The Burrow for dinner, he had decided that it was about time that he stopped mourning. There were some bonds that needed to be reformed. When he came out of his shell, he still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that what he had been doing, i.e. crying and isolating himself was so unlike him. Fred would have disowned him for even thinking of doing so. Guilty and ashamed, he had agreed to be there too. Angelina and Molly were more than over the top, while Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and the rest of the Weasleys were grinning from ear to ear on hearing the news. It was about bloody time.

Hermione quickly rearranged her thoughts and changed them to that of today. Honestly, she hadn't even noticed that she had zoned out until she heard impatient taps on the window of her living room. She got up from the couch, still in her pyjamas from last night, and opened the window to let the owl in. She gently stroked it's snowy white feathers as she detached the letter from its foot and fed it some treats before letting it fly away.

She opened the letter to find the loving and neat handwriting of Molly Weasley reflected back at her. She grinned as she read it.

Dear Hermione,

I've been meaning to ask you this for a week now. Ginevra said that you would be coming home today, wouldn't you? I know last week had been busy for you and you hadn't been able to make it, but this time I am expecting you to be there without fail. No buts.

Oh, and sorry if I am causing you some inconvenience, dear, but would you be a sweetheart and bring in some chocolate chip and vanilla dough icecream from dear old Florean's place? I forgot completely about Victorie and Teddy's requests for these flavours. And, you see, Arthur, Ron and Percy are all at the Ministry and busy. Bill and Charlie aren't here and George is at work. You're the only one I can ask. Would you do it please?

Oh, and be there by 5 p.m. Hope you are doing well. Really, we haven't met in so long. It's very important to do it today. I'll be waiting.

Lots of love,

Molly

Hermione folded up the letter and went up to her room. She quickly took a bath and got dressed in some casual Muggle jeans, a purple top and her favourite Weasley jumper. She had some breakfast and was soon in front of the fireplace with Floo Powder in her fist. She got into the fireplace, threw the powder and yelled loudly, "The Leaky Cauldron!" After being squished through many portals, she finally stepped out of one of the many fireplaces at the old and rusty wizarding lodge.

She greeted the bartender Tom with a polite smile and proceeded to the backyard of the dingy and rundown hotel, towards the entrance to Diagon Alley. She tapped the bricks with her wand, muttering "Three up and two across," under her breath.

When the brick wall gave way to the wizarding alley and shopping area, she happily stepped in to be consumed by the world of magic. She could see people rushing here and there, shops overflowing with school supplies, assortments of restaurants and little shops sprung up on the streets as she walked past them, still eyeing the stores with awe.

So much had changed since the time she had been here during Sixth Year. The weather was cheerful instead of the usual gloomy, and the people were happy and relaxed as they walked in and out of shops. She walked past Eeylop's Owl Emporium with a sad and wistful smile. Hagrid had gotten Harry Hedwig from here. Just as she was about to walk on, she spotted another beautiful snowy owl inside the shop. She almost thought it was Hedwig. Though as sad as it was, Hedwig was gone now.

She noticed Flourish and Blotts being flooded by young and old readers. She grinned at the memory of herself dragging her parents into the lovely bookshop, collecting as many books as her small hands could carry as she walked down the aisles of her favourite store, and pouting when her parents said that she couldn't buy all of them at once. She remembered how even the owner was fond of her and was about to get drowned in the thoughts of her childhood with Harry and Ron when she heard merry laughing from another shop across from the bookstore. She could make out silhouettes of children eyeing Quick-Quotes Quills with awe, while some laughed as it danced along the page of the notepad it was writing on. She was thrown out of her reverie of reminiscing the old times by their sincere laughter, and surprisingly, she was grateful for it. If it hadn't been for them, she would have lost track of time, which would be very dangerous on as tight a schedule as she had.

She walked towards Florean's Fortescue's Icecream Parlor, giving Flourish And Blotts one last wishful glance, and entered the store abuzz with noise and moans of fascination over the delicious ice-cream. She greeted Florean with a wide smile and made small talk as she ordered the flavours the kids had asked for. She knew that if it was her parents with her, they would have tutted at how the family was spoiling the kids with sweets that would make their teeth unhealthy. She winced as she remembered her childhood yet again, because she didn't get any ice-cream. Or any sweets for that matter.

Once she paid for the packed ice-cream, complete with a Freezing Charm placed on it, she made to exit the shop when she collided with a person's chest and fell backwards, the ice-cream thankfully still levitating in the air because of her wandless magic. 'Second time in a week. A week!' she thought with an inward scowl. Seriously, she needed to see where she was going. She scowled again at her clumsiness before taking the offered hand and standing up in one swift motion, her body gaining momentum by the pull.

Without looking up at the person she had offended by colliding with them so painfully, she dusted off the dust from her jeans and her jumper. She mumbled a quick sorry and a thank you as she took hold of her floating ice cream and walked towards the exit. Just then, the man she had bumped into reached for her wrist and held it gently but firmly. She turned to look at him, surprised, and was met with light, sea blue eyes covered with an unreadable emotion.

The man said, "Hermione.. Hermione Granger?", as if to confirm that the lady whose hand he was holding was none other than the best friend of Harry Potter.

She nodded absently, positively surprised on seeing who he was. She had recognised him almost instantly as she looked into those blue eyes. Her eyes scanned his face and her growing suspicions was seconded another moment later. What she thought was so surprising was the fact that she had never expected to see him in an ice-cream store. One thing she knew about this person very well was that he hated ice-cream as much as she did laziness. Her curious side took over and she would mentally kick herself later for it, but she asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you hated ice-cream."

His eyes shot wide at her question and he almost smiled but caught himself in time. She didn't deserve it after what she had done to him. Although his eyes did still hold a knowing look before they went back to their original unrevealing state. He was looking for words to let it all out as the thought struck his mind that perhaps an ice-cream store in the middle of Diagon Alley wouldn't be the best place to do so.

He simply said, "Buying ice-cream, of course. What else? You know, people do change," looking at her pointedly. He knew she knew what or who he was referring to, but chose to ignore it for the moment. She nodded in agreement and his hold on her wrist loosened. She looked at him and said a simple, "Okay. Goodbye. Have a nice day!" and started to walk away.

On exiting the store, she let out a breath of relief she didn't know she had been holding. She knew this would happen someday. There was only the fact that she had never anticipated it happening so out of the blue. As she was heading to a quill shop for her stationery she knew she didn't need, a chill crept up her spine as she heard the words, "Hello there, Granger," whispered in her left ear. She froze mid-step as she felt his presence just behind her. Instead of pulling out her wand, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He stood there, looking at her with those unreadable eyes. He was standing next to her as if they had just been exchanging casual conversation.

She said in a small and tight voice, her mind whirling with all those stupid emotions, "What do you want?" She cringed when she heard how pathetic and pleading she sounded. Apparently, the person noticed it too as they stepped away from her, trying to look less intimidating. His eyes were now filled with pain and apology as he quietly said, "Nothing. Nothing at all. Please don't be scared, Hermione. I just want to talk. Maybe at The Three Broomsticks?"

Hermione contemplated her answer before nodding stiffly. She wanted to talk to him so badly, to see him everyday, to laugh with him, to cry and then comfort him as though he was the one who had been in distress. It all seemed so far away now. It had been three years since she last talked to him. She had suppressed all of those memories at the back of her mind, trying to forget everything. Turned out, it wasn't easy. Oddly enough, that was what she had expected. But seeing him again made her want to run into those welcoming arms and hug him tightly, to never let go. To talk like there was no tomorrow. She had every right to miss her friend, but she had let them go. She had let him go. She had estranged herself from him so that he wouldn't have to choose. To make it easier for him.

He too nodded silently, and giving her one last glance, turned on the spot to be stretched and pulled by the feeling of Apparition as he appeared in Hogsmeade with a pop. Hermione appeared beside him a second later, and they made their way to Madam Rosmerta's pub.

They took a table at the corner, looking around to make sure that they were alone, and sat down across from each other. The man placed his elbows on the table and folded his hands in front of him. He gave his guest a pointed stare before sighing quietly and muttering a silent "Muffliato!" in the general direction of the crowd in the pub. He had learned the spell from her around three and a half years ago.

"So, Granger, I think it's high time we mended some bonds. Don't you?" he began.

She gulped in anticipation and muttered an "Alright," with a defeated sigh. Might as well get it over with. She braced herself for the lecture she knew was coming and was rightly long overdue. Honestly, she would much rather deal with a dragon than face his fury right now. But what do you know? Fate just had to have this in store for her.

"Want to tell me what happened?"

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Hello! *Tries to run away but is caught by all the glares she is receiving* Fine. Sorry! I think I did that to build up some mystery.
I mean, come on, what's a plot without some? ;)

Would You Like the Opportunity?

DoveMalfoy19 :|

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Dramione!