Disclaimer: I will only say this once because I hate being really repetitive. Nothing you recognize belongs to me, but the amazing and wonderfully talented JK Rowling. New character are copywrited to me, and those who helped create them. No money is being made off of this fic whatsoever.

A/N: First of all I want to thank every single person who supported me through Dear Diary and commented on it. I know it wasn't the way you all wanted to see it ended, but if it turned out all happy, you wouldn't be reading this right now. And a big thanks to whoever nominated Dear Diary at the Dramione Awards -link is in my profile- and let me know who you are. Well, read on and let me know what you think of it so far. And don't expect a real quick update it on it, because I posted this a lot earlier than I wanted it.

Chapter One
All It Takes Is the First Push

The tears were still falling fast from her saddened brown eyes, as Hermione slammed her diary shut. Relief filled her body when she finally got all of her emotions out to the one thing she could talk to without receiving any sort of feedback. Even though she was grateful to have Ginny around when it came to having emotional bursts, it felt nice to release her emotions without hearing the words, 'It will all be okay.'

She ran her hand across the front cover of the diary and took one last good look at it. The front had been decorated with gold and green stripes; the gold representing the Gryffindor within Hermione and the green standing for the Slytherin side of Draco. There were fake rhinestones that had been permanently attached with magic, and they still had the same sparkle that they had when Draco added them for her. On the bottom edge of the book, the words 'this belongs to the princess of the wizarding world' were inscribed in black ink in Draco's tidy handwriting.

All the diary would do for her, would be to bring back memories; memories that she didn't want to be reminded of. There were enough things in the world that would make Hermione think of Draco, and she sure as hell didn't need another one. She reached into the inside pocket of her jean jacket and pulled out her elegant wand. With a single tap to the cluttered cover, it disappeared with a soft pop that rang indefinitely in her ears.

She felt the tears starting to prick her eyes again with the memories of the past. What was she going to do if her mind would always be lingering on him? How was she was supposed to live normally if she cried hysterically every fifteen minutes?

Before she could ask herself anymore questions, a knock sounded at the door.

"Um, it's occupied… Can't you read the blasted sign?" she snapped, infuriated with who ever was interrupting her thoughts.

"Ma'am, we'll be landing in about twenty minutes and the seat-belt sign will be on in a minute. You might want to get to your seat," one of the flight attendants said.

"Oh, sorry for yelling at you like that."

"It's quite all right, dear."

"I'll be out in a minute, I promise," Hermione replied while reaching for the tissue paper to clean her eyes off.

She climbed off of the counter and turned to look at herself in the mirror that hung over it. Her mascara was dripping and she looked absolutely horrid. Her eyes were red and the skin around them was puffy. There was no way she could leave the loo looking like that and risk the chance of Draco thinking anything about it. Turning on the faucet, she splashed her face with some cool water to calm herself down and to get rid of the red in her cheeks. She then cleaned off the blotchy spots of mascara and eyeliner.

After she looked dignified enough, she unlocked the door and made her way silently to her spot next to Ginny, and all without taking a peek at Draco. One of the flight attendants was making her way down the aisle, looking to see if everyone had been fastened in tightly.

Thirty minutes later, Hermione and Ginny, along with all the other passengers, were trying to fight their way out of the plane. She caught a glimpse of Draco out of the corner of her eye, and her heart suddenly stopped beating. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop that from happening.

Finally, they saw the light seeping in through from the inside of the airport.

"Ginny! Hermione!" shouted a voice from off to their left as they stepped out onto solid ground. They saw Ron speed walking towards them, dragging an infuriated and disgruntled Lavender behind him. Ron suddenly let go of his wife's hand and took his baby sister into a tight hug.

"Air is much needed for survival, Ron," Ginny gasped in between struggled breaths. Her brother finally let her go and she went to give Lavender a hug. "Oh Merlin… Lavender!" she said surprised when they departed from their embrace.

Lavender was very confused and replied, "What?"

"How come you didn't tell us?" Ginny asked with a huge smile on her face.

"Oh, that…" Lavender responded a bit shocked.

"What's going on?" Hermione said, now being the one left in the dark.

"She's pregnant!" Ginny exclaimed and gave her sister-in-law another grand hug. "How far along are you?"

"Almost a month. We just found out this morning," Ron answered while he wrapped his arm on his wife's shoulder and gave the biggest smile so far.

"Wow, that's great! I'm happy for the both of you," Hermione announced with less enthusiasm she should have used. If there was any less, it would have been sarcastic.

Ron looked at her with a pathetic and sympathetic smile, "Hermione, how are you?"

She turned her head towards Ginny and gave her a threatening, almost terrifying look. "You told them didn't you…?" It was blatantly obvious by the way Ron looked as if he felt sorry for her and Lavender seemed as if she would pounce on her just to give comfort.

"Hermione, I had to," Ginny replied with a sorry face, "I didn't want everyone questioning you right now!"

"Who else did you tell, Ginny?"

"Only these two idiots and Harry."

"So naturally everyone knows, huh?"

After a couple of eye rolls from everyone, the four of them headed out of the airport with their shrunken luggage in their coat pockets and with Ivory in her owner's arms. There was no way in hell Hermione was going to let that precious cat go.

Surprisingly enough, Mr. Weasley had let Ron borrow his newer muggle car –which was not magically enhanced to fly- that the Ministry had given him to take apart because of his fascination with anything muggle. Instead, he let his kids borrow it whenever they wanted to go into a Muggle town, and drive just for the thrill.

They had been driving down a deserted road in order to avoid the long lines of traffic in the inner parts of London. Hermione found herself staring out the glass window, not really focused on anything, but subconsciously noticing the frost covered trees. Soon enough, Ron pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex that the two girls lived in. Just because they were witches didn't mean they couldn't live in a community run by muggles.

"You both are coming in, right?" Hermione asked to Ron and Lavender.

The four settled into the small area that the dining table was set in while Hermione put a pot of boiling water on the stove to make tea, never showing a trace of the beautiful smile she once had. After she gave everyone their cups, she excused herself to take shower real quick. Just because no one was allowed to mention anything about her situation with Draco to her, didn't mean that others didn't talk about it behind her back.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Ron asked, worried about his best friend for fourteen years.

"I'm sure she'll come around. They always do, trust me," Ginny replied. "When Harry broke up with me that year after I left Hogwarts, I thought I would never be happy again. Now look at me…" She had an enormous smile on. Her life was no where near perfect, but she had finally found another man that loved her, about to get married, and will eventually have his kid.

"You know what we should do, Ginny?" Lavender asked her, breaking through her reverie. "We should take her out to one of the spas that Witch Weekly featured last issue. It would be relaxing mainly for her, but also for both of us. We could all use it; Padma and Neville set the date for their engagement party next week, since they knew you two would be back."

"Lavender… For once I think you have an amazing idea!"

"For once? Ha! I'm a genius!" she responded in a sarcastic tone with a great grin.

XXX

When Hermione finished handing out the cups of tea to everyone, she walked towards the bathroom that connected to only her room. She really didn't want to take a shower; she just wanted to get away from all the sympathetic looks that would eventually make her break down. There was absolutely no comfort in her flat at that moment, and she instantly felt like escaping, leaving the house. Maybe go somewhere that would only bring back bad memories of Draco.

Like the smart witch that she was, an idea suddenly popped into her head. Within less than a second, she was no longer standing in her bathroom.

In that same exact moment, she appeared well in one piece, standing in front of a small train station that was void of a train and people. It was still Christmas break, so naturally there would be no problem going in there… right?

With a sort of fake confidence, she started to stride to the front gate that had the two statues of winged boars on either side. She placed both hands on the iron bars, and pushed the gate open. She could feel the snow crunch under her shoes as she walked passed the castle, heading straight for the Black Lake. She wasn't surprised when she couldn't see any students out, because they were most likely eating dinner at that time.

She quickly walked to a large stone, one that she had seen many times, and sat upon it, staring out into the depths of the lake. Back in her Hogwarts days, she would always go out to that specific place alone when she needed time and space to think. It was the only place she knew that was available to her whenever her thoughts needed to be sorted out. So she did what she used to less than ten years in the past.

For ten minutes she sat there quietly with her arms wrapped around her legs which were brought up to her chest. Her chin sat in between her knees as her eyes blankly stared into the liquid that filled the expanse hole in the ground.

"Why can't everything just be easy?" she asked absolutely no one, not even herself.

But then a voice answered her. "Because then that would take away the adventures and thrills in life." Hermione knew that voice all too well and had no need to turn around to confirm her suspicions. "How are you Miss Granger?" asked her old Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

"I wish I could say all is well," she replied lazily while turning to look into his still ever-sparkling eyes as he took a seat upon the rock next to her.

"So would I be wrong to say you're trip to the States ended in a not so delightful manner?"

"You always knew everything that went on. To tell you the truth I have never felt lower in my life." She still showed no pleasure or life in her voice.

"I'm not one to pry into anyone's personal life, but you were always one of my favorite pupils. And I know you don't want to share your story to any other individuals, so all I will do is offer you some advice."

"I'll be glad to take it professor," old habits die hard. "You were always known to be correct in every manner, if I do say so myself."

"I'm glad to hear it," he said as the sparkle in his eyes shone even more. He was never one to receive compliments very often. "At some points in life everything may seem to be in the worst possible condition and one may find themselves thinking that nothing could make it better. But the best part is that it will. I won't tell you what the best solution in this point of time may be because that would ruin the whole experience of life for you. What I will tell you is to keep your eyes open and don't shut your heart. You have so much fire within you that I would hate to see it go to waste."

"Thank you." Finally, there was a small trace of a smile. "That's the best piece of advice I have heard in quite a long time."

"It's no problem dear. You should probably be getting back to your friends," Dumbledore said while getting up from his uncomfortable position on the stone.

"Yeah they're probably worried right about now," she replied while following in suit.

"Oh, and tell them all that I shall see them all very soon."

"Huh?" she asked confused.

"I won't be able to make it to the engagement party, but I will be there on the day of Neville's wedding."

"Oh, that's right. Must have slipped my mind…"

"I'm sure it did. Now I'm going to let you in on a little secret. One was never able to apparate in or out of Hogwarts, but one could only leave if their destination was right in front of the Three Broomsticks," he said with a wink.

"Thank you again, professor!" And with a pop, she was gone.

XXX

After Hermione arrived back at her flat and the husband and wife of the group left, she went to visit her parents while Ginny went to go see Blaise. Mr. and Mrs. Granger didn't poke and prod too much into what had happened, but still understood that she was going through a bad time. On the other hand, they had gushed over the new black kitten their daughter had acquired; and so did Crookshanks who seemed to act like a 'fatherly' figure for the month old kitten. Hermione went back home with two cats in her arms along with a box of tea cookies her mother insisted on her having.

The next day, Ginny and Hermione received their invitation to the small get together that Padma and Neville had planned to celebrate and catch up with everyone. Ginny had jumped around excitedly because she hadn't seen Neville in a long time and also wanted to share the news with the others about Blaise. Everyone had been shocked when they started to date, but she figured it wouldn't be too big of a startle when they all found out she was getting married to him.

Hermione on the other hand, wasn't too sure if she wanted to attend. Dumbledore's words had definitely stuck to her and enlightened her, bringing her out of her stupor. He just didn't want to lie to everyone by saying that nothing was really new in life, when indeed something entirely major had happened. It's not that she was forced to lie to them, but she just didn't want to go into the whole story about it. It would be bad enough to just mention his name.

But one good thing about the upcoming Sunday was that Draco would not be going. It's not that he declined an invitation; he had just simply not been invited. The only reason Blaise was going was because he was Ginny's date and fiancée, so it was only natural to go as well.

Hermione was sitting in the living room reading a book all by herself. Madame Derwent said that she did not have to report back to work until the following Monday, in order to give her a well deserved break from helping out the Wizarding world and to get rid of the intense jet lag.

When Ginny arrived back to the flat at eight that night and saw that Hermione was still plastered to the same exact spot on the couch, she started complaining. She went off on her and said that the only way to rid her of emotional stress was to actually leave the house and do something! After Hermione just brushed her incessant blabbering, Ginny owled Lavender saying that they would absolutely have to go to the spa the following day.

And so it was set.

XXX

"Satisfy me with a decent answer to my question: why are we here?" Hermione asked after they apparated in front of the massive double doors in front of Spellbinding Oasis, 'Where the tense leave relaxed, or your galleons back!'

"Because, Hermione…" Lavender replied before Ginny could get a chance to lose her cool again, "Padma's get together is this upcoming Sunday, and you are going whether you like it or not. We all need to relax and be egotistical for once and worry about ourselves."

"Merlin forbid! Did Lavender Brown just use a word with five syllables?" Ginny asked in mock shock.

"Must you always pick on little old me?" she replied just playing along, in hopes of making Hermione break out in laughter or at least smile once again.

"Let's just get this over with, okay?" Hermione said rolling her eyes while walking straight to the front desk.

They proceeded to check in under their reserved time and were each handed a copy of the card key to open the door to their shared room. The girls were only planning on spending one day at the spa, but since they were in the most prestigious spas in wizarding Britain, they didn't have a dressing room where every girl was expected to undress in.

When they reached the room, there was an itinerary set on the small desk, outlining they whole day. All their activities where planned so that they wouldn't be apart for not even a single second throughout the entire time. The first thing on the list was the full body massage to be done in room 015 on the ground floor. They got undressed and wrapped themselves with the luxurious and extremely comfortable robes that had been provided.

Upon arriving in the designated room, they noticed that three cots had already been set out and waiting for them with three masseuses ready to begin. The massage had been absolutely wonderful for Hermione, so she was a little more than ticked off when Lavender's voice interrupted her from enjoying every second of it.

"So what are you girls planning on wearing to the party?"

"Why should it matter?" Hermione asked. "It's not as if we're trying to impress anyone!"

"But that's where you are mistaken my lovely lady! There are going to be plenty of people there and you can't just show up in the only pair of sweats that are clean and your favorite shirt with the fading words 'Long live the Queen.' Trust me; I still know you have that."

"Of course I still have it; I'm never going to get rid of it. But what I'm trying to say is that I'm not going to dress up in the fanciest dress I can get my hands on."

"I'm planning on wearing some nice dress robes," Ginny said before they would forget she was still alive and breathing.

"Let me guess…"the brunette started. " One of you two is going to suggest that the next thing we do is to go shopping for robes…"

"I wasn't, but great thinking Hermione!" Lavender burst out.

"How about tomorrow? We grab lunch at the Three Broomsticks and make our way to Gladrags Wizardwear."

Hermione was about to say something, but Lavender cut her off, "Sounds perfect. Tomorrow it is!"

'Why did I have to open my big fat mouth?' Hermione asked herself. 'At least it's a start to getting over being depressed…'