A/N Hi. So I probably shouldn't start any fics while I'm writing hptltnw because that's quite a big project but this will be quite short. I couldn't get the idea out of my head. Basically, it's about how Harry and Hermione's relationship evolves over a year.

Disclaimer: All recognisable animals/vegetables/minerals/other do not belong to me.

1st of September 2017

Once the train was completely out of sight, Harry leaned over to plant a kiss on Ginny's forehead. His youngest son, Albus, had just started a new adventure, one he couldn't be part of. She smiled up at him, although distantly. She had been like this recently. Maybe it was the stress of her new position in the ministry. She was now chief of the Department for the Regulation of Sport, having only been appointed the position a few weeks ago. Harry was pleased for her, he knew she was always looking to climb the ladder. She began talking to Ron and Hermione about something or other, but Harry tuned out their voices and ran his fingers over the old snitch in his pocket, its wings battered but still majestic.

"Harry?" She asked, subconsciously stroking Lily's hair as her daughter bit back the tears at her brothers' departure

"Yes dear?" He replied, snapping out of his reverie at the sound of his name

"Do you mind giving Hermione and Hugo a lift back to theirs? Only Ron and I have to pop back to the office for a bit to finalise some things for the week's report," Harry sometimes wondered if Ron resented being his sister's deputy as Ron possessed a jealous streak that was better left buried

"Sure," He took hold of Lily's hand and ruffled Hugo's hair before gesturing that they should make their way back to the car park.

Ron and Hermione's Range Rover (Hermione's desire for practicality had won out over Ron's pleas for a Lamborghini), sat parked next to Harry's Audi, blending in amongst the other muggle cars. Ron had barely scraped a pass on his driving test and Harry chuckled slightly as Ginny firmly stated that she would be driving. Once she and Ron had buckled in, she began to drive off, swatting her brother's hand away as he tried to honk the horn.

Lily and Hugo launched into a discussion about Quidditch as soon as their belts clicked into place, waving their arms about animatedly and reasoning that, yes, the Chudley Cannons weren't having a good season. Harry and Hermione settled into their seats at the front of the car. Harry reached down to release the hand break, not realising that Hermione had also reached forward to turn on the radio. Their fingers brushed and Harry felt a strange tingling sensation and felt his face grow hot. He shrugged it off, it was just Hermione. Maybe he was coming down with something?

He sat alone that night, swirling some red wine around in a glass. Why hadn't Ginny returned? Was she ill? Had anything happened? Harry resolved to put it down to work. She had been coming home increasingly later recently, sometimes only exchanging a few words with him at breakfast then leaving for work again. But she had said that it was only a report that needed finalising, hadn't she? He heard soft padding footsteps approaching behind him and then soft but insistent tapping on his shoulder. He turned to face Lily's sleepy brown eyes and smiled.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" He hoisted her onto his knee

"Um…when – when is mummy coming home?" She asked, faltering slightly and yawning

"Mummy is a little tied up at work at the moment, she'll be back soon,"

"But…" Lily whined in a way that only children did

"Lily," he said sternly, his voice softening slightly when he saw her lip tremble, "Lily, I'll read you a bedtime story, how about that?"

Where was Ginny?

2nd of September 2017

It was at 2am that Ginny crept into their bedroom, unaware that her husband lay awake. Harry could smell the alcohol on her. He didn't shift from his position under the covers, instead lying still as his wife turned off the bedside table lamp.

At breakfast, he smiled at her and made her porridge, under the pretence that nothing had happened. He told himself that nothing had happened. But she was still acting strangely. It was only after Lily's friend Sophie knocked at the door and left with his daughter to walk to the village school that Harry dared to broach the subject with Ginny.

"Gin?" He stopped washing the dishes and sat down next to her at the table, wanting the talk to her before they both departed for work again.

"Yes?"

"Where were you last night?"

"At work?"

"Don't lie to me Gin, I could smell the booze on you,"

"Katie and I, you know, Katie from Magical Creatures, were the only people left at the office and we decided that we could do with a drink,"

"Oh," Harry smiled and took her hands in his, stroking them. He knew he shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Obviously Ginny had been having a drink with her friend. He, as head auror, knew that work could get very stressful at times and was guilty of the small drink himself from time to time.

13th September 2017

It had been nearly two weeks since Albus had boarded the scarlet train to Hogwarts. Harry read his letter with interest. Albus hadn't, as he'd feared, been sorted into Slytherin but had been sorted into Ravenclaw with his arguably closest cousin, Rose. He had been surprised to learn that to two cousins had formed a friendship with Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Draco. From what he had been told, Scorpius seemed a decent lad, despite his upbringing. Harry realised that he'd passed judgement on somebody based on their childhood, which, considering how his childhood had gone, was somewhat hypocritical. He had often wondered if his children resented his fame. What if they just wanted a normal life, friendships not influenced by their national hero of a father? They never showed any signs of such a desire however, with James revelling in the fact that he could get away with pretty much everything because Harry was his dad.

"Sir!" his apprentice, Ciaran Finnigan, was waving a piece of parchment in front of him.

"Everything alright, Ciaran?"

"Fine sir, you just looked a bit out of it, is all. Healer Weasley sent a message asking if you're still ok for lunch later,"

"Um, sure, thanks, I'll send a reply,"

"Or you could just go over to the hospital? I'm sure she'd be glad to see you," Ciaran winked

"Ciaran Reilly Finnigan, we are just friends and both married. Why can't anything be platonic with you?"

"Well, aye, that's what my Julie said when we met down the local, just platonic, look at us now, about to move in together," Harry hit him over the head with a copy of the Prophet, eliciting an exaggerated 'ouch!', and proceeded to apparate over to St Mungo's.

Hermione was sat at her desk chewing on her bottom lip and flipping through a chart when he arrived, having been let through to her office by Julie, Ciaran's non-platonic girlfriend. He leant on the door frame for a while, his lips quirking upwards as she huffed, obviously struggling over a diagnosis.

"Hi, Doctor Weasley, having trouble with that chart,"

Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice and scowled at him, "Well, Auror Potter, what do you suggest I do, leave it?"

"Maybe you should try and look at the results a different way?" He leaned over her shoulder and peered at the chart

"Oi! It's confidential..what do you mean 'a different way'?" She nudged him away from the desk

"Yeah, like in a café, with me, eating lunch?"

"Is that a proposition, Harry?"

"It might be," He laughed, grinning and snatching the chart away from her before launching into a full sprint out of the hospital.

A/N Hope you liked this first chapter, it was admittedly quite short but all the chapters will be between 1,000 and 3,000 words long