Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything for that matter (sucks) just the plot of this story

Be gentle with me guys, this is my first fanfic... Actually be ruthless! :) Hope you like it

She woke up, still dressed completely in black. The quiet snores filled the room. What time is it?

Seeing as the clock said "way too early" she guessed somewhere around 4 or 5. Harry stirred in his sleep while Ron began mumbling something, growing more and more erratic by the second. She walked over to him, trying to calm him but his arms began flailing around as he thrashed in his sleep. One blow hit her in the nose, sending her tumbling backwards.

Harry jerked awake and, seeing what was happening in front of him, yelled out.

"Ron! Stop it!"

Ron's eyes flew open wide and his thrashing came to a sudden stop. Harry went over to her cowering in the corner clutching her nose. It was broken.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Harry asked in concern as he took out his wand to fix her nose.

She gave a weak nod and let him fix it, praying to the heavens he would finally get it right.

"Episkey,"

Her nose tweaked to the right position with a painful crack. She smiled gratefully before going over to the boy still in his bed, sweating and panting.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," he told her. "I didn't mean to–"

"It's okay, Ron. I'm fine,"

A silence echoed through the room. Harry sat back down in his bed, staring into nothing and Ron lowered his head back onto the pillow.

"You guys should go back to bed," Hermione broke the silence. "Its still early,"

Ron grunted and turned to his side, slipping into his slumber quickly. Harry, however, stood up and left the room with her.

"I don't really want to sleep anymore," he explained as they walked down the stairs of Grimmauld Place. It was spotless, Kreacher having cleaned up every speck of dust while awaiting his master, the destroyer of the Dark Lord. Mrs. Black's portrait was quiet for once and their footsteps reverberated down the halls. It felt lonely.

"I think with Fred's funeral and everything, he just needs some time." Harry told her. "We all need some time,"

"After all of this, I really am looking for some hope of happiness left in this world," Hermione told him grimly. Harry didn't say anything back; she knew he was feeling the same thing. Sure, Voldemort was gone, but everything he'd done still remained.

More silence. That was all that happened anymore between them. There were no more words left to be said, no more excitement left in their voices; they were alive, but barely.

"Are we going to the Burrow today?" Hermione asked.

"I want to," Harry smiled a little, thinking of Ginny. "I'm not so sure Ron will, but we'll drag him by his toes if we have to. Everyone wants to see him."

Ron couldn't deal with the loss of Fred and had refused to go see the rest of his family. Harry and Hermione had gone without him several times but Molly had given death threats the last time; they weren't going to take any chances.

********************

"Oh, Ronald!" Molly stumbled over to her son, throwing her arms around him. The whole family surrounded him, as Harry and Hermione stepped back from the tight circle of Weasleys.

Hermione felt suddenly tired. She sighed and rested her head on Harry's shoulder and he put a protective arm around her. She missed her parents.

"When are we going to go get your parents?" Harry said as if reading her mind.

She blinked in surprise. "Uh, soon I hope. I'm going to give it more time, just in case –"

"Yeah, I understand,"

They both walked back towards the couch and the Weasleys slowly joined them.

"How is Teddy doing, dear?" Molly asked Harry.

"He's doing well with Andromeda. I visited him yesterday," Harry answered with a smile. "He's better off with her. Andromeda will be able to take care of him a lot better than I would."

The family all burst into conversations like before. It was as if the war had never happened; they'd never lost Remus, Tonks and Fred 3 weeks ago.

Hermione's heart felt heavy. We can try, but it's never going to be the same again.

********************

"Where are we going?" Ron asked warily.

"Just out for a walk, Mr. Paranoid," Harry joked. Hermione smiled too. They were strolling along the streets of London, with no specific destination. Ron's shoulders slumped as he walked and his hands remained in his pockets. Hermione's expression was distant and Harry's eyes flipped back and forth between them.

They chose to sit down in a muggle park and watched the kids run back and forth, not a care on their mind. Hermione envied them.

Her eyes wandered around the park; from the kids scurrying up and down and the parents chasing them, to the trees and bushes in the distance.

Her eyes rested on a lone dark figure in the distance, seemingly doing exactly what they were; nothing. But there was something about him that struck her as familiar. It was that hair that fell almost perfectly but with no trace of any products used and it's wispy, soft look. It shone almost angelically; where had she seen that hair? That perfect silver-golden hair?

It hit her.

She nudged Harry softly, tearing him away from his thoughts. He followed the direction her head pointed to subtly. He too, assessed the figure carefully before he realized who it really was. Hermione saw him gasp inaudibly and proceeded to stare at the man in the distance once more. She wasn't sure what she felt. Anger? Hatred? Pity?

She glanced over to Harry once again; he seemed to be just as conflicted about his emotions as her. But truthfully, they didn't really know; is he good?

Hermione put her hand on Harry's knee. "Doesn't matter," she told him. "Forget about it,"

He merely nodded. He started talking to her about their meeting with the ministry next week. The Golden Trio was to be rewarded somehow for restoring the good in the Wizarding World. It was a load of rubbish really. They weren't quite looking forward to it but the Ministry had been bugging them for quite a while; they had to deal with them eventually.

Absorbed in their conversation, they didn't notice as someone made their way towards them stealthily with his proverbial sneer.

"Well if it isn't the Golden Trio,"