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'It was getting close. Too close. Too many people are dying,' Hermione thought. 'I could be next. I nearly was.'
Hermione had been doing a lot of soul searching in the time she'd been home since the Department of Mysteries adventure. She was still recovering from her wounds and her mother was being quite the mother hen. But this was one of the few times that her mother's worries about the wizarding world were right. And they were beginning to take root. Was being a witch worth this?
Hermione was on her daily walk with her sister, Leah, when they ran in to a neighbor boy. Hermione had been very good friends with him before going to Hogwarts.
Jared knew of Hermione's witch status and her limping along the road caused him some worry. He and Hermione had remained pretty good friends throughout the years, and she still told him much of her life. But he hadn't known she was hurt, let alone home.
"Eli, what happened? Are you okay?" Jared asked.
"It's a long story, but yeah, I'm doing alright. Much better than before," Hermione responded.
"What are you doing home?"
Hermione just looked down at her chest and looked back up at Jared, with a quirky smile on her face.
"Oh, right," Jared smiled sheepishly back at her.
Leah cleared her throat. "Jared, is your sister at home?"
"Yeah…" he said absentmindedly.
"So…you'll walk Eli home?"
"Yeah…" Jared replied, his eyes not leaving Hermione's as Leia disappeared down the street. "So…you're home."
"Yeah…"
"For how long?"
"Until school starts September 1st."
"We have two months then."
"Yeah…"
"Well, my lady, shall we continue your walk?"
Hermione smiled as she took Jared's proffered arm.