It was probably too early to be awake, but the ache in my bones lurred towards consciousness instead of the opposite. I gasped quietly as I fully awakened myself from the dream of piercing eyes of Fenir Greyback. The dimmly orange light filtering in through the high windows of Hogwarts hospital wing just emphasised the fact that it was too early to be blinking around like a fish. I glanced around the wing. I have never spent much time in here, only coming to Madam Pomfrey for the occasional cold or the menstural cramps. I'm sure this wasn't how it always looked. It was now over crammed with beds of other victims of the battle, all of them luckily asleep.

I groaned as I tried to move, every cell in my body protesting against physical exercise since I haven't moved in days. Madam Pomfrey healed my broken legs and broken backs with Skele-Gro, but the pain still lingered ferociously.

Skele-Gro was an awful experience. The pain of regrowing sections of shattered bones was mroe horrifically painful then the initial fall off of the astronomy tower. I wanted to vomit what little was in my stomach of just the thought of my tangle up with the werewolf. He had bitten the side of my face, leaving me with a simple yet disgusting cresant shaped scar on my jawline. Bill Weasley had come into talk to me about the lifestyle that is accompanied with a werewolf attack.

It wasn't as horrible as being a full-blown werewolf but it still brought glistening tears to me eyes just thinking about it. My scars were severely less tramatic looking then Bill's. He looked awful, drawn out. Fred Weasley, one half of the twins, had been lost in the battle. A stab of pain hit me, followed by overwhelming gulit for worrying about myself when I was alive. I was well and there were so many that weren't.

But the emotional scars were as deep as the mental ones. Forever marked and branded. A label running across my face like a hideous tag. Werewolf. Even though I never would phase at a full moon, I would get on of the side-effects. That's perfect, my life is ruined ...

Bill had looked on the verge of a breakdown for the whole hour that we talked. Apparently, Professor Lupin, a real werewolf, had been lost as well as his wife. Lupin had been Bill's "mentor" of some sorts throughout the whole experience, so he wanted to be mine. Tears returned as I thought of his generosity. Hadn't he just gotten married to that Frenchie from the Triwizard Tournament? That's what Ginny had said at the beginning of term. Ginny had looked awful all year.

Sitting in bed, I contemplated how much stress she much have been under. I had gotten the facts from Parvarti. Apparently, Death Eaters had stormed that wedding at the end of the summer. They were intergrogated for hours because everyone knew that Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were attached at the hip. The three of them had been left before they could be captured and Ginny or the Weasley's didn't know where they were for about a year. Apparently, they had been living in a tent.

Wow. Pity for Ginny coursed through my veins. That would be like my older sister Sage, Parvarti and a love interest like Seamus all gone from my life, in mortal peril. I shivered involuntarily. I could hear a few fellow patients shifting and snoring, but no one else seemed to be up yet. A few Healers from St. Mungo's could be hear whispering in the other room but I didn't want to wake someone else calling for their attention.

Movement had caught my peripheral vision and I looked over to see Hermione Granger enter the hospital wing. Her curly hair was pulled back in a curly ponytail, her bangs brushing past her eyes. That bush had tamed itself over the years, turning to perfect ringlet curls that swung loosely as she walked in slowly. She had cuts all over her shoulders and legs. A white bandage was wrapped tightly around her forearm. She looked as exhusted as I felt. Her face was horribly brusied and scarred. Her right big brown eye was shadowed in a light purplish mark. Her bottom lip was busted open, but the mark looked days old. I hadn't seen Hermione at all in over a year. She looked tired, older, more mature but still the same. But her eyes, even from a distance, looked haunted and chilling. They had seen things no eyes should've.

I could only imagine how hard everything must have been for her.

I only found out later from Parvati that Hermione was the one that hexed Greyback off of me. Ahh, the water works returned as I thought about how horrid I had been to the girl in sixth grade. I knew she had feeling for Ron when I dated him, but I didn't care. I was too caught up in the couple-dom bubble. I felt gulity for causing her pain. I used to hear her crying herself to sleep at night ...

She walked over in a pair of jeans and a purple frilly tank top. It looked like it belonged to someone else, not her usual clean-cut taste. Probably belonging to Ginny or Luna, maybe even Fleur Delacour Weasley. For a second, my eyes rested on the tank top. It was really cute. It made Hermione look like a girl, revealing toned and bruised arms and cleavage. Wow, if I hadn't have shared a room with her for six year, I never would have guessed she had a decent figure. I'd have to ask her where she got that shirt from.

I watched her walk into Madam Pomfrey's office for a moment, the murmur of soft voices over the drumming of others breaths.

She returned a few moments later, not once having looked in my direction. She started moving around bottles of potions, her shoulders tense as she tried not to make any noise. For a moment, I assumed that she would be making a healing potion for heal the bruises and cuts that marked her. But once her concotion was complete, she made her way to the closest bed. My eyes widen in shock as Hermione began dapping the potion on the wounds of a sixth year Hufflepuff girl in her sleep. I was mesmerized as she made her way down the rows of beds.

The people would occasionally stir and mumble at her contact but she would always whisper the same reassurance,

"It's okay, I'm sorry to have woken you. I'm just trying to heal some of your cuts. I'm sorry."

My mind was realing so much, I could barely hold a cohearant thought. For a good half a year, I hated Hermione Granger. Most of our lives, we never got along well in our dorm, but we managed. Only a few arguements about messy beds (my side) or her keeping us up at night with her studying. We basically took two different paths. Me and Parvati focused on boys and manicures. We'd gossip and read Witch Weekly, not really paying attention in class or our studies.

Hermione's best friends, on the other hand, were both boys. She was the biggest bookworm and teachers pet there was. She got perfect grades and never bothered with her appearance. She read books over and over again and was constantly being thrown into the madness of the yearly events at Hogwarts. Mainly because one of her best friends was the hunky Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived... Twice. Hermione was a member of the Goldren Trio and that was one of the reasons I hated her so much. She was so perfect and she never even tried. I had seen the way Ron looked at her. Everyone could see the love saturated in his glance. But he never looked at me like that. Boy, was I delusional most of sixth year. I pulled myself out of my thoughts as Hermione walked past me.

"Hermione?" I whispered her name quietly, my voice still harsh with sleep. She turned around at the sound of her name, locking eyes with me for a moment. I jerked my head for her to come in my direction.

"Hello Lavender." She said in a gentle voice, smiling slightly as she walked towards my bedside. "Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine. I'm sore but I'll live." I mumbled after clearing my throat. "I actually wanted to talk to you." I could see she surprise color her face as she set down the bowl of potion and the washcloth on the bedside table. She brushed a curly bang back and out of her eyes.

"Oh, really?" She said in disbelief, trying not to seem rude. I almost smiled and motion for her to take the chair that Parvarti had occupied the night before. She sat down, folding her hands politely and looking up at me.

"How are you?" I began slowly, sitting up straighter against my pillow.

"Oh, I'm alright." She clearly lied.

"Hermione, I know we've never been so close. But I can tell you're not doing so well." I told her and she smiled at me defeatedly.

"Well, I haven't had a real moment to catch my breath. Everything is so overwhelming." She told me, looking up at me.

"Tell me about it." I smirked and she laughed once. "You're in here taking care of other people, but you should take care of yourself." I told her, nodding my head towards her. Her hand went up to cover her lip as she chuckled.

"Oh I know. I've just been with the Weasleys all day since we got back." She said sadly. Of course, she was worrying about others ...

"How are they doing?" I asked quietly, not sure how to broach the subject. Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, like she had to focus her energy to concentrate.

"I think they will be okay. It all hit them in different ways. They each have their own personalites and their own way of coping. But they are all leaning onto each other hard." She breathed, her voice beginning to crack towards the end.

"I never really knew Fred that well." I admitted to her about the Gryffindor a year above us. Hermione laughed once, tucking away her bangs again.

"He was a character. One of a kind. Gods, I'll miss that madman." Her voice began with pride before trembling off into a spasm of pain. She reached up to press a hand of her eyes, wiping away tears.

"It's okay to hurt Hermione." When I said it, I came to the realization that Hermione Granger is a real person. She could break down so easily, not like the strategic homework robot she was so for long.

"I know Lavender, but I feel gulity. He wasn't even my real brother, but it felt like that. All the time I spent that glorious family, who took me and Harry in like their own kin. I don't want to add to their pain. I'm trying to help them, but some are being particularly difficult."

"Ron?" I guessed with a giggle and she smiled.

"Who else. If you think I'm being self-sacraficing you should see him. He only broke down once and then he went into this knight-in-shining-armor mode. Sweeping in to take care of his family. It's sweet really, but if I'm feeling cruddy about Fred, I could only image the pain he is holding in." Hermione said this all so quietly, I had to be sure I listen especially carefully. I could see the look in her eyes, the note in her voice when she talked about Ron. It made my gulit and pity return for how bad I treated her before. She really really loved him. It was as obivous as the blind man loving the sight of the sun for the first time.

"I'm sure he'll be okay. He has you and Harry." I told her confidently. She smiled slightly but her eyes were still glossy.

"That's true." She nodded.

"I actually wanted to thank you Hermione." I told her after a small awkward silence. Her brown eyes widened.

"Thank me? For what?" She asked shocked, adjusting her voice not to waken anyone else.

"For saving my life." I told her simply and that seemed to stump her for a moment.

"Lavender, I - ..." She started to say, but I interrupted.

"No Hermione. Please listen to me. You saved my life. You got Greyback off of me. I'd be dead right now if it wasn't for you. I have always been slightly dreadful to you over the years. We never got along on the same page and I feel like I never gave you a real chance. I was a troll to you at times, especially during sixth year." Her eyes widened in feign surprise but I continued with a snort. "I can see it now Hermione. I always have seen it, but now I can see how much pain my attitude brought to you in sixth year while I was dating Ron." Her lips twitched in anxiety for a moment but I couldn't let a moment hang too long before she'd speak up and I would lose my courage.

"You love him and always have. I accused you of horrible things and for that and my behavior I sincerely want to apologize. I know you could have neve cheated with Ron. That's not the type of person you are. Even now, I was sitting here thinking about how you should probably be worrying about yourself and all the tramua you must have gone through this year and here you are, taking care of others!" I pointed out. Her cheeks turned pink slightly and she rolled her eyes. I smiled at her.

"Thank you. You saving my life is something I could never thank you enough for. " I finished and took a breath. Embarassment swept through me at my monolouge but I looked up to see her reply. "Your welcome." She said slowly, meeting me with sincere eyes.

"You don't have to thank me. Greyback is a scumbag and I would do it again and again for my fellow Gryffindor if she needed me." I smiled up at her. I just had a real conversation with Hermione. Boggers, I'm going crazy.

"Yeah, he is a scumbag. I wonder what happened to him..." I questioned aloud.

"Ron took care of him." She said slowly, teetering out the words. My eyes wided and she nodded towards my silent question.

"Wow." I breathed.

"Yeah. Ron probably did it for some heroic reason though. For me or his brother." She told me and I nodded, but horror washed over me.

"For you??" I demanded. She gasped, realizing the slip she had made.

"Well ...um, yes." She mumbled almost inaudibly.

"You and Greyback? What happened?"

"Well, it's a long story Lavender." Hermione grumbled, avoiding my eye contact.

"I've got some time." I reminded her, motioning towards my legs, casted in plaster.

"Yeah, that's true. " She agreed with no more excuses.

"Come one Hermione. Tell me something. You have no idea how bored I am!" I begged her, in dying need for gossip. She snorted at me.

"Basically, the short version is simple. I was living in a tent with Ron and Harry. We were captured by some snatchers and I was um ... questioned." She stammered, growing more pink and trailing a finger down the white bandage on her forearm. "Greyback was about to take me when Ron stormed in and saved me." She finished with a hint of pride in her voice.

"Wow." I breathed, a million thoughts rambling through my head. I couldn't pinpoint exactly how to respond to that. So I choose the humor route because it was obvious she didn't want to break into more details.

"You lived in a tent with Ron Weasley and Harry Potter for a year?" I asked her. She chuckled slightly.

"Yes."

"Heroine." I barked and she let out a glorious laugh.

"Thanks, it definately was a adventure." She giggled again, before sombering. "It's been a tough year."

"I bet it has. Hogwarts was no piece of cake either this year. You guys are almost lucky you missed. "

"I don't know if lucky would be the most appropriate term but it does seem like it was tricky this term. That's what Neville said." Hermione chastized, her eggbert voice almost coming out. I didn't want to make her mad so I quickly changed the subject.

"Well, I'm sure it was much easier then saving the world." I reminded her with a smirk as she sighed. "I'm sure you guys will be getting tons of awards and prizes for taking down the darkest wizard of all time."

"Well the Minister wants to give us the Order of the Merlin, First Class." She said quietly, turning pink.

"Oh Hermione!" I gushed, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with pride. "That's fantastic. Congratulations!"

"Well thanks Lavender." She smiled.

"That's a huge deal! You will get that huge ball thrown in your honor!" She rolled her eyes at my girliness, but I couldn't help it. Whenever they held one of those banquets, the ball gowns in the pictures in the Daily Prophet always made me smile.

"Yeah, but there's a lot of things to take care of now. Like getting a job and such. Or coming back to school." She breathed, brushing her bangs back yet again.

"Are you coming back to school?" I asked her quietly, noticing how our voices might have gotten out of hand in the morning light. I didn't want to waken any of the other sleeping patients.

"I always imagined doing that. But, now ..." She didn't finish, just breathing out the rest of her sentence.

"Everything's changed." I finished for her and she nodded.

"Yes, it has. The Minister offered us all auror positions though, without taking our NEWTS." She admitted sheepishly.

"What? Then why are you worried? You're set!" I gushed.

"I know, but I never wanted to be an auror. The boys always wanted that but I never wanted to spend the rest of my life with the anxiety I've felt for the past year. But I guess if Ron and Harry will be out surronded by danger, my anxiety will never offically go away." Hermione mumbled, sounding like she was dreading it already.

"That's true. But Hermione, you did help save the world, whether you want to admit it or not. You're in the Order of the Phoniex, right?" She nodded, curious to where I was taking this. "Well, then talk to this Shacklebolt guy and tell him to get you a job in the ministry. No one could turn you down!"

"Oh, I don't know Lavender..." She started shaking her head. "You're destined to do something fabulous with your life Hermione. The minister knows you, right?"

"Well, yes. I've know Kingsley for years but ..."

"No but's!" I interrupted her with a laugh. "You're on a first name basis. Don't worry about getting a job." She smiled but gave up, not bothering to argue anymore. Probably because she could see my point.

"So if you don't want to be an auror, what do you want to do? You're a genius." I told her, trying to make up for the fact I made her cry about Fred a few minutes ago. I was on cloud nine, getting along with Hermione Granger. Gasp. After all that tension between us over the years, if felt amazing to be able to talk to her about things other then Transfiguration or something school related. I never thought it was possible but I could see the shimmerings of friendship in the air ...

"Well, I always wanted to reinforce Care for Magical Creatures." She told me, shrugging.

"Oh yeah. I remember! Didn't you have that S.T.E.W thing for elves?" I reminded her and she laughed

. "It was S.P.E.W but yes. Ron never lets me live that down." She giggled again, shaking her head. Our laughter died down into a more comfortable pause. I was about to open my mouth to respond when the huge oak door to the hospital room creaked open and a ginger popped his head in.

"Speak of the devil." Hermione whispered and I giggled. Ron spotted Hermione and I could see his face visibly lift in spirits. That endearment turned to a state of almost fear when he spotted me sitting next to her. Hermione waved him over and I felt a wave of anxiety. He was me ex-boyfriend after all, even if he and my new friend were lovesick puppies. Ron looked much more rugged and handsome then the last time I saw him, but his features were pained looking.

"Hi." He breathed nervously, I held back a giggle.

"Hi there." Hermione beamed up at him as he stood next to her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"Hello Lavender." Ron said to me, forcing a more relaxed smile. I smirked at Hermione before turning to him.

"Hi Ron." Insert awkward silence here.

"How are you feeling Lavender?" Ron asked me quietly, glancing around at the others in the beds surrounding me.

"I've been better." I nodded and another silence fell.

"I was just thanking Hermione for forcing Greyback off of me." She turned pink but Ron grinned proudly and squeezed her shoulder. The move was so casual, I KNEW they were together now. That feeling in the air just told me that they had finally come to their sense about one another.

"Yeah, she got there just in time." Ron smirked and Hermione smiled up at him. I didn't grow angry with the love in their eyes like I would have a few months ago. This whole experience has given me a total reality check.

"Lucky thing. I'm sorry about your brother, Ron." I told him in a quieter voice, being sincere.

"Thank you." He nodded, dazing off into space for a moment before blinking and looking down at me and Hermione.

"Well, 'Mione. Mum told me to come and find you. We're going home." Aww. Home. They have a home together. I knew Hermione had stayed at the "Burrow", if that is what Ron had called it, many times before. Just hearing him say it to her was sweet. There was no raw jealously in me like there used to be. They belonged together. Now all three of us had it figured out.

"Are we apparating?" Hermione turned to look up at him.

"No, McGonnagal's got the Floo system hooked up to the Burrow in her office." She nodded as he told her this. She reached up to squeeze his hand that still rested on her shoulder. His ears turned slightly red as he saw me watching but I just smiled slightly at him.

"Okay. Well, I'll just clean up then." Hermione told him, motioning to her forgotten bowl of potion resting on my table. "Why don't I meet you in the Common Room?" He smiled at her, nodding, but otherwise didn't reply. This older and more mature version of Ron still shocked me. He didn't even respond. It was like he didn't need to use so many words when he was trying to explain himself.

"Get well soon Lavender. And remember, Bill says he's always willing to chat if you need to." Ron told me.

"I'll remember. Thank him again for me Ron." I asked him and he nodded simply again. After one last glance at Hermione, he disappeared out of the hall, with nothing more then the creak of the old oak door. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding when he finally left.

"Well, I should get going. I don't want the Weasleys waiting for me." Hermione said, standing up to gather he supplies.

"Thanks again Hermione. For everything. This was ... nice" I struggled to find an appropriate word.

"Yes, it was." She smiled at me again. "You've changed." She noted, always perceptive. She eyed me curiously.

"I had to lately." I told her simply.

"Well, I like this side of you Lavender. That was the first real conversation we've had in seven years." She told me.

"Whoa. That's weird." I blurted out and she laughed.

"Well, get better Lav. And ..." She paused, hesitantly before continuing, "If you want to talk or something, owl me."

"Thanks, maybe we could go for coffee sometime." I suggested, hopefully not over stepping these new delicate bounds of friendship.

"I'd like that." She grinned before adding, "I better go. Ron's waiting." She reached the end of my bed before I stopped her. The gossipy curiousity was wringing me at the throat and I had to know.

"Wait, Hermione?"

"Yes."

"You really love him, don't you?" I murmured quietly as I eyed her response. A faint blush colored her cheeks but she didn't drop my gaze.

"Yes, I really do."

"Good." I answered simply, resting back more comfortably against my fluffy pillow. But I had to stop her again before she left.

"Oh and Hermione?" She turned back, gazing curiously. "Invite me to the wedding." She blushed and rolled her eyes but didn't comment. She made her way through the crowd of sleeping injured people before winking at me as she disappeared through the door.

Wow. I'm shocked at myself. I settled back in my bed, suddently exhusted from my interesting conversation with Ms. Hermione Granger *cough cough future Mrs. Weasley*. As my eyelids started to droop slightly, I did a congratulatory little dance in my head. Ta-ta-tum-ta-ta-tumm! The conga in my head rolled around with this new friendship as I drifted off to sleep. Ta-ta-tum-ta-ta-tumm!

Six months later, I walked into the apartment I shared with Parvarti and Padma, sorting through the mail the owl had dropped off this morning. I deposited my purse and wand off on the kitchen table and plunked down as a cream color smooth envelope was the last thing in my vision.

It was a wedding invitation.

Ta-ta-tum-ta-ta-tummmmm! :)

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