A/N: This is one of my longest chapters/stories yet. According to Microsoft Word (which is a really good program) it's 1,208 words. Not including author notes, disclaimer, and chapter heading and title. It's also terrific, or so I've heard from my beta reader (who is really good at making corrections and suggestions). I'm hoping it lives up to my expectations. As a side note, to all those who read "All That Glitters" (my worst story ever-I don't recommend reading it) this story was based on that. It's much better though and takes place after that story. I guess you could say it's the sequel although you don't have to read that story to understand this one. Anyway, this is long enough so I'll stop here and move onto the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: The only things I own are the muggle café, Hermione's apartment (although I don't live there or pay rent), and the plot. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling and whoever else shares the rights of the Harry Potter books.

Chapter 1

The Articles

It was a busy day. People were rushing here and there trying to be on time for whatever appointments. Nobody even noticed the small shack standing in between two larger stores, and no one noticed the man coming out of it. After all, this was the city and people tended to ignore their surroundings in their haste.

The man was reading a newspaper as he was walking. He barely missed bumping into a large group people who had dodged him at the last minute after seeing his shocking red hair above the paper. Ronald Weasley barely noticed. He was particularly interested in one article entitled "Harry Potter-Dead or Alive?"

It wasn't a very unusual title. There was usually at least one article about the Boy Who Lived a week, usually filled with false, and often foolish, evidence about Harry Potter being alive. Even though his funeral had been held five years ago.

This article, however, had a picture. A somewhat fuzzy picture, but it was in color and what had caught Ron off guard was the shocking green eyes of the man in the picture.

So, he had kept on reading. There was a bulleted list of evidence to go along with the picture and, instead of being foolish and false, it actually made sense. Ron knew that the article was right in saying that Harry took a large sum of money out of his Gringotts bank account about two days before he disappeared. He had told Ron it was an anniversary present for Cho Chang, his previous girlfriend, but it had never been bought. Ron had never given it much thought, but the article pointed out that no one would withdraw such a large sum and then kill themselves. It also pointed out that this money had been converted to muggle money, a fact which Harry had somehow managed to keep hidden from Ron. There were several points like that. Harry's body had never been found, and his wand had been found snapped in half on his trunk the day after the funeral was held.

Ron, despite the warning screaming in the back of his mind, felt hope rise. The evidence made sense and added up to one startling, thought not unpleasant, conclusion. The famous Harry Potter was not dead.

Folding his newspaper and sticking it under his arm, Ron walked into a deserted alley and disappeared.

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Hermione Granger sat down at her kitchen table and poured some milk into her cereal. Picking up her copy of The Daily Prophet, which had been dropped off only minutes before, she sat down and started to eat her breakfast. She flipped through the paper, pausing here and there to read an article. Nothing really caught her eye. Finally she gave up on the newspaper and folded it back up. As she went to put it down on the table so she could continue eating her breakfast, she saw another newspaper on the table. Puzzled, she picked it up and looked at the front page. It was obviously a missing section from The Daily Prophet that had fallen out. Flipping through, but not really concentrating on it, Hermione missed the article title that had caught Ron's attention earlier that day. She did not, however, miss the picture. Instead, she stared at it for a few minutes before her eyes flicked down to the caption.

"A picture of the man believed to be Harry Potter." Her eyes flicked back up to the picture, taking in the fuzziness and distinctive green eyes. The man's black hair was longer than Harry's had been but it had been five years. The only thing missing was the lightning scar which, Hermione thought absentmindedly, was probably either hidden by magic or, if Harry didn't want to be found, even muggle makeup. Still not quite believing, even though she knew the man in the picture could have passed for Harry's twin, she started to read the article. Quickly skimming the introductory paragraph, Hermione's eyes flicked down to the bulleted list which she read carefully, oblivious to everything around her as certain things fell into place.

She had always felt uneasy about Harry's death. Hermione had always thought that she'd be able to feel it when Harry died, the same way she thought she'd be able to feel Ron's death. In school the three had been inseparable and shared a bond which was only rivaled by the Marauders. But after Harry's funeral there had been no such feeling. It just felt strange, like a part of her missing, but wasn't completely gone. Hermione had shared this with Ron, who had admitted to feeling the same, although his feeling wasn't quite as strong as Hermione's. Like many women, she was of the opinion that men were less intuitive than the female race and had concluded that this was the reason for the weaker feelings. After their graduation, the year after Harry's funeral, they had searched everywhere for him.

"But only in the magical world," she remembered. They had never bothered looking in the muggle world, although now that Hermione thought about it, that would have been the logical place to look. On impulse she looked back at the introductory paragraph. The picture had been taken outside a little muggle café in London. Feeling incredibly hopeful, more then she'd ever felt since she and Ron had gone looking for Harry, she put the paper down to start a letter to Ron only to find the redhead sitting in the chair across from her. Her jaw dropped, and Ron grinned.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to notice me," he said taking a sip from one her cups, "I helped myself to a cup of tea. I figured you wouldn't mind." Hermione shook her head and then remembered to close her mouth. She started to say something but then thought better of it and looked thoughtfully at Ron. He had really grown up in the past five years. The death of Harry, which may or may not have actually happened, had given him a certain determination that showed in the way he walked. The disappointment of looking but never finding their best friend could also be seen in his eyes. Otherwise there were just little differences. He was no longer thin, but instead was lean and just as tall as ever. He had more muscles in his arms as a result of working out, and his job at the Ministry of Magic had taught him how to work hard and how to be serious. Feeling her gaze on him, Ron put down the tea and looked at her.

"I guess you saw the article," he said softly nodding at the paper on the table. She sat down and nodded.

"I got a letter from Albus today," Ron continued. Hermione looked up in surprise, Albus Dumbledore rarely wrote them letters, preferring to simply contact them through the fire place.

"What did he want?" she asked curiously, wondering if it had anything to do with the article she had read this morning.

"Well, he wants to talk to us. Today," Ron answered. Hermione nodded and excused herself to get dressed. They would leave as soon as she was ready.

A/N: So, what did I tell you? It's not bad right? Now, for all those who are saying "yes" to these questions, please review. It's not that hard and doesn't take a lot of time. It would really make my day and put me in a better mood. That means it could be your good deed of the day! For all those who said "no", you can review too. I always appreciate constructive criticism. Anyway, it's about 11:00 and I'm really tired so I think I'll go to bed (I have an amazing ability for restating the obvious and repeating myself. couldn't you tell?). Anyway, thanks for reading!