Hi there! This is my very first fanfiction, so there's probably much to learn! Please feel free to review and tell me how I could improve my writing.

With love,
Cornelia Spring

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the magical world of Harry Potter and Criminal Minds.

"So... you're actually going to do it," he said in amazement. The three of them were sitting round the table in the colourful kitchen of The Burrow. Ron was staring at Hermione with big eyes, his long arms hanging defeated next to his body while his shoulders indicated the same thing. "I really didn't think you'd do it. We've learned so much on our own," he told her, shifting his perplexed eyes to Harry and back to the girl in front of him again.

Hermione shrugged. "I'm not really sure why you're surprised. It feels important to finish what I started," she answered, looking Ron directly in the eyes with an amused grin on her face. "Besides, I'm not sure what to do with my life now it's all over. It's always been about the war, really," she sighed, breaking the eye contact. The young woman felt uneasy under the gaze of her newly begotten boyfriend.

"Do you think I'm crazy too?" She asked the other person at the table, who hadn't said anything yet. Ron immediately began to splutter something about how he didn't think she was nuts, but Harry just looked at Hermione with quiet interest.

"No," he said slowly, then shrugged, "I have thought about it too. Just not for the same reasons."

"But… but," Ron stammered, "we got asked to be AURORS! Why would we want to go back to school?"

"I'm not making you go with me, now, am I," Hermione remarked in turn, but in vain. Ron was now waving his hands next to his head. "You know, it can probably wait, if that's what you really want. I just thought it would be nice." He looked at his friends. "Us three. Fighting evil. Being AURORS." His body relaxed as his eyes fixed somewhere just above Hermione's head, with a foolish grin on his face as if being mesmerized. Harry laughed.

"Yes, very nice," Hermione said, half irritated and half amused. She sighed while grabbing the half empty cup of tea in front of her, wrapping her hands carefully around it to warm them up. It wasn't actually necessary, because the sun was shining brightly outside and although the wind could still be cold, the kitchen was getting hotter and hotter. But for some reason still, Hermione's fingers felt cold.

"It just feels wrong not to take the final steps," she said, a more stubborn look creeping onto her face, "how are future employers going to know how good you are when you can't even tell how many NEWTs you have?"

Ron chuckled. "I'm sure all the teachers are willing to give you a NEWT in advance for every subject you have." He smiled at his girlfriend in a very you're-nuts-and-I'm-proud-of-you way. Harry looked uncomfortable, looked around and took a pastry off of the plate with five different sorts, just as colourful as the kitchen. Hermione, however, felt a slight blush coming up, but tried to keep on the subject and shook her head while finishing her tea and pushing back her chair.

"Even if that would be true, I'd really just like to get them myself and learn some more in the process."

She got onto her feet while Ron rolled his eyes at Harry, who looked impressed by the tastiness of the orange piece of pie he held in his hand. Hermione moved towards the door, while stepping over a laundry basket in which Ron should've been searching for socks and carefully avoiding stepping on a few dirty ones he'd left next to it. When she safely eluded the obstacles and reached the wooden door, it flew open and revealed a Hermione-sized person, with freckles and ginger hair. The girl was thinner than she was and more angular, but beautiful even so. Her eyes twinkled at the sight of the three in the kitchen and quickly blew a hand kiss in the direction of her black-haired boyfriend.

"Ginny," Hermione exclaimed, "I was just on my way."

"Good, but we're staying downstairs. I want to get out in the sun while we still can," Ginny said, almost singing. She had a tendency to do that.

Harry was already getting to his feet while trying to get the last piece of the pastry down. Meanwhile Ginny took Hermione by the hand and was already near the backdoor. The quickly chewing boy tried to say something, but Ginny interrupted:

"No, we're not going to play Quidditch. I'm not in the mood. Besides, I want some girl time with miss brunette here." Hermione looked at her friend with her brows frown. Yes, they were girls and yes, they sometimes did something which you could call 'girl talk', but they hadn't done that since… well, since Harry, Ron and herself had left everyone behind to search for horcruxes. A pinch of guilt ran through Hermione's stomach as she thought of how they had left everyone behind. She watched as the black haired boy nodded and tried to look indifferent, but she knew him far too well to miss his disappointed look.

Ginny pushed through the door, her wavy red hear looking unearthly bright in the sunlight. Hermione had always been a little jealous of the looks of her friend. Although Ron had clumsily tried to mention a few times that he thought she was pretty, she knew she would never come anything near Ginny Weasley's beauty. As the sun touched her skin as well and seemed to try to warm her up as quickly as possible, she shrugged the thoughts out of her head. It didn't matter. She knew who she was and who she had, and that was enough. Besides, Ginny wasn't a girl to be led by looks and neither was she.

Ginny had let go of her hand and walked towards a piece of a tree trunk, laying on its side, where she sat down promptly. Hermione slowly walked towards her with a curious look on her face, but decided to stand. She had been sitting all day and welcomed the possibility to straighten her legs.

"So?" Ginny asked, watching her friend with glittering eyes, a knowing grin on her face.

"So?" Hermione replied with confusion. She already talked to her about her returning to Hogwarts at the diner table the night she came back to the Burrow, which was two days ago. Her red-haired friend had been genuinely excited, not in the least because she was going back as well.

"Come on, Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed impatiently. "Tell me about you and Ron!"

"Oh!" Her eyebrows shot up. She hadn't expected this, although she could've known Ginny would want some details. She couldn't stop a shy grin creeping onto her face and she shrugged.

"What's there to tell?" She teased a little, although she wasn't sure she was able to talk about… well, that stuff.

"I know you liked him for quite some time, but then the War happened and suddenly you were a couple," her friend explained, still grinning, though it had slighted a little when she mentioned the War.

Hermione fidgeted with her light blue T-shirt while thinking about where to start. There had been so many hints and moments that told how they both felt, but it wasn't until—

"He wanted to save the house-elves during the battle," she blurted. She felt the warmth of her blush creeping up her neck. "We um… we kissed." Her cheeks felt hot now too. She bit her bottom lip while trying to keep herself from smirking too widely.

Ginny giggled at the uncomfortable girl in front of her. Hermione decided to sit down next to her after all, to avoid having to look at her directly. Ginny wasn't going to waive and leaned a little closer, watching her intently.

"And… how was it?" She asked.

Hermione huffed. "You really want to hear about your brother?"

"I'm not the prudish one," she shrugged. "Besides, I'm not connecting your stories to the picture I have of my brother, because it doesn't seem like the same guy when you talk to me about him."

"It was… nice," Hermione said slowly, trying to be frank. "I mean, I don't have much to compare it with. It was just so… heated. You know," she began to stammer, "because of the situation. Well, there was so much going on and the tension between us was as big as it could get and, yeah." She finally looked up to Ginny, whose eyes sparkled with nothing but kindness.

"I get it. Did he ask you to be his girlfriend?"

"He did, although it was rather clumsy." Hermione smiled fondly and looked at her hands again.

Ginny let out a ringing laugh. "Of course! But did you guys do anything more, like," she wiggled her eyebrows, "naughty stuff?"

"No! I mean, yes, we did do something, of course. I guess, but not everything!" Hermione hated how her head felt so hot again. She looked around to check they were still alone. Apart from a few gnomes running around a ridiculously large flower box trying to catch each other, there was no one.

Ginny laughed at her discomfort, while Hermione shifted her weight on the tree they were sitting on. Before Ginny could start asking about details, Hermione tried to wiggle her own eyebrows, in which she failed miserably, and asked:

"What about you and Harry?"

Ginny stopped laughing out loud, but was still grinning. She leaned back and put her hands behind her on the wood. She threw her head back so it could take in as much sunshine as possible, closed her eyes and nodded.

"Well?" Hermione pushed, while feeling the curiosity bubbling in her stomach. She knew Ginny didn't mind talking about this stuff; she had much more experience and Hermione always felt like there was something she could learn, although she'd never admit it.

"We haven't really had the time to go all the way," the red-haired girl said clearly, "but we're getting there. It's really nice. Harry is so sweet."

Hermione nodded slowly in agreement. Her thoughts went back to the night she got back to the Burrow, when she and Ron were taking a walk along the fields surrounding the grounds. Ron had pulled her by her arm into a field of high grain, where they had kissed. Then she had felt Ron's hands on her back and under her shirt. Although it all felt great and she touched his warm skin as well, it was still kind of weird doing that stuff with someone she had known since they were eleven. They hadn't gone any further, so she was a little scared he had felt the same awkwardness.

"Does it feel awkward at all, when you… touch and stuff?" She dared ask, while she looked at Ginny with restraint.

"Hmm," Ginny opened one eye a bit to look at her friend's face, trying to determine the meaning behind the question. "Not really. The only awkward part was the way my brothers felt the need to act protective over their little sister." She crunched her nose and stuck out her tongue in slight annoyance. "Do you mean to say," Ginny sat back up and stretched her arms above her head, "that it doesn't feel natural for you to touch each other?"

"It doesn't," the bushy-haired girl frowned. "Is that bad?"

"I guess not," was the slow reply, "as long as you both want it."

They heard a squeaky door open somewhere to their left and both girls looked up. Mr Weasley stepped out of his shed where he had probably been working on a muggle television his children had given him for his birthday in February. He couldn't stop himself from being in the shed as much as possible since the war was over. When his eyes fell on his daughter and her friend he beamed and started walking towards them.

"Hermione, I was wondering if you could give me a hand with the tellie," he chuckled, "that's what they call it, right?"

Hermione nodded and stood with a small smile. Ginny waved her hand towards the two of them. "I have to search for my boyfriend anyways," she declared.

"You know, I just can't seem to make it switch programs," Mr Weasley stated to Hermione, with only the incredible television on his mind. "I only seem to manage to turn up the volume." Hermione walked with him towards the shed, thinking how she should be switching her programme to one where everything would work itself out, instead of it all being so difficult.