CHAPTER ONE
Sixteen years later
"Oh, come off it, Ronald!"
"But, I could have sworn I just saw you-"
"Never you mind what you thought you saw."
"Talking to Malfoy! Honestly, Hermione, I can't believe-"
"We were having an intelligent conversation based on a mutual homework assignment, and I can't possibly understand-"
"Mutual? How can you have anything mutual with the Amazing Ferret Boy? I don't know-"
"What's gotten into you?" They shouted simultaneously. The two livid students faced off, faces red from lack of oxygen. Hermione had come to the Great Hall with the fleeting hope that she might find a reprieve from confusing and unwanted thoughts; instead, she had come face to face with her redheaded best friend, who was absolutely furious at something he couldn't comprehend. It wasn't her fault that he brought up the same questions she'd been asking herself for the last five minutes, nor was it her fault that he'd been spying on her in the first place, and she was enraged that her every waking moment seemed to need to be accounted for.
She watched him with more than a hint of rage in her eyes as he panted. Ron Weasley of the present was definitely a far cry from the gangly, uncoordinated first year that had called her a snobby know-it-all. He had filled out, the rest of his body finally catching up to his height. He stood 6' if he stood an inch, and his fine red hair was grown to 'just the right length'; down to about the lobes of his ears, and was just a little shaggy. His chest had transformed from the skinny torso of a pre-pubescent to the broad chest of a man. That chest was firm and defined from spending all but two weeks of summer training with Harry for this year's Quidditch season.
Speaking of Harry...
Hermione forfeited the staring contest (causing Ron to cackle as he sat in his place at the table and dug into his dinner) and swung her gaze across the Hall, searching for the untidy shock of raven hair that so defined her other best friend. There. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived To Make The Girls Swoon, walked toward her and Ron, smiling triumphantly. He must have finally asked Ginny out, she mused, smiling and waving to him. He'd been building up to the do the deed for the past week, alternately assured that she couldn't turn him down and so insecure that Hermione had to play ego-pumper for an hour. Not that his ego needed the boost. He, too, had filled out just as nicely as Ron. He was a few inches shorter, granted, than his red-haired counterpart, but just as good-looking.
Yes, her boys had grown up... and so had she. She had grown a few inches, but at 5'2", she still looked short when placed beside her friends' towering frames. Her fluffy brown hair had mellowed some (not as much as she would have liked, but some), reaching down just below her shoulder blades. Her figure had matured for the most part; dark school-robes hid her curves nicely (including that bit of tummy pudge that she just couldn't get rid of) but snuggled in just the right places to leave things open to the imagination. Not that anyone was imagining, though. No, Hermione had forever been placed in the realm of 'know-it-all', and of course wasn't deserving of the looks her friends bestowed on some of the other girls in their year. Not that she was complaining... but it would be nice to be noticed.
Sighing, she sat daintily at her place and began scooping perfect portions of food onto her silver dinner plate, joining in the idle chat as Harry finally took his place at their table. She didn't feel the eyes that regarded her with the same intensity as she had been using just moments before.
"So, dialmo wel wivm sishe?" Ron spoke around a mouthful of biscuit. Harry and Hermione raised eyebrows in unison, and looked to one another for translation. Ron's ears reddened, but he swallowed, and tried again. "So, did all go well with my sister?"
Harry's eyes sparkled as he nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, we have a date for next Hogsmeade weekend." In a sudden bout of embarrassment, he lowered his eyes to the table, avoiding eye contact with the older Weasley. "Are you sure you're ok with this?"
The redhead chased a kernel of corn around his plate with his fork, also avoiding eye contact. "Sure. I mean, who would I rather have date my sister than my best friend?" Triumphantly, he closed his mouth around the offending vegetable, and pushed his plate towards the center of the table. "Oh, and by the way, did I mention?" His eyes locked onto Harry's abruptly, and Harry had no choice but to hold his friends gaze. Hermione laughed at the display of male posturing. "If there's any funny business, I will personally castrate you!"
"Oh, Ronald, stop it. You know that if there is any funny business, I'm perfectly capable of castrating him myself!" Came a jovial voice from behind them. Hermione smiled widely as Virginia Weasley seated herself next to Harry.
"Ginny! So nice of you to join us!" Hermione chided easily. Ginny smiled warmly at her best friend, all the while nudging the brunette over to make room. Hermione scooted with no arguments, happy to have one of her few girlfriends join the conversation, and turned back to a sulking Ron. "It's no use, you know, trying to protect her," she stated clearly, her lips twisted in a serious frown. Ron opened his mouth to argue, but stopped abruptly when the frown broke into a brilliant smile. "She knows all of your secrets, and if she found out, you would be sorely regretting your involvement!" Harry choked back a laugh when the tips of his best mate's ears turned beet red, blinking innocently when that same friend turned a scathing glare his way.
"Well, it's true!" Ginny laughed, fully agreeing with Hermione's point. "Ronald
Weasley, I would just love to see you try to sneak something past me. I know all your secrets," she smirked devilishly, causing the girl next to her to break out into laughter. Ron's face reddened even more, and he relentlessly poked his single remaining potato with the fork in his hand.
"Well, excuse me for looking out for my younger sister," he snorted. "Or even my friends," he continued, looking pointedly at Hermione, who turned quickly away.
Harry, normally the more observant of the other three Gryffindors, didn't notice the strange exchange between his friends… but Ginny Weasley did. After growing up with five older siblings (and brothers none the less), she had learned how to calculate when something was being hidden. Unfortunately, before she could ask, Neville Longbottom made his way to the table, informing them of their upcoming quiz in Charms, and in the excitement (in Hermione's case) and dread (in everyone else's), Ginny's very important question was lost in the ether.