Among new beginnings old feelings resurface...

"Oh, hey, isn't that them?" Kelsey asked Hermione, pointing at the wizards who just stepped out of the queue in Fortescue's ice-cream parlor.

Hermione waved for Harry and Ron to join her and Kelsey at their corner table by one of the windows.

"Hey, isn't that Ginny? Are you guys back on speaking terms?" her former colleague inquired, whipping her head to look back at Hermione.

"Oh, yeah. I guess. Nothing's going to change what happened. It's not the same, but I want to get along again for Harry's sake. It's awful when two people closest to you are on bad terms … makes everything so awkward."

"What took you so long?" Hermione asked them when the trio sat down next to them.

Ron caught the sliding drop of ice-cream from his cone, before replying, "Bloody May Day Ball Committee meeting."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "Should I even ask for more details?"

Ginny rolled her eyes at Ron in mixture of annoyance and disgust. "George's shop is the ball's sponsor this year, and apparently sponsors have to set up a committee to organize all the ball details. That's how Harry and I got roped in," she explained. "But there's so much to do! We can't even come up with good theme and without the theme we can't do promotional stuff or plan out menu, or even decide on decorations. We clearly need someone who's better at this stuff." She gave Harry a pointed look.

He looked at Hermione. "Which is why we were hoping that you and your friend … um …?"

"Kelsey," the blonde witch supplied.

"That you and Kelsey might be interested in helping us … please?"

Hermione looked at Kelsey, who grinned and nodded.

"We'll agree as long as it's understood that we're helping, not doing all the work," Hermione warned, looking at Ron and Harry. "I mean it. Once we come up with a theme, we'll divide the tasks. Whatever you decide to do, please do it." She pointed specifically to the boys. "That means no procrastinating, you two."

Now Ron looked annoyed. "We won't. It's not like it's school. You're starting to sound like Mum."

"I'm just making things clear."

Kelsey gestured with her shake. "Okay, okay. Let's get to business. Theme ideas?"

"Masquerade?" Ginny suggested.

Hermione grimaced. "I think it's been done too many times last year."

"What about something fun like something tropical?" Harry asked.

"Like Jungle Fever?" Kelsey pursed her lips. "I don't know. Doesn't sound formal enough."

"What about picking a decade for a theme and dress in those old-fashioned clothes?" Ron threw in, eyeing Kelsey with the same interest as he eyed his ice-cream.

"Too costume-y," Hermione dismissed, trying to rake her brain for something less overdone.

Right at that moment Hermione caught a flash of a tall, blond wizard passing by the window.

Lucius, she realized, her heart hammering in her chest. She sat up straighter, unable to unglue her gaze from him. He had such a powerful walk – as though every step used only a fraction of the coiled energy within him.

As if sensing her stare on him, he turned to look straight at her. Immediately, Hermione felt a warm rush of emotion crash over her from intensity of his eyes. Her stomach flip-flopped and her mouth went dry. She managed to give him a tentative smile. He nodded in acknowledgement and continued on his way.

"Oooh," Kelsey crooned. "Hot hubby alert! How are things on that front?"

Hermione shrugged. "Some days he's comfortable with being friends, at other times he's comfortable with being strangers. We also have lunches with his grandmother every Sunday."

Kelsey raised her eyebrows. "That's it? No date nights ever?"

"No, of course not. I meant what I told him: I want to get to know him without any romantic implications," Hermione explained for the umpteenth time in the last three months. "I told you, introducing sex into our situation—"

"Gross," Ron remarked. Harry didn't say anything, but wore an equally disgusted expression at the turn the conversation took.

"Just eat your ice-cream," Ginny impatiently ordered.

Hermione continued, "As I was trying to say before I was rudely interrupted, sex complicated things and confused me. I was too busy trying to check-mark everything so it looks all tidy for the divorce proceedings that I didn't consider emotional implications of being and acting married. I don't want to risk heartbreak if we just go our separate ways in three years."

"So what's going to happen exactly?" Ginny probed.

She explained again, "We'll get to know each other. No sex, no romantic expectations. It's all about knowing each other outside of any context we've ever been it. I just want to see if my feelings were real or if I confused physical attraction and strangeness of our new marital status with something more. If there's a potential there, we'll move forward in our relationship; if not, we'll go about our separate lives until we can get a divorce. It's that simple."

Ginny leaned forward with interest. "And how is all that going? I mean you haven't lived with him since January, does that mean for the past three months your interaction has been limited to Sunday lunches with no alone time whatsoever?"

Hermione gave a surprise shake with her head. "Well, no. We have alone time. He took me to his alchemy lab once. Did you know he invented a whole new formula of replicating gold and silver, only without physical metal extraction? I had no idea he was so talented."

She didn't want to tell them about him sending her cute, little gifts for their monthly anniversaries. Without going into details, it may all sound like he was trying to buy her affection, even though his gifts lacked romantic take-me-back subtext. Hermione knew he wasn't, but she also wasn't in the mood to explain that as well. Besides, it felt good to keep little tidbits to herself; some things were not for sharing even with nearest and dearest friends.

Ron rolled his eyes, but refrained from making snide comments.

"I don't know if I should tell you this," Harry said, looking uneasy. "But not everybody's at the Ministry is so eager to sing his praises when it comes to this particular issue."

"I don't think he cares about that," Hermione retorted.

"Well, he should if he doesn't want to end up in Azkaban again," Ron shot back.

Ginny looked unconvinced. "I hardly doubt it's going to come to that."

Glaring at Ron, Hermione continued to argue, "It's not illegal behavior, Ron. Nor does it have anything to do with Dark Arts, so how exactly is my husband risking Azkaban? Do enlighten us with your hitherto unsuspected top-secret knowledge."

"I see things aren't all that bad if you're so defensive about him," Ron grumbled.

"I honestly think the Auror Office is bored and needs a new challenge," Hermione opined. "Just because he is not sprinkling ashes on his head or living the life of a recluse doesn't mean that he's up to something sinister."

Ron was about to say something, but Ginny cut him off, "Truce, okay? This is supposed to be fun, remember?" She turned to Hermione. "So now that things between you are improving, can we count on you two to show up to this ball? It is for a good cause, after all."

Hermione frowned. "I don't know. I don't mind helping you with organizing it, but to actually go? I don't know. He's been very good about giving me the space I asked for, but doing couples activities together? I don't know if I'm ready for that. I don't even know if he's ready for that. May Day Ball would be nice and all, but … I just don't want to risk sending mixed messages to him."

"Hmm, I don't think it will," Kelsey said. "You took control of your life to figure out what you really want. Going to one event together is hardly going to change anything. I mean, it's not like it's Valentine's Day Ball with heavy romantic expectations. It's just a charity ball to donate money to St. Mungo's children's ward. I don't think it'll send mixed signals anymore than going to Sunday luncheons at his grandmother's would."

Hermione remained unconvinced, but decided to change the topic. "What about you? Are you going with Rob?"

Kelsey shifted in her seat. "It's a month from now, right?" Ginny nodded and she continued, "Then no. He'll be in New York by then. He's already apartment hunting over there, but he's starting with his firm in a couple of weeks, so I think he'll be too busy with work and adjusting to the new city and all."

She looked a little sad, and Hermione put her arm around her. "You could still go with a friend."

"Or you could advertise," Ginny suggested.

"That's just sad," Ron remarked. "She doesn't need to advertise for a date. She's so gorgeous, lots of blokes would-"

"Take a cold shower, mate," Harry whispered to him.

Ginny ignored them. "It's not sad, it's practical. It's for charity; the more people come, the better. Just because her boyfriend is not in town, doesn't mean that she has to skip this event. Finding a date with no emotional involvement, who just wants to dress up, mingle, dance, and donate money to a worthwhile cause is the best alternative to simply skipping. Not everyone wants to show up alone, but that doesn't mean it has to be a love interest or nothing. Same goes for you, Hermione."

"Ginny, I have enough trust issues to work on in my marriage, I don't need to derail all of our hard work by going to a formal event on the arm of someone else. My situation is nothing like Kelsey's, for Merlin's sake."

The redheaded witch narrowed her eyes at her. "Why? Is he the super jealous, possessive type?"

"I wouldn't say that, but at Enchanted Peaks he wasn't too happy with the head of ski patrol, so I don't want a repeat of that situation," Hermione told her.

"Ugh, you're not going to be one of those wives who walks on eggshells around her husband in constant fear of making him mad, are you? Because that's not healthy and bordering on abusive—"

"No, it's not about making him mad," Hermione interrupted her. "It's about building trust. According to Shattered Vows: Recovering from Infidelity, while we're rebuilding our trust, we have to have total transparency. He doesn't see his ex alone anymore and I can show the same curtesy by not engaging in couple-like activities with a man who is not him."

"I can't believe I'm going to sound like I'm defending Malfoy," Ron began, "but does one unwanted kiss really counts as infidelity? You're acting like he had an affair, but he didn't and you're not even a real couple, so I don't get it."

She sighed. "You wouldn't. It may sound strange to you, but I don't think you can understand how it feels unless you've experienced it first hand. It's easy to say it's just a kiss, but it's a whole different world when you witness someone you're married to do something like this. It doesn't matter how long you've been together or that you're not in love, it changes things. You don't see that person in the same light anymore. We agreed to do everything to make our marriage look valid and kissing another witch wasn't part of it!"

Harry scratched his head. "I get being hurt by it, but calling it an infidelity is a bit dramatic, don't you think? It would be I guess if he kissed her back, but if he says he didn't… I don't know, it's just strange to me."

"That's because you don't know what it's like," Kelsey interjected. "You see it as an outsider who is not emotionally invested. To you, it's simple. To Ron, a kiss doesn't count as cheating if you don't return it. To somebody else, it counts. You can't apply your own relationship standards to those of others."

"Yeah, Harry, stop trying to defend him all the time," Ginny chided her husband.

He held up his hands. "Okay, you win. I think Ron and I should pop in to a Quidditch shop while you girls discuss … um… personal things. Maybe we'll come up with a theme while we're there."

Ron hopped off his seat. "Best idea you've had all day. Let's go before we drown in all this estrogen talk."

Hermione sighed into her melted sundae. It would be fun to dress up and go together, but she doubted Lucius would be interested. He didn't ask her to the Valentine's Ball. It was too soon back then when the memories of Enchanted Peaks were so fresh, but now that they've made so much progress…

She shook her head. It was such a long shot, she didn't even want to get her hopes up even imagining the possibility. Oh, well. There was always New Year's Eve. They must have danced together at that … even if she couldn't remember it.

Kelsey gave her a sympathetic smile. "If we both end up dateless on May Day, we could be each other's dates," she joked.

Hermione cracked a smile. "As much as I like blonds, you're really not my type."

They laughed together for a moment, but Hermione couldn't maintain her mirth for long. She stopped laughing and looked blankly out the window, in the direction she had seen Lucius walk off to.

The photos blurred before her as Hermione yawned. She came early to Mrs. Swancombe's Sunday luncheon to look through her old family albums in the library, hoping something in them might inspire her to come up with a theme before tomorrow's Ball Committee meeting.

Someone cleared his throat, and Hermione glanced up to see Lucius looking down at her.

"Hi," she greeted him.

"Brushing up on the family history?" he asked, gesturing to the albums in front of her.

Hermione groaned. "Not really. I'm trying to come up with a theme for May Day's Ball. A friend of mine asked me to join his planning committee and we're supposed to come up with a theme, but I can't think of anything. We're aiming for something elegant and all the ideas I keep hearing are all wrong. Since your grandmother has been to so many galas, I thought I'd browse through her past and see if I can pick up a thing or two."

"What about something like Fire and Ice?" he suggested.

She was surprised to find herself impressed with his suggestion. The guests could either choose to incorporate the theme into their formal-wear or not. The menu would have so many possibilities. The decorations could be a sea of silver and crimson. Something like this would definitely draw a lot of donors.

"You know," she said slowly, "that's a terrific idea."

He smiled at her. "You really think so?"

"Yes, I absolutely love it! You're a genius." Without thinking, she stood up to hug him, reeling at the contact. It was the first time they've been so close in months. He picked her up and twirled her around the dark space of the library. In such close proximity, she could feel his heart beating against hers. If she lifted her face closer to his, their lips would touch. His smoky eyes burned into hers and she felt an energy jolt through her body. Hermione pulled away, embarrassed. She felt familiar attraction to him again, but this time it was somehow magnified. And the feeling scared her. How could she have such strong emotions for Lucius when she barely knew him, especially after the fiasco on Enchanted Peaks? Although she had gotten to know him better in these past three months, she still wasn't emotionally ready to take their relationship to another level. She wasn't even ready to discuss another level … and yet being held by him felt so right.

When the house-elf interrupted and announced that lunch was ready, Hermione gratefully stepped back from her husband, but the strange feeling in her remained.

Progress, she told herself. It only means we're making progress. Nothing more.

The ball was just confusing her is all. That must be it. It was just the excitement of working on a new project.

Thank you all once again for your continued interest in this story. Let me know what you think of this one.

Lots of love,

Lana