Chapter 10

Harry decided to stay for a week at Grimmauld after the first night; while Ron planned to join him later that week. This time Hermione agreed to spend Saturday and Sunday with them as well, both Ron and Harry were excited about spending the time together. Harry took this opportunity to go meet Hagrid and Teddy on his own and had a good time with them. He visited his parents house as well and their graves, where he saw to his amazement some fresh flowers lying on them. He also noticed the Christmas wreath was there and as fresh as the day he and Hermione put them there the first time. He just realized that he spent some of the most touching and memorable moments of his life with Hermione and he was grateful that it was her, not that he wouldn't have wanted Ron there but he doubted that he wanted such an emotional moment where he was on the verge of shedding tears with Ron, think of it as not something guys are good at around other guys. He recalled the time Ron was in the same emotional condition during the horcrux, he felt sorry for him right then more than he felt the night of his birthday after their little disagreement over Hermione. He was sitting on the ground in front of his parent's grave, not really knowing what is it that he was supposed to do or say. He was thinking about past, just about everything that he had gone through, and then his eyes teared up once he recalled the last moments in the battle when his parents and Sirius joined him.

"I love you mum and dad. Say hi to Sirius, Remus and Tonks for me. If you see Fred, please give him a manly hug for me; take care of him. Tell Remus that Teddy is doing great; I will be the best God father ever, and will be like Sirius. Obviously I won't be able to carry on exactly like him as you know Hermione won't let me..." Harry continued telling them about some random stuff and finally got up. He then visited Remus and Tonks – he was once again a little surprised that their graves had same flowers as his parents; last but not least he visited Fred, once again it had same flowers there, "I guess they are flowers of the season or may be George has been visiting everyone with these flowers, hmm I doubt he knows about my parents…oh well!", he thought to himself and noticed all the other stuff ling around Fred's grave like candies or some chocolate frogs etc "Must be from George…this has to be George's work…" – he picked up a letter and instantly his hands were full of ink. He used his wand to clean up the mess; after he was done updating Fred about George he left to go see if Hermione is free for lunch. He felt really at ease, he still had some time so he decided to get some money from his vault, he was surrounded by people wanting to shake hands with him or thank him once he entered diagon alley. He realized that this is going to be the first time he'll be entering Gringotts after breaking in to Voldermort's vault. With a sinking feeling he decided to drop the idea and instead withdraw money using owl. He wanted to buy some new clothes for himself, he just wanted to do stuff that he was deprived of and without any second thoughts. He finally ditched the crowd by entering George's shop. He spent some really good quality time with George, Lee and Angeline, even helped them with some store room work.

"How's living on you own at Grimmauld going for you…how long has it been … 4 days now? Asked George

"Yeah well more like five, Ron will be joining me tomorrow and then Hermione the day after…" Harry said excitedly… "By the way I like your paper trick George, I think it's a good way of keeping people away from your private stuff…"

George didn't register right away what Harry was talking about, "that small thing is not out in market as yet, it's just something that really young kids can use…so where'd you get your hands on one of those??"

"You left them with Fred; yes I enjoyed one of the chocolate frogs though."

George was really touched by the fact that Harry went and visited Fred on his own, he was the second non Weasley member to visit Fred.

"Thanks Harry, I am sure Fred appreciated your visit…and I hope he got a good laugh at your expense…" George replied.

"So were you alone there? " George asked while he was working on his account books.

"hmm yeah, why? " asked Harry with an apparent confusion about the nature of question.

"Hermione's a regular visitor as well…I didn't know but just saw her yesterday, don't tell her I saw her sitting there, though I was kind of tired hiding from her. I didn't want to embaress her so I just let her pay her respects, once she left only then I went ahead. It was really sweet of her to bring Fred flowers…she is an amazing person…" said George and finally meeting Harry's eyes…who were round and as if doing some mental calculations.

"Oh so those white flowers were from her?"

"Yep"

"Ahan! Well that explains the white flowers at Remus and Tonks' graves and my parents as well."

Angelina broke the silence by saying "She truly is a sweetheart, I always liked her a lot…see Lee I like all the nice people…" and then she stuck out a tongue at Lee.

George laughed at this, "in case you don't know what that was about? Let me fill you in – Angelina kinda hooked up with Dean at your party…" at that precise minute a ball hit George on his head and the ball blasted in to small hissing snakes all over the place, they then turned in to cockroaches and were roaming around the store's floor.

"Jerk! We have been on two dates only…don't listen to him Harry, if we do hook up then trust me you will be in for a lot of Public displays of affection, if you know what I mean!" she winked at Harry after this.

Harry blushed and once again stared at the fake roaches on the floor that looked so real…"Another cool product George, remind me to buy some for Teddy, anyway I better go meet Hermione, Good luck with Dean, Angelina…"

Harry was a bit relaxed after finding out that there was something going on between Dean and Angelina so probably Dean and Hermione weren't together or whatever that he thought was there between them. He then heard his name, thinking with regret that its somebody from his fan club, he turned around and saw George running towards him, "hey Harry, Ginny just flooed in, she's been trying to get in touch with you, I told her that you just left and did not tell her for where. Hmm I know she gets kind of jealous when you spend time with Hermione…"

"What? She does? Since when, George? Ginny doesn't have a problem with Hermione and me spending time not that there has been any of that lately…." Replied Harry.

"You sure are dense, anyway she does and probably is not that obvious around you, anyway Harry I …. " George spotted some of the crowd gathering around them and dragged Harry to small corner away from crowd, "Listen I didn't say this at the shop but bro I think you should be around Hermione more often. She is not alright, and before you say anything let me finish…" once again George dragged them to a more secluded corner so they are not bothered by anyone,

"the thing is I saw Hermione not once but quite a few times at Fred's grave, she'd been talking to him and asking him to find her parents, using some different names by which he could possibly find them and something about telling them that they have a daughter Hermione … well that's not the point, she is missing her parents more than she lets anybody in on it Harry! Other than that Neville, Dean and quite a lot of other students from your year are helping Luna with setting up Quibbler again, anyway Dean told Angelina she told Lee and me; the thing is even Luna had disturbing news to share, she said Hermione visited her dad in hospital and kept on apologizing for taking away his memories even though he is pretty much back to his old self with few memories missing but atleast he knows Luna now, and then Luna said that she was desperately asking her to forgive her and when Hermione agreed, she was not fully satisfied, she keeps blaming herself for Luna's broken house and God knows what. She was troubled with Hermione's condition and Neville too was of the opinion that Hermione needs some kind of treatment Harry and then…."

"Hermione is N.O.T C.R.A.Z.Y" Harry said clenching his teeth; "tell them all that they better not even think on those terms. She had to take away Luna's dad's memory and if she had not done that, he would be dead and same goes for the three of us. Tell Luna that she should be Thankful to Hermione that her dad is still alive and Neville knows nothing about her…."

"No need to get angry Harry. They all owe Hermione a lot and they are well aware of it. They are just concerned. They are of the opinion that Hermione's been blaming herself for everything that's gone wrong in everyone's life, if she is not crazy now, she will get crazy by continuing to think this way…Harry we are all worried about her. That's why I really want you to look after her, believe it or not I care for her deeply and so does everyone, she is one lucky person who is loved by so many people and yet there is nothing that we can do about it. I know only you and Ron can reach out to her, I didn't tell Ron as yet but its your place to see how to go about it. I don't think Ginny will be of any help, I know she is my sister, your girlfriend and also a friend to Hermione but trust me – she is only your girlfriend when Hermione is involved…We'll talk again, I just wanted to give you a heads up…" George left without waiting for Harry to respond. He had no idea, no idea at all that Hermione had been visiting the grave sites, he didn't know that she was missing her parents so much, he didn't know that she was emotionally wrecked, she was apologizing for stuff that were not her fault, she had guilt inside her that could burst her heart….Harry stood clueless that where had he been while all this was going on. She seemed alright at the party.

You dumb ass, she avoided people in that party by hiding in corners, no wonder I had a hard time finding her whenever I looked for her, she's not been eating, she thought she didn't deserve anything good happening to her and she mentioned it before which you ignored. She is not going to Hogwarts – this should've been a big enough hint for you Harry that she is not alright….

Harry kept repeating all this in his head and was silently moving towards the bookstore that Hermione worked in.

Ron too had come across the same disturbing news but had received it first hand; he had gone to visit Luna after getting back from Grimmauld. It's weird how a war and loosing people can change person for good and for worst but the change that Ron felt in him was definitely a good one. He would never had thought about helping out Luna fixing her place and all if he had not gone through the kind of experiences these past few years. He realized the importance of friendship and it made him more mature. The older Ron wouldn't be here at this place; would've still held a grudge against Mr. Lovegood, would've fought with Harry with wands drawn over Hermione, would never have cared for elves, all in all, Ron was satisfied with these developments in him. He was amazed to see so many people there trying to help Luna and in fact volunteered to help running to paper again with full vigor and honesty. There were those sisters from his year, the Patil sisters, Neville, Dean, Alicia, Ernie and Susan. It was probably the third day he was there, when they all told him about Hermione's visits. He had been joining them at later hours as he was still working on burrow and helping with their Aunt Muriel's place so he never witnessed any of Hermione's visits. But it disturbed him a lot. He decided to talk to Harry about it and together they can talk to her this weekend. His best friend deserved to be happy. He felt like a failure, Hermione was a lovely person who had two of the most awful best friends – best friends who were always there to use her but never return anything. She fought their battles for them and with them, yet she is fighting her own battles without them. He had wanted to help and he knew he can't do that without Harry's help. Hermione and Harry connected at an emotional level where Ron always felt like an outsider, he knew that even Harry and Hermione were not aware of it; well Hermione was good at reading both of us but she never turned to him when it was something concerning Harry, she just understood and dealt with Harry on her own.

While everyone was busy with getting Quibbler back to business, Ron found himself partially attracted to Padma Patil – they had become quite good friends where Padma often teased him about being her first and most boring date ever. He always felt embarrassed but told her that he didn't even think of it as a date for it was Harry who asked for him, "I am a very charming person if I am not hooked up on a blind date…." , they tended to flirt a lot along these lines and ignored the sheepish looks they were getting from others. This entire quibbler gang decided to celebrate adult style next week for getting it back in shape. Ron took a daring step and asked her to be his date on this celebration. She once again teased him, "yeah very charming Mr. Weasley, asking me to be your date to a party that we have to go to with others, very brave of you, we could very well be dating right now…." Ron blushed really hard at this,

"Oh I thought … well I thought that this way … I mean I thought it was a good idea. But if you are not…." Padma cut him off, "I must agree Ronald, your nervousness is charming indeed and you got yourself a date. I do look forward to it."

Luna did warn Padma later that Ron has feelings for Hermione, "Don't worry Luna, its nothing serious besides I cleared it with Ron after agreeing, he said they are just friends and have broken up for quite sometime. I am not jumping in to some kind of serious relationship with him. I think we all need a break and deserve to have fun after the whole ordeal…so don't worry and thanks for warning. I appreciate it. This place looks good doesn't it? I am going to get you some really cool articles now…" she replied sweetly.

Padma reminded Ron of Hermione and wondered if that is why he was attracted to her, she was brilliant, hard working, friendly and quite funny.

Harry entered the book store and saw a huge change in its décor and for a change he saw that there were quite a lot of customers as opposed to the last time he saw it.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter! It's always a pleasure to have you here, how do you like the change in this place? It's all your friend's doing! And I love it; I've never seen these many people in this shop even if only few of them will actually purchase something…" He was talking and giving a tour of the place to Harry, who spotted Hermione helping two kids, must be 11 or 12 years of age; with some books. He was only half listening as he noticed how she dealt with the customers, he noticed she was smiling and explaining what the book was about, he could tell that her smile held no meaning or may be after talking to George he was reading too much in to Hermione's expressions. Hermione then turned her back to him to cater to another customers, he could see that young boys were trying to get her attention, they kept asking her about different books and it seemed they took only to the counter, leaving Hermione to put rest of the books back, Mr. Ford left Harry to take his place at the counter. Hermione still had not noticed Harry; she was busy stacking books in designated shelves; Harry sneaked behind her and gave her a hug from the back, this startled Hermione and she dropped all the books, she turned around to see who was daring enough to do something like that or cheeky enough for that matter…

"Oh Harry, you scared me to death. What are you doing here?" she returned his hug with not one of her usual ones.

"Oh so now how are you or nice to see you Harry but why am I here?" Harry replied in mock hurt.

"Hmm no, so how come you are here and what's with giving me a scary hug?" Hermione replied back with a grin then bent down to pick up the books. Harry also helped her with them. He couldn't really tell with their small during stacking of books if she was upset or something along those lines. She seemed quite normal but yes her face showed a different story from her words.

He had a tough time getting her to agree for lunch break, her boss even forced her to take one and a long one at that. Harry apparated them both to muggle London but even he was not aware of eating places as he never got to visit any during his time with Dursleys, he made a mental note to explore muggle world as well.

They found a small café and went in; even Hermione felt a little better in muggle side of the world. Harry ordered burger and coke while Hermione didn't feel like eating much so she ordered chips only. Harry decided to take things in his hands and ordered a platter of chips along with burger and coke for her.

"Harry I am not that hungry, it will all go to waste, besides I don't have any muggle money on me"

"Were you really expecting me to let you pay, well I have muggle money and I'll make sure you eat everything that is served to us…"

"Oh you still think I am not eating enough? Do you? Harry my appetite has never been that big, you probably never noticed…and I can't let you keep paying for me like this…I have to stop relying on you…"

"Woah! Hermione, what do you mean by that? We never had a problem over who's paying and who isn't, besides if that's the thing then news flash buddy, this past year long, Ron and I relied on your money, it was your muggle money that helped us steal – so stop coming up with lame excuses to not eat. Yes I still think you need to eat. I know you've never been much of an obnoxious eater like me or Ron but still…"

Hermione just scowled at him, "I left a fair good amount of money for that food, so its not stealing". Harry just laughed at this. He was having a nice time with her and was glad that Hermione looked relaxed as well. She was looking around to see her surroundings; she saw a lot of muggle families or friends in the booths around them, once again her eyes were filled with longing, even though Harry was sitting with her there, she felt lonely. She snapped out of her thoughts when their order arrived. Harry kept her attention on himself while she was eating, he told her about his shopping plans and asked her to help him buy clothes and stuff for his room as he had no idea about this kind of stuff, then he told her about his daily routine, he deliberately kept out the part about visiting his parents and how Hogwarts is shaping up when he last saw it. Then his encounters with his an club, to his immense delight, he was quite successful, he kept her from thinking by his continuous talk while she ate her entire burger and some chips as well. He didn't show any emotion over his success, instead just paid without any words and took her hand to take a walk in the park. Hermione finally told him that it is already 2 hours and she has work to do. Hermione didn't let go of his hand for once while they walked in the park, so when they were back in the store, they were still holding hands and didn't really take much notice of it. To their immense surprise, Luna, Neville and Ron were there waiting for them.

They all noticed their joined hand but didn't comment. They were actually there to invite Hermione to their Quibbler party celebrations. Luna commented that it was good that Harry was there too, so it spared them another visit. They personally visited the people on their guest list. Ron took Hermione in a corner, he knew now was not the time but he wanted to clear his consciousness by asking if she was ok with it. He would drop his plans at the slightest indication that she wasn't but Hermione apparently was ok with it. Yet that was not the reason she didn't want to attend this party, she wanted to be alone.

Hermione wondered if she felt anything for Ron romantically anymore, but didn't know for sure. Hermione didn't feel like attending this party, and was slightly getting agitated about spending the weekend with Harry and Ron. She wanted to be alone, so she didn't have to talk. "Hmm why do I want to be alone, oh probably coz I don't wanna talk…why is Ron dating Padma not bothering me…shouldn't I be getting jealous…."

There was a good reason that Hermione asked this of herself, lately she had not been feeling much of anything. She was not even realizing this fact. When she heard about people mourning, or people suffering, she felt sorry but didn't show much concern, it was like she was an emotionless person who had blocked herself from the world. She would often show some of her old side, which alone would fool her friends in to thinking that she is doing fine but then she would do something out of the ordinary that is either disturbing or quite cold – totally unHermione like. Her condition was not easily explainable and Hermione didn't realize it either.

P.s. ok next chapter will be Hogwarts one, I forgot all about this one. Anyway hope you enjoy it. Please do go through my one shot fic – Irony behind life and leave reviews even if they are negative  Thanks for the lovely reviews for this one though.