Chapter 10
Just days before Christmas, Adrian entered the bookshop in hopes of speaking to Hermione. He had hoped that his lack of involvement in the war would mean she would talk to him, but she had successfully avoided the four of them since learning about her parents' last minutes a week before. Through the window he saw her arranging the newest titles on a small table near the front of the shop. Her back was to him as he opened the door and softly said her name.

Turning her head slightly, she gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Hi. What are you doing here?" she asked, going back to her task. "Some last minute shopping perhaps? Or maybe you heard about those fancy bookmarks we just got in. Because I know you didn't come here to talk to me about Flint or Nott or Malfoy."

Adrian groaned. "Back to that whole last name thing again, are we?" he muttered, following her to the third aisle where she began to stock the shelves. "Look, I don't condone what the three of them did as Death Eaters, and frankly, I thought it was stupid of Marcus to tell you. But I can't deny that maybe, possibly, he did the right thing. You've known us just a little over a month, Hermione. Imagine how you'd feel if you found out months or years down the line. Marcus and Theo chose not to participate and accepted the consequences."

"And they did nothing to stop the rest of them from torturing my parents and burning down their home in order to kill them," she finished for him. "Ya know, I was fine before the four of you invaded my life. You should have just left me alone."

Reaching forward, he took the book from her hand. "Yeah, well, we didn't," he retorted. "Sure, life would have been easier if you'd continued through it all on your own. What the hell kind of life is that though? You were lonely, even if you won't admit it. We are your friends, Hermione."

She said nothing as she continued stocking the shelves. Though she had admired Marcus for his honesty, there was still a sense of betrayal that he'd planned to participate in the act that claimed the lives of her parents. She knew that they hadn't had a choice, but did what they could to avoid causing harm. But she had looked for someone to blame for five years, and now she had two people.

"Don't push us away, please, Hermione," Adrian implored, gently holding her arm.

She looked down at the hand touching her. Had it not been for her trip to the market with Adrian, she never would have befriended Draco, Marcus, and Theo. That chance meeting had set everything in motion. For the first time in half a decade she had been honestly and truly happy, and it was all their doing.

"I just...need a little time, Ade," she finally replied. "I love the four of you, and I haven't been so happy in a really long time. Eventually I'll come to the conclusion that Marcus and Theo had no control over what they were tasked to do and they chose to defy Voldemort, but now isn't that time."

Leaning down, Adrian kissed her cheek. "I know," he murmured. "But it's like Marcus told you, you'll never lose us. When you're up to it, we'll be here."

With a smile on her lips, she nodded. "Thanks, Ade."

He kissed her cheek once more before exiting the shop. After crossing the street, he rounded the corner and entered the sporting goods store where Marcus worked. He spotted Marcus by a set of golf clubs, his navy blue uniform polo untucked around his waist. His head was bent as he examined a few pages on a clipboard, and so didn't notice when Adrian snuck up behind him and clapped him on the back.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked angrily.

Adrian continued to smile as he relayed his conversation with Hermione to his friend. "She's gonna come around, mate," he finished.

"I kissed her," Marcus said softly. "I thought if she knew how I felt about her, maybe she wouldn't hate me so much. So, I kissed her and she kissed back."

"Well, that's something I didn't need to know," Adrian muttered. "I didn't know you liked her like that."

Checking off a few boxes on his form, Marcus nodded as he shifted down to the next section of the aisle. He counted golf balls and wrote down the number on the board. "It doesn't matter now," he mumbled. "She's hates me."

"She won't forever," Adrian assured him.

With his pen tucked behind his ear, Marcus placed the clipboard on a shelf and leaned back against it. "Drake likes her too," he said defeatedly.

"News flash, we all like her," Adrian replied, chuckling as he spoke. "I think we just have to leave it up to her to decide when she likes us again."

With a deep sigh, Marcus picked up his clipboard and returned to his task. "What if that never happens?" he asked.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Adrian patted his best friend on the back. "You just have to believe that everything will work out in the end," he advised.

After a long day at work, Hermione's only goal was to draw a bath and go to bed early. Her flat was dark when she entered, save for the small sliver of light passing through the curtains from the streetlight outside. Crookshanks, her old half-Kneazle cat, slept amidst a cluster of throw pillows he'd managed to pull off the sofa.

Turning on the living room light, she frowned. Her flat was too silent. She'd become so accustomed to her four new friends' presence in her life - Marcus's phone calls when they'd return home from work, Draco's late night calls, Adrian's occasional drop-by's, and Theo's penchant for sitting on her doorstep with his latest read that he planned to share with her. But tonight there would be none of that, and she knew her latest bout of loneliness was her own fault.

Taking a seat on the floor beside her cat's bed of pillows, she scratched behind her pet's ears. "Tell me what to do, Crooks," she murmured, listening as he purred. When she scratched a spot he wasn't fond of, Crookshanks turned his head and nipped her hand. "You think I'm being stupid, too?" she asked. She got to her feet when there was a knock on her front door.

No one stood on the other side when she reached it, but a small box sat at her feet. Furrowing her brow, she picked it up and carried it inside. There was a note attached to the top of the box. "Dear Hermione," she read. "I know what I did was unforgivable, but I hope this helps to ease your pain. I love you, Marcus."

Inside the box was a silver frame that held a photo of her younger self holding the hands of her parents. She remembered the day clearly - it was her first day of kindergarten and she was beyond excited to go. Her parents had held her hands tightly to keep her from running away from them. Another note was taped to the backside of the frame, and through teary eyes she read Marcus's second note.

"Draco found this the day after your parents were killed. It was in perfect condition when he found it," he wrote.

Hermione hugged the photo to her chest. Tomorrow she would thank Marcus in person for his gift.