108 Richmond Avenue

Richmond

Surrey

Sunday 9th May 1999

13:37pm

Hermione stirred the tea three times before removing the spoon and placing it in the sink with a heavy sigh. She hated to let the housework slide but it was Sunday and she was feeling lazy. Padding into the living room, she dropped into the sofa, tucking her legs up under her as she sipped the camomile tea. She picked up her notes, pulling the quill from where she had tucked it into her messy bun on the top of her head and chewed on the end of it thoughtfully as she went back over what she had written.

The sound of the floo roaring to life broke her reverie, causing her to look up sharply from her notes. The familiar dark haired wizard stepped from the fireplace, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he threw her a nervous smile.

"I probably should have owled first, it being Sunday," he apologised.

Hermione waved it away as she put her tea and notes down on the coffee table.

"If you're busy I can come back?" he offered.

"No, it's fine. It's only work stuff. Nothing that cannot wait," she told him, rising from the sofa. "Tea?"

Harry shook his head. "No thank you. I thought we should talk"

Hermione stared at him. "Really?"

"Really. I should probably apologise. For the things I said. Things have been...difficult."

"I am aware."

Harry raked a hand through his hair as he paced a little before settling in the chair next to the fireplace.

"I don't know where to start," he stated somewhat sheepishly.

"Well how about at the beginning," Hermione suggested with a small smile.

Harry hummed. "I don't really know where the beginning is. Not anymore."

Hermione chewed her lip thoughtfully. "I think the beginning is somewhere back in the tent."

"What makes you say that?" Harry frowned.

"Somewhere along the way we started to drift. Our friendship was tested and suffered cracks. We were all at the Manor but we all experienced it very differently. What happened after? Well we both know what happened during the battle. I don't know what happened specifically for you to start questioning my judgement and to stop trusting me, but that's exactly what happened. And you have been doing it ever since. With my internship. With my friendship with Theo. With my research."

Harry blinked several times before pushing his glasses back up. "It isn't that I don't trust you," he started. Hermione cut him off. "No?"

"No. It's...What you're asking, who you are asking us to trust."

Hermione rolled her eyes "I am asking you to trust me, no one else."

"But Hermione, you are placing your trust in the likes of Malfoy and Nott. Of Death Eaters."

"Stop right there." Hermione held a hand up "Theo never took the Mark and Draco…"

"Draco? When did he stop being Malfoy and start being Draco?" Harry asked, his voice raising slightly with his temper.

Hermione fish gaped for a moment her eyes wide. "What?" she cried incredulously.

"Listen 'Mione, we are worried about you. You haven't been to The Burrow in months. We never see you. You spend all your time at the Ministry or with Theo Nott…"

Hermione cut him off "I am an intern. I have exams soon. Theo is my partner. And you both made it quite clear last November where the three of us stood, so honestly, what did you expect?"

Harry groaned. "I didn't come here for another argument 'Mione."

"No? Because it seems to me like you did."

"I was there for you before and I will be there for you again. I will always be there for you."

"Except now. Doesn't it occur to you that maybe I need you now? But you are too wrapped up in your childish grudge which you refuse, even now, to let go. You would rather see him rot than face the possibility that maybe, just maybe, a good man has been sent to Azkaban for the wrong reasons."

"He was a Death Eater, Hermione, a Death Eater sent to kill Dumbledore, or have you forgotten that?" Harry cried.

Hermione lost it. "He was a child. A child sent to do what a man could not do, with or without his humanity. You said yourself, he was lowering his wand. He didn't have it in him. His Mother saved your life and you testified on her behalf, but you just could not bring yourself to testify with the same passion for him. He is a good man."

"I don't know how they have tricked you into believing that…."

"Get out."

"What?" Harry's eyes widened.

"I said, get out. You are no longer welcome in my home."


Gallery Quay Penthouse Apartment

40 Lower Thames St,

London EC3R 6AG

14:22pm

The floo roared to life, green flames flashing off the pristine walls rousing him from where he had been dozing with a book. He lept up, catching Hermione as she tumbled into his arms, sobbing against his shirt. He clutched at her, grimacing internally as he felt the fabric under his fingers. He really did loathe that particular shirt.

"Granger, what's wrong? What's happened?" he pressed gently.

"I had a row with Harry," her words choked as she continued to cry.

Theo's eyes narrowed but he said nothing.

"It was awful."

Unfortunately, he could imagine.