Chapter 12

Hermione was sat in the café. It was a muggle café and she was waiting for Luna to arrive. She was early though so she still had a minute to wait. They were going to be meeting Edmund today and she was nervous. She'd asked Luna to come along so it would be less awkward. Besides Edmund had once said he'd like to meet her friends so here's his chance. She was pleased to see Luna across the street about to cross. She smiled widely as her friend came over to the table she was sat at.

"Thank you so much for coming Luna," Hermione gushed. She was pleased to see Luna wasn't wearing her usual array of unusual accessories.

"It's ok," Luna replied, "I'd like to meet him. How much does he know?"

"Everything," Hermione explained, "He knows as much as you and me."

"Can I ask why you wanted me to come?" Luna said.

"Because the last time I got to speak to him properly was just before I went to kill Voldemort," Hermione explained. "He was nineteen at the time. Now he's about thirty four. It's a little weird. Plus he's got a family now. It's totally weird."

"Did you love him?" Luna asked simply. Hermione looked at her.

"No," she answered truthfully, "but I could have if I'd let myself."

"Why didn't you?" Luna asked her.

"Because I knew it couldn't last," Hermione told her, "I knew I would be coming back." She looked at Luna who gave her a sympathetic. "Besides," she added, "I didn't want to fall in love with him. I was already in love with someone and, as funny as it sounds, I didn't want him to be replaced even though I know it will never happen. Especially now."

"You never know," Luna told her but Hermione shrugged it off. They spoke a while, Hermione thinking about seeing Edmund again the whole time. Eventually it was time for him to arrive and arrive he did. She saw him walking up the street towards the café. She thought about all the other times they had met here. It had changed a bit since then. He entered the café and headed towards their table without even looking for them.

"Ladies," he said as they stood up to greet him. He gave Hermione a hug and she knew that despite how he was acting he felt a little awkward too.

"Edmund," Hermione said when he released her, "This is Luna. Luna, Edmund." The shook hands and they all sat down again.

"So," Edmund said after a moment, "How have you been?"

"Good," Hermione answered without thinking, "Well I say good. I'm good now. How have you been?"

"I've been great!" he said, "But what about you? Why do you say you're good now? Did something go wrong? I also remember you saying that you were coping."

Hermione smiled in spite of herself. He hadn't changed. He still wanted to make sure she was okay and had nothing more to say before talking about himself. She was glad he hadn't changed.

"Yeah, things didn't quite go to plan," she told him.

"How so?"

"Well, nobody was my friend," Hermione said, "Well that's not strictly true actually. Neville was my friend but we weren't as close as we use to be. We were more like acquaintances."

"You had no friends?" Edmund asked looking confused, "What about Luna? Why weren't you friends with the guys?"

"Luna only became my friend once I told her. She believed me straight away. As for the guys, as it turns out we only became friends because of Voldemort. I'd never realised that before so it meant we'd never been friends."

"It must have been rough ," Edmund said, "At least you had Luna."

"And Lizzie," Hermione said smiling as she thought of her two friends.

"I've never heard of her before," Edmund said confused.

"There's a reason for that," Hermione told him mysteriously. Edmund had often described her as mysterious and she was trying to be so now.

"Lizzie is Harry's sister," Luna supplied when Hermione failed to elaborate. Hermione smiled when she did.

"Oh I see," Edmund said with realization, "You definitely did some good then."

"Yeah, everyone seems a lot happier," Hermione agreed slightly upset as she remembered once again what it had cost her. She hated when she thought like that. They were happy and she hated that she resented it a little.

"You did a good thing Hermione," Edmund told her sensing her feelings, "People should be praising you for it. Have you told anyone else?"

"No," Hermione said.

"Because of the rules?" he ask mockingly and she smirked. Like Ron and Harry, Edmund had believed Hermione followed the rules a little too much.

"I broke the law!" Hermione argued, "I couldn't tell them when they didn't like me. It was my punishment."

"Hermione, for being so clever," Edmund sighed, "You're not that smart sometimes. That's not a punishment. That's a coincidence."

"I still can't tell them," Hermione said.

"Why not?" Luna asked.

"Because we're not friends anymore," Hermione explained as if it was obvious, "They wouldn't believe me and if they did they wouldn't trust me. They would tell someone and then I'll defiantly be punished for it. Nobody should meddle in time."

"But you've done it before when you weren't allowed to," Edmund said shrewdly, "Third year you meddled with time."

"That was different," Hermione defended, "Dumbledore told us to and it wasn't on such a grand scale. We went back three hours not a few decades. A lot more was at risk with what I did. I could of seriously messed up the present or the future. Whatever."

"Wasn't that the point though?" Luna asked and Edmund laughed. Since when did she start asking these questions?

"You know what I mean," Hermione said beginning to get flustered, "Yes I meant to change it. But for the better like I did. It could of gone the other way and totally wrecked the future or the present. Whatever." She was beginning to confuse herself with the tenses. She relaxed slightly when she saw Edmund laughing at her.

"You always worry too much," he told her.

"I had to," Hermione replied, "I always had to be the sensible one. It's hard not to."

"I think you should tell them," Edmund said simply. Hermione looked at Luna who shrugged. Hermione sighed. She couldn't tell them. It was ok for Edmund to say that but it was Hermione who had do deal with the aftermath. She froze suddenly as she spotted someone sitting in a corner at the other side of the café. It was a woman. She was wearing a hat that covered her red hair and sunglasses. Hermione recognised her.

"Oh no," she said as she whipped her head back to her own table, "I think Lily Potter is over in that corner and I think she's watching me." Edmund and Luna both looked over. "Don't be obvious!"

They both turned back to the table and watched Hermione. She couldn't believe this. Why was Lily Potter here? It couldn't be coincidence. Could it? Hermione looked out of the corner of her eye over at the table but it was empty. The woman was gone.

"She's gone," Hermione stated to the others. Luna glanced over at the table while Edmund looked at Hermione.

"It might not of been her," he said.

"Let's hope so," Hermione replied unconvinced. "I'm really sorry Edmund but do you mind if we leave?"

"Sure no problem," he said standing up, "You worry too much though."

"You ok if we leave Luna?" Hermione asked her as they both stood up. Luna nodded.

They left the café and the girls said goodbye to Edmund. They watched him walk to the end of the street and get into his car. They waved to him as he passed. Hermione let out a sigh and began walking down the street. Luna followed her.

"Luna how could I be so stupid," Hermione burst out with, "She knows!"

"You're not stupid," Luna told her, "She might not know. Maybe she just suspects."

"It's my own fault," Hermione said coming to a stop. Luna stopped too.

"How?" Luna asked.

"For making stupid comments," Hermione said, "For letting my guard down."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Luna asked with her head tilted to the side.

"I don't know," Hermione said, "Keep away from them for one. Shouldn't be too hard. How are you getting home?"

"Knight bus," Luna informed her, "What about you?"

"Walking. I live just up the road." Hermione told her. They said their goodbyes and Luna flagged down the Knight bus. She got onboard and Hermione watched it disappear before going home to think about the days events.

Steam was billowing around Hermione and her luggage as she stood on the platform. She was looking for Luna among the hoard of students and parents around her. She'd said goodbye to her own parents on the other side of the barrier. They always felt uncomfortable walking through the seemingly solid barrier. She didn't mind that they'd stayed on the other side. Hermione often felt her parents found the whole magic thing a bit overwhelming. Not that they didn't like Hermione being a witch, in fact they were rather pleased when she got her letter; it explained all the weird things that happened. It was just they were often uncomfortable around large crowds of wizards and witches.

"Hermione!" A voice behind her was shouting, "Hermione! Over here!"

Hermione didn't turn. She recognised the voice as Lizzie's. She walked down the platform away for Lizzie pulling her trunk with her and carrying Crookshanks cage. She didn't want to be rude but Lizzie would be with her parents and after what happened at the café Hermione was determined not to let them see her. Before giving Lizzie a chance to chase after her and drag her over to the Potters, Hermione hopped onto the train.

She found an empty compartment and waited for Luna to find her. She'd told Luna that if they didn't meet up on the platform then she would find them a compartment. She let Crookshanks out of his cage and sat by the window watching people prepare to board the train. She spotted Lizzie and Harry with their parents. Sirius had tagged along too. She watched as Harry hugged his parents and Sirius goodbye and headed further down the platform. The whistle blew and Lizzie hugged her parents and Sirius quickly before jumping on the train. After a moment the train lurched forward and they were off.

Hermione sat there for a few minutes before the door opened and Luna entered the compartment with Neville. Hermione smiled up at them. They smiled back at her.

"How was your holidays Neville?" Hermione asked him.

"They were ok," Neville told them, "It was just me and Gran this year. I heard you had a good time at the Potters."

"Yeah it was good," Hermione replied quickly. She felt bad for bringing up his holidays. They could never be easy with the trips to St Mungos. She didn't let on that she knew though. "It was a fun night."

"I wish I could have been there," Neville said sadly. Hermione smiled sympathetically at him. They fell into a comfortable silence. Hermione took out a book to read while Luna read the quibbler. Neville decided to do some last minute homework. Hermione couldn't help but notice some of his mistakes and correct them for him. He seemed grateful for the help.

After a couple of hours or so the compartment door opened again and in stepped Lizzie. Hermione had decided to distance herself from Lizzie this term for fear of the Potters finding out who she is. She now discovered it would be harder than she thought. Lizzie seemed to emit an energy that you couldn't help but be happy around and worry about things less.

"Hi guys," she said brightly as she sat down next to Luna. "I would've come see you earlier but Ginny had some juicy gossip for me."

"That's ok," Hermione told her, "Not much has been happening here so we understand."

"What was the gossip?" Luna asked her.

"Ginny and Dean broke up," Lizzie told them happily.

"What?" Hermione exclaimed leaning forward.

"Yup, they broke up," Lizzie repeated, "That's one couple down another to go!"

"Lizzie!" Hermione scolded and Lizzie mutter an apology

"What?" Neville asked confused.

"Lizzie wants Ginny and Harry together, only she couldn't because they were both in a relationship," Hermione explained to him, "How's Ginny?"

"She seems ok actually," Lizzie said thoughtfully, "I don't think she was that attached to him. She mentioned that might have been a contributing factor to the break up. That and the fact he kept annoying her."

"Lizzie you seem a bit too happy about the fact that your friend just broke up with her boyfriend," Hermione said. She had to admit though she was happy about it too. She felt bad for Dean but she always thought Harry and Ginny were a match made in heaven. Especially after she became more mature and sure of herself.

"You know my views on the subject," she argued and they all laughed. "Do you think Harry and Cho might break up?"

"I don't know Lizzie," Hermione said, "You can't interfere though."

"I know," Lizzie replied, "doesn't mean I can't hope though."

"You might not have to hope long," Neville said, "From what Harry says in the dormitory they've been fighting a lot."

"Really?" Luna said excitedly while Hermione simply rolled her eyes at her. Luna continued to read the quibbler. The four of them sat together for the rest of the train journey. Ginny popped in for a while to see them and Harry and Ron stopped in for a few moments to talk to Lizzie. Hermione soon realised her plan to distance herself from Lizzie would be unsuccessful. She smiled when she realised this.