Well, um. This is kind of awkward.

I know I have been away for about 27 thousand years. And a half.

How about we get to know each other again? My name is Ellie, and I write fanfiction. This story is about Krum and Hermione and Ron and other characters... And you are my readers, my loyal readers who I have betrayed in the most hideous way.

Honestly, I am SO sorry about not updating this story in almost a year.

The light... it's brighter than the smile of a Seeker who's caught the Snitch, brighter than an exploding star, brighter... brighter than the fire at the Burrow, where she had spent so many summers... brighter than anything she had ever seen... it sears her eyes as they open...

Suddenly the world came into focus. Cormac was gazing down at her, worry creasing his brows. The streetlamp he had re-lit was the bright light that was invading her eyeballs.

"Hermione," he muttered, in a relieved tone. "You're okay! You've been unconscious for two minutes, and I couldn't revive you. I was worried I'd get in trouble with Ron for letting you die on my watch – and you too, of course. I was really worried about you as well." He glanced around to where Krum still lay on the floor, his rising and falling chest the only indication that he was still alive. "I stunned him good and proper. He won't come round for at least an hour," he said, smug as ever.

She tried to get up, but she was still dizzy, and she slumped back to the ground, exhausted. Cormac looked embarrassed. "Oh yeah... um, let's get you home now." He glanced around the alleyway to make sure nobody was watching, and then waved his wand to extinguish the streetlight once more. Then, momentarily forgetting that she was still sprawled on the ground, he began to button his coat and tidy his hair; this spurred Hermione to cough loudly and angrily.

"Oh, fuck, sorry!" Cormac cried, leaning down to scoop her into his arms. She was surprised at how strong he was – he picked her up with no trouble at all. Then again, Cormac had always been a bag of muscle, and even if he'd lost a little of it, there was still a lot there. She let herself drift, there in his arms. If she concentrated hard she could almost imagine that Cormac's blonde hair had turned red, and he had grown taller, and his limbs had stretched, and it was Ron holding her, and not this gorilla who had picked up a wand one day. It was Ron who held her carefully while they Apparated back to the house, and it was Ron who set her down gently on the sofa. Except... it wasn't. Because Ron was already on the sofa when they arrived; he leapt out of the way and gestured for Cormac to lay Hermione there, and for Gabrielle, who had been sitting next to him, to go and see to it that the children were in bed and out of the way.

"What happened?" he demanded. "What did you do?"

Cormac looked indignant. "I saved her!" he retorted, in a self-satisfied way. "That douche Krum had her in an alleyway. If I hadn't been there, he could have hurt her."

"Well, she's not exactly doing amazingly now, is she?" Ron said, gesturing to where Hermione lay on the sofa. "Are you sure it was even Krum?"

"Yes," Cormac replied. "I stunned him. He's still in that alleyway."

An expression of frustration and anger flashed across Ron's face. "You idiot! You just left him there? Lying in an alleyway? What the fuck, Cormac? What's going to happen now, huh? His lawyers will be all over you!"

There was a pause. Hermione smiled inwardly – it was nice to have two guys both fighting over her. Especially when Ron was acting like this; all protective and sensible. This was what she had always wanted him to be.

The silence was broken by a small voice from the doorway. "Is Mummy okay?" asked Andrei, tentatively. After this there was another silence, in which Hermione could tell that both Cormac and Ron were trying to think of something to say to this small, worried child who had no idea what had really gone on. They both spoke at once.

"Mummy's fine, Mummy's just a bit tired," Ron said.

At the same time, Cormac blurted, "It's okay Andrei, your mummy's just, erm, a bit sick."

Ron shot Cormac a glare. Andrei looked even more worried. "Sick? Mummy's sick?"

"No, Andrei, like I said, Mummy's tired," Ron hurriedly said. He knelt down to the little boy's level. "She just needs some rest. Don't worry. Tomorrow she'll be fine – maybe she'll even play soldiers with you. Okay?"

Andrei nodded.

"Good. Now, I'm pretty sure it's quite late, and waaaay past your bedtime. Off to your room – Gabrielle will put you to bed." With a smile, Andrei scampered out of the room, and Ron straightened up. "What were you thinking, Cormac?" he demanded. "You never tell a kid that their parent is sick. They worry. I remember once when I was young, and Dad got ill. Percy told Ginny, who was only four, that Dad had to go into hospital. It wasn't very serious but Ginny was terrified; she had nightmares for weeks!"

From her position on the sofa, Hermione saw Cormac mutter an apology. The men were standing at either end of the sofa, Ron by Hermione's head, Cormac by her feet. She could practically feel Ron's anger radiating off of him.

"Well, what I am I supposed to do now, then?" Cormac hissed. "Just go back to that alleyway, get Krum, and Apparate him back to his house or something? Act like it never happened?"

Ron considered this for a while. "Yeah, that was pretty much all I had." He shrugged. "Just leave him outside his house – there'll be protection against going inside."

With a hmmph-ing sound, Cormac headed to the hall, and Hermione heard the crack as he Apparated. She felt a lot better now; she sat up and glanced at Ron. He had slumped into a chair and was sitting with his head in his hands.

"Um... Ron?"

He jumped when she said his name. "Hermione! Good, you're okay. Sorry, I was just... thinking." He paused, then stood up. "What happened, Hermione? In that alleyway? Is Cormac telling the truth?"

"Of course he is!" Hermione said, surprised. "Victor just cornered me in the alleyway, and I couldn't reach for my wand. Cormac saved me. He didn't do anything to hurt me, if that's what you're thinking. Ron, he might be a pompous twat, but he would never do that. It was all Victor – I should have seen it coming, really." She was astonished that Ron could think that Cormac could even think of doing something like that. "Cormac's been a... a sort of gentleman tonight. Give or take."

"Sorry, I just... I don't know. I didn't want to believe it, I think." Ron's face was pale and drawn, and he looked exhausted.

"Look, I'm feeling better now. Victor didn't actually hurt me, just scared me. I'll be fine by myself if you want to go to bed," she offered. She wanted to spend time with him, but at the same time, she cared about him, and Ron definitely needed some rest.

Immediately, Ron's face brightened a little. "Yeah, okay," he said. Then, "Are you sure you'll be okay down here?"

"Yeah," she replied, with only a trace of wistfulness in her voice.

With that, Ron crossed the room and headed upstairs to his and Gabrielle's bedroom. Hermione heard the voices of first him, and then Gabrielle; the first sounded tired, the second sounded worried. Then the door closed and she couldn't hear anything anymore. She lay back, feeling suddenly worn out again, and closed her eyes. She wondered what would have happened if it had been Ron who had found her, Ron who had saved her – but as soon as the thought popped into her head, she felt awful. Gabrielle was so kind and sweet to her, and Hermione could tell that she genuinely cared about what happened to her. I sometimes wish she would go away. I sometimes don't care about what would happen to her if Ron and I did fall in love again, thought Hermione. I'm a bitch. A complete and utter bitch – I kissed Gabrielle's husband. And I want him to leave her for me...

Suddenly, a crack of someone Apparating into the hallway jerked her out of her thoughts. Cormac was back.

"Hermione!" he exclaimed, coming back into the living room. "You're awake. So you're feeling better?"

"Yes," she replied, sighing inwardly at having to repeat all of this 'are you feeling better' spiel again. "I'm fine. I just need a little rest. I might be going up to bed, now, actually." She sat up, and got up off the sofa. The world spun a little, but she managed to stay upright. "Night, Cormac."

"Night, Hermione. See you in the morning, I guess," he said, sprawling across the sofa.

"Oh, and Cormac?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for, well... saving me. I really appreciate it."

And then she raced upstairs before he could reply.

Once upstairs, she found Stefan and Andrei already asleep, curled up. Katerina wasn't. She was sitting up in her cot, grizzling softly and playing with a stuffed animal. Despite her fatigue, Hermione lifted her out of the cot and fed her, and then played with her for a little while before putting her back. The baby fell asleep almost immediately, and Hermione could finally go to bed.

On her way back from the bathroom, she heard voices coming from Ron and Gabrielle's room.

"Ron, ma cheri, are you sure?"

Sure about what? she thought. She stopped and leaned against the wall, where she could clearly hear the conversation. Sure, what she was doing was pretty dodgy, but from Gabrielle's tone, she could tell that whatever Ron was sure about, it was serious. She needed to hear.

"Gabby, look, I know you've enjoyed having Hermione and the kids in the house, but... well, they just can't stay here. And neither can Cormac. It's too difficult and too dangerous."

Hermione blanched. Leave? Now? When Krum had tried – literally two hours ago – to attack her?

"Do you not want to protect 'er? If she lives on 'er own, she will be more in danger than she is now!"

She nodded. Gabrielle had the right idea.

"Having her here puts all of us in danger. You're pregnant, Gabby, with my child. I don't want anything to happen. But... but I was thinking Cormac could move out too – face it, Gabby, he's a bloody terrible guest. They could move in together. They're both total basket cases at the moment. He'll protect her, seeing as he saved her once already." This last part was said in sarcastic tones.

At this, Hermione's face grew red and she had to fight not to burst into the room and shout at Ron until he apologised and said of course she could stay, for as long as she wanted, and that he would always be there for her, and that no matter how annoying her children got, he would always love having them around and would raise them as his own and...

Oh crap. Ron was speaking again.

"I'm telling them in a few days – it's not really fair on Hermione to kick her out just after being attacked by her ex-husband, is it?"

"It's not fair at all, Ron!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm just doing what's best for all of us. They have to go."

A/N: Again, I am terribly, terribly sorry for not writing this in so long. I don't really have the right to ask you to review, so I'm not going to. You don't have to review. Just try and forgive me for my crimes against fanfiction readers :(

See you in another 65 million years (or hopefully a little less than that. Maybe a month)