A/N: Hi lovelies! It's gonna be consistent updates from here on out, since I'm writing the last chapter right now! *squeals* Man, that's a weird thought, considering at one point, I was sure that I was gonna be writing this well into the summer. I do have a question for you guys, though: would you prefer daily updates from here on out or weekly? Whichever answer I get more of, that will be the one I choose.

Tallyho!

Chapter 24: Hermione (New Year's Eve Interlude)

The villa in Greece is gorgeous. It's just outside Mykonos and the view alone is to die for. Ginny said the villa itself is called the House of Turquoise and I can see why; the entire theme throughout the whole house is white and turquoise. Very fitting for the Greek beachside. There's a beautiful pool in the backyard and a small path that leads down to a small cove that expands into the beach. The water is crystal clear blue and I immediately find myself entranced by the millions of colors dancing in the ocean water.

This morning, Jacque, Ginny, and I stayed by the pool, enjoying the beautiful weather while the boys ran off to the beach and caused who knows what kind of trouble (Little Ben stayed with his grandparents for the holiday). The boys came back a couple hours later, thoroughly exhausted and more than a little sunburned. Poor Draco had to take a cold shower as an attempt to cool his skin down. I lathered him up with some muggle aloe vera after he got out and sent him to bed. He woke up feeling better but that bottle of aloe has not been far from his side since. I had to muffle a laugh as I watched my boyfriend- fiancé- use a muggle remedy to soothe his burned skin.

Currently, the boys are off setting up some fireworks for the celebrations tonight, leaving us girls to our own devices. We're sitting on the patio drinking some champagne, a bonfire glowing in the firepit, and laughing about Ginny and Harry's first kiss after Gryffindor won the House Cup our sixth year. Ginny blushed as I explained Ron's reaction- or lack of one- to Jacque. Ginny then begins to explain that Ron cornered her later that night and attempted to tell her about what happened when a boy and girl get together. She managed to shoo him off with a snarky comment about being quite adept in that area of a relationship and I have to keep from falling off my seat at the picture of Ron stalking away from his sister red-face and muttering to himself, not wanting to imagine that his best friend and sister would ever get to that point in their relationship.

"Gin, you are ruthless," I finally manage to say, toasting her glass in approval of her methods.

She shrugs and smirks. "What can I say? When you grow up with six older brothers, you learn things about the human body and their functions a little earlier than you probably should."

I snort and take a sip of my drink. "Heaven help your brothers' children." I immediately sober and give Jacque a sympathetic look. "No offense, Jacque."

She smiles and shakes her head. "None taken."

Ginny takes a big sip of her glass and frowns when she sees that it's empty. "If you'll excuse me for a minute, ladies, I need a little more bubbly." She happily skips back into the house, leaving Jacque and myself alone. We sit in a moderately comfortable silence before I speak up.

"How do you think the boys are doing?" I say, trying to make conversation.

She shrugs. "There haven't been any loud explosions so I think they're fine."

I chuckle and shake my head. "Merlin help them if something catches on fire."

She's silent for another moment before looking at me. "Can I ask you something?" she says.

"Shoot," I say, taking another sip of my drink.

"Did you love Ron?"

I nearly choke on my drink and look at her in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"It's a yes or no question, Hermione. Did you love Ron?"

"I- I fail to see why this is even a topic of conversation," I say, trying to figure out what the hell she's talking about.

"Just, please, answer the question," she says, her eyes begging me to go along with her.

I sigh and think about it for a moment before answering her.

"I did, once; before the war. I loved everything about him: his smile, his laugh, his sarcastic responses to everything. At the time, I thought he was perfect. Then the war came and my perspective changed; hell, I changed as a person. We all did.

"After the war, I saw Ron not as who he was but who he could have been and what he could have done. I saw so much potential in him that I pushed him a little too far, I think. I was forcing an idea onto him that he wasn't comfortable with. I think he resented me for that for a while.

"As time went on, I no longer saw what Ron could have been; instead, I saw more of who he had become: a man scarred from war and a boy who had lost his brother. He needed comfort and I couldn't give it to him; I was also damaged and I needed time to heal. I look back on it now and realize that perhaps it wasn't Ron who I loved, so much as the potential that I saw in him." I pause for a second before speaking again. "So, to answer your question, Jacque, yes, I did love Ron. I loved him for who he was and who I thought he could be. But I was never in love with him; I cared for him deeply but I couldn't love him like that. Not how you love him; not how I love Draco."

She nods and takes a swig of her drink. "Can I ask what brought that on?" I say.

She swallows and leans her head back on the seat. "Call it a moment of weakness," she says. We're silent as she mulls over her thoughts. "I don't know; sometimes I just feel like Ron wakes up some mornings and expects someone else to be there."

"Who?" I ask.

"Honestly: you," she says, glancing at me before looking back up.

I nearly choke on my drink. "W- what? Jacque, no, that's-"

"I'm not saying it's your fault, Hermione. You two haven't spoken in years, how could it be?" She sighs and studies her hands. "I just sometimes think that for him, you're the one that got away. The big 'what if,' if you will. And to see you with Draco has brought some old feelings back for him, I think."

I'm speechless; I did not see that coming at all. "Jacque, you must know that Ron loves you. I can see it in the way that he looks at you; it's like he'd die without you."

She chuckles but there's no humor behind it. "I love him very much; and I don't doubt that he loves me and Ben. I just wonder sometimes if perhaps we were a bit too hasty when we married. It was right after the war and we were young and impulsive." She sighs and stands up. "I'm going to go rest before the fireworks go off," she says, leaving me alone and completely dumbfounded by what the hell just happened.

I wait another moment before sighing. "You can come out now," I say, "she's gone inside."

Ginny walks back onto the patio, bottle of champagne in her hand and she plops down onto the seat next to me, pouring herself another glass before looking at me. "You okay?" she asks.

"What the hell was that?" I ask. "Did you know she felt that way?"

Ginny nods. "She told me once."

"When?"

She hesitates. "About a month after they moved to England and Ron got the job with the Aurors. She said that she noticed small things like the way his eyes always glanced at your door when they walked by and how concerned he was when he got the news that you were in the hospital."

Suddenly, certain things are starting to make sense. "On Christmas Eve, you shared a look with Luna when Jacque made a comment about me and Draco-"

She nods. "Luna also suspects that Ron has some lingering feelings for you; but nothing he would ever act on. We also agree that Ron does love Jacque. Personally, I think they're great together." She covers my hand with hers and squeezes. "Don't worry about what she said, Hermione. Jacque's had some self-esteem issues ever since Ben was born; I think a little bit is from some of the postpartum depression that she's suffering from. She's also had quite a bit to drink. Please don't take it personally."

I shake my head. "I'm worried, Gin. I don't want her to think I'm trying to hurt her or I'm going to take Ron away from her."

Ginny shakes her head. "She knows you're not, love. Anyone who sees the way you and Draco look at each other knows that you two are madly in love and only have eyes for each other."

"I have to talk to her," I say, making a move to get up but Ginny pulls me back down.

"Talk to her in the morning; let her sleep off the alcohol and let her embarrassment settle. I'm sure you'll find the conversation to be far more productive."

I nod and sigh. Suddenly, we hear voices and turn to find the boys walking towards us. Despite the events that just happened, I can't help the smile that grows on my face when I see Draco. He smiles back at me as he gets closer to us.

"Well, no one looks like they caught on fire, so I assume the fireworks are all ready?" Ginny says.

Harry grins and nods. "Yep! We have approximately fifteen minutes before the show begins which gives me plenty of time to grab something to eat because I am starving!"

"I'll go with you," Ginny says, walking off to the kitchen with her husband.

Ron looks around and seems confused. "Where's Jacque?"

"Said she wanted to lay down before the fireworks started," I reply.

He nods in thanks and wanders off towards his room to find his wife, leaving Draco and I alone on the patio. He bows dramatically and offers me his arm. "Care to take a walk?"

"I'd love to," I giggle.

I stand up and take his arm and we walk down to the little cove; we walk in a comfortable silence, hand in hand. As we reach the cove, Draco sits down on a nearby rock and looks up at the stars while I wander off towards the water and stand on the shore, smiling as the water covers my feet. The water's surprisingly warm for late December but I don't mind. It's quite refreshing, actually.

I feel Draco come up behind me and wrap his arms around my waist and he kisses my temple. "Galleon for your thoughts, love?"

I chuckle. "They're not worth that much."

"They are to me," he says, his breath hitting the base of my neck and sending chills down my spine.

I lean my head back against his shoulder and he kisses the base of my neck. "I love how peaceful it is here. I feel like I can just forget about everything here. Nothing else matters, you know? It's just you and me and the stars."

I can feel his smile against my neck. "It'll always be you and me and the stars, Hermione."

I chuckle and look back out onto the water and pull his arms around me tighter. "Maybe we could just stay here, Draco. Grow old. Forget about the outside world, the case, New York, even London. What if we just found some secluded island in the middle of the ocean and made it ours? Build our own little house on it and live out the rest of our lives in paradise."

He kisses my temple. "That does sound lovely," he says. "But there's one problem with that."

"Oh?" I ask. "And what's that?"

"I'm already in paradise," he whispers in my ear. "With you."

I smile and turn around in his arms to look at him. He smiles at me and leans in to kiss me. Right as our lips meet, the fireworks begin to go off. We look up and smile at the variety of colors shooting off in the sky. I giggle at the red and green fireworks that go off together and overlap one another. I look back at Draco and see him smirking. "Nice touch," I say.

He shrugs. "I couldn't help it," he says.

I chuckle and pull him into another kiss. "Happy New Year, Draco."

"Happy New Year, Hermione."

As we stand on the beach, embraced and kissing under the fireworks, I realize that Draco's right: we are in paradise. Together.

I'm one of the first ones awake in the morning. I quietly sneak of bed, careful not to wake Draco, and wander out into the kitchen to make myself some coffee. As I get out there, however, I notice that I'm not the first one awake.

Jacque looks up from the paper she's reading and immediately pales some. I give her a small smile and pour myself some coffee before sitting down catty-corner to her. We're silent for a few moments; she's looking over the paper but I can tell that she's no longer paying attention to it. When she hasn't turned the page for a few minutes, I speak up.

"Jacque, I was wondering if we could talk about last night," I begin.

She jumps a little and shakily puts down the paper. "Hermione, please don't think anything of it; I had had a little too much to drink and it messed with my thoughts. Can we just forget about it, maybe?"

I nod. "Of course; I just- I want to clarify one thing. I don't love Ron; maybe I did once but that was years ago and we've grown up since then. We have our own lives now and neither of us really play a pivotal role in each other's anymore. I'll always care for him; he was my best friend for eight years, you don't just forget about that." I cover her hand with mine. "But I'm happy with Draco and Ron is so very obviously happy with you, I just want you to know that I'm not going to try and sweep in and bring back the past. I've messed with time before, I have no intention of doing it again."

She furrows her brows and I smirk. "Another time."

She gives me a small smile and sighs. "I know you wouldn't do anything like that, Hermione and I do apologize for what I said last night. I don't know what came over me; maybe it was the champagne, maybe it was being away from Ben for an extended period of time, I don't know. I just hope I haven't ruined our chances at a friendship because I definitely thought that we had one forming."

I chuckle and squeeze her hand. "Not at all. Today is the beginning of a new year, so what do you say we toss last night out as the final hoorah to a very weird year and treat today as our fresh start?"

She smiles. "I'd like that."

I raise my mug for a toast and she does the same. "To a fresh start," I say.

"To a fresh start," she repeats.

We smile at one another for a moment before I look off to the hallway. "You can come out now, Gin!" I say.

Ginny sheepishly comes out of the hallway, trying not to laugh. "How do you do that?" she asks.

I shrug. "It's an Auror thing."

She laughs and pours some coffee for herself before joining us at the counter. "Anything interesting in the outside world?" she asks, gesturing to the paper.

Jacque shakes her head. "Nothing that I need bother to repeat. It's been a relatively quiet holiday it seems."

I slide the paper out from under her fingers and begin to flip through it, stopping when an article on a new set of Arithmancy books that's going to be released. I become glued to the story until I see a hand put the paper down on the counter and lips kiss my cheek. "Good morning," Draco says.

I look to him and smile. "Good morning," I reply, kissing him softly.

"Blegh!" a new voice says and we look to find Harry and Ron emerging from their rooms, looking thoroughly disgusted. "Can't you two at least wait until you get home to do that?" Ron says.

Jacque laughs and smacks her husband on the arm. "Oh, you hush. I think it's romantic."

Ron rolls his eyes and wraps his arms around her shoulders and kisses her temple. "Whatever you say, love."

She smiles and leans into his embrace and as I watch them, I know that, no matter what Ron may feel or not feel for me, he adores his wife and she adores him back. Jacque has nothing to worry about; Ron's not going anywhere.

I look back at Draco and smile at him as I know that he's not going anywhere either.

Pictures of the House of Turquoise (yes, it's a real place) are on the TCC Pinterest board.

Better fasten your seatbelts, kids. Things start to pick up from here. Not immediately, but in time, they will.

Please review!