Chapter Thirty-Six – The Ministry Atrium – 6:59pm

Hermione's life had begun to get back to a normal routine. Well… as normal as one might have expected.

She spent more time at work, busying herself as much as possible. She kept up a good relationship with Mr. Weasley who seemed barely fazed by Hermione's falling out with his wife and daughter. And she even made more time for Harry so he'd stop acting so suspicious of her.

She hadn't seen or heard from Greyback. No mysterious notes, no grotesque gifts, no reappearances. Nothing.

And as for her three tentative Death Eater friends, she still visited almost every day. That was the only thing that kept her from having the normal life she had previously lived. Well, that and sleeping with Dolohov as much as she did.

But lately she seemed to just be getting more and more insatiable. Which of course her partner never complained about, but it was still odd to Hermione. She had never been the type.

Sighing to herself as she continued her trek to the front doors, she only paused at the sound of her name being called from behind her. Turning in surprise, she came face to face with her red haired boss.

"What's wrong Mr. Weasley?" She questioned politely. They were still at work after all, and even if she was due to leave, that didn't mean he still didn't have need of her.

"Oh, nothing work related, my dear. I was just wondering if you and Harry would like to join us for dinner at the Burrow tomorrow night. A good old fashioned Saturday dinner."

Pausing slightly, Hermione ran through different scenarios in her mind. The thought of dinner with the Weasley women was… less than appealing. But she hadn't seen George in forever, and hadn't been able to have a decent personal conversation with Mr. Weasley due to the busy nature of their line of work.

Swallowing whatever negative feelings she felt, she put a warm smile on her face as she told him, "We'd love to." Harry would go along with whatever she decided upon. It was just in his nature. But first she had to explain it to him.

Before she went home though, she made a quick grocery run before arriving at the familiar apartment complex. She managed to whip up a decently cooked meal before the three men even bothered to wake up. Rabastan stuck his head out of his doorway, sniffing the air as he did.

"Huh, something other than meat and potatoes? I've got to say, you're really improving," he said cheekily, narrowly missing a wooden spoon to the side of the head.

"Keep talking like that and you'll go hungry," she warned.

She heard his little chuckle in return and rolled her eyes, knowing that even though he couldn't see her, he knew she was probably doing it. Rabastan seemed to have the intuition about him.

The rest of the evening went the same as it usually did. A pleasant dinner between the four of them and then Hermione retiring to Dolohov's room for some private time.

She left as soon as they were finished, feeling amazing as usual as she walked out of the apartment, smelling like sex and something woodsy that was entirely Dolohov.

Harry was still up and in the kitchen when she walked into Grimmauld Place. Remembering what Mr. Weasley had told her before she had left work, she tried approaching Harry with that. Hopefully throwing him off his usual game of twenty questions about where she had been.

"So… I was talking to Mr. Weasley after work today," she said, deciding to start off lighter than just coming right out with it. She had no idea how Harry would react to the possibility of an evening with his ex-girlfriend and motherly figure. Especially after how they treated her.

"Mm?" he responded as he looked up from his files.

She exhaled a bit to give herself reason to pause before just telling him, "He's invited the two of us to the Burrow tomorrow night. For dinner."

"Both of us?" Harry asked curiously, wondering if it wasn't just a veiled attempt to get him back into their lives.

"Yes, both of us."

He paused for a moment before asking, "Do you want to go?"

"I don't see any harm in not going," she said honestly. And it was true. The worst that could happen would be another spat between her and the Weasley women. But Hermione figured they would try to be on their best behaviors after seeing how quickly Harry ignored them for her.

"Alright then," Harry conceded. "We'll go for a little bit. But if they say anything bad about you again, we're gone."

"Deal."

The following day had Harry and Hermione spending most of it together. She felt as though she owed him that much before sending him back to a place that made him visibly uncomfortable anymore. It certainly wasn't the same place he had first seen when he was twelve.

She figured she would slip away later that night and go see the brothers and Dolohov again. Maybe fix them a meal again. Merlin knew that at least Rodolphus needed it after being stuck in Azkaban.

Sighing lightly, she looked at herself once again in the mirror and decided she looked presentable enough for dinner. Not too showy, but certainly not someone to be shoved aside.

"Ready to go?" She heard Harry ask from the hallway outside her room. Opening her door, she peeked her head out to see him in a similar style of dress as her. They actually almost matched with their blue shirts.

Still presenting the couple, she mused.

"Yeah, let's get this over with."

"The sooner, the better," he groaned dramatically before taking her arm so they could head to the fireplace together.

"Who knows, it might be nice for once," she said before giggling at the doubtful look Harry gave her. He didn't seem to have high hopes for the evening. As mild as Hermione's were, she still possessed a bit.

But after they Flooed to the Burrow, the sounds inside were certainly not the typical ones she expected.

Loud sobbing could be heard coming from the kitchen, along with a voice that Hermione recognized as Percy's.

"It'll be alright mum. You don't know for sure. It could be a stupid prank," he said in an audibly consoling voice. Hermione exchanged a worried look with Harry before the two edged closer to the kitchen.

"You don't know that! He could be dead already and none of us are doing anything!"

"We need to go to Grimmauld Place," she heard Ginny angrily exclaim. "Drag that bitch out by her frizzy hair and demand to know what she's done."

Harry, impulsive hero that he was, knew exactly who his ex-girlfriend was speaking of and charged to her defense.

"What did you just say?" He demanded to know as he showed himself in the doorway, Hermione close behind him.

Mrs. Weasley pointed one of her fingers at her and shrieked, "You! You're responsible for this!"

"Responsible for what?" She asked in complete confusion. She hadn't even seen any of them for months besides Mr. Weasley.

"For this!" Ginny bit out as she shoved a small paper box into Hermione's hands.

Her heart almost stopped as she kept the familiar material and looked at the appearance of it. It was the same. The same thing she had received for most of the year following the war. The same thing that had contained parts of her parents.

With trembling fingers and all eyes on her, Hermione opened the already unsealed box. Looking inside, she saw the broken glasses that looked the same as the usual pair seen sitting on the end of Mr. Weasley's nose while working.

And the note. The note that was always methodically placed on the bottom of the lid. It read: "I told you our game wasn't over, my pet. And now you're responsible for another life. Give yourself to me. And only me."

But all Hermione could see was the broken body of the kind and lovable Arthur Weasley. Nothing more than a play toy to the werewolves because of her stupid mistakes.

Because of her negligence.