Blaise Zabini had never been so disappointed in his life.

The fact that Draco was drunk didn't bother him. He could get as plastered as he wanted, and Blaise would be right there next to him with the next shot to cheer him on. Hell, Blaise was the instigator of nearly every one of their drunken weekend escapades; he was a firm believer in always having a good story to tell the office on Monday. But this, this was going too far.

Draco was sprawled across his armchair with an empty bottle of firewhiskey dangling from his fingertips. His chair. Blaise's bloody chair.

Blaise conjured a glass of water and poured it over the blonde's face.

Draco sputtered indignantly against the water, swinging his arm blindly through the air to try and get it to stop pouring on him. When the glass ran out, he grumbled something under his breath and threw his arm across his eyes, a light snore letting Blaise know how little he cared.

Blaise sighed dramatically and glared at his friend. "I could be at a bloody club right now with at least two witches begging me to take them home, but no. I'm stuck here with this useless bastard." He kicked Draco's foot for emphasis. He turned around and stomped over to the fireplace, cursing his friend on the way, and violently threw a handful of floo powder in.

"What is it now, Draco?"

"Hello, Pansy dearest. How are you on this fine afternoon?"

Pansy squinted into the fire and growled, "What do you want, Zabini? I'm busy."

Blaise rolled his eyes and bit back, "Believe me, I floo called everyone else before you, but I'm afraid you're the only one desperate enough to answer."

"Desperate?"

Blaise had half a second to throw himself backwards before Pansy came through the fireplace.

"I'll show you desperate, you waste of space."

Grinning at her anger, Blaise gestured to the armchair still occupied by a snoring Draco. "Perhaps you can handle this before you start throwing curses?"

Pansy hardly spared Draco a glance. "What the bloody hell did you do to him now? It's barely lunch time!"

"Believe it or not, this time wasn't my doing."

"You're right, I don't believe you. What did you give him?"

"Nothing," Blaise said indignantly. "I found him like this."

Worry began to wash over Pansy's features as she took in the state of their friend. "Did he call you?"

"No, I hadn't heard from him in several days."

Both stood quietly in front of the fire, neither wanted to begin guessing at the cause of their friend's distressing behavior. Getting absolutely trashed with your friends was one thing, but alone on a Tuesday afternoon?

"I haven't seen him like this since the war," Pansy said quietly. She knelt down next to the chair and gently moved some of the now hair out of Draco's face. Her brow furrowed as she realized he was wearing the same clothes she'd seen him in two days prior. "Call Theo. We'll need the whole family for this."

"I already tried his place, he didn't answer."

Pansy gave him a skeptical look to which he shrugged.

"He's probably at the book store or holed up in his library." Blaise vanished the empty bottle of firewhiskey and gestured to their inebriated friend. "Do you want to leave him here or try and move him to the bedroom?"

She gave an exasperated sigh. "I suppose we should probably move him." She reached for her wand but was stopped by Draco groaning and mumbling in his sleep.

Blaise's eyes widened. "Did that sound like…?"

Sure enough, Draco tossed his head to the side and moaned out Hermione's name. It should have made his two friends uncomfortable, except the tone of his voice was absolutely heartbroken and desperate. Blaise's jaw dropped when they caught sight of a single tear that rolled down his cheek.

"Dear gods," Pansy whispered and gave Blaise a desperate look. "What happened?"

-BFP-

Hermione wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually she was found by Ginny and Luna still huddled behind the desk of her shop. Her eyes burned and felt swollen from crying, and her throat ached. She felt Ginny pull her to her feet and vaguely heard them talking about taking her home. Her mind felt muddled and hazy making it difficult to focus on her surroundings.

She ended up at home, wrapped in at least three blankets and clutching a warm mug of Luna's famous tea. Ginny and Luna both sat across from her, silently supportive and waiting for her to speak.

Hermione cleared her throat several times and finally managed to croak out, "I broke up with Draco."

Both women sat in stunned silence. Luna placed a hand on Ginny's knee to prevent the explosion she knew the redhead was holding at bay and nodded for Hermione to continue.

"I feel used." Hermione stared into her cup unseeing. She couldn't keep the betrayed look on Draco's face out of her head. It was all she could think about and made her chest ache with every breath. "I was researching for the next Wizengamot meeting it just... I realized I know nothing about him. His family, his work, his friends... I don't know if he doesn't trust me, or if he never truly cared for me to begin with. Either way, it didn't matter. I felt as though I had to choose between him and the store and... I chose." She realized she had quiet tears running down her cheeks and was shocked that she still had any water in her body to cry.

Luna quietly moved to sit next to her and hugged her through the blanket cocoon they'd created. She hummed quietly to herself which had a strange relaxing effect on Hermione.

Ginny glared at the floor for several moments before seeming to come to her own conclusion. "I think," she said slowly, as if checking each word before she said it. "I think you made a wise decision, Hermione. Certainly not an easy one, but maybe the best one for you."

Hermione nodded miserably. She had thought her friends agreeing with her decision would help her, but it seemed to only make her feel worse. "I'm just so tired of losing people," she whispered.

Luna gently wiped the tears from her eyes and gave her a sad smile. "We know. Loss is the worst kind of pain a heart can feel, but you don't have to feel it alone."

"That's what family is for," Ginny agreed. She balked when this only seemed to make Hermione cry harder.

"I don't have a family," she choked out between sobs.

Luna grabbed Hermione's chin gently and turned her face to meet her eyes. "Hermione. How can you say that?"

"My parents are gone," she whispered.

"They are, but they aren't your only family." She ignored Ginny's look of confusion and took Hermione's mug from her. She set it on the coffee table so she could take hold of both Hermione's hands. "Mother Magic blesses us with family of blood, most certainly. And if we are lucky, that family is the best we could wish for. But there are two kinds of family, Hermione, and the most important one is the second. The family you make. The people you meet, and choose, and welcome into your life. People like me, and Ginny, and Harry. Even Theo, now. We are your family by choice, and we aren't going anywhere."

By now both Ginny and Luna were crying as well, and the three women huddled close together on the couch. They cried for family both lost and found, and they held each other tight until the tears finally slowed.

-BFP-

The next several days went by in a blur. Hermione spent most of her time holed up in her flat researching long forgotten laws and loopholes in hope of finding a way to save Virago. Ginny, Luna, and even Theo came by to try and offer their support. Ginny tried to make sure she left the house occasionally and ate at least twice a day. Luna brought her an endless supply of herbal teas and gave her a few unique perspectives. Harry even dropped in once or twice with updates from the Ministry, but with each passing day they could see her hope begin to fade.

"Hermione Granger does not give up."

She threw a scathing look over her shoulder and debated whether or not she valued the law book she was holding enough not to throw that as well.

"I'm not giving up, Theodore. I'm relinquishing control over a situation I can not find an agreeable outcome in."

He gave her a skeptical look and scoffed. "She doesn't do that either. Come on, I know that big brain of yours has to have come to some sort of solution by now."

She grumbled quietly under her breath and made vague gestures in the air with her hands.

"I can't understand you when you don't use your words."

"The only thing I can think of," she said while pointedly over-enunciating each of her words. "Is to attend the Wizengamot meeting myself and argue against their prejudice directly."

Theo gave a low whistle. "They won't like that."

Hermione smirked at him. "I believe that's the idea."

He was thankful to see her smile, even if it was half-hearted and mostly a vindictive smirk. Anything was better than the dark circles and hidden tears. He knew there was a lot weighing on her, most of which he had needed to use body language and context to figure out. It was still too soon to ask her about Draco, that much he was certain of. Unfortunately, that didn't keep the parchment in his robes from weighing heavily on his mind. A part of him felt she had a right to know about the status update Blaise had owled him, but that larger part of him knew she was handling enough as it was. An even larger part was asking why he was here with Hermione and not with Draco?

She stood from her precarious position in the floor among her books and came across the room to give him a swift hug, despite the fact she knew he wasn't fond of them. "Thank you for your help, Theo. I'm grateful for your friendship, especially during all of this."

Oh how heavy that parchment felt. He returned her hug and tried desperately to squash the feeling of guilt rising in his chest. "Of course, Hermione. What else are friends for?"

She looked up at him with a hopeful smile and asked, "Are they good for a late lunch as well?"

He shook his head fondly and chuckled. "Of course."

-BFP-

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for taking the time to gather today. We have called this Wizengamot meeting in order to discuss the newly proposed ban on tattoos, magical or otherwise." Kingsley's voice rang out through the court room from his seat as Minister of Magic. He gazed around the room with an almost bored expression and began the meeting, "The floor is open to those who wish to speak in agreement with the bill."

There were several quiet moments where no one spoke, and only the sound of people shifting in their seats could be heard throughout the room. Hermione took a moment to survey those gathered and noticed quite a few familiar faces. Harry, Ron, and Neville were seated in the front row on the right side of the room, family crests proudly shining on the chests next to the Wizengamot crest. She wondered why Ron was there rather than his father, but gave it little more than a passing thought. She saw Theo, Blaise, and Pansy seated on the opposite side of the room, all of which gave her covert nods and smirks of acknowledgment. She tried to ignore the way her stomach dropped when she saw the House Malfoy seat was empty.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a man finally standing behind the Minister. "I believe these tattoos are an abomination of magic and should be banned from our world permanently, and all those that create them should be charged with conspiracy with the Dark Lord." The man sat back down looking unbelievably smug.

"Thank you, Travers," Kingsley drawled. He seemed unsurprised by the man's outburst and already ready for the meeting to be over with. "Would anyone else wish to speak up on behalf of the proposed bill?"

Ronald Weasley quickly rose from his chair. "I would, Minister."

Kingsley took a slow, deep breath. "Of course, Mister Weasley."

Ron made his way to the floor, carefully ignoring Hermione's gaze. "I think we can all agree that muggles and magic should never mix. That Statute of Secrecy is a perfect example of that. Regardless of the muggle aspect, magical tattoos themselves have an especially dark past that can't be ignored."

Hermione nearly rolled her eyes at the obvious direction his argument was going. A small part of her was completely unsurprised that he was standing there protesting the very thing she worked so hard to build, but she knew this was his way of continuing their argument. It had been weeks ago, but what was a Weasley without a grudge?

"The Dark Lord himself used magical tattoos to mark his followers not only in servitude but in brotherhood. I for one think that allowing a practice the Dark Lord was so keen on using to continue to gain popularity in the Wizarding World would reverse so much of the progress we've made since the War." Ron nodded when he finished and quickly retook his seat; Harry gave him a dark look and pointedly leaned away from him in his seat.

"Thank you, Mister Weasley." Kingsley looked at the court scribe to ensure they were keeping up and then nodded at Hermione. "I believe Miss Granger would like to speak in opposition to the new bill, is that correct?"

Hermione stood from her seat and smoothed out her formal robes. "Yes, Minister, that is correct."

"Then, Miss Granger, you may have the floor."

"Thank you, Minister." Hermione stood from her chair and inhaled a deep breath. The weight of so many eyes upon her was unsettling, but she stood stall before them. She had faced down worse than old wizards in fancy chairs. She glanced over to where most of her old school mates were seated in time to see Ron quickly pale; serves him right for thinking she wouldn't fight this. She may not have a seat in the Wizengamot, but visitors were always welcome. "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Hermione Granger, and I am the owner of the Virago. As some of you may already know, it is a magical tattoo shop." She paused to allow the whispers to die down before she continued, "I am here to argue on behalf of my right as well as the right of others to continue our practice of ink-based magic."

"Ink-based magic?" She heard a voice exclaim, effectively cutting her off.

She looked up into the rows of plum colored robes and could barely make out the rather round face of a man in the middle row. If Hermione had to guess, she would assume it was the father of Millicent Bullstrode; the resemblance was almost undeniable.

He rose from his chair and scoffed loudly. "You say that as if what you're doing is equal to other magical practices like potion making or transfiguration. It's nothing more than crude, muggle practice." He looked smugly around the room as several voices raised their agreement.

Hermione patiently waited for the room to quiet. "I understand this isn't a debate on whether or not a subject should be taught at school," she said slowly, her eyes trained on Bullstrode's face. "It is a question of prejudice."

The room immediately erupted into bursts of outrage, several wizards standing from their chairs to further show their indignation. Kingsley waited several moments before beating his gavel against his table to silence the room. "If we could please keep the outbursts to a minimum, I believe Miss Granger will be allowed to finally reach her point." He gave several of them a very pointed look then gestured for her to continue.

"We are not here today to argue over whether or not Voldemort used tattoos as an awful form of slavery." There were several shivers and hushed whispers scattered around the room, fear still lingering in the masses over Voldemort's name. She looked to her right to where Harry was seated and saw him roll his eyes at their whispers. She gave him a small smile and pressed on, "There is no doubt in our minds that he used them in horrible ways to punish, control, and inflict fear on the Wizarding World. But I have to ask, how is it not prejudiced to ban an entire practice because one man used it in a negative way?" A few heads around the room nodded and gave her hope that they were truly listening. "Should we punish the good for the actions of the evil? Does one negative use of a thing make it therefore unable to be used? If that is the case, then we should outlaw wands completely!" Hermione knew the comparison was a gamble, but the shocked silence that greeted her was more than she could have hoped for. "Magic itself is used in evil ways, should we outlaw it? What of potion making? I could brew a cure just as easily as brew a poison, so surely the art must be bad. And broom riding, well that can be dangerous or even deadly, so quidditch should be canceled altogether."

She was satisfied to see many of the Wizengamot members shifting uncomfortably in their seats or nodding their head in agreement to what she said. Several were still glaring at her as though they could silence her argument with a look, but those only made her grit her teeth and wish to argue all the more.

"I understand that new forms and uses of magic should be discussed, but I would hope that it could be in a civil manor focused on the future and not lost in the past. There are new potions, new spells, and new ways of performing magic introduced all the time. Why should this be any different?" She itched to say more but knew not to press her luck. "Thank you for your time." She bowed her head toward Kingsley and retook her seat.

"Is there anyone else who would like to speak on behalf of magical tattoos?"

The room was still for a long moment, but whispers broke out when none other than Theodore Nott stood from his chair.

"I would like to speak, Minister."

Kingsley nodded his consent, and Theo made his way down to the courtroom floor.

"I understand more than most in this room the weight that a magical tattoo can hold." He met the eyes of everyone around the room, daring them to say anything about his past. "Because of that, I believe I hold a better understanding of Miss Granger's work than anyone else in this room." His voice was soft, but somehow it carried through the entire room and claimed everyone's attention. She couldn't help but admire the way he could command the room so effortlessly. "What Miss Granger is doing isn't merely playing with magic and ink. It isn't simply art either. Miss Granger has found a way to take a person's deepest pain and turn it into something truly beautiful."

As he was speaking, Theo had been slowly rolling up his left sleeve. He held out his left forearm for the entire Wizengamot to see and stood unflinching before them. Where his dark mark should have been was now a collaboration of plants and beautiful script that wound about his arm. The words smoothly changed from one book passage to another, and the large, green leaves blew gently in an invisible wind. The dark mark was no where to be seen.

"I am not proud of who I was or the past I have, but Miss Granger used her art and her magic to teach me the most important lesson I have ever learned. My past does not define me, but has given me the strength to become the person I am now. She allowed me to move on, which is something I think many of us need. There is an important distinction that I believe needs to be made as well, in that the Dark Lord created his marks through rituals and dark magic. Miss Granger uses more muggle methods and very little of her own magic which ends up being an entirely different process. In my opinion, placing the dark marks and Miss Granger's tattoos in the same categories is doing her hard work a grave injustice. I understand the trepidation of moving forward into such an unknown future and in allowing things from our past with dark memories attached to continue into the future, but the best way to leave the darkness in the past is to create light with the future. Allow Miss Granger to do just that, and you will be doing the entire Wizarding World a great service. Thank you."

Hermione resisted the urge to clap as he retook his seat. She was absolutely floored by the things Theo had said; she had no idea her work had affected him in such a way and was nearly moved to tears by his praise.

Kingsley rose from his seat and called the room to order. "I believe we have heard enough from both sides to cast a vote on the matter and put it to rest. All those in favor of passing the bill banning the use of creating tattoos using magical means, please raise your hands." He looked around the room as only a scarce few raised their hands, each looking defiantly away from Hermione's gaze. He nodded and tried to mask a small smile. "All those opposed to the bill and would permit the continued use of magical means for creating tattoos, please raise your hands."

Hermione had to hold back her excitement as nearly every hand in the room was raised. She looked over at Theo who gave her a quick wink and smiled at him in thanks.

"Very well, the bill will not be passed. Thank you for taking the time to gather this evening, you all are free to go."

She covered her face for a few moments to try and keep her happy tears at bay, but couldn't prevent the large smile that took over her face. She had won.

Hermione was met just outside the courtroom by Harry. He quirked a small smile at her and nodded towards the lifts.

"Can I walk you to work?"

She returned his smile and gave him a quick one-armed hug. "Of course you can, Harry. Need you even ask?"

They made the trip to the atrium quietly, neither spoke until they had taken one of the apparition points to Diagon Alley.

"How have you been, Hermione?"

She could tell by his tone of voice that Harry was worried about her. Not that she was surprised; he always worried about her, and to be fair she had been rather distant lately.

"I'm fine, Harry, just been having a rough few days. With the new legislation and work I've been rather busy."

He gave her a sideways glance and nodded. "That's understandable."

Hermione looked down at her feet as they walked and hoped he would leave it at that. She was never that lucky and looked up when Harry stopped walking.

"What else is bothering you? And don't tell me it's nothing, 'Mione, I know you too well for that."

She gazed up at him, her eyes misting up at the thought of everything that happened with Draco. How could she explain all of the emotions going through her? How could she explain that she broke her own heart?

She opened her mouth to try and answer but was interrupted by the sound of swift footsteps coming towards them and someone shouting her name.

Ginny and Luna came running up to her, both looking panicked and out of breath. Luna's big blue eyes were shining with tears.

"What's going on?" Just past the women she could see a group of people gathering at the end of the street, most of them pointing or yelling. They looked scared.

"Hermione," Ginny said breathlessly. "It's Virago."

Hermione didn't even let her finish. She took off at a dead run, shoving through the crowd to get around the corner and to the front of her shop. The sight before her brought her to her knees in the middle of the street.

Virago was in ruins.

The windows were nothing more than shattered glass on the ground, the front door was barely hanging from one hinge, and there were traces of smoke coming from inside the building. She gazed in horror and slowly shook her head from side to side. "No," she whispered and lurched to her feet. "No, no, no," her voice grew progressively louder until she was yelling and running into the building. Ginny and Luna shouted for her to stop, but she ignored them and frantically ran for her office in the rear of the building. She threw her shoulder against the door and tumbled through into the still smoky room.

Hermione buried her nose into the sleeve of her robe and bit back a cough. Her eyes watered from the fumes still lingering in the air which made it nearly impossible to see her surroundings; this caused her actions to be even more frantic. She shoved aside a few piles of flame-scarred books until she found the picture frames buried under what remained of her desk. She choked on a sigh of relief and clutched the frames to her chest. Her tears rushed freely down her cheeks as she rocked herself softly on the ground. She barely registered the aurors finally arriving, and only moved when Harry knelt down next to her and called her name softly.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione."

She leaned heavily against him and cried quietly into his shirt. "I don't understand, Harry."

He tried to sooth her by gently stroking her hair and holding her tight.

"Why would someone do something so cruel? After everything we've..." She trailed off and clutched at Harry and the picture frames even tighter.

Harry shushed her quietly and motioned at the other aurors to leave them be. He continued rocking her and gazing about the destroyed room, all the while swearing to himself that whoever did this wouldn't get away with it.

AN: Alright, folks, we're officially at the end of my story boarding. So I guess we're flying blind now? (nervous chuckle) I really don't know where we're going from here, but thank you for following me this far and for hopefully following me even further. Love to you all, and please let me know what you think!