A/N- I want to thank everyone again for their kind reviews and support!

~Dot

It had been a few days since Fred's funeral and things were starting to calm down. The hellish week of funerals was over- which meant that they should be moving on, or at least forward. But, for some reason, that was almost as scary to Hermione as all of the deaths were.

She had no idea what to do with her life. As a child, she envisioned herself as a solicitor, or a librarian, or a veterinarian. Once she entered Hogwarts, her eyes were opened, and she was overwhelmed by all of the possibilities. Still, her passions stayed the same and her career preferences were only altered slightly. She thought of working in the Ministry as some sort of legislator, going to bat for magical creatures and those without power. Or maybe she would become a magical librarian. She could picture herself working in the Hogwarts library; enjoying the immense literature available in between shushing children and lecturing troublemakers. But then, the war happened. She pushed down any aspirations she had. It was too hard and painful to think of a future she likely wouldn't have. Now, it felt like she had a minuscule amount of time to make some of the biggest decisions of her life.

Before she could make any life-changing decisions, she needed to go to her parents to change their memories back. Or, at the very least, to see that they are okay. However, she hadn't heard back from Kingsley, and their meeting wasn't for another week.

Other than that… well, there were too many options. She hadn't talked much to Harry or Ron about it, but it seemed like they were going to join the Aurors. If they did that, she would be on her own. She could go back to Hogwarts. It would be her best option, as it was unlikely she would be able to get a good job without NEWTs. On top of that, it would give her another year to figure out what she wanted to do with her life.

But, that would mean that she would have to go back to Hogwarts alone. Or at least without her best friends- without Ron. She couldn't imagine herself there without them. Of course, she didn't want to be that girl- the one who buggers up their education for a boy. She would just have to suck it up.

She didn't know why, but, it wasn't just the idea of going to Hogwarts without Harry and Ron that gave her pause. It was also the idea of going back to Hogwarts at all. She wasn't sure she could stomach being in that building again. Whenever she pictured her once-home all she could see was carnage, blood splatters, and death. It would be a challenge to be there at all, let alone try to learn.

All of these possibilities were running through her head as she tried, in vain, to sleep. As she was straining her mind to think of what careers she could have without NEWTs, she heard the bedroom door open. Unfortunately, she was facing away from the door, unable to see if Ginny was leaving or someone was entering. She grasped her wand out of habit and slowly turned to get a look.

She was only able to see a flash of red hair as the door closed. Ginny was still in her bed, sound asleep, so it wasn't her. Hermione had an idea of who the mysterious intruder was, and quietly put on her slippers to follow the trespasser down the stairs.

He was well ahead of her, and by the time she got to the landing, he was already out the front door. She paused for a moment to decide if she should follow him. Maybe he wanted to be alone? They had barely talked over the past couple of days- she was trying to give him some space. But now she was worried. What if he was rethinking their whole relationship? After all, the start of it was hasty and not thought out. Not to mention in a time of high stress. Maybe now that the fear was over, he could see with a clear mind. And that mind didn't want her.

She huffed silently to herself and began walking towards the front door. Standing here worrying wasn't going to help anything. If he wanted to break it off, she might as well know now.

A light fog rested over the landscape, and, at first, Hermione didn't see Ron sitting on the front steps of the burrow. He turned his head when she opened the door. "Hey," he said, smiling softly when he realised it was her.

"Hi," she replied. She stood in the door frame, pausing for a moment to decide her next actions. She knew she must look silly just standing there, and was likely letting bugs into the house, so she carefully closed the front door and sat next to Ron.

"I hope I didn't wake you," he said, turning to look at her in concern.

"No, I hadn't fallen asleep yet." She had no idea what time it was or if it was ridiculous to still be awake. The night was dark, with only the fog and a porch light illuminating them.

"Is everything okay?", she asked. "It was you who was at our door?", she added.

"Yeah, erm, sorry about that," he said, rubbing his neck. Even in the dark, Hermione could see guiltiness on his face.

"It's alright," she responded, "did you need something?"

"No, nothing like that. It just-," he paused, then shook his head, "I probably sound barmy." Hermione's curiosity had peaked, and she urged him to continue.

"When we were on the run, I knew where you and Harry were- mostly," he lowered his head regretfully. Hermione shyly put her hand on his shoulder, as a reminder that she forgave him for leaving them.

"But now," he took a deep breath and swallowed. "I can't stop thinking that you- that something is happening, and I'm not there. So, sometimes I check on you. To make sure."

"You've done this before?", she asked inquisitively, shocked that she had slept through these other instances.

"Erm, yeah. Pretty much every night since we got back."

"Oh," Hermione said, surprised. She glanced at Ron's face and he looked incredibly embarrassed. "I understand," she reassured. "Or at least I think I do," she added, not wanting to assume his feelings. "I worry about you too, and Harry. It was easier when we were in the tent."

Ron nodded his head, looking slightly relieved. Hermione replaced her head with her hand and cuddled into his arms. There were barely any stars in the sky, still, they stared out into the abyss for some time. Hermione felt at peace for the first time in a while, however, when Ron spoke, his tone disquieted her.

"'Mione," he said warily. "Erm," he took a deep breath, "are we okay?"

Oh, Merlin, she thought, this was it, they were having the conversation. She could feel her heart begin to race as Ron continued.

"You've been avoiding me," Ron said matter-of-factly.

"Oh." Realisation hit her- this was all her fault- any trouble they were having were due to her actions. "Goodness no," she said emphatically. "I was trying to give you space- you know, with everything that happened. But I wasn't trying to avoid you."

Ron paused, apparently thinking over her statement. "What makes you think I would want space from you?", he asked calmly but pointedly. "With everything we've been through together, haven't you figured out that I want you? That I'd rather spend more time with you, not less? No matter what's happened."

Hermione sighed, not sure if her sigh was out of relief or frustration. "I suppose so," she said. "I don't know, Ron. I don't know what you want or when you want to talk to me." The words tumbled out of her. "This is new to me."

Ron looked at her in reassurance. "It's new to me too," he said as he took his hand in hers.

Hermione nodded, now knowing that she felt relieved. "Do you want to talk now?", she offered.

"About what?", he asked.

Merlin, he could be dense sometimes, she thought.

"Whatever you need to- Fred or Lupin or Lavender." She added Lavender's name with a touch of trepidation.

"Yeah, I guess," he said, now seeming to be on the same page as her. "It's-", he started with a heavy sigh, breaking eye contact with Hermione as he did. "I don't know how to feel about Lavender. I feel like such a prick; I should be sad. And I am, but with Fred- that's overwhelming. I haven't been able to think about her or Lupin or Tonks or anyone who died without thinking about him." He continued to avoid looking at Hermione as if he couldn't bear to. "Fuck," he nearly shouted, "I don't want to think about him."

The pair was drenched in silence again. Hermione rested her head on Ron's shoulder, trying to comfort him without being too physical.

"I didn't get invited to her funeral," he said out of the blue. "I don't think she would want me there. I mean, I was a complete dick to her. I didn't love her, I used her. I used her to get to you. And I don't think I'll forgive myself for that. I hurt both of you."

His voice was so full of hurt and anger towards himself. Hermione was at a loss of what to do. She had forgiven Ron, long ago, for his charades with Lavender. However, she couldn't give him what he needed right now- forgiveness from Lavender. She curled into his body, planning to remind him that she forgave him (and, frankly had been just as bad) when he spoke again.

"I've been making this all about me," he said, shaking his head. "I know you're going through things too, and I haven't even asked you about it. I guess I'm still an arse."

"No," Hermione said hurriedly, not wanting him to blame himself further. "I really have been fine," she knew she was lying, but she didn't want to make things worse for Ron, "especially compared to what you and your family are going through."

"Yeah, but what about your family? We should go get them soon, right?", he said as if he was just remembering their situation. "Shit, I'm sorry Hermione, you probably wanted to go sooner."

"It's alright, there's been a lot going on," she reassured. "I sent an owl to Kingsley. He hasn't gotten back to me, but hopefully, he can set something up soon." Ron nodded his head but still looked uneasy. "But, you don't have to come with me," she added. "You've got your family here to worry about."

"No, Hermione," he said firmly. "I want to come with you. You're my family too."

After another fretful night of sleep, Hermione tiredly made her way down the stairs. Harry and Ginny were already up and, instead of finding them in their typical tangle of limbs, they were sitting side-by-side, talking in hushed tones and looking grim.

"Good morning," Hermione said cautiously, sitting down across from the couple.

"Morning," said Harry and Hermione could see that he had a copy of the Prophet in front of him.

"What is it?", she asked as she took the paper to read.

"They found Lucius, and the Malfoys' trial is going to start next week," Harry said.

She didn't need him to tell her, as the front of the Daily Prophet showed a large black and white picture of the worse-for-wear looking family, with a bold title which read Prominent Death Eater Family to Stand Trial, Golden Trio Called to Testify on Behalf.

There was lots of speculation about how Harry, Ron, and herself could be connected to the Malfoys. The article talked about their school days, speculating that they were secretly friends with Draco. It went further to postulate that the Malfoys might have been double agents, trying to figure how the trio could be on the same side as them. A quick blurb made her heart stop, while there were no direct details, it mentioned that the trio had spent time at the Malfoy Manor, though instead of mentioning torture and a dramatic escape, it suggested that perhaps they had voluntarily gone to the manor to help the Malfoys plot to leave the death eaters.

While the article was tremendously wrong about many things, it was correct about one thing. As soon as Hermione put down the paper, three owls flew in through the kitchen door, holding summons for the trio to testify on the behalf of the Malfoys.

Hermione was only called to testify for Draco, whereas Harry was called for both Draco and Narcissa. Neither were asked to testify for Lucius, and it was doubtful that Ron's letter asked him to do so. After all, what positives could they say about the family patriarch?

Ron entered as they were reading their summons, still in pyjamas and rubbing his dark-circle lined eyes. He quickly was able to read the mood of the room and asked what was wrong. Hermione handed him his letter and he sat next to her to read it.

As he was reading the letter he let out a sarcastic "ha," before closing it forcefully. "He must be out of his bloody mind," he said with a crazed half-smile. "No fuckin' way would we help him."

Hermione and Harry just stared at Ron.

"You're kidding," he said. "You're going to testify?" he said with his voice rising. "After all he did? After he let-," he stopped himself, instead going into a brooding silence.

"Ron," Harry started calmly.

"No," Ron shouted, standing from his chair in anger. "You hated him," he said, now talking directly to Harry. "Our entire time at Hogwarts you tried to convince me how bad he was. And now that we know, you're going to help him? No!" Ron was now fuming, his entire face lit up with red hot anger.

"I'm not saying I like him," said Harry, now standing to see eye-to-eye (or as close as he could get) with Ron. "But he did help us, he kept us from getting killed multiple times."

"Oh so letting Hermione get tortured to near death doesn't matter now?"

Hermione felt tears running down her face. She hated them arguing, and it was reminding her too much of the early days in the tent. But, even more, she hated the discussion of their experience at Malfoy Manor. For once, she was thankful that the rest of the burrows' inhabitants were cooped up in their rooms.

"What could he have done?", Hermione whispered, shocked that she was talking. "If he had stopped her, they would have killed him."

"Oh," Ron said with a twisted face. "You're on his side," he said almost spitting at the word his. "You're going to testify too?"

"I don't know," Hermione said defeatedly. She hated him being mad at her, especially for this.

"I can't believe you two," he said. Then he turned and huffed up the stairs.

"Prick," Ginny said under her breath.

"I won't testify about Malfoy Manor, if you don't want me to," said Harry to Hermione.

"No, you're right, he did help us. You should tell the truth." As the words came out of her mouth she felt bile rise in her throat. If Harry testified, there was no way that her torture would be a secret anymore. Everyone would know. And everyone would look at her with pity. She felt her heart drop at the thought.

She knew she should also testify. Draco might be an arse, but he wasn't nearly as bad as the other death eaters. He was forced into the role he had. Who's to say that she wouldn't be the same if born into his family? Of course, if she testified not only would she have to relive that horrible day, but it would also mean that she would have to postpone her Australia trip more.