Here we are! Chapter two! I hope you all enjoy it. Every bit of feedback is welcomed, so feel free to leave a comment if you feel so inclined. Thank you!

458 Days Before - September 11, 1999

Hermione had developed somewhat of a routine in regards to Fridays. She would get up earlier than most people would consider acceptable on a day off, and spend a half hour just laying in bed. This was followed by a short shower and a small breakfast that never satisfied her, but was enough food to survive on. Ginny had advised that she take some time each day to just relax and enjoy herself. At first Hermione found the idea laughable but school was beginning to take its toll. Her muscles ached and headaches began occurring frequently. These short periods in the morning that she devoted totally to herself seemed to be a good remedy for the pain.

The rest of the day was spent nose deep in a book with her bum sat on an uncomfortable wooden chair. She had changed a lot during her time hunting for Horcruxes, but one aspect of her personality that never wavered was that unsquashable love of libraries. So every Friday, without fail, Hermione spent her days hidden away in the college's library at the very back.

Without her friends around, Hermione had no incentive to socialize. She had always found it difficult to talk to other people and with lecture halls of one hundred-fifty people, there were no group projects to force her to interact with others. Sometimes, living this way made her a bit lonely, but she quickly pushed that feeling aside and went back to her studies.

456 Days Before - September 13, 1999

It was Sunday and Ginny had apparated to Hermione's flat. The wards were set up so that all of her friends could enter the flat but nobody else could. It had been a long time since the girls had seen each other and they tightly embraced.

"You look good!" Hermione exclaimed.

"You too!" Ginny laughed. "School looks really good on you."

Hermione cocked her head to one side. "What do you mean?"

"Oh just, you know. You look really happy being back in school. Loads happier than you did this summer."

"Oh."

Ginny waved a hand dismissively in front of Hermione. "Pretend I said nothing. We're having girls day! We're visiting mum later today too."

The pair walked out of Hermione's flat with linked arms, their voices carrying through the hallway. Ginny talked about her practices and the nasty broken bones she had gotten from falling. She was grateful that there was always a mediwitch to fix the injuries, otherwise she might look quite disfigured at this point.

"I forgot how brutal the game could be!" Hermione managed to say between laughs.

"Oh you don't know the half of it," Ginny said.

Initially Ginny's stories had gotten a disapproving click of the tongue but eventually as she went on, the girls were nearly doubled over in laughter. The Hollyheads' practice sessions were apparently quite exhausting, but frequently the team broke out into antics that just made their coach give up for the day. This usually happened when they were already tired and just had no way to muster up any concentration.

The way Ginny explained different aspects of quidditch was quite interesting to Hermione. She had never had things properly explained by the boys and when they tried, they usually jumped over their words in eagerness to convert their friend into a fan. Ginny's patient explanations to her questions were refreshing. And while not enough to convert Hermione to becoming a fan, she was happy to have some reference to use when Ron and Harry babbled on in front of her.

The day was filled with happy chatter and shopping. Ginny needed new gloves and a broom care kit while Hermione was on the hunt for some new teas. They had stopped for lunch at a tiny little restaurant in Hogsmeade that was sandwiched between two massive clothing stores. Hermione insisted they go there because the food was fantastic and always served quickly. Now that the day was winding down, however, it was time for a trip to St. Mungo's to visit Molly,

Ginny's eyes darkened as they approached the looming building. Visiting hours were almost over, but for the ward they were going to, those rules were ignored. Families came and went as they wanted.

The girls had picked up some everlasting lilies for Molly to brighten up the room. Hermione had selected a beautiful painting of the African savannah that was charmed to show animals walking past, as well as changing weather and times of day. Ginny had purchased a lamp, a night table bookshelf, and several books her mother would like to go with it. The younger girl had commented that the room seemed so clinical and decided that it needed some items to make it look more alive.

"She could come back to us at any time," Ginny said while they were looking at paintings. "She would hate finding herself in such a boring room. Mum is not a boring woman."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "That she is not."

They carried the items out of the lift and walked down the hallway. They stopped walking when Draco Malfoy suddenly walked out of one of the doors. He nodded at Ginny with a simple nod and "Weasley" before continuing on towards the exit of the floor. This surprised Hermione because she never imagined the former Slytherin bully was on even remotely civil terms with her best friend. She tried to peek into the room he had come out of but the door was shut tightly, leaving no way to see inside.

Arriving at Molly's room distracted her from her thoughts of Draco and a sober feeling appeared in her heart. Seeing this beautiful woman in a catatonic state was heartbreaking. She sat in bed and stared out the window. The only difference between today and August when Hermione had last visited, was Molly's green blouse had been replaced by a blue one. Hermione felt guilty when she realized it had been so long since she had visited.

Ginny wasted no time marching into the room and setting up the bookshelf. She made a great fuss about placing the books in just the right places. Hermione followed the lead and looked for a place to put the painting. With a wave of her wand, she levitated it and hung it directly across from the bed. Some zebras were grazing on grass and the sun was hanging low in the sky. Once the flowers were put in a vase and the books on their shelves, Ginny sat down and Hermione did the same.

"Hey mum," Ginny began. "I'm really loving my quidditch practices! But I already told you all about them. I got a new broom that's loads faster than anything commercially available. Now before you say anything, I'm being safe. I promise. I got this broom care kit that…"

447 Days Before - September 22, 1999

Hermione found herself alone on Sunday. Ron and Harry had made plans with her earlier in the week but they had been called on a mission somewhere in Scotland that was supposed to take at least a week. Ginny was off in Bulgaria playing in a tournament that the Holyhead Harpies were expected to win by everybody. This left Hermione all alone and not sure what to do with herself.

She had considered going to the library to study but as appealing as that sounded, it seemed wrong when she already made plans to do something. Hermione was a girl that loved routine and planned events even more than books. She liked to organize and make lists. She liked to make decisions and plans that were kept to. Even though she liked school, she had trouble putting herself in the mentality for it when she had already organized her Sunday around the idea of not studying.

"I'll visit Molly," Hermione announced to Crookshanks who was curled up in her armchair.

The cat lifted his head and mewed at her before settling back down to try and nap. Hermione gathered her things and put on trainers before locking her door the muggle way. Her flat was in the centre of London and she loved how busy the streets always were. People constantly on the way to their destinations made things feel a bit less lonely. Even though they were strangers, it felt nice to be part of a whole rather than a single person all alone.

The trip to St. Mungo's was uneventful and the building looked a lot more cheerful in the midday sun than it had in the evening last week with Ginny. A couple walked out holding two babies: twins, while the infants' grandmother fussed over the new mum. Hermione caught the woman saying "feed them every night before bed. Sleep right through the night they will. Sweet babes..." before they went out of earshot. An elderly man walked through the doors with a bouquet of exotic flowers. Perhaps he was visiting his wife in the assisted living ward.

Hermione watched several more people on their way in or out of the hospital before entering through the doors herself. She watched as the receptionists spoke to their charmed quills. Several people were in line to get their prescriptions filled while mediwitches and mediwizards filed past on their way to procedures. Some faces looked familiar while most were simply just people going about their business. It was hard to imagine that this hospital had been blown to pieces two years ago because of the war.

As Hermione made her way to Molly's room she saw Neville walking out of his parents room. She moved over to him and embraced her friend.

"Hey," Neville said.

"Hey," Hermione replied.

"It's always hard. I know they can't hear me but sometimes I wish they were dead. I know that's a horrible thing to say but it would be easier. No more hospital visits and all that."

Hermione drew back and took Neville's hands in hers. "I know but sometimes it's nicer knowing that there's still a warm body to embrace even if they don't know you're there."

"Sorry Mione. I forgot about your parents."

"No harm, no foul. I'm off to visit Molly, would you like to come?"

Neville considered the idea for a moment. "S'okay. I need to get some groceries for Nan before meeting up with Luna. Tell you what though, let's get together sometime in the week. We go to the same school after all. I'll owl."

Hermione nodded and gave a smile. One last hug and Neville was off to do whatever else he had planned for the day. Now it was off to the room halfway between the lift doors and the end of the ward. This floor had been expanded to accommodate all the vacant victims of the war.

In her canvas shoulder bag, Hermione had brought a book of poems to read aloud. She remembered that Molly had enjoyed the muggle poet E.E. Cummings. This had been uncovered when Hermione left the exact copy that was now being taken to the hospital room on the Burrow's kitchen table and Molly had picked it up, thumbing through it during one of her rare free moments.

As she made herself comfortable, Hermione looked at the poems she had tabbed and decided which one would be read first. Just as she was about to start a voice startled her. "Don't bother, the dead can't hear you."

Hermione whipped around and saw none other than Draco standing in the doorway. He was on this floor a lot. "I'll have you know, Malfoy, that Molly Weasley is very much alive."

Draco shrugged. "Is she? Is that what the living look like now?"

His footsteps echoed down the hall as he moved away and Hermione huffed in annoyance. Even now, he got her blood boiling with just a few words. He had no right to say something like that about Molly, she was definitely there. But when Hermione turned around and prepared to read she was filled with a sense of despair. Perhaps there was shred of truth to what Malfoy had said.

His people had caused this strong woman to become a shell of what she was. When Molly had killed Bellatrix, the witch had sent a nonverbal curse that seemed to have destroyed the mind of the Weasley matriarch. Initially there had been a lot of hope for recovery but as time went on, acceptance had begun to replace hope which had been taken over by denial. The last prognosis from the mediwitch had been that recovery was unlikely but at least Molly was alive.

Hermione went back to her poems and read "Dive For Dreams" which was a personal favourite.

dive for dreams

or a slogan may topple you

(trees are their roots

and wind is wind)

trust your heart

if the seas catch fire

(and live by love

though the stars walk backward)

honour the past

but welcome the future

(and dance your death

away at the wedding)

432 Days Before - October 7, 1999

Hermione found herself staring at the newest decoration in her flat. Harry had sent a world map as a gift from an assignment in Spain. It was on beautiful papyrus and looked stunning above the fireplace. She had rearranged her furniture so that her armchair now faced it. There was something so comforting about seeing the world laid out as a simple whole rather than tiny sectioned off countries. From this distance, the borders were impossible to make out which Hermione preferred.

She was reading the the Daily prophet and saw an article about a muggleborn being found dead much in the same way Pansy had been. This time the article was much larger and included speculation of a Death Eater reformation that could be gaining speed if not kept in check. Rita Skeeter had written a scathing analysis in her section of the paper that seemed to be filled with more opinion than facts.

Even though the war had ended over a year and a half ago, the world was still recovering. Hermione knew it was going to be slow going. Sometimes she found herself falling into wartime patterns that were proving difficult to break. The pops of apparition still made her start if they were unexpected, triggering memories of when she was captured by snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor.

Hermione wondered how much time it would take to recover but remained unclear if she meant herself or the rest of the wizarding world.

425 Days Before - October 14, 1999

Hermione found herself rearranging photographs on her mantlepiece. Before obliviating her parents, she grabbed several photographs from the sitting room to keep for herself. After the war had ended she had gone in search of the two people who had brought her into this world with Harry. What she found had devastated her. Hermione had found her parents had adopted a child and were playing in a park with him. It was obvious that the boy was adopted because of his platinum blond hair; whereas all Grangers and Cutlers (her mother's side) had brown hair.

415 Days Before - October 24, 1999

Neville had not yet owled to set up a time to see each other so Hermione had decided to take the initiative herself.