Hermione had just finished her multiple concepts for how to approach the bill. All with explanations and sources from muggle examples. There were things that were predated with the wizarding world, and this was one of them. She just wished there was a possibility to stretch time.

Speaking of time, she glanced at the clock on the wall and scowled. It was eleven forty. Where was the time going these days? Hermione stretched and climbed from her desk, glancing at the decor in her office. It was very her with pictures of Harry, Ginny, the kids, and the Weasleys on beige walls.

There was an old photograph that was framed on the wall from her childhood. It was Ron in his family sweater and holding up a plate of sweets his mother made for Christmas. They were in some room, likely the sitting room at the Burrow, and he was smiling and rolling his eyes with chocolate stuffed in his mouth.

The witch walked over to the picture and frowned while crossing her arms. "Do you think this is a buggered idea?" she asked.

Hermione knew she wouldn't receive an answer, but it was relaxing to watch him smile. It was in their fourth year. Things were so much easier before the year ended. Before evil truly encroached their lives.

"I talk to him all the time too."

Hermione glanced back at the entrance to her office and smiled. "Good morning, Harry."

Harry entered, and his expression was warm. "How are you doing today, Hermione?"

The witch straightened her navy dress suit and tilted her head from side to side. "I'm alive, so that's beneficial."

Harry sat down and produced two brown bags. "Gin made us lunch. She thought you might need a friend after this weekend."

Hermione exhaled and sat in her chair across from him. "She's always right."

Harry pulled out his sandwich and tilted his head. "How did your date with Lee go?"

Hermione fiddled with the items in the bag, setting them down away from her paperwork. She decided to open the small ziplock of carrots and munched one. How was she going to explain that to her best friend?

"Well, it went well. He's just as kind as we remember," Hermione smiled.

Harry tilted his head. "But you're not convinced you could have more with him." Not a question.

Hermione shifted and then shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"We never talk about hard things. It's almost like we agree that anything difficult should be shelved so we could be happy. I'm going to ask a hard question now," Harry breathed and gazed at her. "What's stopping you from investing in this further?"

Hermione's face scrunched as she unwrapped her sandwich. "It's difficult to explain."

"Try me. If it's because of Ron," he stopped when she shook her head. "Then what?"

She reached for her wand and shut the office door before grimacing. "You're going to think I'm a batty horrible witch, Harry."

"No, I won't," Harry groaned. "Please let me help you."

Hermione twitched her nose and pressed her fingertips to her forehead. "Well, it's because I've been attracted to someone else."

Harry's eyebrows raised above his glasses. "You've been, as in a long period of time?"

Hermione rocked her head. "Yes, a lengthy period."

"Well, have you told them?" Harry inquired.

Hermione nibbled a grape and rolled her shoulders. "I did in my own way years ago. They told me in essence that they didn't feel the same."

Harry's expression was shocked. There was no other way to describe it as he sat back to take in the news. "You never told me. You've had feelings for someone living, and they didn't return them? Have you seen them since?"

Hermione just rocked her head.

His expression grew tight as his eyebrows settled together. "Why didn't you say anything? Hermione, I always just thought that you were too busy to invest feelings into anyone. You've always seemed so content."

"I am content, and I didn't want to change how this person and I do things. Now they have to change, so the dynamic of our relationship changes with it. I have to move on, and so does he, but it doesn't take away the feelings of belonging I've had with them. It prevents me from truly accepting this as more than a means to an end despite my feelings for him," Hermione explained and exhaled before slumping in her seat.

"If they've made themselves clear, then it has to be the answer. You need to give yourself permission to move on, even with how close you are to him. It wasn't meant to be," Harry voiced before biting his sandwich.

"I know," Hermione sighed.

Harry fiddled with the paper bag and his scowl deepened. "This isn't going to affect your relationship, is it?"

Hermione snorted and waved her hand. "It never has. We've always been able to keep that time period of my mistaken forwardness as a hiccup in the grand scheme of things."

He rocked his head and breathed. "I'm sorry I didn't know. It must be difficult to have feelings for someone and see them daily."

She bobbed her head while chewing. "It has," she murmured. "But I wouldn't change it," Hermione added.

"Well, I can't truly understand what you're going through, but I know it will get better. Just give someone a chance to make you laugh. If he cares about your wellbeing, he knows you need happiness too," Harry declared as he pointed an index finger at Hermione.

Hermione beamed and nodded. "You're right, Harry. That's what is important, not feelings I can't change. How did the appointment go?"

Harry chuckled and breathed. "We're having a boy."

"Rats," Hermione giggled, and her smile grew. "I'm so happy for you, Harry. You deserve to be content after everything."

"You do too, Hermione. Don't forget that without you, I wouldn't be here," Harry reminded her with a nod.

"I'll find it, I promise," Hermione agreed.

They spent their lunch focused on less strenuous things. Subjects that you talk about when you move away from the storm that lingered over their childhood. Their losses and sadness. It was a beautiful thing to be able to breathe and relax into life finally… Hermione just had to learn to do that as well.

The room was warm, and the whiskey was potent as several wizards sat around a table. Fred's flat was the epitome of a bachelor's pad. Quidditch posters on the wall, a large liquor cabinet, and a card table in place of a dining table. Nothing screamed single more than the mantle of gadgets from work in place of pictures or expensive trinkets. Not to mention the hint of stale ale in the air of the flat.

It was card night. Something the Weasleys had started a year after the war was over. It was a tangible evening that all the brothers got together and celebrated their lives once a month. It began as a tribute to the Weasley they lost but became a quiet escape from their domestic lives over the years.

Harry sipped his bottle and hummed. "Anyone else waiting for the other shoe to drop?"

"What do you mean, Harry?" Bill asked before discarding two cards.

"Just, everything seems so planned for this 'couple bill' Hermione is perfecting. I've been waiting for there to be a stipulation," Harry sighed.

"What's going on? Is Hermione upset about something?" George questioned.

Harry groaned and rubbed his face under his glasses. "Did anyone know that she had something going on with Kingsley?"

"Kingsley?" Bill spat with a scowl.

"I mean, it wouldn't surprise me. She's always working with him," George snorted while shaking his head. "What a weird thought."

"Kingsley?" Fred voiced as his face scrunched. "No, there's nothing there."

Harry breathed and waved his hand before tossing his cards to the table. "I mean, er, she kind of told me it was unrequited. So, obviously, it's one-sided."

"Kingsley? I feel horribly disappointed in our Ministry Witch," George tutted.

"She didn't actually say it was him, but who else would she be talking about?" Harry asked before swigging his bottle.

Bill shifted his lips from one side of his face to the other. "This isn't about Ron?"

"No, she was clear that it wasn't. Apparently, this has been going on for years. The only wizard I could think of that she admires and sees daily is him. She never speaks poorly about him, and they do spend plenty of time together," Harry explained before pressing his glasses further up on his nose.

"Well, our Hermione certainly does shoot for the moon," George chuckled while shaking his head. "You know, it makes sense now that I think of it. Freddy, you've been living next to her for some time. What do you think?"

"No," Fred huffed as he slapped down his hand. "Absolutely not. There isn't any way that she has feelings for her boss. She would have said something. "

"Don't feel bad, Fred. I didn't know, and I'm her best friend. She didn't even tell me she fancied anyone, let alone confessed that she told him," Harry expressed with a hint of sympathy.

Bill shifted in his seat and inhaled. "Oh, what a mess. She losses Ron, and then the next bloke she even has remote feelings for is unobtainable."

"I'm still not convinced there was much to their relationship," Harry sighed while shaking his head. "It all happened too quickly."

"What do you mean, Harry?" George voiced as he grabbed his unlit cigar.

"Hermione wasn't concerned with a relationship; none of us were. We just wanted the war to end. There was no time for them to ever really get into it. When Ron," he paused and closed his eyes. "When Ron didn't make it, there wasn't anything solid about their relationship aside from us being best friends from our first year together."

"So, you're saying that they didn't shag?" George asked and then rocked his head. "Yeah, I could see that. We always assumed there was something there because of how she acted after, but looking back, it could have just been mourning her best mate."

Bill waved his hand. "But she did mourn as a girlfriend would."

"I can put galleons on her crying over one of us the same," Harry declared.

Fred rocked his head. "Yeah, she would."

"How do we fix her fancy with her boss so she can find a good bloke?" George questioned.

"She doesn't fancy him," Fred groaned.

"Well, there aren't many people she works with that I could estimate that her feelings were about," Harry exhaled and then swayed his head. "She wouldn't be dim enough to fancy a married man."

"Although, she has told me that if Angie didn't ask me first, she would have," George teased with a toothy grin.

"Shut it," Bill groaned. "There's no way after Ron that she'd even think of us as more than brothers."

"It's true," George laughed.

Harry blinked and glanced over at Fred. "Wait, Fred, did she ever say anything to you?"

Fred's ears turned pink as he scowled. "No, why would she have?"

"I'm just trying to go over in my head who it would be if it's not Kingsley."

"It's not Kingsley," Fred growled and puffed. "No, Hermione has never said anything to me. If she would have then, it would be cruel to continue living next to each other. I would never do that to her."

"That's right, she would never because she loved our brother too much," Bill reiterated.

Harry glanced between Bill and Fred with a scowl. "What's going on? Bill, you're especially uptight about this."

"Nothing is going on. Fred just agreed early on with them being flat neighbors that he wouldn't invade her privacy and allow her to mourn our brother in peace," Bill dismissed and sipped his ale.

"Harry said they didn't shag," George offered and tilted his head. "Obviously, there wasn't as much there as you're projecting, Billium."

"What matters is her happiness," Bill sighed and waved his hand. "Our job is to make sure she finds it."

"Yeah," Fred hummed and stood up. "Running to the loo. My hand is shite anyway."

The lanky Weasley walked down the hall and entered the bathroom. He stood at the counter and braced his hands on it while staring at the mirror. What if this whole time she really did fancy her boss? His feelings, though wrong and misplaced, wouldn't have ever made a dent.

Splashing water to his face, he groaned and reached for the towel. Bill was right. Her happiness mattered more than this stupid written proposal. He had to help her find it, even if it would kill him to do so.