She crossed one leg over the other, her hand grasping a cup of tea that surely had gone cold by now. He sat across from her, having changed out of his robes and into something more casual. He'd come over per her request, so as they could go over what would be their cover story for the week. They were due to leave sometime tomorrow afternoon. The both of them had gotten permission to get out of work earlier than usual. They were skillful enough to ensure that no one had known, besides a select few, that they were going to be together during the holiday.

Hermione had come to learn that Ron and Harry weren't the only ones to know of their plan. She was initially caught off guard when Oliver Wood dropped by Percy's office unannounced to ask if he wanted to open his gift now or at the Granger's house, as he put it.

Hermione whirled around to face Percy, her face was showing her shock. "You told him?"

"He's my best mate, Hermione," He'd said gently. "We tell each other everything."

"Right," Oliver nodded in agreement. "We've got no secrets."

Percy looked at his friend with a stern expression. "Just be sure to not say a word to anyone. I don't want a repeat of my birthday."

Oliver was sheepish.

Hermione remembered now; Mrs. Weasley had planned a surprise party for Percy. She put in a lot of effort in it and was thoroughly excited to see his reaction. He'd appreciated it, of course, but she could tell with the way he acted he'd found out somehow and he admitted such to his siblings, her and Harry when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley was out of hearing range. She just never knew who had spilled the beans.

"That was an accident," Oliver interjected. "Didn't mean to do it."

"But you did."

"Point being," Oliver said over him, "I won't tell a soul. Don't worry your pretty little heads. No one will hear it from me."

Somehow she wasn't comforted.

And then there was the task of informing Mrs. Weasley that neither of them would be around without arousing suspicion. Hermione had an easier time, as the older woman would-reluctantly-accept that she was visiting her parents. But Percy? He had to hastily come up with an excuse that he was going to see Oliver and his family, who were insisting he come. Oliver said his parents didn't know anything about the plan, but if any of the Weasleys wanted to question it, he would have to get them involved to avoid being found out.

(Hermione begrudgingly accepted it).

As expected, Mrs. Weasley was a little teary at knowing Percy wouldn't be there. It probably brought back flashbacks of the times when he hadn't been there due to their estrangement from one another. It only added to Hormone's guilt. It was her fault this was happening. She was keeping him away and to Mrs. Weasley, the older woman might be thinking he wanted to be away.

Percy reassured her many times that wasn't the case. Mrs. Weasley was also assured with the promise that if he was able to, he would apparate back for a bit. It soothed her somewhat, enough that she wasn't upset anymore. Mr. Weasley took his wife aside to quietly tell her how the kids were all adults now and had their own lives to attend to.

Percy's siblings had taken it surprisingly well. Since the war ended, they'd all gotten much closer. It took a while for Ron and Ginny to come to the conclusion that their older brother had meant what he said when he apologized that night. They hadn't wanted to believe him. For the first few weeks after the war, tey either avoided him entirely or made snide remarks at his expense. That is, until Charlie and Bill finally had enough and had a long talk with them. The family had acted as though during that time they didn't hear yelling coming from the outside, although Hermione had seen Mrs. Weasley wince, glancing in the direction of the back door as though she yearned to go out there herself, but a head shake from her husband kept her from doing so. They came back in shame-faced, mumbling their apologies to percy, who was surprised and didn't know what to say. He'd given them both a hug, whispering words Hermione hadn't caught.

It was the beginning of a whole new relationship for percy and his younger siblings. They talked often nowadays. Had she just met the Weasleys, she never would have thought the three of them were anything but close.

Funny how things worked out amidst tragedy.

She ran a finger around the rim of the mug. "We need a cover story," She said.

"Indeed," He agreed. "Any ideas?"

"Not a one."

"Well," He started, "we could tell them we know each other from Hogwarts."

"Alright," She nodded. "That's a start." That wouldn't be suspicious. After all, practically everyone she was acquainted with was from Hogwarts. "What else?"

"I could tell them I've had my eyes on you since we met," Percy suggested.

She snorted. "I doubt my dad would be pleased to hear you had eyes on a twelve year old girl as a fifth year."

He deflated. "Right. Sorry. Sometimes I forget you weren't in my year. You should have, though. You're brilliant enough."

She rolled her eyes at his complement, smiling. "Oh, stop."

"I'm serious," He insisted with a grin of his own. "Think about everything you've done, Hermione. You're way above average. You should have been higher than you were."

"You're too kind," She laughed lightly. She then softly whacked him on the leg. "Now stop stalling. We need a good cover story to tell my parents. Nothing wildly inappropriate."

"Yes, ma'am," Percy leaned back in his seat. His eyes lifted up to stare at the ceiling, pondering. "We could tell them part of the truth; we connected after the war and started going out that September."

"Perhaps," She considered. "Or we could say we started talking at Bill's wedding. They don't know about..." She suddenly hesitated, unsure of how to properly word it.

Luckily, she didn't have to. "When my family and I weren't talking?" He said.

"Yes," Hermione said. "As far as they would know, you were there, we talked and eventually lost contact but once Voldemort was gone, we reconnected again."

"That sounds suitable."

"We'd have to think up something muggle friendly for Libby," Hermione added. "I never told them about me being a witch."

"Noted," He said. "We can omit the war parts and keep the rest."

"That works," Hermione said. She hoped it would be sufficient. Libby would pester them with questions, hoping to find a way to poke figurative holes in the story until it finally burst. She had a way of doing it.

It was like Percy miraculously knew what she was thinking. He rubbed her wrist comfortingly. "Relax," he urged her. "Everything will be fine. There's no need to stress."

"Maybe not to you," Hermione muttered. "You're not the one stuck with a cow for a cousin."

A cow that laid in manure and hadn't had a bath.

/

"I can't believe I'm going through with this."

Hermine was at Grimmauld Place, ranting as she paced back and forth through the kitchen. Her hair was bouncing every which way, her face reddening and nerves on edge. Harry was at the table, attempting to get a squirming Teddy Lupin to eat his foot, even though the toddler wanted nothing to do with it.

"You've said that already," Harry's voice was dry.

She stopped moving. "I can't help it. I'm about to go to my parents pretending Percy and I are together when we most definitely are not."

"That's why it's called acting."

She scowled, hurling a small empty Christmas box at his head. It missed, he'd ducked. Teddy laughed, clapping his hands together. "You're unbelievable and you're not helping."

Harry ruffled Teddy's hair, pushing the plate closer. The boy wrinkled his nose, making a face at the remaining pieces of broccoli. He turned his attention back on Hermione. "I think you're overreacting."

"I am not!" She said indignantly. "This is serious, Harry." She started to pace once more. "What if they all find out? Libby will never let me live it down."

"Why do you care what she thinks?" Harry raised his eyebrows at her.

Hermione struggled to come up with a coherent sentence, arms crossed over her chest, eyes flickering off to anything else but Harry. He seemed amused. "It's not funny," She said sharply instead of answering his question.

"Okay," he chuckled.

"I'm serious!"

" I know, that's what's funnier," Harry grinned. He then dropped the smile, becoming more somber. "I get it. Life with Dudley wasn't easy. But the sooner you stop caring about what she thinks and what she says to you, it'll help."

Of course he understood. She'd forgotten about Harry's cousin, the one who made his life miserable before Hogwarts. Libby was probably not as bad as Dudley was-had been-but she was still aggravating on her own. A twinge of guilt came over Hermione. Here she was, fretting over Libby when she wasn't even considering Harry's former home life.

"You're overthinking again."

She gave her friend a weak smile. "I'm that easy to read?"

"You've got a face going on," Harry gestured towards his own face.

She sighed. "I just...I dread whenever I have to be in the same room with her. Now we'll be living in the same house for a week. I don't want her anywhere near Percy but she'll probably be all over him."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "I thought you said she was bringing her fiancé?"

"Libby's never had much of a taste for morals," Hermione said dryly. "It's probably why she's switched boyfriends so often."

"Classy-Teddy, no!" Harry grabbed the boy's hands to keep him from smashing them onto his plate. "So a whole week of that, huh?"

"Unfortunately," Hermione scowled.

"Did you tell your parents about your 'fiancé'?" Harry asked her.

"Not yet," Hermione shook her head. "I'm planning on it before we leave."

"Wonder how they'll take that."

"No idea," Hermione said.

She hoped she was wrong but anticipated on them becoming slightly irritated at her for not sharing that piece of information when she'd brought them back to Britain. Her mum would definitely feel upset for being left out. But she had a good reason for it, mostly because it wasn't true but even if it had been, it wasn't something she would have said the moment they'd gotten their memories back.

"You think they'll be mad?" Harry said quietly.

"I don't know," She admitted. "They might be. If they are, they won't say anything so we have a good holiday. Or they might. I don't know. They've been slightly off kilter after getting their memories back. Sort of...unpredictable."

"How bad?"

She waved him off. "Nothing too bad."

He nodded slowly.

"I'm happy to be with my parents again but I'm really going to miss being at the Burrow on Christmas," She gave a sad smile. "I'll have to give you all my gifts before we leave."

"How are you getting there, anyway?" Harry said.

"By the only way, apparating," Hermione shrugged. "I haven't got a car."

"And your cousin won't think it's suspicious?"

"I'll just tell her we took the bus from the city." Libby would most likely laugh, making some passive-aggressive remark about her having to rely on public transportation but Hermione could deal with it. Her relatives weren't wealthy in the slightest but they, at least Aunt Patty and Libby, tended to look down on those they considered beneath them. Such as those having to use buses instead of their own vehicle. "Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you suppose...Percy only went along with this because I asked him to?"

"What do you mean?" He said quizzically.

She rubbed her hands along her thighs. "Perhaps he didn't want to go but he didn't want to look like a bad friend so he agreed."

"I don't think Percy would go along with it if he didn't want to," Harry frowned. "You know how he is. He's like Ron. He wouldn't do that."

"I suppose," She said.

"I think you're overthinking. Again."

"I can't help it! I feel guilty."

"About what?"

"I'm taking Percy away from his family on Christmas," She said.

"He said he would come by for a bit if he had time."

"It's not the same," She scoffed. "Mrs. Weasley cried when he told her."

"That's not really surprising, is it?" Harry said.

She shot him a dirty look. "I feel awful. He's only just made up with his family. He should be spending it with them, not caught up in a lie for me."

Harry shrugged. "You're the one that asked him."

"After you and Ron suggested it!"

"After you complained," Harry retorted with a grin. "It's just a week, Hermione. It's not like you asked him to marry you and then show up. Although I think Mrs. Weasley might not mind so much if you did, she'd be thrilled with anything that'll get her grandchildren."

Yes, Mrs. Weasley had been hinting not so subtly about that. Bill and Fleur were trying, last she'd heard, but unfortunately for them they'd been unsuccessful up to this far. Fleur had been trying to maintain an upbeat and optimistic attitude but Hermione hadn't missed the blonde's red-rimmed eyes and Bill's slouching posture. Charlie was seeing someone-a witch who was as enthusiastic as dragons as he was- but hadn't let his parents know about her quite yet just in case things didn't work out. Right now, the only child she would treat as her own was Teddy. He wasn't around as often like she would have preferred, being that he was shuffled from Harr's care back to his gran, Andromeda.

"I suppose you're right," She said with an eye roll.

"Course I am," Harry snickered. Then he asked, '"Have you got everything figured out?"

"I think so," Hermione ran a hand through her hair.

"What about the ring?" Harry stared down at her bare fingers.

Hermione gasped. "I'd forgotten all about that!"

"I'm sure you could just conjure something up," Harry tried to be reassuring to her. When she brandished her wand, he put his hand over it. "Maybe I should be the one to do it."

She didn't want him to, but allowed it anyway. It was probably for the best. She was in no state to use a wand. Standing there, Hermione watched as one popped up in Harry's hand right before her eyes; it was a silver band with a sapphire diamond in the middle. It was on the smaller side but it was what she would have wanted anyway. If it was real. She was not one of those girls that wanted to parade around with a big diamond to show off.

All in all, she was actually impressed with her friend.

"Is this okay?" Harry asked with a frown. "I just went with your birthstone."

"It's great," She said honestly. "Can you make one similar for Percy to wear? I know boys don't typically wear engagement rings but I want him to have the option if he wants to."

Harry gave her a curious look but did as she said and conjured up one that was nearly identical, except this one was more masculine in its appearance. "Here you go," He gave it to her. She caressed them with her thumb and then enclosed them in her fist, disposing them in her pocket safely.

"Thank you."

/

"I'm sorry if I interrupted anything," Hermione blurted out when Percy came through her fireplace, dusting a thin coating of soot off his robes. She made a mental note to ensure that he had proper muggle clothing for their trip. Her relatives would be taken aback if they saw the attire he typically wore. "I...I just wanted to give you these before we left."

She showed him the rings.

He stared down at the rings and then at her face. "You bought those?"
"What? No," She shook her head. "Harry conjured them up for me. I'd forgotten we'd need these."

He frowned. "But there's two."

"Right,' She said. "One's for me and the other is for you if you want to wear one."

He was surprised. "Oh."

She rushed to explain herself. "I just thought you might want to. You certainly don't have to wear it."

She started to put it away again when his hand came reaching out for it. He rested it atop her own. His skin was soft, she noticed and then mentally discarded that strange thought. "Don't," He said. "I'll wear it. It looks nice. It's your birthstone, yeah?"

It was her turn to be surprised. "How did you know that?"

"Penny's got a muggle friend with a birthday in September. She surprised her once with a friendship ring and asked for my opinion on it."

"Oh," She said again and then sympathy came over her face. "Ron told me you two broke up. I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "I'm not."

She was slightly caught off guard by his statement. From what she remembered at Hogwarts, Percy and Penny had been very close. They'd been together quite often and many naturally assumed the two would go on to marry-she only knew that part because she'd overheard some of the Ravenclaw girls sighing rather dreamily and discussing it in the corridor bathroom a few times.

"You're not?"

"No," He snorted. He sobered up, rubbing the back of his neck. "Penny...she and I had some problems in seventh year and after we graduated, even before I got caught up in the Ministry."

She didn't know that.

He continued, "We fought a lot. We just got to the point where we didn't want to be around each other so we broke it off. I don't miss it, if I'm being honest. I miss what we used to have, sure. But I don't really miss Penny, if that makes sense."

She nodded slowly. He seemed to realize he'd spilled all that and suddenly was embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry. You probably didn't want to hear that."

"It's fine," She said and she meant it. "I don't mind, really."

"Really?" He was skeptical.

"Really," She smiled at him. "Don't worry about it, Percy."

The conversation dwindled down. The two of them smiled at each other, words didn't need to be said at that moment. It was strangely peaceful.

"May I see that ring now?" Percy asked, his voice soft.

"Oh, yes. Of course," She gave it to him and he slid it on his ring finger just as she did to her own.

"I suppose we're engaged now," He remarked.

"I suppose we are."