AN: Hehe. And you thought you'd escaped my mindless ramblings! Anyway...this is chapter...THREE! (Duh! ::ducks more tomatoes::) Okay...moving on. I'll try and keep this short (like that'll help). More Ron/Hermione suffering to come. Sorry, but that's what I planned. And this is gonna be a pretty long story...^^ Not my fault! I blame my stupid inspiration and ideas. Hehe. Well...I won't keep you. R&R, please!

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.

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Hermione looked at her packed bags and then down to the list of stuff she needed. It'd been months since the Winter Masquerade incident. In fact, it was already only two days before graduation. Since then, she and Ron rarely spoke. Or, to be more precise, they NEVER spoke. It appeared to the other Gryffindors as though their relationship was broken. And could never be fixed.

Hermione ran through her list one more time to be sure she hadn't forgotten anything. When she got to her last item, she checked it off with her wand and quickly stood up. "Well, I'm done," she said to the empty room. "Better go to lunch now." She tucked her wand in her robe and walked out, leaving her suitcase on her bed, just as all the other girls' were on theirs.

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Hermione had a checklist and all of her stuff was neat, but Ron was having a bit more trouble trying to put away all of his stuff. "How about an enlargement spell?" he asked Harry. "I bet that would make this a lot easier."

"You know your mother will be angry. This is a Muggle suitcase, isn't it? And you're not allowed to enchant it."

"But Mum won't mind too much. Besides, this is going to take me forever to do if I have to do it the non-magical way. You don't want to be late for lunch, do you?"

"Oh, I suppose not. Oh, fine. Just do it quickly. Someone might step in on us."

"It'll be quick." In five minutes, everything was packed and ready to go. Harry and Ron headed out.

"What are you going to do over the summer?" Harry asked.

Ron shrugged. "Not much, really. I've got a job as a sort of intern."

"Really? For who?"

"Fred and George." He grinned. "It's not bad at all. They pay well and I'll finally get to see them. What about you?"

"The Dursleys are kicking me out as soon as I turn 18. I'll be an independent adult then. But I don't want to stay with them, anyway. Sirius has opted I go traveling with him. Now that Voldemort's gone for good, Sirius is free and I can go with him. We're touring Asia."

"Really? Bring me something nice, will you?"

"Sure thing. I'll have Hedwig carry it to you. And hopefully she won't mind going such a long distance."

"Great."

As they walked, Ron didn't realize it, but they caught up to Hermione. She turned, saw them, and quickly walked ahead.

Ron watched, his face suddenly going from cheerful to a strange look that no one could really define. But it was definitely one of pure pain. "C'mon," Harry said softly.

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AN: This is a slightly shorter chapter than the rest. ^^ Actually, it's only 1/10 (or rather close) to the size of the others. I decided to stop it since I'm going to be taking a HUGE leap in time. Say...about three months. Yeah...the other chapter was the same, huh? (Though the time set was different.) Well...that's why I stopped it. And I'm doing the same for this. Please don't kill me for postponing this. I just thought I should explain it to you. I swear my next author note will be shorter.

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