The days passed quickly. Hermione and Draco saw less and less of each other. Draco had begun to spend the night at his partner Hobbs' place, leaving Hermione alone in the great mansion at night.

A few times, Hermione considered calling on Parvati or Padma to spend the night with her, but the thought passed as quickly as it arrived. It was bound to get back to Lavender and Lavender would split a gut thinking that the marriage was really just a sham.

One Thursday afternoon, Hermione received an owl carrying a letter bearing the Hogwarts crest. Quickly, she tore it open and read the familiar writing.

"Dearest Hermione," she read aloud to herself. "I hope this letter finds you in good health. Most recently I received an owl from your parents, describing the actions of one Lucius Malfoy. Once I got over my own shock, I determined that you might not want to return home, for your mother is adamant on the decision that you should still marry Draco Malfoy.

"Miss Granger, I am willing to offer you an internship at Hogwarts as an assistant to Professor Flitwick in Charms. The position is held for one year, but at the end of that year, we will evaluate the situation and decide on further action then. You are most welcome to stay at the castle, if you don't have prior plans made. If you are interested in this position, please reply to me as soon as possible.

"Yours truly, Albus Dumbledore."

Hermione's eyes actually welled up with tears upon reading the letter. It was as if Dumbledore could read her mind and determined her dilemmas and had dropped the perfect solution into her lap. She had decided during her few nights alone that she was entirely too young to get married. If she still felt as strongly for Draco in the future, maybe marriage would be an option. But not at the present time.

Hermione's heart began to beat quickly. She didn't have to think on the proposal and immediately scrawled a note back to Dumbledore, accepting the position and thanking him repeatedly. She sent it back with the weary bird on which the letter had arrived and began preparing herself for a trip to the Ministry; it was time she told Draco.

Hermione had only been to the Ministry of Magic once before and it was not an occasion she liked to dwell on. She hurried through the hallways of the magnificent building and quickly found the floor in which Magical Licences were obtained. She entered the office quietly, for fear of creating a stir.

"Can I help you?" asked a cool voice. She spun around quickly and came face to face with a man, about four inches taller than her, with long black hair and dark eyes. He reminded her strongly of Sirius Black and Severus Snape, all mixed into one.

"I'm looking for Draco Malfoy," she said, glancing at his nametag. "You're Hobbs!"

He gave a short bow. "Rowan Hobbs, at your service. I think Draco's around here, somewhere in this mess." He began searching through the tiny office, filled to the brim with papers and other clutter. "Who are you, may I ask?" he queried as he searched.

"Hermione-Malfoy," she replied, not able to remember if Hobbs knew of the marriage fiasco. He didn't take notice of her last name and continued to rifle under the papers. "Can I ask if you're looking for Draco? Because I'm fairly sure you won't find him in a pile of paperwork."

Hobbs gave a short and hollow laugh. "No, no," he assured her. "I'm looking for the note he left me on where he was going." He continued to rifle as the door behind Hermione opened.

"Hermione!" Draco's face came into view from behind her. "What are you doing here?" He looked almost fearful at the sight of her.

"I have news," she told him and immediately he dropped the papers he was carrying on the desk.

"I'll be back, Hobbs," he said, taking her by the hand and hurrying out of the office. Down the hall they went to a swinging door. Draco opened it to reveal a coffee room that was filled with cigarette smoke. "Want anything?" he asked.

She shook her head and looked around. There were several round tables, each with three or four chairs, and a long counter with tall stools. On the counter sat five coffee pots, which seemed to be brewing on their own. Draco took a seat at the long counter and Hermione took the stool across from him. She struggled to get up on it, for it was easily higher than she would have liked.

"So what's this news?" Draco poured himself a cup of coffee and began drinking it slowly. Hermione noted that he must have been nervous for he was drinking his coffee black and she knew he always liked it regular.

"I've made my decision," she said, wincing and waiting for the explosion. But no such event happened. Draco continued to sip his coffee.

"Who's it going to be?" he asked coolly. "The Weasleys or me?"

She took a deep breath. "Neither." Her reaction caused Draco to choke on a mouthful of coffee and Hermione jumped up to pound him on the back. When he finished sputtering coffee bits on the counter, Hermione took her seat again and began wiping the counter with a napkin. "It's nothing against either of you. Dumbledore sent me an owl just a few hours ago, offering me an internship at the school as Professor Flitwick's assistant." She winced as the pain flashed across Draco's face. Reaching out to hold his hand, she assured him that it was not goodbye.

"Maybe you should come back and be a Potions intern!" she suggested cheerfully.

"Maybe I'll do that," Draco said unconvincingly. He was now looking down at his hands, clearly depressed. "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"No." Hermione's answer surprised herself. "It's what I have to do." Draco looked up slowly. "I used to despise you, Draco. But then I saw that you weren't such a bad guy after all. And, like you said, I won't use the term 'love' but I do care deeply for you. But I'm just too young to get married."

"We don't have to get married!" Draco cried, looking a little more positive. "You could just live with me!"

That's when it occurred to Hermione. The whole thing made sense. Draco was lonely. He thought he wanted someone to spend his time with but on top of being scared at the prospect of being such a young husband, he was a little overwhelmed with living in such close quarters with another. After all, he had been an only child and was used to things going his way.

"I'll still visit," she promised him, smiling. "This is in no way goodbye."

Draco still looked miserable. "I told you, we don't have to get married. We could go on just being friends. Roommates!"

"I can't," Hermione said sadly. "I just can't do that. I used to think nothing could bring me down; now I realize that everything has that potential. I need to be free for a while, just until I manage to get my feet on the ground. I need to find my place in the world and when I do, you'll be the first to know." She smiled sadly at him. "We'll still be friends, right?"

"Right," he muttered back. "I guess."

Two weeks later, Hermione was packed and ready to leave for Hogwarts. Draco offered to accompany her to the castle, but she shook her head. "It will just be harder for the two of us," she told him and he knew, deep down inside, that she was right. So she left him in the foyer of their short- time mansion home, with a soft kiss on the lips before she started the second journey of her new life.

The real reason Hermione didn't want Draco to accompany her to the castle was because she had a quick stop to make first. She had written Harry and Ron recently to tell them of her internship and promised that she would visit them before leaving for the castle. She boarded the carriage that took her to the Burrow and exited it hours later with trepidation. How would the boys respond to her going back to Hogwarts without them?

Mrs. Weasley answered the door and hugged Hermione in a greeting. "It's so nice to see you," she told her, closing the door behind them.

"I really can't stay long," Hermione began but Mrs. Weasley interrupted her.

"I know. Ron told me all about your new job! That's so exciting!" Mrs. Weasley's face was absolutely bursting with pride and happiness "The boys are upstairs. Harry's packing."

"Packing?"

"Yes, dear, didn't he tell you? He's going to live with Remus for a few months."

"Oh, right." Something stirred in Hermione's memory of Ron or Harry mentioning that to her before. "It seemed like years ago," she thought to herself as she climbed the creaky old staircase. She could hear Harry arguing with someone, or something, as soon as she stepped on to the second landing.

"Give me that! I know, I know, but I'll be back. Just give me that!" Hermione knocked tentatively on the door and heard Harry grunt, "Come in." As soon as he saw her, however, his face broke into a grin. "Hermione! Come on in! So good to see you again."

"Hi, Harry," she said, hugging him. "Who were you arguing with?"

Harry gestured to the ancient dresser that stood in the corner. "This old thing. It doesn't want me to leave. I keep telling it I'm not going for good and I will still come back to visit, but it doesn't want to let my clothes go."

Hermione smiled faintly, thinking how the dresser represented Draco and his emotions towards her. "Where's Ron?" she asked.

Harry had begun to argue with the dresser again. "In his room," he grunted, kicking the old wood. "Stupid thing."

Hermione left him to fight with the dresser and headed down the hall to Ron's room. She knocked softly on the door and heard Ron's invitation to enter. As she did, she looked around. His room had changed a lot since she had been in it last. Graduation photos were placed on the wall, with Ron, Harry and Hermione smiling at her and waving. There were also photos that Colin Creevey had taken over the years posted beside them. Hermione smiled as she recollected the memories.

"Hermione!" Ron sat up from his bed and tapped the spot beside him. "Glad you're here! Look at what I found!" He held out a book and Hermione began flipping through it. It was the verbal time capsule they had created in their second year. Her smile grew as she continued to glance through it.

"This is old," she told him. "It seems like forever ago that we created it."

"Yeah." Ron sighed and took the book back. "Memories, you know? They last a lifetime."

"That they do."

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments, nothing to be said. Nothing had to be said for their silence spoke it all. "It's not goodbye," Hermione finally said. "I'll still see you."

"Oh, I know," Ron replied, looking up quickly. "Actually, Dumbledore invited Harry, Lupin and I to visit in a few weeks. Maybe we'll even sit in on one of your Charms lessons."

Hermione smiled, trying to cover up her misty eyes. "It won't be the same," she said, before breaking into tears.

Ron stared at her, completely unsure of how to respond. He patted her back awkwardly, murmuring words of comfort. Just as quickly as the tears began, they ended. "Well, we'll always have the memories, right?" Ron said.

"Right," Hermione said, smiling through her tears. "Memories." Slowly she leaned forward and kissed Ron on the cheek. "I'll see you soon," she told him.

"Hopefully," Ron responded, holding the cheek that she had kissed. She left his room then, closing the door behind her softly, always wanting to remember things the way they were. She trudged back to Harry's room for a quick goodbye.

When she entered however, she was faced with a very confused and upset Harry. He turned her way and held up a torn sweater. His glasses were crooked and his hair was messier than before. Hermione burst out laughing and crying all at once. A sobbing mess, she fell into Harry's arms.

"I'm going to miss you guys," she sobbed while Harry patted her back comfortingly.

"We'll miss you, too," he said, "but we'll also see you in a few weeks, hopefully. Dumbledore invited us back."

"Ron told me," she said, sitting up straight and sniffling. "It's not so much that I'm leaving for Hogwarts that makes me upset," she confessed. "It's more of the fact that I'm going there without you guys! I'm going to see other people around, joking and laughing with their friends and I don't know how I'll react."

"You'll be just fine," Harry assured her.

"Oh! Before I forget." Hermione began to dig in her book bag that she carried with her. She pulled out the three books and handed them to Harry, who looked confused.

"What are these?"

"Your mother's diaries." Hermione wiped her nose with the tissue Harry had provided her with. "Remember? You lent them to me back when we were in school?"

"Right," Harry said, the memory dawning on him. "That's right. Did you read them?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"You're going to stay with Lupin, right?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

Hermione grinned. "Then you might not want to read them right away."

Back downstairs, Hermione hugged everyone goodbye and climbed back into the carriage. As it pulled away from the Burrow, Hermione watched as their waving figures became smaller and smaller. When she faced forward again, she was reminded of Lily Evans. She gave up her love for what was truly right for her. And here was Hermione, many years later, doing the same thing. She was leaving behind Ron and Harry, her best friends in the world, and Draco Malfoy, the husband she had for a short period of time, to go back to the world that she loved so dearly. A world that taught her everything she knew. A world that would hopefully carry out seven years worth of fun for the other students as it did for Hermione, Ron and Harry. She grinned as the carriage carried her forth. She was going home.

A/N: I'm thinking of writing an Epilogue when Harry and Ron visit Hogwarts. What do you think?