Once again, sorry for the long update. I'm personally very proud of this chapter so I hope it'll make up for the lack of updates.

Also, I plotted out this story before Order of the Phoenix was released, so if any of the facts don't match up please excuse them.

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Adonis hurried into the office. He hadn't been able to figure out exactly how to work his muggle alarm clock and it had gone off an hour later than it was supposed to, leaving him only half an hour to get up and ready to go. He quickly sat down in his chair and furiously began filing through papers. His eyes wandered to his left and he noticed that he wasn't the only one running late that morning.

"Where's Potter?" He said and immedietly regretted the malice that was contained in his name when he said it.

"He has special lessons with the top Aurors of the Ministry at least once a week. We never know when he'll be gone. They just come in, take him, and expect us not to ask questions." Hermione said without looking up from the piece of parchment she was currently scribbling away on. She brushed a stray curl out of her face and back up into the loose bun at the nape of her neck. "You know, him being who he is and all. They figure he should be better prepared than the rest of us."

"Especially if we're right in our theory that You-Know-Who has returned." She added in a hushed voice out of Ron's hearing range.

Adonis nodded and turned to look at the stack of papers in the "In" box on his desk. They towered a good six inches over the top of his head. Sighing, he took the paper on the topmost of the stack and began reading over it. Twenty pages into the pile he was already cursing himself for taking the Auror job. He had thought it was going to be all about fighting dark wizards, but he had soon realized that only very qualified Aurors got to do that. The younger ones did the research for them and occasionally were allowed to follow up on the smaller jobs.

After three hours of reading and re-reading papers he had finally transferred the majority of the stack into the "Out" box. He put the cap back on the green highlighter he had been using to mark important information in the documents and placed it on the desk.

"I'm going to break for lunch and walk over to the bakery down the street. I'll see you guys in about an hour." He removed his coat from the back of his desk chair and exited the office. Ron stood up and stretched his arms behind him.

"I'm gonna go see if Harry's done with morning training and then to get a bite to eat." He said as he headed towards the door. "You want to come 'Mione?" But he was out the door and down the hall before she could answer him.

"No Ron, but thanks for asking." She said sarcastically to herself. Ever since they had graduated Hogwarts and become Aurors it had been this way. She had become the third wheel all over again. Since Ron was the Minister's son and Harry was the Auror's golden boy they had stuck together even more so than they had at Hogwarts, expecting her to find everything they needed to know out for them.

Hermione stood up and took her handbag from the coat rack in the corner of the room. She slung the bag over her shoulder and locked the office door shut. She walked through the maze of hallways and finally arrived outside, pushing open the doors into the crowded street. Immediately, she was caught up in the hustle outside as people made their way to and fro around the road. Hermione walked close to the windows, peering inside at all the people.

There were happy couples feeding each other small bites of food when they thought no one was looking, families sharing an afternoon together, and groups of friends passing the time by just sitting around and talking. Everyone was enjoying everyone else's company. Hermione's heartstrings were pulled towards these people and she felt completely alone, lost in the bustle of people around her.

She stopped in front of the window of Bread n' Butter, the bakery. Sitting there alone in the darkest corner of the restaurant was Adonis. He was the only person she had seen so far that was accompanied by anyone else. Sitting by himself at the table he looked almost childlike, like he was lost.

Taking a deep breath she pushed the door open and cursed the bell that hung over it when it rang as she entered, sounding her arrival. She casually strolled over to the counter and ordered a buttered croissant. She gave the baker a sickle and three knuts and slowly ambled across the restaurant to the table where Adonis sat. Suppressing the butterflies fluttering about in her stomach, she tentatively reached out her hand and tapped his shoulder twice.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked in what she hoped was a confident voice. He swiveled his chair around and looked her straight in the eye. Her grin quivered as he held her gaze, but then the corners of his eyes smiled back at her and she relaxed.

"Not at all. I was hoping someone would join me. I don't much like eating alone, although I've had to do it quite a bit recently." He turned his chair back to the table as she took the seat across from him.

Several minutes ticked by while they both ate in silence. Hermione swallowed the last bite of her croissant and wiped her mouth with the paper napkin they had given her. She crumbled up the napkin and tossed it several feet to her left where it landed neatly inside the waste bin.

"Nice shot." Adonis said admiringly. He threw his own napkin and missed the trash by inches. Shrugging, he stood up and threw it away the proper way. "We can't all have that talent.

He gave a small smirk and she felt as though her stomach had tied itself in knots. It was painfully familiar and made an impact on her much like a mallet hitting a gong. The expression vibrated through her body until she would feel its tingle in her fingertips.

That's not possible. She told herself. You only met him a few days ago.

"We still have about half an hour before we have to be back. You want to walk around? You can show me the sites. I haven't really taken a good look around yet." He stepped backwards towards the door. His voice shook her out of her thoughts and she looked up, puzzled, still trying to register what he had said when she had been lost in thought. Noticing her confusion, he repeated his question. "Walk? Sites?"

His stormy gray eyes bored into hers. She blinked several times, clearing her head of its previous thoughts.

"Oh right, sorry. I blanked out for a minute." She stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder again. "There's really not much to see here, but I'll show you what there is."

She waved at the baker as she left and Adonis obediently followed her outside. He squinted in the bright sunlight and quickly placed his dark sunglasses over his eyes.

"I was hoping I'd be able to talk to you over lunch break." He said as they walked down the street. "Thought that we could go over what we found out in the library. Is there anyplace where we won't be overheard? Don't want to cause a mass riot of panic you know."

Hermione thought about all the places in the town where they could possibly go. Her eyes were still fixed on the horizon. Images of the town's scenery flashed through her mind.

"The park." She realized. Grabbing his arm, she quickly changed direction and led him two blocks down a small side street to the park. As she had thought, it was completely empty. Not many children lived in the town and it had become overgrown from lack of maintenance.

The once highly polished sign now hung from one rusty hinge, creaking in the wind. Hermione walked through the small gap between two towering hedges and led him to a bench nearby. He hesitantly sat down next to her, not sure the rickety bench would hold both of them. The wood looked as though it was nearly completely rotten.

Under the shade of a nearby maple tree, he found he no longer needed his sunglasses. He removed them and stuck them back in his jacket pocket. When he turned back to Hermione he saw that she was surveying his every movement, obviously anxious to begin their conversation.

"Now, do you really believe that You-Know-Who's returned?" He asked quietly, paranoid that someone was listening in on them.

"Well, all the signs point to it but I just don't see how it's possible. He was destroyed. I'm sure of it. I helped kill him and watched him die." She furrowed her brow in confusion, as his eyes grew wide at what she had just said.

"You helped in Voldemort's demise? I only heard about Potter killing him." He once again cursed himself for the way he said the name. "What happened? Can you tell me or has Dumbledore sworn you to secrecy?"

"You know about Dumbledore?" She inquired. "But you went to Beauxbatons didn't you? How…" Her voice trailed off.

Adonis mentally kicked himself for his error. You're not Draco Malfoy, you didn't attend Hogwarts, and you need to stop making slip ups. Your name is Adonis Migro now, your past is nothing.

"Everyone knows Dumbledore." He said effortlessly, if there was one thing he had always prided himself on it was his ability to think on his feet. "He's on the Chocolate Frog cards. Plus he's always in the Daily Prophet. Hard not to know who he is really. I just assumed since you were teamed up with Potter that Dumbledore would have some say in the matter."

"Oh…" She said quietly. She was about to relive one of the hardest days of her entire life to an almost complete stranger. She hadn't even talked about this with Harry and Ron, and they had been by her side the entire time, living the experience alongside her. Taking a deep breath she began her story.

"Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning. As you know He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named returned at the end of our fifth year at school. Ever since that day Harry became obsessed with defeating him. It was all he could think about. During our sixth and seventh years he studied harder than I've ever seen anyone else do. He had his mind set on becoming an Auror and was going to do whatever it took to become one.

"Unfortunately, the next time You-Know-Who attacked Harry hadn't become an Auror yet and didn't have the extra skills he possesses now.

"That night You-Know-Who had come to the school through the floo network disguised as a worker from the Ministry and had asked to be taken to the Gryffindor Tower because he had urgent news for Harry about the death of his godfather. He had then taken Harry away after placing him under a full body bind. Ron had heard Harry protesting from upstairs and immediately run to the common room where he witnessed Harry being levitated out of the open window and out into the stormy gray night.

"Without hesitating he had woken me up and together we followed Harry on two broomsticks, Harry's Firebolt and Ron's second-hand Nimbus 2000.

"We had flown for miles until finally arriving outside a tall black castle. They tracked the Dark Lord deep into the heart of the castle and into a large room made of black obsidian that opened to the sky.

In the center of the room was a dueling ring decorated with silver and white serpents around the edges of the circle, all baring their fangs at whoever was inside.

"Harry had been at a stand off with Voldemort when they had arrived. Each of the duelers had their wand in the ready position. After sending one glance towards us, we all raised their wands and preformed the killing curse at the same time. The Death Eaters apparated before the lifeless body of their leader hit the ground. I know that's not very detailed, but you got the just of it."

"Why didn't you tell the Prophet what really happened?" He asked once he had digested what she had told him. She simply shrugged and shook her head.

"I don't care about people knowing I was there. Harry's the one people want to hear about; he's the hero." They sat for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts, before just as Adonis had feared, their combined weight became too much for the old bench, and with a loud crack it collapsed.

Hermione sat wide-eyed in shock next to Adonis amidst the pile of debris. He stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothing before holding out a hand to help her up.

"Are you alright? Nothing broken I hope." She took his hand and stood up. Still slightly off balance from the fall, she stumbled forward until her body came in contact with something very solid. The silken material of his shirt was cool and smooth against her cheek. His strong hands went to her shoulders to steady her.

"Sorry, I'm fine. Just a little shaken." Her cheeks flushes crimson as she brushed her loose curls away from her face.

"Don't worry about it, no harm done." He gave her a small smile and returned his hands to his sides. "We're late for work, we'll have to hurry."

Adonis quickly turned on his heel and took off at a brisk jog. Hermione followed his as best she could, but it was hard to run in heels. She was concentrating so hard on not tripping that she didn't realize they were going the wrong way until they hit a dead end.

"Honestly," she huffed and turned around. "Follow me… Wait, do you know how to apparate?" He nodded." Then I'll see you momentarily." With a small pop she disappeared, and he soon followed suit.

Harry and Ron were lounging in their chairs when the pair returned.

"A little late aren't you? Everything alright Herms?" Harry asked. She rejoiced that there was a trace of real concern in his voice.

"Yeah, it's okay, just lost track of time. Have a good lunch?" She sat down in her own chair.

"It was alright, nothing special." The four partners silently returned to their work. Several hours later Ron was the first to speak.

"Well, it's time to go, see you guys tomorrow." With a loud crack he apparated to his flat. Harry mumbled something about leaving and disappeared as well.

"Are you gone too?" Adonis asked as he and Hermione prepared to leave.

"It's a nice day, I think I'm going to walk home. It's only a few blocks."

"I'll walk with you, at least as far as my flat." The two Aurors walked down the street again. It was slightly less crowded this time. He stopped in front of a five story, brown building. "Well this is my stop. I'll see you tomorrow, Hermione."

"Have a nice evening, Adonis." She smiled before continuing down the road. Long after she was gone the sound of his fake names on her lips still haunted his conscience.

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You obviously read the story so please review and tell me what you thought. I love getting feedback! *grin*