Ron woke up in a cold sweat. He had had dreams about Hermione before, in fact he dreamt about her nearly ever night, but that dream… that dream was EXPLOSIVE. Never in his life had he had such a realistic dream, Merlin, he could taste her kiss…he could still hear her breathy whisper as she told him that she loved him…he could still smell her skin as she moved with him, their passion rising together.

Roses. She smelled like roses.

He shook his head as if to shake out the fading memories of the dream. No use dreaming about Hermione now. She was gone, and he had to face it, she was never coming back

---

I sat in traffic, belting out a song on the radio. (The music was one thing that had hit me like a sack of bricks upon my return to the normal world) When traffic showed no sign of relenting, I dug in my purse and pulled out my day planner.

Unlike most muggles, er, unlike most of my peers, I had not managed to get my hands on an electronic planner (nor did I have the financial security to shell out hundreds of dollars), but I had no objections to using a normal leather- bound planner.

9.00-5.00: Work. ("Obviously….")
5.00-7.00: Dinner with Mallory (Shoot. I had completely forgotten. Mallory was my best friend; I met her while I was earning my high school degree. She was back in school because she had to drop out due to her pregnancy, and she thought I was back in school also because of a pregnancy. I told her that I gave the baby up for adoption. I often imagine what would happen if I told her the truth. She would probably question my mental state, and then brush it off with a casual 'You're on drugs'. Typical Mallory.)
8.00-11.00: Date with John (Crap. I completely forgot this one as well. Where was my head today? This one wouldn't be hard to get out of. I'd just say that I have bad cramps…he'll be too embarrassed to ask anymore….no! Hermione, SHAME on you! You shouldn't be trying to get out of a date with your own boyfri-)

My train of thought was cut off by a loud "HONNK". Traffic was moving once more, but I was not. "Crap" I murmured, and then once again resumed the long drive to the office.

---

I sat behind my receptionist's desk, filing papers and answering phone calls. I had only been at work for half an hour, and already I was waiting for the day to end. The next best alternative would have been death. Since last night's events, I had been unable to get Ron out of my head. We had never properly dated, but that had not stopped the gossips, not had it stopped our secret meetings in empty classrooms between our classes. My letter to him had been longer, more heartfelt, and definitely more tearstained than Harry's had been.

But no matter how long or how heartfelt any farewell letter of mine was, I was pretty sure that Ron still hadn't forgiven me.

---

Ron sat at the edge of his bed, head in his hands, breathing heavily. He took a few shaky breaths and looked around him room.

No Hermione.

Everything was as it should be…except it wasn't. Hermione was gone. He glanced briefly at the letter she had written him, four pages spread out on his side table, and fresh wounds reopened. He had read the blasted thing every night for a year, trying to find some hidden clue, trying to read between the lines, hell, he even tried Divination again; he was so desperate to figure out why she left him. This morning was the first time in three years that he had re- read the damned thing, although every word had been seared into his memory, assuring that he would never forget her, no matter how hard he tried.

As bruised and broken Hermione's departure had left him, it was nothing compared to the magnitude of Harry's rage. Too vivid in his mind were the numerous Howlers that he never sent, the burning of everything reminding him of Hermione, and the screaming fights with a bushy- haired girl who wasn't really there.

Harry claimed that he had torn his letter to shreds, but Ron knew that the corner of tattered parchment peeking out from under Harry's pillow was Hermione's farewell.

Ron walked over to his door, and hesitated before opening it. What if he was still dreaming? Another 'encounter' with Hermione would probably kill him- if not send him raving to St. Mungo's. Steadying himself, he opened his door.

Hermione was still gone.

---

At noon I breathed a sigh of relief. Lunch. A half hour away from the monotone of my job. Rising from my chair, something went 'crunch' under my foot.

A few pressed flower petals were sticking out from the edge of my boot.

'Damnit!' I shouted, causing some people in the waiting room to look at me like I was crazy. 'Er…sorry about that folks…just broke a heel!' I laughed shakily and picked up the crumpled flower.

Every day John sent me a flower at my workplace. He thought it was 'sweet', but for me it was a reminder of my life of monotony. With hot tears threatening to spill down my face, I crushed the flower in my hand and threw it into the garbage can. 'I'm going for lunch!' I shouted, and left the other receptionist, Grace, to fill in for me.

I drove home like a madwoman, and didn't bother to take the keys out of my car's ignition. I ran up the stairs and hurriedly unlocked the door to my flat, once this was accomplished; I dove for my bed, and let the tears fall.

Once I was finished with my little sob fest, I splashed cold water on my face. I am not a girl that looks pretty when she cries. I looked up, but it was not my bloated face that caught my attention. The drawer on my bed stand was open. Apprehensively, I walked towards it. I distinctly remembered it being closed when I left for work.

My breath caught in my throat when I looked into the drawer. There was my old photo album. It was labelled 'Magical Memories' and underneath the script was a picture of Harry and Ron kissing either one of my cheeks, and me giggling and pretending to be shocked. Very staged and very clichéd, but it brought on a fresh onslaught of tears nonetheless. This was a photo album, filled with seven years worth of memories.

I couldn't just put it away. If I did, I would just read it later, after hours of mental debating and many pints of ice cream. My poor figure didn't deserve that, so, hesitantly, I opened the photo album.

The first and second years were downright embarrassing, with all of the awkwardness of being thrust into a new school, and a magical school at that, and all of that awkwardness was captured in the magic of moving photos, with toothy smiles followed by shy blushing and downcast stares. Ah, young angst.

For the entire afternoon I sat like that, not moving until I had finished with the entire book. The third year brought on a revelation for me. It was in these pictures that Harry seemed to become more tormented, and Ron seemed to look at me with a fire in his eyes that I had never known was there. In the following years I witnessed my own transformation from a girl to a woman, and Harry and Ron's transformations from boys to men. At first they had been energetic youthful boys, but became more brooding as the years went by. Harry was definately the darker of the two, Ron never seemed to lose his enthusiasm for life.

I had never noticed this before, and now, my longing became very evident. Four years of suppressed emotions and suppressed memories came flooding back to me now, hitting me hard and showing no mercy.

I slammed the book shut and looked at the clock. My lunch break was over. Taking a few shaky breaths, I rose from my bed, smoothed my clothing and left, but not before reaching deep into the very bottom of my bedside table's smallest drawer. I felt for the hinge that released the false bottom, and opened it. I pulled out my wand, blew the dust off, and silently whispered a spell to clean my makeup streaked face.

The magic seemed alien to me, but I preformed the spell with ease, the ability of past years coming back to me in a rush of power. I pointed the wand at my lamp and was about to whisper 'Wingardium Leviosa', when I stopped myself. I had left this all behind for a reason. I placed the wand back into its hiding place, and closed the drawer. A part of me that had for so long been detached, hollow, seemed to return all at once, filling me from top to toe with happiness that I had not known for a very long time.

---

"Ooh…someone's got a herself a hot date tonight" Mallory squealed, seeing my flat in its state of disarray. Clothes were strewn everywhere, and my closet was empty. I had totally forgotten about my dinner with Mallory in my stress over my date with John. Again.

"Oh Mallory! I'm such a bad friend! I forgot all about our dinner…let me just change my top and we'll be off, alright?" I rushed around my apartment, trying to make it look presentable. Mallory sat on the bed, dropping her spare key on the nightstand.

"Hey…'Mione…What's this?" I peered around the corner at her. She was looking at my photo album, which I had forgotten to put away. It was open to the very last page, a picture of me, Ron, and Harry in our graduation garb. "Ooo these boys are fine 'Mione…how come I've never met them?" I rushed out of the closet and slammed it shut. Oddly enough, the pictures were not moving.

"That's nothing! Just a few…uh…childhood friends! Nothing at all" I must have been blushing furiously, I could feel my own face getting hot as I tried to come up with a logical excuse.

"Then why don't you ever talk about…Harry and Ron?" She had seen the caption underneath the picture. That meant that she had also seen the title- 'GRADUATION'. I was screwed.

"We, we had a, uh, we had a sort of a falling- out a few years ago. That's just a gag gift they gave me before the fight." I stood up, eager to change the topic. "Now, how about that dinner?"

She giggled. "Well, dinner sounds fantastic 'Mione, but I think you should put on a shirt first!" She pointed to my bra- clad chest, and then handed me a top from my bed. "Of course you could always skip dinner with me and just go see John. I'm sure that he wouldn't mind you dropping in on him, especially when you're dressed like that!" she grinned mischievously, and for a split second she looked like a Weasley twin. Except for the fact that she had curly blonde hair, and was female. I shook my head. That entire family was going to drive me insane.

---

Someone tell me if my switching from 3rd person to 1st person is too difficult to follow. I'll italicize Ron's point of view if there are any complaints.