Disclaimer: You could sue me, but you would get a paperclip, a ragtag notebook, and 57 cents.

A/N: This is the first of the last three chapters.. Enjoy.

Hermione looked up fron her very cold cup of coffee as Harry and Lily apparated into her living room. She greeted them with a puffy eyed smile.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked as Lily fought out of his arms and ran over to Hermione.

"Yeah, I think I found something I'm allergic to," she lied.

Harry seemed to take a moment to think about her flimsy excuse before he accepted it. "Would you be up to watching Lily til mum can pick her up tomorrow evening?" Harry asked, pleading her with his eyes.

Hermione grinned down at the little girl now on her lap. "Of course I can!"

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Molly, or mum as Harry now called her, arrived the next evening around 8. She was met with a yawning 2 year old and an exhausted looking Hermione.

"Oh dear," she said as she saw Hermione up close. "Are you all right?"

Hermione nodded.

"You look like you haven't slept in days!"

"I just had a long night," she said to appease the woman.

"Well you tell them to take it easy on you tomorrow, all right?"

"Of course," Hermione said with a smile before she kissed Lily goodbye and the pair apparated out of her living room.

Hermione turned around and stared at her empty flat. She contemplated going to bed, but she knew what that would do. She didn't know if she could take another night of dreaming about him.

With a defeated sigh she headed to her bedroom anyway. She could always pray for a dreamless sleep.

Hermione felt even more exhausted as she drug herself into work that Monday. She set her bag on the floor beside her desk and flopped down on her chair before promptly dropping her head onto her desk. She had Friday's work to make up before she could even start on todays.

With a huge yawn she looked down to see what she had missed on Friday. She was met with a large document describing the actions behind Lucius Malfoy being cleared of all charges and being set free.

Hermione couldn't believe she hadn't even thought about how he was out. She was too preoccupied with her own feelings to use her brain.

As she read through the document she heard her door opening.

"Hermione?" she heard Ron ask.

She looked up at him and he walked the rest of the way to her desk. "Morning," she said, faking the cheer in her vioce.

"Mum told me you didn't look well. Are you feeling ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, just didn't sleep well over the weekend. And now I have to do two days worth of work."

Ron gave her a small smile before his eyes fell on the parchment in her hand. "I tried to tell you he had been released on Friday, but you were gone when I got there."

"Oh, it's ok," she said. "I don't think it bothers me as much as it bothers you and Harry. Does Harry know?"

"Well, I told him but I don't think he was paying much attention."

Hermione smiled genuinely. "Had his hands full, eh?"

"Oh yeah." Ron said with a smile. "So, wanna grab some lunch later?"

"Sure, that would be nice."

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"Ron, last I checked ice cream wasn't considered lunch," Hermione chided as they left the ice cream store in Diagon Alley.

"Oh come on, we're adults and we can do whatever we want."

Hermione half smiled before it fell again and she stared blankly ahead as Ron talked. She didn't realize until a few minutes later that he was talking about Lucius Malfoy. As Hermione almost walked straight into a crowd of people Ron grabbed her by her arms and turned her to face him.

"Hermione, what is wrong?"

"Nothing Ron, I just-"

"I know, not enough sleep. But this is more than not enough sleep.. You have to tell me what's wrong."

The tears started pooling in her eyes, but she forced them back. "Ron, I'm fine."

"Hermione you're not fine. You're far from fine. You have to tell someone, we want to help you."

Before Hermione could open her mouth to answer a cold voice intruded on their conversation.

"Honestly, I would think you would have had the brain to get a room before trying to jump a woman on the street," Lucius Malfoy said to Ron as he sneered at the word 'woman'.

Before Ron could respond or Lucius could see her tears Hermione apparated straight out of the crowded Alley and into the lobby of the Ministry of Magic. She let out a choked sob before running to her office to hide from the world.

Hermione's body twisted in the sheets, sweat clinging them to her like a second skin. She could feel his hands roaming up her body, feel his hands move up into her hair. She could feel his breath on her cheek before nipping at her neck, feel his hardness pressing against her. Her senses were overwhelmed and she woke from her dream, sitting straight up in bed.

Her hand went to her chest to grip her shirt as she caught her breath. She hadn't had a dream that vivid since right after Lucius had been locked away from her in Azkaban.

And now it seemed he was able to get out of Azkaban, but he was still lost to her.

Author Babble:

Ohmigosh! There's only two chapters left!