Setting: Bill and Fleur's reception. I didn't originally intend to go past HBP, but there were too many loose ends, and I just couldn't resist writing this chapter.

One Angst-Free Day

Hermione stared morosely at her cake. There was far too much frosting.

Ginny appeared suddenly and sat down across from Hermione. She reached across the table and took Hermione's cake. "Why aren't you eating this? It's delicious."

"Too much frosting."

"Are you kidding me? There can never be enough frosting." And to prove her point, Ginny used a finger to scoop the icing to her mouth.

"That's one of the most revolting things I've ever seen," Hermione said.

"Oh, please," Ginny scoffed. "You eat with Ron every day. We already know you have a strong stomach."

"Ha, ha. I'm not amused."

"Oh, but I am," Ginny said. "Where is he, anyway? Shouldn't you be spending this oh-so-romantic day with the boy of your dreams?"

"I could say the same for you."

"Yes, but with one key difference. Harry and I broke up. You and Ron didn't."

Hermione smiled somewhat bitterly. "He was never my boyfriend, Ginny. Moving slowly, remember?"

"You two are ridiculous." Ginny rolled her eyes. "Go move slowly with him on the dance floor, then."

"I can't," Hermione said. "We're finished. We ended—whatever it was we were."

"Oh, Hermione," Ginny murmured. She moved to the chair next to Hermione. "When? Why?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "There's a war going on. It's bigger than us."

"I'm sure that—"

"No," Hermione interrupted. "No, it's better this way. He was distracting me and I need to focus on… well, not him."

Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"And it's not like we really had anything going on," Hermione said. "We were just—we were moving slowly."

"And you're okay with this?"

"I have to be."

"Hermione…"

"Don't worry about me, Ginny. I'm fine. Really, I am."

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

Hermione looked puzzled.

"The end. It hurts more than you ever think it will," Ginny said. "I knew Harry was going to break up with me, Hermione. I knew it. But it hurt all the same." She looked away. "Bastard."

"How did you know?"

Ginny turned back to Hermione and smiled crookedly. "I know more than you realize."

"What do you mean?"

"You're leaving soon, aren't you? And not coming back in time for school."

"What? We would never—you know what? I'm sick of lying to you. Yes, we're leaving the day after tomorrow." Hermione shook her head. "How'd you figure it out?"

Ginny shrugged. "It's easy. Ron's hugged Mum more times in the last few days than he has since he left for Hogwarts. You looked depressed when Lupin said you were a shoe-in for Head Girl. And Harry… well, I'm not sure, but I think he's been staring at me."

"You think? Please, Ginny, the poor boy hasn't looked at anyone but you this week."

Ginny sighed exasperatedly. "But he still won't talk to me."

"He's going about this all wrong," Hermione said. "Look, Ginny, Harry thinks he's doing the right thing. He honestly does."

"Doesn't change the fact he's wrong," Ginny muttered.

"No, I suppose not." Hermione leaned back and surveyed the festivities. Ron was eating and Harry was brooding. Some things never change.

Ginny picked up the cake again and poked at it. "Harry's so frustrating," she said quietly. "I never know what's going on in his head. I can't tell if he—if he really…"

"Loves you?" Hermione supplied.

"I was going to say care, but, yeah, love works."

"He does. Trust me on this, Ginny. He does."

"Care about me?"

"At the very least." Hermione paused. "Did you two ever talk about your break-up with Dean?"

"Did I ever talk about my ex with my current boyfriend? Yeah, Hermione, it was something we loved discussing."

Hermione ignored the sarcasm. "Remember how the lucky potion was partially gone that night?"

Ginny nodded.

"Harry took some the night you and Dean broke up."

Ginny blinked.

Hermione grinned.

"That's the night Ron and Lavender broke up," Ginny said slowly.

"I know. An all-around good night."

"Not for Dean and Lavender, though."

"No, not especially," Hermione agreed. "But for Harry… well, it was his lucky night. It got him that much closer to you."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I was a little distracted that night, Ginny."

"True," Ginny said, "but you could have said something later."

"Honestly, I wasn't sure how you'd react." Hermione paused, choosing her words carefully. "After the mess with the diary, I wasn't sure how you would feel about someone else—something else—controlling your life."

Ginny squinted at her friend. "That's the craziest logic I've ever heard."

Hermione shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Okay." Ginny nodded. "Okay."

Hermione wanted to keep the conversation on the Tom debacle, but Ginny seemed finished with the topic. She decided to let it go and picked up a fork. "Please, Ginny, if you're going to stuff yourself, use some silverware."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at Hermione, but accepted the fork. "I can't believe you think there's too much frosting. And besides, you should be the one stuffing yourself."

"Why's that?" Hermione asked.

"Because you're about to go on some hare-brained quest to save the world and I don't think the bread Ron nicked is gonna last you long."

"He didn't," Hermione groaned.

"He did."

"Ron can be spectacularly stupid sometimes."

"Yeah, and he proved that when he let you two break apart. I mean, it was bad enough when you were moving slow, but now you've taken a giant leap backwards."

"Thanks, Ginny. That's really what I want to talk about right now."

"Actually, it's not really what I feel like talking about, either," Ginny said. "This is a wedding. It's a happy, love-is-fantastic sort of day.

"For Bill and Fleur, yes," Hermione said. "Doesn't seem to be for us, though."

"It doesn't have to be that way," Ginny said firmly, sitting up straight. "From this point on, I declare today to be an angst-free day. We're going to be happy and celebrate my brother's wedding."

"Do you think we can do that? I mean, there's a lot a bad stuff going on right now."

"I know that. I do." Ginny took a deep breath and forced herself to meet Hermione's eyes. "That's why I'm going to cry when you all leave me. We may not see each other again. But that doesn't mean—"

"I wasn't lying to you, Ginny," Hermione said quickly. "I'm not letting Harry die."

"Oh, I know you'll try, Hermione. And I know Harry's gonna try to protect you and Ron, and Ron will jump in front of a killing curse aimed at shorter than him—and the idiot would be 6'3—but sometimes the other side is just too strong. They killed Dumbledore, and now they're after Harry."

"I never said they were after him," Hermione protested.

"He's the only one who can kill Tom; of course they're after Harry."

"Do you want to come with us, Ginny?"

"What? Are you serious?"

Hermione nodded. "I think so. I mean, I'd have to talk to Ron and Harry—"

"They won't let me go," Ginny said. "I can't believe they're letting you go."

"Like they could stop me."

"True. You're right scary when you're hacked off."

"Nothing on you, though," Hermione said. "I knew about you're temper before I even knew you."

Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Ron."

"Remind me to thank him for that."

"Why aren't you mad, though?" Hermione asked hesitantly. "We're not including you. You hate that."

"I do. I really, really do." Ginny paused. "It doesn't make sense, though. For me to go, I mean. I need to stay here for Mum; she's going to be a wreck when she realizes you're gone."

"Wow. You're the best daughter ever."

"Don't feel guilty, Hermione, that's not my only reason," Ginny said. "The main reason is that I think I can help you more from Hogwarts."

"But they may not even open the school."

"They will. There's going to be about fourteen of us there, but they'll open it."

Hermione shrugged. "If you say so."

"I do." Ginny smiled. "I'm going to set up the D.A. again. Train a real army for Dumbledore. I think he'd like that."

"He would."

"That's not the best part, though," Ginny said. "You'll like this, Hermione."

"Hm?"

"One word: library. You're going to need information and where else to go but Hogwarts?"

"I was worried about that," Hermione admitted, "but we don't have a way to communicate with you. Also, I'm not sure we should tell you anything. You'll be safer knowing nothing."

"And I'll be safest when this whole thing is over," Ginny retorted. "I can take care of myself. Tomorrow we're all going to sit down and you're going to explain everything."

"I'm not sure that'll go over so well."

"I don't care. You need at least one person to know what your plan is. And that person is me."

"I don't know…"

"Well, I do," Ginny snapped. "And I'm also done talking about this. I just declared this an angst-free day. It's my brother's wedding and I want to dance. C'mon, let's find Harry and Ron."

"I don't think they want to dance, Ginny."

"Fine, then, let's go find Fred and George. They're always up for a dance."

"You can't dance with you brother."

"Don't look so scandalized, Hermione. We'll just mingle a bit, then." Ginny took in her friend's frazzled appearance. "Merlin, you need to take it down a notch. I'm going to get you and Ron on the dance floor together."

Hermione seemed to argue with herself for a moment, but she finally nodded. She stood up and arranged her shawl carefully.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Ginny demanded.

"Um… getting ready to go mingle?" Hermione said. "Like you told me to."

"Yeah, but what's with the shawl? Do you not understand the concept of a scoop neck? Put the shawl down, Hermione, and come with me."

"But I look like a tart," Hermione whined.

"Nonsense. You look amazing. Ron won't be able to keep his hands to himself."

"Then why, Ginny, do you want me to dance with him?"

"Didn't I just answer that?"

"Oh sweet Merlin."

Ginny held out her hands and after a silent battle of wills, Hermione gave her the shawl.

"I'm only dancing with Ron if you dance with Harry," Hermione said.

"Well, there's a punishment," Ginny drawled.

"And you have to actually speak to one another during the dance. No more of this stupid stare-and-stutter nonsense."

"I don't stutter," Ginny objected.

"If you say so," Hermione said breezily. "But things are awkward, and since you declared this an angst-free day, what better time than this to clear up any… unfinished business? Perhaps with a lovely dance or a romantic peck on the cheek?"

"You're unbelievable.

"Hey, if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me."

"Going down?"

"We fell in love," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "We fell in love during a war. It was a stupid thing to do, really. But I'm glad you fell with me."

"I'm glad you were there, too," Ginny said. "I'm sorry I won't be there for the rest of it."

"Who says you won't be? We'll figure out a way to talk." Hermione started to walk toward Harry and Ron, but called back, "how else will you be able to research for us?"

Ginny smiled as she ran to catch up with Hermione. Together, they approached the boys.

xxxxx

xxxxx

The End.

Thanks so much to all readers and reviewers.