Jessie's eyes opened quickly, and she sat bolt upright in bed, alert. He sun streamed in through the windows, flooding the girl's dormitory with it's dewy, early morning light. It took Jessie a moment to work out why she was so anxious to wake up. Then she remembered the previous night.

The girls hadn't enjoyed the party much. They had, however, stayed until the end of it. After the end, in fact. They remained, sitting on the comfy couch of the Gryffindor common room until well into the early hours of the morning, observing half heartedly as the occupants of the room quickly dispersed, and it was left empty, apart from their tentative figures, perched by the fire, until it was reduced to sad embers.

That was when they decided that it was useless to wait for Daniel, as he didn't seem to have any intention of returning to the common room before morning. They had, begrudgingly, trotted up to their dormitory, where they lay, uneasy, for at least one sleepless hour, pondering their friends whereabouts, and still coming up with nothing to comfort them.

Jessie scanned the room. She jumped, when she reached Jade's bed. It was empty. Quickly, she hoped out of her own four-poster, and pulled a dressing gown around her shoulders. The other girls that they shared the dormitory with were still sound asleep, their heads rested peacefully on their pillows, their curtains left wide open, having been so tired the previous night that they had just flopped down on top of the covers and drifted off to sleep.

The late night before, and the absurdness of the hour combined to create heavy lines around Jessie's eyes, which she rubbed furiously as she journeyed down the stairway, passing a few odd students who enjoyed walking at that early in the morning, or ate breakfast before many others. They weren't rubbing their eyes. They were perky, and waved jovially at Jess as she descended. They obviously hadn't partaken in last night's celebrations.

Jessie didn't have far to go. When she reached the common room, she found Jade sitting on the couch, her eyes fluttering open and closed lazily, staring at the place where the fire had died last night, as though in a subconscious trance, not even turning around as Jessie approached her, though Jess didn't make any effort to muffle her footsteps.

"Jade?" Jessie muttered quietly, kneeling beside her. Jade was obviously asleep. She tried again, louder this time, "Jade?"

Jade came around, with a start, and her eyes snapped wide open, staring into Jessie face, horrified.

"I feel asleep again? Have you seen Daniel, is he alright?"

"No. I haven't. I was worried about you! How long have you been down here for anyway?" Jess asked, rolling her eyes slightly, and sitting down next to her friend on the couch. Jade sat up slightly straighter, and mumbled something.

"What was that?" asked Jessie, leaning in.

"Four." She said again, and blushed.

Four? Jessie was barely asleep at four in the morning! That was two hours ago. She groaned inwardly, thinking o how tired she would be today. It was a Sunday. Luckily, too, because she would have been much too distracted in classes, and Professor Sprout said that they were starting on Peela Pods on Monday…

"Jess?" Jade said, looking at Jessie expectantly.

"Sorry, What?"

"I said, what do you think we should do? Do you think that Dan's all right?" Jade asked earnestly, peering at Jess intently, trying to see what she really thought of the predicament.

Jessie didn't meet Jade's eye.

"I'm sure he's fine. He might have gone up to be last night, and we didn't notice him." She reassured Jade. "Come on. We wont get back to sleep now. Lets go down and get breakfast. We can see if Dan's down there. You never know."

But Daniel wasn't at breakfast. And he wasn't on the grounds when they went walking afterwards. They didn't hear any word of him until the sun was high in the sky, leering down at the girls, where they sat underneath a large beech tree by the lake.

"I wish that I knew where he was!" said Jade in frustration, standing up from where she sat on the ground, breaking the silence that they had fallen into. Jessie opened her mouth to respond, but it wasn't her voice that spoke.

"I know where he is." Said a voice behind them, sneering slightly. Zeke Malfoy emerged from behind the beech tree, and eyed the two girls, scanning them up and down. He was alone, which was unusual for the boy; he was usually accompanied by at least two of his friends.

"What do you mean?" asked Jade, her eyes flashing. Could the Malfoy boy have hurt Daniel? Did he have him somewhere? Was this what he had been doing in the forbidden forest?

"I thought you at least would know Potter. You've known Dan for a while now, haven't you?" he sneered, walking closer to them. Jessie stood up. Zeke looked her up and down.

"What are you talking about Malfoy?" she asked coldly, stepping forward. Zeke didn't look angry, or scared by the girl. She didn't have her wand out. While many might have started to fear what Jessie Granger could do with a wand in her hand, she was quite defenceless. Her wand was still securely in her pocket.

"I don't even know what you mean Malfoy! Tell us where he is!" said Jade, firing up. Zeke smirked.

"You should see what the filthy half blood did to himself! In a right state he is…" Zeke taunted. Jade drew her wand, and pointed it at the boy, but Jessie was puzzled? Half blood? Weren't Daniel's parents a witch and wizard?

"Tell us where he is!" Jade said, breathing heavily through gritted teeth. Zeke opened his mouth to retaliate, his wand suddenly in his hand, pointed straight at Jade. Jessie's ears were red with fury…

"Daniel!" she yelled, and ran past Malfoy and across the grass, seeing her friend in the distance, on the grounds. Daniel's eyes widened, when he saw Jessie running for him, and he groaned at his foolishness. He had thought that they would be in the dormitory, tired from the party the night before, not on the grounds. He didn't want to see his friends at the moment. They would only ask questions. How could his father have kept this a secret? He was in agony, and it was only the morning after his first transformation at Hogwarts…

Jade followed Jessie, forgetting about Malfoy, running furiously across the grass, her feet pounding the ground in angst, tearing up the dirt with every step, her wand clenched tightly in her hand, flying wildly alongside her.

They slowed down when they reached him.

Daniel didn't look like he had at the Quidditch game, the night before. There was a large scratch down his cheek, and he supported darker circles under his bloodshot eyes than either of the girls. His hair was messy, and matted together, like he had forgotten to brush it. Jess gave him a quick hug, but Jade stopped, and looked him up and down.

"What did you do?" she asked, tears of relief and fear springing up- into her eyes at once, and mingling together to send a cold trickle of water sliding over her cheek.

Daniel looked uncomfortable. Jessie's forehead was creased in worry.

"I think we need to talk. There's something that I have to tell you…"

In the distance, Malfoy watched, no longer smirking at the situation. He was watching the way that Jessie had hugged Daniel. It was nothing more than a quick, friendly squeeze, but it made him ache inside, as he though of what he had to do…

OOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lavender Thomas looked up from the letter that she was holding. She wasn't stupid. Her brain clicked through the information that she had just read, in her daughter's own hand, and realised that there was so much more to it, more than Suzie Thomas could ever imagine.

"Dean?" she asked, her husband, walking over to where he stood in front of their muggle TV set, watching football, and cheering loudly at the screen when appropriate. "Dean, have you heard anything from Hermione Granger recently?" she asked, trying to remain calm and apparently nonplussed, leaning casually against the doorframe. Dean didn't take his eyes off the TV. He seemed mesmerised. The answer to the question, however, was the one that Lavender had been expecting.

"No. Not for ages…" he replied, "Actually, I think that Harry's wedding day was probably the last time that I talked to her."

Lavender nodded. That was what she thought. That was the last time she had talked to her old roommate as well. She hadn't heard a thing of the brilliantly talented witch since then. No female minister for magic, no publicly acclaimed healer, and no famous auror had popped up in the last few years supporting the same name.

"Why?" Dean asked, tearing his eyes away from the football to face Lavender. She wasn't listening.

"Huh?"

"Why did you want to know about Hermione?" he asked, Lavender shrugged, and lied quickly.

"Oh, I don't know, just wondering I guess. You know, old friends…"

Lavender walked slowly back into the kitchen and stared at the second page of her daughter's letter, which had arrived from Hogwarts that day. Suzie's letters were always long, and looked as though they had been scrawled quickly, the words bouncing across the page, excitedly. A few words bounced across a little too jovially, and Lavender stared at them, her insides squirming with a sudden understanding.

…That muggleborn girl that we met in Diagon Alley is really nice. Her name is Jessie Granger…

A muggleborn. A muggleborn Granger, with flaming red hair, bouncing around Hogwarts. It all made sense to Lavender. A strange, horrible sense, that she doubted no one, even Ron, would understand. She remembered the woman's accent in when they met in Diagon Alley. Australia. That's where they were. And that's where she had to go. She had to make things right.

"Going out for a moment Dean! Be back soon!" she called, and didn't even wait for his reply. With a turn, and a crack, she had disappeared into thin air.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"You should have said something." Jessie said, smiling at Daniel, who still wouldn't look them in the eye.

"I didn't want you to think any less of me." He replied, pretending to be fascinated by the creases in his knuckles.

"Why would we do that?" Jade asked, "It's not your fault, is it? And anyway, we could do something to help." Jade said, grabbing onto his arm and making him look up. The eyes that he rested upon hers were still sad, but she could see that he was grateful for the two friends sitting either side of him.

"No, there's nothing, trust me. Anyway, it's enough that…" he trailed off. Daniel was not great at brilliant heartfelt speeches. He wasn't even great at bad heart felt speeches. He looked awkwardly at Jade, and then at Jess.

"No worries." Said Jessie and Daniel looked relieved, and closed his mouth, not having to say a thing. Jade realised, with a start, that she still hadn't let go off his forearm, and dropped it with a start, clasping her hands together tightly in her lap, her ears going red.

Daniel's eyes were now a hopeful kind of yellow, and his hair a deep navy blue.

"Can you hide the scar with your metamorphing?" Jessie asked, considering him thoughtfully. Daniel shook his head.

"The two of them don't mix. I've tried lots of things. I think I'm the only wizard ever to have both conditions, and they don't seem to agree on any things." He said, the hint of a laugh in his voice.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lavender knocked nervously on the door, which she hoped belonged to Hermione Granger. She had tried very hard to find her, and now that she was here she was confused as to why. To set the score straight, of course, but shouldn't that be Ron's job? Couldn't he have explained it to Hermione, the fact that it was her who had forced him to kiss her? She felt awful about it now, but she thought that she had a broken heart, and as far as she knew, Ron was available.

Obviously, after Hermione had run from the room crying, it became clear that he was not available. At least, he hadn't been. After the running down the street, Ron was free to date who he wanted. But he hadn't.

Hermione had disappeared off the face of the earth, and Lavender had become engaged to Dean Thomas, but Lavender knew that Ron hadn't dated for years. He had tried. Right back at the beginning, he had tried. He had tried to date Hermione first, of course, but that was out of the picture, and then it was onto whatever girl he could find, after about a year or so. Dean had kept her informed, for he spent some time with Ron, Semus and Harry, keeping in touch after school, sometimes meeting at the Leaky cauldron for a drink on a Friday night.

But deep down, as she rapped her knuckles on the door of Hermione's large house in the suburbs, Lavender knew that this was her fault, and that she had to fix it. Leaping on top of Ron Weasley in a hotel room twelve years ago was not her finest hour, but she had obviously caused a lot of trouble, and it was up to her to set it straight, no matter how belated the apology. Ron didn't know that he had a daughter, and Hermione didn't know that she had a man out there, who still loved her. It was like something out of a movie. Lavender liked that idea. The idea that she did not like was the part that she played in that movie. She had always pictured herself as the beautiful, supermodel star, who managed to look tragically beautiful, even when she had tears pouring down her high cheek boned face.

Incidentally, the actually heroine opened the door, and Hermione's eyes widened at the image standing before her. Lavender Thomas, standing on her doorstep. It was like one of those dreams that she had, years and years ago, or like the self-help images her councillor had helped her to conjure in her brain. This image, of Lavender Thomas standing on her doorstep was often followed immediately by the image of Lavender brown lying in the gutter with a broken nose, but Hermione knew that this was not one of those images. She gave an awkward, forced smile, despite the size of her eyes, and opened the door to let Lavender in, stuttering.

Lavender knew that this was the right house, and that the woman was Hermione, even though neither the house, nor the woman were familiar to look at. Hermione might have changed a lot, but her eyes had remained the same, and Lavender noticed them, prominent among her transformed features, once you knew what to look for.

"C-c-come in." Hermione stuttered, and stood to the side, allowing Lavender through. Muggleborn indeed. The appliances and power points, the lights in the overhead fittings all bore the traits of a very muggle life.

Hermione led her into the living room, and gestured silently for Lavender to sit on the couch. Lavender obliged, politely perching herself on the edge of the chair, and sitting straight backed, a slightly nervous smile on her face. Hermione sat opposite her, and then jumped straight back up again, as though a pin was positioned on her chair strategically,.

"Would you like a drink?" asked Hermione, her voice odd and squeaky, coming out in random bursts of pitch and volume. Lavender nodded, a small and nervous nod. It took Hermione a moment before she could push out another sentence. She wondered in her mind, vaguely, whether she could make it look like an accident, spilling hot coffee down the front of the woman sitting opposite her. Or perhaps if she snuck up behind her then she could hit her over the head with the glass of ginger beer…

"A tea would be great, thankyou." Said Lavender, sickly sweet, her voice cutting into Hermione's thoughts. She nodded, and walked back into the kitchen, her head down.

Though she hadn't seen Lavender Thomas for years, Hermione felt suddenly very self-conscious. She caught sight of herself in the shiny surface of the microwave. Her hair was wild, it needed a cut, and her eyes sported bags that came from worrying about Jessie all night. Her nose looked pasty. Obsessively, she pulled down her top, trying desperately to make it seem like she still had something going on and she wasn't just some dowdy single mum from the suburbs. She ran her fingers through her hair, and ripped her hand away from her teeth when she went to impulsively nibble at her nails.

Truth be told, Hermione was looking rather great. She couldn't admit it to herself, but she was looking very pretty. The reflections in kitchen appliances are often misleading, and shouldn't be trusted. She sighed, and tore her eyes away from her irritated reflection.

"Hermione?" said a voice behind her. She didn't turn around. Lavender was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, holding onto the doorframe as though for support. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She hated the feigned politeness that both of them were adopting, when they had wanted for so many years to meet again…

"He didn't do anything you know." She said. Hermione still didn't turn around. A single tear escaped from beneath her closed eyelid, and her hand shook, gripping the edge of the kitchen bench.

"You have to believe me. I kissed him, you walked in, and that was the end of it. It's true."

"He didn't make you come here?" Hermione asked, her voice no longer high and squeaky, more hollow with loss.

"No. He doesn't know that I came. I couldn't tell him. You have to." Lavender said. Hermione's tears where sticking to her face, and clinging desperately to her eyelashes. They came slowly, one by one, following each other steadily down her cheek. Lavender came a little closer.

"You have to tell him. He deserves to know Hermione." She said. Hermione's voice caught in her throat. Surprisingly, she wasn't mad at the woman standing behind her. She no longer wanted to hurt her. It wasn't Lavender's fault that she didn't listen, as much as she thought she was doing the right thing.

"She deserves to know." Lavender finished, quieter this time. Hermione didn't care for the volume. It didn't matter. The words that she whispered sliced into her dangerously, and caused tears and years of unshed emotion to come flooding out of her. Lavender approached cautiously. The kettle of boiling water was standing dangerously close, however, ignoring all of her fears, Lavender rested a shaky hand on Hermione's shoulder. When she didn't flinch, Lavender wrapped her old friend into a warm hug, and stroked her shiny blonde hair soothingly.

OOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

A/N: Well! My fingers are tired now, wrote that all at once! It was fun though! It's about a third longer, so I hope that u like it! If it's still to short then pls let me know! Tell me what u think of this chapter too! I would seriously love to hear from you!

And thanks for the one hundred reviews! That is the most reviews that I have ever gotten on a story in my life! Actually, it's more than double the amount of reviews I have ever gotten on another story! Sad, I know. U guys are a little more vocal that L/J fans, I think! I am so extremely grateful to u all! I love reading them, and writing back! Thanks! Please review this chapter too!

Luv Ella xXx