I told you all I would get around to writing more and now here is two chapters:-) Yay! Anyway, onto whatever is at hand... Thanks to those who reviewed, I hope that this follows on nicely. Cheers!


23rd September, 2001

9:37pm

Hermione reached her flat just to hear her phone ringing. She couldn't always justify the expenditure on the telephone when the only times she used it were when her parents rung or she needed to contact the Muggle take away shops up the road. But she had to admit, it did have its merits.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Oh, hi love," her mother's voice could be heard.

"Hi Mum, you were lucky. I just got back home."

"I knew you were still out. I tried calling before."

Shit.

"Oh, sorry. I was held back at the hospital because they were short-staffed in the Psychological Ward. A patient managed to lock a warden into his own room and it took some time to restrain him."

"That's such a shame to see that happen. I give credit to those who work in that field. There is absolutely no way that I would be able to work like that."

"No, me neither."

Hermione knew that the reason for her mother calling would come in due time; it usually did after a couple of minutes. It was just that she was quite hungry and knew that she would have to order take away for the second time in the week and she was starting to become slightly agitated.

"Anyway, I know you must be feeling tired so I won't keep you. I just thought that I would see how you were feeling after your birthday. I know it must have been quite a shock for you to hear that news."

This was not what Hermione was expecting. Yes, it had been hard for her but she knew it had been hard for Jane as well. For that reason, she had not spoken about Narcissa with her at all.

"Yes, it was. But what about you, Mum? How do you feel about this?"

Jane sighed. "It was only a matter of time before this was going to happen. I knew it was to come but I suppose I still dreaded the day. It isn't possible to plan for something like this."

"I can see it from your point of view. If it's any consolation, I had always thought that she was mean-spirited and that Draco took after her."

Jane laughed. "I don't think your father would appreciate you saying that. He told me a lot about her and I can't say that I agree completely with you. I wondered if it was a bit selfish of her to keep you, as bad as that sounds but I guess she's made sure that she was involved in your upbringing, even if she wasn't physically there."

"That's the part I'm still finding hard to believe. I can't understand how on earth she could still maintain an interest in me when her other child despised me?"

"Hermione, when you have your own children, you'll understand. I bet it broke her heart to see that happen. She would have loved to tell Draco the truth but I bet she knew that he would disown her if he knew it. I can't promise that he would change his mind about it either."

"I know. I know he didn't follow in Lucius' footsteps but I think it was only because he didn't want to be servant to someone else. He hasn't changed a great deal since school although I did hear that he's bought a couple of the old run-down shops in Diagon Alley and going to turn them into terrace flats. Maybe he has changed. The last time I saw him was a couple of years ago in the Leaky Cauldron. He was drinking by himself in a corner. If it was anyone else, I would have felt sorry for him."

"You do realise that you're talking about your half-brother here."

"Mum, don't remind me! I'm still getting used to the idea that Narcissa is my mother, let alone Draco being any kind of relation to me."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Jane paused, making Hermione think that the line had dropped out. "I guess what I was finally going to ask was, have you thought about what you want to do?"

Hermione hesitated, still not entirely sure whether her decision was final or not. "I can't be 100 but I thought that I may as well meet her. At least to see her reaction to me as her daughter and not her son's worst enemy's best friend."

"I'm honestly glad you said that. I think you would have regretted it if you said no. I'm aware that you haven't made a final decision but if you do go ahead with it, you will probably learn a few things."

"It's just so scary."

"You won't have to go through it alone, just remember that."

"You'd come with me?"

"Well," Jane spoke slowly. "I don't think it's in my place to unless Narcissa specified that I could. I think it would be more appropriate for you to meet her alone."

"Just so long as I can talk to you straight afterwards."

"Of course. You can talk to me any time you want."

"Thanks, Mum. I really appreciate your support in all of this. I hope Dad feels alright about it as well."

"It's hard on him too. I know how he felt about her. To be truthful, I think it's actually probably been the hardest on him. Think about it; when you run into an ex-boyfriend, how do you feel?"

Hermione's social life wasn't exactly bustling but she had had a couple of boyfriends since leaving Hogwarts. One was a Swedish exchange student from the Löwikschule der Magie in Germany. The only reason for their splitting up was because he needed to go back to Sweden and it proved far too difficult to keep the relationship going. They parted on good terms and still kept in touch every now and then. The other was someone who she had met on a tour of Wales after her first year as an apprentice medi-witch. He was a Muggle to start off with and she knew that it was only a matter of time before she would have to tell him the truth about her identity. She cared for him deeply but when the time came, he found it quite hard to take and asked if they could spend some time apart.

If she happened to run into Sean, she knew that she would feel quite odd to be around him. It seemed that the feelings she had for him had not dissipated as much as she first thought.

"It would be strange."

"Spare a thought for your father when you get a chance."

"Funny that you're saying that because that was exactly what he said to me about you."

Jane laughed. "Well, maybe spare a thought for both of us and then you'll be right."

"I will Mum."

"That's good. I better go because you need to eat and get an early night if you're working tomorrow."

"It's alright Mum, I'll be fine."

"I know but I still worry. I am your mother, or at least one of them."

"You are my mother, that won't change."

"I appreciate that. Well, I'll talk to you later then."

"Alright, goodnight Mum."

"Goodnight, Hermione."

After putting the phone back in the receiver, Hermione only stared at it for a few seconds. She was forced to confront the problem that she had been trying to force to the back of her mind up until that day. Moreso, it was something that had proven to be life-changing and for that reason, she did not want to have to deal with it. She couldn't quite understand why this was the case but it was only when Jane mentioned it on the phone just then, she realised that she had been running from it.

She sighed. She was going to have to make a formal decision pretty quickly. She knew that Narcissa would be patient but she had already spent a week thinking about it. The longer she left it, the more she was likely to put it off.

It wasn't as if she hadn't already made up her mind about it either. It was just that she knew that once she made the decision, she would have to stick with it and for that reason, it was a matter of nerves more than anything.

I know what I'm going to do so I will just have to put it into motion. But I'll do it after I eat.

Hermione picked the phone up and dialled the Chinese Take-Away shop. After waiting for 15 minutes, her food was delivered on her flat doorstep and she paid the delivery boy and returned to her small kitchen table. Her flat wasn't by any means large but she found it quite cosy and it suited someone like her perfectly. There were four rooms to the flat; a large kitchen/meals area, a small living room, a small bathroom and a good-sized bedroom. It was found in Muggle London, not far from the Leaky Cauldron but in the heart of the city. Convenient for both worlds' as she had thought. She had decided to move out of home at the start of last year but returned every now and then to stay a night or two, her 21st birthday being one of those occasions.

She was just in the middle of eating her food when Ginny's head appeared in her fireplace.

"Hermione, you did not tell me that Fred was eyeing you off the other night!" she didn't even wait for Hermione to respond.

"Holy Shit!" Hermione swung around the face Ginny, one hand on her heart to steady its beat. "You frightened the absolute death out of me!"

Ginny's face contained a mixture of annoyance, agitation and ecstasy. "When did that happen?"

"While you were all dancing. Surely you knew something about it. You even asked me the other day why they were mentioning my name."

"I didn't think it had anything to do with asking you out!"

"So how did you find out then?"

"We had dinner at Mum and Dad's tonight and bloody George asked if Fred took long saying goodbye to you the other night. In response, Fred said nothing but asked me to pass the peas."

Hermione laughed. "Come over if you want," Hermione instructed. "There's some Chinese food here if you're hungry."

"Thanks but I'm watching my weight. I'll still come over though."

"Watching your weight? Since when?"

"Since you've been so good at stringing along." Ginny laughed as she stepped through the fireplace.

"Oh, fuck off." Hermione glared but couldn't keep much a straight face when Ginny just kept laughing.

"For Christ's sake," Ginny said after she composed herself and sat down on one of the other kitchen chairs. "We're talking about me here. I'm just bloody lucky that my job is so physically demanding. If I wasn't outside running around all day, I'd be as big as the squid at Hogwarts."

"I thought there was some hot-shot bloke somewhere at the Auror's office that you were trying to impress."

"Well, there's that too but no, that's not reason enough to start watching what I eat."

"You aren't bullshitting me again, are you?"

"Kind of, but I won't deny it; there's this new bloke there that came over from Ireland and my God, if he isn't gorgeous!"

"And what about Harry?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that. What, I can't say when there's a good-looking guy in my office?"

"Fair enough. I just saw one of the St. Mungo's Psychological Ward's male nurses. If he wasn't hot, then I don't know who is."

"What's his name?"

"Hugo, however he does have a girlfriend. By the sounds of things they are pretty close."

"Is he nice?"

"He's alright. I didn't really get to talk to him for any great length of time. He seemed okay though."

"But he is taken. Besides which," Ginny smiled. "You haven't told me about Fred yet."

Hermione grinned, remembering back to last Saturday night and what Fred had said to her. "No, I haven't, have I?"

Ginny leant closer. "So, what happened?"

"Well, the two of them had thrown up the idea to get me to help them with one of their creations, according to Fred."

"And?"

"And what?"

"You can't tell me that that was the only reason why they were talking to you. I never before saw you once at their shop helping them out so spit it out, Granger. He must have said something else to you."

"Oh alright. He said that he thinks he may have mentioned my name a few too many times and George picked up on it. That's why they didn't end up asking me to give them a hand, as well as the fact that I was getting a bit busy with work."

Ginny hooted. "I knew it! I knew he had something for you! It was written all over his bloody face when I asked him if he wanted to come out with us for your birthday. I asked him a few weeks beforehand and he gave me only one word answers. When I asked him about it again the weekend before last, he grudgingly said yes but went bright red afterwards. I've never seen either of them embarrassed so it was pretty obvious why."

This was news. "He was embarrassed?"

"Well, not so much embarrassed but I guess possibly a bit shy. Bloody unusual for Fred."

"I'll say. Hmm," Hermione thought for a moment. "He's not usually the sort of person to carelessly jump at opportunities, is he?"

"I would say no."

"So it's not like this has only been something he's thought of in the last couple of weeks."

"Most likely not."

"Hmm."

Hermione went quiet for a second. Fred did say he mentioned her name a few too many times and that he thought it was best to leave her out of their franchise for that reason but could he possibly have been quite serious? He did well to cover it up the other night, if he was completely serious.

"You alright?" Ginny asked, slightly worried.

"Yeah I am. It's been an absolutely weird week, put it that way. I don't think I could have planned it any differently."

"I can see where you're coming from. Having a Malfoy as a mother, and now your ex-boyfriend's older brother fancying you. I'll tell you something, when I found out about Fred, I did my best to let him know I knew."

"Oh, you didn't!"

"No, not really but since I wasn't able to get hold of you for a bit, I thought I'd talk to him."

"When did you try to Floo?"

"About two hours ago. You didn't stay back and shag this new nurse, did you?" Ginny laughed.

"Ginny! If you must know, Frank Longbottom escaped from his ward and locked a warden in his cell."

Ginny's face fell. "Oh no, I hope Neville doesn't find out. I bet he was a handful, too."

"He was. It took five of us to restrain him. Poor guy, it's got to be hard to not be able to understand what he's doing there."

"Hmm. I guess that's why we have professionals like you working in the field to understand these things."

"I'm hardly professional."

"You may as well be. You're already helping out with the emergency ward, it won't be long before you're actually being in charge of the whole thing."

"I hope so, but it will still be a little while yet. So getting back to it, what did you ask Fred?"

"What he told you. It's funny just how much those two have matured. I never thought that they would, especially now, running their own joke shop."

"Yeah, it's strange. But I guess some people do. They probably spend so much time around it that they need a bit of normality in their lives. I think I would."

"True." Ginny sat more upright. "Hey look, I know you already spent a bit of time with Ron but I never quite thought that you two suited. I saw how often you fought, even before you got together and whilst some could put it down to some sure-fire sexual tension, not that I particularly want to think about it, I really wondered just how well you would actually get along as a couple."

Hermione was pretty shocked. "Really?"

"Yeah. Can I say something?"

"Ginny, you're my best friend. Why would you not be able to?"

"Because I love all my brothers a lot and I love my friends just as much. I know that Fred likes you, as you do too. I don't know how you feel about him, but I know that you are friends with him. If you ever did decide to do anything about that, you have my full support. I just want to let you know that despite his usual character, he cares a great deal about those he holds close and will be loyal to them. I know he was close to Angelina and he was pretty shattered that they had to finish, despite his outward appearance. He didn't realise that I knew how he truly felt because I'm positive that he'd kill me if I said anything to him about it. I guess I just don't want to see either one of you get hurt."

Hermione was dumbfounded for a moment. This was more information about Fred than she had previously known and wasn't quite sure how to take it. She had heard from Lavender that he felt a bit strange with Angelina still playing Quidditch and he wasn't. They had been together for a few years and so it surely had to have taken its toll on him. And yes, it was clear that he felt more than friendship for her. The question was; how did she feel?

"I'm not sure what I feel for him."

Ginny grinned, leaving Hermione utterly confused.

"Why don't you have a think about it?" Ginny suggested. "I know you have a lot on your plate at the moment."

"That's probably not a bad idea but I don't have so much on my plate at the moment."

Ginny's face lit up. "Does that mean you've come up with a formal decision about Narcissa?"

"Yes, it's does."

"And that is…"

"I'm going to meet her."

"That's so good, although I already knew that."

"You may as well have not asked then."

"But I needed to know for sure; it isn't always good to go off suspicions."

"True. Hey Gin, you haven't told Harry or Ron, have you?"

"God no. Don't worry; it's not my place to tell them. I really don't think I could have managed it anyway without it sounded like complete and utter gossip."

"Thanks, I really mean it. I'll tell them but I think it can wait for the time being."

"I agree. So have you responded yet?"

"I was actually going to write the letter to her after I finished although I won't have time now."

Ginny looked aghast. "God, sorry! I've come and bombarded you with questions about Fred!"

"No, don't worry about it. Really, I'm glad you know about that now."

"Do you know when this meeting's going to happen?"

"Maybe next week. I'd rather it sooner than later."

"Good move. Next weekend is probably much easier, anyway. No work to worry about and no trying to be home early."

"I agree. If it's Saturday, then I can use Sunday to either recover or think about the next time I meet her."

"That's great. I really hope it all goes well for you."

"Thanks Gin. I hope so too."

"Perhaps I should go. I've got an early start tomorrow; 6:30 at the office."

"Oh yuck! I hate early starts. I mean, 8am but 6:30? Not a chance."

"I know, tell me about it but the good thing is, I get to leave at 2."

"That still doesn't justify getting up at 5."

"I'm trying hard not to think about that, thank you very much."

Hermione laughed. "It happens, get over it."

"Well, fuck off yourself then."

"Back at you, Gin. See you later."

"See ya."

Ginny walked towards the fireplace. Hermione's thoughts were still reeling about the letter that she still needed to write as well as this new revelation about Fred. Before she let Ginny go through the flames completely, Hermione called her.

"Ginny?"

"What?"

"Were you pissed off to find out that Fred liked me?"

Ginny grinned. "Not really. I thought it slightly strange but it didn't bother me. Why?"

"Because I just wondered what you thought."

"Truthfully, it was only strange to me because I had thought it was something only I thought might happen."

Hang on a minute. "What?"

"I just thought that Fred was more laid back about things than Ron. I'm not sure if I was absolutely serious about it, but the thought did pass often enough when you were going out with Ron."

"So you didn't envisage it happening then?"

"Well, I don't know if you would say that. Would it be better if I said that I'm not entirely surprised that Fred started to feel something for you?"

"Probably, but is it true?"

Ginny grinned. "It is, actually."

Hermione smiled. "Okay then."

Ginny paused for a second. "I know he's my brother and I'm going to be biased but he's a completely different person away from everyone."

Hermione smiled. "Yeah, I gathered that. I don't think I've really ever spent any time alone with him so it wasn't something I had ever really thought. I see what you mean though."

"That's good. And I'll still speak to you whatever you think on the topic."

"Well that's always a bonus."

"Well, talk to you later?"

"Yeah, I'll give you a call later in the week."

"This is almost later in the week."

"You know what I mean!"

"True. Okay, by-eee!"

Ginny went back through the fireplace just as Hermione uttered 'goodbye' and she disappeared. Looking at her watch, she discovered that it was nearly 11:30.

Well, she thought. I guess that letter will have to wait until tomorrow.

She packed up the quill and parchment, went off to the bathroom to clean herself up and went to bed.


Comments:

What is there to say? Not a great deal so will keep it short. Hope I can write more on this shortly. Funnily enough, I won't be doing so during the day - it's summer and too annoying to stay inside on good days! I get headaches as well but at 11:30 at night is when I seem to do my best work... ;-) Anyway, better toddle along and simply upload this installment. Adios!