All characters are property of JK Rowling and I do not make a profit from this story.

Beta: Roman's Sundial

Chapter Two: Pressure

Hermione Granger - Present Day

October 8, 1999

I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you, is everything alright?

Hermione finally sent a message to her boyfriend then turned back to her book. She was surprised when she felt her galleon grow hot right away as Viktor should have been at Quidditch practice.

Can you meet me at Hogsmeade to talk?

Hermione read the message and frowned. No, she really couldn't meet him but assumed that the right thing to do as his girlfriend would be to say yes.

Sure, I will head over shortly.

She sent her reply and headed out of the castle fairly quickly and did not watch as she bumped right into Draco. "Oops, I'm so sorry I - oh, hello." Draco reached out a hand to help steady her.

"Hello, Hermione," he said. "You alright?" Hermione started to hurry off but Draco grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Wait, can we talk?" He asked her. No, there was no way she was going to talk to him. His actions were unforgivable, she loathed him, she wanted nothing more than to be far away from those perfect lips.. Draco seemed to have known where her thoughts were. "My review hearing is next week. Please? Just to talk?" Hermione hesitated. She knew how big this meeting was. If the council didn't think Draco had changed, he would be sent to Azkaban for the rest of his life. Still, it did not change anything.

"You'll be alright, Draco, you know what you need to say." And she turned around and walked out. She apparated outside of the Hogwarts grounds as soon as she could. She could have walked to Hogsmeade, but she didn't want to take the chance of Draco coming after her. In a short few minutes, she found herself embracing her new (yet old) boyfriend. "Is everything alright?" She asked him.

"Vell," said Viktor. "It turns out the entire team hates the new coach and none of them decided to show up to practice today in protest." And so Hermione sat down for the next half hour and listened to Viktor complain about his boring team and their childish behavior. She knew when to say uh huh, of course, and no way! to keep Viktor talking, but her thoughts were far from quidditch. They currently were with Draco, and that stolen year they had together, right before the end when everything went sour. She thought of all those amazing moments together, his touch, his lips, his arms. When they were alone, everything had been perfect. When they were alone, everything felt right in Hermione's life. When they were alone, they were equals. The problem was, they weren't always alone. You couldn't always hide away together, nor could you hide the fact that she was a Gryffindor and he was a Slytherin. Or better yet, he was a pure blood and she was a Mudblood.

Harry Potter - Present Day

October 8, 1999

"I'm sorry Ginny, blame your brother. This is his shift I'm covering."

"I am going to kill Ron. Promise me I'll see you tonight?" Harry grabbed Ginny and kissed her hard. He missed holding her and kissing her whenever he pleased. He had become so busy that he rarely had time to see her. The Dobwig Association had become busier than ever, he still had to maintain his school work, the Order of the Phoenix was still meeting on a weekly basis, and Harry made it a priority to frequent with his Godson, Teddy. After all that, it was difficult to find a few minutes to spend with his beautiful girlfriend.

"Tonight, I promise. Now get out of my office before my client shows up!" Ginny smiled and kissed Harry one more time then left. It took Harry a moment to find his bearings. Who was his client today, anyway? Normally he left these follow up meetings for Ron, as Harry had too much to do, himself. But Ron had begged Harry to cover for him today, claiming to be sick. "Stupid git," Harry had told him. "I'm not going to tell Essa that you aren't really sick mate."

"She might pop by at the office to see if I'm lying!" Ron had said. "Please!"

"Alright!" Harry agreed. "But sever ties with her, will you? I have enough stuff to do!" Shaking his head at his previous conversation with his best friend, Harry grabbed the file of the client coming in so he could review. "Let's see," he mumbled out loud. "Attends Hogwarts, removed the dark mark about four months ago, father sentenced to life in Azkaban.. Wait a minute.." Harry groaned. The client coming in today was Draco Malfoy. Ron was such a prat. Harry flipped through the file some more. Based on Ron's notes, it seemed as though Malfoy would qualify for a full release. Good, thought Harry, this meeting will go by quickly. He opened the door to an annoyed Malfoy in the waiting room. "Afternoon Malfoy, you can come in."

"I'm with you today, Potter? Where's Weasley?"

"Sick." Harry said no more and entered his office, waiting for Malfoy to follow. Malfoy walked in and started to look around at all of Harry's items on the wall. It took several moments before Malfoy sat down and focused his attention on Harry. "So you have your review hearing in a week," Harry started. "Do you have any questions?"

"Who will be there?" Malfoy asked.

"The same panel as before," Harry answered.

"Will I have to keep coming here?"

"There are several outcomes that could happen. You could be completely acquitted, you could be put under review for another period of time, or.."

"Or I could go to Azkaban," Malfoy supplied.

"Right," said Harry. There were a few minutes of silence. "Any new OWLs or NEWTs?" Harry asked.

"Not since I last met with Weasley, but my potions NEWT is scheduled for a couple of weeks from now." Harry made some notes in the file. Usually these meetings were easy, but with Malfoy it was incredibly awkward.

"I think we are good for today, Malfoy," said Harry. "I'll see you at your review next week."

"Why did you defend me?" Malfoy blurted out.

"What?"

"At my hearing last year, you defended me. Why?"

Harry looked Malfoy straight in the face. "It's my job to state the facts, that's all. And," Harry hesitated for a few moments. "I don't think you're a murderer."

Malfoy was silent for a while. "Thank you." And without another word, he got up and left the office.

Ron Weasley - Present Day

October 8, 1999

Ron lay across his four poster bed working on some charms homework. He disliked very much being alone. Being alone forced him to think too much. To think about Essa, his girlfriend, the woman he loved, and to think about Hermione too. Ron frowned as another message came through his galleon. He needed to speak to Essa; he wasn't treating her right. But there was so much pressure dating Essa, just like there had been so much pressure dating Hermione. He recalled his mother's warnings when she first heard about him and Hermione.

"She's a good girl Ronald, you treat her right. She's like family."

Ginny had some words too. "She's my friend, I'll know if you screw up. You better be good to her and keep her happy."

Even Harry had some words for him. "Just remember that she's one of my best friends too mate. Her and I will always look out for each other." It's as if the world thought Ron wasn't good enough to date someone like Hermione. The pressure with Essa almost seemed worse. Essa Delacour was Fleur Delacour's cousin, and Fleur was married to Ron's eldest brother Bill. If he thought that the pressure was tough with Hermione, it was nothing compared to what his relationship with Essa brought. The truth was that he loved Essa; She was what he had always wanted in a woman. Tall, beautiful, long flowing white blonde hair, and a mesmerizing French accent. She was funny, smart, outgoing, and she adored Ron. Essa and Ron were meant to be, and yet all Ron did lately was avoid her. He was tired of the pressure. His whole life was nothing but pressure. The pressure of being the youngest male Weasley, the pressure of being Harry Potter's friend, the pressure of becoming a Gryffindor, the pressure of dating Hermione, and now the pressure of dating Essa. Ron couldn't deal with pressure anymore; he wanted easy. He reached into his bag and pulled out a piece of paper with ten digits on it. Essa was pressure, but Jessica was not. Nobody knew her and nobody expected anything from them. He sighed as he stared at the piece of paper. Jessica had said it was a phone number but Ron wasn't sure what to do with it. He got up and headed towards the grounds. He couldn't call Jessica, but he could easily apparate to her. Yes, being with a muggle would be much easier.

Ron Weasley - The Past

September 28, 1998

Ron sat outside of the girls dormitories for nearly four hours. It was 2am when he saw Hermione stumbling in. "Where have you been?"

"Ron!" Hermione said surprised. "What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same. Where have you been?"

"I've been walking the grounds," Hermione responded.

Ron snorted. "Walking the grounds alone in the middle of the night?"

"Well no," Hermione said. "You know who I was with." Ron turned away. "Ron, wait! Think about what he's going through. He just needs a friend!"

"A friend can have lunch occasionally, not spend all night together!" Ron yelled at her. "And since when is Malfoy your friend? How are you friends with a Death Eater?"

"He is not a Death Eater, Ronald! You know that he was forced! He's really just a child of war like you and I!"

"A child of war?" Ron got even louder. "Malfoy has caused nothing but problems since our first year! He lived with You-Know-Who during the war! He called you a mudblood on more than one occasion!"

"Ron I know all this, but please, try to understand!" Hermione said calmly yet desperately. "He lost his father. Lucius going to Azkaban is basically like he died!"

"It's what he deserves, Hermione!"

"Yes, but it doesn't change the fact that Draco lost his father."

"That isn't your problem."

Hermione hesitated. "I know how he feels. I lost my Mum and Dad, too. Draco and I can relate. You're lucky to have both your Mum and Dad, Ron."

Ron got even angrier. "Go relate to Harry! Go relate to Neville! Why him?"

"Because he needs me, Ronald!"

Ron stared at Hermione. "I need you too."

"And I'll always be here Ron, I'm your girlfriend. But right now, Draco needs me more."

Ron headed towards the boys dormitory. "It's me or him Hermione."

"What?" asked Hermione, surprised.

"You need to pick," Ron said sternly.

"I will not!" Hermione said defiantly. "This is ridiculous! You are my boyfriend, he is my friend! There is nothing to pick!"

"If I mean anything to you, you'll stop spending time with Malfoy."

"I'm sorry, Ron, but I can't do that."

Ron turned his back on her and slammed the door shut. He sat at the window and stared out into the grounds. A few moments had gone by when he spotted movement near the forbidden forest. He grabbed his telescope and looked towards the edge of the trees. There was no mistaking that bushy brown hair. Who was she with, he wondered. He squinted harder into the telescope. Malfoy. Hatred ran through Ron's veins as he saw them together. The sight of his girlfriend with her new friend made him sick. He went to lower his telescope, but something made him do a double take. No, it couldn't be. He could not have just seen Malfoy kiss his girlfriend.

Author's Notes: So my plot picks up in chapter four but introduced in chapter three. I use these first couple of chapters to help establish where the character's currently are.