phase x

"WHAT DO YOU BLOODY MEAN?!"

16th June, 2013 - Auburn Chalet, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, UK

"Where's Mom?"A tall boy with strawberry blonde hair asked.

"She's at work, son." The father replied.

"Why can't she take a day off like you do on our birthdays?" The boy asked again, slightly deflated that his mother isn't here yet, even though they were about to head to the burrow for the party.

"She runs a newspaper company, Harvey. People rely on her to deliver the news." The father explained.

"Is it because she doesn't want to come to my party anymore?" The boy, Harvey asked again, disappointed.

"Of course not Harvey! She was very excited about your eleventh birthday. I'm sure it's just an unexpected work emergency." The father exclaimed and hugged his son, who felt better.

"Do you want to go to your granny's now Harvey?"

"I wanna wait for Mom." Harvey replied.

"Okay, I'mma go grab your siblings from upstairs yeah?" Harvey nodded and the father padded upstairs.

Harvey then paced around the living room nervously. Why was his mother late? It's the big day! He's turning eleven! She wouldn't leave him just because he's eleven right?

"Ron?" A familiar voice called from the floo chamber.

"Mom!" Harvey jumped at hearing the voice, rushing to the floo chamber as fast as he could to welcome his mother.

"Hey Harvey!" The mother greeted lovingly as they hugged. "Happy Birthday, love!"

"Thanks! I'm finally eleven!" Harvey boomed happily.

"That you are." The mother smiled sincerely at her son.

"Come on, let's go grab your dad and get to your granny's." The mother gestured as they walked back into the living room. Harvey's mouth was opened wide and was just about to yell for his siblings when they trotted down the stairs noisily, their father trailed behind them.

"Mommy!" The youngest of the family greeted happily and ran towards her mother. Nearly tripping over her long cinderella dress, the mother immediately caught her at the arm.

"Cesca! You look pretty princess." The mother kissed Francesca's forehead. "And you look jaw dropping Reynold." The youngest boy, Reynold hugged his mother and ran off with Francesca.

"You look pretty too queen." The father complimented, smirking.

"Cringe. I haven't even changed for the party yet." The mother huffed.

"Oh you always look pretty Lav." The father smiled and kissed his wife's cheek in greeting.

"Why did I marry you Ron?" Lavender asked mockingly.

"I don't know? Why did you?" Ron played along.

"Get out of my way so I can dress for the party dork." Lavender smiled and kissed her husband quickly before walking upstairs to their room.

Coming back to their Chalet, built several miles left of The Burrow, was a release for her. For once she was glad that her husband was dense in emotions, 'an emotional range of a teaspoon', Harry had joked. But then once she get to the burrow, it would be harder to hide her uneasiness due to the events that happened early today. The Weasley women, and Luna had an inapt ability in reading the aura of one person, 'vibe check' Victoire had said.

"Lav? You ready?" Ron yelled from downstairs as the youngest of the household had started to get impatient, while Reynold was already starting to whine about flying his toy broom at his granny's.

"Just a sec!" Lavender yelled back in response and quickly slipped on a black leather jacket over her mint summer dress. She jogged out of her her as she put on the matching pair of strappy mint heels went downstairs, greeted with Reynold swing his toy broom dangerously, nearly swatting over his sister's head.

"REYNOLD CANIS!" Lavender bellowed. "STOP SWINGING THE TOY BROOM AT ONCE OR YOU'RE BROOM GROUNDED."

"Sorry Mom." Reynold apologised softly and tucked his toy broom to his side carefully.

"How is it you never listen to me but your mom bellows one word and you would be obedient as Percy?" Ron exasperated and Lavender kissed his cheek tenderly.

"It's a superpower of mine, Ron." She winked and took Francesca's hand, then disappeared into thin air.

"Bloody hell." Ron muttered under his breath and took hold of his sons before they disappeared into thin air as well.

—

16th June, 2013 - The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, UK

"Granny!" Francesca exclaimed as they landed in front of the burrow, where it was set up with a long white table full of deli and matching white tables.

The grandmother wrapped her granddaughter into her famous bear hugs. Chuckling, Francesca squeezed her granny once more before running off to play with the other kids of the big extended Weasley family.

"Hey Molly." Lavender greeted as Molly wrapped Lavender into a bear hug as well.

"You look amazing, Lavender." Molly complimented.

"I would've agreed if I was ten years younger." Lavender laughed.

"My Mom's always right Lav." Ron laughed and gave his mother a big hug, while Molly scowled at Ron's fit figure.

"You two need to eat more." Molly decided but was disrupted by Reynold and Harvey.

"GRANNY!" They both exclaimed as they ran towards their grandmother and gave her a big hug. Molly laughed heartily and ruffled their messy hair.

"Happy birthday m'dear!" Molly gave a big kiss on the forehead to Harvey and he squirmed a little at the affection as all boys at this age would.

"Thanks, granny! I'm eleven!" Harvey said proudly.

"You are indeed. Ready for Hogwarts?" Molly asked.

"YEAH!" Harvey boomed happily before he jogged off to greet the other kids. Molly was about to return to the kitchen before Ron grabbed her arm.

"Come on Mom, you already have a great feast on the table, come out and have fun." Ron urged and Molly sighed in defeat before following his youngest son to the heart of the garden.

"Lav! You look stunning!" Ginny Longbottom squeaked as Lavender was about to greet her.

"You look not too bad yourself." Lavender smiled and hugged her best friend, while she gestured at Ginny's purple ombre wrap dress.

"Auntie Lav!" Ginny's eldest, Alissa greeted Lavender excitedly.

"You grew taller again, Lissy!" Lavender pointed out and Lissy smiled.

"I am adult now, like Mommy!" She said proudly.

"You still have a long way Alissa." Ginny chuckled and Alissa ran off to watch her other cousins play exploding snap.

"Hey Lav, you look amazing." Neville came over with little Nora in his arms.

"And you have a stunning wife." Lavender smirked.

"That I do." Neville laughed as Nora waved her fist at Lavender.

"Hello, little one. Come stealing the spotlight again?" Lavender cooed.

"Ha!" Nora replied with a smile and Lavender smiled at the adorableness. "Oh how I wish Cesca was forever this small."

"She is a charming young lady." Ginny replied.

"What'd I miss?" Ron came over and hugged his sister and brother in law in greeting.

"Nothing much, besides Lissy's bold claim of her adult status." Ginny replied.

"Where's Harry?" Neville asked.

"Oh we all know he can never be on time." Ginny said sarcastically.

"That's true." Ron chuckled. "I'd never be on time too if it weren't for Lav."

"Speak of the devil." Neville looked over Lavender's shoulders as Harry walked over the garden with a present. He put it down on the pile next to the cake table and joined his friends.

"I hope nothing bad was spoken?" Harry greeted them warmly.

"Besides you're never on time and that you're a devil, nothing much." Neville teased with a smirk.

"Rude." Harry laughed.

"It's a godbrother's job well done, you're welcome." Neville returned with a playful curtsy.

"Prat." Harry huffed and they launched into an easy conversation.

While the boys were joining the kids in their little quidditch games, the women of the family got themselves comfortable on the grass, watching their children play happily with their fathers. Ginny yelled with Lavender when Harry did a dangerous stunt on his broom, accusing him of corrupting their children.

"That prat, I don't need Lissy to know anything about a Wronski Feint." Ginny muttered.

"We might need an obliviate." Lavender mused.

"Okay sis, spill the tea, what's got your knickers in a twist?" Ginny said after Harry yelled an unapologetic sorry from above.

"What tea?" Lavender said, her lips slightly quivering. She had almost forgot about the incident just a few hours earlier.

"You clearly have something bothering you so spill, Lav." Ginny said frankly.

"It's… it's complicated."

"Oh mon dieu! Don't give uz dat connerie! In france, ve say 'ce qui se passe avec Eiffel reste avec Eiffel'." Fleur exasperated. (what happens with Eiffel stays with Eiffel)

"Wait, are you pregnant?" Ginny widened her eyes in realisation.

"Ah! Très bien! C'est parfait! Combien de temps? Sait il?" Fleur congratulated excitedly. (Very good! It's perfect! For how long? Does he know?)

"Relax, you two, I wish the news was this happy." Lavender denied.

"Oh." Fleur sighed.

"Then what? Did you get a run in with Voldemort's secret kid or something, I can hardly think of anything that can bring you this down on Harvey's birthday." Ginny joked sarcastically.

"I'd rather get a run in with Voldemort's secret kid." Lavender mused.

"Vat bad?" Fleur grimaced.

"Promise me you won't tell the boys?" Lavender asked.

"J'ai déjà dit, ce qui se passe avec Eiffel reste avec Eiffel." Fleur restated. (I already said, what happens with Eiffel stays with Eiffel)

"Do you mean, what happens at Hogsmeade stays in Hogsmeade." Ginny asked.

"Oui." Fleur nodded. (Yes)

"We were kinda late to the party because I came home late today. Well I intended to have an early lunch and come home after that since Louise cleared my afternoon, but then I ran into a pair of very interesting siblings." Lavender started.

"Uh huh." Ginny urged.

"Well they came to TCD wanting to post a search advertisement. It wasn't any of my business until Marielle flooed into my office and told me the person they are searching for is me." Lavender revealed.

"Tu? Pour quoi?" Fleur asked. (You? Why?)

"Tell me about it." Lavender sighed and continued. "So naturally I asked the pair of siblings, twins I think they are to come up to my office so we can have a chat, and I asked them how did they find this picture." Lavender fished out a carefully folded picture in her shoulder bag and showed the girls.

"Oh mon dieu!" Fleur exclaimed with her hand over her mouth. (Oh my god!)

"Gosh Lav, it's been… damn." Ginny commented while she digested the information.

"They said it came from their Mom." Lavender said under her breath.

"Bill! Can vous bring uz some champagne s'il te plait?" Fleur yelled out for her husband. (can you bring us some champagne please)

"Sure." Bill replied and grabbed three glasses for them.

"Merci, mon amour!" Fleur kissed Bill's cheek in gratitude and quickly drank the whole glass in one gulp. (thank you, my love)

"Everything iz betta vit champagne." Fleur sighed contently.

Ginny nodded and turned to Lavender. "Their mom?"

"Guess who?" Lavender simply said and the girls drank their refilled champagne in silence.

"It's been fifteen fucking years." Ginny cursed.

"Je suis outré!" Fleur exclaimed and shook her head. (I am outraged)

"I know." Lavender whispered.

"Do you know their names?" Ginny asked.

"Alura and Nicholas." Lavender replied.

"Vell, elle gave them jolis noms at leazt." Fleur tried to be optimistic. (she gave them pretty names at least)

"What happens in Hogsmeade stays in Hogsmeade?" Lavender asked.

"Oui, bien sûr!" Fleur promised. (Yes, of course!)

"Of course Lav." Ginny hugged her sister in law as they went out to get ready for cake.

—

16th June, 2013 - Auburn Chalet, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, UK

"I'm not daft Lavender." Ron started as they settled in bed after a joyous celebration of their son's birthday.

"He's so big already. I'll miss him very much at Hogwarts." Lavender averted her eyes and tried to change the subject.

"Lavender, don't try to change the subject." Ron said solemnly. "What's wrong? I saw you with the Ginny and Fleur today and you three looked like you've just slain a horcrux."

"I don't know how to tell you Ron. I don't know what to say, I can't ask you to not be angry at what I might say because you have every right to, I couldn't even process what happened." Lavender confessed honestly as tears threatened to spill her eyes, she hated keeping this from him, but there's is nothing that would slow the fall of this, not even Dumbledore's 'arresto momentum'.

"What is it?" Ron asked as his heart dropped a thousand feet from the sky.

"It happened today at the office." Lavender started, her voice so weak it was barely heard by Ron. "I had planned an early lunch and then I'll be back home. Louise had even cleared my afternoon today. I was about to go to lunch when Marielle, you know the Ad Editor?" Ron nodded. "Yeah, her. She flooed into my office saying a pair of siblings wanted to post a search ad on our paper."

"For who?" Ron queried.

"Me." Lavender whispered.

"You? Wh… why? Are you in danger? Did they…" Ron was interrupted by a chaste kiss from his wife.

"No, love. I'm not in any danger at all, save for the shock emotionally." Lavender reassured and Ron scowled.

"I hate it when you do that." He muttered under his breath.

"Why do they want to find you?" Ron finally asked.

"The pair of siblings are twins, Ron. They wanted to find me because they wanted to get answers about their mother."

"Do you know the mother?" Ron questioned.

"Yes, and I think you do too." Lavender nodded.

"Who's she?" Ron asked, his voice slightly quivering.

"They're Hermione's children, Ron."

"WHAT DO YOU BLOODY MEAN?" Ron sat up abruptly from their bed.

"Ron." Lavender tried to calm her husband down.

"HOW IN THE SAKE OF MER—" Ron continued but was cut off by his wife with a silencing charm.

"We will continue this in the morning, after you calm yourself through sleep." Lavender decided and slid back under the covers while Ron still sat there, shocked. He remained that way until he remembered to take his wand and cancelled the silencing charm himself.

"Fine." He knew he couldn't win over his wife and grumpily slid back into the covers.

"Does Harry know?" Ron asked finally before falling to sleep.

"I told Fleur and Ginny this afternoon, they basically forced it out of me. You now know, but Harry doesn't." Lavender replied sleepily.

"How do we ever tell him?" Ron mused but Lavender remained silent. They eventually fell into a peaceful slumber, letting sleep carry them away from their troubles for a while.

—

17th June, 2013 - Auburn Chalet, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, UK

"Reynold. Sit still." Lavender commanded while Reynold wriggled on his chair with a spoon on his hand, his elbow almost knocking over his bowl of cereal.

"Sorry." Reynold said unapologetically and sat still, yet still waving his spoon happily.

"If you don't sit still and eat your cereal properly, there will be no more lucky charms." Lavender threatened and Reynold immediately sat upright, pulling his bowl of cereal closer to himself protectively and quickly ate everything up.

"And you too, Francesca." Lavender said sternly to the five year old who was copying her brother's actions.

"Harvey, where are you going?" Lavender asked as Harvey bounced off the stool at the island.

"To try out uncle Harry's broom supplies, and my new broom!" Harvey said excitedly.

"Where's your dad?" Lavender asked.

"The attic, said he need to find something." Harvey replied with a shrug.

"Go ask your father to supervise you, if not I'll apparate you to the burrow so your grandpa can." Lavender ordered.

"But Mom, I know how to fly a broom, properly!" Harvey whined.

"You will be supervised." Lavender said sternly.

"I'm eleven." Harvey argued.

"You're underage." Lavender pointed out. "And I'm your mother."

"Fine." Harvey pouted, knowing he would never win this.

"Fly responsibly, and don't you dare do any of the stunts your uncle Harry does, he underwent proper training." Lavender warned and Harvey nodded grimly.

"Go fetch your dad." Lavender said and Harvey bounced up the stairs to the attic.

Upstairs, Ronald Bilius Weasley was going through a box of stuff he hadn't touched in years. He couldn't very well sleep last night, even if he attempted to do so. Getting a news like this just before bed wasn't something he anticipated at all, on his son's eleventh birthday. So instead of trying and failing miserably at sleeping, he embraced his insomnia and decided to relive the memories of The Golden Trio.

The box was carefully labelled Hogwarts, where inside held many photos of his school era. Mostly of pictures that the three of them took together, which after her disappearance, neither of them could bear to look at. Both boys had never thought of a life without their best friend, they expected her to intimidate their girlfriends, expected her and her nosy cat to discipline them with their paperwork, expected her to bring them to muggle movies as she had promised she would after the war was over. They expected her to swat at Harry's back whenever he's slouching. They expected her to be one of their 'grooms' or their brides' bridesmaids when they wed.

But stubbornly, fate took her away from them.

More so, she walked away from them.

A lone tear escaped from his eyes which he quickly wiped when he heard the attic door open, revealing his eldest.

"Hey Harvey. What's up."

"Mom wants you to supervise me flying. She said I couldn't ride my new broom without supervision." Harvey said unhappily.

"How about you go to your granny's? I have something important to talk with your mother." Ron suggested and Harvey nodded. They exited the attic and Ron locked it up magically.

"Dad, why are you sad?" Harvey asked abruptly.

"I'm not sad, just frustrated." Ron replied.

"Is it about work?" Harvey asked.

Ron thought for a second then answered. "Yeah, kind of. We couldn't solve a particularly hard case."

"I'm sure you will, you and uncle harry are unstoppable."

"Thanks bud." Ron smiled and ruffled his son's hair which he whined in protest.

"Morning Ron." Lavender greeted while she charmed the sink to do the dishes and tried to get Francesca to finish her breakfast.

"Morning Lav." Ron returned and kissed her cheek lovingly.

"I'll apparate the kids to Mom's for a while. We need to talk." Ron told Lavender and she simply gave him a nod.

"Come on kids, and grab your broom Harvey." Ron called for his children and they walked over to him with their toys packed in a backpack.

"Hold on." Ron reminded and they disapparated into thin air.

It was however, mere seconds later when a loud pop notified Lavender of Ron's return.

"Scrambled eggs or sunny side ups?" Lavender asked.

"Sunny side." Ron replied and sat on a stool on the island, watching his wife cook elegantly.

"Lav, are you really sure they're Hermione's kids?" Ron asked.

"I'm pretty sure. They presented to me the picture of me and Hermione near the Room of Requirement, the one which Paravati took of us. They also happened to know I'm Hermione's roommate." Lavender said. "They also swore to their life that they are telling the truth."

"Wow." Ron simply said.

"It's been a while since we had a Granger amongst us." Ron mused.

"Ron, they don't know their mother's real name,. They basically have no idea about their family, at least half of it." Lavender said sadly.

"What are their names?"

"Alura and Nic…" Lavender paused before she looked at Ron shockingly.

"Wha…" Before Ron got to speak Lavender greeted the visitor nervously.

"Hello Harry, we didn't expect you to be here." Lavender smiled awkwardly.

"Is it an inconvenient time? I could come…" Harry started.

"No, we're free. It's just unexpected." Ron replied, walking up to hug his best friend in greeting.

"Tea?" Lavender asked.

"Earl grey would be nice." Harry nodded in gratitude as he joined Ron at the island.

"So, what brings you here mate?" Ron started as casual as he could.

"Besides it's a day off and I have nothing to do, my frustrated mind."Harry replied.

"You're constantly frustrated Harry." Ron pointed out.

"Thanks for the reminder mate." Harry said sarcastically.

"Well, what's frustrating it this time?" Ron asked.

"You know, that girl I saw on Diagon Alley." Harry said and Lavender smirked.

"Finally back in the dating business?" Lavender teased.

"Nah." Harry replied. "That girl reminded me heavily of someone."

"Hermione?" Lavender whispered and Harry nodded solemnly.

"I don't know, I've never seen that signature hair of hers anywhere. But I saw it, I saw her, in the middle of Diagon Alley with some boy." Harry said.

"Well, Hermione could hardly be the only one to have that beautiful bushy hair." Lavender tired to make sense of the situation.

"Honestly? It was a few shades darker than what I'm used to seeing, but maybe she dyed her hair? I don't know I've never seen that hair on anyone else." Harry reinstated. Lavender then widened her eyes slightly which was caught by Harry.

"What is it Lav?" Harry asked curiously.

"Um, that boy. Did he have reddish hair? Not like Weasley red, but a red you can't pinpoint exactly?"

"You know him?" Harry queried confusedly.

"Kind of." Lavender gave Ron a glance and he widened his eyes in shock.

"No way." Ron muttered.

"What is it you two?" Harry demanded, extremely confused at the situation.

"You know how I told you Lav was weird all afternoon yesterday?" Ron started and Harry nodded. "Well, I confronted her last night and long story short Hermione's children tried to post a search ad on TCD to find Lavender with a picture of her and Hermione." Ron slurred.

As expected, Harry was shocked to the core. A few teacups reduced to ashes and the door to the chalet's backyard busted open and flew into the pretty daisies Lavender planted. Instinctively, the couple quickly casted a protego shield on themselves as Harry's magic continued to flare up.

"Harry!" Ron yelled trying to get his best friend calm down.

"Dear Merlin Ron! Do you know what progressive revealing of information is? You don't just freaking drop the bomb!" Lavender yelled as they backed away from the kitchen.

"Well I'm sorry I'm not a bloody journalist!" Ron yelled back as he waved his wand at an approaching shard of glass to alter its course towards the sofa.

"Harry please, calm down!" Ron asked again as he deflected yet another shard of glass.

"Harry James Potter!" Ron yelled again, trying to get his attention.

"Merlin's pants! HARRY!" Ron yelled again and Harry glanced at him briefly, then widened his eyes at the damage and his magic calmed down.

"Gosh! Harry! You calmed down now?" Ron asked cautiously.

"Not at the very least." Harry admitted. "What do you mean Hermione's children?" He demanded.

"They don't know that. They don't even know who Hermione Granger is. And they're twins." Lavender said, casting repair charms over their damaged kitchen everywhere.

"How would they not know? If what they say it's true, how would they not know their mother?" Harry pushed on.

"Because- their words, not mine- their mother lived by an alias of Jean Katherson. Never talked to them about Britain and never talked to them about her past!" Lavender said sternly. "They swore on their magic and life that they are speaking the truth as well." She added.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the headquarters Ron. And i'm sorry for the damage." Harry stood up and grabbed his coat, and popped away of the chalet.

"What the hell Ron!" Lavender hissed.

"What was I supposed to do? Say oh dear boy's Lavender's long lost nephew!" Ron mocked. "At least we got it out now, he won't think we're you know lying to him or something. You know how it is, his trust issues."

"My word, Ronald Bilius Weasley. Why the hell did I fall in love with you?" Lavender exasperated and went upstairs to get changed for work.

—

17th June, 2013 - Katherson Residence, Hampstead, New Hampshire, US

"I have to go Mom, they're out there for three days already!" Hermione restated, packing everything she could into her new moleskin pouch.

"Hermione! They specifically told you not to find them! I would respect their wishes for the sole reason of what prompted them to do so in the first place!" Calithea tried to reason with her daughter, even if she knew this was a lost case.

"Mom. They're fourteen. All alone in a new place, with dangers that could still get to them. The Death Eaters are not at all wiped out Mom, with their genetics and their luck, I highly doubt they'll be safe." Hermione said sternly while pushing most of her toiletries into her bag.

"Hermione don't be such a hypocrite! I have no idea what you faced in the magical world, daughter. But I sure know that you ignored my wishes for you to stay safe at school each year and went on to get yourself in a fight with some troll, fell in a coma, do a prison break, be a hostage of a weird competition, have a secret fight club, memory wiping me and your father for a year, went on the run and lived in the forest for a year, and battle an evil wizard with little back up too! I fully support you to keep my grandchildren, your children safe, but I would expect you to respect their wishes as did I as your mother!" Calithea snapped and Hermione closed her mouth abruptly, not knowing what to say.

"I know I can't stop you, Hermione." Calithea said softly. "But if you're going back there, kill Jean Cecilia Katherson and stop being a coward. You've made a mistake, go and fix it. The past always come back to you ten times stronger, Mia."

"Mom, will they ever forgive me?" Hermione asked softly after a dead silence.

"I'm sure they will Mia. Go be the queen of your life!" Calithea encouraged and walked out of Hermione's room, leaving her to her packing.

Her room was almost cleared up when Hermione had finished packing. The duvets were sent to dry cleaning, the closet moved into the pouch, the books were transferred to a library trunk and all her work was also packed safely within the pouch as well. She didn't know how long she would be gone, or will she ever be back. She looked around her room wistfully and sat down on her desk one more time, reminiscing the memories she made here.

Absentmindedly, her thumb went to the side of her desk, where the hidden compartment located and it popped out almost immediately as she touched the clasp. She took out her diary smiled woefully, and after all these years, how could she still thought she could hide from her past, or that she could truly hide from her friends and family. She smiled at how stupid she was and how naive she was. And she prided herself as a Gryffindor, and the brightest witch of their age. She never deserved that title.

Her attention diverted when she caught a glimpse of those moving pictures in the compartment. She hadn't looked at them in years, since after she gave birth to the twins. Hesitantly, she picked up one picture from the compartment and glanced at it briefly. She didn't need to look at it for long to know who was it, his face was ingrained in her brain since the day they met.

—

November, 1996 - A random corridor, Hogwarts, Scottish Highlands, Scotland, UK

"I cannot believe you talked me into this!" Hermione exasperated as the group of friends waltzed through the corridors of Hogwarts after curfew.

"Come on Hermione! Don't be such a party pooper! You haven't really studied at Hogwarts if you never let yourself go one night and party after curfew!" Her roommate, Lavender Brown complained.

"The OWLs are over Hermione, just let yourself free, we still have a year until the NEWTs. And for once let's forget reality." The green eyed boy next to her nudged her playfully and she smiled.

"Okay Harry, one night." Hermione smiled and let her hair down.

"Yo Seamus! You got your booze for the night?" Ron called out as they walked towards the Room of Requirement.

"Who do you think I am Ron? Some petty loner? We're gonna break all the fucking rules tonight!" Seamus pumped his fist into the air as Dean threw his head back in laughter of something Neville said.

"Who wants to do the honour of creating the perfect room?" Paravati exclaimed.

"Aye! Hermione c'mon! Do the honours! Let go of your bookworm today!" Lavender urged and Hermione paced in front of the tapestry three times before a door opened.

"LET'S PARTAY ENCHANTERS!" Ginny catcalled and walked into the room,

The room looked like a replica of muggle living room, except a white screen was rolled down for a movie, complete with the DVDs and a projector. There's an open kitchen with all the tools they could use to drink and eat, as well as a few comfy sofas in front of the screen.

"Whoa, what'd you think of Hermione?" Ron asked with curiosity as they looked around the interesting room.

"I thought of a place to relax and have fun." Hermione shrugged and plopped down on the sofa.

"Movie night?" Harry asked as he fumbled with the projector.

"Mmhm. What do we have?" Hermione nodded.

"Yo Hermione! There's Mission Impossible! And Pulp Fiction! And Jurassic Park! Hermione you're a genius!" Dean cried out as he count through the DVDs.

"Ooh! What's this?" Paravati asked as she looked at the projector curiously.

"It's a muggle projector." Hermione answered. "To watch movies. You can get a DVD and then put it in the tray of the projector, then press run and the image will be projected onto the white screen. And we'll watching people role play in a movie. It's like a visual book."

"Oh I know! We should pretend to be muggles! Ditch magic for the night!" Ginny suggested excitedly as all the other pureblood in the group nodded along, excited to live life the muggle way.

"Ain't no muggle party complete without the red cups!" Dean sing-songed his excitement, horribly out of tune and conjured nine red solo cups out of thin air, and Seamus immediately started to pour booze into them.

"Can we please try one of those move things?" Lavender asked.

"It's a movie, Lavender." Hermione corrected as Lavender plopped down on the sofa as well.

"Jurassic Park?" Harry suggested as he and Dean skimmed through the DVDs.

"Ooh! Do they have Home Alone? It's nearly Christmas." Hermione proposed.

"Pulp fiction's the thang!" Dean argued.

"NO DEAN." Hermione dejected.

"Geez, lion. Chill." Dean put both of her hands up in surrender.

"I'd rather not have people here trying to conjure guns and cigarettes after the movie." Hermione said pointedly.

"Come on Hermione! It can't be that bad. Plus they get to see some hot badass muggles." Dean defended.

"Hot badasses? I'm in." Seamus yelled.

"Well, I don't see the problem in it." Harry shrugged.

"See! Seamus and Harry agrees!" Dean pointed out.

"Fine." Hermione let go and sat down with the girls. "Pulp fiction it is."

"Y'all! You are going to see the best wonders of all time!" Dean said enthusiastically as everyone sat down on the couch drinking booze and vibing. "Be ready, for Pulp Fiction!" He announced dramatically and pressed the roll button on the projector and the title screen started to show.

"Ooh!" Lavender exclaimed in excitement.

The nine of them enjoyed the movie. And while Ginny and Paravati tried to imitate Mia Wallace and her badass action scenes poorly, and Seamus learning the art of sass from Jules Winnfield faster than anything else, the others released themselves against the couch, with Ron already asleep. Hermione and Harry leaned against each other and sharing a bowl of butter popcorn and Dean drowned himself in booze, and tempting Neville in the process. Lavender is now super drunk and dancing in her own world. The party was chaotic, but none of them would rather be elsewhere.

In the midst of the joyous chaos, Neville managed to get a candid of the group of friends just being themselves, letting go of all the burden from reality. That moving candid recorded how free they once were, perhaps one of their happiest time at school, the last time they smiled so genuinely before all the real chaos that happened soon after.

—

17th June, 2013 - Katherson Residence, Hampstead, New Hampshire, US

Hermione smiled at the memory. There wasn't anything that could top the experience. She had fun, truly had fun that night with all her friends, letting themselves free and for the first time did not give a damn about anything. Even though they were extremely hungover and drowsy the next day, it was all worth it.

She carefully put the picture into the pouch, and took out the last two pictures that rested in the compartment. One of the famous Golden Trio back at Hogwarts, taken by Colin Creevy who insisted on that before they left for summer at the end of third year. Harry stood in the middle, smiling happily with his arms draped over Ron and herself, on his left and right respectively. They laughed hysterically in the photo, probably over some lame joke Ron heard from his twin brothers. They looked carefree, something Hermione had longed to feel.

The last picture was of that of her and Harry. It was after his quidditch match in fifth year that had won them the quidditch cup. The Gryffindors were partying hard as usual after a big win and Colin took the opportunity to take some incredibly fantastic candids. He first took one of the quidditch team which was later pinned on the notice board in the common room. Then of people just having fun, and Fred and George pranking people with their sweets. After the party though, Colin went up to her and handed her this picture, said she should keep it.

It was of her and Harry trying to see who could speed talk a tongue twister perfectly. They sat next to each other on the couch, facing each other with a competitive posture. Their mouths in the picture moved so quickly people would've thought they were cramping. The picture ended with the two of them bursting into an uproarious laughter, possibly for no reason at all. They were competitive, very competitive that they decided to do a rematch the next day just after breakfast, which she won in the end, where she gruel herself with a pronunciation guide the night before. She wouldn't have cared if she had lost even, she was having fun.

And to see that smile on his face, to hear that sincere, carefree laughter from him is everything she could've wanted.

Sighing, she packed the pictures into her pouch in stood up from the desk, before taking another good look at her bedroom. She silently said goodbye to the isolated home of Jean Cecilia Katherson for years, texted her employees that she was going on an emergency trip abroad and locked the bright red front door of Katherson Residence for what she imagined was probably the last time.