It was three whole months before Hermione heard any of her British friends voices; not that she was keeping count. She had kept in contact with Harry and Ginny via owl a few times, but it wasn't the same. The long-distance owls took at least a day or two to travel between countries and Hermione really didn't making the birds to fly so far.

Her time in Australia was going well. She had started to rebuild her relationship with her parents and she had made a good mix of Muggle and Magical friends. Her research was also going really well and just the other day, she'd made some useful connections in the office of the Australian Ministry of Magic. But she terribly regretted breaking things off with Ron and she missed him awfully.

She'd sent her ring back to him in a fit of anger a few days after that fated phone call. She'd also poured her heart out to him in a letter that he hadn't seen fit to reply to; not that she blamed him. She knew logically she shouldn't have done either, but she had decided for once to listen to her heart and not her brains. She guessed she could always blame the decision on her heartbreak, should anyone ask.

The radio silence reinforced her thoughts that she'd done irrefutable damage to their relationship and friendship. She often woke in a cold sweat, the nightmares of Malfoy Manor being replaced by a series of visions of Ron with other women, flaunting their love in front of her while she stood there, alone.

She had briefly considered whether she should apply for a job at the Australian Ministry of Magic and make plans to stay here with her parents indefinitely. The only thing stopping her was how much she missed her friends back home.

Christmas was fast approaching. Hermione missed the hubbub of Christmas in Diagon Alley and Hagrid decorating the Great Hall. She had also been looking forward to spending her first Christmas crammed into the Burrow with all the Weasleys and added extras. Patchewollock couldn't be further from any of this. The small town was a mix of muggle and magical inhabitants. Everyone got along perfectly fine, but apart from a wall mural and the small-town square, absolutely nothing happened there.

Hermione had woken up early that morning and decided to give herself a rare break from her research. She had flooing and apparating between the small town and Melbourne and it was tiring her out. Her parents were busy at the surgery, so she decided to surprise them by decorating the small farmhouse the three of them shared.

She was half-way through wrapping tinsel around the tree when she head the magically charmed phone start to ring in her bedroom. Her stomach lurched. She had bought herself a new phone after she had decided to stay in Australia so that she could stay in touch with her parents and new muggle friends but she had kept the older phone on charge in her bedroom, just in case Ron should want to get in touch.

She left her wand to continue decorating and hurried through to her room, scooping up the phone without pausing to check who the caller was. She was breathless as she answered.

"Ron?"

"Hello? Hermione? It's Ginny! Can you hear me?"

Hermione felt her stomach drop. It wasn't Ron. She bit back a sigh, trying to sound a bit more excited to finally hear from her close friend.

"Ginny, hi!"

She was gutted, obviously, but hearing the youngest Weasley's voice went a little way to help the burning homesickness she'd been feeling since breaking up with Ron.

Immediately, the friends started to catch-up and Hermione curled up on her bed, basking in the familiarity. It was the most perfect tonic and one of the best ways to help her kick start her Christmas. She laughed as Ginny describe Molly's attempts to rope her siblings in to getting the Burrow sorted for Christmas.

Hermione sighed softly. "I was looking forward to finally experiencing a Christmas at the Burrow this year..."

Ginny sighed too. "It's shit isn't it? Mum is finally up to doing the whole shindig and she's going so over the top; anyone would think she was trying to compensate for our quiet Christmas last year. Victoire has given her a new lease of life. But it won't be the same without Fred, or you... Harry was just saying the other night that he's spent the last two Christmases with you..."

"And all those ones before, crowded around the table in Grimmauld Place or staying in Hogwarts with you, Harry and Ron…"

Eventually Hermione and Ginny hung up; they'd been speaking for over an hour and Ginny had to get to training. Hermione's head was whirling with all the news she'd heard.

Ginny had made it to the main team with the Harpies after only four months of training with them. This was practically unheard of, but their regular Chaser had an unfortunate accident which was going to put her out of action for the rest of the season. Hermione had promised Ginny that she would do everything she could to come back and see her games. Although she hated flying and didn't get why everyone was so obsessed with the sport, she would never miss the opportunity to support her friends; just like she did when they were at school.

During the Quidditch update, Ginny had let it slip that Harry had proposed to her. It seemed he had been planning on doing it at Christmas; but got too excited and popped the question one evening before they went to bed. In front of Ron, nonetheless. They were planning on making an announcement at Christmas dinner. Hermione was over the moon, especially when she was asked to be maid of honour; but there was a part of her that was incredibly jealous of them. She had hoped she'd be the one to help Harry chose a ring for Ginny and would have loved to have been there alongside them when he proposed. Even though she had felt that it was way too early for herself and Ron to get married, she found herself imagining what it would have been like watching Ron get down on one knee.

Hermione lay on her bed, letting out a heavy sigh. She knew that life would have carried on without her while she wasn't there, but she didn't expect for it to move so quickly. Being so out of touch with her close friends was hard and it wasn't helped by how vague Ginny had acted when she'd asked about Ron. He was okay and doing well at Auror training – this was all Ginny would tell her. She could understand Ginny's loyalty to her brother, but she had a craving to know more.

She sat up and ran a hand through her hair. There was no point in wallowing. She made the decision to stay in Australia, but she could try and make things better by visiting more often. Hermione got up from the bed and made her way to her small desk, pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill. She settled at the desk and started writing to Kingsley to see if there was a way she could travel home for Ginny's games; proposing she started to meet with him so she could update him on her research in person. It would probably mean having to take a series of Portkeys which would be exhausting, but it would be quicker than flying and if she could get home quicker then maybe she'd have more time to fix her friendship with Ron.