Hermione turned into the dark hall, dragging her feet towards the kitchen and, hopefully, a warm kettle.

The night had been rough, tossing and turning over the guest room sheets.

In truth, she had just about gotten used to the sleepless nights. What with the nightmares and confusion, it was to be expected...but now...

Now, she saw his face every time she drifted to sleep. His eyes filled with the raw pain of rejection. His mouth dropped open in surprise. The slight angry flush still on his cheeks.

She closed her eyes, shaking the image away.

Tea. That's exactly what she needed. A nice hot mug of tea. Maybe Kreacher would have some bagels or muffins baked up too; she knew he loved morning bakes.

Her feet stopped short at the voices coming from the kitchen.

"...How's she doing?"

A shiver went up her spine. Her heart jumped. She pushed herself up against the wall.

"She's gonna need time, Draco. Just...be patient."

She leaned her head back against the wallpaper, closing her eyes. This was not what she needed right now.

"I'm being as patient as I can be! My wife left me to go live with the childhood hero! I-"

"Draco, calm down before you set my kitchen on fire." Harry's dry tones were interrupted by a sigh.

"I just...I'm having a hard time with this, Harry."

She squeezed her eyes tight against his defeated tones.

She had caused that. She knew it. She accepted it like a steak through the heart. But she had to get away.

She could not be with someone she could not remember being happy with.

"Yeah? Well, neither is she."

Her eyes flew open at Ginny's sharp words. She hadn't realized the witch was there.

"Gin," Harry's warning tones rang through the air.

"No, Harry! He can't just come moping to us every time he messes something up! If he did not want to push her away, he should have went easier on her instead of shoving everything in her face all at once. It's only been a blasted week!"

Hermione looked down, not really seeing the floor beneath her. Had it only been so long? It felt like a lifetime.

Shuffling feet came her way. She jerked her head up to find Kreacher coming up the hall from the opposite direction, small apron tied around his waist. He eyed her cautiously.

"Hmmm...It's not nice to be eavesdropping, Misses. Master and Mistress would not be liking it."

Hermione cast her eyes away, shame creeping into her pile of emotions.

"Yes. I know..."

She gazed into his big, old eyes.

"I am sorry."

Then she turned and fled down the hall. Back to her books. Back to her research. Back to setting things right.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hi, guys! I know this chapter is really short took ages (it seemed) to finally post, but things have been busy lately. I hope ya'll enjoy this little tid-bit anyways I will try to get the next one up with less of a wait! Thanks for the reads!

Author's Note:

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Harry Potter series. Those rights belong to JK Rowling. I am only borrowing her beautiful creations.