As they left work at the Ministry of Magic for the day, Aurors, Harry and Ron joined the queue to use the floo network. Instead of heading to their respective homes, the pair were heading to Ron's childhood home for dinner. Harry's wife of five years, Ginny, had spent the day shopping with her mother and it had been arranged that Harry and Ron would join them for dinner. As they waited in the queue the two men were joined by Ron's father, Arthur.
When the three men arrived back at The Burrow, they found Molly and Ginny in the kitchen. While the dinner was magically preparing itself on the kitchen counter, the two witches were sharing a gossip over a cup of tea. Normally they would have been drinking wine, as Ginny had rather taken to the drink after leaving Hogwarts, but Ginny had just discovered she was pregnant so all alcohol was off the menu for the youngest Weasley.
"Did you have a good day?" Harry asked as he pecked his wife on the cheek.
"We had a lot of fun," Ginny replied.
"And just how much money did you spend?" Ron asked as he plucked a couple of cold beers from the fridge for himself and Harry. Even though he loved his sister, he often thought she spent money as though it was going out of fashion and he often wondered how Harry put up with it.
"That is none of your business, Ronald," Ginny huffed. "I can spend my money how I like."
"But it's not your money anymore," Ron pointed out. "You've already stopped working, and you're barely two months pregnant."
"She couldn't carry on playing quidditch now she's pregnant," Molly tutted at her youngest son. "Honestly, Ron, have some sense."
"I'm just pointing out the money she spent today, would have been Harry's, not hers," Ron replied with a shrug as he settled down at the table.
"Harry and I share everything," Ginny told her brother. "Unlike you, he doesn't resent me spending money."
"I have no problems with it," Harry confirmed, shooting Ginny an adoring smile. "We have plenty of gold in the bank, we're not going to go bankrupt."
"Speaking of bankrupt, I heard the Parkinsons are selling their house," Arthur chimed in as he poured himself a cup of tea.
"Because of money problems?" Molly asked, always eager to hear gossip, especially if it involved people she disliked having problems.
"That's what I heard," Arthur replied. "I know a few months ago, Parkinson's company was bought out by Malfoy Industries."
"What would the Malfoys want with a broomstick manufacturing business?" Ron asked with a frown. "I thought they mainly dealt in potions these days."
"I don't know the ins and outs of these things, Ron," Arthur said to his son. "I just know what I hear, and what I read in the paper."
"I can remember reading about the takeover in the Daily Prophet," Ginny said. "But I ran into one of my old teammates last week, and she knows the Parkinsons, and I'm sure she mentioned they're emigrating."
"Shame they didn't do that in school," Ron snorted. "At least then we wouldn't have had to deal with Pansy the Pug."
"I can think of a few people who should have emigrated while we were in school," Harry muttered.
"Yeah, most of them Slytherins," Ron sneered.
"No matter what the reason, the Parkinson house is on the market," Arthur concluded.
"Maybe we should go and view the place, just to see where Parkinson lived," Ron suggested with a laugh. "I bet it's nowhere near as posh as she made out."
"I have no desire to go traipsing around Pansy Parkinson's old house," Ginny replied, curling her nose in distaste.
"Nor do I," Harry agreed. "Let's leave the past where it belongs, behind us."
"You won't be saying that when we tell you what we saw this afternoon," Ginny said as Molly got up to check on dinner. "Guess who's having a book signing at Flourish and Blotts at the weekend?"
"It can't be Lockhart, because he's still stuck in St Mungo's without his memories," Ron said. To be honest he couldn't think of anyone else who wrote books as he never read them, he preferred quidditch magazines.
"Hermione," Ginny announced with glee.
"What about her?" Arthur asked, confused by the abrupt change of topic.
"She's having a book signing at Flourish and Blotts," Ginny explained, rolling her eyes at her father being so slow on the uptake.
"Hermione?" Ron frowned, giving Ginny a disbelieving stare. "Why would Hermione be having a book signing?"
"I presume because she's wrote a book," Ginny replied with an exasperated sigh. Honestly, it was sometimes really hard work talking to her family.
"Since when does Hermione write books?" Harry questioned.
Harry's question was met by shrugs all round. After all, no-one knew anything about Hermione's life these days. After their falling out, they'd watched as she'd gone ahead and set up the children's charity with Narcissa Malfoy. For about a year, Hermione had been pretty prominent with the charity, but then she dropped out of sight. As they'd predicated, it looked as though Hermione had been dropped as soon as she'd given Narcissa and her charity the publicity they wanted.
To be honest they'd half expected Hermione to come crawling back to them when they were proved right, but they hadn't seen hide nor hair of her. Obviously she was too stubborn to come back and admit she'd been wrong. Over the years they'd heard nothing about Hermione, although a few times they often thought they spotted her out and about, but it was always brief glimpses and there was something not very Hermione like about the woman they kept thinking was their old friend.
As for the charity, it was still going strong and it was now just a general children's charity and didn't just focus on those affected by the war. They often read about various fundraisers, but because of Narcissa's involvement in the charity, they kept their distance. There were plenty of other charities for them to support without having to associate with the likes of the Malfoys.
"So when is this book signing exactly?" Ron asked.
"Saturday afternoon at two," Ginny answered. "Do you fancy going?"
"I don't know," Harry replied cautiously. He wouldn't mind seeing Hermione again, but he didn't think they would be friends again, not after the big argument they had when she left.
"I think it could be fun," Ron said with a smirk. "I mean come on, she has to write some sort of boring text books or something. Can you imagine the turn out, a few nerds and someone from the Daily Prophet to record her failure."
Ginny laughed along with Ron's imagery, as Harry frowned slightly at his wife and best friend. Since the falling out, Ron and Ginny had become particularly hateful towards Hermione, which was one of the reasons Harry knew their friendship was over. If he had to choose, Ginny and Ron were his family, and they came before any old friend, no matter how much she'd done for him in the past. However, that didn't mean he wanted to revel in her failures.
"Do they even hold book signings for text books?" Arthur asked with a frown.
"Lockhart did a book signing before our second year," Ron pointed out.
"Yes, but he was a celebrity in his own right," Molly argued. "Plus his books were all about his adventures. They were only text books for that one year."
"The books were all a pile of made-up baloney," Harry grumbled. He was amazed that Molly still seemed to have her bizarre crush on Lockhart even now he'd been exposed as a compete fraud, not to mention the fact he would have willingly let Ginny die to preserve his reputation.
"Who cares about Lockhart," Ginny tutted. "We were discussing Hermione, and her boring books. I say we pop along and see what all the fuss is about."
"Okay, we can go," Harry agreed. "But we're not going to cause trouble," He warned his wife and brother-in-law.
"As if we would cause trouble," Ginny replied in a hurt tone, before she turned to her brother and they exchanged devious smirks. Of course they weren't going to cause any major trouble, but a bit of rubbing Hermione's nose in things could still be fun.
On Saturday afternoon, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Molly arrived at Diagon Alley in plenty of time to head to Hermione's book signing. Thinking the place wouldn't be very full, they stopped for a drink in The Leaky Cauldron, before heading off to the bookshop.
"Bloody hell," Ron gasped when they spotted the crowds waiting to get inside. "This wasn't what I was expecting."
"They're probably only here because she's a so-called war hero," Ginny sniffed.
"I still want to know what sort of books she writes," Harry said as they joined the queue to enter the bookshop.
As they moved up the queue, they found themselves in front of the shop's window. In the window was a smiling picture of Hermione, looking much more sophisticated than they'd ever seen her. There was also a big display of her latest book, which caused them all to gasp out loud when they saw it. The book was bright red, and in the centre was a women sitting handcuffed in a chair. Also dotted around the display, were other books written by Hermione, all of which also had a provocative cover.
"These don't look like boring text books to me," Harry finally managed.
"Are they sex books?" Molly whispered in horror.
"They certainly look like it," Ginny remarked. "Of course, we'll have to wait until we're inside and I can get a good look at one."
"Are you seriously telling us you had no idea Hermione wrote racy books?" Ron asked his sister. This seemed like just the sort of gossip, Ginny should have known.
"Of course I didn't. I would have said something if I'd known," Ginny replied. "I just don't really read books, so I've never noticed them before."
"What about you Mum?" Ron asked. "You visit the book shop regularly."
"Not to buy trash like that," Molly said in indignation. "I avoid all these depraved books."
"They might not be depraved," Harry offered. "We might be misjudging the book."
"Harry, I think this is one time we can judge a book by its cover," Ginny said to her husband. "Let's face it, Hermione is writing erotica."
"Isn't it sad what mixing with the wrong people will do for a girl," Molly mused as they finally entered the shop. "Hermione was never my favourite person, but I never thought she would be involved in such shocking shenanigans."
Ginny rolled her eyes at her mother, as she plucked one of Hermione's books up from one of the many displays dotted around the shop. Reading the back, she discovered there was more to the book that pure sex, it also looked to have a solid plot. In fact, Ginny thought it sounded like a good read, even though she wasn't a big reader of books. Keeping hold of the book, she checked out a few more of Hermione's novels.
"It looks as though she's been doing this for a few years," Ginny remarked.
"Why haven't we heard of it before now?" Ron questioned. He was looking around the shop to get a glimpse of Hermione, but it wasn't quite two yet so he was assuming she was still in the back of the shop yet to make her grand appearance.
"Who knows," Ginny answered with a shrug. "But we're here now. Not that we're going to witness a failure, if anything I would say Hermione is a success."
"If you call writing dirty books a success," Molly sneered. Even though Ginny had said there was more to the book than sex, Molly wasn't convinced. They looked pretty racy to her.
"Are you going to buy that book?" Ron asked, suddenly spotting his sister was still holding a copy of the book in her hand.
"I thought I might," Ginny replied. "I also thought I would get it signed by the author."
"Do you really think that's wise?" Harry asked his wife.
"Lighten up Harry, I'm not going to cause a scene in front of all these people," Ginny reassured him. "I'm just interested in seeing Hermione and finding out how her life has turned out. Aren't you curious about her?"
Harry had to admit he was curious. He'd been curious before they arrived, but when they'd seen Hermione's book, he was even more intrigued. He was dying to know what had happened to the girl he used to know. The Hermione he knew would never have dreamed of reading naughty books, let alone writing them. Things had clearly changed with his former friend, and he was interested to find out what.
Harry was brought out of his musings, by an announcement from the manager announcing Hermione's presence. As it turned out the book signing was going to be kicked off by a short question and answer session. As the group scrambled to get a good look at Hermione as she settled down at the table laid out for her, they spotted a few other familiar faces in the shop. Over the other side of the room Bill and his wife, Fleur were standing with George and his wife, Angelina. They also spotted a group of former Slytherins they went to school with, and standing not too far away from them were Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Clearly they really were the last ones to know that Hermione was now a successful author.