A/N: Alright. Here's another chapter for you :) This time it's from Ginny's POV.

Oh, and I wish to answer one comment from one of my readers, Anon. About the fact that Hermione is an alcoholic is a theme I will get closer into in later chapters. The theme just hasn't really fit into the story yet, but I will go a little more into it later :)

Now, please enjoy this chapter :)

I apparated outside, assuming mum was still awake. As I arrived, I could do nothing but grinning wide. I couldn't wait for tomorrow to arrive. I went inside, and was not surprised to find mum sitting by the kitchen table, her hands holding a cup of tea. She looked up at me the moment I stepped inside,

"so? How did it go?",

I just raised an eyebrow at her,

"hi to you too, mum"

she just glared at me,

"fine, hi Gin. How did it go tonight?",

I just shook my head and sat down opposite of her,

"it went great. The wedding is in June".

Oh, the sarcasm, it was dripping. One of her hands left the table and went to her heart,

"really? Oh Ginny, that is fantastic. I always knew it would be the two of you. I always knew"

She stood up while she spoke, and went to the stove to cook again as she spoke. I turned around on the chair to look at her,

"mum, I was joking",

a frying pan barely missed my head before she attacked the stove again, muttering something under her breath about how it's not nice to say something like that.

"We have decided to take things really slow and sort everything out before we do anything else, but we won't exclude anything, at the moment. Things can go either way. We'll just take one step at the time and don't rush anything".

She turned around again and rushed over to embrace me,

"oh love. I'm just so happy about this. I'm glad you finally pulled yourself together and went to see her. I just wish you would bring her over sometime soon, I would love too see her again. It's been too long since last time I saw her, and you know how I always has been so fond of her".

I thought for a second before I said anything,

"mum, I'm going there tomorrow at noon, I'm not promising you anything yet, but I'm planning to take her out for lunch somewhere in London, if she agrees, you could join us. I'm not sure what she thinks of it, but I will ask her tomorrow, if she says yes, I will come and pick you up around 12:30. What do you say about that?"

Her eyes began to sparkle, she obviously loved the idea,

"oh, would you to that for me? I would love to, but please make sure to let her know that she can decline without hurting my feelings, alright?"

I smiled. I couldn't deny that I would love to have both Hermione and mum along for lunch. I know it would mean the world to mum to get to see Hermione again.

"Don't worry mum, I'll make sure she knows".

Mum embraced me again, even thighter this time,

"thank you so much, Ginny, you have no idea what this means to me".

She loosed her embrace and went back to the stove. She returned again moments later with a plate filled with mountains of toast, eggs and sausages. I ate in silence while mum was just walking around, apparently for no reason at all, I just assumed it was because she was excited about tomorrow. After I was finished eating, I yawned and told mum I would be heading for bed now. And with that I headed upstairs and to my bed.

I didn't sleep much that night. I was just tossing and turning, too excited about the next day to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up at 8:30. I had finally managed to fall asleep around 6:30, it was a restless sleep, but at least it was something. The smell of coffee and... pancakes? reached me, and went downstairs and found mum already awake and cooking breakfast. I found myself a large mug and filled it with coffee. While I did so, I greeted mum,

"morning mum. What are you doing?".

I raised an eyebrow and looked questioningly at her. She had a large load of pancakes in a pile next to her. She never made pancakes for breakfast. She always made egg,bacon, toast and sausages. She looked at me,

"morning. I'm making pancakes, can't you see?"

She looked confused,

"yes mum, I can see that, but why? You never make pancakes for breakfast, why the sudden urge?"

She turned back to her cooking, turning a pancake before she answered me,

"honestly, I have no idea. I just woke up today with a bad craving for pancakes. Trust me, I'm at least as surprised as you are".

I just laughed, I just didn't know how else to react. She smiled a little as well. I sat down by the table with my mug, enjoying the refreshing taste of the coffee. A few seconds later a plate with a small pile of pancakes arrived on front of me,

"it's more than four hours until you are going to eat lunch, you better eat something now. I wouldn't want to have Hermione see the wrath of hungry Ginny, not yet at least. Wouldn't want to scare her away already".

I just scowled at her, but I knew she was right, so I dug in instead of answering her. 15 minutes later all the pancakes and coffee were gone. I stood up and headed for the door,

"I'm going to London to find a place to eat. I'll try get back before I go to Hermiones. If not, I'll see you later today. Remember to be ready for lunch at 1, just in case. Love you mum",

she nodded and came over to hug me, she whispered in my ear,

"please remember, no guilt. I don't want to intrude",

I sighed,

"I promise to make sure she knows, don't worry. But I have to go now, I'll see you later".

And with that, I disapparated.

Seconds later I appeared in the back of George's store in Diagon alley. The room was empty, he probably was in the front taking care of a customer or five. His store was a success. He now had a store in Hogsmeade as well as a few in America and elsewhere in Europe. I was so proud of my brother, even after losing his twin, he continued and made great success. I walked out to the front and found him behind the counter. He signaled for me to come over. It was still early, but the store already had quite a few customers. I made my way over to him and greeted him,

"hi, George. Store's going great, I see"

I smiled at him. A wide grin appeared on his face,

"it's going great, dear sister. I'm thinking of expanding the store and hire one or two people extra, currency we can't fit all the customers in at once, the line of coming inside is going nearly all the way to the leaky cauldron. You don't happen to know anyone who needs a job, do you? I need one extra employee, preferably last week".

I opened my mouth, just about to tell him I was sorry, but had no idea of anyone who could use a job right now, but then I remembered what Hermione had said about not being happy with her job, but it was all she could get, I decided to ask her,

"maybe. I'll ask someone I know later. She might be interested. If she is, I'll bring her by later".

His face cracked in to the widest grin I had seen in ages,

"really? That's amazing, Gin. Who is it?"

I giggled,

"you wouldn't believe me if I told you. I'll just bring her over later today if she is interested, okay?"

He looked a little sceptical, but apparently he decided he knew better than to question his sister. Wise man.

"You know, if I didn't know better, judging by the look on tour face, I would say it was Hermione. You look exactly like you used to look when you spoke of her in our school days, you have just the same sparkle in your eyes. I missed it. When she went away, it was like a part of you died, like she was your Fred, if you know what I mean. Maybe you finally found a way to deal with it, at least for now. Well, whoever it is, I hope he's good enough for you, sis".

I glared at him,

"first of all, George, Hermione were just a friend to me, not 'my Fred' or something like that. Second of all, I will never wish to find a way to deal with what I did to her, I deserve the pain of what I did, not even a second of it will be gone until the day she tells me she has forgiven me, and even then the pain I feel will still be there,I deserve it, more than you can possibly know. And third of all, 'whoever he is'? Who says any guy have anything to do with whatever?"

I kept glaring, god how I hated it when he knew stuff. Why did he have to be so bloody observant? He raised an eyebrow,

"no guy, huh? A chick, then. Anyone I know?"

I frowned. Christ. He's unbelievable, and right. Fuck.

"Christ, George, it's none of your bloody business what I do, or who I do, for that matter. Just stay out if my business, you will see when the time is right, don't worry. Anyways, I have stuff to do. I'll bring my friend over later if she is interested in working for you. Bye".

"Bye, sis. See you later. You could bring your girlfriend over for dinner at the Burrow on Sunday, you know".

I just ignored him, I hated it when he was like that. When I got out to the diagon alley I glanced at the time, shit, 10:45 already? Stupid George. I rushed to the leaky cauldron and practically ran through it, I was running short of time now, only an hour to find the perfect place for lunch. I quickly walked for a while, carefully looking for a place that looked good enough to bring Hermione. I found this place called "the corner". I went inside and had a quick look around. This was good enough. I went back out and took a look at the time, it was 11:50, I figured I should exchange some money, I could use some muggle-money later on, and I was running short. I found an empty alley to disapparate from. I appeared on the stairs of Gringotts, running inside and found a goblin who could help me, luckily he was very helpful and could provide the help I needed quickly. Five minutes later I was back outside. I decided had no time to waste and apparated to Hermiones backyard. I ran up the stairs and knocked the door. Hermione unlocked the door a few minutes later, she looked like she had just gotten out of bed. She yawned and gestured for me to come inside. I tried to catch my breath as I walked inside and more or less fell on the coutch. Hermione looked at me with a raised eyebrow,

"have you been running?".

I held up one finger while I breathed; "one... moment..."

She shook her head and giggled,

"I'll go put on some clothes. It's coffee and tea at the kitchen if you want some when you can move".

I stayed at the coutch. When she came back ten minutes later, she looked amused at me,

"did you run the stairs at full speed or something?"

I just nodded, she laughed a short laugh,

"why?".

"Well, I figured it would be rude to apparate in your apartment, and I thought I wouldn't take the chance of getting killed if I scared you or something".

She laughed again,

"good point. Now, would you like some coffee or tea?",

"yes please, coffee would be nice".

She went to the kitchen and got us both a cup. She sat down in the chair, her mind seemed to be somewhere else, but right now I didn't take too much notice of it,

"Hermione?"

She looked at me,

"yes?",

I took a breath before I continued,

"I'm taking you out for lunch in 30 minutes, since we are cooking here later, I figured it was only fair to buy you lunch. And no, you don't have a saying in this, we are going. Anyways, the thing is, mum has this urgent desire too see you again. She misses you so bad, you have no idea. The thing is, she wanted to join us, but only if you agreed, I also promised to make sure you didn't hurt her feelings if you said no".

I was nervous, her face didn't show any signs of what she would do or say next. Moments later she stood up, mumbling something about a cigarette. I remained in my seat for a few seconds before I decided to follow. She was already outside, leaning on the rail. She must have heard me come, because as soon as I arrived in the doorway, she spoke, not even looking at me;

"you know, Ginny. When I first saw you again that first night you were here, I was sure it was a dream, and when you came back, I was sure I had gone completely nuts. I mean, how could you possibly be here again? After all these years, suddenly you are back, just the moment I decided to move on. Why? I have been threatening to kill myself god knows how many times, but it was always one of your brothers who saved me, never you. They all told me you would come around if I just gave you a couple of months, if I just wrote you letters telling you what you did to me, but this one time, when I decide to let go, you show up, ready to fight, ready to finally be there for me, now that I don't need you anymore. Where were you 6 years ago when I had a mental breakdown and was locked up at st. Mungo for six months? Where were you when I needed you the most?"

Her voice was ice cold. She didn't look at me once. I took a deep breath before I walked to stand next to her, preparing what to say next,

"107. That's how many times you said you would kill yourself. And each time I commanded one of my brothers to go check on you, because i was too much of an coward to do it myself. Each time I was at home, crying my eyes out, not talking to anyone until whichever brother I had shipped off in your direction returned. Each time I was sure that my last chance had been lost, and each time my brother returned with good news, I swore that if it happened again, I would go myself, but I always failed. I was too much of an coward to come myself. You have no idea how much I hate myself for what I did. I will always pay for it with the pain in my soul of knowing what I did to you. When you were at st. Mungo, each night I went there, talking to the healers, trying to find the courage to see you, once again I failed myself. I know I never was there for you When you needed it, but I intend to change it now, I wish to be a part of your life again, I wish to earn your trust again, I wish to be everything I haven't been the past 7 years. I wish to work hard to earn my place in your life again".

Silence. Neither one of us said as word for a few minutes, not until she suddenly sighed and spoke,

"okay".

I was confused, okay what? I just looked at her, she then continued,

"okay, tell Mrs. Weasly I'm fine with it. But remember, take things slowly, I don't know if I'm really ready to do this yet, but I'm willing to try".

I shed a tear. Hermione just looked confused at me.

"It's nothing, I'm just glad you are willing to try. And I promise, it's only for lunch, then I will apparate her back to the Burrow and return to you as soon as possible, I promise".

She just looked at me again,

"it's fine, I just.. I don't know. I just hope she doesn't hate me or blame me for Fred like you did or anything like that. I'm just scared, you know",

I grabbed her arms and held her,

"Hermione, is there any chance in hell mum would love to join us for lunch if she hated you? You think she would almost beg me to ask you to come over for Sunday dinner and Christmas if she hated you? Just don't worry, it will all be okay, I promise you".

I pulled her in for a hug,

"don't worry, everyone misses you, but we'll take one step at the time".

I glanced at the time,

"oh shit! I'll be right back, I just have to pick up mum, she's probably thinking you have declined or something. I'll be back in less than a minute".

And with that I disapparated.