I spend my first couple of days at the Burrow apparating back and forth between Hogwarts, finalizing paperwork, meeting with Professor Vector for some last "words of wisdom", and spending time with the professors who once taught me. Mrs. Weasley, who now insists that I call her Molly, has decided that a party must be thrown for my graduation, and it will happen within a week. For the sake of her sanity I convince her to just bake a cake and have a normal Sunday dinner. It takes me awhile, but I finally convince her that I don't want a big shebang, and at last she agrees. I'm excited to see the whole Weasley family, especially Ginny and Harry, whom I haven't seen in several months. They got married five months ago and I've been at school, so there hasn't really been a chance to get together.

By Saturday Molly and I are in full party-planning mode, which basically consists of figuring out what kind of cake to bake and hanging some streamers up around the house. It's strange to be at the Burrow now that it's just her and Arthur, but Molly and I have gotten along surprisingly well in recent years. We both like cooking, reading, and doing various home projects. For instance, I've only been here three days, but we've already refinished all the kitchen furniture and are in the midst of sewing a baby quilt for Fred and Angie, thanks to a DIY Muggle magazine I thought Molly might enjoy. By the end of my summer here I'm confident we'll have practically rebuilt the house.

Sunday morning I decide I want to knit a throw for my new home at Hogwarts. I remember how old and drafty the building is, and a throw sounds cozy and warm and inviting. I have lots of yarn in different colors but not enough to have a solid throw, so I decide it'll just be a sort of crazy quilt and go for it.

By three o'clock I'm about halfway through and my fingers feel permanently cramped. I help Molly with dinner—roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, and the cake we made last night—and by four thirty Weasleys are starting to pour into the Burrow. Bill, Fleur, and little Victoire are the first to arrive, with Harry and Ginny popping in soon after. I'm in the midst of talking Ginny's ear off about what's been going on lately when Ron and his fiancée, Mary Beth, arrive.

During the final battle Ron was hit with a Cruciatus Curse and ended up in a coma-like state at St. Mungo's for two straight months. He's alright now, of course, but it was a horrible time.

After he finally recovered, Ron and I had a long, difficult talk and decided that, though we were attracted to each other, neither of us really thought we could have a successful relationship as a couple. We agreed to remain friends and mutually parted ways. And since then things have worked out really well for him. Six months later he started working as an auror, along with Harry, and it was there that he met a pretty young secretary named Mary Beth Lewis. I met her for the first time about a year and a half ago, and I like her quite a lot. She's cute and funny and quiet, and Ron is obviously smitten with her. He asked her to marry him last Christmas.

I give both Ron and Mary Beth big hugs and Ron goes to talk with Bill and Arthur. I'm right in the middle of gushing over Mary Beth's ring and chatting about their upcoming wedding when I hear the dulcet sounds of the Weasley twins and the irritated sound of Angelina Weasley.

I turn to smile at the trio and go over to hug Angie. It's the first time I've seen her pregnant belly and we talk for awhile about the baby and my new job at Hogwarts while Fred and George go bully Ron about finally finding his "one true love" and annoy their mother as she tries to put the final touches on dinner.

Finally dinner's served and we all go out to the garden, where Molly, Arthur, and I set up the table and chairs earlier. I end up sitting across from Fred, George, and Angie, in between Bill and Mary Beth.

"So are you and Ron planning on getting married here at the Burrow?" I ask Mary Beth, devouring the delicious dinner Molly made.

She nods. "That's the plan so far. We're both pretty broke, and it's probably the easiest option anyway."

"So we'll finally get the meet your family! Ginny was telling me that Ron got along really well with your parents."

Mary Beth smiles gently. "They really like him. So do my brothers, which was a little surprising to me. I'm the baby of the family, so they've always been very protective, but they gave us their stamp of approval." She laughs quietly at her joke. Honestly, she's just about the sweetest girl I've ever met—it's no wonder Ron treats her like she's made of spun glass.

"And, what about you?" Mary Beth asks. "Do you see your parents often?"

I swallow my bite of roast beef and clear my throat. "Um…I actually haven't seen them in about four years. I…well, I erased their memories in order to protect them from the Death Eaters, and they're settled into their new life now, so… I figure it's best to just let them live it without me. If they're happy, I'm happy."

Mary Beth looks at me sympathetically and gently covers my hand with her own. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. That's really hard."

I shrug and give her a small smile. "Well, I got my mum's hair at least." I scrunch it up in my palm to demonstrate the rather excessive volume. "Something to pass onto my kids, I guess."

She smiles widely at me. "Are you seeing someone, then?"

"Yes, Hermione, are you seeing someone?" Fred suddenly asks rather loudly. I jump, amazed that he was even able to hear our conversation over the general hubbub, and look up to see that both he and George are watching me rather intently. Of course all conversation at the table suddenly dies and everyone sits waiting for my answer.

I blush to the roots of my hair, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I clear my throat quietly and shake my head. "No, not at the moment."

Fred raises both eyebrows, obviously hinting he wants me to say more, but I just look pointedly back at my plate and take a bite of mashed potatoes.

An incredibly awkward silence descends until finally Molly pipes up, announcing it's time for dessert. Bill starts up a new conversation with me about the work his department is doing in conjunction with the Department of Magical Creatures, and I purposefully lose myself in the subject until Molly startles me with a piece of chocolate cake and everything's back to normal.

After dessert I find myself in deep conversation with Mary Beth about the pros and cons of the new political system that was put in place after the war while the rest of the family adjourns to the house. We differ on some points, but I have to say that Mary Beth continues to surprise me—she has strong opinions and argues them very well. The more I get to know her, the more I like her.

Eventually Ron comes to collect his fiancée and I chat with him for awhile. They invite me to their flat for dinner next week, and once again I'm thoroughly pleased with their chemistry and overall obvious happiness in being together.

I remain sitting at the table finishing my piece of cake when suddenly George plops down in the seat Mary Beth just vacated. "Hey, Granger," he says with a grin. Thankfully it's not the IG, so I'm able to refrain from choking on the bite I just ingested.

"Hi, George," I smile at him. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good," he replies with a nod. "Mum says the two of you have been doing some major work around the house."

I laugh. "Yeah, apparently we both like home improvement projects." I shrug and gesture at the table. "Behold, the newly refinished dining room furniture."

He chuckles and runs his hand over the grain of the table. "It looks really nice. How long did it take you to do that?"

"About a day," I reply, taking another bite of cake. "Next week we're going to sew new curtains for the living room." My hand's starting to cramp again, so I flex my fingers.

"What's wrong with your hand?" George asks, taking note of the movement.

I smile sheepishly. "This morning I decided to knit a throw, so I was at it for about six hours."

He gapes at me. "Six hours?! How is that even possible? I'm surprised you can even move your fingers!"

I chuckle and shrug. "It took a little while, but I almost have full range of movement again."

We sit in silence for a little while as I finish my cake, and then he pulls a little box wrapped in pale green paper out of his trouser pocket. He sets it gently in front of me.

"What's this?" I ask, excitedly picking up the package and studying it.

He shrugs, not quite meeting my eyes. "I thought you deserved a graduation gift, especially after how hard you worked to finish early." He looks up and holds my gaze for a couple moments more before gesturing to the box. "Open it up! I want to know if you like it."

I grin as I start tearing open the paper. "I'm sure I'll like it, George." My voice trails off as I open the little box and see a small, simple stainless steel brooch in the shape of a carnation, with a tiny bee on one of the petals. "Oh, George."

"You said once your dad called you 'little bee' when you were growing up," he explains, touching the tip of his fingers to the little insect. "And…I know you miss them, so I thought this might help you remember them a bit." He shrugs, staring rather intently at my silverware. "Looks like something a professor would wear."

Much to my chagrin, my eyes are welling up with tears, but I lift the pin gently out of the box and pin it to the collar of my shirt. "How does it look?" I ask in a sniffly, tear-filled voice.

George smiles. "Nice, Professor Granger."

Before he can make another joke I throw my arms around him and sniffle into his neck. "Thank you so much, George." I pull back and wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. "I love it."

He blushes and looks away. "Well, I'm glad then." He gestures to the house. "I think everyone's about ready to leave. You want to come in and say goodbye to Angie?"

I pop my last bite of cake into my mouth and get up from my seat. "Come on then."

We walk slowly back to the house. "So, Uncle George," I say with a grin, raising my eyebrows at him, "are you excited about the new little one?"

He laughs. "No one could be as excited as Fred and Mum, but I'd say I'm a close third. I'm going to spoil that kid rotten."

I fake a shudder, noticing the mischievous gleam in his eye. "I'm starting to think that maybe the Weasley twins were just a warm up to the Weasley twin offspring."

He shrugs and winks at me. I just barely escape tripping over a tree root. "Well, now that old Voldemort's dead," he continues, apparently not noticing my little spasm, "someone's gotta keep us on our toes, eh?"

I decide he doesn't really need a reply to that and he follows me into the house, my fingers gently touching the brooch that reminds of what a kind, caring man he is.

I kiss Angie's cheek, promising to come visit her soon, joke around with Fred a bit more, hug little Victoire and smile at Bill and Fleur. He's in the corner of my eye as he shakes hands with his dad and kisses his mum, as he throws Victoire into the air and laughs loudly with her.

I pride myself on some really phenomenal grace and poise—at least when it comes to him—when he grins at me, gently chucking his finger under my chin as he tells me to have a good night. I manage to form a coherent response and rearrange my features into a fairly attractive expression.

All in all, it's a moment to be proud of.

Later that night, as I recall what he said when giving me the pin, I manage to ram my shoulder into a wall and give myself a spiffing new bruise.