Chapter Three

A/N: A rather short chapter. The writing isn't particularly spectacular here either. Well… mainly because I'm not at all sure how to portray Harry after Ron's death. But enjoy anyway.

Harry stood at the door, smiling slightly at Hermione. Hermione couldn't help it. She threw herself into Harry's arms. Harry chuckled slightly and hugged her.

"Where have you been?" Hermione asked, beaming. Harry shrugged. "Not much… I'm still doing my training," he said. Harry was training to be an Auror.

"But it's you I haven't seen for awhile," Harry suddenly said seriously. Hermione said nothing. Harry took her by the shoulders. "How are you coping?"

Hermione swallowed. Harry understood perfectly. Then he frowned. "And what is Malfoy doing here? Did he pull rank to get this Ministry job?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head. She was unable to reply. She couldn't understand why everybody thought Draco had resorted to underhanded means to get a job.

Ginny Weasley entered the room for the second time in the day. "No, Harry," Ginny said. "She employed him. Of her own accord."

Harry's eyes widened. "Hermione? Are you alright?" Harry asked quietly. He was shaking with fury. "This is MALFOY, Hermione. Malfoy, whose father killed Ron and Bill," Harry shouted.

Hermione shook her head. "He has nothing to do with Ron or Bill's death!" she cried tearfully. "He came over to the Light side –"

Harry shook his head forcefully. "Nobody even knows if that's true," he said quietly. "Don't forget that he told Lucius about Ron," he said.

Hermione felt something quicken. It felt like her heartbeat. "About Ron? What about Ron?" she asked, afraid to know the answer.

This time, it was Ginny who replied. "Draco told Lucius that Ron was terrified of spiders," she answered without looking Hermione in the eye. "That was how Ron got killed. Lucius tricked Acromantula into attacking Ron. He was afraid and couldn't defend himself in time."

Hermione stared at the pair in horror. Harry and Ginny looked slightly angry, but their faces had softened. "I didn't know that," Hermione whispered to herself. She could just imagine Ron's terrified face when he was facing the Acromantula. Ron hated spiders. And Lucius used spiders. What a low-down tactic, she thought angrily. Why haven't I bothered to ask how Ron died before? An image of Ron's mangled body came into her mind. Why?

Harry strode to where Hermione was shaking and put an arm around her. The three of them didn't know that they were being watched by over ten employees outside, one whom was crying silently.

I'm sorry. The tears continued to flow down Draco's cheeks.

Nobody disagreed with the fact that Hermione had changed drastically after the war. She had went from a calm know-it-all with an optimistic attitude to someone who was afraid of the dark, and someone who couldn't trust anybody.

The new Hermione was crying silently at her desk now.

It was already dusk. Throughout the entire day she had not touched her pile of work, nor eaten anything at all. The entire day she had been thinking of Ron and how he died.

Draco Malfoy who had avoided Hermione the entire day, or tried his best to, found himself standing outside Hermione's office. He was once again, on the outside looking in. He wished so badly that he could do something to help ease away her tears, or just find some way to comfort her and make her feel better. But the truth was he couldn't. A few minutes later he left the office, hating his father, hating Lord Voldemort, hating himself.

JE: Well, she did warn you about Harry being OOC, though I think he's portrayed just fine.

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