A/N: Sorry, it's been a while. But, hey, here I am now! So sit back, relax, and enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. :)

Chapter 14: Awkward Silences...Again

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Hermione was walking Sirius along the shore. She was mindlessly wading on the warm sand of the unusually empty beach at around sunset, her flip-flops in one hand, and Sirius' leash in the other, and she plopped down on the fine sand, and hugged her knees. Sirius lay obediently beside her, seeming contended with the hotdog he had just eaten only minutes ago. She could feel the sea breeze press against her, blowing through her hair. The breeze embraced her face, bare arms, and legs in a relaxing atmosphere as a peaceful cloud of thought floated above her. She had been deprived of it time and time again.

Finding the perfect moment to unleash the thoughts that she had forcefully tucked at the back of her mind, she closed her eyes to think.

Her thoughts transferred quickly and in an unorganized manner. Her thoughts shifted from James to Her parents, to Fred, to the icy water, to her frantic screaming while finding a way to get out of the taxi. She shivered slightly, and hugged herself tighter. A few tears threatening to fall. She was so scared... so scared, and what was even scarier was that for a millisecond, she had actually accepted it. Her thoughts jumped once again, and again, and again, making her head swirl in painful memories.

Stop.

She was on the verge of tears again. She tried hugging herself closer, and rested her head on her knees, thinking of what to do with her life. She was single, had a job with an okay pay, living in a stuffy mansion of someone she hadn't seen for almost a month, and she was now sitting by the shore, clenching her teeth to stop herself from crying and even considering on moving out. But what about Remus and Tonks? They were the two people who managed to keep her sane and well, human. It was always the three of them, the three of them huddled close together on a dining table, the three of them sitting by the fire place in Remus and Tonks' room reading, it was always the three of them sitting side by side watching television at night.

But sometimes it would either be Hermione and Tonks, or Hermione and Remus. She was informed of his having leukemia yesterday, and she remembered bursting into sobs at the sight and thought of the frail man that might not even be there watch to see his unborn child growing up. He nodded along with all her babbling about how it wasn't supposed to be like this, and that he looked perfectly healthy, and everything would pass but he had this look. A look that Hermione couldn't quite forget. He looked ready.

Soon Tonks joined in with her crying, and tried to console her. It was heart wrenching, and she worried, she worried the whole day that he might collapse and never wake up again. She worried about him. Life was just so unfair, he was only in his mid 40s, already sick with cancer—well, not right now, but the disease was under his skin, ready to pop back and say 'Hello everybody! Did you guys miss me?' any minute.

Hermione left Harry's house and went to the beach, deciding to give Sirius a walk. It was weird how her life managed to crumble into a million little pieces so easily—and in such a little amount of time as well. She shook her head, and bit her lip, knowing fully well that her time of happiness would be over. She had her share, and she thought that it was selfish of her to desire so much more. Her happiness and bliss was like fire, and now it was extinguished, with small trails of ash and the faint smell of burning to remind her that what she had felt was anything but a dream.

Ashes...

Was that all to be left? To remind her that she actually lived, memories to remind her that she was actually happy?

'Of course not!' Her mind argued. 'Harry, Draco, Ginny, Remus, and Tonks will be there for you, don't be so glum!'

She seemed doubtful and shook her head in a pathetic attempt to store those thoughts and voices at the back of her mind. She grabbed Sirius by the collar and scooped him up in her arms. Even if he was obviously too big. Giggling. She was giggling softly, carrying the heavy dog with difficulty while walking along the shore. The dog had a very human look on his face. As if saying, 'you're humiliating me, you know'. She set him down on a large rock, patting his head.

"That's a pretty awesome mutt you got there." Someone said from behind her, she turned her neck to look at the low voice who had said it from behind.

"Excuse me?" She asked, now facing the stranger.

His brown hair fell messily over his eyes. He brushed it away, giving Hermione a full view of his coal black eyes. He squatted beside her, and his calloused hands were raised to pet Sirius on the head. He was in orange swimming trunks, and smelling like salt water. He was probably a surfer.

"I like your dog." He said, a bit clearer this time.

Hermione looked at him and nodded once. "He's not mine."

"Well," The person said, giving Sirius one last pat on the head. "Maybe we could talk more about your dog over dinner, if you like."

She tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. Cheeky, this boy was. "No, thanks."

"Oh." The guy said, disappointed, "You looked kind of lonely so I thought that—"

"I'm not lonely." She snapped, glaring. "I have a date. With my boyfriend. Later."

He nodded, mumbled something incoherent and left her. She sat back down on the sand, drawing useless figures on it using a stick.

Yes. She was lonely.

---

"Wake up, sweetheart." Ginny whispered to her fiancé, Draco grunted and turned around so that his back would face her.

"Come on. Everyone's leaving, Draco." She said quietly, nudging him by his shoulder. He got up reluctantly and slowly, stifling a yawn. He looked at his soon to be wife, and smiled sleepily.

"Good morning, Ginny." He greeted, Ginny nodded, and stood up to get the bags at the top compartment. Draco wrapped his fingers around her wrist, giving a slight tug towards the seat, she sighed in defeat and sat back down, letting him handle the luggage. He brought the things down with ease, and they walked to the car parked right outside the airplane in silence. He could feel her hands become clammy.

"How are you feeling?" He whispered to her when they entered the car. There was only a driver, and two security guards by the front row.

"Typical of father to not pick up his daughter from the airport in person, he's probably not home too." She grumbled.

"Things must be pretty busy. He's got six sons and a daughter who are eligible to be next in line for the throne and the person must be married to take it, too. And in only a year." He told her.

"I don't want the damn throne! And besides, it's already the 21st century! Arranged marriages shouldn't even exist anymore." She folded her arms over her chest, and leaned against his shoulder. Breathing deeply, and soon falling into a peaceful sleep before Draco could console her.

The ride had gone rather decent and fun, Draco engaged in some small talk with the driver and security guards, they already knew each other. It was around lunch time when they arrived.

"We're here." He said softly, tucking a stray strand of ginger colored hair behind the woman's ear. She instinctively snaked her arms around his neck as he scooped her up in his arms. There were people gushing out of the entrance as they made their way through the giant double doors and passed the foyer, they took the suitcases and their belongings up to their respective rooms—much to Draco's dislike, they weren't allowed to share bedrooms.

The house—or more like palace—didn't change at all. Draco still remembered those soft velvet curtains hung loosely by the windows and the marble floor looked exactly like the way it looked the first time he went there. It was still a stunning abode, it was adorned with expensive portraits and antiques, carpets and gold rimmed furniture, not to mention the unique charm and ambience it held.

He slowly ascended the stairs towards Ginny's room with her limp and sleeping body in his arms. "Shh. She's asleep." He whispered to Ron, Bill and Charlie who had greeted him by the stairs and formed a circle around him. George was silently waving behind them, and for a brief moment, Draco expected to see Fred too...

Draco kicked open Ginny's bedroom door, and set her quietly and carefully on her bed. She rolled over and slept.

She looked like an angel to him.

"Good to see you guys home." Ron said. Smiling.

"Likewise." Draco mumbled.

"Have you seen Hermione yet?" He asked, and Draco sighed.

"I haven't. You've got to fill me in more. I don't know what's going on." He suggested to Ron, leading them out of Ginny's room and leaving the door slightly ajar in case she needed him.

"I'll tell you about it later."

Draco had found the Weasley family fairly pleasant, Ron was very crazy and easy to get along with. Percy, who was at work, was very reserved and quiet, he always kept to himself, even gave him a ratty bathrobe wrapped in cheap gift paper for his birthday. Bill and Charlie, on the other hand, were the people Draco would turn to for advice on handling his future company, or maybe talk about politics. George...was never the same again. He seemed very lonely and sometimes cranky. Fred's death was disastrous and depressing to the family.

He didn't even know how the Weasley's could possibly have hired a person to hunt Hermione down, it was so unlike them.

---

"It's me." Harry said quietly into his phone. She sighed.

"Look—I, Harry, I—I just wanted to actually do something with my life, and besides, I want to help out.."

"Of course, I know you do, Casey, just, just be careful." He pleaded, the images of her in his dream still vivid and etched in his mind, the image would not leave him even if he closed his eyes. He sat on the edge of his bed and pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve his distress.

"Well, I can't promise anything, you know how clumsy I am." She said, trying to lighten up the mood. "But, hey, this is the second time you've called since you left! You've obviously got some thing worth telling, right?"

"You go first." He challenged, chuckling.

"Well, I dozed off around the house a lot, I've had really special moments and conversations with your voicemail, I found a job at a snack bar in a movie house—very nice. And I accidentally gave your number to—"

"Accidentally?" Harry laughed, "How could it have possibly been accidental?"

"You know me, very careless." She said sadly.

"And very unpredictable." He added, she giggled.

"Yes, and very moody." She sighed.

"And very lovable and cute. Don't forget that."

He heard her gasp, "Is that really you, Harry Potter? I believe it not! What have you done to the coffee begging, iPod listening, soap opera ruining, egotistic son of a gun I once knew?"

"He's still here, actually, but he's like that to someone else now, certainly not you."

"Well, who? Who's the poor guy?" She asked curiously.

"Bob."

"Oh dear, so here's a wild guess: He's living with another best friend of yours who happens to be living next to where you're staying and turns out to be on the run and was attacked by men in suits the day you met him. Am I correct?"

"Oh, no. There's only one person with a life that creative." He remarked, feeling better.

"Really? Who is it then?" Hermione's voice echoed teasing and taunting him. Harry suddenly missed her joyous nature.

"That's really none of your business."

"C'mon, humor me."

"What if I say no?"

"Then I'll go there and kick you."

"That can be arranged," He smiled at the thought. There was a terribly long silence. Awkwardness floated between them. Making Harry's heart constrict with nervousness or maybe that something might've gone wrong.

"Do you hate me?" She asked out of the blue, as soon as her laughter from the previous joke had died.

"No. Of course not. What makes you think so?" He answered after a while.

"So you don't?" She asked.

"No, I don't. Really—are you crying?" He asked, he could actually hear her trembling. Her sniffing, and a small sob escape her small lips.

"Casey? Was it something I've said? Something I've done?" He was afraid of those questions the most.

"Please. Say something." He sounded desperate.

He remained still, his breathing escalating with worry. His only solace was the steady breathing on the other line, and her faint breathing. After a few minutes or so, she spoke:

"I just miss you. And Remus, he—did you know that he has leukemia? I'm scared. For him, for you, for Tonks, for everyone. I—I'm tired of being scared, Harry. I'm tired of hiding and waiting. I miss Fred. I hate my parents, I—"

She started crying again. Harry remained quiet, waiting for her to speak, praying silently that she was okay. He didn't even know who Fred was. The only Fred he had known was already dead, laying in peace six feet below the ground. Fred must've been a sibling, or maybe a co-worker or an ex-boyfriend. To think of it, he doesn't even know her that well. He never even knew where she went to school, or where she used to live, what she used to do, anything about her family.

"Let it all out..." He mumbled.

"I need you."

But for some unknown reason, he had felt better with her than with anyone. But it didn't matter. She needed him. Needed. And that was enough.

"I—" Harry began. "I need you too."

---

"I loved her." Ron began, when he sat in front of Draco. "I thought we were going to be a one great big happy royal family, you know? Vacations to the Caribbean every other year, or maybe trips to Paris every now and then.

"The day before the wedding... She left. I don't know how but she wasn't there the next morning. I was devastated. We were 21, young, and so in love..."

"Please get straight to the point Ron." Draco requested.

"Well, Mr. Granger is getting loony now, he even started lying, that Harry Potter was going to marry my Isabella, and that Hermione would be back in the palace in half a year's time. I don't see why we couldn't just go on with our lives. He's been searching for his daughter for the whole two years now. But I admire his effort, Also, I do recall her being found in your apartment."

"She was." He said.

"Why didn't you discuss it earlier?"

"I thought that you were asking if I have seen her lately. But no, I haven't seen her since then."

Ron massaged his temples with his thumbs, "I hope she's okay."

Draco nodded, "I hope she's okay, too."

"Draco?" He heard Ginny call out from the corridor, appearing in front of him in the same clothes she had worn that day. She got up and gave him a short kiss on the lips then sat beside him. She smiled tiredly at him and smiled at Ron, too.

"Hey, Ron. How are things?" She asked. Her brother snorted.

"Why don't you tell me? I can see that humongous ring on a particular finger from here." He laughed, Ginny had forgotten on how much she had missed her brothers, her home.

"Congratulations, Ginny, Draco." George greeted.

"Thanks." They said at the same time, smiling. George was grinning too. All the other Weasley's said congratulations, and were laughing with them.

"Well? I think we should celebrate!" Molly Weasley said, laughing. And then proceeded to pushing everyone into the hallway in which their respective rooms were located, she did this while saying: "Just in time! I've just prepared a feast for all of us! Everyone, dress up and we will meet each other at six in the evening in the west ballroom!"

There was excited talking and laughing reverberating the hallways as the siblings were walking back into the room, Draco and Ginny were grinning madly.

At the said time, the Weasley family and Draco were assembled in front of the large marble doors that would, in time, show them the west ballroom. Classical music started blaring, and the doors creaked slightly as they slowly opened. It was huge, it had a long table in the middle of the room and a dance floor. There weren't much guests since it was so sudden, but everyone clearly had no problem with it. The velvet curtains hung loosely covering the large windows.

When everyone was seated, Arthur Weasley came in, in his dress robes and positioned himself on the seat by the center of the table.

"Oh! Ginny, darling, didn't see you there."

Arthur Weasley was slightly...eccentric. He has an interest on magical artifacts and he believed that magic existed in the world. There is one specific room in their palace that was heavily guarded which contained all his most treasured things—which, to thieves and snatchers and anyone for that matter, gave the least appeal. Once, he came home holding a rock that saying that when tapped with the so-called 'genuine' wand he had, it would turn into a goblet.

His children never paid attention, always counting on his adviser to help make the decisions to govern the country, until one night he came home announcing that he had the most splendid conversation with a man named Mr. Richard Granger who happened to agree to introduce his only daughter to Arthur's youngest son, Ron—who seemed the most likely to be chosen as the next king, there was a requirement though, that he must be married to be king. Mr. Granger's design went unnoticed—Hermione and Ron seemed to like each other.

Thus came the birth of his design to get Hermione back as soon as possible, for when she and Ron tie the knot, their estates will combine, the Weasley family's money filling both their vaults.

Mr. Granger was a man of power, he had enough money to support the poorest people—but he didn't. Instead he had become proud and boasted his three or more mansions that are now becoming useless, for his only child and daughter, Hermione Granger, had refused to marry. How could a small family of three—now two—live in those gigantic mansions of theirs? Mr. Granger was slowly losing money.

"It's good to see you too, dad." She replied to her father.

"You know, I have had the most interesting day. I went to the museum again and visited suspected venues in which witches were burned." He had said this statement, despite its gory nature, with such enthusiasm.

Before Ginny could come up with a comment, he spoke again, "I suspect they didn't burn at all! They must've had a charm, or a spell that made the fire feel cool on their skin. No wonder most witches looked relaxed and pensive when they came in contact with fire!—their screams weren't convincing at all! Isn't it all making sense? The paintings and the stories and all of it? Magic does exist, dear! Now, I wonder if they had a school..."

"Dad." Ginny called, thinking that the moment her father had looked at her signaled that she go on with what she was about to say, "Draco and I are engaged."

"Perhaps they had professors, headmasters...What was that, dear?"

"I said that Draco and I are engaged," She repeated. He nodded along when she explained how she wanted the wedding to be. Sometimes, to Ginny, he was tolerable.

Draco squeezed Ginny's hand softly, whispering jokes and comments as the dinner went on. "Percy's certainly amused by his food." He told Ginny, seeing Percy staring with a disgusted face at the piece of meat he could not distinguish; he was engrossed in toying with it with his fork and knife. She started giggling uncontrollably.

During the main course, someone had brought up the topic which was discussed too much.

"Any news on 'Mione yet?" Percy, oblivious to the death glares Ginny and Draco were sending towards him, asked.

"Oh, not yet. She's very complicated. Draco told me that he saw her walking past the corridors of his apartment building the same day George called her and told Mr. Granger, but was not able to get a good glimpse." Ron informed.

"But I don't see why George would call the guards after her, I heard that she almost fell down a flight of stairs. Someone had saved her though, but I don't know who." Draco piped in.

"You're mistaken." George said, "I did not call those guards, for the thousandth time, I contacted Mr. Granger, and when I found out about what was going to happen, I called immediately to apologize."

"As if apologizing would work! You've just driven her off." Ron accused.

"The real problem here," Ginny announced, "Is that there is a possibility that Mr. Granger hired a group to help him find Hermione. They didn't look like his guards. Besides, George had that conversation with Hermione only around two hours before the incident. Mr. Granger's security forces would've arrived later than that. I believe that there is someone we do not know about, someone who is powerful enough to have his or her employees scattered around the world and constantly watching her. Richard has certainly a lot of money left in his back—all though I do not deny that his vault is almost empty—to hire someone, someone first class—someone potentially dangerous and intelligent."

"Don't say that, dear," Molly said, slightly shocked. "Mr. Granger probably didn't mean to do anything."

"Besides," Ginny continued, "What is the use of having Hermione back? Ron is obviously in love with Isabella! This is the 21st century. Arranged marriages are things of the past. Don't you think that we should fall in love?"

"We all thought that Ron and Hermione were in love," George reasoned, "We all thought that it was the truth, it wasn't an arranged marriage to begin with, they looked happy and unconditionally in love with each other. But, Mr. Granger had a different view of things, views that he did not wish to share to anyone."

"That's why we've stopped contacting him for some time now." Ron said.

"So," Draco said, out of curiosity, "What will happen if Hermione shows up?" all have the chance

"Sadly," They all seemed to say in unison, "It's all up to her father."

The family continued on with their feast, but with a thick and heavy air surrounding them, giving them more awkward silences than necessary. The sad thought of Hermione's fate and situation floating amongst them.

She couldn't stand it, so she stood, and seemed firm. "We can't let this happen, everyone. We're going to stop that blasted father of hers."

Everyone smiled and started chattering, probably of plans or maybe just to break the ice. Either way, Ginny was happy. She was well aware of Hermione staying warm and cozy at Harry's house. At least that was what Hermione told her.

---

Hermione woke up the next morning with a small smile gracing her pink lips. Not only did Harry call last night, but reassured her that he would be back soon, and that, in her opinion was enough to keep her through the day. Work was turning out enjoyable, for Hermione was becoming closer to Anna, who had a unique beauty to her. She was very outspoken and frank, vulgar at times. She and Hermione were complete opposites yet their friendship continued to bloom while standing beside each other for hours a day during work doing practically nothing.

"Do you really think he likes me?" Hermione asked her one afternoon. "I mean, maybe he meant something else."

"Honestly, Casey. If a guy says he needs you, then it's pretty obvious that he likes you. But who gives a shit about a guy who's a thousand miles away? You're hot, single and there are a lot of single and equally hot men here." Anna remarked, giving a sweet smile to the guy who had just passed by.

"I guess you're right." Hermione sighed dreamily, absently picking a few pieces of pop corn and eating them slowly.

"See? Forget Harry." She said happily. She had no knowledge whatsoever that the Harry Hermione was referring to was the Harry Potter.

"I can't."

"Oh, honey," Anna said, giving her colleague a hug, "It'll be alright."

She closed her eyes and massaged her temples, it wasn't as if she hated him for calling after a long time—she was glad, even—but she just hated the fact that she was starting to miss him more and more as each day passed.

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A/N: So, how was the chapter? I'm sorry it took so long, real life was getting in the way. :) I hope you guys loved this chapter I worked on it really hard, and I explained a few things here. Please review:)