Chapter Two
It wasn't long after Ginny walked out into the rain that Harry Apparated to the Burrow, where Ron was currently staying. His best friend was a bit short on gold at the moment and desperately wanted to escape from his mother's clutches. Harry had offered numerous times for him to stay at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place which had nothing but room, but Ron had declined. Harry had given him enough and he didn't want to take advantage of his friend's generosity.

"What are you going to do mate?" Ron asked. He'd been in the fire so he knew the gist of why Ginny would have stormed out like that.

"I've got no idea. I have to find her, obviously," Harry began, but was interrupted by a buzzing noise on the table. He identified a cell phone sitting next to the vase of flowers, and wondered what it was doing at the Burrow since it was an entirely wizard dwelling.

"Hello?" Ron answered, oblivious to the confusion in his best friend's eyes. Harry was utterly bewildered that Hermione had taught Ron how to use a Muggle contraption like a cell phone, but was interested on the conversation. "You found her? Is she alright?" Ron said concernedly.

"Where is she?" Harry fired, knowing that they were talking about Ginny. He hoped beyond hope that she hadn't gone and done something stupid. Ron waved his hand to shush him and pressed the phone to his ear.

"Okay, I'll come right over," he assured who Harry presumed was Hermione and hung up. Harry needed answers and he wasn't going to let his best friend leave without giving him any. But Ron was turning on the spot before Harry could reach out to grab any part of him.

***

"Minister for Magic's Office, please hold. Hello, this is Luna from the Minister for Magic's Office. How can I help?" With so many wizards and witches adapting to Muggle life, Kingsley Shacklebolt had finally succumbed and gone with the times. Luna was the wizard equivalent of a receptionist, though instead of filing and faxing she dictated letters to her quill and ran safety checks on Howlers before opening them.

"Miss Lovegood? Can I see you for a moment please?" a voice said smoothly from the door. Luna tapped her headset with her wand and looked up. There stood Draco Malfoy, Head of the Floo Network in the Department of Magical Transportation, like she needed him on her case right now. Draco had been cornering her for weeks with excuses and requests to see her. He'd sent her memos, wrote notes on scraps of parchment and even showed up at her apartment one time. He just wouldn't leave her alone until she agreed to go out with him. Smitten with George, Luna wasn't likely to accept his dinner request any time soon.

"I'm sorry Mr Malfoy, but I'm quite busy at the moment," Luna said dryly. She knew Draco wouldn't leave the doorway, but tapped her wand against her headset anyway.

"Please? It will only take a minute," Draco said insistently. Luna tried her best to ignore him, instead focusing on chipper Mena Mordonk who was convinced the Minister for Magic had invited her to lunch.

"I'm sorry Ms Mordonk, but the Minister for Magic is very busy. I'll note it down and get back to you at the soonest possible date," Luna said sincerely. She received many callers from women like this; she and Kingsley shared a laugh at the end of the day about the many marriage proposals he received in the owl post.

"You can't ignore me," Draco taunted. Luna pulled off her headset and threw it on the ground.

"What do you want from me?" she cried exasperatedly. A grin spread across Draco's pale face.

"Dinner," he said, attempting to be seductive but failing miserably. Luna knew she'd be pressed for details later by Hermione and Ginny, so she was mentally programming the conversation into her memory.

"I have a boyfriend," Luna pointed out. Draco's eyes narrowed. Although Luna knew Draco was going to ask her who it was, she didn't want to say because she knew it would make him angry. She was prepared anyway for what he said next.

"Who is it?" Luna composed her face into what she hoped was a polite smile.

"George Weasley." Luna didn't have a word for the sound Draco made when he heard the name. It was somewhere between a growl and a snarl, heavy with distaste and dislike. Draco loathed the Weasley family, which had made Luna confused at first at why he was interested in her. She was best friends with Ginny and affiliated with Ron and Percy. Not to mention Hermione, who Draco wouldn't go near because she was Muggleborn. Draco turned out of the spot and was gone from the office in the time it took Luna to think about his reaction. She immediately thought of George, who would be at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes as usual. The image of Draco storming into the shop with his wand drawn made Luna grab her headset off the floor and tap it madly with her wand.

***

Hermione lived in an apartment in London which was surrounded by Muggles, so any magical activity around her home had the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad knocking on her door. Fortunately Hermione was very cautious about such things and had charms surrounding the apartment to prevent anything out of the ordinary happening. Being a witch she was used to extraordinary things, many of which she'd been exposed to in her first six years of school. There was no substitute for experience.

"Where is Ginny exactly?" Ron repeated, even though he knew Hermione wasn't going to answer even if he asked fifty times over.

"I can't tell you. I swore I wouldn't say anything," Hermione said calmly, being the only rational one in the conversation. Harry had been sending cacophonic Howlers every ten minutes ever since she'd put the Anti-Apparition charm on her apartment.

"It's not like you made an Unbreakable Vow so no threat of looming death is stopping you. Wait, you didn't make an Unbreakable Vow did you?" Ron questioned anxiously.

Hermione shook her head and sighed to herself. Sometimes it surprised her how her boyfriend could ask the stupidest questions and expect her to have answers to them. She didn't know if he actually thought about what he was going to say before it spewed out of his mouth, but a little thinking could go a long way when it came to Ron.

"Ginny told us that she needed some time to sort herself out and that she would be back soon," Hermione explained, knowing that this wouldn't give Ron the slightest bit of reassurance. She held her hands near her ears, preparing for the explosion which was inevitable.

"She's still my sister! Merlin-knows-why she had to get her robes in a twist about an off-hand comment anyway. She has to know how much this wedding stuff has been stressing Harry out with his new Auror placement and the disappearances in the West Country. She's just been heaping more onto his plate and I don't blame the guy for…"

Hermione tuned out, not wanting to listen to Ron's rambling about how life was unfair. She heard variations of this every day in her job in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Speaking of which, she had to get to work. The Wizengamot Administrations Office were short a witch so she was filling in this week.

"Are you listening to me?" Ron asked after a few minutes.

"No, I'm not. I have to get to work," Hermione said distractedly as she gathered her bag and pulled a cloak out of the closet. Ron stepped in front of her as she went to go to the kitchen.

"Are we alright?" he asked worriedly, his brown eyes locked on hers. Hermione's legs felt weak beneath her, as they always did whenever things got intimate between her and Ron. His breath on her face made her feel dizzy.

"We're fine," she said softly, kissing his cheek and turning on the spot. Ron touched the spot on his cheek and sat down on the armchair, wondering to himself.