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-Interlude: Four Years Ago-

"I was thinking white hydrangeas," I told her. "Ron and I visited a gorgeous park last week and when I saw these… well, I couldn't imagine any other flower at my wedding."

Cora, our wedding planner, grinned from ear to ear. "I simply love it! White hydrangeas make for a picture of elegance. Have you purchased your wedding robes yet?"

"Actually, I've decided to wear a muggle wedding dress," I confessed, blushing as I remembered Ron telling me he thought I'd look beautiful in a white dress.

She nodded. "Of course. Don't worry, I'll make it the wedding you've always dreamed of."

"I just want it to be… simple. Simple, yet lovely."

"Hermione," she said firmly, folding her hands and resting her forearms on the desk in front of her, "All you have to do is trust me, and this wedding will be perfect. You deserve it. Now," she started, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Where are you two going for your honeymoon?"

I shrugged. I simply couldn't stop smiling. I was about to marry the love of my life. Who cared where we were going for the honeymoon? "Ron is planning the honeymoon and I'm planning the wedding. It's going to be a surprise."

"How romantic," she sighed. "Well, we'll get to cake tastings next week, yes?"

I laughed. "Looking forward to it."I glanced at my watch. "So sorry, Cora, but my shift starts in a half hour."

We agreed to meet soon. I was in the mood to walk to the hospital, so I came out of Cora's office with a skip in my step. With the sun shining pleasantly on my face, I couldn't help but grin at everyone around me.

Suddenly, a man appeared in front of me, waving a newspaper in my face. "Would you like to purchase the new issue of the Daily Prophet?"

"No thank you," I said firmly, trying to dodge out of his way.

He refused to budge. "It's breaking news. Auror Ron Weasley cheats on Hermione Granger with mystery woman!"

I froze, taking off my giant sunglasses. His mouth dropped open when he recognized me. "Oh, so sorry, Ms. Granger…"

I reached into my pocket, pulling out a few galleons. "Keep the change," I told him, grabbing the paper out of his hand.

There was no mistaking it. The moving picture showed Ron's face splitting into a grin as a woman with long black hair raced up to him, jumping into his arms as he spun her around and touched his lips to hers. I realized numbly that I couldn't recognize her, and my mind whirled as I wondered who this woman was.

As the confusion dissipated, it was slowly replaced with something completely foreign to me: something cold and cruel and all-encompassing.

I apparated to the Auror Department, pushing through the hordes of people that were in my way. Eventually they started to make a path for me, although some tried to catch my attention. Harry worriedly called out my name as I breezed past him, but I could hardly register it enough to answer. I squeezed the newpaper in my hand as I made my way to his office, blowing my way through the door.

I slammed the paper down on his desk. "I suppose this is your way of telling me you want to call off the wedding."

He looked up from his sandwich, his eyes widening as he looked down at the picture. I saw a flicker of shame on his face as he swallowed his fear, and somehow, that made me even angrier.

"Who is she?" I asked softly, staying close to the door.

He bit his lip, but didn't answer.

"Who the fuck is she?" I spat.

"Her name is Cerina Prewett," he said quietly, standing up.

"And when did you start seeing her?"

"I met her a year ago."

I smiled bitterly. "So, around the time you proposed to me, you decided to date this woman?"

His silence was answer enough. My fists balled at my sides as I resisted the urge to hex him. "Do you love her, Ronald?"

"Yes," he replied, not a trace of regret in his voice.

"And when, exactly, did you fall out of love with me?" I demanded.

"I never did," he told me, coming closer. "I was the happiest I'd ever been the day you agreed to marry me! I love you!"

I felt a tear sliding down my cheek, and I didn't bother to wipe it away. "How could you do this to me, then? You say you love me, and you sleep with another woman? It's FOUR MONTHS BEFORE OUR WEDDING!"

"I never slept with her!" he shouted. "I would never betray you like that."

"You don't have to sleep with her to cheat on me!" I shrieked back. When he put his hand on my shoulder, I glared at him. "Touch me again and you won't have any fingers to touch her with."

His hand dropped to his side. "I never meant to hurt you."

"What did you think was going to happen, Ronald?" I disputed.

"It's possible to be in love with two people at the same time," he said, his voice now quiet and sober.

"I understand," I said, matching his tone. "You thought you could keep both of us." I paused, my heart in my throat. "You wanted to keep both of us."

"Mione…"

"Here's what's going to happen," I said flatly, looking him in the eye. "My shift ends at nine. You're going to get the fuck out of my flat. If any of your things are still there by the time I get home, I'm selling them and donating the money to charity. And then you are never going to contact me again." I breathed through my nose, feeling nothing but disgust for the man in front of me. "I'm never going to have to see you again. I'm going to call off the wedding, and you're going to explain to your family and all of your friends why they don't have to come."

"I'm sorry."

"Your apologies mean nothing to me," I spat at the bastard, the scorn transparent in my voice. "Now get the fuck out of my life for good."

"Fine," he told me quietly, his eyes heavy with sadness. I couldn't gather any sort of sympathy for him. "Fine, I will."

"Ginny," I said slowly, eying the vial in her hands. "What are you talking about?"

"The poison is colorless. I slipped it into her drink when she met me for lunch," she said expressionlessly.

"What do you have against Alex?" I asked, completely baffled. Frantically, I remembered our last encounter, when she'd taken care of Narcissa. I'd placed Narcissa's life in the hands of the girl that was now telling me she was guilty of attempted murder? This couldn't be real. Just when I was about to give up, Ginny had appeared on my porch to solve my problems. There had to be a catch.

"Have you ever had something just in your reach, and had it snatched away from you?" she asked, a faraway gleam in her eyes. "That was my life with Harry. I had everything. I was happy with him. My years with him were the best years of my life.

"But every good thing has to come to an end. My time with Harry ended, and he found someone new. Someone who, apparently, was good enough to marry him. Someone who was beautiful, and poised, and elegant. Not to mention a genius," she sighed. And then a sadistic smile spread across her face. "And it was incredibly satisfying to watch her fall to the ground at my own party. I knew you'd have no hope of saving her, no matter how many books you read." She laughed. "Although it was fun to watch you try."

"You're married."

"Blaise supported me. But I couldn't love him, and I married him because I knew he could give me the comfort and financial support I needed. He couldn't have meant anything to me more than money." She paused, playing with the vial in her hands again. "I know that I never thought of myself as particularly empathetic, but I never thought of myself as selfish. It was just that someone had to suffer for me to be happier." Her eyes contradicted her words: they reflected no remorse and no regard towards the lives she'd almost ruined.

It was as if I was hearing her through a daze-everything she said was far away and unclear. We'd gone to school together. She'd had a silly crush on one of my best friends. There were countless times we'd gone shopping, out for drinks. I'd been a bridesmaid at her wedding. This simply couldn't be happening.

She kept her eyes on me. "Pay attention, darling, or I'll think about drinking the antidote myself. And trust me, there is not a replacement."

I forced myself to snap out of it. "Why, exactly, are you giving me the antidote at all, then?"

She shrugged. "I wanted him to suffer, and I got what I wanted."

I held out my hand. "Then give me the antidote."

She shook her head. "I want a guarantee that I won't get any Auror action against me for this. You only get the antidote if I get an Unbreakable Vow."

"Forget it," I scoffed.

She raised an eyebrow. "I believe I have the upper hand in this situation, Hermione. I don't care if she dies."

"You get her the antidote first, and then I will make the vow," I said firmly.

She rolled her eyes. "Deal."

I grabbed her arm and did Side-Along before she could do anything I didn't expect. I wouldn't let go of her arm as we walked up to Alex's room. I had absolutely no intention of taking the Vow. Ginny was going to Azkaban if I had to drag her there myself.

"Let go of me," she seethed.

"Give me the antidote."

In the middle of the hallway, she twisted out of my grip. She placed the antidote in my hand, smirking.

"Tell me how you made it," I said suspiciously, eying the vial.

She blinked, tilting her head to the side. "What?"

"Tell me how you made the posion," I insisted.

"I didn't make it."

My jaw dropped a little. She had to be lying. There was no way she could have the antidote if she didn't make it. "Excuse me?"

And I saw it coming a split second before it did.

A nurse pulled her wand out of her sleeve, pointing it directly at Ginny. Ginny's back was turned to her, so she couldn't have possibly seen the attacker. But before I could grab her and pull her out of the way, the nurse had muttered a quick curse and green light shot out of her wand aimed at Ginny. She fell to the ground, the light quickly fading from her eyes.

The nurse apparated away a second later, leaving me alone with her body. The vial rolled out to touch my foot, and I bent to pick it up.

This day was just getting more and more complicated.

"You're saying no one knew who the nurse was?" Harry demanded of the secretary at the front desk.

The nurse, who looked positively terrified of him, shook her head slowly. I couldn't blame her. Harry was leaning over the counter, fists balled, looking about ready to hex anyone that crossed his path.

"I can't believe I didn't see this," he said disbelievingly, and then shouted, "I can't BELIEVE SHE HAD ME FOOLED!"

"Harry..." I said hesitantly.

"You don't get it!" he bellowed. "Alex was about to DIE, and Ginny was just THROWING PARTIES AND DRINKING COCKTAILS RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE?"

I didn't respond as he turned around and started pacing explosively, running his hands through his hair.

Draco went to stand next to me, folding his arms. "I see he's at the anger stage."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?" Harry barked at him.

"You think I'm calm?" asked Draco, his eyes flashing. "I'm furious. I wish I could bring the whore back to life just so I could kill her all the more painfully. But I feel no need to take it out on the people around me!" he said, his fury finally leaking into his voice.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "You're right. I'm sorry," he said, turning his head towards me.

I only nodded in response and made an effort to change the subject. "She claimed she didn't make the potion."

"What?" Harry asked, leaning forward. "Wait, if she didn't make the poison that means she didn't cast the curse."

"She's lying," Draco said dismissively, leaning back. "What we need to worry about is how we're going to tell Blaise."

That immediately silenced us. I had no idea how we were going to break it to Blaise. How do you tell a man that his wife was not only an evil bitch, but also murdered by a nurse in a hospital? "Is there any gentle way of telling him what happened?"

"No," Draco said frankly. "There's only one way for that to happen."

"Let's just try not to insult her," Harry said.

"Well…" Draco hedged. "That's going to be rather difficult."

"Fine. Let's just try to be as least offensive as possible. Yeah?"

We nodded, agreeing. I certainly wasn't going to go about this alone, not after I'd broken the news to Draco about his father. I wasn't going to go through it again.

A man popped his head through the door. "You requested a magical signature test for the victim, correct?"

"Yes," Harry said. He beckoned us in, and we followed him in the door. He performed a quick spell, and we watched as her wand lit up. A dark blue violet formed in front of us, emitting little trails of light.

"The signature doesn't match," I said hollowly. This wasn't happening.

"Someone else cast the curse and made the poison," Harry followed, stating the obvious.

"Well," Draco replied, reaching into his pocket and lighting up a cigarette. "We're screwed."