The two glasses of wine had been a bad idea; she knew that as she walked down the long country lane to the Burrow, she had called in to see Luna before she braved the short walk from the village to the place she, deep down in her heart of hearts, called home.
As the content of her stomach threatened to re-visit she rounded the corner, the lopsided ill-aliened converted cottage of her youth greeted her like a sudden smack in the face.
This was it like a wave of nostalgia washing over her, she could smell the apples up in the orchard; hear the chickens scratching in the yard. She could almost imagine the ghosts of the pasts sitting outside on the wooden swing talking quietly in dress robes, talking of the future.
If anything was to make her turn back it was that thought, the thought of the future she should have had with Ron, the future that she was now scared to remember.
Any thought of escape were thwarted by a screech of recognition.
"Hello Molly." Hermione quickened her pace, the opening arms of the mother figure would be a welcoming gesture at this point in time.
She was embraced in to the bone breaking hug of the most respected member of the Weasley family. Never once had Molly said a bad thing about Hermione or her absence at many a family gathering. When the two women broke apart Hermione took a chance to look at Molly, her eyes had lost that sparkle that she was so famous for, her once flame red hair now showed irreversible signs of age, but the smile was as welcoming as ever.
"So good to see you dear, Harry will be so pleased to see you, I think he could do with an extra pair of hands." Molly beamed at her. "I can't believe how grown up you all look, look at you Hermione, every bit the young woman we knew you would be…" Hermione listened to the praise from Molly all the way to the back yard.
"And is there a young man in your life at the moment dear?" Molly tried her best to make it sound casual, but the tone did not go unnoticed.
"You know me Mrs Weasley, far to busy for things like that." Hermione forced a smile but it seamed to gratify Molly, Hermione saw the look of hope flicker behind the damaged eyes.
"Hermione!"
The voice of her other best friend broke the questioning, when she turned she saw Harry standing in the door way of the Burrow. He looked every bit as handsome as he had always done, he held Ruby in one arm, with the other he pushed the messy as ever hair out of his eyes, the scars inflicted on the back of his hand still visible on his tanned skin.
He looked the picture of health a million miles away from the half dead hero that had lay in a hospital bed for almost a year. He hobbled down the path towards them; his leg had never quite recovered from the blow that nearly finished him off. He kissed Hermione on the cheek and handed her Ruby, the little girl looked up at her with quiet interest. She still had Ron's eye's two burning blue eyes staring at her with silent judgment.
"I still don't know how you did it…" she said smiling at Harry.
"Well Hermione when a man loves a woman…"
"Oh ha, ha, I meant I dunno how to miscreants like you and Ginny can make something so perfect. So tiny, she's adorable you know that right I might have to steal her." Hermione said following Harry to the already heavily laden table.
"She would be even more perfect if her Mother and Father would hurry up and get married." Said Mrs Weasley glaring at Harry over the top of her reading glasses, Hermione had a feeling that this was a regular argument around hear these days, she supposed Molly needed something to complain about now that Bill no longer had his long hair. Harry wore and expression that read 'don't ask' as he let Molly's criticism was over him.
"And I told you Molly dear, it doesn't matter as long as they love each other." Said Mr. Weasley smiling at Hermione from over the top of his paper, he looked tiered, and so much older than Hermione had remembered him looking in the hospital. Was everything ok between the two of them?
"It's good to see you Hermione dear, I have to say I enjoyed that last article you posted in the Quibbler about the Egyptian tombs, it brought back good memories."
Hermione smiled. " I thought of you as I wrote it, I always wanted to go there after all the things that Ron told me about the Tombs, I found it all fascinating."
Harry laughed quietly to himself.
"What?" Hermione asked looking at him as she gently rocked Ruby.
"Didn't you go there on holiday?" he asked eyebrows raised in the way Hermione had learnt to know meant a torrent of questions was on the way. Hermione nodded carefully.
"You are supposed to relax on holiday Hermione, have fun, get drunk do the things that a normal twenty five year old does, not write two page long articles for the broad sheets back home."
Hermione fiddled with her earring with her free hand, Harry wouldn't understand, she had to keep herself busy, if she didn't things started to get to her, he was alright he had Ginny, she hadn't abandoned him in his moment of need.
"I have to pay the bills Harry."
"On holiday?"
"Yes even on holiday, they don't pay for themselves."
"Wasn't that the time that the braves were on tour in Egypt?" Harry interrogated further.
"Yes it was as it happens." Hermione said innocently.
"Yet according to Ron you didn't get in touch?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "And in all the times he has come to Paris he didn't once call in to see me, it does work both ways Harry." She fixed her concentration on the bundle in her arms.
"I don't get the two of you I really don't, one minute you're the best of friends and when I come around your hardly able to be in the same room as each other. Did I miss something?"
"Harry mate you were never the most observant card in the pack" Harry grinned past Hermione who was unable to turn around, the voice had made every nerve in her body stand to attention, how could he still have that power over her even now.
"And you're time keeping skills have gotten worse, just how do you manage a team?"
Hermione propped Ruby up on her shoulder as the infant looked for the source of her uncle's voice.
"Ah there's my little girl." Hermione felt his presence next to her as he walked up to the table. "Has she got cuter since last time I saw her?" Hermione felt him reach around her and pat Ruby on the nose softly; the little girl managed a half a smile before bursting in to tears. Hermione looked round at him for the first time. "Seams to be, my problem with the women in my life is they like the idea of me but I only make them cry." It was directed straight at her, although Harry came straight over and took Ruby off her Hermione gave up the screaming infant instantly.
"How come you always turn up when we're talking about you?" Harry said distracting Ron from the dead on eye lock he was having with Hermione, it was the most unnerving thing that she had ever been put through, it was as if he was challenging her to say something to his face. Answer his abrupt statement. Ruby continued screaming over the top of her father as he rolled his eyes.
"Timing is everything." Hermione retreated slightly; something in the way Ron was acting made her feel like she should be about a thousand miles from here. She watched as Mrs Weasley took Ruby from her father, the child stopped crying instantly; Harry rolled his eyes in mock sarcasm and nodded towards the house. "I should go let Ginny know your both here." Ron nodded and handed Harry the large hold all that Hermione had only just noticed he was carrying.
"You staying?" Hermione said managing to find her voice, it sounded slightly cracked and suddenly very old. She was only just aware of the fact that both Mr and Mrs Weasley had managed to sneak off after Harry leaving Hermione and Ron alone for the first time in longer than Hermione cared to remember.
"I thought I might as well take my holidays whilst I can, I had a good two months saved up, and you know Krum..." he looked at her for the first time since he had started talking, she felt the lump forming as she tried not to think of all the ways they had hurt each other in the past. "Well yeah, you know Krum, He's relishing in the fact he can be in charge by himself for a while." Hermione nodded dumbly.
Why does history keep repeating itself? Why is it that this always comes back to Krum? She found it in herself to look him in the eye, still as pig headed, still as idiotic, still as adorable as ever. She cursed herself for thinking it, but why didn't he understand that all she had thought about in the last seven years was the future that they should have been having.
"I shouldn't have come here." Hermione heard herself saying, she wasn't sure who she was trying to tell, him or herself.
"You shouldn't lock yourself away Hermione, My family is your family it always has been you know that." She tried her best to look everywhere but at him. But the habits of a life time were hard to break and she found herself looking at him in silent reverence.
It wasn't that he hadn't changed, he had. His hair had lightened in the sun, his freckles were hidden in the deep brown of his tan, his size had doubled with five years of constant Quidditch training, but all this she knew, she had followed his career with the same passion she had all her friends. It was a way of not letting go of the small grip she had on the past. But to see him in person, now like this it was pulling her in so many different directions it was starting to feel hard to breath.
"I hear your back for good?" he said nodding at her to sit down on the old wooden swing that they had shared in the past, but not like this. The air felt thick with words unspoken, it had never felt like this before, not before they got together, not when they were together…
Hermione followed him and sank on to the chair next to him letting him gently rock the pair of them, Hermione's feet still not touching the floor.
"Hermione?"
"Hu?"
"I asked a question." Hermione played with the tiny band of silver on her hand, it helped seamed to help her focus on the now. She tried to forget the past.
"I took a Job at Hogwarts. Charms teacher. Why the sudden interest?"
"You're my friend, I'm making conversation." He said halting the swing. "Hermione will you please look at me?" he didn't yell, in some ways it would have been better if he had.
She turned to look at him and immediately hated herself for it. She could see the pain behind the eyes; it was the look that Harry had carried for so long, the look that they all had carried for so long the never passing always present hurt that they had all suffered in the seven long years of war and pain.
"Alright I'm looking at you what was so important?"
Ron tipped his head to the side surveying her in the bright sunlight of the midday sun.
"I was just making sure you were still my Hermione, it's been so long I was beginning to forget what you looked like." He got up and headed to the house after his mother and father. "I'm home for two months Hermione lets try and at least salvage something of our friendship."
She watched him walk in to the house the white t-shirt clinging to him in all the right places, his hands shoved deep in his pockets of his denim shorts. He may have grown but as he looked back over his shoulder Ron hadn't changed.