Dream On
By Siriusly Amused

Author's Note: Hello everyone! Happy Valentine's Day! I'm afraid that I have a really short chapter for you today. -ducks- I know, I know... I made you wait...what was it? two months? three? for this and now I just give you a short chapter. Those of you who read my livejournal know how loaded down with homework and other stuff I am...and those of you who don't read my eljay now know as well. I'm just going through a really hectic time at the moment, but I wanted to give you guys something as a little thank you for waiting.

Disclaimer: I didn't proofread. -gasps-

Chapter Seven:
Remember, whatever, it seems like forever ago… 'Whatsername' by Green Day

"How's my hair?"

Ginny looked up from peeling potatoes with her wand to see Neville standing in front of her, smoothing down his curls and looking at her inquiringly. She smiled at him and assured him that he looked very handsome. Neville returned her smile and scratched the back of his neck in an embarrassed fashion.

The two were in the Burrow's kitchen, fixing a family dinner. Ginny had invited Neville under the pretense that seeing him again would brighten Hermione's melancholy mood. This was partially true; Ginny was certain that seeing an old school friend again would make Hermione happy, and Neville himself wanted to see Hermione and welcome her back into the Wizarding World, but there was another reason for Neville's presence that night: Ginny wanted to see the interaction between Neville and her family. She had yet to tell anyone, even Hermione, of her and Neville's budding relationship. She was nervous over what their reaction would be to the pairing.

"Um, Ginny? I think the potato is good and peeled by now."

Ginny came out of her musings and blinked. Looking downward, she saw that she had been peeling the same potato for the past couple of minutes and barely had any left.

"Damn," Ginny cursed in a whisper, using her wand to send the over-peeled potato to the trash can. "I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing."

She was in the process of reaching for another potato when she felt Neville's arm wrap gently around her waist. His cheek brushed against her hair as he lowered his head and asked softly if she wanted him to peel the potatoes. Ginny turned her head slightly and looked at Neville. A blush was forming on his visage and it looked as though it was taking all of his Gryffindor bravery to keep his arm around her.

Ginny turned so that her back was to the counter and wrapped her arms around Neville's neck, giving him a mischievous smile as she did so. Neville smiled briefly before lowering his head. He was very close to her when the door slammed shut.

"I'm back!" Hermione called out into the house as she entered the kitchen. Neville stepped away from Ginny very quickly.

Hermione was staring at them as if she wasn't sure of what she was seeing. Finally her eyes brightened and she smiled, exclaiming 'Neville!' loudly and rushing over to hug her long, lost friend. Neville took several steps backwards from her force, but once he regained his balance, he hugged her back just as exuberantly.

"Oh my gosh, Neville, I can't believe it's you!" Hermione cried, breaking apart from her friend and looking him up and down. "You look great!"

Neville's blush returned at the compliment. He mumbled a 'thank you' before switching the subject to how great Hermione looked. Several more compliments and hugs were exchanged between the two before Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen and ushered the three into the living room to catch up while she finished making the dinner. Ginny tried to persuade her mother to let her help, but the Weasley matriarch wouldn't hear of it; therefore, Ginny found herself walking into the living room where Hermione and Neville had already situated themselves on the couch.

Ginny joined them, sitting down next to Neville and linking her arm with his, a gesture that Hermione noticed. There was a poignant silence as Hermione stared at their linked arms.

"So, Mione, how did your boss react to your quitting?" Ginny asked, hoping that her clever friend would realize not to say anything about the gesture and to continue on as if everything was normal.

"Not so well," Hermione replied, adverting her eyes from the linked arms. "I feel so horrible about it. I didn't even offer two week's notice."

Ginny reached across Neville and patted Hermione's knee reassuringly.

"It's not your fault," she comforted. "It's not like you would be able to do anything seeing as half of your Muggle education has been forgotten."

Hermione nodded sadly. She looked as though she were on the verge of crying. Ginny sent a hectic glance at Neville, who suddenly looked frantic as he thought of what to say, his eyes darting around the room as if looking for an answer.

"Lavender Brown got Botox."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock as she looked at Neville. "What?" she asked in a disbelieving whisper, a small smile playing across her features.

Neville's stance relaxed with Hermione's smile. "Yeah, she…uh…apparently thought she was looking a bit old, and magical remedies weren't helping apparently, so she decided to invest in that Muggle Botox."

"How did you find this out?" Hermione asked Neville between laughs.

"Well she reacted badly to the Botox and her face swelled up like a pomegranate. So she came to my shop to see if I could help her…"

.X.

"Are you sure I should be tagging along? I mean, he is kind of pissed at me at the moment."

Bill Weasley stopped and turned to face his younger brother. Fred's hands were jammed into the pockets of his jeans and his shoulders were hunched in an attempt to keep him warm from the bitter cold wind that was currently tousling his red locks.

"Don't tell me you're scared of Ron!" Bill exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well…he might punch me."

"As if you haven't taken a beating before," Bill said distractedly, turning around and heading toward the pub once more. "Just stop being such a baby, Fred, and help me talk sense into our kid brother."

"Ron has a nasty left hook," Fred mumbled behind Bill.

Bill turned around once again. "Nothing went on between you and Hermione, right?" he asked.

Fred's eyes doubled their size. "Good God, man, no!"

"Okay then. If he hits you, I'll hit him and a Weasley brother brawl will ensue and we'll get kicked out and maybe Ron will listen then."

Fred scowled and looked as though the last thing he wanted was a black eye and busted lip, but he ended up nodding and following Bill into the noisy pub. "Watch out for his left," Fred warned his brother in a whisper as the two scanned the crowd for Ron.

They found the youngest Weasley brother at a pool table. His hair was a rumpled mess and his work clothes were disheveled. A cigarette was between his lips and a half empty glass of beer was nearby. Bill had a sinking suspicion that it wasn't Ron's first beer of the evening.

Ron's eyes narrowed when he saw his brothers. He leaned against a nearby table, his pool stick in one hand while the other took the cigarette from his lips.

"What do you two want?" he asked, a cloud of smoke emitting from his mouth as he talked.

"We need to talk," Bill stated, his voice firm.

"So talk," Ron replied, taking another drag on his cigarette and leaning over the pool table, successfully launching the cue ball forward where it crashed with the eight ball and sent the latter into a corner pocket. There was a round of acclaim over Ron winning the game and several of his coworkers, who were watching, clapped Ron on the back.

"We need to talk privately," Bill elaborated.

"Whatever you need to say, you can say in front of my mates," Ron replied, grinding his cigarette into an ashtray and taking a rather large gulp of beer.

Bill was taken aback. What he needed to say couldn't be said in front of a bunch of Muggles. He was about ready to continue coaxing Ron into leaving when Fred stepped forward and cleared his throat, drawing the attention of those around him. Ron looked at him inquisitively.

"I slept with your girlfriend," Fred announced in a carrying tone. The next thing Bill knew, all three of them were sitting on the curb, Ron sporting a black eye and Fred covering his nose with his hand, blood gushing between his fingers.

"Let me look at that," Bill ordered, turning toward Fred and prying his hands away. "It's broken," he informed Ron after looking the nose over.

Ron sighed and stood from the curb. "My car's across the street. I'll drive you guys to the hospital."

"No," Bill stated whilst helping Fred to his feet. "Just take us back to your apartment."

"Bill, he needs a doctor!" Ron argued.

"He'll be fine. Won't you, Fred?"

Fred made a pathetic whiney sound, but nodded none the less. Ron stared at both of his brothers as if they were insane, then took out his keys and walked to the car, exclaiming about how he needed to get out his family of nutters.

.X.

"There's something going on between you and Neville."

Ginny jumped at the voice, dropping the ice cream scoop as she did. She turned around and saw Hermione standing in the kitchen, smiling slightly.

"Keep your voice down, Mione!" Ginny scolded, glancing into the living room to make sure no one heard. Her parents, Fleur and Angelina were all laughing as Neville demonstrated a Muggle magic trick to Bill and Fleur's eldest child.

"Haven't told the family yet?" Hermione inquired, hopping up to sit on the counter.

Ginny shook her head.

"Well, they'll find out soon enough," Hermione continued, helping herself to some ice cream.

"You're not mad?" Ginny asked sheepishly.

"Why would I be mad, Gin?" Hermione's brow was knitted in confusion.

"Harry," Ginny whispered, casting her eyes downward.

"Is dead," Hermione finished. "He'd want you to be happy."

Ginny smiled and continued filling bowls with ice cream; moments later, Hermione was crying.

"Mione, what…?"

"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Hermione whisper, wiping at her tears vehemently. "Harry was supposed to live. We were all supposed to go back to Hogwarts and have a normal year for once."

"I know," Ginny whispered. "It's unfair, but we have to move on, Hermione. Things will get better, you'll see."

Hermione made a strangled sound in her frustration. "How will things get better, Ginny? Harry's dead and Ron has forgotten everything."

"Ron will remember."

Hermione stared at Ginny angrily.

"He will remember," Ginny reassured, using her wand to levitate the bowls of ice cream into the living room. Hermione didn't follow, but stayed in the kitchen, deep in her thoughts.

.X.

"I'm telling you, he needs a bloody doctor!" Ron yelled as he entered his apartment, Bill and Fred stumbling in behind him.

"He does not," Bill stated, leading a still bleeding Fred into the kitchen. "I can fix this."

Ron, who was busy gathering towels to stifle Fred's bleeding, wheeled around to face his brothers, asking how Bill intended to fix a broken nose by himself. It was then that he saw Bill pull out what appeared to be an elaborately carved stick from his pocket and point it at Fred's nose.

A memory of when Ron was little and kneeling opposite of Fred with the same stick pointing at their linked hands flashed through Ron's mind. Suddenly, his head felt compressed, as if it were in a vice, and the pain was so intense that Ron could see nothing but flashes of light. He felt himself fall to the floor and heard the frantic yells of his brothers. They were telling him to hold on. Ron tried, but another spasm of pain shot through his head and then everything went black.

End Author's Note: So...there it is. I'm thinking only two or three more chapters left to this fic. I don't like the fic very much, but don't worry, I won't stop writing it. I do like the ending I have planned out for it though. And I think I was supposed to explain something here, but I can't remember what. Hmm...