Hermione Granger sat in a coffee house, opposite Harry Potter. He set two coffee's down and Hermione took it, her hands warming up from the hot cup. They were both quiet, with Harry staring at Hermione and Hermione staring out of the window. He looked her over; Her eyes were the same warm brown; Her hair was curly, but not too curly, and it was tied up in a high ponytail; and she was just a little above petite.

"So…" Hermione started.

"So…?" Harry said. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Tell you what?"

"That you wanted out?"

"Oh, um…" Hermione tried to remember what the reason was. Maybe, she thought, it was because she didn't want to live in a world where there's so danger all around, too much magic. Maybe she didn't want to be in the spotlight for once, after she and Harry and Ron had all defeated Voldemort together. Or maybe it was because she wanted to live a muggle life, like her parents did- although, she thought, that couldn't be possible because she loved magic when it could save her time and energy. Maybe it was all those reasons altogether.

"I just…I didn't want to live there anymore, Harry, as bad as that sounds. I didn't like being practically mobbed by a crowd in Hogsmeade every time I went there. I didn't like being on the cover of every single wizarding newspaper there is. The first time was really exciting, sure, but then it was just…it's hard to explain. I didn't want to live in a world where there was so much danger.

The Death Eaters were everywhere, wanting revenge against us for killing Voldemort, and even though the chance of Death Eaters coming to find me out in the muggle world is still around, it's less likely that they will. Even though I miss it terribly back with all of you- you, Ginny, Ron- I just want to live here."

Why did I have to say that? Hermione thought when she noticed Harry's hurt expression.

"That still doesn't explain why you just left and never talked to any of us until now. And 'until now' wasn't even supposed to happen." He said, making Hermione feel guilty.

Hermione thought for a while on why she didn't want to tell them, then explained, "I thought that if I told one of you, you guys would stop me. And this was something that I had to do. I needed to get out of there. Also, if anyone accidentally slipped something about how I left the wizarding world, the newspapers might have a field day and the Death Eaters would come and look for me." Harry looked at her unbelievingly. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're a coward."

Hermione frowned. "How?"

"You left without telling us because you were afraid of someone finding out, therefore the death eaters would come after you. You were running away from the wizarding world because it was "too dangerous" and filled with the people we had already destroyed the majority of. You already told yourself that the chance of death eaters in the muggle world was still around, so what does it matter?"

"It was my only option and I had to act upon it by myself. I was scared!"

"How do you think we felt? One morning we all wake up, you're gone, no note, none of your clothes, not your wand, nothing. Ron didn't eat or sleep. Ginny didn't eat or sleep and she cried like I've never seen her cry before. I couldn't eat or sleep.

And then after a few months, we gave up on trying to find you, interrogating people if they've seen you, we just stopped. You were no where. We thought something had happened to you, like a death eater- the THING you were most afraid of, the cause of why you left- had somehow broke the security barrier we had around the burrow, and kidnapped you. And now, I find out that that wasn't the case.

You had left us because you wanted to. You didn't even let us know you were safe."

"But I'm talking to you now, aren't I? I didn't run away from you, even though I really did want to."

Harry scoffed. "You ran into me in downtown London! You didn't have a choice, Hermione! How many years have you been here?"

"Seven years."

"Seven years and you didn't even write."

"I'm sorry, really, I am. I should've. It was foolish of me not to, but I was just so busy and I was trying to forget everything. It's a lot of stress, you should know, keeping up with the person everyone knows you as. I needed time away from that. I know it's a lot to ask but can we just forget about all of it? Pretend that I didn't even leave?"

Harry thought this over. Here she was: his best friend of so many years, the girl who he had thought of as his sister, who he worried about everyday since her disappearance. He didn't know when the next chance of seeing her again would be. If she left again, he probably wouldn't see her ever again in his life, and he certainly didn't want that.

"It's going to be impossible for a while, but we can work on it. We'll forget about it eventually." Harry said, shrugging.

Hermione sighed and smiled a little. "I really missed you, Harry. I missed you all so much. Every day I would think about you guys but I just never got the chance to write or to visit you all."

"We missed you too." Harry said, ignoring more of Hermione's excuses. Hermione smiled gratefully when she heard the sincerity in his voice when he said that they had missed her also.

"Ginny, you said, couldn't sleep or eat anything…she doesn't hate me, does she?" Hermione asked after a while.

"You're not going to run away again, are you? Leave us all behind and never talk to us again?" Harry asked.

"No- never again." Hermione put a hand up like making a vow.

"Then no, she won't hate you. She'll definitely be surprised to see you but-,"

"Woah, wait. See her?"

"Like I said, I'm not letting you go again, so of course everyone is going to know about you coming back, and will want to see you. She'll be one of those people. You've got to see her, Hermione." Harry said firmly.

Hermione sighed. "I'd like to see her, very much so. It's just…it will be a little awkward around her, since I haven't seen her for a while, that's all."

"You could've prevented that." Harry mumbled.

Hermione felt a pang of guilt when he said that, but ignored it and asked cheerfully, "So…how are you and her doing? Good? When I left, you two were going pretty steady."

Harry nodded his head proudly. "We're engaged."

Hermione's eyes widened and she smiled, squeezing his arm. "Oh, Harry, that's great!"

"I popped the question to her last spring." Harry said, grinning to himself.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there." Hermione said sadly.

"Well you're here now…and that's all that matters." Harry said. Hermione nodded.

They both sat in silence for a few moments until Hermione asked cautiously, "How's Ron? Is he good?"

Harry looked up and heaved a sigh. "How about you?" He asked, switching the subject fast. "What are you doing these days? Anything new? Of course there's something new, we haven't talked in-,"

"Harry." Hermione's voice pleaded for him to tell her. He let out another sigh and looked at her.

"He and Lavender got married just around two years ago." He waited for her reaction, expecting a tear, maybe even anger towards Lavender. When Hermione had found out back in sixth year that Ron and Lavender were dating, she had called Lavender a tramp, and while Harry scolded her for it, he wasn't too pleased with Ron's choice of a girlfriend.

But instead, she said while taking in a deep breath, "Oh, well that's um…that's great, he and I have finally found someone." She looked away, out of the window again.

It was a shame, Harry thought. Ron and Hermione, back in Hogwarts, had had feelings for each other, but nothing ever came across where they admitted it. They flirted a bit. They showed their affections for the other one in different ways. But it didn't matter.

All of their flirting and hints hadn't mattered and they were with different people. Hermione had never really showed how she felt until she unleashed a herd of canaries on Ron, after she had seen Lavender and him snogging. She was always hoping maybe he would stop being so thick, or stubborn, or whatever it was that had stopped him from telling her his feelings for her, and tell her one day, "I love you, Hermione."

"They really are so thick and impossible. They need to get together." Ginny said, leaning against Harry on the couch. On the other side of the common room, Hermione and Ron sat at a table, studying. Harry swore he saw Ron's foot lightly tap Hermione's and Hermione's tap back.

"That's the most I've ever seen Hermione flustered over someone. She wasn't even that flustered over Krum. It'll only be a matter of time before those two will realize we don't forever, especially in times like these, and they'll admit their feelings. And then it'll all be perfect." Harry said.

But it hadn't been perfect. Ron and Hermione were impossible to deal with. Even the tie-Ron-and-Hermione-to-chairs-in-the-Room-of-Requirement didn't work.

"You have too, then? You've found your erm…certain someone?" Harry asked.

"Uh, yeah…yeah, I did. His name is Rob." Hermione said happily.

"That's great!" Harry said, lying, while smiling a sad smile that Hermione didn't notice. She really has gotten oblivious. "Muggle?"

"Yes, actually, but he's used to magic. His grandmother, who is a witch, married a muggle, and their child- his dad- didn't have any magic. His dad married a witch, but Rob never got any of her magical genes. She used magic around the house. He didn't mind that I'm a witch. In fact, he's quite happy I am. He says he wants to follow the tradition of male muggles marrying female witches."

Harry blinked a few times. "Uh, explain that again? Start from "His gradmother, who is a witch", please?"

Hermione laughed. "And that's why I had to make a thousand potions for you and Ron in our whole school period." The two laughed together and Hermione grinned to herself watching Harry shake his head and chuckle lightly. "So Harry, how's life going for you? I already know you and Ginny are getting married, which I'm sure you're loads happier, just due to that, but tell me what else is going on."

"You recall the Chudley Cannons, right?" Hermione nodded. "I'm the seeker for them." Hermione, for the second time in one day, proudly twitched the corners of her mouth, beaming at Harry.

"That's excellent! You've always been brilliant at Quidditch."

"It's nice, being famous for something you like to do, instead of having to kill someone. It's not 'Harry Potter's Fight Against Voldemort' on the covers of all the tabloids now, but instead 'Harry Potter Leads Chudley Cannons to Victory'. Much more rewarding."

"I bet it is." Hermione said, nodding. "Is there anything else you've done?"

Harry looked deep in thought for a bit. "Oh yeah, I helped open a Quidditch Academy."

"Oh really? How'd you help?"

"Well, I got together a few other Quidditch players, asked them if they would help teach if I were to open a type of Quidditch school, and most of them said yes. I went to the minister of magic, asked for permission of opening one, he agreed to it, and now the Quidditch Academy is one of the top schools in the wizarding world. It's a relatively cheap fee to get in. And yes, there's an academic program in it too, Hermione." Harry added after he saw Hermione's look of disapproval while explaining a sport-only school.

She laughed. "Good, I was starting to really wonder if that's anything to be proud of, but it now sounds like it is."

"I'm definitely proud of all that I've done in the past few years. How about you?"

Hermione shrugged. "Rob insists I don't work, and I hate it. I don't like just sitting around, not doing anything. I secretly go out, looking for jobs. He still doesn't know, after a few years of being together."

"How did you two meet each other?" Harry asked.

"There was this writing institute that my mum had told me about, so I went to it because, as you know, I'm a bookworm, and I've always wanted to write a book. He, too, loves to write, and we met each other there. He asked me to dinner, I said yes, and we've been dating for around three years now, and are soon to be married, like I told you before."

"So why did you stop writing?"

"Oh, well, I was getting really frustrated with my lack of writing skills, so Rob told me to stop because he didn't like seeing me stressed out, and that I should just not worry about it. He said he'll make the money to pay our rent, buy our food, those type of things. I hate feeling this dependent on someone."

Harry laughed and shook his head. "You being dependent on someone doesn't even sound like you."

Hermione looked at him sadly. "I've changed a lot." She said, looking down at her hands clasped together on the table.

"I know you have. We all have. It's what happens over a long amount of time." Harry said reasonably. Hermione nodded, still looking at her hands, wondering when Harry got this smart, this wise. "It sounds like you've got your life together."

She finally looked up at him. "Now I do."