After the war, Hermione finds that she had drifted apart from Harry and Ron, as their lives head in different directions. As new opportunities come to her and she makes new friends, will the Golden Trio ever reconnect? Cedric lives. HG/CD.

.o.O.o.

Disclaimer: Not mine, don't own it – I wish! Unfortunately, Harry Potter belongs to JKR and not to me; I'm just playing in her sandbox.

Author's Notes:

» This story is has been written in full and updates will be posted at the rate of approximately one chapter a week.

» Thank you to my beta, the wonderful StrongHermione, for all her help and support.

» Thank you for all the reviews, alerts and follows; they're all appreciated.

.o.O.o.

Chapter 14

Cedric and Hermione invited a lot of their friends and family from the UK to their wedding. Apart from her parents, Hermione's only family was comprised of some very distant cousins who she had not seen for several years, but Cedric had an aunt and uncle and some cousins who he wanted at his wedding. They also invited Cedric's friends from Hogwarts, their Heads of House, Minerva McGonagall and Pomona Sprout, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Neville's girlfriend, Hannah Abbott and her best friend, Susan Bones, both of them from Hufflepuff, Harry, Ginny, Lavender, Parvati, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas and the Weasleys. Hermione had debated long and hard as to whether or not to invite the entire Weasley family but in the end had decided that she could hardly invite some members of the family and exclude others, and so the whole family received invitations, including George's girlfriend, Angelina Johnson, a fellow Gryffindor.

Hermione also invited Professor Flitwick and Hagrid, but they both regretfully declined the invitation. Professor Flitwick was getting on in age and could no longer tolerate long journeys, while Hagrid had already made plans with Madam Olympe Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. As Hagrid and Madam Maxime were both always very busy during the school year and only able to see each other during school holidays, Hermione did not try to persuade him to change his plans. Everyone else had accepted their invitations apart from Charlie, Percy and Ron Weasley. Charlie sent his regrets but the wedding was in the middle of the dragon breeding season and as one of the most senior dragon tamers on the reserve, he could not take leave at that time; Percy's wife was expecting a baby then and would be unable to travel such distances, while Ron never bothered to reply.

"It's weird," Harry wrote to Hermione. "Ron always blanks out all mention of you. It's not maliciously done, rather it's as though if you're not right there in front of him, then you simply don't exist for him any more. You always did say that he's shallow. What was it you said – the emotional depth of a teaspoon? Are you sure you weren't being too generous?"

Hermione simply shrugged upon reading Harry's letter. Of course she regretted the loss of their friendship but she was so blissfully happy that she simply did not have the energy or the inclination to get upset. "I can't force the friendship, especially from the other side of the world," she replied to Harry. "I've written to him a few times but I have no idea if he even reads my letters; from what you say, probably not. I guess I'm 'out of sight, out of mind,' to use a cliché. There's nothing more I can do, unless Cedric and I decide to move back to Britain in the future and I confront him face-to-face. Not all friendships are meant to last forever, I suppose, and I've accepted that Ron is, well, Ron and nothing is likely to change him."

Despite her workload from being in her final year of a double Mastery, Hermione threw herself into her wedding planning. Time passed quickly and before she could realise, it was a week before her wedding and everyone who had been invited from Britain had arrived. They portkeyed over in small groups, all arriving on the same day. They arrived directly in the lobby of a magical hotel, where Hermione and Cedric had booked rooms for all their guests. Hermione and Cedric were waiting in the lobby to welcome them all and Hermione was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement.

"Hermione!" Lavender and Parvati squealed as soon as they saw her, and they, Ginny, Luna and Angelina all rushed over to hug her.

"My dear Miss Brown, let the girl breathe," advised Minerva amusedly. Laughing, they all let go and Hermione moved to greet the rest of her guests and introduce them all to her parents.

Finally Hermione turned to the Weasleys, who were standing watching her excitement, with great grins on their faces. Bill, Fleur and George all grabbed her in another group hug, sandwiching the petite witch between them. She emerged slightly ruffled, to greet Arthur.

"Hello, Mr Weasley. It's good to see you," she smiled shyly.

"Arthur, please. You're looking very well, Hermione," he smiled back. "I'm glad to see you looking so happy, my dear."

She beamed at him before turning to Molly, who was standing a little bit behind her family, her smile fading slightly.

"Mrs Weasley," she said politely. "Thank you for coming to my wedding. I hope you'll enjoy your visit to Australia."

"Thank you," Molly replied and George rolled his eyes at his mother's stiffness towards Hermione.

"Hermione, I must apologise for what happened after the war," Arthur said. "You have always been welcome in our home."

"Arthur," she interrupted the fatherly man hastily, not wanting to cause problems between him and his wife. "It's all right. I was intruding on your family's grief. I understood that."

"No, Hermione. You weren't intruding."

"If my staying with you at that time made it harder for even just one member of your family, then my presence in the Burrow was an imposition," she insisted gently. "I hold no grudges and I truly am very pleased to see you and your family again. Your family has been very kind to me and you mean a lot to me."

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Molly relaxing at her reassurances and she let out a breath she did not realise she had been holding. Finally, there was Harry standing next to her.

"Hello, Hermione," he said softly, his green eyes looking at her hopefully.

"Oh, Harry!" she cried, and grabbed him in one of her patented bear-hugs. Harry slid his arms around her and held on for dear life.

"It's so good to see you, Hermione. I've missed you so much," he whispered in her ear and buried his nose in her hair, breathing in her scent.

"Me too, Harry," she whispered back, tightening her arms around his neck. The two of them stood there for several minutes hanging on to each other, just revelling in being together again after the last few years apart. Eventually they pulled themselves together and smiled sheepishly at the people standing around, grinning at their reunion.

"Aww, are ickle Harrikins and teeny, tiny Mione happy to see each other again?" teased George and Hermione thumped him on the arm before bursting out laughing.

"Yes, Georgie Porgie, ickle Harrikins and teeny, tiny Mione are very happy to see each other again," she replied impishly, with a wink at Cedric as he came over to her and slid his arm around her waist.

For the week leading up to the wedding, Cedric, Hermione, Helen and John had prepared a programme that would allow all their overseas guests to tour and explore Melbourne and the surrounding area and, most importantly in the girls' minds, shop! During this week, Hermione and Cedric also displayed their Animagus forms for Kingsley Shacklebolt and he completed their registrations, placing both of them on the restricted registration list. With Kingsley as Minister for Magic, all Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix (which latter included Hermione and Cedric) who had Animagus forms, were automatically placed on this list upon request.

Hermione made a point of spending time with each of her guests and managed to call a truce with Molly, although Helen was less forgiving about the fact that Molly had thrown her daughter out without any concern as to whether or not she would have a roof over her head and had some choice words for the red-headed matron on that subject. However, all differences were soon put aside as the day of the wedding approached.

Hermione wanted to acknowledge wizarding values and culture but she also wanted her Muggle heritage to be part of her wedding. Her wedding dress was a medieval inspired dress, which looked like a cross between wizarding dress robes and a Muggle wedding dress, and it was beautiful. Hermione looked stunning in it, with her hair in loose curls, topped with a golden circlet with filigree flowers to match the golden embroidery on her dress, and Cedric's breath was taken away when he saw his bride.

After the wedding, Hermione and Cedric departed for a short honeymoon, before she had to return to university and he had to go back out on assignment again. They went back to Falls Creek and rented a private apartment, where they spent most of their time naked in front of the fire or in their private hot tub – although they did manage to drag themselves out of the apartment for long enough to spend some time on the ski slopes. They returned home satisfied, sated and very happy, just in time to bid farewell to their guests from Britain.

Once all the wedding festivities were over, Hermione threw herself back into her studies. Cedric was back out in the field again but was on a new assignment which allowed him to spend every weekend at home. At the end of the year, to no one's surprise, Hermione graduated with top honours and was granted her double Mastery in Charms and Arithmancy. To her great delight, for her year of service the goblins placed her on the same field team as Cedric. Both youngsters had greatly impressed the goblins over the past four years and the goblins were hoping to entice Hermione into full-time employment with them.

However, before her service began, Hermione and Cedric returned to Britain for Harry and Ginny's wedding. The wedding of The-Boy-Who-Lived and one of Britain's top, young, professional Quidditch players could not be a small affair and the magical community was buzzing about the upcoming wedding. As always, Hermione and Cedric stayed with Amos and Amaryllis, but Hermione spent much of her time at the Burrow, supporting Ginny who was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the wedding and by Molly's fussing. Of course, while at the Burrow, she saw Ron plenty of times but he never once acknowledged her presence, looking through her as though she did not exist for him. Hermione debated challenging her former friend but in the end decided not to.

"I could say something to him if you like," Harry offered when she spent an afternoon with him at his home in Grimmauld Place.

"No, don't. Ginny and Molly are barely coping as it is and if I get into a fight with Ron, it will only upset them further. I don't want to spoil the wedding," Hermione decided.

"He shouldn't treat you like this, Hermione."

"No, he shouldn't, but it's not worth getting upset about. Harry, I have a wonderful husband, good friends and excellent prospects. I've already been assured that I have a job for life at Gringotts should I want it, I'm being courted by the Departments of Mysteries in both Australia and Britain, and Minerva is still trying to persuade me to come and teach at Hogwarts. I couldn't be happier with my life. What does Ron have? He was rejected by the Auror Corps because of his attitude; he was rejected by the Chudley Cannons because, unlike his little sister, he's not good enough to be a professional Quidditch player; he's reduced to being a shop boy and test subject for George. All his siblings regard him with contempt and he can't keep a girlfriend. He has nothing good in his life and little hope for anything better. Plus, I probably humiliated him when I bailed him out with the goblins. If his method of handling his troubles is to blank me, then so be it; it's better than some of the other things he could be doing."

"I don't know what to do about him, Hermione. Arthur and Molly are at their wits' end."

Hermione snorted. "The only thing he's truly good at is chess. It's a shame that he's not a Muggle or he could play professional chess. He's probably good enough to be a chess Master or even Grand Master. You know, the Muggle world has so many sports and an infinite number of games, while the wizarding world had only one sport – Quidditch – and three games: chess, Exploding Snap and Gobstones. Why is that? Why is the wizarding world so poor in cultural and leisure activities?"

"I don't know, Hermione, but I don't think that even The-Boy-Who-Lived could create a professional wizarding chess tournament in time to save Ron's self-esteem," Harry said sardonically.

"If he had his Charms NEWT and had taken Ancient Runes, he could have got a job designing and making brooms or chess sets. Imagine if he were to create the broom that makes the Firebolt obsolete or if he could make deluxe chess sets that people queue up to buy. It would do wonders for him but he just doesn't have the skills. He chose easy subjects at Hogwarts and cruised along, content just to get by rather than make an effort to get decent grades, and now where does that leave him?"

"I'm not sure but I think I might have an idea," said Harry thoughtfully.

.o.O.o.

Shortly after Harry and Ginny had returned from their honeymoon, Hermione, now back in Australia, received a letter from Harry:

.

Ginny and I invited Bill, Fleur and George over one evening. I wanted to speak to Bill, as the oldest brother, and George, as the entrepreneur of the family. I told them about the conversation you and I had about Ron and the ideas you had regarding his strengths, interests and skills.

I don't know if you're aware, but I gave Fred and George my Triwizard winnings – a thousand galleons – to open their shop and look what has come out of that. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes has become wildly successful. It's put Zonko's out of business and George is planning to turn WWW into a chain of shops.

I suggested that if Ron would like to own his own chess shop, I would be willing to invest and give him a start-up under certain circumstances. He must get the qualifications he needs – you suggested his Charms NEWT and also Ancient Runes – and a business manager until he knows the business. I don't think a Quidditch shop would work because Quality Quidditch Supplies has that market sewn up. WWW was able to put Zonko's out of business because they developed their own unique and superior products, but a Quidditch shop is just a retailer, selling products on behalf of the manufacturers. A new Quidditch shop isn't going to be able to rival Quality Quidditch Supplies. I've seen the chess and backgammon sets you and your parents gave to the Diggorys though, and there's a definite market for works of art like those.

I put together a business plan for Ron. I suggested the shop also sell other types of strategy games as well as chess, such as backgammon, checkers, Chinese Checkers, Mahjong, Dominoes, Shogi, Igo, Mancala and other variations of these types of games. I also proposed that the shop could sponsor a chess tournament, which Ron could perhaps compete in himself. Ron wasn't happy that I insisted on him getting the qualifications but I explained that they would be necessary if he ever wanted to create his own games. Who knows, perhaps he could develop something completely new and original if he puts his mind to it?

He resented the entire situation at first but he was also smart enough to realise this was the best offer he would ever get. His only other option would be to continue forever as a shelf stacker at WWW, because George isn't ever going to allow him to do more than that in his shop, since Ron doesn't have the skills or instincts needed to do anything more. Bill and George leaned on him hard to get him to agree and brought in Arthur, Charlie and Percy to add their weight, too. George is helping us set up the shop – he's a genius at that – and Percy's going to work with Ron as his business manager. Together, George and Percy have managed to help Ron source suppliers for the games and he'll soon be able to enchant the chess pieces himself. He's also working on how to adapt and enchant the pieces in the other games to make them more 'wizardy,' as he puts it.

Percy's really turned into a much better person since the war. He's still overly pompous but he freely admits he doesn't have the creativity of George or the chess skills of Ron, nor is he a maverick like Bill or Charlie. He knows that his forte lies in administration and he has no problem with working for Ron, rather than being a partner in the shop. To be honest, I don't think Percy regards this as a long-term career move but he's willing to help Ron become established before he moves on to something else himself.

(Minerva and Filius are struggling to cope with all the administrative duties of Hogwarts, in addition to their other duties. They're both still teaching – Minerva has a couple of apprentices now – and Filius is still Head of House. He also wants to take on apprentices, I believe. I suggested to Minerva that she ought to employ an administrator – after all, most Muggle schools have admin staff, so why can't Hogwarts? – and I think she has her eye on Percy for that. She's just waiting until Ron doesn't need him anymore. I'm pretty sure Percy knows that and wants to accept the job when it's offered to him. I think he regards it as the perfect position, especially as his wife, Audrey, has just accepted a position in the hospital wing as Madam Pomfrey needed an assistant Mediwitch. By the way, your Professor Reese, who took over the Potions position from Professor Slughorn, has just got engaged to Penelope Clearwater, who took over as Transfiguration Professor, so I don't think he's planning to return to Australia any time soon.)

Anyway, the shop opens next month and Ron will be studying for his Charms NEWT and his Ancient Runes OWL and then NEWT while working in the shop. Percy and Bill are going to teach him and Professors Flitwick and Babbling have agreed to meet with him once a month to assess how he's progressing. From being depressed and resentful, he's got life back in him again. He's really enthusiastic about this and he's determined to make it work. And it's all thanks to what you said to me that day.

.

Personally, Hermione thought it was all thanks to Harry. The things she said may have given him the initial idea but he was the one who put it all together and volunteered to invest money in the venture. She only hoped it all worked out well for Ron and that he appreciated the opportunity Harry was giving him.