Christmas came and went and before Hermione knew it, it was Boxing Day and her mother was getting ready to drop her off at Harry's aunt's place.

"Are you ready to go Hermione?" Claudia Zabini yelled from the bottom of the stairs, as Hermione grabbed her trunk and walked out of her room.

"Yeah, I'm coming downstairs mom," Hermione yelled back from the top of the stairs.

Hermione walked down the stairs and dragged her trunk behind her. She was dressed in a pair of light wash muggle jeans and a dark purple t-shirt with ruffles on the sleeves. She walked over to Blaise and gave him a hug.

"See you in a few days, Hermione," Blaise said to his twin.

"Yeah you too Blaise. Just don't tick Marcus off too much, I want my brother alive," Hermione teased, as Blaise glared at his sister.

"Oh, ha ha ha ha, that's so funny," Blaise said, as their mother walked into the room.

"Now, now kids, lets go Hermione and then I'll take you to see Jackie, Blaise," Claudia told her children, who nodded at her.

Claudia walked over to her daughter and grabbed her arm. They side-apparated and Hermione felt the familiar tug in her stomach and after that she was in Harry's living room.

"HERMIONE!" Harry yelled and Hermione was tackled into a hug by her boyfriend.

"I missed you too Harry," Hermione said, as they kissed.

"Nice to see you Mrs. Zabini," Harry said politely to Claudia.

"Please call me Claudia, Harry," Claudia said to her daughter's boyfriend.

In her heart, Claudia felt in was hard to let her newly discovered daughter go, but she also knew that there would be no other person Antonio would approve of to be with their only daughter.

"Nice to see you Hermione," Petunia said, as she walked into the living room and saw her nephew's girlfriend and her mother.

"Nice to see you too Petunia, you remember my mother Claudia," Hermione said, reintroducing her mom to Petunia.

"Of course, thank you for letting Hermione stay here. It means so much to my son," Petunia said and everyone noticed her slip of the tongue.

"It's no problem at all, Harry is like another son to me and I enjoy having him around my house and daughter," Claudia said warmly.

Claudia said goodbye to her daughter and apparated away.

"Well what are your plans for the 3 days you're going to be here?" Petunia asked Hermione and Harry.

"Well, I think Hermione and I are going to go for a walk around the neighborhood and we'll be back in time for dinner," Harry told his aunt.

"That's fine dear, but bundle up warmly because it's cold out there," Petunia said and the 2 teens nodded and got dressed in their winter coats and put their house scarfs on.

Harry and Hermione walked out of the door, hand in hand, and walked on the sidewalk.

"So how long has Petunia been calling you her son?" Hermione asked Harry, as they walked into an open park area.

"Ever since the summer. She doesn't make me call her mom, but she still refers to me as her son. I don't mind, it makes me feel like I'm not an orphan anymore even though I always will be," Harry said and Hermione nodded.

They entered the small playground that stood all alone in the park and Hermione went to sit on the swings. Harry stood behind her and started to push her.

"I saw my dad's ghost the day I got back from school," Hermione said and Harry went to stand beside her.

"How?" Harry asked, in a state of shock.

"I went into the nursery where my dad died and his ghost haunted there. He told me how proud he was of me and how he wanted me to have a happy and fulfilled life and then he disappeared, like he was finally at peace," Hermione said and Harry started to push her again.

"He must have finally been at peace with the fact that he saw how beautiful his little girl had become and he could finally rest," Harry theorized and Hermione nodded.

Suddenly, a group of boys walked towards them and Harry and Hermione both recognized Dudley's form in the group.

"Harry! Hermione!" Dudley said, as he jogged ahead to greet his cousin and his girlfriend, while his friends walked slower behind him.

"Hey Dudley," Hermione said to Dudley, as he walked right up to them.

"When did you get here Hermione?" Dudley asked his cousin's girlfriend.

"I just got here about half an hour ago. Harry and I decided to go for a walk," Hermione explained and Dudley nodded.

"These are my friends: John, Jack, and Carl. Guys, this is Harry's girlfriend, Hermione," Dudley formally introduced them and Hermione held out her hand.

"It's a pleasure," Hermione said, her pureblood manners coming through.

"Why would we want to associate with you?" John Tanners asked Hermione.

"Yeah, Dudley never picks on Harry anymore and its not normal," Carl Adams butt in.

"You shouldn't even be in this neighborhood because you obviously think yourself above everyone here," John's brother, Jack said and Dudley stepped in front of Hermione.

"You guys are being jerks. She did nothing but say hello," Dudley raised his voice.

Hermione decided to stand up for herself and stepped around Dudley and went to stand right in front of the three boys.

"You know why people bully other people? Because they feel insecure about themselves and the only way to feel better about themselves is to put others down. Dudley is the better man here, he no longer bullies others and does not need people like you saying otherwise," Hermione ranted before stepping back to stand beside her boyfriend and his cousin.

The 3 friends stood gob smacked at how Hermione spoke with such confidence and when they saw that Dudley was not moving from beside Harry and Hermione, they left and said he was no longer part of their group.

"Dudley, I'm so sorry for what just happened," Hermione apologized to the young man.

"Don't, you're right. They're nothing but bullies and I would have probably just gone back to my normal ways if I continued to hang around them. I thank you Hermione for saving me those problems," Dudley said and Hermione nodded.

The trio made their way back to the apartment in time for supper, where Dudley recounted the encounter to his mother, who was very impressed with how Dudley and Hermione handled the situation.

After supper, Dudley went to play video games in his room, while Petunia went to read, so it was just Harry and Hermione in the living room.

"They've really changed since when you were younger," Hermione noted and Harry smiled at his girlfriend.

"Yeah they have, I have never enjoyed my holidays more than this past year," Harry said and Hermione snuggled up closer to her boyfriend.

Suddenly, Harry sat up and turned to look at Hermione directly in the eyes.

"Can I ask you something Hermione?" Harry said nervously and Hermione nodded, cautiously.

"Of course Harry, but that also depends on what you're going to say," Hermione said and Harry grinned.

"I can't get anything past you," Harry said before he reached into his jeans pocket.

Hermione gasped when she saw Harry pull out a simple gold-banded ring with a small diamond on it. Hermione looked up at Harry and he smiled.

"I'm not proposing, yet. I want this to be a promise ring that we'll get married after Hogwarts," Harry said and Hermione threw her arms around his neck.

"Of course, I'll marry you after Hogwarts," Hermione said, as Harry slid the ring onto Hermione's left ring finger.

"I can't thank you enough for accepting this promise ring. It means the world to me," Harry said and Hermione shushed him.

"I said yes because I love you Harry and I want to spend the rest of my life with you," Hermione said and the two kissed before separating and going to bed.

Unknown to the couple, Petunia had heard everything and was smiling. She wanted what was best for her nephew and she knew that Hermione was the best. Petunia had never felt more regretful than at that moment because Lily would never see her son married and James would never be able to give Harry advice when he was expecting his first child.

She wished she'd never rejected Lily, but she felt that building a relationship with Harry would help her pay her respects and homage to the sister she loved and the brother-in-law she never knew.

However, Petunia was not aware that there would be some very angry people in the Wizarding World when they found out about this. Petunia knew that if something happened to Harry in the Wizarding World, she would not be able to be there for her nephew and she prayed nothing would ever happen to Harry like what happened to James and Lily.