Hermione sat in her living room, she stared incredulously out the window, watching a small family moving in across the street. She sipped the coffee she had made for herself and her mind drifted in and out of various thoughts. Draco's being here had really shaken her up, she didn't know what was going on, she didn't understand. Why now? Her thoughts swam over her life, her medical training was pretty extensive, she had graduated from NYU at the top of her class, she then moved on to Columbia and studied medicine before being accepted into the New York Mercy Hospital's residency program. All of those years, no involvement no sign from any sort of wizarding world and now suddenly out of the blue, Draco Malfoy of all people pops up again She put her head in her hands and groaned.

George looked outside, ever since his meeting with the boss earlier he had been contemplating on where life had taken him. The loss of his brother was way too much to handle, too much to take. He missed his brother. He missed laughing. He missed that rush of adrenaline he got every time he heard one of their pranks pull off perfectly. He downed his shot of whiskey and felt the familiar burning sensation slide down his throat. He winced slightly as a small piece of memo paper made its way on his desk and fluttered impatiently. He picked up the yellow piece of paper, his assistant informed him that his 1 o'clock appointment was there. He sighed and crumpled up the piece of paper. He pushed his wand to a small box and spoke into it.

"Yes Sam, send him in," he said calmly.

"Yes sir," Sam replied. George sat down at his desk and calmly waited for his client to walk through the door. His mind wandered as it often did to how he had ended up there. He thought about a sunny day ten years ago, on the shore of a lake in northern England. He and Hermione had been spending many afternoons on that lake, they had moved on from awkwardly sitting around each other

"What are you reading?" He asked as he laid back levitating a small twig up and down, confusing a bird.

"Waiting for Godot, it's a play by Samuel Beckett," she said chuckling to herself a little. George turned around and lay on his stomach looking up at the book.

"What's it about?"

"Well its not really about anything," said Hermione with a grin. "Its existentialist."

"Exi-what?"

"Existentialist." At his utter confusion, Hermione sighed. There must have not been that sort of a movement in Wizarding literature she thought. She grinned a little and proceeded to explain. "Its sort of an absurdist mentality. Life doesn't matter because we're all going to die anyway." She stated.

George cocked his head.

"So basically you can do anything you absolutely want," said Hermione, "And it wouldn't matter because no matter what you do, the end result is death. There is no moral punishment for what you do, because everyone ends up the same way. So it imposes a larger, kind of, real need to find out what is right and what's wrong and what falls into a grey area. It really takes out the black and white. So in Waiting for Godot, the two characters are always waiting for something, or rather someone, who will never arrive….am I making any sense?" She asked.

George shook his head. "Not at all. Great Granger, now I have a bloody headache." He laughed as he turned on his back once more and looked up at the clouds. For a while he just kept on calling out different cloud shapes according to what he thought they looked like. Although what he would call out would be rather bizarre.

"That looks like a mermaid, that was transformed into a whale," he said after a while. Hermione sighed and shook her head and continued reading. "Dolphin, with the beak of a bird and the wings of a bat," said George.

"How does that make any sense?" Asked Hermione. George shrugged.

"It's fun. Come join me!" He said patting a place right beside him. Hermione rolled her eyes, put a book mark in her book and proceeded to sit right by George and look up at the sky. He sat up, pushed her shoulder down so she was laying down right beside him.

"That looks like a bunny," she said pointing up. George sighed.

"Granger, you are boring. Where's the creativity in that? You could say, it looks like a mouse at a fancy dress party, with bunny ears. That would even be better," he laughed. He suddenly pointed to the side.

"That looks like a walrus building a house out of marshmallows." The funny thing is, when Hermione looked at what he was pointing at, she really did see a walrus building a house out of marshmallows. She let her mind wander creatively as she looked up at the clouds.

"That looks like a stuffed animal—" George groaned. "Let me finish!" Hermione exclaimed. "That looks like a stuffed animal, serving tea to little girls at a tea party." She grinned triumphantly. George turned and looked at her, he smiled.

"Way to go Granger, there's hope for you yet." Hermione turned so their faces were inches apart and she grinned. They both returned to staring up at the clouds.

"So how did you get stuck with this job?" Asked George.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"You know, looking after me, making sure I don't kill myself. Why did you get stuck with it?"

"I wasn't stuck," Hermione lied a little, "Healer training doesn't start until January and with the money from the Order of Merlin, I can just relax until then and I don't really need to find a job, so it doesn't matter all that much," she said. "I mean, I have been enjoying the past few days." She smiled. George turned around, confused.

"I'm sorry, you've enjoyed the past few days? Hanging around me, the sad pathetic loser," he scoffed.

"No really, I've gotten to get some reading done. And you're rather good company," she added, "You force me to think. Harry and Ron are great, but they just see me reading and dismiss it as one of my traits." She sighed sadly and looked up at the lazy clouds. The sun had disappeared behind one of them and it cast a shadow over their faces. They could hear birds chirping in the distance, the wind raked through the leaves of the trees. The tall grass in the meadows surrounding them bowed with the wind. The sudden absence of the sun caused there to be a quick drop in temperature and Hermione started to shiver slightly in her tank top. George turned and noticed. He sat up and picked up his sweatshirt he had carelessly casted aside and handed it to her. She smiled and put it on. George did not return to lying down, instead sat and stared at the ripples in the water as he sat hugging his knee with one hand. With another, he picked up a twig and played with the water. Hermione sat up beside him.

"Knut for your thoughts," she said. George sighed and shook his head. Hermione leaned down and put her head on his arm, her head not quite reaching his shoulder. His arm tensed up for a second and then relaxed as they silently sat staring at the lake. Occasionally a duck would fly in and float around for a bit, quacking as it moved along.

"I just want to be better," he said softly. "I just want to move on. But I absolutely can't. How do I live without someone who I've lived with for as long as I've been but a thought?" He looked down. Hermione remembered the painful eulogy he had delivered, the eulogy that had brought tears to everyone's eyes. She sat up and put her hand on his.

"You take every day as it comes," she said staring at his cheek. He turned to her and they both looked into each other's eyes. "It happened, and as much as I wish I didn't have to say the next line, there was absolutely nothing anyone could have done to change that. It is a major even that occurred and he died a hero. I'm sure wherever he is now; he is just as torn without you. But you guys need to fix that yourselves. You need to keep his memory alive," she said. She felt him grasping her hand tighter, clinging to every word that she said. A lone tear fell from his eye and it traced a trail of water down his cheek. She reached up and stroked his cheek, wiping away the tear with her free hand. She nodded her head softly as if to say it was all right if he cried. And he did, he began to sob openly falling into his knees. She stroked his back as he cried. Pretty soon she felt tears pouring down her face as well, in sympathy wishing she could do something more to ease his pain. "You may not know it, but there's always something to live for. Always someone or something to keep the next breath coming," she said. He turned to her, tears flowing down his face, finally accepting the departure of his brother.

"What do I have to live for?" He asked her. "What? You tell me. Fred did everything. Fred was everything. I always had a best mate no matter what, someone to talk to, someone to listen, and someone who laughed with me. He came up with our pranks, he was the brains behind everything we did. I just went along for the ride, and now I'm left here with bollocks," he said shaking his head. Hermione shook her head.

"No," she said. "What would Fred say if he could see you?" She asked. When George didn't reply she pressed on. "What would Fred say?"

"He'd tell me to get my head out of my arse and reopen shop."

"Well," said Hermione. George looked at her, wiping his tears with the back of his hand. She transfigured a blade of grass into a handkerchief and handed it to him. He took it gladly. He blew his nose hard and handed the handkerchief back to Hermione, who transfigured it back into the blade of grass, wincing a little as she did.

"Well what," asked George.

"Well why don't you do that?" She asked.

"It's not all that easy," said George.

"Why not?"

"Well because—I can't do it alone," he exclaimed throwing his hands up into the air. Hermione sat back on her palms.

"Why?" She asked.

"You want a reason?" He asked. Hermione nodded. "Well jokes aren't as easy as you think, and Fred always came up with the prank, I just executed it," said George.

"Well how hard can it be?" Hermione asked. "What about a paddle that repeatedly hits someone in the back of the head…like a ping pong paddle?" She asked. George raised his eyebrows, and then furrowed them in thought.

"Well that's one, but there'd have to be an entire line," he said, "and marketing, and product testing, and its just much easier to do with two people." He said. Hermione leaned forward.

"How long do you think just coming up for new products to reopen the store would take?" She asked. George shrugged.

"I dunno, erm," He scratched his head. "Four months?" He asked. Hermione counted in her head.

"So by Christmas holidays?" She asked. He shrugged.

"I guess," he said. "But Hermione, I don't think you understand, I can't do this alone." He stressed the end of that sentence. She rolled her eyes. "It needs more than one person."

"And I suppose I look like an owl?" She asked. George's jaw dropped, and a hint of a grin crept up into his face.

"Are you saying, little miss prefect Granger wants to help me restart a joke shop that she so willingly approved of in our seventh year?" He asked. Hermione shrugged.

"I mean, I'd be lying if I didn't say I thought you were rather clever," she said, "And well, your jokes, while vulgar at times, were rather funny." She admitted. "Yes, I believe that now is the time for society to lighten up a bit…appropriately of course," she smiled. George jumped up and offered his hand to help her up. She got to her feet and he did not release his hand, instead he was shaking it rather vigorously. "George, you're going to break my arm off!" Hermione exclaimed. George smiled. It hadn't reached is eyes yet, but this was the happiest she had ever seen him.

"Well Hermione Granger, I should say that we're in business." He said. She smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up. She squealed in surprise.

"Well yes George, I should say we are," she grinned.

"Well what are we waiting for?" George asked, "We have inventions to invent, productions to produce, miracles to mirac…" He furrowed his eyebrows, "That didn't quite work." Hermione laughed as he hugged her tightly again. "Thank you," he said. "You knew just what I needed." She smiled and punched his shoulder.

"Don't thank me yet," she said. "We still have a lot to figure out."

"Well still," He said, holding her in his arms, "It's a start."

--New York 2008 --

Hermione stared at the fence waiting for Anna to emerge from the elementary school. She wrapped her coat around her body and recalled the eventful day many years ago, she missed the lake, missed everything that happened at the lake. The birds chirping, the sun shining were all things that did not occur as much in the urban jungle. She found true happiness in her daughter, but oftentimes, it was not enough. She wished she could give Anna the perfect family. A meal every week with her grandmother, magic lessons, arguments pertaining to pranks set off by her and her father. It was a pity that the pranks that Anna did learn were from herself and not her father. She sighed sadly and looked out when she felt the presence of someone standing right next to her.

"Ah New York in the fall," he commented when a particularly strong breeze hit them. Hermione turned around and looked on all directions, she groaned inwardly with frustration as soon as she realized the comment was meant towards her.

"Yep," she said nodding. He turned to her and used her curt reply as an invitation to speak more. She took a moment to observe his features. He was not at all ugly. In fact, he was rather handsome. He was rather tall, had brown perfectly immaculate hair, and teeth that seemed to gleam when he grinned. He had steel grey eyes that were rather warm and friendly, and his demeanor was not at all unpleasant. Hermione shrugged in her mind, couldn't hurt, she thought.

"Ryan, Ryan Thomas," he said proffering his hand, "And you are…?"

"Mia Granger," she said shaking it firmly.

"Well I have not had the pleasure of ever meeting you before. I assume your child is not in the fifth grade then?"

"No, she is," said Hermione, "my Mum is usually the one who's here for the parents stuff." He cocked his head in confusion. "I'm a third year surgical resident. So its hard finding time for these school things, although I wish I could come"

"No way!" Exclaimed Ryan. "My sister is in her residency, but she's over at Mass Gen," he said. "Hard stuff." Hermione nodded.

"It is," she said.

"Oh, I'm Melanie's father by the way," he said.

"Anna's," she replied, knowing exactly where the conversation was heading. They both heard the bell ringing inside the school signaling the end of another school day.

"So Mia, your husband—is he also a resident?" He asked, obviously probing. Hermione laughed.

"It's just Miss," she said. "I take it you are unmarried as well?"

"Widowed, ever since Mellie was a little girl," he said with his hands in his pocket. Hermione turned suddenly and noticed a slightly pained expression on his face.

"Oh I'm so sorry," she said. He shook his head.

"No need to be, it was many years ago." He sighed sadly and an awkward pause followed. The first wave of children began exiting the school. "Hey listen, I know your schedule must be hectic as hell, but if you'd ever like to grab a cup of coffee, or have some dinner, just call me, here's my card, my personal cell is on the back, I will hopefully talk to you later." He grinned. Hermione took his card and nodded.

"I will think about it," she said. Dear God he can talk, she thought. As that thought entered her mind she heard her daughter calling out, and walking over to her. She hugged her mom and grinned.

"So how was your day?" Hermione asked as they walked towards the zoo.

"Pretty good," replied Anna, kicking leaves. "Something weird happened today though," she said.

"What?" Asked Hermione. Anna shrugged.

"I suppose its not that weird. But Shannon Nye was being mean to me again, and I was just so angry and she said such awful things, and I just got so mad that I, well, I don't know what happened, or if it really has anything to do with anything, but her nalgene bottle exploded and water was squirted everywhere," she said. Hermione gripped her hand tightly and her breath caught in her chest. This is what she was afraid of, her own daughter doing this, her magic manifestation. She was afraid, she knew that this would be a result of the life she chose, and she immediately regretted it. She turned to Anna and they both stopped. Hermione knelt down to her daughter's height and moved aside a strand of hair from her face.

"I'm sure its not related," said Hermione firmly, "Now the more important question is, which animal are we going to see first today?" Anna looked slightly disappointed at the lukewarm response she had received from her mother. She shrugged and looked down at the ground.

"I guess the lions, cause we have to have that stuff for science next week. But can we also see the penguins? I like those!" Exclaimed Anna. Hermione nodded.

"Of course," she said standing up and they both continued walking. The sounds of street performers heightened as they reached the edges of the park. They paid for a ticket and proceeded into the park to enjoy their half –day at the zoo.

"So I hope you understand Sam," said George placing the binder down on his desk. Sam had his head in his hands. George leaned forward on his desk.

"Look, we've had to make some pretty big cuts on our budget. With the way the muggle economy is, the wizarding economy has also taken a hit. You wouldn't think that the wizarding economy was that affected by what goes on in the muggle world," he stood up and walked over to his window and looked out as he finished his speech, "But the business models are the same, the economical factors are the same. The value of the galleon is decreasing every day, and inflation is absolutely horrible. True we're not as bad as the muggles, because we do not depend or require the need of petrol, but the entire population works like a giant clock. If even one cog is out of sync, no matter what, the largest gears will be affected. And unfortunately this company has had to take a real inward look at our most profitable and useless sectors. Unfortunately your department is not as strong as we would like, so we would like to offer you a severance packet. Leave quietly and your reward will be great," he turned to Sam, "Well greater than if you put up a fight. We do need you out of here, well in an hour. I have assembled a team to aid you in moving out of your office." George sat down in the chair and placed his hands on the mahogany desk.

"Please," said Sam, "I have children, I have a wife. What will they do without me? They need me," he began to break down, "Please Mr. Weasley," he said.

"I'm sorry Sam, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it," said George, "Although, looks like there is going to be a new president in office in America, and our Minister of Magic will work closely with him," he said. "There will be more jobs available as this president works, no quick fix though, you will find something. Your severance package should last you for a while though, and if you use it wisely, you shouldn't even feel the difference. Now for God's sake, compose yourself," said George standing up and walking towards the door. Sam's breathing was quick and uneasy he slowly rose from the chair, using it almost as a crutch. He was hunched over, staring straight at the ground, humiliated beyond all belief. George stared coldly at him as he slowly shuffled out of the room. As Sam finally left, George shut the door and leaned against it. Even after countless firings, they still affected him. He knew that he would have to make tough decisions though, especially to guide him through the tough times that lay ahead. He knew recovery would be slow and uneasy and that these decisions would have to be made. The very sanctity of the company was at stake, and with the announcement of his ascension to C.E.O coming up at the company holiday party; he could not show any mercy. He would be a ruthless ruler, making sure the giant ship of the company stayed afloat, he had nothing else. He looked at the clock and realized that this is the longest he had ever been in the office on his day off. He sighed and looked down, realizing that he needed some sleep, as the only sleep he had gotten over the past few days were in little four hour naps scattered about. He walked to his closet, pulled out his long grey wool coat, and began to put it on. He then put on a grey scarf, darker grey than his coat, but grey nonetheless. He then opened the door to his office, touching his wand to it as he left, it clicked locked and he walked past his secretary to the lifts.

"Goodby sir," she said winking at him and leaning back in her chair. George mumbled goodbye and pressed the down button. He exited the building into Muggle New York, it was the quickest exit to his apartment. As he was walking, he realized he did not want to go back to the empty unfriendly apartment, instead he decided to walk uptown, head to his favorite bar, knock back a firewhiskey or two, and then would go home. He took the stairs down to the subway and took the train heading into Midtown.

"Mum!" Yelled Anna staring into the monkey cage, "Look at it, it looks so sad," she commented. Hermione stared forlornly at the monkey in the cage, sitting, looking lonely as if it disdained the thought of being stared at by millions of viewers every day of every week. In a way, she could understand the feeling of being so trapped, of feeling that she had lost all control in the world. She put her hand on the fence, in an effort to reach out. She wanted to say she knew the monkey's pain, its inability to go back to the people it loved. She realized the full extent of her loneliness, although she had Anna, she had very few friends over the past ten years. She had no one to confide in. Her mother was great, and so was her grandmother while she was alive, but they just did not replace her need for friends. "Let's go," said Anna after a while, "I don't like this at all." Hermione nodded and hugged Anna as her pager started buzzing.

"Oh my god," she said as she picked it up. Anna had already made her way into the reptile house as she checked the number. It said emergency on it, so Hermione knew she had to call the hospital. "Anna," she called, "Come on, we have to go." She said. Anna groaned.

"Do we really have to?" She asked. Hermione nodded tiredly.

"We do," said Hermione. "And besides, it's a school night, you need to finish your homework." They both headed out of the zoo and into Central Park. Hermione felt her phone vibrate but because of the crowd, she knew she would end up yelling. "Anna, will you go to that playground right there, I will be right back, I just really need to take this call, and there are too many people here, I can't hear. Just go to that playground, look there's Mrs. Abbot, you'll be fine," said Hermione. Anna sighed.

"Fine," she said angrily and ran over to the swings. Hermione picked up her phone and walked down another path not so overrun by the afternoon crowd. "You better have a good reason for disturbing me on my day off," she said. Suddenly her face fell.

Anna sat on the swings watching her mother on the phone, she swung for a little bit and got bored. She looked around the playground at the younger kids running about, and their neighbor Mrs. Abbott who was always there every afternoon with her grandchildren. Her grandmother and Mrs. Abbot were great friends. She waved over to the elderly woman and walked over to another park bench. She put her backpack down and sat down beside a rather unhappy looking man reading the newspaper.

"Hello," she said to him. He looked over to her and dismissed her immediately. "What are you reading?" She asked peeking over at the paper. He sighed and did not respond. Hopefully her questions would tire her out and eventually she would find something else to do to entertain herself. She leaned forward and peeked at the front page.

"Tech companies, long insulated feel slump," she read. "What does that mean?" She asked. "Does that mean that the economy has hit technology too? My friend's dad works for Apple, does that mean that he'll have to be fired?" She asked. He looked up, such intelligence coming from such a young girl.

"How old are you?" He asked.

"Ten, will be eleven in August," she said with a grin.

"Well, you are a very bright young girl," he said.

"Thank you!" Exclaimed Anna.

"Where are your parents?" he queried. She turned around and pointed towards Hermione who now had their back turned towards them; she was slumped on a park bench.

"I worry about her sometimes," said Anna, "I don't think I've ever seen her really smile. She works too hard too. I barely ever see her." She looked sadly at the mulch on the ground. She noticed Mrs. Abbot's watchful eyes in their direction. "I don't know about my father," she continued, "I've never met him."

"Is that so?" He asked. She nodded.

"My mom says that he's apparently a really nice person, that's really smart and funny and stuff like that but I've never seen him before, I don't even have a picture of him," she said sadly. He didn't know why he felt such a strange bond to this girl, he never usually spoke to anyone let alone children, but for some reason, something about her captivated him. Her curly reddish brown hair seemed familiar, the brightness in her eyes brought about certain emotions within him. He did not know why, perhaps it was the wit that had drawn her to him. George stared at her, like he had seen her before but didn't know quite where to place her.

"What's wrong?" She asked, "You're staring at me all funny," she said.

"I just feel like I've met you before," he said. She shook her head.

"I don't think so, I'm pretty sure I would have remembered the scowl." He raised his eyebrows at her cheek. She bit her lip. "I'm sorry," she exclaimed, "I say things and I just don't know how to control them." He shook his head.

"That's quite alright," he stated. She turned around and saw her mom gesturing towards her. Just before George could get a good look at her face, she was kneeling down and fixing her purse.

"Well I gotta go, bye sad man!" She said running off. They both went walking off out of the park and George scratched the back of his head. He shrugged, out of millions of people in the world; one was bound to look like another. He stood up and walked the other way, out of the park and towards the bar he normally frequented. He liked walking through the park, it reminded him that there was something alive in a jungle of metal, he had spotted the headline of the paper sitting on a park bench and felt that it would be beneficial to read that story and then he would go on his way. He sighed, his mood slightly more elevated upon meeting the sweet and remarkable girl.

"Who were you talking to?" Hermione asked as they walked towards their apartment.

"Just a man, he looked sad," said Anna. Hermione gripped Anna's hand tightly, "Georgiana Marianne Granger, what have I always said about talking to strangers?" She asked. Anna shrugged.

"Not to," she said, "But Mom, he wasn't all that bad. He had sad eyes. No one with sad eyes could be bad." Hermione sighed.

"Nevertheless, don't ever do that again."

"Mom! Mrs. Abbot was like right there, so nothing would have happened." Anna replied angrily as they entered the apartment.

"Alright, well Natalia is coming down in a few minutes, I'll be back by nine, be nice to Natalia. I can't keep on going through nannies this quickly," said Hermione. "It's becoming rather absurd." Just as she said that she heard the doorbell ring. Anna sat down angrily on the couch as Natalia walked in and Hermione left to go back to the hospital. There was another mass casualty incident that occurred when the gas pipe of a building had exploded, causing a small building to collapse. She went as quickly as she could, hopefully the injuries weren't so intense that she would have to stay at the hospital all night. As she walked, her mind wandered to a time that made her happy, a time when death and chaos did not seem to rule over her life for a very brief period of time. Her mind went to the shop, to the moments where she and George decided to rebuild.

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Allo people, sorry I took so long with the update. College is hard! But I live in DC, so we've just had the epic snowstorm and classes have been cancelled three days in a row. How marvelous is that? Well happy snow day…and if you are not experiencing snowpocalypse…lucky you Anyways, please review, they really motivate me to keep writing. I love all of you! Thank you so much for reading!!!