"Well, we have to get him into surgery pretty soon, he has a couple of minor abdominal tears, any family to contact?" She asked. Hermione shrugged. "Well," said Dr. Fischer looking at a nurse, "Find out if he has any next of kin in the US, otherwise, Granger, meet me in OR 2 in about 30 minutes, I need to check up on another patient. " She turned and left the room. "Make sure he's prepped for surgeries."

"Anything you need from me Dr. Granger?" One of the interns asked meekly from the curtain. Hermione nodded watching the retreating nurse.

"Yeah, just prep him for surgery," she said. "You can observe." The intern looked excited as he walked in, ready to work. Hermione broke into a run to catch the nurse.

"Um actually, I'll contact the family," said Hermione taking the information and running up to the locker room before the nurse had a chance to protest. She walked up to her locker and opened it and took her wand out of her purse. Although she hadn't used it for over ten years, she never left anywhere without it. It was her only lifeline should anything ever happen. As she picked everything up, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked considerably different, she had been straightening her hair religiously, it was a darker shade of brown, and she wore blue contacts. On first glance, she was not recognizably the same person she was ten years ago. She found a business card inside his wallet and pulled out her cell phone, to call the number.

0----0

"So, preview party," said Hermione, dreading the prospect of planning a party. George looked in his element.

"Well I was thinking, we'd have basically a pretend opening of the show, and then I could just convert the back room into party space, and we'd have drinks and a DJ for dancing, for the ladies of course," he winked. Hermione slapped him playfully.

"So everyone can go back and forth between the two," said Hermione. George nodded.

"Yep, and all of the napkins, everything will be monogrammed with WWW, etc. etc, you can cover that," he said patting Hermione on the head. "Also, friends and family for the invitation, and a couple select businesses, make sure they RSVP, and I'll take care of the rest," he bowed and walked up the stairs to his flat. Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed.

In a few short weeks, they had both transformed the dilapidated store into something passable for normal, it was not yet complete, and would not be until January, but with what they had so far, it was ample for the party.

"Ron's coming down," Hermione said as she arranged the shelves. George turned and nodded. He forced a small smile. "So everyone has RSVP'd, we are going to have ourselves a party!" Hermione exclaimed. George laughed a little, hurt in his eyes as he looked around the empty store.

"He would have liked it," he said. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah, he would have. You did a great job." She smiled and began to walk towards the end of the store.

"No—," George corrected.

Hermione turned around, cocking her head.

"We did a great job." He smiled. Hermione smiled in return walking to the back room to grab another box of things. He watched her retreating figure and smiled. George, what in the name of all that is good do you think you're doing? The little voice inside his head asked.

"I don't know," he replied, "I don't know." He touched a small box protruding from his pocket.

"Well everything looks wonderful here," Hermione exclaimed, "Ron is coming back so I think I'm going to meet up with him right now," she said appearing. She smiled. "We're meeting for late lunch, but anyways, I'll see you tonight then!" She quickly kissed George on the cheek. He felt his ears and neck grow warm and he suspected his face matched the shade of his hair.

"Bye Hermione," he murmured as she left. He sat on the steps that led to the second floor of the shop. He leaned forward on his knees and put his head in his hands.

As soon as Hermione left the line of vision from the store, her pace slowed down and she leaned against the next alley. "What are you doing?" She hissed to herself, "You're with Ron! Stop having these feelings," her breath caught in her throat. Over the past few days, she had grown to really care about George. Although Verity and a new girl, Emma, had come back to help out before the opening, she still spent a lot of time alone with him. Over the past week that they had cleared and cleaned the shop for the party was full of stolen glances and slight brushes with each other.

She clutched her wand tightly as she realized she was meeting Ron in a bit. She slowly took a ragged breath and exited the alley ready to walk towards the small café that she and Ron frequented. He was already sitting at a table outside wearing some sunglasses and reading a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Well hello stranger," Hermione said kissing him on the cheek quickly and sitting down. Ron lowered his paper and took off his sunglasses, obviously extremely happy to see Hermione.

"Hey Hermione!" He said, waving the waiter over and immediately picking his menu up. Hermione shook her head, smiling, some things would never change. "Harry can't make it, he's decided he wanted to go visit Ted for the day. But he'll come down for the party," he said as the waiter hurried over.

"Are you guys ready?" The waiter asked. Ron looked at Hermione eagerly.

"You first," said Hermione.

"I'll have the chicken club sandwich and an iced tea," said Ron, handing his menu over to the waiter who was surprised at the speed in which the order exited from Ron's mouth.

"I'll have the same," said Hermione smiling, and passing her menu to the waiter as well. After the waiter left, they looked at each other, Ron seemed fascinated by her.

"What?" She asked touching her face, "Is there something there?" He shook his head.

"No, it's been a while," he smiled. "How have you been?"

"Good," said Hermione, feeling a small bit of guilt building up in her stomach.

"How's—"

"Good." Said Hermione when she noticed he had trouble asking. He nodded, sadness developing in his eyes. "He has hard days, but with the re-opening and the party tonight, he has not been able to really think about it too much." Ron nodded.

"How are your nightmares?" He asked. Hermione looked down.

"I haven't had them as much recently," she said, "I mean I can still feel her terrible hands on me sometimes, and the blade of the knife, but I've been able to sleep much better recently. I can still hear her voice sometimes," she said referring to Bellatrix Lestrange. She looked down at the ground. "But she's dead, so, I guess…"

Ron immediately put his hand on hers.

"You don't have to talk about it," he said, "I know." He smiled and squeezed it tightly as their food came. And just as soon as their moment began, it was over when Ron was introduced to his lunch.

"So, how's training going?" Hermione asked, picking at the chips that came with the sandwiches.

"Itsh fantashtic," said Ron with a mouthful of sandwich. He swallowed, "Bloody hard though. We've learned crazy things," he said. Hermione smiled.

"Like what?" She asked, cutting her sandwich in half and taking a small bite.

"Basically what to do in case our wands are snapped, how to perform wandless magic, strength training starts soon," he said wincing. Hermione smiled.

"I'm sure you'll be fantastic," she said eating her food. Ron noticed that she seemed oddly out of it.

"Alright there 'mione?" He asked. She nodded.

"Just thinking about tonight, George said not to worry about it—that he'd take care of everything but you know me," she laughed. Ron laughed as well.

"I do know you," he said as they finished their food. "So I was thinking we'd meet up with Harry and Ginny before the party and just head down there together," he said. Hermione nodded.

"That sounds good," she said. She began to pull out her purse when Ron put his hand on hers.

"No—let me," he said. "After all," he pointed to his chest, "I'm the man." As the waiter came by to collect their money, Ron handed him several galleons. The waiter nodded and left, only to come back a few seconds later.

"Do you have three more galleons by any chance?" He asked. Ron dug around in his pockets and searched his wallet. He then turned beet red and turned towards Hermione.

"'Mione…" he began guiltily. Hermione already had three galleons out by this point and handed it to the waiter. "Thank you," he grumbled under his breath. Hermione laughed as they both rose and she wrapped her arms around his waist tightly. When he still refused to smile, she kissed him full on the mouth. He responded with vigor, taking her hair in one hand and holding onto her waist with the other. A few moments later they parted.

"Blimey," she said. Ron looked at her cocking his head.

"Blimey?" He asked. She shrugged.

"Felt like a blimey moment," she smiled. Ron held his hand out.

"Well…shall we?" He asked, waggling his fingers. Hermione took his hand.

"We shall," she said grinning as they left the café.

Hermione heard the phone ringing on the other end.

"Good morning, George Weasley's line, this is Natasha," said a chirpy voice on the other side.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Mia Granger," Hermione said, feeling a nervous lump growing in her stomach, "I'm afraid George Weasley has gotten into a terrible accident. Is there any next of kin I may speak to?"

"Georgie?" She heard Natasha squeak, "Where is he? I'm on my way!"

"New York Mercy Memorial West, downtown by Wall Street, near Battery Park," said Hermione.

"He needs to be transferred immediately." She exclaimed. Hermione knew which hospital she wanted him transferred to, St. Mindonia, the wizarding hospital in New York.

"I'm afraid his situation is too weak to have him transfer, I can assure you he will receive the same care here as he would at St. Mindonia's," she said.

"You know about…"

"Yes, now, he will be in surgery for a while, I can contact you when he is out," Hermione said feeling oddly calm, "If you can just give me your contact information. Does he have any other family?" She asked.

"He does, but he doesn't really speak to them," said Natasha. "I would not know how to contact them."

"Alright then," said Hermione. "Fat lot of good you are," she thought.

"When will he be out of surgery?" She asked.

"Well, we have visitor's hours tomorrow, so you may come for that, he should be up by then."

"I'll be there," said Natasha, "Give Georgie a kiss for me," she said.

"Will do," said Hermione hanging up. She would contact Ron but unfortunately she no longer had an owl, or any other way of getting in touch with him. Floo was out of the question, as she did not have anymore, and she knew none of the Weasleys had a telephone, although she could contact Harry. But she didn't know his number either. She sat down on the bench and furrowed her eyebrows together. As she did, her pager buzzed. She looked at the pager and ran down to the operating room. She quickly grabbed a face mask and opened the door.

"Petersen had to leave, you okay with scrubbing in?" Dr. Fischer asked as Hermione poked her head in. She immediately nodded and rushed into the scrub room, washing her hands and putting on her surgical cap. She then rushed into the operating room where scrub nurses helped her into the operating scrubs and helped her put on gloves over them. She took a deep breath and walked over to the table, the beeping noise of his heart being the only thing keeping her sane.

"Is he okay?" Hermione asked. Dr. Fischer nodded her head.

"Unfortunately this bleed was more—suction—extensive than we thought," she said. "I need you to suture," she said to Hermione, "just go through everywhere with minor tears and suture like you've never done before, and then I'll have you help me with his small bowel tear."

"Right," said Hermione holding back her retching and trying very hard to continue with the surgery.

After several grueling hours in surgery and then having and orthopedic surgeon check his bones to make sure his fractures were no more than just that, George was finally left to recover in a small private room. Hermione sat at his side patiently.

"Hey Emma," she said on the phone, "I'm stuck at work, so I'll be home late."

"Okay," said Emma, "Anna's already gone to bed, let me know if you need anything." Hermione smiled and hung up. George groaned softly in his sleep. As soon as he showed signs of waking up, Hermione leapt up and quickly exited the room. She pressed her back against the wall and heard him curse to himself. She took several deep breaths and remained.

"Hello?" George asked, "Is anyone there. Where am I?" He asked. Hermione looked down at the ground and headed the opposite direction. In spite of everything, she still was not ready.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Hermione? I'm sure you look fine," said Ron.

"Hold on Ron! I'll be out in a minute!" She exclaimed from the bathroom, frantically putting on makeup and removing it if it did not look good. Ron came by every five minutes on the dot and pounded on the door.

"Hermione! George expected us five minutes ago!" He exclaimed, "Harry and Ginny are already there, they're wondering where you are!" Hermione rolled her eyes and she looked at the floor length mirror. She wore a little black party dress she had; it had just the right amount of sparkle to make it interesting rather than gaudy. Her hair was tied back in a side ponytail, and her hair cascaded down her left shoulder in loose well-managed curls. Her makeup was simple, yet elegant, showcasing her eyes and lips. She took a deep breath and walked out into the hallway.

"Bloody hell," said Ron. "You look brilliant!" He kissed Hermione deeply.

Taken aback by his sudden reaction, Hermione was already swept off of her feet by the time her brain could come up with something.

"We should go," she said, in between kisses, as Ron pushed her up against a wall.

"Are you sure," he said huskily, stroking her arm. She nodded and looked down, her forehead touching his. He kissed her jawbone.

"Alright," he said. "But we are so picking up from here tonight," he said, his hand grazing her hip. She only replied with a kiss. They both side-along apparated into Diagon Alley and walked into the store. The store was lively and music was bursting from the walls and suddenly she felt herself being lifted up from behind.

"George!" She squealed as she felt herself lowered again.

"Blimey, took you long enough," he said as she turned around and hugged him. He took a step back and saw her outfit, his breath caught in his throat. "You---well, you look like a girl." He said.

"Aptly observed," she replied dryly.

"Very pretty girl," he repeated. She blushed.

"Thanks," she said. He bowed.

"How do I look?" George asked striking a Captain Morgan like pose. Hermione laughed.

"You look great," she said. Ron had his hand on the small of his back until Harry showed up. It was then that he excused himself and walked over to him.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" George asked, as more people started showing up.

"Nah," said Hermione, "I'll get something myself." She began to walk to the back room where the music was coming from and noticed a bunch of George's friends from Hogwarts standing around, or dancing to the music being played. She walked up to the bar and ordered her drink, George came a few minutes later and sat by her.

"So what do you think?" He asked. Hermione picked up her glass and held it up, he held up a glass of tonic water.

"Cheers," she said. He smiled.

"You know, I should go into the nightclub business, this place, well, I can throw a party." He winked and turned around, leaning back on the bar with his elbows. Hermione sat on the barstool and looked where his glance fell. Ron was standing in the corner talking to Harry and Ginny, both, who looked like they would much rather prefer being by themselves.

"Excuse me," she said, "I think I see two people that need to be saved," she said, pointing to Harry and Ginny. George nodded as she made her way over to the other side of the room. She held out her hand and she and Ron meandered to the dance floor and began to dance. He sighed and looked down at his glass. His mum walked over to her and stood by him.

"Well George," she began choosing her words carefully, "I'm proud of you." She finished. He turned around. Molly hugged him tightly, and he enthusiastically returned the gesture.

"Thanks mum," he said. "Do you think he'd have like it?" He asked, his voice getting oddly strangled. Molly nodded, a tear glistening in her eye.

"You know he would have," she said. She put her hand on his cheek and then hugged him tightly. "Now, I'm going to make sure everyone has eaten something at least." She winked and squeezed her son's hand. The song drew to a close, and George found himself watching Hermione very closely. He noticed that when she danced, she tended to try and lead, whereas Ron seemed to relinquish his control almost immediately. Whilst she knew the common decorum for dancing, she grew a little frustrated by Ron's tendency to stay in one place.

"Good job," said Arthur Weasley standing beside George. "I especially love your muggle products." He said excitedly.

"Thanks Dad, Hermione's idea actually, trick cards and such," he said.

"Be careful," said Arthur. George turned to him.

"What?"

"Sometimes, you spend enough time with a product, and you fall in love with it, but you don't realize that the copyright is currently owned by someone else. Make sure to follow copyright laws, or else someone will get hurt," he said pointing his head towards Hermione. George understood what his father was trying to say.

"Dad," he moaned, "Don't worry 'bout it, I know what I'm doing."

"I hope so," said Arthur. He patted George on the back and walked away.

After several songs, George continued to watch Hermione with Ron. She looked happy and so did he, he wished there was something he could pick at. Growing slightly fed up, George picked up a bottle of wine and walked out the side entrance and sat on the stairs leading down to the alley. Moments later, Hermione joined him.

"Needed some fresh air," she said, "Got tired of dancing." George nodded taking a swig of the bottle of wine. He stared intently at the label, seemingly concentrating on the ingredients.

"Party's a success," said Hermione. George grunted in response. She cocked her head in confusion. They sat outside in total silence as he fought to not make eye contact with her. George knew if he looked at her, he would lose all of his self-control and kiss her. Although he knew that this was not a legitimate ulterior action, that this behavior of his would not be too pleasantly received, he did not want to do anything stupid. After a few more minutes, Hermione sighed slightly angrily and walked inside.

After a few more minutes, George managed to clear his head and he walked inside the building. People had begun to leave and Verity reported a significant amount of sales had been made. Pretty soon it was just his family and Hermione that remained. As they were leaving, George spoke to Harry at length, determined not to speak to Hermione. As soon as he was done speaking to Harry, he noticed everyone else had gone and he bade his farewell and began to wave his wand about clearing the store. As he cleaned, he heard the jingle of the bells.

"What was that?" Hermione asked, confusion evident in her voice.

"What was what?" George asked. She strode over to him and stopped his hand from waving his wand.

"You act extremely friendly towards me towards the beginning of the party and at the end, I couldn't be more distant!" She exclaimed. George took a deep breath.

"Wanna dance?" he asked. Hermione cocked her head.

"What?" She asked.

"Well, as much as I adore hearing you yell, I also love dancing, and I didn't get to tonight. So…do you want to dance?" He asked. He held out his hand and waggled his fingers expectantly. Hermione rolled her eyes and took his hand and they danced slowly.

"There's no music," she said. He snapped his fingers and Sinatra's The Way You Look Tonight came on. They danced to the beat and he twirled her around several times. He then brought her close and her head rested on his chin as they danced in a small circle on the dance floor.

"How's this for music?" He whispered into her ear throatily. She nodded, her heartbeat quickening.

"…and that laugh wrinkles your nose, it touches my foolish heart," George sang along. He had one hand on the small of her back and the other clasped in hers. He stroked her back with his thumb tenderly. She looked up into his eyes and smiled as they continued dancing, in a surprise move, he twirled her around and scooped her into a dip. They remained in that position for several seconds after the dénouement of the song. She rose and stood on both her feet, but he still had his arms wrapped around hers and her around his. They stared into each other's eyes.

"Where's Ron?" He asked.

"He has to get up early tomorrow, he left," said Hermione, never removing herself from George's gaze. He let one hand travel up her spine, leaving goosebumps as they went. He then let it trace a line on her neck and down her shoulder and up and down her left arm. She slowly brought her hand up and it touched the faint scars on his ear.

"The music stopped," said George.

"Did it?" Hermione asked, tracing a path down his cheek and back to where his ear was cursed off. George nodded also caressing her cheek.

"Does it hurt?" She asked, referring to his ear.

"Sometimes," said George honestly, covering her hand with his. His other hand still rested on the small of her back as he leaned down to capture her lips in a deep kiss. She responded with such strong enthusiasm, grabbing fistfuls of his hair in her hands as she pulled his face in to deepen the kiss. His hands travelled up and down her back and on the back of her head. After several moments together, they both parted, out of breath.

"I have to go," said Hermione, "Ron, he may be waiting up for—" with that she quickly disapparated leaving a very confused George in her wake.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Hermione sat in the locker room. She wanted to cry, but tears were just not coming at this point. Due to her exhaustion and frustration, she just did not have the will left in her to cry. She held a picture of Anna in her hands, a reminder for why she was here, why she was willing to suffer through all the pain. Because, at the end of the day, she had the best thing anyone could ever ask for. She smiled and clutched the picture close to her heart and leaned against the locker.

Although the call that Natasha answered had actually rendered Hermione sick and nauseous, she understood, somewhere down the line, George would actually need to move on. She could not blame him for that, after all, with all the crap she pulled on him, she was surprised that he did not have a litter of kids already. Or maybe he did, but she realized that there was no point to dwell on it. What's done is done, and she knew that she would have to move on as well.

"Mia?" A voice called from outside the locker room.

"Here," said Hermione, her voice oddly strangled. Jenny walked into the room, and sat on the bench.

"You alright?" She asked. Hermione shook her head.

"Just one of those nights," she said. Jenny nodded.

"Well, I talked to Fischer and she said you could go home if you wanted to, you've had a long day and you've been on call for so long. Go home and get some sleep," she said. Hermione nodded.

"I guess," she laughed. "So what about those stories you wanted to tell me?" She asked feigning interest.

"Ugh," Jenny rolled her eyes, "Mark." She referred to Dr. Wright, the attending with which she had been having problems with of late. "He's just starting to avoid me. I think that the huge GI dissection from last week really got to him." She said staring down. "Anyways, it's a work in progress so I'll tell you the whole thing tomorrow." She winked and squeezed Hermione's hand as her pager buzzed.

"Shit," she said. "I'll see you later?"

"Yup," Hermione nodded as she rushed out of the room.

Hermione then took her time changing into street clothes and found a small scrap of paper in her jacket's pocket. She opened it and recognized it as the number that Ryan had given her the other day in front of Anna's school. She smiled and was about to throw it away when she relented.

After all, she should probably move on as well, it had been eleven years. Ron had moved on, so had George apparently. She could not be stuck in the past forever. Taking a deep breath, she took the number and pulled out her cell phone and began to dial.

"Ryan speaking," He said, picking up after the third ring.

"Hey Ryan, its Mia, from the other day, in front of Springdale Elementary," said Hermione pulling on her jacket and walking through the halls.

"Hey Mia!" He said excitedly, "I didn't think you'd call."

"I'm not disturbing you am I?" Hermione asked warily as she exited the Hospital and began her long walk towards her home.

"No, not at all!" He said.

Hermione broke out into a grin. "So Ryan, I was wondering, would you like to get dinner with me tomorrow?"

"Sure!" He said, "Just let me check my—oh what do you know, I'm free. I can meet you at the hospital you work at around 8," he said. "I know you'll probably be working until then."

"I probably will be," said Hermione. "That'll be great, it's New York Mercy Memorial West," she said.

"Sheesh," said Ryan, "long title. Well anyways, I will pick you up at 8." He smiled. Hermione felt a little hopeful, she was finally moving forward.

***** A/N *******

OOOOO I know, I'm evil right? Yeah I know Hermione is moving on, and I'm hoping for a happy ending (as far as I can tell), but every good story needs contention/conflict, so I'm just adding as much as I can haha. Well I will put in my usual plea for reviews, they make me update much much faster, and thank you for all the reviews I have been getting. Sorry I can't reply to them, I promise I will when I have more time. Now I'm just using all of my free time to write this! :D

Anyways, LOVE you all!! Please review!! 3