Disclaimer: If only, if only. But no.

A/N: I know a lot of people have been sad that my new chapters aren't as long as I've promised. The reason for that is I am so busy with college/life/pledging, I barely have time to write. And since I am afraid of losing people's interest, I'll submit something really quickly instead of trying to write a lengthy chapter. Hopefully this makes a lot of people much happier :] I love you guys, I really do. This is one of the only bright spots in my chaotic life right now.

Hermione:

"Now, if you'll just…well, you know where Ginny's old room is."

It must have been awkward for Molly to have a grown woman back in her house, especially since Ron had come home as a result of their demise. Both of them, in her house at once, didn't seem like a good idea and Hermione understood that. All the same, it was nice. She had lived here, after the war, which seemed like so long ago, but it was the best time in her life. Everything had been right in front of her-all of the promises in the world.

"I know where it is." She smiled.

Molly gave a tight-lipped grin and headed into the kitchen, pans cluttering together for the preparation of dinner.

It was strange, but this wasn't really "The Burrow". Rather, it wasn't the original home that Ron and the rest of the Weasley's had grown up in; that had been destroyed in the war by Death Eater's. This new one was similar in structure and was equally cluttered with happy items and books.

The staircase, which was just as winding as the first house's, took her back up, and she winced as she passed Ron's room. She could hear him rummaging around in it for something, and his smell came out from beneath the crack.

She quickly moved on and softly opened the door to Ginny's old room. It still smelled faintly like her perfume, which made her grin. Ginny never wore perfume, except when she was using it to cover up the smell of cigarettes and alcohol that she sometimes spilled in moments of drunken clumsiness.

Throwing her bag on the ground, she stumbled over to the bed and sat down. It was quiet. So quiet that she could barely stand it…there wasn't even a white noise to focus on.

And then, the door creaked open.

"Hey, Ron." She didn't even have to look up to know it was he.

But there was no one there. And that, she thought to herself, was even lonelier than a loveless conversation.

-X-

"Hermione, could you help me clean up the dishes?"

She glanced up from her plate, which was still half full-a rarity in the Weasley house- and gave a wobbly half smile. She threw her knife and fork onto her plate and than carried it over to the rest of the dishes.

Molly had already filled the sink up with warm and bubbly water, dishes magically going in and then rising out as she finished cleaning them. Hermione caught a plate and started drying it with a damp towel.

It went like that for a little while. Then, like everyone else, she too seemed to have something to say to her.

"I love you like you were my own daughter." She started.

Hermione gave another half-smile and continued drying.

"Thanks." She murmured.

"I just…I don't understand. We all have troubles, but I can't understand what you've gone through that tore you and Ronald apart."

She winced and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, dampening it with her wet fingers. It had gown past her shoulders again, and she found that she missed having short hair. It gave her something to pick at.

"It's nothing I can't handle now." She mused truthfully.

Molly said nothing and finished the last dish. As Hermione was drying she wiped her hands on her pants and just watched her. The dish was set aside and then she used her wand to send the dishes off in their proper places. Hermione smiled. Her Mum would have loved for her to perform that trick.

"I worry about you…or maybe, worried should be the appropriate word?"

Hermione took Molly's calloused hands in her own and smiled as genuinely as she could.

"You have nothing to worry about. I'm fine."

-X-

As she was walking back upstairs to "her" room, Ron opened the door for real this time. Her sort of glanced at her and then waved her in his room instead.

It was overwhelming to be back in there, after last time. He seemed to sense it as well because he shuffled his feet anxiously. Then, as she looked up, he came towards her and crushed her in a hug.

"Er-my-ow-knee." He grumbled and she squealed happily.

"Ron, stop it!" she said and he gripped her in a tight headlock.

"Not until you swear we're friends again!"

"Honestly, Ronald. That's enough!"

"Say it!" he gripped her harder and mussed her hair.

"AH! Stop! No!" She tried to pull her head from between his arm, but she was stuck. "Fine! We're fucking friends!"

He released her and she fell back on her butt, scowling up at him.

"Good. Now let's play some chess."

-X-

"You cheated!"

"Some of us aren't born with only knowledge to guide us, Hermione."

"I don't support this. Clearly, I would have won."

"Always a competition with you, isn't it?"

"Only because I'm normally always right anyway."

Ron flicked her on the head and she gnashed her teeth at his finger. He grinned and she grinned back and then they both just sat back and enjoyed life.

"This is the best feeling in the world." She said and lay on her back, glancing up at his posters and patchy ceiling.

"It's weird though, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," he said, and picked at his fingernails, "I mean, really we should both be in our own place, with a job and a life…instead we're still here."

"Yeah, that's weird…"

She was thinking it was even weirder that he brought it up when they were supposed to be trying to be friends. She sat up and rubbed her face sleepily.

"I'm going to bed." She whispered and he nodded.

"Goodnight."

She closed the door behind her and walked softly over to her/Ginny's room. The door creaked slightly as she opened it and she stopped to listen for movements from Molly.

"How ridiculous." She scoffed at herself. "As if she cares what two grown people are doing."

She had unpacked earlier, but her bag remained on the ground, deformed and oddly caved in.

Hermione bent and picked it up, letting the faded material run through her hands. She used to have an apartment full of things; now she had only a bag's worth. She didn't even know what had become of the things at Draco's place.

Draco.

She winced at the mere thought of him, wanting to cry and beat the ground. How could he not have said anything all of this time? It didn't seem right. Almost two months and he wasn't interested at all in how she was doing?
She loved him, and she was willing to bet he had to love her too…so why wasn't he around?

Her eyes started to burn from being up so late. She picked up the bottle on her desk and popped a pill, repeating for the other two. Then she slipped into her bed and tried to concentrate on the silence, letting her thoughts slowly drift away.

-X-

Hermione desperately rummaged through her clothes, looking for something to wear. Her and Ginny were leaving in a few hours to go to The Leaky Cauldron, and for the life of her, she couldn't find anything more than jeans and a t-shirt.

A knock on the door interrupted her scavenging.

"Oh, hey Ginny. I'm almost ready, I swear."

"Hey, no rush. We have a couple hours, remember?"

She shook her head and looked blankly at her. She felt bad for being such a space case.

"I just…I just want one night of being normal, you know?"

Ginny moved across the room in quick strides, pulling her into a hug.

"You are normal, silly."

Hermione went back to looking, and Ginny joined her. After a couple minutes of silence, Ginny shrieked.

"Now, look at this!"

Her head whipped around, and there, dangling and slipping through Ginny's fingers, was the pink and spotted dress.

"Where did you get that?" she whispered.

A pounding silence. Confusion.

"What do you…Hermione, I got it in the closet. It's yours, right?"

"I thought I left it in…"

She couldn't bring herself to say it and instead took the fabric from her hands.

"Go put it on, silly." Ginny giggled and shoved her out the door.

In front of the bathroom mirror, Hermione watched herself as she tugged and yanked her clothes off. She had lost weight again…or maybe gained. She couldn't tell anymore. It didn't matter, really.

The dress slid over her perfectly, resting on all of the right places. She didn't look the same, though.

-X-

"Stop, you look fine."

Hermione nervously smoothed her curled hair over her ears and bit her lip.

"This is nuts. I want to go home." She turned to leave and Ginny grabbed her arm tightly.

"It's the bloody Leaky Cauldron. We've been going here for years."

"Yeah, before I was a nutcase."

"More like before you were a coward."

She drew in a sharp breath and wrenched her arm from Ginny. Taking quick, snapping strides, she walked in the entrance and nearly had a panic attack.

Draco was sitting on the barstool farthest to the left, drinking what she knew to be Gin, and picking at something on his suit. Her heart hammered in her chest and she turned to leave. Ginny shook her head.

"What's wrong with you? Seriously…"

She couldn't tell Ginny about her and Draco. Not when she needed her in her life so badly. And how would Ron take it when Ginny inevitably told him? Taking a big, gulping breath, she walked back in and lifted her eyes.

He was looking right at her.

"Ew. What's that scum doing here?" Ginny wrinkled her nose.

"I don't…"

"Here, lets sit really close and annoy him until he leaves."

"Ginny, I don't-"

"Look, here are two seats."

She walked briskly to the seats and sat down, but Hermione couldn't join her. She was frozen. Draco was staring, baring a hole in the middle of her forehead. It was like he was looking through her, rather than at her.

"Hermione!" Ginny hissed.

Whimpering softly, she half ran over to Ginny and sat down quickly.

"What'll it be, ladies?"

Both looked at the barman at the same time and then at each other.

"Fire whisky, for the both of us." Hermione said, surprised at her courage.

Ginny grinned and tossed her impossibly long and red hair over her shoulder.

"Harry and I are back together, you know."

Hermione lifted her eyebrows practically into her hair and shook her head.

"No I didn't know. When did that happen?"

She shrugged and grabbed onto her cup, which had just been set down by the bartended.

"No specific time. It just sort of…fell into place."

She hated that phrase. How did things fall into place, and why did it seem to happen to everyone but her? Lately, for her, it seemed that things were falling out of place and shattering everywhere.

"I'm happy for you." She said honestly, and took a sip of the burning hot liquid.

There was a breeze the ruffled the hairs on the back of her neck, and an impatient voice that muffled in her ear, "In the back. Now."

When she turned her head, there was no one there, and when she turned back around, Draco wasn't in his seat either.

Ginny was impervious, drinking her liquid and smiling. Love made people blind, especially to others.

"I'm going to…" she said, standing up suddenly.

Ginny nodded and waved her off; she was clearly unaware of what she was about to do. People forgot she was crazy sometimes. That was good.

Her dress flew around her knees as she stumbled into the back, her head buzzing a little from the alcohol. She pushed open the door that led into the back alley and practically fainted from the fresh air.

There he was, leaning against the wall closest to the door.

His hair had been cut short, slicked back into his old fashion. He had clearly shaved, his face practically shining. But the biggest difference was his eyes, which were cold…just as ice-like as they had been in school.

"Hi." She whispered. His face whipped in her direction.

"So, you're out now, are you?"

She could barely believe she was able to stand on her shaky knees. They were knocking together so violently that she could feel them bruise.

"I…yes. I'm better now."

"Better?" he snorted. "Right."

She was angry, then. How dare he go practically two months without speaking her and then try and act like nothing had changed.

"Oh, hey, Malfoy, good to see you as well. It's been, what, two months?"

"Sorry that we all don't have as much free time as you, Granger. The majority of us can't afford to lay around in the nutter for months and do nothing with our lives."

"Fuck you."

"We've been through this before-you already have, remember?"

"And look where it got me."

"Are you honestly blaming me for your problems? Stupid bitch."

She shoved him, feeling his head and back crack on the wall.

"Maybe if someone had cared about me, instead of using me for a good fuck, I wouldn't have gotten to the point I was at."

His eyes widened. He stared at her in silence and she breathed heavily in anger. She could kill him. She could-

He cradled her face in his hands and brushed his lips over hers. When he pulled back he looked slightly sad, and his eyes weren't quite as mean.

"I loved you, so much." And then, as quickly as if he had apparated-which she knew was impossible, he disappeared, running away in silent steps.

She let her fingers rest on her lips, still aching from his soft kiss. It felt like hours before she heard someone come out and stand beside her.

"What are you doing? Your whisky has gone cold."

Ginny put her hand on Hermione's bare shoulder and then pulled back.

"Why are you so cold?" she murmured.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm doing."

Draco:

He had never felt like this in his whole life. He felt like his ribcage was about to pull apart and his lungs were swelling to be too big to fit in his chest. He couldn't breathe.

But he could run.

He ran the entire way home, grateful for once that he didn't have magic to apparate with.

When he reached The Manor, he stumbled inside, entirely sober, but drowning in his own sorrows.

"Draco, sweeties, what are you-"

He pushed past her, running up the stairway and falling into his room. He broke down to his knees and let out a dry, painful sob.

I love her, he thought. I love her I love her I love her I love-

And then, a cracking in the air, as a putrid smell filled the room. He choked on it, still not able to breathe. When he looked up, it was like falling back into an old nightmare. There she was, the old hag, in all of her rotting glory.

"Hello, Draco."

"Leave me alone!" he screamed. He couldn't believe she had come at this very moment, to chide him about not being in love.

"I've come to give you your magic back."

His eyes almost exploded out of his head. Rubbing them back in, he whispered silently, "What?"

"You have known love, and someone has loved you, and so the curse shall be broken."

"I don't…what are you…I'm alone. Can't you see how unloved I am?"

"Not all love is everlasting, Draco Malfoy. Just because it no longer exists, does not mean that it never was." A great weight sank into his body, the burden of magic and he was so, so close to breaking. His wand fell into his open hands and she started to shimmer out.

"Wait!" he called. "What do I do? What do I fucking do?"

"Live your life with the knowledge of what you have learned."

And then she was gone.

Hermione:

The week passed in a rush, but not an unpleasant one. Molly kept her busy, cleaning and preparing for meals. It was strange, but she felt oddly calm, as if a balance in the world now existed. Something big had happened, and it made her at peace.

It was November 12, and her, Ron and Ginny all sat around a nicely lit fire.

"Hey Hermione," Ron said, picking at something under his nails.

"Stop that." Hermione said, slapping his hand.

"Anyways," he resumed, "Why is it that the older you get the more you stay in?"

"Staying in is under rated, Ron." She said. "Now stop it, I have a hangover."

He grumbled a bit, but obliged, and it was a funny thing…a curious thing…but they were all silently communicating with each other. They were all so…perfect for each other. In all of the chaos of her every day life, she had almost over-looked how lucky she was to have such amazing friends.