"Changes" -David Bowie

"Coming of Age" -Foster the People

Hermione sucked in a lungful of air as soon as they popped into existence in Hogsmeade. They were standing just past the Hog's Head and her friend's face matched her feelings exactly. They were free of their captors, grinning from ear to ear, basking in the after glow of their escape, thanks to their unexpected saviors. The relief was short lived as they were surrounded twenty deep.

She clutched tightly to Draco's hand, her wand shaking as she extended it toward the oncoming crowd, panic beginning to set in. Draco thumb brushed against the back of her hand in soothing circles.

"Oh look, a welcome party. Do you think there'll be cake?" Theo whispered. "Better yet: Fire whiskey."

"Hermione?" The familiar voice had her dropping her hand at once, gazing around at the faces hidden in shadows. Some one stepped forward, away from the group, the street lantern illuminating his shock of red hair. Another person followed immediately after. Hermione ran for them, throwing her arms around them both at once, not noticing the tears trickling down her cheeks.

They hugged her back before pulling away to stare over her shoulders. Luna, Dean and Neville rushed forward and received similar welcomes. Hermione barely noticed Kingsley stepping past them all, striding toward the other four members of their odd grouping.

"Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy: I hereby place you under arrest for kidnapping, obstruction of justice, aiding and abedding known Death Eaters, and in Mister Malfoy's case, aiding and abedding Lord Voldemort."

"I accept no responsibility, and I would do it all again." Theo grinned, seemingly unfazed by the many wands aimed his way.

"Shut it, Theo," Malfoy said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and at his slight movement, ten of the Aurors had their trained wands on him. He smirked, holding his wand out to the side and dropping it onto the cobblestones before raising his hands in surrender, quirking an eyebrow up.

Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock and she hurried forward, placing herself between Draco and his friends and the group of Aurors.

"Kingsley, they saved us. They're the only reason we're here speaking to you right now. These four broke us out, fought off the Death Eaters and got us here safely."

Kingsley grimaced and shook his head. "Hermione, they broke the law. Even if they changed their minds about it later on, it doesn't change the fact that they did it to begin with. If a wizard murdered someone, we'd still chuck him in Azkaban, even if he claimed to be remorseful and delivered flowers to the grave everyday."

"But-"

"He's a Death Eater, Hermione. He was just fighting against us two weeks ago." Ron said, pointing his wand at Draco over her shoulder. "She wanted to hand Harry over to Voldemort!" He added, moving his wand to point it at Pansy. Blaise tensed and stepped in front of her, shooting daggers at Ron with his icy glare. "Don't tell me you actually meant what you wrote in that disgusting letter?"

Hermione frowned. "If you're asking me if I think that Draco and his friends should be allowed to go free, then yes, I mean that."

"Draco? You call him Draco now?"

"He's my friend."

"She needs to go to St. Mungo's. They've got her under an Imperius curse or something," Ron said, turning his worried eyes to Harry, who simply watched on in silence.

Luna skipped over to Hermione's side and met Kingsley's gaze steadily. "They're good people, sir," she breathed out in her beautiful sing-song voice.

"I'll ask you both to move out of our way, or we'll be forced to move you ourselves."

Hermione stuck her chin up defiantly, and uttered, "You're making a mistake."

Kingsley sighed, looking her over one last time before turning and nodding to a short man beside him with a bad comb over and thick glasses. He and a second man, this one tall and blonde moved toward Hermione and Luna, wands extended. A shift behind her made her glance over her shoulder and she caught a glimpse of Draco's stormy expression before a rough hand clamped down on her arm. "Ow!" she protested, trying to pull her arm away.

"Get your fucking hands off of her," Draco snapped from behind her. The tall blonde man grinned at him and squeezed her arm tighter, jerking her forward. Her wand was tugged from between her fingers and the grip on her arm was instantly gone as the guy was knocked back a couple of feet from a stunning charm. Hermione spun around shocked, "Draco, no," she breathed, taking the wand from his outstretched hands.

Kingsley stepped forward, a pair of metal manacles in his hands. "You just caught yourself another charge, Mr. Malfoy: Assault of an Auror with a deadly weapon. That's defintely not going to look good in court." He tsk'd. "Pity." He snapped the handcuffs onto his wrists. They were charmed so that the wearer couldn't perform any magic whilst wearing them.

Three more Aurors moved forward to do the same to the others. Theo seemed unbothered, jeering out, "Oi! You could at least buy me dinner first, you eager prat," causing the Auror fastening his hands to blush profusely.

Kingsley hooked an arm under Draco's, keeping his wand pointed at him as he began to drag him away. Hermione ran after him. "Kingsley, this is ridiculous. Wouldn't it make more sense to round up the others? They're the actual threat here! You're going to let them get away all because of your pride."

"Pride has nothing to do with this, Hermione."

"Yeah, you'd have to have something to be proud of," Draco smirked. Hermione glared at him, hoping to convey how little she appreciated his commentary.

"So, you're just going to let the actual villains here escape while you play this out?"

"I've heard enough. I suggest you rejoin your friends before I'm forced to detain you."

"On what grounds?"

"Annoying an Auror."

"That's not a thing!"

"I'm acting Minister. I'll make it a thing if necessary."

"She's been annoying me for seven years and all I had to do was run for Minister to have her put away? Pity I never realised."

"And you're trying to defend him," Kingsley scoffed, disgusted.

"He grows on you. Kingsley, if you'd only listen-"

"Just stop, Granger. He's made up his mind and you're making a fool of yourself. Go back to your friends."

"Draco-"

"Fucking go!" He snapped, glaring over his shoulder as Kingsley continued to drag him forward. She watched as they reached the Three Broomsticks and disappeared inside, presumably to use Rosmerta's fireplace to floo to the ministry. She stood rooted to the spot, staring at the door as the rest of the Auror's started to file in, tugging along Blaise, Pansy and Theo.

"It's been lovely, Hermione. Let's do this again sometime." Theo grinned, winking at her over his shoulder as an Auror made a disgusted sound, shoving him through the doorway. Hermione's anxiety over the entire situation the only thing that kept her smile at bay.

Luna's arms wrapped around her shoulders after a few moments and Hermione looked up into her silver eyes. Her friend smiled down at her. "We had better get out of here lest the others turn up, wouldn't you agree?" Hermione nodded silently and allowed Luna to lead her over to where Harry, Ron, Neville and Dean were waiting.

She met Ron's gaze and he suprised her by looking angry and almost distrustful.

"Why aren't they going after the others?" Hermione wondered aloud, angry with Kingsley for being so daft.

"They were just concerned with getting you all back, Hermione. They'll catch up to them and bring them in soon."

"But we know where they are! Their exact location at this very moment! It's seems stupid to waste the opportunity... What if they try to take some one else?"

"I know. You're right, 'Mione, but Kingsley is in charge and what he says goes."

Hermione bit her lip. "I could go back... Try an-"

"-Are you mad?" Ron yelled at her, causing her to flinch. "You just escaped and you're thinking of going back!"

Harry shot him a look and turned to Hermione, laying a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Let's just get back to the Burrow for now. We can go see Kingsely in the morning and find out what his plan is."

Hermione nodded, avoiding Ron's gaze. She didn't understand why he was so angry with her. She wanted the criminals in jail and the innocent (well, mostly innocent) four Slytherins set free. How was she in the wrong for that?

Draco didn't fight as he was yanked along through the Atrium of the Ministry. It was the middle of the night, so it wasn't as if there were many people around to stare, though the little old lady at the wand check desk shot baleful glances at him and his friends as they were paraded across to the lifts.

"Aren't you going to take us to Azkaban?" Draco asked, as Kingsley jammed a finger into the control panel, selecting a number. They began to descend and Kingsley turned to meet his eyes with an icy stare.

"Luckily for you, the dementors haven't returned from their hiatus that Voldemort set about. With no dementors and guards in limited supply, you'll be held in the cells here until a trial can be arranged. After that we'll figure something out."

Draco raised his eye brows, nodding in approval. Well, that was better than he had been expecting. It might not be so bad being stuck in a cell without dementors hovering around everywhere. "Don't look so smug, Malfoy. You might think that it's a relief now, but dementors or no dementors, being stuck in a 6x6 enclosure for days on end is enough to get to anyone eventually. And I don't see that changing any time in the near future. You may have those kids fooled, but I see right through you, Malfoy. You're an arrogant little shit that let pride and your father's opinion wreck you. I hope you find your cell comfortable, because you're going to be there for a while."

Malfoy smirked at him. "We'll see about that." A few weeks ago, he would have let Kingsley's words roll off of his back, paying no mind to his threats because he had felt that he deserved to be in a prison cell. Now, he just wanted to know if Hermione was okay. The other Death Eaters were still at large, thanks to the moron in the purple robes hauling him down a dark, damp corridor, and that put an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

They reached a long block of cells at the end of a dusty hallway. Kingsely flicked his wand, causing one of the many doors to swing open, before shoving Draco roughly inside. He stumbled, landing hard on his knees. "Prick," he muttered, glaring up through the metal bars.

"Your friends are being interrogated upstairs, but we're gonna take care of yours down here."

Draco rolled his eyes up to the dark ceiling that was dripping with moisture from being so far underground. It kind of creeped him out to think that if it all caved in, he'd be buried beneath the rubble. "How droll."

"Only the very best for you, Malfoy," Kingsley said, an amused edge barely perceptible in his voice. "Now, let's start off by you telling me where you've all been for the past two weeks."

"Vacation. Bit of a breather after the stress of the war."

Kingsley narrowed his dark eyes. "I was under the impression that you were going to cooperate. Or did you have an ulterior motive for escaping with the hostages?"

Draco shrugged. "I got them out, yeah. Doesn't mean I'm going to kiss your arse because you think you're better than me."

"Who said I think I'm better than you?"

"Don't you?"

"No."

Draco gave a humorless chuckle. "I find that hard to believe."

Kinglsey paused, tapping his wand against his chin. "Do you believe me to be better than you?"

Draco scowled now, immensely disliking the fact that he was being made to face his demons. "...Maybe... In some aspects."

Kingsley, who seemed genuinely suprised by this revelation, shook his head slowly. "Well, you're wrong. I need a location Malfoy."

Draco continued to frown, but restrained himself from saying something snarky. "Bardsey Island, Wales. There's a house there, bit of a manor really. It's enchanted to be unplottable and invisible to the muggle eye. But they're most likely gone now. You should have gone while you had the chance."

"They would have been expecting it. Maybe if you had written to me directly instead of sending cryptic notes to Potter we could have struck at the same moment, helped each other out."

"Would you have believed me? 'Oi, mate, it's Malfoy. I'm gonna be busting these prisoners out in the middle of the night, disobeying direct orders from my father and cursing his Death Eater pals on the way out. Yeah, if you could send in some back up, that'd be great.' You would have tossed it into the fireplace without a second look."

"Of course I wouldn't have. We've been trying to get a location on you all for the past two weeks. That would have been exactly the right thing to do."

"Yeah, well I'm not very good at distinguishing between right and wrong most of the fucking time."

"You helped them to escape. Seems like you get the gist of it."

Draco scowled again, wishing to get this over with as quickly as possible. "Do you have any more actual questions, Minister?"

Kingsely sighed, "What happened to the prisoners during the duration of their captivity."

Fuck, he didn't want to repeat any of it. He didn't want to admit that he'd had any small role in any of what had happened, almost happened, or had been sure to happen eventually. "Nothing good."

"I figured as much," Kingsley scoffed, "Can you be a bit more specific?"

Draco shook his head. "No, ask them your bloody self." He wasn't about to tell the Minister of Magic all the gory details, especially when he wasn't sure if Hermione would even want to tell them at all. It was her decision and none of his business.

"Malfoy, your cooperation willl make this all go alot easier-"

"-It's not my place to tell you, sir."

Kingsley sighed, throwing up his hands. "Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood seemed quick to jump to your defense. Are they, or have they been, under the Imperius curse at any point during their stay?"

"No," Draco growled, growing tired of the interrogation.

"Mister Thomas and Mister Longbottom never sent out a letter, why is that?"

"Bloody Gryffindor stubborness and lack of self-preservation. Fuck, this is going no where. What the hell is this helping? Get your arse out there and round up the Death Eaters before they try something else!"

"Why do you care if they get rounded up? They're not hurting you."

"It's not me I'm worried about," he snapped, causing Kingsley to do a double take.

"You think they will try to re-capture the others?" Kingsley raised a questioning eyebrow.

"You don't? For Salazar's sake, have you learned nothing during the past years. They don't take well to being outdone. They will stop at nothing to get their way."

Kingsley was silent for a moment before nodding. "We'll give them each an Auror detail. Anything you want to add, Malfoy?"

"Yeah, go fuck yourself."

Kingsley reguarded him with a mixture of amused disgust. "I don't know what to make of you, kid."

"That makes two of us," Draco muttered under his breath as Kingsely disappeared back down the long corridor, his footsteps reverberating off of the stone walls.

Back at the Burrow, Hermione allowed herself to be sandwiched into bone crushing hugs from every member of the Weasley clan, clinging extra tightly to Ginny who whispered, "I knew you'd be home soon. I told them you were stronger than anything those Death Eaters could dish out," causing her eyes to swim with tears.

"Thanks, Gin," she sniffled, pulling away to look at her friend.

"How about something to eat?" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen. "I'm sure you all haven't had a decent meal in weeks and we're all up anyway." She busied herself with preparing a meal, pots and pans banging about as she worked.

Neville and Dean exchanged similar looks of incredulity. "She's making a meal in the middle of the night?" Dean whispered to Hermione, who grinned and shrugged at him.

"Molly can't stand to think that anyone is going hungry."

Dean raised his eyebrow, but made no comment. Luna grabbed Hermione's hand pulling her to a free spot in the corner of the room, away from the chatter going on around them. "I think I'll go home now. Daddy must be worried. Owl me before you go to the Ministry in the morning, okay? I want to come along."

"Of course, Luna. You should get some sleep." Hermione said, smiling softly at her friend, who pulled her in for a hug before disappearing through the open front door.

Ron and Harry were talking to Neville and Dean, though Ron kept shooting furtive looks at her over his shoulder. Ginny extricated herself from the lot of them, approaching Hermione's small corner away from the chaos. "You okay?"

"Fine, Gin. Really," she added, noting the elevation of her friends ginger brow. "I just really want a long hot shower and some sleep."

Ginny nodded, "Come on, they'll never even notice we're gone."

Hermione allowed her friend to lead her up the narrow staircase and into her bedroom. She began digging around in her dresser drawers, looking for something for Hermione to sleep in. She tossed her a gown and some underwear. "Go ahead, I'll wait for you here."

Hermione nodded and slipped out of the room, down to the bathroom. She shut the door behind her, leaving her alone for the first time since their sudden escape. She turned on the tap, allowing the water to heat to hell-like temperatures as she stripped herself of her clothes. She looked down at the green jersey she held in her hand before bringing it to her face and inhaling the still lingering scent of Draco's cologne. She felt a pang of guilt. If he hadn't helped her escape, he wouldn't have been arrested and that left her with a bitter taste in her mouth. Like it was her fault that he was probably freezing in a cold, stone cell right now while she was enjoying the luxury of a hot shower.

She folded the shirt and lay it on the sink basin, picked up the panties, trashing them without a second thought, along with her ruined jeans, then stepped under the scalding spray. She hadn't realised the extent of her griminess until she glanced down and saw the water around her feet running a disgusting brown color. She lathered her hair, washing it three times before she was satisfied, unable to run her fingers through it because of the terrible matts, but at least it was clean. She scrubbed her face and body until her creamy skin was red raw, and when she was finally done, she stood under the shower head, until the water began to drop in temperature.

She used her wand to dry herself, enjoying the feel of it in her hand again. It was like a part of her had been missing without it. She dressed herself in the clothes Ginny had provided, grabbed Draco's jersey and a brush and headed back to Ginny's room. She slipped inside and pulled the door closed behind her.

"Feel better?" Ginny asked from her perch on the edge of her bed.

Hermione nodded, sinking down beside her friend who took the brush from her and began trying to work through her nappy curls. Hermione sat in silence, clutching Draco's shirt tightly in her lap. "Do you want to talk about it?" Ginny asked quietly.

Hermione bit her lip. "Not just yet."

"Okay," Ginny agreed, continuing her tedious job of brushing through tangles that were beyond help. "Maybe we should have mum take a look at this. She's sure to have a spell to smooth these out..."

Hermione hesitated, torn between removing the mats or staying upstairs away from the curious glances her friends kept bestowing upon her. They didn't mean anything by it, and if she were them, she'd have a million questions as well. She just wasn't ready to answer them. "Okay," she agreed, eventually. She stood and Ginny opened the door to her room, pausing and glancing down at the shirt Hermione still had clutched in her hands.

"You can leave that here," Ginny said, nodding to it.

Hermione looked down and flushed. "Right, yeah. I don't know what I..." She lay the shirt down on Ginny's bed and followed her out into the hallway, and back down the staircase.

"Where have you girls been?" Mrs. Weasley chided, "They've almost finished off all of the food. I can whip up something else, Hermione, dear."

Hermione shook her head, "No, Mrs. Weasley, I'm fine really. I don't have much of an appetite."

Mrs. Weasley tsked. "Well, now. I know you've been through alot these last weeks, but I don't want you to forget to take care of yourself."

"I won't." Hermione said, giving a small smile.

"Mum, her hair's a total wreck. Can you do anything for it?" Ginny asked, jumping straight to the point. Mrs. Weasley motioned for Hermione to turn around, which she did, finding herself face to face with Harry. He smiled at her and she breathed a little easier.

"I thought you were angry with me, too." She murmured quietly.

He grimaced. "Ron's not angry. He's just... confused. I am, too, I admit. But I'm just relieved to have you back. The circumstances that got you here don't matter much to me."

She felt a warmth spread over her head and Mrs. Weasley said, "There you are, dear, good as... usual."

Hermione watched Harry try unsuccessfully to hold back a grin. "Oh, yes, very funny." She told him, reaching out to smack his arm. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. That feels much better," she turned to thank the older woman, running her fingers through her now sleek curls.

Harry poked her in the ribs, causing her to shriek. She turned to glare at him and he jutted his chin over to the left. She turned to see Ron sitting alone on the couch, his expression stormy. "Maybe you should talk to him before he implodes. He's been worried sick, Hermione. We all have, but him maybe worst of all."

A pang of guilt resonated in her gut. She swallowed and nodded, stepping around the kitchen table to make her way to him. He glanced up when she got closer and scowled. She ignored his expression and lowered herself down onto the couch beside him.

"Hi," she murmured.

"Is that all you're going to say to me?" he asked, turning his cold blue eyes on her.

She frowned, fiddling with the hem of the gown she was wearing, "What do you want me to say?"

"How about giving me a bloody explanation!" He snapped.

Hermione did her best to reign in her rising temper. "An explanation for what, Ronald?"

"For why you suddenly showed up in Hogsmeade with a bunch of Slytherin's, begging for them not to be arrested. I've been sitting here worrying myself sick, wondering if you were okay and then you show up, clinging onto Malfoy's hand like he's your bloody savior, wearing his fucking shirt for Godric's sake. What am I supposed to make of that?" Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but he continued, successfully cutting her off, "I mean, you act like I shouldn't be suprised that my girlfriend was hanging all over another bloke, but bloody hell, it's Malfoy and that makes it about a hundred times worse."

She decided to ignore the girlfriend comment for the time being, focusing on the bigger issue. "Those Slytherin's saved my life, saved all of our lives. Do you think the Death Eaters would have just set us free once they realised the Ministry wasn't going to give them what they wanted? Of course not. They would have done away with us like taking out the rubbish. I don't know what Dean and Neville have told you, but they... they had to watch as Yaxley and Dolohov tortured me..." She wasn't going to mention how close they'd come to doing worse, "those Slytherin's stopped them. Malfoy slept in a chair in my room every night after that to make sure that they didn't try anything like that again. And then, those Slytherin's risked their own skins helping us escape. So, excuse me for hoping that they'd get a little leniency! I hardly think that they deserve, Azkaban..."

Ron was watching her, a wierd emotion playing over his face. She wasn't prepared as he suddenly leaned forward, crushing his lips against hers, forcing her mouth open as his tongue slid between her parted lips. She sat frozen until he broke away, smiling at her. "I'm sorry, Hermione, I shouldn't have started in on you like that. I'm glad you're okay and if I owe that to them, then I'll deal with it." He said, reaching up to cup her face. She sat stock still, unspeaking, her mind whirling. Perhaps she should have addressed the girlfriend comment first.

"Ron-" She had barely forced his name passed her lips before Harry flopped down beside them on the couch.

"You two make up then?" He grinned, nudging Ron's shoulder.

Hermione was horrified. What kind of a mess had she created? She had no idea where to go from here, so instead of angering Ron again, she simply forced a smile like grimace for her two best friends.

Harry sat on his cot in Ron's room. He could tell that something hadn't been right between Ron and Hermione as soon as he'd sat down on the couch and stuck his foot in his mouth. She had forced a smile for him, but it hadn't reached her eyes. He had intended to get her on her own to ask her about it, but she hadn't given him the chance. She had bolted for Ginny's room as soon as Ron's attention had been diverted back to Neville.

Harry glanced over at Neville and Dean sleeping soundly on a pile of blankets in the floor. They had filled them in on their experiences since being taken, but they couldn't give much insight into what the other's had gone through. They had all been kept in seperate rooms. They had seen Hermione once though.

Neville said they had dragged her and Dean into his room and asked them all to write letters to the Ministry asking for their full pardons. They had all refused individually, so they had tied Dean and Neville up and forced them to watch as they used the Crucio curse on Hermione. She had commanded them to continue saying no. Neville had begun to say something else, before Dean had rushed on saying that eventually Draco had shown up with his friends, stunning Dolohov and threatening Yaxley. He'd carried Hermione out of there, presumably back to her own room, while Pansy and Blaise had removed the ties binding Neville and Dean. Theo Nott had levitated Dolohov out of there and on the way back to his room, Dean had caught a glimpse of him laying on the stairs as if Theo had gotten distracted and dropped him halfway down.

Harry was suspicious of the way Dean had cut Neville off from saying whatever he had been about to say, but Harry didn't pressure them. They would tell him if they deemed it necessary.

He glanced out the window at the ever brightening sky. He sighed and decided to head down stairs in search of coffee. He was suprised to find Hermione already seated at the table, clutching a steaming mug in her hands, her knees pulled up to her chest as she stared out into the garden.

"Hey," he murmured, startling her despite his quiet tone. She quickly composed herself and smiled at him.

"Good morning, Harry."

He sat down across from her, waving his wand sending a mug of coffee sliding across the table toward him. He reached out, bringing it to his lips and taking a tentative sip of the scalding liquid. "Couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head, reaching up the fiddle with a green pendant hanging from a silver chain around her neck. He eyed it curiously, but said nothing.

"Hermione, what was that last night? I know I misjudged the vibe between you and Ron last night, and I didn't have a chance to ask you about it."

She bit her lip and he was horrified to see tears welling up in her brown eyes, heavy with purple circles from lack of sleep. A few tears spilled over as her lip trembled. "Oh, Harry. I fucked up. I... I fucked up bad."

"Okay... Well, it's going to be okay, Hermione." He said, crossing around the table to wrap her in a hug. Tears always made him distinctly uncomfortable. "What exactly happened?"

She sniffled, huffing in a couple of breaths before saying, "Well, you saw it. I kissed Ron, the night of the battle. I- I didn't know if we were going to live or die. My em-motions were running high, and I just... did it. And now, he thinks we're dating, and I d-don't think of him in that way. He's going to h-hate me." She sobbed out against his chest.

Harry patted her back gently. If he had been uncomfortable before, it was nothing compared to what he was feeling now. "Er, right, um..."

"You could have just said as much."

Harry and Hermione jumped apart, both looking up to meet Ron's thunderous expression as he stood a few steps from the bottom of the stairs.

"Ron..." Hermione began, her hands trembling as she reached towards him.

"You could have told me that, Hermione. You didn't have to pretend just to spare my feelings, Godric, we're all adults here."

She stood from her chair, moving toward him but he held a hand out to stop her.

"Don't. I need some time. To process this."

"I d-didn't want to lose you as a friend, Ron. You're m-my best friend." She sniffled, clutching her hands together and shifting awkwardly from foot to foot.

Ron scoffed. "I've been your friend for seven years, Hermione. I'm hurt, yeah," Harry saw her flinch at that, and Ron's eyes shimmered, "but we'll find a way to move on. You're my best friend, too, you know."

With that, he turned and trudged back up the stairs, leaving Harry to deal with a still tearful Hermione. He didn't believe for one second that Ron had moved on that quickly. He loved Hermione deeply. The locket Horcux he had destroyed had shown him his biggest fear and it had been Hermione with... well, him. He'd assured Ron that he only thought of Hermione as a sister, but he hadn't accounted for the fact that Hermione didn't view Ron in the same way. She had been jealous of Lavender, hadn't she? Completely distraught when Ron had disappeared while they were hunting Horcruxes. And then, she had kissed him, in the midst of the battle two weeks ago, cementing Harry's beliefs.

Now suddenly, she had been returned safely home from being held hostage, claiming to have no romantic feelings for their mutual best friend, wearing a strange necklace. Something didn't sit right with Harry. He was still pondering on it when Hermione spoke, dragging him out of his head.

"Hm?"

"I said, 'When can we go to the Ministry?'"

Harry frowned, "Erm, whenever you're ready, I suppose."

Hermione smiled a watery smile, jumped up from her seat and headed upstairs, presumably to get ready to go. Harry frowned, watching her back as she retreated. Something was different about his friend, and he really hoped that it wasn't what he thought.