AN: I own nothing

Hermione pulled the blanket over her head, enveloping her pyjama-clad self in darkness. She tried to shut out the events of the past week, but the never ending what ifs ran through her mind, making her want to scream in frustration.

Her once illustrious career at the Ministry was down the drain that much she could admit. What she couldn't fathom was why Ron would do something like that to her. He had never been so malicious at school, although he did go off and sulk for weeks on end, only to return mumbling an apology. Clearly, his ego had inflated to unprecedented levels and now he was using their fame to cause her downfall.

There had been a self-imposed media blackout for Hermione once she'd stocked up on all the essentials. Her freezer was now filled to the brim with tubs of ice cream. Her cupboards hadn't fared well either, they were also filled with various sweets and bags of crisps, not a healthy food in sight. For once, Hermione was wallowing, something she had never allowed herself to do before. There had always been someone else to be cheerful for. Now, she had decided that she didn't need anyone in her life again; she would be indentured in solitude for the foreseeable future.

Three loud bangs on the door awakened her from her musings under the blanket.

"Hermione Granger, if you don't open the door right now I swear I will induce labour on your doormat!"

Ginny's overdramatic comments always brought a smile to Hermione's face. She clambered over her substantial pile of sappy romances, which she had been making her way through and opened the door.

"Wow, Hermione! Your hair has almost become a living entity!"

"You'd better come in. Leaving a woman this close to her due date on my doorstep for much longer will only damage my reputation further."

Ginny grimaced at that comment and hobbled past Hermione to the nearest sofa.

"You know I wouldn't be here in the first place if you answered my owls. Harry's been frantic; he was threatening to get a court order to break down your wards."

Hermione sat down on the sofa opposite her, trying not to shrink under Ginny's stare, which conveyed exasperation, annoyance with a touch of compassion.

"I'm really sorry, Ginny. I didn't mean to shut you or Harry out like that. I've just never been in this position before and my first instinct was to wallow."

"I know it's hard, Hermione, but you cannot let it get the best of you. How about you get dressed and sort yourself out, and we go out for lunch. Somewhere muggle, don't worry. Harry took me to this great French bistro where no one recognised us, so we should be alright there."

Once again, Hermione thanked Merlin for giving her a friend like Ginny. She already felt a lot more optimistic.

"I'll be 10 minutes" she called as she made her way to her bedroom.

"10 minutes, my arse! You'll be half and hour and you know it."

Ginny was right, half an hour later, Hermione emerged in a shirt, cropped jeans and ballet pumps. She looked a lot more refreshed and her curls now swept down her back in much more orderly manner. Ginny grinned, ecstatic that Hermione had emerged from her funk.

"You look so much better, now let's go face the world!"

Severus Snape had had enough. Why hadn't she replied to his offer yet? It was her dream job for Merlin's sake!

He rubbed his temples as he gazed down at the sea of paperwork before him. They had just about received confirmation for all of the first years and he had to ensure that everything was in order for their arrival. This was usually McGonagall's job but now that she had retired, it was now another thing he had to do as Headmaster of the school. All the other professors in the school were quick to find other ways to occupy their time in order to avoid this task. If only Granger had accepted, she surely would have taken this work of his hands.

He'd persuaded himself to track her down to get her to take the job if it took this long. However, now that she had left the ministry, he wasn't entirely sure as to where to find her. She'd been careful with her wards and listing her address, so finding her wasn't going to be easy.

Snape flicked through his memories as a spy, trying to remember when he'd tracked down a rogue Death Eater under the orders of the Dark Lord. He'd used a complex tracking spell of his own design, which traced the magical signature of the person the caster was searching for. He'd written it down somewhere in one of his potions journals. Some things never change, he thought wryly. He scanned his expansive bookshelves and began to flick through one of his potions journals, and began his search for the spell.

Rita Skeeter smiled, today was a good day, in fact, it was a great day. Before her sat the former Quidditch star and member of the Golden Trio, Ron Weasley. This was the scoop of the year, without a doubt. She had been waiting to get her own back on Hermione Granger ever since she discovered her animagus form and blackmailed her. Revenge was sweet. There was something amiss however. Ron Weasley looked slightly too smug about the situation and she realised that he was no way the guilty party. This man knew exactly what he was doing and if Rita had a moral bone in her body, she would've stopped the interview before it began. However, Rita didn't have any desire to do so.

"So, Mr Weasley, how have you been since Hermione Granger broke your heart?"

Hi! Here's the next chapter for you. Thanks for all of your lovely reviews so far; I've enjoyed reading each of them. Many of them had made reconsider and play with this story a lot more so thanks!

Let me know what you think so far.