A/N Let me know how you all like it :)

Chapter 9

Black Moon

Hermione opened her eyes. She lay motionless in her bed, cradled in soft warmth. Silver rays of sunlight gently shimmered into her bedroom through her small window. Hermione felt the bright light gently warm her room and heard the soft sound of singing birds outside.

'Have there always been birds here?' she mindlessly asked herself, she couldn't recall the last time she had heard… Hermione suddenly remembered the events from the previous night.

"Oh no…." Hermione froze. Paralyzed, she stared wide eyed at the wall. The events playing through her mind slowly, as only someone with a near identic memory could do. Panic surged inside her.

What had she done? Harry and Ron were going to be so angry she left the flat and got attacked, even though Ginny was there too … Bloody Hell! Ginny! She had kissed Ginny… a lot. Where was Ginny? What was she going to think? What was she going to do?

Hermione gasped for breath repeatedly as she rocked back and forth a little bit. She tried desperately to calm her surging nerves and violent hangover symptoms; she was going to throw up. Hermione ran to the loo and leaned over the toilet trying to control the assault her stomach was subjecting her to.

After getting control the brunette stood. She snatched up the bin next to the toilet in case she lost control again, she walked across the room to her cupboard. She hoped she had a hangover draught, after a while she realized that was not a potion that she had, so she settled on a simple nausea potion to help her control her stomach.

After she began to feel better, Hermione, again, remembered her predicament with Ginny, and walked out into her flat. She looked in the living room on the couch hoping, yet, dreading that Ginny would still be there from last night. Hermione's nerves settled a bit when the flat was empty. 'How did I get to my room?' she thought. The book worm looked around as if to find a clue. She then realized a few things: Ginny must have carried her to bed before she left, and last night was the first night she hadn't had a nightmare since she could remember. With the exception of the slight hangover, Hermione hadn't felt as rested as she was for a very long time.

The brunette noticed the time and began to get ready for work. She went to the kitchen and started some water for tea before going to her bedroom to get dressed. She decided on more comfortable witch robes today. The brunette returned to her loo and threw her hair up into a quick bun, washed her face and brushed her teeth. She got back to the kitchen just in time, the kettle was just beginning to whistle.

She began to steep her tea, a new type she had never tried before called Black Moon, and warmed a bagel in a toaster. Soon she stood at the counters and ate her bagel with a bit of cream cheese on it. Soon her tea cooled, Hermione closed her eyes and leaned against the counter as she drank the whole cup. She tried not to think about the night before and the complex emotions that were swirling around in her mind about the situation.

She finished her tea and placed the cup into the sink, normally she would have cleaned the cup, but she was running late. She rushed to the door and bent to put her shoes on when something strange on her kitchen table caught her eye. She squinted her eyes and tried to see what it was, still bent over to pull on her shoe.

Hermione stood and turned towards the counter and walked closer. She lift an eyebrow as she saw it was a folded piece of paper. Hermione reached for it but quickly pulled her hand back as if it burned her. 'Who could have left this? What if it's cursed? Could a Death Eater have gotten in?' Hermione's thoughts raced before her trusty logic quieted her mind, 'No, anyone who wishes me harm would have just killed me while I slept.'

After eliminating all of the threatening possibilities, she looked closer, seeing an elegant handwriting that she instantly recognized as Ginny's. She picked up the parchment and smiled at what the redhead had written on the outside.

'Fiery Fairy'

Her heart was pounding a slow rhythm and her senses seemed to wake up. The brunette began to open the folded note, but then realized she was going to be late if she didn't leave right at that exact moment. Frustrated, she thrust the note into the pocket of her robes and grabbed her bag from the seat she had thrown it in last night and ran to the fireplace.

The brunette quickly flooed to the ministry of magic. Hermione walked at a brisk pace to get to her office. She gave the lock a lite swish with her wand. The brunette dropped into the seat at her desk and began to pull papers out of her bag that she had meant to work on the night before. Several of the papers were concerning the new protection items for the Aurors. Hermione was partnering on the project with the Department of Experimentation and Development of Magic.

While Hermione felt a flurry of uncomfortable emotions, she also noticed she had much more energy today. She felt rested and refreshed despite her concern for breaking the rules and, more importantly, Ginny's safety. The brunette knew her red haired friend, whom she had shared kisses with the night before, would receive one of the protection charms. Hermione felt a fire build in her, the importance of the charms success was renewed in her mind.

She grabbed a spare bit of parchment and hand wrote a quick note to Ernie Macmillan, who was the official head of the department:

'Department Head Macmillan,

I wanted to inform you that I will be coming down to your department to begin work on the new protection charm project, which Deputy Minister Potter has moved to the forefront of the research queue. This project is a priority, therefore, please clear your schedule so we can work on this project together. I will be there at 11 o'clock, if you have any questions regarding this research, please send an interdepartmental memo prior to my arrival.

Thank you,

Hermione J. Granger

Assistant Minister of Magic'

Hermione finished the note and flicked her wand which caused the note to fold into a paper airplane. It flew up towards the ceiling of her office where it flew through a tube before it exited into the hallway. It continued down the hall towards the lift that would bring it to Ernie Macmillan's office.

The brunette sighed then rubbed her temples with her hands. She began to feel the regular stress of her life return rather quickly. With her responsibilities beginning to crush her again, the brunettes mind wandered to the previous night.

Despite some of the horrible things that had happened, Hermione couldn't help but smile softly as she thought about Ginny and how the redhead had made her feel. Feelings that, if the brunette was being completely honest about, she hadn't really felt before.

She remembered getting a little excited when she would kiss Ron or Viktor, but nothing like she felt with Ginny. In those situations she always ended up wanting to pull away a lot sooner than she thought she ought to. She couldn't remember a moment last night when she wanted Ginny to stop touching her.

'How does my head hurt so badly already?' the brunette asked herself in her mind, 'All I've done today was write as short note..' It was at that moment Hermione remembered the note in her pocket. Quickly, she pulled it from her robes, unfolded it and began to read:

'Hermione,

Thank you for taking care of me last night and sorry I left so early. I had a good time, even with the splinching. It was great to see you again.

Be thinking of you,

G. Weasley'

Hermione's heart fluttered in excitement while she read the 'be thinking of you' part. She smiled and folded the note back up in the intricate way that Ginny had folded it, then put it safely back in her pocket.

With the simple note on her mind, she quickly began to fill out the forms for her work that day. She wanted to get them done so she would be ready to start experimenting with charms as soon as she got down to Ernie's department. Hermione was feeling refreshed again, less crushed under her responsibilities.

Plus, she almost always enjoyed working with Ernie, he was smart and nice and didn't feel threatened by her being in his department. They both loved to learn new things which made their time together working for the Department of Experimentation and Development of Magic a relatively enjoyable arrangement. When her and Ernie were working on things, the anxiety and stress she always felt seemed to lessen just a little bit. For a moment she felt she could take her mind off of the war and focus just on the single task they were trying to accomplish.

He was a good partner to work with to find new ways to protect their Aurors. Hermione was excited. Especially since, for once, she felt quite invigorated.

Please Review