It was happening, though. Hermione tried to shake the thoughts from her head all through breakfast, but she couldn't, especially not with Ginny sitting right across from her at the table. Every time she looked up, the younger girl was smiling or laughing in a way that made Hermione's chest tighten.

She had been not so subtly admiring a freckle that was particularly close to Ginny's bottom lip when Percy spoke up, drawing her focus back to the table conversation, "Things seem to be settling into a new normal now. What's next for everyone?"

Charlie was already back in Romania, and now that Kingsley was Minister of Magic, Mr. Weasley and Percy had gone back to work at the ministry. George was back to running the joke shop, and Bill and Fleur were helping restore the Gringotts Bank that the Trio had destroyed during their horcrux hunt. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were the only ones still left in limbo with their plans for the future.

"I heard that the Minister is planning to allow those that fought in the battle at Hogwarts to enter auror training in the fall," Percy continued. "Isn't that what you were planning on doing as a career, Harry?"

Harry perked up, "Yeah, it is. How do we sign up?" He looked around at Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, expecting them to jump on this wagon with him.

"Don't look at me," Ginny said. "I'm not quite seventeen, yet." She took another bite of scrambled eggs, and Hermione tried not to stare at her throat as she swallowed.

Harry wrapped an arm around the back of her chair, "You will be by the fall, though. You could totally do auror training with us."

Hermione sat up straighter in her chair, "I won't be included in that us. I'm going back to Hogwarts to do my seventh year, obviously."

"Obviously," Ron smiled at her. "I think auror training sounds cool. Definitely better than going back to school. No offense, Hermione."

She smiled back at him, "None taken."

"I think I want to go back to school, too," Ginny added, not looking up from her plate as Harry tried to catch her eye. "Last year was awful. I don't want to remember Hogwarts like that. I want to play Quidditch and visit Hogsmeade. I want to get back to normal."

Hermione's heart soared at the thought of her and Ginny going back to school together. They would be in the same year, sharing classes and a dormitory. No boys to distract them from their homework or spending time together. Maybe Hermione could treat it as exposure therapy. The more time she spent with Ginny, the less effect Ginny would have on her. Although, that didn't seem to be working out for her this summer.

"I also need to find my parents and restore their memories," Hermione sighed. "Better to do that sooner rather than later. I hope they won't be angry with me, but I imagine they'll be furious."

Ron placed a hand overtop hers on the table and gave it a light squeeze, "I could come with you. You don't have to do it alone."

She turned her hand over so her palm faced his and laced their fingers together, "Thank you, but I do think I should do it alone. I also think I need to go get dressed," she said before pushing back from the table. "I want to go into London to get a few things before I travel."

"I'll come with you," Ginny said, smiling at Hermione. "We can have a girl's day."

"Okay," Hermione replied. She could feel a blush creeping up her chest at the thought of spending time with Ginny alone outside of the Burrow. She got up from the table quickly and took her plate over to the sink where Mrs. Weasley was orchestrating the pots and pans to clean themselves with her wand.

"Leave it, dear. I'll take care of it," Mrs. Weasley told her, and Hermione sat her plate on the counter.

A half an hour later, Ginny and Hermione stood in front of the Weasley's fireplace ready to floo to Diagon Alley. Hermione could apparate, but Ginny was still underage for another month. Ron and Harry stood to the side, waiting to see them off. They each hugged and kissed their respective boyfriends before taking a pinch of floo powder and throwing it into the fire. They stepped into the fireplace in turn and spoke their destination, exiting through a connecting fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron.

Hermione and Ginny wandered around Diagon Alley for a couple of hours, popping into various shops for things Hermione would need when she went to Australia to find her mother and father. She'd never been to Australia, so she hoped she wasn't over or under doing it.

"How are you planning to get to Australia?" Ginny asked after they left their last shop. She looped her arm through the one Hermione didn't have loaded down with bags and leaned into her as they walked down the street back toward the Leaky Cauldron.

Hermione ignored the butterflies that fluttered through her stomach at Ginny's closeness. "I'm going to take a Diver ship. You know, like the one that brought the Durmstrang students to Hogwarts for the tournament. There's no intercontinental floo system, and it's too far a distance to try to apparate safely."

Ginny just nodded before saying, "Are you sure you don't want someone to go with you? I've never met an Australian witch or wizard before. Do they use wands there?"

Hermione smiled. She loved the thought of exploring the Australian wizarding community with Ginny, but she needed that time to herself to catch up with her parents and clear her head. Exposure to Ginny wasn't doing the trick but maybe distance would.

They made their way back into the Leaky Cauldron, greeting Tom the barkeeper as they headed toward the fireplace. "Wait," Ginny suddenly stopped. "Do you want to have lunch here before we head back?" Hermione agreed, not quite ready to share Ginny with the others again. They sat together in a private dining area that Tom allowed them to use so that Hermione wouldn't be disturbed by patrons while she ate.

"So, are you finally going to tell me what's been going on with you lately?" Ginny asked as she took a bite of her summer salad.

Hermione could feel the color draining from her face, "What do you mean?"

Ginny huffed before setting her fork down and looking Hermione right in the eye, "You've been sort of distant lately, like something's on your mind that you can't talk about, and it only seems to be getting worse. I thought you might open up about it on your own when you were ready, but I'm starting to worry." She reached across the table and placed her hand over Hermione's. A spark travelled up Hermione's arm from the point of contact and settled in her chest where her heart had started beating at a frantic pace.

"Uhm," Hermione cleared her throat, trying to steady her breathing. "I'm not sure what you mean."

Ginny moved her hand back and crossed her arms over her chest, raising one eyebrow incredulously at Hermione. "Come on, Hermione. You're my best friend. I know something is up."

Hermione let out a slow deep breath before replying with the only answer that felt. . .safe, "I think I have to break up with Ron."

Ginny's other eyebrow flew up to meet the one she already had raised, giving her a look of surprise to mix with her incredulity. "Break up? Why's that?"

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her chair. It wasn't something she had planned on discussing. It wasn't even something she was planning on doing, but it was something that she had been thinking about. She knew it was the right thing for her and the fair thing for Ron, but she didn't know how to explain that without admitting her true feelings.

"I just—" she searched her mind for the right words. "I just don't feel about him the way I should, the way I think he feels about me."

"How do you feel about him, then?"

Hermione shrugged, "Like he's my best friend? He's been so great, really, but something's just missing, and I don't think it's fair to him for me to try to keep forcing it."

"Did you feel it with Krum?" Ginny asked. "Whatever it is that's missing with Ron?"

The question caught Hermione off guard. Victor was the only other boyfriend she'd ever had, the only other person she'd ever kissed, but she'd never thought to compare her feelings for him to her feelings for Ron. Come to think of it, though, "No, I didn't," she replied. "With Victor, it was just nice to have someone notice me that way, but it never felt quite right with him either."

"Why do you think that is?"

Hermione knew why. She'd started to suspect it more and more recently. She couldn't tell Ginny that, though. She wasn't even ready to admit it to herself, yet, so she just shrugged, again. "I don't know. Neither is the right person for me, I guess."

Ginny nodded like she understood. "Right person," she repeated. "Okay."

"How about you and Harry?" Hermione asked, desperate to shift the conversation away from her romantic exploits. "What's going to happen now? I can't imagine it will be easy to spend another year apart."

The redheaded girl's eyes fell at that. "I'm not sure. I mean, it's all only just been decided hasn't it? We haven't exactly had time to discuss it," she sighed heavily before continuing. "Since I was ten-years-old, I dreamed of being 'Harry Potter's Girl,' but it seems like every time that dream starts to become a reality, something throws a wand in the works." Her eyes lifted up to meet Hermione's again, "I don't want to keep taking a back seat to his next adventure or whatever."

"Seems like we both have a lot to think about," Hermione tried to sound nonchalant as she took a bite of her food.

"It would appear that we do."