A/N: Enjoy reading. Feel free to review if you would like. Happy 4th to those who celebrate today.

Hermione apparated straight into her dingy apartment and flopped onto her bed. She still had a few hours before she needed to be at the shop, so she had time to kill. Normally, she would find a book to read, but today she had too much on her mind. The past twenty-four hours had completely changed the situation she was in.

Why did Andromeda have to come to that book store? Out of all of her options, why did she come there? Hermione was baffled. Yesterday, only one person in the entire wizarding world knew where she was. Now, her whereabouts could easily become public knowledge. She was not ready to face everyone. She could not even read the papers. She knew she would see Harry and Ron's smiling faces. The last time she read the Daily Prophet, she found out that neither of them had gone back to Hogwarts to finish their final year. At first, she was a little disappointed by their lack of enthusiasm for learning, but she quickly realized that she was being quite hypocritical given that she had also not returned to Hogwarts to finish her final year. Still, she had hoped that they would return with Ginny. She hoped that the youngest Weasley would convince them to join her.

Obviously, she was wrong, and a small part of her wished that she had stayed so that she might have been able to convince them to return to school for one more year. Most of her, however, was glad that she left. She felt bad when she had to write to Minerva to inform her that she had no intention of coming back to school. She had made the letter abnormally short and to the point, leaving no room for argument from the new Headmistress.

She kept her interactions with London to an absolute minimum. She couldn't face all of the people who were happy that the war was over. For Hermione, it was not over. She doubted that it would ever be over for her.

When she woke up at night, covered in sweat, she was back in that war. She saw Fred's eyes go dark over and over again. She saw Remus and Tonks holding hands in death. She heard Bellatrix cackle before she carved that horrible word into her arm.

That was the face she saw the most in her dreams. She felt the torture again in her sleep. She watched that ebony-haired witch kill Tonks repeatedly in her dreams. She stood by helplessly as Ginny fought Bellatrix, and her dreams let Ginny die.

When she woke, she always knew that it was over. She was physically safe. The battle had ceased. Her arm did not typically even hurt these days. She lived with a glamour covering the pink words, so sometimes she forgot they were even there. Her dreams, however, never forgot. They reminded her of every terrible thing that happened during the war. They showed her every possible occurrence that did not happen.

Her dreams were a constant haunting, but she told Andromeda the truth about the dreamless sleep draughts. She never had the opportunity to see Fred, Tonks, or Professor Lupin any longer. Really, she did not see any of the Weasleys, Harry, or her parents except in her dreams. She had isolated herself to the point that she only saw any of her loved ones while she slept.

Seeing Teddy's little face had broken her resolve to stay completely isolated. As much as she wanted to argue with the elder witch, Andromeda was right. Tonks would want her to see Teddy. She would want him to have as much interaction with friends and family as he could bear. It was not right to abandon him even if he had the others. She knew Tonks would want him to have her, too.

Grabbing the pillow off her bed, Hermione slung it across the room in frustration. She did not know what to do. Part of her wanted to disappear again. She could rationalize it. She was simply not ready to face those people. She needed to take all the time she needed. She owed it to herself. She saved all of the wizarding world. She could disappear if she damn-well wanted to.

But she knew that was not the entire truth of the matter. She could rationalize staying away only if she said that she had no interest in or need for being around any of those people, but she could not do that entirely. If she could say that, then she would not get excited about seeing Harry in a dream. She would not have cried happy tears after seeing all of the Weasleys in a fleetingly happy dream. None of it would matter to her.

But it did. And that was the problem.

She pushed those thoughts away in favor of preparing herself for the day. After showering and dressing for work, Hermione performed the spell to take on the appearance of Lillian. Once she confirmed that all of her scars were glamoured, she began the short walk to the book shop.

Upon entering the store, Hermione breathed in the blissful smell of parchment and ink. There was no place she loved more than this book shop, except for maybe the restricted section of the Hogwarts library.

"How is my favorite bookworm?" came the greeting from behind the counter.

Hermione met Barold, the shop owner's, eyes and grinned. "It's another day that I get to be surrounded by books, sir. There is no day better."

The man let out a low guffaw. "Except another day surrounded by books, Lillian."

Hermione nodded her agreement. "That's why I'm here again today."

Again, the elderly gentleman chuckled. "You sure you don't need any particular days off for the holidays, Lil? I know you love being around the books and that you said you won't be visiting people for the holidays, but I just wanted to check again. You know, if you change your mind, you can just ask for those days. You always work late for everyone else. I am sure I can get someone to cover for you if you need it."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Barold's questions. "I don't think I will be taking any personal time, but I appreciate the offer. If anything comes up, I will let you know. For now, however, my work is the most important thing in my life, so I'll plan on being here."

The day was just like any other day at the book shop. Hermione stayed late to help Barold prepare for the influx of holiday shoppers that were expected as their holiday sales began that week. The rest of the week passed the same way, and Hermione avoided seeing anyone she knew. By the end of the week, she was beginning to doubt that she should go back to see Andromeda and Teddy. They were likely better without her popping in, full of her own negativity.

Andromeda had not heard from Hermione in over a week. She had been so sure when Hermione left her house that day that she was going to see her again. She thought Teddy would be enough to bring her by again even if she only wanted to see the child, but maybe she had been wrong. Maybe Hermione did not need or want people in her life at this moment. Maybe Andromeda had pushed her too hard, and now Hermione had no interest in seeing either of them again.

It was cold enough outside that Hermione began to apparate to work rather than walk. Every day held the same routine. She would get up, eat, and shower before transfiguring herself into Lillian. Then Lillian would work, close the shop with Barold, and return home. Hermione would then reappear and read late into the evening. Throughout the night, the witch would wake multiple times as she was greeted with visions of Bellatrix Lestrange and force herself back to sleep regardless of how many times she woke.

The cycle would then repeat itself.

After two weeks of not hearing from Hermione, Andromeda reached her point of exhaustion with the silence. She flooed to Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley's shared apartment early that morning. She was greeted by a cheery Harry in the attached kitchen, eating hot cereal for breakfast. "Andy! You brought Teddy."

"Yes, something has come up. I was wondering if you would be able to watch him today." She knew he might have plans. It was a Saturday, so he should not have training today, but he might have something else to do. She was a little nervous that she might be imposing a little too much.

Harry's face lit up as he hopped up from his seat. He approached his godson and scooped him up. "Did you hear that Teddy? You get to spend the day with Uncle Harry!" He grinned at Andromeda as he pulled Teddy against his chest. "I would love to watch him, Andy, but is everything okay?" His playful expression morphed into one of concern as he considered why Andromeda might suddenly need his assistance.

Andromeda's smile grew as she watched Harry play with her grandson. She waved off his concern. "Everything is just fine, Harry. I just have some errands to run and forgot to make plans for Teddy today. I did not want to drag him along from shop to shop."

Harry accepted that answer and looked back to his godson. "You want to see Aunt Ginny today, little man? She will be so excited to see you!" He glanced back to the Tonks matriarch, still smiling. "Are you okay if I take him to Hogsmeade with me? I was planning on seeing Ginny today, but I can send her an owl and cancel if you would prefer he stay in today."

"No, no. It would be perfectly fine for him to travel to Hogsmeade with you." She could not be more grateful for Harry. "Just make sure to cover him with your cloak when you floo. You do not want to deal with getting soot out of his mouth." Chuckling, she removed a small package from her pocket and enlarged it. "This is everything you might need today. If you have any troubles, you know how to reach me. Thank you again for doing this, Harry."

With his farewell, she flooed to Gillingham and began her short trip to the bookstore on Straight St.

A/N: Thank you all for all of the support! Special thanks go to Kopis, Fullmetalmagic, marisolnail, Magic2488,CunningPotato, Mashiro09 for favoriting or following. Mad props to CLB for catching my mistakes.

Magic2488: These two always struck me as incredibly strong women in their own rights. I loved the idea of exploring their relationship.

Shadow994: I'm so glad you're enjoying it! They are quite the pair.As always, feel free to leave me a review and let me know what you think. Til next time.-E