Ch. 4

Hermione's POV

The picture on the front page of the Daily Prophet was so wonderful, I wanted to frame it for my desk. After Ron had left, Ginny managed to confront him and they both apparated to a public place when Ron tried to escape from Ginny. Harry managed to track them both down, but it was too late.

Ron was already suffering from Ginny's infamous Bat-Bogey Hex, and the paparazzi caught it just in time to show Harry holding a screaming Ginny back from physically attacking Ron, who was holding his nose as bats were flying out of it.

I laughed every time I looked at it.

Jenn thought it was a riot as well, and she even avoided talking about the rest of the headline when I showed up for work the next morning. She gave me the few messages I had missed, and promised to keep anyone from entering. I told her that Ginny and Harry were fine and disappeared into my office.

The events of the night before still hadn't fully hit me yet, though I was very aware of the missing item on my left hand. I looked down at my finger, half expecting the small ring to be there. Almost on cue, I received a text from Ginny.

I grinned and sent a quick reply.

I looked up to see her grinning and waving at me. With a laugh I waved her in. "Did they cancel practice again?"

She shrugged as she sat down. "The captain was unhappy with this morning's Prophet headline."

"Ah yes," I nodded. "Did you get suspended?"

"Only from today's practice," She grinned. "Gwenog may have been secretly proud of me though and only suspended me for the quidditch league's appeasement."

I shook my head at her and couldn't hold back my own grin as I leaned forward, resting my forearms flat against my desk. "So, are you here to spy on me and make sure I don't break down crying?"

"Now who's learned Legilimency?" She retorted, draping her legs over the arm of the chair. "Though I am surprised by how cheerful you are right now, considering last night."

"To be honest, I am too," I admitted. "I think though right now I'm just numb to the idea. Like it hasn't fully hit me yet."

Ginny chewed on her bottom lip. "Is it bad that I hope you stay like this?"

I shrugged and set aside the case I was working on. "Why do you hope that?"

"Because I know once it hits you, it's going to hit hard," She said sadly. "And then I'm going to want to kill my brother all over again."

I shook my head. "Don't worry. After all, we've been through a war with one of the most feared and evil wizards of all time. I think I can survive a broken heart."

"Are you two talking about this already?"

We turned to see Harry standing in the doorway, holding a box that smelled amazing. He grinned and held up the box slightly. "I brought snacks."

"Aw, thank you love!" Ginny said excitedly. "This is good because I'm fairly certain Hermione didn't eat anything before she got here a few hours ago."

Ginny scowled at me while I shrugged. "I had a cup of coffee, that's normally my breakfast."

"That's not good for you," Harry said, setting the box on my desk.

"I know, I know," I sighed. "You both have told me so many times."

Ginny grabbed a scone and munched on it. "Oh my god, this is amazing!"

"It's from that café you love so much," Harry grinned. "The muggle one on the corner a few blocks down."

Ginny quickly inhaled the scone and grabbed another one before bouncing up out of her chair and saying, "I'm going to go visit Luna. She's just a couple of offices down, right?"

I nodded and said, "Bring her back with you! She just got back from one of her expeditions and I haven't seen her in a while!"

"Will do!" Ginny gave Harry a quick kiss and disappeared out of the door.

Harry shook his head and chuckled, sitting down in the chair his wife had previously occupied. He watched me carefully for a few moments before waving his wand so that the door shut and said quietly, "How are you doing?"

For some reason, the question got to me. My chest tightened and my heart wrenched deep inside of me. I opened my mouth and then promptly shut it as I looked down at my desk. More like glared down at it. "I don't know. I was doing alright earlier."

Harry gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I can't imagine what this is like."

"I may need to take you up on that Sleeping Draught you offered yesterday," I said, looking up at him.

He nodded. "Are you spending the night at our place again?"

"I'm not sure yet," I shrugged. "I know you two won't mind but I feel like I'm intruding."

"You couldn't possibly intrude," Harry said with a smile. "Hell, you practically lived there before."

I forced a smile but shook my head. "I know you guys mean well but I'm okay. I promise. I think I need some time alone to process all of this."

Harry scowled, but then sighed. "I'm sure Ginny's going to kidnap you at some point this weekend anyway, so I can understand if you want some time to yourself. Just don't set fire to anything else."

"I suppose I can just throw out the pictures of Ron and I," I sighed dramatically before grinning at him. "No, I promise I'll be good this weekend."

Harry nodded and we were interrupted by Jenn popping her head into the doorway. "Hermione?"

"Yes, Jenn?" I answered, looking around Harry.

"There's a man here who says he needs to speak to you about something important," She said in a confused voice.

I looked at Harry and then back at Jenn. "Who is it?"

"He won't tell me his name, but he said to tell you that 'it's the ferret', though I'm not quite sure what that means."

Harry quickly looked back at me. "Malfoy?"

"It must be," I said quietly before looking back at Jenn. "What does he want?"

Jenn shrugged. "He said it's urgent, something to do with one of his employees and apparently you're the person to talk to."

Now I was thoroughly confused. Harry was watching me and he said, "I'm not sure if I want to leave or not."

"You may need to," I said.

"Should I send him in?" Jenn asked.

"Yes, Jenn, go ahead."

Harry scowled at me and stood up, turning around to find Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway. I couldn't help but stare at him. He had certainly grown to be more handsome than he was in school. He still dressed in the black suits, but it looked as if his hair had darkened slightly and he had some stubble on his chin. I had to admit, he certainly was nice to look at.