"Watch where you're walking," Hermione growls at her housemate. Draco pauses on his way to the kitchen after having accidentally knocked a pile of her papers to the floor.

He turns to her with a sneer and snarks, "what are you going to do about it, Granger? Curse me?" He snickers and continues on his way to the kitchen.

Hermione pulls out her wand and with a quick swish, she mutters, "locomotor wibbly."

A stream of red bursts from the tip of her wand, striking Draco on the back of his leg. He hits the floor with a groan and a snarled profanity. Hermione laughs as he struggles to stand and finds that he no longer has use of his legs.

"You did ask for it," she chuckles at his red face. " I do feel a bit bad for doing it when your back was to me. You were just a bit deserving, though." She grins down at him.

Draco stops struggling to turn stormy eyes on her. "You worthless wench," he hisses. "If I had my wand, I'd hex you into the next century. Whether I was deserving of the attack or not, it was cowardly to curse me when I'm not facing you. I thought you were meant to be the good, kind one of the Golden Trio? Now here you are, attacking me with an unfair advantage and then gloating," he spits.

The curse wears off while he is talking so he rises back to his feet and stares down at her. Hermione tilts her chin up defiantly.

"If you're attempting to make me feel guilty, it isn't working. You've been nothing but awful to me all this week and I was just giving you a bit of payback," she snaps. "Besides, who are you to talk about cowardice? Need I remind you of the countless times in school when you acted like a spineless prat because you thought you were above everyone? Is that what someone with bravery would do?" She sneers darkly at him, unaffected by his words.

He shouts, "I wasn't the only one who hid!" Hermione clenches her fists to keep from flinching away from the loud voice. He doesn't seem to notice her moment of weakness, because he is nearly screaming his next words. "I noticed the way you would always run to Potter and Weasley at the first sign of a threat, leaving them to do the hard work. You were certainly the brains of the group, but not the bravest!"

Hermione's eyes narrow to slits. "How dare you accuse me of being weak enough to hide behind them? I'm not like you Malfoy! I am more than capable of fighting my own battles!"

She would have continued had her fireplace not roared to life behind her. A familiar voice calls out a greeting and Hermione forces herself to take a deep breath and turn around to face it with a smile.

"Hermione, what are you two fighting about this time? If you want, I'll join in. My bat-boogie hex could use a bit of practice," is the first words Ginny says to Hermione. Hermione turns around to face her friend, angry expression half-masked by a small smile.

"No Ginny, everything is alright. He was just going upstairs, weren't you, Malfoy?" Her tone leaves no room for argument, so Draco grumbles something unintelligible and stomps up the stairs. Hermione glares at his retreating form until it disappears from sight before turning back to her friend. "What brought this visit on?" She sounds far more harsh than she intends, and it doesn't go without notice.

"First, you're going to tell me why he's got you so riled up, then I'm going to calm you down so that we can talk like civil people," Ginny states bluntly. It's enough to evoke a snort of laughter from Hermione, who gestures to the sofa and turns towards the kitchen.

"Sit down then. I'm just going to make a drink, would you like something?"

Ginny collapses onto the sofa and leans back with a sigh. "No, thank you though. Go ahead and tell me what Ferret-face did this time," she says. Unbeknownst to Hermione, Ginny is struggling to find the proper words to tell Hermione something that is sure to make her friend's mood far worse. She's hoping to delay the inevitable for a few moments longer, because for the first time, Ginny Weasley can't find the courage to tell her friend the news she's keeping.

"He's been absolutely monstrous, Ginny. After our argument last week, we have been from one battle to the next with hardly a moment of peace. I suppose it's my fault for goading him on like I do, but he is just as equally to blame," Hermione calls from the kitchen.

"I don't know why he keeps arguing," Ginny replies. "You have magic and he doesn't and, while the Ministry wouldn't approve, you can easily send a jinx his way if he pushes you too far." Her eyes slide closed. All day she had been fretting over how to tell Hermione the news that would surely cause the shatter that Ginny had been expecting for so long from her friend.

Hermione returns to the living room with a warm cup of tea held in her chilled hands. She sits cross-legged on the sofa beside Ginny and sips at her drink as she ponders the attitude of her housemate.

"You'd think he'd have more sense, but it appears that was lost on him," Hermione says finally. "He must realize what a disadvantage he is at. But he either doesn't care of the consequences, or simply isn't afraid. I find it hard to believe that one person could be so..." she trails her head and tilts her head considering.

"Daft? Insane? Suicidal?" Ginny supplies each with a toothy grin, momentarily forgetting what she has to tell Hermione. "Any of those fit what you were thinking?"

"I was thinking more unreasonable," she chuckles. "Enough about him, though. Tell me why you came to visit today!"

Ginny's smile slips away with the reminder and Hermione catches the shift. Setting down her cup on the coffee table, Hermione turns fully to face her friend and gives her a quizzical look.

"What is it? Did someone get hurt?"

Ginny stands up, still searching for the Gryffindor courage that she so desperately needed now, and begins pacing in front of the sofa while muttering under her breath.

"Ginny Weasley, you tell me what is going on," Hermione demands after a minute of tense silence. Ginny pauses and gives Hermione a helpless look.

"You're going to hate me for telling you this," she says, wringing her hands.

Hermione's chest clenches, mind racing with the worst possible scenarios. Had someone been hurt? Harry, or little Teddy. Her parents maybe? She shakes away the thoughts, hoping they weren't true.

"You had better tell me right this instant or so help me, I will hex you," Hermione snaps.

"I'll tell you," Ginny finally complies. "You have to promise not to be resentful of me for delivering the message."

Hermione rolls her eyes and motions for Ginny to share her news. Her heart starts pounding when Ginny has to take a deep breath to steel herself before speaking again.

"He's back in town...and he's looking for you," Ginny whispers, gaze dropping to her feet.

Hermione freeze, eyes searching her friend for any sort of lie. There is nothing though, not a twitch or grin, and it takes everything Hermione has to force the one word out to confirm what she already assumed. "Who?"

Ginny meets manages to meet her eyes, and before the words are even spoken, Hermione can see the guilt written there that confirms her thoughts. It doesn't stop the pain in her chest when Ginny mumbles the name Hermione wished to never hear again.

"Ronald."

Hermione's face blanks and her hands curl against her knees. She's so deathly silent that Ginny fears the worst, but Hermione has gone numb inside and out as her thoughts are whisked away to the past.

Author's Note- I am so terribly sorry that this update is actual months late. I was so busy with school that I wasn't in any functioning order and my writing time had been reduced to hardly an hour a week because I was so stressed. I can't promise that this next quarter of school will be better, but I should be able to write more. I've mostly got a bunch of tests, and while the stress from those will suck, writing will basically be the only other thing I'll be doing. I'll try to do a couple of updates in the next two months, but more than that might be a bit too heavy after being fried from my tests.

About the tail-end of May, though, I'll be done with school and that comes with the promise of a more consistent schedule for updates! I'm looking forward to that, so bear with me until then.

Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this story and my horrible updating speed. I really appreciate the comments I get, whether they are telling me about something I've written wrong or if they are about the plot. It's all so helpful and awesome to see people enjoying this as much as I enjoy going through it again. Editing this is spent mostly cringing, but reliving the story I was so proud of in the past is amazing.

Hopefully I'll be back before too long with another update!