May 1998
Harry stood outside Grimmauld for several moments, trying to put together the willpower to enter. It had been difficult convincing Molly Weasley he wanted to live at Grimmauld at first. After a painful conversation on both their sides, she finally gave up her insistence on him staying at the Burrow. It hadn't been any one thing that propelled Harry to leave—but rather a million reasons piled on top of each other to form an insurmountable mountain so that he absolutely had to leave or risk losing his mind.
He felt awkward with Ginny. When she finally approached him after the last battle at Hogwarts, it seemed like she thought they would naturally fall back into what they had during sixth year. She had cornered him on the upper stairway of the Burrow and pressed close trying to kiss him.
And Harry had felt nothing. No pleasurable warm feeling in his stomach, no butterflies, no excitement. Harry had pulled back quickly, mumbling an excuse as he backed away. He had seen the soft look in her eyes. She was understanding, but how long would that last?
Then there was George. It literally hurt to see his face, because it was a reminder to Harry each time that Fred was gone. George was quiet and barely talked to anyone, and Molly's response had been to console him by stuffing him with his favorite foods. Two days after the war ended, George had gone through the Burrow and removed every single mirror from the residence while everyone silently watched, not sure how to react.
"You forget your key, mate?" A friendly voice asked.
Harry jerked around to see an older man staring at him curiously. Shit, how long had he been staring at the townhouse?
"No, just a lot on my mind. I'm-I'm going inside now?" The man looked at him curiously and Harry realized he phrased it as if he was asking him permission. "I mean, I'll be off then. Have a good day."
Harry felt the man's eyes on him as he approached Grimmauld and resisted the impulse to turn around and check. He walked quickly up the steps to the door. The magic of the wards recognized his presence, and the door swung open without him having to touch the knob. He walked in quickly to the cool dark exterior and shut the door on the outside world and the muggle still staring curiously in his direction from the sidewalk.
Flicking on the lights as he wandered through the townhouse, he realized it was quite clean. Quite a departure from the dusty, dank townhome it had been during the war and when occupied by the Order.
A noise in the kitchen drew him there, and he found Kreacher standing on a stool in front of the sink, scrubbing at a pot.
"Kreacher?"
Kreacher placed the items carefully in the sink before slowly getting off the stool and walking towards Harry with his distinctive limp. "Master Potter, the last Master of the House of Black, welcome home."
"Kreacher, you cleaned the entire house? You didn't have to do that."
"Kreacher is not cleaning the entire house. When Kreacher found out the master was coming back, Kreacher asked the other house-elves in Hogwarts to come help get the master's home ready."
"Thank you, Kreacher." Harry cleared his throat, trying to push away the emotion he felt at the gracious gesture, knowing Kreacher would get grumpy at seeing it.
"No thanking Kreacher for his duty. Now Master Potter can make it his own home." With that, Kreacher turned around and went back to the sink, ignoring Harry.
Make it his own home? Harry looked around the townhome. He felt a little at a loss to try to think of it that way as he had always thought of Grimmauld as belonging to Sirius or as the Order headquarters. But Grimmauld was his home now. Sirius had left it to him. He should step up and make it his own.
Harry made his way back to the stairs, not bothering to light the second floor as he knew the room he was heading towards. It was the same room he had shared with Ron and Hermione during the war. It reminded him of being with them, and he wanted to sleep in that room.
He just needed a few days to think. To rest. Then maybe he could start working on all the responsibilities he had now. Before he closed his eyes, the image of Teddy came to mind. He wondered how Andromeda would feel if he asked to take care of him sometimes.
━━━━━━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟ☆━━━━━━
June 1998
Hermione's room was a mess of jumbled books and items of clothes strewn about. Her parents still had not been located and she had emptied her room as part of her plan to protect her parents when she obliviated them. As a result, she had no clothes other than the clothes she had gone on the run with for the Horcruxes. Shopping for a complete wardrobe had been more of a pain than she anticipated.
She had thought she would simply walk into the department store and walk back out with everything she needed. That was definitely not what happened. After an entire day of shopping, which involved multiple stores and made her feel like she was searching for Horcruxes again she had a reasonably small wardrobe that she was satisfied with.
Hermione stared down at the empty parchment in front of her, a few drops of ink splashing down as she tried to figure out what to write to Ron.
Their relationship was in a queer unnamed state, after the kiss outside the room of the requirement, when she had been so impressed with Ron remembering the house elves. She had had a crush on Ron for what seemed like forever to her, and it seemed finally, some of the things she'd always cared about - as if he cared about it too.
But now, after the battle and without seeing him for almost a month, she was more unsure about where to go from here. Honestly, she had expected to miss him more... or at least differently than before. But she hadn't seen him in almost a month - and she did want to see him, but shouldn't it feel different now they had kissed and they were... probably together?
The few times they had met up since the war had been the three of them, but Hermione thought that maybe she should see Ron with just the two of them, so they could work out what exactly they were to each other before being with everyone else.
With that thought in mind, she finally determinedly put her quill to parchment and took the initiative to ask Ron out on a date. She paused as she thought about where they could go. Ron would get bored or impatient if they went anywhere more intellectually oriented... and she wanted him to be happy and enjoy their time together. At the same time, she didn't want to go anywhere really focused on Quidditch or visiting his brother's joke shop and hang around Diagon Alley, which seemed to be a favorite activity of his.
Finally, she wrote that they should meet and walk at the park near her house and have dinner together. That was a standard for a reason, right? A typical date? With a shrug, she folded the letter and placed a wax seal before walking to her open window.
"Archimedes." She called softly. A moment later Hermione heard the rapid beat of wings as a small black owl landed on her window to hoot inquisitively at her. After multiple trips to Diagon Alley to mail items, Hermione had decided purchasing an owl was necessary. Crookshanks had definitely not been impressed with the feathered intruder into his territory but seemed to have decided to ignore Archimedes as opposed to fighting with him which Hermione was grateful for.
She smiled at him and reached out to softly pet its silky black head. "Could you take this to Ron for me, Archimedes?"
She tied the parchment to his foot with a ribbon and then gave him a little treat that nibbled up quickly before taking off with a small hoot of excitement.
With a sigh, she turned and looked at her disaster of a room. It seemed as if there was one thing after another. Getting the utilities back on at her parents' house had been an absolute pain, and the fridge was also still empty. If she hadn't come into the trust her parents set up for her at eighteen, she would probably be in an uncomfortable position of having to beg off her friends either Harry or Ron to live with them and that—even with being best friends—or more than friends with Ron—was not something she wanted to do.
There was thumping downstairs, but it didn't concern her. Crookshanks could be the loudest cat in the world sometimes and when the house was empty seemed determined to make enough noise to fill the house.
Setting her shoulders, she marched forward to start cleaning, pushing her tangled emotions about Ron to the back of her head until they could meet for their... date.
━━━━━━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟ☆━━━━━━
Hermione slowed as she walked down the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. Everyone seemed to be about that Saturday with a cheerful shopping attitude. Hermione barely restrained herself from casting stinging hexes at those merry songs that most witches and wizards seemed to be singing regarding Voldemort's defeat.
She came upon a crowd of witches and edged around when she spotted a familiar tall red head in the middle. Hermione watched as he gave a flirtatious smile to the witch in front of him who's copy of the Prophet announcing Voldemort's defeat he had just signed.
Her stomach twisted as she remembered all the times she watched him with Lavender. Then a rush of cold went through her body like a slap. Lavender was dead. Ron had turned to talk to the next witch before he noticed her on the edge of the crowd, waiting for him.
"Hermione! Why didn't you call out?" He started cutting through the crowd, moving towards her apologizing and shaking his head in a friendly manner at the questions thrown his way.
When he got to her, he lifted her up in a tight hug, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I missed you."
She patted him awkwardly on his back, barely refraining from the impulse to chew him out about his behavior with the crowd. He hadn't meant anything by it, she was sure...
"I missed you, too."
"You'd miss me less if you stayed in the Burrow like mum offered. You know we'd love to have you."
"I needed some space." She gave him a slightly awkward smile. "Plus I want my parents to come home to as normal a house as I can make it... once the Ministry finds them. I'm really glad they offered to help."
"Yeah right." Ron rolled his eyes. "That wasn't the Ministry, that was Harry."
"What?"
Ron shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, shifting a little impatiently in front of her. "Really Hermione. With the recovery and all the damage Voldemort did– you think the Ministry offered to help find your parents on their own?"
Hermione stared at him–yeah she kind of had.
"You didn't see how upset Harry was after you explained everything you did with your parents cause you left. He went and talked to Shacklebolt. Harry is the reason the Ministry is searching for your parents. Not like they're going to refuse a request from the chosen one - who saved them again from Voldemort."
"I see." She stared at Ron silently as she processed that. "Where's Harry now?"
"I haven't talked to him as much. We're both doing the paperwork to start the Auror training early but Harry is trying to give a lot of his free time to taking care of and visiting Teddy."
"We should visit him too."
"Teddy is like two months old. All he does is poop, eat and cry. He's not going to notice who's visiting him for a few years."
"Ron!" she said, exasperated. "Did you say that to Harry?"
"Yeah. It's true." Ron shrugged.
This was not the best start to their very first date. Hermione took a deep breath and tried to push away her negative thoughts. She knew if she had a conversation about Teddy; she was going to end up arguing with him, so she changed the subject.
"Let's um. Let's visit the park then?"
Ron smiled, taking her hand so they could start walking towards the park they had planned to walk around.
Hermione cast about for a conversational topic not related to the war or their families. "When do you leave for Auror training?"
"Beginning of July, it's going to be bloody brilliant. No more school, just catching the bad guys."
"Schooling might help you do your job better. Wouldn't it be nice to come back to Hogwarts and only have regular things to worry about?"
Ron gave her a skeptical look. "Regular things like homework and tests? No thanks. They're already talking about having memorial ceremonies and all that shite there. I'd rather just forget it existed."
They had made it to the park and Hermione already wished the date was over. From the first moment she had seen Ron, the date seemed to have gone wrong. Hermione cleared her throat.
"I'm going to be going back to Hogwarts, remember?"
"You could join the ministry. I know they offered you several options from different departments that were interested in hiring you. Dad told me even the Department of Mysteries offered to take you on as a researcher."
"I'm finishing my N.E.W.T.s, and then I'm thinking of getting a Charms mastery or potentially even going to muggle university."
Ron laughed. "That's my Hermione, always trying to learn more. When do you think you will have learned enough, you think?"
Hermione knew he was teasing her and trying to make her smile, so she forced a smile on her face. Learned enough?
What she really wanted to learn was how soon this date could be over.
━━━━━━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟ☆━━━━━━
Harry gave himself a week before he made himself get up early in the morning to walk to the post in Diagon Alley to send an owl to Andromeda asking about visiting and seeing Teddy. He resolutely passed Eeylops Owl Emporium without looking at it. After Hedwig, he didn't know if he would ever feel comfortable having another owl.
The bell above the door rang as he walked in still in his muggle clothes. The posting wizard looked up and blinked rapidly before a wide smile spread across his face. "Blimey! Harry Potter! How can I help you sir?"
"I just need to post a letter. How much?"
"I couldn't charge Harry Potter! You've saved us all! You killed Voldemort!" The wizard was still smiling widely as he said it and Harry refrained from correcting him. Voldmort's own spell killed him. Harry had not.
"I insist, please." He pulled his wallet out, placing some sickles on the counter next to his letter.
"As you wish, sir, as you wish." The postman practically ran back to send Harry's letter within seconds before coming back again. "Is there anything else I can do for you? You know Eeylops has some very fine owls if you're in need."
"Thank you, no that will be all." With a slightly awkward nod, Harry made his way swiftly out. He had noticed the stares he received as he walked down Diagon Alley and, too late, he realized he probably should have disillusioned himself as opposed to going out as normal.
He quickened his pace as he moved through the streets, trying to get back to Grimmauld until he was practically running back. He was so focused on getting back home as quickly as possible, he plowed into the witch that stepped out into his path from a shop along the road. There was a loud oomph, and she hit the floor with her purchases scattered about her.
"I'm so sorr-"
"You idiot could you-"
They both stopped and stared once they realized who they were talking to. Pansy Parkinson was on the floor looking up at him, and their last interaction was suddenly playing in vivid color on both their minds. They had been in the Great Hall during the pause in the Battle of Hogwarts while Voldemort's threatening voice had rolled throughout the big room.
"Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded."
When no one had moved Pansy had jumped up from the Slytherin table shouting. "But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!"
Harry froze, not quite sure how to react and she stood up slowly, picking up her packages as he watched motionless.
Finally she looked at him, still stupidly standing there. Her voice was abrupt, although the normal cutting sharpness was absent. "Potter. I'm sorry about... you know. Everything I guess. I was scared."
After another awkward silence, she nodded at him and walked off. After a moment longer, he began to stride along again, this time paying more attention to avoid people. He didn't want congratulations, thanks or apologies.
Finally arriving and closing the door behind him at Grimmauld was a relief. It was a short-lived relief as not a moment later there was a firm knock on the door.
"Shit." He muttered as he took a second to brace himself for whoever might be there. He opened the door to see Andromeda Tonks with a tiny bundle in her arms.
Andromeda Tonks had aged quite a bit from the first time he had met her, her brown hair was now more gray than brown and there were dark circles under her eyes, but her smile and eyes seemed to say she was happy.
"I hope I'm not imposing too much. I just got your letter and well... Molly had told me about you leaving the burrow and I just wanted to come see for myself how you were doing. And of course to bring Teddy to see you."
"You're not imposing at all! I was hoping to see you and Teddy." Harry opened the door wide motioning her in.
Andromeda looked around the home curiously as she moved towards the entry room and sat on the couch in front of the fire. "Have you connected this to the floo network yet? That would make it very easy to bring Teddy to visit."
Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "It's one of the things on my to do list. It's still disconnected because of its use as the Order headquarters during the war."
He moved closer to sit on an armchair to the left of the couch. "How have you been? Has Teddy been okay?"
Andromeda gave him a surprised look as she answered. "It's been hard. I'm only forty-seven, but I feel so old already... losing Dora... It's just not right that my child should have died before me."
She paused, composing herself and staring down at Teddy. "I'm tired all the time, but Teddy helps give me a reason to keep moving. He's such a good baby."
She cooed at Teddy as he waved his little arms around. "What about you Harry? Are you okay financially speaking? My understanding was your godfather left you as the Black heir..I can try to help you if you need it." She probed delicately.
"What? No, I'm fine. I'm flush, really. I just uh may have trouble accessing my funds... perhaps. Gringotts may have, um, banned me. Sorting that out is another thing on my to do list."
"Are you sure Harry? Pride doesn't help you keep a roof over your head." Andromeda's voice was gently admonishing, and he looked at her in confusion, not really sure why she was pushing this.
"No, really. I'm good. Why would you..." He followed her pointed glance down at his clothes, which honestly he had thrown on without a thought. His shirt had a hole... and what looked suspiciously like a bloodstain on the front His jeans were worn at the knees and looked to be unraveling at the ends. Ah. Well, that kind of put a different perspective on the conversation with the post wizard, Harry thought, with no small amount of embarrassment.
Harry cleared his throat, feeling his face turn red. "No. I really do have sufficient funds. What I haven't had yet is the time to get new clothes since, well–since everything." He looked around the house. "And I'm going to need to redecorate here and get some of these portraits off the walls."
At that moment, Teddy started fussing slightly. He was so tiny his baby noises were more like little gasps of discontent as he wiggled in Andromeda's arms.
"Harry, would you mind holding him for a minute while I locate his bottle?" Andromeda must have anticipated an affirmative answer, because the baby was placed in his arms before he could even nod.
Harry looked down at Teddy with his small wisps of teal blue hair and brown eyes as he scrunched his face in hunger. He was so tiny he barely seemed to weigh anything at all. Harry rocked him slightly back and forth making a shushing noise, and Teddy's face relaxed as he stared up at Harry curiously.
"Hello there." Harry said softly.
"Want to feed him? You seem to be really good with him." Andromeda held out the bottle with a soft smile.
"Yes." Harry eagerly reached out for the bottle, gently letting the baby latch on. Teddy's little hands came up as if he was trying to make sure the bottle didn't go away and Harry gave a soft laugh. "Don't worry, I'm going to make sure you get everything you need."
"You're good with him."
"I want to be a big part of his life, and see him, and maybe even have him with me when I can, if you don't mind of course."
Andromeda looked at Harry carefully. "I think that would be wonderful actually, but we do need to make sure we get your home updated and I can also help with your shopping if you need assistance in that manner."
"I don't want to take any attention away from Teddy..."
"Not at all I can speak with Kreacher, house-elves are extremely skilled with basic surface redecorations."
They smiled at each other, both happy with how the visit was turning out. Teddy turned his face away from the bottle when there was still a bare amount of milk left and waved his little arms as if trying to push it away. Harry slowly lifted him to his shoulder and patted him on the back.
"Excellent, Harry! I was just going to say he would need to be burped. How did you know?"
Not pausing his patting of Teddy's back, Harry answered. "I picked up some books on childcare. I've been trying to read them at night when I can't sleep."
"I'm sure Teddy is going to love having you as his godfather. But aren't you going to be starting school again soon?"
"No actually. Gawain Robards has offered both me and Ron positions as Aurors. I start training in July."
"Oh. I see. I had heard Hermione was heading back to school, so I just thought..."
Harry grinned at the mention of Hermione. He knew she was still a little brassed off that he and Ron had decided to join the Aurors, instead. "Yes, she's going back determined to finish her N.E.W.Ts, you know. We've all been together constantly for the past year or so. It's so strange that we're not together now. But we all have so many things to take care of..."
Harry trailed off a little guiltily at that. He should be reaching out to Hermione more. He was still a little—okay, more than a little upset at the revelation she had obliviated her parents to keep them safe and not told anyone. He didn't know what he could have done, but at least he could have helped her and acknowledged it! She kept it all to herself, though, and he honestly didn't know how she managed.
She had left after she had confessed to him and Ron what she had done to her parents. Her plan had been to use the trust fund her parents set up for her through muggle banks and hire private detectives to try to track down her parents. Harry had immediately gone to the Ministry despite the fact the sight of the building still set his anxiety spiking.
Kingsley Shacklebolt had seen him right away and Harry had bluntly demanded he assign a team to help track down Hermione's parents. Shacklebolt had seemed more than accommodating and for once being the "chosen one" had worked in Harry's favor.
"Don't worry Harry, I can help you get everything done before you go for training in July. And seeing you with Teddy—of course you can take him for visits. Just let me know."
"Hear that Teddy? We're going to be spending as much time together as I can manage. I promise." Harry said to the little three-month-old still on his shoulder.
━━━━━━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟ☆━━━━━━
Hermione plopped down on the living room couch of her parents' former home with a sigh and Crookshanks immediately leapt onto her lap with an annoyed yowl demanding pets. She stroked the cat softly, and he began to make a purring rumble.
"I am so sorry Crookshanks that I had to spend all day cleaning as opposed to petting you." The half kneezle flicked her a superior look as if to say she was not forgiven.
Hermione had only a little bit of time to rest before she had to get up and get dressed for her date night with Ron. Since she had picked out their last date, Ron had picked this one. Word was that the Hollyhead Harpies were eyeing Ginny Weasley as a potential draft and, as a thanks for their war efforts, the team had given the entire family free tickets, which Ron was stoked to take advantage of.
Hermione had reservations about their date being with basically Ron's entire family, but kept quiet about it. Harry had been invited too, but he had declined sending along a post owl advising he was watching Teddy for Andromeda that weekend.
Hermione couldn't help but feel like Harry was avoiding them, although he always responded to their posts. She hadn't seen him since the last trial with the Malfoys. She only had a short timeframe to see him as June was already almost over and Harry and Ron would be attending Auror training with no time for visits, and she herself would be going back to Hogwarts at the end of August.
Although she was eager to go back, it made her a little anxious to think she was going back without her best friends. The ministry seemed set to mandate the requirement that students who had missed their seventh year due to the war return to complete their schooling. A completely convenient exception, in her opinion, had been offered to Harry and Ron. She ignored the fact they had also offered her an exception since she wasn't taking advantage of it and was set to return for her eighth year.
Hermione glanced at the clock. She needed to get up and shower if she was going to make it over to the Burrow on time. She picked up Crookshanks and placed him on the floor ignoring his disgruntled meow.
After her shower, she tied back her hair and looked at her face critically. Should she put on makeup? The months of being on the run and hungry had left hollows under her cheekbones that still hadn't gone away. It was a bit difficult to go back to eating properly, and she frequently had to force herself to eat as she didn't feel hungry at all.
Finally, shrugging and giving up on the idea of makeup, she grabbed her old purse and left, locking up the dark, quiet house to make her way to the burrow.
Hermione approached the rickety Burrow structure a little hesitantly. Normally this close to the Burrow, you could always hear someone talking loudly or some type of noise. Instead it was hushed, even in the warm sunlight, as if even nature knew to walk delicately around the wounds suffered by those within.
Hermione did several breaths before knocking.
In. One. Two. Three.
Out. One. Two. Three.
In. One. Two. Three.
Out. One. Two. Three.
Finally plastering a smile on her face, she knocked on the door. The door opened almost immediately by a subdued Molly, who was dressed nicely with a bit of makeup.
"Come in, Hermione dear. Everyone is ready to go, I think.... George... George won't be joining us this time though..."
Hermione swallowed and nodded awkwardly, looking about the room as she entered. Percy Weasley sat close to Penelope Clearwater on the couch, their hands clasped, neither talking. Ron bounded down the stairs, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief at his behavior. He seemed to bring a bit of energy into the room.
"Hermione! Ginny's just doing some makeup charms. I don't know why. Harry's not even coming." He said with a smile as he went and gave her a peck on the cheek..
"I don't need Harry to come to put on makeup, Ronald Weasley!" Ginny's voice shouted down.
Hermione smiled at the interaction. Okay, that was much better... more normal. Even Molly looked a bit relieved by the normality as she scolded her children to stop yelling.
Faster than Hermione thought possible, they were all bustling up the stands to the Hollyheads game. Their progress was only slowed by the numerous witches and wizards that stopped to congratulate or thank Ron. When Hermione had suggested he cast a notice me not charm to avoid attention, he looked at her incredulously.
"After everything I went through? The least they can do is thank me and maybe give me a bit of milk."
When they finally sat down, Hermione tried to psyche herself into putting a smile on her face and to just enjoy the outing.
Ron leaned forward to look into her face. "Blimey. Hermione, no wonder you wanted to cast a notice me not. Maybe if you put some makeup on you wouldn't need to-OW-"
"Shut up!" Ginny hissed on his other side.
Hermione sat frozen, knowing that the surrounding people had probably heard his remark. It was confirmed when Penelope, sitting on her other side, reached over and patted her hand, giving her a sympathetic look at the rude comment from Ron.
Ron flung an arm around her shoulders. "Aw Hermione, you know I don't mean anything bad by it. The camping did a number on all three of us, I'm still eating more than normal."
"You've always eaten more than normal." Ginny's low voice came back.
"It's fine." The game hadn't even started, and Hermione already knew this was another disastrous date. She didn't want to argue, though, so she had nothing. She had noticed the other three witches - which included Molly Weasley had all worn some type of appearance glamours with subtle makeup.
Had she made the wrong decision about not doing makeup glamours? She hadn't thought Ron would care. Weren't they a bit beyond that? Or was the problem with her not valuing the date?
She honestly didn't know.
━━━━━━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟﾟ.*･｡ﾟ☆━━━━━━
Dear Harry,
I really missed you at the Hollyhead game. Ron was... Well, I'll tell you when I see you. I know you're spending time with Teddy, but couldn't we spend a little time together too? I feel like you just disappeared after the last trial. I have a million things I want to talk to you about and ask your opinion about, but it's hard to write them in a letter.
I guess this letter is just saying I miss you. Stop being a stranger.
Your Best Friend,
Hermione Granger.