"I understand. Hope you feel better, Hermione."
Hermione nodded awkwardly and they parted ways.
Sunday Harry called again. Hermione started to beckon Luna over to the phone, but paused when Harry asked for a private word. Hermione quickly held up her hand instead and mouthed 'wait a minute' away from the receiver. Luna nodded and sat back down to work on the scroll she had been writing on.
"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Do you know what Ginny's life goals are?"
"Erm... other than Quidditch? No, it's not something we normally include in our 'girl talk.'"
"Oh... well, do you know if she wants to do anything before she settles down?"
"You want to know if she wants to travel?" Hermione guessed, but Harry sighed frustratedly. "What are you trying to get at," Hermione finally huffed.
"You know, does she..."
"Does she what?" Hermione prompted as the silence lengthened.
"There's my girl!" it sounded like Harry's mouth was away from the phone. Hermione heard him put down the phone and Ron's irritated voice in the background. A moment later Harry was back on the phone, "speakerphone is on!"
"Hermione, tell Harry that he needs to stop with the PDA!" Ron jumped in right away.
"Ron, Harry's house is not public; therefore, it is not a 'Public Display of Affection,'" Hermione replied patiently.
"Fine, tell him that snogging my little sister is disgusting and he has to wait until she's older."
"Not that again, Ronald," Ginny cut in. "I'm twenty one! It's none of your business what we do!"
"Yeah, but just barely," Ron grumbled.
Everyone's voices were short and snippy and Hermione figured this had become a near constant argument amongst them when they met up.
"Besides, Ron," Harry joined. "You didn't seem to be bothered when you snogged Hermione. She was only eighteen then, right?"
Hermione silently groaned, Harry had encroached on the 'forbidden subject.' Ron sputtered.
"Harry!" Ginny whispered indignantly.
"Look where that got me!" Ron answered angrily. "She's on the other side of the planet now."
Hermione stayed silent as her mind rushed for an answer. It wasn't like he was the only reason she had moved, but he had been a deciding factor. Everyone asking about her and Ron had really started to grate on her already thin nerves.
"I don't think that's why Hermione moved to America, right?" Harry asked.
"Erm... of course not!" Hermione tried to laugh.
"So, she still left me!"
Hermione winced. This was also a oft repeated conversation. Hermione never came out and said that she wanted to break up since they never officially 'got together.' However, it seemed that Ron thought they had.
"Well, Hermione?" Ron pressed. "Why did you ditch me?"
"I'm not 'ditching' you."
"No, you're just being a coward! You are running from us just like you've run away from anything that has to do with the war!" Ron sounded like he was working himself up to being furious.
"Ron, go cool off in the kitchen!" Ginny had decided to interrupt their 'lover's spat.' There was a small scuffle and then Ginny continued, falsely cheery, "he's gone!"
"I'm sorry," Hermione continued desperately. She silently begging her friends to forgive her, worried they hated her for how she treated Ron.
"Hermione," Harry started and paused. "If you had to break it off, it was better you did it earlier." Harry's statement left an unsaid 'but' hanging in the air.
"So, what are you planning on doing for your birthday?" Ginny broke in, pouring the cheeriness on strong.
"What?" Hermione asked, caught off guard.
"It's only two weeks away, what are you going to do? Who are you going out with?"
"Erm... Luna, I guess, if she isn't busy?" Hermione started when she realized Luna was still working on her scroll. "Luna!" Luna looked up with a sedated smile, ink spread across her lower lip where she had tapped it with her quill. "Please, come join us!" As Luna got up, Hermione explained, "we were talking about my birthday, are you free on the nineteenth?"
"For your birthday?" Luna asked. "That's next Thursday, isn't it?"
"You've been keeping track?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"Of course! That's what a friend does, isn't it? Keep track of important information about someone?"
"Or a stalker," Ginny muttered, barely audible.
"Ginny!" Hermione scolded, but continued, "Thank you, Luna!" She gave into the impulse to give Luna a quick embrace.
"Oh!" Luna said, and delicately patted Hermione on the back.
"So," Ginny prompted. "What are you going to do? You can't hide at home with a book now that I'm not there to take you out!"
"There is a full moon that weekend," Luna explained. "I thought we could go stargazing that night and watch as the mooncalves come out, and maybe collect their feces."
Hermione was too busy being touched that Luna had thought about her to debate the attractions of mooncalf feces.
Ginny was not in similar awe. "Have you made any friends at school, Hermione?"
"Kind of?" Hermione hedged.
"You could do something with them too, right?"
"Possibly..."
"Okay, Hermione, out with it, what's the problem?"
"Well, the friends I have made are in my lab group."
"So?"
"Well, if I invited some of them, it would probably be uncouth to not invite all of them."
"I don't see the problem. The more the merrier!"
"Draco Malfoy is in my lab group."
"Merlin's beard!"
"Dragon bogeys!" Harry and Ginny exclaimed their disbelief almost simultaneously.
"What? What did I miss?" came Ron's voice in the background, suspiciously sounding like he was talking around food.
"How is Draco Malfoy going to your school?" Harry cried.
"That bastard!" Ron joined and Hermione could determine that his mouth was indeed full of something. "Why he'd come out of hiding there... or at all?"
"How did he manage to go to the exact school as you, Hermione?" Ginny asked.
Hermione shrugged, she had asked herself the same question. "The school is the most prestigious in the Eastern United States. It figures that Malfoy would want to go a prestigious university, right?"
"Of all the rotten luck," Ginny commiserated.
"Do they know who he is? You should get him kicked out!" Ron added.
"He's put on this 'reformed' act," Hermione sighed. "He told the teacher the he's 'changed' and that he's sorry for what he did."
"Maybe he is sorry," Luna joined in.
"Rubbish!" Ron exclaimed angrily.
"How is he treating you, Hermione?" Harry cut in.
"He's always throwing around childish insults but he hasn't called me a mudblood," Hermione replied. "I think he's scared of how people will see him. There's this weird prejudice against purebloods over here. They assume all purebloods acted and believed like the Death Eaters."
"That's backward," Harry commented. "Just look at the Weasley family."
"That's what I told them!" Hermione joined heatedly.
"Keep an eye on him, Hermione, he's still Malfoy," Harry said in a worried tone. "Has he done anything suspicious?"
"No... he seems almost civil?" Hermione mused. "I'll let you guys know if he does, though."
"Civil? Malfoy?" Ron snorted.
"Yeah, I know. That's why it seems suspicious."
"Keep us updated, okay Hermione?" Harry said.
"Sure, Harry."
With that, they said their goodbyes. Hermione hung up the phone and realized Harry hadn't finished their initial conversation or anything else, for that matter. She decided that she rather leave it at that, though. Everyone had forgotten their annoyances with her once Malfoy had been brought up and she wanted it to stay that way. He's actually good for something, she thought, amused.
"We didn't talk about you, Luna," Hermione continued as the thought occurred to her. "How is it going with your work and your boss?" She remembered the question from the other day. "You said your boss was acting weird?"
"Yes, that..." Luna acknowledged. "He'll be talking and then trail off and stare at me. He jumped when our hands accidentally touched and was very adamant that someone else join us when we observed Diriclaw under the Brooklyn bridge the other night."
Hermione's eyebrows raised, "He sounds very gentlemanly."
"He is very traditional in his dress and customs. There are some who are very rude to him because he holds on to the old ways."
"That's horrible," Hermione sympathized.
"Yes, he doesn't let it bother him, though."
"So, maybe you could invite him when we go mooncalf watching? I'd like to meet him."
"I'll see if he is available," Luna acquiesced. "I'll see if your friends are available on your birthday and we celebrate with them as well."
"Oh, you don't have to do that, Luna!" Hermione wondered if Luna had somehow missed the Draco Malfoy fiasco that had just occurred on the phone.
"But don't you like celebrating your birthday with your friends?" Luna asked.
"Er... yes, but Luna..."
"Don't worry," Luna said in her soft, airy voice. "Do you plan on getting the day off?"
"No, there will be plenty of time after school if we do something."
"Speaking of which, what are you doing on Wednesday?"
"Wednesday?"
"Yes, it's September 11th."
Hermione felt the pit of her stomach drop. She had forgotten. She had seen it on the television and felt that horror that radiated from the people of New York, but she had soon been caught up again in her own life and it's troubles. Now she was in New York, the place where it happened, only a year afterwards and all the memories from that day rushed in again. She shrugged helplessly.
"I hadn't thought about it, I probably still have school."
"Tell me once you know."
Hermione nodded as Luna wandered off into her room.