AN: I know, I know, I know… there will be blood and tears. But I made it, didn't I?

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Hermione awoke from her thoughtless state when something sharp was hitting her cheek repeatedly. She turned her head to see what caused this abrupt interruption. Pigwidgeon was sitting on her shoulder. She had a note attached to his leg. He seemed relatively pleased by the fact he had managed to find Hermione and deliver message successfully. Hermione gave him a small pet on his head, took the message and shove him off.

"Go back, I'll be there later, ok, Pig?" she talked to the owl with a soft tone.

Pig spread his little wings and flew off.

Hermione,

I don't know where you're at but I figure if you're reading this Pig has managed to find you. We need you here ASAP, Harry is coming tonight and they're not buying my excuses anymore for your absence. Mum is worried sick about you, I told her to calm down and that I'm sure you're ok. Are you? Please hurry back, I will make sure nobody bothers you about this too much if you prefer to spend some time alone.

Ginny

Hermione managed a weak smile, feeling relatively better than just a moment ago. Harry was coming too, which meant she had more support on this, she was sure he'd understand. She got up on her feet, looked around to see where she was. It was some kind of a park, quite large with a little pine forest at the other end and a small pond few meters away from where she was standing. The sun was up and Hermione looked at her watch to see it was already midday. She cursed herself for spacing out like that, of course Mrs. Weasley would go nuts on her if she had been out all night. It wasn't going to get any easier if she stayed there longer, so she started walking towards some houses in the other end of the park. When she reached the road, she lifted her arm and the Knight Bus came a second later.

She ran into Tonks when she got into the hallway of Grimmauld Place Twelve. No one else was around, but there were sounds and voices coming from the kitchen.

"Dang it, Hermione! You look like… well… what's going on?"

"Erm, no time to explain, see you later," and she rushed upstairs to her bedroom.

She closed the door as quietly as possible to not to draw any unwanted attention to herself. She quickly tidied herself up and changed clothes. She went to the little bathroom at the end of the hallway and washed her face. She cursed her age because she couldn't use magic to cover the signs of the night before.

There was a knock on the door.

"Hermione, are you in there?" it was Ginny.

"Uh, yeah, just a second," she took a quick glance at the mirror, straightened her hair and opened the door.

"Wow, you look actually quite decent this time," Ginny said with a grin.

"Oh, cut it out. So what's the big fuss about, there seems to be a lot of people downstairs. Something to do with Harry?" Hermione asked. She had decided to put her own problems aside for a while, concentrate on what was going on around her.

"Yeah, seems like Harry used a Patronus to get rid of some Dementors," she explained.

"Dementors?! In Little Whinging?"

"Yeah, it appears to be so, from what dad told us this morning it seems like the ministry is denying any accusations of Dementors being in there. They're mental if you ask me, bunch of stinking moldy…"

"Yeah, I get the point. Where is Harry?" Hermione cut Ginny off.

"Well, still at Privet Drive but I suppose they're going to get him out of there pretty soon," Ginny kept explaining.

They were so focused on the ongoing conversation that they didn't notice Ron appearing behind their backs. Hermione startled a bit when he started talking.

"And where do you think you've been all night? We were worried sick about you, especially mum. Blaming us for not looking after you enough," Ron said.

"I haven't been out all night. I just got up really early for a walk, needed some fresh air," Hermione lied.

"But Ginny said…" Ron started but Hermione cut him off,

"Well, Ginny didn't know where I was, did she? She was still asleep when I left."

"Right," Ron said with disbelief in his tone, "Do you really think I'm so daft I'd believe that?"

"Honestly, Ron, yes. I do," Hermione said feeling irritated. "Now could you just get off my back already, it's none of your business."

"Who is he then?" Ron continued questioning her, "Viktor Krum?"

"Oh, yeah, Ron. That's it. And I just suddenly flew to Bulgaria or where ever he lives in just few hours and came back. And you seriously wonder why I think you're so daft?" Hermione nearly shouted. Ginny watched this quarrel slightly amused.

"Uh, I guess. Though there's nothing stopping him from coming over here to see you," Ron continued.

"Just get it, Ron, it's not Viktor. Ok?" Hermione argued back. Ginny felt like it was about time for someone to interrupt their fighting.

"Hermione, forgive my brother for being such an arse, let's just get downstairs to get you some breakfast. I think they're about done by now, I heard people leaving already." Ginny grabbed her shoulder and led her downstairs.

Tonks was just coming out of the kitchen when the three got there. She raised an eyebrow at Hermione but said nothing.

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"…so this means none of you leaves the house without escort. We can't risk any one of you facing a situation where you'd have to use magic. And no sneaking out at night, Hermione," Mrs. Weasley lectured Hermione and the rest.

"But I just took a walk!" Hermione defended herself.

"Well, then no more walks by yourself at night," she added.

"Fine," Hermione said stiffly and stormed out of the dining room. There was no reason to go out to meet Fleur anymore, she felt like bursting into tears again but held it back.

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Days went by and Hermione was getting a bit anxious; she didn't really want to leave things as they were with Fleur, but certainly didn't want to be the one to make the first contact. Her answer came eventually, delivered by no other but Bill himself. After a nice family dinner with some members from the Order, Bill caught up with Hermione in the stairways.

"She asked me to give you this," Bill said and smiled pleasantly. Hermione gave him a suspicious look, but took the letter he was holding in his hand, "and I must apologize, this confusion happened because of me. I did not know about the situation between you two and I had no intention to hurt anyone, 'kay, Hermione?"

Hermione gave him a small nod and disappeared upstairs to her room. She sat on the bed with the letter in her hands; not sure whether she wanted to open it or not. Ginny came in and Hermione asked her to open it and read it, then tell her if it was worth reading. After a few minutes she returned the letter to Hermione.

"You might wanna read this, " she said with a small grin.

Hermione,

I've been thinking a lot about things past these days we haven't seen each other. I realized just how much it means to me to have you in my life, no matter how stubborn you are always to doubt me, I only have myself to blame for the reputation I have. I miss your laughter, the way you talk about things like history with that child-like enthusiasm and the sweet scent of your hair and all the little noises you make when you sleep. I don't want to spend another night rolling in my bed without being able to sleep while thinking how much you must hate me by now, the wrong thoughts you're having about me and Bill. I also realize I cannot share my life with you right now and thinking about it almost kills me. I have my stupid pride and all, I know I said some things wrong when you came by here. I just want you to know how much you mean to me; I would give anything just to be with you right now, if there is any way you can meet me just let me know and I'll be waiting. If I get no response to this letter, none at all I take it as I never meant much to you, since I know if you ever cared for me you'd give me any sort of reply.

Fleur

"Uhm, Ginny? I think I might need your help again. I promise I'll be back before dawn, just tell them I'm not feeling alright or something, ok?" Hermione pleaded.

"I knew you'd say that, sure thing. I got you covered. Might wanna ask Harry's assistance too though, the Invisibility Cloak wouldn't do any harm," Ginny said and grinned widely.

Few moments later she had the cloak on and was heading to entrance hall. Bill was just walking across the hall about to leave, she walked right behind him when he opened and closed the front door. When they were out on the street he spoke out. Hermione startled a bit not realizing he had noticed her presence.

"Good luck."

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She stood there in front of Fleur's apartment door for a while. Not sure what she should say to her when she would come to open the door for her. She decided to just see where things lead, took off the cloak and knocked on the door. It took a while but Fleur eventually opened the door and looked mildly surprised to see Hermione standing there. Neither of them spoke and there was a long awkward silence. Fleur looked like she was going to say something but she couldn't get a word out of her mouth. Hermione broke the silence.

"May I come in?"

"Oui, of course," Fleur said and moved out of the way.

Once inside Hermione realized she hadn't really answered anything to Fleur's letter yet, that's why Fleur was so quiet. She pulled Fleur by the arm and embraced her. No words were needed at that moment; they both knew what was happening. This would be the last night for a long, long time.

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Ok, fellows. This is it.

For a while again.

Bare with me.

I'm slow, I know.

Reviews are highly appreciated. Kthanxbye. :3