1Disclaimer: I didn't magically become J.K. Rowling overnight. Dammit.

SEQUEL TO THE NEW CHICK! YAY!

Chapter 1: Invitations

The whole evening was bound to be surreal. From the moment that she received her invitation, Hermione knew she was in for trouble. How could one return to the home they had finally distanced themselves from? But she decided to go anyway, because, after all, Hogwarts hadn't just been her school. So Hermione responded to the invitation promptly and sent the Hogwarts owl which had delivered it back the way it had come. The moment the owl had left Hermione realized what a mistake she had made.

Hogwarts was at least fairly realistic, when it wanted to be, so the invitation came with plenty of time before the reunion itself: Hermione had a whole month to fret over her impending doom. While she was sure she could simply not go, she was worried about offending McGonagle. Besides, it was just as exciting as it was terrifying to return to her old school.

Then on the logistical side Hermione had a fair bit of planning to do. It was absolutely essential that she look her best and she was dead set on doing just that. The invitation had said semi-formal, which meant formal, so Hermione had to consider her options carefully. With her job came a fair bit of formal celebration, but she didn't own anything she would enjoy wearing: it was all strictly professional and elegant. After all, the Minister of Magic's assistant had to be a perfect example of professionalism.

It only took Hermione a moment to decide that nothing she owned would do and that a little shopping was in order. Then there was the matter of her actual physical appearance.

After putting on a great deal of weight directly after school, Hermione had worked hard and was now in the best shape she had ever been in. She ran obsessively, although she still hated it as passionately as she had while at school. She dieted carefully and almost never ate sugar. Needless to say Hermione looked great and was starving for a piece of chocolate cake.

Like her clothing, her physical appearance had to be strictly professional. Even the slightest hint of immaturity or un-professionalism and the ministry would rethink appointing her as the youngest Minister's assistant to date. She was clearly being groomed for the job and would not only be the youngest Minister of Magic, but also the first female Minister in wizarding history. Therefore her curly brown hair was shoulder length, simply and generally worn in a bun, unlike the candy-apple red she had ended her school career with. Her make-up was as a rule plain and unexciting, often giving her an overly strict and mature look at the young age of 23 (she estimated that she was about 23, but it was hard to be certain due to her Time-Turner days).

Something had to change if Hermione were to make the impression she hoped to make. And especially if the one person she really wanted to see would be in attendance at the five year reunion.

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Draco carefully reread the invitation in his hand, stroking his chin thoughtfully and ignoring the impatient owl at his elbow. He sat in his favorite chair in the lavish library of Malfoy Mansion. It was right by a window overlooking his extensive grounds and the June breeze coming through the open window played gently over his pale skin, causing his silver-blond hair to wave slightly.

A five-year reunion, was it? Well, Draco had never heard of such an idea before. Perhaps it was a new idea of Dumbledore's, perhaps the teachers had never thought that the students really needed to know about it before. Or perhaps it was an older practice, suspended during the days of Voldemort and reinstated since Potter had defeated him one year earlier.

Whatever the reason, Draco's graduating class had been invited back for a semi-formal party in Hogwarts' Great Hall and gardens. Now Draco's only problem was whether or not he should go. The party itself was bound to be mundane at best and most of his former classmates were bound to be a pain. The Slytherins, or what was left of them, in particular promised to be rather irritating. Draco knew that Pansy was still alive and well and recently divorced from a much older pureblood, so she was definitely going to be a nuisance. Blaise Zabini, too, was a survivor, but he probably wouldn't be too bad. Crabbe and Goyle were both in Azkaban, but Draco didn't much care. Most of his other house-mates would probably be there which was definitely a strike against the party.

Then there were the other houses. Draco knew few Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs of enough significance for him to care whether they attended or not. Gryffindors, as a rule, he was mostly against. Potter was almost guaranteed to attend the reunion, and Weasley would probably be right behind him. That would be annoying, but perhaps tolerable if the third member of their trio came with them.

Hermione Granger. Draco hadn't seen her, hadn't even spoken her name aloud, in the five years since graduating. The last time he had been even kind of close had been on the platform of the train-station where Hermione had waved good-bye one last time before walking out of his life. But he had thought about her, almost constantly. His nights were haunted by dreams of Hermione and he scanned the newspaper every day for news of her.

Draco had been tracking Hermione's career very closely. He had frequently considered sending her notes to congratulate her accomplishments, but he had always been to afraid. What if she didn't respond? Almost worse, what if she did? How could he face her again? Draco often imagined speaking to Hermione, but he had no idea what he would say to her.

How do you greet the person who broke your heart (repeatedly) after five years of nothing, especially if you broke their heart back just as frequently?

If only he had a way of knowing whether or not she would be there too. Considering it for a while, Draco decided she probably would be. And besides, even if Hermione didn't go, it wouldn't be too taxing to get there and he could always leave early.

Scribbling a quick confirmation on the back of the card, Draco attached his invitation to the school owl's leg and sent off through the open window. Now to wait.

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Hermione put off deciding what to wear in a fit of nerves over Draco and put the reunion from her mind until the next day at work. She was on her lunch break and had gone to the Leaky Cauldron to meet Harry and Ron for lunch like they did every day. They worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as Aurors, having completed their training two years earlier. Harry's elevation to full Auror had come just in time for him to fight and defeat Voldemort, finally bringing the wizarding world to peace. At least, for now.

Since there was very little crime following Voldemort's downfall the boys spent most of their time at work doing ridiculous amounts of paperwork. Hermione had never expected to hear Harry wishing for an attack on the wizarding community, but he often did, hoping to alleviate his boredom.

Hermione and the boys had drifted apart for most of their training; their training had been extremely time consuming and Hermione's internship with the Experimental Department for Charms had also kept her busy. Besides, Hermione had become rather reclusive for the first year or so after school. But towards the end of their training the boys' schedules had calmed down a little and the trio had reconnected. By that time Hermione had worked her way up the department and the only thing keeping her from running it was the very elderly witch in charge who refused to retire. Hermione was moved into a low-level position in the Department of Mysteries and, after demonstrating her impressive organizational and communicative skills had been made the Minister's assistant. Now it was only a matter of time until Hermione herself became Minister, and she knew it well.

Since reconnecting the trio had vowed to stay close. A part of that vow involved eating lunch together everyday and sometimes going out all together, though Hermione was often too busy and the boys were often too tired, Ron in particular burdened by his home situation

At present Harry and Ginny were living together and most likely would soon become engaged. Ginny was working for Fred and George, helping to run several branches of their company, but had dreams of opening a Quidditch supplies shop of her own.

Ron had already married an American witch one year earlier (they had eloped in Las Vegas), which had completely surprised everyone. They were currently trying to get pregnant. Hermione never ceased to be amused that Ron had grown up the fastest. Hermione herself was single and lived alone, but she frequently visited her parents.

Harry and Ron were waiting for her when she reached the Leaky Cauldron. Harry looked stunned, but happy, and Ron was grinning in an extremely goofy manner.

"Hello boys," Hermione took the empty seat at their table. "What'd I miss?"

"Hermione, Ariel's pregnant!" Ron was practically glowing in happiness. "We found out this morning. I'm gonna be a dad!"

"Oh my God, Ron, that's great!" Hermione threw her arms around Ron's neck and gave him a firm kiss on his cheek. She looked at her childhood friend, feeling as shocked as Harry looked. They really were growing up.

"I was getting a little nervous, I mean we'd been trying for a few months and I was afraid something might be wrong," Ron continued.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ronald, my parents spent two years conceiving me. You just don't have anything reasonable to be compared to because you're a Weasley and you bunch breed like rabbits." Ron blushed. "And it seems Ariel is just as fertile as you are." She continued as he turned even redder.

"So, Hermione," Harry began, trying to change the subject from the fertility of his girlfriend's family. "Did you get your invitation yesterday too?"

Hermione instantly knew what he was talking about, since it was what she had been thinking about all day too. "Yeah. I'm going, how about you two?"

Harry nodded. "Me and Ginny'll be there. Ron?"

Ron looked indecisive. "I dunno, I mean Ariel won't know anybody, and maybe she should be resting."

"Ron, she'll know at least three people besides you. And besides, she'll only be one month pregnant or so by that time, not nine months. I highly doubt she won't be able to handle one night out." Hermione brushed off his worries almost callously.

Ron still seemed racked with indecision. "Come on, how fun can a school reunion be?"

"Open bar." Harry put in briefly. That made up Ron's mind for him.

"The best part is we'll have someone sober to look after us no matter what," Ron grinned after a moment. "Ariel won't be able to drink." The three laughed.

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The next day was a Saturday, so Hermione went dress shopping with Ginny and Ariel. At that particular time in wizarding pop-culture the cool place to buy dresses from was a little boutique in Diagon Alley called GemKay. It was a small chain of American designer stores, all designed by the unknown owner of GemKay. It sold everything from trendy, chain-covered rocker pants to elegant ball-gowns along with all kinds of shoes. One of the brilliant innovations of the designer was a charm that came with every article of clothing that made it grow with the wearer, making it possible for Ariel to buy a dress without worrying about gaining baby-weight by the time of the reunion.

Ginny, who loved shopping as much as she loved Quidditch or Harry, was in heaven. Everything she could possibly want from a dress shop all in one place. Ginny quickly chose a deep-red ball-gown that, while matching her hair nicely, would probably not clash too badly with whatever green thing Harry was bound to wear. Ariel took a little longer before choosing a pale yellow silk dress that complemented her pale skin and dirty-blond hair nicely. The cut would look flattering even if she gained a little weight and it looked very nice on her stick-thin frame.

Hermione took a little longer. She had always been very picky when it came to shopping, mostly because she hated wasting money. She roamed the boutique for quite some time, intent on finding the perfect dress. She would know it when she saw it, that much she was sure of. Turning a corner found her in the slightly odder part of the store and she knew she was on the right track.

Walking down each aisle in this part of the store was like walking through her seventh year. Every article of clothing practically screamed Jule to her, but Hermione knew it couldn't have anything to do with Jule. Could it?

Everything here was black, dark red, or things like hot pink or lime green. There were frills, spikes, chains, laces and tons of tulle. One wall was completely covered in lace- and button-up corsets in varying colors. Another wall was devoted to clunky steel-toed boots. Coming close Hermione was stunned to see that most of the tongues were adorned with tiny bats, although several held rampant lionesses and one pair of men's boots had wolves.

Hermione's ears rang. Could this be the work of the long-since vanished Jule? It really looked like it could be, and Jule had wanted to be a fashion designer... Hermione put it from her mind. If Jule were somehow involved in GemKay then it wouldn't make a difference either way: she would still be in New York City no doubt, if that was where she had really gone after leaving Hogwarts.

Hermione looked through the dresses. She wanted to return to her old style, but knew that it wouldn't be prudent to look too strange: after all, she had to work with many of the witches and wizards bound to be at the reunion and she couldn't let them damage her reputation or her career. She still occasionally heard about the rumors that she was a lesbian that had been started in her seventh year. She eventually decided on a long, slinky black dress. The under-layer was black silk and it was covered by an outer-layer of black lace in slightly spiky floral-esque designs. It had a plunging v-shaped neckline and tank-top type straps. The skirt was long and reached the floor when she wore black heels with it. Hermione was fairly content with her choice and payed for it happily.

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After buying the dress Hermione was able to put the approaching reunion out of her mind and avoided thinking of a certain blonde slytherin who was bound to be there until one week before the reunion. She had been looking into her bathroom mirror, considering hairstyles, when all of a sudden she had no longer been able to avoid the truth. Dropping the hair she held piled on top of her head, Hermione grasped the porcelain sides of her sink for support and gasped loudly. /This must be a panic attack/ Hermione thought wryly as she struggled to breath. She was going to see Draco again. How could she ever tell him the truth?

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Draco, for his part, spent the time leading up to the reunion thinking of little but Hermione. He had no job to occupy himself with, and he was usually fairly bored anyway. Thinking about it, it was no surprise that so many rich pureblood family resorted to crime and the Dark Arts: they had nothing better to do.

Draco had been enduring intense boredom for the five years since graduation. His mother had moved out of the mansion at his request and currently lived in a very fashionable town-house in London and owned several manors in France and Spain, as far as Draco knew. He couldn't really tolerate his mother, truth be told, and didn't spend much energy thinking about her doings. His father had recently received the Dementor's Kiss, but Draco hadn't gotten upset over it: good riddance to bad rubbish and all that.

Hermione, however, was always on his mind and this agonizing waiting was making it all the worse. Draco spent almost every moment on edge, thinking of the moment when he would see her again. It was driving him mad.

Such was his boredom that in recent years Draco had begun to consider taking up some sort of career. Quidditch was every little wizarding boy's dream, but Draco was honest enough with himself to admit that he wasn't quite good enough for that. Ministry jobs seemed frightfully tiresome and time consuming, so that was also out of the question. What was left? Draco had no skills or creations with which to set up any kind of business or shop. What he was good at was learning and studying. Maybe he should find some kind of apprenticeship: it would be something to do at least.

But either way, that had left Draco's mind for the moment: all of his attention was completely focused on Hermione. Would she look different? Would she be different? Would she think he had changed? He doubted the last very much; he hadn't done enough to change. But Hermione was bound to be different. For one thing she would almost definitely be more mature.

Two nights before the reunion Draco lay sleeplessly in bed, going through all this in his mind over and over again. Finally, fed up with himself and his nerves, he threw his pillow across the room and admitted aloud what he had been suppressing for five whole years. "I miss you Hermione," he whispered into the darkness of his room. "I want you back."

A/N: And so it begins again, mwahahahaha! Once again, if you didn't realize before, this is a sequel. Read the New Chick by me. Yay!