A/N: Holy meow! I know. Two chapters in two days after so long? I can hardly believe it. Honestly, I thought I was going to have a lot of trouble getting back into this story but I'm beginning to think otherwise. I don't know if this is how it works for all of you other writers out there but for me, I hear the character in my head. They tell me the story and I put it into words. When I was writing the last chapter I was trying so hard to find Hermione's voice, or at least the Hermione from this story. I looked hard but all I got was this weak little voice from the back of my head. Last night I was up all night taking care of my boyfriend because he's really sick and I got like a half an hour of sleep, seriously. I was about to go to bed when out of nowhere BOOM! Her voice shows up. Exhausted as ever, I run for my lap top and it just flows right out like I never even took a break from this story to begin with. I finished it super quickly and then I hurried on over here to post if for you. So that's how dedicated I am to continuing the story. I'm actually really excited with how this chapter turned out because I can feel the flow of the story in it again. So hurray! I hope you like it.

I don't remember if I dedicated the last chapter to anybody. I know I used to be pretty big on that but I don't really have anybody in mind right now. So for the next chapter, which will hopefully be just as soon, I will look over the reviews and pick somebody to dedicate the chapter to. Hope everyone is well, glad to see that not everybody gave up on me! =]

Chapter 21: Life with the Lynchs

Hermione's fingers drummed in a rhythmic beat on the desk in her bedroom. It was all she could do to keep herself from crying. She couldn't bare to glance around the room. It hurt to much. There was no guarantee that she was going to come out of this battle alive. She was more than sure that she was wanted dead by many people. She was almost beginning to doubt some of the people who she never thought could hurt her. Who was she supposed to trust anymore? The first time she had just gotten it over with, but this time it felt so much harder. Everything was moving too quickly. Everything had been going perfect. Absolutely perfect, and then she stopped tip toeing for one second and suddenly there's an avalanche.

A quick glance at the clock told Hermione that she needed to get a move on. She was already running late and her friends would be worried. Hopefully they would stay put though. She didn't want them to come and find her. She needed to be alone for this. It was already painful enough.

The young witch rose from the light wooded chair and walked toward the door of her childhood room. For a moment she stopped and turned back, allowing her eyes to gaze over the room one last time. Everything was in order of course. Every boob on the wall of bookshelves had a perfect place and they were all tightly squeezed together in the space. The purple walls still looked the same as when she was a young girl, and she didn't even feel ashamed of the fact that she still had the same butterfly bed sheets on her bed. No, it was perfect. This was exactly how Hermione wanted to remember it because the room reminded her of a better time. A time when she was young, innocent and it felt as though she had the world in her hands.

Without a word Hermione exited the room and with a slow pace she made her way down the hallway. She was taking extra time to really take one last look at everything. Last time she hadn't done this, but last time she had known they would win. Of course she couldn't have possibly known but she believed in them. She just knew they would win. This time she wasn't so unsure. She was uneasy about the fact that they had little to go on and Voldemort probably already knew what they were after. What if he had gone into her mind? What if he had stolen her memories? Well, he would have the wasn't even going to be there this time. She and Harry hadn't talked about it yet but it was probably just going to be the two of them. She didn't mind of course, but Ron had helped a lot. Well, not a lot but he had contributed.

Every picture on the walls struck her heart with pain. The memories had already been wiped away from them. She had done it in the morning when her parents had left for work. It was a Saturday, so they only worked until noon. They had arrived home just a short while ago, unaware of her presence. She would have gone down to see them sooner but she wanted to prolong the moment for as long as she could. She just wanted things to stay alright for a little while, she wanted a chance to breathe.

As Hermione made her way down he oak stair case a million memories passed through her mind. Like the time she fell down the stairs and broke her wrist, like when her grandfather died and her mother held her on the stairs as she wept, like Christmas with Draco and her parents. It had been so perfect. She had been so naive to think that it could last. In the back of her mind she knew that it couldn't, but she chose to ignore it. She was happy that she had though, it gave her more amazing memories to cherish. As she got to the second last stair it creaked. She had forgotten about the old floor board, it had no doubt alerted her parents of her presence. Her stomach sank knowing that it meant she would have to get it over with even more quickly now.

"Is somebody there?" Her father's uneasy voice came from the kitchen, followed by the scraping of his chair against the wooded floors.

"It's me, Dad." Hermione told him, doing everything in her power to keep her voice level.

"Pumpkin?" Her mother's chair followed the scraping of her father's and in the blink of an eye they were before her; confused, but beaming.

"Why aren't you at school?" Dan Granger asked her.

No doubt he was concerned. It was unlike Hermione to skip out on knew that school wasn't supposed to be out for another two weeks. But with the death of Dumbledore and the mess at Hogwarts, they had been let out early.

"Exams came early this year, it was a bit of a treat. They let us out a bit early. I didn't even know about it until last night. I couldn't get an owl to send you a message, so I just stayed at a friend's house last night and came over first thing this morning." She could hear the lie in her voice, but she hoped that her parents could not.

If they did hear it, they did nothing to show it because they were quickly offering her a seat in the living room, wanting to catch up. She didn't refuse. For all she knew this could be the last time she ever got to speak to her parents. It was kind of a big deal. Draco and Harry could wait a little longer. She needed more time. Surly they would understand. They of all people had to. So Hermione sat down with her parents and for a while they talked. They spoke of Draco, about her school year, about the following year and her parents excitedly made plans for the summer. They wanted to invite Draco back over, and do some family things. It warmed her heart to know how easily they accepted him as one of their own. Hermione wanted the conversation to be easy and light but instead it felt forced, and almost painful in a way. Her father was completely oblivious but Hermione could tell that her mother knew. She was giving her a look like they would talk about it later. Little did she know that they wouldn't get the chance.

After speaking with her parents for a good hour, Hermione knew that she couldn't put it off any longer. She excused herself, saying that she had to go to the washroom. Before she left the room she turned to her parents.

"Mom, Dad?" Her voice was hesitant. They looked over together, "I just want you to know that... You're the best parents I could have ever asked for. I really appreciate all that you've done for me. I love you guys." Hermione felt tears sting her eyes but she refused to let them fall, not until they looked away.

They both looked at her confused, but happy. They told her they loved her and she fled from the room. She went to the washroom and slumped to the floor. The girl forced back sobs and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. When she was sure that she could handle it she made her way out of the washroom and quietly made her way back to the living room. Her parents had their backs to her, they never saw it coming. Hermione raised her wand and with the whisper of a charm she took them away. She took away who they were, what they knew and most of all she took away herself. They wouldn't remember her, not even if they tried.

"You took forever." Draco whispered as he wrapped his arms around her.

She instantly broke down into tears. It was to much. Her heart felt like it had been cut from her chest. It hurt to breathe. It hadn't been this bad last time. She knew that if she didn't calm down the contents of her stomach would soon be on the floor.

"What happened?" He rubbed her back softly and kissed the top of her head.

"Nothing. It's just hard." Hermione managed to get out.

Hermione hadn't seen Katie approach but she was holding out a small vile for her with a sympathetic look on her face. Hermione eyed the contents of it, waiting for some kind of explanation.

"Calming draught." Katie held it out further, "It'll help."

Hermione nodded and took the vile and in one swig down the contents. Instantly she felt a calm wash over her body and slowly the tears began to stop. The pain faded a little and she was able to breathe again. Why did everything have to be so much harder than the first time around? Was she more emotionally attached? It was probably the best explanation for what was going on.

"I'm really sorry, Hermione. I can't even imagine how hard that was for you." Katie pulled her away from Draco and into a tight hug.

Over Katie's shoulder she could see Harry staring at her with sad eyes. He blamed himself for the pain Hermione was feeling but he didn't understand that it would have happened anyway. They needed to be safe and as long as she was a part of the wizarding world, they would never be safe. Not if Voldemort was around. Slowly her memory was falling into place, nothing useful had come her way but anything was better than nothing at all. She knew that soon muggle borns would be brought into question and thrown into Azkaban if they could not prove that they were a part of a wizarding family. Her family could have been used against her.

When Katie let go of Hermione, she walked over and wrapped her arms around Harry.

"It's not your fault, Harry. They would have had to go into hiding, even if I wasn't involved with you." She told him, trying to lighten the burden he was carrying, if only a little.

All he did was nod. He understood, he knew it was true but he would probably keep blaming himself. She was about ready to blow up at him for all of the self blame, but she knew it wouldn't help. He took things to personally. But he would fix it. He couldn't fix the things that could happen, but he could fix the future. Something that didn't change when she went back in time was that Hermione believed in Harry. She knew that he could do it, even if Voldemort had the upperhand. Harry's heart was to pure, to good to just lose.

"I think we could all do with some cheering up." Katie said, motioning for all of the others to go inside.

"I couldn't agree more." Draco said, she could still see the worry on his face.

It was shocking to her that she had ever believed, even for a moment, that he didn't care about her. It was written all over him. It was easy to see now that she had worked past all of the hate that Ron had put into her. She was now able to look in the mirror and see more than the woman who wasn't good enough to love him. She was able to believe that maybe there was something good about her after all. And she was without a doubt able to believe that Draco cared about her, that he wanted to be with her. He had more than proved that. If he could befriend Harry for her sake, obviously there was some care involved.

"And then out of nowhere it swooped down and it's tooth just caught my arm!" Alex said with a little to much enthusiasm, "If I had been even an inch over I probably would have lost my arm."

He raised his sleeve and showed the five teenagers a big, pink scar that took up the length of his forearm. Hermione believed that he could have lost an arm, it wasn't a pretty scar.

Alex Lynch, Katie's older brother. It was almost shocking to Hermione how alike they were. They both had the same up beat enthusiasm and it wasn't hard to tell that he had her great outlook on life. He worked with Dragons in the United States but more recently transferred to a location in Ireland. It was a new base for breading Dragons and he was very excited about it. For about two hours we told them story after story about things that had happened. Obviously the life of a man working with Dragons was a little bit to exciting for her, and that was coming from the girl who helped Harry Potter take down the dark lord. But she could tell that he was very passionate about what he did and that was something that she liked to see. One day she hoped that she could have what he had, because she was pretty sure that her heart didn't quite lie with the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad.

"Is it a good paying job?" Luna asked, absolutely fascinated by Alex's stories.

"You would probably make more at some of those Ministry Jobs." Alex admitted, "But what can I say, I'm crazy enough to love the job."

"How exactly did you come to get involved with Dragons?" Draco was the one to ask this time.

"It was just kind of where life was headed, no matter what. Even when I was a kid I was just fascinated by the creatures. I wanted one as a pet." He smirked.

"He's not even kidding. For every birthday, Christmas, and whatever else he would ask our parents for a dragon." Katie confirmed.

"Of course all I got was some dragon toys and books about them but in the end it was kind of useful. I learned a lot and the books are actually what got me thinking about working with them. I know they're dangerous and vicious but when I look at a dragon I can't help but see the beauty in it, you know what I mean?"

"Is there anything that you really need to work with dragons?" Luna asked.

"One sure as hell set of balls. You've got to have the guts to work with them. Knowledge helps too, of course. But I think the most important thing is the courage. I don't really think anyone would stick around without a little passion either."

Hermione observed Alex quietly. She wasn't sure that she had ever really met someone like him before. He was like Katie, but at the same time he was just about as unique as Luna. She had never met someone with such a blunt personality. She could tell that he wasn't afraid to say anything, not the kind of person to beat around the bush. When they had arrived the night before he had started questioning Harry about what he was planning with Katie. He demanded in very detailed form that if Harry even put a toe out of line, or in the wrong direction there would be serious consequences. He even told Harry that he didn't care who he was, and Hermione could see how happy that made Harry. It was nice for him to be surrounded by people who saw beyond the scar. She had a feeling that Harry and Alex could end up good friends, even if their personalities weren't quite in the same spectrum.

She also noticed the similarities in Katie's and Alex's had the same blond hair, with just the smallest bit of brown hidden in the midst. She wore hers long and beautiful, while he chose to wear his short with a hint of shaggy. They shared the same brilliant green eyes. She could even see the resemblance in their other facial features. They shared the same slopped nose but his was just a bit bigger. Their smiles were even the same, only made a bit different by the different, unique personalities that were reflected in them. Their faces were almost the same shape as well, only made different by Katie's feminine features and high cheekbones. Something else that Hermione couldn't help but notice was how well they interacted together, how easily they seemed to flow around one another. It wasn't hard to tell that the two were close. In a way, Hermione almost envied Katie. She had always wanted a sibling. But as she looked over at Harry she then realized, she pretty much had one anyway.

Hermione's eyes felt heavy and it took a lot of effort not to let them droop together. Tonight they felt even heavier than usual, it was probably because of the added stress and all of the tears that she had let loose earlier in the day. Crying tended to drain her out. In truth, Alex really had helped. He was just the kind of person who was really easy to be around and it had made her day a lot better. For a while they were just six friends having a good time, living, laughing and just enjoying a few minutes of easy going peace. She knew that it wouldn't last forever but she could defiantly appreciate it.

Although Hermione was exhausted and could have fallen asleep on contact with a pillow, sleep wasn't quite around the corner yet. There were still other things that needed some taking care of. So for the second time that day, Hermione found herself sneaking around. She hated to do things behind her back but in this case she didn't really have a choice. She and Harry needed to talk about what was going to happen. They needed a plan and there were some things to discuss, such as their significant others. Obviously they needed to be alone to do it so they planned to meet outside just after midnight.

Hermione crept quietly down the dimly lit hallway, the only light was begin cast off from a single lamp in the living room at the far end of the hall. Without even having to think about it she knew that it would be Mr.. Lynch having a late night read. He had been doing so the night before and from what she had gathered, it was the most peaceful time for him. As she was passing she gave the man a short nod, he smiled in return. The house wasn't exactly what Hermione had been expecting, but now that she was there it made sense. It wasn't big, grand and fancy, but at the same time it wasn't plain and dainty. It fit the family. It was a simple four bedroom house, with nice furniture and it had a few interesting aspects. The art work was a little bit out of the ordinary, there was even a combination of muggle work and wizard work but the only thing Hermione could really think about the house was that it was really down to earth.

Katie and Alex got that from their parents. They were both unusually kind wizards, who seemed to always be smiling. She hadn't seen much of Mrs.. Lynch because she was a healer who worked more hours than she should, but when she was around Hermione could tell that she was a very caring person. Their father didn't do much, apparently he was a long retired Ministry worker, he had never specified a career. Most of his time was spent gardening in a green house behind their home and during the evenings he liked to read. Being in their house gave Hermione a sense of calm, like there was no rush to go anywhere in the world, like everything was going to be okay. It was really soothing.

"Harry?" Hermione whispered as she stepped outside into the back yard.

The half moon lit up the yard just enough for Hermione to see around her. The young summer breeze was warm and felt cozy as it caressed the skin felt bare by her summer attire. For a moment she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that the summer would not last forever. Winter would barge through in no time and they would be out camping for that. It was best to enjoy the warmth while it lasted.

The crunching of grass made her open her eyes, it took her a second to find him but her eyes did fall on Harry. His face was a little heavy, and it wasn't hard to tell that they were thinking along the same lines. It would be hard for either of them to be away from their partner but neither of them would feel good about putting them in danger. They had a choice. They didn't need to run around in the wild, chasing after things that they knew next to nothing about. They didn't need to starve or run for their lives. Hermione couldn't understand why all she was able to remember yet were the insignificant parts of what happened last time. She could hardly care about the weather, she wanted to know where the Horcruxes were and how they were going to destroy them.

"Have you thought about it at all?" Hermione whispered, hoping that their voices wouldn't carry to the house.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about it." Harry admitted, "I hate to think about leaving her alone. I mean... not seeing her for so long. I don't even know how longs it's going to be."

"But you don't want her out there, suffering and in danger." Hermione finished off for him and they nodded together.

"So what are we going to do? Even if we did bring them, I wouldn't want to tell them what we were doing. And it's not just about Draco, I just don't think they should really be that involved. Not even Katie."

Again, Hermione understood. The less they knew the better. They less they knew the safer they would be. The less that someone would want to hurt them.

"I love her, Hermione." He's voice cracked ever so slightly. She could see the pain in his face, she could tell how hard this was for him.

"I know, Harry. I'm not stupid. I can see that." Hermione hugged him. "I'm so glad you're happy with her."

"They shouldn't come." Harry finally decided once the hug broke apart.

"I agree, we would be selfish if we asked them to tag along just because we didn't want to be without them." Hermione nodded and allowed her gaze to drift down to the greening grass below her worn out shoes.

"Don't we get a say in this?" Katie popped out from behind a near by shrub, Draco followed close behind.

Hermione and Harry glanced at one another quickly, not sure what to do about this.

"Katie, you don't underst-" Harry started but she cut him off.

"I know I don't understand! You won't tell me anything." She demanded and looked over at Draco, who took this as his cue to nod, "We really don't mind that you haven't told us anything. We get that it's a big deal and I don't expect you to tell us anything."

"We just want to help." Draco cut in, "Neither of us like the idea of you two wandering off on your own. What if something happened. What if I never got to see you again." Draco reached out and caressed Hermione's face softly.

"But it's going to be da-" Katie cut Harry off again.

"Dangerous, blah, blah, blah. I know. I get it. I understand that there are serious things happening, Harry. I really do. So does Draco. Whether you want to believe it or not we've been a part of this all year. We're like... a little family now. A pack. You can't just separate us now." Katie crossed her arms and stared Hermione and Harry down.

"We're not completely useless, just so you know." Draco added.

Before either Harry or Hermione could say anything Katie said, "So we're coming, end of story. It's our lives, we can do what we want with them. Honestly guys, you want us there and we want to come. There's no point in arguing."

Hermione and Harry glanced at one another again, knowing that there wasn't much that they could say. They had obviously lost this fight and it looked as though it was now going to be a journey for four.

A/N: So what did you think? I wanna know!