Written by RGBTheDuckie and xakemii ~ !

Not a sequel to Interference.

Hermione Granger furrowed her brow, glaring at the cauldron in front of her. It was times like this when she wondered why on earth she had declined the job offer she'd received at the Ministry to help Ron. Of course, helping Ron help George was a perfectly noble deed. It just wasn't quite what she had envisioned her life after the war to be like. She'd been surprised at the job offer - she was so young, after all. Had the Weasley's situation been different, she probably would have accepted.

But Fred... he'd gone. George hadn't been the same since. And Ron, surprisingly, had offered to take care of the shop. Even more surprisingly, George had handed over the keys without a word. It was still beyond Hermione how anyone, even one grieving, could possibly let Ronald Weasley take care of a long ago dream.

"Hermione!" Ron's voice rang through the shop as he called to her. "How's that going?"

She waited impatiently for him to come into the back room before replying curtly, "It's not. Ron, are you sure we ought to do this? They did ban Time Turners for a reason, you know."

In all honesty, she just couldn't be bothered any more. Recreating Time Turners with a potion was a lot harder than she had anticipated. The idea was brilliant. She liked the idea of Time Turners that weren't actually Time Turners. She wouldn't recreate a real one; that would be against the law. However, using the same idea of turning back time by drinking a potion did catch her fancy.

"I know, Hermione," Ron started to near the potion, slipping an apron on as he peered curiously at the potion. "That didn't stop you from using one in third year, did it?"

Frowning, she skimmed over the cabinet, her fingers dancing over several jars. "That was different. The Ministry hadn't made owning one illegal back then." She turned around, her frown deepening as she saw her friend leaning over the potion. "What are you doing? Because, I swear, Ronald Weasley, if you touch that potion..." she trailed off, waving her wooden spoon in the air threateningly.

"I'm not doing anything!" He raised his hands in mock surrender. "And I didn't do that badly in Potions. I bet I could help."

"Yes you did, and no you couldn't," Hermione replied dryly, bustling over and knocking Ron out of her way. With a dramatic sigh, she added, "Though, if you're really that confident, I don't suppose you'd need my help around the shop any more."

At this, Ron took on the look of a wounded puppy - a wounded, desperate, puppy.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't be leaving any time soon. Anyway, where would I go? I don't think the Ministry is a big fan of me anymore, to be honest."

"You could go back to Hogwarts," Ron suggested, but not seriously. Everyone had known that Hermione had wanted to attend her seventh year at Hogwarts. If it hadn't been for the Ministry offer or the shop, Ron was fairly certain that she would have gone back to Hogwarts with his sister. Still, he didn't want her to leave the shop. He wasn't sure whether he could handle it without her. Looking after it without Fre - George was bad enough.

"They're half way through the school year now. I should've gone at the start of the year, along with Ginny and Luna," Hermione said, her eyes cast downwards. Blinking, she returned her gaze to Ron. "Not that I don't like working here. But... well, you know how I am about school."

"Mental, you are."

"Oh, shut up!" She was laughing though.

Hermione had thought a lot about going back to school. Professor McGonagall had told her she was always welcome to come back to finish her 7th year. But she couldn't just pack up and leave Ron by himself. She had considered doing her school work by correspondence, but the shop kept her so busy. One day George was going to come back though, and then they wouldn't need her. Who was going to want to hire someone who hadn't completed their NEWTs?

"I don't think it would do either of us any harm to go back to school," she told Ron, as she slapped his hand away from jar he was trying to pick up.

"Come on Hermione, we saved the Wizarding World, we don't need to go back to school." He pushed past Hermione's hand and grabbed the jar. He held it before her like he had just found the cure for the common cold. "I think this is what the potion is missing."

Hermione quickly scanned the label of the jar before shaking her head. She took the jar from his hands and put it back on the shelf.

"Sorry Ronald, that wouldn't work." She noticed the crestfallen look on his face and gave him a weak smile. "Have you talked to Harry recently?" Hermione asked, trying to change the conversation. She walked over and sat down on one of the stool's sitting in the corner. She gestured for Ron to come sit beside her, much to her despair he ignored her and continued to linger near the potion.

"Actually, I was talking to him yesterday," he murmured, staring in the frothing liquid. "He asked if I wanted a job as an Auror."

Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprised at this. The Ministry had offered them all jobs in the Auror department, but only Harry had taken the offer. Personally Hermione felt she had been through enough fighting for a life time, but she knew Ron had wanted to take the job. However, his loyalty to his brother had been stronger than his want to be an Auror.

"Oh," Hermione finally managed to reply.

"I didn't say yes," Ron told her hurriedly. "I mean, I can't just pack up and leave you here by yourself."

Hermione laughed at the worried tone of his voice. He seemed sincerely concerned that she would be mad about Harry's offer. "It's okay Ron," she said soothingly. "One day George will come back and he won't need us to run the store anymore. I think you should seriously consider the offer, you know as well as I do that you want to take the job."

Ron sat silently for a moment, contemplating her words. "But what about you?" he finally asked.

"I distinctly remember someone telling me I was the brightest witch of our age. I think I can manage a joke shop by myself."

"Do you want to mange this place by yourself?"

"It wouldn't be that bad. And George will come back."

"You always say that, Hermione," Ron sighed, his eyes still scanning the shelves. "But what if he doesn't? If I were him, I wouldn't."

Upon hearing those words, she spun around furiously, glaring at him. "Yes, you would. This place," she paused to gesture at the building, "was a dream come true for them. For both them. I don't approve, I never have approved. But he'd be daft to throw both of their dreams out their window. He'll come back." Turning her back on him once more, she bit her lip, scribbling notes on the potion.

"Don't have so much faith in him," Ron replied, unscrewing the lid of a jar and putting his hand inside to grasp a small black bead from inside it.

Hermione sighed heavily, slamming the record book down and turning to reprimand him. Instead, she saw her best friend, Ron Weasley, the only boy who had managed to stuff his potions exams up completely (except for perhaps Neville), place an unknown ingredient into her extremely delicate potion.

"RON!" Without thinking, Hermione launched herself in front of him, taking the full blow of the explosion. She lay on the ground, unmoving - the world around her, black.

Author Stuff: La la la ~ ! Cliffhanger, sorry! We promise the next chapters will be longer, by the way. This was more of a long prologue type thing, if you get our drift. Either way, we hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading.