Hermione sat in the grass, under a tree in the Weasley’s backyard. They’d been back at the Burrow for a week, but she felt as if she’d been there for months.

Harry hadn’t joined them yet. Dumbledore had said that he needed to go back to the Dursley’s one last time.

Hermione had phoned her parents to tell them that she wasn’t coming home this summer. Her mother was upset, but in the end they agreed that it was ok. She had decided not to tell them about what had happened during the past year. She didn’t want to worry them.

She sighed and looked down at the letter that she held in her hand. It was the one she had received from Draco on the train back to Kings Cross a week ago. She still hadn’t opened it.

“Oh, I’m such a chicken,” she half chuckled to herself, while shaking her head.

She was nervous, and slightly scared to open the letter.

“Hermione!”

She looked up towards the Burrow, and saw Ron making his way towards her, waving something he held in his hand.

“Hermione,” he said, handing her what she now recognized to be an envelope. (A rather thick envelope!) “This just arrived for you.”

She smiled. “Thanks, Ron.”

“No problem,” he said. “Oh, and Mum says that dinner will be ready soon.”

“Alright, help me up, and I’ll go see if she needs any help setting the table.”

Ron held out his hand, which Hermione took and got to her feet. She brushed the small bits of grass and dirt off her pants and started walking towards the Burrow with Ron.

“So, who’s that letter from? It felt pretty heavy.”

Hermione looked down at the envelope, and stopped dead in her tracks.

Ron, who took a moment to notice that she had stopped, turned around to look inquisitively at her.

“Well?” he asked. “Who’s it from.”

“Oh man,” Hermione said, half laughing. “It’s from Ang.”

“Ang?”

“Angerona,” Hermione replied. “My American friend, remember? I wrote to her last term and sent the letter after we got off the train.”

“What!” Ron exclaimed. “That was only a week ago! How good a charm did you cast on Hedwig? She must have gotten over there in no time.”

Hermione laughed. “Yeah, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, on the return trip, Ang cast four charms on her, poor Hedwig.”

“Well, it felt like she had a lot to say.”

“You have no idea,” Hermione said, looking down at the purple ink her friend had used to address the letter. “Hey, would you mind telling your mom that I need to answer a letter so I can start reading this?”

“Sure,” Ron said. “She would probably have made me help her anyway.”

“Thanks,” Hermione said, and when they entered the Burrow she headed up the stairs to the room that she shared with Ginny.

Ginny had been oddly calm since the end of term. Harry had broken up with her, like Hermione knew he would, as an attempt to keep her out of harms way. She said she was all right, and that she understood, but Hermione knew how much it was hurting her.

When she entered the room, she was relieved to see that Ginny was not in the room. She wanted to read this letter in private.

Hermione sat down on the bed and sighed, looking down at the letter in her hand. She knew that she shouldn’t wait to open it.

“Leave it to Ang to cast some spell on this thing,” she said to herself, breaking the wax seal and taking out the ten-page letter.

“Well, at least it’s not shouting at me,” Hermione thought out loud, slowly unfolding the sheets of parchment.

Hermione swallowed the lump in her throat; Ang was not going to let her off easy keeping information from her for so long.



Hermione,

WHAT IN ALL THAT IS SUPERNATURAL AND MAGIC WERE YOU THINKING KEEPING ALL THAT FROM ME!!!!!!!!

A guy, an evil dark wizard, said guy working for evil dark wizard, you FALLING for aforementioned guy working for an evil bastard, everything over there going to hell in a hand basket, and you don’t tell your best friend!

I don’t know what you were thinking, and when I see you next I’m going to tan your hide!

But, for now, I am just going to let you know what I think about all this.



“Oh, great,” Hermione said, looking up from the letter for a moment. “I can’t wait to hear this.”



First of all, A GUY! Hello! I’m your best girlfriend. I should be the first one to be informed about a guy! He sounds like an ass with all the shit you’ve said has happened between you two. Then again, he is a bad guy, and you know how I feel about those. Still, that was a big thing to keep a secret. (hmm sounds a little familiar, keeping secrets, I wonder where he got it from?...i’m kiddng) A Death Eater? Come on, that doesn’t sound tasty at all.

But, you said Dumbledore vouched for him, and that he helped you guys so we’ll see where he goes from there.

As for you thinking that Ron...



“Come in,” Hermione said, responding to the knock on her door.

“Mum says dinner is ready now, Hermione.”

Hermione quickly folded the letter back up and put it back in the envelope, tucking it into the back pocket of her jeans.

“Alright, I’m ready,” she said, smiling at Ron.

“So what did Angerona have to say?”

“Ha!” Hermione said. “I’m still on the first page, and lets just say that I’m lucky she’s not here cause she would have killed me.”

“Oh, well, that’s…pleasant?” Ron said.

Hermione just laughed at the expression on his face.

“She also thinks that Draco is an ass.”

“I like her already,” Ron said.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and followed him into the kitchen for dinner.

The Weasleys sat around their kitchen table, chatting with a surprisingly happy tone. Mr. Weasley and Remus Lupin were also sitting at the table.

“Oh, Hermione, there you are,” Mrs. Weasley said, ushering Hermione into an empty chair next to Ron. “Remus was able to join us tonight.”

Beaming, Mrs. Weasley served Hermione and Ron huge plates of food, and then sat back down next to Mr. Weasley.

“Hear anything from Harry, Ron?” Remus asked.

“Yeah,” Ron said, through a mouth full of potatoes. “He says that as soon as his birthday passes, he’s coming straight over.”

“He can’t come by himself. Arthur, you have to send someone over to get him.”

Mr. Weasley nodded. “Yes, yes. It’s already arranged. A small group from the Order, myself included, will be there on the stroke of midnight to get him.”

Hermione vaguely listened to the plans in place to get Harry once he turned seventeen. The only thing she could think about was Draco.

‘Oh lord,’ she thought, as the words Angerona had written entered her mind.

“Hermione?”

“Huh?”

“Is everything alright, dear?” Mrs. Weasley asked.

“Oh, yes, everything is fine, Mrs. Weasley,” Hermione said, eating some of the potatoes on her plate.

“You seem very distracted.”

Hermione shook her head. “No, it’s just…I’m just worried about Harry and everyone.”

Mrs. Weasley nodded knowingly. “I understand, dear.”

The rest of dinner went on normally. Remus left shortly after dinner ended; he had to get back to Grimmauld Place to meet with McGonagall.

“Hermione, dear,” Mrs. Weasley said as Hermione put the last dish in the sink and was about to head back upstairs. “You have another letter.”

Hermione walked over to her, eyebrows scrunched together.

“It came in after I had sent Ron to give you the first one,” she said, taking it out of the pocket of her robes. Mrs. Weasley fixed Hermione with a stern motherly look.

“Who’s it from?” Hermione asked reaching for the letter.

“Hermione,” Mrs. Weasley continued. “I just don’t think this is a wise decision. I don’t want to see you, or R-…anyone else hurt.”

Hermione looked down at the letter she had just taken from Mrs. Weasley. There was a green wax seal with a serpent on it.

She looked up at Mrs. Weasley. “I…I think I’m going to go to bed early tonight, Mrs. Weasley.”

“Alright,” Mrs. Weasley said hugging Hermione tightly. “Be careful, dear.”

Hermione nodded and headed back upstairs. When she go to the room, she shut the door and leaned with her back against it. She looked down at the letter in her hand.

It was another letter from Draco.

Hermione closed the door behind her. Everyone else was downstairs in the living room socializing, but she needed time to think.

‘Ok,’ she thought. ‘It’s ok. Everything is fine, he just wrote again because…’

“Oh, please,” she said to the empty room. “Why am I even trying to rationalize this?”

Hands trembling slightly, Hermione all three letters out on her bed. The really thick one from Angerona, and the two unopened ones from Draco. She wanted to open Draco’s but she was too much of a chicken. As for Angerona’s letter, she wanted to finish that as well, but there was the fact that her best friend tended to get a little...upset.

Sighing, Hermione sat down on the bed and picked up the letter from Angerona. Taking a deep breath, she started reading again.



As for you thinking that Ron would make a better choice…I’m not so sure hun. From what you’ve always told me, you’ve never felt that way about him before. Do you really want to start something with him without having some feeling towards him, and then having to wait and see if it ever develops?



Hermione put the letter down in her lap.

“Well, that’s one thing Ang,” Hermione said out loud. “You always know exactly how to phrase what’s jumbled around in my head.”

If Hermione was honest with herself, she had to admit that Angerona was right. She had never, and still does not have any romantic feelings where Ron is concerned.

She brought the letter back up.



You told me that he has admitted that he likes you, so the only reason I would say to think really hard about it is because if it doesn’t go well, you’ll be hurting yourself, but him even more.


The door to the room opened, and Ginny walked in looking extremely tired.

“Hey, Ginny,” Hermione said, folding the letter back up and placing it back in its envelope. “Everyone heading to bed already?”

Ginny shook her head. “No, I’m just really tired lately.”

Hermione smiled at her friend. “I know you’re worried about Harry, but try to look on the bright side, he’ll be here in a few weeks.”

“Yeah,” Ginny said trying to smile. “It’s just going to be really hard having him here but not being able to be with him. At least Draco is- oh, Hermione I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“No,” Hermione said shaking her head. “Don’t worry about it. It is good that he’s not here. Helps me to not think about him.”

“Look, no matter how Ron feels about him, I believe you that he wasn’t all that bad.”

“Thanks, Ginny,” Hermione smiled hugging Ginny. “You’re a wonderful friend, but I do think that maybe everyone is right, and that I need to just accept that Draco and I will never happen.”

“Well, what has your friend said? What’s her name again, Angerona?”

“Yeah, she has a very strong no “jack-ass” policy, to put it the way she would describe it.”

Ginny laughed. “Well, she sounds pretty interesting. Ron told me that he liked her already just because you said that she wasn’t too fond of Draco.”

“That would be correct,” Hermione chuckled.

The room fell silent for a few moments, and then Ginny got up, grabbed her pj’s and left the room to go to the bathroom and change.

*~*~*~*~

Hermione was up early the next morning. The sun was peaking through the curtains on the window. Ginny was still fast asleep.

Hermione reached over to the small end table she had placed her letters on. She picked up the two from Draco. Before she lost her nerve she ripped them both open and laid them down in front of her. Then she picked up the one she had received on the train, and began to read.

No sooner did she pick up the letter, she put it back down again.

‘Oh just read it!’ she berated herself silently.

She took a deep breath and began to read the letter.


Hermione,

I’m no good at writing letters, never have been, but I need to tell you just one thing. The Your Eyes potion is very important. I think it can tell you better than I can what I have been feeling.

Hermione put down the letter and went to her trunk. She dug around until she found the small little bottle of the clear but strangely sliver liquid. She set it on the nightstand and went back to the letter.

I am sure you already know, but the longer you wait to use the potion the stronger the effects will be. I read somewhere that it almost overwhelmed one wizard with the emotional experience the potion presented.
Anyway, please use it.

Yours Always,

D.M.

Hermione sighed and glanced back over at the potion. She had been thinking about it a lot recently, but was hesitant to use it.

“Maybe Ang had something to say about,” she said, out loud to herself.

She picked up Angerona’s letter again, found the place she had left off and began reading.

That’s all I have to say about the Ron question, so just make your decisions carefully.
As for the Your Eyes potion you told me about, that’s a pretty powerful one from what I’ve read. It takes a lot of time to make too, so Draco must have really wanted you to know something. You know me hun, I say use it, but then again I’ll try anything.

Hermione laughed at that. Angerona had been the wild one ever since Hermione had met her.

I really don’t see a downside to using it; other than the fact that if you wait too long to use it you may need someone there with you ‘cause I looked it up and the emotional stress can be pretty intense.
So you let me know what you decide. I have to go but I will talk to you soon.

Love,

Ang

No sooner had Hermione read the last line of Angerona’s letter, a loud popping noise sounded in the small room, producing a small amount of purple smoke. Hermione stared open mouthed as out of the smoke stepped a tall witch. She had dirty blonde hair and light skin. The most striking feature about her however, were her vivid violet colored eyes.

“Good lord girl, I thought you’d never finish that letter!” Angerona stated, coughing a bit on the smoke still lingering in the room.

“Ang?” Hermione asked, hardly able to believe that her friend was now standing in Ginny’s room.

“No, it’s Santa Clause! Yes me, surprise!”

Hermione was at a loss for words.

“I know what you’re thinking, how did I get here right? Well it wasn’t easy let me tell you. I had to get special permission to use that spell. No easy feat.”

At that moment Harry, Ron and Ginny all came into the room with concerned looked on their faces. These quickly changed to surprise when they saw the new arrival.

“Who the bloody hell are you?” Ron asked.

Angerona laughed. “That’ll be Ron then.”

Ron looked towards Hermione. “Am I supposed to know her?”

At this Hermione finally laughed. “This, everyone, is my American friend Angerona. The one I told you all about.”

Angerona bowed.

Ginny was laughing, Harry was obviously confused about how she had gotten there all the way from America and Ron just shook his head.

“I’ll tell mum, she’ll be glad for the extra company,” Ginny said leaving the room.

“Harry Potter,” Angerona said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Harry answered, still obviously confused. “So…what are you doing here?”

Angerona smiled. “Well, Hermione over here was obviously having issues without me so I decided to come. That and after I heard about what is going on here with Voldemort I decided that I wanted to help you all.”

“Ang, it’s going to be dangerous,” Hermione said. “What about Jensen? What’d he have to say about your leaving?”

“Eh he’ll be fine, he’s a Muggle remember. This shouldn’t really reach him.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry interrupted. “But how on earth did you get here?”

“I was waiting for you to ask,” Angerona laughed. “There was a spell I placed on the letter, as soon as Hermione finished reading it I would be transported to her. And took you long enough, honestly.”

“Oh,” Harry said.

“Sorry, but I’m proud of you Ang, that’s a complicated spell.”

“Yeah, I know, but it was the fastest way I could think of to get here.”

Angerona’s eyes wandered over to the nightstand where the bottle of potion still sat unused.

“Still haven’t used it?”

“Used what?” Ron interrupted, suddenly jumping back into the conversation.

“The Your Eyes potion Draco gave her,” Angerona answered.

“He gave you what!” Ron said, eyes widening in surprise. “You can’t use that Hermione.”

“And why not?” Angerona asked, giving Ron such and intense look that he took a step back.

“Well…I…I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he stammered.

“Look,” Hermione interjected before things got out of control. “I’m not planning on using it yet. I still have one more letter to read from Draco.”

Everyone was silent for a moment and then Harry spoke.


“Let’s leave these two Ron, I assume they want to catch up on things.”

He dragged Ron out of the room, leaving Angerona and Hermione alone.

“And you want that instead?” Angerona asked, obviously meaning Ron.

Hermione rolled her eyes. Angerona had very distinct opinions about the way a guy should be before he was even considered as an option.

“I haven’t made that decision yet, have I?”

“Well you need to, cause Draco will get the wrong idea if you don’t write him back soon.”

“Yeah, I know,” Hermione sighed. She got up and put all the letter and the bottle of potion back in her trunk. “Lets do this later. How about we go downstairs so everyone can meet you.”

Angerona gave her a look but only said, “Sure.”

And with that they left the room.