"Ahh! I'm late," Hermione said, looking at her wristwatch while walking through Diagon Alley at a brisk pace.

  It wasn't a typical Wednesday noon. Well, it was, as typical—cloudy—but today was also the 26th. The day after Christmas, Hermione's last day off for this semester, and also the day she's meeting friends she hadn't met in a while.

  "Hey, watch it!" a man shouted.

  "Sorry," Hermione answered the one she almost ran into without stopping.

  Rain was starting to pick back up again after having stopped right after sunrise, but just as it started pouring, Hermione opened the door to a café and entered.

  Although it was rush hour, the café was nearly empty on account of the holiday.

  It was a cozy little place with a hearth burning at the far wall. The floor was covered in a deep brown hardwood, with only the area near the hearth being made of a type of gray stone. Every single table and its chairs had different styles and makes, some being more traditional while some being more modern. There was even a table with single sofas around it in a way that didn't seem entirely comfortable.

  There were only three people inside, one of them being the owner, an old-looking man wearing butler attire and sporting an elaborate white mustache who stood behind a wooden counter that held several apparatuses; a young girl whom Hermione thought looked familiar, likely a student of Hogwarts, sitting on one of the aforementioned sofas sipping on what would look like hot chocolate if not for the liquid trying to run away from every sip; and lastly a woman about her age with long flowing ginger hair sitting nearer to the hearth—the one she had come to meet.

  "Ginny!" Hermione called the redhead, louder than she'd intended to.

  Ginny got up from her seat, hugging Hermione. "Where's Luna? I thought she was coming with you?"

  "Mione! I'd missed you. She suddenly up and went to Japan, apparently there's a kind of critter there that she really wanted to find. Where's Sam? You sounded really excited to introduce me?"

  The two separated.

  "Uhh, you don't know the kind of person she is, honestly! Just as I was coming here she suddenly sent me a message saying she's busy and won't make it," she said exasperatedly after sitting down. "You might not believe it, but she's even worse than I was with books when she gets into making things she finds interesting. I'm honestly surprised she even remembered to tell me she wouldn't make it."

  "Oh come on. You weren't that bad, you had time to go on all those adventures that you filled seven books with." Ginny said with a smirk.

  "Oh, you read those?" Hermione said with a glint in her eyes. "I exaggerated some things, but Harry said it was better like this, and..."

  Suddenly Hermione went quiet, looking at Ginny with a difficult expression, and cringed from the awkward silence, however short it actually was.

  At this time the gentleman in the butler uniform—Henry, as Hermione had come to learn was his name—came and, with a smile, put a leather-bound menu on the table.

  "So... how was America?" Hermione asked, trying to change the subject. looking through the menu to hide her face.

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  "It was good. But Mione?" Ginny said, lowering the menu with her hand. "Me and Harry broke up more than three and a half years ago. You don't need to walk on eggshells around me. Besides, we both agreed to it at the time, so there were never any hard feelings."

  Hermione finally brought the menu down completely.

  "You're right, I kind of overreacted."

  Henry chose that time to bring two cups of tea, sliding them in front of the two girls. Before the two could protest, he raised his hand.

  "Think of it as a Christmas present," he said, leaving right after with a thanks from the pair.

  As Hermione brought the tea to her lips, taking a sip—

  "Besides, I know the two of you've started dating," Ginny said with a smirk, causing Hermione to almost spit out her tea.

  "Wha—"

  "Listen, Mione, I'm seriously ok with it. You don't have to hide your relationship. To tell you the truth, I actually recently met someone new, in America too." Ginny reassured Hermione before taking a sip of her own tea.

  "Really? I mean, you guys were together for what, five years?" Hermione asked.

  "More like seven, but it might as well have been three or less. You know, I—much like many other children of our generation—grew up on adventures and books of the mighty and righteous Harry Potter. My mom used to read the stories for me every night, and I started reading some myself the moment I learned to read. Harry—the real Harry—is an amazing man, and he was an even better boyfriend, but ultimately even he couldn't keep up with the ideal I had built in my head. Towards the end he was tired and I... was disappointed. It was better for both of us that we broke up, and I've long since moved on. I'm happy that he has too."

  They went quiet again, this time not as awkward, sipping their small cups of tea until it was over. They then started talking about a plethora of other things and ordering more coffee and other kinds of drinks. Hermione told Ginny about Hogwarts and all the ways it had changed, and Ginny in turn talked about her recent life in America and the things she'd seen.

  __________________________________

  "Congrats on your game," Harry said, bringing up his wooden mug full of Butterbeer.

  "Thanks, mate," Ron answered, answering the toast with his own mug.

  The two were sitting at the counter of a moderately busy bar on the first floor of the Golden Cauldron.

  "So what's this about?" Ron asked. "I mean, I know it's Christmas and all, but when you said to meet here you sounded like you needed to tell me something."

  Harry just kept his eyes on his own mug. In the end he took a big gulp before turning to Ron.

  "Me and Hermione started dating," Harry said quickly before turning back to his own mug.

  "Finally!" Ron suddenly said, surprising Harry.

  "What?"

  "I mean, you guys really took your time. Luna's been singing songs about your relationship for a long time, but honestly I was starting to think maybe she was wrong this time," Ron explained, taking a swig from his own mug after.

  "Wha... she has?" Harry was bewildered. He'd met the girl semi regularly since she sometimes taught the magical creatures class as a guest lecturer, but he'd never heard of such songs.

  Looking at Ron, he squeezed his mug before asking, "And you're ok with that? I mean us—me and Hermione?"

  Ron smiled, resting his chin on the counter and his eyes boring into his mug like it held the answer to everything.

  "I have no right not to be," he said in the end. "I blew it. The fame, the money, the fans—it all got to my head and I blew it. There's no going back."

  He brought out a newspaper photo, in which he, in his Quidditch getup, was kissing two girls back to back after having won a game.

  "I keep this as a reminder," he said, showing the photo to Harry. "It's the one that ended our relationship. It never went beyond this during that time—you know, in the spur of the moment, after hours on the field winning a seemingly impossible match, or in the after-parties drunk, just a kiss, I never thought much of them. It wasn't the first time she'd caught pictures of me kissing other girls either, and she'd told me, but I—the stupid narcissistic asshole that I am—thought she was joking, that she loved me too much to leave. But in the end she did. I don't blame her either. I actually don't know how she tolerated me as long as she did, so I'm happy for you."

  Harry didn't answer, just staring ahead into nothing, thinking what to say.

  "Ugh. Let's forget this, man. The mood was kinda ruined. It's both Christmas and you're in a new relationship—it's cause for celebration."

  Ron suddenly said, throwing his arm around Harry's neck.

  "Tonight we're gonna drink till dawn." Ron brought his mug for another toast.

  "Yeah," Harry said, smiling and answering it with his own mug. "Till dawn."