Author's note: This is my first HG/SS story and I am (obviously) not J.K. Rowling. The story takes place 6 months after the war and the survivors have returned to Hogwarts to complete their last year. The story tries to stick to cannon but ignores the epilogue.

….

Draco: So you're telling me that this greasy git gets to have Hermione in this story instead of ME?

Tooba: swoons

Snape: Stop swooning like a dunderhead Miss K

Tooba: -cough- right, sorry Draco, you're still the one for me bats eyelashes

Ron: Why can't I ever end up with Hermione…

Harry: too busy making out with Ginny to care

Tooba: ON WITH THE STORY!

….

Hermione sighed deeply gazing across the lake, the lack of wind making the water look like a plate of steel, still as the cold dreary night that it was. She could feel the soft cool grass under her feet and hands as she let her dull brown eyes look past everything into nothing. Hermione filled her lungs deeply with the cold Hogwart's air, oh how good this felt, Hogwarts truly was her home. This was the first place she had felt accepted, where she felt she belonged, Hermione Granger, weird snotty little girl with bushy hair and buck teeth, trying to prove to the world that her brain outweighed her looks, making her parents immensely proud but not earning her many friends in her pre magic years. When she had received the letter she had at once known that all the pieces she had been trying to make sense of from day one just clicked together in blissful harmony and she felt at peace.

A drop of rain suddenly splattered on her nose, followed by another and another, Hermione jerked out of her day dream and casting a quick charm to keep her dry picked up her heavy school bag and fled across the grounds. Had she really lost track of time like that? It must be past midnight as she had walked to the grounds barely 20 minutes before curfew that ended, heading straight to her usual place by the lake where she could think, or not think at all, away from all the voices and all the noise. Hermione's practical shoes made loud "splat" noises as she hurried towards the school, reminding her of how just a few months back many of her friends, classmates and loved ones fell flat into this very muck never to rise again, grins of horror pasted on to their faces as they hit the ground, flashes of red and green around them. 'No Hermione, don't think of that', she scolded herself. Voldemort had been defeated, it was all over now, Harry had killed him and destroyed all the Horcruxes. Every death eater had either been killed or life sentenced to Azkaban as they deserved, the wizard world was a safe place now, people were happy to have survived and were finding happiness and love within each other, the rising birth rate was a definite proof of that. A watery smile formed on Hermione's lips, had she herself not given herself to Ron the very night of the celebration? Taken comfort in knowing that she had to no longer run and hide with darkness at every corner and that she was pressed against the warm body of a man who held her through the night pressing wet demanding kisses across every inch of her body?

Hermione reached the castle and slowed her stride breathing heavily and pulling her wand out to cast a 'lumos'. She was head girl and would not get into any trouble for being out after curfew but she still did not wish to be caught by Snape who would take pleasure in questioning her thoroughly and making her squirm against her intense heated gaze. But Hermione took pleasure in that too, at least something's remain the same. She was glad he had not died after being attacked by Nagini but rather walked into the celebration near completely healed stating that he had been injecting himself with snake venom for the past ten years to build immunity and drinking an incredibly strong anti venom, one which he had brewed himself, as he knew once Voldemort discovered his true loyalties he would be punished.

Hermione reached the portrait of a knight, dozing off against his shield and whispered "loyalty". The portrait swung open and Hermione stepped inside, the warmth of the fire place engulfing her as she shed her cloak onto the coach, dropping her bag on the love seat behind it, walked into her room and changed into her pajamas. Exhaustion was taking over as she slipped deep inside her red and gold Gryffindor sheets, feeling Crookshanks take his place as her feet. The wind started to pick up outside as the rain pelted to the ground, but Hermione drifted slowly into sleep, hoping and praying not to dream of a woman, with a cruel sadistic smile, pointing her wand at Hermione muttering 'crucio' as her entire body felt like it was being ripped apart, cell by cell, in the most merciless of ways, because these dreams always ended in Hermione waking up thrashing wildly and spending the rest of the night sobbing into her pillow clinging onto herself and rocking her slender body to silence.

…..

Hermione was awakened by a strong knocking outside her portrait door, she checked her alarm and it read 4:21, nearly another three hours till breakfast, who could this be? Out in curfrew? Were Ron or Harry in trouble? Had a death eater they had failed to capture broken into school hell bent on revenge? Hermion near ran towards the portrait, nearly tripping twice, swung it open to find the tear stained face of a very pale Ginny Weasely holding what seemed to look like a muggle pregnancy test.

Review please :) I plan this to be long fiction of about 20 chapters.