Surprising News

a/n- i know that i deserve to be incarcerous-ed, then crucio-ed and finally, AK-ed for this. No peep for two years is horrible and i wont even begin to apologize because i know no one would care for it..

Anyways, i would like to thank KoreaGirl14, because of whom, i was actually motivated enough to take this up again. Also, i know that the first few chapters are absolutely crap, and so i'll be rewriting them and posting (hopefully) weekly.

Hugs and kisses to every one who reads and sorry again that i disappeared for so long. *hangs head in shame and waits for punishment*.

It had been more than a year since that fateful May day/night that the Chosen One had defeated the greatest and most feared wizard of all time. A year of mourning, of reconciling, of rebuilding and moving on. It had been hard at first, what with all the casualities and the damage, physical, emotional, psychological and financial, suffered by almost everyone of the British Wizarding Community. A year was enough for the people to get their lives back on track again, always keeping the ones who gave their lives or fought for, this present of the Magicals, alive in their actions and hearts.

The year was one of change, especially for the three who were at the centre of it all - Harry Potter and his two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley.

After the War was over, each of them had a lot of baggage to deal with, Harry was finally free of the looming shadow that Tom Riddle had always cast on his future and for the first time in three years, he was truly free to do whatever he wished without having to think whether he would even be alive the next morning or not. Ron had to take time to mourn his fallen sibling and the loss of Fred Weasley made the Burrow, dimmer than it normally was. And Hermione took the loss of the Lupins quite hard.

The three of them dealt with their demons in their own ways. Harry had been quite affected by all the events of the war, especially the true nature of Severus Snape's loyalty, among other things, and the morning after the death of Voldemort, Harry left Magical Britain without a word to anyone except a goodbye to Ginny and a promise to return soon. His disaapearance threw the re-forming Ministry into a tizzy, who could not believe that their hero had just up and left. A couple months later, with numerous enquiries and invbestigations, Harry Potter simply walked back in on his own, after all efforts if the Ministry to find him had failed.

Only his closest friends knew that he had gone to make amends with Aunt Petunia and Dudley, Uncle Vernon having died during the war, some Death Eaters idea of hitting Harry emotionally to draw him out when the Trio were in hiding, looking for horcruxes. Petunia Dursley had finally come to terms with the reality and welcomed Harry back as her nephew, treating him the way she should have been for over 17 years. The reconciliation and moving back to Privet Drive among visiting the Evans family home, the Potter Mansion and Lily and James Potter's home took the better part of a month and the rest was spent coming to terms with al that had happened and accepting the fac ts as they were and moving on.

Ron and Hermione did get together after the war, but between dealing with Fred's loss, Hermione leaving to find her parents and Ron's temper, the relationship did not last and they parted ways after a huge quarrel which was the result of Hermione finding a stranger in their bed when she came back from Australia. After their break-up, and Molly's speech, Ron decided to lend his hand to George, when he finally reopened WWW, deciding that it was the best way to honor Fred's memory.

When Hermione had found her parents, she was surprised to see that their memories had already been leaking through as, apparently, when Bellatrix tortured her, the magic assumed that she would die and it started thinning out. However angry the Grangers were when they got their memories back, they decided to stay in Australia, resigning themselves to the fact that their daughter did it for their safety and that she would find them when it was safe again. The Grangers did come back then, and after a much needed tell-all conversation, accepted her reasoning and welcoming her back, began to work on reinstating themselves to the society.

On the day that this story begins, Hermione Granger had just returned from her best friend's birthday party at Grimmauld Place, and exhausted from keeping away from Ron all evening, fell back on her bed with a relieved sigh. He heard the crunch of a paper being crushed and sitting up again, saw that a letter addressed to her was lying on the bed. Surprisingly, it bore a Hogwarts' seal. Opening it quickly, she found that the letter had been written and sent by Professor McGonagall, now Headmistress of Hogwarts, informing her that the school was being opened again, and if she so wished, she could return to repeat her last year, as NEWT results were important for securingood jobs in the magical community. She also had the option of just sitting for the examinations if she felt prepared enough and would not have to repeat her year.

The letter brought forth memories of the castle. Her first impression, all the years spent in it, the pranks, the classes, and then the war, the bodies littered around, blood splattered, the magnificent castle turned into rubble at many places. Hermione shook her head to remove the memories and picked up the envelope again, to keep the letter back in, but this time it seemed heavier. Turning it upside down, she found a badge falling from it. Another note accompanied it.

Hermione, (it read),

If you do decide to come back, the Head's position is yours. I know that coming back may seem harder right now, but it may prove to be cathartic to see the castle in its former glory again.

Yours,

Minerva.

Hermione picked up the badge and grazed her fingers over the 'Head Girl' embossed over it. Thinking over her former Professor's words and the memory of the process of rebuilding the school that she had participated in, all made Hermione decide that a year of normality after the last two years, one fighting and the other get their lives back on track, would do her a world of good. Also, knowing that Ron would not be there nudged her towards the walls of Hogwarts. Hermione knew that she would miss Harry, who had joined the staff of WWW to stay close to Ginny and enjoy a bit of normality, but the thought of going back to the familiar grounds was sounding more appealing by every passing minute.

Her mind made, Hermione leaped out of her bed and running down the stairs to where her mother was, she shouted, "Mum! I'm going back to Hogwarts next month!"