A warm August breeze reached an open window in a small country house. It gently moved aside the pale blue curtains, allowing the warm rays of light to enter the cozy room inside. Bookshelves adorned the walls, engulfing the room in the comforting smell of old books and warm summer air. Soon a new smell overpowered those, seeping in through the door that led downstairs- the smell of warm, freshly baked bread and steaming hot coffee.

The rays of sun that were still lightly dancing across the room, finally reached the bed, illuminating the girl within. As she turned around, slowly opening her eyes, a lazy smile appeared on her lips. These familiar smells always managed to comfort her, and God knows she needed some comfort, especially today. This was finally the day. A light frown crossed the girls face, but she quickly shook the uncomfortable feeling away. Her anxiety will not ruin her last day at her grandmother's house. With a new found sense of purpose to enjoy today as much as humanly possible, she slipped out of bed, still half asleep, and found her way downstairs.

As she opened the door into the well lit kitchen, which was also the biggest room in the house, she was greeted by the marvellous aroma of her grandmothers cooking. It seemed, that the old woman was determined to fatten her granddaughter up this summer, as the poor girl looked like a ghost ready to be blown away by a sudden gust of wind, after a long and tiring year at her far away boarding school. What she didn't know, of course, was the fact that it was more the stress and hardship of the wizarding war that made Hermione so thin and fragile. But, thanks to a healthy summer at home, there was none of that left. She was once again looking healthy and well rested. It is a wonder what a good three meals a day, and sound sleep can do to a teenage girl. Hermione was now, quite easily one of the prettiest girls at Hogwarts, and all the young muggle guys in her village have definitely realised that by now, as she had no shortage of suitors this summer. Hermione herself, however, was not very aware of any of that, as she was never too fussed about appearances before. But it is undeniable that all of that male attention has definitely done her good, as even without realising it, she was now more confident in herself. It goes without saying that, over this last summer she has developed into a very beautiful girl.

So, as you can imagine, despite her numerous hardships throughout the year, Hermione has had a very enjoyable summer, tucked away in a little muggle village by the sea, catching up with all her childhood friends and fattening up on her grandmothers roast dinners and pancakes. But the end of summer was swiftly approaching, and Hermione realised that she couldn't hide away anymore. Her Hogwarts letter was due to arrive this morning, and with it came the inevitable visit to the Diagon Alley, where she would undoubtedly be reminded time and time again about the horrible events of last year. I am not saying, however that Hermione was entirely unoptimistic about going back to school. Not at all. In fact, she was very much looking forward to being a year 8 student. More than that, she was very happy to be seeing all her friends again. They have all decided to spend this summer apart and with their family's so as to forget everything as quickly as possible, and move in with their lives.

Hermione was determined to turn her life around this year. Now that Voldemort was finally defeated, and she has finally brought her parents back, after a tearful reunion and quite a bit scolding, her mother made her promise to have as much fun as possible this year. Hermione was supposed to get her head out of the books, and enjoy being a normal teenager. And in her mother's opinion that included a lot of drinking and partying. Oh, and dating of course. That particular one Hermione was slightly nervous about. Now, at this point I feel like I own my readers an explanation, or rather a brief summary of what has happened since the battle of Hogwarts.

Well... a few day were spent in an almost automatic state. Every one who was fit enough to stand stayed behind at Hogwarts to help clean up and bury the dead. In those days many have gone mad from the pain of losing their loved ones. One family was affected in particular- the Weasleys. After Fred's death, George seemed to have completely shut down. He did not eat or speak, or do anything really. He just sat by his brothers grave, staring at his headstone. Sometimes he would talk to him, sometimes he would cry or get andy. But mostly he just sat there. Finally, after a week or so, after people were starting to leave the grounds, and all the repairing was more or less complete, Molly couldn't stand seeing her son like that anymore, so she took him to St. Mungo's. This meant that someone needed to take care of the shop, and so Ron took it upon himself to reopen The Weasley's Wizarding Wheeses. He decided to live in Fred and George's old apartment, above the shop. Everyone understood that it was his own way of dealing with things. He was finally taking responsibility for something, and it kept him going.

Meanwhile Harry stayed at the Burrow, as he had nowhere else to go. He spent a lot of time with Ginny, and they gradually got back together. He has also decided to pay a visit to the Dursleys' at some point. Just purely for sentimental reasons. They definitely weren't the best guardians, but they were a massive part of his childhood none the less, and he felt like he owned it to them to check up on them and also tell them that the war was finally over and they were safe. Hermione however, hasn't spoken to Harry since the beginning of summer, so she had no idea how that went. She would have to ask him about that later.

Molly was as busy as ever, taking care of everyone, and especially of young Teddy Lupin, who she has adopted shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts. And everyone understood that that was her own way of dealing with everything, and so they let her take care of them.

And Hermione, well she needed to find her parents, so she left for Australia. Keeping her mind occupied with searching for her parents, and then figuring out how to reverse her spell was her particular way of dealing with the aftermaths of the war and so they let her go. So all of this meant that she hasn't seen a certain redhead for 3 whole months, which meant that they didn't have a chance to talk about their kiss in the chamber of secrets, or what it might have possibly meant. And so this brings me right back to Hermione's nervousness of coming back to school, and especially starting to date. Truth be told she wasn't sure how she felt about Ron, and despite having the whole summer to figure it out, she was as close to making a decision as she was 3 months ago. And that wasn't even the worst bit! For all she knew, he has already moved on, and was dating someone else. God knows there wasn't a shortage of witches throwing themselves at him, especially now that he was an internationally known war hero. And that, in turn brings me to another reason for Hermione's anxiety. She was now a pronounced war hero. Part of the world famous Golden Trio, with her face in all the wizarding papers of the world, not to mention on the collectable cards in the chocolate frogs. The last thing she needed right now is to be constantly put on the spot and interviewed all the time.

But she couldn't do anything about that, and it would definitely do no good dwelling on it so much and would only make things worse. So with that in mind Hermione locked all of her worries far away in her head, and with a smile on her face ran up to her grandmother and hugged her.

'Morning Sunshine, did you sleep well?'- asked her grandmother smiling, still looking at the frying pan where yet another pancake was being fried.

'You know I did nana, you herbal tea really does wonders! Are you sure you do not mix anything in? Because if you do, I would really love to know'- replied Hermione cheekily

This comment made her grandmother chuckle. 'Now, now Hermione, I may have been around in the 70s and the 80s, but you know I am all for healthy living. Plus, I would never reveal the secret of my "magical" tea.'-she said, miming the colons- 'After all, how else would i get to you come visit me?'

Hermione scrunched up her nose to that, she really did feel bad that she hasn't visited her grandmother in such a long time, but the mention of magical tea has made her wonder, for about 100th time this summer if maybe her grandmother was secretly a witch. It seemed very plausible... hmm... very plausible indeed.

'Earth to Hermione! Come dear, don't feel down. i don't blame you for neglecting an old woman like me for so long, I do understand that the last years of school are always very hard and challenging.'

Oh, nana, you have no idea. Thought Hermione involuntary. BUt instead she said-' I really am sorry, though, nana. It is no excuse at all! I promise you I will come more often now that school is almost over.'

'Speaking about school'- replied her grandmother, as if she suddenly remembered something.'Your letter came this morning. It was rather strange though, it came after all the other mail has already been delivered. The post man must have forgotten it, and came back to drop it off later. What a nice lad he is.'

'Yes, that was definitely very nice of him, nana.' Hermione said this with a slight twinkle in her eye, and a knowing smile on her face.

'Well, go on then, open it! What are you waiting for? I know you have been dying to recieve this letter for days now.'

Smiling gratefully at her grandmother Hermione quickly tore her letter open, and almost missed a small shiny object falling out of it.