Summary: After the war, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the Weasley twins return to Hogwarts for one final year. Over the course of the year, changes will be made - both serious and casual - and relationships are formed, unexpectedly. My take on the marriage law and what should have happened. AU. Fred/Hermione.
Disclaimer: Everything but the plot is credited to the genius, JK Rowling.
It feels good to be back, Hermione thought. She was seated in the Gryffindor table, sandwiched between her best friends Harry and Ron. Today marks the start of a new chapter in her life, the new era so to speak. As she looked around her, she could not remember a time when the Great Hall was bursting with so much life. Yet she could feel the loss of so many of them from the War. Harry did defeat Voldemort a few months ago, and after a month of grieving, it seemed that people had only one word in mind: rebirth. The spark of Diagon Alley was slowly returning, owing to the fact that Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes stepped up their advertising with new products, colourful advertisements and not to mention Fred and George's boisterous personalities, charming their customers to their shop. By the time Hogwarts school lists came out, Diagon Alley was even more magical than Hermione remembered when she passed the brick wall before her first year. The loom and doom of Voldermort's reign no longer resided above people's heads and it was clear that everyone enjoyed their newfound freedom.
So here Hermione was, an eighth year student in Hogwarts, watching the new first years being sorted to the already existing first year class. She couldn't believe that she was given a chance to finish her last year in Hogwarts. When she received a Hogwarts letter over the summer, stating that those who have missed the previous year's work could come back, she was beyond ecstatic! She was also happy about the fact that Harry and Ron decided to delay their Auror internship just a year longer, in order to enjoy a threat-free year at Hogwarts. Much to her surprise both Fred and George returned to Hogwarts as well!
"To improve our products" George said.
Hermione wasn't naive. She knew the level of intelligence and creativity needed to make joke products such as theirs. The only reason why she was so against it was because she was fulfilling her role as a prefect. Now that she did not hold any sort of authoritative position in school, she could openly appreciate their products - even going so far as to commenting on the ingenuity of some of them. Her favourite product of theirs was the Patented Daydream Charm, and she told them as much. Hermione never understood how one (or two) could manipulate such personal thoughts, molding them into someone's dream.
Her thoughts were interrupted with Professor McGonagall's tapping of her knife against her water goblet. Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the Great Hall.
"To our new students, welcome to Hogwarts. To our former students, welcome back. I would like to take this opportunity to remember those who have fallen in the War. Both sides had casualties and I would like to respect the memories of those who have sacrificed their lives. If you would be so kind as to please stand and take a minute to pay our respects."
At this, the seats creaked as students of all four houses and the staff stood to honour the memory of those that pass. Hermione was eternally grateful that not one of her close friends were casualties of the War, but that did not stop her from grieving for those that were missing. Just in the vicinity of where she was in the Gryffindor table, she noted Dennis Creevey tearing silently for the loss of his brother.
"Thank you very much, students. Now what better way to start a new beginning of this school year than to let the feast begin!"
It was no surprise that as the food appeared on the table, Ron reached for the nearest turkey leg and dug in.
"Blimey, Ron..." George said. "No wonder Hermione doesn't like you. You eat like a hippogriff!"
"Sod off." Ron said, with mashed potatoes in his mouth. Harry just chuckled at his friend's antics.
Hermione rolled her eyes at their conversation. Ever since that kiss, and the lack of a romantic relationship developing between Ron and Hermione, Fred and George did not stop teasing Ron about why she wasn't his girlfriend. She was tired of explaining herself that she that kiss was spurred on by high stress, adrenaline and raging hormones due to being in close quarters with him and Harry for roughly one year. Besides, she knew that Ron fancied Lavender and knew that she was just as relieved as he was that the kiss didn't mean more.
"Oh let the Hermione-issue go, George. Ron fancies Lavender. I'm sure she won't appreciate the Hermione-comments." Ginny said. Hermione whipped her head up from her plate to look at the girl across her and then at Ron. She looked at him with a quizzical brow, silently asking him how Ginny knew about it. He just shrugged. Ginny saw the exchange between the two of them and decided to enlighten them, "I might have overheard you two talking about it." She added sheepishly.
"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed.
"You can't blame me! After you told me that you and Ron kissed in the Chamber of Secrets, and nothing happened, it was only natural for me to be curious as to what would happen next." Ginny defended herself, whilst Harry just silently trudged on with his dinner with a smile on his face. No doubt enjoying the banter without worrying about the prophecy and everything else he worried about for the past seven years of his life.
After that, Ginny could hardly get a word out because throughout the entire dinner, Fred and George talked over her head, discussing their shop - now temporarily run by Verity, while they're at school. Harry fancied himself a silent dinner, while Ron just shoved food in his mouth left and right. Hermione just smiled and daintily sipped pumpkin juice, showing her contentment with her life at that moment. Unbeknownst to her, a pair of eyes would occasionally glance at her from across the table.
Being a small year group, the eighth years took classes together. Up first on their timetable was Potions. Being the schoolgirl that she was, Hermione arrived first and waited outside the door. Soon after, the eighth years start coming in. First to come after Hermione was the entirety of the Slytherin eighth year, consisting of Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott. They all said hi to Hermione, to which she returned the gesture. It seemed that during their younger years, these six Slytherins were mentored in the art of double allegiance, under the skillful Professor Snape. At first, no one believed their true allegiance, as they treated Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors poorly, however under the influence of Veritaserum they were all proven innocent. Having said that, by no means were the Gryffindors and Slytherins immediate friends, but they were slowly but surely building their friendships.
Next to come was Harry and Ron with Fred and George, having all come from the boys' dormitory. She, Lavender and the four boys were the only ones from Gryffindor that came back for another year. Then came the Ravenclaw crowd, Lisa Turpin, Terry Boot, Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein. And lastly, the Hufflepuffs came, consisting of Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones and Ernie Mcmillan. Lavender was with the Hufflepuffs unsurprisingly because Hermione knew that at night, Lavender sneaks out of the girls' dormitory when she thinks that Hermione is asleep. She would go to the Hufflepuff girls' dormitory ever since they were in their sixth year. Hermione was not the least bit insulted this year since she never liked Lavender and her shallow personality. Besides Hermione had the whole girls' dormitory to herself, she couldn't complain.
The door to the Potions classroom opened and out came Professor Snape. Due to his proven innocence, Professor Snape came back to resume his teaching post while Professor Slughorn went back into retirement, having not been able to handle the stresses of teaching for two years.
"You will enter the classroom and sit accordingly." The students all looked at each other, baffled by this introduction. Upon entering the classroom, they realised why: assigned seating. "Professor Dumbledore has asked all the staff to promote house unity and by doing so, I have assigned your seats according to your ability. This is first and foremost, your Potion NEWT class and I will not tolerate any mistakes that some of your previous peers have made." At this, Professor Snape looked over at the Gryffindors, undoubtedly thinking of the mishaps that Neville Longbottom has made. Hermione made her way over to the desk, finding out that her partner was Draco Malfoy. She was not surprised by this, as she knew that Malfoy was always the second in their year after her.
"Hi Hermione." Draco said as he took a seat next to her.
"Hi Draco. How's your summer been?"
"Surprisingly, it's been the greatest I've had."
"Good for you, Draco."
"Ingredients and instructions are on the board. You have an hour and thirty minutes to produce a potion, complete with a sample in the flask provided. You may begin." Professor Snape's instructions interrupted Hermione and Draco's conversation. Upon silent agreement, Hermione worked on heating the cauldron and collecting the necessary equipment while Draco went to collect the ingredients. On the next table over, Hermione saw that Fred was heating the cauldron as well. Somehow, it was still a bit surreal for her to attend classes with the Weasley twins. They had always been two years ahead of her in Hogwarts and before today, had never been in any classes with them and thus could not imagine them in a classroom setting. Now that she was given the opportunity to do so, she took her time. He was bent over the cauldron, with his long hair shielding his eyes from seeing her, but in spite of that she knew that he was completely focused on his task if only for his tongue peeking through the side of his mouth. She was impressed with him. They must be taking this school thing seriously, she thought because otherwise they would be pulling pranks left and right. Hermione's gaze drifted to his arms. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbow, his robe discarded and his top button undone. The way he was bent over his cauldron forced Hermione to see Fred in a different light. His shirt would tighten at the slightest movement, giving Hermione a view of his taut muscles. She could not help but compare him to Ron. Ron was gangly and overwhelmingly tall, easily making him the tallest Weasley. Fred, though shorter, seemed to be the most well proportioned Weasley brother now that Hermione came to think about it. His weight and muscle seemed to be proportioned to his height - not too muscly, nor too thin. It was clear that Fred was more athletic of the twins, as George was more like Ron. It was a subtle difference between the two, yet Hermione realised that she would now never mistake them for each other. She did not know how long she stared at Fred, but she blushed a furious red when Fred looked up and straight at her. She quickly turned back to her workstation, just as Malfoy was heading back.
"Granger, you alright there? You seem to have some colour to your face."
"I'm fine Draco, thanks." Hermione's hands immediately went to her cheeks to somehow soothe the blush. For some reason, she couldn't get that mental image out of her head. She couldn't even concentrate on the potion. Luckily Malfoy could sense that she wasn't focused and took over the potion making, guiding Hermione when Professor Snape passed by their table. Towards the end of the lesson, Hermione unwillingly took another peek at Fred and George's table, only to find that Fred looked up just at the exact moment she looked at him. She paled, and he just gave her a quirky smile then went back to his work.
Fred Weasley, you will be the death of me, Hermione thought.