Chapter One
Hogwarts was in ruins. Families were torn apart. Harry was distraught and lost, Hermione didn't know what to do for him. She had been trying to help him mourn whilst mourning herself. They had lost too many friends in the final battle, amongst all of those who died in the years leading up to it. Hermione had removed Dumbledore's portrait from Hogwarts shortly after the battle was finished, Hogwarts would not be running for a while, if at all. She spoke to him regularly, asking him for advice. She had been trying to find ways for her to help the recovering Wizarding World, along with Harry, but she didn't know where to begin. Hogwarts needed rebuilding, there was a lot of work to do in the Ministry and no-one knew what was going to happen with all the kids come September 1st.
Hermione was going from issue to issue, trying to help. She was pouring her magic into rebuilding Hogwarts every morning, then she was at the Ministry every afternoon helping Kingsley with an unending trail of paperwork. She was also chatting with McGonagall about what to do about the new term quickly coming up on them. She had grown quiet close to the old Transfiguration professor, sharing some stories when they couldn't focus on work anymore. McGonagall appreciated everything Hermione was doing but she could see that she wanted to do more.
"Hermione dear, you cannot push yourself any further. You must take some time to take care of yourself or you will burn out. I have seen it before, students putting too much pressure on themselves during exam time." Minerva said to Hermione, finally unable to stop herself from saying her peace. They had been going over plans for several hours after a full day of working on Hogwarts and at the Ministry. She had dark circles under her eyes and Minerva could tell she hadn't eaten a proper meal all day. "You should go home and get at least 8 hours sleep and a proper meal. Have Molly cook you something then lock yourself away in your bedroom and don't come out until 11 tomorrow morning at least." Minerva ended up half shouting at Hermione, pointing to the Floo in her office.
"We haven't finished looking over the new plans yet. There is still a lot of work to do before I can stop." Hermione tried to argue back. But Minerva wasn't taking it.
"No arguing. Go." She said, pursing her lips. Hermione knew the look she was getting, there was no arguing against her.
Hermione got up, gathered her things and walked to the Floo. Turning back she said, "I won't be able to rest properly until it is all done. It's not possible." Minerva didn't say anything, she just pointed again at the Floo. Hermione turned and Floo'd back to the Burrow.
As per part of Minerva's request Hermione did eat something. But she was working at the same time. She had papers spread out on the table in the kitchen while she was snacking on some breadsticks. Eventually the food was gone and everyone was in bed. Hermione's eyes were drooping, she was struggling to stay awake but she was determined to get some more work into her day. Finally, at some ungodly hour, her head dropped and she was asleep.
What felt like several hours later she woke up, lying on the floor somewhere. That confused her. She could have sworn she was at the table when she fell asleep, someone must have carried her to her bed or something. Maybe she fell out of bed at some point. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, feeling terrible.
"What on earth?! Who are you?" A voice said. A voice she hadn't heard in over a year. Shocked she opened her eyes and looked to where the voice was coming from. Professor Dumbledore was standing in front of her. In his pyjamas of all things.
What on earth is happening?
A/N: Thank you for reading my new story. Any and all feedback is most welcome. I plan to be updating this story weekly to begin with but may get more often the more I write.
