The ministry, now under new management took it upon itself to restore whatever the war had taken from the people, food and shelter were given to those who needed it, adults were given jobs as to help families who lost theirs to the death eaters and such.
Rebuilding Hogwarts had been the hardest, it took a very long time to simply remove all the bodies and rubble from it's ground, fixing the buildings was far more easier thanks to magic but casting it's protective spells proved to be the hardest task.
In the end it was repaired by the time the new school year rolled in, much more students had come to Hogwarts as parents saw it was finally safe for their children to go, and Hermione being the perfect student she is, jumped at the opportunity to go back to school the moment she knew she had the choice, the others longing for one final peaceful year at their most loved place in the world, joined as well.
It had been quite a shock to them that one of them would not be joining them though, Harry felt as his final year will never be the same without his bestfriend by his side, they went through so much together it hardly seemed real that they would never spend their time together again.
During the final battle Ron Weasley had died at the hands of a carrow, the spell was aimed for his brother Fred but missed him by mere inches and flew straight into the face of his unsuspecting brother.
It had been sad times as the Weasleys along with Harry and Hermione found themselves attending funeral after funeral, paying their respect for the ones who were lost in battle.
It was now Christmas time and Mrs Weasley took it upon herself to organise a dinner party and insist that all of her children along with their friends are present.
"Hermione dear, could you please call the boys and Ginny back inside and tell them that dinner will be ready soon?" asked Mrs Weasley as she passed by with a big bowl of mashed potatoes
Hermione looked up from the dishes she was washing and nodded with a smile. "of course, Mrs Weasley, I'll be right back" she dried her hands on her pants and left to the backyard where she saw the boys and Ginny having a two versus two quidditch match, Harry and Fred against Ginny and George.
She shivered when a cold breeze blew by and wrapped her arms around herself to warm up and called out their names hoping she was loud enough for them to hear. Thankfully Ginny had heard her and stopped the match ignoring the annoyed whines from the twins as she decended with the quaffle tucked under her arm.
"hey 'moine, what's up?" she asked when she was only a few feet above the ground.
"your mum says dinner is almost ready and that you all should come inside" came the reply with a shaky breath.
"we'll be inside in a moment, we just need to put away our brooms" came Harry's voice from behind her making her jump.
"Harry! don't sneak up on me like that!" she scolded with a playful glare.
"sorry Hermione" he smiled sheepishly.
"whatever let's just go inside, it's freezing out here" she shook her head and started walking back to the burrow ignoring the joking remarks about warming her up from Fred and George.
once inside Ginny stood by the fire stretching her arms to warm them up and to melt off any snow that could be stuck to her clothes, she was joined shortly by Hermione and she gave her a smile.
"Don't mind the twins, you know how they are"
"oh i know, they can still be a bit too much to handle sometimes" she replied sitting down on the sofa.
"yeah i know that" Ginny plopped down next to her. "but that's why i love them, you won't belive how they can make mum go from a pleasant mood to the portrait of Siruis's mother in a matter of seconds"
Hermione giggled and nudged Ginny in the side with her elbow. "don't let hear you say that, she wouldn't be pleased to be compared to that awful thing"
"what she doesn't know won't hurt her" Ginny shrugged with a grin.
their conversation was cut short by yell of Mrs Weasley to gather at the table, Hermione grabbed Ginny's wrist when she made no move to get up and pulled her to dining room where she made sure that they got seats next to each other.
"Harry dear, how's your new job at hogwarts?" Molly asked over the loud conversations that were being held at the table.
"it's brilliant Mrs Weasley! i love being at hogwarts and i loved teaching ever since we started Dumbeldore's Army back in school" he beamed. he had been given a special position at the ministry as an auror but he refused saying that he had enough thrill to last him a lifetime.
"that's wonderful, i had always known you'd be a brilliant teacher when i known how you taught those kids back at school" she smiled at him. "well what about the lot of you, anything intresting in your jobs?" she asked everyone but was pointedly looking at Hermione.
Blushing under the gaze of everyone at the table, Hermione cleared her throat and told them about her new offered position at the ministry. she was the head of the law department, she admittedly was set upon refusing the job since she had seen how the ministry worked back then but Kingsley had convinced her that times had changed and she should give it a chance.
"I'm the one who is responsible to keep laws fair to every wizard, muggel and magical creature. Kingsley told me that in due time i can stop elf slavery and might even reach a state of peace and equality between wizards and goblins" she sounded proud of what she was hoping to accomplish.
"Merlin Hermione! that's brilliant" Ginny had a wide smile stretched across her face as did the others at the table.
"yes, i accepted the job shortly after i returned from Australia, finding my parents was harder than i thought it would be"
"and how are they? settling fine in good ol' london?" Mr Weasley looked excited, muggles had always fascinated him and he always jumped at the opportunity to speak about them.
"yes, they weren't happy with me erasing their memories but they understood why i had done it. they want me to live with them now to make up for lost time" she smiled at the thought of finally being back with her parents, being not able to contact them for over a year had made her miss them terribly.
"perhaps you should invite them over here someday to introduce them to us and-" Mrs Weasley began saying but was cut off by a grinning Mr Weasley. "yes, that'll be a brilliant idea!"
Hermione chuckled at the now argument that started between Mr and Mrs Weasley about interrupting Mrs Weasley and how Mr Weasley would scare the Grangers away with his muggle obsession.
Ginny looked at her parents in amusement before turning to her bestfriend and giving her a pout. "you're coming to my match this weekend right, 'mione?" she asked. "i even got you special tickets that would get you a special seat away from the other fans"
Hermione gave a small groan and frowned, she never liked quidditch and Ginny knew that, she couldn't understand why she always insisted on her coming to see the game. "you know i don't like quidditch, Ginny-" she started.
"i know that but please! for me?" she gave her best, what she hoped it would be a puppy dog face and clasped her hands together in a begging gesture.
releasing a deep sigh and rolling her eyes. "fine, I'll think about it"
"really?! you will? thank you so much 'mione" the ginger wrapped her arms around her bestfriend and pulled her in for a hug.
all Hermione could think about was how she could possibly get herself not to go and how Ginny was really warm against her and that she smelled really good right now. relising where her thoughts had wandered, Hermione pulled herself away from Ginny's arms and sat back at her chair with a pink blush dusting her cheeks.
'oh merlin, what am i supposed to do'