Hey guys! I just wanted to assure you that no, I am not abandoning my Jily fanfic. I am currently stuck on where to take it and what to write, so I'm getting it out by beginning this! I know it's been awhile since we really updated the Jily fanfic, but don't worry, chapter 11 is under construction and should hopefully be done soon. If not, just yell at us to get writing and we will hopefully get to it. Not sure when it's going to be updated as finals week is coming up quickly (have about 2 weeks till death week), but maybe we'll finish the chapter as a way to relieve stress or get out of studying.. Anyways, I've been rambling.
Please Read and Review! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine. It belongs to J.K. Rowling. I have some claim to the plot, but there are many others who also write this.
The war was over. For ever. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off all of our shoulders and you could see the change it made in others. People walked differently, acted differently and were more willing to look past their birth status to reach out and help those around them. But even though the war was over and there was much to celebrate, no one was celebrating. We had lost so many. Tonks, Remus, Colin, Lavender and many more. Fred almost died, after having a wall collapse on him, but was on the mend at Saint Mungo's. I can't express how relieved the Weasley's were when the doctor walked out and proclaimed that their tests had found nothing wrong other than many broken bones. They said that had the impact been hit by a Blasting curse, he would have been killed, but as it was dislodged by the wear and tear of the war, he got away with broken ribs, arms, and legs. He was extremely lucky and almost two weeks later, was quickly recovering as he should be with the aid of magic and was helping his twin work on repairing their shop.
Repairing. So many buildings, homes, towns, and lives had been destroyed and no one knew if they were going to be able to be repaired. The people of Hogsmeade were working day and night to return the town to the splendor it once had been. Wizards and witches across the country and into the United Kingdom and British Isles were helping each other out with repairs on anything they could. Houses were rebuilt, shops were reopened and lives were slowly, but surely going to return back to normal, we hoped. Hogwarts was also being rebuilt and I, along with my fellow peers, the staff and many parents of the students or the remaining people from the Battle of Hogwarts, were helping to get as much done as we could in order for the new school year to start on time, but there was still much to be done.
It was currently lunch break for those of us who were helping repair Hogwarts and I was out wandering the grounds. The inside of the castle was almost repaired, that had been the first thing on our list, leaving the outside still as chaotic as it had been during the war. There were singe marks in the grass where rogue curses had hit, here and there were dried blood stains, occasionally you could find an article of clothing or pieces of wands, but only little things. All of the bodies had been removed and buried in a cemetery on the Hogwarts grounds. It was quite beautiful considering the circumstances, with intricate iron gates and low stone walls surrounding it. Each tombstone was different in shape, as a token to all who had given their lives, and on each tombstone there was a name, the years of life and a small eulogy of the work that they had done. On the iron gates there was a small sign. It read, Here lies those who saw the good in all the evil, who felt a need to protect it, and defended it to the end, even through death.
It was here that my wandering feet took me. I pushed open the iron gates and walked through the cemetery. I looked at the graves as I passed them by, reading but not registering. I didn't want to go through the pain again and I wasn't sure that I had any tears left to shed. I continued walking through the cemetery till I reached the middle where there was a lovely garden maze with a fountain in the center. It was here that I was headed. I just needed to get away from it all, not that the cemetery was the place to get away from it all, but it was quiet and serene, just what I needed.
I sat down on the edge of the fountain, looking at the water, but not at the same time. My mind was wandering through various topics, not really residing on one for too long. It was my way of coping. Thinking, but not thinking at the same time. I sat like that for a while, occasionally running my hand through the water and seeing the ripples it made.
A snap of a twig broke me out of my reverie. I whipped around, hand going for my wand, a reflex I had gotten from being on the run. I stopped when I saw who it was, Fred. He was chuckling as he looked at me. I blushed as I realized that I had almost taken him out with my wand. "Little jumpy eh 'Mione." I shook my head and gave a small smile at his nickname for me. "So what are you doing out here? I thought I was the only one brave enough to walk through the cemetery to come out here." He had sat down next to me on the edge of the fountain. "I needed some quiet, away from all of it. You?" Fred sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Pretty much the same. I needed to get away from mum. She has a close watch over me, thinking I'm going to keel over dead any second." He gave a small chuckle and turned towards the fountain. "She has a reason to." Fred's head turned back to me, his steel blue eyes meeting mine. "You gave all of us quite the scare in Saint Mungo's." He sighed nodding his head, letting it drop back to the fountain.
I took this time to look over his features. His scars were fading, but the doctors said there were some that were never going to go completely, particularly the ones on his face. He had a faint scar that lead from the end of his left eyebrow to just above his cheekbone. George had joked that this was nature making up for his lost ear. Mrs. Weasley didn't find that too funny. He also had several scars that ran down the front of his chest from where the wall cut him. They looked very similar to the ones that Bill had gotten from Greyback.
Fred turned his gaze back to me and smirked when he noticed that I was staring. "See something you like 'Mione?" I blushed and ducked my head, turning my gaze down to the scar on my arm. 'Mudblood.' I guess Fred had followed my gaze because a couple seconds later I saw his hand reach out to trace the letters on my arm. "That little…" He paused, before giving a small laugh. "I'm glad that mum got to her and gave her what she deserved." I gave a small smile. I wasn't at all fond of the scar. When I had first gotten it, I had covered it up with concealment charms, until Ginny had sat me down and told me that I wasn't doing myself good by doing that and the only way I could move past it was to show it to the world. I think her words were "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Since then I had tried leaving it unconcealed. It was hard, but Ginny was right. Covering it up wasn't going to help me move on from it.
We elapsed back into silence, just sitting there and looking at the water of the fountain, appreciating the time away from all the hustle and bustle. The silence was short lived as we heard the bell ring, signaling that lunch was over. I sighed, not really wanting to go back. I saw Fred stand up from the corner of my eye. "Shall we?" Turning towards where he was, I saw he had a hand out to help me get up. "I suppose." I took his hand and got to my feet, before brushing myself off and beginning to walk back to the castle. We walked in silence, not really knowing what to talk about.
When we made it to the castle, we met up with Ron, Harry and Ginny. Ron came over grabbing my hand and giving me a kiss on the cheek. I gave a small smile to him. It had been like this since the kiss we had during the battle, somewhat a couple but not really. I wasn't sure I wanted to be in a relationship at the moment what with the war having just ended and me trying to come to terms with everything. "Where have you been? Couldn't find you at lunch." "I needed some peace and quiet away from everything." I gave him a smile and patted his arm. He nodded before turning to talk to Harry, shooting Fred a look. Ginny came over and looped her arm through mine. "You okay? You've been quiet recently." I gave her a small smile, something that was becoming my go to. Ginny looked me over, this girl was really to perceptive for her own good. She turned to Ron and Harry, nudging the latter. "Hermione and I are going to the bathroom. We'll meet you there." Harry and Ron just nodded absentmindedly, going back to their conversation as Ginny drug me off.
"Ginny, the bathroom was back there." She just waved me off. "I just told them that so they wouldn't follow us. We're going somewhere we can talk in private." She drug me up to the seventh floor and then headed off to the left. It didn't take me long to realize where we were going. "Ginny, I don't think it's usable." I thought back to the little skirmish Ron, Harry and I had had with Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. Surely the room had been destroyed. We reached the end of the corridor and Ginny began to pace back and forth in front of the wall, only stopping when a door appeared. She turned to me smirking before opening the door and dragging me inside. I was shocked. "Ginny, how… Shouldn't it have gotten destroyed?" Ginny turned to me and smirked again. "That's what we thought, but then yesterday," Ginny began to blush and I rolled my eyes. "Just stop there. I don't need to know what you and Harry get up to. He's like my brother. It'd be like me telling you what Ron and I did." Ginny made a face and shuddered before heading over to one of the couches and flopping down, gesturing for me to sit.
"Alright, now spill. Somethings bothering you. You haven't been this quiet since you began studying for OWLs." I shook my head and laughed. She really was too perceptive for her own good. "Hermione…" She was bouncing on her side of the couch, looking at me and silently begging me to begin. I sighed, figuring I might as well just tell her because I knew if I didn't she get it out of me some other way. "I just don't know anymore, you know?" I looked up to Ginny who just looked at me blankly. This was going to be harder than I thought. I adjusted myself so that I was sitting indian-style on the couch, facing Ginny. "What I'm about to tell you can't leave this room." I looked at Ginny, searching her face to make sure she wouldn't. "I'm serious Ginny. I haven't told anyone else about this and I don't think I could handle everyone learning about this quite yet." Ginny looked at me for a moment before giving in a nodding. Here goes nothing.
"I obliviated my parents." Well, that was one way to put it. Way to go Hermione. So much for easing into it. Ginny looked at me in shock, so I began to explain. "It was end of fourth year. After the display at the Quidditch World Cup, I knew my parents wouldn't be safe, so I obliviated them and sent them to Australia. You see, Wendell and Monica Wilkins don't know that they have a daughter. Now that the war's over, I've been thinking of going down to Australia and restoring their memories, but-" "You can't." Ginny finished for me. I looked up at her and nodded before giving in to the tears that had been threatening to fall. Ginny held me as I sobbed, slowly rocking me back and forth. "Shhh… It'll be alright Hermione." She held me until I stopped crying, allowing me time to get it all out.
"Thanks, Ginny. I'm sorry." Ginny pulled me back in for a hug. "Hermione, there's nothing to be sorry for. You did what you had to do and it kept them safe." She pulled back to look at me. "That's the thing though. I don't know if they are safe. For all I know, they could have been killed. And I won't know until I go down there, but there's just so much going on right now that I don't feel I could. That and no one really knows what I did and I don't know how everyone would take it." I trailed off, looking at my hands. Ginny reached a hand out, resting it on my arm. "That's not all that's bothering you though, is it." This girl. She could give Rita Skeeter a run for her money with her ability to figure things out. I shook my head. Ginny waited, knowing I would tell her eventually. She had the patience of a saint, sometimes, and often times it worked to her advantage because she knew that if she waited long enough, people would talk. It wasn't a bad thing necessarily. Sometimes she did it because, well like me for instance, some people needed to talk and so she would sit and wait until they talked, letting them get it all out.
I sighed, settling back into the couch before starting. "It's Ron." Ginny's head whipped up to meet mine. No backing out now. "Ever since that kiss we had in the middle of the war, he seems to think that we're a couple, which I'm fine with, but at the same time I'm not. I feel like it's moving all too fast for me. I had to grow up too fast with the impending war and now that it's over, I just want to sit back and relax, but I don't think Ron gets that. I'm sure if the circumstances were different I'd be more okay with it all, but it's just too much for me right now." It was quiet for a minute as Ginny processed what I was saying.
"Wow." I looked up at Ginny. I was actually kind of scared of what she was going to say. This was her brother we were talking about. "Well, I'm not sure what to say and I don't think that I can really comment on this 'cause it's all up to you in the end Hermione. But I will say this. Maybe you need to take a break. Tell Ron that you need to get away for awhile and just figure things out. You wouldn't have to explain anything to him because it's really not his business. Maybe go to Australia to find your parents and spend some time with them before coming back with them. The only thing I ask is that if you do decide to go find your parents, please talk to an adult in the Order. I'm not talking about Ron or Harry. I mean Kingsley or my parents because even though the war is over, there's still Death Eaters out there and I know that you are more than capable of taking care of yourself, but I would feel better if an adult was in on this because maybe they could help you find your parents." I was about to answer her when she cut me off. "You don't have to answer right now. In fact don't. You need to think about this." I closed my mouth and nodded. "Thanks Ginny." Ginny waved me off and pulled me in for another hug. "It was nothing. That's what best friends do. Now come on, we've got a castle to fix." I smiled as i let her drag me out of the room to go find Harry and Ron.
It was a couple of days later and we were all at the burrow, relaxing after a long week of repairing. Harry and Ron were in the middle of an intense game of Exploding Snap and Ginny was sitting by Harry, her arms wrapped around him, watching. Everyone seemed busy so I went into the kitchen. I had thought over what Ginny had said and it made perfect sense. So I was going to do it. Step one, talk to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
I found Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen, like usual, cooking up a storm. She noticed me as soon as I came in. "Hermione dear! How are you? Do you need anything?" I shook my head, sitting down at the table, noticing Mr. Weasley was also there reading the Prophet. "I'm good Mrs. Weasley, thanks." She smiled. "It's no problem dear and call me Molly." I smiled. Mrs. Weasley was always trying to get me to call her Molly, but it just didn't feel right to me. I sat at the table a little longer, before summoning my Gryffindor courage. Here goes nothing.
"Can I talk to you Mr. and Mrs. Weasley?" Mr. Weasley looked up from the Prophet and folded it up, setting it on the table in front of him. Mrs. Weasley turned from what she was cooking, made sure it wouldn't burn and walked over towards the table, sitting down by her husband. Before I began, I took out my wand and cast a Muffliato and a couple other charms to keep the others out. I turned back to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley who were looking at me curiously. "Sorry, it's just I haven't told anyone about this and I'd rather not tell it to everyone yet." They looked at each other before nodding, my cue to begin. And I did. I told them everything, well everything about my parents, and when I finished, I felt a whole lot better. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked at each other and took a couple minutes to process and breathe. "Wow. Hermione, that's quite a heavy load, but we're thankful you told us. Now, I'm assuming that you want to go to Australia and find your parents and bring them back, right?" I nodded and Mr. Weasley continued. "Well, I'm going to talk to Kingsley about this, if that's alright," I nodded. "You probably already assumed this, but you're not going to be going to Australia by yourself. There's still many Death Eaters on the loose and while you are more than capable of protecting yourself, Molly and I would rest easier knowing you had someone with you." I nodded again. Ginny had already hashed this out, being very firm in her stance. "I know that you would probably like to leave at the earliest convenience, and we will try to make that happen, but the earliest probably won't be for another couple of weeks. So for the moment, just relax and take some time to prepare and get ready. I'll talk to Kingsley about it and we'll let you know once we've figured it all out." I nodded again, my eyes beginning to water. I was going to get my parents back. I stood up and walked over to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley giving them each a hug. "Thank you both so much." Mrs. Weasley smiled at me. "It's nothing dear. We'd do anything for our adopted daughter." I smiled and gave a weak watery laugh, giving Mrs. Weasley a hug again. She released me, shooing me out of the kitchen telling me to go rest up before dinner. My smile was more free and real as I walked back to the living room. It was actually going to be happening. I was getting my parents back.
I told Ginny about it later that night and she squealed before pulling me in for a hug. "Oh Hermione I'm so happy for you!" I laughed as she began to dance around the room. This little burst of happiness was just what the doctor ordered.
There you have it! Chapter 1 of an amazingly long journey… Well, hopefully not too long. I promise I will try to finish Chapter 11 of the Jily as soon as possible, but do keep in mind that I have finals and will be studying my butt off. Anyways, please Review!
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