A/N: First Harry Potter story in a long time, and the first I've ever thought good enough to post. This is an idea I had yesterday, thought out today, and then typed out in the past two hours.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, as per usual.
It was just past 6 in the morning on September 1st, and Harry Potter was searching Ron's attic room for anything the two of them might have missed. Harry, Ron and Hermione were returning for their 7th and final year at Hogwarts, albeit a year late. Harry paused to examine himself in the mirror one final time. Here he was, now 18, trunk packed and stowed into the car.
He looked at his hair, no longer lengthy and unkempt. Truthfully, it was one of the first thing Mrs. Weasley had taken care of once he returned to the Burrow those few months ago.
His eyes then flicked over his lightning bolt scar. While his scar had not hurt since the day Voldemort fell he was still having nightmares, but even they were starting to become less frequent. He didn't need to ask Ron or Hermione about their dreams. He was quite certain they would not be nightmare free for a while more, but knew they all agreed a few bad dreams were not a bad price to pay after all they had been through.
Beside a few new scars added to his skin, he came to the conclusion he rather looked the same after a year living in the woods, essentially on the run. Thanks to Mrs. Weasley's cooking and chiding he had gained back most of the weight he had lost. He was sure a few Hogwarts feasts wouldn't hurt, either.
He turned away and resumed his search for lost possessions. His mind wandered to Hogwarts, and the letters they had received a few weeks ago. They attempted to explain what would take place at Hogwarts that year, but found it to be a bit confusing. Students were being pushed back a year in Defense Against the Dark Arts, as they had not learned a thing the year previously. Some students who had either been kidnapped or had run away to the Room of Requirement were going to be attempting to make up for lost time. And every student who had been in attendance last year was to attend a 2 hour lecture on muggles, and the proper way to handle encounters with them in society. No other modifications were needed as the rest of the teachers had kept true to their subjects.
Shortly after Harry and Ron shot Hermione confused looks, she quickly explained that none of it had anything to do with them as they had all missed a full year. She promptly went on to say that because of the missing year in their education the three of them were going to have to start studying for their N.E.W.T's much sooner than the other 7th years. These comments fell on deaf ears for Ron had gone back to his breakfast, and Harry now understood that he and Ginny were going to be in the same year, and therefore have classes and more time to spend together.
While he had been living at the Burrow for the whole summer it had largely been a time of mourning. Because of that, the two had not sought much time together. That would soon be remedied when they sat together on the train ride. Maybe then they would be able to discuss their situation. While he was rather sure she still fancied him, he had learned over the years to second-guess most things.
"Harry?" Hermione's voice carried up to him. "Harry, we'd best be going on now. And Ron has asked me if you could grab a keepers glove he thinks was left under the bed."
"Yeah, alright!" He groped under the bed and pulled out the dusty glove. "Be right down." He wacked some of the dust off as he hurried down the stairs. On his way out the door, he grabbed one last bit of toast.
As he closed the door he was quite sure that whatever his last year at Hogwarts had in store for him, he would be more than able to handle it.