Usual disclaimer, I am not JK Rowling, these are my imaginings with her wonderful world and the characters who live in it. Thank you Rowling for giving us all so much inspiration.
"Hermione Granger and the Seventh Year"
a fanfic by Cerys Dewar
Chapter One
Hermione woke screaming from yet another nightmare.
Ginny slept on more peacefully in her bed, and Hermione was glad that she knew how to cast a good silencing spell on herself every single night before sleep. The Weasleys had insisted on Harry and Hermione staying on at the Burrow until they decided what their next steps would be, and both had gratefully accepted. Hermione's parents had decided to remain in Australia even after having their memories restored, needing time to cope with what Hermione had been forced to do and also feeling reluctant to leave the friends they'd made there. Harry had always loved the Burrow and the Weasleys; it was a simple decision for both to make.
In the last year, from the first night after escaping the Death Eater attack at Bill and Fleur's wedding to the present, the nightmares had filled her sleeping hours. Hermione had post traumatic stress disorder. St. Mungo's had offered her deliveries of Dreamless Sleep, but Hermione had declined, not wishing to develop a dependence on the potion. Hermione attended therapy for her war wounds, inside and out, and hoped that one day the nightmares would stop.
Hermione sat up in the bed and waited for her heart rate to slow down to normal, wrapping herself in her housecoat to fight off the chill in the early autumn air and the chill of the dream she'd just left. Finally, when she ceased to tremble, she stood and tiptoed to the bathroom to shower, eager to start the day. Today, she was to receive her final Hogwarts letter. She was a jumble of anxiety and excitement, as well as determination. She had very high hopes for her seventh year do-over.
In her developing years Hermione lived for two things: study, and helping Harry Potter overthrow Voldemort. With the latter finally completed, Hermione clung to her books more voraciously than ever, her one anchor in a world that had left her more adrift than she ever expected to be. At nearly eighteen years of age, Hermione was leaving girlhood behind. The year on the run with Harry had stripped her of the last signs of childhood.
Hermione spent a long time enjoying the hot shower, having been assured by Mrs. Weasley that there would be no shortage of time or hot water for her. Once she stepped out and cast a drying spell on herself and her unruly mane of curls, Hermione dressed in her muggle clothes and braided her hair tightly. Her stomach rumbled, and Hermione began her descent to the kitchen, where she knew she would at least find Molly and Arthur, as well as a pot of good strong tea and some toast.
Molly and Arthur, as well as George, were seated at the table, quietly chatting about the day's plans. Fred's absence still ached for everyone, and Hermione stepped around the table to embrace each of them. After everything they had all been through and lost in the war, nobody ever passed up a hug or a clasped hand or an opportunity to connect. Everything had been rendered even more precious. Once she stepped out of Molly's warm hug, she sat down across from George and took her first sip of tea, closing her eyes as the warm drink flooded her entire being. Even the simplest things, like hot tea and Molly's homemade bread, were still miracles to her. Molly squeezed her shoulder and they exchanged a sad smile.
"Did you manage to sleep at all, dearie?" Molly asked gently. She knew that Hermione was still haunted by everything, especially being tortured by Bellatrix and witnessing Professor Snape's horrific death. Hermione had seen too much, and Molly knew, from this war and the first one, just how hard it could be.
"Not very much. I keep dreaming I'm back at Malfoy Manor." Hermione huddled a little tighter to her cup, and Molly squeezed her shoulder again. Hermione brought her eyes to meet those of George, and George smiled crookedly at her, his eyes just as haunted as her own. Hermione reached out and gently touched the hand he wrapped around his teacup, and the four of them stayed for a moment, all touching somehow, all sharing their pain and offering what they could.
Ginny was the next to come down to breakfast, and then finally Harry and Ron. Everyone exchanged hugs and sat down to table to enjoy the good breakfast Molly had waiting in the cookstoves. No one ate a lot, but breakfast was peaceful, and no one was going to take that feeling for granted ever again. As everyone finished eating, and the last plate was cleaned and then returned to the cupboard, the owls arrived, and there was a collective intake of breath. It was a big day.
Harry and Ron tore open Ministry envelopes eagerly, setting aside the Hogwarts letters. Kingsley had extended invitations to the "golden trio", as the citizens called them, to begin Auror training immediately. McGonagall had of course sent the school letters but no one had really expected either of the boys to return to do their seventh year; neither had been particularly good students and there were still Death Eaters to round up. They were impatient to begin their careers and join the adult world.
Hermione smiled a little and bumped into Ginny's shoulder as they opened their Hogwarts letters, Hermione's own Ministry letter being relegated to the same pile as the boys' school letters. Once again, there were no surprises about it. She loved Harry and Ron dearly, but over the summer months she and Ginny had become inseparable, and everyone knew that she would want to complete her schooling. Ginny was overjoyed to have Hermione returning to school with her, and Hermione was looking forward to burying herself in her studies once more.
She was a little sad over the happy little trio parting ways like this, but many quiet jokes had passed around the table about Hermione finally only having to do her own homework instead of the boys', and jokes about the boys being able to let loose a little without Hermione keeping them in reign. They all covered their own anxieties about the separation with their smiles and resolved to visit eachother as often as possible. Harry and Ron also had expressed hopes in serving some of their internship time in Hogsmeade nearby. Molly, of course, insisted that of course everyone would come home on Sundays for dinner at least every second week.
The boys would be moving into George's now extended living quarters above the joke shop, close to the Ministry and their training, and Arthur and Molly were quietly looking forward to having more time for eachother. George was happy to have the boys stay with him, as well as Lee Jordan, who'd accepted a partnership in the shop. Hermione and Ginny would be sharing a dorm room at Hogwarts, so no one would find themselves too lonely.
Ginny had an extra envelope from Hogwarts, as she was now the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Harry teased the girls that McGonagall was determined to have the quidditch cup stay in Gryffindor and to have Hermione break every academic record. Hermione retorted back that without Ron and Harry breaking so many rules, Gryffindor would have its best chances in years at the house cup. It felt good to tease eachother again. It eased some of the pain.
Ginny and Hermione planned to floo into London with the boys so they could shop for their school supplies, as well as new dress robes and shoes, and Ginny and Harry wanted to go on one more date before she returned to school. Hermione and Ron hadn't really made any plans, but Hermione wasn't particularly bothered by that. Despite the heat of their kisses in the battle, things hadn't really progressed between them. There was no real awkwardness, but there was no tension either. Hermione wondered sometimes if the war had broken her somehow, but didn't really want to discuss it with Ron in case it really was her fault.
Everyone got what they needed for the day, Hermione and Ginny equipped with their purses and the boys equipped with their moving boxes shrunk and tucked in their pockets. Everyone stepped into the floo and away they went to London, much more subdued than on previous departures, more determined to occupy themselves so they wouldn't feel the pain too much.
As the last youth departed through the fireplace, Arthur pulled Molly even closer into his arms, and they spent a moment leaning on eachother for support. Then, sharing teary smiles, they settled down to a quiet morning together, Arthur tinkering with an electric teakettle Hermione had acquired for him, and Molly reading another kitchen spells manual. All was finally well in the world, and though there were sad moments, there was a peaceful lull that morning shared by parents who had proudly watched their children leave the nest with their hopes and dreams and their brave determination to have a future un-hindered by the shadows of the past.
