Chapter 1: After The Defeat

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley stood in Professor Mcgonagall's office three days after the demise of Voldemort. "Now as you three know you have now missed an entire year of school. If it were up to the ministry they would let you matriculate, but it is not As you know I try to treat all students the same and if it were any other student I would make them make it up. I am going to allow the three of you to stay here till the end of the school year but you will have to make up what you missed during the summer and up until the Christmas holidays. Your N.E.W.T. exams will take place December 1st and 2nd and you will be allowed to matriculate before the start of the holidays. "We understand Professor." said a disappointed Hermione. She never in her wildest dreams imagined she would be told that she would have to make up almost 10 months of school in just a little under nine. Upon seeing the disappointment in her eyes Mcgonagall said, "Don't worry Miss Granger, I have faith in my "Golden Trio". You will get through this just fine. Harry hated to think that in a weeks time while his fellow Gryiffindors would be donning their scarlet and gold caps and gowns, he, Ron and Hermione would be forced to watch from the audience. He also couldn't bare to think about the look of satisfaction Malfoy would be wearing that day, but somehow he knew that if they stuck together, the three of them, along with help from Hagrid, would get through this.

Harry, Ron, And Hermione started to recieve their summer assignments the day before matriculation. Mcgonagall informed them that owls would arrive at 7:00 A.M. daily to bring them that days assignments. The day of matriculation dawned gray and dreary. For a while Harry thought it might rain, but there seemed to be a break in the clouds and the sun tried to shine. For the departing seventh years this would be the final day, but Harry, Ron and Hermione had decided instead to leave on the Hogwart's Express with the underclassman the following day. To Further avoid Malfoy they decided against attending matriculation and instead spent the better part of the day in the empty Gryffindor common roon getting a start on their assignments. "Well at least there is one good thing that came out of all of this.: said Ron. "What's that?" asked Harry and Hermione together. "When we come back next year Malfoy won't be here." Good point." said Harry. That night Harry was awoken out of a deep sleep by the sound of crying coming from the bed next to his. He gently rubbed his eyes and saw Ron sitting on his bed, his eyes all red and puffy. A picture sat in his lap. a young man of about 19 or 20 with bright red hair smiled out at him. "What's wrong Ron?" Harry asked. Ron promptly dried his face. Oh Harry, I am sorry I woke you" he said. I was just thinking about Fred. He was smarter than mum ever gave him credit for." "He was a good friend, a wonderful son and brother and a kind person." Harry said sitting on the bed and giving his best friend a consoling hug. "He and George noticed how uptight working at the ministry had made Percy. Not that he wasn't already, but ever since he had strated there he had become with drawn from the rest of us. That is why they did not want to work there." "I don't blame them, plus I don't think they were ministry material anyway." Harry said. "No, they weren't." said Ron with a small chuckle. "Harry, thanks for talking with me. I needed that." "It was no problem." said Harry.

They all awoke the next morning to a thunderstorm raging outside. Harry started to wonder if the train would leave on time. It would be his first entirely Dursley fee summer. Now that he was of age, he could live on his own in Number 12 Grimmauld Place. As Ron and Harry did some last minute packing, the two of them discussed what they were going to do that summer while they were not playing catch up with their assignments. "I think I am going to go to Diagon Alley." said Harry. "I think it is time I thought about getting a new owl. I miss Hedwig extremely, but how else am I going to get my post." Talk than turned to what they were planning for the future. "I think after the Christmas holidays I am going to move into the flat above Fred and George's shop in Hogsmead and help George run it for a while. The only reason I haven't already is because mum and dad have this rule where as long as you are attending school you live at the Burrow." Harry Checked his watch. "Come on Ron We have to get going. Hermione and Ginny are waiting for us in the common room and Luna will be waiting in the enterance hall. We have to hurry if we want to get a carriage and a compartment on the train together." With the exception of Dennis Creevey, the five of them were the last remaining members of the D.A. left at Hogwart's. By December only, Ginny Luna and Dennis would remain and in three years time Hogwarts will have completely forgotten about them as the last of them will have left the school forever. Though Harry knew that Ron and Hermione would always be a part of his life, he began to wonder what the future held for the rest of the treasured group he had helped create. He also couldn't help but think of a bible passage he vaguely remembered reading as a child from a bible the Dursleys had thrown out and he had retrived from the trash bin. "To everything there is a season." The D.A.'s season as a group was now over, but Harry wondered how long the would all remain friends after they had gone their seperate ways