AN: Good morning everyone and happy Monday. So I've been having this idea floating around in my head for the last month but I needed to get it more solidified in my mind before I could start working on it. I'm not exactly sure how long this story will be but I think it'll be fairly long. So today is February 8, 2016 and this is the first chapter today. Once again anything you recognize is JK Rowling's and anything you don't is mine.

Hermione POV

Ginny, Luna, Neville and I leisurely made our way through King's Cross Station. Neville was pushing the trolley with all of our trunks, while Luna carried Trevor, his toad. Ginny had her pygmy puff, Arnold, perched on her shoulder that would nuzzle her cheek periodically. I switched Crookshanks's carrying case from one hand to another. He hissed angrily and tried to push his paw through the too small bars. When Crookshanks couldn't get his paw through a low angry moan came from the cage.

"Oh, you hush up." I sighed not even sparing my half-Kneazle cat a second glance.

"Be nice Hermione, I wouldn't much like being locked up in a cage." Ginny said smiling as Arnold nuzzled her cheek again.

"I couldn't agree more." Luna said, softly rubbing Trevor's body. Every time Luna touched him his whole body seemed to relax more and more.

"Okay, you might be right. But the last thing everyone would need is for me to let him out. It would be pure chaos, could you imagine?" I asked trying not to laugh and failing. Luna chuckled softly and Ginny snorted loudly.

"How different do you think it will be?" Everyone sobered at Neville's question. Ginny clenched her teeth and ground them loudly, Luna blinked slowly her eyes wide and I absently traced the ugly word Bellatrix had carved into my arm: MUDBLOOD.

"It's been sixteen months, a lot has happened." I said swallowing thickly.

"It feels like yesterday." Ginny mumbled tracing the two names she had gotten tattooed on the inside of her wrist in fancy script.

Charlie Weasley

1972-1998

Percy Weasley

1976-1998

Ginny absently traced the tattoo again, her eyes as hard as steel.

"There will be more ghosts for sure," Luna mumbled her eyes pained.

"Yeah…do you think Snape will be teaching again this year?" Neville asked grimly. He still loathed Professor Snape for what had happened during his seventh year.

"Don't you keep up with Minerva or the Daily Prophet or even Harry?" Ginny asked raising an eyebrow.

"Harry and I talk about other things, Minerva my path didn't really cross since she would come to Grimmauld Place when I was at the Auror office and I don't trust a thing the Prophet says, I haven't for years." Neville said with a shrug.

"Okay then…" I mumbled thinking. Well if hadn't been reading the Daily Prophet he probably knew nothing of what happened in the past sixteen months. "I will start with the most important thing. Professor Snape was acquitted of everything during the Second Wizarding War." I said pulling on one of my curls.

"And it was Harry who went in place of Snape, while he was in a coma for the snake bite, to present his evidence to the Wizengamot. It was his evidence that cleared Snape's name completely. He doesn't have to go to Azkaban because of Harry." Ginny said darting a look at Neville who looked completely bewildered.

"But everyone already knew by then that Snape was in love with Harry's mom." Luna said her eyes wide. Ginny made a face and stuck out her tongue.

"Is that why Harry kept missing work when we first started?" Neville asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Honestly Neville, even if you haven't read the Daily Prophet haven't you heard other people talk about it?" I asked giving him a long look.

"I've been busy," he muttered evasively, blowing his long blond hair out of his eyes.

"With what?" Ginny asked.

"Working as an Auror, catching the last of the Death Eaters, deciding to go back to Hogwarts to finish my education while Harry and Ron decided to switch jobs since all the Aurors do now is play gobstones…oh yeah and shagging my gorgeous girlfriend." Luna shifted awkwardly and looked away her cheeks turning red. I couldn't blame her for feeling uncomfortable. After the final battle Luna and Neville had started to date. But they hadn't lasted long before they realized they didn't have much in common. In fact they had nothing in common. They had broken up shortly after that realization amicably. It had been barely a month when he started to date Hannah Abbott.

"Neville, don't be crude." Ginny snapped, slapping his chest.

"I am not, I am being honest!" Neville growled.

"Stop it Neville! You're embarrassing Luna!" It was true, Luna was redder than before.

"Shhhh!" Luna hushed loudly nodding ahead of us. All four of us stopped. A smile crossed my face. There was a small brown-haired family of four standing across from the platform that had the number nine on one side and the number ten on the other. The parents exchanged nervous looks before turning to their daughters who were completely identical all the way down to their pigtails.

"On three," the father said, pushing his large glasses up the bridge of my nose. The man's wife and daughters nodded.

"One…two…three!" The four of them ran towards the barrier at a full sprint before disappearing from view.

"We should hurry," Neville said glancing at his pocket watch. "The train leaves in ten minutes."

Neville slipped his watch into his pocket before casually leaning against the barrier with Luna and disappeared from view.

Ginny and I followed a moment later. The sound was overwhelming. People, cats and owls were everywhere. A huge banner had been hung beneath the platform nine and three quarters and it read in curly script Welcome Back New and Returning students. And what a welcome relief it would be too. After the past year of looking for my parents and living at the Burrow and the year before that when Harry, Ron and I had been on the run. I was finally going to a place that I could call home.

AN: Review! It helps so much more than you realize. Reviews make me happy and when I'm happy I think about the story more. The more I think about it the more I create new twists and turns for the story and I end up updating more. Which in the end makes everyone happy.