A/N: This song planted a plot bunny in my head, and I had to write it down. The song is "End of an Era" by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls, if you're curious and want to hear the actual song.

Diclaimer: I own neither the characters, nor the setting, which belong to J.K. Rowling. The lyrics belong to Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls.

End Of An Era

Ginny walked toward the train, her trunk hovering behind her. Her friends surrounded her, but it was not what she had imagined it would be like when she had arrived as a first year.

Hermione should have graduated the previous year, not having to come back again. Neither should have Dean, for that matter. And as her eyes swept over the group, she couldn't help but notice the invisible hole where Colin should be.

Don't you ever wonder what
Will happen when it ends
How can we let go of the
Ones who we call friends
And I know, it's only a story, but
For so many it's more than that
It's a world, all on its own where we
Want to put on the sorting hat

Soon her memories began to drift back further. She remembered her previous years at the school. How, when she had first gotten there, she had spent a terrible trainride with her brothers, worrying over Harry and Ron. How, when she first entered the Great Hall, she couldn't help but feel torn that Ron wasn't there (and Harry, but she wasn't going to admit that). How she had been prepared to beg the Sorting Hat to put her in Gryffindor, just not to feel left out that year.

Her first year seemed like a story when she looked back on it. Controlled by Riddle, she couldn't remember most of the year. She often wished she could go back and redo that year. Just leave her stupid diary at home.

I will miss the train ride in
And the pranks pulled by the twins
And though it's no where I have been
I'll keep on smiling from the times I had with them

Her next years were a bit happier. She had gone to Yule Ball with Neville third year, and that was certainly a highlight. Of course, hearing that Harry had started to pine for Cho Chang put a damper on things, but she had Hermione to help her. She stopped being shy and started being herself.

She smiled to herself as she thought about the D.A. and rebelling against Umbridge. How Fred and George – Fred – had given her hell. There wouldn't be much of that anymore, she knew, but she has still smiled sadly every time she passed the roped-off swamp in the corridor.

Could there ever be again
Another one like this
One that's brought us together and
Started its own music movement

She remembered her fifth and sixth years, where it had been all about going against Voldemort. And how at the same time there was so much love in the air. How Harry had turned around and her dreams finally came true. How Ron and Hermione had battled it out between them.

How Harry had broken her heart at the funeral and reminded her about all of the evil in the world. How she had suffered that terrible sixth year, going through it with Harry's words echoing through her ears and hoping, praying, that he would be all right.

Soon we will see it closed
The final chapter exposed
It's an end of an era
And I'm seeing clearer
That nothing will ever be the same

Then there was the final battle, where she watched Harry lie dead before her eyes. She wanted to kill someone right there, and at the same time curl up and cry for a week. But it had all turned out all right in the end, so she couldn't really complain. And she had come back for her final year in peace, relaxing happily with Harry on her free weekends.

It was all over now. Sometimes she didn't know what to do with her life anymore. Voldemort was defeated, and now all she felt like doing was playing Quidditch. So that's what she would do.

There were still holes in her life, like Colin. But she knew that now she would take it in stride, she sighed happily. The era of war was over, and she was free to live in peace.

She turned around for one last glimpse of the castle. Tears burned in her eyes, but she smiled.

"Ginny?" she heard Hermione ask. "Coming?" Ginny turned back to the train.

"Yeah," she said, "let's go."