As light flitted through her window in narrow streams, Hermione Granger awoke well rested for the first time in a good long time. No longer did she need to live in fear of Lord Voldemort for she had helped her friend Harry Potter topple him. That hadn't stopped the vile nightmares she'd had forcing her to wake screaming in the night. Luckily, since Voldemort was defeated she'd been able to lift the memory charm on her parents and bring them back from Australia and they had been there to comfort her even if they didn't truly understand the horrors she saw at night.
But now was now. She hadn't had a nightmare in a couple of months and through occlumancy had the power to shield herself from seeing all the nastiness that she'd witnessed, only letting it in when necessary. She decided to go back to Hogwarts and finish her education even though everyone had said there was no need. They had negotiated to the point where she got to take her N.E.W.T.S. at that moment and, unsurprisingly, passed with the highest score in almost a century; just two N.E.W.T.S. shy of Dumbledore himself.
Her former partners in crime though, that was a different story. Both Harry and their mutual friend Ron Weasley had gone directly into service at the Ministry of Magic as aurors. Defeating the most powerful dark wizard of all time when just barely of age, apparently, helps pad your resume. It also came with a price. Harry had adapted well and was rumored to be in line for promotion to head auror. He had learned to think like his enemies and used it to his advantage. He mentioned once that it had something to do with what Dumbledore said about, "It is not how you are alike, but how you are different." Ron, on the other hand, was still a bumbling idiot and survived mainly on luck and better wizards.
To be fair, Ron had a hard war. Not only did he endure all the same things Harry and Hermione had, but he'd also lost a brother in The Battle of Hogwarts and just eighteen months before that had seen his father suffer from a snake attack at the Ministry. A few years before THAT his sister Ginny had been possessed by the spirit of Lord Voldemort himself and managed to free a basilisk before almost having her life drained. The terrors didn't end there, and while Hermione had shared a passionate kiss with Ron in the Chamber of Secrets during their last battle, he'd become withdrawn and didn't let anyone near. It was a surprise to her, then, that the coin she'd used when all three had been founding members of Dumbledore's Army glowed white hot with a message from Ron.
"Meet me at The Three Broomsticks tomorrow at 1. Please?"
Even though the message was only text, it still sounded like he was begging. She'd decided in their first year that she would always do what was necessary to help either Ron or Harry, even if she didn't like begging. There was another part of her that was torn: her heart. Seeing Ron again could lead to many things and aside from his exploits at the Ministry she had no clue how his life was. Did he have a girlfriend or wife? Would the meeting revive their friendship or destroy her utterly?
Hermione reached deep down inside herself summoning all the courage that had made her a Gryffindor in the first place, and sent her reply:
"Yes."