So this is my first harry potter fic and im going to tru to finsih it but with school it may take a while anyways Hermione's my favorite character so Hermione Granger and the Ginger Cat is only a fitting title

Plans

It had been two months since the second wizarding war came to an end and Tom Marvolo Riddle met his fate; force to travel in limbo for an eternity. The remaining followers of the Dark Lord, the Death Eaters, had either fled into hiding as they had had the muggle borns and blood traitors alike do. For once in what seemed like years, everything was actually 'over'. However the victory was not such a victory to the Weasley family. In the war numerous of lives were lost in the epic last battle; one of which was among freckled, lanky red-head who was never without a joke. He was a son, a brother, a friend and a twin. Fred Weasley was killed in a valiant effort against the Death Eaters on May 2nd, 1998. Since then life at the Burrow had not been the same.

There was no longer music played by Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen and the dishes that once magically washed themselves lay in dirty piled stacks by the sink. There was no laughter and no constant bickering… the house was quiet. Though it wasn't, in essence, the Burrow felt empty. Bill, Charlie and Fleur had moved home to be with the family during this time, but everyone had slowly taken to themselves; remaining confined in their room with only half the family appearing for a silent dinner.

Hermione and Harry had decided to stay the summer after they returned from their families. Harry helped the Dursleys move back and apparently they were more appreciative after their guardians Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle were attacked by Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband Rudolphus in a duel where Dedalus was sent to Spell Damage Department of St. Mungo's Hospital. Although the two Order of the Pheonix were capable of escaping, the Dursleys finally understood the danger they were in. He had told Hermione that Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia had ever shown gratitude for what they did. He figured it came about due to Dudley's persuasion, however.

Hermione had found both her parents in Australia where she returned their memories from their identities of Wendell and Monica Wilkins back to Eames and Caroline Granger. They had returned to their little neighborhood that much resembled Little Whinging but with a more historic feel with a tall cathedral towering at the end of the street. All the neighbors had wondered where they had disappeared too but the couple simply repeated what Hermione had told them—Mr. Granger's sister's health had taken a turn for the worst and they had rushed to Australia to be with her. Fortunately, with the whole family gathering had helped Hermione's aunt recover and thus the family had returned.

Back at the Burrow, Hermione and Harry were the only two that seemed a bit lively. Though they both cared deeply for Fred and the Weasley's it wasn't as hard for them as it was for the others. The two exchanged quiet conversations in the den during the day only pausing to give a sympathetic grimace every time a ghostly looking ginger crossed their paths.

"—And have you told Ron about this yet?" said Hermione sharply in a low tone to Harry who lay sprawled out on the floor in front of her.

"Well kind of, we decided there would be no point?" Harry responded.

"No Point!" Hermione's shrill voice was intimidating even in a whisper, "Please explain to me how there is no point in returning back to school?" Harry was about to respond when Hermione slammed the book down in front of him and continued with the insufferable know-it-all voice that everyone was accustomed to, "Especially since it's your seventh year, it would do more harm 'not' to go".

"Yeah but I just feel like after all this we should be able to just skip all of that."

"'Skip?' If a Death Eater, say for instance Dolhov escaped from Azkaban, you and Ron would stand no chance in a duel!"

"Yeah but—" Harry was interrupted by a loud scream followed by a crash coming from the next floor—which only Ron's room was on.

"RON!" They cried to each other and the darted up the stairs, Hermione flew to the door and rashly pulled out her wand:

"BOMBARDA!" There was a loud BANG as the door to Ron's room shattered, flying every which way. She and Harry entered hastily, wands out ready to send spells flying at any given second. However, they lowered their wand as they saw Ron on the floor rolling around with Hermione's large flat-faced cat, Crookshanks. When the cat caught a glimpse of Hermione and Harry, he scurried out the door and his large footsteps could be heard descending the steps and Ron was left on the floor looking dumbstruck. Hermione and Harry sighed and lowered their wands and Hermione turned to the door looking at the mess she made but the she figured she could use magic to repair it.

"A bit rash don't ch'a think," said Ron as he walked over to help pick pieces of the door off of the floor.

"At least I'm not the one crying over a little cat!" She shot back.

"You're cat's evil!"

"Honestly Ronald?" The three had finished piling the debris into one large pile and then they all sat around the magical fire that Ron had going. Hermione was looking through Ron's used schoolbooks and Harry was watching the players in the Ireland Leprechauns poster and the players of the Bulgarian team poster play each other as they crossed from poster to poster. Ron lay on the floor whipping paper cranes around in a circle with the charms spell Hermione had conjured up for him. Annoyed with the silence, Hermione slammed the book, "Anyways, I suppose you are going with Harry this year to supposedly pursue a career as an Auror?"

"Guess so. Are you not?"
"Nooo. Unlike you two, I plan on doing something with my life and I've decided to return to Hogwarts. If you were smart you'd go with me."

"So we can join you in S.P.E.W.?" Harry joked and both she and Ron shot him a look.

"Well, no, you should want to go so that you can formally enter the field as an Auror. School is like a short cut." Hermione looked at both her friends and seeing as neither were truly listening she smiled and said,"But then again a year without the great Harry Potter means finally a 'normal' year at Hogwarts".

"Thanks." Harry smiled and Hermione began laughing, Ron followed and for the first time in months it was almost as though the trio was back together.

"MY DOOR!" The three turned and saw Mrs. Weasley standing behind them, her pale face painted red in a furry, she ignored both Harry and Ron and gave a mad glare directly at Ron, "ARTHUR!"

And on that day was the first time in weeks that there had been any clamor from the Burrow.