Another one shot, another little idea that popped into my head. Another piece about Hermione reflecting on Hogwarts as she is Headmistress there.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, the related places characters or items.
GHOSTS
Hogwarts was different now that it had been when she had attended the school as a student, though not in the obvious ways. After all, students entering now were not to know that once there hadn't been so many ghosts haunting the corridors, that half the ghosts that now floated across the grounds were as recent as just a generation ago.
Lots of the muggleborns found these ghosts creepy and disturbing, but to Hermione they were a comfort. After all, it was nice to know that a lot of her friends would never leave her, even if they were only there because they hadn't been ready to move on.
She was one of the last survivors of the second war, all her friends had passed on before her, and she believed deep down that it was that which had made her make the choice to become Headmistress. She had worked at the school since she was in her early fiftys, as transfiguration teacher and then later as Headmistress, and it was the one thing that still kept her going. She had always loved the school, it had become her home away from home and was where she first discovered her true calling. And yes, things had changed a lot since she had been a student, but that didn't make it any less special to her.
These ghosts had haunted the castle for a hundred years now, yet Hermione was still glad in her own little way that they hadn't been able to move on. She pittied them, and wished rest for them, but she was comfortable in knowing that they would not be forgotten, and that through them even the victims of the war who had moved on would never go unforgotten.
The ghosts were different, she reflected, in this time of peace. Even the original ghosts of the castle, the ones that had been there in her own time, had changed. They were more light hearted, even the bloody barron had been known to help students at times, and she was happy for that. After all, it meant that when her time came she would not wish to stay behind, she would be ready to leave the school to those left behind her, safe in the knowledge that they would be looked after.
It seemed, as she passed through the corridors before bed one night, an elderly lady now rather than the young woman she had once been, that a lot of the ghosts seemed to be around the hufflepuff tower. She assumed, in one of her now brief moments of clarity, that this was because the griffendors who had died had felt ready to move on. In fact, there was only one new ghost in the griffendor tower, and one which she was always happy to see as the nights turned and she drifted ever closer to her final rest.
Colin Creevey had not been ready to die, and he had not been ready to leave his little brother either. He had thought that he would grow old, maybe get somewhere in his life, but that was not to be. So instead he had done all he could, just stayed where he was to support his brother in the only way he could, and to give guidance to new muggleborns coming into Hogwarts. He was proud of his place, and glad that he still had one of his old friends by his side.
Night after night, Headmistress Hermione Granger and her old friend would meet in the halls and talk for hours, about times past and times to come, and through that they always gave each other support.
Okay, not my best piece, but this was just a random idea really... I thought I'd like to reflect on how there were more ghosts in Hogwarts after the war, and I liked the idea of Hermione always having that last little bit of support with her.
Reviews please?
