Author's Note: Hey, guys. This is my first Dramione story. Hope you like it.

-ronarnu

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series.

Hermione Granger sighed blissfully as she took a sip of the warm coffee that was placed into her hands. The warm, sweet beverage slipped down her raw throat, soothing her tumultuous mind. It had been a hard day, and it certainly wasn't getting any better. It was only last week that her own house (Muggle, of course) had burned down in a fire started by an unknown arsonist.

"Hermione!" a voice bellowed from the kitchen. "Stop drinking my coffee!"

Ginny Potter wrenched away the still-steaming mug from Hermione's hands.

"Well, you put it in my hands-"

"Ugh, no, I didn't. Merlin, you really need to get some sleep."

Ginny, exasperated, sat down next to Hermione and folded her hands on top of the table.

"You have really got to move out soon this time," she began.

Hermione groaned.

"Albus and James are growing quickly. Lily's only two weeks old, but you'd be surprised. In a couple of months, this small house will get even smaller. Besides, we're living in a Muggle neighborhood. This isn't Hogsmeade."

"I know, I know," replied Hermione.

They had had this "talk" two times a day already, and she'd just moved in two days ago. Hermione always promised to move out soon, but forgot, as she was always reading books. There were five lying on the table already.

"Hopefully, I'll get a job soon," she said. "If worst comes to worse, then I'll jut tell Headmistress McGonagall that I accepted the job-"

"What job?" cut in Ginny. "Why didn't you tell me? When did you get this letter?"

"Well, if you would stop interrupting me, I would tell you," Hermione glared playfully at her good friend.

Ginny finally stopped wriggling.

"Anyway, she offered me a position as a Transfiguration professor, about a week ago, and she said she was retiring soon. I didn't want to tell you because I figured you would hound me with questions like you are now-"

"Why would Professor McGonagall want to retire?" mused Ginny. "She's been teaching at Hogwarts probably for as long as Dumbledore."

Practically all of Professor McGonagall's former students still called her Professor McGonagall, and they had never really grown up from it.

"I guess I'll owl her back and tell her that I'm accepting it," Hermione said. "But I'd probably make a horrible professor."

"But a good one," Ginny said. " If she wanted you to replace her, then you would have to be excellent. Besides, you're pretty young—only twenty seven. Not even half as old as that Snape. He was pretty cranky."

The two women shared a small laugh over that. Snape had been killed during the Battle of Hogwarts, and they both respected him after Harry told them who their former professor actually was under the whole disguise. But they couldn't help but mock him, just a little bit.

"First things first, we're going to owl Professor McGonagall tomorrow and tell her that you 've accepted the job."

"Alright," replied Hermione. Then she grinned. "James is going to Hogwarts the year after this year, isn't he?"

"Yes," Ginny said. Just then, both of them heard a loud shrieking from the top of the staircase. A child's voice howled, "Mum, James is kicking me!"

"Well, kick him back!" shouted Ginny.

"I-can't-OW! MUMMMM!"

Ginny sighed. "Albus can never defend himself…well, I'm going to sort that whole mess up upstairs. Harry's sleeping- we wouldn't want to disturb him. Hermione, you really should go to bed-"

"No, I'm fine," she interrupted.

As Ginny went to check on her children, Hermione stared at the moving photograph of all four of them – Harry, Ginny, Ron and her on the wedding day. They were all hugging and smiling, Ginny a radiant bride in white silk. The photograph was sitting innocently on the table, waiting.

The next day, Hermione did the exact thing she was reluctant to do. But with Ginny's help, she managed to tie the rolled-up note and throw the large owl out into the wind.

"So, that's it," Hermione said. "Would you mind if I stayed over here for two more months?"

"Well," Ginny hesitated. "Since your house burned down, and you've been here for only a couple of days, I'll cut you some slack."

"Thanks, Ginny," Hermione told her. "You really are a great friend. By the way, where's Harry? I didn't see him this morning…is he sick?"

"Oh, no," the other woman assured her. "He took the kids to the park."

Hermione nodded.

They sat there awhile, until Hermione stood up. "Well, I'm going to Diagon Alley," she said. "I have to make a deposit to Gringotts."

She Apparated, a few seconds later, and found herself standing in front of the Leaky Cauldron. She opened the door and went in.

"Hey, Hermione!" someone yelled from the back of the room.

"Neville?"

She squinted.

The man that had just called out to her was tall, slightly buff, and had dark hair.

"Yeah, it's me," Neville told her as he approached her.

"Neville! Wow, I haven't seen you in ages. How are you?"

"Great," said Neville. He scratched his head. "Hannah and I moved in here recently, and I had to quit my job as Herbology professor at Hogwarts."

"Really? What was being a professor like? Professor McGonagall offered me a position as Transfiguration professor because she was going to retire soon," Hermione told him.

Neville didn't look surprised at all. "I always knew you were the smartest witch at school," he said. "No wonder why Professor McGonagall chose you to replace her. Anyway, being a professor is kind of easy and kind of hard—you just have to teach your stuff and impress your students sometimes. But you've got a lot of stuff to manage, depending on what subject you teach, I guess."

Hermione took this advice and carefully stored it inside her mind. It would prove itself valuable in a couple of weeks.

In truth, ever since she moved to London, she'd missed the excitement of magic, the candies in Honeydukes, and the beautiful, picturesque Christmas scenery in Hogsmeade. But she missed her old friends and acquaintances, most of all—Neville, Luna, George, and so many others. Nobody had really moved past the Battle of Hogwarts - so many loved ones had perished in the fight, but the grief seemed to lessen every passing day. Hermione wanted, so much, to go back to Hogwarts and isolate herself in the library. Reading had been a way to manage the loneliness and to help her get on with her life. And she had read almost three-quarters of all the available books, and that was when she was seventeen years old. Now she was twenty-seven, and she was sure that there were plenty of new volumes about recent magical discoveries.

After some idle chitchat with Neville and a slight pause, Hermione added, "Hey, Neville? Are there any drinks you would recommend?"

Neville brightened up. "We added butterbeer to the menu a week ago," he said. "It's a new favorite. It's on the house." He then hurried away behind the bar, and Hermione finally had a chance to observe the Leaky Cauldron. Wizards and witches sat around her, swarthed in brightly colored cloaks, having lively conversations with the person next to them. She could hear little snippets:

"How's Susan?"

"How are your children doing at Hogwarts? Oh, I remember that Flitwick. Tiny little man, but very clever."

"I hear Alice's birthday is next month…she'll be going to Hogwarts soon, eh? Wonder what house she'll be in."

Finally, Neville arrived with a foaming pint of butterbeer. "Sorry, Hermione, I can't stay and talk," he said sheepishly. "Hannah wanted me to run some errands."

"Tell her congratulations for me, Neville," Hermione said.

After saying good-bye to Neville, she sat down at one of the booths and sipped her butterbeer.

Not bad, she thought. Actually, it's pretty good. It was sweet, but not as sweet as butterscotch.

Suddenly, a man with platinum blonde hair pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. It took her a few seconds before she could actually move again, because Hermione didn't instantly recognize him.

So, yeah. This will probably be the first chapter out of about 10-15 (I haven't decided yet). Please review! It means a lot to me.