Hermione sighed as she looked out of the Hogwarts train window. This would be the last time she ever rode on this train. She guessed that when she had children, she would be back, but she knew it would never be the same. The castle had been completely repaired after the battle, by all of the Order members, teachers and any students who could. She felt Ron put his long arm around her shoulders, and was slightly shocked as she felt tears begin to slowly make their way down her cheeks. She drew her eyes away from the window and instead looked into Ron's face. He had a watery smile and watery eyes. Hermione saw the pain over the loss of so many people etched in his face as well, but most of all, the death of Fred. Even through all of the teasing, Hermione knew that Ron had really loved his brother. Ron's eyes were staring at some point just over Hermione's head, but he must've felt Hermione's gaze on him as they soon changed direction to stare back into her face. A slight smile formed as he locked eyes with Hermione. He leant forward and kissed the top of Hermione's face, and Hermione buried her head into his chest after he had. Hermione looked into the faces of the people that sat in the compartment with her. Ginny was lying with her head in Harry's lap and he was stroking her hair while he gazed out at Hogwarts castle as Hermione had moments ago. Neville and Luna were sitting side by side, Neville was casting Luna awkward glances as she stared idly into space. His hand was lying flat beside Luna's leg as if he was waiting for her to take hold of it. George was the only one sitting on his own. He had his head in his hands and Hermione thought she might have seen the slightest of a tear slip through his fingers.
Hermione felt terrible for George. Since Fred had been George's twin, he was probably feeling as if a part of him had died. A part of him had disappeared and would never come back. Hermione knew she would never even presume she knew how he was feeling, but all the same, she tried to think that she could feel some of his pain. She thought that every single person in this compartment could feel a little bit of George's pain emanating from him, and as if their bodies were magnets that drew a portion of that pain from George and took it into their own bodies.
There was also an air of relief and of course sorrow in the compartment. It had been a week since the battle and Voldemorts death, and of course the death of everyone else. But since Voldemort was gone, a sort of relax came over people. They had no more to worry about now. Their lives were safe, even if their hearts weren't. Hermione was thinking about Teddy Tonks, who, like Harry, would grow up now without ever knowing who his parents were, or ever really fully understanding what had happened to them, and why they had died. She closed her eyes as this thought began to bring her to tears. Suddenly, Harry spoke. 'You know, all the Marauders are dead now'. Hermione opened her eyes as the revelation unfolded. She had never even thought of that. 'Yeah, you're right', said Ron,' And you know, when you think about it, they all died fighting, even Pettigrew.' 'Yeah' replied Harry simply, and he went back to stroking Ginny's hair and staring out the window at the castle which was barely still in view now.
Hermione lifted her head and stood up. She walked over the window and looked out for a last glimpse of the castle, and realised that everyone except George had done the same. Luna placed her small hand on the window and was barely audible as she whispered 'Goodbye Hogwarts. Goodbye friends.' Ginny placed her arm around her shoulder and began to hug her tightly. Hermione knew that Ginny and Luna had been close as they were in the same year, and so would probably miss each other quite a lot. Hermione knew that she would miss everyone as well, especially since she knew she would be going back to the muggle world for a while, before she set off to find her parents in Australia.
After another few hours on the train, they finally reached King's Cross Station. Ron pulled his and Hermione's trunks down from the rack, as did Harry his and Ginny and Neville his and Luna's. George hung back a few moments and nobody disturbed him. They knew he needed some time alone. As they stepped down from the train, they were greeted by a smaller crowd than usual, but then again, Tonks, Lupin and Mad-Eye were all gone now, and they were usually part of the welcome party, but standing in a small clump in front of them was Neville's grandmother, Mr and Mrs Weasley and to their surprise, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Ron and Ginny hurried forward to hug their parents, as did Neville his grandmother. Hermione Harry and Luna were left standing beside the train. As though as one, they all turned to look up at the red sign hanging from the brick wall that read 'Platform 9 ¾. It stayed completely stationary even though there was a slight breeze. Somewhere to her right Hermione heard Ron, Ginny and Neville join them again. 'This is it isn't it', muttered Ron. 'It's all over now'. Ginny and Harry nodded but Luna however piped in, 'No, I don't think it is. It's only over, when we stop being friends I think. When we stop being loyal to each other. So really, it will never be over. Not this. Not what we have. We're forever'. Hermione stared in disbelief at Luna, as did nearly everyone else. She had to admit to herself; that was probably the most sensible thing Luna had ever said!
After a few more minutes they re-joined Kingsley and The Weasley's. George and his parents were hugging each other tightly. Hermione didn't want to interfere, so instead she turned to her friends once more. There was a brief silence as everyone stared sadly into the faces of each other, Hermione had a sudden urge to hug every single one of them. So she did. They all joined together for a group hug. As she they drew themselves from the hug, each of them in turn seemed to wipe away a tear or two from their eyes. Hermione felt a slight tug on her arm. She turned and saw Ron with his hand on hers and a kind of "Can I talk to you for a minute" look on his face. She let him lead the way as he brought her away to a nearby pillar. She noticed that Neville and Harry had both done the same with Ginny and Luna!
Ron had an incredibly sad look on his face as he held Hermione's small hand. He seemed to have a lump in his throat, as he looked like he was having trouble swallowing, let alone talk. Hermione gave him and encouraging squeeze of the hand and he looked into her face. He began to talk: 'Hermione. I…er… I really don't know how to…see I'm not…er…I'm really bad at this!' Hermione smiled at Ron's confused face. He took a deep breath then prepared himself for speech once more 'Hermione. I really, really like you. In fact, I-I t-think I… Love you.' He momentarily stared at his feet then looked up once more and continued: 'I've liked you for ages see, and I was thinking it over for the past few days, and I've decided'. Hermione was confused. 'Decided what?' she asked. 'I've decided that, if you want me to, I want to come to Australia with you to find your parents'. Hermione stared in momentary disbelief. Ron was prepared to do that, all for her. He was prepared to leave his family for longer to help her find hers. She was gobsmacked. The fact that he was willing to do that, made Hermione think. She thought about how much she would miss him whenever they were apart, about how she often dreamed about him at night. She knew that she too, was in love.