Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter I wouldn't be posting on a fanfic website
The unsettling quiet that had settled over Britain after Voldemort's defeat had taken weeks to abate, and it would take generations for the true impact of the events of that terrifying time to be fully realized. Grandchildren would be told of the days when London's magical world was on its knees, trembling with fear, and everyone who was alive could remember where they were when they found out about Voldemort's defeat. For those few that had been present for the final fight, it was an end, and a beginning. The project now was to rebuild, structures, relationships, lives.
Though hundreds of families had been directly affected by the war, there were a select few that felt the repercussions far more than any others. None were more affected than the so called "golden trio." For Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter, the hunt for Voldemort had been the focus of their lives for seven years. One of Ron's older brothers was dead, along with several friends, and now they were all faced with the question, what now? The wounded that were able to be moved were transported to St. Mungo's, and those that weren't were levitated to a temporary hospital setting in what had been the Quidditch field. Madame Pomfrey, along with the assistance of several other medical professionals from St. Mungo's were attending to the seriously injured, and notifying families of the dead. With the wounded moved the daunting task of repairing Hogwarts castle began. With several people from both sides unaccounted for, those helping clear the rubble did so with extreme caution, praying not to find another body. During the removal, the bodies of Lucius Malfoy, Antonin Dolohov, and Augustus Rookwood were found, as well as those of several Hogwarts house elves who had been trapped in the kitchens. Harry had brought them to the body of Snape, who, along with all of the other order members and Hogwarts students, was given a posthumous Order of Merlin First Class for their contributions to the wizarding world.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were also given the Order of Merlin First Class, and received honorary N.E.W.T.S. for their service to the school and wizard kind. Many wished for Harry to run for Minister of Magic, but all he wanted was to move on. Like Dumbledore before him, he refused the position, and instead retired back to the Burrow with the Weasley's, hoping to figure out what he wanted to do now. Hermione had gone down to Australia to find her parents and remove the memory charm that had been placed on them. The trip took weeks, as she did not know where in Australia they lived, but the rift in trust caused by the charm lasted decades. Though her parents understood her reasons, knowing that their daughter had used magic on them deeply damaged their relationship with her. Though they hid it well, Hermione saw them flinch whenever she drew her wand, or whenever she mentioned the magical world. Where before they had been proud of her, now they were afraid. Though she loved her parents deeply, she could not leave what had become her world, even for their security. With this in mind, she did one of the few selfish things she had done in her life, she left.
She lived with Harry and the Weasley's for a few months at the Burrow, and despite Ron's declarations of love, they all knew that this was only temporary. Kingsley Shacklebolt, after Harry's refusal of the position, became the full-time Minister of Magic, and offered both Ron and Harry positions as Aurors. The two accepted, and though Hermione was also offered a position in the ministry, she declined. Hermione, like Harry and Ron, wanted to retreat from her fame, and return to a semblance of normalcy, and felt that she would not be able to do this within the Ministry. She chose instead to purchase Flourish and Blotts from its previous owner with money she had saved up during her school years. As Diagon Alley slowly began to return to its former self, with a few deeply felt absences, Hermione finally felt things beginning to settle.
She lived with Crookshanks in the small flat above the shop, occasionally accompanied by visitors. In the five years that had passed since the battle, Neville had been taken on as an apprentice professor to Professor Sprout, Harry and Ron had finished their Auror training, and Harry and Ginny had finally gotten married and were expecting their first child. Ron avoided her at first after her refusal, but had eventually come around, after much scolding from his mother.
Hermione was generally happy with her life, it was not exactly what she would have initially envisioned for herself, but that didn't matter to her. George came to visit her shop often, always smuggling in some new product or another. Though he put on a good show of being back to his old self, you could sense that he had not fully recovered from the loss of Fred, and maybe never would. Ginny also came by often, despite the distance from Grimauld Place. Ron and the rest of the Weasleys stopped by when they were in London, but for the most part, Hermione had the shop to herself.
She managed the shop quite well on her own, though some parts were certainly tedious. As more and more shipments of school books arrived in preparation for the coming Hogwarts school year, the first since the battle, Hermione finally, and begrudgingly, admitted that she would need help in the shop for at least the next couple of months. She drew up a "help wanted" sign, and placed it in the window, assuming that some bookish student such as herself would want to apply for extra school money.
As she was sorting the newest shipment of potions manuals, she heard the bell above the door chime, and stood up from her crouch in the back room to go assist her customer. Walking into the shop from a door behind a bookcase, she greeted the newcomer, "hello, welcome to Flourish and Blotts, how may I help you?"
"Well Granger, you can help me by giving me a job," stated an all too familiar blonde figure that she had planned on never seeing again, his voice as smug as ever.
A/N : My Beta hasn't finished going over this for me, but I was excited about this story so I posted anyway, please review with any errors you find, thank you.