3rd July 1998

Hermione was finding it hard to relax. The war was over. They had won; they were mourning and rebuilding. Watching Hogwarts being rebuilt was sobering. She felt like she was seeing into the inner workings of Hogwarts, something that wasn't supposed to see the light of day. There had been so much loss, and seeing Hogwarts in this state was almost enough to undo her fragile self-control. So much loss, so much destruction, and for what? Voldemort was gone –for good- but the attitudes surrounding Muggleborns and Squibs was still persevering. Hermione was being heralded a hero, but she knew it wasn't like that for all Muggleborns . The decimation was quieter, but it was still there. Kingsley was doing as much as he was able to while he was Minster, but Hermione knew it would be a long time coming before the idea of blood purity was fully erased from Magical Britain. The change would start at Hogwarts, and as those who came through the magnificent castle became adults hopefully a new era would start with blood status being a thing of the past. Hermione knew she was being idealistic with that thought, but it was something for hope for. And it was why the re-opening of Hogwarts was so vital.

Today she was working on the Room of Requirement and seeing if anything was salvageable. She and Neville had volunteered to start the work in there. Harry didn't want to go near the Room, as it held horrible memories from the Battle of Hogwarts, and Ron was at the Burrow with his family. Standing from the outside, looking at the soot stained walls, Hermione had little hope anything would be salvageable but still had to try.

Neville had just walked around the corner, and met Hermione at the singed tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, the trolls having long since fled. Both Hermione and Neville surveyed the damage. The walls were black, with scorch marks reaching up to the ceiling. Where a door used to be was an opening, through which they could see destroyed beams, but not much beyond. The fiendfyre had destroyed everything in its path, but the room was large enough they didn't know if it had destroyed everything.

Hermione turned to Neville, and with too much cheerfulness declared "Let's get started!" Hermione figured she may as well go into the task with a positive attitude, even if it seemed hopeless.

And so started a day of cleaning and repairing charms. The damage from the fiendfyre was very difficult to repair. The magic of the fire almost seemed to be hindering the efforts to repair the stones. Hermione started down one end of the corridor, with Neville at the other, as they worked their way in towards the gaping holes in the wall. It was almost two hours' worth of solid magic before they reached the opening. Both Neville and Hermione looked drained.

"Time to stop for morning tea, Hermione?" Neville asked as he tried to banish some soot from the stonework near the floor.

Hermione, who had just finished banishing the last of the black on her side, nodded in affirmative, and called for an elf.

"Mopsy!" And with a pop, a well-dressed house elf was standing in front of her "Could you please get us some morning tea?"

"Oh Yes Missus Her-my-oh-ninny! Mopsy would be honoured to get morning tea for the Great Granger" Mopsy exclaimed before popping out. About 30 seconds later, a well-made tray containing tea, scones and fruit appeared before Hermione. Hermione turned to Neville and gestured they sit down. After the tea had been poured, both Hermione and Neville looked down into their cups. After a moment Hermione spoke.

"Did you ever imagine it would be like this?"
"Like what?" Neville asked, looking slightly perplexed.
"This" Hermione said as she waved her arms around "The cleaning, the repairing, the normality. It just seems so… detached. We were at war 2 months ago, and now the moving on… I'm finding it hard. It's not what I expected, but at the same time I don't know what I expected!"

Neville looked over at Hermione, and could see her shoulder slightly shaking. Slowly he scooted over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"We're all confused at the moment. 3 months ago my only plan was to survive, and to keep the Room open for those who needed it. And now I'm helping fix the damage caused by one of my classmates. I'm just reacting to the moment. It will be a while before I can think ahead more than one day"

Hermione's shoulders slowly stopped shaking, and her breathing evened. She took a few deep breaths, and turned so she was facing Neville.
"Thank you. I needed to hear that I'm not the only one feeling that. Harry is trying so hard to be strong for Ginny, and the Weasley's are still grieving Fred. I don't want to intrude upon them with my problems."

Neville nudged Hermione's shoulder gently with his own "What are friends for?"

Hermione and Neville finished their tea in a comfortable silence, resting up against each other, and taking comfort in the fact that neither of them could say what they'd be doing in two days from now.

After another few hours moving the beams away from the opening, Hermione and Neville were able to step through and view the damage in the room. There was a clearly burnt area through the piles of junk. Hermione could see that it was widest closest to the door, narrowing back to where she assumed the fire started. There was an area of melted and destroyed items on either side of the V, followed by sooty items. Just over the edge of the room, Hermione could see items that still appeared to be in good repair.

"This just got easier" Hermione thought with a relieved sigh. She had been concerned that the entire room had been burnt out. From what could be seen, it was just a small area that had been directly damaged or destroyed by the fiendfyre.

"Do we want to start at the front and work our way back?" Hermione asked, turning to face Neville.

"Sure" Neville shrugged. One way or another it had to be sorted, cleaned and repaired.

They soon fell into a rhythm of cleaning, repairing and banishing charms, depending on what was required. This ate up hours, and energy. The pair only stopped for a short lunch before diving back into it. It was only when the shadows started lengthening that they stopped, and looked around.

"I think that's enough for today" Hermione said tiredly. Neville could only nod in agreement. His voice was hoarse, and his arm was sore. "Shall we head down?" Hermione and Neville made the slow trip down to the Great Hall. There dinner was waiting for them, laid out on the table all the volunteers were using. Hermione slid in beside Harry and slowly started eating.

"Do you want me to wake you if you fall asleep in your potatoes?" Harry teased gently. Hermione hit him half-heartedly.
"If I fall asleep in my potatoes, just leave me be. Maybe add some gravy for sleep-eating purposes." Hermione mumbed as she finished the rest of her plate.

Hermione had been staying with Harry at Grimmauld Place. Both wanted to give the Weasley's space and time. Minerva had lent them the use of a house-elf in return for the work they were doing at Hogwarts. This meant the house was slowly being cleaned, and restored to its former glory. Which, of course, was long before Walburga took over the house.

After a quick portkey home, Hermione slowly made her way up the stairs. She'd been given Sirius's old room, as the rooms they had stayed in last time had been put aside for questionable objects. Lying on the bed, Hermione could imagine a young Sirius here. Her heart broke him, only having this one area where he could be himself in the house, but you could see the love he had for his friends, and his motorbike. The photo of a scantily clad woman waving at her from the ceiling was distracting, but she was feeling tolerant of anything that bought Sirius happiness. Hermione did wish the witch would stop blowing kisses at her though. As she fell asleep, all the items that Hermione had seen through the day danced through her head.

4th July 1998

Hermione was pacing up and down the opening to the Room of Requirements.

"Where was Neville?" Hermione seethed to herself. They had a tight time frame, and couldn't afford any delays. Eventually Hermione decided that she was going to wander around the burnt area and start to plan for the cleaning and repairing needing to be done today. Slowly Hermione walked around the burnt areas, viewing the damage and mentally cataloguing the items she saw. There were broke potion vials, shards of glass and flashing bits of metal to name some. Out of the corner of her eye, there was something shimmering. It was catching the light in such a way that it looked like a mirage. Hermione slowly walked towards it, being drawn towards it. All Hermione could think of was the shimmering. As she got closer, she could see there was a large silvery mass on the floor. Standing over the puddle, Hermione could see the room reflected. As she looked, the reflection changed from the burnt and melted mess that was around her. Instead the room looked like they did before the fire gutted it. Hermione lent forwards to get a better view. Hermione heard a noise and jerked sharply, while trying to turn to see who it was.

Neville was running. He was late and he knew it. It was worrying him that Hermione wasn't waiting for him out the front of the Room, so he walked in, trying to find her. As he walked closer to the centre, Neville could see Hermione bending over looking at something. Neville sighed in relief, and shouted out to her.

"HERMIONE! "

Hermione jerked, and turned, and lost her footing. Neville watched helplessly as she fell back, and continued to disappear. Running towards where Hermione had been, Neville was just in time to see the silvery puddle cloud over, turning into a matte grey.

Hermione was nowhere to be seen.

And so finishes the first chapter of the first fanfic I have written in a very long time. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you come back for the next chapter!

I have the plot mentally mapped out in my mind, so just need to fit writing in around uni. Basically it may be a bit sporadic.

Hope you enjoyed!