Disclaimer: Le magnifique monde wizarding et les caractères (sauf ceux qui sont originaux) appartiennent à J.K. Rowling.


"An invisible barrier separated him from the rest of the world." – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix


The rest of the summer passed by in a flurry, and soon it was 17 August.

A slice of banana bread in hand and another in his mouth, Ron followed Harry into the living room. He had stayed over the night before for some last minute cramming with Hermione and Harry, and it had been just like old times as she quizzed them on the theoretical elements of the subject. Notably, however, they were all extremely well prepared for this particular examination, and Hermione strongly believed that they all, even Ron, had a very good chance of obtaining Os in the subject.

That morning, Hermione was the first one ready, of course, skimming over her annotated copy of Dark Arts: A Comprehensive Guide to Self-Protection as she waited for the others. Ron honestly could not understand why she bothered – with the amount of preparation she had done, and given the experiences they had had during the war, she could have easily written the textbook herself.

'Good, you're here,' she said, closing her book and standing. 'Let's go, I want to be early.'

'Aigh wetz gofem,' said Ron, his mouth impossibly full as he crammed the remaining piece of bread into his mouth and dusted the crumbs off his hands on his pants.

'Alright, let's go then,' Harry translated helpfully.

The trio apparated together to an empty Muggle alley along in Whitehall, and made their way to the visitor's entrance. They entered the old red telephone box and keyed in the code – 62442 – and stated their purpose – to sit their Defence Against the Dark Arts N.E.W.T.s – to the friendly sounding female voice on the other side of the line. Pinning their badges to their clothes, they were descended to the Atrium.

Since their little infiltration into the Ministry the previous year, much had changed. Harry was relieved to see a new version of the Fountain of Magical Brethren in the place where the detestable anti-Muggle black stone statue had stood. Like the old fountain, the new one comprised of a number of large golden statues, a witch, a wizard, a goblin, a centaur and a house-elf, in the middle of a circular pool. However, this new fountain had all the figures standing in a circle and regarding each other with expressions of mutual respect. Harry smiled, thinking that Dumbledore would have been pleased, but then noticed, quite uncomfortably, that the wizard statue seemed to resemble him slightly, with round glasses, messy hair, and the hint of a lightning bolt scar on its forehead.

'What level do we have to be on?' asked Harry quickly, turning away from the fountain.

'The Department of Magical Education is on Level 5, with the Department of International Magical Cooperation.' Hermione replied, striding towards the lifts. 'Come on!'

Arriving outside the temporary examination hall, the trio quickly registered with a Ministry Official and then joined Neville and Seamus, who were sitting all of their N.E.W.T.s through the Ministry. Padma, Parvati, Ernie, Terry, and several of the other students who had stayed at Hogwarts during the height of the war were doing the same thing, and soon joined them. Anthony and Dean were also among the small group that had gathered despite not having attended seventh year, and, like them, were planning to return to Hogwarts for the eighth year, but taking the Defence N.E.W.T. in order to lighten their load for the next year. Students from all four Houses, some of whose faces were familiar but had names Harry could not recall, were reunited outside the hall.

It was good to see his classmates laughing and joking together again, Harry thought with a smile. The last time he had seen them was after the battle at Hogwarts, and they had all been, well, more than a little beat up. Still, the survivors of the war had not escaped unscathed – the slight limp that Terry had and the way the Patil twins stood stiffly when people walked between them did not escape his notice.

'Well, look who it is,' Neville said suddenly, eyes locked on a figure across the room.

Harry glanced over to see what he was referring to, and saw a person whose light blonde hair unmistakably identified him as Draco Malfoy, accompanied by a hooded Ministry Official. He blinked with surprise. Had Malfoy been released? He hadn't been following the Death Eater trials, not wanting to be reminded of the war when it could be avoided. He felt Ron tense next to him.

'What on earth is that ferret doing here?' he bit out. 'They're letting him do his N.E.W.T.s?'

Ernie chuckled darkly. 'Well, he's obviously not here to do Defence Against the Dark Arts…perhaps just plain Dark Arts?'

This elicited laughs from most of the group, and Draco turned to look at them, then quickly looked back down when he realised that they had been laughing at him.

'I saw it on the registration list,' Anthony said helpfully. 'He's doing Potions. I think he might actually be planning on coming back to Hogwarts, too.'

'Then give him hell,' Terry snarled, addressing the returning students. 'He was a Death Eater – and he got off with too light a sentence. They all should have been sentenced to the Kiss, the whole lot of them, just like his father.'

Several of the students nodded, but Hermione shook her head. They all turned to look at her, questioning. It was common knowledge that she had suffered greatly at Malfoy Manor, and they thought that she, of all people, would want to see them punished.

'We need to forgive. If we hold resentment in our hearts, it'll only lead to another war,' Hermione replied softly. She looked like she was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the Ministry Official who had registered them.

'Please enter the examination hall.'


As the papers were collected, Hermione turned back in her seat to look at Ron and Harry, both seated behind her. She raised her eyebrows at them, asking them how they had found the paper with a silent question, and they responded with thumbs up and confident smiles. Good, she thought, that's one N.E.W.T. done.

They exited the hall and said goodbye to their friends, promising that they would all meet up at Hogsmeade sometime during the term, and wishing those who were to sit more examinations that day the best of luck. Malfoy was nowhere to be seen, she noticed as they made their way back down to the Atrium, not that it mattered to her. The trio walked across to the grand fireplaces, and Ron convinced Harry and Hermione to come and visit the Burrow. Ron lead the way, taking a handful of Floo powder and stepping in.

'See you in a second – the Burrow!' He was engulfed in a flash of emerald flames. Hermione followed closely behind, and as she dusted herself off in the Weasley kitchen, Harry stumbled in behind her, crashing into her and knocking her onto the floor.

'Harry!' she spluttered as she picked herself up. 'Honestly, you'd think that it was your first time using Floo.'

'Sorry,' Harry said sheepishly, standing up and straightening his glasses. 'I just can't seem to get the hang of it.'

The Burrow was as warm and cozy as they had remembered, and Hermione was pleased and touched to see that Mrs Weasley had laid out some tea cakes and jam for them on the kitchen table. Ron, of course, had already noticed this, and was bringing the platter over. They followed him into the living room and made themselves comfortable, just as they had done many times before.

'Is your mum home?' asked Harry.

'I don't think so, the clock says that she's gone down to Diagon Alley – but Ginny is – we all know that's what you're really wondering!' Ron laughed as he pointed to the Weasley clock.

It seemed somewhat barer, now that there were only eight hands remaining. Hermione suspected that George had kept the missing hand after it had fallen off – Fred's death had hit him hard, in particular, much harder than he would ever let them see. Hermione shook her head sadly, but tore her eyes away from it as Ginny peeped in from around the doorway and let out an excited squeal.

'Hi Hermione, Harry!' she said as she hurried over and sat next to Harry. 'I thought I heard you guys come in – mum asked if I wanted to come with her to the shops, but I figured I'd wait at home in case you decided to visit. How did you all find the N.E.W.T.?'

'It was better than we expected, actually, thanks for asking!' Hermione replied brightly. 'What subjects are you planning to take for the N.E.W.T.s, Ginny?'

'Same as Ron and Harry, I think, though I'll have to do Defence too, of course. I'm thinking that I'll probably apply to become an Auror as well.'

'That's brilliant!' Hermione beamed. 'You would make an excellent Auror.' Ginny had truly blossomed from the shy young girl she had first met just several years earlier, though it seemed longer.

'How about you, Hermione?' asked Harry curiously. 'Not planning to overload again like you did in third year, are you?'

'No, I don't think so,' she said thoughtfully. 'Though it might be nice to hit the books again. I think I might ask Professor McGonagall if I could take up Muggle Studies again, though, since we've just done our Defence N.E.W.T. so that's out of the way.' Ron made a choked noise, his eyebrows raising.

'I really don't know how you do it,' he said, shaking his head. 'Really!'

'Well, it was an interesting subject, and I really enjoyed it!' she said defensively. Ron shrugged and just shook his head, smiling, and Harry and Ginny laughed.

'Come up to my room, Harry,' said Ginny, a bright smile on her face. 'I want to show you something!' Harry glanced at Ron briefly, as if asking for permission, even though he had been dating Ginny again for four months. With a nod of approval from Ron, the two lovebirds disappeared upstairs.

Ron set up a game of Wizard's Chess, and they sat down on the floor to play. Despite her undeniable wits, Ron always seemed to beat her, and she was determined to triumph this time round. Ron went first, and they sat in comfortable silence as she contemplated her move. They were not dating anymore, they had never really started, in fact, the intense feelings they had felt during the intensity of the war no longer the same after the final battle. They had decided, mutually, that it would be better if they remained as friends.

'Do you really think that Malfoy is coming back?' wondered Ron softly.

'I don't know,' Hermione whispered. 'But everything will be different.'

Ron was silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

'Yeah, that's for sure.'


A/N: Thank you so much for the support - your kind reviews, and for those who have followed or favourited this piece! I'll try to update as much as I can, obviously more so when my own 'N.E.W.T.s' are over (towards the end of the year). Also, feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions or anything that you'd like to see in this story, and I'll see if I can work it in!