CHAPTER 1


The sunshine was flooding into Hermione's bedroom. As she grunted and rubbed her eyes, the memories of the nightmare fled her mind. She had been dreaming about the battle again, every night seemed to be worse than the last. The sleeping potion on her bedside table was nearly empty from all the nights she had needed it. Every Medi-Witch and wizard had told her not to use it too often as it would have quite bad side effects. Therefore, she only used it when the nightmares were absolutely unbearable. Hannah had been instructed to give it to her when she thought it good – which wasn't too often. The former Hufflepuff and Hermione were living together for quite some time now since they both had enrolled into the Magic University of London to study. There were also some dorms on the campus but both preferred their own place and to not be surrounded by people all the time. Since the war had ended, the media went nuts just to see a picture of Hermione or any member of the Golden Trio really. Also, the former members of the DA were being followed around which didn't make life much easier.

During their time at Hogwarts, Hannah and Hermione weren't the best of friends and simply talked to each other when it was necessary. By now, they had grown much closer, even though they both knew that this wasn't a friendship made to last for centuries. Hannah was still very close with Ernie McMillan and Susan Bones and would rather go out with them than with her flatmate. But Hermione didn't really care, she still had her own friends and the times Hannah and she ate together, it was still a good time.

A few months had passed since the Battle of Hogwarts and many things had changed. Not only was Professor McGonnagall now Headmistress, but Harry and Ron – alongside many other members of the DA – were working as Aurors now for the ministry. With Kingsley Shacklebolt as their Minister, Hermione felt safe. He had been a member of the Order after all and had been fighting alongside them. But also in their private lives, many things were so different than they had expected: While Ginny and Harry were most definitely in love and dating, that hadn't really been the case of Ron and Hermione. That kiss they had shared down in the Chamber of Secrets, it had made things a bit awkward. And things hadn't really improved after he finally told her that he loved her and not so much as a friend. But Hermione had shut that down right away by telling him that she didn't feel quite the same and didn't want to lie to him about that. The first few weeks after that had been awkward and weird when they all stayed at the Burrow together. But ever since Hermione had moved out into her new place, things had improved. Ron was now dating one of his co-workers from the ministry and seemed to be genuinely happy with her.

And Hermione? She had declined Shacklebolt's offer and instead enrolled into university. The thought of it came back into her mind and she looked down at her watch. "Oh shit." Classes would start in about twenty minutes and she still needed to get ready! Hannah was already sitting at their kitchen table with breakfast and a big frown on her face. "What's up with you?" Hermione asked when entering and turned to pour herself coffee into the thermos cup she always took with her to classes. "I have the biggest hangover in the history of hangovers." The blonde girl groaned and shook her head slightly. At Hogwarts, she had always seemed like the shy girl next door, not able to hurt anything or anyone. But ever since she had started dating Seamus Finnigan and studied, things had changed for her as well: She was way more open to meet new people and had developed quite the liking for partying.

Hermione smiled and threw some pills over to her flatmate that had been lying on top of the shelf. "Here, take these. You'll feel better, they always work for me." With another look at her wristwatch, she quickly crammed the thermos into her university bag and went into the hallway. "I'll see you later. Thanks, Mione!" She heard Hannah yell after he and with a smile on her face, she left the flat and apparated onto campus. As always, the designated areas for apparating were full with students. They all looked tired and as they only survived on coffee and chocolate – which was also the case for her. Every few weeks she went into Diagon Alley and stocked up on her sweets. She remembered that her cupboard was pretty empty and made herself a mental note to stock up as soon as classes were over.

During classes, Hermione scribbled down as many notes as possible but today, she just couldn't concentrate completely. That nightmare was still stuck in her head and her thoughts went back to that battle. She had never wanted any credit for saving Fred's life or anything at all, really. It had bugged her that everyone seemed to think that Voldemort had been defeated solely because of the Golden Trio. She had never seen herself as a hero and it was quite difficult adjusting to the fact that everyone saw her as one. The first weeks at University had been weird as everyone had just wanted to talk to her because of that and wanted to be her friend simply because she was "that" Hermione Granger. By now, it had toned down and she could just go to class and study for exams.

It was around three in the afternoon when classes were finally over and Hermione went into Diagon Alley. It was now late October, but the sun was still warm on her face and a smile formed there. She had always loved autumn; the light was simply so complementing all the time and everyone looked good when photographed in that light. The witch went from shop to shop, buying loads of sweets and other stuff she needed for university. After she was done with that, Hermione stopped in front of the shop of the twins. It had been quite some time since she had visited them and she decided to do that right now.

The doorbell rang loudly in the empty shop when she entered. It didn't really surprise her as all the younger ones were at Hogwarts and most students didn't have the money to buy themselves jokes all the time. As nobody seemed to have heard the bell, Hermione looked around a bit. She had only visited the store when it had been packed with students, so it was quite interesting to see what else they offered. She had just passed the part with the love potion when a familiar voice sounded right next to her. "Ah, you surely don't need that, do you, Hermione?" She jumped a bit at the sudden sound, but quickly broke out in giggles. "How many times have I told you that I don't like being scared, George?" A broad smile was plastered on her face as she hugged the twin. He smelled quite good, compared to what she was used to by now. At university, the guys mostly smelled like herbs or potions, not like some cologne.

"If you had said something, we would have prepared some dinner, you know. But as we are prepared for just everything, you are in luck, Granger!" He smiled and offered her his hand as he pulled her along the corridors of the shop. "Fred has just come back from Hogsmeade and Angelina isn't in town, so you have an evening full of our wonderful company right before you." Hermione grinned and nodded. She hadn't really expected that but she knew the Weasleys good enough to not decline. They would be pretty sad, but cover it up with stupid jokes. So, she just followed him through a door at the back and into the flat the twins shared. "It looks way better than last time when I was here. Like someone actually lives here." Hermione joked and smiled at George who was heating up the stove. "Yeah, since we actually live here and not at the Burrow." He grinned back at her and put some noodles into the boiling water. "I hope you like -" Something shattered at the end of the flat and loud swearing could be heard. Hermione jumped at the sound of the shattering and looked at George with big eyes. But before he could say anything, Fred stormed into the kitchen, without a shirt on and a grimace of pain on his face. "For Merlin's sake, do we have anything for bandaging?" He said through gritted teeth, looking around. When his eyes fell on Hermione, he stopped dead in his tracks. She felt a bit uneasy, trying to look anywhere but Fred's bare chest. "Uhm… hey, Fred."