Disclaimer: I own nothing.
525,600 Minutes
I'm Used To Relying On Intellect
"Excellent." Hermione coughed when the ceiling of the living room caved in nearly taking down Harry who just barely jumped out of the way.
Both of them wore plastic jumpsuits and safety goggles, both of them were covered in dust and rubbles. Regrettably Harry cast a Reparo on the, apparently bearing, wall they had been trying to tear down to create a lighter, more open space. The room stood as it had when they had begun work on it that morning.
Now it was nightfall. They only had to look at each other before bursting into laughter at their 'progress', the sound nearly startling them both. They had been at Grimmauld Place for almost two weeks now and this was the first time the rooms had heard laughter.
Hermione wondered if it was the crash of the ceiling or if it was indeed the laughter that had attracted Ron and Ginny's attention, as the two soon came bursting into the room.
Ron's jumpsuit was spattered with paint; Harry wanted to restore the house without magic, while Ginny looked impeccable and carried a copy of the Daily Prophet that Hermione still subscribed to.
After they explained what had happened the Weasleys snickered as well "You two have so much white plaster in your hair you could pass for Malfoys!"
The four of them headed into the kitchen, the only room they had managed to renovate, and Ginny began conjuring some dinner. Based on their experiences while hunting Horcruxes, Hermione had been discouraged from cooking.
She helped though, by chopping onions and bell peppers while Harry set the table and Ron flipped through the paper.
"Look, it says here McGonagall has set a date for the reopening of Hogwarts. They've restored it quickly, huh?" he commented, scanning the rest of the article.
"I bet they aren't doing it the Muggle way." Ginny commented with a pointed look at Harry who pretended not to hear.
Ron tore a page from the paper "It says here everyone is invited to come on the day of the reopening, it's next Thursday, and they will be raising a monument for the fallen. We should all go, right?"
Harry and Ginny nodded, but Hermione hesitated "I was actually thinking of going into Diagon Alley that day, getting my supplies for school and all."
Ginny stirred through the vegetables she was sautéing "Oh come on Hermione, you can do that any day."
"I want to go that day." Hermione insisted, knowing that she sounded petulant.
Ginny dropped the spatula and narrowed her eyes "Why does it have to be that day?"
"I am not going, so drop it Ginny!" Hermione hissed, fleeing up the stairs and into the Black library. She picked a book at random and sunk down into one of the armchairs, but she couldn't be bothered to actually read.
She would have to see Hogwarts again soon enough. Live within the stonewalls. There was no point in putting it off. In fact it would be smarter of her to get it over with. But every nerve in her body rebelled against the thought and she knew she just wasn't ready yet.
If it was too different or the memories of the final battle wouldn't leave her alone she wasn't sure she'd be able to bear it.
At ease with her decision Hermione picked up the book at last, an exploration of the healing powers of herbs, and lost herself for hours only interrupted when Ron brought her a plate of food. She awarded him with a grateful smile and a prayer to leave her alone for a little longer.
When he walked in the next morning she was asleep in the chair, curled around herself. He traced a thin, almost invisible scar on her cheek before tucking a blanket around her and gently prying the book from her hand. Usually he felt inferior to Hermione, but right now he felt like he was taking care of a small child.
0o0
"Hermione please reconsider?" Ginny begged while tying her hair up with a black ribbon to match her dress. Thursday had come around and three of the current occupants of Grimmauld Place were ready to leave for the reopening of Hogwarts.
Forcing the corners of her mouth up, Hermione shook her head "Honestly Ginny, by the end of next week we will both be back at the school. Have a little patience. Besides, you know me, I have to have a little time with my books."
She winked playfully at her friend before turning around so she wouldn't catch how pained she really was.
Clutching a piece of parchment Ginny gave it one last attempt "But Mum wrote me that even George is going. They're bringing something to commemorate Fred at the Monument. And Andromeda is bringing Teddy."
Tugging her denim jacket on Hermione gently grasped Ginny's elbow "Go be with your family Gin. Give them my love." and she appararated to The Leaky Cauldron.
The pub was nearly empty Hermione noted on her way through to tap the bricks that would allow her into Diagon Alley. The usually bustling street was close to empty also. Some shops were still closed due to its owners being hurt or dead. Some were not yet rebuilt.
After picking up her books from Flourish and Blotts, Hermione decided to look inside George's shop. With everything he was spending on alcohol, he needed the store to thrive as much as before.
Considering that most of the wizarding community were at Hogwarts, there was an impressive amount of costumers. But the shelves reserved for new products were empty and lined with dust. Exploiting a quiet moment at the till, Hermione greeted Verity.
"Oh hello, you're a friend of Mr. George right?"
Hermione nodded, thinking to their last encounter where she had yelled at him and he had thrown a bottle at her. She hoped they were still friends.
"Is it hard running everything without him?" She asked emphatically.
Verity sniffed "It's hard to be here without both of them."
Just then a small boy, likely to start Hogwarts the following Sunday along with herself, came to buy a trick wand, saving Hermione from answering. She waved to Verity and exited the shop.
Outside the otherwise mild summer weather had turned colder and Hermione decided to finish her shopping as quickly as possible so she could go home. It was almost evening before she was back though, the fitting of her new school robes (she had lost a lot of weight over the last year) dragged on and while leaving the shop she ran into her old schoolmate Parvati Patil on her way home from the reopening, still struck with grief over losing her best friend Lavender Brown.
Exhausted and emotionally drained after the encounter she arrived at Grimmauld Place where Pigwidgeon awaited her with a note from Ginny saying they had all gone back to the Burrow for dinner and she was invited as well if she wanted to join them.
Hermione considered it, but couldn't stand the thought of being among people. Unfortunately she couldn't stand being alone in her own company either, so she took a page from George's book and retrieved a bottle of Ogden's Firewhiskey from a hiding place Sirius had kept in the library.
It burned her throat, but it did spread pleasant warmth throughout her body so she immediately took another big gulp. She was disappointed how quickly the warm feeling faded or maybe her bitterness and sorrow was just cold enough to drown it out.
Left to her own destructive thoughts Hermione became so frustrated she started tearing books off of their shelves, even ripping out the pages of some of them. All her life she had dedicated her time to knowledge, to learning everything worth knowing about. None of it helped her now, none of it had taught her how to deal with this darkness eating away at her.
She screamed and cried as she cleared entire shelves, she ripped at her own hair and kicked her favourite armchair. She hurt herself more than the piece of furniture though so she sunk to her knees and finally calmed down a little, taking another swig directly from the bottle.
Hermione could swear she could feel the piercing eyes of all the ghosts she had let down today.
"I'm sorry Remus, Fred," she sobbed wiping tears and snot away with the back of her hand "I'm sorry I couldn't go."
0o0
The next day was the second morning Ron found her asleep in the library. Seeing the state it was in he immediately drew his wand, thinking there'd been an attack or a robbery of some kind. When he saw Hermione sprawled out on the floor, with a half-empty bottle beside her he unkindly shook her awake.
"Merlin, what happened here?" Harry asked as he entered the room. He began picking up books, but soon realized it was futile and flicked his wand to get them back to their places.
"Hermione's drunk." Ron said; undecided between anger and disappointment.
Harry dropped the books he was levitating "What?"
Slowly Hermione came to herself, wondering what she was doing on the floor and trying to find out if it was connected to the pounding headache she suffered. Then she noticed Ron towering over her, his eyes almost black and she remembered her breakdown the night before.
"Ginny can't see me like this!" she exclaimed, struggling to get up from the floor and supporting herself on the armchair.
"Don't worry, we all spent the night at the Burrow and Ginny decided to stay the last few days before returning to Hogwarts." Harry explained, finally done with the books.
Hermione let out a sigh of relief "Harry I'm sorry about what I did to the library. I regretted not going with you to the reopening and everything just…" she trailed off, not yet able to voice what had happened yesterday.
"So why the bloody hell didn't you go, Hermione?" Ron burst out; finally speaking "You could've seen Teddy. You could've seen George talking to Angelina and actually feeling better! He was finally feeling better and then I come home and find you like this. That's not alright!" Ron cried, storming out of the library.
Harry vanished the bottle and put a hand on Hermione's shoulder "We begin our Auror training in two days. We'll be staying in dorms at the practice facility. Make peace with him before we go."
After a much needed shower Hermione knocked on the closed door to the room Ron had been using during their stay "It's me Ronald, can I come in?"
There was a grunt and she took it as a sign to enter.
He had his back turned to her when she stepped inside the room, busying himself with packing some clothes. She let her palm cover the back of his hand to stop him for a moment and force him to turn around and acknowledge her.
Hermione's eyes searched for his and finally he looked at her "I'm sorry." she simply said, hoping to convince him. It hadn't been her intention for anyone to see her like he had.
Ron shrugged his shoulders "I know it's not your responsibility what's been going on with George. But blimey Hermione, if you can't keep it together, then who can?"
Sighing Hermione tried to keep her lip from quivering, she was expected to be brave and logical, even after all she had been put through. She could tell Ron was about to go on about how levelheaded she usually dealt with everything and she was desperate to shut him up so she stood on her toes and kissed him to silence.
He was so surprised he barely had time to react before she pulled back, ending the kiss. Ron closed his arms around her and put his mouth to her ear "I knew it Hermione, we can take care of each other."
0o0
The next day he and Harry left for their training and a week later Hermione met with Ginny at King's Cross to catch the Hogwarts Express. The two girls shared a compartment with Luna, but Hermione pretended to be asleep until the rocking of the train actually did lull her into an uneasy rest.
Ginny had to shake her awake so she just had enough time to change into her plain school robes before they got off at the station in Hogsmeade. It was night now and the little village seemed to be asleep.
"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted as soon as she heard the friendly half-giant call out for first years. The routine comforted her as did his smile as he lit up when he noticed her. They waved and promised to talk more back at the castle. Hermione had to hurry not to miss the last thestral drawn carriage. She shared it with a group of second year students she didn't recognize.
They seemed to be too much in awe of the much older student to speak.
Little squares of light revealed the windows of many well-lit rooms and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, Hogwarts stood almost as it always had. Smoke even rose from the chimney of Hagrid's rebuilt hut like it always did. She felt like she could finally breathe again.
Her carriage was the last to arrive and the second years raced each other to the Great Hall, while Hermione hesitated outside. She needed a moment before going inside as she wasn't sure which memories would overwhelm her. Good or bad. Maybe both.
"Is that everyone?" a shaky voice called and Hermione stepped inside the merry light of the entrance hall. Argus Filch scowled at her while locking up. Mrs. Norris weaved in and out between his legs. Some things at least were still the same.
"Miss Granger." A familiar voice said behind her and Hermione turned on her heel "Professor McGonagall!" she cried out, holding back the urge to throw herself in the arms of her old mentor.
"I'm sorry, I mean Headmistress." She corrected herself, still not used to the thought of anyone except Dumbledore in that position.
Minerva waved her hand "Professor suits me just fine Miss Granger. How lovely it is to see you back here."
Before she could stop herself warm tears trickled out and Hermione gasped for air "I apologize Professor, I don't know what's come over me."
"Oh I think I know my dear." Minerva said, patting the arm of the shaken girl "Come with me. I'll show you to your new dorm and have some food brought up for you, you can miss the sorting."
Special rooms had been made on the third floor for returning eight year students. Like the Gryffindor common room you had to tell a password to a portrait to be let in. Inside it looked like the Gryffindor common room as well, with a cozy fire and plush chairs as well as a few desks for studying.
A set of stairs led to a narrow hall where you could turn right or left. Right side was the girls dorms, left was the boys'.
"We had hoped more students would return." Minerva sighed when she and Hermione stood inside the girls dorms. It hadn't passed Hermione's attention that she had yet to meet anyone from her own year.
With ease Minerva transformed the dorm into a single bedroom for Hermione.
"It's alright Professor, I don't mind being alone here."
Minerva was about to exit the bedroom "Oh well you won't be completely alone Miss Granger, one more student has returned. Mr. Malfoy is at the feast."
A/N: I am so terribly sorry for how long it took me to update. It was supposed to be weekly, but so much just got in the way for a while. But I'm back and this story is heading places. Please leave a review!
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