Hogwarts, post war
It was a hot day in July that Hermione joined the staff of Hogwarts outside of the castle to greet the onslaught of people arriving today. The war was over and that meant reconstruction was beginning on the castle, and today was the day that everyone who had volunteered to help with the rebuilding efforts would be arriving.
The new headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, had ironed out a plan that involved singling out the areas that needed rebuilding or reorganization and assigning one person to overlook each area, and from there she would assign a number of the volunteers who were arriving today to assist them. Hermione and Harry, who had stayed at Hogwarts since the war ended to help the teachers, were already assigned the library and Quidditch field, respectively. For the areas that had suffered structural damage – and there were many – a team of wizarding architects and builders were arriving as well.
The days following the war had been intense, full of grief and yet also joy. The Weasleys had returned to the Burrow rather quickly, mostly for Molly's sake. She didn't want to be in the same building where one of her sons was murdered, and nobody could blame her. Ron and Ginny left to stay with her, as did all of her children, and Harry and Hermione assured them both that they agreed home was where they needed to be. Most of the other students left for home as well, except for Neville and Luna, but many were returning today.
The Ministry underwent an intense shakeup following Lord Voldemort's demise. Most of its employees were either carted off to Azkaban or were awaiting trial, and Kingsley Shacklebolt was now Minister of Magic. Arthur Weasley received a much-deserved promotion and was now Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Dementors were no longer aligned with the Ministry, and Aurors were dispatched in full force to find remaining Death Eaters who had slithered into hiding after their master's downfall.
The most high profile case was, of course, the Malfoys. Lucius had been sent to Askaban despite his professed change of heart - nobody in the Ministry believed him since, after all, he had claimed innocence after the first Wizarding War with disasterous results - but his wife and son were free, thanks in large part to Harry.
Harry had spent a good three straight days holed up in Hogwarts with the head of the Auror office, giving him all the information he knew about various Death Eaters as well as those who were on the Order's side. He vindicated Severus Snape, but would only show the Auror chief Snape's memories once and refused to hand them over to the Ministry, knowing how the former headmaster would be infuriated beyond words if his private memories were to become fully public after his death. And as for the Malfoys, Harry made sure that Narcissa was recognized for her crucial role in Voldemort's downfall, even if she did lie about Harry being dead for selfish reasons. As for Draco, Harry's feelings were mixed, but he had no desire to condemn him to Azkaban. When the Malfoys had sat uncomfortably in the Great Hall, Draco had borne the look of one who had truly experienced some change, and was disgusted with himself. Lucius, on the other hand, looked the same as he always had.
The world was beginning to make sense again, but the air at Hogwarts was still somber. So many had died in that final, terrible battle, and those who lived tried to stay as close together as possible, either physically or by owl, and many of the students signed up to help restore Hogwarts if for nothing else than to keep themselves busy and be with friends.
Harry and Hermione were excited to be reunited with Ginny and Ron today, but they were not aware of the entire list of volunteers who were arriving via the Hogwarts Express. Hagrid, out of tradition, was greeting them and bringing them to the castle, where afterwards there would be a grand, old fashioned feast in the mostly still standing Great Hall.
"Here they come," said the more cheerful than usual Professor McGonagall, when Hagrid's large figure appeared in the distance. Harry grinned at Hermione, who smiled back and glanced at Neville and Luna, who stood to their right and were clasping hands.
Hermione couldn't wait to be reunited with Ron. They had barely a day together after the final battle, and though they owled one another daily, she couldn't wait to finally be a proper couple.
As the crowd grew closer, Hermione began to be able to recognize some of the heads bobbing as they walked. He saw two heads of flaming red hair belonging to Ginny and Ron. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan were visible as well, and were talking with Cho Chang. Some of the students were accompanied by parents, including... no, Hermione thought quickly, that's not possible. But she squinted her eyes and looked harder, and sure enough, she saw two heads of white-blonde hair that were unmistakably those of Draco and Narcissa Malfoy.
"Harry," Hermione said quietly with poorly masked alarm, "tell me that's not Draco and his mother."
Harry craned his neck and squinted as she had. "No, that's definitely them," he confirmed.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Hermione moaned a little too loudly.
"What's wrong?" Luna asked, peering past Neville and Harry to look at Hermione with her wide, perpetually surprised-looking eyes.
Hermione shook her head, quickly remembering that nobody else but Harry would understand why Malfoy's presence would bother her so. He was the only person she had ever told of her brief relationship with Draco during her sixth year, and she planned to keep it that way. "Nothing,sorry."
Soon the crowd had closed in, and Ron had broke into a run to greet his girlfriend. He picked Hermione up and crushed her with the strength of his hug, and twirled her around in his exuberance. Hermione laughed as he finally put her down, but when she looked up into his brown eyes she caught a glimpse of a pair of silver ones just over his shoulder.
There Draco was, dressed in a fine black suit, his blonde hair casual as it grazed his eyes, and he was staring directly at Hermione.
Hermione felt a shiver ripple through her body, and her stomach flip flopped just as it used to a little over a year ago when he would look at her. But then Ron's lips were on hers, and he was kissing her with all the intensity of a teenaged boy who hadn't seen his girlfriend in a month.
"I've missed you," Ron smiled when he pulled away, and she returned the smile, but cast one quick glance over his shoulder again, and saw Draco scowling deeply.
Soon she was being greeted by many of her former classmates, and the sound of excited chatting was heard everywhere. She glanced at Harry, who was clutching Ginny's hand and was staring poker-faced at Pansy Parkinson, who appeared to be in the midst of an apology to him.
"... it was terrible and I have no excuses, but I've lost everything... both of my parents are in Azkaban and I just want to start over, and I need you to understand how sorry I am..."
Ginny shot Hermione a look and Hermione grinned, then turned her attention to Dean and Seamus, who both gave her warm hugs. For a moment she almost forgot about Draco's presence, until she glanced at the headmistress and saw her apparently deep in conversation with him and Narcissa.
Hermione frowned, and Ron, who had rejoined her side, noticed this. "Can you believe it?" he asked quietly. "I don't know what he's playing at, showing up here. I couldn't believe it when I saw him on the train. D'you think McGonagall's gonna toss him out?"
The headmistress's rather severe face was firm as she spoke to the Malfoys, but not unkind. "It doesn't look like it," Hermione said sadly.
"Well, let's not let him muck up the day," Ron grinned, taking Hermione's hand. "This past month has felt like a year, being away from you."
She smiled and leaned her head on his upper arm. "I've missed you too."
Then the Malfoys both nodded at the headmistress, and parted ways with her. Draco shot Ron a loathsome look as he and his mother passed. Ron didn't notice, however, as his attention was now on McGonagall, who began to speak to the crowd.
"Quiet, please - quiet!" she called. "Please, everyone follow me into the Great Hall!"
The crowd obliged and began walking, Harry and Ginny falling into step next to Ron and Hermione. Ginny extended a one-arm walking hug to Hermione, who reciprocated with a giggle. "Hey, what was that business with Pansy Parkinson?" Hermione asked.
Ginny shrugged. "She was apologizing to Harry. Seemed sincere, but who really knows? It's not like she's gonna walk in here and say 'Hi Harry, really wish you were dead!'"
Hermione frowned and cast a glance behind her. Pansy was walking with Blaise Zabini at the back of the crowd, neither of them seeming particularly comfortable, and everybody was giving them a wide berth as if they'd catch germs if they got too close to them.
The idealist in Hermione disapproved of this. Clearly, it took a lot of courage for the two Slytherins to return to Hogwarts to help repair some of the damage the man they had supported inflicted. She couldn't imagine them being here if they weren't sincere - for them, it had to feel like being a single rat in a pit full of snakes.
However, Hermione did not extend this thought to Draco. She was a little more fair to Narcissa, who played a key role in the final battle. But Draco was nothing more than a slimy opportunistic git who was only here to make it seem like he cared about paying his debt to society, when really, all he cared about was being accepted by society once more so he could live out the rest of his life comfortably. She had no doubts of this, and would not entertain any other ideas of his motivation. Anyone who did simply didn't know him as well as she did.
For the briefest moment, Hermione thought of the scar on her right forearm, but the sight of the Great Hall shook her of any dark thoughts.
It was damaged, but functional. The famous bewitched ceiling was just a regular ceiling now, until it could be fully repaired. The corridor leading out of the Hall and into the rest of the castle was in shambles, as was so much more of Hogwarts, but Hermione pushed those thoughts aside as she took in the strange sight of only one enormous table siting in the Hall underneath the mass of floating candles, as opposed to the usual four house tables plus the staff table.
The headmistress rushed to the winged podium at the end of the Hall. "A quick word before we begin our feast," she called, and the crowd came to a hush. "As you can see, tonight we shall all be dining at the same table. This is due to my belief that unity between all of us is now more crucial than ever. The war is over. Let us leave it in the past, where it belongs, and move forward. House rivalries, or personal grudges, should be left at the door. If any one of you finds yourself unable to do this, I suggest you leave at once."
Hermione looked down at her feet. Well, her situation was different, of course, she reasoned. After all, both of the Malfoys who were present had watched her nearly being tortured to death and did nothing. That constituted a bit more than a "personal grudge".
"We must forgive, or we will doom ourselves to more division. And division, I fear, will only doom us to the possibility of another war." McGonagall paused. "I thank each and every one of you for being here. You have all made your houses and families, and Hogwarts itself, proud."
And the headmistress finished her speech, with the smallest of smiles. Food began to pop up all throughout the gigantic table, but everyone stood idle for a moment, unsure of where to sit, or how to handle this new forced unity. It was Luna who moved first, dragging Neville with her as she took a seat in front of a large baked ham. She wore an airy smile all the while, and after she sat, she gazed at the rest of the crowd expectantly. "Is no one hungry?"
Then McGonagall sat at the head of the table, and the rest of the staff quickly sat down close to her. Harry took a seat next, not far from where the staff did, and slowly the table started to fill.
Hermione was sandwiched between Ginny and Ron, and watched as once again, Pansy and Blaise were treated like pariahs. The two Slytherins were seated at the opposite end as the staff, and the seats around them were empty. The Malfoys had insinuated themselves closer to the rest of everyone, but nobody seemed to be complaining about them.
"Oh, for God's sake," Hermione muttered. "Ron, tell Dean and Seamus to move down two seats."
Ron looked puzzled but didn't argue. Then Hermione stood and walked to where Blaise and Pansy sat. When she approached, they looked up at her warily. "Come sit with us, at the front," she all but commanded, and then turned on her heel before they could argue.
Halfway back to her seat, Hermione glanced back and saw that they were following her, but they seemed highly unsure if this was a good idea. Nonetheless, they took their new seats between Ron and Dean, and an uncomfortable silence fell immediately. Hermione allowed a few moments to pass of sideways glances and awkward eating before she slammed down her cup of pumpkin juice loudly.
"Was nobody listening to what Professor McGonagall said?" Hermione asked the table, and all fell silent but her. "These people have come here despite knowing how this was how they'd be treated. It seems rather obvious to me that that means they're sincere."
"You weren't here last year, Hermione," piped up Cho Chang from across the table. "You didn't see what they did to us. They were cruel."
"The Carrows made us do those things," Blaise said, speaking for the first time. "We didn't have a choice."
"You had a choice," Neville interjected. "You just chose wrong."
"Maybe we did," Pansy said, her voice shaking just a little bit. "But we hated every minute of it, and we just want to start over. We want to make it right."
Hermione glanced around the table. Her fellow Gryffindors were wearing reluctantly guilty and yet still slightly defiant expressions and staring down at their plates. She looked past Ron to Blaise and Pansy, the latter of which gave her a subtly grateful look. Hermione nodded.
"After all, it's not as if they let Death Eaters into the castle and tried to kill Dumbledore."
The room became deadly silent, and with a jolt of horror, Hermione realized that what she had meant to murmur under her breath, she had actually said rather loudly. Her cheeks were flushing the color of tomatoes, and she looked around with wide eyes.
Everyone was staring at her, shocked by her words. Harry's face was unreadable. McGonagall looked a bit nervous and disappointed at the same time. Ron was shoving a sausage into his mouth and nearly choking on it. Blaise and Pansy were stiff and looking at their hands. Narcissa was as calm and controlled as ever. Draco, however, became flushed with anger. He made a motion to storm from the table but Narcissa grabbed him by his arm and forced him to sit still.
Hermione grabbed her pumpkin juice and chugged it nervously, and Luna's voice broke the silence at last. "Isn't the pudding lovely?"
Hermione chanced one more glance at Draco, and a wave of guilt washed over her as she watched the boy stare angrily at his plate. Then she caught herself - what was there to feel guilty about? What she said was true, wasn't it? Who cared that she had been a witness to Draco's misery and fear during their sixth year and had firsthand knowledge of how he had felt forced to do as Voldemort had ordered - he was vile and she had much worse she could say about him.
Ron elbowed her. "We were all thinking it," he murmured in her ear. "Don't worry about it."
Hermione sighed and endured the rest of the dinner in silence. When it was over, sleeping arrangements were discussed. Since Ravenclaw Tower was in shambles, Ravenclaw students would be spread amongst Gryffindor Tower and Hufflepuff's basement. Draco, Pansy, and Blaise would take to the Slytherin dungeons. Parents had the choice of sleeping in the castle or taking rooms in Hogsmeade; all of them chose the latter option.
After the parents bid farewell to their children, Hermione fetched Ginny, Luna, and Padma Patil, and the four girls headed to the girls' dorms in Gryffindor tower. They chatted amongst themselves until they rounded a corner and Draco nearly ran into them, having been headed in the opposite direction to the dungeons.
All five pairs of feet skidded to a halt, and Hermione's eyes instantly narrowed on Draco. He did the same towards her for a moment, but then Luna's voice got his attention.
"Hello, Draco," said Luna pleasantly. Draco looked at her in surprise, as did the three other girls. Draco nodded at the strange little blonde girl, then dashed off.
Luna looked around at the three incredulous looks she was being given, and said, "He owled me a few weeks ago. It was a very nice letter. He apologized for his family holding me in their cellar, and for how poorly I was treated. It was rather unexpected."
"I'd say so," Ginny remarked. "Must be the first time in his life the git's ever apologized to anyone."
"As if he was sincere," Hermione scoffed as the girls continued walking. "He's a Malfoy, he wouldn't do anything that didn't serve his own selfish interests."
"No, he was definitely sincere," Luna disagreed in her unyieldingly polite voice. "I would let you read the letter but it's at home. Anyway, it must have taken him and his mum a lot of courage to come here to help us rebuild."
Hermione frowned. "He doesn't care about the castle, Luna. He wouldn't be here if he didn't have anything to gain."
"Can't say I disagree, Hermione," said Ginny, "but after this and that outburst at dinner, I'm a bit surprised how much you seem to despise him. Even if it is Malfoy we're talking about."
"Yeah, especially after you scolded us all about unity," Padma added.
"Look," Hermione said, feeling a blush creep up on her cheeks, "Malfoy's different."
"I suppose it's understandable that you would feel that way," Luna said.
"What do you mean?" snapped Hermione.
Luna turned her large, gray eyes to Hermione and smiled. "Well, he did watch you get tortured, and he didn't do anything to stop it. Has he apologized to you yet?"
Hermione opened her mouth but nothing came out. She had never told Luna about the torture at Bellatrix's hand, nor the fact that Draco had watched without so much as lifting a finger - so how did she know? Perhaps she had overheard the story while at Shell Cottage with Hermione after they escaped Malfoy Manor, but still, Hermione hadn't told a soul other than Harry about how Draco stood there and watched the whole time. She reminded Hermione of Dumbledore; they both had an uncanny and unsettling habit of seeming to just know everything. "No - no, he's never apologized," she finally muttered.
"Well, I'm sure he will," Luna replied as the girls climbed up the long staircases that led to their destination. A few moments passed, and Ginny shot Hermione a curious look that Hermione ignored.
Soon the girls reached their dorm and settled in a bit, then went to their common room. The boys soon arrived, and Hermione was happy to be back in a full, chattering common room full of her friends. She sat close to Ron on a sofa, while Harry and Ginny did the same across from them. Neville and Luna were sitting in front of the fireplace, discussing various rare plants and magical creatures. Cho Chang, another Ravenclaw who had opted to stay in Gryffindor Tower but in the dorm under Hermione's with several of her own friends, was playing a game of Exploding Snap with Padma, Dean and Seamus; Hermione noticed that Cho was sitting rather closely with Dean.
For a night, everything seemed to be alright again, and Hermione could almost pretend that the war had ended without any of its accompanying deaths and horrors, and that those they had lost were simply at home, not gone forever.
After most everyone had dragged themselves off to bed, Hermione kissed Ron goodnight, and went to bed herself. She felt better seeing the beds surrounding hers full; Luna's presence had been a comfort to her for the past month, and she had been grateful that she didn't have to sleep alone. One night, however, Luna had stayed up late and was wandering about, sleepwalking who knows where, and Hermione had woken up from a nightmare alone and terrified. She had crawled into the boys' dorm and slept next to Harry the rest of the night, and Neville had awoken the next morning looking rather alarmed at the sight. Harry and Hermione had a good laugh about that, but Hermione made sure she never fell asleep alone after that night. And Luna had curiously always been in bed before her from then on.
Hermione settled into bed feeling more relaxed than she had felt in recent memory, but Ginny's voice got her attention just as she closed her eyes.
"Do you have nightmares?" Ginny asked quietly from the bed closest to Hermione.
Hermione turned to face her friend and nodded. "They're worse when I'm alone."
"Same for me," Ginny said. "They're always about Fred. And Harry. Reliving when I thought he was dead."
"Fred's in mine too sometimes," Hermione whispered. "Usually though, they're about... Bellatrix. And Malfoy Manor."
Ginny nodded. "Sometimes I'll dream that we all wake up and he's back. Voldemort. And it all starts again."
Hermione paused. "Have you tried sleeping potion?"
"Yeah, the first few nights. But then I started having side effects. That stuff isn't meant to be taken long-term, that's for sure."
"I haven't taken any yet. It's going to sound stupid, but I want to overcome the nightmares on my own," Hermione admitted.
"I don't think it's stupid. Maybe now we can help each other get past it all," Ginny said hopefully.
Hermione nodded. A moment of silence fell before she spoke again. "I've been trying to find my parents."
Ginny's eyes widened in the darkness. "Have you had any luck?"
Hermione shook her head. "I gave them the most common names I could think of when I changed their memories, to make them impossible for him to find. I did too good of a job though, because now I can't find one sliver of information about them."
"I'll help you, if there's any way that I can," said Ginny. "Maybe after we're done here at Hogwarts, we can go to Australia and look for them. Or take some time off to do it. I'm sure Harry and Ron would come with us too."
Hermione smiled at her friend. "Thanks. That means a lot to me."
Then there was another moment of silence, and a muffled but light voice floated through the room. "... Don't anger them, Crumple-Horned Snorkacks have terrible tempers..."
Hermione giggled at Ginny's alarmed look. "She talks in her sleep a lot. Usually about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks or wrackspurts. Sometimes Neville gets a mention too."
Ginny laughed, and it was with light hearts that the two girls eventually drifted to sleep. They had wanted to spend the whole night talking, and evading any possible nightmares, but they needed their rest. There was much work to begin tomorrow.