JK Rowling owns the Harry Potter Universe.
Hermione spent the last 15 minutes of the journey helping Malfoy assign the prefects to their years that they would be in charge of when the students disembarked. She waited until after the train had stopped and most students had disembarked before leaving. Shivering, Hermione stepped onto the freezing platform. The smoke drifted into the night as students streamed out. A hand grabbed her arm with a jolt stopping her in her stride.
"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed seeing that Ginny, Luna and Neville were waiting just behind her.
"Hey, what took you so long?" Ginny joked as the four started to walk off the platform.
"Head girl duties." Hermione replied fastening on a smile as Ginny rolled her eyes in response.
"I wonder were the Threstles are" Luna said looking at the back open carriages waiting for the students to take to Hogwarts. "I hope they haven't got Spotted Cornish fever."
Hermione had forgotten that she should be able to see the Threstles that normally drew the carriages, invisible to all but those that had seen death.
"Probably didn't want to traumatise the students more" answer Neville as Hermione shivered, glad to not have to see the skeletal, winged, horse like creatures.
"Come on we don't want to be late." Ginny hurried, moving towards the nearest carriage.
Ginny, Luna and Neville continued to chat and catch up from the summer as the carriage started towards Hogwarts. Hermione felt that a glass wall slip between her and the others as their conversation faded into the background. Their talk about Quidditch teams, subjects they had selected and who was going out with who just seemed so trivial. Did they even remember what had happened? The 50 students that would now never return to Hogwarts?
"Hey are you okay?" Ginny asked Hermione as they arrived at the entrance.
"Yeah I'm just really tired after getting the prefects ready and dealing with Malfoy." Hermione replied putting her smile back on and rolling her eyes for greater effect.
"Malfoy!? You don't mean he's the Head boy!?" Ginny exclaimed in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell us about this? He didn't threaten you did he?"
"Yes unfortunately he is. However he is on a kind of probation where he isn't allowed to hurt or threaten anyone." Hermione explained wondering how Harry and Ron would react when they hear about it. She vowed to send them an owl before they came barging into the school or had some other stupid, irrational reaction.
"If he gives you any trouble, let me know" Neville said flexing his arms resulting in groans from Luna and Ginny.
As they reached the great hall they were suddenly by the students moving to take their places at their house tables. Ginny quickly sat down, pulling Hermione with her as the Gryffindor table filled up.
"Hey Hermione, it's good to see you back." Dean Tomas said sitting down next to her.
Hermione just smiled and gave him a nod as the hall filled up with the chatter of students greeting their friends. More Gryffindors greeted Hermione as they sat down but she didn't feel like getting into a conversation that could lead to talk about last year so she just said hi back and looked at the table. It was only as the chatter died down that she realised that McGonagall was about to give a speech.
"Welcome to a new year to Hogwarts." McGonagall announced her glasses perched on her nose as they trailed around the room. "To all those students who are joining us here for the first time welcome and to all those returning welcome back. It was a difficult challenge to have the school ready for the start of the year, there was much damage left over from the terrible battle that passed. However working with the ministry and the reconstruction teams we were able to rebuild in a very quick manner. Looking at the final construction with all the workers from the apprentice's to master engineers working together to accomplish the one goal I was reminded of what it was that won the war.
It was not money, nor power; it was not our ancestry or our numbers. It was what Hogwarts is all about; working together to reach a common goal, seeing differences something that provides an advantage rather than a thing to be crushed. Difference as a thing not to split us apart, but to bring us closer together and create a more diverse community.
And it is this that will bring us out of the dark times of the war to a new time of acceptance and cooperation with our fellow witch and wizard. I encourage you all to move out of your groups and houses to interact with your fellow students. Make new friends and support each other as we strive to heal the wounds that we have all sustained. Hogwarts is rebuilt physically but it is up to us to rebuild it as a school and community that is accepting and loving that will give Hogwarts back it soul. "McGonagall finished as the hall was filled with the sound of applause as students started to stand up.
Hermione followed Ginny's lead standing up as the school gave McGonagall a standing ovation. Once the hall was quiet again McGonagall finished introducing the teachers and starting the sorting process. Hermione thoughts had turned away to the previous time she had been in the Great Hall.
Stretches had been laid out along the floor with small groups crowding around and healers working frantically around others while agonizing screams echoed in the air. About half of the stretches had blankets over them, revealing only the outlines of their occupants.
"Earth to Hermione, dinners ready" Ginny broke Hermione out of her trance to see steaming food spread along the table.
Hermione didn't feel hungry anymore but grabbed some steamed vegetables to pick at. Ginny looked at her concerned when she realised that Hermione wasn't talking but Hermione just yawned and excused herself to go to bed. She got up and waved at the table before quickly heading out of the hall. McGonagall and Malfoy met Hermione at the doors of the great Hall.
"You will be staying together in the Head's quarters so you can be in contact for organisation of patrols of prefects, school events and emergencies. " McGonagall said as she led them out of the hall and down a corridor. "Your password is lemon Quaffle and you can each set a password for your individual bedrooms. I trust that you are mature enough that there will be no trouble between yourselves."
"Yes Headmistress" Hermione and Malfoy replied as they arrived in front of a mahogany door with the Hogwarts crest carved on it.
"Very good. I will see you in class" McGonagall said before striding back down the corridor.
"Lemon Quaffle" Hermione said making the door swing open before addressing Malfoy. "Before you say anything can we just make a truce because this isn't going to work very well if we're at each other's necks?"
"Sure, don't make a mess and leave me alone when we're not doing head duties and I'll leave you alone." Malfoy said looking at Hermione frowning as he looked over the small lounge room with brown leather couches in front of an ancient iron fireplace and a window on the back wall looking over the quad.
"Fine by me" Hermione said before walking to one of the 3 doors along the side walls and opening it. "Looks like we have to share a bathroom."
"At least we have our own bed rooms" Malfoy said in disgust as they each opened the doors on each side of the door to the bathroom. "Well I'm going to go to bed. Night"
"Bye." Hermione said before thinking Winky Dobby as her password making the door swing open.
The room was much bigger than the one Hermione had at home. In the middle stood a huge 4 poster bed with red curtains that went around it. An old chestnut cupboard stood opposite it and an oak desk was positioned on the far wall under a window that looked out to the lake and the land beyond with Hogsmeade in the far distance. Stunned at the extravagance she walked to the end of the bed and sat down. Looking to her right she saw a lovely white dresser and mirror sat on the wall with her suitcase next to it.
She knew that she should be excited and happy at her new position and room but she couldn't feel anything. Maybe it just hadn't sunk in she thought as she began to unpack her clothes, levitating the neat piles into the wardrobe. It felt like more that she ever deserved. She had done no more than what anyone else would do and she hadn't even succeeded. Sure Voldemort was dead but she should have been able to save more, if only she had studied more. So much for the greatest which of the age, more like the laziest. She promised to work harder this year, who knew how many lives she could have saved if she had paid more attention to healing spells instead of spending her time running around with Ron and Harry. Well there would be no distractions this year. It was a bit late to save Tonks, Lupin, Fred or the other dead now but she could do the best to make sure that no one would ever perish as she stood idly by again. She collected her books from the bottom of her truck and placed them on her desk. She could get ahead by doing some reading tonight so she could focus more in class tomorrow. She pulled out the first book, Advance potions 7th year she started to read.
So that's my second chapter. I know it's going a bit slow but it will speed up a bit as Hermione starts school. I will try to post next week but I'm moving back to uni so I might be a bit late. If you have any suggestions, comments leave it in the review as I would love to hear what you think about it so far