It was a hot day - as if the sun was shining with all its brilliance before fall encircled the land once again with brown, decaying hands. A wind stirred the grass, swirling up the warm scent of flowers.
Hermione sat, knees pulled up to her chest, on the porch step leading to her parents' home. Her eyes were closed, a slight furrow between her brows marring the serene expression she donned. It was the last day of summer before she returned to Hogwarts to make up her seventh year, and like the sun, she intended on making the most of the time.
After rescuing her parents, it had felt natural for Hermione to stay with them, though she had had made several visits throughout the summer to the Burrow, just like old times. Harry was residing back at Grimmauld Place again. According to his letters, he was in the midst of fixing it up, with the help of Kreacher (whom had been given the opportunity to leave and be free, but stayed, saying it was an eternal honor to serve the great Harry Potter, vanquisher of the Dark Lord.) Harry would not be returning to Hogwarts, nor Ron. While Hermione pored over textbooks, curled up in the familiar Gryffindor Common Room, her two best friends would be off completing the accelerated version of Auror training.
There came a soft rustle, and Hermione's eyes snapped open, pulled quite completely from her thoughts. A smallish owl alighted next to her, bearing a letter. Hermione recognized it immediately as the owl Harry used now, after the unfortunate death of Hedwig.
Hermione scanned the letter, feeling a smile twist at the corners of her mouth. It was a simple request for her to come to his place for dinner to celebrate her last night before school. She rushed into the house to find something to write with, Harry's owl fluttering after her.
After responding with a simple yes, Hermione tied the parchment back onto the owl's leg and watched as it flew off.
Up in her room, Hermione sifted through her closet, feeling an unexpected urge to look nice. After several minutes, she stepped back and eyed the mess she had made, feeling ridiculously girlish. Harry knew her through and through; perhaps it would be better to not dress up like someone she wasn't. However, after a moment of debating, she decided that using just a drop of the Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, which had rested on her dresser untouched for quite awhile, couldn't hurt.
With a glance in the mirror, Hermione deemed herself ready. Her hair, with the help of the hair potion, rested tamely against her shoulders. She noticed, however, how startlingly different she looked now than how she had only two years ago. A small pale scar traced its way across the top of her right cheekbone, the product of a cutting curse she had received during the war of Hogwarts. The steely look in her eye confirmed she was no longer just a bushy-haired know-it-all. She was a woman, who had experienced more life in the last year than she ever could have in the depths of a book.
Hermione said her goodbyes to her parents before disapparating. The first thing she noticed, once the brief disorientation wore off from apparating, was that the narrow hallway that led off the front door was surprisingly cheery looking. The worn wallpaper was gone, along with all the portraits and heads of old house elves that had belonged to the Black family. A row of lights along the wall illuminated the surrounding area with their buttery-yellow glow. It seemed Harry had made good progress so far.
"Harry, I'm here!" Hermione called, moving towards the kitchen. As she neared, an acrid smell filled her nose. There came a loud clattering and the sound of someone swearing.
"Harry? Are you - ?"
Harry appeared suddenly in the doorway, blocking her from seeing in.
"Hermione. Er, hi. Wasn't expecting you so soon…" He gave an impish smile. His glasses were steamed over and there was a smudge of some sort of food on his shirt.
"Do you need any help in here?"
She slipped past Harry before he could stop her. She quickly realized where the smell was emanating from.
"You're cooking the Muggle way?" Hermione indicated towards the pots set on the stove, which were currently spouting great clouds of smoke.
"Er, tried to use a bit of magic, to speed things up, but," Harry began rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Didn't quite work out, as you can see."
Hermione simply chuckled and pulled out her wand. With a wave, the smoke and strong smell vanished. However, she doubted she would be able to save whatever it was Harry had been trying to make. Either way, she still appreciated his attempt at romance.
"I think there's still some bread in the cupboard." Harry suggested.
And so the two ended up lounging near the fireplace, nibbling at their slightly stale pieces of toast.
"Ron said Lavender is going back to Hogwarts too."
Hermione looked away from the fire's orange flicking tongues to look at Harry. "In her state? Doesn't that seem a bit… risky?"
While Lavender Brown wasn't exactly a werewolf, she had acquired a nasty temper she couldn't control, and in the height of her rage, she almost seemed to develop the sharp predator eyes of a werewolf. Ron had stuck by her, though, swearing this time around their relationship wasn't all about snogging.
Harry shrugged. "I guess McGonagall is making a special allowance for her, seeing as she helped fight along with us and all."
They lapsed into silence for a moment, both consumed with their own thoughts. Harry finally broke it, saying, "Auror training will only take six months. After that, I think I'll buy a house. Somewhere in the country. I expect Sirius wouldn't have wanted me to live here the rest of my life." He looked around him. Though the house as a whole looked much better, it couldn't be denied that the sense of neglect still hung heavily in the air.
Harry brushed a piece of hair from Hermione's face. He looked nervous.
"And - and once you finish school, you can come live with me."
Hermione grinned. "Oh, Harry, I'd love to." She flung her arms around him.
It didn't seem so bad, leaving, after that. Harry would be waiting for her. This is what they had all been fighting for, all along. A chance to make silly plans over moving in with a significant other, to be able to savor the silence and know that their days were not numbered.
As Hermione kissed Harry goodnight much later on, she could almost see her future stretching out before her, a long and unbroken image. And at last she could step into it, and not worry for herself or her friends. It was a nice feeling.
A/N: Hello! Well this was kind of a pointless piece of fluff, wasn't it? Aw well, Hermione deserves it, right? I hope you guys liked it, or at least didn't hate it. Reviews would be lovely. I think it's not too impossible to get to one hundred reviews, right? I'm going to try to update this more often, promise. Hope you all are well. (: